The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 33: The Ghost Altar

Liu Yongbo examined it intently and carefully; Wang Yiting didn’t dare to disturb him and simply waited quietly nearby. After a moment, Liu Yongbo finally set the seal down. His expression returned to its usual calm, and he said slowly and deliberately, “You’ve been my disciple for quite some time now. You should know my rules—I never intervene on anyone’s behalf. Don’t bring up such matters again… You’d better put that seal away!” Hearing this, a look of disappointment crossed Wang Yiting’s face. He was well aware of this rule, but the reason he had brought it up in the first place was simply to cling to a sliver of hope. After all, if he could actually persuade Liu Yongbo to intervene, he could avenge himself immediately; otherwise, if he had to handle it on his own, it would not only take time but also carry a certain degree of risk. Since the approach of asking Liu Yongbo for help wasn’t feasible, he had no choice but to settle for the next best option. He did not retrieve the seal he had placed on the coffee table, but said, “In that case, I’d like to trade this seal for a thirty-year Ghost Altar!” A Ghost Altar is a magical artifact used to seal malevolent spirits; the longer it’s sealed, the heavier the spirit’s resentment becomes, and the stronger it grows—but at the same time, the harder it is to control. Take Wang Yiting’s Ghost Infant, for example—it was merely a five-year-old malevolent spirit. Even after he’d spent three years taming it, that still only amounted to eight years in total. Now, however, he was suddenly attempting to control a thirty-year-old malevolent spirit—nearly three times as old. Liu Yongbo was slightly surprised by Wang Yiting’s request. He shot him a glance, took a sip of tea, and then said, “You’re quite greedy. While this seal is indeed enough to trade for a thirty-year-old Ghost Altar, even if you manage to get it, will you be able to control it? Aren’t you afraid of being overwhelmed by its backlash?” “Rest assured, Master!” Wang Yiting said confidently. “I’ve made significant progress in my cultivation recently and am now confident I can control a thirty-year-old ghost!” “All right! I’ll go get it for you!” Seeing how confident his disciple sounded, Liu Yongbo didn’t feel the need to interfere. After all, the disciples he took on—like Wang Yiting—were more like subordinates in a certain line of work than actual apprentices. Whenever they wanted to advance their cultivation or needed supplies, they had to come to him to buy them; all he had to do was collect the payment. Besides, disciples like Wang Yiting were not only customers but also sources of supply! Otherwise, where would he get so many fierce ghosts to train? Liu Yongbo got up to fetch the ghost jar, while Wang Yiting sat quietly in the living room waiting. After just a moment, Liu Yongbo returned to the living room, holding a potbelly jar in his hands. This pot was no larger than two palms pressed together and looked just like an ordinary small wine jar, except that it was bound all around with red cord soaked in cinnabar. The mouth of the pot was sealed with yellow clay mixed with black dog’s blood, and three talismans were affixed to its surface. Through these various measures, a malevolent spirit had been sealed inside; unless the pot were destroyed, the spirit within would never be able to escape. Seeing Liu Yongbo emerge holding the ghost jar, Wang Yiting couldn’t help but stand up, somewhat excited. He watched as Liu walked over and placed the jar on the coffee table in front of him. “Make good use of it!” Liu Yongbo gave the jar a light tap, his words sounding as if he were genuinely concerned for Wang Yiting. “Thank you, Master!” Wang Yiting replied, then eagerly picked up the spirit jar, carefully examining the talismans and knots on its surface. This was the thirty-year-old ghost altar he’d traded his ten-million-yuan jade seal for—whether it was for revenge or his future achievements, everything depended on it! Liu Yongbo sat back down in his original seat, picked up the jade seal, and examined it closely. He was a man of discernment and could tell that this jade seal was a fine piece. If marketed well, selling it for twenty million wouldn’t be a problem—many wealthy people loved collecting such seals. As long as he catered to their tastes, money wouldn’t be an issue at all, not to mention that this was such high-quality glass-like jade. As he carefully examined the jade seal, he asked leisurely, “Is there anything else you need?” Hearing this, Wang Yiting knew it was a polite way of asking him to leave. He immediately replied, “I have no further business here, so I’ll take my leave.” “Mm-hmm!” Liu Yongbo gave a soft nod without paying him any further attention, and Wang Yiting, clutching the Ghost Altar, left on his own. No sooner had Wang Yiting left than a man in his fifties opened a door on one side of the parlor and stepped out. Noticing the man’s appearance, Liu Yongbo—who had been quite cold toward Wang Yiting just moments before—quickly set down the jade seal in his hand and hurried to greet him with great deference, saying, “I’m truly sorry for neglecting you, Elder Meng!” So Elder Meng had been hiding in the room all along—he must be the one who used the other teacup on the coffee table. “Hmm, it’s fine,” the middle-aged man addressed as Elder Meng said, shaking his head nonchalantly and chuckling lightly. “I must say, your disciple has a promising face… Do you have his birth chart?” Hearing this, Liu Yongbo was slightly startled. He knew that this Elder Meng Changtao of the sect had been searching for five unique individuals to create the Five Elements Five Ghost Corpses. Could it be that he thought Wang Yiting might meet the requirements? Without delay, he hurriedly replied, “Yes! We requested it when we took him on as a disciple. I’ll go get it for you right away!” Meng Changtao nodded slightly, and Liu Yongbo hurriedly left the living room and went upstairs. A moment later, Liu Yongbo returned, holding a yellow talisman in his hand. Meng Changtao took the talisman paper; instead of a spell, it contained Wang Yiting’s birth chart and other details, written in cinnabar, in great detail. As he looked it over, he calculated in his mind. After a moment, a look of delight spread across Meng Changtao’s face, and he laughed, “It’s truly a case of ‘searching high and low to no avail, yet finding it effortlessly!’ This Wang Yiting is perfectly suited to be transformed into a Fire Element Corpse!” Hearing this, Liu Yongbo smiled and offered his congratulations from the side: “Congratulations, Elder Meng, on getting exactly what you wanted!” “It’s just good luck, really!” Meng Changtao beamed with joy for a moment, but then his smile faded, replaced by a sigh: “What a pity. If I hadn’t lost a Water Elemental Corpse in Yashan City, I would have already gathered all three of the Five Elements—Water, Fire, and Wood—leaving only the Metal and Earth Elemental Corpses remaining!” As a church steward—and the person in charge of affairs in Jiangnan Province—Liu Yongbo naturally knew that not long ago, while Meng Changtao was refining a Water-Element Undead in Yashan City, he had been discovered by members of the Buddhist order. They destroyed the Water-Element Undead, which he had painstakingly refined and was just one step away from completion, causing his efforts to fall short at the very end. As a result, Meng Changtao had been in a bad mood ever since and had come here to take his mind off things. Everyone in the sect knew full well that Meng Changtao, as the Left Elder, was unpredictable and could turn on a dime. That’s why Liu Yongbo had been treading carefully around this “great Buddha” these past few days, afraid that any dissatisfaction on Meng’s part might lead him to take it out on Liu. Now that something joyful had finally happened, it seemed to have lifted this “great Buddha’s” spirits a bit. Seeing that the other man had been in a good mood for a while but eventually remembered the destroyed Water Elemental Corpse, Liu Yongbo hurried to console him: “As they say, fortune and misfortune go hand in hand. Now that Elder Meng has lost the Water Elemental Corpse, he’s immediately discovered a suitable candidate for a Fire Elemental Corpse; who knows, perhaps he’ll find other suitable candidates in the future?” “The world is vast; one cannot force such things!” Meng Changtao shook his head. He wasn’t exactly discouraged, but having spent five or six years refining these Five Elements Five Ghost Corpses, he knew all too well that in this vast sea of humanity, finding a suitable candidate was no less difficult than looking for a needle in a haystack. Not to mention the rarity of the other materials required for refining ghost corpses—the most crucial core component, the corpse embryo, was even harder to track down. This Five Elements, Five Ghost Corpse required five ghost corpses that met extremely stringent criteria: not only did their birth dates and times have to share the same elemental attribute, but even their birth directions and the locations where they were refined were subject to numerous specific requirements. In the five or six years he’d been refining these Five Elements Ghost Corpses, he’d only succeeded in refining one Wood Element corpse. The Water Element corpse was actually nearing completion, but at the very last moment, it was discovered by members of the Buddhist order, and his efforts came to naught. This left him deeply frustrated, so he left Yashan City and came to Zhoushan City—partly to clear his head, and partly to avoid those who prided themselves on being the “righteous path.” However, he never expected that within just a few days of arriving here, he would discover a person suitable for refining into a Fire Element Corpse. It’s important to note that, among the Five Elements, Fire is the most powerful. Furthermore, since Fire overcomes Wood and Wood fuels Fire, pairing a Wood Elemental Corpse with a Fire Elemental Corpse would yield far greater power than combining a Wood Elemental Corpse with a Water Elemental Corpse. If he could successfully create this combination, it would represent a massive boost to his strength. Originally, with a formidable enemy in Yashan City and nothing else pressing, Meng Changtao had planned to leave. But now, having discovered Wang Yiting, he had no choice but to take the risk and stay. “Judging by his birth chart, Wang Yiting is indeed well-suited to serve as the embryo for a Fire-Element Corpse, but that alone isn’t enough. He must be guided so that, at the right location and the right moment, he can become a suitable corpse embryo,” Meng Changtao said. “So how should we go about this?” Although Wang Yiting was Liu Yongbo’s disciple, Liu Yongbo had no objections whatsoever to Wang Yiting being chosen by Meng Changtao as a zombie embryo; on the contrary, he actively inquired about the method. “Let’s assess the situation first,” Meng Changtao said. “Actually, there’s no need to intervene too much… Doesn’t Wang Yiting happen to have a grudge against someone? We just need to seize the right opportunity, fan the flames behind him, and amplify the resentment he feels as he nears death.” After saying this, he smiled at Liu Yongbo. “When the time comes, it’ll be up to you, Steward Liu!” “Leave it to me!” Liu Yongbo declared, pounding his chest in assurance. Then, the two exchanged a glance and laughed. For an ordinary person, carrying a large pot with talismans affixed and bound with red string might make it difficult to pass through high-speed rail security, but for a Taoist practitioner, it was a simple matter. On his way back, Wang Yiting cast a small illusion on the ghost jar. As long as no one saw the object in his arms, he naturally passed through security and boarded the high-speed train back to Yashan City. Before long, he returned to his residence. As soon as he entered the house, he didn’t even stop to rest; instead, he hurried to his meditation room, lit some incense and candles, and began to consecrate the ghost jar. (End of Chapter)