No heart, no attachments – all four elements are empty.
That sounded nice, but Su Zhuyi’s heart currently had the Zhuxin Curse placed on it by that old dog Qin Jianglan! However, through these several instances of harming people, she had come to understand Qin Jianglan’s wish – he probably didn’t want her to harm Su Qingxun. As for others, Qin Jianglan didn’t care. So when she pushed Su Qingxun wanting to enjoy watching her get torn apart by wild dogs, her heart felt like it was being stabbed, but when she designed Old Lady Lu’s corpse transformation to kill villagers, the Zhuxin Curse did not react.
Thinking about it this way, was that old dog Qin also a selfish ghost? Having already placed the Zhuxin Curse, his wish was only not to harm his precious disciple.
Hmph…
Su Zhuyi pursed her lips disdainfully, then looked at Qin Chuan before her.
Qin Chuan was a Lesser Triple Yang, so his blood having miraculous effects on jumping corpses was explainable, but how did they attract the jumping corpse over? Just by shouting when seeing injustice?
When Su Zhuyi asked this question, Qin Chuan pointed at Zhang Enning: “Look, he cut his right hand, blood flowed all over his sleeve.”
Jumping corpses were sensitive to blood. Zhang Enning had bled a lot, so being able to attract the jumping corpse made sense. Who would have thought that in Changning Village, the ones to step up and help would be two children, and they were both brave and strategic, harsh enough on themselves. If they could grow up, they would probably become prominent figures in the cultivation world.
Unfortunately, they were all short-lived ghosts. So while excellent aptitude was good, surviving was key. How many talented youths died young, while she, this demoness, remained a plague for a thousand years.
Qin Chuan still wanted to chat with Su Zhuyi, but she found him annoying and sent them away.
After they left, she thought for a moment, picked up a few stones, and pulled some leaves from the old tree. Gathering the little spiritual energy in her body to her palm, she flicked her wrist, making the leaf fragments flutter like butterflies in her palm before scattering down, falling in a very regular pattern beside the cloth curtain at the door.
Next, she arranged the stones according to the Ghost Gate Array pattern, setting up a simple formation at the curtain, commonly called “ghost hitting the wall.” Anyone wanting to enter would just keep circling the temple entrance, unable to get in. Though her cultivation wasn’t affected by external influences, having people come in from time to time was still very inappropriate.
First she’d cultivate the Pulse Moistening Technique. Once she had some stable spiritual energy in her body, she’d try to make the spirit-seeking plate. That spirit-seeking plate was simple to refine and shouldn’t take much effort.
Su Zhuyi ate some more tree roots. When she had some spiritual energy in her body, she began circulating the Pulse Moistening Technique. The weak spiritual energy swept through her meridians like a brush, nourishing them bit by bit. Though after each complete circulation of spiritual energy through her body, she couldn’t feel any change, Su Zhuyi knew that with long-term persistence, her meridians would be more resilient than others’, and cultivation would go more smoothly.
After finishing cultivation, Su Zhuyi began making the spirit-seeking plate. She spent an hour carving the array on the stone plate, installing the lodestone, embedding the needle, then gradually injecting the spiritual energy from her body into the array. By the time she finished everything, her forehead was covered in hot sweat.
Fortunately, it was successful.
Looking at the crude, simple spirit-seeking plate in her hands, Su Zhuyi first grinned, then felt somewhat emotional. Back then, those male cultivators trying to curry favor with her had presented so many magic treasures that she looked down upon them. Now, such a simple plate could make her genuinely happy from the bottom of her heart – truly unpredictable how things change.
As long as she put a spirit stone in the plate, the spirit stone would gradually decompose, and the spiritual energy inside would be attracted to similar energy, with the needle’s direction indicating where spiritual energy gathered. This type of plate was the most basic spirit-seeking plate, not very useful, since many places in the cultivation world had spiritual veins and springs, with spiritual energy in heaven and earth. In those spiritually abundant places, the needle would shake like someone with chills. But it was perfect for use in Changning Village, where there was no spiritual energy between heaven and earth, so the needle wouldn’t spin randomly.
It was already late today, almost dawn. Su Zhuyi planned to start digging tomorrow night.
After Old Lady Lu’s incident, the villagers were all on edge. No one dared come out at night – even those who used to patrol and empty night soil no longer appeared. Digging for treasure at night would be perfect.
Thinking of this, she smiled sweetly, took off her shoes, and planned to get into bed for some rest. But just as she lay down, she saw the hoe she’d casually placed by the door move slightly.
Being young now, she’d feel weak all over when hungry and mentally exhausted when tired, so she hadn’t noticed someone was trapped in the ghost-hitting-wall formation outside. If the hoe hadn’t reminded her, she probably would have just gone to sleep. It wasn’t even dawn yet – who was sneaking around here so early, and what did they want?
Su Zhuyi walked to the door, hefted the hoe, then carefully tried to lift the door curtain. She was always cautious – even when facing ordinary villagers, she’d give her full attention just in case. It was this caution that had helped her avoid many dangers.
Just as the curtain opened a crack, something came flying over: “Hidden weapon!”
The hoe in her hand smashed forward directly, breaking that thing apart. Immediately, a urine stench wafted out. Su Zhuyi was splattered with red and yellow substances. She could tolerate all kinds of filth and stench, but now she kicked open the curtain with one foot and coldly snorted at the culprit, asking with a dark face: “Zhang Enning, what are you doing sneaking around here in the middle of the night?”
She pointed at the filth on her face, saying word by word: “Do. You. Want. To. Die?”
Su Zhuyi was unhappy.
When she was unhappy, she really would kill people. Even if Zhang Enning in front of her was only a ten-year-old child who had just thrown filth at her.
Zhang Enning froze in place. He also gritted his teeth and answered word by word: “I. Want. To. Take. You. As. Master.”
Su Zhuyi: “…”
You want to become a disciple without bringing proper gifts, using a cloth bundle of blood and urine-stained filth for what? But speaking of which, the ghost-hitting-wall she’d set at the door wasn’t very sophisticated – both the child’s urine and Lesser Triple Yang blood could break it. Without that thing, Zhang Enning probably couldn’t have walked up to her.
Su Zhuyi’s eyes rolled as she thought: “This guy isn’t simple – he came prepared.”
She had been extremely angry, but now instead calmed down and smiled faintly: “Benefactor lacks wisdom roots, has too many worldly attachments, and has no affinity with Buddha.” This kid seemed to have someone guiding him from behind. She’d had suspicions before, so now she suppressed her killing intent to avoid alerting the enemy.
Zhang Enning stared at her steadily: “I saw it. Old Lady Lu’s corpse transformation was your doing!”
Su Zhuyi raised her hand, cold light flashing on the hoe, but Zhang Enning quickly said: “I left a note for Qin Chuan – he knows I came to find you. If I die, it was you who did it.”
Su Zhuyi reached up to pat his head. To do this, she had to stand on tiptoe, smearing the filth from her face onto his head, then smiled sweetly: “Why would I kill you?” She glanced sideways at Zhang Enning: “Come, come, sit inside. Let’s talk slowly.”
“Old Lady Lu was pitiful in life; her resentment didn’t dissipate after death, and she wanted revenge. I helped her fulfill her wish so her resentment could be dispersed. Was that wrong?”
Zhang Enning was silent. After a long while, he answered: “No wrong. Her son and daughter-in-law abused her and starved her to death. They deserved to die.”
“The villagers discovered it early. If they had worked together to subdue Old Lady Lu, what happened later wouldn’t have occurred. Ultimately, they were also cowardly and afraid of death. Moreover, Changning Village’s villagers saw Old Lady Lu suffer long-term abuse but turned a blind eye. Village chief Su Xiang also didn’t discipline Auntie Xu. Old Lady Lu’s resentment venting on others was not inappropriate – cause and effect cycle, retribution is inevitable.”
Su Zhuyi racked her brains wanting to say more when she heard Zhang Enning say: “I understand the reasoning. I just want to take you as my master.”
Oh my, Su Zhuyi was amused. She had originally wanted to deceive Zhang Enning, make him feel psychologically impacted and mentally disturbed, then secretly place a Soul-Departing Curse on him to make him seem like he’d lost his soul, gradually becoming stupid. She hadn’t expected this kid to be so firm-willed and twisted.
She coughed, her eyes turning stern: “When I was working, I carefully observed the surroundings. It’s impossible you were there without me noticing. Since you have someone guiding you from behind, why come to take me as master?”
“I didn’t see you cast curses,” Zhang Enning said honestly.
You damn kid dare to trick me! How did children over a thousand years ago become so black-hearted?
“But I saw you sneaking around the graveyard digging up dirt, picking scholar tree leaves, and scribbling talismans the past few days,” Zhang Enning said. “When Old Lady Lu transformed into a corpse later, I suspected it was related to you.”
“Going to a graveyard, picking scholar tree leaves – how does that connect to corpse transformation?” Since she’d already admitted it, she stopped being evasive and decided to get to the bottom of things. Su Zhuyi’s mouth curved up: “Since you understand these things, that proves you’ve also entered the field. If you can’t explain clearly, I won’t accept a disciple of unknown origins.”
“I found a book on the wall of my family’s well.”
It turned out that two years ago, the village suffered a drought, the water in the wells dropped to the bottom, and buckets couldn’t draw up water. He tied a rope around himself and went down to the bottom to get water. At a position three feet from the bottom, he discovered a book in the stone wall. Though it had been soaked in water for years, when taken out, it didn’t have a single drop of water on it.
He felt he’d found a treasure and was very happy, but after two years, he could only open the first page. That first page contained records about corpse transformation. He had secretly tried using red earth from graves and scholar tree leaves, copying talismans, but never succeeded. He always felt something was missing, but didn’t understand what.
“Where’s the book?” Su Zhuyi shamelessly held out her hand, asking lazily.
“Even if it is a treasure, what use is it if you can’t open it?” Su Zhuyi smiled: “If you can’t open it, you can’t learn what’s inside. If you can’t learn the skills, you’ll never leave Changning Village for your whole life, unable to give your mother a good life.”
She paused: “My current strength is just so-so. I almost lost my life dealing with a jumping corpse. But I was willing to sacrifice myself to save people, showing my heart isn’t bad. I won’t take your book and then take your life. But if you wait for a merchant caravan to pass by and show it to cultivators in the caravan, that’s hard to say.”
She said this without blushing or her heart racing, feeling no guilt whatsoever.
Seeing Zhang Enning’s lips tightly pressed into a line without speaking, Su Zhuyi continued: “You understand the reasoning, otherwise you wouldn’t have come to me, so…” She pointed at Zhang Enning’s chest, asking with her eyes: “Will you give it or not?”