As evening approached, Uncle Jiu and Qiuxia made their way to Wang Family Village. The once-empty Wang Family Village Mortuary was now swarming with people. Everyone from tiny infants to the gray-haired elderly had gathered around the mortuary hundreds of them, creating a bustling, noisy scene.
As soon as Uncle Jiu arrived, the crowd swarmed him. "Uncle Jiu, you have to deal with that dirty thing! If you don't, we'll be living in fear every day. We can't go on like this."
"Please, everyone, rest assured. I will certainly deal with that malevolent spirit tonight."
After calming the crowd, Uncle Jiu turned to the Village Chief. "Is everyone in the village here?"
"Everyone! Every single soul is right here, not one missing."
Uncle Jiu nodded. He pulled a stack of small flags covered in runes from his pack and planted them in the ground, encircling the villagers. Performing a hand seal, he watched as the flags flashed with light. To Qiuxia's eyes, a faint golden barrier shimmered into existence, shielding the villagers.
"I have set up a formation around you all. When the spirit appears later, do not panic. As long as you stay inside, the evil entity cannot harm you. Qiusheng, Wencai, you two stay here and watch over the villagers. I'm going to search the village to see if I can catch it early."
Hearing this, the villagers panicked. "Uncle Jiu, please stay here and wait for it! We're terrified if you aren't with us."
"Don't worry," Uncle Jiu reassured them quickly as their anxiety rose. "I've set up the formation. As long as you don't step out, the spirit won't be able to touch you!"
Despite his words, the people of Wang Family Village couldn't put their hearts at ease. Even though Qiusheng and Qiuxia were cultivators, in their eyes, they were nowhere near the level of their master. Any fool knew they were safer with Uncle Jiu personally protecting them.
Seeing the villagers' distress, Qiuxia stepped forward. "Master, you stay and protect them. Let me go search. With my strength, even if I run into the spirit, I won't be in any immediate danger. I might not be able to defeat it alone, but I can certainly hold out until you arrive."
Qiuxia was currently at the seventh layer of the Earth Master realm. Logically, with that level of cultivation, he could handle it himself. However, this was his first time facing an actual evil entity, and he lacked experience. If he got careless and was injured or killed, Lin Fengjiao wouldn't have the face to meet the Patriarch in the afterlife.
Seeing Uncle Jiu's hesitation, Qiuxia pulled his robes open, revealing a lining covered in talismans. "Don't worry, Master. With all these talismans protecting me, even if I'm paralyzed with fear, that spirit won't be able to do anything to me for a while."
Uncle Jiu's mouth twitched at the sight. Who told you to bring that many talismans? Do you think I own a mine? You only needed a dozen or so. If you run out, don't you still have your own mana? You really don't feel any sting at wasting so many, do you?
Since the villagers were watching, Uncle Jiu didn't go full Zaunite on him. He simply said with a dark expression, "In that case, I am relieved. Go on then. If you run into trouble, I will get there as fast as I can!"
Qiuxia felt a sudden chill. Wait... did I annoy him somehow? Uncle Jiu was reliable, but he had one major flaw: he was incredibly petty. Master, if I did something wrong, just say it. Don't look at me like that, it's scary.
With a sense of trepidation, Qiuxia left the mortuary and began his search. After he left, the Village Chief asked hesitantly, "Uncle Jiu, is it really okay to let your youngest disciple go? He looks like he isn't even ten years old. If he runs into danger, will you be able to make it in time?"
Villagers of this era were still quite simple-hearted. Seeing the chief's concern, those with and without children began to chime in. "That's right, Uncle Jiu. Maybe it's better to call him back, otherwise things could get ugly."
"Please, don't worry," Uncle Jiu said calmly. "Though he is young, his Taoist arts already surpass my eldest disciple. He won't be in any danger."
Qiusheng felt a pang of annoyance. Master, just say what you need to say! Why do you have to drag me into it? Now everyone's going to think I'm worse than a kid. Well, he was worse than his junior brother, but that kid was a freak. Qiuxia had gone from a normal kid who knew nothing of cultivation to an Earth Master in just over a year. That progress was simply too fast.
Forget a senior brother like him; even some of their uncles couldn't compare. And neither could Master. Qiusheng kept these thoughts to himself, though. Unlike Wencai, Qiusheng had a brain; he knew that if he spoke those words aloud, an embarrassed and enraged Uncle Jiu would beat the life out of him.
Meanwhile, Qiuxia wandered leisurely through the village. He walked from one end to the other and back again, circling several times, but found no trace of the spirit. What's going on? Nothing? Did it not show up yet?
He tapped his toes against the ground and leaped like a spring, landing on the roof of the Village Chief's three-story villa. From there, he surveyed the entire village.
"Why am I running around in circles? I'll just stay on the roof. If anything appears, I'll see it immediately and head over."
Having made his decision, Qiuxia pulled some melon seeds from his Spatial Ring and began snacking.
Time ticked by. Soon it was the early hours of the morning, the peak time for ghosts and monsters. Qiuxia remained on the roof, a pile of melon seed shells growing beside him.
"I've been waiting so long. Maybe it's not coming tonight? I'll wait a bit longer, and if nothing happens, I'll head back to Master."
He waited another hour. Still nothing. Just as he was about to jump down and find Uncle Jiu, he spotted a flicker of black energy in a corner of the village. He flattened himself against the roof and locked his eyes on that spot.
Shortly after, a translucent figure wreathed in black mist drifted out of a house. The man was shrouded in dark energy, and his face was horribly distorted, covered in scars. One eye hung loosely from its socket, dangling but refusing to fall.
"Holy hell... that ghost is damn ugly!" Qiuxia muttered. He spoke softly, so soft that even someone right next to him might not have heard, but the ghost seemed to catch it. It snapped its head up and looked directly at him.
Upon seeing Qiuxia, the evil ghost paused, its one good eye filled with greed. Then, it began drifting toward him.
"Hehehe... I didn't expect to find such high-quality flesh and blood tonight. If I eat you, my power will skyrocket. It might even be possible to break through to the Ghost King realm!" The ghost's voice was raspy and harsh, sounding as if it had been run over by a car multiple times.
The sound alone was enough to make one's hair stand on end. Although Qiuxia had seen plenty of ghosts in horror movies, this was his first time seeing the real deal. He was scared, but thanks to his high cultivation and powerful spirit, he regained his composure by the time the ghost was ten meters away.
Once he recovered, Qiuxia didn't waste words. He let out a roar. "Five Thunder Palm!"
Channeling every bit of mana he could muster in an instant, he struck out. A brilliant flash of lightning erupted from his hand and surged toward the ghost.
The entity had never expected the "little thing" to have such a trick up its sleeve. Combined with the short distance and the blinding speed of the lightning art, the ghost had no time to dodge. It took the hit full-on.
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