Chapter 13

Looking at the food on the table, I immediately felt hungry, as I hadn’t eaten anything all day. After sitting down, I started gobbling down the rice like a starving person. The chef couldn’t stand it and teased me, “Eat slowly. No one’s competing with you. If anyone saw this, they’d think I’m mistreating you.”

Early the next morning, my master came to find me. I knew he was going to teach me something new. I couldn’t contain my excitement. But before starting the lesson, he couldn’t help but nag again: “Leonardo, remember, the path of cultivation isn’t easy. It’s against nature. You must stay true to your heart and be prepared to endure hardships.” Of course, I understood this. Since I had decided to follow my master in cultivation, I would put in the effort. As the saying goes, “One must endure hardship to become great.” If cultivation were easy, there wouldn’t be so few people practicing it in the world. I firmly expressed my determination to my master. Seeing my sincerity, he took out a book from his bosom. The title was hard to read, but I knew it must be something valuable. I happily took it back to my room and eagerly began to read it. It turned out to be a secret manual for strengthening the body through magic.

At the beginning, there’s a long paragraph filled with obscure and difficult instructions. It was quite confusing. Thankfully, there’s an explanation below the instructions. Otherwise, I really wouldn’t know when I would have to guess the answers. The general idea is to cross your hands together, hold them around your neck, breathe slowly, without making any sounds. By swallowing a mouthful of saliva, you can feel the spiritual energy naturally entering your body. It’s similar to the experience of absorbing spiritual energy at the top of a mountain. I thought to myself, it could have been explained in simpler terms. Why must it be written in such complicated classical language? Couldn’t it be simpler and more understandable? Perhaps this is just a way to practice writing skills. I really don’t understand the intentions of these masters. I couldn’t keep reading for long, so I quickly flipped through the text and put down the book, planning to study it later.

Afterward, I went to the mountaintop to meditate, as I always do. Practice makes perfect, after all. This time, I felt particularly comfortable during meditation. Although the rate at which I absorbed spiritual energy was still slow, I still made some progress. I noticed that since I began absorbing spiritual energy, my body had become stronger, and the impurities I excreted were fewer and fewer. I felt more energetic and full of vitality. After finishing my meditation, I descended the mountain and headed home. As I passed by Samuel Black’s house, I saw Elliott Banner standing in the yard. Her gaze was dark and fixed on me, as if she was muttering to herself. At the time, I didn’t think much of it, assuming she had some disagreement with Samuel Black. I simply greeted her briefly and continued on my way. But now, it seems like her gaze contained pure spite.As soon as I entered the village, I heard a lot of noise, as if something terrible had happened. The villagers were running around in all directions. It seemed like a serious situation. I quickened my pace. From afar, I heard someone shouting, “There’s a dead body! Someone’s died!” Luckily, the person’s voice was loud enough for me to hear. I rushed over and grabbed him by the arm. “What’s going on? Who died? Why is there so much commotion?” The man wasn’t upset by my grip. He rushed to tell me, “Leonardo, Samuel Black’s wife, Elliott Banner, has died!” With that, he ran away in a hurry.

This news caught me off guard. How could Elliott Banner die so suddenly? Without thinking further, I ran home at full speed. “Sister-in-law, sister-in-law, Elliott Banner has died!” At first, when she saw me running back in such a hurry, she thought Samuel Black was chasing me. She quickly grabbed a thick stick. But when she heard that Elliott Banner had died, she was completely shocked.

Yes, Elliott Banner was fine just a few days ago. How could he die so suddenly? Before long, Aunt Li rushed to our house. Without even sitting down, she said, “Ah Xiang, have you heard? Elliott Banner died. He was found dead in a ditch outside the village!” My sister-in-law and I exchanged glances, both filled with confusion and a bit curious about what had happened.

“Auntie, what exactly happened? She was fine just a few days ago. How could she suddenly disappear like that?” Aunt Li sighed. “Alas, who could deny it? A living person just disappears like that. I don’t know the exact reason. This morning, some villagers went to cut wood and found her floating in the ditch. The whole village was in an uproar. But we need to go and check it out to find out what really happened.”

I took my master by the hand and followed Aunt Li to the place where Elliott Banner died. It was just a very ordinary ditch. Strangely, it had neither an outlet nor an inlet. And despite the hot weather, the water in the ditch wasn’t foul-smelling or greenish in color. It looked just like usual, with nothing unusual about it at all. The villagers had gathered around the ditch, discussing the matter. Although they were scared, curiosity drove them to peek into the ditch. I pulled my master along, pushing through the crowd until we reached the front.

The master’s gaze remained fixed on Elliott Banner’s body in the ditch. He spoke slowly, “I’m afraid something bad has happened.” I didn’t understand why the master said that. Elliott Banner looked exactly like someone who had drowned. What was there to be strange about? I examined her body carefully for a long time, but couldn’t find anything unusual.

But just then, a scream erupted from the crowd. It turned out that Elliott Banner’s body had moved slightly. Well, not really moved exactly. At first, her face was submerged in the water, but now it was turned upward, with her eyes wide open and her face as pale as paper. This sight terrified the villagers watching nearby. Some parents, who were seemingly more courageous, brought their children to watch. The children cried out in fear. Some of the more timid villagers were so scared that they wet their pants.

The master let out another sigh in a low voice. I couldn’t help but ask, “Lanley Ross, why are you sighing again?” The master glared at me. “Today is bound to be a bad day. Look at her expression—she won’t rest in peace. We’ve got work to do. Go home quickly and get ready.” Hearing this, I knew something serious was about to happen. Otherwise, the master wouldn’t have sounded so worried. I turned to leave with him, but suddenly, I noticed that Elliott Banner’s eyes seemed to move slightly, as if he were looking in my direction. That gaze was exactly like the one I’d seen yesterday at Samuel Black’s house: cold and full of hatred. I rubbed my eyes quickly, afraid I might be hallucinating. It was too eerie. What scared me even more was that I thought I saw a cold smirk on her lips. Despite being a corpse, there was something utterly unsettling about her.

However, Elliott Banner remained in a floating position, making no other movements. I thought there was nothing more to see, so I quickly followed my master’s lead. The villagers continued to gather around, discussing the event. Upon returning home, my master got busy right away and told me to fetch certain items. Having learned quite a bit from my master lately, I knew exactly what he needed. In no time, I brought him the yellow talismans, writing brushes, cinnabar bowls, and chicken blood.

I watched as the master poured cinnabar and chicken blood into a bowl, then stirred them together with a brush. After that, he dipped the brush into the mixture and quickly wrote on yellow paper. In one go, he created several talismans for driving away and killing ghosts. Watching how skillfully the master wielded his brush, I felt filled with admiration. When I thought about my own drawings, they were messy and unrecognizable—as if they were drawn by a ghost. Compared to the master’s work, mine was simply terrible.

After finishing these few talismans, the master stopped for a moment to rest. Then, he picked up the brush again and said to me, “This time, I’ll create something truly remarkable. You’d better watch carefully.” I quickly leaned in and watched his hands intently. The master’s expression became very serious, and every movement he made was deliberate. This time, he drew the talismans much more slowly than before. It was clear that it took him a lot of effort; fine beads of sweat appeared on his forehead. Once the talisman was complete, he sat down in a chair to rest, sighing, “It seems that as I get older, my strength isn’t what it used to be. I really have to accept that I’m getting old.”

I took a closer look, and to my surprise, it was actually the “Three Flavors True Fire Talisman”! I remembered this talisman very well from the notebook my master gave me. It was said that this talisman could unleash the “Three Flavors True Fire”, burning away all evil forces. Its power was immense. Why would my master want to create such a talisman? Could it be that Elliott Banner’s ghost was truly formidable? Suddenly, I remembered Elliott Banner’s murderous gaze when he looked at me earlier, as well as her vicious expression outside Samuel Black’s house yesterday. I immediately told my master about this. To my surprise, he became furious: “You brat! It seems she’ll definitely come after you tonight. She’s set her sights on you! But what exactly did you do to earn her hatred?”

Upon hearing this, I felt extremely wronged and said indignantly, “Lanley Ross, I’m really innocent! So many people went to see her. Why me of all people? I’ve never done anything to hurt her. I have no idea how I could have offended her.” The more I thought about it, the more it seemed suspicious. I turned to my master and pleaded, “Master, you’re my own master. You must protect me! If she kills me, you’ll lose such a good disciple.” With that, I started pretending to cry, with tears and snot streaming down my face, acting very convincingly.

The master saw through my trick right away, but still pretended to be kind by patting my shoulder. “You little rascal, don’t worry. I’ll definitely keep your life safe. Otherwise, who’ll do my chores for me in the future?” Hearing this, I was so angry I almost fainted. So, he saved me just for that reason! I really wanted to pull at his beard, but seeing his smug expression, I had nowhere to vent my anger and could only endure it. The master couldn’t help but laugh at my frustration. “Hahaha!” After laughing, he became serious again and looked at me kindly. My heart sank—something bad was surely about to happen. I tried to run away, but it was too late. The master grabbed me. “Good disciple, where do you think you’re going?” I forced a smile and said, “Oh, master, I’m just going to the bathroom. Nothing more.” I tried desperately to break free, but he was too strong. “Master, just tell me what you want and stop torturing me.”