Ch.18: Puqi Shrine Talks the Guile Tales of the Half Moon Pass 2

Under Xie Lian’s and San Lang’s gaze, the cultivator held up the water bowl to his lips and bent

over to slowly gulp the water down. He did not look as if he was satisfying his thirst. Instead, he

looked cautious and guarded. As he drank, Xie Lian could hear sloshing sounds, as if water was

being poured into an empty bottle.

At that moment, Xie Lian knew what he was. He seized the man’s arm.

“You don’t have to drink anymore.”

The cultivator’s hand trembled as he looked at Xie Lian in bewilderment.

“Drinking wouldn’t help anyway, right?” Xie Lian smiled.

The man’s expression instantly changed hearing this. He unsheathed his steel sword with his

other hand, and swung it towards Xie Lian. Without changing his stance, Xie Lian raised his

hand and easily flicked the sword aside. Seeing that Xie Lian was still tightly gripping onto his

hand, the cultivator gritted his teeth and extracted it from his hold suddenly. Xie Lian felt the arm

in his grip suddenly go limp like a balloon deflating as it slipped away from his palm. The

moment the cultivator broke free, he ran towards the door, but Xie Lian wasn’t concerned. In

this undisturbed space without people around, Ruoye could drag him back instantly even if he

fled a good distance away. But just as he raised his other hand, a sharp blast of air whipped by

him.

It was as if someone had shot an arrow behind him. It pierced the man through his stomach and

nailed him to the door. Xie Lian looked over, and it turned out to be a chopstick! He turned back

for a look. San Lang stood up from the altar and walked past him to pull out the chopstick.

San Lang waved the chopstick at Xie Lian and said, “This got dirty. I’m gonna throw it out.”

Even with such a serious wound, the cultivator did not groan in pain, he simply silently slithered

down from the door. Fluids flowed from his abdomen; it wasn’t blood, but the water he had just

drank.

Xie Lian and San Lang knelt down next to the body, and Xie Lian felt around the wound. He felt

as though this wound was like a blown-up balloon that had been pricked. Cold air was leaking

out of it, and the cultivator’s “corpse” gradually changed. Earlier, he was clearly a buff man, but

now he’d shrunk a size down. His face and limbs shrivelled even as he continued to shrink. He

looked more like an old man now.

“It’s an empty shell,” Xie Lian noted. Some ghosts, if they could not transform into a perfect human form, would create these empty

shells. They would use realistic components to meticulously create a fake skin bag. These skin

bags often used real, living humans as references. Sometimes they would even use human skin

directly to make the skin bags; naturally, their palm prints, fingerprints, and hair would all be

flawless. And if the ghosts themselves did not wear these skins, there wouldn’t be any evil aura

stuck to them, so they would not need to heed those evil-repelling spells and talismans. This

was why the seal of the door did not block the cultivator outside earlier.

However, these kinds of empty shells could be easily seen through. After all, they were hollow

on the inside. If there was no one wearing the skins, then they could only follow instructions of

the manipulator like puppets. The instructions couldn’t be overly complicated, either; they had to

be simple, repetitive, and set up beforehand. Therefore, the expressions and behaviour of those

skin bags were lifeless and sluggish, unlike real humans. For example, they could only repeat

certain phrases, do certain repetitive things, or answer their own questions. If one asked too

many questions, they wouldn’t be able to answer, and would end up exposing themselves.

Of course, Xie Lian had more practical ways of exposing those skin bags: just let them drink

some water or eat something. After all, skin bags were hollow, without any organs; if they ate or

drank, it would be like throwing something or pouring water into an empty can. The echo could

be clearly heard, and it was a sound very different than that of a human consuming food and

water.

The corpse had completely deflated into a pile of withered skin. San Lang poked at it with his

chopstick and threw it away.

“This shell is rather interesting.”

Xie Lian knew what he was talking about. This cultivator’s expressions and movements were

more than realistic. He had conversed with them animatedly, gestured wildly, responded

emotionally, very much like a real person. Whoever was behind its control had to be quite

powerful.

Xie Lian glanced at San Lang. “Looks like you’re quite knowledgeable about these wicked arts

too, San Lang.”

San Lang smiled. “Not too much.”

This empty shell came to Xie Lian specifically to tell him about the Banyue Pass. Whether it was

fake or real, its intention was obviously to lure him there. To play it safe, he would have to

inquire about it in the communication array. Xie Lian pinched his fingers and calculated the

power he had left; there should still be enough to use it a few more times, so he formed a seal

with his hands to enter the communication array.

The communication array was livelier than usual, and it was not because of deities bustling

around with official duties. Rather, it seemed everyone was playing some sort of game, laughing

and shouting. Xie Lian was taken aback.Just then, Ling Wen reached out to him. “Your Highness is back? How were your days down in

the mortal realm?”

“It’s alright, not too bad. What’s everyone doing? They seem so happy!” Xie Lian asked.

Ling Wen replied, “The Wind Master has just returned and is giving away merits. Why don’t you

go and see if you can grab any?”

Sure enough, Xie Lian could hear the many officials cheerfully shouting.

“I GRABBED A HUNDRED MERITS!”

“How come I only managed to get one…”

“A THOUSAND! A THOUSAND!!! THANKS, WIND MASTER!! HAHAHAHAH…”

It was like catching money raining down from the skies, Xie Lian thought. His donation box was

empty, but for one, he didn’t know how to make a grab for those merits, and second, the officials

must be very familiar with each other to play those sort of casual games. Xie Lian wasn’t on

good terms with many, and didn’t think it was appropriate for him to join, so he paid it no mind

and called out to the crowd.

“Does anyone know of the Banyue Pass?”

The laughing and shouting came to a sudden stop and silence ensued.

Once again, Xie Lian felt depressed.

It was fine if no one responded to his little snippets if they were odd or awkward; the other

officials didn't share those either, and he indeed seemed to be out of tune with them when he

did so. But this was official business. The communication array was a place where heavenly

officials often made requests for information on ghosts or mystic issues. If something came up

or someone asked for assistance, everyone pitched in, giving suggestions or giving a hand.

Those without anything to add would say “I’ll ask around when I’m free.” Banyue was work, so

there was no reason why no one responded?

Just then, someone shouted, “WIND MASTER JUST THREW OUT TEN THOUSAND

MERITS!!!”

The communication array came alive again, and the officials went away to grab for more merits,

thoroughly ignoring Xie Lian. This made him realize there was probably more to this than it

appeared, and the court would never respond. This Wind Master was certainly quite affluent,

Xie Lian thought, throwing away tens of thousands of merits like that. He was about to exit the

communication array when Ling Wen called out to him privately.

“Your Highness, why did you mention the Banyue Pass?” Ling Wen asked. Xie Lian recounted his encounter with the skin bag. “That empty shell pretended to be a survivor

from the Banyue Pass, it has to have a motive. I wasn’t sure whether his words were true, so I

came in to ask. What’s going on with that place?”

Ling Wen was quiet for a moment before she said gravely, “Your Highness, I advise you to stay

away from this matter.”

Xie Lian had thought she might say something similar. Otherwise, a matter like this wouldn’t

have lasted for over a hundred and fifty years, and have the court go silent just because he

asked.

“Is it true that half the people go missing every time they traverse through Banyue?”

Ling Wen was silent again. “It’s not easy for us to speak on this matter.”

Xie Lian heard the deliberation in her words. There might be something putting her on the spot,

so he said, “Alright, I understand. If it’s inconvenient, then we shall not speak of it again, and we

have never spoken in private on this subject either.”

Xie Lian withdrew his divine consciousness and left the communication array. He rose to his

feet and used the broom to sweep the fake skin to the side. After mulling over Ling Wen’s words

for a moment, he raised his head and looked at San Lang.

“San Lang, I’m afraid I will be going on a long journey.”

Ling Wen’s attitude was enough to show that this matter implicated too much. Since this empty

shell came to him on its own, then it must have wanted to lure him there. It was definitely not a

good place to be at.

Yet San Lang said, “Sure thing. Gege, bring me along too, if you don’t mind!”

Xie Lian wondered curiously, “It’s going to be a long and difficult journey, so why do you want to

come?”

San Lang smiled. “Do you want to know about the Banyue Pass?”

Xie Lian paused, then said, “You know about that too?”

San Lang crossed his arms and replied languidly, “The Banyue Pass was originally not known

as Banyue Pass. The Banyue Pass was where the Kingdom of Banyue used to be located two

hundred years ago.”

He sat up straight, eyes going bright. “The Wicked Cultivator of Banyue was...”

Xie Lian placed the broom against the wall and was about to sit down to listen when a knock on

the door came. It was already evening, and the villagers were hiding in their homes after hearing there was

bewitchment about, so who was knocking? Xie Lian stood by the door and held his breath

briefly, but he didn’t see the seal reacting. Another knock came. It sounded like there were two

people outside.

Xie Lian contemplated for a moment then opened the door. Sure enough, two young men

dressed in black stood at his door, one handsome, one elegant. It was Nan Feng and Fu Yao.

Xie Lian said, “You two....”

Fu Yao rolled his eyes, and Nan Feng blurted out, “You’re going to the Banyue Pass, aren’t

you?”

“Where did you guys hear that?” Xie Lian wondered.

Nan Feng said, “Some officials were talking about it. I heard that you asked about the Banyue

Pass in the communication array today.”

Xie Lian understood their intentions and crossed his hands in his sleeves. “I see. ‘I volunteer’,

right?”

Both junior officials’ expressions contorted as though they had a toothache. “...Yes.”

Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile, and said, “I get it, I get it. But I want you two to understand that,

should there be any issues or crises en route, you’re welcome to run away any time.”

Xie Lian stepped aside to invite them inside to discuss the journey in detail. But then, when the

two saw the carefree teen sitting inside, their initially grim faces instantly turned ashen.

Nan Feng charged in, pushed Xie Lian behind him, and shouted, “STAND BACK!”

TBC

*I have not updated recently I am very busy as I said in my other novel 'kinnporsche' which you should check out I am really sorry i will try update more, see you soon :) *

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