Black Journey to the West: The Imposter Star Lord

Chapter 35: The Old Ghost of the Corpse Cave

After explaining the precautions to Cao Xing, Gu Su left.

Before leaving, he gave Cao Xing two Spirit Essence Pills and two hundred taels of silver, as an advance payment for part of his reward.

He instructed him to cultivate diligently and reach the Foundation Establishment stage as soon as possible. Once he did, he would be taught how to brew the Corruption Spirit Ointment, which would allow him to make a fortune.

After Gu Su left, Cao Xing held the two Spirit Essence Pills in his hand, but the more he looked at them, the less he felt like eating them.

He simply stuffed the Spirit Essence Pill into his sleeve to help Bixia improve her cultivation, while he himself focused on studying the Five Internal Organs and Six Brightnesses.

Although the Five Viscera and Six Brightness Scriptures are neither supernatural powers nor domineering techniques, according to the scriptures, each talisman cultivated will greatly enhance one's abilities.

The Gui Water Spirit Talisman can make one's metabolism far exceed that of ordinary people, and give one a huge resistance to common toxins.

Unfortunately, Zhang Feiyu and his father started their cultivation from the Bing Fire stage and had not yet reached the Gui Water stage. Otherwise, the poison administered by the county magistrate back then would probably not have killed them.

Now I possess both Gui water and Jia wood elements, and water and wood mutually generate each other, which will generate Ding fire.

Cao Xing sat with his eyes closed, guiding the Qi of the kidney's water element to the liver to nourish the wood element. He then slowly guided the Qi of the wood element to his heart, silently reciting the incantation. Soon, he felt a warm sensation in his heart, as if a small flame was burning.

But Cao Xing was unable to ignite the flame until midnight.

"Phew~~"

As he exhaled a breath of turbid air, Cao Xing felt the warmth in his chest gradually fading away, and he couldn't help but think to himself, "It seems that cultivating Ding Fire in a short time is not an easy task."

Just then, there was a loud knocking sound at the door.

Cao Xing was startled and glanced sideways at the door: "Who's there?"

To his surprise, it was Song Fang's voice coming from outside the door: "Brother Cao, it's me, Song Fang."

"Song Fang?"

Cao Xing glanced at Bixia, but couldn't see her, and Bixia couldn't tell whether what he said was true or false.

He could only walk to the door, put the golden ring on his hand, and press himself against the crack in the door to ask, "What are you doing here?"

"Brother Cao, um... someone wants to see you, could you open the door?"

"Song Fang said softly from outside the door."

See me?

Is this guy trying to trick me into opening the door?

Gu Su made it clear that she wouldn't open the door to anyone at night.

With that thought, Cao Xing made up his mind: "It's too late now, let's talk about it when it's almost dawn."

"Okay. Brother Cao, I'll be going now. Come find me soon."

Song Fang readily agreed, and then there was no more sound from outside the door.

Cao Xing waited at the door for a while longer, and only felt relieved after confirming that there was no more movement outside.

It looks like he's really gone.

Strange, who would send Song Fang to find me?

Cao Xing couldn't figure it out, so he simply stopped thinking about it. The next morning, Cao Xing looked at the sky outside and, when he was sure the sun was about to rise, he opened the door.

He strode over to Song Fang's corpse, kicked it, and saw the souls of Song Fang and the other three quickly rise from the body.

"Brother Cao!"

Song Fang greeted him with a smile, but when he looked up, he saw Cao Xing staring at him with a dark face and an icy expression.

Upon seeing this, Song Fang's heart tightened, and his voice became much softer: "Brother Cao, I was the one who went to find you last night."

Cao Xing glanced at the crimson clouds in the distance and said, "To make a long story short, you'd better not hide it from me. Who sent you to find me last night?"

Faced with Cao Xing's questioning, Song Fang hurriedly said, "There are several old ghosts in the Corpse Dissolving Cave. They heard that you can take them out, and they also want to leave this place. So they want us to make a connection and ask you to take them away."

"Yes, they also told us that if we want to leave, we just need to use ashes, hair, and nails to make a clay figure, and we can hide it in our own ashes to leave here," Erhu quickly added from the side.

"You even told me the method?"

Cao Xing looked at Song Fang and the others in surprise. After thinking it over carefully, he felt more and more that the old ghosts that Song Fang and the others had mentioned were not simple.

This method is not something ordinary people would know; it must be something a cultivator would do, perhaps a fallen master from the Upper Temple?

The other party was clearly trapped here and wanted to use my help to get out of trouble.

wrong!

He remembered that Li Zhen, who died at his hands, had said that the Upper Temple had the means of possession and rebirth.

But they were still suppressed below, which shows that this was intentional on the part of the higher-ups. If I were to act rashly, I might be used as a tool by these old devils.

Thinking of this, Cao Xing said to Song Fang and the other three, "Go tell those old ghosts that I don't have the ability to evolve the Corpse Cave to save them. If they want me to help them, they'd better show some sincerity."

"Yes, yes, I remember."

Song Fang and the other three nodded repeatedly, seemingly sensing Cao Xing's dissatisfaction with their role in connecting the old ghost with others. Their voices became cautious.

Back in his room, Cao Xing pondered carefully the old ghost that Song Fang and the others had mentioned.

These old ghosts were clearly no pushovers, but they probably didn't know the power of the Netherworld Enlightenment Technique.

He enlightened Song Fang and the others himself, but did not forcibly control them, which means that those old ghosts probably do not know the power of the Netherworld Enlightenment Technique.

Once I've figured out the truth, I'll expose them one by one. Even if they have extraordinary abilities, they won't be able to cause any trouble.

But then Cao Xing had a sudden thought and became alert!

No! How could I have such a thought of underestimating my opponent?

I possess the Netherworld Enlightenment Technique, but my cultivation level is ultimately not high. Those old ghosts have been trapped in the Corpse Dissolving Cave for countless years. If they develop a way to break free, I won't even have time to cry.

Just in case, I'll need a method specifically designed to deal with these old devils.

When Gu Su arrived with lunch at noon, the door hadn't even been opened yet.

"Uncle-Master!!" A scream rang out as Cao Xing rushed out of the house, sliding down to his knees and falling in front of Gu Su. He grabbed Gu Su's leg and cried, "Uncle-Master, there were so many ghosts last night! It was so scary! They came and knocked on my door! They scared me to death!"

"Um!"

Gu Su frowned upon hearing this: "Why weren't you notified me?"

"I...I was so scared I forgot. By the time I came to my senses, there was no sound." Cao Xing's face was full of lingering fear. "Uncle-Master, I'm scared. I want to go back to sleep tonight?"

Gu Su's face darkened. She wanted to get angry, but seeing Cao Xing's cowardly appearance, she gritted her teeth and swallowed her anger.

"Get up!" Gu Su frowned, looking at the watermark on her Taoist robe, and gently comforted her, "Don't worry, as long as the ever-burning lamp in the room doesn't go out, those ghostly spirits can't harm you."

"Uncle-Master, do we have any spells to help the souls of the dead pass away? I'd like to help them pass on peacefully," Cao Xing said softly.

If you can help people pass on to the afterlife, what use are you?

Gu Su sneered inwardly, but fearing that saying it would scare the boy away, she thought for a moment and said, "You can go to the Transmission Pavilion. There should be quite a few cultivation techniques there. If you learn a couple diligently, you won't have to worry about these evil spirits harming you."

After saying that, Gu Su simply took out one hundred taels of silver from her own pocket and handed it to Cao Xing: "Consider this your aunt's donation."

"Thank you, Uncle-Master. You're so kind. Let me offer you a toast."

Seeing Cao Xing grinning as he held the silver, Gu Su snorted coldly, "Get back to work, I'm leaving."

"Uncle-Master, would you like to stay for a meal before you leave?"

Cao Xing greeted Gu Su politely as she walked away, and seeing that Gu Su had disappeared without turning her head, he turned around, picked up the roast chicken and steamed buns from the table, went back to his room, and closed the door: "Sister, dinner's ready."