White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 84 Childhood Fun
Amidst the lively scene of family reunions, an eight-year-old child held a few pieces of candy in his palm. He squatted quietly behind a pillar, watching the strangers returning home with innocent eyes.

In his innocent youth, he didn't understand why these relatives all laughed so happily when they saw these strangers.

He picked up a piece of candy his mother had given him and put it in his mouth. The sweetness that seeped into his mouth made the child squint his eyes and grin.

Suddenly, he lowered his head and looked curiously at his shadow, which seemed different from usual.

He reached out and touched the shadow on the ground. A slender hand emerged from the shadow and suddenly grasped his.

"You...who are you?"

The child, startled by the grasping of his hand, stared wide-eyed at the hand that had emerged from the shadow.

"I am your shadow."

A low laugh rang out; the Phantom seemed to have no suspicion of a cub.

"Are you called Ying? My name is Xiao Le. Nobody plays with me. Can you play with me?"

The child blinked; his understanding of ghosts, gods, and demons was superficial; he only knew that anything that could talk was fun.

The Phantom smiled and said, "Then every time you look back, I'll be right behind you."

If you look to the left, I'll raise my right hand; if you look to the right, I'll raise my left hand. Conversely, if I raise my left hand, you should look to the right; if I raise my right hand, you should look to the left.

Whoever is wrong should slap their own hand.

"Okay, okay. Let's begin." Xiao Le said with a smile, "I'll go first, I'll go first."

As he spoke, he stood in the corner and looked back to the left. The dark figure on the ground did not turn its head, but instead raised its right hand.

Xiao Le paused for a moment before saying, "Wrong, wrong."

The shadowy figure chuckled and said, "Where's the mistake? Your left hand corresponds to my right hand."

“But in my eyes, this is what you need your right hand for,” Xiao Le said, frowning. “Wrong is wrong, you can’t lie to me.”

"Xiao Le, who are you talking to?" A gentle voice came from inside, belonging to a woman in a coarse cloth skirt. She found Xiao Le, took her hand, and led her outside, saying, "There will be a lot of people later. You must stay close to your mother and not wander off, understand?"

“I’ve got it, Mom. I’ve found something fun, look!” Xiao Le said with a smile, pointing to the shadow behind him with his right hand.

The woman, whose face was showing some wrinkles, turned around and looked back. "What's so fun?"

"That's my shadow. You can see it moves," Xiao Le said, pointing at the shadow with a smile.

"Silly child, your shadow will definitely follow you." The woman couldn't help but laugh. She walked to a stove and said to him, "You stay here in the kitchen. I'm going to help the master cook. Remember, you must not run out of this yard."

"Okay, Mom, go ahead and get busy." Xiao Le nodded, and after watching the woman leave, she turned back to Yingzi and said, "I heard from Mom that two old people from the clan are coming back, so we need to make lots and lots of delicious food."

There were bright red fish, fragrant chicken, and delicious white flour buns…”

As he spoke, he rubbed his stomach and couldn't help but drool.

The Phantom asked with a smile, "May I join you at the table for dinner?"

“In previous years, we definitely couldn’t, but this year my mother said that since the two elders have come back, we can sit at the table to eat!”
"I'll take you out for some delicious food then, so stay close to me!" Xiao Le wiped the drool from his mouth with his sleeve. Just as he was about to say something, he heard a series of crackling firecrackers outside.

Curious, he stepped onto a brick, stood on tiptoe, and peered through the crack in the window.

But then firecrackers exploded and lit up the courtyard, and a large group of people walked into the courtyard.

Two elderly people were escorted into the courtyard by a group of people. Men, women, and children all looked at the two ordinary-looking old people with curiosity.

The phantom behind Xiao Le emerged from the shadows. He glanced out the window and frowned deeply, saying, "What a small world! How did we run into these two again?"

But then they saw that the two old men in the crowd were the two inheritors of the divine summoning technique that they had met in Fuyun City.

I somehow ended up in someone else's den.

The phantom could only hide in the shadows, daring not to show itself.

Although the old man's life force was nearly depleted, who knew if he could summon the god again? If he did, and the god destroyed his demonic body, it would disrupt the original body's plans.

These two elderly people appeared to be of very high status and seniority in the clan, and even some wealthy people dressed in fine silks and satins had to treat them with the respect due to juniors.

The Phantom could only stay quietly hidden in Xiao Le's shadow. Once the year-end holiday and the first day of the Lunar New Year were over, and the auspicious signs in the world dissipated, he could swagger out.

After noon, the sky became overcast, and the large mansion was bustling with activity, filled with the sounds of people everywhere.

Xiao Le waited and waited, but his mother still hadn't come back. He could only squat in the corner and sigh, "I'm so hungry, why hasn't Mom come back yet?"

Looking at the child, Phantom smiled and said, "What do you want to eat? I'll go steal it for you."

"Steal?" Xiao Le's eyes widened. "But Mom said we can't steal other people's things, or we'll get a spanking if we get caught."

Phantom said "Oh," and added, "But this is your home. Taking food from your own home doesn't count as stealing, does it?"

As he spoke, the shadow on the ground swayed, and the phantom's hand reached out into the distance.

Inside the kitchen, a plump woman paced back and forth, looking at the room piled high with ingredients and a dozen women busily stir-frying, steaming, boiling, and roasting. She urged them, "Hurry up, or you'll be in big trouble if we miss our meal."

Xiao Le's mother wiped the sweat from her forehead and stood up with concern. "Sister-in-law, my Xiao Le has been left unattended all morning. I'll go back and check on him and be right back."

"No way! It's almost lunchtime, and we've already missed work. Do you think your child will get lost in our Zhang family compound?" The shrewish woman said coldly, "Hurry up and cook your beef brisket soup! This dish is what the eldest son's family wanted."

Upon hearing this, she could only turn around and go back helplessly.

The Phantom wasn't curious about what it saw. In the large families living together in the south, they didn't care about the emperor or the court thousands of miles away, nor did they care about righteousness or officialdom. All they cared about was the master of the house within these many walls and courtyards.

These distant relatives and neighbors live worse lives than chickens and ducks who have no worries about food and clothing.

The burly woman looked at the steaming, tender chicken and couldn't help but grunt. She turned around and, taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, reached out and grabbed half a chicken, stuffing it into her sleeve.

Then she turned to the others and said, "I'll go outside and keep watch. You can't leave the courtyard until you've finished your work." With that, she quickly walked out and closed the only door in the room.

Then she eagerly reached into her sleeve, but found nothing and couldn't find the chicken she had taken.

She paused for a moment, then turned and peered through the crack in the door to see if she had fallen to the floor inside.

I looked for a long time, but I still couldn't see it.

In the dark house in the distance, black shadows rippled like water, and half a tender chicken with Sichuan peppercorns on it suddenly jumped up and landed in Xiao Le's arms.

The steaming aroma made him momentarily stunned. He rubbed his eyes and realized it was real. He exclaimed in surprise, "Where did you get this?"

The phantom, hiding in the shadows, chuckled, "Your mother asked me to give this to you."

"Really? You're not lying to me?" Although Xiao Le's eyes were shining with hunger, she still suppressed her appetite and confirmed it again.

“Your mother said not to let Xiao Le go hungry. She said it herself. Your mother told you to eat,” Mei Ying replied with a smile.

Upon hearing that his mother had given him the food, he immediately took a bite of the chicken. The tender and fragrant meat filled his mouth. After taking a bite, Xiao Le looked drooling. Then he remembered Yingzi and said, "You should eat too. This chicken smells so good."

He handed the meat to the shadow and said with a serious expression.

"Hehe, I don't need to eat. Shadows don't have mouths, so they can't eat meat or vegetables. You grow up, and I will naturally grow up too."

Hearing this, Xiao Le nodded as if she understood, "Then I'll grow up quickly so you can grow up too."

As he spoke, he picked up half a chicken and ate it happily.

Outside the courtyard, a commotion arose, and faint black smoke rose into the sky.

The phantom peeked out from the shadows and stealthily looked around.

But then a mad Taoist priest dressed in tattered robes arrived at the Zhang family's gate and shouted, "Zhang Ji! Come out here! I've been waiting for you for decades, and today has finally come!"

Zhang Ji, you come out here! If you don't come out, don't blame me for being ruthless and killing your entire clan!

Several strong young men, seeing the Taoist priest's insane behavior, stepped forward to teach him a lesson.

Seeing a group of people surrounding him, the mad Taoist calmly took out the gourd from his waist and shouted at them, "Three souls and seven spirits, command the underworld to take them in!"

As soon as he finished speaking, everything went black before their eyes, and they all collapsed to the ground as if they had fainted.

The sight startled everyone at the gate, who rushed back into their houses and relayed the message deep into the courtyard.

The mad Taoist stood with a cold smile in front of the tightly closed door, holding a gourd in his hand, waiting confidently. He was sure that old bastard Zhang Ji would come out!
Sure enough, after an incense stick's time, the tightly closed gates of the Zhang residence opened again, and a group of men, women, and children came out and stood guard in front of Zhang Ji.

When the mad Taoist saw him, his eyes turned red, and he said fiercely, "Zhang Ji! Back then, you killed my entire family of seventeen people, and then you just ran away and fled to a distant land."

"I, Wang Xun, have never forgotten the vengeance that wiped out my family!"

Upon seeing this, the elderly couple in the crowd exchanged a glance. The old man, Zhang Ji, sighed and said, "Wang Xun, what happened back then was truly out of helplessness. Your entire family was bewitched by demons and planted with demonic thoughts. They appear to be alive, but in reality, they have all become monstrous demons that suck human blood and flesh."

Besides, I had no choice but to ask a god to possess me back then, and it was the god who destroyed them.

Junior Brother Wang, you're taking things too seriously!

"Shut up! The hatred of your family's massacre is irreconcilable!" the mad Taoist said sternly. "You and I once studied under the same master, but he was so biased that he not only taught you the art of summoning spirits, but also married his daughter to you."

But I have been taking care of him for more than ten years, morning and evening, and I have practiced Taoism and magic regardless of the cold or heat. In what way am I inferior to you?

Why should I receive nothing simply because you say I have such talent? Why should your statement that I was attached to appearances cover up the crime of killing my entire family?

The Zhang family members couldn't understand what was being said, so they all looked at the head of the Zhang family, Zhang Xianqi, who was over fifty years old.

He stood on the high steps of the gate and shouted, "You mad Taoist priest, if you continue to spout nonsense, the Zhang family will no longer tolerate you! Third brother, arrest him..."

"Wait a minute."

But Zhang Ji, with his hunched back, reached out and stopped him, saying, "This is a grudge from my youth, so don't let your clansmen get involved."

Junior Brother Wang, Junior Sister Yue and I have already lived a lifetime together, and we don't have many days left to live.

"Why not let my family reunite for the New Year? Afterwards, I will personally seek you out, and you can do whatever you want with me."

"Old man, what nonsense are you talking about?" the old woman said, frowning.

“Before my master passed away, he frankly admitted that he had wronged Junior Brother Wang. Now that I have inherited his mantle, I should repay this debt of karma for him.” Zhang Ji shook his head and laughed. “I don’t have many years left to live anyway. If I can settle this old debt, it will be worth it.”

"Hmph, Zhang Ji, you're dreaming! How could I let you get away with this? I'll slaughter the entire Zhang family right in front of you! I'll make you watch your whole clan die before your eyes."

I will make you experience the same suffering I have endured!

As the mad Taoist spoke, he pointed with one hand at the gourd he held in his palm, and instantly, one after another, the heads of evil spirits flew out of the gourd. The sounds of ghosts wailing and howling filled the air, and a cold wind blew. One after another, the ghost heads pounced on the people of the Zhang family.

Zhang Ji's pupils contracted, and he reached out and took out a precious talisman. Golden light flashed and transformed into a layer of light curtain that covered the Zhang residence.

The old woman exclaimed in shock, "Junior Brother Wang, how could you cultivate such an extremely yin and evil technique?"

"Hahaha, so what? My heart is full of hatred, how can I possibly cultivate the immortal arts you all talk about?"
"Even if you possess this Shangqing Zhenxie Treasure Talisman, I'd like to see how much power it still holds!" The mad Taoist said, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He tore open his Taoist robe, revealing his back tattooed with a five-headed ghost image, and said with a smile, "This disciple respectfully invites the Asura Ghost King to appear in the world!"

The blood he spat out flew like red light and merged into the ghostly image on his back. Then, the mad Taoist stuck his hands in and actually gouged out his own eyes.

He couldn't help but scream. The horrifying scene made everyone in the Zhang family tremble with fear and unease.

The mad Taoist, enduring excruciating pain, handed the two pupils he had gouged out to the evil spirit on his back. He knelt down, hands supporting his back, and respectfully said:

"Disciple beseeches the Asura King to manifest! Disciple is willing to offer my body as a sacrifice, and my eyes as a guide, to observe yin and yang, and beseech the Asura King!"

The demon on his back suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke, which, as if possessing a spirit, swallowed his hands and devoured his two pupils.

The next moment, the black mist suddenly rose into the sky, transforming into a huge, dark sea of ​​clouds hundreds of feet high. From within the rolling dark clouds, a five-headed ghost king with a completely red body descended into the world!
(End of this chapter)