I'm modifying myself into the ultimate demon.

Chapter 72 The Red Lantern Goddess Bestows Magic
Guo Ziyu was a ruthless person who didn't talk much. She simply hummed in agreement.

Guo Ziyang looked at Chen Mo with envy, as his older sister usually took him with her when she went out on patrol.

Chen Mo has only been here for a few days, and he's already feeling somewhat marginalized...

Thinking of this, Guo Ziyang couldn't help but feel a little envious. Finally, he gritted his teeth and added, "Father, since my elder sister has gone, she shouldn't be in any danger. Let me go with her to broaden my horizons."

Guo Songyang took a puff of his pipe and said in a gloomy tone, "That ghost is extremely ferocious. Your skills are no match for Chen Mo's. Going there would only cause trouble for your sister. Stay at the manor and take care of some trivial matters."

Although Guo Ziyang was disappointed, he did not dare to disobey his father and reluctantly said "Oh".

……

As night fell, dark clouds shrouded the moon, and the sky grew gloomy.

Chen Mo had brought his broadsword, blood peach wood sword, and dagger early on and was waiting at the door of the west wing.

Before long, Guo Ziyu, with her hair disheveled, came out from the backyard. She didn't seem to be carrying any special weapons or tools, just a lantern.

Guo Ziyu looked listless. "Young Master Mo, let's go."

Chen Mo responded and hurriedly followed. As they were about to leave the inner courtyard, Guo Ziyang sneaked up to them, scratching his head as he said, "Sister, I've grown up in this village and have never been to Qinghe Town before. Sister, please take me to see the world. I promise I won't cause you any trouble."

Guo Ziyu shook her head, her expression solemn: "Your skills are not yet up to par. Taking you to Qinghe Town would only harm you."

Guo Ziyang pouted, his face full of disappointment.

Seeing his expression, Guo Ziyu comforted him, "You know why our Black Mountain Stronghold is a secret branch of the Red Lanterns—it's all to guard the defense line of Qinghe Town. Over the years, quite a few leaders have died in Qinghe Town, and even the previous stronghold leader died there. You should stay here in the village."

"Once you've mastered the second level of the Bright Jade Skill, I'll naturally take you there."

Hearing this, Guo Ziyang felt much relieved and stopped insisting. "Sister, Young Master Mo, please be careful."

"Brother Guo is very thoughtful."

Chen Mo exchanged a few polite words, then followed Guo Ziyu out of the manor and headed straight for Wuqiao Town.

It was almost the beginning of the Xu hour, just as night was falling. The shops on both sides of the town's streets had already turned off their lights, leaving only two brothels with their doors still open, adding to the eerie and terrifying atmosphere.

When passing by Erhu's house, Guo Ziyu, a woman of few words and ruthless nature, took the initiative to knock on the gate.

Erhu's mother heard the knocking but didn't dare to open the door immediately. She asked timidly from inside, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Guo Ziyu."

Squeak!

When Erhu's mother opened the door and saw Guo Ziyu and Chen Mo, she immediately knelt down to express her gratitude.

Guo Ziyu helped her up, "Did Erhu successfully reincarnate?"

“Sure, Erhu suffered in the mountains, bullied by evil spirits. It was thanks to you that he was able to see his mother one last time and be reincarnated. When Erhu left, he told me, his mother, not to forget to thank you for your kindness.” The woman cried, tears streaming down her face.

"It's because Erhu is kind-hearted and has accumulated good karma that he has received such a good reward. He will surely be reborn into a good family in his next life. From now on, don't go into the mountains at night." Guo Ziyu had seen too many of these kinds of partings and deaths, so she didn't feel sad at all. She gave these words of advice and then left.

Before leaving, the woman gave Guo Ziyu a basket of eggs and meat strips. Guo Ziyu didn't take them herself, but told Chen Mo to take them.

According to Guo Ziyu, these gifts, though worthless, were a blessing. Refusing them would hurt the villagers' feelings and alienate them from the village.

A give-and-take relationship is the key to a village's long-term survival.

After leaving Erhu's house, Guo Ziyu led the way, away from the town, and walked three or four miles eastward before stopping in front of a rather impressive mansion.

Through casual conversation on the road, Chen Mo learned that this was the home of Chen Rong'an, the village elder who had been possessed by evil spirits, as mentioned by Guo Songyang.

In this day and age, the imperial court is weak and unable to govern effectively. In addition, the Great Qian Dynasty has a long-standing tradition of imperial power not extending to the countryside, so the order in various towns and villages is mostly maintained by local gentry and elders.

If disputes arose among the families, the village elders and gentry would step in to distinguish right from wrong.

Therefore, the local gentry and elders held great status and prestige.

Chen Rong'an is one of the two most renowned elders in Wuqiao Town.

The one who opened the door was Chen Rong'an's eldest son, Chen Bao. A middle-aged man in his early forties, wearing a gray long gown, he had the air of a refined scholar.

As the eldest son in his family, Chen Bao lived in Wuqiao Town for many years and naturally recognized the various leaders and managers of Heishan Village. Upon seeing Guo Ziyu, he bowed deeply.

"I'm sorry to trouble Steward Guo to come so late at night. It's cold outside, please come inside and warm yourself by the fire."

After saying that, Chen Bao called out to the person behind him, "Ayu, we have a distinguished guest. Quickly light the stove and prepare some fruits and pastries..."

Upon entering the main hall, a maid named Ayu served fruits and pastries, while Chen Bao welcomed Guo Ziyu and Chen Mo to their seats and personally poured tea for them.

Guo Ziyu didn't bother with pleasantries and went straight to the point, "Tell me about your father's possession by evil spirits."

Chen Bao nodded in agreement, his eyes slightly red as he recounted the process:

"This story begins with Old Xie from town. Old Xie is skilled in paper cutting and carving, and he makes a living by doing carpentry work. A while ago, his son Xie Weng, who had gone out to learn a craft, returned home. He had somehow learned shadow puppetry and brought two friends with him. They put on a shadow puppet show at home."

Old Xie had received a favor from my father years ago and knew that my father had always enjoyed watching shadow puppet shows. Three days ago, he invited my father to his house to watch a shadow puppet show. My father went with great enthusiasm, but then…”

At this point, Chen Bao's face showed fear. He composed himself before continuing, "I don't know what happened at Old Xie's house. When I rushed over, Old Xie was dead on the spot. His son and two other friends were also acting crazy. My father was unconscious on the ground... After I carried my father home, he became confused and delirious. I consulted many doctors, but none of them could diagnose the cause of his illness. That's when I went to Fu Huo Village to ask Steward Guo for help."

Guo Ziyu listened patiently, then her gaze darkened, and she asked, "Where is Old Man Chen?"

Chen Bao seemed to have something difficult to say. After hesitating for a while, he gritted his teeth and said, "It's in the backyard. Please come with me."

After saying this, Chen Bao dismissed A Yu and led Chen Mo and Guo Ziyu through the corridor to the door of a secluded room in the backyard. He pushed the door open a crack and stepped aside, saying, "My father is inside."

Chen Mo glanced into the half-open door and saw that the room was only lit by a dim oil lamp. The light was dim, and there was a vague figure wriggling in the room, making a hoarse and low "woofing" sound.

Chen Mo was all too familiar with this scene, and a bad feeling already crept into his mind. But since Guo Ziyu was leading the way this time, Chen Mo didn't rush in first.

Chen Mo followed Guo Ziyu into the room.

Suddenly, I saw an old man with white hair bound hand and foot with ropes, lying on the ground, trying to bite his own hands. Fortunately, his hands and feet were tied with ropes.

Madness!
Chen Mo had seen many such cases, so he wasn't afraid. He immediately opened the panel and, sure enough, saw a baby's face on Chen Rong'an's abdomen.

There are three black bars inside the box.

This gave Chen Mo a chill.

He vaguely remembered that the woman he bought from the government prison had initially contracted madness, which started as a single black bar and gradually evolved over three months to become three black bars.

Chen Rong'an has only been suffering from madness for three days, and he already has three black thorns.

That's incredibly exaggerated!
This means that the vengeful spirits here are far more ferocious than those in the city!

Sure enough, the closer we got to Qinghe Town, the more dangerous it became!
Moreover, Master Xie has already deduced the path of mutual influence: what he has seen and heard.

Could watching a shadow puppet show really infect someone with such a vicious madness?

What kind of shadow puppet show must that be?

Just then, Chen Bao suddenly knelt on the ground, took out a bag full of loose silver, and kowtowed repeatedly, "Please, Steward Guo, help cure my father."

Guo Ziyu glanced at the silver and told Chen Mo to accept it. Then she said, "Our village is here to protect the villagers. Go and fetch a basin of hot water. Also, don't let anyone in."

Before long, Chen Bao brought in a large basin of boiling water, then respectfully withdrew and stood guard at the courtyard gate to prevent anyone from entering.

Only Chen Mo and Guo Ziyu remained in the room. The dim lighting, combined with Chen Rong'an's roars and howls, added to the eerie atmosphere.

Chen Mo couldn't help but ask curiously, "Miss Ziyu, can such a severe case of madness be cured?"

Guo Ziyu said, "Ordinary people naturally have no way to cure this, but I can use the method of preserving the spirit to perform the ritual of receiving the spirit, and respectfully invite the goddess's wonderful method to bestow her grace, and then I can be cured."

This can be cured?
The red light camera is something else.

If the Empress were to bestow upon me a miraculous blessing... would I be able to recover as well?
However, his own ghost blood was far more potent than madness, and Chen Mo dared not risk it.

Chen Mo suddenly thought of a question and asked, "Miss Ziyu, have you ever seen the Red Lantern Goddess? Do you know whether the Goddess is male or female?"

When he asked this question, Chen Mo instinctively recalled the yellow-robed baby he had once hallucinated.

Could this infant spirit be the Red Lantern Goddess?
Guo Ziyu pondered for a moment and said, "I have never seen the Empress's true form, but I have received the inner light of the Empress's divine power, which can be considered as indirectly seeing the Empress's appearance. The Empress is a woman."

Chen Mo fell silent.

If the Red Lantern Lady is a woman, then... who is the Yellow-Robed Baby?

Furthermore, the Yellow-Robed Spirit Infant used its madness to select a host and caused such a commotion in Honghe County, so why didn't the Red Lantern Goddess take it in?
After all, Honghe County is the territory of the Red Lantern Goddess...

Could it be that this spirit infant is too powerful, making it impossible for even the Red Lantern Goddess to deal with it?

Or is there some kind of relationship between the Red Lantern Goddess and the spirit infant? Is she simply unable to bring herself to harm him?
The flood of complex information overwhelmed Chen Mo, leaving him feeling confused and disoriented.

Since there was so little information available, Chen Mo couldn't figure out the reason and had to give up in the end.

At this moment, Guo Ziyu took out a red candle from her personal pocket and handed it to Chen Mo, saying, "Use your blood to pray to the Goddess of the Red Lantern and light this red candle." Chen Mo nodded in agreement and accepted the red candle.

But for some reason, when Chen Mo saw the red candle again, he felt a little uneasy.

He bit his finger, muttering things like "May the Red Lantern Goddess protect you," and then dripped his blood onto the candle wick.

Logically speaking, the red candle should light up instantly.

However, when Chen Mo's blood dripped onto the candle wick... it didn't cause any reaction.

The red candle...can't be lit.

Ok?
How did that happen?

Both Granny Li and Chen Wu were able to light red candles.

Chen Mo refused to believe it and dripped another drop of blood onto it.

It still didn't work...

Could it be that I've developed a mental illness?
That’s not right either.

Even though Granny Li was a symbiotic being with madness, she still lit a red candle...

Following this line of thought, Chen Mo quickly came up with a conjecture: the... cursed blood within me?

Although Granny Li is a symbiotic being, it's only that her body and the vengeful ghost energy have reached a balance. The vengeful ghost energy hasn't yet materialized and affected the other's physical body.

But I am different...

The madness, mixed with the vengeful ghostly energy, manifested as physical ghostly cursed blood, already affecting his bloodline. Combined with the previous modification, this caused his own bloodline to merge with the ghostly blood.

It is quite reasonable that the red candles of the Red Lantern Goddess should not be lit.

In other words... he transcended the symbiote.

If that's the case, then the infant spirit and the Red Lantern Goddess are indeed not the same person, otherwise they wouldn't be conflicting and unable to light the red candles.

Something is wrong!
Last time at the Chen Family Ancestral Hall, Li Yuanlong asked him to light blood incense for the Red Lantern Goddess, using his own blood... Why was it able to be lit?

Both blood incense and red candles are used to worship the Red Lantern Goddess... the principle should be the same.

It's important to know that Chen Mo's madness at that time also manifested as physical ghost blood.

What are the differences between them?

Chen Mo felt that he had overlooked some important information.

Unable to figure it out for a moment, Chen Mo put his mind at ease. He turned around abruptly and found Guo Ziyu staring at him with a surprised look, as if she had figured something out.

Chen Mo quickly came up with an excuse, "Perhaps I haven't been a member of the village long enough, and I'm not sincere enough to the Queen?"

Guo Ziyu was taken aback for a moment, then forced herself to say, "That should be it..."

After saying that, Guo Ziyu snatched the red candle away, saying, "I'll do it myself."

After muttering a few words about the Red Lantern Goddess, Guo Ziyu bit her finger and lit the red candle.

Chen Mo: "..."

So you think you're the only one who can't do it?
Fortunately, Chen Mo was not a coy person. He quickly recovered and helped Guo Ziyu take out talismans, five-emperor coins, blood peach wood, and some other old items from the bundle.

After arranging the items on the table, Guo Ziyu took out a parchment scroll from her personal pocket, on which was drawn an image of the Red Lantern Goddess. Chen Mo quickly leaned closer to look and saw that the Red Lantern Goddess was a very beautiful young woman with a kind and benevolent appearance, yet also noble and solemn. She was so pleasing to the eye that one instinctively felt a sense of respect.

The next moment, Guo Ziyu hung the sheepskin scroll on the table, knelt down and kowtowed three times in reverence, then sat down cross-legged next to the incense table, calming her mind and focusing her spirit.

After a moment, Guo Ziyu seemed to enter a special meditative state, muttering to herself:

"Today, Elder Chen Rong'an of Wuqiao Town has fallen ill with a demonic disease, infected by ghostly energy. Believer Guo Ziyu, through the art of preserving the divine, respectfully requests the wondrous power of the Goddess to bestow grace and save him from this dire situation!"

In an instant, Chen Mo suddenly felt an extremely powerful spiritual force erupt from Guo Ziyu's body, flowing into the parchment scroll like incense.

The light of the red candle, the incense, and the spirit of Guo Ziyu... all three flowed into the image of the goddess on the parchment like water.

The originally dim image of the goddess gradually became clearer and fuller. Faint rays of light emanated from the image, as if the goddess's image was about to step out of the parchment.

Chen Mo had been in this world for more than three months and had seen many strange things, but such a bizarre sight was something he had never seen before.

Is this the real ritual for welcoming the gods?

Preserving the spirit...

Could this be the village's most treasured secret skill?
For some reason, when Chen Mo saw the image of the Red Lantern Goddess on the parchment, he felt an instinctive sense of unease and horror.

He seemed to be very afraid of this lady.

So... Chen Mo took a step back.

The anxiety in my heart actually subsided a little.

Just then, the image of the goddess on the parchment suddenly seemed to come alive, emitting a dark red light that entered Guo Ziyu's brow.

Guo Ziyu sat up straight as if struck by lightning, seemingly lost in thought, muttering terms that Chen Mo couldn't understand.

The next moment, Guo Ziyu moved her stiff body and slowly walked to Chen Rong'an, suddenly making a hand seal. With a 'whoosh' sound, the red light between her brows suddenly landed on Chen Rong'an's abdomen.

Chen Mo activated his cheat system and clearly saw that after the red light landed on the baby's face on Chen Rong'an's abdomen, the square black bars on the baby's face were decreasing one by one.

Three, two, one...

Finally, the boxes all disappeared.

Even the vengeful ghost energy within Chen Rong'an's body disappeared.

When Chen Mo witnessed the entire process of the madness being cured for the first time, he couldn't help but think to himself: This method of preserving the spirit is truly amazing! And this Red Lantern Goddess is also extraordinary.

This is the true blessing bestowed by the Red Lantern Goddess.

The ritual Li Yuanlong performed for himself at the Chen Family Ancestral Hall last time had absolutely no effect. It was completely fake. Li Yuanlong is suspicious!
This is a huge problem!
call!
Guo Ziyu suddenly let out a long sigh, snapping out of her daze. She sat down on the ground, exhausted, her head drooping, her face showing signs of fatigue.

Seeing that Guo Ziyu was about to lose her balance, Chen Mo quickly stepped forward to help her up, asking with concern, "Miss Ziyu, are you alright?"

Guo Ziyu shook her head. "The process of receiving the god is very taxing. You can help me down to rest for a while."

Chen Mo nodded in agreement and helped Guo Ziyu out the door.

Chen Bao, who had been waiting at the door, hurriedly stepped forward and bowed, "My father..."

Guo Ziyu was quite efficient, saying directly, "He's healed and will wake up soon. When your father wakes up, bring him to the living room. I have some questions to ask him."

Chen Bao bowed deeply, saying, "Thank you so much, Steward Guo, for saving my father! I will never forget your great kindness!"

……

Chen Mo helped Guo Ziyu back to the living room, where Ayu served her.

Seeing that Guo Ziyu was pale and weak, Chen Mo said to Ayu, "Miss, could you please prepare some nourishing meat dishes?"

Ayu was about to agree when Guo Ziyu stopped her, saying, "No need, you can go now."

Knowing that these two were important figures in the village, Ayu dared not say much, gave a curtsy, and left the living room.

Once there were no outsiders in the living room, Guo Ziyu explained to Chen Mo, "The method used to receive the gods is the preservation of the spirit, and ordinary meat will not quench my thirst. I will be fine after resting for a while."

After saying this, Guo Ziyu took out an object wrapped in mulberry paper from her personal pocket, took out two pieces of dried meat from it and ate them, then closed her eyes to rest. Before long, her complexion improved significantly.

Chen Mo watched with great curiosity: it seemed that the Black Mountain Stronghold's exorcism skills were not the true internal martial arts like the Mingyu Gong, but rather some kind of spirit preservation method.

Chen Mo was filled with anticipation. He decided that once this matter was over, he would seek Guo Ziyu's advice.

A short while later, footsteps were heard outside the door.

It was Chen Bao who helped Chen Rong'an in.

Chen Rong'an was wearing a cotton-padded jacket, his face was full of wrinkles, his temples were graying, and he was leaning on a cane, walking unsteadily.

Even so, as soon as Chen Rong'an entered the gate, he bowed to Chen Mo and the other man at the head of the table, saying, "Thank you, Steward Guo, for your righteous help, which saved this old man from death."

Chen Bao, who was standing to the side, knelt on the ground and kowtowed repeatedly to express his gratitude.

Guo Ziyu raised her hand in a gesture of respect, "Saving people from fire and water, and exorcising evil spirits to bring peace to the people, are the duties of our village. Elder Chen, there's no need for this. Let me ask you, what's the deal with that shadow puppet show?"

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

P.S.: Two chapters totaling 10,000 words, I'll just post them all at once. Please vote with monthly tickets!
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