Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 75 Candlelight and Shadows
The night was as thick as ink, and the official road was swallowed up in the boundless darkness.

Zhao Tiezhu led several constables, moving along with uneven steps, the sound of their horses' hooves becoming listless, making dull thuds as they hit the ground.

My calves felt like they were filled with lead, my throat was parched, and a cold wind chilled me to the bone.

"Boss... take a... rest your feet..." The short, fat constable was panting like a broken bellows, licking his dry, cracked lips.

Zhao Tiezhu himself was also about to give up. Just as he was about to curse, "Useless thing," his peripheral vision caught sight of the left side of the official road ahead.

A dark village outline appeared, and there was a single light shining through it!
"There are lights! There's a village!" The tall, thin constable, with his sharp eyes, shouted in a hoarse voice, his voice filled with the wild joy of escaping death.

"Heaven have mercy!" The short, fat man swallowed a non-existent mouthful of saliva. "Go and ask for a bowl of hot water and something to eat!"

No one objected.

The five people dragged their feet and rushed straight towards the courtyard.

A small, lonely courtyard with its gate open.

On the paper window of the earthen house behind, a figure sat upright, slender and motionless.

"Hey! Listen up, you inside!" The tall, thin constable took a breath and shouted towards the window, "An official from Jiujiang Prefecture is passing by on official business!"
Get some hot food and water! You'll definitely get a tip!

The figures reflected on the window paper were like clay or wooden sculptures, completely unresponsive.

"Are you deaf?" the short, stout man muttered, then went to the door and pushed it open.

"Squeak!"

The door opened.

Several people walked in.

The room was completely empty!
There was only a broken wooden table with a small oil lamp burning forlornly on it. The flame was small and straight. There was no woman in sight.
"This is...this is weird..." The short, stout man rubbed his arms, his hair standing on end. "Just now...I clearly saw..."

"This room is even more eerie than the outside!"

The tall, thin man crossed his arms, his teeth chattering.

An indescribable chill crept up from the soles of my feet like a snake, seeping into the very bones.

Zhao Tiezhu's scalp tingled, and the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, as if they were being held firmly in place by unseen eyes.

A chill ran up my spine and straight to the top of my head!
"No! Go! Go now!" he roared hoarsely, his voice distorted.

Before he could finish speaking, a muffled thud was heard beside him.

The short, stout constable fell straight to the ground, face down, motionless.

"Fatty?!" Zhao Tiezhu was terrified and pounced on him, flipping him over.

A face came into view.

His face had an eerie peach-colored hue, and a deeply satisfied and intoxicated smile spread across his lips, as if he were lost in the sweetest dream.

It was ice-cold to the touch, hard as a rock, and had no warmth at all!
"Dead...dead?!" Zhao Tiezhu was terrified.

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

"Pfft!"

Like dominoes being toppled, the tall, thin man, the young constable, and two others fell to the ground one after another.

Without exception, their faces all wore radiant smiles of utter satisfaction, while their bodies were cold and stiff, as if they had been dead for a long time.

"Oops!"

Zhao Tiezhu's eyes were bloodshot, and he let out a beast-like howl. All the blood in his body rushed to his head, his face instantly turned purple-red, and his bones cracked and popped. He used all his strength to slam into the doorway!
Just as his toes were about to step out of the threshold.

puff!
The dim oil lamp went out without warning.

Darkness, enveloped in biting cold, instantly swallowed the entire room.

A pale hand silently emerged from the darkness behind Zhao Tiezhu.

The hand was slender and withered, with black grime embedded in its nails, and carried the rotten smell of an old coffin. It grabbed at the back of his neck with lightning speed!

The chill of death froze to the bone!

Zhao Tiezhu let out a strange cry, not even having time to turn around. Relying on his years of experience licking blood from the edge of a knife, his waist suddenly lurched, and he rolled out of the house in a very disheveled, lazy manner, tumbling and crawling into the cold mud of the yard. He didn't even dare to look back, scrambling to his feet like a wild dog with its tail burned off, and ran for his life in the direction of the official road he remembered!

The cold wind cut my face like a knife, and my lungs felt like they were on fire.

He ran for an unknown amount of time, until he was almost completely exhausted, before he dared to stop. He leaned on his knees, panting heavily, his breath billowing out far into the distance.

After calming down a bit, I looked around.

Cold sweat instantly soaked through my heavy clothes.

A crooked old locust tree... a familiar mud-brick house... white paper money fluttering in the wind... this... is clearly Yangliutun!
"I've seen a ghost! I've seen a ghost!"

Zhao Tiezhu trembled violently, his pale face contorted with pain. "He ran around all night... how... how did he come back?!"

A huge, incomprehensible fear gripped him.

He turned his head sharply, looking at the deep darkness in the center of the village, as if grasping at the last straw.

"Master Qi!"

At this moment, Zhao Tiezhu already knew that he was being watched by that ghost.

If they want to survive, they have no choice but to go to Qi Yun.

Immediately, his figure plunged into the thick darkness leading to the village chief's house.

The night was deathly still; even the chirping of insects had ceased, and only the occasional rustling of paper money carried by the wind was desolate and chilling.

Deep within the empty house that had claimed five lives, without warning, the extinguished oil lamp flickered back to life with a tiny flame, no bigger than a bean.

The soft light spread again, dispelling the inky darkness.

A seated figure was clearly reflected on the window paper.

The figure suddenly moved.

It slowly stood up.

“Tick…tick…tick…”

Hollow footsteps echoed in the deathly silent room, unhurried and slow, heading towards the door.

"Squeak—!"

The wooden door hinges groaned as they were pulled open from the inside.

A blurry black figure silently stepped across the threshold and disappeared into the boundless night outside the courtyard.

In the side room of the village chief's house, Qi Yun sat cross-legged on the cold earthen bed.

The long sword rested horizontally on his knees, one hand on the scabbard and the other gripping the hilt tightly.

His eyes were closed, but his breathing was uneven.

The mystery of five living people disappearing without a trace during the day is like a cold, venomous snake coiling around my heart.

Xuanjizi had previously said that when the yang energy is bright during the day, ghosts and monsters will hide themselves.

But how could the evil spirits of Yangliu Village commit such acts of violence in broad daylight?
If he was truly so vicious, why was the gatekeeper, Old Zhang, unharmed?
How could Zhao Tiezhu possibly escape?

Is it brave or foolish to stay here with my meager skills?

Is it an act of chivalry or a reckless suicide?

A voice screamed wildly in his heart: Go! Go now! We can come back and slay the demons when our cultivation is deeper!

The moment this thought arose, Xuanqing's instruction to "eliminate demons and protect the righteous path," along with the heroic roar of the dragon's cry from the box, instantly resurfaced.

How can there be no danger in slaying demons and monsters?

If he were to retreat at the first sign of trouble, he would simply remain hidden in the mountains.

If everyone fears danger and avoids disaster, wouldn't demons run rampant without restraint?
This caused Qi Yun to immediately begin to struggle with his inner conflict!
The two opposing ideas, like two armies locked in battle, fought fiercely and evenly.

The chilling fear and the burning passion of chivalry tore wildly through his body, causing the veins on his forehead to throb and his breathing to become increasingly erratic.

The sticky sweat on his palms soaked the hilt of the sword.

(End of this chapter)