The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 11 The Evil Spirit of Mother and Child
Guan Canghai was indeed starving, and he wolfed down his food in a flash.

Qinghe stayed by the window, clutching the peach wood hairpin hidden in her sleeve, trembling with fear.

After Guan Canghai finished eating, Jiang Yuan asked, "Who pushed you into the well?"

Guan Canghai suddenly burst into tears, saying in fits and starts that there were two ghosts in the old well, one big and one small, a young female ghost and a two- or three-year-old baby girl. The baby girl lured him to the edge of the well, and the female ghost lifted the well cover and pulled him down to drown.

Jiang Yuan then asked, "Did the female ghost say anything about the reason?"
Guan Canghai cried and recounted that the female ghost said that it was Guan Canghai's grandfather who pushed her into the well and drowned her. She was six months pregnant when she died.

"What does this have to do with me? I don't know anything, sob sob sob..."

Jiang Yuan frowned. It turned out to be a mother and child evil spirit, and the female ghost was already able to move huge rocks and actively hurt people. This was quite troublesome!

Jiang Yuan knew that asking any more questions would be pointless, so he reminded Qinghe to remove the talisman on the window and let Guan Canghai's soul leave.

Qinghe then believed it; Jiang Yuan was indeed a god descended to earth, easily capturing the ghost, and especially when interrogating the ghost, he was patient and persuasive, displaying extraordinary demeanor.

Jiang Yuan pondered for a moment, then, wanting to strike while the iron was hot, he gave Qinghe some more instructions. He said that he would force Master Guan to tell the truth tonight and then find a way to deal with the mother and child demons.

In the dead of night, the servants of the Guan family suddenly heard shouts, "Haunted! Help!"

When the door to the eldest son's room was pushed open, the room was in a mess, and the young master and his wife were rolling around on the floor with their hair disheveled.

The incident quickly alerted Master Guan and his wife, who rushed to Guan Canghai's room and were quite frightened.

Guan Canghai rushed to his father's feet, saying that two female ghosts, one big and one small, had come to claim his life. The old man Guan turned pale with fright, knowing that he could no longer hide the truth.

Lord Guan then dismissed his servants and spoke with Guan Canghai and his wife about that old story.

Even if Grandpa Guan hadn't said anything, Jiang Yuan had already guessed most of it. But he insisted that Grandpa Guan say it himself, and the rest of the matter would be easier to handle if Grandpa Guan intervened. After all, Guan Canghai was only a twelve-year-old child.

Lord Guan was just turning fifty when the incident occurred exactly fifty years ago, shortly after his birth. He heard about it from his mother.

The one who was pushed into the well and drowned was Guan's grandfather's concubine.

The concubine was also pregnant, but she tried to murder the infant Master Guan, but was caught red-handed by Guan's grandmother.

Guan's grandfather was so enraged that he drank several more cups of wine that day and actually pushed his concubine into the well to drown her.

After sobering up, Guan's grandfather was filled with remorse but dared not make a sound, so he secretly sealed the old well.

The concubine's family had long since fallen into ruin and had few members left. The Guan family also kept a tight rein on their servants, so they managed to keep it a secret from everyone.

Jiang Yuan understood that infighting among families was common, but for a pregnant concubine to murder the eldest son in his swaddling clothes was not something an ordinary person could do. It was probably a self-inflicted injury plot by the Guan family grandmother. Unless there was a great injustice involved, it would be difficult for such a tragic event to occur between mother and child.

Now that we know it's the vengeful ghost from the well that's claiming our lives, and there's a chance it might happen again, we must find a way to get rid of it.

Jiang Yuan is not confident in dealing with the fierce mother-child demon at the moment and needs to plan carefully.

On the surface, he could persuade Lord Guan to invite the Taoist priests from Maoshan to exorcise demons. Regardless of whether the priests were real or fake, Jiang Yuan could take advantage of the chaos and launch a sneak attack with the peach wood hairpin.

Jiang Yuan had long understood that the ascension to the Great Power was just a memory from his past life. Now he was just a mortal, and he had to humble himself. He had already acted out the whole thing, rolling on the ground. It wasn't shameful. Survival was the only right thing to do.

Three days later, the Guan family indeed invited a master. Jiang Yuan was dumbfounded when he saw him. It turned out to be a blind old Taoist priest with an eleven or twelve-year-old boy.

The old Taoist priest had clearly done his homework. After arriving, he took the initiative to talk to Guan Canghai several times, intentionally testing him. It seemed that he knew about the legend of resurrection through possession.

Jiang Yuan is just a mortal now, and the old Taoist priest couldn't see anything wrong with him, but he stared at Qinghe with dead fish eyes several times.

The young Taoist priest asked in a low voice, "Master, is that beautiful woman a vengeful ghost?"

The blind Taoist priest cursed, "Stop talking nonsense!"

Jiang Yuan had no magical powers and could not discern the old Taoist's cultivation level, but judging from the aura he could sense from the peach wood hairpin, he must indeed be a Taoist practitioner. However, he wondered if the old Taoist had the ability to subdue the Mother-Child Fiend.

Jiang Yuan deliberately embellished the description, making the characteristics of the mother and child demons very clear. The old Taoist hesitated slightly, then asked for 10,000 coins. To everyone's surprise, Lord Guan agreed without hesitation.

The old Taoist priest's face twitched, clearly indicating that he had made a great decision. He then set up a table in the backyard of the Guan family and began to perform rituals, allowing only a few members of the family to watch from the side.

Jiang Yuan knew that most of the so-called cultivators mingling among mortals were just rogue cultivators who had only just entered the Qi Refining stage, at most reaching the second or third level of Qi Refining. They couldn't wield real magical artifacts; they might be able to deal with ordinary ghosts and demons, but the Mother-Child Fiend was a bit too much for them. The old Taoist was clearly short of money and wanted to take a gamble.

Jiang Yuan had made some preparations, of course. The talismans that bound Guan Canghai's soul were useless and would not be able to stop the evil claws. The only thing he was sure of was that he had a peach wood hairpin and a red thread of fate in hand, which would protect him from harm.

To launch a sneak attack on a vengeful ghost, one must use a bit of soul power to activate the peach wood hairpin. This is the only method he, a true immortal from his previous life, can use, even though it will damage his vital energy.

If the Taoist priest succeeds, it's better to avoid getting involved; if he fails, it's not too late to intervene.

The blind Taoist priest's spells were quite impressive; he wielded a peach wood sword with the grace of a dragon, but it was merely the martial arts of an ordinary person.

The key is that at each pause in the action, a talisman is picked up and placed in several specific locations in the courtyard, gradually forming an array.

Jiang Yuan could tell, of course, that this was the most common Five Elements Formation, used for defense.

That's right. This formation is meant to protect family members, so that the evil spirits won't harm mortals during the battle.

People like blind old Taoist priests are essentially itinerant performers. When they exorcise demons, they insist that their own family members come to watch, which will then provide them with free advertising.

That's why these itinerant performers, in addition to genuine Taoist magic, prefer to engage in flashy and exaggerated feints, the key being that they look good and create a grand spectacle.

Qinghe kept stealing glances at Jiang Yuan, probably wondering to herself, "This Taoist priest looks so powerful. I wonder how he compares to my husband?"

Jiang Yuan didn't take it seriously, deciding to wait and see.

The Taoist priest had completed the Five Elements Defense Formation. Now came the important part: the target was the old well in the northwest corner. He switched to an offensive formation, and the talismans were even more powerful.

Before the formation was completed, black gas suddenly spewed out of the well, and the sound of a child crying could be heard.

Jiang Yuan noticed that Grandpa Guan, Madam Guan, and Qinghe did not react at all, obviously they did not feel anything.

The female ghost in the well screamed, "You blind Taoist priest, you scared my child! Get out of here now, or I'll spare your life!"

The old Taoist priest felt a chill run down his spine. This female ghost was indeed powerful. At noon, when the sun was shining brightly, she was able to exhale corpse energy to block out the sunlight.

Jiang Yuan also sensed something was wrong. The female ghost's spiritual sense was not weak; she had already seen the Taoist's appearance from the bottom of the well.

The old Taoist priest shouted, "Disciple, prepare to fight!"

The young Taoist priest shouted, "Understood!" and jumped more than ten feet high, raising an apricot-yellow flag.

A ghostly claw emerged from the black mist at the wellhead and lunged at the old Taoist priest.

The old Taoist priest used his peach wood sword to pick up a talisman, then spat out a fireball to ignite the talisman and fight off the ghostly claws.

The spells collided with a loud bang, sparks flew everywhere, clearly indicating a draw.

Grandpa Guan and his wife, who were in the defensive formation, were so frightened that they kept backing away. Jiang Yuan quickly reached out to stop them, pretending to be scared and huddled together.

Qinghe had already received instructions, and with the peach wood hairpin in hand, she was assured of safety, so she remained undeterred.

The young Taoist boy's apricot-yellow flag began to wave, and wisps of golden light emanated from it. A sudden gust of wind arose, attempting to disperse the black corpse energy.

Jiang Yuan then realized that the young Taoist's cultivation level seemed to be a notch higher than that of the old Taoist, which surprised him somewhat.

Even more surprisingly, the little ghost girl in the well burst out of the black corpse energy and rushed straight at the young Taoist priest. It was rather strange that this little ghost could appear in broad daylight.

The young Taoist priest switched the apricot-yellow flag to his left hand, continuing to cast spells, while his right hand drew a peach wood sword from his waist, engaging the little devil in a clanging battle.

Jiang Yuan hadn't seen Qi Refining Realm cultivators fight in a long time, and found it quite exciting. He was also annoyed, wondering when he would be able to start Qi Refining.

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(End of this chapter)