Part-Time Taoist Priest 9

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How To Deal With a Witch

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Zhang Daoting thought that Xie Lingya was going to a gang fight, so he was relieved when he saw him take out the wooden sword. “Are you going out for a ceremony? Should I stay behind to watch the temple?”

“Yes, stay here. I will go alone,” Xie Lingya took the Three Treasures Sword out of the box and headed out the back door.

Even if Baoyang had more staff, he wouldn’t bring Zhang Daoting. Zhang Daoting didn’t have much skill and besides, Taihe’s people would probably want to keep things low key.

It had been a while since the shop owner came with the news. When Xie Lingya arrived at the scene, the ambulance was already there.

Xie Lingya squeezed through the crowd and saw the medical staff lifting the old Taoist priest onto a stretcher. The priest’s leg was deformed and blood was coming out from a big gash across his waist.

“Are you alright, Daozhang?” Xie Lingya asked the old man.

The priest was conscious but rambling nonsense. The onlookers believed him to be a crazy old man who had somehow sneaked into the construction site and lost his footing. 

This was the haunted construction site where He Zun and his friends encountered a ghost previously. For some reason, the construction had stopped for the past several days. The old priest had fallen some time ago, yet the other priests from Taihe hadn’t come to look for him—it seemed like something was happening inside.

“This person is a priest from Taihe Temple. Please call Taihe Temple later,” said Xie Lingya to a nearby medical staff member, slipping away before the man could respond.

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The sky gradually darkened as the sun set in the west.

Xie Lingya held the Three Treasure Sword as he sneaked into the site through a gap before the construction company reacted to the incident. They were building a large shopping mall here. The mall had been topped out some time ago and there were no workers inside.

The walls and floor were still bare concrete, the interior work having been left for later. The lights weren’t on because the work had stopped, leaving Xie Lingya in pitch black darkness as he moved further into the building..

 Xie Lingya could hear no movements inside and the place was so large that he didn’t know where to go. Then, an idea struck him. He set down the sword, took a small bag of cinnabar from his pocket and began to chant:

“…Thee have no need for me to draw Thy sacred image,
As long as my heart follows Thy will.
I pray now for Thy advent,
For Thy holy light to fill this mortal shell!”

He dipped his fingers into the cinnabar when he finished the incantation and drew a curved line between his eyebrows, shaped like the arabic numeral 2 but with a smoother curve. On the upper hook, he drew another circle in the centre, like an eye.

This was the Spirit Official Wang Urgent Invoking Incantation. It could be used during an emergency to ask Spirit Official Wang to take possession of the body.

Xie Lingya only wanted to borrow a bit of the god’s power, so he drew an ‘eye’ between his eyebrows. The statue of Spirit Official Wang had a third eye on the forehead, providing him perception beyond ordinary sight, and that was the power Xie Lingya needed right now.

Generally, not every priest was able to invite a god to possess their body, and even for those who could, they wouldn’t succeed every time. However, Xie Lingya’s situation was a little special—in addition to his natural talent, he was also in the middle of restoring the god’s statue… Logically, Spirit Official Wang shouldn’t refuse his plea, right?

When Xie Lingya moved his hands away from his eyes, he could see strands of yin energy, some thick, some faint. The concentration of yin energy in the construction site was a little higher than in other places, which made the feng shui here not good for the living.

He found the switch and turned on the lights, then looked around in the dim glow. Noticing the yin aura was particularly thick around one of the pillars, he dashed over.

As Xie Lingya rounded the pillar, he saw a short-haired man with his head lowered, standing alone.

The man lifted his head, revealing a pale ashen face with blood streaming out of his orifices. His lifeless eyes stared straight at Xie Lingya.

Shocked, Xie Lingya took a step back: “Fuck!”

“Ahhhh!!” At the same time, the ghost let out a shriek of horror and started to tremble like a leaf.

Xie Lingya: “……”

Xie Lingya: “Fuck, why are you screaming?”

The ghost shook his head fervently, not daring to look at the vermillion third eye on Xie Lingya’s forehead. 

As a god of thunder and fire, Spirit Official Wang, who was tasked with exorcising evil, was extremely valiant and unyielding. The ghost was, but a forlorn wandering spirit. Naturally, he ran away and hid, terrified, when Xie Lingya suddenly started invoking the god’s power.

Xie Lingya had never interacted with a ghost before. Well, to be honest, he hadn’t seen all that many ghosts until now. He raised his sword, prepared to exterminate the ghost.

Terror-stricken, the ghost frantically waved his hands, his spiritual body floating about uncontrollably. He was just a weak, lonely spirit, and it hadn’t been long since he became a ghost. Communicating with words was impossible, the most he was able to do was make some noise. 

“Huh? Wait… Aren’t you that guy who accidentally fell to his death here some time ago?”

The ghost nodded. Xie Lingya thought this ghost was about as timid as He Zun, nothing even remotely close to the Guest Spirits in Uncle He’s house, and it made him too embarrassed to exterminate him. “Have you seen any Taoist priests around?”

The ghost pointed to the darkness deeper inside.

There was a rock to every scissor—this ghost had scared He Zun before, but when he met Xie Lingya, it was his turn to be scared.

“Great, then you can lead the way,” Xie Lingya said.

Although he had acquired the Divine Eye of Spirit Official, compared to the ghost who resided here everyday, he was not as familiar with the surroundings.

The ghost quickly turned and went further inside. Xie Lingya didn’t know if it was his imagination, but he thought he heard a faint whimper in the silent space.

Xie Lingya followed the ghost into the depths of the construction site and climbed the stairs to the fourth floor. From the stairs landing, he could see the thick plumes of yin energy drifting around. It emanated an unpleasant, damp and slimy feeling.

At the same time, he heard human voices coming from behind a doorway. He recognized them—they belonged to the Taihe priests he met earlier today. Eager, he walked towards the empty doorway.

The ghost floated in front of Xie Lingya a few times in panic, wanting to leave.

“Go then,” Xie Lingya waved him away. He adjusted his grip on the Three Treasures Sword and stepped through the door.

The fourth floor was an empty, open space; moonlight shone through the windows, making the surroundings faintly discernible. The situation did not seem to be simple.

An old woman sat in the corner, muttering something unintelligible. An old man lay motionless on the floor beside her, his head in her arms. He was obviously dead. Around the two were seven jars.

Nearby, Shi Changxuan was fending off five ghostly figures with a wooden sword in one hand and talisman in the other.

Unlike the timid ghost from before, these five figures were either red or green. It was said red and green spirits were malevolent, and the more intense the color, the more ferocious ghost was. The colors of the spirit forms of the five haunts were very vivid.

Shi Changxuan strained to hold back their attacks. Sharp shrieks of agony could be heard when the malevolent spirits came in contact with the talisman. Thanks to the Divine Eye of Spirit Official Wang, Xie Lingya could not only see the ghosts and yin energy, but also the aura on Shi Changxuan’s talisman.

Three other priests stood close by, two seeming to have gone mad—their faces contorted into a sinister expression as they tried to attack Shi Changxuan. The third priest struggled to block them and they ended up fighting in a tangle.

“Shi Daozhang!” Xie Lingya shouted and ran towards him.

Shi Changxuan cast a quick look at him and a flash of surprise crossed his expressionless face.

By this time, the old woman also noticed Xie Lingya. Her lips moved faster.

——In an instant, the five ferocious spirits around Shi Changxuan paused, turned and rushed towards Xie Lingya instead.

Xie Lingya: “……”

Xie Lingya almost couldn’t brake in time. A quick emergency stop and a U-turn later, he was sprinting the other way, cursing loudly as he ran: “Fuck you and all your ancestors to the eighteenth generation!”

Although he was here to help, they didn’t need to ALL come after him, right?!

Xie Lingya looked over his shoulder. The five malevolent spirits pursued him, close enough that he could see how repulsive their faces were and feel the gusts of chilly air coming from them.

Shi Changxuan wasn’t sitting on his hands either. After the spirits stopped attacking him, he went to help his colleague who was wrestling with the two possessed priests.

As big as the mall was, it wasn’t endless/boundless. Xie Lingya suspected that the old priest who fell off the building had also been forced to the edge of the floor and fell off.

Xie Lingya reached the empty windows. Suddenly, he whirled around, sword held horizontally in front, and shouted loudly: “All-encompassing Dao, heed my call!”

Pure energy burst forth from the Three Treasures Sword!

The rampaging ghosts screamed as they were thrown back, injured by the sword’s power. Burns appeared on their spirit forms, making them look even more ferocious.

This was the second technique of the Three Treasures Sword: Sword of Frugality.

Compassion births bravery while frugality births abundance. The Sword of Compassion was a single-target attack, though its power could spread to the close surrounding, like when Xie Lingya destroyed the seven Guests Ghosts with a single strike.

The Sword of Frugality, on the other hand, was the real AoE attack. In a situation where enemies were coming from all directions, like now, the Sword of Frugality was more suitable.

Seeing as it was the first time Xie Lingya used the second technique, it was a bit awkward. He needed some time to prepare before he could release the technique.

However, these malevolent spirits were clearly controlled by the old woman. And they were extremely ferocious—even after being injured, they continued to obey her command and attack Xie Lingya.

From the other side, Shi Changxuan shouted,“Come here!”

Xie Lingya held out his sword before himself to open a path and ran back towards Shi Changxuan while rummaging in his pocket with his other hand.

Shi Changxuan pressed one of the possessed priests to the ground with one hand while the other two priests continued to wrestle with each other. Shi Changxuan bit his finger and used his blood to draw a symbol on the possessed priest’s face.

The possessed priest let out an ear-piercing shriek, fainting as a green ghost shot out of his body and hid in the jar in front of the old woman.

Shi Changxuan got up, drew another bloody symbol on his sword, and struck the other possessed priest with it. Another malevolent spirit shot out of the man’s body, but this one floated in the air and screeched at Shi Changxuan.

The old woman cackled and in a raspy voice said, “Out of talismans? But how much more blood can you use?”

Shi Changxuan’s expression cooled. He pushed up his sleeves, revealing his bloodstained hands.

At that moment, Xie Lingya, who was already close to them, finally managed to pull out what he’d been searching for, and threw it out. Fifty or sixty Spirit Official Protection Talismans scattered in the air, fluttering and falling like snowflakes.

Old woman: “…………”

Shi Changxuan: “…………”

Shi Changxuan was quick to react. He picked one up by the tip of his sword and, instantly recognizing what kind of talisman it was, he chanted: “I bow to the gods, let the evil be banished!”

The talisman flew towards the vengeful spirit, sticking to it as if glued. The spirit’s body dissipated into a fog, rolling and undulating in the air, a face twisted in agony appearing now and then.

Behind Shi Changxuan, Xie Lingya learned from his example and also used his sword to pick up the talismans and fling it at the ghosts.

And he was much more open-handed—unlike an ordinary Taoist who used talismans thriftily, he, with the pride of a wholesaler, stuck seven talismans on one spirit. Try moving now!

The only clear-minded Taihe priest had been fighting the possessed priests for a long time. Relieved to see the situation improve, he plopped down on the floor in exhaustion, eyes filled with gratitude as he looked at Xie Lingya.

“You little bastard!” The old woman gnashed her teeth, fuming with rage at Xie Lingya who appeared out of nowhere. He seemed to be a Taoist practitioner but she couldn’t identify his background.

There were many Taoist schools—the main ones included Quanzhen, Zhengyi, Maoshan, and Lushan, not counting their respective branches. According to the founder and patriarchs, these branches further split into groups such as Zhengyang, Chunyang, Ziran, and many more.

Xie Lingya worshipped Spirit Official Wang, a minority among minority. It was no surprise the old woman wasn’t able to tell off the bat.

Xie Lingya wasn’t happy to be insulted. “Me, a bastard? Then what are you, you old hag? Being dead is bad enough, yet you treat them as slaves and won’t let them rest in peace.”

He knew the dead old man was most likely the one who cursed the money Uncle He picked up and  the one who fought with Abbot Chen Sansheng, but he had to pretend he didn’t know.

“I heard that a priest jumped off the building. I felt that something was off so I came to have a look,” he said to Shi Changxuan and the other priest.

“Many thanks to you, Mr. Xie.” The Taihe priest sitting on the floor cupped his hands in front of him in gratitude.

“It’s too early to be happy.” The old woman’s eyes shone with malicious intent. She formed a complicated seal with her hands and started to chant.

Xie Lingya’s reacted instantly. He bent down, picked up a brick the construction workers left lying around, and flung it at her.

Bang! The old woman was caught off guard. She managed to dodge but the brick still grazed her face, scratching it hard enough for blood to appear.

Xie Lingya: “Eh? Those are some quick reflexes.”

Shi Changxuan: “……”

Taihe priest: “……”

Xie Lingya was bewildered. “Why are you looking at me like that? I couldn’t let her finish chanting, could I?”

This was profound knowledge, left behind by countless predecessors’ bitter experiences: you should never let an enemy mage finish casting a big spell or you were done for. Unfortunately, Xie Lingya hadn’t expected the old hag to still be so sprightly and have such quick reflexes. If the brick did hit her, wouldn’t he ‘solo the boss’?

After having a brick thrown at her, the old woman was even more resentful. She wiped the blood off her face and onto the face of the old man’s corpse on her lap. It was easy to see the action exhausted her.

Xie Lingya saw the yin energy around the corpse getting thicker and thicker when suddenly, it sat up. Its face rapidly decayed in several places, and a horrible stench began to emanate from it.

The Taihe priest’s expression changed, exclaiming in disgust, “Is she completely mad? She even refined her own husband’s corpse.”

Xie Lingya didn’t have much knowledge on the subject, but judging from the priest’s reaction, he figured that refining and animating the corpse was not good for the deceased’s soul.

The old woman leaned against the wall, having no strength to speak. That last spell had consumed all her energy.

Shi Changxuan’s brows creased—he hadn’t thought she was this insane. “Seal up this place,” he whispered to Xie Lingya.

At first, Xie Lingya had no idea what to do, but when he saw Shi Changxuan look at the talismans scattered on the floor, he understood immediately. He nodded, gathered all the sheets, and ran to the side.

He stuck the Spirit Official Protection Talismans on the doors and windows. This talisman was almost universal: it could drive out evil spirits, serve as protection, and even maintain health.

Fortunately, he had brought many talismans. This place was too big; it was probably meant to be a supermarket because the first floor was mostly an open space. One or two talismans wouldn’t have been enough.

Shi Changxuan and the Taihe priest were fighting off the animated corpse, while Xie Lingya was pasting the talismans everywhere. In the end, he was still short of a few, so he hurriedly took out the remaining cinnabar and began to draw the symbols on the walls with his fingers.

This part of the floor still wasn’t completely finished, and several window panes were still missing. When Xie Lingya turned to draw, he heard the Taihe priest shout, “Be careful!”

At the same moment, a gust of yin energy came from behind. He whipped around, raising his sword to block.

A green shadow rushing at Xie Lingya collided with the Three Treasures Sword and disappeared with a shriek. It was the vengeful spirit which had escaped by hiding in the Ghost-Nurturing Jar.

Affected by the force of the impact, Xie Lingya’s body fell backward toward the empty window.  He thought, Shit!, guessing he would accompany the old priest in the hospital.

But right then, he felt something push against his back, stopping him from falling out!

Stunned, Xie Lingya looked behind him—it was the ghost from earlier who showed him the way that helped him.  He perched on the windowsill watching Xie Lingya timidly, his form less vivid than before due to the energy he had expended.

“Thank you!” Xie Lingya quickly finished up the symbols. Shi Changxuan and the priest were still locked in a stalemate with the animated corpse.

The corpse was extremely strong. With one hand, it grabbed the Taihe priest’s arm, its fingers sinking into it, leaving several bloody holes. The other hand held off Shi Changxuan—his peachwood sword that was pressed against the corpse’s waist couldn’t advance further.

Xie Lingya rushed over to help. He grabbed the corpse’s neck, pulled it back, and stabbed it with the Three Treasures Sword. Despite it being just a wooden sword, it sunk deep into the corpse’s back.

The animated corpse roared in pain and let go of Shi Changxuan and the Taihe priest. 

Hands freed, Shi Changxuan swung his sword around.Smooth as drifting clouds and flowing water, the sword pierced the corpse’s waist all the way through, the tip emerging from the other side!

A vast amount of yin energy escaped from the corpse’s mouth. Losing all its previous strength, the corpse crumpled into a heap on the floor.

The three men panted, catching their breath. The only sounds left were the anguished whimpers of the ferocious ghosts restrained by the talismans.

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The reinforcements of about a dozen priests from Taihe Temple finally arrived. Some helped the wounded, others cleaned up the corpses. The priest wounded by the animated corpse was drawing the poison out of the bloody claw holes that had turned black.

This priest was called Mao Zhengqing. He was a member of the management committee of Taihe Temple. To put it in more conventional terms, he was like an Elder in a martial arts sect.

While using glutinous rice poultice to extract the poison, he repeatedly thanked Shi Changxuan and Xie Lingya. Shi Changxuan had been assisting them from the beginning, and if it wasn’t for Xie Lingya’s help, Shi Changxuan would’ve likely hurt his vitality by drawing symbols with his blood.

Thinking Xie Lingya was not aware of the inside story, Mao Zhengqing turned to Xie Lingya, “That old couple were ‘shi niang,’ witches. Do you know what they are?”

Xie Lingya nodded—’Shi Niang’ was the alternate name for ‘Wu.’ Among the folks, practitioners of Wu, no matter men or women, were all known as witches. They excelled in spells and summoning ghosts, but not all were like this couple, who cast curses for money. Many practiced folk medicine and helped people communicate with the spirits of their ancestors.

“They were the ones behind the curse on the money Mr. He picked up. They came from another province and had done many such dealings in Queshan. In order to make money, they’ve already killed several people,” Mao Zhengqing explained. “When Shi Daozhang broke the curse, the old man suffered a backlash. At that time, we sensed he hadn’t been alone, and our search led us to this place.”

He omitted the part about Abbot Chen’s failure in breaking the curse and getting injured instead. Xie Lingya didn’t expose him, only sighed with emotion, “I see, so it was like this. It seems the brick was the right move.”

Mao Zhengqing: “……”

To be honest, the young man’s generous use of talismans and excessive use of force left a deep impression on him. While these two young men both were good at talismans, in terms of behaviour, this youngster and Shi Daozhang were on two different ends of the scale!

Whatever Mao Zhengqing might’ve thought, he kept his opinions to himself—there was too much on his plate already.

Xie Lingya seemed to not have noticed anything. After Mao Zhengqing walked away, he asked Shi Changxuan quietly, “Is Master Chen alright?”

Shi Changxuan shook his head. After a momentary pause, he said, “Thank you.”

Xie Lingya waved his hand: “No need to thank me. When one sees injustice, he must draw his sabre and help!” After saying that, he noticed Shi Changxuan staring at the sword in his hand and promptly corrected himself, “His sword, I meant his sword.”

His pale and slender fingers, lustrous like jade in the moonlight, contrasted with the dark color of aged wood when he held the sword.

But looks were deceptive—just now, the same hands decisively and skillfully wielded the sword and the talismans. Upon a closer look, some cinnabar remained on his fingertips, staining it vermillion, just like the vermillion on his forehead…

Shi Changxuan’s phoenix eyes rested on Xie Lingya’s hands for a long moment before he looked away. “…Thank you anyway.”

His intense, inexplicable gaze made Xie Lingya want to hide his hands. He forced out a dry laugh, “Ha ha, you’re welcome.”

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Author’s Note:

When Xie Lingya appeared on the scene:
Normal people: Damn him! Interrupting my cool moves again!
Shi Daozhang : (All kinds of mysterious mental workings) …Thank you.

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Translator: Velvet
TL Checker : Eques
Editor: Kiri

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