Although Zhang Jizheng no longer seemed hostile, I still remained wary of him.
"Speak. Where did you take that girl?"
Zhang Jizheng shook his head and walked over with a smile.
"We should find another place to talk. After all, you were just fighting me inside your primordial spirit. Let's head back quickly."
Suddenly, the moment Zhang Jizheng finished speaking, I regained consciousness. In an instant, I saw a crowd gathered around me, some pointing and touching my body. I quickly wiped the drool from my mouth and smiled. A few people nearby were startled. Someone told me I had been standing there, dazed, for over ten minutes. I hurriedly made up an excuse and sent the bystanders away.
It was already late. I glanced around and suddenly spotted the old Taoist, Zhang Jizheng, who swiftly slipped into the hotel lobby and stood there, as if waiting for me.
I hurried into the hotel. Zhang Jizheng darted into the elevator. I rushed over, waiting for the elevator to come down. Once inside, I was about to press the button, but saw the elevator was heading to the ninth floor. I sent my Shadow back to Rachel's room. I had already released my Specter Web and sensed nothing unusual, but I still had to be cautious.
When I reached the ninth floor and stepped out of the elevator, I saw Zhang Jizheng's figure. As I followed, he vanished again. Feeling a bit frustrated, I looked at the rooftop entrance that had just swung open with a bang. I smiled and climbed up to the rooftop, arriving at the top of the hotel.
On the rooftop, under the cold moonlight, I saw Zhang Jizheng holding a ceremonial whisk, his beard fluttering in the wind. He had an air of Daoist mystique, but I still complained.
"Stop darting around. Tell me, what exactly are you planning?"
Moreover, the old Taoist claimed to know my past—and my future. I had no idea what he was really up to.
"That young girl—Taoist as I am—I didn't take her. She was captured by someone else, or rather, something else."
"A revenant," I said immediately. Zhang Jizheng nodded and began to explain.
"Ethan Zhang, I know why you're here—what you're looking for. Back then, I took part in the Arcane Society's great cleansing ritual against the ghostly practitioners. The revenants were no exception—they, too, were thoroughly purged. And this place has always been a land of deep Yin."
"So how can we find the revenant that took our people?"
I had no patience for his rambling about things I didn't understand. All I wanted to know was how to save Rufina Howard.
"Ignorant... shallow..."
Zhang Jizheng spat out the words in anger, glaring at me. I clenched my teeth, tempted to punch him.
After a long moment, I sighed.
"Fine, tell me what you want. I'll listen, alright?"
"That's more like it, Ethan Zhang. You have to take things one step at a time."
Due to its unique geography, this place has long been known as a land of deep Yin and abundant fortune. The terrain itself formed this, making it a feng shui treasure. Back then, a wealthy landowner, guided by a sage, discovered this place, opened up a road into the mountains, and moved his whole family here.
More villagers arrived, and the sage warned that although this place was blessed, it must never be invaded by evil forces. Otherwise, it could instantly become a place of great misfortune. Only those who belonged to the village could gather fortune here, and the landowner took note of this.
Just as the sage predicted, the landowner grew old with a house full of descendants and wealth pouring in. The village wasn't far from the town, so his children worked in the city while he enjoyed his twilight years in Gourd Village, living a comfortable life.
"Stop, stop, stop."
I raised a hand and immediately called for a halt, staring at Zhang Jizheng in disbelief. He seemed completely absorbed in his story, determined to tell me every detail.
"What's wrong, Ethan Zhang? I haven't finished yet."
"How much longer is this story going to take?"
I was already getting drowsy, just wanting to know where the revenants in this village were.
"It's a long one. Just listen patiently until I finish."
"Forget it, Taoist. I just want to know who the hell took that girl. Just tell me straight."
"I don't know."
I blinked, staring at Zhang Jizheng in disbelief.
Then I decisively turned away, ready to leave, but Zhang Jizheng instantly blocked my path.
"I'm not finished yet."
I glanced at Zhang Jizheng.
"If you don't know, why bother telling me all this? What's the point?"
I was too tired to deal with him. Thinking about how I looked when I woke up tonight, I just wanted to crawl into a hole. I glared at him, grinding my teeth.
"Do you know why you can't sense anything?"
"Why?"
"Revenants are neither human nor ghost. They're just soulless corpses, their spirits long gone. Some revenants have lived for centuries and can even change their appearance to look just like people. Aside from a few traits, they're indistinguishable from humans—that's why you can't find them."
I was speechless. My aversion to Zhang Jizheng only grew—after all, he admitted to being part of the great ghost-cleansing centuries ago. I'd heard practitioners back then killed any ghost they saw, leaving no survivors.
The truth was probably even more brutal than I imagined.
"How did you die?"
I asked bluntly, because Rufina Howard had said that, judging by the mummy—Zhang Jizheng's corpse—he died after being drained of blood by a bloodsucking revenant.
"Sigh... what a cursed fate. I only blame myself for slaying so many revenants. When I came here, it was during the time our Dao Sect followed someone's lead, and most of us died because of it."
(This chapter isn't finished yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading the rest!)
My heart skipped a beat. Dao Sect?
Zhang Jizheng then explained that the Dao Sect was a group of practitioners who based their arts on Taoist magic. This included the Mount Mason Order, which was considered rather unorthodox and also called the Broken Clothes sect.
The so-called Broken Clothes refers to everything they wear and use being tattered—even their household items. At this, I recalled two people: Mao Xiaoyu, whose clothes were always a bit odd and ragged, and the old Taoist I met at Wisteria Community, Mao Yiping, as well as Mao Wang from before.
The orthodox heirs of the Mount Mason Order mostly bear the surname Mao. Their practices differ from the usual Dao Sect, with most Mount Mason sorcerers focusing on ghostly arts. In the past, the order was even considered heretical—they'd tell fortunes and alter destinies for people, which went against the sect's principles.
But over centuries, the Mount Mason Order gradually broke away from the main Dao Sect and became orthodox. Meanwhile, many Dao Sect practitioners declined, as they cut themselves off from the world. Mount Mason sorcerers, though often involved with money, could still cultivate quietly and master profound Taoist arts if disciplined.
I remembered Zhang Wuju, my father's old friend—he must have been a true Dao Sect disciple. The arts he used were slightly different from typical Mount Mason techniques.
"Back then, I came here with a group of fellow disciples to this revenant-infested place. At that time, the area for miles around was deserted, and the nearby towns had become ghost towns."
I gasped, staring at Zhang Jizheng in shock. What he described was completely different from what I'd heard in the museum.
"The story in the museum is just made up. Back then, this place was the Ninefold Abyss—a gathering ground for revenants. According to three different methods of absorption, revenants are divided into three main clans. They turned this place into their kingdom, trying to emulate the Seven Ghost Sovereigns and rule over all."
"What about Yuna Ji? How is she connected to these revenants?"
As soon as I finished speaking, Zhang Jizheng's expression changed, showing intense disgust.
"That Ghost Sovereign, right? Among the Seven Ghost Sovereigns, she posed the greatest threat to our world of practitioners. If it weren't for the Brahma Order's masters sealing Yuna Ji away, we could never have handled those revenants. After all, Yuna Ji became a Ghost Sovereign entirely thanks to the revenants' support."
I was stunned. I never expected Yuna Ji to have been raised by revenants.
And now that I thought about it, Yuna Ji had no ghost domain, nor the appearance of a hundred ghosts, yet she could be called a Ghost Sovereign. Even Redhair said Yuna Ji's power was tricky to handle.
"Taoist, please tell me—how can I find the bloodsucking revenant?"
"It's difficult, Ethan Zhang. Since I was killed by a bloodsucking revenant, even my corpse was sealed. They want me to never reincarnate. After the great cleansing, both our Dao Sect and the revenants suffered heavy losses. No one who came here survived—except when I tried to kill myself, I was stopped. All my fellow disciples were executed."
"Taoist, now..."
Zhang Jizheng shook his head and sighed.
"I'm the only one who still knows what happened here. After I got out, I realized the revenants had completely cut themselves off from the outside world. There's a guide in this village—a powerful revenant. Only by finding him can you enter the realm of the dead."