It was already cockcrow. Evergreen Sage looked exhausted, but he had finished drawing several special yellow talismans. The glutinous rice water in the pot had been strained out, and he instructed me to wrap small spoonfuls of glutinous rice in each talisman. These would be useful in a crisis, meant to counteract corpse poison.
Afterward, Evergreen Sage went to sleep in my study, leaving me alone to work. I finished preparing exactly thirty-six small packets of glutinous rice, tying each with thin red string. Sitting at the kitchen doorway, I quietly watched the sleeping quarters. The Shrew was still asleep, seemingly undisturbed by any of the noise.
Evergreen Sage had said that if the Ironhide Revenant ever broke the seal, it would come for him first, since he had imprisoned it for a long time and its hatred for him was greatest. I suggested we just find the Golden Soulstone and destroy it, but Evergreen Sage immediately refused.
The Golden Soulstone is a supremely yin object, formed from a fusion of corpse energy and yin energy. It's harder than stone or iron, even harder than gemstones—destroying it is nearly impossible, and using Taoist arts is out of the question. The only way is purification, slowly refining it with the power of the living world, and not a single mistake can occur, or else the Ironhide Revenant will be resurrected.
Evergreen Sage’s explanation made it clear: the Golden Soulstone, with its immense density and mass, truly couldn’t be destroyed. But now, with my current power, I should be able to destroy it. I raised my hand, imagining releasing baleful energy, but my body didn’t respond at all. As expected, I was still in a dream, unable to do anything.
What’s more, I began to doubt whether this dream was even my own—there wasn't the slightest trace of familiarity.
Daylight broke. Evergreen Sage, now refreshed, came over and inspected the glutinous rice talismans I’d made, nodding in approval. He handed me more than ten of them, telling me to tie them around my waist with string and use them when the time came.
“Damn it, who messed up my pot like this?”
Startled, I saw The Shrew storm over, her face livid, grabbing my ear and demanding answers. I glanced aside—Evergreen Sage had already disappeared.
"It was that Taoist priest—he said he needed to make something to deal with the revenant, so he used our pot."
As soon as I said that, The Shrew let go of me. I explained that the Taoist priest wanted to teach me something useful—so that if anything happened in town, I could help out, maybe even make some money from it. The Shrew beamed, and I told her to stay home and not go anywhere; I was heading to the magistrate’s office.
Soon, I arrived at the courtyard behind the magistrate’s office where corpses were stored. The place was packed with onlookers. The sun was bright and the morning light strong. The Ironhide Revenant was tied up tight to a pillar, while people chattered all around. The mayor smiled, constantly asking Evergreen Sage how he planned to handle things.
I quietly watched the Ironhide Revenant. Its skin was a bluish-green, with some scorched marks, and smoke occasionally rose from its body. Although sunlight suppressed it somewhat, and it disliked moving in the sun, the burns from daylight would quickly heal by nightfall.
Then Evergreen Sage named me as his helper, and everyone in the courtyard burst out laughing, saying I was always the most afraid of ghosts.
Evergreen Sage explained that my birth chart was naturally strong—those with weaker charts would easily attract misfortune when dealing with such things, and might have years of bad luck ahead. Hearing this, everyone hurried to leave, and once the gate was closed, I immediately went up to ask him.
"So? Is there nothing we can do right now?"
"If we remove these restraints, the Ironhide Revenant will likely wake up. It’s tricky—my ritual implements for controlling it aren’t working anymore, and the object I implanted in its skull is gradually losing effectiveness."
With that, Evergreen Sage fetched two stools. We climbed up, and he carefully parted the Ironhide Revenant’s hair. I saw a shiny silver needle, about as thick as a finger, with red runes faintly visible at its tip, driven right into the revenant’s skull.
"This was set up to disperse yin energy and the corpse energy from the revenant, so I could control it. It took me years to come up with this method. But now, I can’t find materials for new ritual implements, and even if I could make them, it would take time to strengthen them. Once the Ironhide Revenant regains its power, I won’t be able to handle it."
I looked at Evergreen Sage in confusion.
"Didn’t you say you subdued it all by yourself?"
Evergreen Sage shot me a sideways grin, and I immediately understood—he’d been bragging.
"How could it have been just me? My master, three senior brothers, and two junior brothers—all died at the hands of the Ironhide Revenant. We finally managed to capture it. After surviving, I brought it to the place my master designated and imprisoned it. Over the following years, I eventually figured out a way to control it."
"So now there’s nothing we can do?"
Evergreen Sage shook his head and said,
"It’s fine. Even after it recovers, it won’t regain its full strength right away—at most, half its power. Just don’t let it drink any blood."
I stared in surprise.
"Didn’t you let it drink the blood of a lot of people before?"
Evergreen Sage nodded.
"I only let it kill those people; it barely drank any blood. To make sure it wouldn’t go mad from bloodlust, I usually fed it animal blood. This time, it only had a little human blood."
"You didn’t have to kill so many of Huang Daxian’s people."
Evergreen Sage’s face changed immediately.
"What I hate most are those fake Taoists. Under the guise of priesthood, they committed all sorts of vile acts. Their followers were the same, so I killed them—what’s wrong with that?"
I swallowed hard, and Evergreen Sage went back to observing.
"Time might be tight, but you should quickly find a skilled carpenter to make me a Peachwood Blade. As long as it looks like a sword, that’s enough. I’ll stay here and keep watch."
This chapter isn’t over yet~.~ Please click next page to continue reading the rest!
I agreed and left immediately. Evergreen Sage gave me some money, and I found an old carpenter. There were peach trees in the orchard near town, so I gathered a few strong young men to help cut one down.
By dusk, the Peachwood Blade was finished—it had been baked over fire and bore some scorch marks. I hurried to deliver it to Evergreen Sage.
"Evergreen Sage, open up—the sword is ready."
But the door remained shut. I pounded on it for a long time, feeling something was wrong. The wall was too high to climb, so I called for the constables. We shouted for ages with no response. At last, with a few heavy bangs, we broke the door down with a thick wooden beam. Instantly, everyone’s eyes widened—someone even screamed.
Retching echoed through the room—someone threw up. The sight inside was chilling: Evergreen Sage was dead, his head impaled on a wooden stake, his body torn to pieces, entrails strewn everywhere, with barely any blood in sight. The Ironhide Revenant was gone.
Panic swept through the town—doors and windows were locked tight in every household. That afternoon, the mayor fled, and I tried to follow, but couldn’t leave the town.
There was nothing left to do. The Taoist was dead, the Ironhide Revenant had escaped. How could I possibly turn this nightmare into a good dream? But Xiao Qi had insisted I find a Taoist who could subdue revenants—he promised he wouldn’t lie to me. For a moment, I was completely lost. After helping dispose of Evergreen Sage’s body, I returned home, where The Shrew stared at me in terror as soon as I entered.
"The Taoist is dead—what do we do now?"
I had no idea what would happen next. Thinking about that bastard Evergreen Sage—after all his talk, and after borrowing ten years of my life force, he just died on me. I was furious.
The sun set. The town was dead silent, not a soul on the streets. I sat quietly in the courtyard. The Shrew had gone to bed early, just as I’d told her—she’d be safe staying home.
Night fell. I returned to my study, still unable to think of any solution. Just then, a strange, fierce wind whipped through the courtyard. My eyes widened—it was ghost energy, faint but real. I rushed to open the door.
In an instant, I collapsed to the ground in terror—a headless, mangled corpse, stitched together and barely recognizable, was standing at the door.
"Don’t be scared, Zhang the Coward—it’s me, Evergreen Sage."
My eyes widened—Evergreen Sage was holding his own head.
"Why did you turn into a ghost so quickly?"
"I’m not a ghost. When I died, I used Taoist arts to anchor my soul. I’m not far from becoming a ghost, but I can’t stay long. I failed—today I meant to use a stronger spell to suppress it, but the needle in my skull flew out. It came alive, grabbed me, and drained my blood immediately."
I swallowed and asked,
"So what do we do now?"
"There’s only one way, Zhang the Coward. Isn’t there an old ruined temple here?"
I looked at Evergreen Sage in confusion. He said,
"Tonight, go stay in the ruined temple—move quickly. It’s on the west side of town, up the little path into the hills."
"Why?"
Evergreen Sage sighed.
"Because I borrowed your life force, and although the Ironhide Revenant killed me, my connection to you means its hatred has transferred to you as well."
"So you’ve screwed me over?"
Without another word, I rushed out and sprinted down the street. Evergreen Sage floated along behind me.
"We’ll talk when we get to the ruined temple. I can stay until cockcrow—six or seven hours. I’ll teach you some things, and you’ll be the one to deal with the Ironhide Revenant."