Chapter 43: The Fierce Ghost Tells a Story

Although the ghostly aura stopped spreading, the ghostly mist surrounding the man in white grew increasingly dense. Good grief, he was on the verge of a berserk rampage.

"Brother Ghost, please hold your fire. You must understand, I am not here to subdue you, but to save you," Liu Jun said, improvising under pressure to buy some time. Thank goodness he had been bored enough in the restroom to skim through those two absurd books written by the old codger: "On How to Bluff Ghosts" and "Methods for Escaping When You Can't Beat a Ghost."

"You came holding a thunder talisman, preparing to blow up my wife's grave, yet you have the nerve to say you're here to save me? Have today's Taoist priests all become this shameless?" came the ghostly, chilling voice of the man in white.

"Brother Ghost, how could I ever dare to blow up your wife's grave? Didn't I resort to this drastic measure precisely to stop you from courting disaster?"

"Spare me your smooth-talking lies! You are still holding that thunder talisman. Either put it down so we can talk, or I, Li, will make you, this despicable Taoist priest, be buried alive with my wife!" *Damn it, calling me despicable every other breath. If I weren't no match for you, I'd definitely smack you in the face with a brick,* Liu Jun thought to himself.

"Look here, Brother Ghost. Let's sit down and talk this over. I promise not to blow up your wife's grave, and you stop the ghostly aura from spreading. Let's just have a chat first."

"Can I trust a Taoist priest like you?" The man in white hesitated slightly, probably afraid that Liu Jun really might blow up his wife's tomb.

"You can trust me, absolutely. Rest assured, my reputation is known to all. People affectionately call me the Young Master of Honesty and Integrity," Liu Jun said with a sincere, beaming smile.

"Very well. I suppose you can't pull off any cheap tricks anyway." The man in white walked right up to Liu Jun, sat down beside the tombstone, and gently stroked the stone marker with a look of profound affection.

"I was once a mere scholar during the Daoguang era." A two-hundred-year-old formidable ghost was now personally recounting his love story online, so everyone please take a seat and listen attentively. Both Liu Jun and Fatty sat down, not daring to get too close to the man in white for fear of being slapped to death with a single strike.

The man in white had indeed been a scholar during the Daoguang era. His surname was Li, and his given name was Zicheng. According to Li Zicheng, back then he was quite handsome and refined. Though he couldn't compare to Zhuge Liang and others, he possessed vast learning and abundant talent, earning him the moniker "Scholar Li."

Originally, Scholar Li's family was quite well-off. However, his father was murdered by bandits on a business trip, and his mother passed away from overwhelming grief, leaving him all alone. His family fortunes declined, and he fell into poverty.

With walls bare of any valuables, Scholar Li had no other skills besides a good command of literature. He finally made up his mind to travel to the capital for the imperial examinations to attain an official title, which would atone to his deceased parents.

After studying hard at home for some time, Scholar Li set off for the capital. After traveling for several days, he reached a remote and desolate area. Suddenly, the sky darkened and it began to rain. He looked around in vain for any shelter. Just then, a carriage approached from a distance and stopped right in front of Scholar Li. A gentle voice emerged:

"Why is the young gentleman lingering here?"

Seeing the carriage stop and the master of the carriage address him, Scholar Li was overjoyed and replied:

"This humble student is a scholar on his way to the capital for the imperial examinations. Unluckily, the weather turned uncooperative and it started raining, leaving me stranded here."

The owner of the carriage hesitated for a moment before saying, "There is no human habitation for miles around. If the young gentleman doesn't mind, you may accompany this young maiden to my home to seek shelter for the night."

"That would be wonderful. This humble student thanks you, young lady," Scholar Li said, and climbed into the carriage. Lifting the carriage curtain, he laid eyes on the master of the carriage who had just spoken. She was an absolute beauty, naturally endowed and with skin like smooth lard. As mentioned before, Scholar Li was also rather handsome. At this first meeting, the two instantly felt a mutual fondness for each other. Yet, because it was their first encounter, they found it difficult to say much and could only harbor these deep feelings in their hearts.

Upon arriving at the gates of the beautiful woman's estate, Scholar Li alighted first. The courtyard covered a vast expanse of land, filled with dense clusters of flowers and flanked by lush green bamboo groves. This was clearly no ordinary household.

The master of the estate came out to welcome them, and the young woman from the carriage explained the whole sequence of events. The master of the estate proved to be a hospitable man; he promptly invited Scholar Li into the house, served tea, and exchanged backgrounds with him.

It was then that Scholar Li learned the master of the estate was named Liu Funian, and his only daughter was the young woman from the carriage, Liu Cair'er. After conversing for a while, Master Liu ordered a banquet to be prepared.

After dinner, Liu Cair'er sought out Scholar Li under the pretext of seeking advice on poetry. The two of them conversed delightfully. Fortunately, Master Liu was quite pleased with Scholar Li and imposed no restrictions on Liu Cair'er. Whether it was a blessing or a misfortune, the heavy rain continued for three full days, and Scholar Li stayed at the Liu residence for three days.

During these few days spent together, Scholar Li and Liu Cair'er had long fallen in love, swearing solemn vows of eternal devotion to one another.

On the fourth day, Scholar Li bid farewell to the Liu family, making an agreement with Master Liu that regardless of whether he passed the examinations or not, he would definitely return to marry Liu Cair'er. Master Liu did not look down upon Scholar Li for his poverty and consented to the arrangement.

After leaving the Liu estate, Scholar Li traveled through hardships for many more days until he finally reached the capital to take the grand examination. Blessed with natural intelligence, Scholar Li actually came out on top and triumphantly won the title of top scorer. Once his official appointment in the capital was finalized, he hurriedly gathered a retinue, prepared a full set of betrothal gifts, and set off to propose to the Liu family.

However, upon arriving at the Liu family residence, all that met his eyes were desolation, crumbling walls, and ruins. After making inquiries everywhere, he learned that the Liu family's wealth had attracted the greed of villains, and the entire family had been murdered.

Scholar Li was grief-stricken and devastated, wishing he had never gone to take the exams. If he had only stayed behind, the two of them could have died together, becoming a pair of ill-fated lovers in death.

Later on, Scholar Li resigned from his official post, built a house on the original site of the Liu estate, erected a tomb for Liu Cair'er, and stood guard by the graveside day and night.

Until one day, an old Taoist priest passing by caught sight of Scholar Li and heard the whole story. Violating the laws of heaven, the priest set up a formation and told Scholar Li:

This array would prevent Scholar Li from dying, turning him into a ghostly cultivator, transforming him into a monster, barring him from the cycle of reincarnation, and leaving him vulnerable to being killed by other powerful practitioners. However, if Scholar Li accumulated enough ghostly aura, it might just be possible to resurrect Liu Cair'er within this tomb.

Liu Jun quietly listened to the man in white finish his tale and fell into brief contemplation. This ghostly scholar, Li Zicheng, had likely been deceived. If the corpse inside the tomb was indeed Liu Cair'er's, then even if she could be resurrected, what would come back to life would at most be a mindless corpse—a mindless zombie.

"Brother Ghost, let me ask you something, and please don't get angry. Is Liu Cair'er's physical body inside this grave?" Scholar Li was momentarily stunned by Liu Jun's question.

"Cair'er's body is not inside. When I rushed back to the Liu residence, I couldn't find the bodies of any family members." Hearing this, Liu Jun knew they were utterly doomed. This Scholar Li had lost his mind to love; with no physical body present, what the hell was there to resurrect? Yet, he clearly sensed a corpse inside this tomb. There was a ninety percent chance it belonged to that old Taoist priest!

Before Liu Jun could finish his thought, a formation array around the tomb lit up. A vortex appeared above the grave, continuously sucking in the surrounding ghostly aura. The man in white, Li Zicheng, was almost sucked right in. Fortunately, Liu Jun reacted swiftly and grabbed him, and Fatty immediately grabbed him as well.

"Heaven and earth are supreme, sun and moon are resplendent, yin and yang are in harmony, heed my command without delay—Soul Binder!" Seeing that Fatty had also secured a hold on him, Liu Jun instantly pulled out a Soul Binder talisman and tossed it at Li Zicheng's feet. Golden runes coiled like chains around Li Zicheng. Seeing the man in white struggling, Liu Jun immediately yelled, "Don't move! Without talismans holding you down, you'll be sucked right in! What's inside isn't Liu Cair'er—it's that Taoist priest!"

Fortunately, the array at the tomb only absorbed ghostly aura; if it sucked in living beings, Fatty's solid footing meant he might be fine, but Liu Jun would definitely have been pulled inside.

"Brother Liu, what the hell is going on here?!" Fatty shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Nothing much, just that a two-hundred-year-old difficulty mode has suddenly upgraded to hell mode!" Life, it seemed, always had unexpected surprises in store. A two-hundred-year-old fierce ghost wasn't enough; a two-hundred-year-old zombie was about to crawl out of the ground.

Liu Jun drew a Five Thunder Talisman, staring fixedly at the tomb, ready to strike the moment the zombie emerged.