Chapter 4 A Ray of Hope
Rustle, rustle, rustle...
Amid the pitter-patter of light rain, Wang Yuan walked alone through the ancient streets of Daling Village, which had a history of at least a hundred years.
His hair was unkempt, his robe was wide-sleeved and dirty, and his eyes darted evasively.
The Wang clan members of the village saw this, and they all frowned, clearly seeing him as a complete madman.
They quickly ushered their children inside and shut their courtyard doors to avoid this dirty, unlucky person.
"The Fool pretended to be a 'corpse' all day, how did he end up so disheveled when he came to his senses today?"
"Could it be that he failed the task and angered our ancestors?"
"Hard to say, this boy caused the death of his parents at birth, and only grew up because people in our neighborhood and clan looked after him.
He must be born under a cursed star, even the ancestors disparage him."
"Debts have their claimants, and vengeance its targets. We only pray that the ancestors and various spirits and ghosts don't put the blame on us. If they are not pleased, they might as well take this Fool away."
Chatter from idle men and gossipy, spiteful women on the street was harsh to the ears.
Because of the deliberate influence from Wang Yunhu over the years, Wang Yuan had heard too many such comments and no longer took them to heart.
Barking dogs don't bite; they would only follow that clan uncle's lead, shouting and screaming, and picking up leftovers—none had the courage to confront him themselves.
He saw no threat in them.
However, Wang Yuan never allowed himself to relax for even a moment.
'Today I just barely made it through. Peaceful days might not even last two days.
Sooner or later they will find out that my fortune and life span haven't been stolen by the 'Weird'. Perhaps they'll completely turn against me, and disaster will be upon me immediately.'
The rain was cold, but Wang Yuan remained unfazed as he walked briskly away from the ancestral hall.
'Ultimately, it all comes down to lack of strength.
The first realm of Martial Arts, 'Bone and Flesh Outer Appearance', reaches the human limit; the second realm, 'Refining Marrow and Changing Blood', approaches the Non-Human Realm and can be enlisted in Great Yan's 'Daoist Soldier';
The third realm, 'Spirit Communication Transformation', allows one to become a 'Dao General', which was also the realm once reached by the old ancestor of the Wang Family.
If I had already reached the 'Refining Marrow and Changing Blood' of the Non-Human Realm, why would I need to deal with them so subserviently? I could blow away any looming dark clouds.
However, a more powerful level of military skill is no longer out of reach for me!'
Since last night, after consuming the Deceit Bone and Deceit Skin under the power of the 'Ghost King Altar Sealing Seal', the heat within him grew stronger by the moment.
Wang Yuan joyously discovered that not only were these weird substances delicious, but they also transformed into pure Primordial Qi to nourish his body, which was even more effective than potent tonics.
After just one night, in the first realm of Martial Arts, 'Bone and Flesh Outer Appearance', after 'External Strength' and 'Inner Strength', the third stage, 'Integrated Force', was on the verge of breakthrough.
Once he crossed this threshold, he would have a foothold in Martial Arts and Military Skill, and some capital to contend with his clan.
No longer was he like floating duckweed, easily blown away by the wind.
However.
When Wang Yuan, ignoring the trivial gossip of his clan, hurried to the northwest corner of Daling Village, to a dilapidated courtyard closest to Beimang Mountain,
he suddenly turned around at a slight movement of his ears.
He just happened to see two young men in their twenties behind him, simultaneously reaching out to grab his shoulders.
One of the two was lean and muscular, while the other had a sallow face with a knife slung on his waist, both dressed in the black and efficient garb of the tomb guardians, exuding an air of toughened vigor.
A heaviness settled in his heart—weren't these two the very thugs who had taken him to masquerade as a "corpse" originally?
Moreover, that lean young man, Wang Cheng, was already a masterly character with a great success in "Bone and Flesh Outer Appearance." If he wanted to overpower him by force, it would be as easy as blowing away dust.
It wasn't just two days—this really left him with no chance to catch his breath at all.
Once a fight started, it would link one move to the next, like hastening his doom, truly too fast!
'No good, I must think of a way at least to dodge this for today!' he thought.
Perhaps not expecting Wang Yuan's enormous reaction, the movements of the two men suddenly stalled in unison.
"Hmm?"
Then, as they made eye contact with the youth's deep eyes still shot with blood, this evoked the memory of his terrifying encounter the previous night, and they hesitantly pulled back their hands.
Normally, "Weird" retributions don't spread en masse without any pattern.
But as tomb guardians who had seen many bizarre happenings and were deeply involved in this "murder", they were still somewhat apprehensive.
The more powerful lean Wang Cheng grinned at Wang Yuan,
"Brother Yuan, why are you in such a hurry to go home?
The clan leader says that according to the ritual procedures, you still need to go worship at the divine position offered to our ancestor, the Duke, in the Royal Mausoleum on Beimang Mountain for it to be considered complete.
Quickly, let's go; the sooner this task is done, the better."
Regaining their composure, the two once again reached to grab his sleeve, intending to forcefully drag him away.
All three present clearly understood that once Wang Yuan complied and followed them to the desolate Beimang Mountain, he would certainly never return.
But at that moment, the "Small Book of Life and Death" inside Wang Yuan suddenly flared with light.
Snap!
Wang Yuan unleashed his frenzied strength to its fullest, violently shaking off Wang Cheng's hand and bellowing:
"Wang Xiaoliu! Since when are you permitted to call me Brother Yuan?!
I just encountered a ghost last night, and today you also want to bully me? Call me Uncle!"
His eyes, still carrying a trace of madness and panic, fiercely bulged as a fierce light shot from his deep pupils.
Even though Wang Cheng and his companion were not lacking in strength, they turned pale at this moment, involuntarily stepping back half a step, their breathing involuntarily stopping for a moment.
In their eyes, it was as if a bloodthirsty beast grinding its teeth had suddenly come alive inside this fool's body.
A tiger's roar silenced the forest, all beasts muted!
"You…"
After being triggered, the "Small Book of Life and Death" clearly changed something about this unlucky ghost, Wang Yuan.
Fate Book, Commanding General, Dispatching Yama!
Being virtuous towards others, and towards Heaven and Earth naturally grants one "Yin Morality."
But "Yin Morality" is utterly useless for those still living; it is only when one's life ends that the sum of one's "Yin Morality" is calculated, and Heaven and Earth then render the karmic retribution in the next life based on this.
Otherwise, how could there have been bizarre occurrences like "commit murder and arson for a gold belt, but get no remains when repairing bridges and roads"?
The core ability of the "Small Book of Life and Death" was not the summoning of spirits and generals, but the ability to immediately monetize "Yin Morality" to modify the "Book of Life and Death" using "Yin Morality" as ink.
In other words, anything recorded in the biography could be freely altered and then turned into reality!
Wang Yuan had been plagued by extremely bad Qi Fortune from birth, completely uncertain of surviving each day under the watch of clan members with ill intentions.
Even the precious life chart "White Tiger Holding Position," which could scare ordinary ghosts and monsters into tears, was firmly trapped by overwhelming dark clouds.
Like a dragon swimming in shallow waters and a tiger that fell on flat land, he could not show the slightest bit of might.
It wasn't until Wang Yuan used the "Small Book of Life and Death" to break the situation that he spent a full 1,000 points of Yin Morality, almost completely wiping out his account, to add a bit of Qi Fortune to himself.
From the certain death of "-6, dark clouds overhead, three fires going out, greatly ominous!" it changed to "-5, a ray of light from the sky, three fires flickering, ominous!"
At that moment.
As his Qi Fortune improved, "White Tiger Holding Position" also seemed like a hidden dragon finding water and a tiger returning to the forest, immediately regaining some of its former dignity.
It also created a glimmer of survival for Wang Yuan in yet another deadly catastrophe.
However, Wang Yuan was somewhat puzzled while he felt fortunate.
He had complete memories from the moment of birth and didn't recall doing anything good during these fifteen years, but somehow he had mysteriously accumulated over seven hundred Yin Morality before he even killed any "Weird" entities.
Without those earned from killing "Weird" entities, he wouldn't have been able to get even this small bit of Qi Fortune.
At that moment, the two people opposite were scared back by the slight tiger might of "White Tiger Holding Position," and their arrogance immediately reduced by a third.
Wang Cheng's face alternated between green and pale, but he was unwilling to admit that he could be scared of a fool, comforting himself by saying:
'It looks like this kid really was scared crazy, daring to act tough in front of me.
Don't get angry, don't get angry, I won't lower myself to argue with a fool who's already got one foot in the coffin.'
Flustered yet remembering to focus on the Clan Leader's task, he quickly lowered his stance and, bending over, apologized to Wang Yuan with a smile:
"Yes, yes, you are right.
Uncle Thirteen, please come with us? We can't delay our important tasks.
After coming back from Beimang Mountain, how about I take you to Wang's Bun Shop for some mutton soup dumplings?"
In the clan, it was very common for eighty-year-olds to call youngsters grandpa, and Wang Cheng didn't mind Wang Yuan taking a little advantage; he just wanted to hurry and trick the fool into going to Beimang Mountain.
Wang Yuan's mind rapidly turned.
If his consciousness had awakened before, he might have been lured by the promise of good food and foolishly followed along.
Now, why would he fall for such a trick?
He was just about to think of a suitable excuse to dismiss these two and create a chance to break through "Integrated Force" first.
"I..."
Just then, Wang Yuan's ears twitched, as if he heard something from a dilapidated courtyard just a stone's throw away.
The next moment.
He suddenly burst forth, grabbing Wang Cheng's collar, spittle splattering his face:
"Yesterday when you had me play 'corpse', you said you'd treat me to sugar figures from Luoyang City when we got back. Where is my sugar figure?
Wang Xiaoliu, you always trick me; you're not a good person.
Hmph, I'm going home now to tell my grandpa, and let him go beat your dad's butt!"
Such a statement wouldn't be out of place coming from anyone else in the village.
But coming from Wang Yuan.
Whoo—!
Wang Cheng and his companion immediately felt as if a burst of cold wind swept over their napes, causing them to shudder violently and instinctively to step back.
In Daling Village, who didn't know that Wang Yuan was an orphan whose family had been wiped out by his own relatives?
He was an orphan!
In the main branch of the family, which had passed down its lineage for two hundred years, other than the rickety small courtyard in front of them, even his parents were gone. How could he possibly have a grandpa at home?!
But could a fool even lie?
Both of them once again recalled the "Corpse Account Scripture" they had personally placed in the ancestral hall and the inevitable Weird entities that would be drawn out.
Their scalps tingled incessantly and their initial domineering willingness to kill or spare was gone.
In this world where Daoist Skill was manifest, those who didn't believe in ghosts and were foolhardy were long dead.
'Damn it, what on earth did this fool see in the ancestral hall last night? He's gone mad, and now I'm going mad too!
After we finish this job, I definitely need to go to Cuiping Building and Red Sleeve in Luoyang City, let those tender-bodied girls wash off the bad luck.'
At this time, Wang Yuan had already taken the opportunity to turn around and push open his own small courtyard gate.
Watching the pitch-dark bedroom in the rainy weather, they couldn't hear a single voice inside, but a layer of fine sweat suddenly emerged on their backs.
Their legs felt as heavy as if filled with lead, watching helplessly as Wang Yuan entered the small courtyard.
The gate closed again, leaving only one phrase behind:
"Wang Xiaoliu, bring double portions of mutton soup dumplings and sugar figures tomorrow, carry Uncle Thirteen up the mountain on a stretcher, otherwise, I'm not going."
To buy time, Wang Yuan didn't outright reject them but left room for both parties to avoid making these two accomplices jump the wall in desperation.
Bang!
Watching the old, mottled courtyard gate, neither had the courage to push it open again.
Biting their teeth and stamping their feet in a mixture of fear and resentment, they eventually turned and left.
Grumbling to embolden themselves:
"This kid really is a fool, not just crazy but also hysterical, we… will come again tomorrow.
By then, call a few more people."
"Right right, nothing but hysteria from a fool…"
However.
No sooner had they left than a voice, though old, yet profoundly kind, came faintly from behind the door:
"Cough cough... Has Yuan returned? I've left some breakfast for you in the pot, don't forget to eat it."