Ghosts Know What I Experienced-Chapter 52.3: Corpse Nurturing Ground

Chapter 52 Part 3

When Xi Jia woke up the next day, he noticed Ye Jingzhi wasn’t on the bed. He got off the bed and got dressed to take a look. Ye Jingzhi carried two bowls of congee out of the kitchen and saw that Xi Jia had come out. He said, “After I woke up this morning, I noticed that the usual food here isn’t the same as S City. You might not be used to the things here. So I made some congee and food……”

Brother Jia was extremely moved and happily ate two bowls of congee.

Our family’s Master Ye is such a nice man!

Before, it was Qishan-daoren who had ate dog food along the way. Now that Yang Ze had come, it became Qishan-daoren and Yang Ze eating dog food together.

With two singles walking in front and a young couple holding hands in the back, they walked the mountain path together. Walking and walking, Ye Jingzhi would even say some things about Yi Lingzi when he was alive to Xi Jia, and Xi Jia would listen attentively.

Seeing their situation, Yang Ze took a few extra looks at them and turned his head to say to Qishan-daoren, “I originally thought that Fellow Daoist Ye might be very broken-hearted since he is like me, losing our masters since we were little and hadn’t had the chance to retrieve our master’s remains.”

Qishan-daoren turned his head to glance at them, snorted at this bowl of dog food, and said, “When Fellow Daoist Lian Chen passed away, you were 12 years old and already knew a lot of things. There are still others in the Qianshan Sect like your Martial Uncle who could take care of you. Young Daoist Ye is actually not the same. At that time, Young Daoist Ye had suffered a lot. And now, he has found his future wife……En, future husband, us old fellows are happy for him. Also, Yi Lingzi, this person, tsk tsk……”

Yang Ze’s smile was warm, “What about Senior Yi Lingzi?”

Qishan-daoren said, “Yi Lingzi, this person, even if he’s dead, he for sure wouldn’t want others to grieve for him. There’s something wrong with his brain, you good children shouldn’t learn from him. He is our Xuanxue world’s most brilliant weirdo in a hundred years.” Although it sounded like cursing Yi Lingzi, Qishan-daoren’s eyes were filled with longing. He said, “Anyway, we’ve come to retrieve Yi Lingzi’s remains. There’s no need to show that much grief, or else in the Nine Springs below, he would definitely give his disciple the cold-shoulder for lacking backbone, crying noisily once his master died. How is that acceptable behavior?”

Yang Ze, “Senior Yi Lingzi was really a maverick, this junior admires.”

Qishan-daoren waved his hand, “As long as it’s only admiration, you mustn’t learn from him.”

The group continued to move forward. At Wushi (11am-1pm), Xi Jia saw a village in the distance.

This village was situated near the water source in the mountains, and most of the people in the village wore ethnic clothing. When Xi Jia’s group entered the village, the children who were playing in the village all curiously looked at them. The people working in the fields also laid down their farming equipment and looked over constantly.

Not long after, an old man wearing teal homespun cloth and headwrap came over from the distance. He said a few things indistinctively to Yang Ze. Yang Ze also made a strange ceremonial gesture towards him and proceeded to jabber away.

Ye Jingzhi explained, “Qianshan Sect has always been located in D Province and has been in contact with countless tribes for several hundred years.”

Xi Jia nodded in understanding. So Yang Ze should be talking in the language of this old man’s ethnic group, and it was just that they didn’t understand it.

After talking a huge pile of incomprehensible words, Yang Ze turned his head to look at them and said while smiling, “Third Elder is an elder of the village. Last month, I came here to tell them that we need to head down the tomb. The tomb is a Tusi tomb from more than 400 years ago. Originally, no one was allowed to enter, but so many people had died 19 years ago. Master and Senior Qishan’s party had helped them settle this difficult problem. They couldn’t thank them enough so they are willing to let us enter the tomb to retrieve the remains.”

Qishan-daoren nodded, “19 years ago, it was fortunate to have Fellow Daoist Lian Chen, and we were able to convince the villagers to let us go down the tomb.”

The matter shouldn’t be delayed. The four of them headed deep into the mountains under Third Elder’s guidance.

Along the way, Xi Jia’s gaze stayed on the many large stone pillars inside the village. These stone pillars were erected in every corner. Each one had water buckets. From the top of the stone pillar and spreading to the bottom, they were all carved with strange patterns on their surfaces. Xi Jia had never seen these patterns before. Some seemed like fierce dogs, and some looked like birds. There weren’t any animals that were very obvious.

Regarding D Province’s matters, Yang Ze is the one who knew the clearest. He saw that Xi Jia kept on looking at these stone pillars and said with a smile, “The Heibu Village people believe in shamanism and worship totems. They have a total of 23 stone pillars in their village representing the 23 shamanic deities that they believe in. Every year, they would have a festival to worship the shamanic deities.”

Xi Jia suddenly realized, “So those are originally shamanic deities.”

Yang Ze said again, “En, shamanic deities. Each village actually believes in different shamanic deities. The Heibu Village has over 500 years of history. It is rumored that in ancient times, two kings were at war with each other. One of them said that if someone could bring the other’s head, he would betroth his daughter to him. In the end, a divine dog bit off that king’s head. The king didn’t want to fulfill the promise, and it was also not good to break the promise. So he forced his daughter and this divine dog to live in seclusion in the mountain forest, and they were not allowed to show themselves. Afterwards, who would’ve thought that the divine dog changed into a human. Finally, the ancestors of the Heibu Village were born……”

Anyone who heard about these mysterious legends would gain some interest. Xi Jia and Qishan-daoren both didn’t expect that Yang Ze who was only over 30 years old would actually know so many fascinating things. Gradually, the two of them became entranced while listening. Qishan-daoren was after all experienced and knowledgeable so he also asked a few questions. Yang Ze would answer one after another.

Xi Jia also couldn’t help but have a higher evaluation of Yang Ze.

A rare and reliable person of the Xuanxue world!

Master Ye, who was watching his wife to the side, felt extremely wronged today.

The four men walked into a part of the forest and stopped. Surveying around, there weren’t any gravestones or graves around. There was only a long stone pillar towering within the forest. Third Elder had guided everyone to this forest but wasn’t willing to walk further.

Yang Ze said a few things to Third Elder. Third Elder made a strange ceremonial gesture, and Yang Ze reciprocated. Then, Third Elder turned around and left, leaving the four of them here.

After arriving at this place, Qishan-daoren didn’t need Yang Ze to lead the way anymore. He stood beneath the stone pillar. Raising his head, he looked up at the complicated totem on it. After a long time, he lightly sighed, turned his head, and said, “Still not hurrying up and following this old man? Below this pillar is the ancient tomb, but we can’t enter from here. There is a tunnel once you pass through this part of the forest. It was the path that Fellow Daoist Lian Chen had made for us at that time.”

The four people continued to go forward.

Sure enough, after passing through the forest, Qishan-daoren moved a huge boulder without a change in expression and threw it to the side as if it was as light as a feather. He pointed at the small tunnel, “Alright, it’s here, let’s go in.”

Xi Jia watched that boulder that was larger than a truck in astonishment. He couldn’t help but walk forward, wanting to pick up this rock. Not mentioning picking this rock up and throwing it, Brother Jia simply couldn’t budge it. It was as steady as Mt. Tai.

Brother Jia who had truly realized just how formidable Celestial Masters with profound magic powers were for the first time, “……”

Qishan-daoren and Yang Ze first headed into the tunnel, and Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi walked behind them. After walking for quite a while, Xi Jia couldn’t help but ask, “Master Ye, do you Xuanxue people……all have such huge strength?”

Ye Jingzhi saw Xi Jia’s action of trying to move the rock just now and naturally understood his meaning. He first nodded before shaking his head, “As long as they revolve their magic power, very heavy rocks can actually be moved. But while ghost-hunting, having strength doesn’t really matter. What is important is magic techniques and magic power.”

Xi Jia, “Can Pei Yu also move such a large rock?”

Ye Jingzhi thought for a moment, “With Fellow Daoist Pei Yu’s magic power, he shouldn’t be able to move one that large, but he should be able to move one about half its size.”

Xi Jia, “……” I have misunderstood Charlatan Pei! Turns out, Charlatan Pei’s strength is this strong!

Walking and walking, Brother Jia suddenly thought of, “Then, what about a Celestial Master’s physical strength?”

Ye Jingzhi didn’t even think twice, “The physical strength of Celestial Masters who cultivate in the way of the dao aren’t bad, a bit better than the masters who cultivate in the Buddhist doctrine. I have heard that Senior Cengxiu can go without eating, drinking, or sleeping for 50 days and still have great vitality. And as for me, I can ghost-hunt for one month without sleep, and I would be fine.” Pausing, Ye Jingzhi turned his head to look at his wife, “Jia Jia, why are you suddenly asking this?”

Xi Jia, “……” He also didn’t know why, he had asked with a curious coincidence about this ineffable thing!

This thing was truly too impure. Xi Jia quickly shook his head and removed this sort of unhealthy thoughts from his mind. But, he had already noticed a problem: Master Ye’s physical strength might be particularly good……

Stop, don’t think anymore!

With a party of four, they each had their own thoughts. It became darker and more moist the deeper they head into the tunnel. Xi Jia also slowly started to become nervous and carefully checked the surrounding. As if Ye Jingzhi had sensed his cautiousness, he held his hand and said in a low voice, “It is fine, we haven’t arrived at the entrance to the ancient tomb yet.”

Xi Jia nodded. He lowered his head and looked below his feet. The soil here didn’t seem that much different from outside. But for some reason, Xi Jia felt that his body was a bit chilly and also had a strange excitement. The yin energy within his body had unknowingly started to become active.

When they walked past a certain area, Xi Jia suddenly pulled Ye Jingzhi and asked with a frown, “What is with the yin energy here?”

Qishan-daoren turned his head and laughed out loud, “Worthy to be called the Body of Extreme Yin, we haven’t truly reached the Corpse Nurturing Ground, and you have already noticed.”

Once this was said, Ye Jingzhi and Yang Ze both frowned, “Corpse Nurturing Ground?”

Qishan-daoren nodded, “Correct, this place is precisely a high quality Corpse Nurturing Ground. 19 years ago, when the five of us arrived at this entrance to the ancient tomb, Yi Lingzi said that there was something very off about this place, that this wasn’t an ordinary tomb, and that there was definitely something odd. Among us, Fellow Daoist Liushan was the top Fengshui master in the Xuanxue world. We asked him to use his Eight Trigrams Dragon Compass to survey the topography of this area. The Black Tortoise stands tall, the East and West has Dragon Sand encircling around, the South has the setting sun looking at the North in the distance, the Primary Star opens the crux, and the Azure Dragon comes out from the West. It is exactly a Treasured Land of a Dragon Formation. But, if it was just an ordinary Feng Shui Dragon Formation, then there shouldn’t be such frightening yin energy. Then we noticed……this also a high quality Corpse Nurturing Ground!”¹

Qishan-daoren finished talking. Ye Jingzhi and Yang Ze both managed to understand, but Xi Jia didn’t understand what a Corpse Nurturing Ground was.

They proceeded to move forward. This time, Yang Ze was about to explain when Ye Jingzhi pulled his wife, tightly held the soft hand, and seriously explained, “Corpse Nurturing Ground is one type of the forbidden areas amongst Feng Shui formations. No graves can be buried at a Corpse Nurturing Ground. A Corpse Nurturing Ground can gather yin energy over time without dispersing for ten thousand years. To break the Feng Shui formation of a Corpse Nurturing Ground was extremely difficult and practically unbreakable. But if there was someone buried in a Corpse Nurturing Ground, white fur would sprout all over their body within a month and turn into the most common white corpse.”

Brother Jia had heard of white corpses before. When he was little, there was a TV show called《My Date with a Vampire》that was popular on both sides of the strait.² Brother Jia didn’t miss a single episode.

“If there are white corpses, then there should also be red corpses, jumping corpses, and flying corpses.” Speaking to here, Xi Jia suddenly recalled, “That millennium drought demon?!”

Ye Jingzhi’s eyes gradually dimmed and didn’t open his mouth to speak. But, Qishan-daoren heaved a sigh and said, “That’s right. Once we knew that this ancient tomb was actually situated at the intersection of a Dragon Crux and a Corpse Nurturing Ground, we knew that there would definitely be jiangshi inside. But, this ancient tomb only had 400 years of history. The most powerful jiangshi was only a 400 year flying corpse. Fellow Daoist Yi Lingzi alone could deal with it. Who would’ve thought that there would be a millennium drought demon inside. The flying corpse had become a drought demon, and its strength hadn’t only doubled. Only then would there be that kind of conclusion in the end.”

The emotional atmosphere didn’t last for long. Just like Qishan-daoren had said, the matter is already 19 years in the past. The fellow daoists who had died inside were all self-indulgent and open-minded people when they were alive. No one would weep endlessly.

Xi Jia didn’t know how long they had walked in this tunnel. He tightly held Ye Jingzhi’s hand and moved forward together. No far from them was Yang Ze and Qishan-daoren leading at the front. Gradually, the tunnel became more and more spacious. When they finally walked out of the tunnel, Xi Jia raised his head to take a look and was shocked in place by the towering and majestic gate.

This black iron gate was no less than 3 meters tall with both sides extending deep into the mountain walls.

There were many densely packed patterns and small characters carved onto the iron gate. There were even some patterns from Heibu Village’s stone pillars. The gate was quietly situated here. With only a glance, there was a piercing chill that went from the soles of their feet to their hearts.

In this lifetime, the thing that Xi Jia wasn’t afraid of the most was yin energy. He slightly wrinkled his brows. A trace of blood-red yin energy coiled up from the soles of his feet and twisted the black yin energy that had rushed over into pieces. Ye Jingzhi was also not afraid of yin energy. Master Ye had the Body of Three Fiends. He was still in the period of sudden eruption and had no fear. Qishan-daoren and Yang Ze drew a few talismans and stuck them on their bodies to block the yin energy.

Qishan-daoren turned his head and said, “Young Daoist Ye, your magic power is deep, you will open this gate with this poor daoist.”

Ye Jingzhi nodded and stepped forward. He and Qishan-daoren stood on each side of the iron gate.

They glanced at each other. Qishan-daoren sliced open his palm with a vigorous shout, pressed his blood-soaked hand onto the gate, and pulled hard on one side. Ye Jingzhi also cut open his palm and pulled the other side of the gate. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and his gaze was calm as he pulled open the gate.

Golden light flashed from their palms. Soon, Xi Jia heard creaking noises. The entire mountain wall was slightly shaking, and the black iron gate in front was on the verge of opening somewhat.

Right when they were about to open the gate and a gap had just appeared between the gate, a blue light flashed past from the seams of the gate, and the gate was about to close again.

Qishan-daoren said hurriedly, “Young Daoist Yang Ze, quickly undo this seal!”

Yang Ze advanced forward and took out a black iron umbrella with a flip of his hand. With a slap on the iron umbrella, the umbrella immediately opened and started to rapidly spin. Yang Ze’s gaze was resolute as both of his hands quickly made hand seals in the air, and he recited, “Things accord to all qi, divine words has no boundary. Lightning strikes the dwellings, routing thousands of troops. Urgently, by order of law!”³

The moment when his voice fell, Yang Ze sprayed a mouthful of blood onto the pitch-black umbrella.

In a split second, blue rays of light erupted. The light was the same as the light that flashed in between the cracks of the gate. Yang Ze held the umbrella by the handle and walked up to the gate with large strides before stabbing into the seam of the gate with it. Once the tip of the umbrella hit the blue light inside the gate, the blue light suddenly became soft. Qishan-daoren and Ye Jingzhi, who are at the two sides of the gate, also started to use their magic power to open the gate.

The gate creaked as it opened on both sides. Slowly, it opened until a person could fit through.

Xi Jia calmly looked at the gate. Qishan-daoren and Ye Jingzhi didn’t relax as they used all their effort to open the gate. If they relaxed slightly, the gate would close.

Yang Ze continuously held the umbrella and repeated the incantation. The array’s rays of light within the gate slowly darkened as he recited.

Just as the blue light was about to disappear completely, an arm with white fur suddenly burst out between the cracks of the gate and grabbed Yang Ze’s hand. Yang Ze’s eyes widened into circles, and he wanted to let go of the umbrella to counterattack, but he simply couldn’t let go. He was dragged towards the gate by the hand firmly holding onto him. Xi Jia’s eyes were swift and hands were quick. With a step forward, he tightly grabbed Yang Ze’s clothes and stopped him.

Qishan-daoren exclaimed in shock, “There’s actually a white corpse?!”

Ye Jingzhi was holding onto the door and couldn’t leave, “Jia Jia!”

A sort of confrontation formed at the entrance with the white corpse pulling Yang Ze and Xi Jia pulling Yang Ze’s clothes. Seeing that it couldn’t pull Yang Ze in, the white corpse gave a snarl and suddenly extended its other hand, grabbing Xi Jia’s arm.

“Roar!”

Xi Jia raised his head. The majority of the white corpse’s body was still hidden inside the door. Only this hand had abruptly came out and grabbed Xi Jia’s hand. With a flick of its wrist, ice-cold yin energy that was like maggots stuck to rotting flesh quickly rushed at Xi Jia.

Xi Jia’s gaze became cold. He released a breath, and the corners of his lips nevertheless curved, “So it turns out that jiangshi also has yin energy?”

Xi Jia’s clothes were frozen into pieces by the yin energy. The yin energy surged and scattered around uncontrollably. However, just as the yin energy was about to pierce through his clothes and Xi Jia’s skin, Xi Jia narrowed his eyes. He immediately let go of the hand holding onto Yang Ze’s clothes and grabbed a hold of the white corpse’s wrist.

There was a split second pause in the white corpse’s movements, like it had sensed that something wasn’t right.

However, it was already too late. Xi Jia exerted his strength in his grip, and the blood-colored yin energy twined around his fingers. In the next moment, a “kacha” could be heard, and the white corpse’s wrist was crushed. The broken hand was still firmly holding onto Brother Jia’s clothes as the arm pulled back. The white corpse was so frightened that it rushed to let go of Yang Ze and escape deep into the ancient tomb.

However, how could Brother Jia let it escape?

Exerting strength, Xi Jia grabbed the white corpse’s broken wrist and forcibly threw the white corpse out the gate.

The Author has something to say:

C+: There is no ghost in this world that I cannot rip apart!

White Corpse: ……【holding its broken hand and crying noisily QAQ】

Translator’s Notes:

¹ The Fengshui stuff and terminology are translated mostly literally and somewhat liberally. ↵

² Both sides of the (Taiwan) strait including China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. ↵

³ Excerpt from 太上三洞神咒卷 Taishang Three Caves Book of Spiritual Incantations (loosely translated). The incantation has no name and the section is one of the few that is titled “Also/Again” ↵