Chapter 161: Sister Rouge

After figuring out the sequence of events, Daoist Priest Li surmised that these practitioners of dark arts who harmed people with evil magic must have come for Weiyang. Moreover, they had surely already found Weiyang and hidden her somewhere. However, lingering out of greed for the vital essence of the village men, they had not yet left Fengxi Village.

This also indicated that the netherworld had long since spread the news of Weiyang’s reincarnation. Fortunately, those female Daoist evil practitioners were sufficiently greedy; otherwise, Daoist Priest Li and I would have arrived too late.

Shortly after.

Madame Liu, the spirit medium, first performed a ritual for Chen Ligen.

This ritual was, in truth, merely a formality.

Because, whether it was Wu Xiaogang or Chen Ligen, their bodily essence had already been completely sucked dry, leaving their corpses as mere empty shells devoid of any lingering grievances. Madame Liu told me that such rituals were actually performed merely to bring peace of mind to the families of the deceased.

After finishing the ritual at Chen Ligen’s house, we went to Wu Xiaogang’s place. Madame Liu’s methods were basically those of rural shamanic spirit dances, and some steps were quite similar to the rituals my grandfather used to perform for people. Yet, bringing peace to the grieving families was not entirely a useless endeavor.

As night fell.

Daoist Priest Li said it was time for us to act.

We would divide into three routes. I would take one route to Chen Ligen’s house.

Daoist Priest Li would take another to Wu Xiaogang’s house. Madame Liu would handle the third, primarily managing the ostensible funeral affairs, running back and forth between both places, and using yellow paper talismans to provide cover for the two of us.

When I arrived at Chen Ligen’s house, I sat down and treated it as attending the evening funeral banquet.

The evening funeral banquet was a customary ritual in Fengxi Village.

It was still early. After finishing the meal, the villagers gradually dispersed, and the courtyard grew somewhat desolate. A few younger relatives and juniors stayed behind to keep vigil over Chen Ligen’s body through the night, as the burial was scheduled for the next day.

Originally, Chen Litao was supposed to keep vigil for his elder brother. However, after the villagers left, he too wandered unsteadily out of the door. Chen Litao’s parents were busy and failed to notice this.

Seeing this, I felt something was amiss and immediately followed him.

The courtyard next door was where Chen Litao’s parents lived, an old house from previous years. When Chen Litao went out, he entered that courtyard. There were no lights on inside, but some light from the neighboring courtyard spilled over.

Upon reaching the main gate, I saw Chen Litao sway unsteadily as he walked into the inner room.

Glancing around, I held my breath, lightened my footsteps, and cautiously hid in the side kitchen. This room was not far from Chen Litao’s inner room, allowing me to hear any movement from inside.

Soon, I heard the sound of the inner room door being bolted from within.

Then.

Candlelight flickered inside instead of an electric light.

The candlelight swayed erratically, and I saw Chen Litao’s shadow cast upon the windowpane. He raised his hand and said, "Sister Yanzhi, you've come!"

"I've been waiting for you all this time!"

A woman’s voice drifted out hauntingly.

Then, through the shadow on the window, a woman wearing a long robe could be seen walking up to Chen Litao. Lowering her robe, the woman asked coquettishly, "Is Sister Yanzhi pretty?"

"Pretty..."

Chen Litao was already lost. He stood up and walked toward the woman.

"Then Sister will be yours tonight..."

The voice was exceedingly bewitching.

I had house-pacifying talismans on me, given by Daoist Priest Li, which could banish evil and protect a dwelling. Perhaps they would prove useful. I carefully pasted two talismans onto the window, then circled around to the inner room and placed several more on the door and along its frame. Such sorcery, which fed on human vital essence, would usually kill a man in less than a night.

These house-pacifying talismans should be able to delay it slightly.

Having affixed the talismans, I walked over, preparing to open the door and march in to capture the female Daoist evil practitioner. Unexpectedly, the outer gate was pushed open with a loud bang, and Chen Litao’s father rushed in, shouting anxiously, "Litao! Litao! Wake up quickly, your brother's corpse has... his corpse has risen!"

At this shout, the candlelight inside the room went out with a puff.

A strange, malevolent wind swept through the gap in the door. I quickly concealed myself. Chen Litao opened the inner room door, stepped out, and asked, "Dad, what are you saying? How could my brother..."

"Hurry up, go figure out a way to save your sister-in-law. I... I'm going to fetch Madame Liu!" said Chen Litao’s father.

Chen Litao’s gaze remained somewhat vacant, yet he still felt a lingering reluctance as he walked out of the room. As he walked, he straightened his clothes and whispered into the room, "Sister Yanzhi, wait for me to come back."

Then, he carefully closed the inner room door.

After he left, I immediately sealed the room door with yellow paper talismans. Logically speaking, Chen Litao’s brother had already become an empty shell and was incapable of a corpse resurrection. Having sealed the door, I immediately rushed to the other courtyard to see what was happening.

Arriving at that courtyard, I saw precisely what I had expected.

Chen Ligen was gripping his wife’s throat in a deathly choke. His wife’s neck was bruised a deep, dark purple. Meanwhile, Chen Ligen’s eyes were rolled back, filled with bloodshot veins, his temples bulging, and his fingernails turned pitch black—classic signs of a corpse undergoing transformation.

I couldn't fathom how a corpse transformation could occur. Could the female Daoist evil practitioner be behind this as well?

Seeing this, I immediately stepped forward.

Forming a finger incantation, I pressed my finger imprint right between Chen Ligen’s eyebrows. This incantation, taught by Daoist Priest Li, was called the Corpse-Suppressing Incantation, designed primarily to awe the stagnant corpse-qi within the deceased. Thus, as soon as the finger incantation struck him, Chen Ligen flew backward, crashing heavily onto the ground. He maintained his choking posture, yet he was completely immobilized.

I walked over, produced a Corpse-Dissolving Talisman, and pressed it onto Chen Ligen’s forehead. The Corpse-Dissolving Talisman would neutralize the resentment and corpse-qi within the zombie, and once the sun rose the next day, his remains would completely dissipate.

Chen Litao’s sister-in-law, still shaken to her core, was as yet unable to speak.

Chen Litao stood there in a daze as well. I called out to him, "Come over here and help me carry your brother inside!"

He uttered a dazed "Oh" and hurried over.

Together, we lifted Chen Ligen back into the coffin. During this process, I said to him, "Chen Litao, you have been targeted by an evil practitioner. You must never go to see her again, or you will surely meet the exact same end as your brother!"

At these words, Chen Litao started and came to a halt.

After a moment, he offered a stiff, awkward smile, adjusted his glasses, looked aside, and said, "What evil practitioner? You must be talking about Sister Yanzhi. She said she’s known me for a long time and likes me, so tonight..."

When Chen Litao reached this point, he blushed slightly and trailed off. I picked up where he left off, saying, "Tonight she plans to entangle herself with you in endless intimacy, and tomorrow morning will be the day you die!"

"What are you saying? I... I don't understand!"

Flustered, Chen Litao helped me place his brother’s corpse into the coffin and hurriedly made to leave. I strode forward, blocking his path, and said, "Chen Litao, you said she’s known you for a long time—is she from your village? Have you ever seen her before? Do you have any idea that you are already under her spell? If you don't wake up now, you'll have only a dead end ahead of you!"

Hearing me speak thus, Chen Litao glared at me with rising anger. "Step aside! How could Sister Yanzhi ever harm me? She is waiting for me, and I have to go to her!"

These words were also overheard by Chen Ligen’s wife standing nearby.

As Chen Litao bypassed me and tried to run out of the courtyard, Chen Ligen’s wife immediately rushed over, grabbed Chen Litao’s arm, and asked, "Litao, who were you just talking about?"

Her face was etched with terror.

Looking somewhat embarrassed, Chen Litao lowered his head and said, "Sister-in-law, it's nothing. I... I'm sleepy, so I'm going to sleep in the other courtyard..."

"Wait, you mentioned Yanzhi, didn't you?" Chen Ligen’s wife demanded.

"What Yanzhi? There's no such thing... I don't know... I..." Chen Litao stammered, trying to shake off his sister-in-law and bolt from the courtyard.

"A ghost! Yanzhi, she's a ghost... Your brother was... she... she... harmed..."

As Chen Ligen’s wife spoke, her entire body began to tremble violently. Before she could finish her sentence, she collapsed onto the ground, convulsing as if suffering an epileptic seizure while foaming at the mouth.

Furthermore, she began tightly gripping her own throat, almost as if she meant to snap her own neck.

Watching his sister-in-law’s condition, Chen Litao was at a complete loss for what to do.

Seeing this.

I strode over and shoved Chen Litao aside.

Then, I quickly formed a finger incantation to seal the soul meridian between the eyebrows of Chen Ligen’s wife. Only then did she gradually grow still. However, her neck was bruised a terrifying dark purple from her own grip.

I had not expected that female Daoist evil practitioner to commit harm right under my very nose.

At that exact moment.

Chen Litao suddenly stared toward the main gate and said in a daze, "Sister Yanzhi..."

I looked back and indeed spotted a woman clad in a scarlet red robe. She flashed me a bewitching, seductive smile and said, "You Daoist priest, why have you come to Fengxi Village to ruin my plans?"

It truly was the female Daoist evil practitioner. Seeing this, I prepared to strike. However, Chen Ligen’s wife suddenly sprang up and grabbed me tightly by the throat, her grip as unyielding as a pair of iron pliers.

I quickly made a move to seal her soul meridian once more.

Only then did Chen Ligen’s wife release her grip on my neck. I looked toward the main gate, only to find that the woman in red had vanished without a trace.

Without hesitation, I immediately gave chase out through the main gate.