Above the Great Dao

Chen Shi squatted on his haunches, leaping onto the roof beam with a bound and moving along the main beam.

He held the finely ground vermilion black dog blood with one hand and a brush with the other, carefully painting on the five enormous talismans.

The beam was not wide, he had to be careful, otherwise a slight misstep would result in a fall.

These five talismans were clearly the work of a cultivator skilled in talisman use, created to transform into evil spirits and capture children following the scent of child's urine.

Once captured, the children would be hung here.

If he rashly attempted a rescue, he would certainly trigger the power of these talismans — potentially not only failing to save the victims but also harming the survivors. Therefore, Chen Shi's goal was to first destroy the five talismans before attempting the rescue.

However, if he simply resorted to brute force to destroy the talismans, it would still trigger their power, so he used the prepared vermilion to alter the structure of these talismans, rendering their power inert.

Soon, he blurred the eyes of the four talismans and turned their heads into a messy tangle.

The mouth was crucial — ghostly skulls connected to chains; should the talismans be triggered, the chains would tighten, and it was feared those children's tongues would be yanked straight out from their throats!

Chen Shi sealed the mouths of the four talismans with vermilion, ensuring that even if the talismans retained power, they could no longer close the chains.

But the inkstone now ran out of vermilion, unable to cover the fifth talisman.

The fifth talisman had no child bound; Chen Shi felt no need to paint it, and immediately walked towards the thin boy who was weakly breathing.

But just then, the ghostly skull in the fifth talisman slowly opened its eyes, and a section of the chain in the ghost's mouth slid down with a clank.

Chen Shi's palm had just touched Liu Fugui's arm when he held his breath, motionless.

The ghostly skull's eyes in the fifth talisman gradually widened, the vermilion-painted eyeballs rolled, slanting its gaze toward Chen Shi; its face appeared to smile, but it looked somewhat twisted.

Clank, clank.

One by one, the chains began to twitch and pull, with the hanging head of the chain slowly lifting like the head of a snake.

Chen Shi's heart sank; he'd been discovered!

The fifth talisman's ghost suddenly spoke, its booming voice echoing, "Who are you, and why are you ruining my Taoist skill?"

The sound was deafening, shaking the derelict house until dust fell in flurries.

This wasn't the ghost of the talisman speaking, but rather its master, who, having seen Chen Shi through the ghost's eyes, was now using the ghost's mouth to communicate with him!

Chen Shi was secretly shocked; such ability surpassed that of a regular talisman master!

"Why ruin your Taoist skill? What kind of evil practice are you refining with the children from the village? Four human lives; what do they mean in your eyes?"

While speaking, Chen Shi grabbed the fishhook lodged in Liu Fugui's eyelid. There was no time to remove the hook gently, so he yanked hard, trying to break the fine chain attached behind it.

After more than ten days of practicing the Three Light Righteous Qi Technique, he had already become immensely strong. He could shatter rocks with ease, yet the tiny chain held firm. He pulled again with all his might, and the chain finally snapped.

He grabbed another fishhook's fine chain and exerted all his power, managing to snap it as well.

Then it was time for the fishhooks and chains on the nose and mouth!

"Is the life of a country person still not a human life?"

The ghostly skull let out a cold laugh, "You too are a talisman master; have you never used someone else's life to refine treasures? I only wish to refine a life-extending lamp, needing the essence of five boys condensed into lamp oil. Your intrusion into my domain, ruining my endeavor, couldn't you at least save me some face?"

The fifth talisman began to distort, the lines that formed the talisman moving like bright red snakes, together constituting the ghostly face.

"Swipe—"

The chain hanging from the mouth of the fifth talisman writhed like a python, coiling towards Chen Shi!

Chen Shi grabbed the hook piercing Fugui's tongue with one hand to remove it, and reached for the chain with the other.

He had to remove all the hooks from Fugui's face; especially the large hook on the tongue. Otherwise, recklessly untangling the chains binding Fugui's hands and feet would only result in tearing off the entire face and ripping out the tongue through the throat!

That wouldn't be saving a person, but harming them!

As he removed the hooks, the chain was also caught in his grasp. However, like a large python, the chain wound around his arm, whipping and tightening with more and more coils.

Chen Shi circulated his Qi-Blood, immediately filling his arm with energy, causing it to swiftly bulge. He exerted force from his feet, flipping upwards, and reached for another chain binding Fugui's hands and feet.

He quickly wrapped the chain around his left leg, ensuring he wouldn't fall.

Above his head, the strokes of the fifth talisman solidified into a bright red ghostly skull, over a meter in size, snarling down at him with a gaping mouth, its fetid breath overwhelming!

The enormous maw seen by the villagers had been this kind of talisman transformation.

The long drooping tongue was actually the chains from their mouth!

With a forceful tug of his hand, he attempted to swing the approaching ghostly skull, but couldn't budge it. The skull was far stronger than him, floating effortlessly in the air, unmatched by any human strength!

Currently in mid-air with only a chain to lean on, Chen Shi was no match for the ghostly skull.

As the bright red ghostly skull was about to swallow him whole, Chen Shi forcefully stamped his foot down, the roof vibrated thunderously, and the plank secured by the chain cracked.

Although his strength was not on par with this talismanic monster, it remained shocking. With a sole stamp, the rooftop could no longer bear the stress, collapsing under his power.

Wooden planks marked with talismans, roofs tiles, and straw fell together, crashing onto the enormous head of the talismanic monster!

The chain around Chen Shi's foot immediately loosened, and he held Fugui close, plummeting downwards.

He had just landed when he saw the beam too, unable to bear the burden, snap and bring the house down with it, crashing with a thunderous roar.

Chen Shi didn't have time to unlock the chains on Fugui's hands and feet. Holding him, he immediately dashed out. He had just burst out of the main room when a colossal boom from behind signaled the main room and two side rooms collapsing together; walls and beams buried the three rooms!

The falling house spurred a blast of air that staggered Chen Shi and Black Pot, while dust filled the air, causing Black Pot to cough continuously.

Chen Shi held his breath and swiftly unlocked the chains from Fugui's hands and feet. Before he could stand up, he saw the house's collapsed main beam suddenly rise as if by itself; the beam, weighing over a thousand pounds, appeared as light as a wood stick, leaving Chen Shi and Black Pot utterly astounded.

"You rural little talisman master, you have angered me!"

The creature's furious roar came from beneath the wreckage as stones flew and dust soared. The ghostly creature's head, miraculously unscathed, rose from the collapsed house, pushing through the soil, stones, and beams to hover in the air, glaring down at Chen Shi.

Chains hung from its mouth, at the other end of which was attached a palm-sized bronze cauldron containing the life-extending lamp oil he had concocted from the lives of four children!

When the house had collapsed, it didn't bother to consume Chen Shi, instead it immediately went for the cauldron. Fortunately, it managed to save the cauldron, preventing the oil from being destroyed.

Although it retrieved the oil, doing so had given Chen Shi the opportunity to rescue Fugui, ruining its plans for making more oil.

The oil was saved, but its quality was significantly diminished, and the effects of the life-extending lamp were greatly reduced.

Controlled by its master, the Mysterious Talisman Master who crafted the life-extending lamp, the creature was incensed. It prepared to unleash its fury and devour Chen Shi, but upon seeing the vermillion talisman on the locust tree, it hesitated, then sneered, "Little talisman master, we've got beef now. You can't run away! I will definitely catch you and turn you into lamp oil!"

Under the control of the Mysterious Talisman Master, the creature flew upwards, intending to leave with the oil. Suddenly, Chen Shi in the courtyard dropped his trousers, pulled out his member, and began to urinate on the rubble of the collapsed house.

The Mysterious Talisman Master, overlooking the scene, was taken aback: "Could it be that the boy got scared and pissed himself?"

As this thought crossed his mind, the creature broke free from his control, swooping down towards Chen Shi with a howl!

The Mysterious Talisman Master was momentarily stunned, then came to a realization.

"My creature is conditioned to attack at the scent of child's urine and capture the child. This rural little talisman master is a boy; he used his own urine to lure the creature over!"

By the time he realized it, it was too late to alter the creature's design, and it was already in front of Chen Shi.

At the same time, on the old locust tree, the Five Mountains House Charm that Chen Shi had left behind, activated. Bursts of brilliant light formed the shapes of five luminous mountains above the creature pressing it down with a thunderous crash, immobilizing it!

The small cauldron fell from the creature's mouth, spilling the lamp oil all over the ground.

Chen Shi shook himself off, pulled up his trousers, walked forward, and with a mighty stomp, flattened the bronze cauldron. Then he crouched down, locking eyes with the creature, more than a yard tall.

The Mysterious Talisman Master seethed with rage but was trapped under the weight of the Five Mountains, unable to move.

"Our beef is indeed solidified. Don't let me run into you."

Chen Shi stared into the creature's eyes, as if trying to see through it to the Talisman Master's true face.

"If I run into you, I will most certainly beat you to death!"

Chen Shi stood up, stepped forward, and stamped on the huge head of the talisman creature.

With a loud bang, the talisman creature exploded into a splash of crimson plasma and vermillion, spattering onto the ground and merging into the soil.

Some of the mess splashed onto Chen Shi's foot as well.

Although he had exterminated the talisman creature and rescued Liu Fugui, resolving the case of the bedwetting children, he still felt an indignant rage with nowhere to channel it.

This Mysterious Talisman Master was indeed powerful, much stronger than any of the brocade-clad guards he had encountered. He should not have had a conflict with such a master, but he wanted to find this Mysterious Talisman Master and beat him severely, not stopping until his opponent was dead!

"You all can come in now."

Chen Shi suppressed his anger and waved to the villagers outside the courtyard who were staring in shock, saying, "The Evil Spirit has been vanquished, and Fugui has been saved."

Upon hearing this, the villagers still dared not enter.

San Wang, the boldest of them all, stepped forward and walked in, with the others gathering the courage to follow him into the Tian Family's desolate residence.

Fugui's parents rushed over, picking up Fugui and calling his name incessantly.

Fugui opened his eyes groggily and murmured, "Dad, Mom," then closed his eyes again.

"He has lost too much Qi-Blood; let him sleep. Don't give him any tonics for now. Just have him drink some rice soup."

Chen Shi gave a few instructions, telling Fugui's parents to carry him home.

The other villagers began to clear the debris of the collapsed house and sought out the other three children, but unfortunately, these three had been dead for a while and could not be saved.

Low sobs could be heard at first, which eventually turned into wailing cries.

Chen Shi felt his heart clench as he heard the cries and walked out of the desolate house with Black Pot, then turned back to San Wang and said, "You should find someone to bury the eight coffins of the Tian Family as well."

San Wang was shocked and quickly responded, "They offended the godmother and were punished by her to death; who would dare to bury them?"

Chen Shi's expression darkened, and he scoffed, "Not bury them? If these eight family members are not laid to rest, their resentment will only grow deeper, and they will certainly become Evil Spirits! By then, everyone in your village will be consumed by them! Deal with it as you see fit!"

The villagers, frightened by his words, hurriedly made preparations.

At first, they had doubted Chen Shi's abilities, considering his youth, but after seeing him kill the mountainous "Evil Spirit," they began to believe in him.

The oldest clan member in the village then ordered a table and chairs to be brought for Chen Shi to rest and offered him fruits. Seeing Chen Shi's youth, they also called for two young girls to massage and knead his shoulders and legs.

"San Wang, come over here!"

Chen Shi called San Wang over and asked, "Has any stranger visited your village lately?"

"A stranger?"

San Wang thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, there was one. We heard he was from the provincial city, an elderly Talisman Master who said that the second young miss from the Zhao family in the provincial city had gone missing and came to inquire about any news. As it was getting late, he asked to stay overnight in our village and left at dawn. That Talisman Master was quite nice, even gave us a few talismans."