Above the Great Dao

The surroundings were silent, with only the sound of Black Pot's footsteps running over.

At this moment, a weak voice sounded: "No living person left, not a single one..."

Chen Shi followed the voice and walked over to see a wisteria uprooted.

Under the wisteria, a woman in ragged purple clothing sat in the dirt, covered in wounds.

She was the village's guardian, her true form a stock of wisteria, living for a thousand years, gradually becoming sentient, achieving a divine image through incense offerings, and becoming this village's protector.

But now, the roots of the wisteria were severed, the leaves withered, her life was near its end.

Chen Shi came forward, seeing traces of a fight around, thinking that when the ghosts invaded, this guardian fought desperately to protect the villagers, but ultimately couldn't save the village.

Chen Shi dug up the soil and placed her roots back to their original place, covering them with earth.

The woman in purple shook her head, weakly saying: "I can't survive, there's no need to save me. My roots are broken, even if I could survive, I would gradually perish without the rituals of the human clan. The weather is getting colder and in the darkness, I can't hold on much longer."

Chen Shi squatted down, helping her up, letting her lean on the wisteria.

Chen Shi lit an incense stick and placed it at her feet, saying: "Fellow Daoist, do you have any last wishes?"

The woman in purple shook her head woodenly: "No, my people are all dead. I was born from their rituals, and shall perish with their departure."

Chen Shi bowed to her, perhaps in better times, this guardian could have become a Divine of the nearby area. But now, this place was already deserted.

He stood up and walked out of the village.

"Perhaps my incense stick can help her hold on a bit longer," Chen Shi said to Little Dun beside him.

They walked out of the village, Little Dun tugged on his clothes, gesturing behind him.

Chen Shi turned back and saw the woman in purple under the wisteria extending her fingers to extinguish the incense in front of her.

Chen Shi was stunned, not lighting another incense for her.

The greatest sorrow lies in the death of the heart.

The guardian's people were all gone, and she too lost the courage to live.

Chen Shi and Little Dun boarded the wooden cart, in the distance, a few ghost monsters sneakily looked their way, Black Pot chased after them, and the ghost monsters hurriedly fled. At that moment, a furious voice shouted from afar: "Dog! Dog! Whose dog is this?"

Black Pot ran back, barking twice at Chen Shi.

Chen Shi disembarked, gesturing for Little Dun to stay on the cart, and followed Black Pot over.

A shepherd ghost was restraining those ghost monsters, seeing him coming, shouted angrily: "Who are you? How dare you unleash a dog to rampage! Do you know whose territory this is? Do you know whose livestock these are?"

The shepherd ghost was tall, five or six zhang, with a few baskets hanging on his back, in which a few small Yakshas were burning incense.

Chen Shi's gaze swept over the ghost monsters beside the shepherd ghost, similar to those who ate villagers in the village just now, clearly this shepherd was herding them to eat people here.

"Excuse my ignorance, I didn't know whose livestock these were," he asked with a kindly smile.

The shepherd ghost, hearing him speak in ghost language, relaxed, saying: "This livestock belongs to Lord Fengyang's family! Your dog ate Lord Fengyang's livestock, do you realize your crime?"

"Guilty! Guilty!"

Chen Shi bowed, saying, "My dog is always fierce, hard to control, seeing this livestock, thought they were wild, not realizing they were domesticated. Where might Lord Fengyang be? So I can visit and apologize."

The shepherd ghost, hearing this, said: "Are you a practitioner? No wonder you're so polite. Lord Fengyang is always hospitable, seeing you so cultured, surely won't blame you."

Chen Shi said: "I was a top scorer in the Mortal World."

The shepherd ghost suddenly realized, laughing: "No wonder, no wonder. Lord Fengyang loves to associate with scholars, a few days ago, a scholar also visited. I heard Lord Fengyang was a prominent figure in the Mortal World, once passed as a high rank in imperial exams, very famous."

Chen Shi's eyes flickered: "What is Lord Fengyang's surname? From which year the high rank?"

The shepherd ghost said: "Surname Xia. As for which year, I'm not sure. He was sealed here over two thousand years ago. The surrounding, for tens of thousands of miles, is Lord Fengyang's territory."

Chen Shi smiled: "Could I trouble you to take me to see Lord Fengyang?"

"Why not? I lost livestock, so I need to report back, you can speak well for me."

The shepherd ghost led the remaining ghost monsters along a great river. Chen Shi walked alongside him, not touching the ground, a breeze lifting him gently when he landed.

The shepherd ghost had two large wheels, rolling along.

The wooden cart came, carrying Little Dun, curiously observing the shepherd ghost.

Canoes floated on the river, each with a horse-faced Yin Messenger, holding a Heavenly Spirit Lamp, capturing wandering souls all around.

Their lamp's light shining upon ghosts, the ghost would then be lifted, falling onto the boat.

Some canoes, fully loaded with ghosts, suddenly sped away, vanishing without a trace.

This great river had many branches, Yin Messengers penetrating deep into various places along them, sometimes even flying the canoe to other places to bring souls. Wherever the canoe passed, a small river would automatically form below, carrying the canoe far away.

Numerous ghosts came from all around, muddled and dazed, seemingly those who perished in the Sun extinguishing event, drawn by a strange force to the banks of Dejiang, boarding the Yin Messengers' canoes or being captured by the light.