Chapter Two - Eye of Calamity

When I heard this good news, I was indeed extremely shocked. Li Kun, however, turned his head to me and said, "Old Liu, why don't we stop tomb robbing from now on? Specializing in ghost-catching actually makes more money than tomb raiding and treasure hunting."

Upon hearing Li Kun's words, Xu Tian shook his head and replied, "Old Liu, that damages one's accumulated virtue. Besides, you are not a Taoist priest; you don't possess the ability to liberate and ferry souls. Are you going to beat every ghost you catch until its soul is scattered? Sure, you'll make money that way, but the underworld lictors will definitely come to have a word with you sooner or later."

Hearing Xu Tian's words, Li Kun said dismissively, "What underworld lictors? I have the ghost eyes anyway. If all else fails, I'll just hit them first and talk later."

As soon as Li Kun finished speaking, something suddenly flashed in my mind. Right, back in the Fox Immortal's tomb, the white fox had mentioned that Li Kun's eyes were some kind of ghost eyes.

Thinking of this, I asked Hu Yue'er beside me, "Senior..."

Hu Yue'er turned to look at me, waved her hand, and said, "Don't call me senior in the future. You can call me Sister Yue'er or just Yue'er. Since I have entered the mortal world, I should be just like the rest of you."

Hearing this, I nodded and asked, "Sister Yue'er, back in the tomb, I heard the white fox say that Li Kun's eyes are some kind of ghost eyes. Do you know anything about this?"

Hearing this, Xu Tian and Li Kun also turned to look at me, both of them somewhat puzzled. Li Kun exchanged a glance with Xu Tian and muttered, "Ghost eyes?"

Xu Tian was also somewhat baffled, and then he looked at Hu Yue'er, who was sitting alone on the sofa in front of them. Hu Yue'er nodded, looked at Li Kun beside her, and said, "Li Kun, open your ghost eyes. I need to verify whether these really are ghost eyes."

Li Kun nodded, then gently closed his eyes. When he opened them again, we saw that his eyes had turned completely blood-red, looking exactly like Hu Yue'er's eyes when she was in the tomb. However, wisps of black qi were emerging from right in front of Li Kun's eyes, looking indeed rather bizarre, and the temperature in the room gradually dropped.

Feeling the temperature in the room drop, Hu Yue'er took a closer look at Li Kun's eyes before nodding. "Alright, change back to your original appearance."

After Li Kun's eyes turned back to black, I asked, "Sister Yue'er, how is it? Are these really ghost eyes?"

Hu Yue'er nodded. Li Kun, who was sitting beside us, couldn't hold back any longer and asked, "Sister Yue'er, what on earth are these ghost eyes? They all say that the living shouldn't carry deathly qi, so what is going on with me?"

At this moment, Hu Yue'er also frowned. Without answering Li Kun's question immediately, she just asked him, "Where did you get these ghost eyes?"

Hearing this, Li Kun recounted the entire process of how he had opened his heavenly eye that day.

After listening to Li Kun's narration, Hu Yue'er nodded and said, "If that's the case, your ghost eyes were accidentally triggered while you were opening your heavenly eye, which unlocked the ghost eyes hidden within your body."

Li Kun nodded, and Hu Yue'er then said, "Since that's the case, let me tell you what kind of origin these ghost eyes actually have."

Hearing this, the three of us straightened up and quietly listened as Hu Yue'er slowly began to explain.

Hu Yue'er said softly, "Ghost eyes are also known as the Eyes of Calamity. These eyes are not something a living person can possess, but neither can just any ghost or monster acquire them. As far as I know, throughout history, only two extremely formidable individuals have ever possessed them.

The first person obtained the ghost eyes only after death. He made a tremendous name for himself in the underworld and even became a generation of Yama. Unfortunately, in less than a hundred years, this person was jointly besieged by several other Yanmas and beaten until his soul was completely scattered. The reason was simply that the power of the ghost eyes was far too immense; a single glance could cause a ghost's soul to completely scatter into nothingness.

Moreover, these ghost eyes are extremely lethal to mortals as well. Even a thick wall could be pierced right through by them, which is enough to prove the terrifying power of the ghost eyes. However, the most formidable aspect of the ghost eyes is their effectiveness against soul entities. Back then, that Yama used just a single strike to completely erase another Yama from heaven and earth, and that was precisely the reason why he met his doom."

Hearing this, the few of us turned to look at each other, our hearts filled with secret shock. We never expected that these ghost eyes would have such a massive background.

Xu Tian nodded and said, "If you put it that way, these ghost eyes might not necessarily be a bad thing after all, and they can even be put to use."

Hu Yue'er, however, shook her head. "You're wrong about that. Do you know what the end of the second person who possessed the ghost eyes was?"

Hearing this, a sense of ominous foreboding arose in our hearts. Just by the way Hu Yue'er said it, all three of us felt that the ghost eyes were definitely not anything good.

Hu Yue'er continued, "This second person to obtain the ghost eyes was blind from birth. But his father spent his entire life seeking medical help and finally cured his son's eyes completely. Yet, the very moment he opened his eyes, he had already unlocked the ghost eyes, and his own father perished under his ghost eyes."

After hearing Hu Yue'er finish, the three of us exchanged glances. Xu Tian said, "That's true indeed. If Old Liu hadn't reacted quickly that day, the two of us would have already been dismembered by Old Li."

At this, Li Kun looked a bit embarrassed and said with relief, "Good thing you guys ran fast, otherwise I would have had the urge to die of regret."

I asked, "Sister Yue'er, what happened after that?"

Hu Yue'er said, "Later on, this person became the disciple of an enlightened master, who instructed him on how to control the ghost eyes. At the time, this person shook the ghost realm with his renown, and even the mighty figures of the underworld had to show him three points of respect. However, in the third year after opening his ghost eyes, his soul scattered and he died."

Upon hearing this, cold sweat instantly broke out on the three of us. Li Kun even stood up and asked nervously, "Wait, then how did this guy die?"

Hu Yue'er explained, "There was far too much deathly qi in his body, which he could neither control nor completely resolve. Furthermore, the ghost eyes would autonomously absorb the surrounding deathly qi. Three years later, the deathly qi inside his body erupted completely, and he died by self-detonation, leaving not even his soul behind."

Hearing this, Li Kun slumped back down onto the floor. Wasn't everything Hu Yue'er described precisely what was happening to him right now? No matter how much he tried to expel the deathly qi from his body, it would still continuously be drawn back inside by itself.

I, however, asked Hu Yue'er, "Sister Yue'er, is there truly no way to get rid of these ghost eyes?"

Hu Yue'er replied, "These ghost eyes can indeed be neutralized."

Hearing this, Li Kun instantly regained his spirit and asked eagerly, "Sister Yue'er, what is needed to get rid of the ghost eyes?"

Hu Yue'er said, "It is said that throughout his lifetime, that person was constantly searching for an item, but this item is exceedingly rare in the world and has only ever existed in legends. It is the child pellet of the mother-and-child twin pellets, also known as the Cold Pellet."

Hearing this, our hearts gave a jolt. Li Kun turned to me and said, "Old Liu, the Cold Pellet... is... is this thing that icy pearl we took out from the female corpse's mouth in the general's tomb?"

I swallowed hard, thinking to myself, could it really be such a coincidence? Then, I hurriedly described the appearance and some features of that Cold Pellet to Hu Yue'er in front of us.

After I finished speaking, Hu Yue'er stared at the two of us with a strange expression on her face and said, "That is precisely the Cold Pellet. I never expected that the two of you actually stumbled upon such a supreme treasure.

Since that's the case, it works out perfectly. Soak that Cold Pellet in water for two days, then grind it completely into powder, and take it once every morning for seven consecutive days. After seven days, the deathly qi in your body will be entirely dissolved, and you'll be fine."

However, when Li Kun and I heard this, Li Kun slumped back against the sofa with lifeless eyes, tilting his head back to stare at the ceiling, looking exactly like someone who had just lost hundreds of thousands of dollars.

I let out a dry cough and said to Hu Yue'er beside me, "Sister Yue'er, to tell you the truth, when we found that Cold Pellet, the corpse-ghost in the tomb happened to rise from the dead, and that Cold Pellet was destroyed..."

After I finished, Hu Yue'er stared blankly at me with eyes full of sheer disbelief, while Xu Tian blurted out a vulgarity, "Damn it, can it really be such a coincidence?"

I nodded stiffly and said, "It really is just that coincidental."

With that, I turned to look at Hu Yue'er beside me and asked, "Is there any other way to eliminate the deathly qi inside Li Kun's body?"

Hu Yue'er shook her head. "As far as I know, this is the only method."

Hearing this, I leaned back against the chair as well, sighing, "Such is the impermanence of the world. If I had just quickly put the Cold Pellet away that day, sigh..."

The few of us fell into silence for a while. After a moment, seeing our state, Hu Yue'er said, "This Cold Pellet isn't the only one in the world; you can continue searching for it. You have three years to go out and look. If you find it, the deathly qi on Li Kun will naturally be neutralized. I really don't know what you're all spacing out for."

Hearing this, hope was instantly reignited in the few of us. Li Kun also sat up straight and asked, "Sister Yue'er, do you know where one might find this Cold Pellet?"

Hu Yue'er nodded and said, "If it were a thousand years ago, it indeed wouldn't have been easy to find. But if you want to search for the Cold Pellet nowadays, it's actually not all that difficult."

Hearing this, we all began to listen intently to Hu Yue'er, terrified of missing a single word.

Hu Yue'er said, "Another function of the Cold Pellet is that it can preserve a corpse for tens of thousands of years without rotting or decaying. Moreover, if placed in a specific location and put into the mouth of a corpse, the Cold Pellet can preserve the body for tens of thousands of years."

Hearing this, Li Kun and I exchanged glances. What Hu Yue'er said was indeed correct; the Cold Pellet we saw last time was precisely located at the dragon's eye of the dragon vein, and this must be the specific location Hu Yue'er was talking about.