Chapter Seventy-One: Presence

Since I saw my mother, I developed an innate immunity to ghosts. Fear hardly touched me anymore. Even when confronted by Liu of the White Funeral, or facing the Thousand Corps Gathering Formation, what unnerved me was not the terror of ghosts and corpses, but the helplessness that weighed upon my heart.

Yet the faint breath on my hand at this moment, so light and eerie, made not only my scalp tingle but set every hair on my body on edge. I jerked my hand back, my heart pounding in my throat. The corpse within the coffin remained with eyes closed, utterly still—no sign of movement, no rise or fall from breath. I dared not reach in again; instead, I slammed the coffin lid shut.

At the instant the lid closed, my hand snatched the handle of the wooden chest beside me. Heavy and cold, it strained my grip as I lifted it, turned, and strode out. I also grabbed three talisman papers from the stone table.

I hurried to the corridor entrance. Old Lady Li’s face was deeply unsettled.

“Grandma, hurry!” I urged. Though I couldn’t see myself, I knew my face must be deathly pale. Old Lady Li’s expression shifted, and she turned to leave.

As I stepped out of the stone chamber, the stone wall behind us crashed down with a thunderous roar, sealing the room completely and dimming the light to its former gloom.

This darkness unsettled me more than ever, filling me with a dread that something might follow from behind. The short corridor felt endless, every minute stretching unbearably.

At last, light appeared ahead. I stepped out of the passage and stood in the front room of the ancestral hall. My clothes were soaked with cold sweat; I gasped for breath.

I spun around—behind me, the corridor was pitch black. I strained every sense to listen, but heard nothing.

“Child, why are you so afraid?” came Old Lady Li’s sudden voice.

Her words startled me so badly that my heart skipped, and even my eyelid twitched twice.

“It’s… it’s nothing… The corpse in the coffin… unsettled me,” I stammered.

Her gaze grew thoughtful. She must have begun to suspect something, but I said nothing more, nor did I reveal that the corpse might not be a corpse, but still alive.

Old Lady Li had not come close—she could not know. Master Wang had always guarded the place, calling me master, so he surely did not know either.

What was the truth of it? I could not grasp it. Nor could I ask anyone.

The only one who might know was Chan Shu, yet she was the one I absolutely could not ask.

My face grew paler still.

Since Chan Shu reappeared, my feelings toward her had deepened, and even her short absence left me uneasy.

Old Lady Li neither looked at me nor pressed further, simply closed the small door.

I looked down at the wooden chest and said in a hoarse voice, “Grandma, I need to know some things before I can bring Master Wang back. But will you promise me one thing?”

She nodded.

I exhaled heavily. “If I can bring him back to life, you must leave with him—never return, never cross this threshold again.”

“Child, I understand. Go ahead and look, don’t worry about me.”

I knelt and opened the chest.

Inside, it was not filled to the brim. There were several clean long robes, similar to those worn by Li Cangshui—rare in the village, reserved for town scholars or Taoist priests.

There was a bronze mirror, not shaped like a bagua, but elongated and oval. Its surface was bronze, not glass.

A small bundle of wooden swords, barely half a foot long, unusually delicate.

Beyond that, only a single book remained.

Its cover was deep blue, like the old books I’d seen only in the hands of the village elder.

My breath quickened, sweat forming on my brow.

Wooden sword, bronze mirror—these were clearly ritual implements.

Just as the talisman brush before, perhaps if I touched them, I might learn something.

The Thunder Talisman was already powerful, but only effective against ghosts. Since encountering Li Cangshui, I knew my enemies would not be limited to ghosts.

The Thunder Talisman could not protect me. My peculiar abilities could not save me in the presence of people.

While I hesitated, Old Lady Li suddenly said, “Child, look at the book—see what’s inside.”

I looked up; she gazed at me intently. “That bronze mirror and wooden sword require real cultivation to use. I know a little, but even I cannot use them. If it’s like the talisman you drew before, it will cost you dearly—half your life. They won’t help you.”

I gritted my teeth and grabbed the book from the chest.

The moment I touched it, it was as if a jolt of electricity shot through me. My mind went blank.

My whole body trembled, consciousness exploded with a thunderous roar.

This time, the vision was utterly different from before.

Previously, the visions were about Master Wang’s master and Master Wang himself. The last was Master Wang drawing talismans on the stone table.

Each was triggered by touching related objects, stirring memories within my soul.

Now, the vision showed a hut.

A young man knelt respectfully beside it.

His face was strikingly similar to mine, but his whole demeanor brimmed with heroic spirit.

Beside him stood an old man, hair white, dressed in simple cloth.

The old man handed him a blue-covered book, with no words on the cover.

“This is the Book of Earth Talismans. All talisman scripts within are ghost arts—one hundred talismans. See how many you can comprehend.”

“As your master, my fate approaches. When a century has passed, return and send me off.”

The old man’s voice was ethereal. Having spoken, he turned and entered the hut.

The young man lowered his head and opened the book.

My gaze was fixed on the pages.

The first page was the Thunder Talisman.

Beside its intricate script was a note:

“Seven parts original yang, three parts extreme yang blood—low-level Thunder Ghost Talisman.

Heart-soul blood—mid-level Thunder Spirit Talisman.

Life-soul talisman method—Thunder Fate Talisman.

One talisman, three strokes, can quell a hundred ghosts and a thousand spirits.”

He turned to the second page.

It was blank at first, but slowly a script appeared.

The outer circle was a ring; the center a twisted character resembling the soul character.

“Fusion Talisman—drawn with soul, fuses soul into talisman, talisman becomes avatar.”

Just this single line.

My heart raced, remembering that Master Wang’s talisman was precisely this Fusion Talisman.

Indeed, he used this method to leave his soul behind!

The vision continued.

The man turned to the third page.

I focused intently.

The third talisman had only a single stroke, but its force felt like a sharp spike that could pierce the heart.

“Combat Talisman—sharpness of heart and soul, sharpness of talisman! Fearless heart, talisman breaks ten thousand souls!”

My consciousness was faltering.

Though these memories belonged to Master Wang’s master, they were now mine, yet I could barely endure.

My head throbbed, swelling as if I hadn’t slept for days.

At this moment, he turned to the fourth page.

This talisman was a strange script—a corpse character as the head, a person character within.

The small notes beside it were blurry; I could not make them out.

My consciousness reached its limit.

Darkness clouded my vision, my body shook uncontrollably.

My hand released the book.

I collapsed to the ground.

The book dropped beside me, its pages rustling open. I felt as if I’d glimpsed the four talismans within.

Once I let go, the pain in my mind faded, no longer intensifying.

Old Lady Li helped me up, her worry plain on her face.

I took a breath. “Grandma, I’m fine.”

The methods for drawing the four talismans had rooted deep in my consciousness.

Those memories felt as real as my own.

Yet beyond them, all was missing—nothing more, only fragments.

It was then I noticed: outside, the sky had grown utterly dark.

“It’s been a long time. Midnight is near,” Old Lady Li rasped.

I could hear the worry in her tone.

I drew a deep breath. “Grandma, I’ve seen the talismans Master Wang drew. Give me a bit of time—I’ll be able to draw them. Then Master Wang will surely return.”

A hint of joy appeared on her face.

Then her brow furrowed. “Let’s leave this place. It’s not safe.”

I nodded, stooping to lift the wooden chest.

Suddenly, Chan Shu’s voice whispered in my ear, “Put on a robe.”

My heart raced with excitement.

“Chan Shu, you’re finally back at my side!”

Old Lady Li seemed unaware.

I didn’t hesitate—grabbed a robe and slipped it on.

“Child… you?” Old Lady Li looked startled.

I, too, felt a trace of fear, but deep inside, I trusted Chan Shu.

After putting on the robe, no new visions appeared, nor did I recall anything else.

I only sensed a certain aura about me, hard to describe.

Yet it was like the heroic spirit of the man in my vision, drawing talismans, turning pages in that book.

“There is someone waiting outside,” Chan Shu’s voice was soft.

“Give him nothing—we do not accept threats.”

Her words stirred my spirit.

So she had been by my side all along.

My heart thudded, but she must not have been present earlier—or if she was, she hadn’t sensed the coffin’s secret.

“Grandma, stand behind me,” I said by instinct, heading toward the ancestral hall’s entrance.

No one was at the door.

I walked all the way to the mouth of Wang Family Pass.

There, I saw Li Cangshui.

He stood with his hands behind his back; Li Yue beside him.

She made a face at me.

Li Cangshui’s expression was utterly calm, his tone as placid as still water. “Young brother, you should hand over the items now.”

I drew a deep breath—the aura within me emboldened my spirit.

“Sorry, I’m not inclined to do so.”

I answered without hesitation.

Li Yue’s eyes widened in shock.

Old Lady Li’s face changed slightly.

Suddenly, Li Cangshui’s aura shifted; his tone turned icy cold. “What did you say? Are you certain? Do you realize what my words meant?”

Just then, Li Yue interjected, “He said no, so it’s no! Are you deaf, can’t you hear?”

Her face was full of terror, as if she couldn’t control her own body, panic writ large.