- The Land of Malevolent Qi and the Gruesome Archway ??
Following the shocking events in Nam Man ???, Noe ?? and his companions realized they could no longer travel openly, avoiding the prying eyes of the world. At this time, Vong Tran ? suggested a solution: inviting everyone to his village for temporary refuge. He explained that it was an isolated place, with few visitors, and the villagers were friendly and hospitable.
They began their journey back to the Chau Ngoc Kingdom, cautiously avoiding main roads and crowded areas. For convenience, Noe temporarily borrowed Vong Tran's mask.
When they arrived at a land filled with Yin Qi ???, where mist was hazy and the faint smell of demonic aura permeated the air, Vong Tran spoke: "We're almost at the village; everyone put on your masks!"
Bach Ho ?? saw the thick, heavy atmosphere and said annoyingly, "No way, if I go in there, I'll turn into a fierce beast! I'll stay outside."
Vong Tran reassured him, "Don't worry, and if a fierce beast attacks you, I'll grab it and give it a good beating."
Bach Ho bared his fangs and teased, "You better be quick then, or I'll chew on your bones!"
The whole group chuckled and put on their masks to prevent the Yin Qi from invading their respiratory systems.
Walking a little further, they saw two tall posts with two human skeletons gruesomely hanging on them ??, forming a terrifying archway. Bach Ho couldn't help but blurt out, "Your villagers are so friendly and kind, they even use dead bodies to decorate the village gate!"
Vong Tran calmly replied, "They're fake! If they were real human corpses, they wouldn't be standing still there."
Bach Ho innocently asked, "Do skeletons move, then?"
Hoa Minh ??, who was walking behind, calmly explained, "With this amount of Yin Qi, a corpse left for a long time will reanimate. If left even longer, it will surely become a Jiangshi ??. A real skeleton would have been infected with Yin Qi a long time ago."
Bach Ho scratched his head, looking bewildered as he spoke to Hoa Minh: "That happens?"
Hoa Minh remained composed: "Yin Qi is not only a deadly poison; it is also a source of nourishment for spectral entities, demons, and wicked spirits ??. I am very curious how living people manage to exist here."
Apart from Vong Tran, everyone wore a mask to limit the invasion of Yin Qi into their bodies and avoid Yin Qi poisoning. Bach Ho was the most cautious, wearing two or three, only leaving his eyes exposed to see the road. Everyone teased him about it, which made Bach Ho angry, and he retorted, "Go ahead and laugh; when you see the form of the White Tiger King, you won't be able to run fast enough."
Walking a bit further, everyone saw a vast cemetery ??, with many tombstones and prayer flags everywhere, fluttering in the wind. The air was permeated with an aura that easily made people feel creeped out ??.
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Vong Tran stood in front of the tombstones and shouted, "Your son has returned! Everyone come out!"
There was a slight tremor throughout the cemetery. The tombstones shook, and then the grave mounds flipped open, making Han Thuong ????? – the most timid one – jump back. From the opened crypts, several little boys and girls, their faces smudged with dirt and mud, joyfully ran out ??. They squeaked in children's voices, "Brother Four is back, everyone!"
Two or three kids happily jumped into Vong Tran's arms, demanding candy, cakes, and gifts. They looked at the scars on his face and felt sad, innocently saying, "Why are you so ugly?"
Vong Tran lightly patted the bottoms of the two children, teasing them: "Troublemakers! Want a spanking? Here are your snacks!" They laughed happily, and suddenly, the gloomy, eerie atmosphere from before disappeared, replaced by the warmth of children's laughter.
An elderly person, who seemed to be the Elder of the Village ??, came out and saw the strange guests, saying kindly: "You brought friends home? How wonderful, how wonderful! Take your friends up the mountain to bathe in the Phoenix Lake. Then come down here for lunch; we will prepare for you."
Vong Tran bowed respectfully: "Yes, Elder."
- Phoenix Lake and the Demon-Slaying Celestial Master ??
Phoenix Lake and the Secret of Ghost Valley Village
They walked higher and higher; the Yin Qi gradually thinned out and completely disappeared, replaced by fresh air, with a large, clear lake ??, where every swimming fish could be seen, and a waterfall trickled. Vong Tran shared that every now and then, white phoenixes ?? would fly in and bathe in this lake, giving the water a very strong magical aura cleansing ability. Bathing here or drinking the water can cleanse Demonic Qi, restore, and strengthen health. The constant exposure to and subsequent removal of Demonic Qi daily has made the villagers here gradually accustomed to it, almost immune. The terrifying scene the villagers created with the skeletons and fake corpses at the gate and the cemetery was merely to drive away curious people from entering this deadly, Demonic Qi-filled area.
After cleaning themselves up, they returned to the cemetery area and climbed down into a house in the ground. The place was very clean and tidy, with no trace of Demonic Qi. The Elder of the Village served food, both vegetarian and non-vegetarian, all of which were clean, having been washed with water from the Phoenix Lake before cooking. The dishes were all very delicious ??, and they ate happily.
After the meal, the Elder of the Village said: "Thank you all for helping my grandson, who has very few friends. I have heard Vong Tran talk about you, especially Noe. Thanks to you, he escaped that self-mortifying thought process and religion where he beat himself. He rarely smiled during that time, but now he's smiling constantly ??. Thank you for saving his life."
Noe ?? smiled and said, "It's nothing, Elder. Ah, there's something I need to ask: Why does our village stay in this dangerous place? Why not move somewhere else, safer for the children?"
The Elder of the Village sighed: "We didn't want to, but our ancestors passed down the duty to live here to protect everyone around. We are the descendants of the Demon-Slaying Celestial Master of the Just Path, of the Sword Sect. After eliminating the demons and wicked spirits here, our ancestors saw no way to completely erase the Demonic Qi, so they decided to settle here, preventing any demon from occupying this place for too long, fearing it would become a threat to all the surrounding villages."
"We have passed this down for more than 10 generations, but the number of people strong enough to inherit the title of Celestial Master is getting smaller. In this generation, there are only three people, but one is missing, one is dead, leaving only Vong Tran, but he refuses to do it. Our future lineage will likely become extinct."
Vong Tran, sitting next to him, immediately reacted: "Elder, you said I had the freedom to choose. Why are you forcing me now?"
The Elder of the Village scowled and replied, "What if I am forcing you? Is this brat threatening me?"