Scripture of Days Past

”During the struggle, I noticed some strange changes taking place in her body. Her lower body had become slightly transparent, as if it were melting away, while her complexion grew increasingly pale and her tongue stretched longer and longer.

”Thankfully, I was able to overpower and restrain her. As I observed the changes in her body, I noticed that she had developed several ghostly traits. That was when I began to suspect that Lin Lan might be a ghost, specifically a fixated ghost, and that she most likely wasn’t even aware of it.”

According to the lessons on ghosts taught by Song Ming, fixated ghosts were ghosts that remained in the world of the living because of a strong fixation on something.

Different fixated ghosts had different objects of fixation, but a common trait between all of them was that they were almost indistinguishable from ordinary humans, and even they themselves often forgot that they were ghosts.

In Chu Qiguang’s eyes, Lin Lan clearly belonged to this category. Even after embracing him, she remained oblivious to her own ghostly status and merely believed that she had been overcome by her impulsive urges.

Yi Shuang’s objective was to impart knowledge about ghosts to Chu Qiguang so that he could use him to trigger certain changes in Lin Lan. In essence, he intended to feed Chu Qiguang to Lin Lan as a medicinal catalyst, thereby inducing some form of evolution within her.

Chu Qiguang recalled the vision in which he had seen Lin Lan visiting Jiang Longyu, and he speculated that Yi Shuang’s plan most likely had something to do with Jiang Longyu as well.

Reflecting on everything he had learned from Song Ming’s ghost lessons, Chu Qiguang suspected that Yi Shuang intended to control Lin Lan and use her to aid in his cultivation of the Myriad Ghost Journal.

Alternatively, if his plan also involved the Immortal Dao and Jiang Longyu, then perhaps he intended to seize control of Lin Lan before using the Dao arts of the Immortal Dao to possess Jiang Longyu.

After that, he could use the Elixir of Undying to create a living corpse possessed by a ghost. If either plan succeeded, he would instantly obtain Dao Comprehension-state combat prowess.

Thus, to avoid further stimulating Lin Lan, Chu Qiguang chose to record this twisted knowledge in a notebook, before casting it out of his mind with the Ring of Ignorance.

However, whenever he was with Yi Shuang, he pretended to be constantly tormented by spirits. He even told Yi Shuang about the strange changes that had taken place in Lin Lan.

Judging from what Qiao Zhi told me, Yi Shuang and Layman Evergreen ultimately failed, Chu Qiguang thought. In the end, the attack on Jade Face Mountain resulted in the deaths of everyone on the mountain. It seems that the Immortal Dao either unintentionally triggered some form of demonic tainting while attempting to loot the second floor of the archive building, or they lost control of Lin Lan, causing her to go on a murderous rampage as an almighty, nearly indestructible ghost. Perhaps both happened at the same time.

He recorded his theories in the notebook, then once again used the Ring of Ignorance to cast everything from the first half of the notebook out of his mind.

After cleansing his mind, Chu Qiguang discovered that most of his hallucinations had disappeared.

He still heard the occasional shrill shriek and saw flashes of golden light and gray-skinned figures darting around here and there, but that was the extent of his hallucinations.

***

Before long, the night before the half-yearly examination arrived.

Yang Ling looked through a list of trainee names with a pleased smile on his face.

Just as he had hoped, more and more trainees had reached the fourth state in the lead-up to the half-yearly examination. Meanwhile, Chu Qiguang had made no progress whatsoever in his cultivation base, having wasted all his time pursuing miscellaneous cultivation arts.

He might get kicked out of the advanced school tomorrow! Yang Ling thought gleefully.

***

Zhong Shan’e sat at his desk, writing a report that focused primarily on Jiang Longyu’s recent progress while also briefly mentioning the other trainees.

He had to submit a report directly to the emperor every month. These reports didn’t pass through the hands of any officials or eunuchs, ensuring that the emperor received the most unfiltered information possible from the Demon Vanquishing Department.

At the mention of Chu Qiguang, Zhong Shan’e didn’t hold back in his criticism. In conclusion, he wrote, ”Overall, he has shown himself to be extremely arrogant and conceited. He possesses immense potential, but he’s far too full of himself and will most likely never amount to anything.”

***

As usual, Jiang Longyu was wiping down the blade of his saber as a form of meditation, and as he did so, a sense of calm and tranquility settled over him.

However, that tranquility was quickly replaced by irrepressible excitement when he thought about finally getting his revenge on Li He during the half-yearly examination.

For the past two months, the thought of humiliating Li He in front of everyone had been his greatest source of motivation, and he couldn’t wait for the half-yearly examination to begin.

***

In the forest at the foot of Jade Face Mountain, Zhang Jitian had been transformed into a spotted dog and was lying on the ground with a tense, fearful expression.

”Don’t be such a coward!” Qiao Zhi scoffed as he slapped him on the head.

”Master Qiao, why do I have to take part in the attack on Jade Face Mountain tomorrow?” Zhang Jitian asked with a sullen expression. ”With my paltry abilities, I won’t be of any help at all!”

”You’re not talking your way out of this one!” Qiao Zhi harrumphed. ”I’m not expecting you to play any important role in the battle. You’ll just be helping out while getting accustomed to fighting as a fiend. When the time comes, simply do as you’re told, and you’ll be fine.”

***

”What’s wrong?” Yi Shuang asked with concern. ”You look really unwell.”

”I don’t know...” Chu Qiguang replied feebly, putting on a sickly display. ”I just can’t shake the feeling that something is constantly watching me. I can also hear someone whispering in my ear all the time... I’m... I’m really scared...”

This was music to Yi Shuang’s ears, but he maintained a gentle and supportive expression as he said, ”You must be feeling unsettled because you’ve been learning too much recently. I recommend that you go to the archive building and read some Daoist scriptures. That should help calm your nerves.”

”But the bookkeeper at the archive building has been acting really strangely,” Chu Qiguang protested in a pitiable manner. ”I feel like she wants to eat me!”

”Lin Lan’s just been in a bad mood recently. She doesn’t mean you any harm,” Yi Shuang consoled. ”Your condition is beginning to grow dangerous, and if you don’t do something about it, you may fall prey to demonification. Only the Daoist scriptures in the archive building can improve your condition, so I suggest you make that your priority.”

Chu Qiguang hurriedly thanked Yi Shuang for his advice before stumbling out of the room, while Yi Shuang watched him leave with a disdainful expression.

Soon, Lin Lan, the Corpse Codex, Jiang Longyu... Everything will be mine!