Chapter 75 When the Moon Appears During the Day

Chapter 75 When the Moon Appears During the Day

"Xiao Shi, you have the talent of a top scholar!" Zhu Xiucai praised under the old willow tree.

As the county examination approached, Chen Shi began to prepare for the exam and came to study with him every day.

Zhu Xiucai also explained everything he knew, including the Analects, the Book of Songs, the Book of Documents, and the Doctrine of the Mean. Chen Shi took it to heart and was extremely grateful. He said, "If I can pass the imperial examination in the future, I will set up a tablet for my teacher and offer sacrifices to him every day."

Zhu Xiucai was also very happy and said, "I will pass on all my knowledge to you. The examination hall will be your battlefield to shine! You will definitely pass the exam!"

"Thanks to the teacher's good teaching!"

"Well, the main thing is that you are wise, smart, and perseverant!"

The man and the ghost flattered each other and were both very satisfied.

Chen Shi returned home and continued to copy the "Water and Fire Refining Secrets". The copy was from the book that his grandfather had snatched from the tomb of the True King. The book was old and the paper was aging. He had already copied one and gave it to Xiao Wangsun, and this one was for Granny Sha.

The Water and Fire Refining Art records how to achieve corpse-transmigration immortality. This method is extremely strange. One needs to die once first, either by drowning, burning, or being killed by a weapon. However, once one dies, the body will remain incorruptible for seven hundred years after burial.

After seven hundred years, the corpse will begin to decay. This is when the wonderful thing about the water and fire refining will come into play. Real water will fall from the sky to drown you. If the corpse does not disperse after being washed away, after another forty years, real fire will burn you.

If the corpse can still be preserved in the real fire, the real body will be born from the fire, grow flesh, tendons, internal organs, and be refined into an immortal body, which is called a corpse-reincarnated immortal.

As for the Water and Fire Refining Technique, it is to cultivate true water and true fire in advance, to refine the body, so that one can deal with the great catastrophe seven hundred years later with ease, and will not be refined to the point of being destroyed both physically and spiritually.

"Grandpa used this method to refine my body and prevent my corpse from decaying?"

Chen Shi put down his pen and began to daydream.

After his divine fetus was cut off, he must have died and was buried by Chen Tang. Grandpa rushed home and dug up his body, but found that it had been the seventh day since his death and that he could not summon his soul back. So he immediately broke into the tomb of the True King, took away the Water and Fire Refining Technique, and used the Water and Fire Refining Method to preserve his body.

After that, Grandpa looked for other ways to save Chen Shi.

"It wasn't until two years ago that my grandfather saved my soul and allowed it to enter my body. But after all, I have been dead for eight years, and all my memories before that have disappeared. This is probably the case."

Chen Shi heaved a long sigh, pulled the bookcase in front of him, took out a stone box and a jade seal from it, put them aside, then found a stack of silver bills and counted them.

There are five silver notes left, totaling five hundred taels of silver.

After his grandfather passed away, he realized how expensive his medicinal herbs were. It cost five or six taels of silver to cook the medicine every day, which means he would spend one hundred and sixty taels of silver every month.

The little money I earned before was not enough to pay for the medicine.

"No wonder Grandpa didn't save any money."

Chen Shi put away the banknotes and took out the jade seal and stone box to play with. One of these two items was obtained from the Mountain God Temple, and the other was hung on a tree branch by Xiao Wangsun and given to him by Zhu Xiucai.

Oddly enough, when Chen Shi returned home that day and placed the jade seal next to the stone box, the stone box actually emitted a faint blue light.

Chen Shiyong used the jade seal to move closer to the stone box, and saw that the stone box emitted blue light again, flickering, as if it was breathing.

He moved the jade seal away, and the blue light gradually disappeared.

He put the jade seal aside and tried to open the stone box when it emitted blue light. However, the stone box was still tightly closed and there was no sign of it being opened by him.

Chen Shi raised his fist and hammered it a few times, but the stone box didn't move at all. Instead, his fist was hurt.

He rubbed his fists and muttered, "What on earth is this stone box? If it was used to deceive people, how could it be so hard and glow? Is there really something inside?"

He shook the stone box hard, but no sound came out of it.

At this time, Hei Guo's voice was heard outside. Chen Shi looked out the window, but saw that the sun had closed its eyes at some point, and the moonlight was falling down.

It's getting late.

He lit a fire to cook medicine for himself, and then cooked another pot of medicinal herbs and roasted some meat for Heiguo. After he finished drinking the medicine, he soaked in it, while Heiguo added fuel to the fire beside the pot.

During the time when his grandfather was away, he gradually got used to the life of one person and one dog.

The next day, Chen Shi came to Gangzi Village and knocked on Grandma Sha's door.

"Why is Xiao Shi here?"

Granny Sha was very surprised and quickly let him in, saying, "I haven't visited you in the past two days. Grandma's business is very good. There was a demonic transformation some time ago, and many people died. Many people came to summon their souls to see their relatives. Xiao Shi came here to summon the soul of your grandfather?"

Chen Shi hesitated and said, "Is it okay?"

"No."

Granny Sha shook her head and said, "Old Chen is in the underworld in physical form. If we summon his soul, his entire body will be summoned to the world of the living. Without Xuanshan's suppression, he will probably turn into a demon immediately."

Chen Shi was dejected, then he smiled and said, "I'm here to give my mother-in-law a book." After that, he took out the "Water and Fire Refining Art".

When Granny Sha saw the book, she couldn't help but tremble with excitement. She quickly grabbed it, quickly flipped through a few pages, then quickly closed the book with a gloomy expression.

"Did your grandfather ask you to give me this book?"

Chen Shi nodded.

"You old Chen, you're still plotting against me even after you die!"

Granny Sha was furious. "He knows that if you send me a book, I will have no choice but to accept it, and then I will be bribed by you. If you are in danger, I will definitely not stay out of it! Humph, humph!"

She snorted twice and was about to return the book to Chen Shi, but she pulled back halfway, hesitating.

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Mother-in-law, even if there is no such book, if I were in danger, wouldn't you save me?"

Granny Sha said without hesitation: "Of course I will save you. You risked your life to steal the Sheep Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp in the Wangchuan River. Even if you ask me to fight for you, I will do it!"

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Then why are you still hesitating, mother-in-law? Just accept this book."

"Accepting it would mean that I've fallen into Old Chen's trap... Never mind, just accept it. Why would I bother with a dead person?"

Granny Sha accepted the Fire and Water Refining Technique calmly and said with a smile, "You look good recently, not as thin as you were a few days ago. You should eat more, as you are growing up. If you don't have enough money at home, come to me. Although I don't have much ability, I can still raise you to be fat and big."

Chen Shi said: "I am going to take the exam for the scholar, and I have been preparing for the exam these days..."

Just as Grandma Sha was about to speak, Hei Guo suddenly started shouting in the yard, and his voice became louder and louder.

Chen Shi's heart was moved, and he said, "Hei Guo said something happened! It was so scared that it stuttered, it must be a big deal!"

He hurried out, and Granny Sha followed him, surprised and asked, "How can you hear a dog's barking stutter? What kind of skill is this? Teach me!"

The two men came to the yard, only to see Hei Guo yelling at the sky.

The two looked up and saw two suns in the sky, but in front of the two suns, a small crescent appeared at some point.

The moon appeared during the day!
Chen Shi and Granny Sha were stunned.

Since ancient times, the sun and the moon have always had a clear division of labor, with the sun appearing during the day and the moon appearing at night.

When the bright moon rises, it is the time when evil spirits are active.

And now, the moon actually appeared in the daytime!

The moonlight is weak, and especially when there is sunlight, it is almost unnoticeable.

But moonlight really exists, mixed with sunlight, and it affects the world invisibly. "Grandpa always said that evil spirits are affected by the moon. Now that the moon is out, where are the evil spirits?"

Chen Shi's heart was pounding. "Will the evil spirit appear during the day?"

Granny Sha's face changed drastically, and she stamped her feet and said, "Something big has happened, something really big has happened! The moon came out in the daytime, could it be that the true god from outer space has gone mad too?"

High on the mountain, the giant snake Xuanshan coiled around the peak, its gaze deep and far-reaching, watching the changes in the world of Qianyang Mountain.

The True God from Heaven is the True God of Xiniu Island, who has been unchanged since ancient times and whose devotion to the Tao remains unchanged.

The giant snake Xuanshan is like the god of Qianyang Mountain.

He yearned for the state of mind of the true gods from outer space. Ever since he achieved success in the Great Dao, he became like the true gods from outer space, gazing at the mortal world near Qianyang Mountain, experiencing the changes in the world, and experiencing the joys and sorrows of human beings. His Tao heart was gradually enhanced in this kind of tempering.

Today, he was a little absent-minded.

He originally studied the true gods from outer space, cultivated an eternal and unchanging state of mind, and watched the changes in the world, but two months ago, the night fell a quarter of an hour earlier.

He originally thought that this was just a small mistake made by the True God, or that the True God's changes were too long, with a change occurring only once every millions or even tens of millions of years, so he did not take it to heart.

The fluctuation in his spiritual heart caused by that change made him eat a roasted Fengxi leg presented by Chen Shi.

Unexpectedly, in broad daylight, the moon opened its eyes ahead of time!

Once would have been fine, he could have said that the transformation of a true god takes an extremely long time, but in just over a month, he changed twice!
The corner of the big snake Xuanshan's eyes twitched, and his unchanging mood began to waver.

Even when the demonic transformation occurred, with so many people killed and the area within a hundred miles and even Qianyang Mountain was nearly destroyed in it, it could not cause any fluctuations in his Dao heart.

Now, the waves stirred up by his Dao heart were like being blown by the wind; the wind was getting stronger and stronger, and the waves were also getting bigger and bigger.

It made him a little anxious and uneasy.

"Could something have happened to the True God?" he thought to himself.

The appearance of a crescent moon during the day might be just a small mistake for the eternal and unchanging God from outer space, but for the common people of Xiniu Island, it was a huge anomaly!

This anomaly will sweep everyone and affect everyone, and no one will be able to stay out of it!

At the beginning of the anomaly, everything was peaceful and tranquil. Most people's lives were no different from before. Only the incense sticks in front of the godmothers in each village became more and more prosperous.

The incense is burning and people are praying everywhere, praying for peace and good weather.

Taking advantage of the Moon Festival, Chen Shi drove a wooden cart like his grandfather and went to various villages to set up stalls, mainly selling peach charms and talismans to ward off evil spirits.

Now is the beginning of the anomaly, even ordinary people have noticed that something is not right, so Chen Shi’s talismans are selling well. As soon as he set up the stall, the talismans he had drawn were sold out.

Chen Shi bought a lot of spirit beast meat for Hei Guo to enjoy, then bled Hei Guo and drew more talismans.

"Fortunately, it's just a crescent moon and the moon hasn't fully opened its eyes. If it had fully opened its eyes, I'm afraid evil spirits would appear during the day." He thought to himself.

These days, he had heard some rumors of evil spirits going on during the day, which were very weird. Therefore, when he went out, even during the day, he would hang peach charms and evil-repelling charms on the wooden cart.

Fortunately, no evil spirits were encountered.

"Master Chen Fu, Master Chen Fu!"

Someone rushed to his talisman stand. It was a woman, about 40 years old, with a stout build. She was wearing coarse cloth clothes that were convenient for farm work. She had an apron tied in front of her body, which was stained with flour. She must have been kneading dough. She said anxiously, "Master Chen, my boss was working in the fields and was suddenly possessed by an evil spirit! Master Chen, help me!"

The crowd immediately gathered around, looking very panicked, and asked what was going on.

Chen Shi had never dealt with evil spirits alone. The time when Huangyang Village was haunted by evil spirits, it was the Zhao family's talisman master who secretly killed boys to make lamp oil, not evil spirits. When killing the silkworms, he also teamed up with Li Tianqing. He couldn't help feeling a little panicked.

But then he calmed down.

I am a talisman master. Even if I don’t have a divine fetus, I can still draw talismans and cast spells to fight against evil spirits.

If worst comes to worst, you can always use black gunpowder to blow up the evil spirits.

"Five taels of silver." Chen Shi said.

The woman looked embarrassed. Chen Shi's price was not expensive. Other talisman masters who performed exorcism often asked for a high price. But five taels of silver was a huge sum for her family.

"Five taels of silver, our village will provide it!" an elder suddenly said.

When evil spirits appear in a village, it is not just an individual matter, but often affects the entire village.

They collected money from every household and soon gathered five taels of silver, which they handed to Chen Shi.

Chen Shi followed the woman and quickly came to the outside of the village, where he saw a group of people gathered in a field, shouting. They tried to get closer, but were frightened away by something, and there was a lot of shouting.

"Everyone scatter! The talisman master is coming!" someone shouted.

The crowd dispersed, and Chen Shi walked quickly to the front, only to see a man standing in the field, sleeping with his eyes closed, but his arms raised up, his fingers had been gnawed by something until only bones were left, and five white bones were spread out.

It was as if something had grabbed his hand, and after eating his fingers and palm, it was eating his forearm. Most of the flesh on his forearm had been eaten away, revealing the white bones.

Chen Shi felt pain just watching this, but the man was still sleeping soundly while standing.

Suddenly, the man woke up in pain, his face distorted, his eyes terrified, and he held his right arm and screamed in pain.

"Save me! Save me quickly!"

Then a smile appeared on his face, as if he was sleepy again. He fell asleep while standing with his head tilted, snoring loudly from his mouth. He was sleeping soundly, as if he was having a sweet dream.

And his right arm was still raised, as if something was eating his arm with relish, nibbling it bit by bit, bit by bit, biting off a piece of meat, then chewing it hard, smacking his lips, as if it was delicious.

The man was awakened by the pain again and screamed miserably: "Help—"

But the next moment a smile appeared on his face again, and he slept soundly with his eyes closed.

The villagers were horrified and quickly retreated, not daring to come forward.

They couldn't see what was eating the man, nor did they understand why he could still sleep while being eaten, and they couldn't help feeling fear in their hearts.

However, Chen Shi could see clearly that next to the man stood a tall and thin man in gray with furry ears. He was holding the man's arm with one hand. His fingers were slender and covered with gray hair. The hairless areas were very pink and tender.

He had his back to Chen Shi and was chewing the man's arm with relish.

Whenever the man woke up from the pain, a pink, flesh-colored tail would extend from behind the man in gray, raised high, and the tip of the tail would rub back and forth on the man's head, as if giving him a head massage.

The man would then smile comfortably, forgetting that the evil spirit was eating his hand, and fall asleep while standing.

The man in gray continued to eat his hand. One ate sweetly while the other slept soundly.

Chen Shi could see it clearly, but the people around him could not see the man in gray.

At this time, the man in gray stopped eating, slowly turned his head, revealing a rat-like face, and stared at Chen Shi with his bright black eyes.

This is a rat that wears human clothes, stands like a human, and is taller than a human!

"Can you see me?" the gray-clothed mouse asked in surprise.

(End of this chapter)