Above the Great Dao

Chen Shi watched the scene with envy, "If I could do that too, next time I lie in a coffin, it would be really stylish and cool."

Grandpa set the Compass in motion, and the wooden cart rolled onward.

"Grandpa, does this Xiao Wangsun also need to nourish his body at the Corpse Nourishing Land?" Chen Shi asked, looking up.

Grandpa focused on the Compass, "When you get to the manor, don't inquire about other people."

Hearing this, Chen Shi asked no more but turned to gaze at the mysterious mountain estate, his heart brimming with curiosity.

This mountain villa was jointly built by Grandpa and a group of people with secretive identities; upon arriving here, everyone abided by certain peculiar rules, neither asking about each other's origins nor pasts.

"It's almost like the behavior of a criminal gang."

Chen Shi blinked and thought to himself, "Grandpa must have done his fair share of bad deeds in the past, possibly countless. But even if he did many bad things, he is still my grandpa."

After returning to Huangpo Village with his grandson, soon a piercing cry came from Chen Shi's room, "Where are my candied hawthorns? My rice cakes? And my little sugar man! Who stole them? Which damn thief stole my treasures?"

Grandpa was drawing talismans when he saw Chen Shi storm out of his room, fuming with anger.

"It must have been the other kids in the village who stole my candied hawthorns, rice cakes, and little sugar man while I was away! I couldn't bear to eat them, yet they've been eaten by thieves! I need to catch them all!"

Chen Shi, unable to contain his rage, stormed outside, his face dark with fury, "Impose harsh punishment!"

Grandpa called out to him, "No one stole them, I threw them away. You've been asleep for seven days; they've gone bad already."

Chen Shi's expression instantly turned bitter; then, rallying his spirits, he pleaded, "Grandpa, those tasty snacks you bought last time, I didn't dare to eat them; I had a little bit each day, hoping they would last longer. Could you buy me some more..."

"No money."

The old man stopped writing and glanced at him, "Didn't you earn four taels of Silver when you exorcised demons in Huangyang Village? Hand over the silver to Grandpa, I'll keep it safe for you to buy... uh, for your wedding, and I'll buy you more snacks."

Chen Shi became alert, "I didn't charge Huangyang Village for exorcising the demons."

Grandpa lowered his head to continue drawing talismans and said, "When I was washing your clothes, I found four taels of silver in your sleeve. If it wasn't yours, then it must be mine."

"Thud."

Chen Shi's face turned pale, his knees gave way, and he knelt on the ground, completely dejected, his face all but spelled out "utterly disinterested in life."

After a while, as if Grandpa couldn't bear it, he set down the cinnabar pen and tossed a small piece of broken silver to him, "Here's one tael for you, get up now."

Chen Shi, grasping the unexpectedly reclaimed piece of broken silver, cried with joy and quickly stood up, "Thank you, Grandpa! Thank you, Grandpa!"

Black Pot, lying in the corner, rolled his eyes and thought, "The little master doesn't think, whose life was it that earned that silver? Originally all four taels were yours, and now you have just one tael, you're still grateful. You've been played by the old man again."

"Chirp chirp, chirp chirp!"

Chen Shi, with one hand behind his back, the other hand holding a piece of Exotic Beast Meat, called the dog over. Black Pot lazily got up and slowly approached him.

Chen Shi showed his true colors, revealing the small knife hidden behind his back and catching Black Pot with a sinister sneer.

Black Pot gnawed on the meat as if resigned to his fate.

Chen Shi collected some Black Dog Blood and hid in his room, tinkering with who knows what.

Black Pot felt no curiosity until Chen Shi emerged with a stack of thick talismans which he tied to its four legs using straw rope.

Black Pot panicked; just as it was about to bite off the talismans, it saw Chen Shi tying two more talismans to his own legs.

On these talismans were wind scripts, swirling like whirlwinds, with the characters "ride the clouds" amongst them. In the center were Northern Dipper inscriptions, beneath which were Six Ding and Six Jia, and at the very bottom, a fusion of wind scripts and Northern Dipper inscriptions.

Those were exactly the structure of the Armored Horse Talisman.

Chen Shi bumped into Iron Pen Weng in a narrow alley and, relying on his superior speed, killed Iron Pen Weng, but he coveted the Armored Horse Talismans that Iron Pen Weng and Zhao Ming had used for their travels. After his recovery, he sought to try out the Armored Horse Talismans.

Chen Shi activated a wisp of dissipating True Qi, igniting the Armored Horse Talismans on Black Pot's four legs, and also the talismans on his own legs.

"Black Pot, good things should be shared."

Chen Shi took a step and smiled, "This is a talisman refined with your blood; of course, you cannot be left out!"

As he took that step, a breeze seemingly emerged from under his foot, propelling him forward with ease, as he leaped a distance of one zhang and six or seven chi!

Even more amazing was that before his feet could touch the ground, another breeze sprang forth from beneath his feet, lifting his body up. Just three or four inches off the ground, his body was propelled forward, requiring very little effort!

Chen Shi was both shocked and delighted, and he naturally took a second step.

This second step carried him even further, nearly two zhang!

His feet moved as if walking on air, gliding forward with no resistance as if skating on ice. Moreover, this ice felt soft and plush.

Combining this gliding with the reach of his normal steps, one step could now cover the distance of six or seven of his usual strides!

Black Pot was normally calm, but seeing Chen Shi stepping on the breeze and gliding around so swiftly, it couldn't help but get carried away, and without a word, it began to charge forward on all fours.

"Whoosh—"

A black streak lunged forward, whipping up a gusty wind that rattled the windows of the houses lining Huangpo Village's streets with loud clattering sounds.

From a distance came a thump; Chen Shi watched as Black Pot, like a cannonball, crashed into the earth wall across the street a hundred paces away.

The wall belonged to the Zhou Family.

Old Zhou, seeing that it was the Chen Family's dog that had breached his wall, was angry but dared not speak.

Black Pot pulled its head out of the wall, shaking its head like a tambourine.

Chen Shi was worried that it might be injured when suddenly the dog got excited, its four hooves catching the wind, and it ran away in a gust.

"Woof woof woof!"

The sound of the barking rapidly receded into the distance.

Chen Shi hurriedly followed, only to see the dog prancing in the wind as if it were frolicking, as fast as lightning—it had four legs, after all, which even gave it a faster speed than his!

"Swoosh!"

A sharp whooshing noise passed by Chen Shi; it was Black Pot rushing past. Before Chen Shi could get a clear look, there was another swoosh, and Black Pot dashed into the village, circling the round boundary of Huangpo Village over and over, causing chickens to scatter and dogs to leap.

The next moment, the dog bolted out of Huangpo Village and into the forest, where birds in the mountains suddenly took flight, flying chaotically in all directions, and trees were shaken by the strong winds.

Chen Shi, concerned it might encounter danger, quickly followed, but he couldn't catch up with Black Pot.

"Four legs do run faster than two!"

Just as Chen Shi thought this, a gale hit him in the face. When the wind had dissipated, he saw Black Pot in front of him, panting with its tongue out, excitedly looking at him, wagging its tail furiously.

Chen Shi had yet to understand its intentions when suddenly Black Pot disappeared with a swoosh, and suddenly a gust of wind surged. Black Pot reappeared in front of Chen Shi, this time with a small knife used for drawing Black Dog Blood in its mouth. Then there was another swoosh and it vanished, only to reappear with an ink stone.

In just a short time, with a few back and forths, Black Pot had brought all the items used for drawing talismans to Chen Shi.

Catching on, Chen Shi said with difficulty, "Black Pot, you've just had blood drawn, and Grandpa also took some this morning when he was drawing talismans. Taking too much blood in one day... your body won't be able to take it…"

"Woof woof!"

Black Pot barked excitedly, bouncing around him, urging Chen Shi to draw more Armored Horse Talismans. The power of the Armored Horse Talisman on its leg had already been reduced by half, and wasn't as effective as before.

With no choice but to indulge it, Chen Shi drew blood from Black Pot, ground the cinnabar, and drew many more Armored Horse Talismans.

After a wild run, Black Pot quickly disappeared from his sight. A while later, only the sound of the howling wind could be heard from afar approaching at a high speed, and the exuberant Black Pot blazed past in a whirlwind.

Black Pot ran wildly for an unknown period until it finally grew tired, but despite being exhausted, it was still spirited.

Chen Shi stored the remaining Armored Horse Talismans and suddenly had an idea.

Before long, he arrived at Huangyang Village to visit his only living friend, Liu Fugui.

Liu Fugui had recovered a lot, but for some reason this time, he was extremely respectful, even a bit fearful, toward Chen Shi—no longer relaxed as he used to be.

Chen Shi was disappointed and left in low spirits.

"Fugui is afraid of me, he's no longer my friend. He was even about to kneel and kowtow, with a look of terror in his eyes, just like the other kids."

Gangzi Village.

Granny Sha was a well-known witch in the vicinity, and people from miles around knew that the godmother could protect and shelter the villagers, but Granny Sha could summon souls.

"If one misses a person from their past, they can seek out Granny Sha to summon the spirit of the deceased from the underworld.

There are also sudden deaths of elders in the family, whose silver hiding places are not disclosed in time, prompting their relatives to ask Granny Sha to summon their souls.

Then there are those who seek revenge, not satisfied with merely killing their adversaries, they beseech Granny Sha to call upon the souls of their enemies to whip, drown, or burn, thereby quenching the hatred in their hearts.

On this day, Granny Sha was conducting a soul summoning for a widow. Her husband had died, and she had summoned his spirit to consult about remarriage, selling the family estate, and moving with her children to another village, discussing with her late husband the matter of changing the children's surname.

Of course, it was merely a consultation, as the deceased husband, even if he were opposed, could do nothing about it.

At that moment, a sliver of light suddenly pierced through the darkness of the chamber, startling the soul of the deceased husband, who cried out in fright.

Granny Sha looked over to see a small head poking through the door crack, and it was Chen Shi.

Upon seeing Granny Sha, Chen Shi grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth.

A surge of panic shot through Granny Sha as she hastily sent the widow on her way, saying, "Little Shi, how come you've come here? Where is your grandfather?"

Alone with Chen Shi, she felt an unsettling fear.

Chen Shi, carrying a basket in his hand with some green duck eggs, underneath which were melons and peaches, smiled and said, "My grandfather is at home; I've brought some local specialties from our village for you."

Astounded, Granny Sha promptly took the basket, saying, "Your grandfather prepared these items? That's thoughtful of him."

"It's not from grandpa's planting or raising; it's a gift from kind neighbors."

With a sweet smile, Chen Shi wiped a plum and handed it over, saying, "Try this, Granny, it's sweet and a bit tart!"

Granny Sha's fear diminished slightly as she smiled back, "Chen Yindou is a blunt man who never speaks kind words; how could he have a grandson like you who is so good with words and deeds? Truly sweet!"

She took a bite of the plum, finding it devoid of any sourness, though of course, the plum was still somewhat sour; it just tasted sweeter in her heart.

Nevertheless, she remained somewhat wary of Chen Shi and urged him to head home quickly to avoid the dark.

Chen Shi laughed, "No need to worry, Granny; I have an Armored Horse Talisman tied to my leg, so I can run fast. I'll be home in no time. Granny, your water jar is empty, let me fetch some water for you." With that, he grabbed a bucket and headed to the village well.

In a short while, Chen Shi filled Granny Sha's water jar, and he also helped sweep the floor, scrub pots, wash dishes, do laundry, and hang clothes to dry; he was most diligent.

Granny Sha hurriedly called out to him, "Unwarranted kowtowing suggests a hidden agenda. Out with it, what is your true purpose here?"

Wiping his hands on his buttocks, Chen Shi smiled pleasingly and said, "Grandpa told me that Granny Sha loves me the most; when I was little, you held me, and when I was injured, you tried every possible way to summon my soul. You saved me again this time; it's only right that I be attentive."

Granny Sha scoffed, "I saved you only because Chen Yindou paid me; it was a fair exchange. There's no need for your attentiveness. I'm someone who deals in trades, not favors. Now tell me, what do you really want?"

Seeing no way around it, Chen Shi explained his true intention, "Granny, are there any abandoned ancient temples near Qianyang Mountain? You know, the ones that seem to appear out of nowhere, deserted, with no one going to offer incense. The older, the better!"

Granny Sha's heart fluttered slightly and she asked, "What do you want with such a place?"

———— Thanks to 'Butterfly Flower' and 'Pengmen Little Immortal' for their generous Alliance Hierarch rewards. The boss is wise!

Brothers, as we tread the great path, it is still the early days of this new book. We need your support and votes even more. The homely pig thanks you!"