No-Man’s Cemetery Valley’s Procession
Standing beneath a swaying green canopy, nine wood demons waited for Mu Yu’s pivotal answer. As flashes of white and black qi left Mu Yu’s eyes, he finally responded, “I know what I must do now.”
Tree Elder shifted his hands to his rear and showed consolation on his face. “We will be waiting for you. We don’t like war, and we don’t want to be forced into fighting. To revive Eternally Youthful Ku Mu, you must preserve his soul. I suggest you make a trip to Ghost Island as it is a terrific place to nurture souls. That is the very reason Ghost Gate wants to go there.
“I noticed Wood Spirit has recovered from a lot of its wounds; absorbing soul energy can heal it. I didn’t harm Ghost Gate’s members after I rescued you because I am of the opinion that you should use them as nourishment for Wood Spirit.
“Take these three Bodhi leaves. If you ever find yourself in danger, inject your spiritual energy into a leaf, and it will morph into a five elements release to help you escape. By the same account, you can also use it to find me based on my qi link to them.
“Our intelligence tells us that lots of Ghost Gates members have come to Moyun Mountains; be careful not to get yourself in a similar situation again.”
Tree Elder bid farewell with an amiable nod and left with his group.
“Tree Elder appears to be a gentleman,” commented the dragon vine.
“You have my vote. You reckon elemental demons taste good?” Xiaoshuai asked.
“Really? Again? Eat poo!”
“Should I be glad or worried that he isn’t a picky eater?” Mu Yu thought, smiling.
***
Several villages at Moyun Mountains had a cultural practice of dressing their dead in the most extravagant clothing they had and dumping their body at No-Man’s Cemetery Valley, a valley that was actually an underground crack in the earth two-hundred-metres wide and stretching kilometres long. Citizens of certain cities also made the long trip to dump corpses there.
The legend passed down was that dumping corpses in the valley where souls mournfully cried at the moon was the only way to ensure the dead would be reincarnated. Cultivators often used it as a place to get rid of evidence they didn’t want anyone else finding. Years ago, the valley located on the tall hill was also where Gui Xuanyue killed forty-nine cultivators to locate Feng Haochen.
A procession numbering over a hundred ordinary villagers of a village nearby were on their way to the foggy valley, where the sun’s rays couldn’t pierce, to bury an elder who recently passed away after ninety-years of life. The entire village joined the procession for it was their local custom for everyone in their village to see off elders who passed on. The elders, dressed in mourning robes, struggled their way up the slope whilst bearing the weight of the phoebe zhennan coffin on their shoulders, others crying and scattering fake paper money into the winds. After multiple breaks up the slope, they rested the coffin at the edge of the valley, backs soaking in sweat. Strangely, the paper the breeze from below picked up rose but never landed in the valley.
The family members of the elder knelt before the coffin, offerings and three incense sticks in an incense burner, bawling their eyes out. All of the elder’s descendants wailed as their culture advocated that louder cries equated to greater filial piety.
Chen Erzhuang, a tanned man who sold all the items necessary for funerals and penned eulogies for villagers who weren’t educated enough to write, yet was defined by his gloomy visage, could tell there were only five people shedding sincere tears.
Having three sons, two daughters, ten grandkids, over twenty great-grandkids all living together should’ve been something to celebrate. Unfortunately, Elder Zhao’s three sons refused to feed him, and his grandkids never visited him. The one to bring news of his death was a dog he raised, and the dog had to bark for three days before anyone bothered to check on Elder Zhao. When Chen Erzhuang arrived to escort Elder Zhao, his three sons were lambasting each other until they were red in the face for the inheritance.
For some, it was a burden to feed an elder, and they felt they had dumped dead weight after the elder passed on. For others, they genuinely cared enough to take the initiative to feed their elder and weep after their elder passed on.
Chen Erzhuang always wondered who would pen his eulogy when he passed away.
“Ladies and gentlemen, even though we are escorting Elder Zhao with heavy hearts, we should feel happy that he enjoyed a long life and that his descendants are all filial. Just as the tree wants to stop swaying, his descendants have lost the chance to repay him despite their wish to do so. It truly is sad that fate has taken him from us. The living must live on. Elder Zhao will continue to watch over you and your descendants from above. Let us bid him farewell now. Elder Zhao, rest in peace. It is now time to send him on his way.”
Four clerks working for Chen Erzhuang carried up the coffin and pushed it into the bottomless valley. As per Chen Erzhuang’s instructions, Elder Zhao’s descendants rushed to the edge of the valley and wailed at the top of their lungs. It was an effective way of ensuring people wouldn’t call them heartless.
Suddenly, Elder Zhao’s descendants bolted back, screaming in panic. Bemused, Chen Erzhuang looked over to see what the fuss was. To his shock, he witnessed Elder Zhao’s coffin levitate back up and exude a sinister aura. Everyone started screeching frantically, but the invisible energy chained them in place.
Elder Zhao cracked a wicked smile and opened his eyes. For some reason, his eyes were pitch black. “You cried for me to come back, didn’t you? Why are you all so scared? Kekekeke.”
“D-Dad, you should go.”
“First Brother and Second Brother are trying to take your property. I wanted to def-”
“Shut up, liar! You were the one who was ecstatic to hear Dad had passed away!”
“In that case, why don’t you three come join me in hell, my sons?”
Scream as they may, Elder Zhao shrouded them in ghost qi and sucked their souls out to devour. He licked his lips and told everyone present, “I shall be taking all the souls of Zhao Clan now, kekeke.”
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