Chapter 21: Beating
Chen Shi didn’t know that the Iron Brush Elder was already dead. He continued to attack the various talismans with ferocity, but they remained unscathed.
Some of the talismans were so sinister, like the Five Ghosts and Six Plagues talismans, that even a single malevolent spirit or curse summoned by them would be beyond his ability to handle.
Fearing that the Iron Brush Elder might recover and strike back fatally, Chen Shi pressed his attacks in desperation. Yet, despite his relentless effort, even the Taishang Eight Trigrams Protective Talisman remained unbroken, leaving him in despair.
The more despair he felt, the more frenzied he became!
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
Black Pot barked loudly at him, but Chen Shi was in such a manic state that he didn’t hear it.
When exhaustion finally set in, Chen Shi found that the Eight Trigrams Divine Light protecting the talisman was still unbreached. His hands were bloody, the skin torn and mangled from the backlash.
The talismans left by this old talisman master were terrifyingly powerful!
“Woof! Woof!”
Black Pot bit his pants leg, pulling him backward. Chen Shi, still intent on fighting, stumbled and nearly fell. His mind briefly cleared, and his gaze passed through the glowing layers of divine light to the Iron Brush Elder. The elder was kneeling there, long since dead.
Chen Shi froze.
“Dead?”
Then, joy overtook him.
“Dead! He’s finally dead! I killed him!”
Chen Shi burst into laughter, his knees giving out as he collapsed onto the ground. His laughter was wild, almost deranged.
“He had so many ridiculously strong talismans, but he didn’t even have the chance to use them before I killed him! Serves him right!”
He gasped for breath, nearly passing out from the exertion. Calming himself, he took deep breaths before staggering to his feet and spitting on the Iron Brush Elder’s corpse.
“Serves you right!” Chen Shi snarled.
Black Pot, still trembling, spat as well.
After a while, Chen Shi dragged Zhao Ming, the Zhao family steward’s corpse, to the roadside. His arms and legs were weak, and he could barely move the body.
Resting a bit, he finally mustered enough strength to haul the Iron Brush Elder’s body to the same spot.
“They’re Zhao family members investigating the disappearance of the Woman in Purple. The bodies must be dealt with; otherwise, if the Zhao family finds out, more trouble will come.”
Chen Shi looked up at the sky. The twin suns were turning into half-discs, and fiery light spread across the heavens like a red haze.
Night was falling.
“At night, wild beasts roam, and malevolent spirits and curses will emerge. They’ll take care of the bodies.”
Chen Shi frowned slightly. It was too late to return to Huangpo Village. The only place to avoid the perils of the night was Huangyang Village.
“Black Pot, we’re heading to Huangyang Village!”
Black Pot hesitated before quickly following. Together, man and dog made their way toward Huangyang Village.
As the crimson inferno of the sky mirrored a fiery sunset, Chen Shi, hands still dripping with blood, stepped onto the scarlet-soiled path leading to Huangyang Village’s entrance.
Behind them, the sound of wooden wheels rumbled. An elderly man, tall and robust, sat on a wooden cart, holding a compass as he, too, made his way to Huangyang Village.
—Grandpa had finally arrived to bring them home.
Chen Shi glanced back at the cart but didn’t go to greet it. Instead, he strode toward the village temple at the center of Huangyang Village.
Black Pot hesitated but chose not to greet Grandpa either, hastening to follow Chen Shi.
Villagers emerged from their homes, their eyes falling on the bloodied man and the black dog.
With a menacing air but a smiling face, Chen Shi walked straight to the dilapidated temple at the heart of the ruins and stepped inside without hesitation.
The obese deity figure inside looked up at Chen Shi’s bloodied hands, his expression flickering with avoidance and panic.
What had transpired two miles away—the death of the Iron Brush Elder—had not escaped his notice. It had utterly frightened him.
Chen Shi raised his hand and swept all the offerings off the altar, scattering them across the floor. He sat on the altar table, fixing his gaze on the fat deity before him.
“I killed the talisman master you conspired with. I assume you saw it all.”
Chen Shi’s gaze bore into the deity’s beady eyes. “As the Godmother, you colluded with outsiders and caused the deaths of your three godsons. You’ve disgraced the name of Godmother and betrayed the incense offerings before you! When others slandered you, you let malevolent spirits into the village and slaughtered entire families. Now, Godmother, for your wrongs, what punishment do you deserve, and who dares deliver it?”
The obese deity, face green with fury, roared like thunder: “Who dares accuse me of wrongdoing? Who dares punish me?”
Behind him, the copper statue of a blue-faced, fanged figure erupted in radiant light, illuminating the temple as brightly as day.
The light spilled through the temple doors, startling the villagers of Huangyang Village. Many knelt in fear, bowing repeatedly toward the temple, muttering prayers for the Godmother’s forgiveness.
“I dare!”
A voice rang out from the temple, youthful yet filled with rage. Among the villagers, a bold one named Sanwang peeked into the temple. Inside, he saw Chen Shi leap from the altar and deliver a fierce kick seemingly into thin air.
To Sanwang, it looked like he was kicking nothing.
But Chen Shi could see it.
The kick landed squarely on the fat deity’s face, twisting his eyes, ears, nose, and mouth into a grotesque knot.
The obese deity roared in anger, rising with a shudder of quivering fat. His body, forged from extraordinary power, brimmed with terrifying divine energy ready to explode.
Just then, the rumbling of wooden wheels grew louder. Grandpa approached in his wooden cart, unhurried.
The fat deity froze, his small eyes filled with terror.
“You dare fight back?”
Chen Shi grew even angrier. He spun and delivered a sweeping kick to the deity’s neck, sending ripples of fat quaking across his body.
The deity toppled over, and Chen Shi leapt from the altar, planting a foot on his chest and raining punches onto his face.
The sound of fists striking flesh echoed through the temple, and the villagers outside stared, wide-eyed. Some were horrified, while others grinned with satisfaction. A few continued to kowtow frantically, begging the Godmother’s forgiveness.
“You call yourself Godmother, yet you failed to protect the villagers, instead letting malevolent spirits into the village to harm people!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“You call yourself Godmother, yet you threatened the villagers in their dreams!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
“You call yourself Godmother, yet you conspired with outsiders to kill the children of the village!”
Thud! Thud! Thud!
More villagers craned their necks to see. Inside, Chen Shi hoisted the altar table over his head and smashed it down, striking what appeared to be empty space. The sound of impact was all too real.
“Stop! Stop!” a voice cried.
Chen Shi ignored it, smashing the altar table repeatedly until it was reduced to splinters. Grabbing one of the remaining table legs, he wielded it like a club, continuing to strike until it, too, broke apart.
Finally, he tossed the table leg aside and grabbed the incense burner, lifting it high and slamming it down on the fat deity’s head.
Dong! Dong! Dong! The heavy blows landed, each more resonant than the last.
“You call yourself Godmother, yet you bullied my friend Fugui!”
Dong! Dong! Dong!
“You call yourself Godmother, yet you bullied Fugui’s friends!”
Dong! Dong! Dong!
Chen Shi’s angry blows and strikes continued to resound through the temple. He kept at it for a full half-hour before he finally vented his pent-up frustration. The fat deity was left lying on the ground, beaten so badly that his face was swollen like a pig’s head.
Dragging the incense burner, Chen Shi walked to the temple entrance. Outside, a dense crowd of Huangyang Village villagers stood, all their gazes fixed on him.
Chen Shi grinned, tossing the now-crushed incense burner outside the temple door. Wiping the sweat off his face, he found himself drenched from the prolonged effort, though the blood on his hands smudged across his face, giving him a rugged, hardened look.
After all that, he realized he felt rather hungry, a gnawing emptiness in his stomach.
“This fat guy…”
Chen Shi hesitated, shaking off the absurd thought with a self-deprecating laugh. “He’s a deity figure, not food. I can’t believe I even felt tempted. Scared myself there.”
Unnoticed by him, the faint blue glow of the Ghost Hand Mark on his chest slowly dimmed.
Chen Shi was about to step out of the temple when he stopped abruptly, turning back.
The fat deity trembled violently on the ground at Chen Shi’s return. But Chen Shi didn’t approach him. Instead, he strode toward the copper statue of the blue-faced, fanged figure—the true essence of the Godmother Spirit.
Extending his hand, Chen Shi grabbed one of the statue’s fingers and slowly applied force until it snapped.
The fat deity screamed in agony, writhing on the ground.
Chen Shi reached for another finger and broke it just as deliberately.
One finger, then another, and another.
Before long, all ten fingers of the copper statue had been snapped off. Chen Shi twisted the detached fingers into a grotesque spiral and tossed them onto the fat deity’s quivering body.
“My friend Fugui’s three friends want to leave this wretched temple. If you dare to stop them again, I’ll twist your head off and use it as a chamber pot!”
With that, Chen Shi turned to the corner where the three children’s ghosts lingered. His expression softened as he smiled and beckoned to them.
“Come on, you can go home now.”
The ghostly children approached timidly, carefully skirting around the fat deity as they gathered beside Chen Shi.
Leading them, Chen Shi walked out of the temple. The children’s ghosts stepped past the temple threshold without issue, their faces lighting up with admiration as they looked at Chen Shi.
Chen Shi smiled gently. “Go home now. See your parents while you still can. After the seventh day, if a ghost emissary comes for you, follow them. Don’t linger in the human world.”
The children nodded, running toward their respective homes. Their parents, though unable to see them, seemed to sense their presence, their gazes softening as though their children were right by their side.
Chen Shi made his way to the wooden cart where the elderly man stood. The dog wagged its tail enthusiastically at the elder, eager to please. Moonlight spilled over the scene, serene and mysterious.
“Taking care of malevolent spirits on your own now, eh? Impressive,” Grandpa muttered, gripping Chen Shi’s hand and tending to the clotted blood in his wounds. His tone was gruff and unreadable. “How much money did you make?”
Chen Shi’s heart skipped a beat. He quickly shook his head. “I didn’t make any money. There was a talisman master killing children to refine life-extending oil. Seeing how poor the villagers were, I couldn’t bring myself to take payment.”
For some reason, his heart pounded furiously, and the silver hidden in his sleeve suddenly felt unbearably hot.
Grandpa grunted in acknowledgment, asking no further questions as he applied medicinal ointment to Chen Shi’s wounds. “Let’s head home and take your medicine.”
Chen Shi exhaled in relief and hastily suggested, “The moon is already up. It’s dangerous to travel back at night. Why don’t we stay here in the temple for the night?”
Inside the temple, the fat deity nearly fainted from fright.
Grandpa shook his head. “You’ve killed someone and beaten that fat deity to a pulp. If you don’t take your medicine, your illness might flare up again. Hang more peachwood talismans, and we should get home safely.”
Recalling the agony of his previous episodes, Chen Shi shuddered and climbed onto the cart without protest.
As the wooden cart trundled out of the village, Chen Shi suddenly turned back, yelling furiously, “You useless fat deity! I’m just next door in Huangpo Village. You’d better behave and do your job as Godmother properly! Otherwise, I’ll come beat you up every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday—and come back on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday to do it again!”
The fat deity shivered uncontrollably.