The red-clad female ghost escaped.
Master surveyed the surroundings, intending to track the ghost.
After listening, Mo Ting suddenly said to Daochang Tang:
"Master, if we use the compass technique, we'll surely find that fleeing female ghost."
Upon hearing this, Daochang Tang took a deep breath:
"Indeed! Give me the compass!"
Without hesitation, Mo Ting swiftly retrieved a palm-sized feng shui compass from his cloth bag and handed it to Daochang Tang.
I glanced at the needle on the compass.
It seemed to be affected by the Yin energy here, spinning chaotically without any pattern, unable to indicate a precise direction.
My master watched Daochang Tang holding the compass, remaining silent, observing from the side.
Daochang Tang supported the feng shui compass in his left palm, while his right hand continuously formed different finger seals.
He murmured, "Qian, Kun, Xun, Dui, Gen, Zhen, Li, Kan..."
For each of the eight trigram directions, Daochang Tang made a distinct finger seal.
Finally, he formed a sword finger and pointed it at the compass in his left palm:
"Chì!"
As the command was uttered,
The compass needle, which had been spinning erratically, suddenly stopped.
It then pointed in a single direction and remained motionless.
Daochang Tang glanced at it and immediately made a judgment:
"Xun position, wind. That female ghost fled southwest. Pursue!"
With that, Daochang Tang, holding the compass and carrying the peach wood broadsword on his back, sped off towards the southwest.
The remaining three of us quickly followed.
With such a fierce female ghost unleashed, if we didn't eradicate her completely, the surrounding residents would surely be harmed.
I also thought about acquiring ghost essence to replenish the oil in the lamp.
We ran through the dark mountain forest.
Although Mo Ting and I were young, we still couldn't keep up with the speed of Daochang Tang and Master.
They ran incredibly fast; even in this mountain forest, "swift as flying" would not be an exaggeration.
We crossed ravines and continued along the dense forest, tracking southwest.
Old Mo was injured, and his speed was further hampered.
To keep pace with him, I had to slow down, even losing sight of them at one point.
Fortunately, Master and the others would stop intermittently to wait for us, preventing us from losing them entirely.
We chased for about three li in the mountains and arrived at a small stream.
The stream water was clear, reflecting the moonlight.
The "gurgling" sound of the water imparted a sense of peace.
Daochang Tang, who was leading the way, stopped at this point.
He looked at the feng shui compass in his hand.
The three needles in the center, one red, one black, and one white, were now aligned.
"Old scoundrel, how is it? Found anything?"
My master asked from the side, his brows furrowed.
After chasing for so long, everyone was sweating profusely, and their hearts were filled with frustration.
Daochang Tang didn't retort to my master this time, merely nodding:
"The three needles are aligned. This female ghost should be within three hundred meters.
Everyone, be quiet and see where she's hiding."
Mo Ting and I nodded repeatedly from the side.
After all, with Masters here, we would just follow their instructions.
Having pinpointed the ghost's location, Daochang Tang and Master began to search ahead.
They instructed me and Mo Ting to follow closely behind...
We moved forward inch by inch, carefully scanning the surroundings along the stream.
Fearing that any disturbance might alert the ghost and cause her to flee again,
We walked slowly and quietly.
After passing through a patch of bushes, we suddenly smelled a foul odor.
The further we walked, the stronger the smell became, so pungent it was suffocating... kuAiδugg
Upon catching this scent, all four of us instinctively covered our mouths and noses.
We continued forward, following the stench.
Soon, we discovered the source of the foul odor.
Not far ahead of us were several cultivated paddy fields along the stream.
The stench emanated from these fields.
Holding my nose, I wondered what kind of stream paddy fields these were, smelling worse than a latrine.
Even after fertilizing, it shouldn't be this malodorous, right?
"Is this a field or a cesspool?"
Mo Ting, covering his nose and mouth, grumbled.
"Don't make a sound, let's go see!"
Daochang Tang interrupted Mo Ting, and then, along with my master, headed towards the paddy fields.
Old Mo and I didn't hesitate and quickly followed.
Upon entering, we discovered that these stream paddy fields were planted with many trellised rice paddies.
As far as the eye could see, there were five or six trellises.
And in the fields, there were numerous decaying animal carcasses.
Cattle, sheep, cats, dogs, mice, bats, small birds, and so on.
The trellised fields were densely packed with corpses, all submerged in water and crawling with white maggots.
Flies and mosquitoes buzzed around, creating a nauseating spectacle.
Despite the bodies and maggots beneath the trellises,
The rice in the fields grew exceptionally well, each stalk thick and robust, showing no signs of damage from rotting roots.
However, the leaves were not vibrant green; they were even a bit dark and grayish.
Under the moonlight, they swayed gently.
Upon seeing these trellised rice paddies and the fields full of corpses, we all wore expressions of surprise.
Who would plant rice in such a deep mountain ravine?
And use so many animal carcasses as fertilizer?
Master and Daochang Tang, walking ahead, remained silent but appeared somewhat tense.
They paid close attention to the rice, constantly examining it.
They sniffed and even chewed it, showing great astonishment.
Seeing the strange actions and grave expressions of Master and Daochang Tang, and their intense focus on the rice,
I suddenly remembered Master's previous talk about immortal grass men.
He said that the ferocious building's mother and child were made of straw, grown with corpses.
This kind of straw was not exposed to sunlight, only moonlight.
Once planted and formed into effigies, they could become ghosts.
The headless fierce spirit from last night was clearly also cultivated from straw.
We tracked the female ghost here.
Could the rice paddies before us also be used for cultivating ghosts?
Were they, in Master's words, the "Undying Rice from Southern Xinjiang"?