There were similarities between Super-Brain Aberrants and Spiritual Aberrants. If they gathered spiritual power at their eyes, they could see things that did not exist in the real world. The energy of most souls were weaker, and their true shape could not be discerned. However, demons comprised of a high-energy body. As long as You Shu carefully observed, it was still possible to see the debt-collecting ghost's appearance. The other party was not strong enough, its' so-called corporeal body was also just a blurry figure. It looked shrivelled, thin, and extremely wretched. He seemed to be still unwilling to give up this body, and would often circle around You Shu. He'd flying up and down, shouting loudly with his mouth, "Return my fleshly body! That skin should have been mine!" As he spoke, he would reach out his hands and push with all his might.
You Shu felt that his skin was terribly bleak and chilly, but had no solution. He could only pretend to have seen nothing and heard nothing. The vapour of the Debt-collecting Ghost's body grew denser and denser daily, and his facial features were also clearer and clearer each day. In contrast, some people in Jade Water Village began to show symptoms such as dizziness, blurry vision, lethargy, and emaciation.
You Shu knew in his heart, that they had also been ensnared by the debt-collecting ghost. Because they did not have mental power to protect their bodies, their Yang energy were hence sucked away. If this continued, it is unknown whether or not they will live on. You Shu could not save them. In fact, he couldn't even save himself. The demon was growing, but his spiritual power was still stagnant. No matter how he meditates, there wasn't any way for him to quickly improve. Perhaps, after a few years passes, this demon will want his life.
Hence, he had the malt candy that Song mama had given himself distributed to the children in the village and let them pass on the matter of how there was a ghost nearby. He was very skilful. The adults asked, but did not know where the rumours came from. Whether there was truly a ghost in the village, the people were unclear, but the few unlucky ones who had been haunted by the ghost were all shocked, and had a sudden revelation.
Not long afterwards, several households jointly contributed funds to invite a 'Way of Dao is profound and lofty' Master who took out a compass and walked from the village head to the village tail. He pointed here, nodded there, making a huge fuss. When they passed his home, You Shu was pinching a piece of maltose candy, licking it with immense concentration. He saw the ghost follow behind the Master, and its long tongue had been inserted into the top of the Master's skull, seeming to be sucking something.
You Shu's expectant feeling was instantly lost. This Master was obviously a swindler. He was unaware of even the ghost beside him, how could he capture the ghost? However, on the surface his performance was serious and dignified. Holding a peach-wood sword, he danced for half a Shichen*. Then he sprayed a mouthful of wine on the candlestick, and a huge flame was ignited, arousing the a stream of cheers from the villagers.
*Shichen: One Shichen = 2 hours.
You Shu stood on the outskirts of the crowd. After he finished licking the maltose, he took out a piece of preserved fruit from his pocket. He kept it in his mouth and slowly sucked the sweet juice. While sucking, he shook his head and walked far away. That night, someone found the Master's corpse in the vegetable plot at the east end of the village. The clothes were stained with alcohol, seeming as though he had drunk to the point of intoxication, lost his step and fell to death.
Song mama and Bai Shao crowded together and softly mumbled their misgivings, saying that the Master had died unnaturally. You Shu pulled away from his meditation; his little brow was wrinkled tightly, and expression was extremely sombre. Although the debt-collecting ghost previously had resentful energy, it was not dense. Now that it had been tainted with a human life, will the resentful energy evolve? He had to know if demons were the same as zombies, also classified by rank, and if whether they had a human life in their hand was an important criteria for judging the degree of danger.
You Shu knew, this ghost has become more and more dangerous. He had to quickly find a way to save himself. He had never thought of communicating with the other party. Trying to reason with a demon was like asking zombies to stop eating humans. It was simply wishful thinking. He did not understand the Yin and Yang Art of Dao, did not know how to catch ghosts, and even if he had learned he had no practical experience. He could only pick up Song mama's Buddhist scriptures and silently chant them all day. However, he was originally an atheist. Towards Buddha, he did not have a sincere heart. The verses he read hence also became common speech, and had no effect on the demon.
He passed two months in this manner. Three people in the village died one after another. For sometime, the peoples' hearts were apprehensive, and rumours were rampant. You Shu did not dare to go out at the time, because that demon had already completely cultivated a human form and was no longer a bundle of fleeting fog. Often, when You Shu was unprepared, he would push him into the pond or have heavy objects at high places dropped onto his head. Fortunately, You Shu came from the end of the world, and his survival skill points were maxed out. When he fell into the pond, he swam out on his own. When heavy objects fell, he also riskily dodged them. Just that, when he returned he had a serious illness, and for the subsequent dozen or so days his high fever did not recede.
Song mama was badly terrified. She did not hesitate to spend a lot of money to invite a doctor from Liangzhou City to treat the young master, and even bought a small root of ginseng tonic. Only after all the family property had been wiped clean did she consider him saved.
You Shu had thinned a lot after he recovered from his illness. His two cheeks were sunken, his skin was sallow, and his previous spirited demeanour was totally absent. At a glance, he looked like a monkey. He was quieter than before, and would flip through Buddhist scriptures all day. He would not speak, and was also expressionless, causing Song mama and Bai Shao to become terribly anxious.
Today was the Buddha's birthday. Kai Yuan Temple was organising a grand Pañcavārṣika.* Song mama and Bai Shao had saved up some donation money and intended to pray for the Young Master. The three people came to the temple in an oxcart, where the crowd was immense like the mountains or the sea, and the Yang energy was extremely abundant. Demons relied on sucking Yang to survive, but that was only in regards to individual people; if the Yang of tens of thousands of people was gathered together, it will cause great harm to them.
*Pañcavārṣika: A grand gathering meant for feasting and gathering donations to the Bodhi tree.
The moment the demon saw the fiery red Yang energy rising in the air, he was instantly frightened and hid. You Shu felt the chill that had been tightly attached to his back immediately vanish, and resisted the desire to look back. He tugged the corner of Song mama's shirt and followed her to the front hall. Song mama had long since finished praying to the hundreds of Buddha statues in the temple. As for her preparations to ask for blessings for the Young Master, she worried that it will tire him. Hence she let Bai Shao take him out to play.
Bai Shao pulled You Shu out of the main hall. Seeing there was a fate-drawing stall* at the side, for a moment her heart had an unbearable itchiness. She took out a copper plate and bought a stick of Tanghulu* for the young master, then let him stand by the side and wait. After that she bought a fortune bag*, and ran to the Bodhi tree* at the outer courtyard to hang it.
*fate-drawing stall:
*Tanghulu: stick of candied hawthorn or other fruits
*fortune bag:
*Bodhi tree: also called Sacred Fig.
You Shu stood in the open space outside the hall, expressionlessly licking the candied fruits. Suddenly felt a piercing pain at his back. He turned his head to look, but saw a group of children from Jade Water Village standing not far away, their hands holding snowballs and tossing them towards him. As they threw they snickered and laughed, saying, "Fool, come over ah, come chase us."
In his previous life You Shu had lived to fifteen. Moreover, his personality was very quiet, so how could he play with a group of little brats? He turned back and continued to expressionlessly lick his candied fruits. The group of children refused to give up and deliberately had the snowballs packed as hard as a stone, then threw them towards him, one after another. You Shu couldn't hide from the snowballs. They were as densely gathered as raindrops, so he could only run around while looking at the surroundings to see if there was any place to hide.
The surrounding area was all flat land, there was nothing to take shelter behind. You Shu wanted to run into the temple, but he saw that several children were already standing at the doorway, blocking the way – their faces wore malicious smiles. South was a high wall, so there was no escape route. There was only one large bamboo basket placed in the corner, left by someone unknown. You Shu had no choice. He could only run over and turn over the basket, bracing himself. The snowballs fell like raindrops and slammed onto the bamboo basket, making a resounding "pa pa pa" noise. The finely crushed beads of snow came in through the cracks and splashed on his face, freezing him til he was constantly shivering.
When the group of children saw that You Shu was only hiding and evading, not resisting, they felt the thrill of bullying the weak heighten. When they finished throwing the snowballs they picked up wooden sticks, intending to open the bamboo basket and have You Shu soundly beaten up. You Shu was squatting in the bamboo baskets and blankly licking the candied fruits. Those who have experienced the end of days know a certain truth. No matter how critical the situation, even when escaping with their lives, the food when cannot be discarded. Hence, You Shu circled around the open space running haphazardly, but the stick of candied fruits was still gripped firmly in his hands.
Under the roof of the main hall, a 14 or 15-year-old boy was squinting his eyes and staring at this farce. He was standing upright, sleeves swaying in the wind. Even his immature facial features were already faintly revealing a peerless appearance. The extravagant air throughout his whole body was even more daunting. Two people with sturdy physiques followed behind him, guarding left and right, their expressions alert.
"Master, do you want to drive them away?" one of them whispered.
"No need, it's pretty interesting." The youth waved his hand. "The way of the world is as such. It's nothing more than reliance on money to bully the low, relying on strength to bully the weak. Even a three-year-old child can't be excused."
"Master, then this subordinate will go save the child?" Another stepped forward.
"He won't die, what's there to save him from?" The teenager's voice was cold, and his expression extremely indifferent.
Not far away, a group of children were preparing to kick over the bamboo basket, then use sticks to chaotically and tyrannically beat up. However, You Shu suddenly stood up carrying the bamboo basket on his head. He quickly snatched one of the children's wooden stick, and merciless hitting his legs. That person thus fell to the ground, hugging his legs and howling. The rest of the people hastily gathered to help. But You Shu was like a little turtle; carrying the bamboo basket, he gave them a beating. After hitting several times he let all of the children go. Although his soul was already fifteen years old, his body was only five years old and younger than these children. These children could encircle him, so why can't he fight back?
You Shu had the group of bear children beaten until they cried for their fathers and shouted for their mothers. Afterwards he walked over to the leader, grabbed several handfuls of snow, and poured it into the other's clothes. The boy shouted shrilly, while shouting he frantically took out the snow. You Shu picked up the candied fruit that had fallen on the snow, blew it, then walked away. There was still no expression on his face. While he was walking in a deserted place, he suddenly felt a cold wind attack. Following that the back of his head was gripped by a big hand, and ruthlessly slammed into the thick, unswept snow.
The snow blocked his nose and mouth, making it difficult to breathe. His brain began to show signs of oxygen-deficiency, and his consciousness also gradually became blurry. He vaguely heard a spiteful voice whisper beside his ear, "My name has long been printed on King Yama's* life and death ledger, but you took my fleshly body, and had me become a wandering ghost! Since you've taken my flesh, you had to collect my debt for me. Now that the forty-two silvers have been spent, you can die!" The words fell, and more and more force was used to press You Shu into the layer of snow.
*King Yama: King of hell in Buddhism, who presides over purgatories, and Saṃsāra (circle of life / reincarnation)
You Shu frantically struggled, but it was in vain. Seeing that the air was about to be cut off, the demon suddenly asked in panic, "Purple Dragon Energy? How can there someone with Purple Dragon Energy* here?"
*Purple Dragon Energy: 紫色龙气; can also be translated as 'Purple Emperor's Energy'.
The big hand at the back of the head disappeared instantly. You Shu hastily turned his body to sit up, panting as he took big mouthfuls of air, his small face having become the colour of pig's liver. At the same time, a pair of black, shin-length boots step by step came closer, stopping to stand three meters in front of him.
"Why are you burying yourself in the snowdrift?" The person who came was standing vertically, his hands clasped behind his back. A pair of fierce and sharp eyebrows slightly rose, showing some curiosity.