Mortal Bones

Chapter 27: Slaying the Chang Ghost, the Tiger Demon Berates Xu Taiping

“You think a simple pit like this can hold me?”

Having confirmed it was nothing more than a hole in the ground, the Chang Ghost’s laughter echoed once again, dripping with mockery.

“What does it matter if you trap this flesh? I am a ghost cultivator! My soul can simply leave the body!”

Amidst the Chang Ghost’s sneers, Xu Taiping quietly drew the long blade at his waist. He stood silently beside a tautly drawn rope, waiting.

Whoosh!

A violent gust of Yin wind suddenly erupted from the depths of the pit.

Swish!

Xu Taiping’s blade slashed down without a sliver of hesitation, severing the rope.

Crash!

Several heavy clay jars plummeted from the canopy, smashing dead center into the deep pit.

The pungent, fiery stench of strong liquor instantly flooded the air.

“Trying to crush me with rocks? Wait! Liquor! This is liquor! Ah!…”

Seeing the heavy objects plummet, the untethered soul of the Chang Ghost initially assumed Xu Taiping was trying to crush it to death. By the time the blinding fumes of alcohol saturated the pit, it was far too late to escape.

“Ah!…”

“Who? Who told you my fatal weakness was liquor?! Ah!…”

“Could it be… could it be that wretched whore? Ah!… Bitch! It must be her!”

Agonized wails and venomous curses echoed ceaselessly from the depths of the trap.

Contact with the alcoholic fumes acted like a lethal, incurable poison upon the Chang Ghost’s ethereal form. It deteriorated into erratic wisps of black Yin energy, ricocheting frantically against the walls of the pit.

Standing safely at the edge, Xu Taiping exhaled a long, heavy breath.

If I hadn’t known this Chang Ghost’s weakness was liquor, I really wouldn’t have stood a chance.

A cold sweat prickled his back as he recalled the chaotic events of the night.

If he hadn’t feigned weakness to make the monster lower its guard; if he hadn’t bled and sweat to break through to the Ice Condensation Phase; if he didn’t have these jars of liquor… his path of cultivation would have ended right here.

“Young hero… save me… just let me possess your body… I… I can tell you… where I’ve buried… all the treasures… I’ve hoarded over the years!…”

A grotesque face formed of swirling Yin energy clawed its way up from the pit, its voice a ragged, desperate wheeze.

“A question.” Xu Taiping completely ignored the creature’s pathetic bargaining. “Besides you, who else knows the location of the water vein spring at the Green Bamboo Residence?”

“Pull me out, and I’ll tell you!”

The Chang Ghost still thought it had leverage.

“Are you going to talk?”

Xu Taiping casually sloshed the remaining clay jar in his hand.

“Don’t!”

The sight of the jar tore a shrill shriek from the Chang Ghost, its ethereal hands waving in frantic surrender.

“No one else! Just me! I only found out by chance after killing the previous master of the Green Bamboo Residence!”

The words tumbled from its vaporous mouth at breakneck speed.

“You’re lying.”

“No, I swear it’s the absolute truth! Please, please just put that jar away!”

Xu Taiping studied the wretched spirit for a moment. It didn’t seem to be lying.

Nevertheless, he didn’t lower the jar. Instead, he popped the clay seal.

“Young master, what are you doing?! I really didn’t lie to you!”

Believing another fiery baptism was imminent, the Chang Ghost shrieked, its voice vibrating with terror.

“One more question.” Xu Taiping leaned in to sniff the mouth of the jar before lazily locking eyes with the spirit. “How strong is this tiger demon you call ‘Great King’? And what are its weaknesses?”

“This… this…”

The mention of the tiger demon forced the Chang Ghost into a sudden, terrified hesitation. It stammered, too afraid to speak.

“If I betray the Great King… there really, truly will be nothing left for me but true death!”

It gazed up at Xu Taiping with absolute dread.

“If you stay silent, I will scatter your soul right now.”

Xu Taiping dipped two fingers into the liquor. Flashing the spirit a bright, utterly innocent smile, he casually flicked the droplets straight onto the ghostly face.

“Ah!…”

The Chang Ghost’s agonizing scream tore through the mountain silence.

But with hundreds of miles of barren wilderness in every direction, it could scream until its ethereal lungs collapsed. No one was coming to help.

“Done considering?”

When the screams finally sputtered out, Xu Taiping dipped his fingers into the jar again, bestowing the ghost with another guileless, radiant smile.

“The Great King is the sovereign of beasts, possessing the physique of a Spirit Tiger! Unlike us mere Chang Ghosts, he has no weaknesses! However… half a month ago, he was ambushed and grievously wounded by several disciples of the Seventh Peak. It will take him at least three months to fully heal. That is why he dispatched us to scavenge for blood-food.” The spirit paused, a flicker of inherent disdain returning to its eyes. “Forgive my bluntness, boy, but even crippled, my Great King could crush you as easily as flipping his palm.”

Three months to heal… that lines up perfectly with my deadline to break through to the Door Opening Realm…

Xu Taiping frowned, silently calculating the odds.

To the Chang Ghost, this calculating frown looked exactly like fear.

Overjoyed, the spirit gritted through the burning agony of the lingering alcohol and spat a venomous warning:

“So I strongly advise you to let me go! If my soul scatters, the Great King will know instantly!”

Xu Taiping looked up, studying the ghost with immense seriousness. Then, without a word, he tossed the final clay jar high into the air. Channeling his True Qi, he struck out with a palm strike.

Bang!

The jar detonated in mid-air. A torrential shower of high-proof liquor rained down directly into the pit.

“Ah!… You shameless scum! Just you wait! The Great King… he will avenge me!”

The desperate wails of a dying soul tore through the night once more.

Xu Taiping turned a deaf ear to the noise, calmly lighting a pre-prepared torch and dropping it straight into the pit.

“Grandfather always said: combat evil with evil, repay kindness with kindness. Never conspire with tigers or collude with scum.”

Listening to the Chang Ghost’s shrieks, Xu Taiping muttered to himself, his expression utterly unreadable.

Fwoosh!

The torch kissed the dry kindling laid at the bottom of the pit. Ignited by the heavy alcohol fumes, a massive pillar of fire roared over ten feet into the night sky.

Roar!

The very instant the flames erupted, an earth-shaking tiger’s roar reverberated from within the inferno. The swirling fire aggressively warped, coalescing into the massive visage of a flaming tiger’s head.

“You dare kill my Chang slave?!”

The flaming tiger bellowed at Xu Taiping.

“I heard you were severely injured by a few Seventh Peak disciples and need three to five months to recover. Is that true?”

Fully expecting this manifestation thanks to the ghost’s earlier rambling, Xu Taiping wasn’t the least bit surprised. Instead, he flashed the furious phantom a pleasant smile.

“Nonsense! This King’s wounds will heal in three months at most!”

The arrogant Tiger King blurted out the correction instinctively.

A split second later, realizing what it had just done, the beast exploded into a rage:

“You dare trick this King?!”