Chapter 2          A Dangerous Coffin

Who would have known that this old Daoist would pull a bench, sit down in the middle of the living room and tell them, “My G.o.d, I can’t work with an empty stomach, make me some food first.”

The request left Ye Dagong dumbfounded, but he still ordered his daughter-in-law to cook something up. While she prepared food, Ye Dagong pulled his son aside to question him about the old Daoist. 

“I followed your orders, and I was on the way to find the Great Zhang. But while I was having lunch, I sat with this old Daoist. In an instant, he saw that there was a hint of corpse Qi around me. After he heard my explanation, he told me that he would help me, so I brought him back,” Ye Bing’s voice softened, and he asked, “Father, do you think this old Daoist … is a conman?” 

Ye Dagong did not answer his question but asked, “Does he want money?” 

“Of course he wants money. He said that when he finishes everything, he wants five thousand Yuan.”

Five thousand Yuan was considered quite a sizeable sum in these times, especially for a small village household. Despite this, in Ye Dagong’s mind, there was no price too heavy in exchange for his grandson’s life. Even his own life was nothing in comparison. But if this old Daoist was a conman, it would not only be a waste of money, as it would also mean wasting the precious little time that his grandson had. 

Ye Dagong felt very conflicted, so he went back to the living room and poured some tea. Then, he sat across the old Daoist and tried to start a conversation. Ye Dagong hoped that he could fish for some information from the old Daoist, but the old man did not even care to entertain him. The old man only reluctantly said that his Daoist name was Qing Yunzhi, and he was from Maoshan. Ye Dagong became even more suspicious of this old man, but he was in no position to be picky. 

When the food was ready, Qing Yunzhi rushed to eat the food. He even asked Ye Bing to purchase the best alcohol for him. After enjoying his meal for more than hour; he was finally ready. He stretched his back and started to make his way to the room.

Ye Dagong let out a big sigh when he saw the old Daoist drunkenly walk toward his grandson’s room. 

After he entered the room, Qing Yunzhi made a quick a.s.sessment. He saw that the child had bloodshot eyes and a blackened face. When he combined this with the story that he heard from Ye Bing, he came to a certain conclusion. Qing Yunzhi walked up to the child to physically examine him; he reached out with his hand to touch the child’s forehead. Then, he a.s.sessed the child’s internal organs with his Gang Qi, but to his surprise, the child’s body was perfect for training in Daoism. 

When he closely examined the child, he found that the child’s organs were in perfect condition. His palm had a straight and prominent lifeline and Daoist line. What a perfect coincidence, he thought, as he became very excited, This must be a G.o.d given opportunity that let me find this rare child through meeting Ye Bing!  

“Thank the heavens for this great gift. Maoshan Sect shall finally have a successor, hehe.”

Qing Yunzhi was very pleased with this finding, but he quickly turned his focus back to the child’s condition. He found that the child’s limbs were extremely cold, but his body was fiery hot. When Qing Yunzhi opened the child’s hands, his palm was tarry black. There was a keratinized layer that felt very rough. Moreover, the black patch had begun to extend into the child’s wrist. 

“What powerful corpse poison!”

Qing Yunzhi quickly grabbed some glutinous rice from his bag and pressed it onto the child’s palm, which caused a hissing sound. Wisps of green smoke started to fume out from the location that he applied the rice. Finally, the glutinous rice became black. 

“Daoist master, this is …?” Ye Dagong was shocked, and he had dispelled all his previous distrust of this man. Ye Dagong had now begun to believe that this old Daoist had powers and could save his grandson. 

Qing Yunzhi did not answer his question. Instead, he told Ye Bing to bring a Chinese bowl. Then, he took out a yellow talisman paper and wrote on it with cinnabar ink. With a slight wave of the charm, it ignited up and turned into ashes. He added the ashes to water and fed the bowl of liquid to the child. 

The child slowly started to wake from his comatose state. Then, he started to cry and complain about the cold. Qing Yunzhi told Ye Bing to quickly fetch some blankets for the child and let him rest. As he gave out orders, he grabbed a Chinese compa.s.s and started to recite an incantation. The arrow on the compa.s.s started to spin. After a while, it stopped and pointed to the head of the bed. 

Qing Yunzhi quickly walked over to look for anything suspicious, but he found nothing. Then, he reached under the dusty bed and started searching again. When he came out, he had a very grave expression. Just like magic, he pulled out a round red pill from his sleeve and handed it to Ye Bing, “Go fetch one kilogram of mulled rice wine, a bit of a.r.s.enious sulfide, and five hundred grams of cinnabar. Mix everything else with the Vermillion Cultivation Pill I just gave you and dissolve them in warm water. Feed five hundred grams to the child every half an hour to help clear the corpse poison.” 

Ye Bing thanked him and quickly went to do as instructed. 

Qing Yunzhi returned to the living room to sit down on the bench once more. He picked up the unfinished white spirit and started to slowly drink it, seemingly to help cure the frustration in his mind. Ye Dagong quickly came before Qing Yunzhi with clasped hands. Qing Yunzhi’s actions had totally made Ye Dagong believe in this old Daoist; he was convinced that this man had supernatural powers. 

“Daoist master, are you able to … save my grandson?”

Qing Yunzhi put down the bowl of spirit and looked at Ye Dagong with a pair of beady eyes, “Does your family have any enemies?” 

“Enemies?” Ye Dagong shook his head in surprise, “I’ve been the chief for 30 years. I may have offended some people, but no one hates me for my actions.” 

“You better think hard, because this is no ordinary hatred. This person wants to kill your whole family!”

Ye Dagong took a deep breath and thought through all the possible names, but none seemed to fit. “We really don’t have any enemies. We have been an honorable house. Even though we are not necessarily a blessing to the village, we have never done anything bad. So, please tell me what is going on Daoist master.” 

Qing Yunzhi gave a slight nod and said, “Looking at your Yin Tang, you seem like an honest and good person.” Then, Qing Yunzhi opened his left palm to show Ye Dagong a ball-like object. It was as red as blood and moist to touch. (TL note: Yin Tang is one of the acupoints in Chinese medicine). 

“This is what I found under your grandson’s bed. This is the thing that was killing your grandson.”

Qing Yunzhi shook his head and explained, “This is the cream of corpse oil. Cursed by magic, it will keep releasing corpse poison to anyone that is within five feet of it. Additionally, if the person has absorbed the corpse poison for a month, they would turn into an undead themselves. They would lose their minds and become extremely aggressive. So far, the poison has already moved to your grandson’s heart, and it is spreading to his limbs. What you saw on his hands were signs of him turning into an undead.”

These words terrified Ye Dagong, and he fell to the ground. He begged Qing Yunzhi, “Please Daoist master, you must … must save my grandson. He is the only heir of our family, please….”

“Please stand up. Even though this is a difficult situation, I will do everything I can to save your grandson.”

When Ye Dagong stood up, Qing Yunzhi continued, “Usually, when the corpse poison reaches a person’s heart, it would kill them for sure. But your grandson is ….” Qing Yunzhi suddenly paused. He thought it would be best if Ye Dagong did not know about his findings.

“Your grandson is special. Corpse poison is filled with Yin Qi, so when it was introduced to your grandson’s body, it triggered his inner Yang Qi. That is why his body is both hot and cold. But the average corpse poison wouldn’t be able to harm your grandson….”

Qing Yunzhi looked at the ball of corpse oil cream and said, “This corpse oil is not average at all. This oil was taken from someone who suddenly died. The anger from the spirit created a very deadly corpse oil.”