Volume One: The Soul-Drawing Gourd and the Flame of the Spirit Chapter 15: Cultivating Ghostly Qi

Page 1/3

A chilling wind swept through dense white fog. Yan King Jiang Jingxue sat solemnly in the grand hall of the underworld, her imposing presence undiminished even by her rather foolish appearance. With a casual wave of her hand, two streams of green ghostly energy shot directly into the bodies of Feng Kaixuan and Feng Kai.

In an instant, the unconscious figures of Feng Kaixuan and Feng Kai on the ground rose like marionettes and walked out of the gloomy house…

Then Jiang Jingxue stomped her foot sharply, and a ripple of green light slowly receded. The illusion of the great hall vanished without a trace.

Gu Mo, who had been kneeling on the ground, sprang to his feet, eyeing the red-clad Jiang Jingxue with confusion.

“My lord, is that all? What’s with those two fat corpses?”

Jiang Jingxue merely curled her lips into a wicked smile and said nothing. In the next moment, she flickered to Gu Mo’s side, seized his arm, and soared with him toward the door…

In a flash, the frigid wind bit at Gu Mo, making his entire body shiver.

Within seconds, Gu Mo, still trembling from fright, found himself sitting in his own small courtyard.

Huff—huff!

After several heavy breaths, Jiang Jingxue gave Gu Mo a mischievous look and spoke impishly.

“Minion, have you made up your mind yet?”

Once again urged to marry, Gu Mo could only feign bewilderment, lowering his voice.

“My lord, what are you referring to?”

Immediately, Jiang Jingxue flipped her delicate hand, igniting a cluster of green ghostly fire on her palm. One burn from that would flay him alive, even if it didn’t kill him!

“Keep playing dumb and I won’t be so merciful next time!”

Hearing this, Gu Mo could only grumble softly in protest.

“What kind of world is this? Even female hoodlums are forcing marriage now!”

Stomp, stomp, stomp!

Jiang Jingxue bared her sharp fangs, glaring at Gu Mo with menace. At this sight, he was scared out of his wits.

‘At this point, the only option is to placate this crazy woman for now!’

Clearing his throat, Gu Mo locked eyes with Jiang Jingxue.

“My lord, you can’t just trick me alone! Besides, I don’t want to cultivate ghostly energy, so why would I marry you?”

Jiang Jingxue folded her arms coldly across her chest and replied icily.

“Hmph! Minion, don’t say I didn’t warn you. Bai Wuchang’s Soul-Binding Cord is no trivial thing! The longer it stays inside you, the more likely your soul will break free from your body. When that happens…”

She broke off with a cold laugh.

“Heh heh heh! You’ll become a walking corpse, your spirit wandering the mortal world to suffer endless torment!”

Gu Mo was dumbfounded. “My lord, what should I do then?”

Jiang Jingxue adjusted her phoenix coronet and smiled sweetly.

“Even if you don’t want to marry me, you must first cultivate ghostly energy. Only by doing so can you remove the Soul-Binding Cord from your body! Otherwise, why do you think it crawled back into you just now?”

Gu Mo weighed her words carefully.

‘Seems this crazy woman is right! That cursed cord clearly obeys Bai Wuchang. Until the task is done, it’ll always be a threat!’

But a split second later, Gu Mo’s eyes flickered slyly, and his scheming mind began churning.

“My lord, I’ll marry you! But we must set some ground rules!”

At this, Jiang Jingxue grinned with feigned innocence.

“Go on, spit them out!”

Gu Mo raised three fingers, looked her straight in the eye, and spoke earnestly.

“I agree to marry you, but you must promise me three things.”

Jiang Jingxue, looking every bit the eager bride, nodded eagerly.

Page 2/3

“Fine! Not just three, thirty if you like!”

Gu Mo broke into a cold sweat. Regaining his composure, he spoke gravely.

“First, from now on you must observe the proper conduct of a wife! The so-called ‘three obediences and four virtues’ are the bare minimum.

Second, as your husband, you cannot hit or scold me—you must let me keep my dignity!

Third, you have to help me cultivate; your ghostly energy is obviously powerful!

The other twenty-seven conditions I’ll mention later!”

Jiang Jingxue waved her hand dismissively.

“That’s easy! I thought you were going to ask something difficult.”

At this, Gu Mo realized he might have underestimated her. For this woman, thirty conditions seemed no challenge at all.

With a swish, Jiang Jingxue raised her hand, and a swirl of green, translucent ghostly energy surged forth, dispelling the surrounding darkness.

Before Gu Mo could react, Jiang Jingxue flung the ghostly energy into his body.

He was instantly overwhelmed by a bone-chilling cold, as if he’d been tossed into a meat locker.

Hah—

Gu Mo wrapped his arms around himself, but the cold persisted, seeping into every nerve, mingling with fear.

The moment he opened his mouth, a visible plume of cold breath escaped. It was early spring, and he was still in thin sportswear!

Teeth chattering, he looked at Jiang Jingxue, bewildered.

“M-my lord… does the cultivation start now?”

Jiang Jingxue smiled, fixing her gaze on his eyes.

“If you’re to cultivate ghostly energy, your schedule needs to shift. Sleep during the day, cultivate at night. And if you catch a full moon, so much the better!”

Gu Mo’s expression darkened.

“What? Sleep by day? Isn’t that just jet lag?”

Jiang Jingxue blinked in confusion.

“What’s jet lag?”

Gu Mo’s face twitched. Explaining modern concepts to this woman was pointless.

“My lord, if I sleep by day and cultivate by night, what do I do next?”

Jiang Jingxue smiled and sat cross-legged on the stone bench. Bracing against the cold, Gu Mo imitated her posture.

“Minion, close your eyes halfway, clear your mind! Eyes on the nose, nose on the mouth, mouth on the heart!”

Gu Mo followed her instructions, skeptical but compliant.

After a long while, his body finally began to adjust to the piercing cold. As he focused on meditation, Jiang Jingxue’s silvery voice echoed in his ears.

“Heaven’s energy is innate, yin and yang in harmony. Open and close at will, exhale the old, inhale the new. Reverse the flow of light and dark, let yin and yang transform. Sink the heart, let it stir and ignite. Blood flows backward, strengthening my will!…”

Gu Mo snapped his eyes open, his face twisted with confusion.

“M-my lord! What kind of cultivation chant is this? It’s giving me the creeps!”

Before he could finish, Jiang Jingxue gave him a sharp tap on the forehead.

“Pay attention!”

Rubbing his head, Gu Mo seethed in silence.

“Didn’t you promise not to hit me? I’m your husband! Who could endure this kind of domestic violence?”

Jiang Jingxue, still sitting cross-legged, frowned and snapped, “We haven’t had the wedding yet—I can still hit you!”

Page 3/3

Gu Mo broke into another cold sweat. So even a King of Hell practices spousal abuse! Who would have thought he’d end up marrying a shrew?

He cleared his throat and continued.

“And your chant talks about reversing yin and yang, light and dark! Are there any side effects? It sounds more sinister than the Sunflower Manual!”

Jiang Jingxue frowned, completely lost.

“What’s the Sunflower Manual? Is it also a secret art?”

Gu Mo managed a bitter smile. Of course this woman had never watched TV—how would she know what the Sunflower Manual was?

Suppressing his frustration, Gu Mo’s face darkened further.

“Basically, if you practice that, a man turns into a woman, all weird and perverse!”

He stared at her and pressed for an answer.

After a few seconds, Jiang Jingxue, clearly annoyed by his questions, replied.

“I don’t know about side effects. At worst, you’ll lose your beard and dislike sunlight!”

Gu Mo broke out in a sweat.

“What? Lose my beard? Afraid of sunlight? What kind of cultivation is this? Am I going to turn into some kind of freak?”

Jiang Jingxue shot him a fierce glare.

“What nonsense! This is the most basic ghost energy cultivation. The yang energy in this courtyard is too strong—if we could find a secluded ‘corpse-nourishing ground’ it would be much better.”

The mention of a “corpse-nourishing ground” left Gu Mo petrified. He was deeply averse to anything supernatural.

Besides, his luck was abysmal.

The first day back from out of town, he’d been dragged to the underworld by the Black and White Impermanence. The second day, a dangling zombie had appeared in his shop, and he’d been bitten. On the third day, a vengeful female corpse had surfaced!

Who knew what the fourth day would bring?

That was why Gu Mo had suddenly agreed to marry the Yan King.

Surely a newly appointed Yan King was more reliable than any mortal lover!

With that, Gu Mo took a deep breath and resumed his cross-legged cultivation…

He didn’t know how much time had passed before warmth finally began to return to his body. At Jiang Jingxue’s command, Gu Mo opened his eyes, fetched water, and washed up.

Back in his room, he glanced about, closed the door quietly, and said nothing.

But as soon as he turned around, there was Jiang Jingxue.

By the soft amber lamplight, she sat on the edge of the bed, bare shoulders peeking from her red silk undergarment, her beauty both alluring and provocative.

In a flash, Gu Mo shut his eyes and shouted, “Hey! Cover yourself up! How can you be so shameless?”

Jiang Jingxue burst into laughter, her mischievous eyes sparkling.

“I’ve already agreed to marry you—why are you still so shy?”

Gu Mo nearly spat blood.

“There are rules in the mortal world! Even if I’ve swallowed your golden core, our wedding should be held on an auspicious day!”

Jiang Jingxue chuckled, tidied her red robe, and floated into the air.

Taking a deep breath, Gu Mo slowly opened his eyes to see her grinning slyly, leaving him utterly embarrassed.

“Sigh! What have I done to deserve this?”

Outside the small courtyard, atop a distant mountain.

An old man squatted on a boulder, pipe in mouth, his eyes as clear as spring water fixed on the scene within the yard.

After a long while, a strange smile crept across his deeply wrinkled face…