Volume One: The Soul-Gathering Gourd and the Soul-Burning Lantern Chapter 35: Truthfully Confessed

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As midnight approached, the atmosphere inside the incense shop shifted abruptly. A strong, metallic scent of blood began to waft from within Xiao Yulou’s black Taoist robe. The instant Gu Mo caught a whiff of it, he knew something was terribly wrong. Ignoring Xiao Yulou’s feeble attempts to stop him, Gu Mo yanked open the black robe.

A torrent of blood, thick and crimson, gushed forth, carrying an overwhelming stench. By sight alone, Gu Mo estimated that at least a thousand milliliters—about the volume of a two-liter soda bottle—had spilled out!

(Blood loss of 500-1000mL: roughly 10%-20% of total blood volume. Most young adults can withstand this with little to no symptoms, and it rarely causes anemia, though about 5% may experience symptoms due to vasovagal reactions. Blood loss of 1000-1500mL: 20%-30% of total volume. Healthy young adults may be symptom-free at rest, but exhibit cardiovascular symptoms with exertion. Blood loss of 1500-2000mL: 30%-40% of total volume. Even at rest, pronounced symptoms appear: cold extremities, pallor, thirst, scant urination, rapid thready pulse, low blood pressure, brief loss of consciousness. Blood loss over 2000-2500mL: 40%-50% of total volume. Severe hemorrhagic shock ensues, which can be fatal if not promptly treated. For patients with chronic illness, infection, malnutrition, dehydration, anemia, or advanced age, even less blood loss can cause shock or death. The average adult has 4000-5000mL of blood; rapid loss of more than 30%—over 1000mL—overwhelms the body’s compensatory mechanisms and becomes life-threatening.)

No wonder this strange Taoist, Xiao Yulou, looked so deathly pale, his face utterly devoid of color! The countless fine wounds covering his body looked as though they’d been carved by a surgeon’s scalpel—each one neat and identical in length, depth, and even the volume of blood they oozed. The sight of all those wounds sent a chilling shock through Gu Mo—his whole body tensed with horror.

“Damn! What happened to you, you weirdo? Where did all these wounds come from?”

Yet Xiao Yulou, pale and weak, simply gathered his robe close and replied with calm indifference, “It’s nothing. I merely performed a minor divination.”

At this, Gu Mo, sweating profusely, rounded his eyes in disbelief and snapped, “Nothing? If this happened to me, I’d be dead three times over! You’re going to the hospital, like it or not!”

He immediately grabbed his phone to call for an ambulance. But the moment the word “hospital” left his lips, Xiao Yulou was thrown into a panic, his composure shattered.

“No, no, no... I’d rather die here than set foot in a hospital!”

Gu Mo stared at him, eyes wide as saucers, utterly bewildered. “Why not?”

With a faint cough, Xiao Yulou reached into his robe sleeve and produced a palm-sized tortoise shell, handing it to Gu Mo. Gu Mo regarded the object with confusion, but felt a rare, righteous energy radiating from it.

“This is called ‘Wealth to Rival the World.’ It’s an unrivaled treasure, passed to me by the venerable master of Wuzhuang Temple atop Jade Void Peak. In times of crisis, it protects me completely. The shell is inscribed with oracular script visible only to those with true sight. Within those ancient glyphs is recorded a primordial Taoist art—the Heavenly Secrets Unfurled.”

Hearing this mystical explanation, Gu Mo was more lost than ever. “Wealth to Rival the World? Heavenly Secrets Unfurled? And what does any of this have to do with your wounds?”

Xiao Yulou’s bloodless lips cracked into a bitter smile. “This ancient art, the ‘Heavenly Secrets Unfurled,’ is used to peer into the workings of fate itself.”

Gu Mo stroked his chin, pressing further, “So, looking into the secrets of fate comes at a terrible price, doesn’t it?”

Upon hearing this, Xiao Yulou’s waxen face broke into a rare smile. “Brother Gu, at last you understand! My efforts on your behalf have not been in vain!”

Gu Mo frowned, voicing his suspicion, “Weirdo Taoist, don’t tell me you used this thing to peer into my fate?”

Xiao Yulou looked at him as if he were an alien. “Of course! Brother Gu, your intelligence is truly impressive tonight.”

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Gu Mo was thoroughly confounded by this explanation, his twisted features etched with shock.

“What on earth? Do I really have so many secrets? I’m just an ordinary man, a humble incense shopkeeper! Is it really worth risking your life for me?”

But Xiao Yulou, pale and faint, shook his head with a resolve that bordered on the heroic. “Not so, not so! Brother Gu, I only divined a small matter concerning you, and even that left me in this state. Can you still claim you’re just an ordinary man?”

Such cryptic words only piqued Gu Mo’s curiosity further. “Just tell me what you saw, weirdo! And keep it brief, or you’ll drop dead on my shop floor!”

Xiao Yulou managed a wry smile, then, forming a Taoist seal with his fingers, began reciting the Three Pure Ones’ incantation. Soon, a faint golden light enveloped him, and color slowly returned to his face.

Baffled, Gu Mo gently lifted Xiao Yulou’s black robe. A wisp of white smoke drifted up, and before his eyes, the fine wounds began to knit themselves closed. Gu Mo’s world turned upside down—he felt as though the man before him was less a Taoist priest than a veritable immortal.

After a moment, Xiao Yulou flicked his robe sleeve with an air of composure. “Brother Gu, where was I?”

Chewing his thumbnail, Gu Mo recalled, “You said my grandfather adopted a godson—who turned out to be the zombie hanging upside down in the incense shop.”

“Exactly,” Xiao Yulou continued, his voice now steady. “This person, named Gu Mo, served as your scapegoat—a perfect decoy. He took the disaster meant for you. If not for him, the zombie in your shop would have been you.”

A shudder ran through Gu Mo at these words. “No way! This is a peaceful age—who could get away with such things?”

Xiao Yulou, seated cross-legged, curled his lips into a devilish smile and began, “The White Lotus Sect.”

“What? Isn’t that just something made up for movies? They’re real?”

With a mild cough, Xiao Yulou explained, “Indeed, the White Lotus Sect. These fiends formed a vast network centuries ago. Today, their roots run deep, and they’ve infiltrated every corner of society. I’ve crossed paths with them more than a decade ago…”

He paused for effect. “Never did I imagine, not even in my wildest guesses, that their true target would be you, Brother Gu.”

Gu Mo, trembling, pointed to himself in confusion. “Me? But why?”

Xiao Yulou fixed him with a solemn gaze. “First, you possess an innately ‘extreme yin’ destiny. Second, your grandfather gathered three of the Underworld’s sacred artifacts. These two facts alone have made you the target of every sect of the extraordinary. After all…”

Here, the eccentric Taoist dangled the answer. “After all, whoever possesses these relics can breach the Underworld and attain immortality!”

Gu Mo managed a bitter, absent-minded laugh. “Immortality, huh? Is that really such a good thing?”

His words left Xiao Yulou momentarily perplexed. “Brother Gu, don’t you long for immortality? Life is as fleeting as a shooting star—who doesn’t wish to prolong it, to exist forever? Every emperor in history sought the same.”

But Gu Mo shook his head resolutely. “No, I don’t. The point of life is its quality, not its length! Even if I could, like a zombie, ‘exist beyond the six realms, outside the five elements,’ what meaning is there in such a miserable shadow of existence?”

Xiao Yulou fell silent, deep in thought, as if Gu Mo’s view of the world belonged to a higher plane—a truth lost on the masses.

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As Xiao Yulou pondered, Gu Mo gently interrupted, “Master Xiao, is there anything else you can tell me about your divination?”

After a couple of coughs, Xiao Yulou met Gu Mo’s eyes and replied, “Brother Gu, from here on, your destiny lies in your own hands…”

He raised three fingers and continued, “First, the mystery of your origins can be traced to a sudden upheaval eighty years ago. Second, you will soon meet six other extraordinary individuals. When the nine of us are assembled, all secrets will come to light. Third, if you wish to survive, you must train with even greater diligence. For in my vision, I saw ominous and severe portents.”

Gu Mo was completely overwhelmed. “What? Six extraordinary people, eighty years ago, a catastrophe? None of this makes any sense!”

Xiao Yulou drew a long, bitter breath. “This is all I’ve been able to divine. Any further, and even nine lives wouldn’t be enough to spare! However…”

The immortal-like Taoist paused, sipped his tea, and then added, “But I haven’t come away empty-handed. At the very least, I now know how to train you, Brother Gu!”

Gu Mo furrowed his brow in dismay. Before he could ask more, a chill wind swept through the incense shop doorway. As the air settled, a figure appeared—a woman in festive red, carrying a bundle. It was the silly Queen of the Underworld, Jiang Jingxue, her silvery, bell-like voice ringing out:

“The only way to train you is for you to marry me!”

Gu Mo’s head spun. “What? My queen, why are you here to force a marriage again?”

Jiang Jingxue put her hands on her hips, stomped her foot, and glared at Gu Mo in righteous fury. “Minion, when I show you a little favor, don’t take it for granted! If you don’t marry me, you won’t survive past the seventh day—believe it or not!”

Gu Mo responded with a cold smile. “Love isn’t a transaction. How can you force it?”

Jiang Jingxue’s jealousy flared. Pointing a delicate finger at Gu Mo, she scolded, “You heartless wretch! Still pining for that Li Hongyan! Why don’t you take a good look at yourself in—well, why don’t you relieve yourself and see your reflection!”

The words left Gu Mo’s ears ringing. He had no idea what the silly Queen of the Underworld was getting at. Seated cross-legged, Xiao Yulou looked at her with wide-eyed innocence and gently corrected her, “Your Majesty, you misspoke! The phrase is ‘to see your reflection in urine,’ not ‘relieve yourself to see your reflection.’”

But Jiang Jingxue, still fuming, shot him a death glare that nearly scared Xiao Yulou out of his wits.

Then, in a flash, she appeared before Gu Mo and, with her ghostly white hand, seized the only robe he was wearing. “Come on, take a leak and let’s see—am I really unworthy of you, or what?”

The sheer brazenness of her words made Gu Mo’s face flush as red as a rotten tomato (though, admittedly, rotten tomatoes are quite red).

The battle for his trousers was about to erupt, and the whole scene bordered on the ridiculous. Who would have thought that in the world of the living, there were already plenty of tomboys, but even in the underworld, the Queen herself could be so shameless? It was almost laughable.

At that moment, the ever-observant Xiao Yulou coughed lightly and said, “Your Majesty, now is not the time for quarrels. Please, take out that ancient book and begin Brother Gu’s training.”

…