Volume One: The Soul-Attracting Gourd and the Soul-Burning Lamp Chapter 80: The Well of Gods and Demons

The cold, clear moonlight spilled down in a mottled pattern.

(The author notes to themselves: writing about moonlight isn’t difficult, and yes, it’s come up several times already—maybe next time.)

Thick mists rolled, and a chill wind whistled through the darkness.

Li Hetang stood with a face like iron, watching the farce unfolding before him. Gu Mo crouched in front of Xiao Yulou, every inch of his body wracked with discomfort. Not only was his front and back riddled with wounds, itching unbearably, but even his feet tingled with numbness. His left hand, in particular, burned with pain.

Xiao Yulou, dressed in a black Daoist robe, lay sprawled in the mud, wailing bitterly. The once ethereal, otherworldly Daoist now seemed utterly defeated, his downfall bound up with the name Gu Tieniu—a wound that had cut him to the core. It appeared that this disciple, Gu Tieniu, had met a miserable end.

For a long time, Xiao Yulou’s sobbing gradually faded. Li Hetang, meanwhile, retrieved a pack of special-issue cigarettes from his tactical bag. (There’s nothing to see in a grown man’s tears!) Gu Mo, frowning, accepted a cigarette, and the two lit up, drawing deep breaths.

At that moment, Xiao Yulou, still half-buried in the earth, turned his head slightly and extended two fingers. Seeing this, Gu Mo immediately cursed.

“Hey, you mangy Daoist, have you come to your senses yet? What are you bawling like a little girl for?”

No sooner had he finished than he took another drag and stuffed the cigarette between Xiao Yulou’s outstretched fingers. After drawing in the smoke, Xiao Yulou struggled to sit up, and the atmosphere took on a bizarre, almost harmonious tension.

Li Hetang, brows still tightly knit, could only offer Gu Mo another cigarette. The three sat in silence, shrouded in smoke.

After some time, Xiao Yulou flicked his sleeve, gathering his Daoist energy at his fingertips. A stream of clear liquor was forced out beneath the golden glow of his Daoist aura.

Seeing this, Gu Mo abruptly stubbed out his cigarette and cursed again.

“You mangy mutt, are you really suffering, or are you just hungover?”

Xiao Yulou, having purged the alcohol from his body, managed a bitter smile and spoke slowly.

“I made a grave mistake.”

At these words, Gu Mo and Li Hetang were dumbstruck.

“What do you mean?”

Xiao Yulou held up two imitation divine artifacts, continuing with a calm air.

“These two replicas, though made by my disciple, still contain a decade’s worth of my own cultivation. And now, seeing that they remain intact…”

He trailed off, deliberately leaving Gu Mo and Li Hetang hanging. Gu Mo’s face darkened as he lifted his hand in mock warning.

Xiao Yulou quickly continued, “So, my disciple, the ‘Mud Ox Daoist,’ is not dead. This skeleton was nothing but a trap!”

This revelation stunned Gu Mo and Li Hetang yet again.

Xiao Yulou surveyed their bewildered expressions and went on. “The barrier over Guqiao Village is the work of that earthbound sorcerer—a man quite familiar with me. That’s how I fell into his trap.”

No sooner had he finished than, true to his unpredictable nature, Xiao Yulou leapt to his feet and shouted,

“Fiery Blessing of the Three Pure Ones!”

In an instant, a blazing fireball, ten meters across, materialized and roared to life. Gu Mo and Li Hetang stared in utter shock.

Before they could react, Xiao Yulou pointed a sword-finger skyward, then stabbed it into the earth.

With a thunderous crash, the fireball soared into the air and came crashing down to the ground.

Boom!

The explosive fireball erupted into a sea of flames that swept along the ground. For a moment, the three men hopped about like ants on a hot griddle.

“Move, move, move! I’m roasting alive here!” Xiao Yulou yelped.

The thick mist and damp vapor around them were instantly dispelled by the spreading flames. As calm returned, the true face of Guqiao Village emerged from the gloom. Xiao Yulou’s Daoist art had destroyed the barrier completely.

In the nick of time, Li Hetang leveled his cold gun at Xiao Yulou, but Gu Mo calmly twisted open a mechanism on his measuring rod, handing a section to Li Hetang.

“Use this on him, Hetang. Shooting him is too easy a punishment for this mangy Daoist!”

Armed with half the rod, the two men pounced on Xiao Yulou, delivering a rain of blows. Panicked, Xiao Yulou quickly formed a Daoist seal and activated a golden tortoise-shell shield.

Clang! Clang! Clang! Under the moonlight, the heavy blows rang out again and again.

At last, exhausted, all three collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

“Brother Gu… Have the two of you vented your anger yet?” Li Hetang asked.

Gu Mo spat fiercely to the side, scowling.

“We’ll settle this in the autumn, you mangy mutt!”

No sooner had he spoken than Li Hetang grunted coldly and joined in the scolding.

“Xiao, for someone who looks like an immortal, you sure don’t use your head. Next time, think before you act—we nearly turned into roast chicken!”

Xiao Yulou, ever the sly one, could only offer a sheepish smile, and the three, having collected themselves, headed deeper into Guqiao Village.

Without the dense fog, the way forward was much easier. In a blink, they circled the village three or four times, searching houses inside and out, but found not a single clue. The sheer strangeness of it all was maddening.

Aimless, the trio found themselves back at the old village well. Li Hetang, anxious, leaned over the rim and peered inside.

But the dry well was of little interest; it seemed to have been filled with earth long ago. From bottom to top, it was barely a meter deep, but a strong odor of blood still lingered.

Seeing this, Li Hetang was at a loss, while Xiao Yulou appeared suddenly enlightened.

“Immeasurable Heavenly Honored One!” he exclaimed, using his signature catchphrase. Stuffing his hands into his sleeves like a common farmer, he said,

“Brother Gu, you’d best call your wife. This trip might last several months.”

Gu Mo hesitated. “I haven’t given her a phone yet…”

At this, Li Hetang was taken aback.

“Mr. Gu, when did you get married? There’s no record of it in your file.”

Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou shared a knowing smile, offering no explanation. Instead, the two scoundrels grinned mischievously at Li Hetang.

“Hetang, even if Codename O isn’t a classic beauty, she’s at least as stunning as the legendary beauties of old. You care so much for her… could it be…?”

Li Hetang’s face flushed with a girlish shyness.

“One more word and I’ll shoot you both,” he warned.

At last, Gu Mo and Xiao Yulou felt they’d unearthed a deep secret. Gu Mo pulled out his phone and texted his childhood friend, Hu Shengtian.

The message was simple: “Radish, swing by the little yard and tell Yan Wang Jiang Jingxue I’ll be home in a month.”

Li Hetang, still frowning at the pair, pressed his earpiece. “Team One, this is Li Hetang. Send some men to Guqiao Village.”

With orders given, Li Hetang and Gu Mo turned to the now mysterious Xiao Yulou. The Daoist, meanwhile, formed a seal and recited the Three Pure Ones Incantation, channeling his energy into his eyes.

In a single breath, Xiao Yulou’s ghostly eyes snapped open, seeing wondrous things invisible to others.

“Hmm… This dry well is actually called the ‘Well of Gods and Demons.’ How fascinating!”

Gu Mo and Li Hetang were stunned yet again.

“You mangy mutt, keep talking in riddles and we’ll beat you twice as hard!”

Xiao Yulou could only shake his head and sigh, then pointed to the well.

“Brother Gu, this ‘Well of Gods and Demons’ is no ordinary place—it connects to another world. Hold on, let me divine its secrets.”

Without another word, Xiao Yulou sat cross-legged, reaching into his sleeve for a set of tools even Gu Mo had never seen.

By moonlight, he arranged nine ancient-looking lotus lamps before him at the well’s edge. (In Daoist practice, the older and simpler the tools, the more potent their use.)

A closer look revealed faint, indelible bloodstains on the nine lotus lamps. In quick succession, Xiao Yulou produced more ritual items, arranging a pair of red and white candles, a stack of yellow talismans, and a small dish of glutinous rice before him.

“Daoist Arts of the Three Pure Ones!”

With a sudden twist, he snapped a yellow talisman between his fingers.

With a boom, the talisman burst into flame without being lit. Using this fire, Xiao Yulou lit the candles and began the ritual.

His eyes closed, he formed seals, chanting the Three Pure Ones Incantation. When the chanting ceased, he jabbed a sword-finger into the rice dish. Nine grains adhered perfectly between his fingers.

Left hand forming a seal, right hand holding the rice grains level, he began a solemn incantation.

“Three Pure, Three Origins, root of all energies! Immeasurable Heavenly Honored One, reveal your power. Let the Daoist art unveil the truth to the seeker as he journeys to the source!”

Finishing his prayer, he briefly held his sword-finger over the candle flame, warming the grains until wisps of white smoke curled up.

Gu Mo and Li Hetang watched with deep suspicion, but since Xiao Yulou was in the midst of his ritual, they refrained from interrupting.

Suddenly, Xiao Yulou flicked his hand, sending the nine grains arcing into the lotus lamp array.

With a boom, all nine lotus lamps burst into flame.

Xiao Yulou, eyes closed in meditation, entered the domain of the Dao’s “Celestial Insight.”

Within this inner vision, all was void save for Xiao Yulou himself, seated in meditation.

He surged the energy through his body, and a radiant golden light burst forth, making him resemble a glowing beacon in the darkness.

Clearing his mind, Xiao Yulou silently posed the question he wished to divine.

With a boom, a “Heaven’s Retribution Fireball,” smaller than the earlier one, ignited before him.

Xiao Yulou stroked his chin, smiling faintly.

“The secret of the Well of Gods and Demons is nothing more than this.”

A meaningful smile played across his lips.

“Compared to Brother Gu’s destiny, this so-called ‘Heaven’s Retribution Fireball’ is hardly worth mentioning.”

Meanwhile, by the well, Gu Mo and Li Hetang, bored, idly chatted away.

Suddenly, with a wet splatter, Xiao Yulou, seated in meditation with eyes closed, spat a mouthful of blood.

Li Hetang, sitting opposite, was covered as if splashed with red paint.

“You mangy mutt!” Gu Mo cried out in alarm…