Resurrecting your master is a simple matter.

The ground trembled slightly.

A rumbling sound echoed in the distance, accompanied by rising dust. Chen Huangpi looked toward it, his expression instantly turning as if he had seen a ghost.

"Huang Er, A-Gui, what is that thing?"

"Is... is that a carriage?"

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi froze. Although he had never seen a horse-drawn carriage in person, he had read about them in books. Yet, the carriage speeding toward him looked nothing like those described in texts.

The carriage stood four meters tall and seven meters long, painted entirely in a deep, vibrant red. It was topped with an ornate canopy, its apex sharp and upright like a spear, from which eight shriveled, fleshy human heads were suspended.

The creatures pulling the carriage were not horses, but eight headless, desiccated corpses.

The scene was profoundly grotesque. As soon as the carriage with the human heads appeared, it charged directly at Chen Huangpi.

"Huang Er! A-Gui!"

Chen Huangpi shouted a warning. Instantly, a withered tree branch shaped like a sharp sword appeared in his hand. He channeled the power extracted from the Demon Tree within his Kidney Temple into the branch. A deathly gray sword aura erupted and hissed from the wood. Furthermore, black smoke began to swirl around Chen Huangpi, merging with the sword aura and turning it an ink-black color.

Just then, the carriage seemed to sense Chen Huangpi’s murderous intent and suddenly came to a halt.

"Do not strike, do not strike!"

As soon as those words were spoken, the killing intent in Chen Huangpi’s heart vanished, and he uncontrollably lowered the withered branch. The power of the Demon Tree retreated into his body, leaving only the black smoke motionless.

"Something is wrong. This carriage is not right!" the Brass Oil Lamp shrieked. "The moment it spoke, I found I had no desire to fight it."

The Death-Claiming Ghost added, "Master, be careful. This carriage seems to be a 'Calamity,' and not an ordinary one at that!"

They did not need to warn him; Chen Huangpi had already realized something was amiss. He gritted his teeth, attempting to summon his killing intent, but the carriage seemed to possess a demonic influence that rendered all his efforts futile.

"Rest assured, I will not harm you," a compassionate voice echoed from inside the carriage. "I am the Ruyi Bodhisattva. I take pleasure in charity and hold compassion in my heart. You have no need to fear me so."

Following these words, the eight human heads spoke in unison:

"Ruyi Bodhisattva, saving all sentient beings!"

"Bow down quickly, and your wishes shall be granted!"

The voice truly sounded like a demonic incantation piercing his ears. Chen Huangpi felt his scalp tingle; he even felt a sudden, irrational urge to prostrate himself. This Ruyi Bodhisattva seemed to possess the same power as the Evil Buddha—the ability to bewitch the mind. However, even the Evil Buddha had failed to make Chen Huangpi submit, let alone this so-called Bodhisattva, which was merely a Calamity manifested from evil.

The Ruyi Bodhisattva sat within the carriage. When Chen Huangpi did not bow, it was not angered. Instead, it said compassionately, "If I harbored malice toward you, I would have acted long ago. Why would I bother speaking so much?"

"You wear the skin of that little ghost, but in reality, you are human. You are Chen Huangpi, are you not?"

Seeing that Chen Huangpi remained silent, the Ruyi Bodhisattva was not offended, but rather said magnanimously, "Chen Huangpi, I am a Bodhisattva. I have no malice toward you. On the contrary, I have come to bestow upon you a heaven-sent fortune."

"Though you do not say it, I know your heart must be thinking that this fortune surely hides a conspiracy."

It certainly was a conspiracy. Chen Huangpi gritted his teeth, but the black smoke, the only thing that remained unaffected, refused to obey his command. He knew the black smoke was alive. Previously, it had only responded to his calls when his killing intent was soaring or his emotions were in violent turmoil. At this moment, however, Chen Huangpi’s heart was unnaturally calm, and the black smoke remained as stagnant as if it were dead.

Unless something happened to make him angry enough to override the Ruyi Bodhisattva’s demonic influence!

At this moment, the Brass Oil Lamp could not help but curse, "What kind of damn Bodhisattva are you? A 'heaven-sent fortune'? Aren't you supposed to be merciful and save all sentient beings? Many evil entities have come to this God-Burial Grave; why don't you bestow your fortune upon them?"

"Sharp-tongued," the Ruyi Bodhisattva laughed. "Since I claim to save all sentient beings, those evil entities are also sentient beings in my eyes. Naturally, I have already bestowed fortune upon them."

"Hundreds of evil entities prayed to me for a chance to become disasters, and I granted it. A dozen or so disasters wished to become Calamities, and I granted those, too. And that Yellow Calamity—it wished to enter the third level of the God-Burial Grave, and I satisfied that as well."

"Now, only you, Chen Huangpi, remain. Come, tell me, what wish do you desire to have fulfilled?"

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi suddenly understood. He had thought the Ruyi Bodhisattva truly had the ability to read minds. It seemed it was merely a linguistic trick. Otherwise, why would it need to ask what his wish was? It had likely learned his background from the Yellow Calamity.

At this thought, Chen Huangpi felt a wave of disgust.

However, the Brass Oil Lamp seemed to remember something and hurriedly whispered, "Chen Huangpi, I think what this Ruyi Bodhisattva says makes sense. Don't you want to resurrect the Temple Master? Why not try making a wish to it?"

Chen Huangpi frowned, "It is bizarre, yes, but it is only a Calamity. How could it resurrect my Master?"

His Master had once told him that resurrecting a life was extremely difficult because death was final. One would have to descend into the Yellow Springs, enter the Underworld, and climb Falling Sorrow Mountain to obtain the Soul-Returning Jade.

The Brass Oil Lamp insisted, "Regardless of whether it can or not, there is no harm in trying."

"Huang Er, are you serious?"

"Do as I say, and you won't be affected by its power!"

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi wore a grim expression and said to the Ruyi Bodhisattva inside the carriage, "Can you truly fulfill my wish?"

"Of course, it is the truth."

"Very well." Chen Huangpi said coldly, "My Master is dead. I want him to come back to life and appear before me. Fulfill this for me."

"That is simple. I shall grant your wish at once."

The Ruyi Bodhisattva laughed three times. The carriage began to vibrate violently, and the eight heads strung upon the canopy all opened their mouths, spewing gray, dense smoke. The dust grew thicker and thicker, instantly shrouding the carriage.

Inside the carriage, a being with a horse’s head and a human body, wearing an Eight-Phase Evil Ghost hat, had a face twisted to the extreme. This was the Ruyi Bodhisattva. To be precise, Ruyi Bodhisattva was a title it had given itself. It was a Calamity, yet different from ordinary ones. Like the Tomb-Guarding Beast, it was an evil entity born from a deified god, acting according to certain rules.

Its power was strange: it could grant people’s wishes. However, whether the result was good or bad was not guaranteed. Once a wish was granted, the Ruyi Bodhisattva would demand something in return from the wisher—a debt that followed them even if they left the God-Burial Grave. It wanted their life.

As long as Chen Huangpi made the wish, the process could not be stopped; even if Chen Huangpi regretted it, it would be useless. The Ruyi Bodhisattva itself could not break the contract. This was an ability it gained after being deified, and also the shackle that bound it.

But now, the Ruyi Bodhisattva realized with horror that it could not fulfill Chen Huangpi’s wish. Inside the carriage, a mass of bloody flesh was manifested by its power, but it could not conjure the appearance of Chen Huangpi’s Master.

"What exactly is this boy’s Master?" the Ruyi Bodhisattva gnashed its teeth. "Could it be that he is an Immortal, just like the existence that created me?"

Outside the carriage, Chen Huangpi urged, "Ruyi Bodhisattva, why hasn't my Master been resurrected yet?"

The Ruyi Bodhisattva replied, "Do not be impatient. I am searching for your Master’s soul. What did he look like?"

Chen Huangpi said, "My Master looked very kind, with the air of an immortal, wearing Taoist robes..."

"More detail," the Ruyi Bodhisattva said urgently. "The more detailed, the faster the resurrection."

"My Master had white hair and a white beard, thin cheeks, and his skin was much yellower than mine..."

Chen Huangpi described his Master’s appearance in detail. Finally, he added, "Oh, by the way, my Master has two heads, exactly the same, but there is one more head that hasn't grown out yet. Don't resurrect the wrong one; I don't want the one with three heads."

Hearing this, the Ruyi Bodhisattva breathed a sigh of relief. With such details, it was enough to mold a Master for Chen Huangpi. However, it thought, why was this Master so strange? Two heads, and another one growing? Was this even human?

"Form for me!"

The Ruyi Bodhisattva shouted softly, and the mass of flesh before it turned into a human shape. It wore Taoist robes and had two heads on either side. However, it had no skin. While this was not a true resurrection, merely fabricating a person from thin air was no small feat. As the saying goes, "the final touch brings the dragon to life"—the name was that final touch!

The Ruyi Bodhisattva smiled and said, "Now only the last step remains. Chen Huangpi, what is your Master’s name?"

"Chen Shidao!"

"Very well, Chen..."

The Ruyi Bodhisattva was about to call out for Chen Shidao to wake up, but as the words reached its lips, it realized with terror that it could not speak the name. Moreover, it suddenly couldn't remember what Chen Huangpi’s Master was called. It only knew the surname was Chen.

The Ruyi Bodhisattva’s expression turned ugly. If a wish could not be fulfilled, it would suffer a backlash.

"Say your Master’s name again."

"Chen Shidao."

"..."

"Say it again."

"Chen Shidao."

The Ruyi Bodhisattva was becoming uneasy. Even with its arrogance, it realized that Chen Huangpi’s Master was a terrifying existence far beyond its comprehension. It dared not continue. Yet, how could a skinless thing be considered a person?

"Fine, fine. I will give him a different name."

"He has the surname Chen and is a Taoist, so let him be called Chen..."

The Ruyi Bodhisattva’s expression changed instantly. The name it had thought of was 'Chen Daoxing.' But as soon as the name crossed its mind, it vanished from its memory just as strangely. This meant that another terrifying existence also held that name.

Unspeakable, unnameable!

The Ruyi Bodhisattva’s horse face turned pale. It had a terrible premonition. It had already fulfilled wishes for many evil entities, sending some to the second level of the God-Burial Grave and others to the third. But it had the misfortune of encountering Chen Huangpi. As soon as he opened his mouth, two unspeakable names appeared. It was truly cursed.

Outside the carriage, the smoke cleared. In Chen Huangpi’s disbelieving eyes, a tall figure with two heads stepped out from the dust.

"This poor Taoist, did I not die? Why have I appeared here?"

The figure wore Taoist robes. The moment it saw Chen Huangpi, its eyes turned red. "Disciple, it was you who resurrected your Master, wasn't it?"

"Who are you?"

"I am your Master, Chen Liujia! You foolish disciple, why don't you recognize your Master?"

Chen Liujia had white hair and beard and wore Taoist robes, but he looked nothing like Chen Huangpi’s Master; they were worlds apart. He lacked any air of an immortal and instead looked indescribably awkward, his features twisted into a grotesque deformity.

Chen Huangpi’s eyes turned red—out of fury! He saw at a glance that this Taoist lacked a soul; it was merely a shell fashioned by the Ruyi Bodhisattva’s power.

Utterly unforgivable!

Chen Huangpi gritted his teeth, his voice chillingly cold as he spat out every word: "Ruyi Bodhisattva!!"

"This is your Master!"

The Ruyi Bodhisattva spat out a cloud of dust, forcibly driving its own demonic intent to suppress Chen Huangpi’s murder, demanding he accept the wish as fulfilled.

However, this infallible ability seemed to have failed. It could not suppress Chen Huangpi’s killing intent at all.

The Ruyi Bodhisattva cried out in terror, "Your Master looks just like this! This is your Master!"

"You dare speak! I will kill you! I will kill you!"

The murderous intent in Chen Huangpi’s heart became unstoppable! The black smoke surrounding him erupted into the sky like a madman’s frenzy. The wooden hairpin holding his hair snapped, and his hair stood on end. His surging essence, along with the power of the Demon Tree, poured recklessly into the withered branch.

The next second, a terrifying, pitch-black sword aura split the horse-headed carriage in two. Where the black smoke passed, the carriage was instantly devoured. The Ruyi Bodhisattva’s Buddhist hat was shattered, a deep gash appeared on its horse head, and rolling gray dust sprayed from its eyes, ears, mouth, and nose. Not only that, but wherever the sword aura passed, the black smoke clung to it like maggots, madly devouring its body.

Furthermore, because the wish remained unfulfilled, it suffered the backlash of its own power. At this moment, the Ruyi Bodhisattva was in a state of utter ruin.

Escape! It had to escape! Escape to the deepest part of the God-Burial Grave, to the third level! Otherwise, it would surely die at Chen Huangpi’s hands today!

For the Ruyi Bodhisattva saw that Chen Huangpi, with bloodshot eyes and the withered branch in hand, was charging toward it. Waves of pitch-black sword energy blotted out the sky, falling like a curtain of rain.

(End of Chapter)