Chapter 101

Chapter 101

A dark, ominous yin energy bullet shot out from the barrel, moving so fast that the fierce ghosts didn’t even have time to see it coming or dodge. The yin energy bullet exploded right on their heads.

"Ahhh—!"

The fierce ghosts let out ear-piercing wails as the bone-chilling yin energy nearly tore them into pieces.

Several fierce ghosts that had initially gained the upper hand now looked like punctured water balloons, constantly leaking their own yin and evil energy.

The Masters and Gu Ladies present were dumbfounded. Some Taoist priests glanced down at the inherited talismans they were still holding, feeling slightly awkward. So...

Is it our turn now?

Some of the yin energy bullets splattered onto the living. The police, led by Wang Jun, felt a cold wind hitting their faces. It was chilly but didn’t affect them.

They quickly realized that these paper effigies only worked on ghosts and demons, not harming the living!

Wu Su was thrilled with his shot, which was flawless from every angle. He had never been this good in the game before—today, he was on fire!

Wu Su shouted excitedly, "Haha, you little demons, you're toast!"

Zhou Yi and He Yunxiao rushed to the street with the boxes, blowing a breath of yang energy to turn the paper effigies into real weapons. These objects were pale white, and the bamboo skeletons inside the paper could still be seen.

Li Hao and a group of young men cheered excitedly, "Holy crap, it's like real-life 3D PUBG! Let's go!"

Going to the arcade costs money, but this is free, and since it’s paper-made, it wouldn’t harm the living.

Zhou Yi didn’t rush out immediately. Instead, he grabbed a few pieces of yellow paper that Wu Heng had used to write prescriptions in the clinic, quickly folded them into cubes, and sought help from Su Dayi.

Su Dayi blew a few breaths on them, casting fox fairy illusions on each.

Then Zhou Yi carried the paper effigy barricades and stacked them in front of He Yunxiao and Li Hao as cover.

Immediately after, Zhou Yi raised the paper effigy 98K, his face red and veins bulging, shouting, "Now's the time to bring glory to our ancestors! After today, the Zhou family lineage will begin with me."

The fierce ghosts causing chaos on the street were completely stunned. After becoming fierce ghosts, they had always respected the rules of the underworld.

The netherworld wasn’t well-developed. High-tech stuff like the internet was only accessible to the higher-ups and hadn’t been popularized among ghosts, so they revered ghostly power.

They thought about how to increase their ghostly power—either by cultivating diligently in the underworld to gain merit or by devouring the living to enhance their power.

No fierce ghost had ever imagined something like this.

This was cheating.

The streets echoed with the agonizing screams of fierce ghosts, turning the area into a scene straight out of the underworld.

This year, Nanluo Village had many tourists. Hearing the strange noises outside, some tourists wondered why it sounded like fierce ghosts crying.

Some brave tourists even leaned out their windows to look outside, only to fall silent at the sight.

They had every right to cry.

Located in the south, Nanluo Village never saw snow, even in the coldest winters. But now, perhaps due to the overwhelming yin energy, a layer of frost appeared on the ground where Wu Su and the others stood, and their breaths turned into mist.

Some bold tourists even started live-streaming, pointing their cameras outside, not caring about their network connection.

You Jin and Wang Dong were scared out of their minds, crying as they frantically pulled the valves.

Zhou Yi hurriedly said, "Eugene, there are too many fierce ghosts, they will definitely hurt people. If you're scared, go back to the medical hall and start brewing the medicine first."

We can't count on these paper effigies alone; fierce ghosts will definitely cause bloodshed when they kill.

We can't count on Wu Heng; his medicine might kill people. Now we can only rely on Eugene.

Eugene nodded and returned to the medical hall with Wang Dong, holding feather dusters. Eugene asked Wang Dong to assist him and immediately entered the pharmacy to prepare the medicine. After watching Wu Heng's live streams for days, he had learned many prescriptions related to metaphysics by osmosis.

Lai Yin Chai tried hard to avoid the yin energy bullets that could splash and injure him. Instead of being scared, he was so excited that he trembled, lightly lifting his white yin emissary robe to reveal the paper effigy inside.

Previously, seeing Yang Xing hawking without any ghosts paying attention, he bought a few more...

The ones he and Tang Xueshan bought for Wu Heng were specially developed by Yang Xing, reportedly usable by living people. These few he had could only be used by ghosts, and the materials were much simpler.

Hahaha, if he doesn't become the top yin emissary in Hezipo Town, it would defy the natural order.

Wu Su passionately shouted, "Kill them all—!"

"Damn, where did they get those hot weapons... wait, yin weapons? Are these paper effigies? Bosses who sell paper effigies, it's your time to bring honor to your ancestors! Hurry up!"

"My family has been in the paper effigy trade for decades. I quickly made a copy just now. My deceased old man came back from the underworld for the holidays and took a look, saying it's useless. The copy is just the shape; burning it would only make it a model for ghosts and demons. The ones Uncle Wu Heng and the others have must be specially developed; there are experts in the underworld."

"Wu Heng is really incompetent, no wonder he was chased and scolded by that eye-gouging fierce ghost before. I wish I could step in myself; this is just like playing a game, I'm not afraid of getting hurt."

"Paper effigies are consumables, right? They probably won't last long, but being able to use them for a while is already great. It's good to take the wind out of these fierce ghosts' sails, otherwise they'll treat the living as easy prey!"

He Yunxiao couldn't hold back anymore and turned to Wu Su, saying, "Uncle Wu Heng, can you aim better? You almost hurt my daughter! You're hitting allies!"

He Yunxiao was now extremely worried about Xi Xi, fearing that the little snake their whole family cherished might get hurt.

Wang Jun made his way through the dark mist, feeling bad about Wu Su's wastefulness, and patted Wu Su directly, saying, "Wu Heng, you all step aside. Is the ammunition built-in? How is this made exactly?"

Wu Su felt like crying again; they all disdained him.

He missed his son; only Xiao Heng wouldn't disdain him.

Oh, Shi Xuan wouldn't either; he just didn't like to talk.

After all, these were paper effigies. After several uses, they already showed creases and tiny cracks.

Wu Su thought for a moment, then suddenly ran from behind the paper effigy barricade into Chengde Medical Hall, rushing up to the second floor to the room where Shi Xuan stayed.

Shi Xuan had been gone for several days, and Wu Heng hadn't let the cleanliness-obsessed Eugene clean it.

Xiao Heng always had ideas when doing things, unlike him who often acted on impulse.

Wu Su kicked the door open and was instantly chilled by the room's cold yin energy, shivering even in a down jacket, unable to withstand the piercing cold in the room.

Wu Su was worried; Shi Xuan was colder than death, and no one had seen him for many days. He didn't know where he had gone or if anything had happened.

Right there on the tidy bedside, Wu Su saw a few yin energy balls.

Wu Heng had once pinched the yin energy that overflowed from Shi Xuan's body, rolled it into a few balls, and casually placed them on Shi Xuan's bedside.

After so many days, these yin energy balls had not dispersed.

Wu Su touched them with his hand; they were colder than ice balls.

Wu Su endured the cold in his palm and tried to mimic Wu Heng by rolling the yin energy into balls, but ended up with... oval goose eggs.

"Never mind, let’s just try and see if it works."

Wu Su shivered from the cold, holding the light, cotton-like yin energy balls as he ran downstairs, shouting, "I’m here to bring more ammo!"

At that moment, Wang Jun and the others were battling the fierce ghosts alongside Master Liu, using talismans. Meanwhile, Zhou Yi was effortlessly and skillfully handling two paper effigies.

Wu Su was confused, "What’s happening?"

Li Hao, noticing He Yunxiao was still concerned about Xi Xi, took a moment to answer Wu Su, "Not sure what’s going on. Officer Wang and the others can’t use them—only we can control these paper effigies."

Meanwhile, the gu ladies opened their dark, eerie jars, releasing the living corpse gu into the bodies of livestock killed by the fierce ghosts, muttering incantations as they did so.

The head gu lady, old lady Lai, rasped as she explained, "I heard these were gifts from the underworld spirits for Wu Heng’s eighteenth birthday. These paper effigies have restrictions—only Wu Heng’s family, friends, and loved ones can handle them."

As soon as old lady Lai finished speaking, a strange sound came from deep within her throat. A group of roosters and hens, bitten to death and left uneaten, suddenly stood up. They were lifeless but moved as if alive.

Suddenly, they flew up and pounced on the ghost children not far ahead.

The rooster viciously pecked at the ghost children’s faces with its sharp beak, leaving bloody gashes.

The ghost children screamed in pain, "Ahhh! Stop pecking us! We didn’t mean to eat you before!"

"Wuwuwu, big brother, we’ll do our winter homework! We’ll even do elementary school winter homework, wuwuwu."

Seeing Zhou Yi remain silent, Lai Yin Chai wondered if this top student even knew how to talk back.

Lai Yin Chai held one of Yang Xing’s inventions in one hand and wildly swung the soul hooks with the other, looking like a two-gun granny, sneering, "Willing now? Too late!"

Then, like a bully, he held the soul hooks in his mouth and expertly flipped the ghost children the bird.

The ghost children: "..."

"Huh? Is this Teacher Zhou’s living corpse gu? I thought they were all burned to death—turns out the gu ladies in the village took them in."

"There are two sides to everything. The living corpse gu killed many students before, which was terrible, but being able to use them now is a good thing."

Over there, Li Hao and the others were moved to tears, "So we’re officially Dr. Wu’s friends? That’s why we can control his paper effigy gifts? Let’s go!"

They were fired up, completely and inexplicably fired up.

"Let’s try this," Wu Su said, clutching a few pitch-black yin energy balls and stomping his feet from the cold as he ran over.

Zhou Yi and the others didn’t know what these were, but they decided to try them anyway, inserting one of Shi Xuan’s yin energy balls.

In that moment, the yin energy exploded in all directions, and the entire Nan Nuo Village went silent.

The ghostly screams ceased. The fierce ghosts huddled into a ball of yin energy, cowering on the ground, some completely unconscious. Some not affected floated off to other villages, screaming.

Man-eating fierce ghosts? What a joke—now they’re just a bunch of cowards.

"??? Holy crap! Was that Dr. Wu Heng’s secret weapon just now?"

"Who said Wu Su is useless? He’s the one who brought this thing over."

"Good heavens... Technology really is the primary productive force, no kidding."

"No wonder so many people come to Nan Nuo Village for the New Year—there’s a reason for it. Ahhh, can someone help us? The girl next door seems to be gone..."

Zhou Yi and the others turned their heads in unison to look at Wu Su, their eyes filled with disbelief.

What the heck is that?

At this moment, You Jin and Wang Dong came out carrying a pot of chilling medicinal soup, urgently calling out, "Anyone hurt and need some medicine?"

A group of fierce ghosts crawled on the ground, wailing and howling as they approached, desperately crying, "We need it! Doc, we really need that medicine!"

You Jin: "..."

Lai Yin Chai cursed "Scram!" and swiftly hooked these half-dead fierce ghosts, sending them into the paper lantern.

The paper lantern felt heavy in his hand, the bamboo pole used to carry it almost bending under the weight. It seemed he had caught quite a few on New Year's Eve.

Indeed, it was a wise decision not to take a break and come to work on New Year's Eve.

"The paper craft’s busted," He Yunxiao pointed out sharply, noticing the paper cannon in Wu Su's hand.

The paper craft had completely split open, and upon patting it, they realized it was indeed unusable.

Wu Su sighed, "Yang Xing's invention still needs improvement. It needs to be cheap and durable. It fell apart after just a few tries."

A Taoist priest grabbed the medicine from You Jin and downed it in one go. Looking at the distant villages, he said with a stern expression, "Other villages are probably dealing with the same thing. Let's go and check."

Zhou Dagui quickly spread the word in the Nan Nuo Village WeChat group.

"Village Chief Zhou Dagui: @all members, we’re not sure what’s going on outside. Everyone, please do not go out out of curiosity. If you have tourists at home, make sure to keep an eye on them."

The streets of Nan Nuo Village were clear now, but who knows if it’ll happen again?

A few tourists in the village already ran into trouble.

The villagers all acknowledged the message.

Zhou Yi was all about bringing honor to his ancestors and being the first in the family genealogy. With the paper craft in hand, he and He Yunxiao headed off to other villages.

Su Dayi stopped the little gray snake that instinctively wanted to follow He Yunxiao, glancing at it and saying, "Xi Xi, let’s stay put."

Xi Xi looked at Chengde Medical Hall and nodded, understanding that keeping the home safe was the priority.

The villagers of the eighteen villages were all stunned as they watched through their windows. They thought Master Liu, the gu ladies, and the yin-yang masters would have a big fight with the ghosts, but it ended up being a total wipeout.

"What the heck was that?" a villager couldn't help but exclaim in envy.

When Wu Su arrived at Yang Xing's hometown, Wu Wa Village, he yelled at the top of his voice, "Everyone, remember, this paper craft we’ve got is Yang Xing’s invention from the other side. Yes, Yang Xing, the first college student from our eighteen villages!"

Yang Xing's name was known throughout the eighteen villages of Nuo River, and people always talked about him, but with a lot of regret.

After the Yang family retrieved his remains from the river, they held a funeral and buried him.

Yang Xing's memorial tablet was placed in the Yang family ancestral hall. Originally, only the Yang family would burn paper money for him, but now it seemed that not just his family, but the entire eighteen villages of Nuo River would remember him. He had a tough life, but now he’s got all the hell money he could ever need.

A villager, hearing Wu Su's shout, couldn't help but say to his family, "So it was Yang Xing? Thanks to his invention, we should burn some incense and paper money for him during the holidays."

Another villager nodded and said, "Yes. Look, one Yang Xing, one Zhou Fenghua. It really proves that education pays off."

Many of them had always thought that the ultimate goal of education was to make money. If it’s all about making money, why not just start earning right away?

They were all about tourism, making money quick and easy. Why even bother with school? But now it looks like they still need to hit the books! Go to college, even grad school.

After patrolling the eighteen villages, they found all their paper crafts completely ruined.

Wu Su quickly suggested, "Let's head back to the clinic first. In Plants vs. Zombies, the zombies didn't come in just one wave."

Zhou Yi worried, "What do we do now that we've lost our paper crafts? If those fierce ghosts come after us, we won't stand a chance, and then..."

Wu Su waved his hand, "At worst, we'll get our brains eaten, but at least we fought, so it's worth it."

Zhou Yi and the others listened in silence; Uncle Wu Su might not be good at much, but he sure has a great attitude.

-

Wu Heng was setting up a formation with the Taoist priests from the Xuanmen, and the live broadcast continued. He saw the barrage in the comments frantically discussing the situation in Nanluo Village.

"Dr. Wu, what should we do? We can't make it to your village for the New Year. There's constant knocking on doors and windows, and I'm terrified."

"I heard in our neighborhood that someone was attacked by a fierce ghost that came out of the toilet while they were squatting. I get diarrhea when I'm nervous, and now... it's hard to explain."

This young man was really in a tough spot. Seeing messages in the neighborhood group about a resident having an accident while squatting, the property management was frantically advising everyone to avoid using the toilet if possible, and if they must, to prepare the drains for exorcism.

This young man, who gets diarrhea when nervous, couldn't hold it any longer and had to go despite his fears.

His grandfather, who had just returned from the ghost gate, was called to stand outside the bathroom. Covering his face while sitting on the toilet, he said, "Grandpa, keep an eye out for me. You're a ghost now, so you should know if there's anything nasty inside. You only have me as your grandson; you can't let me die, or else after New Year's Eve, I'll have to go to the underworld with you."

The bathroom door wasn't locked, leaving a small gap. The ghost grandfather standing at the door was overwhelmed by the smell: '...'

He must be the real grandson of this kid.

He came back happily from the underworld for New Year's Eve, only to be called by his scoundrel grandson to stand outside the bathroom and listen to him using the toilet...

He vaguely heard his grandson say he bought Maotai for him while burning paper money.

This young man was using the toilet while watching Wu Heng's live broadcast.

The audience didn't know what they were busy with, only seeing the Taoist priests moving hurriedly, without revealing what exactly they were doing.

Seeing the pleas in the comments, Wu Heng said, "Right now, those involved in metaphysics across various places are cooperating with the police. Please rest assured."

This was the first time Wu Heng's fans didn't buy his words. How could they rest assured? There was frantic knocking on doors and windows outside, and some had already broken in.

Seeing this, Wu Heng added, "I heard that Yanjun of the underworld takes this Spring Festival very seriously, and some ghosts and demons received gifts when they left the ghost gate. Let's see the gifts."

Yang Xing's invention was limited; only the ghosts and demons exiting through the South Gate could receive a white gift bag, and it was first-come, first-served, so those who came later got nothing.

"My mom really brought back a small gift bag when she returned. Is the underworld that good now? They even give out New Year gifts? My lousy company doesn't give anything and even makes us work from home on New Year's Eve."

"I'm almost confused; the underworld seems to be operating normally, even giving out gifts. Why did they let so many evil spirits and ghosts disrupt the mortal world? Wasn't Yanwang working in the underworld before?"

"Crying, my dad didn't bring back any gifts; he said he came out from the North Gate. So can anyone tell me what exactly the gifts are?"

Many people weren't afraid of the ghosts of their loved ones and went over to look at the white bags, seeing them take out paper crafts with Yang Xing's logo from inside.

Chen Zhao, who was working behind Wu Heng, was somewhat surprised, "Yang Xing's invention? Where did he get so much funding for these?"

Wu Heng just smiled without speaking, urging everyone to work harder.

At this moment, every household was pleasantly surprised by the paper crafts in the white gift bags.

This... isn't this similar to what Wu and the others used in Nanluo Village?

Immediately, some netizens wanted to grab them. Many had watched Wu's operations online and had been frantically criticizing and despising them through the screen, wishing they could reach through and snatch Wu Su's things.

So it's finally their turn?!

But when they excitedly reached out to touch, they realized they couldn’t touch it, and a chilling, ghostly force pushed their hands back.

The mother, now a ghost, looked at the contents and said, 'These are paper offerings, meant for the dead and ghosts and demons. Only we can use them.'

They are all ordinary ghosts, quietly waiting in the underworld for their turn to reincarnate. They don't have much merit and thus no priority in the reincarnation queue.

Even if they were to come back to life, they would just be ordinary people in the vast sea of humanity. Even as ghosts, they are not enough for those bloodthirsty fierce ghosts to devour in one bite.

Yet now, they grabbed the paper offerings and pointed them at the fierce ghosts that had broken through windows and doors, terrifying their families.

On this New Year's Eve, many people watched as their dearly missed loved ones came back to their sides, protecting them once again as they did in life.