Chapter 95: The Earth Talisman

As I shouted those words, the entity’s movements seemed to stiffen. Li Yue stumbled backward several meters, and my expression turned grim, my heart filled with shock and rage. But before I could seize it, it burrowed back into the back of my hand, once again becoming that mark. I gripped the mark fiercely, feeling a sharp pain, but it was to no avail.

Yet, just a moment ago, it had been on the verge of dealing such a vicious blow to Li Yue. It was so close—Li Yue had almost lost her life. My heart skipped a beat. The intensity and speed of its attack were enough to kill her instantly, but it had stopped. My heart constricted as the realization dawned on me: it didn't want to kill Li Yue; it was trying to stop us.

What had we almost done? Now that my mind had cleared, I was horrified. How could I have let such a thing happen? How could I ever face Chanshu again? I could never, and would never, allow anything to happen between me and Li Yue.

I looked up at her, my voice raspy. "Are you alright? It didn't mean to kill you."

Li Yue bit her lower lip slightly and nodded, her face pale. "I know."

I was stunned. Li Yue was experienced and observant; she knew exactly how fast that thing was and whether it had intended to kill her. Just as I had realized it, so had she. I wanted to walk over and help her up, but she flinched away, bowing her head and refusing to meet my eyes. "I'm fine," she whispered. "I just want to be alone for a while. You should rest." With that, she pulled herself up and stumbled toward the woodshed where we had previously hidden.

I didn't follow her. A hollow feeling settled in my chest. That incident must have terrified her, yet I couldn't comfort her. I knew that even if I could control myself, any further proximity between us would do her no good.

With a soft creak, the door of the woodshed closed, leaving me alone in the courtyard. I sighed and sat on the ground. Although my injuries healed faster than most, the recent exertion had aggravated them. I looked up at the sky; I couldn't tell the exact time, but it was certainly not yet noon. We had quite a while before we could set off at dusk.

I took out my inkstone, talisman brush, and paper. I couldn't draw many "Fusion" talismans, but I could always prepare more "Quake" talismans. Since Li Yue and Wang Gongming already knew my secret, there was no need for concealment. Even if drawing talismans drained my soul, I could always recover by absorbing a wandering ghost later.

After mixing the ink with my blood, I began to draw. Perhaps because my Earth Soul’s seal had been broken and my soul was more complete, the aura of the "Quake" talisman felt different; even a glance at it made it feel as though my very soul were vibrating. This time, I managed to draw ten of them before feeling any exhaustion. It wasn't that the talismans required less energy, but that my soul had grown stronger and more resilient.

Feeling that I would need at least two ghosts to recover my strength, I stopped drawing. I divided the talismans into two piles: three for myself and seven for Li Yue. Feeling the weight of the objects in my chest, I instinctively took them out to reorganize them. I had the human skin inscribed with the secret of "Life-Stealing," the blue-covered book, and the bundle of peach wood swords. I folded the skin carefully, then set the swords on the ground. I wouldn't use them now, but they would offer Li Yue a measure of protection.

My eyes fell upon the book. I took a deep breath and opened it. "Quake," "Fusion," "Fight"... I flipped past the first three pages quickly. I already knew how to use these; I had mastered them enough to encounter no obstacles.

The talisman on the fourth page was now revealed. It depicted a corpse-like head above a character representing a person, looking unsettlingly eerie. Next to it was a line of small text: *Death Talisman, Art of Killing.* Those six simple words gave me a chilling sensation. The Quake talisman harmed ghosts; the Fusion talisman could detach one’s soul, acting like a decoy; the Fight talisman could injure both the living and the dead with sheer pressure. And this Death Talisman… it was actually a tool for killing people.

I recalled our helplessness when facing the townspeople, and how we had been unable to resist when Daoist Zhou pursued us. That was because the Quake talisman only affected ghosts, and I hadn't been able to draw the Fight talisman then—which, in any case, only harmed the soul. If we had possessed the Death Talisman, we wouldn't have been so desperate or injured.

I lowered my head and instinctively touched the brush to the paper. The Death Talisman was drawn with surprising ease. The bright red blood-ink instantly turned a pitch-black, and the paper looked like a worthless scrap of waste. Yet, the black talismanic markings felt heavy enough to crush the spirit. There was no drain on my soul, and I felt no physical change.

Suddenly, a figure appeared beside me. My heart hammered against my ribs—it was Wang Gongming. His expression was grave, his eyes filled with suspicion.

"You used your life force to draw a talisman?" Wang Gongming stared at me intensely. "What is the purpose of this one?"

"The Death Talisman," I blurted out. "An art of killing."

Wang Gongming narrowed his eyes and fell silent. His gaze then shifted to the Quake talisman.

"This is the Quake talisman," I said, taking a deep breath. "I drew it with my heart’s blood and tongue-tip blood."

Afterward, I watched him, breathless. He had said I used my life force—the shock was immense. The Death Talisman was powerful, but it consumed one’s lifespan. Yet, in the blink of an eye, I found it unsurprising. A tremor of realization stirred within me, reminding me of the words on Wang Gongming’s tombstone: "Seeking Immortality and the Way."

He had been capable of constructing a feng shui layout as intricate as the "Judge’s Cap" shade, and his mastery of Daoist arts was clearly profound. He had seen through my Three-Soul Seal and broken the seal on my Earth Soul, yet he didn't appear weakened as my mother’s soul had. And now, he had recognized the Death Talisman at a glance. Perhaps he could even understand this book in my hands.

Suppressing the trembling in my heart, I handed the book to Wang Gongming. "The talisman I use against those ghosts is this Quake talisman. When I use my soul-blood and heart-blood, it becomes the Quake-God talisman."

Wang Gongming’s gaze grew distant, as if he were stunned or bewildered. He shook his head and did not take the book. "This is the *Earth Talisman Codex*," he said, his voice raspy. "It contains a hundred of the most powerful talismans in the world. It has long since vanished from history. To think it would be in your hands."

"The *Earth Talisman Codex*?" I murmured.

Wang Gongming looked at me deeply. "I understand now. Just a moment ago, I thought your..." He seemed to realize something. I felt a surge of alarm, remembering that I had something else on me.

Before I could speak, Wang Gongming reached out and grabbed my hand, drawing a few strokes on the back of it. A gray talismanic mark appeared, and the skull symbol vanished. "Remember this sigil. If there is ever something you do not want your companion ghost to hear or see, use this to seal its senses."

I exhaled in relief. "Thank you."

Wang Gongming’s gaze remained profound. "It seems my guess was correct. The hidden danger within your soul does not stem from the Three-Soul Seal, but from the fact that you consumed a soul. Your companion ghost, this *Earth Talisman Codex*—these secrets all originate from that soul. The Three-Soul Seal both protected you and gave you time to slowly consume him. Over the years, the fusion has been eighty or ninety percent complete. My help earlier simply cleared away the lingering remnants."

I nodded, no longer denying it.

"But," Wang Gongming asked suddenly, "you do not know the *Earth Talisman Codex*, nor did you know that the talisman you just drew consumes life force. This means your consumption of that soul is incomplete. Though you are fine now, a part of his soul still exists elsewhere."

His words made my heart tremble. I immediately thought of the coffin in the stone chamber, deep within the corridors of the Wang family ancestral hall—the "corpse" that was breathing and alive.

"I don't know," I said, my voice hoarse. "I feel like I have many fragmented memories I haven't recovered yet. Every time I encounter something, it triggers a little more."

"That is normal," Wang Gongming replied. "After all, those things aren't yours. To you, those memories are useless, and they only surface when they become relevant. People live thousands of days and forget most of what they’ve done, but when they encounter related events, the memories return. It is not strange."

His explanation cleared the fog in my mind.

"How many talismans did you see in the *Earth Talisman Codex*?" he asked, abruptly changing the subject.

"Four," I answered.

"No, not how many you saw, nor how many are in your memories. I mean you—how many talismans can *you* see?"

I was bewildered. "Is there a difference?"

"Have you not tried to open the fifth page to see if there is anything there?" There was a hint of astonishment in his voice. He then offered a wry smile. "Right. You didn't know what this book was, so naturally, you didn't look."

My heart hammered. I understood what he meant. There were talismans on the fifth page! Those four talismans belonged to that man, not me; I could only use them because I had assimilated his soul. In this book, I might be able to see talismans that belonged to me.

I lowered my head, my hands trembling as I turned to the fifth page. But the page was blank. There was nothing there.

A look of disappointment clouded Wang Gongming’s eyes. "You are too ordinary... you have no qualifications to see talismans in the *Earth Talisman Codex*."

He let out a heavy sigh, his disappointment deepening. He shook his head and walked toward the main room, speaking over his shoulder with a raspy voice. "A human life has its limits. Do not draw talismans that consume life force. Taking a life requires a price; the *Earth Talisman Codex* is fair. You must not harm innocent ghosts, or you will face retribution in the underworld. You have already had enough good fortune; do not be greedy. It was my own over-eagerness that made me have you open the book."

"Rest well. When night falls, we may be able to leave, or we may all be left here forever."

His figure disappeared into the main room. I looked down, but the page remained blank. As I thought about his warning regarding life force, my heart stopped. I possessed a secret technique that could replenish life force by stealing it from others.

I clenched my fists, tightly suppressing that thought. Stealing life... I must never steal life. Harming others always brings retribution—if not upon oneself, then upon one's family. The entire family of Liu the Undertaker had met a violent end; that was the retribution!