Chapter Three - Liao Chen

Xu Yi put on a linen coat and combed his hair. After being satisfied with his appearance, a touch of crudeness appeared in his expression.

He suddenly noticed the ginger on the old desk, which reminded him of something that he had been trying to forget. These were the unpleasant memories of the endless insults and torments caused by the Zhou Family, but he failed to do so. However, being physically tortured, his ego, or self-esteem, was still intact. He believed in himself and was determined to cultivate himself into a higher realm.

Previously, Xu Yi had decided that it was not the right time to expose his quick cultivating progress, in case Junior Zhou would disturb the learning process. He had even disguised himself as a hilarious coward for years, but now, it was finally time to show up!

Xu Yi picked the ginger up, then made his way outside and threw it away, far into the distance. He’d no longer need to apply this ginger on his body to make his skin look yellowish. Now, since he had obtained the peak state of a forged body, the skin was visibly white. But, he was no longer afraid of being seen through by the Zhou Family.

- Bing! Bang! -

The sound of a gong [1] indicated that it was nearly midnight. Xu Yi stopped pondering and turned to look at the sleeping old dog. He caressed the dog attentively and then picked two chickens up from under his bed.

What should he do with these two chickens?

He lifted the two chickens by the neck and started to run towards the forest in the south.

The Hui Yin Mountain was famous for its scenery and vastness. From east to west, it reached 5,000 km, and from south to north, it reached 2,500 km. There were as many as three prefectures located in this area. Within the territory of the Da Yue Empire, the Hui Yin Mountain was definitely the largest mountain.

In daylight, the scenery surrounding the Hui Yin Mountain was breath-taking, however, at night, it was a totally different picture. The pitch darkness and the sounds of grunting wild animals, would probably scare anyone half to death. People were usually too terrified to come here alone at night.

However, Xu Yi was an exception. Despite the fact that it was dark and chilly, Xu Yi instinctively made his way into the darkness at a high speed. He smartly passed through all the big branches that were blocking his way, as if he came here every day.

Nevertheless, danger was lurking everywhere in this dark forest. There was, for example, a gigantic python lurking on one of the tall trees. When Xu Yi ran underneath this tree, the python suddenly attacked. But Xu Yi responded like a bat out of hell, spontaneously whacking this evil creature, which slammed it into a nearby tree.

This was actually the first time that Xu Yi truly tasted the magic of power, he continued running deeper into the forest, with his loose coat waving behind him like a flag, until he finally came across some Chinese Scholar Trees [2].

Xu Yi looked in the vast sky and calculated that it was about time to summon his ghost Sifu [3]. He ceremoniously took out three incense sticks and placed them on the ground in the shape of a triangle. He then proceeded to lit these three incense sticks as an offering for his Sifu.

In a split second, there were clouds of black vapor emerging behind the largest of the three Chinese scholar trees. Gradually, the vapor descended above the burning incense sticks and took the shape of a, somewhat vague, human body.

This being was a monk with an exotic appearance - his head was horribly oversized and there was a ring of Buddha beads around his neck. Interestingly, the beads were about the size of an egg, which was miraculously a perfect match with his head.

Instead of being terrified by this supernatural event, on the contrary, Xu Yi was rather excited. When he was about to speak to this monk, he realised that there occurred some dispersing in parts of the ghost’s body. Xu Yi quickly held the two chickens in his hands and broke their necks. Spraying the blood of the chickens towards the fading being, this blood successfully helped the ghost’s body to stop from dispersing and then it even started to slowly reshape some of the dispersed parts.

“Sifu!” Xu Yi exclaimed.

The ghost put his hands together in front of him and calmly said, “Chan Yue (The name Sifu has given to Xu Yi), this is not the first time that I’ll tell you that I am already dead. You don’t need to call me Sifu, I’m nothing more than a ghost. It’s true... I have taught you how to obtain a forged body, and you’ve learned it well. But it was your persistence that has led you to this ending, not me. You can’t become a Buddha with things unsettled in the mortal world. In other words, you are not qualified to learn the way to become a Buddha at this stage.” He then ontinued with chanting some scriptures [4].

“Even if you don’t treat me as your follower, I would always call you Sifu. It’s you who taught me how to practice and who consoled me when I was depressed.“ Xu Yi responded with absolute sincerity.

...

The new soul, that had possessed Xu Yi’s body for nearly two years now, only had two friends in this world, one was the dog and the other one was this ghost. The story between Xu Yi and his ghost Sifu began on his third day in this world, after his soul had transferred into the body of the dead Xu Yi. That was a gloomy afternoon; Xu Yi was sitting on the doorsill, awaiting the upcoming rainstorm. At that moment, the ghost Sifu had walked silently in front of Xu Yi.

“Hey, the rain is coming. Why don’t you come in and have a rest.” Xu Yi had shouted at the ghost.

“Oh, Kid, you can see the invisible ghost!” Sifu was taken aback by Xu Yi’s special ability.

Xu Yi had been surprised, but not the slightest bit scared; he had looked at the ghost closely and had found that his body was as light as a piece of silk. Still, Xu Yi had invited the ghost in.

The ghost, named Liao Chen, used to be a monk in the Tian Chan temple. He was supposed to be travelling around the world, but he had been caught up in an accident when he had arrived in the Guanan prefecture. As a ghost, he was extremely eager to go home and tell his relatives that he was dead, otherwise they would wait helplessly for years, not knowing that he was long dead.

However, the ghost was too feeble to exist. When he had gone to the Hui Yin Mountain, he had already almost faded away. It had been a blessing for Liao Chen to meet Xu Yi, who had since prepared chicken blood each day to help the ghost maintain its shape. This was a secret method this ghost Sifu had taught him.

Out of gratitude, Liao Chen even taught Xu Yi how to achieve a forged body.

...

Three months ago, Liao Chen had made an appointment with Xu Yi - If his ghost body weakened before he’d able to return to his hometown, then they would meet a final time at these Chinese Scholar Trees.

“This is my destiny. My time is coming, and I have to say goodbye to you. It’s not that cruel to me, at least I have had the fortune to meet you.“

“Sifu, I will help you!” Xu Yi lost control, as tears were starting to roll down his cheeks.

The Sifu tried several times to give Xu Yi a firm hug to console him, but found that his actions were in vain, because his body was already to weak to feel anything.

“Don’t cry... It’s ok... Hey, what are your achievements recently? Will you perform it for me? I hope we still have some time before I disappear...“ The Sifu suddenly said, full of expectations.

Xu Yi slightly regained his composure, positioning himself and gave out a roar before stretching his fists.

“Monster ox! Furious push! Free Tianmo!” He shouted out the names of the actions as he performed them like a crazy ox, in the blink of an eye, all the trees around him were smashed into bits and pieces.

When the routine was finished, Xu Yi adjusted his body without any gasping or flushing. He was completely stable. This incredible performance even stunned Sifu.

……………..

[1]: Gong: It was used to remind people what time it was at night in ancient China.

http://www.objectlessons.org/ceremony-and-celebration-music/brass-gong-china/s80/a995/

[2]: Chinese scholar tree or Japanese pagoda tree:

http://www.colostate.edu/Dept/CoopExt/4dmg/Trees/pagoda.htm

[3]: Sifu: It is used as a title for and role of a skillful person or a master.

[4]: Buddhist chant: A Buddhist chant is a form of musical verse or incantation, related to their own school.