Chapter 6: The Water Official's Curse
Having learned the cause of Lu Yuzhu’s death, Qi Zhiyong’s mission was essentially complete.
Yet Wu Xian did not leave.
Driven by the instincts of a detective, he meticulously searched the room and eventually discovered a secret compartment behind a hanging painting. Inside, he found something unexpected.
A deity statue.
This statue featured the head of an eagle and the body of a man, seated cross-legged on a divine throne. It was entwined with numerous serpents of varying lengths and thicknesses, each carved with such exquisite detail they seemed almost alive, ready to leap up and bite at a throat.
On the desk before the statue stood two red candles and an incense burner. Beneath the statue was a brass base inscribed with the deity’s title:
Water Official—The Great Lord of the Mysterious Underworld.
“A deity statue!” Wu Xian’s breath hitched. After burning the red-clad spirit, he had obtained a stick of incense. According to the miscellaneous notes in his spirit companion’s ledger, this incense was described as follows:
“Spirit Incense: Originating from the hanging spirit, a tool to dispel malevolent forces and cleanse attachments, condensed from yin essence. When burned, it accumulates virtue and commands respect from the gods.”
Outside, Qi Zhiyong was still waiting. Without delay, Wu Xian placed the spirit incense into the burner.
Instead of smoke, this incense emitted a pale blue mist that hovered above the desk, forming three distinct shapes resembling ritual implements.
The Demon-Detecting Mirror: A polished bronze ancient mirror. When rubbed along the back’s Taoist patterns, it reveals the true forms of ghosts and demons, breaking their deceptions. Each use consumes spiritual energy; when depleted, it becomes an ordinary object.
The Copper Coin Sword: Woven from the coins of five emperors of a prosperous era, measuring one foot and three inches. It heats up upon encountering spirits and can harm evil entities.
The Purifying Duster: Made of peachwood with a spiritual horsehair tassel. It cleanses the body and sanctifies the space, sweeping away darkness.
Wu Xian quickly examined the effects of these three artifacts, then reached into the mist and pulled out a damp copper coin sword.
Having made his choice, the deity statue dissolved into a pool of clear water before rapidly evaporating into mist and vanishing.
It seemed these statues could only be worshipped once.
The copper coin sword was short and thick. Its blade consisted of ten layers of copper coins, each layer stacked with five coins: Banliang coins from the Qin era, Wuzhu coins from the Han, Kaiyuan Tongbao, Song Yuan Tongbao, and Yongle Tongbao.
Each time the sword struck an evil spirit, one layer of the blade would vanish. When all ten layers were gone, the sword would lose its power.
Chuckling to himself, Wu Xian tucked the sword at his waist.
Searching the scene was merely a habit of his, but unexpectedly it yielded a valuable prize. With the copper coin sword and the true fire curse, he now had basic means of self-defense within this blessed land.
Just as he felt pleased, a sudden chill swept over him.
An inexplicable coldness spread from deep within, raising goosebumps all over his body. An icy presence pressed against him, the bone-deep cold rendering him immobile.
From the corner of his eye, Wu Xian saw a man’s head resting on his shoulder. The man’s profile was frosted icy blue and cracked, tiny ice crystals shimmering on broken skin.
“I... am so cold,” the man whispered.
“Find me, hurry and find me.”
“This coffin is full of ice—narrow and small. I can’t lie straight, can’t sleep well. Please come and let me out. I’ll be here waiting for you.”
“I’ll wait for you forever.”
After speaking, the man vanished, leaving behind only a puddle of icy water on the floor behind Wu Xian.
It took Wu Xian a moment to recover. He shivered uncontrollably, limbs numb and cold; frost had even formed on his left ear, which he rubbed frantically with his left hand while clumsily opening his spirit companion’s ledger with his right to check for new information.
Two new entries had appeared. One concerned the copper coin sword, as expected. The other was…
A curse.
[Water Official’s Curse]: “Uncomfortable Coffin”
The coffin is the home of the deceased, but Mr. Wang does not like the home his wife gave him. Find Mr. Wang and free him from this uncomfortable home. Until you find him, your body temperature will continue to drop.
“Damn it!” Wu Xian cursed angrily.
He had just worshipped the Water Official statue and now bore the Water Official’s curse. Clearly, this curse was a price for the worship—this trip had not brought fortune but a sugar-coated bombshell!
Anger surged, but so did a creeping unease.
The malevolent spirits in this blessed land were no mere nuisances that could be countered with talismans and artifacts. If that cold presence wanted to kill him, Wu Xian wouldn’t even have had the chance to draw the copper coin sword!
His earlier confidence in self-defense now seemed utterly foolish.
As Wu Xian chastised himself, Qi Zhiyong’s voice came from outside: “Why aren’t you out yet? Did you die in there?”
Wu Xian’s temper flared, and just as he was about to curse, he remembered his role.
He ruffled his hair, took a deep breath until his vision blurred, then staggered out with a terrified expression, clutching Qi Zhiyong’s arm.
“Th-there’s a ghost inside! And a woman…”
Hearing “ghost,” a flicker of relief crossed Qi Zhiyong’s eyes. He quickly calmed Wu Xian. “Take it easy, tell me what you found.”
Wu Xian nervously recited a fabricated story. He omitted the worship of the deity and concealed some discoveries, but his detailed account of the terrifying curse had Qi Zhiyong nodding in agreement.
“Don’t worry, nothing will happen,” Qi Zhiyong said dismissively, then sent Wu Xian off to gather supplies. Having obtained what he wanted, he didn’t wish to spend more time on Wu Xian.
To Qi Zhiyong, Wu Xian was already as good as dead.
...
“I’ll give you a surprise,” Wu Xian muttered under his breath after parting ways with Qi Zhiyong.
Though he had chosen to feign weakness, Qi Zhiyong’s attitude left him deeply displeased. Wu Xian resolved to give Qi Zhiyong a surprise once the curse was lifted.
During his self-pity, his body temperature gradually rose, though still slightly below normal. At this rate of decline, he had several hours before hypothermia would disable him.
But the pressing question remained: how to find this ‘Mr. Wang’?
Finding someone outside was easy; if Mr. Wang was nearby, the clues in those few sentences would suffice.
A surname Wang, inside a refrigerator, married and deceased...
But this blessed land was unfamiliar, and time was short. His mind buzzed with ideas.
Then, rounding a staircase corner, he found a solution.
“Heh heh heh, looks like he’s more anxious than I am.”
Turning the corner, Wu Xian noticed the cold shifted from his left cheek to his right. After several turns, he confirmed the chill came from a definite direction.
This was Mr. Wang’s hint.
“If he’s in such a hurry, I won’t be,” Wu Xian decided.
He stopped rushing downstairs and instead strolled leisurely, hands behind his back, like a gentleman on a promenade.
The building had four floors: the second, third, and fourth each had eight guest rooms, while the first floor housed the front desk and the innkeeper’s living quarters. All room doors on the second and third floors were violently smashed like room 405, with furniture faded and weathered like old photographs.
Yet, aside from that, the second and third floors were clean.
No severed limbs, no bloodstains—only thick layers of dust, human-shaped cement sculptures out of place in the inn’s environment, and... the pervasive stench of decaying corpses.
Enduring the foul odor, Wu Xian’s exploration yielded something useful.
A Buddha statue.
On a lotus throne piled with treasures and artifacts, a Buddha’s head was placed atop the pile, its face twisted into a strangely greedy smile.
An inscription on the throne read:
Outer God—The Many Treasures Tathagata Statue!