The Extraordinary Urban God of Medicine

Chapter 670: Chapter 670: Night Raid on the Funeral Home
 

At the mention of Zhong Kui, Xia Ying, Zhou Mi, and Miao Erfang became interested.

They all expressed their opinions.

However, their understanding of Zhong Kui was mostly acquired from various film and television works.

At this, Huang Xiaolong merely chuckled, “Zhong Kui is a familiar character in folklore in Huaxia. He is stuck on the doors as the Door God to suppress evil spirits, suspended in the hall as a Spirit Talisman to ward off disasters and paranormal entities, and is the tough general who manages ghosts and slays demons in exorcism rituals. This gave rise to various plays and paintings depicturing Zhong Kui. Even the ‘Compendium of Materia Medica’ includes a prescription which involves consuming the ashes of Zhong Kui’s image to treat difficult labor or malaria.”

“Ghosts fear Zhong Kui, do you know why evil spirits are afraid of him?” Huang Xiaolong smiled.

“It’s because Zhong Kui is as powerful as you, Little Long. With a single thought, he can subdue demons and eliminate evil,” Zhou Mi instantly responded.

Xia Ying, obviously wiser, thought for a moment and said, “Based on the books, Zhong Kui was a scholar from Zhongnan Mountain. The emperor refused to hire him because of his ugly appearance. In his anger, he killed himself on the steps of the palace. After his death, he became a ghost catcher. So I guess, the reason Zhong Kui can catch ghosts is that he himself is a ghost, a more fierce one, so other ghosts are afraid of him.”@@novelbin@@

“Incorrect.” Huang Xiaolong shook his head. “Zhong Kui is neither human nor ghost. The reason ghosts retreat before him is that Zhong Kui is ‘Ning’!”

“‘Ning’?” Xia Ying caught on immediately. “This rare character, which Zhong Pengzhan just wrote in seal script, actually scared the ghost away… Little Long, did you confirm that Zhong Pengzhan and his brother are the descendants of Zhong Kui based on this character? Also, what is Ning after all?”

Huang Xiaolong explained slowly, “When a human dies, they become a ghost. When a ghost dies, they become Ning. Just like humans, ghosts also fear Ning. Ning, which feeds on ghosts, is something that almost never appears in the mortal world. The stronger the resentment of the ghost and the greater its sins, the more Ning likes to eat it. Ning can detect the smell of evil spirits like flies chasing after stink. Although chances of Ning coming to the mortal world are small, it is not entirely impossible. In history, there have been cases of Ning descending upon the mortal world.”

“Zhong Kui is actually a blend of Ning and living beings, making him a creature that is like a human but not a human, like a Ning but not a Ning. Therefore, evil spirits fear his aura. He also likes to eat ghosts. Ning is a very strange creature that is almost immune to all ordinary Taoist spells.”

“When a human dies, they become a ghost, which humans fear; when a ghost dies, they become Ning, which ghosts dread. If you seal this character on a door, all ghosts will distance themselves from it. Using ‘Ning’ to defeat a ghost is like fighting poison with poison! Therefore, inscribing the ‘Ning’ character in a charm can achieve the purpose of exorcising evil and curing evil influences. In fact, in the Jiangsu and Zhejiang regions, there’s also the practice of embedding a ‘Ning’ brick. That’s embedding a stone brick engraved with the character ‘Ning’ into a house to ward off ghosts and dispel evil.”

“However, the ones who can truly use the ‘Ning’ character appropriately must have ‘Ning’ in their lineage. In the history of Huaxia, there has only been one half-human-half-Ning creature, Zhong Kui. When I saw Zhong Pengzhan write the ‘Ning’ character and scare the ghost away just now, I was sure that he’s a descendant of Zhong Kui,” Huang Xiaolong laughed. “Moreover, I can confirm that Zhong Pengfei, who is Zhong Pengzhan’s elder brother, has a stronger Ning bloodline. So, he can eat ghosts. The more ghosts he eats, the more ruthless he becomes.”

These words left Xia Ying, Zhou Mi, and Miao Erfang looking at each other in surprise.

“Little Long, does that mean that the Zhong brothers, Zhong Pengfei and Zhong Pengzhan, are extremely dangerous? If they harbor malicious intentions, they can control evil spirits to gain personal benefits since all ghosts fear them. Thus, they can easily manipulate the evil spirits,” Xia Ying frowned.

“Well, although Zhong Kui is a hybrid of human and Ning, he is kind-hearted and hates evil, which is why he is a blessing to mankind. However, we can’t be sure about his descendants,” Huang Xiaolong’s eyes twinkled.

Just then, a little ghost who was lining up to report to the underworld from the city temple suddenly trembled, “Sir, are you talking about Zhong Pengfei?”

“Huh?” Huang Xiaolong turned his gaze onto the pale little ghost.

“Sir, I… I know this Zhong Pengfei… he seems to be controlling some evil spirits. He’s placed a formation in the ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’, a formation so malicious that some spirits trapped within are endlessly tormented. He drains the fortune of entire families and their descendants, until their spirits are exhausted and vanishes…” the little ghost reported truthfully.

“Oh? So malicious?” Huang Xiaolong was slightly taken aback.

“Sir, I’m telling the truth, it’s absolutely true. I saw it with my own eyes. But because I’m a poor ghost, they let me go. They didn’t confine me…” the little ghost said.

“Alright, I see. ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’, right? I’ll go check it out tonight.” Huang Xiaolong waved his hand. “You should hurry to report to the underworld.”

“Little Long, it seems that Zhong Pengfei really is causing trouble in the world!” Xia Ying’s eyebrows knitted into a frown, “Draining other families’ fortunes for his own benefit, it’s too malicious! No wonder the Zhong brothers, Zhong Pengfei and Zhong Pengzhan, have been so lucky these years, they make a fortune out of any business they do.”

“Yes, I plan to go to the funeral parlour tonight… Hehe, I’ve never interacted with Ning before, it’s so fresh, so exciting, it’s going to be fun~!” Huang Xiaolong wore an excited expression.

“But, Master Long, didn’t you just say that Ning is immune to all mortal Taoist spells?” Miao Erfang asked with worry. “Won’t it be dangerous for you… to confront Zhong Pengfei?”

“Haha, did I say I only know mortal Taoist spells? Can’t I handle such a mere half-human-half-Ning creature?” Huang Xiaolong laughed loudly.

Then, Huang Xiaolong, accompanied by Zhou Mi, Miao Erfang, and Xia Ying, left the City God Temple and drove back to the city area.

Although activating the deification this City God Temple gave Huang Xiaolong power as long as devotees sincerely prayed, he couldn’t always stay in the City God Temple as some monk or the like, which would be boring.

During the day, Huang Xiaolong wasn’t bored with three beauties around. They wandered around and had fun.

After dinner, Huang Xiaolong prepared to visit the ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’ alone.

Zhou Mi, Miao Erfang, and Xia Ying clamored to go with Huang Xiaolong, but he allowed them to come along.

Just as they were about to leave, Ma Chuxia called.

“Little Long, I plan to take care of some things tonight. Would you like to come with me?” Ma Chuxia asked, on the phone.

“My darling, what is it?” Huang Xiaolong inquired.

“Recently, our Esoteric Society discovered that there have been ghostly incidents at the ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’. Initially, I didn’t take it seriously and just sent a few people with average Daoist skills to deal with it. As a result, they disappeared and never came back. I suspect… they have met with misfortune. So, I’ve decided to go and check it out personally tonight. Do you have time, Little Long? Would you like to come with me to have a look at this ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’?” Ma Chuxia extended an invitation to him.

“Hahaha~~ My darling, what a coincidence! Sure, let’s meet at the entrance of ‘Shuping Funeral Parlour’.” Huang Xiaolong laughed.