Chapter 58: The Mystical Gates School and the Art of Hidden Armor, Part Four
Page (1/3)
Li Chengfeng shook his head. He was just about to explain the reason to Ye Mengyao and Wang Bin when traffic police and an ambulance arrived at the scene one after another. They began dispersing the crowd and investigating the cause of the accident.
Ye Mengyao was also called out of the car by the traffic police and questioned about what had happened.
The chaotic accident scene became orderly as soon as the officers arrived, and traffic gradually returned to normal.
The ambulance stopped beside the off-road vehicle. Nurses and doctors jumped out, and two doctors carried a stretcher as they hurried toward the vehicle to treat the injured.
But when they rushed up to it, the doctors and nurses froze in fright, staring at the driver inside.
As medical professionals, they often dealt with corpses at the hospital and had seen bodies in every imaginable condition. Yet this was the first time they had encountered a corpse whose entire body had turned bluish, whose mouth hung open, and whose eyes stared wide in such a horrifying manner.
An older doctor, in his forties, took one look at the body and did not even bother to examine it. He turned to the nurse beside him.
“The victim has no signs of life. Call the funeral home and have them take the body away. Contact the family as soon as possible, then have the corpse cremated.”
“Yes!”
The nurse acknowledged him, then asked curiously, “Director Zhang, why is the corpse blue? And why are its mouth and eyes open?”
Director Zhang pushed up his glasses and said solemnly, “If I am not mistaken, the driver was already dead before the vehicle struck the tree. He must have collided with something filthy, causing his three souls and seven spirits to leave his body, while the vital energy within him was instantly scattered.”
“Something filthy? What kind of thing?”
The nurse stared at him in astonishment. Director Zhang realized he had said too much, hurriedly raised his hand, slapped himself once, and corrected himself.
“I was talking nonsense. Do not take it seriously. He simply died when he crashed into the tree.”
Director Zhang’s name was Zhang Beidou. He was the chief surgeon in the emergency room at Qingzhou Hospital, but his true identity was that of a member of China’s mysterious Dragon Gate Eight Offices. He was also a successor of the Three Origins school.
The moment he saw the driver, he knew that the death had not been a normal one.
He was intensely curious about what the driver had collided with to die on the spot—and why his corpse had been left in such a bizarre condition.
Watching the busy police officers and nurses, Li Chengfeng sat in the car with a deeply troubled expression.
The driver of the off-road vehicle should not originally have died. He had been struck by an object of immense malignancy, causing his three souls and seven spirits to leave his body. Then crows and bats had scattered the vital energy within him, resulting in his strange death.
If an ordinary person was struck by an object of great misfortune, they would merely suffer a run of bad luck and become plagued by ill fortune. But if they were struck by an object of great malignancy, they might lose their soul and spirit at best—or die on the spot at worst.
Thinking of the off-road vehicle’s tragic driver, Li Chengfeng felt somewhat guilty. He had not killed the man, but the man had died because of him.
He had caused such a terrible disaster. Would Heaven punish him for it?
Page (2/3)
The traffic police questioned Ye Mengyao for a long time. Only after confirming that she had nothing to do with the accident did they let her leave. As soon as she returned to the car, they urged her to drive away quickly so that she would not obstruct traffic.
Ye Mengyao gripped the steering wheel with both hands and sighed in confusion.
“It is so strange. How could that off-road vehicle suddenly lose control? Its performance is excellent. That should not have happened.”
Neither Li Chengfeng nor Wang Bin answered. They sat silently in the car, staring out the window, afraid they might see that dead cat.
Fortunately, the rest of the journey passed without incident, and the dead cat did not appear.
About twenty minutes later, Ye Mengyao dropped Li Chengfeng and Wang Bin off at Suiyuan Hall.
Li Chengfeng stepped out of the car without even saying thank you. Wang Bin, shameless as ever, invited Ye Mengyao inside to sit down and have some water.
Ye Mengyao ignored him. Her eyes remained fixed on Li Chengfeng as she spoke again.
“Mr. Li, when will you be free? My father would like to invite you to dinner.”
“I have no time.”
Without even turning his head, Li Chengfeng rejected her outright. He then turned and walked into Suiyuan Hall. He had no desire to involve himself in the Ye family’s affairs, and he knew perfectly well that this was not a meal one could accept lightly.
Watching the coldhearted Li Chengfeng enter Suiyuan Hall, Ye Mengyao sighed and drove away. She was furious. She had spent the entire day running around the hospital taking care of him, yet he had treated her with such indifference.
She truly could not understand how she had come to like him. He was not handsome, had no money, no car, no house, no family standing, and no connections. Apart from reading feng shui and using forbidden arts to harm people, what else could he do?
If her father discovered that she had fallen for Li Chengfeng, would he be angry?
Driving along, Ye Mengyao shouted furiously, “Li Chengfeng, you good-for-nothing bastard! I never want to see you again!”
When Li Chengfeng returned to Suiyuan Hall, he first went to the altar table and lit three sticks of incense. Holding them between both hands before his forehead, he bowed three times, then placed them in the incense burner.
“Grand Patriarch, protect me and keep me safe. Destroy that cat corpse.”
The Grand Patriarch in the portrait blinked, then turned his head to one side, as though saying that Li Chengfeng should deal with the trouble he had caused himself.
Seeing the Grand Patriarch turn away, Li Chengfeng began to panic and hurriedly said, “Grand Patriarch, if the Twelve Divine Generals’ protective formation cannot suppress that cat corpse, you cannot simply stand by and watch me die.”
“If I kick the bucket, no one will burn incense for you ever again.”
The Grand Patriarch in the portrait gave no response. Li Chengfeng could only comfort himself with the thought that, at the critical moment, the Grand Patriarch surely would not abandon him.
Wang Bin looked extremely tense. He stood at the doorway and peered outside twice, then hurriedly shut the door and secured it with the bolt. He even dragged two stools over to brace the door before turning around and asking, “Chengfeng, will that dead cat come again tonight?”
“It probably will.”
If that dead cat dared to return, he would make certain it never left. The Twelve Divine Generals’ protective formation stood guard at the entrance, while the Grand Patriarch watched over him from behind. What was there to fear?
Page (3/3)
The night grew deeper, and fewer and fewer pedestrians passed along the road. From time to time, a cold wind swept across the street outside, sending plastic bags rolling along the pavement.
Wang Bin checked the time. It was already past ten. He stretched and said sleepily, “Chengfeng, I am getting tired. I am going to bed. You should turn in early too.”
With that, he started toward the back room. Li Chengfeng drew a deep breath and was preparing to go to sleep as well when, suddenly, a cat cried out from outside Suiyuan Hall.
“Meow… meow…”
At the same time, the door was suddenly shoved open by some mysterious force. The bolt snapped with a sharp crack, and the stools bracing the door toppled to either side.
Driven by its momentum, the door slammed into the wall with a thunderous bang.
The sudden noise made Li Chengfeng and Wang Bin shudder. They hurriedly turned to look behind them—and saw the emaciated cat corpse crouching outside, directly in the middle of the doorway.
Its eyes, black as ink, stared at Li Chengfeng and Wang Bin inside Suiyuan Hall.
The cat corpse crouched at the entrance but did not dare enter. It kept emitting shrill cries, its voice filled with boundless fury.
The moment Wang Bin saw it crouching outside, all traces of sleep vanished. His legs went weak, and he asked in a trembling voice, “Chengfeng, w-what do we do?”
“Do not be afraid!”
Although Li Chengfeng said this, cold sweat poured down his forehead. He took a deep breath and stepped forward twice, his hands shifting rapidly through magical seals as he chanted under his breath.
“Six Heavenly Officers, six earthly guardians, six yin and six yang forces, twelve divine generals—heed my command. Protect my spiritual body. Rise, formation!”