Chapter Thirty-Seven: The White Bone Demon

Ever since Little Round Cake’s primordial spirit returned from a business trip to Thailand, he had been refusing to nurse for several days, suffering from abdominal bloating and indigestion. The whole family was frantic with worry.

That night, while I was fast asleep in the dead of night, I hazily saw the figure of Bai Juan. She leaned over and cradled Little Yuan Bao in her arms. At first, she appeared to be gently soothing the child, but upon closer inspection, I saw something horrific: a long, curved arc of white light was silently flowing out from Little Yuan Bao’s tiny body. The other end of this light arc slowly extended until it disappeared into Bai Juan’s slightly parted lips. Her expression at that moment became exceptionally satisfied, as if she were recharging her energy.

In an instant, the truth dawned on me: this was the primordial spirit of the White Bone Demon, Xiao Jie, appearing in the guise of her human reincarnation, Bai Juan.

Although I did not know what Xiao Jie was doing, it was clearly something malevolent. I instinctively tried to get up to stop her, but my body felt bound by invisible shackles, unable to move in the slightest.

Time seemed to freeze until Xiao Jie finally set Little Round Cake down. She slowly took a step and moved toward me. Leaning down, she stared at me for a long time before whispering, "Do you know? I am deeply jealous of you!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Xiao Jie straightened up, and Bai Juan’s delicate features abruptly shifted into the face of a man with thick eyebrows and a broad forehead.

I was completely stunned.

Meng Tian?

Bai Juan’s past life was actually Meng Tian!

No wonder Meng Tian felt an unspeakable jealousy toward Fusu; even Bai Juan was the same, influenced by her primordial spirit!

Before I could recover from the shock, Xiao Jie’s figure suddenly dissolved into a wisp of light smoke and vanished without a trace.

A few days ago, after Zhong Yang left Wang Xinyue’s house, she went to a weight-loss club in another city. With room and board provided by the club, it was inconvenient to stay in touch.

The next day, I had to ask Wang Xinyue to help me sense what Xiao Jie had done to Little Round Cake the previous night.

After just one night, Little Round Cake’s once round and adorable face had grown haggard, and a faint, dark-blue ring had appeared under his eyelids.

"The White Bone Demon came last night to drain Little Round Cake’s vital essence to replenish her own energy. The reason he doesn't want to nurse is because that stinky Taoist from Hunan planted Gu worms in his stomach. Those worms are gnawing at his stomach, so naturally, he has no appetite. Damn! To not even spare such a small child—she is truly insane!" Wang Xinyue gave her conclusion with indignation.

"Planted Gu? Weren't his command flags and seal confiscated by Teacher Xing? How could he still do such things?"

"Little sister, don't forget that the Taoist from Longhu Mountain is originally from Hunan. Hunan is located in the Miao territory, and the Miao people are experts in Gu witchcraft. It’s a family tradition; they don't need flags or seals to perform it."

Wang Xinyue then mentioned something else. "Last night, Yangyang messaged me from the club, and her tone was completely different from before. I had a premonition at the time..."

Wang Xinyue’s face lacked its usual cynical playfulness; her eyes were grave as she said, word by word, "A manifestation of Bai Juan is attached to Yangyang, using her mouth to threaten me!"

Because Wang Xinyue and Zhong Yang had joined forces several times, using their telepathic connection to repeatedly uncover and thwart the conspiracies of Bai Juan and the Hunan Taoist, a wisp of Bai Juan’s manifestation had attached itself to Zhong Yang to spy on their information.

Wang Xinyue sent me a screenshot of her WeChat conversation with Zhong Yang from last night.

Wang Xinyue: [Yangyang, are you tired at the club?]
Zhong Yang: [If I'm not tired, how will I lose weight? If I can't lose weight, can you marry me?]
Wang Xinyue: [Be my wife then, I’ll marry you!]
Zhong Yang: [You have several wives, where would you rank me?]
Wang Xinyue: [I have no wives; you are my head wife. Give your head wife a kiss, (flying kiss emoji)]
Zhong Yang: [You cannot give me what I want.]
Wang Xinyue: [Tell me, what do you want?]
Zhong Yang: [I want money, sex, and affection. You cannot give me these.]

The tone of the previous messages didn't sound like Zhong Yang’s usual clingy self at all; it was very much like Bai Juan’s style, especially the last sentence.

Bai Juan had once talked to me about her views on love: "I want money, sex, and affection. Anything else is nothing."

The similarity was astonishing!

To call it a coincidence would be too far-fetched, especially during this sensitive period of fighting against Bai Juan.

I asked anxiously, "What happened later? Did you contact Zhong Yang again?"

Wang Xinyue comforted me, "Don't worry. I just wanted to tell you this first. Last night, I realized something was wrong and immediately called her. Zhong Yang, as expected, didn't remember sending those messages and asked me, confused, what was going on. She later contacted Teacher Xing, who handled things on her end. However, I sense that only a manifestation went to Zhong Yang; Bai Juan’s true primordial spirit is here with you, because you are the one she hates the most."

Whether it was Bai Juan or Xiao Jie, it was true that they hated me the most.

"Little sister, do you know who the nemesis of the White Bone Demon is?" Wang Xinyue asked.

"How would I know?"

"It’s the Howling Celestial Dog," Wang Xinyue said firmly. "Dogs love bones more than anything! Every White Bone Demon fears the Howling Celestial Dog the most. You just need to have Yang Jian bring the Howling Celestial Dog here!"

"Then I’ll talk to Yang Jian’s photo about this." This was easy; I just needed to speak to his portrait.

"You had better recite the incantation. These are the proper terms for communicating with deities; gods don't like mundane language, and they find it hard to understand."

"How do I recite the incantation?" It was my first time knowing that one needed an incantation to invite a deity to descend and help.

"I’ll teach you; just repeat after me." Wang Xinyue closed her eyes and chanted: "Heavenly spirit, earthly spirit, True Lord Erlang, show your spirit. I invite Erlang to descend to the mortal world, bringing along his follower, the Howling Celestial Dog. Exterminate the demons, pacify the monsters, and warn the evil White Bone Demon. By the command of the divine troops, act with haste!"

I followed her, reciting it once, and waited expectantly for Yang Jian. Less than a minute later, a dazzling golden light flashed across Yang Jian’s photo. The golden light gradually converged, turning into a brilliant orb of light that drifted into the room. It slowly dissipated, revealing the tall and imposing figure of True Lord Erlang, Yang Jian. Beside him, he held a pure white, majestic-looking hound on a leash.

As soon as the Howling Celestial Dog saw the situation in the room, it impatiently ran around, barking repeatedly. It sprinted toward an unknown corner of the room, bared its sharp teeth, and bit down hard on something.

"Ah—" the person hiding in the corner let out a scream. She had been concealing her form, but she could not fool the nose of the Howling Celestial Dog. Bitten by the beast, a ripple like shimmering light appeared in the air, and her figure was finally revealed.

When Bai Juan’s primordial spirit, Xiao Jie, saw the Howling Celestial Dog, her face turned pale with fear. Bitten on the leg by the dog, she stood there trembling, at a loss and too afraid to flee.

Wang Xinyue, on the other end of the phone, naturally saw Yang Jian as well. A flash of triumph crossed her fox-like eyes, and she said aloud, "True Lord Erlang, thank you for making this trip."

Yang Jian’s eyes carried a hint of sternness as he said in a deep voice, "For Yu'er's sake, this favor must be done."

Last time, when Xiao Jie destroyed the face of my primordial spirit, the Jade Emperor ordered martial generals to arrest and imprison her for punishment. After finishing her sentence and being released from prison, Xiao Jie hated me even more intensely.

Yang Jian dragged Xiao Jie back to the Heavenly Court to face punishment. Whether it was the primordial spirit Xiao Jie or Bai Juan herself, for all the evil deeds she had done in this life—raising Kuman Thong, swapping lives, taking lives, manipulating financial luck, planting Gu, and casting curses—not only would her primordial spirit be severely punished by the Jade Emperor, but the human Bai Juan would also suffer a life worse than a pig or dog due to the backlash of her black magic and the Kuman Thong, and she would be cast into the eighteen levels of hell after death.

Finally, I got in touch with Zhong Yang. She cleared the Gu worms hidden in Little Round Cake’s stomach one by one. Little Round Cake was merely implicated by me; there weren't many worms in his body. I was the primary target of the Hunan Taoist’s curse.

That afternoon, my cheeks itched unbearably for no reason, as if thousands of ants were crawling under my skin. At that moment, Zhong Yang’s eyes flashed with a strange green light, which converged on my face. She was shocked to see a door appear abruptly on the swollen red patch on my right cheek.

Why was there a door?

Driven by curiosity, she used her willpower to pull the door open. It looked like the wooden firewood door found in a Miao village. Inside, a thin young man stood with his hands in his pockets, seemingly staring intently at the floor of the room. The young man sensed something, immediately turned to look at the doorway, his expression sharpening with a fierce and evil glint, and with a loud *slam*, he shut the door tight.

When Zhong Yang tried to focus again, she couldn't find the door anymore.

Zhong Yang said helplessly, "I was discovered by that man just now, and he shielded the door. I always felt there were evil things inside that door, but I can no longer open it."

That afternoon, I went to Teacher Xing’s Taoist hall. Teacher Xing sat behind the tea table as usual, his eyes deep and unfathomable. He said in a low voice, "Behind that firewood door, there is a hole in the ground used for raising Gu in the Miao territory. It is filled with the Five Poisons."

The nemesis of poisonous insects is naturally a large rooster. Teacher Xing closed his eyes and summoned the Star Lord Mao Ri, one of the Twenty-Eight Mansions of the Heavenly Court, through his thoughts.

Star Lord Mao Ri appeared as an ordinary-looking middle-aged man, dressed in official robes with a cap. He cupped his hands and bowed, "This humble deity has the honor of being invited by the Sect Leader of Kunlun Mountain. May I ask what this is for?"

Star Lord Mao Ri was the father of Ding Yuan’s primordial spirit. Before Ding Yuan came to the hall for the first time, Star Lord Mao Ri had also come to greet Teacher Xing in advance.

The Divine Realm had once bestowed two chairs, one dragon and one phoenix, upon Teacher Xing and Teacher Yang.

No matter where Teacher Xing sat, a golden dragon chair would quietly appear behind him. At this moment, he sat majestically upon that radiant and noble dragon throne, his demeanor solemn, and issued an order to Star Lord Mao Ri: "Go immediately to the Miao territory in Hunan. There is a Taoist from Longhu Mountain there who has repeatedly acted as an accomplice, driven by Bai Juan to cast evil spells on Xu Xiaoqian. Go and completely eradicate those harmful Gu worms in the Taoist's hometown."

Upon hearing this, Star Lord Mao Ri’s face turned solemn, and he bowed to accept the order: "As you command."

Golden light surged beneath his feet as if he were walking on clouds. With a flash, he sped toward the distant Miao territory in Hunan.

In the Miao village of Hunan, where every household raised and cast Gu, Star Lord Mao Ri transformed into a streak of light and perched lightly on the roof of the Hunan Taoist’s house. Instantly, the divine light retracted, and he morphed into a majestic white rooster, its feathers as white as snow, untainted by dust. The rooster raised its head and chest, letting out a long and piercing crow toward the sky. The sound pierced through the clouds and struck the earth. Under this earth-shaking crow, the five types of poisonous insects, which had been fighting fiercely in the dark cave, stiffened and died on the spot at the sound.

As for the Five Poisons Gu planted in my body by that Taoist, Teacher Xing rolled a sheet of yellow talisman paper into a hollow tube, pressed one end of the hollow tube against my body, and shouted, "Divine Dragon, absorb the water—"

In an instant, the hollow yellow paper tube seemed to be imbued with life; it twisted and expanded miraculously, transforming into a majestic giant dragon. The dragon opened its mouth wide, containing a powerful, indescribable suction force like a black hole, sucking the poisonous insects ravaging my body one by one, greedily swallowing them. As the insects were continuously absorbed, the dragon’s body gradually expanded until it reached its limit, finally drooping stiffly as if bearing an unbearable burden.

However, the divine dragon transformed from one yellow paper tube did not completely clear the Gu worms from my body. Seeing this, Teacher Xing frowned slightly and, without hesitation, took out four more sheets of yellow paper. They transformed into four giant dragons one after another, and only after they took turns was every last Gu worm and egg in my body completely sucked away.