Chapter 349 - 16: Carrot and Stick

The Little Daoist’s words sent the horde of ghosts and demons into a towering rage.

The Elder Daoist was despicable and shameless. One day he’d be copping a feel from a female ghost, the next he’d be smacking an old ghost in the face, and at night he’d even make paper effigies perform plays for him. The ghosts could only pinch their noses and put up with it.

After all, his Cultivation was high and his power immense. He could grant a Celestial Pardon with a single word and unleash Palm Thunder with a wave of his hand.

But you, a Little Daoist with insufficient Cultivation and poor skills, barely able to read, show up here pretending to be some reclusive master? Who gave you the guts?

Even if you did just use some unknown magic to cut down a few old ghosts, that was only because your master gave you a good treasure. What does that have to do with you?

And so, the ghosts cracked their knuckles, preparing to teach the Little Daoist a lesson. Just then, they saw the loudest hecklers get pointed at one by one by the Little Daoist, followed by a series of explosions that left no corpse intact.

Seeing this, the ghosts immediately swarmed toward the Little Daoist like a gathering storm.

The wind howled and sand swirled, blotting out the sun and moon. The atmosphere turned grim—it was clearly the prelude to a bloody battle.

But as soon as these ghosts got close, they were cut to pieces, one after another, leaving nothing but a floor of scrap and wreckage behind.

The Little Daoist was so scared his heart was racing and his legs were trembling. Luckily, his Daoist robe was loose enough that no one could see his shaking, hairy legs.

Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, he silently gave a thumbs-up to Duan Fei, who was being ignored by the ghosts. Then, he forced himself to adopt the air of a master and said coldly, "Who else? I’m asking you, who else!"

The horde of ghosts was already scared out of their wits by the Little Daoist.

To strike so silently and finish off ghosts... such a method was unheard of. They feared that not even the legendary Ruyi True Immortal could pull it off.

After all, when a True Immortal made a move, there were still signs to follow, but this Little Daoist’s attacks had no pattern at all.

But they couldn’t run even if they wanted to. The effect of the Invitation Incense was still active. Their minds wanted to flee, but their bodies refused, leaving them trapped in place, unable to move.

After intimidating the ghosts, the Little Daoist snorted coldly. "Gentlemen, have you not heard that the student surpasses the master? I’m not just bragging, but my master is nothing. Only I..."

"Kid, don’t get too arrogant," Duan Fei said, holding his crowbar. "That’s enough showing off. If you keep it up, I won’t be able to stop myself from making a move."

"Bro, just give me five more minutes. A few of these old ghosts used to bully me all the time. I have to get my revenge."

"Goodbye. I’m leaving."

"Fine, I get it."

Shrugging helplessly, the Little Daoist gave up on his posturing. He said to the ghosts, "You were all respectable people in life, so you should be respectable ghosts in death. I’d rather not communicate with you in such an undignified manner, so I hope you’ll listen to what I have to say and help me with something."

Seeing that none of the ghosts spoke up, the Little Daoist nodded in satisfaction and continued, "It’s like this. You all remember the cooks from a while back, right?"

It would have been better if the Little Daoist hadn’t mentioned them. The moment he did, he lit a powder keg.

A group of paper effigies immediately shouted in fury, "How could we forget!"

"They ran around everywhere, angered a Divine Spirit, and then were the first to flee! Those guys are the scum of the earth!"

"Even we ghosts have standards, but those bastards ate theirs!"

"They turned over every inch of soil and opened every single chest! What was their deal? They were better at skinning people than the landlords I saw back in my day."

Listening to the paper effigies’ curses and looking at the wrecked surroundings, Duan Fei could roughly guess what Eight Desolates and his group had done before.

Clutching his head, Duan Fei decided he would settle the score with Eight Desolates as soon as he got back.

After getting everyone to quiet down, Duan Fei explained his plan to the Little Daoist, who nodded in understanding.

Clearing his throat, the Little Daoist interrupted everyone’s tirade and said, "They previously borrowed... no, stole a Daoist Scripture from our Daoist School called the *Cultivation Chapter*. So, I need your help to get it back."

The ghosts fell silent for a moment, then someone suddenly cursed, "Are you idiots?! You lost something as important as the *Cultivation Chapter*? What’s the point of you even being alive?"

The Little Daoist’s face turned ashen. He kept signaling for Duan Fei to go and finish that guy off.

But Duan Fei just waved his hand and said to the Little Daoist, "I think he’s got a point."

"Duan Someone, are you on my side or not?"

"Is there a conflict between being on your side and finding you annoying?"

Swallowing his anger, the Little Daoist continued, "Let’s put those issues aside for now. Right now, to face his tribulation, my master has transformed his own body into an Evil Corpse. And now, he has also provoked a Divine Spirit. If the Evil Corpse and the Divine Spirit combine, the consequences will be unimaginable."

Fearing the old ghosts—but mostly fearing Duan Fei—wouldn’t understand, the Little Daoist explained, "The Evil Corpse’s Innate Primordial Spirit is incomplete, while a Divine Spirit’s is powerful. If the two merge, their combined power won’t be a simple one-plus-one. It will be multiplicative."

"One times one is still one," an old ghost said helplessly. "Little Daoist, I told you when you were a kid to study your math. If you’d listened just a little, you wouldn’t sound like such an illiterate."

The Little Daoist wanted to strike again, but when he saw that Duan Fei actually seemed to agree with the ghost, he could only swallow his anger once more.

’You spend all day on your Cultivation and never study, you’d be the same!’

Exhaling a turbid breath, the Little Daoist cupped his hands in a salute. "The situation is now critical. I implore you all to lend me a hand in finding the *Cultivation Chapter* and discovering the Evil Corpse’s weakness."

"Hold on a minute," a ghost stood up and said. "I don’t care what happens to the Old Dao, and the Divine Spirit has nothing to do with me. Why should we help you?"

Expecting a ghost to say this, the Little Daoist sneered. "You don’t really think an Evil Corpse turning into an ’Abomination’ has nothing to do with you, do you? That thing eats everything and has a taste for beings with Spirituality. All of you old ghosts will just be its little snacks—one bite each, with a lingering aftertaste."

Pointing at the paper effigies before him, the Little Daoist continued, "The Evil Corpse is filled with the five poisons—greed, anger, and ignorance are all there. Everyone here will be its snack. You don’t really think you can escape, do you? You all fancy yourselves so clever, so use those brains of yours and think hard. What will happen to you when that Abomination appears?"

Old humans are cunning, and old ghosts are sharp. The old ghosts present were all shrewd figures. After a moment of thought, they understood the consequences, and their faces turned pale.

Having scared the crowd of ghosts, the Little Daoist knew it was time to offer a carrot.

Tapping the Invitation Incense in his robe, the Little Daoist painfully took out the five remaining Incense Sticks and placed them next to the one that was already lit.

Pointing at the Incense Sticks, the Little Daoist said, "Help me find the book. Whoever finds it can come up close and get a good whiff. If you’re not willing to look, then get the hell out of here, and don’t you dare touch this young master’s good stuff."

As soon as he finished speaking, the ghosts in front of him looked at each other, then finally scattered in all directions to search for the book for the Little Daoist.