Chapter 2: The Witchcraft Order

In the thousand mile dense forest connecting Ba Commandery to Yelang, a blue moon was embedded in the ink black night sky, its pure moonlight pouring down through the woods, casting a silver sheen over the silent night. Occasional bird calls echoed through the forest, accompanied by slow, heavy footsteps. These heavy footsteps came from a Corpse Driving Team making its way to Yelang.

Many who died far from their homeland wished to be buried in their hometowns, leading to the emergence of numerous teams specialized in transporting corpses back. Corpse driving is actually the simplest technique in Witchcraft, where practitioners need only attach talismans and perform rituals on the corpses to be transported. The corpses would then rise and walk on their own. Such self walking corpses are called Walking Corpses.

However, to make the Walking Corpses follow a predetermined route, Soul Guiding Lanterns must be lit on both sides of the corpse team, and a practitioner must walk at the front, slowly ringing a Soul Guiding Bell to lead the way for the Walking Corpses. This way, the corpses would follow the rhythm of the bell ringer. If the bell rang quickly, the Walking Corpses would walk faster; if it rang slowly, they would walk slower. Along the way, there were Relay Stations specifically for the resting of corpse driving practitioners, which ordinary people were not allowed to enter.

Corpse teams typically traveled by night and rested by day, as driving corpses during daylight would frighten passersby. Such a corpse team was called a Corpse Driving Team. Although Walking Corpses were not as ferocious as Ferocious Corpses, their strength was no less. Therefore, many practitioners transporting corpses would use these immensely powerful Walking Corpses for other purposes.

Today, this team of Walking Corpses had each corpse laden with bags of salt. One Walking Corpse could carry several hundred pounds of salt. There were six corpses in this team, meaning they were transporting several thousand pounds of salt in total.

The three practitioners driving the corpse team were both excited and nervous at the moment. They were excited because once they reached Yelang, they could earn a sum of silver by finding merchants who dealt in illicit salt. They were nervous because smuggling salt into Yelang was a serious crime, and the ones responsible for investigating salt smuggling in Yelang were the Venom Gu Office.

The King of Yelang had long decreed that the Venom Gu Office could execute salt smugglers on the spot without interrogation. Moreover, practitioners throughout the southwestern region knew that the one in charge of apprehending salt smugglers was the Witchcraft Saintess of the Venom Gu Office. A saying circulated among the mystical sects in the southwest: “When the Witch Gu Token appears, it must claim a soul” be it a yin soul or a yang spirit. Thus, all who smuggled salt into Yelang secretly prayed not to encounter this Witchcraft Saintess.

Today, this Corpse Driving Team seemed to want to cover more distance under the cover of night, so the Soul Guiding Bell leading the way was ringing particularly urgently. The rapid bell tones scattered in the deep night, inevitably stirring unease in people’s hearts.

The gray robed practitioner walking at the rear of the corpse team, whether from nervousness or fear, had beads of sweat the size of beans on his forehead. Wiping the sweat with his sleeve, he asked the lead practitioner, “Senior Brother, we should earn quite a bit of silver from this salt once we reach Yelang, right?”

The lead practitioner, continuing to ring the bell, replied, “Naturally. Once we reach Yelang and sell all this salt, the silver we earn should be enough to cover our expenses for at least a year. Last time I smuggled a batch of salt into Yelang, I made nearly two hundred taels of silver!”

Hearing this, another black robed cultivator chuckled and said, “Senior Brother, if we make two trips a year from now on, wouldn’t we earn a fair amount of silver?”

The leader nodded: “Mm, you’re right. I’ve been thinking the same thing.” “Heh heh heh ” The three of them grinned with gleeful expressions, as if piles of gleaming silver were already laid out before their eyes.

Just as they were lost in their merry chatter, a red light suddenly appeared above their heads. All three looked up and saw that the source of the red light was a strange string of beads. It was strange because eight of the beads were Nine Eyed Dzi Beads, while the other eight were unidentified crimson beads. Hanging beneath the beads was half of a Jade Disc, shimmering with a red glow and faintly exuding an aura of killing intent. When the leader got a clear look at the string of beads, his face turned pale with terror, and he stammered, “The… the Witch Gu Token!”

Upon hearing “Witch Gu Token,” the other two cultivators were so frightened that they nearly lost their souls. Their legs felt as if filled with lead, and they could barely move. In an instant, a woman’s silvery, bell like laughter echoed from deep within the forest. Following the laughter, two young women descended gracefully under the moonlight, riding on their swords via Sword Kinesis.

The two women appeared to be around eighteen or nineteen years old. The one floating in front wore a Blazing Sun Dress. Her skin was fair, her eyes large and lively, and her appearance both adorable and clever.

Close behind the Blazing Sun Dress clad woman was another in crimson robes. This woman’s beauty could only be described as peerless. She had a tall, slender, and graceful figure, and the crimson dress she wore elevated her to an ethereal elegance. At her waist hung a white jade flute, its crimson tassels dancing in the wind. Her raven black hair cascaded like a waterfall, and her skin was as fair and smooth as warm jade, with a faint rosy hue on her cheeks. Her eyes, in particular, were like deep pools of spring water, tender and soulful, yet as sparkling and lively as obsidian. With a straight nose and delicate lips, the corners of her mouth curved upward slightly, giving the illusion of a perpetual smile a smile so warm it felt like the sunshine of an April day.

Yet, this woman, whose smile was as warm as April sunshine, was none other than the Witchcraft Saintess of the Yelang Venom Gu Office, Weng Li, also known as Weng Nianying. By her side was her maidservant, Feng Yi.

Feng Yi and Weng Li landed as lightly as butterflies. The Crimson Cloud Sword and the Phoenix Tail Sword returned to their owners’ hands.

By now, the three cultivators were ashen faced and trembling all over, barely able to hold onto their swords. Their eyes were wide and fixed on the two young women who had arrived via Sword Kinesis.

Weng Li glanced at the three half dead cultivators and said sternly, “How audacious! You dare to smuggle salt into Yelang privately. Do you intend to disregard the laws of Yelang?”

The three cultivators remained silent, their eyes fixed numbly on Weng Li as they stepped backward repeatedly, as if a few steps back could help them evade the death before them.

Weng Li swept her smiling gaze over the three of them. Seeing that none of them spoke, she withdrew her smile and said calmly, “Do you want me to kill you right now, or shall I take you back to the Venom Gu Office for interrogation before executing you?”

Hearing this, the three cultivators immediately dropped to their knees, trembling like sieves. They lowered their heads and stole glances at each other, not daring to make a sound. After a moment of silence, perhaps realizing that the Witchcraft Saintess before them wasn’t the green faced, fanged, ferocious, and ugly figure of legend but rather an ethereal, peerless fairy, the lead cultivator mustered his courage and abruptly looked up.

“You… you noble clan folks really don’t feel the strain when standing and talking,” he blurted out. “You’re always ready to decide our life or death on a whim. We need to survive too why hassle us over such a trivial matter? We were just smuggling some private salt, not committing murder or robbery.”

Growing bolder as he spoke, he continued, “How can we low level cultivators compare to you? You’re either from noble clans or have royal backing or support. We minor rogue cultivators have to eat and make a living too. We have families to support. With you acting like this, what chance do we low level cultivators have to survive?”

After the cultivator finished speaking, Weng Li slightly furrowed her brow and asked, “Are you done?”

The cultivator, confused, nodded in response.

Weng Li then turned and softly asked Feng Yi, “Is… what he said true?”

Feng Yi replied, “Young Mistress, what he said isn’t false. Most of these low level cultivators have no land or estates and barely any sources of wealth. When someone hires them to exorcise evil spirits, they can earn some silver to scrape by. But if no one hires them, it’s dire. Unlike our Venom Gu Office, which works directly for the king.”

Weng Li raised an eyebrow, lightly scratching the tip of her nose as she pondered for a moment before addressing the three cultivators, “If that’s the case, I’ll let you go this time. But you must leave the salt behind for our Venom Gu Office to handle.”

Hearing this, Feng Yi exclaimed in shock, “Young Mistress, what… what did you say? You’re letting them go?”

Weng Li turned to Feng Yi, “What, is my speech hard to understand?”

Feng Yi hurriedly said, “Young Mistress, you issued the Witch Gu Token today, didn’t you?”

Weng Li raised an eyebrow, “So what? I did issue the Witch Gu Token.”

Feng Yi then said seriously, “Young Mistress, once the Witch Gu Token is issued, it must claim a soul be it a yin soul or a yang spirit. That’s the rule.”

Weng Li pursed her lips into a smile, “Feng Yi, your young mistress is in a merciful mood today and just wants to let these three go. Do you think that’s acceptable or not?” As she finished, she gave Feng Yi a mischievous wink.

The odd expression on Weng Li’s face sent a shiver through Feng Yi’s heart. She quickly chuckled and said, “Acceptable, of course it is. If you say let them go, Young Mistress, then we let them go.” Having served Weng Li for over a decade, Feng Yi knew her mistress’s temperament well whimsical and fond of teasing others. If she argued back now, who knew how Weng Li might play tricks on her someday when the mood struck. So, Feng Yi decided it was wiser not to contradict her further.