ATEG Chapter 90.1

The bright lamp shone forth, dispelling the dark gloom.

Under this illumination, all of the youying gong’s previous fears and hesitations suddenly dissipated. After the chaotic thoughts were broken through, the wisdom that had been buried emerged. He suddenly recalled a verse he had once heard and learned.

He held the lamp at his chest and sang aloud:

“……

Crushed by carts, trampled and broken by horses. Walls collapse and cliffs crumble, self-inflicted deaths by hanging. Drowned and burned by water and fire, bitten by tigers and harmed by snakes. Nine kinds of unnatural death, lonely souls—come to the guiding light.

……”

All the chang ghosts who heard this, and even other souls who had died violently, were lost, or trapped in this place, turned to look. The lamp’s radiance shone into their eyes, reflecting precious glimmers of light in their deathly darkness.

Bestowing light upon the deluded, warmth upon the cold—and so these confused and suffering souls followed the lamp’s guidance, trailing behind the youying gong as they drifted toward Wanying Gong Temple.

The Dog King let out an enraged, vicious howl. Terrifying fierce malevolence surged up like a tsunami, rushing toward the youying gong and the souls behind him!

Li Chi flicked his sleeve, and a breeze suddenly rose, circling around the lamp the youying gong held at his chest.

The youying gong lowered his brows and closed his eyes. The compassionate offerings he had received over many years had also planted seeds of mercy in his heart. He felt sympathy for these wrongfully dead ghosts who were similar to him yet more unfortunate. From this sympathy arose a benevolent thought—one that sought no reward, hoped for no gratitude, but was purely compassionate, with nothing more than the single thought of being willing to extend his hand to them.

A single thought of kindness, like great elixir, poured into the lamp, and the light blazed brightly.

A breeze guided the lamp’s flame, illuminating this path opened for lonely souls, leading them forward in peace.

And that fierce and malicious howl had already transformed into a gentle wind brushing against their faces within this light.

The Dog King suddenly turned toward Li Chi. The qin-holding deity was slowly lowering his outstretched sleeves, his eyes showing neither sorrow nor joy.

Threatening growls emerged from the Dog King’s throat. Its gaze grew increasingly vicious, lips curling back to reveal a mouth full of sharp teeth, yet it didn’t immediately attack.

A moment’s carelessness had cost it all the chang ghosts stationed here—enough to make it wary.

The Dog King’s growls spread far, summoning barks from different positions in the forest, near and far, in response. They heeded the Dog King’s call and were rapidly approaching. The sound of crows flapping their wings rose up, accompanied by their harsh cries. Soon, pairs of blood-red eyes lit up in the nearby trees.

The Dog King didn’t launch an attack. It merely watched Li Chi warily while waiting for the wild dogs under its command to arrive. Li Chi made no move either. He simply watched quietly until the youying gong’s chanting faded into the distance, until the bright lamplight receded, until the procession of lonely ghosts and wandering souls departed.

The forest became dark and gloomy again. What gathered anew were wild dogs reeking of corpses, dripping saliva from their mouths.

Though these wild dogs had not died, they could no longer be considered alive. Every inch of their sinews and bones was saturated with malevolent yin. This malevolence had long since worn away their vital energy, instead using death energy to animate their bodies.

Each wild dog carried malevolence and cruelty similar to the Dog King’s. These malevolent auras merged with the Dog King’s aura, transforming into an even more overwhelming and terrifying force. Cold, dark fog condensed in the forest. Thus, in the area covered by this fog, even the mountain forest seemed to merge with it, becoming a heavy, oppressive weight that surged toward Li Chi.

Carrying this tremendous power, the Dog King took its first step forward.

What familiar methods.

The former Locust King had used such methods, merging the power of many flying locusts with itself, condensing it into an irresistible overwhelming force. Now they were merely manipulating these powers that were similar to them yet didn’t belong to them, but in the future, this manipulation would become devouring, transforming what didn’t belong to them into what did.

Using all external forces to nourish oneself, ultimately achieving singular transcendence.

Just as he saw in his eyes, in that world outlined by karma and destiny principles—a black hole had broken open uniquely upon the Dog King’s body, operating some strange and terrifying power.

The karmic threads extending here from the wild dogs, the crow flocks, the lonely ghosts and wandering souls, and even more distant living beings—all snapped apart when they were about to connect with the Dog King. Only at the position where it stood did they barely sketch out a chaotic form. Without these broken karmic threads forcibly forming connections, this black hole would likely begin devouring everything around it.

Not living, not dead, with severed destiny, chaotic karma—it should not exist, yet it existed nonetheless. Its name was:

Aberration.

The moonlight dimmed, and the Dog King lunged with its foul wind!

It was fast as a phantom light, its pitch-black claws aimed at Li Chi’s heart, its vicious teeth going for his throat. Even someone with some cultivation would likely have no chance of complete escape under this strike.

Yet this lightning-swift attack missed. It clearly saw itself strike that figure. Its teeth were already itching in anticipation of warm flesh and blood, but its teeth bit only empty air. The tremendous force caused its teeth to clash together audibly when they snapped on nothing.

And its poison-tipped claws didn’t seize a warm heart either. It didn’t even touch a corner of clothing, pouncing only on a breeze.

The Dog King landed on the ground. In the instant it touched down, it nimbly turned and looked back warily.

Li Chi had somehow already appeared there. His face remained calm as before, his right hand positioned in the air as if plucking strings, though his qin merely rested loosely against his left arm and had not been played.

What he plucked was not the Seven Emotion Triggers, but the broken karmic threads.

Karma as strings, interwoven as a net, attempting to draw the Dog King back into it.

Though the Dog King couldn’t see karma, it instinctively sensed some change. It stood there and violently struggled with a long, furious howl! Its limbs swung only through empty air—sharp teeth and claws were useless for this—but in the invisible darkness upon its body, the aberrant power was stirred by the Dog King’s ferocity, smashing through the not-yet-complete karmic web.

The Dog King lunged at Li Chi again. At the same time, obeying this howl’s command, the wild dogs and crow flocks attacked together. Even more evil spirits from farther reaches of the forest were similarly awakened by this call, rushing here.

The malevolent energy on their bodies merged even more densely with the Dog King’s malevolence, nearly transforming this small forest clearing into an independent space.

The Dog King landed on empty air again. All the other wild dogs’ attacks also missed. Instead, they crashed into each other. Some went into a frenzy and even began tearing at one another. They bit down on flesh and wouldn’t let go, tearing it off and swallowing it down their throats without spitting it out. As if they felt no pain, they continued biting without cease.

The Dog King howled angrily. These wild dogs that had gone mad seemed to suddenly wake upon hearing the Dog King’s voice and immediately stopped.

Two wild dogs didn’t stop in time and nearly crashed into the Dog King. It batted them away with two swipes.

The tremendous force flung both wild dogs into the air. They let out piercing screams midway, and when they struck the trees, their final muffled thuds silenced them completely. Their bodies slid down limply, already deformed. Broken flesh mixed with bloody foam oozed from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses, attracting several crows to descend and feed.

The souls of the two wild dogs rose from their deformed corpses. Reluctant to leave their shells, they roared viciously trying to drive away the crows landing on their bodies.

But the Dog King merely barked once, and these two wild dog souls immediately abandoned their corpses and came to the Dog King’s side, allowing it to command them with no resistance whatsoever.

New chang ghosts.

Li Chi frowned slightly. These wild dogs had originally been ordinary wild dogs, but after dying and becoming chang ghosts, their connection to the Dog King had actually grown tighter. Because they were controlled by the Dog King, the karma and destiny on their bodies had begun to destabilize. Before long, they would likely become aberrations like the Dog King.

It was the second aberration Li Chi had seen.

The Locust King was also an aberration, but it was an aberration born from the drought in the hearts of all beings—unreal, merely nominal, a manifestation of the great calamity. Even if directly eliminated, it didn’t matter much. But the Dog King was different. It was an aberration transformed from an actual living being, possessing a real soul with many karmic connections to the world.

Li Chi’s left eye reflected karma; his right hand moved as if plucking strings.

Karma interwove. Though the Dog King itself had no destiny and was untouched by karma, like walking through snow, one must leave tracks. From the karmic threads pointing toward it, its trajectory could be pieced together.

……

The Dog King was also a being whose life should have already ended, yet it had lived on nonetheless. But unlike Da Luo and Xiao Gu, the Dog King’s destiny thread had not reconnected.

It fed on those who had already died and those about to die, digesting their terror and resentment in their dying moments, using this to sustain its body that should have rotted away, allowing it to continue. The corpse qi from those decaying bodies and the bitter unwillingness of uneasy deaths condensed within this dog’s body that should also have died and rotted, becoming an existence divorced from destiny principles. And because it was divorced from destiny principles, the karma on its body was no longer stable, ultimately transforming into an aberration.

What Li Chi needed to do was to bring it back into the world’s karma and destiny principles. This world still held its traces. The karma of all other beings recorded its existence. If these karmic threads could interweave and connect, they could reweave the Dog King’s destiny principles.

But aberrant power was not so easily resolved, and what Li Chi had here now was only an avatar.

The not-yet-complete karma hadn’t even fallen upon the Dog King before being forcibly shattered by its struggles.

Li Chi dispersed into wind under the Dog King’s next pounce, and when he reappeared, his face already carried a cold expression.

Howl!

Another fierce cry—the Dog King’s barking shook all the surrounding malevolent yin. The fog formed by this malevolence grew even denser, nearly isolating this fog-shrouded mountain forest into a separate world.

The Dog King crouched low, lips curled back revealing a mouthful of vicious teeth.

When this place became a domain completely under its control, would even the wind be able to be captured?

Zheng!

The qin’s sound rose again, shattering this fog constructed from resentful malevolence. But more evil spirits rushed here from afar. These souls confused by resentment and cruelty were similarly drawn to the Dog King. They were like mosquitoes and flies drawn to the scent of rotting fruit flesh, gathering where the peel had cracked open, lingering there. And each time they sucked, they hastened the fruit’s decay.

The deity’s expression grew colder. His dark eyes seemed to transform into deep pools, the corners of his mouth subtly straightening, outlining an increasingly sharp arc.

His slender fingers emerged from his sleeves, fingertips sharp. Just as he slightly moved—before this motion was complete—chanting full of compassion and sorrow suddenly came from afar:

“……

Traveling merchants and traders, all manner of business folk. Skilled in arts and trades, seeking profit through commerce. Far from home, dying in foreign lands. Wandering dream souls—come to the guiding light.

……”

From the Wanying Gong Temple, the youying gongs holding lamps floated out one by one. Some lamplight was brighter, some dimmer, but each youying gong held such a lamp before them.

They were like a river of glimmering fireflies, flowing out from the temple and dispersing to different parts of the forest, breaking through this dark and terrifying veil.

Under the light, the eerie horror faded. In the warmth, the icy cold dissipated.

This sound spread throughout the entire forest. All souls who had died far from home in the forest heard this sound, saw this light, and felt the deathly cold that had constantly accompanied them after death receding under the lamplight.

That warmth was something they had almost forgotten, but upon seeing this lamplight, an irresistible yearning arose within them.

Wandering was suffering, unwillingness was suffering, resentment was suffering, cruelty was also suffering. No one wished to be an eternally resentful fierce spirit, yet they could only forever drift in the cold, bitter lands of death.

Now they finally saw the light of these lamps. How could they not grasp them like a drowning person grasping a final lifeline?

One by one, the souls left the Dog King’s side. They followed behind the youying gongs, no longer holding any attachment to the dark forest.

Just like this, lamp after lamp, like scattered stars, broke through the heavy, nearly congealing yin malevolence in the forest.

Li Chi’s fingertips withdrew. The coldness at the corners of his lips dispersed, instead revealing some gentleness.

The youying gong he had initially summoned was drifting toward this area, followed by many other youying gongs holding lamps.

“Are you—are you… are you all right?” They stopped at the edge of where the dog pack gathered, seven parts fearful and eight parts conflicted, craning their necks toward this fog-shrouded area to ask.

“Continue your chanting,” Li Chi’s voice came from within the fog. “Take these people away too.”

The youying gongs couldn’t see clearly what was happening in the fog, but they saw a breeze stir the yin fog, sending out several unconscious mortals from within—precisely those unfortunate fellows who had earlier been confused by the chang ghosts and nearly sent into the Dog King’s belly.

After the people emerged, the yin fog closed again, quickly returning to its original appearance without the slightest ripple.

Li Chi’s voice didn’t sound like anything was wrong. The youying gong caught the unfortunate mortals and responded, “Ah, then we’ll be going!”

With that, they left with great relief, taking the living people and the string of souls behind them.

It wasn’t that they lacked loyalty—they were just ordinary lonely ghosts and wandering souls who had never cultivated. They only relied on the few supernatural abilities inherent to ghost bodies to frighten ordinary mortals. These minor tricks worked well enough on ordinary mortal beings, but encountering even the slightest display of ability from this Mister Li Quan rendered all their methods useless. If this was a situation even Li Quan couldn’t handle, what use would they be even if they banded together?

However, though these youying gongs fled, they still prayed in their hearts for Li Quan to safely resolve those wild dogs.

Not only because he had seen the Dog King’s methods of controlling chang ghosts and thus feared the Dog King, and not only because Li Chi could have easily eliminated them earlier but had merely frightened them and lightly let them go.

It was more because just now, with one finger, Li Chi had guided him to light that bright lamp at his chest.

For so long, they—these homeless lonely ghosts and wandering souls—could only rely on meager offerings and people’s occasional benevolent thoughts to warm their post-death sorrow and confusion, to dissolve the resentment and attachments in their hearts. But Li Chi’s gesture just now had suddenly made him realize that he too possessed that warm, precious light.

He had also once been human, had also held compassion and benevolence toward other beings.