<h4>Chapter 341: Five Phases Ritual </h4>


    “Paper doll?” One of the coffin hauliers, Peng Shan growled and attacked the paper doll with his saber. But the second the de made contact with it, Peng Shan abruptly froze in his tracks, and his face contorted as if he was struggling with something.


    Willow branches began growing out of his skin and sprouting green leaves that swayed gently in the night. They looked beautiful.


    Their growth was fueled by Peng Shan’s vitality, however. He was sucked dry before anyone could do anything. His skin shriveled, and his flesh withered. All that was the lush willow still swaying in the wind.


    “PENG SHAN! YOU BASTARD!” Peng Hu roared. Blinded by fury, he too charged toward the paper doll and swung his saber.


    <i>Thang!</i>


    There was a soft sh of metal and a sh of crimson, and Peng Hu’s saber was sent flying. His weapon arm shook uncontrobly as he staggered backward.


    “Calm down.” Ye Qing nced at Peng Hu. “You can’t defeat this paper doll.”


    “Do you know what it is, Joyless?” Chu Nianjiu stared at the paper doll severely.


    “I’m not sure.” Ye Qing shook his head. “All I can tell you is that it’s not a Stranger.”


    “I think it’s the Five Phases Ritual,” Qi Xuanyun blurted suddenly. “Yes, I’m certain this is the Five Phases Ritual.”


    “Do you know what this is, Xuanyun?” Everyone looked at the young Taoist immediately.


    Instead of replying, Qi Xuanyun waved his sleeve and sent the kowtowing body flying with a gust of force. As if on cue, the muddy water pouring out of Peng Chuan’s body ceased immediately after the body was swept away.


    Before they could let out a sigh of relief, the paper doll slowly turned its head and looked at them. Its simple, ink drawn eyes were calm, and the corners of its lips were curled up slightly into an eerie smile.


    Everyone including Ye Qing broke out in cold sweat when they saw this.


    Qi Xuanyun wasn’t, however. The next moment, he produced a small cup containing some sort of ck liquid and threw it over the paper doll.


    It was so foul-smelling that everyone—even the coffin hauliers who were used to foul smells—backed a few steps away from the coffin. The paper doll sizzled and gave off puffs of green smoke like it was burned before dissolving into dust.


    “Phew! Thank goodness. We’re safe for now.” Qi Xuanyun let out an audible sigh of relief after he confirmed that the paper doll was gone.


    “Do you recognize this, Xuanyun?” Ye Qing asked curiously. The anomalous power imbued within the paper doll was such that even he felt incredibly threatened. That was why it surprised him to see the young Taoist taking it out almost effortlessly.


    Qi Xuanyun answered, “Yes. It’s the Five Phases Ritual.”


    “You mentioned that before. Is that the paper doll’s name?” Chu Nianjiu asked.


    Qi Xuanyun shook his head. “No, the Five Phases Ritual is a kind of curse. The paper doll is just a medium for the ritual.”


    “A curse?” Lin Yuhuai sounded surprised.


    “Yes, a curse.”


    Qi Xuanyun began his exnation, “The Five Phases Ritual was originally named the Five Punishments Ritual. The punishments themselves are tied to the Five Phases. Someone who is cursed by the ritual would die by Metal, entombed in Wood, burned by Fire, drowned in Water, or buried in Earth.”


    Ye Qing nodded in realization. No wonder Peng Hu’s head and the other corpse hauliers had died the way they did.


    “It’s very easy to execute the Five Punishments Ritual. All they need is a paper doll to carry the curse and a corpse. So long as the corpse kept kowtowing to the paper doll, the Five Punishments Ritual would be activated. Anyone who shares blood ties with the corpse and made contact with them would die by the ritual, and as long as the paper doll or the body isn’t destroyed, the ritual could theoretically continue for eternity just like the Five Phases. Hence the name.”


    Qi Xuanyun took a moment to gather himself before continuing, “It’s quite simple to dismantle the Five Punishments Ritual. One simply needs to damage the paper doll or the body. But of course, there are risks. For one, the paper doll is the medium carrying the curse. Anyone who touches it even indirectly would be cursed by it.”


    “That is why one must first stop the body from kowtowing to the paper doll. This would greatly weaken the curse on the paper doll. After that, one simply needs to destroy the paper doll with things of extreme filth such as piss and shit[1].


    “Wait a second... Are you telling me that that liquid you threw just now is piss or shit? Or both?” Ye Qing’s eyes bulged in shock and disbelief.


    <i>Have I been doing this wrong the whole time? I should’ve just used piss and shit to smite dem evils?</i>


    “What are you talking about, Brother Ye? This is a potent item my master created using virgin boy piss, horse piss, cow piss, pig piss and a dozen other livestocks and Strangers. It can even contaminate a Strange Artifact. It’s one of my most prized possessions,” Qi Xuanyin dered proudly.


    “Ha... haha...” It was so, so much worse than he had imagined. “Your master must have a lot of free time in his hands, doesn’t he?”


    “Huh? How did you know?” Qi Xuanyun sounded surprised.


    <i>Isn’t it obvious? Who else but someone who has too much time in their hands woulde up with something like this?</i>


    Ye Qing chuckled awkwardly and rubbed his nose. “It’s just a guess, considering how... creative your master is.”


    “Since this is a curse, someone must be behind this,” Lin Yuhuai spoke up suddenly and looked at Peng Hu’s group. “They’re nning to kill you all.”


    “They want to kill us?” Peng Hu looked puzzled. “But why?”


    “Someone is definitely targeting you all,” Ye Qing echoed in agreement. “Xuanyun said that the Five Punishments Ritual only cursed the blood descendants of the afflicted corpse. Since the corpse is your n elder, and he’s rted to you by blood, you must be the target of the ritual.”


    “Again, why? We haven’t offended anyone throughout our journey,” Peng Hu asked with a deep frown.


    Chu Nianjiu answered, “It doesn’t necessarily have to be them, does it? The caster could’ve been targeting the Peng n or the n elder only. Peng Hu and his brothers were just unfortunate enough to be dragged into this mess.”


    “I doubt it,” Ye Qing rejected the theory. “If the caster of the curse really was targeting the Peng n, they wouldn’t have allowed Peng Hu’s group to find the corpse. They would’ve snuck the corpse into the Peng n before they execute the Five Punishments Ritual. That would’ve dealt far more damage to the Peng n, don’t you think?”


    “Of course, I’m not denying the possibility that someone wants to taunt the Peng n with your deaths. It would be a lot less trouble as well.”


    “I agree with Brother Ye.” Qi Xuanyun joined in. “Back when I was experiencing the <i>jianghu </i>with master, I once encountered a great tragedy. A man had snuck into the graveyard of a powerful century-old n and used one of the bodies to enact the Five Punishments Ritual for revenge. As a result, all five hundred and sixty one members of that family had died a horrible death, and the one hundred year old n was wiped out just like that.”


    “If whoever enacted the ritual really was going after the Peng n, they wouldn’t have done it this way. Just think about it. Peng Hu and the others would’ve died long before they made it back home.”


    Peng Hu frowned deeply. “But our n elder is apassionate and easy-going man. He spent most of his time inside the Peng residence as well. I just can’t imagine himmitting something so atrocious that someone would curse him and his family to a terrible death.”


    “It’s hard to say...” Ye Qing smacked his lips. Peng Hu might be telling the truth, but kindness andpassion weren’t qualities you would normally find in a warrior of <i>jianghu. </i>And assuming that Peng Hu was wrong about his n elder, it would be perfectly normal for someone to kill the n elder over past grievances.


    “Something still doesn’t quite make sense about this.” Lin Yuhuai voiced his question, “You were saying that the caster was only targeting the n elder, right? That the Peng n itself isn’t their target? The n elder is literally dead, so we can assume that they have gotten their vengeance. In that case, why are they targeting the Peng brothers?”


    “You’re... right.” Ye Qing rubbed his nose thoughtfully.


    “Oh right. Where did you find your n elder’s body, Brother Peng? Did you notice anything strange at the time?” Qi Xuanyun asked suddenly.


    Peng Hu didn’t understand why Qi Xuanyun was asking this, but he answered honestly, “We discovered his body at the peak of a lone mountain. He was in a kneeling position with his eyelids were removed, his ears blocked by mud, his nose ttened by a file, his mouth sewn together by threads, and his legs crossed behind his back. He was barefooted, and his feet were covered in wounds. His head was touching the ground as if he was kowtowing to someone.”


    “Do you remember which direction he was facing?” The young Taoist asked in a hurry.


    “I think it was the west. What’s the matter, young Reverend?” Peng Hu looked confused.


    Qi Xuanyun pped his hands triumphantly. “I got it! That has to be it!”


    “What did you figure out? Tell us!” Chu Nianjiu urged.


    The young Taoist scratched his head and exined, “ording to the ‘Cloud Profound Dragon Riding Sutra’, the Buddha once traveled to the south of Fengdu and saw a city where everyone’s eyelids were removed, their ears were stuffed with soil, their noses, were ttened, their mouths were sewn, and their arms were crossed behind their backs. They were all climbing a mountain barefooted. The Buddha considered it a strange sight.”


    “A deity exined that these people were vile creatures atoning for the sins they havemitted for ten lifetimes. So vile and long were their list of crimes that their eyelids were cut out so they cannot sleep, their ears were stuffed with mud so they cannot hear, the noses were ttened so they cannot smell, their mouths were sewn so they cannot feed, and their arms crossed behind their backs so they cannot use them. Everyday, they must climb a tall mountain barefooted, face toward the west, and touch their heads against the ground to atone for ten lifetimes of sins. Hence, this scene became known as the Punishment of Ten Commandments.”


    Ye Qing coughed. “Can you like er, be more direct, Xuanyun? What does this have to do with our current situation? Don’t you see that everyone’s confused?”


    Lin Yuhuai: “...”


    Chu Nianjiu: “...”


    <i>Excuse me? Who are you calling confused? Just admit that you’re the one who don’t understand what he’s saying!</i>


    “O-Oh, got it.” Qi Xuanyun scratched his head and simplified things, “To put it simply, this method of punishment is only meant for people who havemitted grave sins. Your n elder had probably done something that the caster of the curse considered so heinous that it could only be atoned for with the Punishment of Ten Commandments.”


    “As for you guys, you weren’t the caster’s target until you moved the body and interrupted the punishment.”


    Qi Xuanyun looked at Peng Hu and said, “Did you know how the Five Punishments Ritual got its name, and why the body kowtows to the paper doll when the curse is activated? It looks like someone is kowtowing for forgiveness, doesn’t it?”


    “That is why the Five Punishments Ritual also carries the meaning of punishment and apology. Since you moved the corpse without permission, the caster cursed you with the Five Punishments Ritual to punish you.”


    “Are you sure about this, young Reverend?” Peng Hu looked utterly shocked.


    “I think so!” Qi Xuanyun hesitated all of a sudden. “It’s just a guess.”


    “Xuanyun’s words make a lot of sense. At the very least, it is the most reasonable and sound theory we have at the moment, don’t you agree?” Ye Qing looked at Peng Hu.


    “Do you know who killed my n elder, young Reverend? And who’s the one who cursed us with the Five Punishments Ritual?” Peng Hu’s eyes turned steely.


    “I’m sorry, but I do not know. The Five Punishments Ritual is powerful, mysterious, and rarely seen in the <i>jianghu</i>.”


    Qi Xuanyun shook his head when he recalled something. “Oh right, I also heard master saying that there is a mysterious faction in the <i>wulin </i>called Heaven''s Judgment. They love enacting cruel punishments upon others, and they believe that they are enacting the heavens’ will. I believe that the Five Punishments Ritual is one of their exclusive arts.”


    “Heaven’s Judgment?” Everyone exchanged nces with each other. No one here had heard of it.


    Peng Hu grunted, “Hmph! It doesn’t matter who they are. Anyone who kills a member of the Peng n must pay the price in blood!”


    1. You read this right, people. ?