Chapter 1033: Zhuge Yuan Extra 7: Lion Dance

Chapter 1033: Zhuge Yuan Side Story 7: Lion Dance

On the left side of the room stood a tower of spirit tablets surrounded by white candles, each tablet enshrined within its own cabinet. Flanking the tower hung white couplets: "Rites follow the order of generations" on the right, and "Virtue maintains the sequence of human relations" on the left.

The opulent furnishings and abundant offerings scattered about were proof enough that this place held a status far higher than the previous ones. That Wang Changxu could be placed here was a testament to his standing within the Minglun Hall.

Yet, at this moment, there was not a trace of joy on Zhuge Yuan’s face. He stood frozen two yards away, staring motionless at an object resting upon the third offering plate to his left.

It was a beast’s head—or more precisely, the head of an evil spirit, a Jiaohua.

Zhuge Yuan recognized it so clearly only because the grandmother who had brought him meat to eat every few days back in the village had been a Jiaohua herself.

The beast’s face, once so kind and amiable in his memory, now appeared exceptionally hideous and terrifying.

Zhuge Yuan reached out, picked up the Jiaohua’s head, and cradled it gently in his arms, his gaze drifting to the other offerings on the table.

Soon, he spotted other familiar faces from his village. In a place like this, those familiar countenances brought him no comfort; instead, they made his blood run cold.

"Little Brother Zhuge, why are you dazed? Come quickly, this is no place to linger." Li Jinshu was calling to him from the distance.

With a complex expression, Zhuge Yuan walked over. "Brother Li, I know that evil spirits and humans cannot coexist, but why display these heads? Is there some special purpose to them?"

Li Jinshu, busy lighting incense, was baffled by the question. "What purpose could there be? It is merely to show respect for our ancestors."

"But couldn't you display something else? These creatures possessed consciousness and could speak human language."

"It is precisely because they had spiritual awareness that they are displayed. Without it, they wouldn't be qualified to be placed here."

"But... why?" Zhuge Yuan’s eyes were filled with bitterness.

"There are no 'whys' about it; it is simply the custom of the Hall."

"But..." Before Zhuge Yuan could finish his sentence, a gaunt, skeletal hand suddenly lunged from the stack of spirit tablets with a whistling sound, clamping onto Li Jinshu’s face and dragging him toward the pile.

Seeing him about to be pulled into the abyss of tablets, Zhuge Yuan lunged forward, grabbing Li Jinshu’s arm and holding on with all his might.

At this critical juncture, a third hand emerged from Li Jinshu’s body, wielding a brush dipped in green ink. As he raised it, he quickly traced the character "Dou" on the back of his own head. Starting from the end of the vertical stroke, he circled to the right, turned at the intersection to strike straight down, and then flicked sharply to the upper right. The strange hand instantly released its grip.

Li Jinshu was pulled back two steps by Zhuge Yuan, staring at the pile of tablets, his heart still racing. "Senior Li, what was that?"

"I do not know. It wasn't here before. That hand had warmth; it felt alive."

Before they could react, the strange hands emerged from the tablets again—not just one, but dozens, dense and swarming. As the white couplets on either side fluttered, the stack of tablets seemed to come alive.

"Go! Something is wrong! We must leave!" Just as Li Jinshu turned to flee, the arms reaching out from above and below wove themselves into a wall, blocking his path.

Sensing the gravity of the situation, Li Jinshu, his expression grim, used all three hands to draw incantations upon the floor.

The characters formed a spiral, digging deep into the wood, growing larger with every stroke.

A whistling sound erupted as the wall of hands collapsed toward them.

Li Jinshu immediately grabbed the edges of the spiral incantation with his three hands, tore it into the air, and struck the center with a heavy blow. The spiral flew forward, imprinting itself onto the wall of hands.

The incantation spun rapidly, filled with the sound of chanting, and a hole was forcibly bored through the wall of flesh and bone.

But before they could celebrate, more arms reached out, blocking their path once more.

Li Jinshu gritted his teeth and took up his brush again, slashing at the hands. Though he fought valiantly, he was clearly no match for them, and soon the situation became dire.

Zhuge Yuan wanted to help, but this was a conflict beyond his meager skills. His amateur techniques were useless here, and his eyes were filled with anxiety.

Watching as two of Li Jinshu’s three brushes were snatched away, Zhuge Yuan’s mind raced. He looked left and right, then turned and charged back toward the pile of spirit tablets.

"Where are you going? Don't throw your life away!"

Before Li Jinshu could finish, Zhuge Yuan had already reached the tablets, frantically searching through the offerings.

Just as two hands grabbed his arms, threatening to tear him apart, Zhuge Yuan’s eyes lit up. He reached out and scooped up a massive, monstrous beast head from the offerings.

He swung the head with both hands; as the left fang raked across the arms, they withered and turned black. As the right fang slashed across the other arms, the flesh tore open, and bone snapped.

By utilizing the power of the evil spirit’s head, Zhuge Yuan neutralized the threat.

He quickly selected a few more items, snatching two long-haired snake heads from the pile and hanging them from his sleeves. He rushed toward the beleaguered Li Jinshu. With the snake heads in place, his speed increased significantly. He might not have known much about other things, but he understood the various powers of evil spirits all too well.

Holding the beast head in both hands, Zhuge Yuan danced through the encirclement of strange hands, dodging, weaving, and lunging.

As the fur on the beast head and the long hair of the snakes whipped through the air, Zhuge Yuan moved like a lion dancer climbing to pluck the greens—leaping, pouncing, spinning, and soaring.

The strange hands emerging from the tablets had no defense against the fangs of the beast head, and in an instant, they were routed by Zhuge Yuan.

Before long, Zhuge Yuan led Li Jinshu through the encirclement, crashing back toward the wall of heads and escaping the room.

Seeing the arms drilling through the gaps in the wall, still in hot pursuit, Zhuge Yuan and Li Jinshu slammed their hands against the wooden door and pushed with all their might.

With a loud "bang," the door swung open. The sight of the stern, imposing old man standing outside, hands behind his back, instantly extinguished the tension in the room. The strange hands, as well as Zhuge Yuan and Li Jinshu, froze in place.

"Put them back." At the soft, airy command of the robed elder, Li Jinshu hurriedly took the snake and beast heads from Zhuge Yuan and respectfully returned them to the offering table.

"Absurd!" A roar of anger, heavy as Mount Tai, descended upon them from behind. Zhuge Yuan had to exert every ounce of his strength just to keep from collapsing to his knees.

"Grandmaster, this disciple is at fault. I brought him here; this has nothing to do with him." Li Jinshu knelt and kowtowed without hesitation.

Heavy footsteps echoed as the white-haired elder walked forward and lit a stick of incense for the spirit tablets.

He did not spare a glance for the kneeling Li Jinshu, focusing his attention entirely on Zhuge Yuan.

"Boy, you are not bad. Do you know that the dragon and lion dances performed by commoners today evolved from the ancient practice of using the heads of evil spirits to slay enemies, just as you did?"