This Damned Thirst for Survival

He was the last to arrive, and all but the predestined had arrived in full force and were gathered around the table eating hot pot.

At the table, only Feng Li had an empty seat next to him. Jiang Luo went over and sat down, just as he picked up his chopsticks, Ji Yaozi came over with a glass of wine, "Want to join us?"

Drinking a little wine and eating hot pot in the middle of winter, this is so good. Jiang Luo pushes his glass over and makes his words clear with his gestures.

Ji Yaozi offered him a full glass and gave him a look of mutual understanding.

Jiang Luo lifted his hand and the glass was about to reach his lips when the Master of Heaven, sitting to his left, said coldly, "Put it down."

The wisp of a smile froze on the dark-haired youth\'s lips.

Feng Li took the glass out of his hand and looked at Ji Yaozi again, displeased, "Don\'t pour him any more wine."

Ji Yaozi said sardonically, "I thought he was old enough to drink?"

"He was sick yesterday," Feng Li said, taking a sip from the glass in front of him and making the decision for Jiang Luo without a ripple, "no spicy drinks for a month first."

Ji Yaozi gives Jiang Luo a sympathetic look and reluctantly retrieves the bottle.

Lian Qiang and Lian Bing, sitting opposite, had just been scowling at Jiang Luo, but after hearing what the Heavenly Master said, they looked at each other and smacked their lips.

The Heavenly Master is too strict, thank goodness their Master is not like that.

Jiang Luo, on the contrary, quickly laughed out, unconcerned, "Then listen to the gentleman."

The doors and windows are closed, everyone\'s foreheads are sweaty from eating, and the glass windows are covered in a thick mist.

It is getting dark outside and the table is lively and noisy. Daoist Master Wei He and Ji Yaozi have dragged Feng Li through a lot of wine, and it looks like they are deliberately trying to get Feng Li drunk.

The meal lasted until nine o\'clock.

As soon as nine o\'clock passed, the wind outside gradually died down, but another sound came from far away, seemingly reaching the dining room.

Lian Xue listened sideways and said, somewhat hesitantly, "Uncle, there seems to be music outside."

Lian Qiang nodded his head repeatedly, "I heard that too, Uncle."

Wei He put down his chopsticks and listened intently to the sound of a woozy voice coming from outside.

It\'s far away, yet it seems to be right at the top of the hill.

Strange, how could there be music in this winter night?

Wei He pondered for a moment, "Come on, let\'s go out and have a look."

As the crowd filed out, Jiang Luo was about to leave when he saw Feng Li sitting still. As a good student who respects his teacher, he stopped and asked with concern, "Sir, aren\'t you going?"

Feng Li slowly finished the last sip of his wine, placed the glass on the table and took out another tissue to wipe his hands calmly before he got up and said, "Let\'s go."

Jiang Luo went to see how he looked. Feng Li\'s facial expression is unchanged, his steps are calm and his eyes are clear, so he is not drunk.

They walked last, one after the other, out of the gate, which was already full of people from the whole of the "No Mundane Nuns".

Someone rubbed their eyes in disbelief, "What\'s that?"

Jiang Luo walked through the crowd and saw Ji Yaozi, a few elders standing right at the front, and surprisingly the predestined man was also standing in front. Jiang Luo\'s heart grew heavy with curiosity and he walked over to Ji Yaozi and took a look.

From the foot of the hill, a procession of red lanterns lit up winded its way up, blowing gongs and drums already halfway up the hill. The scarlet fires were so bright that they dyed even the white snowy ground red. In the middle of the procession was a large red palanquin.

Wei He said in astonishment, "This is a Yin wedding joy!"

At the front of the group is a line of long, thin cat ghosts, black-furred cats treading gracefully on the snow, their fur melting into the darkness and only their lurid green eyes glowing. The snake ghosts accompanied the group, their rustling sound irritating the skin as they brushed through the snow.

The wounded soul bird hovers high in the air, its mournful call merging with the ghostly sound of music.

The gongs and drums were boisterous, and the whole bare, calm back hill was the only place where this procession danced and sang its way closer and closer.

They are dressed in festive red, with the word "happiness" sewn into the centre of their chests and their lips painted in a horrific shade of red.

Ji Yaozi\'s face was grave, "A hundred ghosts have come to welcome the bride, who is such a big deal?"

Jiang Luo squinted to see the ghosts and ghouls, "A hundred ghosts?"

"Dasei ghosts, constricting ghosts, water ghosts, and child ghosts, tomb ghosts, puffy-headed ghosts ......" Ji Yaozi pointed to them one by one, looking dizzy, "I can\'t believe there\'s a sword and labour ghost."

Jiang Luo was amazed, "I thought the Daggers were only found in the mountains of Linchuan, Jiangxi."

"I thought so too," Ji Yaozi said, "but I must have been right. I said that today the evil wind suddenly blew, but it was it."

"How can there be so many ghosts," said Wei He, who was shocked and angry, "and what kind of ghosts have to pass through my mountain to get married?

Feng Li put his hands behind his back and spoke indifferently, "Let\'s see if they come through, and if they do, then let them divert."

If you can get them to change their path, you can do so, otherwise you will only be hurting yourself if you clash with a hundred ghosts. But if they persist and insist on crossing the mountain, then we have to show our hand to deter them.

The Disciples who had been watching were driven back to their homes, having never seen such a spectacle before, and looked back three times with a look of resignation on their faces. Lian Xue\'s three youngsters, who were unable to defend themselves, were also driven back to the courtyard.

Jiang Luo stayed behind and said to the undertaker, "I met the Red and White once, and this music is not quite the same as that of the Red and White."

"Of course," Ji Yaozi said, "a red and white wedding is a disaster, and a netherworld wedding, although a bit more netherworldly, is a happy event.

As we speak, the procession is halfway up the hill, heading for the summit.

Looking down from the top of the hill, the scene was spectacular. The front of the group was almost at the top and the bottom was still lingering at the foot of the hill. Ji Yaozi was so right, the scene was too big.

Jiang Luo sighed in awe at the fact that after becoming a ghost, he was more concerned with marriage than people.

Wei He expected them to change course, but the line stopped precisely next to the outer formation that had been destroyed during the day, and a long line wrapped round the entire hilltop.

The beating of the gongs and drums ceased and a dead silence fell over the hilltop.

Wei He frowned as he coughed his throat, his voice booming, "The top of the mountain is the residence of the old Tao, you should go around and retreat, don\'t stop here and get in the way!"

As soon as he said this, the opposite side really moved. A few brats carrying red human skin drums came to the front, banging their drums vigorously and shouting with all their strength, "Our master wants to see Jiang Luo, disciple of Tian Shifu, please come out, Mr Jiang Luo, and come up to our palanquin while we have a good night."

After taking a break, he shouted again, "Our palanquin uses ninety-nine lute ghost bones, ninety-nine pieces of fabric from the wedding ghost\'s wedding clothes, and the cushions made are leather cushions with nine layers of dead human skin sewn on. The cushions are soft, roomy and breathable, beautiful and exquisite!"

After reciting it, the group did not respond as if they were stunned. Ge Wuchen sidled up to Chi You and said, "Master, Master Jiang did not answer. I looked and saw that Feng Li and Ji Yaozi were also on the mountain, in addition to the Fatalists. Shall we continue?"

Chi You curled his lips and said lazily, "Go on until I\'m allowed to see someone."

Ge Wuchen: "Yes."

After receiving his master\'s order, Ge Wuchen went over to the drummers and handed them a collection of love messages, which he had prepared and told them to read from it. He went to the musicians and told them to play the gongs and drums to warm up the room.

Hua Beaver walked up to him with a black face and sneered, " Ge Wuchen, these two days you have been giving your master all sorts of ways to woo Jiang Luo, even this yin wedding was your proposal, what the hell are you up to?"

Ge Wuchen smiled slightly, twirled his Buddhist beads and recited "Amitabha Buddha", "The master has someone he likes, as a subordinate, of course, I have to help him to fulfil his wish."

Flower Beaver looked at him coldly and turned away after a sneer.

The little ghosts begin to recite the love story, pulling their voices out as if Jiang Luo will say yes if they put in a lot of effort. The words are written in the flesh, and Jiang Luo\'s face is expressionless as he listens.

"What do they mean," Wei He said as his chest rose and fell in anger, and he raised his voice with a shock of anger, "Who is your master! Tell him to come out to me!"

At these words, the drummers\' spirits lifted, and as if they had been drilled hundreds of times, they said in unison -

"Our master, Chi You, is the youngest ruler of the Chi family, the youngest genius in the world of metaphysics, so powerful that there is no one before or after him. Handsome as a companion, gentle and considerate, clean, elegant in taste and perfect in figure, our master is a match made in heaven with Mr Jiang Luo."

The cat ghost and the wounded soul bird opened their mouths and chirped, as if echoing the words of the brats.

Wei He was so angry that his hands were shaking, " Chi You, Chi You, how dare he be so arrogant-"

Feng Li\'s face was cold and frightening, his eyes sunken as he looked at these oozing ghosts.

"I just tried to kill him today, and here he is," Feng Li\'s tone was wrapped in ice as he slowly turned his jade trigger finger, "I\'ll go and meet him."

Jiang Luo, however, called out, "Sir, wait."

Feng Li is on his feet.

Jiang Luo walked up to the Fatalist, his head bowed, looking extremely close to the Fatalist, and said, "Fatalist, you were right earlier."

He smiled faintly at his predecessor, a calm and determined look of total trust in his eyes, "It is only right that we should all do our part for the sake of the occult community. Chi You and I have a sinful bond that I want to understand with my own hands, and to eliminate one more evil spirit for the occult community."

He breezed in and said what the predestined wanted to hear most, "I will kill him."

There was a twinkle in the Fatalist\'s eyes and he smiled slowly, "Go on."

When he finished, he looked up and gently and tenderly touched Jiang Luo\'s hair on the forehead, saying, as if encouraging and hypnotising, "Go and kill him."

Chi You, standing among a hundred ghosts, quietly watches Jiang Luo\'s interaction with his nemesis.

He narrowed his eyes and pulled up a smile higher and higher, the light from the red lantern hitting the corners of his mouth, reflecting an unsettling, eerie red.

During the day, Jiang Luo and his master are close to each other, back and forth.

In the evening, Jiang Luo and his nemesis begin to talk to each other again.

Jiang Luo didn\'t take his words to heart at all.

Cold and innocent on the outside, but seductive all the time on the inside.

It\'s only right to get him properly arrested and taught a lesson.