Chapter Eight: The Strange Tales Realm (Please Follow Along!)

Su Ye laid out the items he had retrieved from the secret vault, organizing them by category and placing them neatly before him as he began pondering his next steps.

“Relying solely on cultivation to increase my strength is far too slow. It would be much safer to craft some high-grade talismans,” he mused, his gaze lingering on the successfully forged talisman brush and the two jade stones.

Now all he needed was to purchase special talisman paper and ink, and he could begin crafting talismans. These materials required specially prepared paper and ink sticks, but Su Ye had made them many times in his previous life. As long as the raw materials were at hand, he could produce them in no time.

Taking up his brush, Su Ye listed the various ingredients he required, intending to hand the list to the Su family’s servants to buy on his behalf.

Since imprisoning Su Ren and his two associates in Rong’an Hall, Su Ye had become the new master of the Su household. Naturally, the maids and servants dared not disobey his orders.

“These medicinal herbs could be used to make a few batches of talisman medicines,” Su Ye thought, his eyes shifting to the herbs brought out of the vault. Most were aged polygonatum and ginseng, their potent medicinal energy preserved through the years.

Talisman medicines were spiritual drugs crafted by channeling medicinal energy with talismanic patterns, weaving their powers together through the script.

Unlike pills refined with fire, talisman medicines extracted the purest essence of the herbs, resulting in purer and more potent effects.

With the aid of his companion jade talisman, Su Ye was especially skilled at creating such medicines.

His mind raced, and soon he had outlined all that needed to be done.

Summoning the guards stationed outside, Su Ye set them to their tasks, then kept Zhao Qi, the head guard, back to inquire about this world.

Though he had inherited all of his predecessor’s memories, the original Su Ye had lived his entire life confined to this small courtyard, knowing little of the world beyond—hardly enough to give him a true understanding.

“Zhao Qi, I suspect you had ulterior motives for serving at Su Ren’s side,” Su Ye said softly. As soon as he finished speaking, Zhao Qi dropped to his knees before him.

“I only served Su Ren to get close to that demon sorcerer, Zhao Huaisheng. Young Master, you are a righteous cultivator, utterly unlike that fiend. I beg you, please help me avenge my family—I am willing to give my life in your service!”

Tears glimmered in Zhao Qi’s eyes, and as he mentioned Xu Huaisheng’s name, a wave of killing intent and pent-up grief surged from him.

“Zhao Huaisheng? Who is he? What grudge lies between you?” Su Ye asked with a furrowed brow.

“Su Ming’s master is that demon sorcerer, Zhao Huaisheng. Five years ago, he murdered my wife and children… I beg you, Young Master, avenge them!” Zhao Qi knelt, his face pleading as he looked up at Su Ye.

Once, Zhao Qi had been a caravan chief in Xinyuan County, a skilled martial artist from a prosperous family. His wife was both beautiful and virtuous, and their son and daughter brought them happiness and contentment.

But five years ago, Zhao Huaisheng passed through Xinyuan County. Discovering that Zhao Qi’s wife was born under a rare and inauspicious fate, he tortured her to death and refined her soul into a vengeful ghost.

Upon returning from a journey, Zhao Qi found his entire family slaughtered. Driven nearly mad with grief, he wished only to follow them in death.

Later, he learned that the demon sorcerer had taken their souls, trapping them, denying them even the chance to reincarnate. From then on, he sought every clue, vowing vengeance on the fiend. When he discovered that Su Ming had become Zhao Huaisheng’s disciple and that Su Ren was recruiting new guards, he joined the Su household, waiting for his moment.

But ever since he arrived, the demon sorcerer had not returned, and Zhao Qi had never found his opportunity for revenge.

After witnessing Su Ye’s extraordinary abilities, Zhao Qi realized the vast gulf between himself and the demon sorcerer. If he sought vengeance alone, he would only share his wife’s fate.

“I understand your plight. That demon sorcerer will likely arrive in Jinhua County soon. When the time comes, I will see him destroyed!” Su Ye declared gravely. For the sake of the Su family, he was already set on a collision course with the fiend—there was no avoiding their confrontation.

“Thank you, Young Master! If you can slay that demon, I will repay you, even if it means serving as your beast of burden!” Joy flickered across Zhao Qi’s face as he prepared to prostrate himself again, but Su Ye stopped him.

With Zhao Qi’s story told, Su Ye pressed him for information about Jinhua and Xinyuan counties.

As a former caravan master, Zhao Qi was well-traveled and knowledgeable. After listening closely, Su Ye finally gained a rough understanding of the world he now inhabited.

This was a nation called Great Song. The old emperor, lost in delusions, summoned Daoist priests from across the realm to refine elixirs in pursuit of immortality.

Disasters plagued the land: demons devoured the people, ghosts ran rampant, the northern steppes suffered drought, the southern rivers flooded, and the common folk lived in misery.

Local officials oppressed the people, while underworld magistrates colluded with fiends to prey on mortal souls.

In short, chaos reigned throughout Great Song, and the people suffered in a hellish world.

Having learned all this from Zhao Qi, a shadow of worry crept into Su Ye’s heart.

He had originally planned to avenge his predecessor and then seek out a secluded, spiritual haven to cultivate in peace. But now, he realized how difficult that would be.

Such blessed lands had long since been claimed by the Daoist and Buddhist sects, and those that remained had been seized by monsters and demons—rare was the haven left unclaimed.

“As a lone cultivator like myself, I could seek initiation into the Daoist sects. If my cultivation proves sufficient and I pass their examinations, I might be assigned stewardship over a region,” Su Ye murmured, considering whether to join the Daoist order after settling the Su family’s affairs.

Three powers governed Great Song: mortal officials ruled the common people, forming the nation’s foundation; the Daoist and Buddhist sects oversaw the world’s cultivators, restraining the havoc of monsters and fiends; and the city gods presided over the underworld, managing matters of ghosts and spirits.

Jinhua County had once been watched over by the Buddhist order, their temple—Lanruo Monastery—built upon Lanyin Mountain to the north.

But with the current age of chaos, Lanruo Monastery had been destroyed by fiends, and the Buddhists had no time for a minor place like Jinhua, leaving it overrun by monsters and evil spirits.

For example, the demon sorcerer Zhao Huaisheng, Su Ming’s master, practiced in the Black Wind Mountain within Jinhua County.

“Lanruo Monastery… I wonder what kind of fiend has claimed it?” Su Ye pondered. The name called to mind a famous tale from his previous life: in Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio, Lanruo Monastery was set just north of Jinhua, matching this world exactly. It made him suspect that he now lived within the world of Strange Stories.

“But such questions must wait. For now, the urgent crisis before me must take precedence,” Su Ye sighed softly, picking up the talisman brush once more.