prologue
“You’re incredibly lucky; aside from astronauts, you’re the first person to tour the moon without spending a cent!”
An old man with facial features hooked like an eagle’s wore green robes that gave off sinister vibes. He smiled ominously as he looked at a young man enclosed in a thin, flimsy shell of purple light.
The youth looked to be in his twenties and wore flowery boxers. His lower body was of average build with a thinly built upper body, and he wore a disdaining expression as he peered around anxiously within the shell.
“Enough is enough, you old fart. What do you want now that you’ve brought me here?”
Han Shuo was filled with anger. He was just about to enjoy a cold, refreshing shower on this hot summer day when a white light flashed before his eyes. A weird, old man appeared in front of him before Han Shuo had fully undressed. The old man merely said, “The date of birth matches,” grabbed Han Shuo and jumped out the tenth story window with him, scaring Han Shuo silly.
When Han Shuo had come to, he suddenly realized it was gloomy, barren and desolate around him. The ground was pockmarked like a severe burn victim’s. That was when he was notified that he was on the moon.
Oddly enough, Han Shuo and that weird man could communicate easily, possibly due to that weird purple shell. What was stranger was that Han Shuo had no fear of suffocation, as there was enough oxygen within the shell.
“I will battle with three people in a moment in search of smashing the rules of heaven and earth. This will allow me to ascend to the apex of evil – the omen realm. Alone, these three fellows present no challenge to me. But I’m not sure what will happen if they join their forces.
To cover all my bases, I grabbed someone with the same birthdate as me – you. If I am so unlucky as to fall in battle, then I can call upon the most mysterious magic of them all and plant my consciousness within your body. I can then come back to life and use your body to revive myself!” Chu Cang Lan said evenly as he stared at Han Shuo, his tone belied by a hint of danger in his bloodshot eyes.
“Eh… when you were talking about planning your consciousness in my body, then… what will happen to me?” Han Shuo was extremely confused and hadn’t caught most of what Chu Cang Lan said, but he still instinctively seized on the critical fact and asked the important question.
Chu Cang Lan paused and cackled matter of factly, “Your body will be mine and you will be dead of course!”
“@#$#@(….”
Han Shuo was incredibly pissed off and started cussing vigorously, despite the fact that he was at the mercy of someone else. His string of curse words touched upon eighteen generations of Chu Cang Lan’s ancestors and greeted his family in different ways.
“Use this last opportunity and get it out of your system, brat! I would have spared your life had I won, but now I’ve decided that even if I win, I’m still going to send you down to hell!” Chu Cang Lan had originally kept his composure in the face of Han Shuo’s non-stop cussing, but his face darkened upon seeing that Han Shuo hadn’t let up after half an hour, and was, in fact, becoming even nastier.
This abruptly stopped Han Shuo in his tracks. He started banging against the side of the thin purple shell with both fists after a moment and started wailing, “Hero—, savior—, I was wrong, spare my life! What you’re doing is illegal, the authorities will come after you. Technology is quite advanced now, and even escaping to the moon won’t do you any good!”
“Demon practitioners are straightforward and are never concerned with the law. I, Chu Cang Lan, have roamed the earth for many years and have killed more people than you have ever met. I am still standing here, perfectly fine!”
Chu Cang Lan said lowly. Something in his face suddenly changed as he looked ahead of him to the left, and he murmured, “Finally!”
Han Shuo and his purple shell rose up and flew far away when Chu Cang Lan pointed his right finger. After bouncing a few times, he finally came to a stop in a shallow depression, upon which Han Shuo realized he could no longer move and his lips made no noise. Apart from being able to hear, blink, and think, he could do nothing else within the confines of the purple shell.
“The three of you are late. I hope everyone can bring their best game to our battle today, and will not hate me if you die!”
“Praise Buddha.” “Almighty Heavenly One.”
…….
Although Han Shuo could not move, he could still hear a few words from his position, perhaps due to the purple shell. However, he couldn’t make out anything after hearing “Praise Buddha” and “Almighty Heavenly One”. He came to the conclusion that a monk and a Taoist priest had showed up, because that was what monks and Taoist priests always opened with on TV.
According to what Chu Cang Lan had said, Han Shuo was done for whether the former won or lost.
Han Shuo was born in YZ city, and had managed to get into a bottom tier college after high school. He hadn’t interviewed for jobs after graduation like his peers did, but rather messed around randomly on the internet. He had created websites and opened small online stores, but never earned much money from it. He was an otaku from head to toe, and one with no future potential at that.
His mind had become filled with evil thoughts the more time he spent online. Because he had spent his days at home, and society was well developed, he had been self-aware enough to not actually act on his thoughts. It’s not like his parents were multimillionaires or high ranking officials either.
A twenty something year old with no accomplishments to date. His parents had attempted to introduce him to someone before, but the other had looked down on Han Shuo for being undependable because he didn’t have a real job. Needless to say, it hadn’t worked out.
He’d succumbed to parental pressure lately, and had been preparing to submit resumes and find a real job. But who knew this would happen before he had a chance to turn his life around?
Han Shuo’s brain moved sluggishly as he thought that he was about to die. For the first time in his life, he felt that his life had been a waste. Not only was his career nonexistent, he had never done anything notable and hell, he was still a virgin!
“Sigh, I’m so damned unlucky. Just when I was about to start over again. Why do I not get a chance? If I don’t die this time, I swear I will act on all my evil thoughts. I will not be looked down upon, and will never be too afraid to act. Never ever…”
The only thing that he could move now were his thoughts, so Han Shuo could do nothing but think wildly. The more he reflected, the more he regretted and despaired…
An earth-shattering explosion suddenly sounded, accompanied by Chu Cang Lan’s egoistical laugh.
But after a while, he suddenly yelled, “Treacherous!” and was engulfed in another series of explosions that rocked the heavens. The large tremors shook even Han Shuo’s position; it was as if the earth was collapsing. The disturbances were accompanied by a loud yell, “Chu Cang Lan, you are dead this time!”
“Eh! This is the demonic technique of body stealing! He’s attempting to use a demonic technique, there must be a demon seed nearby!”
“Praise Buddha, for the good of all those beneath heaven, I will not let him succeed even if I die. Praise Buddha, Chant of Desolate Destruction!”
“Monk, no….”
Another series of violent detonations ensued, and then a black ray swiftly shot towards Han Shuo. It was as fast as a shooting star, and contained a vague something that was writhing inside, like an unholy liquid.
“In praise, in praise. Master Yuan Kong sacrificed himself to terminate the demonic technique. We can rest easy. Chu Cang Lan will never again be able to threaten the world of justice!”
The black light surged into the purple shell after Han Shuo heard the last sentence and something foreign seemed to invade his brain. A loud blast caused extreme pain as it felt like all his organs had simultaneously exploded, and then he knew no more.