Chapter 508: The Kind-Hearted Little Girl
The Huaihuang Kingdom was a small northern country, a barren land. From the court to the common folk, everyone was impoverished, so much so that the monarch couldn't even dispatch officials on time to sacrifice to the Five Mountain Gods. Hence, there arose a saying that officials from the Ministry of Rites and the Ministry of Revenue never set foot on the mountains.
Perhaps because the imperial court didn't show enough respect to the mountain lords, coupled with sparse local temples and weak incense offerings, demons and monsters often ran rampant throughout the Huaihuang Kingdom's cities and villages. Thus, true men and eminent monks from other countries frequently traveled through the lands, saving the people from disaster. However, these revered figures, who were quite popular among the locals, never managed to gain entry to the gates of the truly powerful and influential families. Eventually, they simply bypassed the capital city altogether, saving themselves the humiliation of being rejected.
On this day, at a border pass where the Huaihuang Kingdom met the southern Yinping Kingdom, a white-robed scholar wearing a bamboo hat presented his travel documents and entered the border city. He wandered around for a while until he came to a market bridge. There, he sat on a bamboo chest, nibbling on a freshly bought scallion pancake, and listened to a storyteller regaling the local folk and some traveling merchants with tales of gods and monsters. The storyteller was advanced in years, past seventy, but surprisingly had a strong voice that could shake the heavens as he spoke. Spittle flying everywhere, he told of how a supremely ferocious great demon had appeared earlier in Buyao Prefecture, occupying a mountain peak. At night, it would transform into black smoke and infiltrate the prefectural city, specifically abducting young unmarried women. The government was powerless to stop it. Then, an old true man invited by the prefectural magistrate set up an altar and performed rituals, summoning a thunder method. In what had been a moonlit, starry night, a sudden torrential rain and thunderstorm broke out. As the great demon hid in the miasma-filled mountain, a bolt of lightning crashed down into the deep mountains with a crack. Afterwards, a daring woodcutter followed the commotion into the mountains and saw a massive snake, thick as a well, had been struck dead by the thunder. It was a pity about those young maidens—in the mountain hollow, skeletons lay everywhere, heaps of white bones. Judging by the appearance, they were likely those unfortunate women.
Every listener drew in a cold breath, their hair standing on end, their spines chilled.
The traveling scholar in the snow-white robe also started and gasped along with the others.
Ding, ding, dong—someone in the audience stepped forward to give a tip, and then others followed suit, dropping copper coins into a large white bowl. The storyteller glanced at the take in the bowl, stroked his beard, and smiled—enough for two jugs of wine.
Finally, the storyteller also told of demons and monsters running wild and lawless in Yuhu Prefecture. Unfortunately, the prefectural governor there was a miser. He had neither connections nor was he willing to spend heavily to invite true men or immortal masters down the mountain to subdue the demons. The people of Yuhu Prefecture were truly pitiable, harassed to the point of chaos. Fortunately, although the rampaging demons were brazen, their cultivation was not deep, far inferior to the snake demon of Buyao Prefecture that had been killed by heavenly thunder. Otherwise, it would have been a true human tragedy.
What the common folk loved was excitement, so a man asked what kind of demons were in Yuhu Prefecture. The storyteller began to narrate in detail: In the prefectural city, there was a white-robed hanging ghost who loved to scare the night watchmen, knocking on doors late at night so that no one dared to go out after dark. There were also fox and rabbit spirits haunting desolate graves, often appearing as seductive, gaudily dressed women who liked to lure men and drain their essence. A band of ferocious evil spirits had driven away the monks from a temple and occupied their nest. And at the ferry, there was a green-clad maiden who made the river her home and stirred up waves.
Someone didn't believe it, saying that the Yinping Kingdom and their Huaihuang Kingdom had always been peaceful, with no demonic creatures seen for several hundred years. How could they suddenly pop up all at once? It must be someone with too much time on their hands, deliberately pretending to be gods and ghosts to swindle people out of money. The storyteller blew his beard and glared, claiming that he had seen the snake demon's corpse in Buyao Prefecture with his own eyes, and also the pale face of the green-clad water ghost at the ferry.
The listeners scoffed, all unbelieving.
The septuagenarian looked around and finally fixed his gaze on the white-robed scholar who had just finished his scallion pancake. He pointed a finger, "This traveling scholar from afar must have read many books and seen much of the world. Ask him whether there really are ghosts and spirits in this world. Scholar, even if you haven't seen them with your own eyes, what you've heard counts too."
Everyone turned to look at the young man in the bamboo hat. He shook his head and said, "I haven't seen them, nor have I heard of them."
Boos erupted all around.
The storyteller saw that things weren't going well and quickly packed up his big white bowl. "That's it, I'm done for the day." Damn it, scholars were all worthless. Even if they wouldn't put up money for the show, they couldn't even be bothered to show a little appreciation. This guy clearly had no hope of passing the imperial exams.
Once the stall was packed up, the audience dispersed.
The storyteller glared fiercely at the foreign scholar traveling with his book case.
Chen Ping'an smiled, stood up, and shouldered his bamboo case. The sword immortal's sword, the nourishing sword gourd, and the jade bamboo fan had all been placed inside the case earlier. In his hand, he only held the verdant green walking staff. During this journey, the walking staff had been fully refined. He also had a few ordinary yellow paper talismans hidden in his sleeve—things like the Yang Qi Lantern Talisman, the Cleansing Dust Talisman, and the Barrier-Breaking Talisman, all basic entry-level talismans from the "True Record of the Vermilion Book."
Chen Ping'an walked over to the old man. "Old sir, I'd like to buy you a drink. Would you care for one?"
The storyteller looked at him sidelong. The young man didn't look strong enough to truss a chicken, so he didn't seem like a bandit or robber. But the road was treacherous—you never knew when a seemingly shallow puddle might twist your ankle. So even though his mouth watered, he forced himself to swallow his saliva and declined with a smile: "No need, no need. I appreciate the young master's kindness, but I have to be on my way. I need to cross the pass into Yinping Kingdom to make a living. The inns in this city charge like bandits, and sleeping on the streets would just invite trouble. I'd rather cross the pass and bed down in the wilderness, free from both heaven and earth's meddling."
Chen Ping'an said regretfully, "Very well, then I won't detain you, old sir. I suppose I'll just save myself the cost of a pot of Bishan Tower's Yingfu Wine."
The septuagenarian's eyes lit up. The wine bugs in his belly started to rebel. He promptly changed his tune, looked up at the sky, and laughed heartily: "Judging by the sky, it's still early. No rush, no rush. Let those money-grubbers in Yinping Kingdom wait a little longer. Since the young master is so generously offering, I won't refuse. Come, let's go to Bishan Tower. I've never tasted this Yingfu Wine before. With the young master's generosity, I'll have a good pot."
Chen Ping'an nodded with a smile. "Old sir, won't you call your apprentice along?"
The old man looked a bit embarrassed. He turned and beckoned the person who had first thrown money into the bowl to come closer, then said in a low voice, "The young master has good eyes."
When they reached the largest tavern in the city, the three of them were led by an attentive waiter to a seat on the second floor. Chen Ping'an ordered a full table of dishes and three pots of Yingfu Wine. After the old man saw all three pots arrive at the table, he quietly moved the pot that the scholar had placed beside his own disciple over to his side. He smiled and said, "I forgot to mention to the young master—my apprentice doesn't drink. The young master is being too generous, too generous indeed."
Chen Ping'an said with feigned surprise, "Then I'll have the waiter take back the extra pot of Yingfu Wine. It's two taels of silver, after all."
The old man quickly wrapped his arms around both pots. "Young master, don't be like that! What kind of logic is it to remove fine wine once it's been served? That would be like having a beauty undress and get into bed, only to kick her out. It ruins the mood entirely. How could we do such a thing?"
Chen Ping'an removed the clay seal from his own pot, poured himself a bowl of wine, and asked with a smile, "Old sir, would you happen to be from the Mengliang Kingdom?"
The old man shook his head. "I come from the westernmost Qingjing Kingdom. I've been a storyteller since I was twenty-six years old. I've traveled through more than half of a dozen or so countries. I've been to Mengliang Kingdom once—a truly unparalleled paradise on earth. I think I'll choose Mengliang Kingdom as my retirement home. I have no family or friends left in my hometown anyway, no attachments. If my apprentice is ambitious enough to earn some real silver, I can be buried back in my homeland after I close my eyes."
Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Then let's just drink."
Chen Ping'an could tell that the storyteller before him was a third-grade Qi refiner. But that meant either the old man was genuinely a lower-fifth-realm wandering cultivator, or his cultivation level was far higher than the paper-thin Golden Cores of Ye Han and Fan Weiran. Within this territory of over ten countries, aside from the two masterminds, Ye Han and Fan Weiran were already the undisputed "mountain peaks" among cultivators.
Some days earlier, the spiritual energy ripples on the borders of the ten-plus countries had trembled violently, like spring thunder erupting. Chen Ping'an had sensed it and immediately soared into the sky on his sword. He saw a long golden line suddenly appear on the earth, stretching endlessly, then burning away like ash. It was likely that one of the grand cultivators had withdrawn the forbidden formation that had caged the land. Most likely it was the mastermind from Mengliang Kingdom who had obtained the treasure from Suijia City. As for the other grand cultivator, known only as Xia Zhen for now, he had yet to show up to trouble Chen Ping'an. This was very unusual. Fan Weiran's Baodong Immortal Domain and Ye Han's Huangyue City—all the mountain strongholds led by these two factions were very likely just birds in a cage and fish in a pond raised by this man. Such a loss, yet no reaction—there were two possibilities. Either the lion was using its full strength to catch the rabbit, and Xia Zhen was waiting for him somewhere, or... Jiang Shangzhen had quietly cleaned up the mess before appearing at Suijia City. Xia Zhen might be dead, or had barely escaped but was severely injured and unable to deliver a fatal blow.
If the storyteller before him was truly that expert from Mengliang Kingdom who had come specifically to meet him, Chen Ping'an couldn't be bothered to play word games. He'd just roll up his sleeves and fight to the death.
The old man laughed. "What's this? Does the young master have acquaintances in Mengliang Kingdom? An irreconcilable enemy, or a close friend or relative you're worried about? If it's the latter, after I finish traveling through Yinping Kingdom, when my silly apprentice and I journey to Mengliang Kingdom in the future, I can pass along a message for you. That is..."
The old man grinned and rubbed his thumb and forefinger together lightly.
Chen Ping'an shook his head. "No deep grudges, no major grievances. We just keep to ourselves. I do admire the extraordinary methods of a certain expert from Mengliang Kingdom—meticulous and flawless. I'd sincerely like to invite him for a pot of wine. Since the overall situation is now settled, it's like reviewing a finished game of chess. This expert made a strong opening move, played steadily in the middle game, and executed so many brilliant moves in the endgame. Yet no one understood or applauded him. It's like when you, old sir, tell a story—if the entire hall is silent, not a sound, even if you end up with a big bowl of copper coins, wouldn't it still be a considerable regret?"
The old man took a sip of wine. "I don't know what you're talking about, young master, but it sounds reasonable. So, how about we clink glasses?"
Chen Ping'an picked up his wine bowl and touched it to the old man's. They each drank.
Drinking fine wine wasn't only enjoyable with like-minded companions.
Amidst the clash of blades and swords, engaging in psychological warfare with crafty, mutual-emnity opponents over a wine table, where killing intent flows through cups and bowls—that too is cultivation.
As for the recent strange phenomena in this northern country of Huaihuang, the sudden increase in demons and monsters was also related to the influx of spiritual energy pouring into the ten-plus countries from outside. Without the forbidden pool that had deterred all things, creatures naturally grew lively. It was like after the Waking of Insects—snakes and insects stirred, eager to break through the soil.
However, Chen Ping'an had no intention of tearing off the masks with the Mengliang Kingdom expert and the behind-the-scenes cultivator named Xia Zhen for now. Above Golden Core, Nascent Soul was still manageable—if he couldn't win, he could run. But if even one of them was at the Jade Pure realm, it would be a massive problem for him, even if not both. Chen Ping'an had no advantage of timing, terrain, or allies. If the other side was willing to kill him at any cost, given the temperament of cultivators in Beiju Continent, they wouldn't hesitate for a moment. In this sword immortal-exclusive Beiju Continent, outsider cultivators with backgrounds and backing had died sudden deaths—not just one or two.
Otherwise, regarding this flood of spiritual energy pouring in like a tidal wave, Chen Ping'an could have been ruthless and used the sage's jade token to pocket it all. But using that token—which had made Liu Laocheng feel threatened in Study Lake—cross-continent and employing it in Beiju Continent would be a completely different scene. It would be highly taboo and might incur the displeasure and censure of the continent's academies.
Between the two masterminds, Chen Ping'an was more wary of the grand cultivator connected to Mengliang Kingdom. This person was scheming and methodical. Without needing to act personally, he had merely dispatched two subordinates and obtained the heavy treasure of Suijia City. In the end, if Chen Ping'an hadn't broken through the formation in the Cangyun Lake Dragon Palace, that Golden Body Realm martial artist—who had been deliberately playing the fool among the Mengliang Peak Qi refiners—would have continued to hide.
Seeing one Du Yu gave a general picture of the Ghost Axe Palace's state. Seeing the Shallow Stream Qutang Lord and the Zao Qu Lord gave a general idea of Cangyun Lake's customs and climate. Seeing Yan Qing gave a general sense of Baodong Immortal Domain, and seeing He Lu gave a sense of Huangyue City's style. This was all the same principle. There would, of course, be deviations, but the longer one interacted and the more cultivators one saw, the closer one got to facts and truth. The margin for error would shrink. Sometimes, one could even see a single thing and understand the whole—this applied to the city god of Suijia City, Fan Weiran, and Ye Han. They were the heads of their families, so the family's character was often determined by them.
Looking upward and looking downward—combining these two was like grasping both ends of a thread. Once someone picked up both ends, no matter how far the clues extended, they couldn't escape a discerning eye.
The world is complicated. If you want to live more easily, either pull the covers over your head and just live for yourself, accepting both hardship and pleasure as fate, or you have to observe and think more. The latter requires mental effort. There's always a higher mountain. Even the sages governing their own small worlds, acting as if they were the will of heaven—once they step out of their own small worlds, they become constrained and dependent on others. They still need to look out at the countless threads and tedious rules of the world.
Reasoning may not always be useful.
Understanding rules is never a bad thing.
Was the Lake Lord Yin Hou unreasonable? Yet he knew to find Chen Ping'an's rules and grasp his pattern of conduct. So, over Cangyun Lake, with dark clouds covering the entire territory, Chen Ping'an dared not kill him, fearing that if the lake, three rivers, and two canals all flooded, countless innocent people would suffer. Inside the Dragon Palace, Yin Hou was no less deserving of death than Ye Han and Fan Weiran, but he proactively promised to protect the people under his jurisdiction, repair the mountain and water qi fortune, and make amends. Therefore, the white-robed sword immortal's fist and sword did not fall upon him.
The storyteller and his apprentice then wolfed down the food, feasting heartily.
Chen Ping'an only slowly sipped his wine, never touching his chopsticks.
The storyteller burped and said with a chuckle, "The young master hasn't touched a single bite, just drinking. Aren't you hungry at all?"
Chen Ping'an smiled. "Indeed, I'm not hungry. Besides, I think this feast belongs to you, old sir."
The old man said helplessly, "The young master's words are like a bald monk preaching Chan—hard to grasp."
Chen Ping'an asked, "When will you cross the pass into Yinping Kingdom, old sir?"
The old man laughed. "I'm about to go now, full and content. Oh, I've dabbled a bit in physiognomy. Since you've treated me to such a meal, how about I cast a fortune for you? Don't worry, young master, no charge."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "Then I'll trouble you, old sir."
The old man took a few copper coins he'd earned earlier from his sleeve and casually tossed them onto the table. He stroked his beard and fell silent in contemplation.
Chen Ping'an smiled and said nothing.
The old man gently moved the coins on the table with his fingers and frowned. "The young master has a kind heart and deep blessings. But you should also remember: a blessed person does not set foot in a place without blessings. This old saying is never groundless. Listeners should not take it as vague talk. I see that on your northern journey through Huaihuang Kingdom, you may go anywhere, except for Jihuan Mountain about a hundred miles ahead. You must not go there. For you, it is a place without blessings. It may not necessarily be very dangerous if you go, but if you encounter obstacles, it will create complications, and ultimately, things won't be ideal."
Chen Ping'an smiled and said, "Alright, I'll do as you say, old sir, and bypass Jihuan Mountain."
The old man looked up and grinned. "Do you truly believe it?"
Chen Ping'an laughed. "An old man speaks old sayings; how could I not believe them? Besides, taking a detour on a journey through Huaihuang Kingdom and walking a few extra steps isn't a big deal."
The old man stood up and praised, "Then I won't disturb the young master any longer. I'll be off now, quickly crossing the pass. Divination always leaves one feeling uneasy, revealing heavenly secrets."
Chen Ping'an nodded. "I'll finish this pot of wine and then take a detour north. I won't go to Jihuan Mountain and court misfortune."
The old man led his dull apprentice out of Bishan Tower.
Chen Ping'an finished his pot of the local specialty, Yingfu Wine, and went downstairs to settle the bill. He was momentarily stunned, then shook his head with a wry smile. The storyteller had sneakily taken two bottles of Bishan Tower's signature twenty-year-aged wine when he went downstairs, saying his friend upstairs would pay for them. Chen Ping'an didn't care much. He no longer needed to guess that person's identity, saving himself a worry. Not having to be distracted was worth the extra dozen or so taels.
In the end, Chen Ping'an truly did bypass Jihuan Mountain, which was famous for its layered waterfalls—a scenic spot he had originally wanted to visit.
---
Deep in Jihuan Mountain.
In a halfway pavilion for travelers to rest.
A young man wrapped in a cyan jade belt, his face livid, stood with Ye Han, Fan Weiran, and an old woman who was the second patriarch of Baodong Immortal Domain.
It was Xia Zhen, who had narrowly escaped death.
Xia Zhen roared, "Old bastard, why did you ruin my plans?! I already told you clearly that I had sent a letter to that great sword immortal in the central region! This man is Jiang Shangzhen's accomplice! Even if Jiang Shangzhen is hiding in the shadows, he'll be terrified and timid! You scared away the bait this time. Once the great sword immortal gets angry, do you really think you've already refined the innate sword embryo and stepped into the upper five realms?! Are you stupid? I've already sworn—that half-immortal weapon is yours! I only want the other objects on him! And you're still not satisfied?! Do you have to see us both come away empty-handed to be happy?!"
On a distant mountain peak, an old man in Confucian robes smiled faintly. A storyteller and a dull-witted sturdy man appeared beside him, then their forms overlapped and merged into one.
It was likely the Yang Spirit True Body and Yin Spirit Traveling far away—an immortal technique.
The old man laughed. "Don't scare me with these empty threats. Given that great sword immortal's temperament, even if he received your secret letter, he wouldn't stoop to such petty tactics. Fishing? Do you really think this is like our minor skirmishes in these ten-plus countries? Worth all this effort?"
The old man was the state preceptor of Mengliang Kingdom. He pinched a messenger flying sword between two fingers and gently crushed it into pieces. "Besides, that great sword immortal never received your secret letter."
Xia Zhen's face darkened. Suddenly, he laughed in fury. "Are you planning to make an enemy of me for life, Xia Zhen?!"
The old preceptor smiled. "This territory of ten-plus countries now has a bit more spiritual energy. It's not a bad place. You and I have been neighbors for years. You, Xia Zhen, are notoriously difficult to deal with. Although you've damaged your Dao foundation, I still can't kill you, and you'll find it even harder to kill me. We're just racing to see who reaches the upper five realms first. So why should I stand by and watch you send a message to that great sword immortal's mansion in the central region? What if that great sword immortal truly hates Jiang Shangzhen to the bone and lowers himself to attack a minor sword cultivator? If you then latch onto such a powerful thigh, and he remembers your kindness, how could I, even if I break through to the Jade Pure realm, still shamelessly compete with you for the territory of these ten-plus countries? Xia Zhen, what a pity. In your fury, you slowed your frantic absorption of border spiritual energy, spending a full two weeks here on Jihuan Mountain with your three dogs, carefully arranging the Mountain-Shifting Formation. In the end, it seems you won't have the chance to use it?"
Xia Zhen sneered, "Aren't you here?"
The old man pretended to realize, "Ah, that's right. I wonder—my newly refined sword embryo against your Mountain-Shifting Formation—which one has greater killing power, greater might? We were bound to fight eventually. Doing it earlier just saves trouble. This isn't like the old days when you were strong and I was weak. The wheel has turned. Can't you see the situation, Xia Zhen?"
The Mengliang state preceptor shook his head with a smile. "But honestly, it's not that I look down on you, Xia Zhen. This talisman formation could indeed injure him, but it might not be able to trap him. I'm just helping you pull back from the brink. You shouldn't treat my good intentions like a donkey's liver and lungs. Relying on a secret letter that might disappear into the void—would you really use such tricks with Jiang Shangzhen, risking mutual destruction? Over these centuries, I've been less informed than you, guarded against your catching any traces. But concerning some old affairs, I know more than you do, Xia Zhen. If you had sent that secret letter to the northern great sword immortal, I wouldn't have intercepted this flying sword."
The old man suppressed his laughter and looked at Xia Zhen, his eyes full of mockery and pity. "Because that's a male sword immortal. His beloved only daughter was ruined by Jiang Shangzhen, delaying her Dao. He would spare no effort to kill Jiang Shangzhen. But the one you sent the letter to is a woman. It seems you're not very clear about her past grievances with Jiang Shangzhen. Her hatred isn't what outsiders say—that she regrets her infatuation with Jiang Shangzhen. No, she hates him for being fickle and philandering. If she actually saw him, with Jiang Shangzhen's glib tongue pouring sweet words, he'd probably give her a love potion. Then aren't you afraid she might turn around and give you both a sword? That's why you, Xia Zhen, are not really a good ally. If that young man had higher cultivation and was at the Nascent Soul like us, I might even team up with him to kill you. As for now, it's done. There's no point in saying more. I won't fight you and waste my cultivation. Slowly absorb your spiritual energy and recover. One step slow, every step slow. According to my divination back then, your Nascent Soul bottleneck would naturally arrive sixty years later than mine. As it turns out, your Dao heart is unstable. At our level, if you still behave like a rogue cultivator who always took advantage, you're going to suffer greatly."
The pavilion where Xia Zhen stood instantly turned to dust. Ye Han, Fan Weiran, and the Baodong Immortal Domain second patriarch were all forced to flee into the air, hovering on the wind, their faces pale with fright.
The old man looked past them. "We did work together as allies for a time. I went into hiding in Mengliang Kingdom, and while I did have ulterior motives initially, experiencing the mundane world once does benefit the Dao heart. That's why I've been able to suppress you at every turn. I've always come out ahead. Do you really think it's just calculation? No. It's because I grasped a sliver of opportunity for Nascent Soul Dao Integration earlier than you, Xia Zhen. If Jiang Shangzhen was truly this man's friend, would he have deliberately left loose ends? He simply saw farther than you and me, and calculated that things would come to this today. Aren't you afraid? I am. Because this is an open strategy. I willingly entered the trap, spoiling your plans, so that in the future, when I establish my sect and take over the ten-plus countries, I can make my move. For you, Xia Zhen, it's naturally a conspiracy—one after another, each time you come away empty-handed. I even suspect that this messenger flying sword I intercepted was deliberately left for me by Jiang Shangzhen."
Xia Zhen reined in his aura and smiled. "Ruining my plans and disturbing my state of mind—you old thief have quite the scheme."
The old man sighed. "Xia Zhen, true and false, good and bad. Regardless of my original intentions, sincere or not, I won't deliberately hinder you from absorbing heaven and earth's spiritual energy, as agreed. However, I've already taken one step ahead—no, two steps. So when I break through to the upper five realms, I'll give you a choice: either flee this place and continue as a wandering rogue cultivator, or become the chief guest elder of my sect. You and I no longer need to fight over this bit of territory, engaging in unnecessary Dao struggles. If we can have two Jade Pure realms in one sect, sharing honor and disgrace, bound together—both of us from despised rogue cultivator backgrounds—wouldn't that be a legendary tale throughout Beiju Continent?"
Xia Zhen was silent, looking up at the old man in Confucian robes standing on the mountain peak.
Finally, Xia Zhen laughed and asked, "Did you have such a big appetite from the start, wanting to recruit me as your sect's guest elder?"
The old man shook his head. "Below the upper five realms, even those called Earth Immortals by the world still drift with the tide. It was only after I obtained the merit-based treasure and my state of mind became almost complete that I developed such breadth of vision. That's why, after Jiang Shangzhen injured you, I had no thought of kicking a dog when it's down. If I had intercepted your flying sword, would I have just watched you linger here on Jihuan Mountain? I would have traded injury for injury to uproot you. Which rogue cultivator wouldn't?"
Xia Zhen pressed both hands on the horned green snake on his waist, which had fallen into a deep slumber, and twitched the corner of his mouth. "But have you considered that my messenger flying sword might not have been just one? The one you intercepted was a decoy, deliberately left for you to catch? Why don't you calculate the time from when Jiang Shangzhen left Suijia City and headed south to when I appeared on Jihuan Mountain? Is it possible that I calculated that he and the northern sword immortal might appear together?"
The old man sighed. "I've said all I have to say. If you want to gamble, go ahead. You've already lost your head, Xia Zhen. There's no point in saying more."
Xia Zhen grinned savagely. "Right. I've already lost my head. If you keep standing there, talking without feeling the pain, don't blame me if I get injured again just to make you slow down your refinement of the sword embryo!"
The old man waved his hand. "Forget it. Consider my future sect one guest elder of the Jade Pure realm short."
Xia Zhen flicked his sleeve and snarled, "Get lost, you old dog. You annoy me just looking at you!"
The old man smiled dismissively, and his form dissipated.
Xia Zhen stood amid the ruins of the pavilion like a caged beast, pacing in circles. Then he waved his hands. Over a dozen peaks, including Jihuan Mountain, had their roots cut like a knife, lifting into the air. Xia Zhen manipulated the Mountain-Moving Formation, turning the peaks upside down to point their tips at the ground. They hung suspended, then crashed down one by one. Each impact on the nearby landscape threw up clouds of dust that blotted out the sky. The force of each mountain strike was somewhere between a Golden Core and a Nascent Soul cultivator's killing power. But this formation was an immobile, time-consuming trap, and couldn't be moved. The damned young sword immortal, warned by the old bastard and frightened off, never entered Jihuan Mountain's territory. This magnificent Mountain-Moving Formation became a joke, a decoration. So Xia Zhen used it to vent his rage.
Within a thousand miles, the ground trembled like an ox turning over—a terrifying commotion.
Ye Han and the other two watched with bated breath.
Finally, Xia Zhen was about to uproot Jihuan Mountain itself and hurl it from the clouds.
But then he frowned.
On the mountain path, two figures—no, three—walked down.
A couple, standing side by side, chatting and laughing. The woman held a swaddled baby, her gaze tender.
At her waist hung an exceptionally slender, snow-white sword.
Xia Zhen's scalp went numb.
And the man—Xia Zhen's back ran cold.
The man complained, "Hey, what's all this racket? You've woken up my child with Sister Li. Now I'll have to make faces and play silly games for ages to calm her down."
This time, Xia Zhen was truly in despair.
The woman the man affectionately called "Sister Li."
If his guess was correct, he wouldn't escape even if he fought desperately today.
In central Beiju Continent, there was a female sword immortal named Li Cai.
Her destined flying sword was called Snowflake.
Her personal sword was named Frost Dragon.
She was one of the sword immortals who had not gone to Hanging Mountain and still remained in Beiju Continent.
Out of respect, she was often called "Great Sword Immortal."
It sounded forced.
But her killing power was undeniable.
Every upper-five-realm sword immortal in Beiju Continent was the genuine article. For Jade Pure realm cultivators like the one from Qionglin Sect, even Nascent Soul sword cultivators rarely bothered to provoke them—winning would be beneath them. But if a new sword cultivator broke through to Jade Pure, they'd almost certainly have to fight other sword immortals a few times. If they died, it was bad luck and poor skill. If they survived, they earned the right to stand tall in Beiju Continent.
Xia Zhen gritted his teeth, turned to face the mountain path, and bowed. "Greetings, Great Sword Immortal Li. Greetings, Senior Jiang."
The man, Jiang Shangzhen, grinned. "Oh, now you remember to call me 'senior'?"
The woman frowned. "If it weren't for the fact that you had the sense to notify me by flying sword, you'd be dead by now. You rogue cultivator—don't you know proper etiquette? Switch the order."
Xia Zhen's mind nearly exploded. He trembled and said, "Greetings, Senior Jiang. Greetings, Great Sword Immortal Li!"
Jiang Shangzhen patted the sword immortal's arm. "Don't be like that. Does Sister Li not know what kind of person your Jiang is? I never care about these empty formalities."
The woman snorted. "I'll settle accounts with you later. I haven't agreed to go to Study Lake and show off your might."
Jiang Shangzhen, unperturbed, bent down and lifted a corner of the swaddling cloth. He said softly, "Little one, your newly recognized mother is angry. Grow up quickly, learn to talk, and help your father plead your case."
The woman's lips twitched up, then she pressed them down again.
Xia Zhen felt like he was going mad.
Jiang Shangzhen turned to Xia Zhen. "You're like me back in the day. You can fight, you can run—that's rare and commendable. That's why I spared your miserable life. I thought that after I met Sister Li and we traveled south together, if you'd behave, I wouldn't bother with you too much. But unfortunately, your escape skills are half as good as mine from back then, but your brains are all mush. That Mengliang state preceptor spoke to you with such sincerity, treating you like his own son, but you didn't listen to a word. I've seen plenty of mountain people in Beiju Continent who were determined to die and let me grant their wish, but someone like you who goes out of your way to court death—that's not common at all."
Xia Zhen said solemnly, "I beg Senior Jiang to give me one more chance—the last one!"
Jiang Shangzhen laughed. "The great sword immortal from the north—you did secretly lure him here. But my wife and I joined forces, and we barely managed to repel him. A huge riverbed and a massive crater were carved out near the central great river. Now there's probably an extra large lake. Isn't that amusing? Poor guy, a sword immortal, just to kill me, had to stoop to skulking around. If Sister Li weren't familiar with his sword intent, I would've had to leave an arm or a leg in your Beiju Continent. Then that sword immortal would have to go kill himself with a piece of tofu. It was a close call, a real close call. You, Xia Zhen, you really are a troublemaker. I'm afraid of you, okay? Xia Zhen, Senior Xia, I'm begging you, alright?"
Xia Zhen hesitated no longer. There was no way this would end well.
With a bang, thousands of Xia Zhens burst forth from his true body, some flying, some running, some burrowing into the earth, scattering in all directions. If even one escaped, he could live! This secret technique came at a great cost, worsening his injuries, but it was still better than being struck down body and soul by two upper-five-realm cultivators.
Jiang Shangzhen exclaimed in surprise, "That's a different escape trick from last time. Good heavens, truly worthy of being an immortal in the eyes of these ants. I'm terrified."
The female sword immortal beside Jiang Shangzhen twitched the corner of her mouth. Her palm rested on her sword's hilt. A soft hum sounded, but the sword remained sheathed.
In every direction around Jihuan Mountain, countless snow-white sword qi surged in—some straight, some winding, some drifting.
In an instant, heaven and earth fell silent.
Jiang Shangzhen reached out a hand, caught a Golden Core and a tiny figure the size of a grain of rice, and stowed them into his sleeve's small world. He grabbed again, snatching the limp, horned green snake from the ground into his sleeve. He grumbled, "Annoying. Made me earn money and treasures again!"
The sword immortal, Li Cai, glared at him.
Jiang Shangzhen gently called out the nickname he'd just given the child in the swaddling clothes. "Never mind, never mind. This can be her future dowry."
Li Cai found the three people over there rather irritating and asked impatiently, "What about these three frogs at the bottom of the well?"
Jiang Shangzhen glanced sideways at the three of them.
Those three were already kneeling in midair.
To them, Xia Zhen was an immortal at the mountain peak.
And in the blink of an eye, he was dead, Dao extinguished?
Jiang Shangzhen gently helped the woman brush off one of her sleeves. "How about we let them go? Especially since it's in front of our daughter..."
As he spoke, a willow leaf shot through the brows of Ye Han and Fan Weiran in succession, then vanished into Jiang Shangzhen's body. He smiled. "The little one is asleep anyway. She didn't see it."
The bodies of the two Golden Core cultivators tumbled down the foot of Jihuan Mountain.
Jiang Shangzhen didn't spare them a glance.
With the paltry possessions they had, was it worth my Jiang Shangzhen bending over? That would waste my time making real money?
Only the second patriarch of Baodong Immortal Domain, a woman at the Dragon Gate realm, remained, her body still trembling, prostrate on the ground.
The two began to fly south, riding the wind.
Li Cai found this unsurprising. She wasn't the least bit shocked.
Back then, if it weren't for this smooth-talking man, she would have died at the bottleneck of Golden Core.
That time, Jiang Shangzhen nearly lost his life.
It was one of the few losing bargains Jiang Shangzhen had ever made during his time in Beiju Continent.
But to this day, she didn't know why he did it.
That he had loved her back then was certainly true—but it was probably no different from his affection for his other pretty women, maybe just a little more. It definitely shouldn't have been enough for him to risk his life for her like that.
For so many years, she had always wanted to know the answer. She had even made a special trip to Tongye Continent, but she hadn't run into Jiang Shangzhen then. The old sect leader of Yagui Sect, Xun Yuan, said Jiang Shangzhen had gone to the Cloud Cavern Blessed Land and wouldn't return for a while. The old sect leader even cursed Jiang Shangzhen for her, saying this heartless bastard deserved to die in the Cloud Cavern Blessed Land. Miss Li should dirty her eyes by looking at him. It served him right that the blessed land was in chaos, and he almost died there... But Li Cai also knew that the old sect leader was still on Jiang Shangzhen's side, having spoken many indirect words about her, hoping she wouldn't give up on Jiang Shangzhen.
But by the time she reunited with Jiang Shangzhen, Li Cai, now a female sword immortal in central Beiju Continent, no longer wanted to know the answer.
Li Cai turned to look and asked, "Aren't you going to say hello?"
Jiang Shangzhen shook his head. "I'm too entangled with He Xiaoliang. And with you by my side, I'm an outsider. I'm not afraid of trouble, but you're a cultivator from these parts. I can't drag you into this."
Li Cai smiled faintly.
Suddenly, she frowned and asked, "That Heavenly Tribulation at Suijia City—I saw the lingering clouds. Even a weaker Nascent Soul would have had a huge problem. How did you withstand it?"
Jiang Shangzhen laughed. "What else could I do? I just risked my life. Sincerity moves heaven. Sometimes you have to believe in it. Human calculations can't match heaven's, and earthly advantages can't match heavenly principles—that's the ultimate truth. That fellow pretending to be the Mengliang state preceptor has only grasped a bit of the surface. For a Nascent Soul to peer into heaven is no small feat, so naturally, he has a brighter future than Xia Zhen."
Li Cai nodded, deeply in agreement.
Jiang Shangzhen suddenly said, "I heard you've taken on an excellent female disciple? She might even make it into the next top ten."
Li Cai's expression turned strange.
Jiang Shangzhen rolled his eyes. "What are you worried about me for? The rabbit doesn't eat the grass near its own hole. I only like one person per mountain. That's been my principle for wandering the mountains like the wind, standing firm for a thousand years!"
Li Cai's face turned icy. "Then why are you asking?"
Jiang Shangzhen grinned. "I'm just afraid she might repeat your mistakes—a disciple learning from her master, falling for a good man who's worth more than gold."
Li Cai shook her head. "My disciple's Dao heart is even firmer than mine was back then. She won't fall for anyone in this lifetime. That 'persistent man wears down a good woman' trick won't work on my disciple."
Jiang Shangzhen laughed heartily. "Wrong. I'm afraid she'll pester my good brother."
Li Cai snorted in disbelief.
Jiang Shangzhen grinned mischievously. "Sister Li, how about a bet? If I lose, I'll let you do whatever you want with me. But if you lose, you become a nominal guest elder of my new sect in Study Lake?"
Li Cai nodded. "Agreed!"
Jiang Shangzhen's expression turned odd. "My gambling skills and luck—Sister Li has personally experienced them before. Why are you so quick to agree this time?"
Li Cai smiled faintly. "My disciple needs to go into seclusion for thirty years. Can that young man wander around Beiju Continent for thirty years?"
Jiang Shangzhen grabbed the female sword immortal's sleeve. "Dear Sister, won't you let me off the hook this time?"
Li Cai's expression turned melancholy. "Can't you just love one person?"
Jiang Shangzhen smiled. "Wait until the day Sister Li is a realm above me, then we'll talk."
Li Cai sighed. She severed the ripples of emotion with her heart-sword and went with Jiang Shangzhen to Skeleton Beach to board a cross-continent ship from Pima Sect heading to Baoping Continent.
It was said that this bastard was going to Dali's Dragon Spring County, a place called Luopo Mountain, to seek a nominal guest elder position under the identity of Zhou Fei, a Nascent Soul realm cultivator.
And from the sound of it, he might not even succeed.
Li Cai turned to look at Jiang Shangzhen, who was lost in thought.
When he smiled and spoke, he was insufferable.
When he wasn't smiling, he was very serious.
It was a pity—such a man. The only woman he could never let go of, it was said, was an ordinary woman from the mortal world. And he had never even touched her. He just watched as she married, bore children, grew old with white hair, and passed away peacefully without disaster or calamity.
Li Cai hesitated. "Jiang Shangzhen, if you met a similar woman today, would you still love her like that?"
Jiang Shangzhen shook his head. "Of course not."
Li Cai was puzzled.
Jiang Shangzhen said slowly, "The first time you see something—a maiden graceful in the wilds, a magnificent landscape from a height, an immortal riding clouds in the sky, the hanging sun and moon when you ride the wind—these are completely different scenes from when you see similar things later. It's not necessarily that the first person or thing is more beautiful, but that feeling, lingering in your heart, is hard to forget for a thousand years."
Jiang Shangzhen smiled again and turned to her. "It's like the first time I met Sister Li—tiptoeing on fragrant steps, carrying golden-threaded slippers..."
Li Cai said angrily, "Shut your dog mouth!"
Jiang Shangzhen said tenderly, "Don't be shy, my dear. My heart is in turmoil."
---
Yuhu Prefecture, Huaihuang Kingdom.
At the gate of the prefectural city, many notices from the government and wealthy families were posted, all seeking experts to perform exorcisms at their homes. Most ended with promises of heavy rewards, but specific amounts of silver were never mentioned.
Chen Ping'an carefully read all the notices under the wall. It seemed the prefectural city was in quite a mess.
After buying some dry rations and supplies in the city, Chen Ping'an settled in an inn that evening. As night fell, he sat quietly on the ridge of the roof, drinking wine.
Sure enough, deep in the night on the city's main streets, a pale white figure darted around, tongue lolling out, face contorted. Her feet didn't touch the ground as she drifted back and forth. However, her evil aura was thin. She avoided every household that had door gods posted, regardless of whether they had any spiritual energy. The city's night watchmen had been replaced by two bold, strong young men with abundant yang energy. The yamen even gave them an extra allowance to buy two pots of wine each day. The white-robed hanging ghost tried to approach them a few times, but every time she got close, she was repelled by the invisible yang energy. After several failed attempts, she sulkily drifted away to scratch at the wicker doors and courtyard walls of poorer households. Some people slept deeply, snoring like thunder, completely unaware of the commotion. Only those with light sleep were terrified, trembling in fear, which earned her giggles—even more bone-chilling.
Seeing that the hanging ghost hadn't actually entered any homes to harm people, Chen Ping'an pretended not to see.
He lay on the eaves, crossed his legs, took out his folding fan, and gently fanned himself.
Threads were worst when stretched too long, with both ends unclear. Once they reached the azure sky above and the Yellow Springs below, with past lives and future existences, heights and depths, past and future were all uncertain.
Even worse was when a thread branched out into countless fine lines, good and evil blurred, intertwining into a tangled mess.
Especially when a thread was stretched long, if you only looked at the matter at hand, the farther you looked, the more strenuous it became.
Like that ghost frightening people—any cultivator who killed her wouldn't be wrong and could accumulate yin virtue. But if you looked a little further, the mortals around Yuhu City would then know there were ghosts in the world. In the future, when evil thoughts arose, wouldn't they think twice about karma and reincarnation? The spirit wandered at night but never truly harmed anyone. How should right and wrong be judged? And why had she hanged herself in the first place, her obsession lingering, turning her into a spirit? What injustice had she suffered?
Chen Ping'an closed his eyes and slept until dawn.
Nowadays, cultivation happened everywhere and at all times, so it didn't matter how fast or slow he traveled.
That morning, as Chen Ping'an left the city, he saw a group of four boldly tear down an official notice. Apparently, they were going straight to find trouble with the ghosts that had occupied the temple.
Chen Ping'an was a bit puzzled. These four—two women and two men—weren't flashily dressed. They weren't pretending to be poor; they genuinely had no money. The oldest was a middle-aged man at the Second Realm of martial arts. The young man was probably his apprentice, barely a pure martial artist. The two women, seemingly sisters, were Qi refiners who had just started their cultivation path, with spiritual energy so thin it was almost negligible.
If it had been that great cultivator who pretended to be a storyteller, Chen Ping'an could tell he was a Second Realm Qi refiner but still felt wary—that was due to his aura.
But these four were truly shallow in cultivation.
Dealing with the white-robed hanging ghost drifting around the city probably wouldn't be hard. But the temple outside the city was clearly a gathering place for many ghosts, and they had dared to occupy a temple with decent incense offerings and drive away all the monks. These four would likely have a hard time. If they weren't careful, they could get themselves surrounded and wiped out in that temple.
Chen Ping'an thought for a moment, then decided not to leave the city directly. He listened to their whispers, thinking they were unheard. They talked about buying yellow paper to draw more talismans, grinding a gold ingot into gold powder. The younger girl, whose cheeks had two rosy patches from the cold, suggested they ask the government for a deposit and, through the prefect's official document, borrow some incense-infused artifacts from the City God Temple and the Civil and Martial God Temples. That would increase their chances and make their trip to Jinduo Temple safer.
The young man complained, asking why they didn't just subdue the fox and rabbit spirits—that would earn them two bounties from the government and a wealthy household, with less risk.
The taller, average-looking older woman quietly explained to him that once the ghosts at Jinduo Temple knew of their movements, they would be on high alert, making success even harder.
Chen Ping'an listened to their serious, unrelaxed tone. The man hadn't seemed so heroic when he tore down the notice.
So Chen Ping'an left the city and headed to the Jinduo Temple, thirty li away.
He stopped to rest at a roadside pavilion about seven or eight li from the temple. The pavilion was next to a mountain stream. He waited until noon to see the four figures approach.
Without waiting for them to get closer, Chen Ping'an headed toward Jinduo Temple.
He shouldered his bamboo case, held his walking staff, and slowed his pace, pretending to be a frail scholar struggling along the road.
Soon the four caught up to him and passed by. The leading man held a large incense tube. He glanced at Chen Ping'an but quickly looked away. The seemingly honest, dull-witted young man grinned. The scholar grinned back, and the young man grinned even harder, even after turning his head away.
The older woman frowned but said nothing. Her younger sister was about to speak, but the older woman grabbed her sleeve, signaling her not to meddle. The girl relented, but after walking a few steps, she couldn't help turning back. She laughed and asked, "Hey, scholar, are you going to Jinduo Temple to burn incense? Don't you know that everyone in Yuhu Prefecture has stopped going? And you want to be the first to offer the first incense of the year?"
The scholar wiped his forehead, caught his breath, and smiled. "I just arrived in Yuhu Prefecture. I have a friend who knows the monks at Jinduo Temple. He said I could stay there to study—quiet and free."
The girl was about to speak when her sister pinched her arm, making her wince. She turned her head and whispered, "Sis, it's broad daylight. No temple ghosts will be spying on us. If this scholar follows us to Jinduo Temple, when we fight the ghosts, do we save him or not? That'll make things harder. If we don't save him, even if we kill the demons and get the reward, my conscience won't allow it. I need to warn him not to throw his life away. There are plenty of places to study—why does he have to barge into a ghost den? This guy really has terrible luck. He's definitely not destined to pass the imperial exams."
Her sister sighed and flicked her forehead. "Talk less. Once you've stopped the scholar, no more acting willful. This trip to Jinduo Temple, everything must be as I say!"
The girl was delighted. She slowed down and walked beside the scholar, gradually falling behind the other three.
The girl's first words were quite spirited: "Hey, scholar, are you married? What do you think of my sister's looks?"
The traveling scholar from afar laughed. "Miss, please don't tease me."
The girl suddenly burst into laughter. "Just kidding!"
Then she put on a serious face. "Now, no more jokes. Jinduo Temple is very dangerous right now. A bunch of fierce ghosts have appeared, driving away the monks at dusk. Even the abbot, who knew some Buddhist magic, died on the spot. Many monks and pilgrims who couldn't escape also died. They've taken over the temple, and they really do eat people. So don't go. There isn't a single bald monk left in the temple now. I'm not trying to scare you. If you don't believe me, go ask around the city. If I'm lying, you've just wasted a trip. But if I'm not, wouldn't you die in a strange land? How would you pass the exams and bring glory to your family then?"
The scholar asked, "Then why are you going to burn incense?"
The girl stomped her foot. "Can't you see? We're experts at slaying demons and subduing monsters!"
The scholar paused, then laughed. "Since when are there demons and monsters in this world? Miss, don't fool me."
The older woman and the man exchanged glances and shook their heads.
The young man just curled his lip.
Only the girl with the rosy cheeks got anxious. "My sister says you scholars are stubborn and never turn back. If you keep being reckless, I'll knock you out and leave you at the pavilion. But that's still dangerous—if a ghost or two escapes at night and smells you, you'll die anyway. You've studied yourself stupid, you blockhead! Get out of here!"
The scholar said foolishly, "I'm starved right now, and I'm short on cash. I can't go all the way back to the city. Let me just take a look at Jinduo Temple from outside. If there really are no pilgrims or monks, I'll turn around and leave immediately."
The girl sighed. "My sister says those high-level ghosts can use powers to cover the sky with evil qi and blot out the sun. Then how will you run?"
She called ahead, "Sis, I'll take this blockhead back to the city first. I'll run fast and make it back to Jinduo Temple before dark."
Her sister said angrily, "We chose the timing carefully! We were worried the temple ghosts could appear during the day. We need more time to paste talismans. Without you, what would we do? Do you want to collect our corpses afterward?! Have you forgotten what happened last time?!"
The girl was dejected. "Oh," she said, crestfallen. Then she said to the scholar, "Go, scholar. We don't know each other. I'm not messing with you by saying Jinduo Temple has ghosts."
But the scholar made her eyes well up with tears. He insisted on taking a look at the temple gate.
She was about to throw a punch at him—he was taking her kindness for granted. But she couldn't bear to watch him walk into danger.
Unexpectedly, the bookworm took a step back. "Miss, please don't hit me. A gentleman uses words, not fists. If you knock me out and leave me at the pavilion, and someone steals my bamboo case, will you pay me back?"
The girl turned around, caught up with her sister, and wiped her face with her hand.
She thought, how could there be such an ungrateful person in the world?
She was heartbroken.
But she couldn't help turning back to look. That guy was actually following.
When she hesitated, wondering if she should knock him out, he—sharp when he should be dull, dull when he should be sharp—stopped and didn't move forward.
The girl was about to curse him when her sister grabbed her arm. "Stop messing around!"
The girl lowered her head.
Chen Ping'an smiled knowingly.
Seems he had disappointed a good person.
He continued to follow slowly, the distance between them growing.
The girl was about to turn again when her sister scolded, "Do you want to get us all killed?! What if he's a zombie in league with the evil spirits?!"
Finally, the girl stopped turning.
She walked with her head down, kicking at small stones.
Her sister sighed. "That temper of yours will get you into big trouble. How many times have we seen kindness repaid with evil on this journey?"
"Mm," the girl replied without arguing.
In the distance, the white-robed scholar, bored, used his walking staff to flick stones back to their original positions. He murmured with a smile, "Is that really so?"
As they neared Jinduo Temple, the girl secretly turned her head. The mountain path twisted and turned. She couldn't see the scholar anymore.
The four walked for another li. The view opened up. The young woman said solemnly, "We're here."
The man nodded.
A faint trace of malevolent qi swirled within Jinduo Temple, but it was very thin, dissipating at a breath of wind. The woman said doubtfully, "Something's off. Last night, when we looked from afar, the yin-sha qi shouldn't have been this thin."
The man thought for a moment and said, "This is good. Maybe the sun truly is forcing those filthy ghosts to hide underground. Perfect for us to paste talismans, scatter glutinous rice, and pour dog blood, while you set up the formation. By dusk, when there's still some afterglow, we'll thunderously drive them out of the ground. Without the advantage of time and place, we'll have them safely."
The young woman nodded and said to her eager sister, "Stay sharp, don't let your guard down. Ghosts have endless tricks. If this temple is a trap, we'll be in big trouble."
The girl's eyes sparkled. "Don't worry, sis."
At the main gate of Jinduo Temple, the girl with rosy cheeks moved nimbly, vaulting onto the wall. In the courtyard before the main hall, many skeletons lay on the ground—the unfortunate monks and pilgrims. She swiftly threw a yellow talisman written with expensive gold powder, which stuck perfectly onto the door frame of the main hall. The talisman showed no sign of burning. After a moment, she turned and said, "No ghosts in the front hall. Uncle Song, feel free to paste talismans on the temple gate. Once inside, just scatter the rice along the walls."
Then the two sisters began to move swiftly, entering the temple first. They pasted ordinary yellow talismans on walls and pillars, reserving the rare gold-powder talismans for important places like main hall doors and plaques.
The master and apprentice, outside the temple, casually discarded the incense tube and took out cotton pouches filled with heavy, aged glutinous rice and leather water bags of black dog blood. They began to "set up the formation" from the front hall, clearly experienced.
Eventually, at the back of the temple, the four met up, all safe and sound.
Only one side hall, its doors tightly shut, had a heavy malevolent qi. The girl said so, so they worked together to paste dozens of yellow talismans on the doors, windows, and roof eaves. The sister herself pasted talismans on the roof. Then the girl started tearing off tiles, letting sunlight pour into the side hall. Wailing came from inside, along with the hissing of black smoke being burned to ash by the sunlight.
Finally, the four stood at the side hall's entrance.
They exchanged smiles.
The young woman held a Demon Binding Rope she had bought with her entire fortune—forty Snowflake Coins!
Her sister's method was even stranger. She muttered an incantation, crouched down, and took out an embroidered pouch. When she loosened the drawstring, various old copper coins rolled out and scattered on their own.
As for the master and apprentice, they were unarmed. But the man wore a ring of throwing knives at his waist, inscribed with talismanic script—clearly not an ordinary martial artist's weapons.
The woman and the man smiled at each other.
It seemed the temple spirits weren't as powerful as they'd feared, and they were very afraid of sunlight. If nothing went wrong, Jinduo Temple didn't have dozens of fierce ghosts gathered—the people of Yuhu Prefecture were just too scared and exaggerated the rumors. This was their chance to make some real money!
They had hit the jackpot!
At the prefect's office, after some haggling with the stingy official—a mix of cajoling, bluffing, and scaring—they had secured a promise of five thousand taels of silver from the government. For that alone, even if they risked life and limb to suppress the Jinduo Temple ghosts, it wouldn't be worth it if someone got hurt. But on top of the government bounty, there was a bigger prize: the prefect had agreed to another thirty thousand taels, raised by wealthy believers in the city. So it was worth the risk.
And now they had stumbled onto a golden opportunity.
The man's heart swelled with joy. He looked around, feeling triumphant. Once they dealt with the spirits in the side hall, they could head back and claim the thirty-five thousand taels. At their agreed split—thirty percent for them—the master and apprentice would get over ten thousand taels.
Truly an auspicious day for slaying demons!
Now they began their real work. When the girl's copper coins circled the side hall and each stood upright, she pressed her fingers together and murmured a spell. The coins instantly sank into the ground. The girl's face paled slightly, and she looked at her sister.
The young woman nodded and said quietly to the man, "My sister and I will go up to the roof first to test the ghosts. If they're forced out, you two strike immediately. Don't let them escape to other parts of the temple. If they stay hidden, while the sun's still strong, just tear down this side hall. My sister's coins can trap them underground, but not for long. So act fast."
The man nodded and said, "Don't worry."
The sisters went up to the roof again and threw down yellow talismans, occasionally mixing in the precious gold-powder talismans.
The young man also took out a bronze mirror, angling it to shine on the windows of the side hall.
A white-robed, bamboo-case-carrying young scholar was actually sitting on a nearby rooftop, but he had pasted a Ghost Axe Palace secret Tortoise-Stelee Talisman on himself, making him invisible to the four.
What followed was a "soul-stirring" battle.
Black smoke billowed up. Even though talismans swarmed it, the young woman's Demon Binding Rope struck it repeatedly, dispersing the black smoke, and the young man's mirror burned it, with the man's throwing knives piercing through, the black smoke seemed unstoppable once it escaped the side hall prison. After the smoke scattered, it turned into a kind of ghostly maze. The four were trapped. Even as the girl desperately controlled talismans, they only turned into slender fire dragons, unable to break through the black smoke walls that blocked the sunlight. The four were in dire straits, wounded. The girl took a black smoke strike to the back while saving the mirror-wielding youth. She spat blood but still struggled up, taking out a stack of yellow talismans she had drawn herself, pinching her fingers and throwing them. They became a talisman fire dragon, and she exhausted her own spiritual energy to protect the four.
The white-robed scholar frowned and slapped his forehead. "With skills like that, you dare come to Jinduo Temple to slay demons? And I've already killed eight or nine out of ten of the spirits for you."
He smiled faintly and snapped his fingers.
The black smoke, which had been freed from some restraining force, suddenly slowed, congealed into a fierce ghost over ten feet tall. Under the scorching sun, it was finally killed by the four, barely.
The girl bent over, wiping blood from her mouth and nose. She beamed. "Sis, I didn't hold you back this time, did I?"
The young woman, surviving the ordeal, had red-rimmed eyes. She hurried to her sister's side, supporting her—the girl could barely stand. "Playing hero? Shut up and heal."
The young man looked at his broken mirror, then glanced at his panting master. The master hesitated, then nodded slightly.
The man looked around and laughed. "Miss Xining, Miss Quan, the sky is clear now. The demons are gone. How about we rest here in the temple for a day and return to the city tomorrow?"
The young woman frowned. "Even though there's no more evil qi in Jinduo Temple, it's been infested by ghosts. There might be stragglers. My sister and I have used up all our talismans. We can't fight anymore. Better return to the city quickly."
The young man shook his head. "Sister Xining, if we go back too early, the prefect might think the exorcism was too easy. If he's shameless, the five thousand taels might still be okay—it's in black and white. But he might pocket the thirty thousand taels. We shouldn't leave today. In fact, we should tear down more temple walls, so we can claim the full reward. And we should tell the prefect that a few evil spirits escaped. After we get the money, we'll demand another five thousand to finish the job."
The girl rolled her eyes, then quickly turned her head and coughed up blood. Embarrassing.
The young woman thought it over and nodded. "Alright. We'll go back tomorrow. We'll stay in the temple tonight. My sister needs to rest anyway."
Just then, a panicked white-robed scholar ran from the front hall's side path. "Why are there so many bones on the floor of the front hall? Where are all the monks? Could there really be demons and monsters..."
The girl was annoyed with him now, but seeing him alive and well, she felt a little relieved.
The master and apprentice went to collect their remaining talismans and bag the glutinous rice for future use.
The young woman chose a secluded room in the temple, where wealthy pilgrims usually stayed to copy scriptures. The girl sat cross-legged on the porch, beginning to breathe and meditate.
Her sister went to patrol the area, checking for surprises.
The cowardly scholar insisted on following them. He took off his bamboo case and sat on the steps like a door god.
At dusk, the young woman returned, carrying a large bundle of valuable scripture books and other items she had scavenged.
The girl opened her eyes and called to the scholar's back, "It's almost night. Soon there'll be ghosts everywhere. Aren't you going to run?"
The white-robed scholar turned and smiled at her. "The books say humans fear ghosts, but ghosts fear human hearts even more. But I think you're a good person, miss. So I'd rather stay by your side."
The girl thought hard, then raised her fist. "Are you praising me or insulting me? If you keep being so infuriating, I'll punch you!"
The scholar raised his hands. "A gentleman uses words, not fists."
The girl grinned, her playful side emerging. "I'm not a gentleman—I'm a woman. Let me give you a punch and knock some sense into you. Maybe then you'll pass the exams!"
The bookworm, clearly addled, laughed. "But I see that you're open and upright, kind-hearted—no worse than a gentleman."
The young woman frowned. "Since you claim to be a gentleman scholar, you should know the propriety between men and women. Why are you shamelessly hanging around here? Is that appropriate?"
The girl thought the scholar had gotten clever again. He only said, "I'm not a gentleman. I'm just a poor scholar. If there are really ghosts in Jinduo Temple, I can't just run out to my death. It's better to stay here."
The young woman snapped, "Get lost!"
The girl was about to speak, but her sister's glare stopped her.
The scholar had no choice but to hug his bamboo case and leave the courtyard fearfully.
Probably leaning against the wall outside, contemplating his mistakes?
The girl whispered, "Sis, why are you so harsh? He's just a bookworm."
The young woman frowned. "You need to rest and heal. We can't have any slip-ups. It's already strange that this person appeared on the road to the temple. Following us inside is even more suspicious. If he hadn't been ahead of us on this road, I would have attacked him without hesitation."
She softened her voice. "Alright, rest now."
The girl nodded but kept glancing at the courtyard gate.
Her sister laughed bitterly. "There are no ghosts left. It's just the five of us. He'll be fine sleeping outside, scared to death. Don't you worry about your own sister? Worry about the ones who fought with us? Instead, you're worried about an outsider. What, you're smitten because he's a scholar? I told you—scholars are the most unreliable in the world..."
The girl pleaded, "Okay, okay, I'll cultivate now. I'll cultivate properly!"
Night fell.
The girl sat in the corridor, concentrating on breathing, her mind immersed.
The young woman sat on the steps, resting lightly but not daring to fall asleep.
After all, they were in Jinduo Temple.
Suddenly, throwing knives flew in from the courtyard gate.
A familiar figure strode forward.
Though shocked and terrified, the young woman swept her sleeves, deflecting the sharp knives.
A blade was hurled straight at her sister's neck—heavy and fast. The young man crouched on the wall had thrown it.
The young woman let a throwing knife embed itself in her shoulder as she lunged, catching the blade inches from her sister's neck. But the pure martial artist, the man, was already beside her, punching her temple. She crashed through the wall and a window, tumbling into the room, spitting blood. She struggled but couldn't get up.
The young man leaped down lightly, smirking. "Master, can we keep Miss Quan alive for a while? Better if Sister Xining is dead too. Just cripple these two immortals."
The man raised a hand toward the girl, who was forcibly interrupting her breathing technique, and shook his head. "This girl is more troublesome. Master will spare her sister for you."
The young man laughed. "We'll get both money and women!"
The man suddenly turned, one hand gripping the girl's throat, and looked toward the courtyard gate.
The young man quickly moved to his master's side.
A head poked in from the courtyard gate. The voice was timid. "This is a Buddhist pure land. Isn't what you're doing... not very appropriate?"
The girl, her face livid, moved her lips as if to warn the blockhead to run.
The newcomer seemed to notice her expression. He paused. "This kind-hearted little girl—are you asking me to save you? Don't worry. I'm a chivalrous man at heart. I've read so many sage books. To be honest, I've stored up a bellyful of righteous qi..."
The girl tried desperately to shake her head. Tears rolled down her cheeks.
The little girl's cheeks were flushed.
Very cute.
The man's eyes slowly narrowed. The foolish, dull expression vanished. He stepped openly through the gate, raised a hand, and snapped his fingers. "Come out. Some living people deserve to be eaten by dead ghosts."
The master and apprentice saw a ferocious ghost over ten feet tall slink out from behind the useless scholar. Its malevolent aura was far denser than the one before.
The man immediately released the girl's throat. "Young master, you must be the ghost king here. This is a misunderstanding. My apprentice and I meant no offense to your territory. It was these two cultivators who were greedy for merit and reward..."
The evil ghost turned into a rolling cloud of black smoke and engulfed the man instantly. The sound of tearing flesh, cracking bones, and his screams filled the air.
The young man wasn't so terrified that he lost his wits. He still had the strength to leap onto the wall and flee into the distance.
The ghost seemed to receive a silent command. It released the corpse of the man, vaulted over the wall, and gave chase. Soon, the same gruesome sounds echoed.
Then a sword light fell from the sky. The ghost outside howled once, the sound shaking heaven and earth—likely heard all the way in the city, scaring countless people. Then all was silent.
The girl stared, dumbfounded. "Are you the ghost king?"
The scholar sat down on the steps and smiled. "What do you think?"
The girl suddenly said, "Don't eat me yet! Let me check on my sister first."
The scholar nodded. "Sure."
The girl wanted to glare at him, but thinking he might be the Jinduo Temple ghost king, she hurried to her sister, helping her out of the room.
The young woman smiled bitterly and resigned herself to her fate.
She had seen everything clearly.
The girl looked at the mess of flesh and blood on the ground, her expression complex, her eyes dim.
How could this be?
She had almost died—not at the hands of ghosts, but at the hands of the master and apprentice she had traveled half of Huaihuang with. They had seemed so nice.
When they came out of the room, the white-robed scholar had already stood up and was heading for the courtyard. But he turned back to the girl. "Later, your sister will probably tell you even more firmly that the world is full of bad people. Little girl, don't be disappointed. Just because something has always been that way doesn't mean it's right. No matter what you see or experience, time and again, one after another, I hope you remember: you are still right."
He took out a bamboo hat and put it on. "Look—good people get good rewards, bad people get bad ones. At least tonight, it's true."
He walked out of the courtyard but suddenly leaned back, his smile bright. "Little girl, you're very pretty. I'm sure you'll find a good husband someday."
The girl laughed and cried, wiping her face. "Annoying!"
Then, remembering the golden light, her eyes sparkled. "You're actually a sword immortal, aren't you?"
The man straightened up and smiled. "I'm a swordsman who read himself stupid."
After that, he transformed into a white rainbow, rising from the ground and heading north.