Chapter 1003

"If the Earl of Baron Xingyi doesn't believe it, please look at this volume!"

Ling Xuan took out a yellowed booklet, three fingers thick; when he took it out, his expression was full of confidence, like a lion shaking its mane.

As the youngest Perfected Form Grandmaster of this dynasty and even the previous one, the Earl of Baron Xingyi was undoubtedly extremely formidable, but in investigating cases, as a Purple-Gold Tiqi, he also had his own pride.

Liang Qu took the booklet and flipped through it.

Each page of the booklet had a date in the top left corner, representing a day, and next to the date were four numbers; the characters on the whole page were extremely small.

At first, the booklet recorded everyone's name and event.

After about a hundred pages, there were more and more people, the numbers after the dates became larger and larger, and the events recorded became simpler, with only a few words; when there were many, there could be two or three hundred people on one page—it was simply a black page.

"Zhuoga Yang Sect was turning prayer wheels on Barkhor Street; the copper prayer wheel got stuck and made a sharp sound, and in the fright, she bumped into a stone wall."

"When the chef Qiangba Quzha was boiling mutton bone soup, the boiling soup wrapped around the peppercorns and splashed into his eyes."

"When the herdsman Gesang Meiduo was chasing a runaway sheep, he stepped on fresh cow dung..."

Similar events were too numerous to count, dense and crowded.

Often separated by six or seven pages, if you looked carefully, you could see their names again, recording the same range of groups for a long time.

Cycling back and forth.

"Third Prince!"

Liang Qu held up the booklet.

The little Mirage Dragon flew over holding a charcoal pen and a booklet, browsed a few pages, opened its own little booklet, and held it high: "It's a bit like what I recorded, eh."

Ling Xuan felt slightly surprised; originally three-tenths proud, he sensed something different, restrained his expression, and endured his patience without asking on the spot, first explaining his content to Liang Qu.

"Earl of Baron Xingyi, the first number after the date in the booklet is the total number of people I counted, the second number is the number of people recorded that day, the third is the number of deaths, and the fourth is the number not recorded that day.

It's not easy to plant spies in the Snow Mountain, and it's very hard to find herdsmen who are not devout in their faith and can go without going to the temple for a long time; they all need to be paid, and some even take the money and go to worship secretly.

I came to the Great Snow Mountain several months ago and found the difference, spent a lot of manpower and material resources, and specifically found a colleague from the Central Plains, Zhuifeng, to help compare; until this year, there were about a thousand people who were always in the records.

Among these thousand people, on average, more than a hundred people would encounter various small things every day, such as choking on water, bumping into table corners... originally quite normal, but one-tenth... placed in the Central Plains, for the same thousand people, the probability of events occurring is much lower..."

Liang Qu listened while looking.

It was generally similar to his recording method, but Ling Xuan's sample data was larger and more rigorous, not comparable to the few people on the treasure ship.

After several months of observation, Liang Qu found that 【Drowning Karma】 basically only maintained a level of one point; it didn't take the initiative to stir up trouble, wouldn't rise or fall, and on average, there was a small bout of bad luck every few days; placed in a place like the Snow Mountain region, there was simply no abnormality worth noting.

In a place where ordinary people would get dizzy from running fast, it was too normal to accidentally have a little bad luck.

Under the condition that the environment itself had huge differences, outsiders would only attribute it to not being accustomed to the water and soil, rather than someone having cast a "curse" on them.

Listening to Ling Xuan's meaning, if one went to burn incense and worship Buddha more often, within a certain period, this point of 【Drowning Karma】 could also be eliminated.

How many herdsmen in the Snow Mountain region do not believe in the Lotus Sect?

Less than one percent.

Almost none.

Just as Ling Xuan said, one has to pay money to make herdsmen not worship for a period of time, and it can't be just a little money.

The keen observation of a Purple-Gold Constable!

Liang Qu himself relied on the Ze Tripod's reminder to discover it; Ling Xuan being able to perceive the abnormality on his own was truly extraordinary.

"I also divided them into batches and let them go to the temple to worship at fixed times... I found that the herdsmen after worshipping... did not drop to the same level as the Central Plains, but were significantly lower than before when they hadn't worshipped.

Therefore, using a very long time to confirm, there is a force influencing them in the dark, and it can be removed by burning incense and worshipping Buddha; the matter of harming people's luck, combined with Magistrate Jian Magistrate Jian Zhongyi's disaster energy effect, cannot be separated from the Great Snow Mountain!"

After explaining, Ling Xuan was itching with curiosity and couldn't help but ask his previous confusion, "What does the little dragon beside the Earl of Baron Xingyi mean by the same records?"

"Hehe." The little Mirage Dragon flicked its tail, triumphant, and handed the booklet to Ling Xuan, "Everything you said, my boss discovered long ago! He had me record it as soon as we arrived!"

"!"

Ling Xuan raised his hand to take the booklet and flip through it; the pages rustled, and the handwriting was crooked.

It was exactly the same content!

Recording everyone's bad luck in detail and comparing it... obviously, he had discovered the trickiness of the Snow Mountain!

How could this be!

The matter of the Great Snow Mountain sounded terribly unlucky, but in reality, on average, one person only had one incident every few days, which simply wouldn't...

Ling Xuan raised his head abruptly, his eyes shining: "Does the Earl of Baron Xingyi have any special method of identification?"

Impressive!

Liang Qu praised him in his heart again.

He originally wanted to make up a reason, such as "Long Long Eying eating Size Ruyi Long Qi" to increase good luck and be able to perceive it keenly, but after thinking about it, he really had no need to lie to a Purple-Gold Tiqi; the more he said, the more he exposed, and he would just provoke suspicion for no reason.

"I have had some encounters myself, so I can perceive a few differences, but I cannot confirm it directly, nor can I let others feel it; after thinking about it, I had to use a dead method to confirm."

A dead method!

Ling Xuan was struck in the heart.

It was like the feeling of powerlessness when he was studying arithmetic in the old school, working hard according to the teacher's requirements, painstakingly adding one to one hundred, only to find that the kid in the front row added the beginning and the end in pairs, using a simple multiplication...

"Lord Ling, don't take it to heart; it's just good luck; without special encounters, I wouldn't have been able to see through it either; besides, I didn't know that burning incense and worshipping Buddha could alleviate Drowning Karma; you've truly helped a lot."

"Drowning Karma?"

"Correct, I call this influence 【Drowning Karma】."

Ling Xuan frowned.

Drowning, to die by being submerged in water.

Karma, the karmic force of Buddhism.

This guy...

Not only is he keen, but he's also so good at naming things!

Liang Qu continued: "Unlike Lord Ling, who knows how to eliminate 【Drowning Karma】, I have discovered a method to increase 【Drowning Karma】."

"Increase?" Ling Xuan freed himself from his aimless thoughts, "How to increase it?"

"Does Lord Ling know what major event happened to the Bai family?"

Major event?

Isn't the recent major event of the Bai family the deaths of the former patriarch Bai Bai Chenfeng and the clan elder Bai Bai Chenhonglang?

You did it.

Ling Xuan knew the answer wouldn't be that simple, and Liang Qu wouldn't talk nonsense without a reason; he thought carefully and was suddenly shocked: "The Temple of General Suoshuang—did you do it?"

Liang Qu smiled, neither admitting nor denying.

Everything was understood without words.

Hiss.

Urinating on a statue can actually increase Drowning Karma?

What was he thinking before the attempt was verified?

Just because it was related to the ritual?

Is this the association of a genius...

Ling Xuan didn't even know where he had lost; he only had suspected cases of increase when pulling out secret stakes, and he still couldn't fully determine the mechanism, while Liang Qu had already urinated on more than a dozen General Suoshuang statues, unswervingly, one a day.

Building bridges, constructing water channels.

Personally encouraged by His Majesty, truly extraordinary.

"No wonder the Bai family made such a big scene catching people, without a single clue, losing all face; a group of Hunting Tiger and Wolf Smoke, numbering dozens, even hundreds—how could they catch a Perfected Form?"

Wait.

Ling Xuan realized something was wrong.

"Lord Liang, having increased so much Drowning Karma for no reason, won't your daily life be affected by disaster?"

"It is affected, but I also have a method of resolution; as for how to resolve it." Liang Qu closed the booklet, "After we get familiar, Lord Ling, explain the matter of the secret stakes to me, and I will naturally be frank."

Besides burning incense and worshipping Buddha, there is another method of resolution?

Ling Xuan's thoughts turned a hundred times; for someone good at deciphering, he desperately wanted to know the answer.

Unfortunately, they were unfamiliar with each other; exchanging information upon their first meeting was fine, but they were far from being frank.

Even if they confirmed they were in the same camp, both sides were doing their own things; whether to accept each other still required a decision.

"Good! Once I bring today's matter back, it won't be too long."

"I'll trouble you."

A boat like a shuttle between heaven and earth.

Ling Xuan left on his boat, drifting away.

A brief exchange, each with significant gains.

"Everyone is entangled in Drowning Karma, seeking liberation through burning incense and worshipping Buddha—what a brilliant means... Ordinary people are like falling into a quagmire; how can they escape?"

Watching him disappear from view, Liang Qu muttered to himself.

The Snow Mountain region is a plateau area, lacking oxygen and freezing cold, and the plants grown are not ideal; the environment is so harsh that even taking a shit can burst blood vessels, and one can accidentally shit themselves to death in the toilet; the lives of ordinary people are already burdened with suffering.

But without a systematic explanation, the huge changes in the overall environment, coupled with the baptism of several generations.

All symptoms are the consequences of "offending the gods" or "not observing taboos." Therefore, speaking loudly at the foot of the Holy Mountain or polluting water sources can trigger the punishment of the gods.

Blue Lake is located at the boundary and is still fine; there isn't even a profession of fisherman in the lakes of the Snow Mountain region.

And in places where the power of the gods is everywhere, the only way for the spirit to find support is to rely on faith.

At first, they will undoubtedly get comfort, making life a little sweeter.

But under the long-term development of faith led by mortals, it is inevitable that there will be ambitious people, inevitable that there will be all kinds of impurities; there are saints, but among the millions of monks, true ones are the minority—they are the waves created by the collision of the tide, naturally beginning to expand their power and invade the living space of the believers.

The harsh environment of the Great Snow Mountain also destined this invasion of space for the living to be endless, because in the end, it's just death; the harsh environment is death, and ordinary believers also die; having been accustomed to suffering, they can't tell the difference between the two, naturally developing step by step into a distortion deep into the bone marrow.

"Croak." The frog sound interrupted his thoughts; the Ice-Jade Toad jumped onto the deck and called out, "My Lord, my Lord, our living ancestor invites you and your wife and friends to a banquet!"

Liang Qu rubbed his hands: "It's been twenty days; how can I be embarrassed to attend a banquet every day?"

"My Lord, rest assured." The white jade toad patted its chest, "There are no demon tribes in Blue Lake, and there is almost no interaction on weekdays; it's only been twenty days; guests have come to the door, and even two hundred days can be afforded."

"Hey, here we come, here we come! Long Binglin, Long Yanrui, Long Eying, Master Huai Kong, time to eat!"

Although the reaction was a bit slow, it was good that the other party had taken action; next, Liang Qu would just wait for the Ice Wheel Bodhi Temple to bump into him itself.

Before that.

Fill his own stomach first!

Under Ice Mirror Mountain.

Monks of Yuequan Temple inquired along the way, and the herdsmen in the village knelt to welcome them.

At midnight, in the master's house, the monks chatted by candlelight; outside, the cold wind whistled, and the mastiff tore open a whole roasted yak, the heat rolling into the sky; the large dogs sat and shared the food, not noticing a glimmer of golden light leaping out the window and onto the roof.

Opening its mouthparts, Bai Awei landed on the roof, its wings fluttering, greeting the man in a fur coat not far away.

Seeing the insect arrive, Zhedan, who had received the news in advance, stopped following, packed up his tracks, erased his scent, and returned quietly.

A moment later.

Gathering inside the house, Zhedan saw Ling Xuan discussing today's events.

Silver-Plated Tiqi Hu Lixin asked: "Lord Ling, listening to what you said, are we going to say anything or not?"

"Yeah, this Earl of Baron Xingyi can fight Bai Bai Chenfeng and Bai Bai Chenhonglang at the second level; if he could join us, we wouldn't have to fear many things! We could let go and act." Someone echoed.

"This matter is not for me to decide alone."

Ling Xuan tapped the fire basin, took out the roasted sweet potato inside, and turned to look at Liu Jingxuan.

Also a Perfected Form, he was only at the first level, but Liu Jingxuan was at the second level and about to enter the third; the third palace had long been condensed with four parts, only three-tenths away from the end.

As for Magistrate Jian Magistrate Jian Zhongyi, who was also a Perfected Form, no one asked.

He was still a criminal; in terms of decision-making power, he was not even as good as a Hunting Tiger Great Martial Artist.

Liu Jingxuan pondered for a long time: "The matter is not urgent for now... The key is to first find the next secret stake; the monks of Yuequan Temple will definitely report back after investigating, and the Bodhi Temple will not let it go; at that time, they will inevitably be entangled together; let's observe first, and then watch over each other; besides, even if the Earl of Baron Xingyi comes, he can't help us; we weren't meant for a head-on confrontation anyway."

"That's fine."

Ling Xuan felt the same.

Liang Qu was involved with one of the seven major temples; getting too close now would increase the risk of exposure for no reason; too many people would arouse the vigilance of the Great Snow Mountain; besides, removing secret stakes is not about hard demolition; force is insurance, not the function.

They had been busy for several years and had dismantled three-tenths of the secret stakes; even if the Great Snow Mountain erupted in a rush, it wouldn't necessarily lead to the Drought Demon's fruit; there was indeed no reason to slack off.

The advantage could be even greater!

The next day.

The monks of Yuequan Temple had roughly understood the situation, rode on their mastiffs, and were about to rush back to the temple.

The landlord chased out in a hurry and knelt down.

"Master, Master, I heard that the Master of Yuequan Temple is going to have a special day?"

The two monks were stunned.

The special day, i. e., the abbot's birthday; the two were entrusted by Wansi Temple and had high hopes from Ice Wheel Bodhi Temple; they were out on a major task and had been busy all the way, almost forgetting this matter.

Rege, the monk riding the mastiff, thought for a while.

"This place does need to perform the Buddha ritual of offering to the Heavenly Maiden; according to custom, we need four heads, ten sets of intestines, one human skin, clean blood, dirty blood, ruins soil, widow's menstrual blood, leper's blood, various meats, various hearts, various blood, water from a dark place, whirlwind soil, thorns growing to the north, dog feces, human feces, butcher's boots, etc.

If you really have the heart, you can choose a few and send them to Yuequan Temple on the 18th of next month; if they are chosen, there will be blessings."

"Understood, understood." The landlord recorded it busily, then asked again, "I don't know if I can tell others about the two masters staying overnight tonight..."

Rege laughed, and coldly swung his whip to lash the landlord's face.

Slap!

With the sound of the whip, the landlord fell to the ground wailing, his face torn and bleeding.

"Stand up!" Rege scolded.

The landlord closed his mouth, trembling all over, covering the blood as he stood up from the ground, pinching his cheeks together to make the flesh on both sides stick, saving himself some pain.

Rege shouted: "This whip, making you suffer, is to resolve your karmic obstacles and help you accumulate merit!"

The landlord endured the pain, gasping for air: "Thank you, Master, thank you, Master."

"With this merit, you can go and tell others."

"Thank you, Master! Thank you, Master!"

The large mastiff galloped away; the landlord watched the monks leave, feeling a sense of joy, and the wound on his face didn't feel so painful anymore.

The news of the masters agreeing to stay overnight was spread, and he got the banner of sending offerings to Yuequan Temple.

He had been eyeing the concubine of the herdsman Ciren three miles away for a long time; she was beautiful, but unfortunately, Ciren was not his serf; he would just scrape the intestines of him and his sons, peel their skin; if they didn't agree, it was disrespect to Buddha; without strong labor, if they weren't serfs, they would be serfs!

Not to mention the wife, the daughter was also his!

And there was the landlord Qiangba in the next village, who had always been his rival; he would break a few of his strong men...

The landlord became more and more excited as he thought about it.

"Zhaji!"

"Master, what are your orders?"

"Bring the small hook knife and go cut off the heads!"

"Master!" Zhaji bowed, "The weather is hot; if they are cut off so early, they will easily rot; if they are air-dried, they won't be wet intestines, and wet intestines can't be used as offerings; the big monks of Yuequan Temple will blame us."

The landlord was stunned, and his excitement subsided by a notch: "You're right; there's no rush for these few days."

On the roof, Bai Awei's wings fluttered, transmitting the message truthfully, following the mastiffs running on land.

"18th, birthday..."

Liang Qu pinched the wooden bowl.

There's something to be done.

It doesn't matter whether he contacts the Bai family or not; the main focus now is the Great Snow Mountain.

"Long Binglin, stop eating; we have work to do!"

"My Lord, my Lord, is there any lack of hospitality?" The white jade toad asked.

As one of the few frogs in the tribe who could speak official language, the white jade toad took on the heavy responsibility of hospitality and dared not be negligent.

"Naturally not; the frog tribe's delicacies are unforgettable, but there are some things to do, and I will return later."

The white jade toad breathed a sigh of relief.

It thought it was going to take the old toad away.

Before this, the ancestor had said that if it could keep the old toad, the consumption of today's banquet would be repaid a thousand or ten thousand times; it was still cultivating feelings, so it couldn't give up halfway.

And.

The banquet tasted really good.

The white jade toad licked its lips.

The guests ate and drank well; they didn't sit at the table, but they could enjoy more leftovers, especially the water rats raised by the guests—not to mention anything else, they were quite skilled at roasting fish.

"I wonder if the Ice-Jade Toad tribe has heard of Yuequan Temple, and if they have, do they know where it is?"

"Yuequan Temple?" The white jade toad fell into deep thought, its eyes lighting up, "I know, I know; I heard that the temple there has a cold ice spring, which produces a lot of moon spring water every year; it tastes really good; after drinking it, you feel comfortable all over, and the wrinkles are smoothed out; unfortunately, the monks there are too powerful; my dad's leg was broken by the monks there, and he never went again, so I don't know what moon spring water tastes like."

Liang Qu waved: "How about this, you take me there, and I'll let you drink your fill!"

"Really?"

"More real than real gold!"