Chapter 103: Mr. Feng

On the walls of Lucheng County, Master Chen held a compass and a ruling rod, tracing the flow of earth qi along the ramparts, with the county magistrate and several of his disciples following behind; whenever Master Chen called out a set of readings, a disciple would swiftly record it and begin calculations.

Though the county magistrate understood nothing of it, he couldn’t help glancing at the scrolls in the young Daoists’ hands, and elsewhere in the county, numerous Xuan cultivators wandered the streets, preventing trouble before it arose.

By normal logic, the prayer force raised during the Kitchen God ritual should be enough to disperse weak malevolent spirits; even if it couldn’t fully scatter the evil, it would at least divide and weaken them, so that when Zi Shi arrived, the altar would be set, and the Jade Emperor’s patrol would descend—even a sliver of his divine presence sweeping through would render the scattered evil incapable of further mischief, thus neutralizing the threat with a single strike, perhaps even making this year’s New Year vigil easier than ever before.

But for some reason, Master Chen felt a persistent unease; though even Deng the Girl, the most skilled at tracking, and the Gray Immortal had detected not a trace of demonic cultivators, he still couldn’t shake his anxiety.

“Have all the new homes in the county been notified?”

After finishing the calculation of a new district, Master Chen still felt uneasy and asked again; the only problem with the Kitchen God ritual was that some newly moved-in households had insufficient incense residue in their stoves, which was why the Xuan cultivators had been running back and forth.

Upon hearing this, the county magistrate showed no impatience, but pulled out his small notebook and said:

“These are the records submitted by the real estate agents; all newly built homes in the county are listed here—even vacant houses not yet rented out have been sent someone to perform the Kitchen God ritual… ah!”

Suddenly, the county magistrate’s face changed drastically; seeing this, Master Chen grew tense and asked quickly:

“Magistrate, have you remembered something?”

“Yes, earlier, the house rented by Master Feng was damaged by a corpse puppet attack, so I bought a new one as a reward for his demon-slaying service…”

“Oh, then there should be no issue,” Master Chen relaxed slightly and shook his head. “Master Feng is also of the Xuan path—he wouldn’t overlook the Kitchen God ritual. As for his original home… I visited it myself; even now, traces of thunder qi remain. Even if unattended, no evil spirit would dare approach… but for safety’s sake, send someone to patrol it anyway!”

“Absolutely! Absolutely!” The county magistrate’s heart pounded; he immediately summoned his men to dispatch a team.

Time passed; the county’s earth qi map was now complete. Master Chen continuously calculated the flow of earth qi, while the disciples behind him held ritual implements, ready at any moment to “open the gate and release the malevolence.”

Though this method might cause malevolent qi to accumulate at the gates, as long as the Hai Shi hour passed safely, the Jade Emperor would break the corruption; sacrificing a little yang life was better than risking the lives of every child in the county for the sake of one’s own longevity.

Any orthodox Xuan cultivator who had entered the Dao understood that spiritual merit outweighed yang life; the disciples holding the Five Gates Banner had long been warned of the risk.

As Master Chen chased the shifting locations of the malevolent gates, threads of prayer force began to rise, and as the Kitchen God rituals began throughout the county, clusters of incense smoke transformed into prayer force and ascended.

Though the Kitchen God ritual was held at dusk, no household performed it at the same time, and the accumulated incense from each home varied in strength; this rising and falling tide of prayer force caused the malevolent spirits beneath the earth qi to begin erratic movement.

As prayer force rose, the spirits turned away—if no escape path existed, they charged straight into it.

With each collision, the malevolent spirits evaporated or split apart, but occasionally, like consuming potent tonic, they swelled again.

“Sigh…” Master Chen, watching the spots where the spirits grew stronger, helplessly marked a circle on the earth qi map; wherever people lived, there were always some filthiness that even the Kitchen God would curse under his breath—he couldn’t control it, so he merely marked it, leaving the county magistrate to deal with it later; yet after being struck by the spirits, even strong, healthy adults would likely fall gravely ill—perhaps it was karma.

The rising prayer force increased, and the malevolent spirits grew ever more cornered; just as Master Chen thought, “It’s settled,” all the spirits suddenly received some command, abandoning their scattered, individual attacks and rushing en masse toward a single direction.

No matter how much prayer force blocked their path, they showed no sign of detouring; instead, they charged straight through, seemingly evaporating much of their number, yet because they moved in a direct line, they conserved energy far better than before.

Watching the malevolent spirits shift from a slow leak into a flood, Master Chen’s face darkened; he repeatedly traced the earth qi map with his thunderwood ruling rod, extending the path of countless spirits forward until they all converged on one point—

Seeing the evils in the city, which had shifted from a leaking pipe to a mountain flood, Master Chen’s face darkened; he continuously traced the Earth Qi map with his thunderwood ruler, extending the advance paths of countless evils until they all converged on a single point—

“Huh? Let me see… ah!” The county magistrate, a mortal with no sight of spirits, could not see the malevolent entities, but he clearly saw Master Chen’s expression; he leaned in instantly—and recoiled in shock. “That’s the house I gave to Master Feng!”

“Impossible! Even if Master Feng forgot the Kitchen God ritual, it couldn’t produce this… wait—could Master Feng be cultivating right now? How could that be?!”

Master Chen’s face showed profound astonishment, yet this was now the only possible explanation!

Malevolent spirits had no intelligence; they acted purely on instinct. They targeted children because children’s primordial qi was abundant and easy to steal. Now, the only thing that could draw them through the torrent of prayer force was an immense concentration of primordial qi—and nothing else.

“Could Master Feng have done this deliberately? To draw all the county’s malevolent spirits to one place?” The thought arose in Master Chen’s mind. Though he wanted to say no orthodox cultivator could possibly withstand the accumulated year’s worth of corrupted prayer and malice, he remembered the ruined house where thunder qi still lingered over a week later—and a flicker of hope stirred within him.

Regardless, with all the malevolent spirits now gathered, the risk of spread was gone; Master Chen slammed his earth qi map and shouted:

“Le Shan, you and your brothers stay here. If the spirits begin to swell again, open the gate and release the malevolence immediately. Le Shui, come with me. Magistrate, notify the other cultivators—tell them Master Feng has shown great righteousness by gathering all the spirits. Have them bring their sealing artifacts and rush to support him!”

“Ah, yes!” The county magistrate, a man of understanding, immediately turned and gave orders. Master Chen knew this magistrate was the kind who, after death, could become the City God through spiritual merit—he felt reassured. He left a few disciples as a final safeguard, then, with his senior disciple, leapt from the wall and headed toward Master Feng’s house in Chengnan…

“Ah, good!” The county magistrate was a man who understood; he immediately turned and gave orders. Master Chen knew this magistrate was the sort who, after death, could rely on his yin virtue to become a City God, so he felt deeply at ease; he left several apprentices as a final safeguard and, with his senior disciple, leapt down from the city wall, heading straight for the Feng residence in Chengnan…

(End of Chapter)