Chapter 148

In the dark night, Guo Bei Town was utterly silent; Zhou Shuo, while eating, felt grateful for the townsfolk's hospitality, and at the same time sought the soul of the previous owner of this body—having borrowed someone's corpse, I cannot let their soul drift aimlessly; I must find a way to liberate it!

"Where did it go?" Zhou Shuo, carrying the Divine Ability Whip, exercised the primordial qi within his body, using the Grain God's Aperture to temper impurities in his flesh, while searching for the previous owner's soul; merely the time it took to have a meal and a bath, that fellow's soul had somehow drifted off somewhere unknown.

"MMP, what's going on? Could it have already been reborn?" Zhou Shuo stood on the street, gazing at the seemingly deserted town, couldn't help but scratch his head, wondering if that old brother had already been reborn.

The night in Guo Bei Town was eerily still; a gust of yin wind blew in, Zhou Shuo stood on the street unable to find the previous owner's soul, anxiously scratching his head, feeling the sudden yin breeze, he furrowed his brows and swiftly darted aside.

On the deserted street, mist arose at some unknown time; two shadowy figures drifted from the fog, one black, one white, each wearing a matching tall hat inscribed with words: the black hat read 'Peace Under Heaven', the white hat read 'Harmony Brings Wealth'.

"Imperial emissaries?" Zhou Shuo watched the drifting shadows, his brows slightly lifting; from their appearance alone he could identify them as the hellish emissaries of impermanence, also called impermanence ghosts.

"Who goes there?" In the instant Zhou Shuo's brows rose, the two shadows halted, their green ghostly eyes turning toward his presence; though his cultivation had reached earth-immortal level, having changed into a mortal body, his aura could not help but leak.

"I am a wandering idle cultivator; I have seen the two of you here as divine emissaries." Zhou Shuo, seeing the two impermanence emissaries looking his way, no longer hid, stepped out from the house's shadow and cupped his fists toward them.

"Oh, so you're a cultivator, not bad in cultivation, but do you know heavenly law? To dare take another's dharma body." The white impermanence's green eyes flickered; its form drifted to Zhou Shuo's front, seeing his face clearly, it wore a half‑crying, half‑smiling expression, recognizing his body as borrowed.

"This person starved to death on the street; my nascent soul exited its aperture, leaving me temporarily without a dharma body, so I borrowed this one. Because of this karmic connection, I also wish to liberate his soul, to spare him the suffering of falling into the three evil paths." Zhou Shuo looked at the white impermanence with its half‑crying, half‑smiling face, showing no fear; he had not forcibly seized another's body—the fellow had already starved to death, and he was merely borrowing it temporarily.

"Karmic debts have a source, karmic creditors have a master; how can others repay them? You cultivators and monks love to meddle in such trivial matters, disturbing the heavenly laws and the netherworld's order." The black impermanence drifted before Zhou Shuo, wearing a sour expression and speaking in a stiff tone.

"It seems that person's soul is already in your hands, but as you said, karmic debts have a source and creditors a master; my borrowing is also due to karmic affinity. If you two divine emissaries refuse to let me liberate him, I will not insist; when the karmic bond arrives, I will surely settle it." Zhou Shuo looked at the black impermanence's sour face, unbothered; it was merely a passing thought, he had not fought desperately for that starving ghost.

"You're mistaken; that person's soul is truly not in our hands. We originally came to seize him, but his soul was snatched away first by another. Though he won't fall into the hell realm, he has fallen into the evil‑ghost path; who knows when he will be reborn." The white impermanence's face bore a hint of schadenfreude.

"May I ask, exalted emissaries, who seized his soul?" Zhou Shuo looked at the white impermanence tinged with schadenfreude, his eyebrows slightly rising; these two impermanence ghosts are quite interesting!

"That fellow is called the Black Mountain Old Demon, a monster roaming between yin and yang, allied with a thousand‑year tree demon; a hundred years ago a master wounded him, and though his vitality has gradually recovered, he dares not wreak havoc in the netherworld, yet within a thousand‑li radius of the mortal realm he has seized many innocent souls." The black impermanence spoke stiffly.

"Seeing you are also a person of the Dao, we two brothers won't hide it from you: though that fellow does not harm the netherworld, he may eventually cause trouble in both yin and yang; today he even blocked our duties. I tell you this hoping you will do us a good deed and eliminate those two monsters." The white impermanence spoke with a grin.

"Having taken this body, I must naturally settle the karmic bond; besides, you two emissaries have business, so I will naturally slay demons and eliminate evil." Zhou Shuo responded to the somewhat humanlike black and white impermanences with a smile; dealing with the Black Mountain Old Demon and the Tree Demon Granny would both earn favor and finish his own affair—killing two birds with one stone.

"Then we brothers thank you, Dao friend; someday we can meet via the Two Worlds Mountain to the netherworld, and at that time we will surely entertain you well." Seeing Zhou Shuo agree, the white impermanence's face lit up with a smile, offering two parts gratitude.

"I will certainly visit then." Zhou Shuo, hearing the white impermanence's words, felt a faint wonder; from the mortal realm the Two Worlds Mountain leads to the netherworld, although he didn't know where that mountain was, but the tale of Lovely Lady Ghost didn't have this plot—this world seems vast!

"Then we brothers will await you respectfully." The black impermanence's face softened considerably.

After the two netherworld spirits exchanged farewells, they departed riding the yin wind; Zhou Shuo watched the two departing impermanence emissaries, couldn't help but grin, found it amusing, pondered a moment, then turned back to the inn where he had eaten earlier and knocked on its door.

The inn's keeper and several assistants, having failed in their plot to murder for profit, were anxiously angry and afraid; hearing the inn door being knocked, they instantly flared like a volcano ignited, their faces contorted as they jerked the door open—but upon seeing the person outside, they were stunned.

"Hey." Zhou Shuo looked at the keeper and assistants inside, whose bodies bristled with agitation, and smiled as he greeted them.

"Keeper." The assistant who opened the door looked Zhou Shuo up and down after his greeting, then shouted toward the keeper behind him; he had recognized Zhou Shuo, so he was asking the boss for instructions, but before he could react, a loud shout came from behind.

"Great hero, great hero, spare my life; those deeds were done by these scoundrels, it has nothing to do with me!" The innkeeper likewise recognized Zhou Shuo; after three seconds of contemplation, he indeed dropped to his knees and kowtowed.

"You sure sell out fast!" Zhou Shuo looked at the quick‑eyed, quick‑handed keeper, couldn't help but curl his lips, swung his Divine Ability Whip, and with an invisible golden light instantly sent the dazed assistants flying.

"Really, it has nothing to do with me!" The keeper watched as Zhou Shuo whipped his assistants away from afar, and he knocked his head even more frantically.

"Because of your sharp eyes, I won't kill you—but I have some questions." Zhou Shuo twitched the corner of his mouth seeing the keeper kowtow, then flicked his Divine Ability Whip, causing the inn door to swing shut on its own, and from the whip's tip a thread of golden light dragged over a chair for him to sit.

"Please, hero, ask; please ask." The keeper watched Zhou Shuo wave his hand to close the door, then a golden line pulled a chair before him; he swallowed his saliva, thinking this was not the skill of a martial arts master.

"Simple: I just want to ask you which dynasty and which emperor reigns now; all of you kneel there and face the wall." Zhou Shuo looked at the keeper swallowing his saliva, tapped his Divine Ability Whip in his hand, then pointed at the assistants scrambling up; each received a strike, none dared disobey, and they all knelt facing the wall.

"Now it is the glorious Tang dynasty; the present ruler is the Zhenguan Emperor." The keeper, seeing Zhou Shuo point at his assistants, frightened, lowered his head quickly.

"The Tang dynasty, the Zhenguan Emperor Li Shimin?" Zhou Shuo was slightly curious.

"Exactly." The keeper's body trembled slightly; uttering the emperor's name is not allowed casually among the populace.

"Oh, I see; then I'll ask you again: which prefecture and department governs Guo Bei Town?" Zhou Shuo glanced askance; the world of Lovely Lady Ghost seemed far more complex than he imagined.

"Guo Bei Town lies within the jurisdiction of Jiang Prefecture in the Tang dynasty; the current prefect of Jiang Prefecture is Liu Hong. From Jiang Prefecture heading northwest you reach the Two Worlds Mountain, which marks the Tang border; from there you can go to the South Jambu Department Continent and then to the West Ox Celebration Continent, or southeast to Chang'an City, then further southeast past Ye City and the vast East Sea to arrive at the East Victory Divine Continent." The keeper, hearing Zhou Shuo's words, hurriedly answered meticulously.

"You know quite a lot!" Zhou Shuo, hearing the names East Victory Divine Continent, West Ox Celebration Continent, and South Jambu Department Continent, felt a faint surprise; the Zhenguan era paired with the Four Great Continents—I wonder if East Victory Divine Continent has the Aolai Country's Flower Fruit Mountain, and whether a magically born monkey resides there.

"I dare not conceal; though I have never traveled the Four Great Continents, I have been to the Tang outer borders, visited the Vermilion‑Purple Kingdom, and heard people speak of the Four Great Continents' locations." The keeper hastily bowed his head in reply.

"Hmm, I understand." Zhou Shuo, hearing the keeper mention the Vermilion‑Purple Kingdom, suppressed his surprise; although it is a mixed world, there was no need to be startled.

"Then, sir..." The keeper slightly raised his head to look at Zhou Shuo, feeling a bit timid.

"You people, there are plenty of honest jobs to do, yet you insist on this filthy business." Zhou Shuo looked at the keeper who had lifted his head to glance furtively at him, and couldn't help but sneer.

"I won't dare again, I won't dare again." The keeper, seeing Zhou Shuo's cold smile, hastily flung his trembling body to the ground.

"I ask you, is there a Lanruo Temple nearby? Does Jiang Prefecture also have a Golden Mountain Temple?" Zhou Shuo looked at the trembling keeper, pursed his lips, wondering how to deal with this fellow.

"Indeed, outside Guo Bei Town there is an abandoned temple, though it is said to be haunted and no one dares approach; as for the Golden Mountain Temple, heading north from here you reach the West Crossing Lake, in the middle of which lies a mountain, and the Golden Mountain Temple sits atop it."

"Hmm, how should I deal with you and your lackeys?" Zhou Shuo looked at the keeper who dared not conceal anything, then glanced at the many assistants kneeling facing the wall, absentmindedly stroking the messy hairs on his lip; how to handle this murderous, life‑taking black‑market gang was a major problem.

"Spare my life." Facing Zhou Shuo's words, not only the keeper but also the assistants over there kneeling facing the wall all dropped to their knees, begging for mercy while their bodies trembled in fear.