Chapter 288: New Xu-Dog! The Heaven-Born Spirit Fetus of Bai He Temple

Dragon-Tiger Tomb, Zhang Family Grave, the grave is full of dead people, there are no souls in the dead people's orifices, no souls and no spirits to become immortals.

The lame old man whispered, like a dream-like murmur, drifting before the mysterious village entrance, like a wandering ghost, guarding the ancient desolate tomb in the confused thick fog.

Paper money flew, and the firelight shone on the lame old man's face, setting off the gaze cast at Zhang Fan as increasingly unfathomable.

"Old Lame..."

Bai Yujing was nervous, took a step forward, and blocked in front of Zhang Fan.

The lame old man grinned, laughing in a way that made people shudder, and the paper money in the fire basin swirled even more violently.

"Little Si-Snake, what are you nervous about? It's been so many years, what kind of people haven't come to Taisui Village?" the lame old man said lightly.

"The Zhang family people have come, and the Li family people have also come..."

"Zhang Tiansheng..."

"Zhang Lingzong..."

Speaking of this, the lame old man's movements paused slightly, but the paper money between his fingers continued to burn.

"Little ghost, you are from the South Zhang!?"

"Junior Zhang Fan."

Zhang Fan hesitated slightly but still reported his background.

"True Martial Preaching Seventy-Three, the descendant who responds to the calamity... so you are that calamity..."

"The Great Calamity of Chu Chaoran!"

Once these words were spoken, everyone except Qin Ergou changed color, especially Zhang Fan, whose eyes trembled, revealing deep shock and suspicion.

"What is the senior talking about?"

"Young man, how do you think this large tomb is built? Is it intimate?" The lame old man sat paralyzed on the ground, pouted, and squinted at the tomb behind him.

"Intimate!?" Zhang Fan had a strange expression.

"Senior, why is this called the Dragon-Tiger Tomb, the Zhang Family Grave?"

"Dragon-Tiger Zhang family... nine times breaking mountains and attacking temples, the dead are all buried here..."

As he spoke, a faint cold light appeared in the lame old man's eyes.

"What do you think this large tomb should be called?"

As the words fell, Zhang Fan's eyelids jumped twice.

"Old Lame, he is a junior, he can't afford such jokes."

Bai Yujing hurriedly stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Joking? A place of life and death, a path to becoming an immortal, who is joking with him?" The lame old man grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"Little ghost, maybe after you die, you will also be buried here."

Zhang Fan's mouth moved, wanting to scold him a few times, but seeing Bai Yujing's respectful appearance, he held back.

"Old Lame, can I take him in now?" Bai Yujing asked uncertainly.

"The Zhang family people entering the village? Do you think you are the Three-Corpse Daoist?"

The lame old man sneered, the firelight in the fire basin immediately swirled, and even the vast fog behind him surged.

"Old Lame..." Bai Yujing's face turned pale, and she called out in a low voice.

"Hehe, just joking with you."

The lame old man waved his hand, the firelight in the fire basin immediately dimmed, and the flying paper money slowly settled.

"Let's go."

Once these words were spoken, Bai Yujing felt as if she had been granted amnesty, pulled Zhang Fan and Qin Ergou, and left, hurriedly entering the village.

Behind them, the thick fog surged, obscuring everything. Zhang Fan looked back and could only faintly see the large tomb like a mountain, accompanied by faint firelight and drifting paper money.

"Aunt Bai, who was that old... old man just now?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but ask.

"He is the tomb keeper in the village, we all call him Old Lame," Bai Yujing said in a low voice.

"Tomb keeper? Just guarding that large tomb? I don't think he is a soul-type..." Zhang Fan wondered.

"You are right."

Bai Yujing nodded: "Since I joined the Wu Wei Gate and became one of the Thirteen Zodiacs, the first time I came to the village, Old Lame was already there."

"I heard Jin Maori say that when he joined the Wu Wei Gate, he had already seen Old Lame."

"You-Rooster!?"

Zhang Fan was thoughtful.

You-Rooster Jin Maori had a very old seniority among the Thirteen Zodiacs.

Eighty years ago, during the Daoist world's great calamity, the predecessors of the Divine Evil lineage escaped death because they hadn't gone up the mountain to join the Great Ritual. Later, they headed north, and before dying, they went against their ancestors, passing the lineage to two disciples.

One was Jin Maori, the other was Cui Siye.

Cui Siye's Dharma lineage, along with the Divine Evil Gate's treasure 【Divine Evil Fighting Clothes】, were all passed to Wen He.

As for Jin Maori, he parted ways with that senior brother when he was young, mixed in the chaotic world, was saved by the Three-Corpse Daoist in a pile of dead bodies, and from then on joined the Wu Wei Gate.

In this way, Jin Maori was also over eighty years old, and should be the oldest one among the Thirteen Zodiacs.

He had actually seen the living Three-Corpse Daoist.

"He was already there when Jin Maori joined the Wu Wei Gate, then how old should this old... old man be?" Zhang Fan couldn't help but say.

"I don't know."

Bai Yujing shook her head: "No one knows Old Lame's origin, only that he is the tomb keeper in the village and will never leave the village."

"This village is full of weirdness everywhere," Zhang Fan said in a low voice.

Taisui Village was a restricted area of the Wu Wei Gate, forbidden to mortals, and those who were often born were not allowed near. If it weren't weird, that would be too weird.

"The natal palace of the Mao-Rabbit should be in that direction."

Bai Yujing walked in the fog, suddenly stopped, and pointed in a direction.

"Aunt Bai, with such thick fog, can you still distinguish the direction?"

Zhang Fan looked around, there were no reference objects. In such an environment, he wouldn't even know if he was walking in circles, let alone distinguish the direction.

"Don't forget, I am also one of the Thirteen Zodiacs, naturally I can find the location of my own natal palace," Bai Yujing said lightly.

Among the Thirteen Zodiacs, the snake belongs to the fire element, Si belongs to the Xun trigram, the five elements belong to wood, located in the southeast, and Xun-wood generates Si-fire.

Therefore, the natal palace of the Si-Snake is in the southeast direction.

Bai Yujing faced southeast. In a trance, deep in the endless fog, a palace temple appeared faintly. Observing with the soul, a giant snake phantom was coiled, the incense smoke was faint like smoke clouds, rushing straight up three feet, and the whole body was boiling with dim firelight. If divided by Yin and Yang, this fire was Yin-fire.

According to the five elements, the snake belongs to fire, but it is Yin-fire.

Rumble...

Just then, in the northwest direction opposite to the Si-Snake's natal palace, another phenomenon rushed into the sky, as if sensing it. In the vast fog, another palace temple appeared, and faintly, a giant beast shaped like an ancient pig was coiled, its whole body glowing with hunting gold light, only the incense smoke appeared dim.

"That is..." Zhang Fan looked over, unable to help but reveal a strange expression.

"That is the natal palace of the Hai-Pig," Bai Yujing said in a low voice.

Hai belongs to the Qian trigram, the five elements belong to metal, located in the northwest, metal can generate water, water is hidden in Hai, so it clashes with Si-fire.

Because of this, in the past and even now, if men and women match their horoscopes for marriage, they generally avoid the marriage of the snake and the pig.

From the perspective of the four pillars and eight characters, Si and Hai clash.

Therefore, if a person born in the year of the snake encounters the Si-Hai clash, such as encountering the year of the pig, they need to hang Five-Emperor coins in the northwest, which is the Hai position. Or plant some flowers and plants to absorb the water evil.

Once the Si-palace appears, the Hai-palace will only then generate a response, clashing with each other, naturally having a connection.

"The Hai-Pig is seriously injured, the incense smoke is dim, and it's almost extinguished," Bai Yujing looked at the phenomenon of the Hai-palace and couldn't help but sigh.

"He actually didn't die?" Zhang Fan's heart skipped a beat.

That day, in the small town of Luoxia, he used thunderous means to suppress Wang Tao, this old acquaintance. Who knew that at the last moment, he watched the other party gradually disappear, as if a giant invisible mouth had swallowed him bite by bite.

Such a bizarre event, Zhang Fan still couldn't figure it out to this day.

Listening to Zhang Fan's description, Bai Yujing pondered for a moment before saying: "I heard that the Hai-Pig lineage has a very special Daoist art, called the Self-Eating Method."

"Self-Eating Method!?" Zhang Fan was stunned. "Not bad," Bai Yujing nodded.

"This method can preserve one's life by swallowing and digesting oneself."

"You can imagine it as eating and then excreting."

"This..." Zhang Fan was stunned, his expression becoming strange, and the image of Wang Tao, who was neither male nor female, neither man nor woman, couldn't help but appear in his mind.

"It's a bit filthy, but at least it can save one's life."

"However, this method can only be used once in a lifetime, and the price is extremely high."

Bai Yujing looked in the direction of the 【Hai-Palace】, her gaze slightly condensed, and she said lightly: "It seems he won't be able to recover for a while, and it's not known if he will lose his life."

Just from these few words, Zhang Fan could conclude that the Self-Eating Method was claimed to save lives, but the risk was extremely high, and it wasn't 100% certain that one could avoid the calamity and linger on.

That day, if his Daoist arts hadn't been overbearing, Wang Tao wouldn't have been forced to use this method.

"There are thousands of Daoist arts in this world, it's truly interesting," Zhang Fan looked in the direction of the Hai-Palace and sighed.

!

"It's more than just interesting, the 【Self-Eating Method】 of the Hai-Pig lineage has a great background," Bai Yujing said lightly.

"A great background?"

"I heard it evolved from a branch of 【Jia-Born Gui-Dies】, one of the nine great inner alchemy methods."

"Jia-Born Gui-Dies... then it truly has a great background," Zhang Fan narrowed his eyes into a slit.

"What are you doing?"

Just then, Bai Yujing's soft shout pulled Zhang Fan's attention back. He turned his head and saw that Qin Ergou, who had been silent, was walking towards the depths of the fog on his own.

"Ergou, what are you doing?" Zhang Fan shouted.

Qin Ergou stopped, turned to look at Zhang Fan, and pointed to the depths of the fog.

"Brother Fan, something is calling me."

Qin Ergou's eyes became extremely strange, looking sideways into the vast fog, revealing deep longing.

"Awoo..."

Suddenly, a strange howl resounded, spreading throughout the entire village.

Immediately after, a huge figure suddenly flashed by, shaped like a large dog, its mane like flames, as if true yet illusory, a full three meters high, and it actually directly bit Qin Ergou and ran towards the deepest part of the vast fog.

"Holy crap..."

Zhang Fan's expression changed drastically, and he took a step forward, intending to chase after it.

Just then, Bai Yujing's hand had already rested on his shoulder, pulling him back violently.

"Don't run around, this is Taisui Village," Bai Yujing warned.

"But..."

"He shouldn't be in danger."

Bai Yujing's expression was solemn, looking towards the northwest, in the depths of the vast fog, a palace temple seemed to appear faintly, the incense smoke inside had long been cut off, a giant dog phantom was coiled, and the brilliance was dim to the extreme.

"That is..."

Zhang Fan raised an eyebrow and saw that the giant dog phantom was quite similar to the exotic beast that had just appeared.

"That is the Xu-Palace," Bai Yujing said in a low voice.

"Last year, the Xu-Dog Han Diyan already died, so the incense smoke of this palace temple was cut off..."

"Han Diyan!" Zhang Fan's heart moved slightly, and the image of that man couldn't help but appear in his mind.

Back in Yujing City, it was this person who had tried to put him to death five times.

Zhang Fan hadn't had time to take revenge personally, but he didn't expect this person to have already died.

"It's truly fate."

Bai Yujing looked in the direction of the 【Xu-Palace】 and sighed softly.

"Aunt Bai, Ergou he..."

"If I guess correctly, the Thirteen Zodiacs will have a new..."

"Xu-Dog!"

"A new Xu-Dog!?"

Zhang Fan's gaze narrowed into a line, looking towards the location of the 【Xu-Palace】, revealing a look of surprise.

Shangjing City, outskirts.

An abandoned factory.

In the early years, this factory was extremely prosperous when smelting steel, with dozens of trucks entering and leaving every day.

Now, it was overgrown with weeds, like a ruin.

Whoosh...

Just then, an old state-run sedan slowly drove into the factory area, a gate slowly rose, and after entering the factory building, another steel door opened.

Thus, the car slowly stopped, two Daoist priests got out first, one of whom went around to the side and back, opened the car door, and an old man slowly walked down, with crane hair and a child's face, his divine light restrained, and he was none other than the current president of the Daoist Association, the master of Bai He Temple...

Jiang Your Majesty!

"President..."

Yue Cangfeng closed the car door and followed closely.

"Little Yue, just wait here," Jiang Your Majesty said lightly.

"Okay!"

Yue Cangfeng watched Jiang Your Majesty walk towards the deepest part of the abandoned factory. The last gate was cast of ancient bronze, with many talismans branded on it, and in the center was a white crane with its wings spread.

Rumble...

As the last ancient bronze door slowly opened, Jiang Your Majesty stepped in alone.

"You shouldn't have talked too much."

Just then, Fan Lingzhou, who had been silent, finally spoke. As Jiang Your Majesty's right-hand man, he was better at judging the situation than Yue Cangfeng.

"I'm just worried," Yue Cangfeng looked at the slowly closing ancient bronze door and murmured softly.

"You're worried?" Fan Lingzhou laughed.

"What kind of person is the President? Is it your place to be worried?"

"Besides, the existence he wants to see is not something you or I can touch," Fan Lingzhou said coldly.

"Yes, after all, that is..."

"The Heaven-Born Spirit Fetus!"

Yue Cangfeng's eyes became unfocused, and he spat out the four characters.

On the other side of the ancient bronze door, the once-abandoned blast furnace was still running. The temperature here was at least twenty degrees higher than outside, and the air within sight was distorting.

Jiang Your Majesty's silvery-white hair had become somewhat dry at this moment.

He stopped, and saw that in the firelight, a figure was faintly hidden, and a terrifying aura permeated the surroundings.

Just then, a furry arm actually reached out from the firelight, grabbed the copper pellet beside it, and scooped up the freshly produced molten iron.

Crunch... crunch...

Gulp... gulp...

A sound of chewing and swallowing came from the hunting firelight, revealing extreme weirdness.

"The taste of this molten iron is getting less and less delicious."

A low voice suddenly rang out, like thunder in the sky, actually shaking the blast furnace behind him to rumble.

"Jiang Your Majesty, long time no see!"

In the firelight, the terrifying figure slowly stood up.

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 289 =====