Chapter 40

Looking at the white dog curled up in a ball, Cheng Yunqi prepared to shake his head. He was out to gain experience, and he wouldn't be staying in this village for long; having a little creature with him would be inconvenient.

"Daoist Cheng, do you still intend to wander in these great mountains?"

Cheng Yunqi nodded upon hearing this; he had only just arrived, after all.

"Then, Daoist, you should accept it. Bai Long'er's ears are useful; he can hear every movement in the great mountains."

Cheng Yunqi thought for a moment. That day, he had been discovered by Bai Long'er while standing far outside the courtyard. This dog's ears were indeed sharp. He still needed to train in the mountains; he wasn't afraid of much else, but he was worried about being spied on or approached while in meditation. Although he had the Eight Trigrams Mother-Son Bells on him, those were, after all, inanimate objects.

He then nodded and took the white dog.

The Village Chief added, "Daoist Cheng, you don't need to worry about the dog on a daily basis. Let the village's big dogs lead him to learn skills; just let him sleep outside your door at night. You don't need to worry about food either; the big dogs will nurse him for these days. After ten days or so, he'll be able to find food himself. If there are any leftovers on a daily basis, just throw them to the dog; he eats everything."

In the old Village Chief's words, raising this Bai Long'er was quite simple.

Cheng Yunqi nodded, and so Ding Huo took the white dog back, saying he would send it over again in the evening. This visit was specifically to let Cheng Yunqi take a look.

Cheng Yunqi was happy to be at ease. After sending off the profusely grateful Ding Huo family, he kept the Village Chief behind.

"Master Munai, you only told me half of what I asked last time about the Red-Crowned Master."

Cheng Yunqi said with a smile.

The old Village Chief scratched his head. "Oh, that's right!"

The two sat down on the beauty-bench again, one speaking and one listening.

"After our ancestors had Bai Long'er and the rooster, life started getting better day by day. How should I put it? At least the number of deaths finally wasn't faster than the number of births."

The old Village Chief said with emotion.

Cheng Yunqi was speechless.

"One day, a Daoist suddenly came to the village. Legend has it that the Daoist was very young. At first, our ancestors thought he was some lost child! But that Daoist revealed immortal arts, and only then did our ancestors understand they had met a master."

The old Village Chief looked at Cheng Yunqi. Last night, he had also seen immortal arts; the entire village had seen them. He hadn't slept a wink last night, thinking that this must be the ancestors protecting him and the village.

"The master was very happy to see the village raising chickens, so he taught our ancestors a special method of raising them. Once raised, they are called 'Red-Crowned Chongming Chickens,' also known as 'Red-Crowned Master.' Only then can they be considered true Yang-fowl."

"However, this method is very difficult," the old Village Chief didn't specify what the method was. "Basically, the village only raises one Red-Crowned Master every two or three generations. Red-Crowned Masters live longer than people; the one in the village now was raised by the previous generation, which is why we call him Red-Crowned Master."

"Red-Crowned Master has double combs and double pupils; he can distinguish between humans and ghosts. No dark, sinister, or evil thing can escape Red-Crowned Master's eyes."

Cheng Yunqi offered a compliment and finally asked, "Why didn't I see Red-Crowned Master after entering the village?"

The old Village Chief said proudly upon hearing this, "Red-Crowned Master has wisdom, even smarter than people, and he also needs to cultivate. Naturally, you don't see him on a daily basis. But every morning before sunrise, Red-Crowned Master will crow on the big tree in front of the village, and after he finishes, he disappears. Only after Red-Crowned Master crows do the other roosters dare to crow."

Cheng Yunqi asked again, "Then what about the poster on the door?"

The old Village Chief glanced at the tattered and faded rooster poster on Cheng Yunqi's door, sighed, and explained, "This was also left by that master, called the 'Rooster King Town-House Diagram.' Our ancestors said that for the first few decades after the 'Rooster King Town-House Diagram' drawn by the master was posted, no poisonous insects or ghosts ever entered the village. The ancestors who grew up during those decades had resilient souls and vigorous Yang energy; even when walking outside, they rarely encountered trouble."

"However, hundreds of years have passed. The poster is old and broken, and the power on the diagram that protected us has dissipated. But we have become accustomed to posting the diagram, so we draw and post them ourselves, which can be considered seeking good fortune."

Cheng Yunqi nodded, finally understanding.

The two chatted for a while longer, and then the old Village Chief left, while Cheng Yunqi calmed his mind and began to think about matters of cultivation.

Cheng Yunqi had already read the content regarding the Heart Mansion in the *Zhou Tian Hundred Apertures Inner Landscape Scripture* countless times. While contemplating the Mao Ri Star Official and the Brightness Palace in his mind made his mental power solid, he had also become extremely familiar with the method of contemplation.

It was time to use the contemplation method to conclude the Heart Mansion's Inner Landscape Deity.

Previously, the Mao Ri Star Official and Brightness Palace he contemplated were divine statues and Daoist palaces—to put it bluntly, inanimate objects. But the Inner Landscape Deity is the master of the mansion and aperture, holding the duty of circulating Qi and blood, and bearing the purpose of longevity and health. How could it be an inanimate object?

The master of the Heart Mansion is the Blood Commander, who, together with the Kidney Master, leads the essence and blood of the entire body. It is the most active among the Zhou Tian Hundred Apertures. If one contemplates an inanimate object with form but no spirit, not only would it lack the efficacy of transporting essence and blood, self-eating Qi, circulating the Zhou Tian, accumulating magic power, or even concluding talismans, but it would instead affect the Heart Mansion's primary function, leading to weak Qi and blood and insufficient heart Qi.

And now, he had already found the method to make the Mao Su come alive.

————

The fifth day of arriving at the village.

September 12th.

Cheng Yunqi woke up very early and stood in front of the house, looking at the huge thorn tree beside the village gate. The leaves and trunk were covered in sharp thorns; the people in the village called it cat-thorn.

When the sky was just beginning to brighten, Cheng Yunqi saw a bird fly out from the mountains behind the village.

This bird was huge, its beak like a long spear, its claws like steel hooks, with golden spurs and a red comb, its tail like a colorful phoenix, its feathers like brocade, and its momentum was imposing.

The big bird landed straight on the tree, its steel claws not afraid of the sharp thorns on the tree at all. Once it stood still, it was clear to see that it was no big bird at all, but that Red-Crowned Chongming big rooster, Red-Crowned Master. The sky was still just beginning to brighten, and Red-Crowned Master faced the east, his head held high, the red comb on top of his head trembling.

"Wo—wo—wo—"

Red-Crowned Master let out a long crow.

"Wo—wo—wo—wo—wo—wo—"

The roosters in the village all began to crow.

Immediately, the east shone brightly, and the red sun rose slowly.

Seeing the sun come out, Red-Crowned Master flapped his wings and left, flying into the mountain forest, disappearing from sight.

Cheng Yunqi, just like the previous two days, recalled the actions of Red-Crowned Master just now, the high-pitched crowing, and the implication of the sunrise light cleansing the darkness.

Afterwards, he took a stack of paper and found the old Village Chief.

"Master Munai, take a look at this painting."

Cheng Yunqi handed the stack of paper to the old Village Chief.

The old Village Chief took the paper and looked down. He first looked at the top one—what a majestic full-body portrait:

On the portrait was a burly Daoist wearing a high red crown, stepping on hard-soled golden boots, and dressed in a vermilion-red Daoist robe. The Daoist had golden pupils and double pupils, small ears and a hooked nose, and a red beard. On the chest of the vermilion-red Daoist robe was a big rooster with its head held high and crowing on a tree branch. In his right hand, he held a lamp, the light of which dispelled the darkness, illuminating the entire drawing paper in a golden hue.

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In the upper left corner of the drawing paper was a short sentence:

"The rooster crows once, and the world turns white."

In the lower left corner of the drawing paper was a seal:

Qian Shen Zhai.

Cheng Yunqi also looked at the drawing paper. The person in the painting was already very different from the Mao Ri Star Lord in the *White Tiger Seven Mansions Chapter*. The facial features were still similar, but one was scholarly and the other rugged, and the body was much sturdier and stronger. The star pattern on the robe had changed into a big rooster, and the weapon had changed from a needle to a lamp.

From a noble Star Lord with a dignified appearance and magnificent atmosphere, he had become a rugged, bold, and evil-hating wandering Daoist.

This was exactly the effect Cheng Yunqi wanted.

And after the old Village Chief finished looking at the first one, he went to look at the one below:

In this portrait, the burly Daoist held a peach-wood sword in his right hand, stabbing it into the chest of an evil ghost, and in his left hand, he held the head of an evil ghost. In the upper left was written:

"The image of accumulated Yang, the essence of fire Yang, posted on the rooster's household, with peach charms on the side, all ghosts fear it."

On the next one, the Daoist stepped on a centipede, chewing a scorpion in his mouth. In the upper left was written:

"In the middle of the third month of Grain Rain, the scorpion shows its might. The divine rooster pecks with one beak, and the poisonous insect turns into water."

On the next one, the Daoist's eyes were wide open in anger, making a roaring gesture. In the upper left was written:

"With one sound from the rooster, ghosts shrink a foot, insects retreat ten miles, and the lamp brightens by three parts."

One after another like this.

The old Village Chief looked at Cheng Yunqi, not knowing what it meant.

"I would like to ask Master Munai to inform the villagers if they can post these paintings on their doors and windows. The power might not be as great as the 'Rooster King Town-House Diagram' drawn by that senior master, but it also has the divine intent of Yang fire. Compared to what everyone draws by hand, it should be more useful."

The old Village Chief was stunned upon hearing this, then overjoyed, saying repeatedly that there was no need to ask, everyone would be willing.

Cheng Yunqi nodded with a smile and added, "As long as the Village Chief doesn't mind, I will leave a few more copies for each family. When the time comes, please ask everyone to replace them with new diagrams on the first day of every New Year. In the future, every few years, I will either come myself or ask someone to come to replace them with new diagrams for everyone. As long as I am still around, I will definitely not break my promise."

Upon hearing this, the old Village Chief was almost in disbelief. He stood stunned for a moment, then wanted to kowtow to Cheng Yunqi again.

Cheng Yunqi supported the old man.

"Then what are the names of these diagrams?"

The old Village Chief asked with a smile.

Cheng Yunqi had obviously thought about this question. He said:

"Let's call them the 'Mao Su Incarnation New Year's Day Daoist World-Manifestation Diagram'."

Cheng Yunqi saw the old Village Chief's blank expression, thought for a moment, and then said with a smile:

"Let's call them the 'Rooster God Manifestation Diagram'."

The old Village Chief understood this time and responded happily,

"Good name!" ===== CHAPTER 41 =====