Chapter 99: The Heavenly Emperor's Leftover Jade (Seeking monthly votes

With the host's permission, the Yin Military Officials and ghost generals outside let Huang Laotai in, and Hu Jinhua led her inside.

Seeing her in such a disheveled state, Hu Jinhua couldn't help but feel a pang of sympathy: "How did you end up in such a state?"

"I was tracking the whereabouts of the Evil Sect's demoness and reached Dizang An at the foot of Yushan, where I was discovered by a Yaksha Protector. That Yaksha is a demon corpse refined from a monk's Sarira and skeletal remains; not only is it immensely strong, but it also possesses evil arts mixed with Dharma..."

"Sigh."

As soon as Huang Laotai entered the room, her injuries flared up; she spat out a mouthful of blood, most of her Dharma Power dissipated, her hair turned completely white, her face became withered and bloodless, and she was left hanging by a mere thread of life.

The City God looked at this Huang Laotai, then looked at Xu Jia.

Xu Jia, however, remained expressionless. This performance was too heavy-handed, though she did have the skill to suppress her injuries until now to let them erupt...

"Huang Pipo of the Huang Family Temple pays respects to the Great City God, pays respects to the True Immortal Xu!"

Xu Jia did not respond, only saying to the little foxes: "Didn't I teach you the Curse Date Technique? Why haven't you treated her injuries yet!"

He added: "Huang Pipo, do not be anxious. These injuries can be treated; there is no need to seek death."

Hu Jinhua ladled another bowl of soup cooked by the chicken demon, added a Supplementing the Center and Qi Pill, and told Huang Silang and Huang Jiuniang to feed it to Huang Pipo.

Huang Pipo had wanted to play the victim and pour out her grievances, but having her mouth blocked, she immediately realized her performance had been too heavy-handed and had interrupted the conversation between these two.

Yet, as she drank the chicken soup, she found it not only incomparably delicious but also containing a steady stream of primordial Qi that nourished her five viscera and six bowels. Although she was in a wretched state, having lost an arm, blinded in one eye, and suffering from internal injuries... she could still suppress the worsening of her wounds by circulating her energy to refine the soup.

After finishing the chicken soup, the little foxes handed over seven wild dates they had just picked, all of which had been cursed. She could not refuse to eat them, so she ate them one by one, spitting out the pits. The corpse poison and evil Sha left behind by the Yaksha's strike were pulled out one by one as the date pits were spat out.

The cursed dates contained the Five Elements Five Viscera Qi and possessed the power of harmonization. After eating them, the old woman Huang Pipo's complexion improved significantly.

The City God saw that Xu Jia intended for this weasel not to die and owe a debt of gratitude—at the very least, not to die here—so he flicked out a wisp of Incense Fire Dharma Power.

With the City God intervening, you couldn't die even if you wanted to; after all, the City God is the official in charge of the local Death Registry and also possesses preliminary "judicial power."

The Dharma Power Huang Laotai had just leaked and the injuries she had triggered were, in effect, leaked and triggered for nothing.

Huang Silang and Huang Jiuniang had been heartbroken at first, shedding tears while feeding her, but now seeing that she was mostly recovered, they hurriedly kowtowed to Xu Jia, keeping his kindness in mind.

Huang Laotai sighed: These two silly children have no suspicion at all. The old woman wanted him to take care of you two, but instead, you two have ended up feeling deeply grateful to him...

If I can't die, then I can't die.

Huang Laotai steadied herself, and Xu Jia smiled as he explained to the City God: "Previously, an evil Daoist drifted here and wanted to refine Five Elements Sha, thus harming my life. I suffered a tribulation, realized my past life, and later calculated the moment when the evil Daoist's vital energy was weakest, slaying him and burning his soul to ashes with Sun True Fire."

"I originally thought the matter was over, but I later discovered that a Saintess of the Longevity Sect had come to Yushan. I calculated that there was some Cause and Effect involved here. As for this Huang Pipo, I formed some Karmic Connection with her while dealing with the chicken demon at Qingfeng Pavilion, and since I couldn't free my hands, I asked her to go gather information."

Xu Jia pointed to the Black Bowl on the Dharma Altar: "It is this object."

The City God looked at it, revealing an expression of surprise: "This is the Raw Rice Bowl of the Yellow Heaven Sect!"

Xu Jia was curious: "Does the City God also know the origin of this bowl?"

The City God stroked his beard: "How could I not know? Back then, the Yellow Heaven Sect preached that the Azure Heaven had lost its virtue and the Yellow Heaven should stand. They used food to bribe the common people. This bowl is sinister; every Libationer of the Yellow Heaven Sect would refine one. You put a bowl of rice in, and when you poured it out, it would be a mountain of rice."

"When I was an official, it happened to be a Famine, and I once thought of finding this bowl to see if it was truly so powerful that it could resolve the hunger of all the people."

Xu Jia immediately took down the bowl and handed it to the City God: "You can try it now!"

Hu Jinhua dug out a ladle of rice and put it into the bowl. The City God was also quite curious and channeled his Dharma Power into it. Sure enough, the rice began to overflow, as if forming a rice spring, gushing out.

After a while, the City God's expression suddenly changed, and he said: "So that is how it is."

Xu Jia was also curious: "How so?"

The City God said: "This bowl steals Heavenly Secrets; it is linked to the National Fortune and Dragon Vein. It uses the dynasty's tax revenue as a bargaining chip, as if borrowing Yin Debt to transform into Yang wealth. This bowl of rice is borrowed, and it is repaid as a mountain of rice."

"It is that after the Yellow Heaven Sect established the Yellow Heaven Dao Kingdom, they were overdrafting the grain taxes they intended to collect from the people, using them up, reversing cause and effect, turning the void into reality... What great Dharma Power!"

"Collecting taxes in advance, even collecting them a hundred years later." Xu Jia finally understood. "Right, every commoner who borrows a bowl of rice is considered a citizen of the Yellow Heaven Dao Kingdom, receiving a mountain of rice. The people of the Yellow Heaven then use this to give alms, attracting others to join. The snowball rolls larger and larger, but in the end, it collapses..."

"Fortunately, the Yellow Heaven Sect has already been destroyed." The City God shook his head.

Xu Jia said: "Since the taxes were collected in advance, wouldn't they just stop collecting them later?"

"They collected them, of course. It's just that the Yellow Heaven Dao Kingdom preached that they had established thousands of gods and bestowed blessings upon the Earth Deity, which could make the land produce thousands of catties per mu. Thus, the people would not need to pay grain taxes. Hearing that this sect did not collect grain taxes, the people flocked to join. By the end of the Great Chu, there were millions of followers, and even many officials joined the sect, hoping to be granted a divine position."

"So, were they actually granted divinity?" Xu Jia was curious.

"They were," the City God said. "But most perished along with the destruction of the Yellow Heaven Sect. Only a small portion were plucked out, defected to a wise ruler, and became True Gods."

"It is said that Huang Muchun was originally a Libationer of the Yellow Heaven Sect."

Xu Jia did not know much about this history; after all, the Xu family did not have many books.

The City God also saw that Xu Jia was very interested in these ancient matters. He himself had been a regular imperial examination scholar before he died, well-read and knowledgeable in history; otherwise, he would not have thought of finding this Raw Rice Bowl when the people were suffering from famine during his tenure.

"This object can not only produce rice, but it has also suppressed a Miao Dragon!" Huang Pipo couldn't help but say.

The City God nodded: "Speaking of which, this is also one of the legends of the Yushan mountains. However, Yushan truly got its name because in ancient times, this place produced jade, hence it was named Huaiyu."

"Including Jinsha Creek, it is because it truly produces gold sand. Jiangnan West Circuit has been a place of abundant treasures since ancient times." The City God stroked his beard and said: "It is rumored that the Heavenly Emperor himself once ascended Yushan!"

"Which Heavenly Emperor? Which one?" Xu Jia was particularly interested in this.

"Er, it is the Heavenly Emperor canonized by the Yellow Heaven Sect. It is said that he manifested here and gifted jade, leaving behind imperial jade. After all, the Yellow Heaven Sect rose in Jiangnan West Circuit, then grew strong after entering the Heavenly Prefecture, and eventually swept across the world. They worshipped the Yellow Heaven Holy Venerable, believing that the Heavenly Emperor transformed from the Azure Heaven had lost his virtue, which is why he voluntarily abdicated and let the Yellow Heaven succeed him."

"Who can say for sure about matters of the Divine Path!" The City God said: "It is because this place is blessed by the spirits of nature that it attracted a thousand-year-old centipede demon to settle here and cultivate, wanting to merge its body with the Dragon Vein and transform into a flying dragon, a Heavenly Dragon."

"As for it saying it is a Miao Dragon, a True Dragon of the Nine Li, that is likely not the case. If it were truly a figure from the time of the ancient Chiyou, by the Yellow Emperor's calendar, that would be five or six thousand years ago. If it could go back and forth with the Yinglong who assisted the Yellow Emperor five thousand years ago, it wouldn't have been subdued by Huang Muchun."

The City God had explored and understood local history quite deeply, and he had his own interpretation: "Either Huang Muchun forcibly elevated the centipede demon to boast about himself, or the centipede demon was lying."

Huang Pipo was stunned. For so many years, she had believed without doubt that her ancestors had fought bravely against the centipede demon and turned it into a mountain range. It turned out that Yushan was not transformed from the centipede demon, or if the centipede demon did transform, it only transformed a small part of it, not the whole of Yushan. Yushan got its name because a Heavenly Emperor had stayed here, left behind imperial jade, and transformed it into a jade vein.

This was a significant blow to her; she had never once thought her ancestors were lying.

If it were anyone else, she would have gone up to argue, but this was spoken by the City God.

So, could the City God be wrong? Could he possibly be wrong?

With her inner faith shattered, Huang Pipo was momentarily dazed.

Xu Jia said: "Slaying a thousand-year-old centipede demon is also extremely impressive. Not to mention a thousand-year-old centipede demon, even for this hundred-year-old chicken demon, I had to use Calculation of Heavenly Secrets to find its roots before I could wipe it out in one fell swoop."

"That is natural, otherwise the Huang Family Temple would not have lasted so long." The City God turned to Huang Pipo and asked: "How many years has your Huang Family Temple existed?"

"Since records began, it has been six or seven hundred years, traceable back to the Da Yue dynasty before the Great Heng Dynasty."

"About right." The City God continued to ask: "Seeing you were in such a hurry just now, with fire attacking your heart, spitting out a mouthful of blood, and nearly losing your life, are you much better now? If you are better, then continue and say what you wanted to say before."

Huang Pipo drank the soup and ate the Curse Date; she cannot die now, but must endure until the two-hundred-year great tribulation, which is still two or three years away...

Her mood was not high at this moment: "This little demon scouted for information and pursued it to Dizang An at the foot of Yushan, discovering that this nunnery is already completely controlled by the Evil Sect and set up as an Evil Sect stronghold. Many nuns were tortured to death. When this little demon tried to enter, I was discovered by Yaksha zombies. These Yakshas were painted and disguised as statues, but in reality, they can come to life and move."

"After this little demon was discovered, I fled. Among these Yakshas, some had wings and could fly. If not for this little demon being quick-witted, shaking them off halfway and entering the water to escape under the cover of night, I fear I would not have survived."

Upon hearing this, the Yushan City God could not sit still: "What did you say? Dizang An has also been controlled?"

"That is correct!"

Xu Jia also frowned. At first, he thought there was a problem with Shanju Guan, the place where the Evil Master was hiding, but later, seeing that Primordial Spirit voluntarily throw itself into the Mountain God's mouth, Xu Jia's prejudice against Shanju Guan vanished, believing it had also been deceived by the Evil Master.

But Dizang An is a place for nuns to practice in seclusion, a pure land of Buddhism; how could it also suffer such a calamity? (End of chapter)