Chapter 44: Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor - Chapter 44: Not Right

Volume One: Mountain Ghost Rumor - Chapter 44: Not Right

"There is only one Mountain God near Yang County. Junior sister, one day when I raise my divine position, you can rely on me. Look, mountains are piled upon mountains, yet there is not a single Mountain God. It can be called my blessed land." Xiaoshui suddenly laughed wildly.

The female Taoist priest stood up and asked with a smile: "I am curious how senior brother managed to win over connections to get such a good edict."

"I have been an eighth-rank Five-Official Baozhang Zheng for a lifetime. Even if I haven't made any great contributions, I have worked hard," Xiaoshui said happily. "The Xitang Kingdom's imperial court is united in resisting the northern barbarians from invading the border, but taxes must be increased, right? The common people must be mobilized for labor, right? Which of these is not a major event that consumes the hearts of the people? Over time, the national destiny of the Xitang Kingdom will inevitably decline. Therefore, conferring Mountain Gods, Water Gods, and City Gods on a large scale can stabilize the hearts of the people. Once the hearts of the people are stable, the national destiny will be stable."

"So senior brother should thank the Houzhao Kingdom."

"Everything is established if prepared, and ruined if not. I have been recording changes in celestial phenomena in the Imperial Observatory and have long observed that the Xitang Kingdom will inevitably have the disaster of war in recent years, so I have been winning over connections bit by bit."

Xiaoshui recalled the bribes of these years and laughed: "Fortunately, there is the Mountain Ghost. Those important ministers of the country don't love gold and silver treasures; they only want Mountain Ghost Flower Money. Coincidentally, I don't lack Mountain Ghost Flower Money the most."

"No wonder senior brother could choose such a good place to be a Mountain God. It turns out you have been planning for many years."

"Pan Xi can create a game of chess out of nothing, let alone me!"

The female Taoist priest pondered: "Senior brother, are you sure Pan Xi is in the Upper Grade Destiny Knowing Realm?"

"Rest assured, Pan Xi's lifespan is near its end. Even if he is a Middle Five Realm cultivator, he cannot exert much combat power."

"If we are not Pan Xi's match..."

Xiaoshui interrupted her: "You can leave at any time."

"That makes me feel relieved." The female Taoist priest smiled lightly.

She was relieved, but Xiaoshui was worried.

He was no longer the eighth-rank Five-Official Baozhang Zheng of the Imperial Observatory, but a Mountain Ghost. Given his junior sister's temperament, if she weren't coveting the Mountain God money, she would have already made a move on him.

After arriving in Youju Town, Xiaoshui only met A Ping, a fool who looked cunning but was actually stupid.

A Ping had the cultivation of the Destiny Knowing Realm, yet he held back from making a move on him.

"Senior brother, you were in the Lower-grade Destiny Knowing Realm before and were an official of the Imperial Observatory. You must have protective Dharma Treasures, right?"

"You want to know?"

"I want to know a little bit." The female Taoist priest gathered her messy hair at will.

Xiaoshui opened his palm, and True Qi spat out from it. An Imperial Observatory token appeared. "Junior sister, this token was given to me by the Xia Guanzheng."

The Imperial Observatory had the Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter, and Central Guanzheng, who determined the four seasons and managed the calendar, a sixth-rank official position.

With the foundation of the Xitang Kingdom, the five Guanzheng were all cultivators of the Middle Five Realms.

The female Taoist priest couldn't help but take a few steps back and smiled happily: "The 'Xia Shi' token personally carved by the Xia Guanzheng?"

"Junior sister has good eyes. This 'Xia Shi' token is enough to kill a few blind Destiny Knowing Realm cultivators. Even if she is in the Upper Grade Destiny Knowing Realm, she must die."

"I wonder how many Mountain Ghost Flower Money senior brother spent to buy it?"

"It was given to me by the Xia Guanzheng."

"I don't believe it."

"Heh, nothing can escape junior sister's eyes. The Xia Guanzheng saw that I had worked diligently for a lifetime, so he spent sixty Mountain Ghost Flower Money."

The female Taoist priest couldn't help but exclaim: "Too cheap."

"It's just a pity that A Ping is as timid as a mouse and dare not make a move on me. Otherwise, this Xia Shi token would have already been stained with blood, saving me from having it become like a chicken rib after I advance to Mountain God," Xiaoshui said, looking at the female Taoist priest with a smile.

He was talking about A Ping, but threatening her.

The female Taoist priest giggled: "Does senior brother think I have ideas about you?"

"Sigh, since I am a Mountain Ghost now..."

"Senior brother, although one must guard against others, I am your junior sister. We have the same master."

"Junior sister is indeed overthinking. Since you have agreed to join forces with A Ping to deal with Pan Xi, rest well. I will come over tomorrow."

"Walk slowly, senior brother." The female Taoist priest sent him out of the village.

Returning to the hillside.

Xiaoshui grabbed a piece of heart and took a fierce bite, cursing: "Tang Yi! My good junior sister, don't think I don't know your thoughts!

Hmph, aren't you just wanting to kidnap me so I can spit out Mountain Ghost Flower Money for you?

Nearly two cycles of friendship, how could you have the heart?!"

If Xiaoshui hadn't detected Tang Yi's ill intentions in time, how could he have revealed the trump card he had hidden so deeply?

Immediately after, Xiaoshui muttered to himself: "Fortunately, I didn't kill A Ping with the Xia Shi token at the time. Otherwise, the situation would be even harder to control."

He came to Youju Town, determined to advance to the Fei Mountain God. No matter who stood in his way, he would eliminate them.

"Zhao Chan... Peach branch... If I get this peach branch, it will be my Mountain God weapon."

"Today is the thirteenth of the eighth month, tomorrow is the fourteenth, and soon it will be the Mid-Autumn Festival on the fifteenth."

Huangfu Changqiu and Xun Lan arrived outside the private school.

They didn't knock and walked straight in.

"Who is it?" Pan Xiansheng heard footsteps and looked up from the teachings of the sages in the book.

His gaze fell on the two, and he immediately froze. He carefully put down the sage book and stood up unhurriedly, bowing: "Are the two here to borrow books?"

Xun Lan sized up Pan Xiansheng and sighed: "No."

"Since you are not here to borrow books, may I ask why you have come to my small private school?"

Huangfu Changqiu didn't answer, scanning the books on the bookshelf. This private school teacher was truly fond of reading. The collection was extremely rich, mostly sage classics, and a small part were chivalrous case novels.

Pan Xiansheng was not anxious and waited silently.

Xun Lan thought about what to say next before speaking slowly: "The common people are innocent. Why commit such a ruthless act?"

"I am just a teacher. I really don't understand what the young lady..."

Huangfu Changqiu interrupted: "Stop pretending. Let's have a frank and honest chat."

"Ha, I don't understand what the young lady is saying."

Huangfu Changqiu said: "Have you heard of Bai Yuqing's name?"

"The Bai Zhenfu of the Demon Slayer Division's Baize Hall?"

"Bai Fairy is just an eighth-rank Zhenfu of the Demon Slayer Division, but is she enough to kill you?"

Pan Xiansheng wore a Confucian robe and took a step forward. The aura he had hidden for many years gradually rose: "I have heard of Bai Zhenfu's Fufeng Sword."

"She is currently in Youju Town."

"Hmm, I saw her."

Bai Yuqing and Bai Youjun had walked through Xiliu Lane and stood beside the farmland where the crops had been harvested.

He carried a handful of vegetables and walked out of the vegetable garden he had planted himself.

Pan Xiansheng smiled: "It must be that Bai Zhenfu deliberately let me see her."

"Since that's the case, you still dare to sacrifice the common people of Youju Town?"

"May I ask which sect the two come from?"

"She is Xun Lan of the Hengwu Pavilion, and I come from the Baoyu Studio, Huangfu Changqiu," she said.

"The two are not Demon Slayers of the Demon Slayer Division. Why do you need to manage this matter?"

Originally, the two didn't want to manage it, intending to use this disaster to hone Wu Ting and Chen Xianggu.

But, at the Mao hour in the morning.

Xun Lan received a thousand-mile message from the Hengwu Pavilion. The Demon Slayer Division in the Heinei Kingdom, where the Hengwu Pavilion was located, had destroyed mountains and broken temples, easily uprooting a privately established heterodox Mountain Sect.

Regarding the Heinei Kingdom Demon Slayer Division, Xun Lan was clear that they definitely didn't have such combat power.

According to the news heard by the Hengwu Pavilion, the Xitang Kingdom Demon Slayer Division participated in this battle and was the main force in attacking and destroying the Mountain Sect.

The sect knew she was in the Xitang Kingdom and ordered her to do some good deeds within the Xitang Kingdom to strive for the favor of the Xitang Kingdom Demon Slayer Division.

After all, the Demon Slayer Division destroyed mountains and broke temples. Even though the Hengwu Pavilion had accepted a Baize Hall demon cultivator as a disciple, it was still fearful, afraid that one day the Demon Slayer Division would find its way to their house.

It just so happened that Xun Lan was in Youju Town, and this place was about to experience a disaster. She simply brought Huangfu Changqiu to find the private school, planning to persuade the person hidden deep in the town to give up.

Xun Lan said: "The common people are innocent. Since you want to harm the common people, we righteous cultivators will naturally stand up."

"Absurd," Pan Xiansheng mocked. "To tell you the truth, I am a wild cultivator. I have seen enough of how you Mountain Sect cultivators act overbearingly in recent years!

It should be the Demon Slayer Division, right? If it weren't for the Demon Slayer Division pressing on your heads, how could you have come to find me?"

Huangfu Changqiu asked back: "So what if it is?"

"Haha..." Pan Xiansheng laughed suddenly. "'So what if it is,' what a 'so what if it is'! You Mountain Sect cultivators are high and mighty, of course you have the strength and background to say 'so what if it is' to wild cultivators like us!"

"If you continue to be stubborn, don't blame us for making a move!" Xun Lan didn't even think and said this sentence directly.

Huangfu Changqiu glanced at her. Whenever Xun Lan spoke without thinking, it meant she really intended to resort to force.

Pan Xiansheng spread his arms and mocked: "I am just a teacher in Youju Town, with no cultivation at all. If you want to make a move, then do it."

"Demon! Refusing to repent!" Xun Lan scolded.

The whisk in her hand whipped toward Pan Xiansheng.

The whisk passed through Pan Xiansheng's body without hurting him at all.

"Hmm?"

Not only Xun Lan was surprised, but even Huangfu Changqiu, who felt ten-tenths sure, was astonished.

"Senior Sister Xun, you didn't use True Qi?"

Xun Lan agitated her True Qi, and the silk threads on the whisk floated one by one, like countless sharp swords, instantly piercing Pan Xiansheng's whole body.

It still passed through his physique without hurting a single hair.

Xun Lan and Huangfu Changqiu looked around the house. Not to mention the teacher standing in front of them... With Xun Lan's Middle Five Realm cultivation, the True Qi carried by every move would have destroyed the house into pieces according to common sense. However, the teacher, the house, and even the books on the bookshelf all stood still, like immortal mountains.

"How is it possible?" Xun Lan murmured to herself.

Pan Xiansheng retracted his outstretched arms and asked: "Do you think that by relying on your cultivation, you can kill me like slaughtering a chicken or a dog?"

"Are you in the Lower-grade Opening Mansion Realm?"

"Hmm." Pan Xiansheng nodded indifferently.

"Since you are in the Lower-grade Opening Mansion Realm, you are also just waiting for death, with almost no combat power. Why can't I kill you?" Xun Lan pondered for a long time before asking slowly.

Pan Xiansheng smiled: "You will know on the fifteenth day of the eighth month."

"Good, we will wait for you to give an explanation on the fifteenth day of the eighth month."

Xun Lan and Huangfu Changqiu left.

Pan Xiansheng turned back to the desk, picked up an empty wine jar, and followed them unhurriedly.

"Are you going to get wine?"

"Wine is to forget worries. Drink it and forget worries, then there will be no worries."

The three walked from Daguan Lane to Caiyan Street.

"Teacher." Zhao Chan, bare-chested, ran over from the Demon Slayer Division. He wanted to go home to clean up and then put on some clothes.

Pan Xiansheng smiled: "Have you had a drink?"

He looked at the wine gourd hanging at the young man's waist.

"Drinking wine and leisure tea, sleeping under willows and flowers," Huangfu Changqiu recited softly, then shook her head. "Vulgar."

Zhao Chan glanced at the two people standing beside the teacher and bowed respectfully: "I have had a drink."

"Finished?"

"Hmm."

"Let's go, I'll treat you to a drink."

Not giving Zhao Chan a chance to refuse, Pan Xiansheng grabbed his arm and walked toward the wine shop.

Xun Lan frowned.

"This person is too strange," Huangfu Changqiu whispered.

Originally, they thought they could easily settle the disaster that Youju Town was about to experience, but they didn't expect it to suddenly become treacherous and unpredictable.

Xun Lan's brows furrowed deeper: "He is in the Lower-grade Opening Mansion Realm, I won't see it wrong. Moreover, this person's lifespan is completely exhausted. He used a heterodox method similar to the Soul Stripping Technique to forcibly survive. According to reason, he should have had his soul fly away and scatter under my whisk."

"Even stranger."

"Ask Fairy Bai." After a while, Xun Lan said quickly.

Without waiting for Huangfu Changqiu's agreement, she walked toward the Xizhao Inn.

Bai Yuqing and Bai Youjun were indeed drinking tea at the Xizhao Inn.

The two sat opposite them.

Xun Lan opened her mouth: "Fairy Bai, do you know there is a teacher in Youju Town?"

"What's wrong?" Bai Youjun whispered.

Bai Yuqing rolled her eyes at her and nodded: "I know."

Xun Lan recounted what had just happened to Bai Yuqing word for word.

Bai Yuqing asked back: "You originally didn't want to intervene, why did you suddenly want to intervene?"

"The Heinei Kingdom Demon Slayer Division destroyed a Mountain Sect..."

"What is the name?"

"Qianshui Sect."

Bai Yuqing said: "The Qianshui Sect was a cultivation sect but privately established heterodox sacrifices, and the nearby common people suffered greatly because of this. They indeed deserve to die."

"This matter should have been the business of the Heinei Kingdom Demon Slayer Division."

"So that's it..." Bai Yuqing smiled. "I wondered what it was. It turns out the Hengwu Pavilion saw the Qianshui Sect suffer and felt rabbit-like sadness. They asked you to do some good deeds within the Xitang Kingdom to win the favor of the Xitang Kingdom Demon Slayer Division."

"The Hengwu Pavilion did send a thousand-mile message to me," Xun Lan said, unusually sincere. "Does Fairy Bai know that the Xitang Kingdom Demon Slayer Division also participated in this matter?"

"Of course I know. Otherwise, how could I understand what happened thousands of miles away?"

"Fairy Bai, I am willing to help the innocent common people of Youju Town. I hope you will put in a good word for the Hengwu Pavilion in the Xitang Kingdom Demon Slayer Division." Xun Lan had thought about this sentence for a long time.

Huangfu Changqiu also smiled: "Although the Baoyu Studio is not in the Heinei Kingdom, I also hope Fairy Bai will say a few good words for the Baoyu Studio."

She shook her head slowly: "If you don't do bad things, you won't be afraid of ghosts knocking on the door. You guys, why bother with small tricks?"

"Fairy Bai's words are wrong," Huangfu Changqiu said. "We are settling the disaster in Youju Town for you, how can it be a small trick?"

Bai Youjun was overjoyed when she heard that the two were going to solve the demon infestation in Youju Town: "Sister, that's great! With two experts helping, the innocent common people will definitely pass through the disaster without danger!"

She didn't know that Qing only cared about Zhao Chan alone. After Xun Lan and Huangfu Changqiu dealt with the demon infestation, Zhao Chan would also be safe.

"I have seen that teacher. To tell you the truth, I don't know his background."

"Ah?" Huangfu Changqiu was surprised.

"In my eyes, he is just an ordinary teacher."

"Why don't you try slashing him with a sword?"

Bai Yuqing thought for a while: "We'll talk about it on the fifteenth day of the eighth month."

"Why?" Xun Lan was extremely puzzled.

"You don't need to know."

A Ping sat on the edge of the bed in Xie Wan's boudoir.

He had just taken another 'Fusheng Pill' from the Xuanwei Sect, and his injuries had greatly improved. He was using his heart for two purposes, circulating True Qi to stimulate the medicinal power to heal while focusing on reading the little picture book.

Xie Wan ran in hurriedly: "Senior brother, it's not right!" ===== CHAPTER 45 =====