Chapter 84: Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi

The so-called "Righteous Manor" originated from customs during the Song Dynasty.

Among clans in various places, some were rich and some were poor. The rich would raise money to organize a Righteous Manor, which not only had ancestral halls and public fields but even private schools to teach the poor children of the clan to read.

In any place, the rich organizing a Righteous Manor was a benevolent act praised by everyone.

Of course, the cost of maintaining the operation of a Righteous Manor of this scale was not small. With the decline of the family, many Righteous Manors eventually had only one function: to store corpses.

Especially in a large city like Xianyang, near an ancient ferry, there were many merchants coming and going from the south and north, as well as those who came from other places to make a living, so it was inevitable that some would die in a foreign land.

People of the Divine Land emphasize "falling leaves returning to their roots." After these people die, they are often stored in the Righteous Manor, waiting for fellow villagers to show kindness or for clan members to arrive and transport them back to their hometown.

The Xianyang City Righteous Manor was west of the city.

This place was once an imperial hunting ground in ancient times, so the terrain was wide, with large areas of hills and dense forests, as well as a Medicine King Temple.

The roads leading to the Righteous Manor were lined with forests on both sides.

There were also quite a few coffins stored in the forests, usually built with bricks and stones, creating a platform three inches off the ground, and then building a circular cover, with the coffin placed inside.

Some were from long ago, the bricks and stones had collapsed, and they were covered with moss...

Some didn't even have stone platforms, just padded with wooden racks, which had long since rotted and collapsed, and even the coffins had cracked and turned black...

Seeing Li Yan and the other looking around, Wang Daoxuan explained, "This is called 'floating burial.' According to funeral rites, the coffin cannot touch the ground before burial. Sometimes descendants don't have time to break the ground, or someone dies in a foreign land, so they must be treated with floating burial first."

Sha Lifei said, "It seems these are all unattended. Poor in life, unable to be buried in peace in death—truly..."

"It's not just the poor."

Wang Daoxuan shook his head, "There are quite a few wealthy families who do this too."

Li Yan frowned, "Why?"

Wang Daoxuan laughed dumbly, "Looking for a satisfactory Feng Shui treasure land to bury their ancestors and bless their descendants, but good treasure lands are hard to find, so the coffins of many wealthy families have been placed for more than ten years without being buried."

"What a sin!" Sha Lifei cursed, "These unfilial descendants, for the sake of wealth, let their elders be exposed to the wind and sun, unable to be buried in peace. Aren't they afraid of retribution!"

Wang Daoxuan was also a bit helpless, "The imperial court has repeatedly banned this, but because the nobles in the court do this, wealthy families imitate them, and even ordinary people follow suit."

Hearing his account, the two asked one after another.

"Daoist, is Feng Shui really useful?"

"Naturally, it is useful. Buried in a spiritual vein treasure cave, shrouded in *gang* energy, descendants will also receive blessings and luck. But each generation's bloodline is thinner, so the effect is worse. Even for a top-tier treasure cave, it can only bless three generations."

"However, a hundred years of time is enough to create the prosperity of a family, so many Feng Shui geomancers travel across the country. As long as they find a good cave, they can sell it for a good price."

"But these, after all, are small trends!"

"Look at those imperial clans and aristocratic families; which one doesn't spend a lot of manpower and money to find top-tier treasure caves? But under the great trend of human affairs in the red dust, they are all passing smoke."

"And that Zhou family, after Zhou Pan's mother died, also spent a lot of money to find a master from the Jiang Xiang Sect in Ganzhou to find a lucky cave. It was a glorious burial at the time, and it has only been two or three years since then."

"Virtue not matching position, no matter how good the Feng Shui is, it's useless..."

The three chatted as they walked and soon approached the Righteous Manor.

After all, it was the Xianyang Righteous Manor, and its area was quite large, but because of its age, it looked a bit dilapidated, and even some mud walls had collapsed halfway.

Li Yan had also learned his lesson; as long as he approached these places, he would definitely pinch the Yang Seal first and operate his olfactory supernatural power to see if there was anything unusual.

In an instant, various smells poured into his nasal cavity.

Li Yan's face turned ugly, and he almost flipped over from the choking.

The smell emitted by rotting corpses of different ages was truly unbearable for him.

Seeing this, Wang Daoxuan laughed, "The Xianyang Righteous Manor is guarded all year round, and the City God Temple will also regularly send people to hold rituals and clean up the filthy *yin* evil energy, so there won't be any evil things causing trouble."

"But Righteous Manors in some remote areas often have strange things happen, and the guards must be people from the Mystic Sect to be able to suppress them..."

While speaking, the few had already entered the Righteous Manor.

Because Li Yan had specifically instructed, and Sha Lifei had given enough silver, Manager Wu's coffin was also well taken care of, stored separately, and did not suffer from wind and sun.

Wang Daoxuan bought some offerings on the way, and the three offered incense one by one, then set the time for moving the coffin with the old man guarding the Righteous Manor, and only then did they leave.

Just as they went out, Li Yan found something wrong.

He suddenly turned his head, only to see deep in the dense forest on the left, a person covered in blood-stained clothes, pierced by chains, slowly raised his hand and pointed to an area.

It was exactly the same as what he saw in his dream that night!

He started with a shock, reached out to grasp his knife, and simultaneously pinched the Yang Seal.

However, he didn't smell any unusual smell.

In the blink of an eye, that figure disappeared again.

"What's wrong?"

Seeing this, Sha Lifei hurriedly asked.

Li Yan's face was ugly, "I seem to have been infected with something unclean."

Then, he recounted the nightmare of the previous night and what he saw today.

"Must have been dazzled!" Sha Lifei shook his head, "The Daoist and I didn't see anything, and besides, you didn't smell anything either."

"Not right."

Wang Daoxuan frowned, "The situation you described, I have seen recorded in ancient books." "It should be a Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi!"

…………

"Look, it's right here."

Returning to the Ask-Dao Pavilion, Wang Daoxuan flipped through for a long time before finding a page in a fragmentary ancient book and pointing it to Li Yan.

It read: During the Daxing era, the Golden Tent Wolf Kingdom invaded the south. In a dream, I saw my former master, and it was the same in broad daylight, feeling terrified. Later, guided by a wandering Daoist, I learned of the Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi theory, entered the Zhongnan Mountains, found a Cold Altar in a cave, worshipped Chen Tianjun, and inherited the Western Mystic lineage...

Wang Daoxuan explained patiently, "This was recorded by my Western Mystic lineage, but unfortunately it is incomplete. Later, I asked Senior Qingyangzi for advice and learned of the Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi theory."

"You have also seen the Cold Altar *Chang* soldiers; the Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi is somewhat similar. When some people with profound sorcery die, because they have no disciples to continue the Dharma lineage's incense, they perform rituals to become wandering gods, just to find someone to inherit the Dharma lineage."

"This thing is also called 'Immortal Fate.' The world was chaotic at the end of the Tang Dynasty, demons rose and the Dao declined, and many Dharma lineages were severed, so the activities of Cold Altar Wandering Masters were most frequent. Some entered the folk, and there were stories of immortals preaching in dreams..."

Li Yan frowned, "Is there any harm?"

Wang Daoxuan said thoughtfully, "According to what Senior Qingyangzi said, when encountering this situation, you only need to follow the instructions to the Cold Altar. If you are unwilling to inherit, it means the fate of this Dharma lineage is completely severed, and the other party will no longer pester you."

!.

"And this thing often depends on fate. Have you encountered any strange things before?"

"It's more than strange..."

Li Yan sighed, raised the Gou Die mark on his palm, and recounted the situation in the cave at that time and Luo Mingzi's warning.

"That's perfect."

Wang Daoxuan said solemnly, "Didn't Luo Mingzi say to first clarify the origin? Perhaps by following the Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi, you can find the root cause!"

……

In the following days, that Cold Leng Leng Tan You Shi appeared frequently.

Li Yan was annoyed, but he also figured out the pattern.

The other party occasionally appeared in dreams, which could be avoided by focusing one's spirit, but appearing in broad daylight, no matter where, always pointed to the south.

And that place was exactly where the Qin Ling Mountains were!

Fortunately, just as Wang Daoxuan said, apart from occasionally appearing to point the way, the other party had no other actions. After Li Yan slowly got used to it, he was no longer worried.

Of course, the plan also added one more item.

After sending Old Four Wu back to his hometown, he would first enter the Qin Ling Mountains.

After all, it was an opportunity. If it was more suitable for him, then when building the tower, he would have a better choice.

Just like this, unknowingly, it was the ninth day of the ninth lunar month.

Double Ninth Festival, nine-nine returning to truth, the beginning of one yuan, great luck.

Since ancient times, on this day, there have been customs such as climbing high to pray for blessings, worshipping gods and ancestors, and drinking and praying for longevity. Some places also hold harvest sacrifice ceremonies.

Today was the time agreed with Luo Mingzi to go to the mass grave to observe the ceremony of enfeoffing the Mountain God, so they all got up early to prepare.

Before dawn, someone knocked on the door.

Li Yan opened the door and saw it was neighbor Granny Liu.

She carried a bamboo basket, inside which were a dozen persimmons, *ziba* cakes, and a small bottle of wine, arranged neatly, looking quite beautiful.

"Brother Li Yan, it's the Double Ninth Festival. I'm afraid you haven't prepared anything." Granny Liu smiled and handed over the basket, "Homemade, have a taste."

"Granny, you are too polite."

Before Li Yan could speak, Sha Lifei grabbed it, grabbed a *ziba* and stuffed it into his mouth, muttering, "Delicious, Granny, your craftsmanship is not bad."

"Eat, eat, you unlucky ghost!"

Granny Liu immediately changed her expression.

Sha Lifei laughed, hurriedly took a roast chicken wrapped in lotus leaves from the room, "Granny, don't be angry, I wish you health."

Granny Liu took the roast chicken, her expression softened slightly, and she looked at them, "Dressed so neatly, are you going to climb high?"

As she spoke, she hurriedly returned home, took three cornel branches, the green leaves emerald green, the red beads like fire, handed them to Li Yan and said, "All big men, don't understand anything. How can you climb high without inserting cornel? A home really can't do without a woman."

"That's true, that's true."

Sha Lifei replied, "Granny Liu, we are in a hurry, so we'll leave first!"

After saying that, he took Li Yan and Wang Daoxuan and hurriedly closed the door and left.

"Hey, hey!"

Granny Liu couldn't stop them and stomped her feet in anger, "Bad-hearted big bald head!"

Li Yan and the three rode away from the Xianyang city gate, and only then did Sha Lifei laugh, "The kind of etiquette just now is what a mother's family gives to a son-in-law. Granny Liu is afraid she wants to recruit you as a son-in-law."

Li Yan was dumbfounded, looked at Wang Daoxuan who was smiling without saying a word, and thought of the appearance of Granny Liu's daughter, cold sweat broke out on his forehead, and he cupped his hands, "Many thanks, Old Uncle Sha, for saving me."

"Just know it!"

Sha Lifei laughed, divided the cornel branches sent by Granny Liu, inserted them into their collars, and rode toward the mass grave...

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 85 =====