Chapter 241: Rite of Grievance

Hu Jing couldn't help saying, "Look at how you treat him—could capturing him really threaten you? Wouldn't it be better to capture these two beside you?"

Pan Yun said with a solemn face, "Although I'm close with them, from the standpoint of righteousness, in my heart, of course Young Master Zhang is more important."

Zhang Weiliang only felt cold sweat continuously breaking out along his spine. He shouted, "Don't try to frame me! If you get me captured, my parents and Second Uncle will never let you get away with it!"

Pan Yun nodded with a solemn face. "Don't worry, Young Master Zhang. I will definitely protect you well."

Zhang Weiliang:...

Seeing that Hu Jing and the others actually had thoughtful expressions on their faces, Zhang Weiliang's heart went cold.

He had successfully been framed by Pan Yun. If he really were captured by the enemy to threaten her, he believed she would absolutely perform a righteous severing of kin—very righteously and openly destroying him.

Zhang Weiliang regretted it. He should have listened to Zhang Weiqin and not come to rescue Pan Yun.

Hu Jing and Su Ying were still tied up, but before being bound, they first led the Green-Clad Guards who could still walk to carry the fallen Gray-Clad Guards aside and tied them up tightly.

These were the ones who hadn't died. The dead ones were carried and laid out in front of Pan Yun.

Zhang Ning and Li Ji obediently went to carry all the fallen Green-Clad Guards over and tie them up as well.

Only after taking stock did they discover that among the Green-Clad Guards there were seriously wounded and lightly wounded, but none dead.

Ah Xin's suspended heart settled. The Green-Clad Guards still standing also dropped their guard, honestly stretched out both hands, and bound each other up without Pan Yun's group needing to lift a finger.

After this tally, Physician Zhao was dragged out from under the cart.

He—completely unharmed!

Pan Yun and Physician Zhao stared at each other. Physician Zhao couldn't help but look accusatory. "Daoist Priest Sanzhu, you've hidden it from me so well."

Pan Yun: "Song Bei has already been beaten down by me. Would he still come after you for poor medical skill?"

Physician Zhao was nearly in tears. "My wife and children are still on the island."

Pan Yun waved her hand. "Don't worry. We will definitely level the island and rescue your whole family."

Physician Zhao didn't know whether he should be happy or worried—because, after all, he was also a pirate.

Pan Yun turned, walked to Zhang Weiliang's side, crouched down, and transmitted her voice to him: "I'm now called Sanzhu, Miao Zhen is called Sishui, Miao He is called Wuhuo. Got it?"

Zhang Weiliang glanced at her and transmitted back: "Why use false names?"

Pan Yun: "To give you all the chance to make a name for yourselves."

Zhang Weiliang gave a cold laugh. "You think I'd believe that? Could it be that you've offended too many people out there, so you're using false names?"

Pan Yun was silent.

Zhang Weiliang couldn't help but sit up straight. "It really is that, isn't it? You haven't been going around out there using the name of Long Hushan, have you?"

He shouted this one out loud, and everyone turned their heads at the sound to look over.

Pan Yun glared at him and said, "What are you shouting about? Am I not a student of Long Hushan Academy?"

Zhang Weiliang gritted his teeth. "But you're even more a disciple of Mount Sanqing."

"When we travel, we can use our academy registration in place of a travel pass. I'm a person of Long Hushan Academy, but I didn't say it on my own—it was all discovered."

Zhang Weiliang:... so angry.

Zhang Weiliang thought that he still needed her to save people, so he suppressed the unhappiness of being made a scapegoat and asked with a dark face: "When are you going into the thick fog to look for people?"

Pan Yun: "Why look? This mountain is so big, and the yin energy inside is eerie—who knows where they've been led astray to?"

"You—!"

Pan Yun quickly raised a hand to stop what he was about to say. "Don't rush. Just because I'm not going to look for people doesn't mean I'm not saving them."

She rose, surveyed the surroundings, and said: "These people died wrongful deaths here. After death they were first displayed here by the officials to frighten people, and then used by the Japanese as roadblocks. Their harboring resentment was not their own wish."

"They suffered in life, and after death they must still endure torment here, willingly or forced, committing so many sins."

Pan Yun only had to think about it to feel how wretched they were. "This lifetime was already bitter enough. Next lifetime they might have to suffer even more because of these sins. Is there anyone, ghost, or vengeful spirit in this world more pitiable than them?"

Zhang Weiliang was slightly stunned. After a pause he said: "No matter how bitter, as a Daoist Priest who exorcises demons and defends the Dao, upon seeing vengeful spirits, one must still destroy them, to prevent them from harming others."

Pan Yun glanced at him. "Can't you purify them? Can't you send them to the bliss of rebirth? Just dig a pit and let them rest in peace—what's that bothering you?"

Zhang Weiliang's eyes widened slightly. He pointed at the scattered piles of white bones not far away and said: "Can you tell which bones belong to whom? You actually still want to let them rest in peace. Do you know that putting the wrong remains—even burying a single tooth in the wrong place—will make them resent you and haunt you day and night?"

So is it that they find digging a pit and burying bones difficult?

Of course not. It's that finding a complete set of one person's bones among so many remains is harder than ascending to heaven—better to just forcefully shatter the vengeful spirits.

Pan Yun glanced down at him, looking down from above: "That's because your skills are lacking. You're too weak."

So angry that Zhang Weiliang clutched his chest and stood up from the ground. "I can't beat you in a fight, but I've studied ritual arts for so many years. I don't believe you could be better than me."

Cultivation can advance by leaps and bounds through talent. He couldn't match her in talent, and he admitted it; but ritual arts cannot be mastered overnight.

Besides, the most formidable ritual arts under heaven still belong to Long Hushan. What Mount Sanqing is best at is the Dao of alchemy—what formidable ritual arts could it teach her?

Pan Yun glanced at him, then looked toward Miao Zhen.

Miao Zhen said: "Little Martial Uncle, everything has been gathered."

"What thing—" Zhang Weiliang turned his head, saw what Miao Zhen had taken out, and was stunned. "Thi... you all came quite well prepared."

Miao Zhen set down a box as a table. On it were placed an incense burner, a spirit lamp, yellow paper, a peach-wood sword, and three plates of assorted pastries, plus two bowls filled with clean water.

Zhang Weiliang couldn't help asking, "You all carry this kind of luggage with you?"

Pan Yun ignored him, walked to the box, picked up the peach-wood sword, channeled a thin layer of yuan force to her fingertip and gently drew it across the blade. She tilted the sword slightly, steeled herself, and drew her finger pad across the edge. A stab of pain—the pad was cut, and after a brief stillness blood gushed out as if in a rush.

Every time she pricked herself it hurt so much.

Pan Yun used the blood on her finger pad to draw a talisman on the sword. The moment the talisman was complete, a flash of golden light, the wind rose, and everyone felt a chill around their bodies as a cold breath surged in from all directions...

The wind grew stronger and stronger. With a flick of Miao Zhen's fingertip, the two standing incense candles immediately lit.

!. Read

Miao He drew three sticks of incense, lit them, and handed them to Pan Yun.

Pan Yun gently set down the peach-wood sword, took the incense, walked step by step to the incense altar, raised her eyes to glance at the deep, dark grove, pressed her palms together, and holding the incense was about to bow...

The wind grew stronger and stronger, whipping everyone's clothes with a flapping sound. Miao Zhen and Miao He's figures both swayed, nearly blown away by the wind.

Hu Jing and the others quickly sidestepped the sand and stones flying toward them, while Song Bei, bound all over, struggled to lift his upper body and stared blankly at the scene.

So, she must have a way to dispel the white mist.

Pan Yun bowed deeply, but an unseen force held her up, preventing her from bowing further—and even pushed her backward.

She stood steady, paused a moment, then gripped the incense and bowed slowly, saying: "First, I wish for national peace and people's safety;"

She rose, then bowed again: "Second, I wish for the well-being of all your loved ones;"

Pan Yun straightened, lifted her gaze to the horizon, and slowly bent forward, solemnly saying: "Third, I wish for the souls of the dead to rest in peace, and return to their homeland."

A gust of wind rushed in—hū—and the vengeful spirits surged forward, engulfing the air in thick mist; visibility plummeted from a hundred meters to less than one, and Pan Yun could no longer see Seeing Miao Zhen standing beside her.

A piercing wail and screams erupted; as the crowd reeled in shock, they felt their legs lift off the ground—as if falling into the earth's core—and kept plummeting downward…

Every heart pounded in their throats; Zhang Weiliang roared in fury: "Pan… Sanzhu, I knew you couldn't do it! Stop right now!"

Pan Yun did not stop; she held the incense firm and bowed deeply once more—the sensation of spinning and weightlessness grew stronger.

Then, everyone came to a sudden halt, and before them lay a sea of crimson mist.

A group of ragged fishermen screamed, abandoning their boats, shoving each other toward shore, while behind them waved swords and knives of pirates.

They killed the fishermen, seized the pearl they had accidentally caught, and looted their belongings.

But the spoils were too meager, so they seized their great blades and stormed into the village, ransacking it clean.

After looting, these pirates vanished into the islands, evading pursuit by imperial troops.

Moreover, the coastline was long; the troops could not guard every inlet.

Some of these pirates were Japanese, but most were desperate local civilians who, unwilling to endure the hardships of fishing, turned to banditry.

Because these villagers were connected by marriage, they mostly stole goods and rarely killed.

But the Japanese pirates were different—they showed no restraint, killing not only people but torturing them.

Some locals guided the Japanese pirates, allowing them to always evade patrols; whenever they reached a village, half its people would die or be wounded.

One Japanese pirate caused ten times the damage of an ordinary bandit; though they made up less than twenty percent of all pirates, they gave the impression that Japanese pirates were everywhere.

After several defeats, the Taizu flew into a rage; since the coastal region had long been held by Chen Youliang's forces, he simply sealed the sea, relocating all coastal fishermen inland.

The Taizu despised the weak Song dynasty and treacherous merchants; at the founding of the empire, maritime trade brought little profit to the state, yet required immense manpower and resources to guard against pirates.

What good is commerce? It only drains money from the common people and corrupts their hearts.

Many fishermen were relocated inland and given land, but soon lost it; unable to survive, they secretly returned to the coast.

The crowd saw fishermen sneaking out to fish, or carrying porcelain, slipping onto ships to sail away.

Relatives watched them vanish into the sea; some died at sea, others returned years later.

Fewer pirates came ashore, but some still did; the garrison, knowing people used this route to flee overseas, gathered the corpses and buried them beside the road to deter fishermen from smuggling out.

No one knew who started it, but one soldier, lazy and careless, buried the corpses only shallowly; within days, they reappeared, terrifying several fishermen who had planned to sneak out under cover of darkness.

(End of Chapter)