Chapter 147 The Art of Weighing Disaster

Even without Little Red Sweet’s reminder, Fairy Miaoshan had already alighted from her carriage.

She had overheard the conversation between the doctor and Old Abacus, and now stood at a distance, gazing at the village.

Though her heart felt empty, her face bore a compassionate expression.

She gently beckoned Little Douguan over, seemingly in full control, and whispered, "How does the Dao of Disaster measure qi of calamity?"

"?"

Little Douguan was momentarily stunned, then shook his little head and hastily climbed back into her carriage.

Amidst a pile of jewelry, clothes, snacks, and fashionable trinkets, he was relieved that Aunt Miaoshan, though unconventional, hadn't completely forgotten her trade.

He unloaded a box, rummaging through it to find useful items while carefully recounting her techniques.

Fairy Miaoshan selected a peculiarly shaped small scale and a piece of Qing Taisui (a type of jade that absorbs qi), concealing them in her sleeve. Holding her horsetail whisk, she slowly walked towards the village.

Passing the group of villagers, she sighed softly, sweeping the whisk over their heads.

She possessed a deep karmic connection and had previously organized a Lantern Blessing Festival in Shima Town. Now, with a flick of her whisk, a gentle breeze dispersed the disaster qi above the villagers' heads.

Though it couldn't eliminate the disaster, it cleared their minds.

The whisk dispelled the black qi surging towards her, and she gracefully entered a courtyard. Finding the family's gate and walls intact, she scooped up a handful of soil before their threshold.

She placed the soil on one side of the scale, using the Qing Taisui as a weight on the other, examining it carefully.

After a moment, she put away the scale and said, "The doctor is right, there is indeed a disaster."

"What is she doing?"

Hu Ma watched from afar, curious, and turned to Douguan beside him.

Little Douguan stared intently at Fairy Miaoshan, as if afraid she might be doing something wrong.

Seeing her complete the measurement, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Master, Auntie is measuring the qi of calamity."

"The weight of these disaster-stricken places is different from others, but because they are all affected by the disaster qi, ordinary weights can't measure it."

"But Taisui's weight remains constant. Using a fixed amount of Qing Shi (green stone) as a standard, one can measure it."

Hu Ma found it fascinating and asked, "So, what happens after measuring the disaster?"

"If there's a disaster, you have to find the disaster object."

Little Douguan shook his head, the two wings on his hat swaying. Little Red Sweet watched with amusement.

Douguan said, "Disaster is formless. When it comes into the world, it needs to attach to something, and that's the disaster object."

"Although only the Dao of Disaster has the word 'disaster' in its name, many sects deal with disasters."

"Everyone encounters three disasters and eight difficulties in life, right? It's just that the Shou Sui Ren (Year Watchers) are strong enough to endure it, and the Walking Dead sect can pray for blessings, inviting ghosts and gods to dispel disasters..."

"Of course, that was in the past. Now, the ghosts and gods don't care about these things; they're hiding from disasters themselves..."

"...Unless we abstain from beef and truly bring the Tang Shen (Pond God) incense to this world."

"But in the end, ninety-nine percent of people can only hide from disasters. If they survive, that's enough."

"Only the Dao of Disaster is different. They are skilled in the art of collecting disasters, able to take away the disaster from a place. However, even those in the Dao of Disaster can't keep too much disaster on themselves."

"It's too heavy to bear, so besides collecting disasters, they also have to release them."

"This collecting and releasing is the skill of the Dao of Disaster, killing and saving people invisibly."

"..."

Hearing Little Douguan's clear and logical explanation, Hu Ma became interested and smiled, "In that case, wouldn't it be easy for people in the Dao of Disaster to do good deeds?"

"Collecting disasters from people and releasing them in uninhabited places, wouldn't that save countless lives?"

"Disaster objects don't die; it's not that easy to deceive."

Little Douguan shook his head and said, "The strength of a disaster object is calculated according to the weight of people."

"If everyone's weight were the same, then saving a hundred people here would be equivalent to owing the disaster object a hundred people."

"When it's time to release the disaster, you have to harm a hundred people in the place of release to avoid harming the disaster master."

"If not enough people are harmed, then it's like owing this debt yourself. You, your family, and your friends will have to pay, and even that might not be enough..."

"..."

Hearing this, Hu Ma thought of the Meng family, which followed the same principle.

The difference was that the Dao of Disaster searched for disasters everywhere, while the Meng family invited disasters.

"Of course, people's weight is different in this world."

Seeing the master asking him carefully, Little Douguan couldn't help but feel proud.

He puffed out his chest, and the two small wings on his head swayed even more vigorously. "If you encounter someone with a heavy destiny, killing one can save a hundred, so the Dao of Disaster is also skilled in observing fate."

"Every time they collect a disaster, they have to carefully calculate how much they've earned and how much they owe. Only by balancing the accounts will they not be backlashed in the end."

Hu Ma nodded, giving Douguan an approving look, but unfortunately, he didn't have any blood food to reward him.

Looking up, he saw Fairy Miaoshan, having finished measuring the disaster, enter the family's house. After a short while, she emerged with a bowl and a chopstick.

She tossed the bowl upwards and used the chopstick to balance it.

It swayed but didn't fall.

Then, she winked at Douguan, gently waved her horsetail whisk, and slowly walked around.

By the pot where herbal medicine was being boiled, the doctor pointed towards the mountains and said, "I don't understand disasters, but I remember that when the Walking Dead wanted to dispel the disaster, they went in that direction."

Fairy Miaoshan said unhappily, "If you don't understand, don't talk nonsense."

Saying that, she gently waved her whisk and took a few steps in several directions.

Indeed, when walking towards the mountains, the swaying bowl seemed to spin faster. With that, she had an idea and headed straight forward.

The surrounding villagers, however, didn't know what they were doing.

They only saw that this beautiful and ethereal young lady looked like she was from another world. With just a gentle wave of her horsetail whisk, their heavy heads felt much lighter.

A desire to live arose in their hearts, and they struggled to get up, kneeling on both sides of the road, kowtowing to Fairy Miaoshan.

"Aren't you going to help her?"

Seeing this, Hu Ma also got off the carriage and said to Fourth Sister Zhou, "If she really encounters danger, she's not as good as you."

Fourth Sister Zhou hesitated and said, "At first, I thought this sister was a good person, but later I learned that she doesn't walk the righteous path."

"Those people incite people to rebel everywhere, I don't know how many people they've harmed!"

"..."

Hu Ma said, "Even if she's not a good person, she's saving people now. Even someone like her who doesn't walk the righteous path is saving people. Are you, a member of the Ten Clans, just going to stand by and watch?"

Fourth Sister Zhou immediately felt ashamed and hurried to follow.

After taking a few steps, she suddenly tilted her head and thought: That's not right, I'm not their bodyguard...

...Never mind, it's not important.

Hu Ma watched from behind, seeing the doctor throw down the stick he was using to stir the medicine and follow Fairy Miaoshan. He instructed Old Abacus and got off the carriage.

Old Abacus clearly noticed something was wrong and winked at Hu Ma, but Hu Ma just nodded slightly, quickly catching up and walking alongside the doctor.

He said, "The plague in this village seems severe. It's all thanks to the doctor's heaven-defying skills."

The doctor walked slowly, smiling faintly, "I'm just a village doctor, I don't have any heaven-defying skills, I'm just doing my best."

Hu Ma said, "But from what I see, if you weren't here keeping these villagers alive, they would have all died long ago, right?"

The doctor smiled and turned around, his eyes shining brightly from under his gray linen robe, "If they really all died, whose fault do you think that would be?"

"..."

They were walking slowly, maintaining a distance of three to five zhang from Fairy Miaoshan. Just as they were talking, they suddenly heard a soft exclamation from ahead:

"Found it."

It turned out that she was walking while balancing the bowl with the chopstick, and the faster the bowl spun, the closer she got to the mountains.

But just as she reached a stone cliff, the bowl suddenly fell to the ground without any warning, shattering into pieces on the dry grass.

Her expression immediately turned serious, and she gripped her horsetail whisk, her eyes scanning the seemingly unremarkable hillside. She formed a hand seal:

"When the wind and thunder roar, the heavens descend, I invite the wind and thunder to reveal the disaster!"

"When the wind and thunder rise, the form of the disaster appears!"

"Hurry!"

"..."

After reciting the incantation, she pointed her finger, but nothing happened in the air. There was no thunder, but Little Douguan jumped out from behind a tree, holding a gong in both hands and banging it with all his might.

The noise was extremely loud and sudden, and in this silent forest, it was very jarring.

After a series of chaotic bangs, the soil suddenly shifted in the seemingly empty forest, and something emerged from the ground.

It was a black, rotten creature resembling a rat, but as large as a lamb.

As it jumped out, the surrounding sky seemed to darken, and everyone felt extremely uncomfortable, as if something was covering their heads.

"So, you're the Toothless Sovereign, trying to escape?"

Fairy Miaoshan glanced at it and sneered, pulling a silk thread from her horsetail whisk.

"Toothless Sovereign" is the Dao of Disaster's collective name for these disaster objects.

Because disaster objects are formless and need to attach to worldly objects, the Dao of Disaster summarized twelve types of objects that are easily attached to, and divided their characteristics.

As the saying goes:

The rat has no teeth, the ox has no molars, the tiger has no spleen, the rabbit has no lips, the dragon has no ears, the snake has no feet, the horse has no gallbladder, the sheep has no spirit, the monkey has no buttocks, the chicken has no kidneys, the dog has no intestines, and the pig has no tendons.

The end of the thin thread resembled a hook, and when it was launched, it would immediately entangle the object. It was extremely ingenious.

Her posture and technique were flawless, carrying a rhythm that conformed to the Great Dao, flying straight towards it.

Then, it missed!

(End of Chapter)