Chapter 19 The Past is Like Smoke

Having lost the Godhood he was refining, and also handing over the Heavenly Palace Secret Spell. The Chuma Xian left this deep mountain, and considering the time, they couldn't be away for too long. Šurhaci treated these Chuma Xian of his with utmost respect, but those Ming generals traveling with him were not easy to deal with.

Similarly, several dozen days passed.

Lord Huang had already used incense to transmit thoughts, using the unique "Chuma" method of the Chuma Xian to remotely possess a designated spirit medium. After informing Changbai Mountain of everything in Joseon, Grandfather Fox and Grandmother White only indicated they understood, and then remained silent for more than ten days.

Until two days ago, in the Jianzhou Guard military camp, a soldier who had been blessed by a shaman in his childhood shuddered, possessed by a fox spirit, and went to the altar to talk with Lord Huang.

The Kaitian Hongsheng Emperor urgently summoned all Chuma Xian back to Changbai Mountain.

Therefore, after briefly packing his luggage, Lord Huang bid farewell to Šurhaci, preparing to withdraw from Joseon early, unable to continue protecting this land. Faced with the Kaitian Hongsheng Emperor's summons, Šurhaci naturally dared not neglect it, and kindly sent Lord Huang some incense ash.

The Jianzhou Guard had previously fought to the Kaesong front line, and then all the way down to Wangjing, joining forces with Grand Saber Liu Ting's troops to fight Honda Tadakatsu and others. After entering Wangjing, Šurhaci had people fetch these incense ashes from the Joseon sacrificial temples.

"This incense ash cannot be accepted!"

Lord Huang was startled, not expecting Šurhaci to be so opportunistic, going to Wangjing for two days and even taking incense ash from people's temples. This stuff was useless to ordinary people, but it was very useful to mystical beings who cultivated through incense, especially the incense ash from national temples, which accumulated countless vows and desires, leaving behind the power of incense wishes.

This could be used as a medium for communication between humans and the heavens, and taking it could also help increase one's cultivation.

Lord Huang said he couldn't accept it, but his eyes couldn't move away, and even the younger generation behind him were staring at the ash, occasionally giving Lord Huang a "quickly accept it" look.

"This, this, this, how can this be? This is not acceptable."

"Accept it, accept it! Don't be polite, old sir!"

Šurhaci enthusiastically pushed the incense ash into Lord Huang's arms, pressing down hard with his hands.

"You old sir, just accept it, we can't come all this way for nothing, right? We helped the King of Joseon fight the Japanese, what's it to take a few dozen pounds of incense ash from his temple?"

He said that we came all the way to help fight the war, and we won't even take your money when we go back, just a little ash, where can you find such a good thing?

"Then, then this old man will accept it, thank you, thank you. If there's anything in the future, just give a shout, as long as this old man is still alive, I will definitely help."

Lord Huang accepted this favor, but he added in his heart, on the premise that he could still appear alive.

This time entering Changbai Mountain, even if it wasn't a near-death experience, it was probably a fifty-fifty chance of survival.

Besides, with these national temple incense ashes, he would have something to report back.

"Šurhaci, which temple is this incense ash from? You said it's a temple, but who were these incense ashes originally used to worship, and then burned and left behind?"

Liu Xiaoqi suddenly interjected at this time, and asked in detail.

Lord Huang glanced at him without speaking, while Šurhaci grinned, patted his chest and explained to Liu Xiaoqi:

"This, little sir, don't worry, this is all pure."

Šurhaci meant that these dozens of pounds were all taken from legitimate temples, without any incense ash from original temples.

"All from legitimate temples, none from original temples?"

"Yes, but in Joseon here, legitimate temples and original temples are actually a bit mixed up."

Legitimate temples were the temples where successive kings were enshrined, namely the ancestral temple. Original temples, on the other hand, were the family temples of successive monarchs, with special original temples dedicated solely to their fathers and former kings, and some even put their Wangfei's (royal consorts) memorial tablets in to enjoy the incense.

The legitimate temples were full of the nation's fortune, while the original temples only had the desires of the emperor alone, and did not possess the nation's fortune, and also contained the mixed incense of various Wangfei, which was simply of poor quality.

Liu Xiaoqi didn't show any embarrassment, and even directly questioned whether the "gift" given by others was pure or not.

This was impolite behavior, but Lord Huang didn't object, and Šurhaci wasn't annoyed either, after all, the origin of this thing wasn't very clean, but he thought that Wangjing had been captured twice, and the King of Joseon wouldn't care whether the incense ash in his temple was still there, as this thing had no meaning to him after all.

Things offered for worship, once kicked off the altar, are no longer important.

Šurhaci said, "The original temples have all been destroyed, and dismantled to build fortifications. This was built by the Japanese when Wangjing was captured before. They didn't touch the legitimate temples, presumably to collect the national fortune, so they were preserved intact."

"That hall is called Bongseon Hall. You little sirs should have heard of it, right? It is the ancestral temple dedicated to the Taejo of this Joseon, as well as various ancient rulers who were posthumously honored four generations ago, but there was a break in the middle. The Japanese did a good deed and moved the royal tablets from another legitimate temple in."

"Another ancestral temple?"

Lord Huang was a little puzzled. He had also gone to Wangjing at that time, how could he not know that there was another ancestral temple inside.

"It was demolished, I only found out later."

Šurhaci said, "This is an internal matter of the Joseon court, I don't know very well either. In short, there were two legitimate temples built for a period of time, and the divine positions of several monarchs were in the other legitimate temple, and that temple has now been demolished and abandoned by the Japanese."

"That one is called Munso Hall. It is said that Taejo changed it from the temples of the previous dynasty. That was during the Song Dynasty in the Central Plains. The former name should have been..."

"Jingling Hall."

Lord Huang subconsciously repeated, "Jingling... um?"

The moment he said this word, he shuddered for some reason, and Lord Huang's consciousness was in a trance for a moment, and then regained consciousness in the next moment.

He shook his head, feeling a little strange.

In the incense ash, black gas that was difficult for ordinary people to detect appeared.

Whoosh—!

Just at this time, an anomaly suddenly appeared outside!

In an instant, the sky suddenly darkened, the mountains and forests became more secluded, and waves of divine power spread from the distant earth. The soldiers in the military tent were immediately in chaos, Šurhaci's face also changed, and the Ming garrison generals in the city walked out of their respective temporary residences to look at the sky.

Even the light of the sun was blocked, and as the abnormal phenomenon occurred, the yang energy in the sky began to fall, forming beams of light.

The Chuma Xian watched with their Dharma eyes, especially Lord Huang. When he saw a black-clothed underworld deity appear, and he didn't recognize the other party at all, his expression had already changed!

"This... can't be! It shouldn't be so fast?"

Refining a celestial deity takes a long time. Even with a secret spell, the mana itself, as well as the important Dharma realm, were not things that immortals in the mortal world could master. Thinking of this, Lord Huang's face instantly turned pale.

Could it be.....

That Black-Clothed Dao Lord was not a Heavenly Immortal.

But a Flying Immortal?!