Chapter 14 Temple of Yue Yinping

"So this is the temple of Yue Yinping! No wonder a spirit with such a strange temper, who even killed those who uttered foul language, has not been overthrown by the common people. Instead, her temple still sits in the prosperous area of Qiantang, enjoying the incense of the people."

"Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang of the Ming Dynasty treated the descendants of these loyal officials and generals of the Song Dynasty extremely well, posthumously honoring them. The Yue family was completely rehabilitated after Emperor Lizong of Song, and they were posthumously enfeoffed as kings. In addition, the Ming people built temples to worship them, and the government also protected these temples. This is the so-called grace of two dynasties."

The ancients attached great importance to loyalty and filial piety. Moreover, many folk temples were built by later generations to mourn the deceased, and the locals worshiped them for generations, never believing that such spirits would do anything evil to them. If a spirit killed someone, it must be because the slain had committed some evil deed.

This absolute faith, in fact, also led to the mixing of folk gods, which were far different from the heavenly gods.

The sources of folk gods were diverse. Some were substitutes for people, some wished to become gods through incense, some were ghosts acting as gods, and some were even monsters disguised as gods.

"Qiantang County, West Lake... That's right, isn't this place not far from the Lin'an Prefecture of the Song Dynasty!"

Ji Xiang realized that the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty was in Hangzhou. Qiantang was the leading county of Lin'an Prefecture, although it took several days to travel to the ancient Lin'an Prefecture. But this was the number one county under the jurisdiction of Lin'an Prefecture.

The Fengbo Pavilion of the Dali Temple in Lin'an was where Yue Fei died.

"Not bad, I ran right into it!"

Ji Xiang was overjoyed! It was truly a case of searching high and low without success, only to have it delivered right to his door. Last time, he went to the Yinshan Sect and saw that their Daoist temple had been destroyed. He couldn't find any trace of the Song court, but he didn't expect that after flying out of Dingjia City due to his damaged form and spirit, he would arrive in the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty!

Based on the situation in the Forbidden City and the extraordinarily powerful demon that Silver Bottle Maiden had dealt with, he might have found another old nest of the Song court.

Ji Xiang made a decision that violated the "ancestral precepts."

Fishing.

The demon eliminated by Silver Bottle Maiden might have been raised by the Song court. She had been killing demons and subduing monsters here for so long, and she was just an ordinary folk god with no great magical power, yet no one had ever bothered her. This could explain it.

However, the person behind the raising of demons would not let her mess around like this. This time, he helped Silver Bottle Maiden, which might attract the attention of those behind the scenes. Perhaps soon, someone would come to visit her.

"It can indirectly allow me to kill demons and eliminate monsters, help me find that possibly existing Wanshou Palace stronghold, and also allow my form and spirit to recover quickly. After all, with the increase in the number of manifestations, a large amount of incense and wishes will also accelerate the gathering."

"And what this brings is a continuous stream of good merit."

Killing four birds with one stone, this deal was definitely worth it. All it required was a little incense and help in the early stage. Ji Xiang was very generous about this, and on the spot, he gave Silver Bottle Maiden a wave of statue flashing.

This was to tell her that his divine power was very sufficient, so she could use it as much as she wanted. If she still couldn't use it up after fighting the demons, she could just casually throw skills into those mountain gullies.

But the Zhenwu statue flashed, which startled Silver Bottle Maiden, but immediately, her face was filled with joy:

"The Great Emperor's divine power! Are you granting my request?"

"Thank you, Great Emperor!"

She was overjoyed, and Ji Xiang also gave her a portion of his incense. Under the effect of this incense power, the damaged parts of Silver Bottle Maiden's body were rapidly recovering.

"Her form and spirit are recovering so quickly. As expected, is it because of the foundation of faith?"

Ji Xiang watched as his incense, after being given to Silver Bottle Maiden, caused her previous injuries to disappear visibly. Those fluttering parts of her body, which were the lost form and spirit, also began to condense again.

The evil aura of a mere Yuanshen-level fierce demon could not compete with the incense separated from Ji Xiang's body. The evil aura below the Chunyang realm, upon touching Ji Xiang's incense, would immediately melt away without a trace, once the Purple-Gold Elixir had been achieved.

It was just that the speed of Silver Bottle Maiden's form and spirit recovery surprised Ji Xiang. It was very difficult for his own incense to condense into form and spirit, so how could giving it to others be like a miraculous cure?

Was it really like Tang Sanzang's flesh, which was useless for Tang Sanzang himself to eat, but could give immortality to anyone else who ate it?

Silver Bottle Maiden, blessed by the Zhenwu statue, looked in surprise at everything happening to her. The places damaged by the Yuanshen demon had recovered in an instant, and the demonic aura had disappeared without a trace!

But after her surprise, when she looked at the Zhenwu statue again, she didn't thank it. Instead, she had a deep reverence for the unknown.

"...Great Emperor, could it be that you have really descended into my small temple?"

The divine position of the Great Emperor Zhenwu was high in the Floating Dawn Sky, inspecting the ten directions of the world. Silver Bottle Maiden began to murmur in her heart at this time, thinking, could it be that the killing of that Yuanshen demon was really done by the Great Emperor Zhenwu, and not by the power of the statue?

But... who was using Zhenwu's divine position, and who had such great ability?

And who could obtain the approval of the imperial court to receive the divine position of Zhenwu?

"Perhaps, I am overthinking it."

Silver Bottle Maiden returned to her own statue, while Ji Xiang hid inside the Zhenwu statue, not caring about the little girl's thoughts. He was both Zhenwu and not Zhenwu, possessing the form and spirit of the White-Faced Zhenwu, but not the divine position of the Great Emperor Zhenwu.

"Strictly speaking, the White-Faced Zhenwu and the Great Emperor Zhenwu are not the same existence, but one of the predecessors of Zhenwu."

Silver Bottle Maiden returned to the statue to rest, but the troubles of the Silver Bottle Maiden Temple had just begun.

The next day, the yamen runners had already told the Qiantang County Magistrate about the temple master appearing and reprimanding them, and the monks of Lingyin Temple also moved upon hearing the news. In addition to the young monk in white, three more senior monks came at once.

"Four Arhats, are they really going to pry something out of my mouth?"

Ji Xiang's cultivation was interrupted again, and he was very unhappy. After all, because of the arrival of the Qiantang County Magistrate and the monks of Lingyin Temple, the temple's incense was sluggish again for the day. Not only were there no offerings from those wealthy merchants, but even ordinary pilgrims could not enter. It was as if a monthly income of 100,000 had suddenly dropped to 1,500.

Of course, Ji Xiang did not have a good face for these people.

Coming to visit without bringing incense?

Fortunately, this time, Ji Xiang didn't need to show any divine power. Silver Bottle Maiden manifested from the statue and suddenly came to the four Arhats, questioning them with dissatisfaction:

"I heard about what you did before. How dare you take away the statue of Lord Zhenwu from my temple? Did you get my permission?"

"Masters of Lingyin Temple, aren't you going a little too far? I advise you to leave here as soon as possible."

Her heroic face now had another layer of murderous aura.

When she went out, these monks came to move things from her house. Now that she knew about it, how could she have a good face?

After all, the divine power of the Zhenwu statue was the key to saving her life. If the white-robed monk had taken the statue away that day, she would not have been able to borrow the power of the Zhenwu incantation and would have really died at the hands of that Yuanshen realm demon.

Then she looked at the Qiantang County Magistrate:

"Lord Zhou, our friendship is not shallow. Whenever your wife and daughters have problems, I often respond and manifest. One is because I am grateful that you have done many good deeds for the people of Qiantang County, and the other is because you have pious offerings and your ancestors have accumulated virtue. After all, although you are not an upright person, you are still a good official. But I didn't expect you to bring these monks to rob my incense and take things from my temple, which disappoints me."

The Qiantang County Magistrate was speechless for a moment. If he said that the white-robed monk had acted on his own and that it had nothing to do with him, it would seem that he was shirking responsibility. Moreover, he also had some friendship with the white-robed monk. He was just thinking about how to defend himself when one of the Arhats, an older monk, helped the County Magistrate out of the predicament and put his palms together to her:

"Amitabha! Benefactor Yue, the last incident was indeed impolite of my disciple. This old monk will apologize to you on behalf of my disciple. We have come here today for two things. The first thing is indeed for this Zhenwu statue, but the second thing is for you."

Silver Bottle Maiden smiled: "For me? You monks come to find me, a woman. Truly, your six roots are not pure."

The white-robed monk felt that Silver Bottle Maiden's words were very insulting, but the other three monks showed no expression. The old monk instead looked at the white-robed monk, who wanted to interrupt and say a few words, and warned him:

"The so-called Arhat is one who removes all troubles in life, kills all the thieves of troubles, comprehends the meaning of no birth, and cuts off the delusions of sight and thought in the three realms. You are moved by a few words, and your mind is not stable. How dare you claim the fruit of Arhat?"

The white-robed monk immediately put his palms together and retreated.

Silver Bottle Maiden said to the old monk unhurriedly, "Master Jingxian, is this child your disciple? Is your sect's style so unbearable? Teaching him to take things randomly?"

The old monk recited the Buddha's name again: "Amitabha! This poor monk has failed in his duty. When we return this time, I will have him copy the *Surangama Sutra* ten times to clarify his mind and see his nature, so that he will not be deceived by evil thoughts. Then I will have him come to the temple to serve incense for a year. I wonder if Benefactor Yue approves of this punishment..."

"Spare me."

Silver Bottle Maiden's face was solemn: "I don't want to be in the same temple with this high monk. I am afraid that after a year, my donation box will be gone."

The white-robed monk's eyebrows moved, his thoughts fluctuating, and he dared not look up.

The old monk was quite happy, because Silver Bottle Maiden's ability to say such a thing meant that the matter was over. Humiliation or anything else was a small matter. In this world, even emperors cannot escape being pointed at.

"Very well, this poor monk will carefully tell you about the second matter."

Silver Bottle Maiden was puzzled: "Why are you starting with the second matter?"

The conversation entered the main topic, and Master Jingxian also opened his mouth solemnly, but he did not answer her question. Instead, he asked:

"You, went out to subdue demons yesterday?"

Silver Bottle Maiden nodded: "Yes, so what?"

Master Jingxian: "The place where you subdued demons, was it at Phoenix Mountain...?"

Silver Bottle Maiden asked in a deep voice, "You, how do you know? You monks, you actually followed me!"

"I went to subdue demons, what are you doing? If you don't come to help me, could it be that you want to kill me?"

For a time, the atmosphere in the temple was tense. Silver Bottle Maiden felt that these monks had ill intentions, so Master Jingxian immediately explained, "Benefactor Yue, please do not be angry. It is not that this poor monk followed you. This poor monk guarantees in my own name that Lingyin Temple knew nothing about the whole matter from beginning to end."

"It is just that this evil spirit would actually appear on Phoenix Mountain, which is beyond our expectations. The reason why we know this news is also because a master came to Lingyin Temple and told us about your appearance on Phoenix Mountain."

"So this poor monk came here to ask, who was the person you responded to in this manifestation? So who was the prayer, who asked you to go to Phoenix Mountain?"

"That place is where the imperial palace of the Song Dynasty was located. Demons dare to occupy the imperial palace as a nest, so we must go and kill them, but we especially want to know who discovered this matter."

Silver Bottle Maiden asked, "Who asked me to go is not important. This is my manifestation in the world, not yours. Moreover, who is the master in your mouth? Master Jingxian, you are one of the four great Arhats of Lingyin Temple, is there still someone you can call a master?"

"A Chunyang realm cultivator?"

Master Jingxian: "The master claims to be the ancestor of the Jade Dragon Daoist Academy, but this poor monk has not met him, so I dare not be sure that what he said is true. Therefore, this poor monk will go to the Jade Dragon Daoist Academy next. Benefactor Yue can go with this poor monk."