Chapter 6 The Sixth Day

The aftermath of Lao Zhang's mending of the heavens was complete. He met with Ji Xiang to impart the techniques of using firearms to slay demons, and Nurhaci's caravan was about to set off for Liaodong.

They had also left behind a considerable amount of disaster relief supplies, such as horses, ginseng, sable pelts, pine nuts, and other local specialties, which moved the ministers to no end. They praised Nurhaci as an unparalleled and loyal general, devoted to the emperor and the country.

"The ginseng from Changbai Mountain is indeed excellent, cheap and large."

"That's right. Our Dragon Tiger General's personal history of struggle began with digging ginseng. You can guess what happened when he smelled the scent—he dug it up!"

As the Liaodong caravan departed, Ji Xiang and Lao Zhang stood on the city gate tower, staring at the departing convoy, their expressions increasingly strange.

Had they been waiting in vain these many days?

What about the promised Shuerhazi being an inside agent?

Why was he leading a team?

Ji Xiang's Inner Vision Divine Tablet showed no reaction. Puzzled, he asked Lao Zhang, "Are you sure there's no illusion?"

"I'm sure there isn't. However, it's perfectly normal for the other side to have some kind of technique that can deceive us."

Lao Zhang said to Ji Xiang, "The passage of time in the Inner World is much faster than in the Outer World. A hundred years here is equivalent to thousands or tens of thousands of years inside. It's normal for new techniques to emerge over such a long period."

"People will change, and dynasties will shift. New things will replace old ones. The only things that remain eternally unchanged are the sun, moon, and stars in the sky. Cultivators seek to rival the sun and moon and live as long as heaven and earth, which is truly an unattainable goal."

Ji Xiang shook his head.

He believed that any technique could be updated and iterated.

However, even Emperor Jiajing's unique technique, the Inner Vision Divine Tablet, could reflect and provide a solution. Ji Xiang believed that while there might be techniques that could deceive Lao Zhang, there was no technique that could deceive the blank divine tablet within his inner vision.

Beneath this divine tablet, no matter if you are a god, a demon, or a spirit, nothing can be hidden. The Yin spirit possessed divine tablet of the Song Dynasty caused black barcode-like patterns to appear on the blank divine tablet's strategy, but so what?

The blank divine tablet still knew that there was a problem and displayed it directly.

Ji Xiang grasped the Beidi Tianpeng Ruler and said to Lao Zhang, "Junior Brother, you stay here and watch. If necessary, you may meet with Shuerhazi. I'll go around the various temples in Shuntian to take a look."

Lao Zhang looked at the Tianpeng Ruler and guessed, "Could it be that Senior Brother believes Nurhaci used some technique to conceal his form and spirit?"

"But the person in that team was indeed Nurhaci. My feeling was exactly the same as when Nurhaci first came to Shuntian, when a wisp of his wish entered the hole in the national prestige. So I have some understanding of him."

"Moreover, he often goes in and out of the Ministry of Rites, and is frequently seen by many people. His movements are almost transparent. It's hard to see that he has any outrageous behavior, except for inquiring about temples."

Ji Xiang felt that something was amiss when he heard these words.

Frequently seen?

........

The vicinity of the Dongyue Temple gradually returned to its former prosperity. After all, this eastern district was the heart of all cash flow in the Ming Dynasty's Shuntian Prefecture. The commercial and trade district was located here. Although the Dongyue Temple was located inside, not in the outer city, a large number of foreigners still came to offer incense out of admiration.

However, most of the statues in the temple had been removed. Among them, Emperor Wanli had deliberately left one or two behind in order to bait Nurhaci, but they had all had their heads and chests smashed.

Those flesh and blood statues frightened the local people so much that they shivered and wet the bed at night. They never expected that there would be such a large demon cave under the feet of the Son of Heaven. Of course, the most terrifying thing was that this demon cave was formed in just one night.

Fortunately, Lao Zhang had shown absolute suppression that day. The 129,600 Yang God clones not only stunned the immortal officials of the Song Dynasty, but also the people of Shuntian. As for Ji Xiang, who had been newly appointed by Emperor Wanli, the people of the eastern city of Shuntian did not know much about him and were not very interested.

Although the people in the western city regarded Ji Xiang as a god, the residents of the eastern city who had not seen Ji Xiang's true strength only sneered at this statement.

"I'm afraid he's just some foreign Taoist priest who made meritorious service in rescuing the emperor and wants to steal credit from Celestial Master Zhang!"

"Laughable. What kind of person is Celestial Master Zhang? What kind of status does he have? Would a real master be forced by that kind of small person? Those poor craftsmen in the western city probably haven't seen what a real immortal is!"

"I heard he's very young? A pretty boy with no hair on his lips, how powerful can he be!"

"What you said makes sense, my friend. Look, my beard is very long, right? Do you have time? I want to discuss my Heavenly Father and Savior with you..."

"Westerner? No discussion! Get out of here. How can your god be more powerful than our Celestial Master!"

The missionary looked embarrassed and was scolded by the dock porters. He scratched his head. He was wearing Confucian clothes and a hat, but he had a high nose and deep eyes, and a full beard. Listening to these workers bragging about some immortal, he couldn't help but shake his head.

An official next to him was dressed the same as the Minister of Rites... Of course, the same, because he was the Minister of Rites from Nanjing.

The Ming Dynasty had two sets of government, one in Shuntian and one in Yingtian. However, the set in Yingtian Prefecture was purely for retirement. Although it was said to be a political backup, being sent to Nanjing basically meant withdrawing from the political center. It was just that the emperor felt that you were capable and kept you in Nanjing to continue receiving some retirement pay.

This Minister of Rites from Nanjing, Wang Zhongming, or Lao Wang, very calmly said to the bearded Western missionary:

"Our people of the Great Ming are like this. They only believe in gods that are useful. Matteo Ricci, when you arrive in Shuntian, you must say less about the doctrines of Christianity and avoid offending His Majesty. The politics of the Great Ming are determined by His Majesty, which is different from your Western countries..."

"Moreover, I heard that the Korean War has started again. It's hard to say how long you can stay in Shuntian this time.... Hmm, why is this city wall a little crooked?"

Lao Wang felt very strange when he saw the situation of the city wall. A worker next to him told him about the major events that had happened here not long ago.

"What, such a thing actually happened!"

Lao Wang was shocked. He didn't expect that such major events had happened in Shuntian. Emperor Wanli almost died, and the opponent was actually the previous dynasty, and even a bunch of ghosts and gods....

However, Lao Zhang's daytime transformation into 120,000 clones also made Lao Wang's mouth dry.

Even the Western missionary Matteo Ricci was surprised:

"Your Celestial Master seems to be very, very powerful!"

Lao Wang suddenly asked teasingly, "Seems to be? But compared to the Pope?"

Matteo Ricci immediately laughed so hard that his beard trembled: "The Pope has never had such a big movement. At least in the description, it seems that this Celestial Master is far superior."