Chapter 43 Shuyuan

"The government officials have been killed! Killed!"

Those commoners with angry purple faces once again appeared on the street as if by magic. Seeing the Iron Float Armor scattered on the ground, they still wore angry expressions, but the shock and terror in their tone were undeniable!

They were in an uproar. When they saw Ji Xiang looking at them, they all disappeared again out of thin air, causing the wandering cultivators to shudder once more.

They silently entered the Jingling Palace.

Everything was as Feng Menglong had said. Several of the dozen or so statues had broken heads. Two rooms were symmetrical, one on the left and one on the right, one of which was labeled "Salary," but the paper money inside was gone.

The paper money used to worship the Song God Heavenly King had disappeared.

"You've come from afar. Why not offer some incense before you leave?"

The sudden voice made the hair on the back of their necks stand up. Ji Xiang looked to the other side and saw a middle-aged man in luxurious clothing, with a lotus Daoist hairpin on his head, standing under the eaves of a hall on the left side.

The yellow Daoist robe was indeed the same attire that the commoners had described, but it was even more noble. Instead of being embroidered with Taiji and Bagua, it was embroidered with twenty-four flying dragons. The position that should have been Taiji was replaced by a red sun.

Long robes and large sleeves, twenty-four dragons, a yellow robe.

"I am the caretaker of this temple. Please, offer some incense before you leave."

Ji Xiang sneered, "How can an immortal from the heavens worship an unknown lower god?"

The yellow-robed Daoist said, "Immortals from the heavens are also subordinates of the God of Divine Firmament, and unknown lower gods are also subordinates of the God of Divine Firmament. The deities enshrined in this hall are the ancestors of the God of Divine Firmament, and therefore the ancestors of you, the immortal from the heavens."

"Courting death!"

Ji Xiang raised his hand and unleashed a thunder spell. The yellow-robed Daoist was struck by lightning and turned into a pile of ashes on the ground, but after a short while, the same yellow-robed Daoist appeared in the same place, saying the same words:

"You've come from afar. Why not offer some incense before you leave..."

This time, Ji Xiang did not use thunder magic: "Putting on an act in front of me?"

He raised the Five Thunder Divine Machine. Ji Xiang remembered that when Feng Menglong came here, there was also a caretaker who asked him to offer incense and kowtow, but he blew the caretaker's head off with a single shot and revealed his true form.

Sure enough, as soon as the Five Thunder Divine Machine was raised, the yellow-robed Daoist immediately stopped moving, staring straight at the gun muzzle:

"Firearm..."

Bang! A shot was fired, and the Big Dipper Great Divine Mantra displayed its power! The roaring sound was ear-piercing. A stream of light flashed past, and after the smoke cleared, the Daoist's figure was revealed. This time, the yellow-robed Daoist did not turn into ashes, but his head had been blown apart. He fell to the ground with a thud and never got up again.

Ji Xiang then entered the hall to look at the headless statues of the divine generals.

Familiar recipe, familiar operation.

"Again, captured cultivators are made into meat statues and placed here. It's indeed the same situation as in the Dongyue Temple."

"Let me see what's inside these remaining statues!"

Ji Xiang spread his sleeves, and all the remaining statues shattered, with large amounts of rotten corpse water flowing out. Some of them, close to the statue of the main god, had turned into white bones. As the statues broke, the bones also rolled out, falling into the corpse water.

The three souls and seven spirits, blood, flesh, and spirituality, were all destroyed. At the same time, countless wishes dispersed, and outside the temple, the screams of those strange commoners could be heard.

The Inner Vision Divine Tablet revealed the following:

[Ancient Grievance: Its ghost has not been heard of in previous lives! It is a product of the combination of resentment that existed in the past and wishes transmitted in the underworld.]

[Method of Creation: A technique for creating ancient grievances. Using a portion of people that exist in one's memory as a blueprint, supplemented by wishes from the underworld, and the aura of resentment left over from previous generations, or inherently ownerless, to create strange monsters!]

[Ancient grievances will maintain the same life as when they were alive, but their emotions and cognition are completely manipulated by their master. Their form of existence is similar to that of a chang gui (tiger伥鬼servant), with an immovable object of attachment.]

[Ancient grievances do not have a substantial form. As far as the world is concerned, their existence is only "half." Thunder magic or the aura of righteousness can make them retreat, temporarily destroying their external image, but there is still no way to completely kill them.]

[Breaking the statues that carry the wishes will cause the wishes to return to the underworld. Without a way to maintain their form, ancient grievances will completely perish.]

[The flesh and soul of a powerful cultivator can serve as the best object of attachment for an ancient grievance.]

Ji Xiang flipped out the Heavenly Devil Codex in his hand.

The one hundred and eighty-fifth category of demons.

Those that are ominous and abnormal are monsters. Yao, mo, gui, guai (妖、魔、鬼、怪 demon, fiend, ghost, monster) are actually four different things, but in essence, mortals in the human world cannot distinguish them too clearly and always lump them together.

The evil nature in the temple quickly faded away. Zhang Xiucai suddenly asked:

"Just now, when the statues were smashed, it seemed like those commoners outside all died. So, it seems they really were ghosts."

Ji Xiang looked at the statues, "They were all pitiful people who were controlled, all deceased."

"Then why did you hit them so hard just now?"

"That's natural. Feeling sorry for them doesn't mean I'll show mercy. It's the same now."

Zhang Xiucai asked with a smile:

"Then, King, do you think I look like a ghost?"

Ji Xiang didn't even turn his head and shook his head, "Of course you..."

The word "don't" had not yet been spoken.

A strange force of curse, as if it had been brewing! Ji Xiang instantly sensed this change!

He took out the Five Thunder Divine Machine with a backhand and fired a shot!

The firearm displayed its power, and the Big Dipper Great Divine Mantra annihilated the ghost with one strike! A stream of light spewed out, and smoke filled the air. Half of Zhang Xiucai's head was blown off, revealing a stunned expression. Then, suddenly, his eyes narrowed like a fox, and the corners of his mouth rose to an unnatural arc, which was extremely eerie:

"King, do I look like a ghost now?"

Ji Xiang's expression was indifferent, "I see the word 'death' written on your head."

The three cultivators and the fox demon around him had long since freaked out!

Although he was sharp-tongued, Ji Xiang was now puzzled.

When was Zhang Xiucai switched out?

From the moment they entered Taiping Ancient Town, these people had never left his sight. If there was a switch, it could only have been during that brief moment when he turned his head, briefly taking his eyes off Zhang Xiucai, but he also had eyes on the back of his head, and it was impossible for him to miss a change in aura.

Then... there might only be one answer.

From the very first moment of the shift, Zhang Xiucai was no longer himself!

"Where did Zhang Xiucai go? I thought things had been resolved, but I didn't expect the biggest evil to be right beside me."

"But where did the aura of righteousness on your body come from?"

Ji Xiang asked, and this Zhang Xiucai chuckled:

"That's of course because I have the aura of righteousness myself!"

"Have you heard of the techniques of Confucianism, the Yin Heavenly Emperor!"

"But don't worry, I didn't do anything bad to this Zhang Xiucai. I just want these scholars to help me... It's just that the last scholar who came here was too rude, not only did he not worship the Heavenly King, but he also spoke disrespectfully, and even shot my temple caretaker."

"The temple caretaker was indignant, and that's why he had the human-face mist possess them and reincarnate them. In fact, they didn't need to be possessed by the human-face mist."

Zhang Xiucai's figure changed, turning into the yellow-robed Daoist just now.

But this time, outside the yellow robe, there was also black clothing, inlaid with gold, wearing a crown, and a purple face, but it did not show anger, completely different from those commoners.

"I am formally meeting you for the first time. The last time we sensed each other was in the Forbidden City."

"I am, the Heavenly Luo King!"