Wet viviparity

Chapter 706 The Curse, The Monk Under the Well
Outside Jiheng Mountain, a Taoist priest with a sword and a fierce face fled towards the north side of the mountain. He plunged into the cold frost, hail, snow and wind of the north. He spread out his robe, and thousands of ghostly shadows spread out around him, making him look like a black bat flying in the air.

The shadowy figure moved freely through the snow and wind, flipping and turning with ease, and soon arrived at the summit of a knife-like ridge. At the end of the soaring ridge, a temple stood, heavily obscured by the wind and snow.

The temple had been sealed off for a long time. Above the temple gate was a plaque covered with snow and frost, bearing the three characters "Iron Prison Temple".

The shadowy figure passed through the wall, skimming along the ground like a phantom.

His fierce eyes swept across the main hall, his gaze filled with apprehension. He thought to himself, "When I came here, Kuma warned me that there is a statue of a deity in this temple, which is constantly worshipped with incense and rituals."

Although this statue bears the form of the Xuanming Wenqu Star Lord, it is not an image of this star lord. Rather, it represents the profound application of the Taiyi Jia section of the True Method by the Taiping Zhenren, and this statue was erected in temples to further enhance his abilities.

Inside the temple, several groups of horned demons, carrying flags and forks and waving waist tokens, patrolled various parts of the temple.

Inside the main hall, a Taoist priest with half-gray temples was meticulously adding oil to the more than one hundred lamps in the hall.

Beside him was a bull demon with a blue-green face and large horns, wearing a pale yellow robe and carrying a steel knife. It carefully tended to the offerings of flowers beside the Taoist priest, saying as if to take credit: "Yesterday, I persuaded two temples and three Taoist temples in the north. The abbots there are very easy to talk to and are willing to open a side hall to invite the statue of the Xuanming God General of the Great Lord into the temple."

"Is it just about persuasion?"

The Taoist priest glanced at the demon, his tone tinged with disbelief.

"Elder, who in Tiannan doesn't know the reputation of our Crane Temple? Although the Master has been out of the public eye for a long time, his occasional appearances are like a divine dragon soaring through the clouds, revealing only a few scales and claws, enough to make people imagine endlessly."

"Let alone these few secular temples, even if we call it the Wuxiangbao Temple or the Liuli Temple, what difficulty would there be in enshrining a statue of the Lord's divine general there!"

“You madman, if outsiders saw you with such a demeanor and behavior, I'm afraid the good reputation that the steward of Crane Temple has built up for the aliens over the decades would be completely ruined by you.”

Upon hearing the name of Rat Four, the Bull Demon's expression turned solemn, and he dared not utter another word.

He walked into the hall, bowed three times devoutly to the statue at the head of the hall, and then gazed for a long time at the statue of a human-faced bird riding two snakes, saying, "Disciple Wugu'er sincerely wishes that the Great Lord Lingxu enjoys eternal bliss and longevity."

"You little devil, you do remember a favor."

The Taoist stroked his beard and praised him, then said with a smile, "Wu Gu'er, you have done a small service in this temple for the religious rites for the statues. A letter has already arrived from He Guan asking if you would like any reward."

"This disciple does not wish for any reward."

Wu Gu'er shook his head, looking simple-minded, and said, "I only wish to continue to run around for the Lord's religious rites, so that more temples and monasteries can enshrine this statue."

The Taoist priest thought the little demon was really silly and cute. It didn't know what the purpose of inviting the statue of the god into the temple to be worshipped was. It took on so much responsibility without worrying that it would be superfluous and not make things better.

However, Xiao Yao is ultimately not very clever; she's just a bit naive but also has a strong sense of pride, so she's worth watching.

This Wu Gu'er was enlightened by Senior Brother Lingxu when he was punished by the Master and imprisoned above the Locked Sin Well. This relationship alone should not be taken lightly.

The Taoist priest advised, "Once our disciples have mastered the spiritual light of the 'Taiyi Jiabu True Method' in Taiping Mountain, they can cultivate the last chapter of this true method. However, before that, we need to make the spirit general receive the incense offerings and prayers of sentient beings, and refine the spirit general's spiritual body into the golden body of incense offerings in the netherworld."

In this way, the divine generals could remain in the mortal world forever, traverse the nine netherworlds, and even govern the underworld, transforming the earth's veins with endless wondrous uses.

At this point, the Taoist priest shook his head and flicked his wrist, appearing extremely excited.

"We invited this statue of the Xuanming Star General into various temples so that the general could share the incense offerings within them." The Taoist priest deliberately tapped the three-legged, round-bellied alchemy furnace in the hall. The furnace was spewing thick smoke, which condensed and did not dissipate, containing golden light. This was the incense offering the Taoist priest was referring to.

Wu Gu'er said, "Elder, if that's the case, there are still many temples and monasteries outside the mountain. For the sake of the master's ritual, what's wrong with us going to some trouble?"

"Hehe, it's not that simple. Cultivation and refining techniques are fraught with challenges. Only by finding the right method and pinpointing the key points can one make rapid progress."

The Taoist priest held the whisk upside down and tapped the black bull's head once, laughing, "The incense in this furnace, gathered from various temples and monasteries, still needs to be cleansed of its impure thoughts and desires through rituals such as chanting scriptures, burning incense, and performing incantations, and refined into crystal incense before it can be absorbed by the gods. Otherwise, it will be a poison."

The truly reliable source of incense offerings is the various temples and monasteries within Guhe Prefecture.

Under the governance of our Crane Temple, the region enjoys favorable weather and abundant harvests. Temples and monasteries are thriving with worshippers, and the people are at peace. Therefore, the people's aspirations are pure and harmonious, making them easily absorbed by the divine spirits.

Having said that, the Taoist shook his whisk and said, "Alright, Wu Gu'er, I'm going to refine this incense. Go and inspect the well first."

"Yes, Elder Zhu."

The bull demon Wu Gu'er rose from the brocade stool, stirred up a demonic wind outside the hall, and headed straight for the Locked Sin Well. At this moment, the bat-like shadow in the temple also moved, and in an instant, it surpassed the demonic wind and arrived at the well.

"This is the Jiheng Mountain Locked-in-the-Nirvana Well!"

The shadow vanished, and the evil-faced Taoist appeared. He observed the well opening and saw the demonic wind slowly descending from the sky above the well. He then casually cast an invisibility spell on himself.

"I have only been cultivating in seclusion in the Cave of Ten Thousand Deaths in Ximang Mountain for a few decades. Has the world in Tiannan already become able to tolerate the interaction between demons and righteous people? Or is it that the power and prestige of that True Person here can truly cover the sky with one hand and not be afraid of public opinion?"

The masked Taoist muttered to himself in the shadows.

Outside the Locked Demon Well, Wu Gu'er peered down through the demonic wind and called out in a muffled voice, "Bald monk, are you still breathing?" There were many demons and evil spirits suppressed in this well, but only one monk was being suppressed.

Wu Gu'er knew that this monk had caused the master a lot of trouble. He had received favors from the master, so he often came over to insult him, but no matter how nasty the insults were, there was no response from the well.

As usual, he cursed a few times and prepared to go back, but unexpectedly, a Buddha-like light shone brightly from the well, like a budding lotus.

"donor!"

Beneath the deep, dark well walls, the Buddha's light climbed up the walls and gradually filled them. Even the bitter winds and rains that poured up from the unknown depths of the well's sea of ​​suffering dissolved within this Buddha's light.

The light of Buddha reached the edge of the well and touched the protective barrier of the Southern Dipper Spirit Stele above the well, then it stopped.

"This is not a place to stay for long, leave quickly."

Upon hearing this long, drawn-out voice, Wu Gu'er's expression changed several times, but in the end, she rode the wind and fled, intending to rush to report to the elder.

The masked Taoist priest, who was hiding outside the well, was carrying out a secret mission. When he saw Wu Gu'er flying outwards at high speed, he shook his shoulders, and a wisp of poisonous smoke swept through the air, mixing with the demonic wind. Wu Gu'er was caught off guard and fell from the sky, turning into a pool of pus and blood.

"Fellow Daoist Ma Wang, why bother?"

A voice came from down the well, and the masked Taoist was startled when he heard the other party announce his name.

He was active in the central provinces and prefectures for many years and was well-known in the south. Very few people had ever seen him, and ordinary people would never recognize him.

Did this Chi Shenzi hear of him from Ku Ma, or perhaps see his portrait or photograph?

That doesn't make sense either. I've been hiding here, and I've even used the Secretly Refined Demonic Bone Armor to conceal my presence. I've never given myself away. Chi Shenzi is trapped in the well, and his magic power and primordial spirit are both unable to leave the well. How could he possibly know of my existence?

"Has my master ever been here?"

The voice from below the well asked again.

Seeing that he had been seen through by the other party, Ma Wang Xiaoshen simply stopped hiding.

"Your master always likes to hide his true intentions. When something happens, he always uses his profound skills to investigate every detail of the matter in detail before he will take action. This time, when you were trapped in the well, after he found out, he calculated for twenty years on the snow-capped peak."

"Because your adversary is far too powerful, he has connections with no fewer than six immortals and gods, not to mention other extremely strong obstacles, causing your master to waste twenty years of his life."

When Ma Wang Xiaoshen said this, there was a hint of schadenfreude in his voice.

Chi Shenzi remained silent; his second primordial spirit was currently under the control of Ji Mingxin.

Below his nose, two streams of energy emerged, each emanating light and containing energy, like two small white dragons playing outside his body, their heads touching and tails intertwined, tumbling up and down. In the blink of an eye, they explored back and forth to a depth of over a thousand feet in the well.

As the two energies returned to the nasal cavity, a fox-like demon with a disheveled tail and a pointed snout appeared from somewhere in the well and dragged deep into the nasal cavity.

When the fox spirit was struck by the yang and annihilating energy in its orifice, it was like thin snow exposed to the scorching sun. Its yin body dispersed into wisps of deep black energy, and finally only a faint, pure luminous light remained, which was expelled from its body with each exhale, thus completing the ritual of deliverance.

When Ma Wang Xiaoshen saw that Chi Shenzi had already delivered an old fox ghost to the afterlife in just one breath, even though he was well-traveled in the Central Plains and had experienced the teachings of eminent monks many times, he couldn't help but praise him.

After offering a few words of praise, Ma Wang Xiaoshen got down to business.

"Originally, your master had already arranged for a reclusive master to oversee things and carefully planned to subtly incite the feuds between several old monsters in the mountains, thus brewing a calamity."

Because Fanlang Mountain is the gateway to Jiheng Mountain from the south, once this calamity takes hold, even if it hasn't erupted yet, it will surely cause many high-ranking Taoist masters in Jiheng Mountain to sense it and go to quell the calamity, leaving them no time to look elsewhere.

What's even more intriguing is that this calamity originated from the chaos of people's hearts and the entanglement of interests. The underlying causes are so deep that it's difficult to trace their origins. Your master merely fueled the flames. Even if someone were to try and trace the past, they would still find it difficult to unravel the truth.

"Master is indeed unparalleled in wisdom and strategy, and his plans are flawless."

Chi Shenzi said, clasping his hands together at the bottom of the well.

"Haha, your master isn't that amazing."

Ma Wang Xiaoshen bluntly exposed his shortcomings, saying, "Originally, your master's calculations were excellent, but unfortunately, not long ago, that master had a sudden inspiration, and his primordial spirit manifested a sign. He specially issued a decree to expose the calamity of Fanlang Mountain in advance and lure away many cultivators on Jiheng Mountain so that I could release you from the well."

As they were speaking, a tremendous tremor came from beneath the earth's crust more than a hundred miles to the south, accompanied by a strange howl. Even Ma Wang Xiaoshen felt a chill run down his spine.

Just as Ma Wang Xiaoshen was about to speak again, it seemed as if a giant object was turning over in the distance, slowly rubbing against thousands of acres of earth from below. The sound of this grinding was terrifying and made the peaks of the distant Fanlang Mountain tremble.

"What exactly are you trying to expose?"

(End of this chapter)