Day and night tour

Chapter 378 No Response to the Book Review

Li Dazhu, stopped by the Rat King, immediately asked, "Rat King, is there anything else you need?"

"The matter of joint action is too important to be taken lightly."

The Rat King spoke slowly, seemingly deep in thought, and said, "Ying Zhouxuan, I'm not 100% confident. I do need a helper. A helper at the Celestial God level would naturally be extremely powerful."
However, it is especially important to remain calm and composed during crucial moments.

“You yourself said that the people in the temple are Taoists,” Li Dazhu said.

“We still need to observe,” the Rat King said. “Go back to the living area first, and don’t arouse suspicion. Tomorrow, we’ll come back and see if this Taoist’s level of worship continues to rise. If it does, then it means he is indeed a Taoist, and we will try to see how to contact this Bifang who has descended to the mortal realm.”

"Yes."

Since the Rat King already had a solution, Li Dazhu stopped insisting and turned to go down the mountain.

……

Inside Guishan Temple, the Guishan Taoist priests listened intently to the footsteps and voices outside.

However, he could only hear the footsteps leaving, but not any voices.

As a mouse, Li Dazhu's communication with the Mouse King was a matter of consciousness, and he didn't need to make any sounds at all, so the Turtle Taoist naturally couldn't hear him.

"Gone? Already gone? Did I give myself away?"

The Taoist priest kept questioning himself, gripping the dominoes tightly in his hand. After mentally preparing himself for about half an incense stick's time, he finally mustered up the courage to go outside the Taoist temple to investigate.

There was indeed no one left outside the temple. Only a series of light footprints remained under the tree where Li Dazhu had been hiding.

"We need to go find Master Da."

Just as the Taoist priest from Guishan was about to leave, he felt a warm flow rushing to his nose. It tasted sweet and fishy. He reached out and touched it; it was blood.

"Oh dear, the Buddhist energy of that palm ginseng is so strong, it's making my nose bleed."

"Wait... I'm just a remnant soul, where would I get nosebleeds?"

The Taoist priest from Guishan immediately realized what was happening.

……

There were originally twenty-four deities in the sky.

Every deity has their own divine kingdom.

Each deity has different qualities and habits, and the divine kingdoms they establish are all unique.

For example, the goddess-level "shrine maiden"—the Queen—has a divine kingdom that is a colossal tower reaching straight to the stars.

Besides observing the human world, her favorite thing to do was to sit on the top of the tower and comprehend the mysteries beyond the starry sky.

The storyteller "Bifang" has a divine kingdom that is not so grand and lofty, but rather like the small garden of a hermit.

The thatched hut, courtyard, vegetable garden, and pavilion were simple, consisting of a straw shed with a wooden table underneath. There were not many items on the table: a fan, a piece of silk, and a gavel.

Bi Fang was planting vegetables in the garden at that moment. The sun was shining brightly, and it had a touch of rural charm.

A Taoist priest in a white robe walked mechanically to Bi Fang, bowed and said, "Sir, seven out of the nine gold divination sticks have been struck today."

When Bi Fang was still a storyteller's apprentice, his master gave him nine gold tokens.

"The storytelling profession has been highly respected by the people since ancient times. In the past, storytellers told stories to convey the supreme will of Heaven."
We are preachers of the supreme will, so why would we stoop to such a lowly act as performing in a theater? Instead, the officials in charge of each county, prefecture, and state would craft nine gold tokens as payment for our lectures and solemnly invite us to give sermons.

“I can’t control other storytellers, but I don’t allow any theater storytellers under my tutelage. Once you have these nine golden tokens, you will have only one responsibility from now on—to preach for the supreme will, to open your golden mouth wide, and to let all people continue the lost teachings.”

The nine gold tokens represent Bifang's legacy and also serve as his divination method in the "Book of Will".

Whether his willbook operates smoothly or malfunctions when he fulfills his wishes, the nine golden tokens suspended in his thatched hut in the divine kingdom will make corresponding predictions.

The nine gold tokens are usually silent, but if a wish goes very smoothly and is fulfilled, all nine tokens will ring together.

"Did seven ring? I'll go check."

Bifang got up from the vegetable garden, quickened his pace, and went into the thatched hut.

Nine sticks, all gleaming with golden light, were suspended by red ropes.

There was no wind inside, but the golden token was moving.

As soon as the stick moved, it emitted a buzzing vibration.

"Nine rings and seven sounds mean that Zhou Xuan's death is imminent."

Bifang's wish in the Heavenly Book was to transform Zhou Xuan into "the form of all domestic animals".

Once Zhou Xuan is afflicted by the curse of "the appearance of a hundred beasts," he will not die immediately, but he will definitely transform into a beast that eats people without blinking an eye, and will be intolerable to heaven and earth.

If seven out of nine sticks click, it means that the wish has been almost fulfilled, and only the final step remains.

Bi Fang stroked a still-unmoved gold token with his right hand, gazing at it carefully. With a smile on his face, he said, "This is a good thing. Zhou Xuan is now a thorn in my side. As long as he lives, I can't sleep or concentrate on my lectures. I simply can't have a moment of peace."

"Sir, the divination result from the golden divination slip seems to differ from reality."

The white-robed Taoist reminded Bi Fang, "Judging from the current situation, the curse of the hundred beasts issued by the Heavenly Book has been withstood by Yuan Buyu, and for the time being, the curse will not be able to entangle him again."

“Yes, I know.” Bi Fang nodded, put down the golden token, and said, “Zhou Xuan was lucky to get the Red Ginseng Child. There are three of them—two have already been used, and there is one left, which can give Yuan Buyu another life.”

"Sir, I'm afraid Yuan Buyu still has more than half a month to live. Only after he is afflicted with the appearance of a hundred beasts and is killed by heaven and earth will the curse be transferred and fall upon Zhou Xuan."

"By the time it took for the curse to grow from a small stream into a great river, another seven or eight days had passed. If we add it all up, the time it would take for the Zhouxuan Animal Phenomenon to take effect would be at least a month."

This is what the white-robed Taoist priest didn't understand.

Although there was still a month left before Zhou Xuan's curse took effect, seven of the nine golden talismans had already rung, reminding Bi Fang that the process of fulfilling his wish was nearing its end.

"Perhaps... the golden token is reminding me... that the time has come for us to kill Zhou Xuan before we are afflicted by the curse of all animals."

Bi Fang calculated it this way.

Ultimately, the Heavenly Book's wish was for Zhou Xuan to die.

Only one of the two holders of the Heavenly Book can survive.

The "curse of the hundred beasts" was merely a means to kill Zhou Xuan, not the goal. Once the goal was achieved, what difference did it make what means were used?
Bi Fangfang guessed that the golden token was hinting to him that the time to kill Zhou Xuan was approaching and that he should prepare himself.

"Sir, are you going to descend to earth?"

"I have this plan."

Bi Fang said, "The Golden Sign has always been extremely accurate. It predicted that the time to kill Zhou Xuan had arrived, and it certainly has. We will descend to the mortal realm and be invincible."

If this opportunity is missed, whether a better one will come along in the future is another matter entirely.

Killing Zhou Xuan is a major event.

He used the Book of Will to issue the wish to "kill Zhou Xuan," which actually required the response of seventeen god-level beings.

The bigger the event, the more fleeting the opportunity; if you don't seize it... then once it's gone, it's truly gone.

"Jia Dao, you stay in the hut and observe the movement of the nine gold tokens. See when the remaining two tokens will move."

"Yes." The white-robed Taoist immediately nodded in response.

Just as Bi Fang was about to leave the house, a new buzzing sound came from inside, and the eighth golden token also made a slight rattling sound.

Of the nine golden tokens, eight have shown signs of activity. In the past, this would have meant that the wish in the Heavenly Book was only one step away from being fulfilled.

"Ancient times, the eighth..."

"I heard it."

Bi Fang stood beneath the golden tokens and murmured, "Golden tokens, you are symbols of storytellers, witnesses to the preaching of the supreme will. Answer me... has the opportunity to kill Zhou Xuan already appeared?"

The golden skewer cannot speak; it only shakes incessantly.

Bi Fang, however, was caught in a dilemma.

In his view, entering Mingjiang Prefecture at this time was by no means a good opportunity, but the golden sign indicated that the time was ripe to kill Zhou Xuan.

"To come, or not to come?"

Bi Fang seemed to be standing at a crossroads, facing the most important choice of his life.

"Jia Dao, I will send you to the capital first. Go to Mingjiang Prefecture and investigate the situation."

After pondering for a long time, Bi Fang finally gave his answer.

The nine-sound, eight-digit divination result forced him to make a choice...

"Yes, sir," the white-robed Taoist priest said, bowing.

“Come with me, I’m going to give a lecture too.” Bi Fang walked toward the lecture desk in front of the pavilion.

……

Inside the bamboo house, Zhou Xuan was flipping through the book he had written, making final preparations for his performance.

The Taoist priest, who had transformed into the appearance of an old man, peeked into the bamboo house and greeted them.

"Sir, are you busy?"

"How is it? Has someone sneaking up the mountain?"

Zhou Xuan placed the book on the table and asked a question.

"Indeed, someone went up the mountain. Master was incredibly resourceful, but—I wonder if that person saw through my disguise, because he left without a sound."

The Taoist priest of Guishan expressed his concerns.

"Did he ever enter the Taoist temple at all during the entire process?"

"I didn't go in," Guishan Daoist said truthfully.

"Don't worry, they haven't seen through our tricks."

According to Zhou Xuan's plan, the alliance of "Bifang and the evil rat" should be used as bait to lure out the big fish, the evil rat.
This bait is quite heavy.

Having experienced so many major events, Zhou Xuan knew one thing well—his reputation was too great and his popularity too high.

A great reputation and high profile have one downside: "a tall tree catches the wind."

The principle that "the tallest tree in the forest will be felled by the wind" remains unchanged throughout history.

But at the same time, there is another advantage—everyone is afraid of him and terrified of him.

The more the evil rat fears and dreads Zhou Xuan, the less confidence it has.

What would happen if someone who lacks confidence were to fight Zhou Xuan to the death, just to obtain that drop of blood from Zhou Xuan's body?
Of course, we should find helpers, the more ruthless the helpers we can find.

The appearance of Bifang gave the evil rats a glimmer of hope.

"There's no reason for the vicious rat to give up this bait."

"Even if he sees through my bait, he'll still go and check it out. How can he tell if you're a Taoist if you don't go into the Taoist temple?"

Zhou Xuan guessed, "So, his departure wasn't because he saw through you... but because he didn't believe you were a Daoist enough and wanted to conduct a second round of testing." "He still has to test me, which means he'll have to give me ginseng... but I can't eat it... that stuff is too nourishing, it's even replenished my vital energy."

With a sorrowful expression, the Taoist of Guishan looked up and said, "Look at the tip of my nose, there are bloodstains that haven't been wiped clean. Even my remnant soul has caused my nose to bleed."

"I can't say whether this is good or bad," he said worriedly.

"I'll ask for you."

Zhou Xuan called out again to the second floor, "Ya Zi, come down."

"They're calling me again. Are they not letting me study? I want to improve too!"

After another sound of books being put away, Zhao Wuyai impatiently went downstairs.

"What do you want?" Zhao Wuya asked.

"Lower your head and call out Wuya Chan."

"I thought it was something serious. I wish I could split myself in two, and give one half to you, Wuya Zen, so you wouldn't keep interrupting my reading and studying."

Zhao Wuyai was sharp-tongued, but he still obediently lowered his head. When he raised his head again, he had a solemn and dignified appearance.

"Master, are you summoning this humble monk again?"

"The Taoist of Guishan ate the palm ginseng, and its Buddhist energy was so strong that it not only allowed him to advance in his cultivation level but also replenished his yang energy. Is that alright?"

Zhou Xuan asked someone knowledgeable about it.

After walking around Guishan Daoren for a long time, Zen Master Wuya suddenly made a finger-picking gesture with his right hand and pointed it at the Daoren's chest.

There was a "ding-dong" sound, like metal striking stone.

"The Buddha's aura strengthens the golden body; this means that the Taoist of Guishan has cultivated a golden body. However, there is a problem..."

"What's the problem?" Guishan Daoist cherished his life like a grandson. Upon hearing that there was a problem, his heart jumped into his throat, and he hurriedly asked.

"It will become very strong."

Zen Master Wuya said with certainty.

"..." Guishan Daoren, Zhou Xuan.

"How strong is it?" Zhou Xuan asked on his behalf.

Zen Master Wuya said, "The Taoist of Guishan is a special kind of person in the Kingdom of Jing, called a 'Guardian of the Temple'."

"This keeper of the temple, who uses the temple as his source of incense offerings, stays with the temple day and night. Even though the incense offerings are very few, he still occupies a peaceful and tranquil place in Taoism."

"The keeper of the temple has a much stronger understanding of the Dao than ordinary Daoists; his Daoist energy is as smooth as water."

"Now, we have added Buddhist energy to them, and their golden bodies will become stronger. Over time, new Buddhist characteristics will condense in their bodies."

"The fusion of the golden body and the Daoist energy is the cultivation of both Buddhism and Taoism. If we consider the guardians of the temple as a shrine, then those who cultivate both Buddhism and Taoism are an extremely powerful shrine."

"Only those who guard the temple, because they do not have incense burning in their bodies, can practice both Buddhism and Taoism."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan still felt that Zen Master Wuya's words were somewhat abstract. They sounded very powerful, but he was still unclear about just how powerful they were.

"It's very simple—the characteristics of the Buddhist people combined with the spiritual abilities of the Jing people, one person with two characteristics becomes the person before you."

Zen Master Wuya pointed at Taoist Guishan and said.

In that instant, Zhou Xuan understood.

The people of the Buddhist Kingdom possess extremely strong golden bodies and unique characteristics, capable of producing monsters like the Taiping Monk who can "weigh the entire territory of a prefecture".

However, the people of the Buddhist Kingdom lack sensory perception, making them somewhat clumsy in battle.

The people of Jing Kingdom, on the other hand, fight with agility and grace, and place great importance on magic.

Two phases combined...

"Damn it, am I going to turn Guishan Daoist into a war machine?"

Zhou Xuan immediately slapped his thigh.

This was somewhat unexpected for him—he only wanted Guishan Daoren to be a good actor.

"Me? A war machine? Sir, I can't possibly accept that title."

Guishan Daoist is a coward. Zhou Xuan has never seen such a coward since he came to Jing Kingdom.

A war machine so cowardly it's afraid of boys' urine...

"It feels a bit out of place."

Zhou Xuan temporarily persuaded Guishan Daoist to stop, and then asked Zen Master Wuya, "Zen Master, since the guardian of the temple who cultivates both is so powerful, why have we never seen him in the Kingdom of Jing before?"

“Buddhist energy is rare in Jingguo. And those temple keepers are in remote mountains and forests. How can they absorb Buddhist energy?”

"Furthermore, sir, don't forget... Snow Mountain Ginseng is monopolized by the Snow Mountain Fox Clan and the Reincarnation Buddhist Sect, and it can't reach other prefectures. In the other eight prefectures of this world, besides you, who else has baskets and baskets of ginseng?"

"It makes some sense."

"If you have already understood, then I will go and rest now."

"Go, go." Seeing that Zen Master Wuya looked tired, Zhou Xuan stopped bothering him.

After Zen Master Wuya fell asleep again, Taoist Guishan waved his hands repeatedly and said, "Master, I, this humble Taoist, have no great ambitions. I just want to stay in this small, dilapidated temple and sing some operas."

War machines and fighting on the front lines are things that clash with my interests.

"Stop talking nonsense and go back to the temple to stay there. Tomorrow, I will send you two more ginseng roots to help you join the five incense offerings."

"But……"

"Don't give me any buts. I didn't ask you to fight, but you still need to stand firm in your post and play the role of a Taoist."

Zhou Xuan said, "If you don't quickly offer incense, and that wicked rat goes inside the Taoist temple to investigate, won't you be exposed?"

"But I really can't eat any more of those ginseng roots. I'm still feeling dizzy."

"Stop talking nonsense. Even if you can't eat it, give it to me. Lots of people want to eat it, but they don't have the connections."

Zhou Xuan waved to Guishan Daoist, forcibly driving him out of the bamboo house to prevent him from abandoning the project.

As soon as Guishan Daoist left, Zhao Wuyai started shouting, "I didn't know that practicing both Buddhism and Taoism was so powerful! I want to eat palm ginseng too!"

"Even if you eat a ball, you still have the Dragon-Seeking Incense in your body. Even if you eat it, you won't develop Buddhist characteristics."

The characteristics of Buddhism and the spiritual abilities of the people of Jing Kingdom are originally similar.

Because the people of Jing Kingdom possess psychic abilities, if they wish to change to Buddhist characteristics, they must first extinguish their incense offerings and abandon their psychic abilities, just like the City God Qingfeng.

However, the guardians of the temple are quite special. Their incense is offered by the Taoist temple. Once they cultivate a golden body, they can also condense an additional Buddhist characteristic within their bodies.

This is what makes them special.

As Zen Master Wuya said, people from other Taoist schools cannot practice both simultaneously.

"Alas, the heavens are so cruel... Never mind, I'm too lazy to lament. I'm going upstairs to study."

Zhao Wuya ran upstairs again.

"I'm going to give a lecture, aren't you going to listen?"

"I'll go later... I'll read for a while longer," Zhao Wuyai said dismissively.

……

When it was time to give the lecture, Zhou Xuan, dressed in a long robe, went up on the stage.

The audience below had already filled the entire area, and upon seeing Zhou Xuan, they all applauded.

However, Zhou Xuan could discern the deeper meaning in those loud applause.

Amidst the applause, there was gratitude for Zhou Xuan's rescue of the entire Mingjiang Prefecture, and appreciation for the civilized order he brought to the disaster-stricken prefecture. But one feeling was missing—

That is the excitement of anticipating his storytelling performance.

Zhou Xuan immediately realized that something was wrong, but since he had already taken the stage, he had no choice but to follow the prepared book beam and begin his storytelling.

The book he chose was still the one that made him famous in Mingjiang Prefecture—A Mortal's Journey to Immortality.

"Snapped!"

Zhou Xuan struck the gavel, silencing the entire audience, and then began his storytelling.

"Speaking of Han Li of the Qingyun Sect..."

The stories Zhou Xuan had told were widely circulated in Mingjiang Prefecture. A large portion of the population had heard them, and those who hadn't learned the general plot through street gossip or casual conversations with friends and family.
Therefore, Zhou Xuan continued his lecture from the same chapter he had given in the "Metropolis".

This time, he put in all his effort; he had never given a lecture with such passion before.

but,

The results were minimal.

Zhou Xuan was the holder of the Heavenly Book, and his purpose in reciting the book was to collect the wishes and prayers of the mortal world—but the response to this particular recitation was extremely lukewarm.

A huge audience, yet only a few faint wisps of wishful thinking drift in the sky.

Moreover, these wishes cannot rise very high. They only rise three or four feet before being blown away by a gust of wind and dissipating.

If one's willpower is not strong enough, let alone pushing it into the "city in the clouds," it is too far away from that city that stretches across the sky.

With limited and insufficient willpower, Zhou Xuan was also at a loss.

"There's a problem with this book; if I talk about it, I won't gain any power."

Zhou Xuan immediately stopped his sermon. He removed the storyteller's mask, put on the Dao Ancestor's mask, summoned the tortoise shell, and activated the art of escape—the River of Fate.

He wanted to delve into the fate of the Mingjiang disaster victims and see what went wrong with this book lecture.

Why is it that the same book, which was so well-received when discussed before, now receives such a lukewarm response?

"Living like a tortoise for a thousand years."

Zhou Xuan immediately entered a state of tortoise breathing, focusing his senses on his mouth and emitting sound waves that ordinary people could not hear, connecting with the human brain in the Blood Well within the secret realm.

The sound waves swept across the earth, struck all the spectators, and stirred up a long river of destiny.

Countless viewers represent countless rivers of fate.
Those long rivers, like tangled threads, intertwined to form the "Ocean of Destiny," a place that no master of escape techniques dared to look at.

Zhou Xuan stood on the shore of the Ocean of Destiny, observing closely. In that gaze, he saw countless children, women, the elderly, and men, all calling out... calling out the names of their families within the Ocean of Destiny...

"No wonder the audience barely remembered the book I told them; it turns out I picked the wrong book."

After witnessing the devastation at the Lake of Destiny, Zhou Xuan immediately understood why the book had received such a lukewarm reception…

(End of this chapter)