Day and night tour

Chapter 384 "The Shrine Maiden" (Kadou)

Zhou Xuan did not directly avoid the question, but instead asked, "How long until the people sent by that evil rat arrive?"

"Judging from his walking ability, it would take him at least five or six minutes to get up the mountain."

"There's still some time." Zhou Xuan asked Guishan Daoist, "Old Gui, did that person come to the temple to investigate last night?"

"Seen."

“After seeing it, the goods have been inspected. There is a strong bloody smell in your temple, and after you consumed two Snow Mountain Ginseng, the incense offerings increased again, reaching the level of five incense sticks. He then completely believed that you were a Taoist… By the way, don’t you temple guardians have any advancement ceremonies? Why did the incense offerings increase so quickly?”

Zhou Xuan originally intended to use the two palm-shaped ginseng plants to help Daoist Guishan progress further within the four-incense stick level.
Anyway, the incense offerings from the temple guardians are visible. Even if only half of the four incense sticks are burned, the increased cultivation level will be reflected in the Turtle Mountain Taoist Temple, enough to fool the evil rats of the Abyss.

"We guardians of the temple do not have secret realms. We use temples and monasteries as incense offerings. We do not need advancement ceremonies. As long as the power of the incense offerings is sufficient, we can climb to a higher level."

"Hmm." Zhou Xuan nodded upon hearing this and said, "Old Turtle, now that this person has come up the mountain, he's probably going to show his face and ask you and me to join forces. Do you know what to do?"

"I don't know." Guishan Daoist immediately shook his head.

He was a Taoist priest who preferred to lie low and stay put. He usually hid and wandered around aimlessly, and was usually confused about everything. It was only natural that he couldn't think of a solution when he encountered problems.

Zhou Xuan instructed, "If he asks you to join forces, just refuse decisively. And make sure you're assertive enough."

Should we just refuse outright?

Guishan Daoist was puzzled and said, "Don't you want him to come to us and lure out the Abyss Rat?"

“The Abyssal Rat is cunning by nature. If we agree to join forces too easily, it will probably become suspicious. We need to be a little more assertive and play hard to get. Let’s slip away from them first,” Zhou Xuan said.

"Understood, just tell me how to do it."

After Guishan Daoist agreed, Zhou Xuan and the already-made paper figure went out the back door and knelt down behind the temple.

Meanwhile, the Turtle Taoist gently smoothed out the wrinkles on his Taoist robe, pretending to be in a meditative state, waiting for Little Mouse Li Dazhu to come to his door.

It is said that the Taoist priest of Guishan was originally a remnant soul guarding the temple. His Taoist robe was just like that of the temple. When there was no incense, the temple was dilapidated and the robe was tattered. He looked more like a beggar than a Taoist priest.

Now, after five incense sticks have burned, the Taoist temple has been completely renovated, and his Taoist robe is much more presentable. On the robe, there are cloud patterns of bamboo, grass, flowers and fish, which adds three points of Taoist immortal temperament to him.

"Squeak..."

The gates of the Taoist temple were pushed open, and Li Dazhu strode into the courtyard with a relaxed gait, saying with a sneer, "The Taoist priests inside have been waiting for me for quite some time, haven't they? Aren't they going to come out and greet me?"

Li Dazhu's voice was quite loud, so Guishan Daoist naturally heard it. Zhou Xuan's five senses were even more acute, and he also clearly heard Li Dazhu's "greeting." He immediately sneered.

"This Li Dazhu is also a good negotiator. He came in and tried to act big and overwhelm Guishan Daoist with his aura. He's a real old fox."

Li Dazhu was more troublesome than Zhou Xuan had imagined, and Guishan Daoist was even more at a loss as to how to deal with him.

He painfully plucked a single eyebrow hair and threw it behind him.

His eyebrows, like a flying insect, formed several tiny characters on the wall behind him, as if written with a wolf-hair brush.

"Sir, how should I handle this?"

In a sense, the Taoist temple was one with the Taoist of Guishan. Without thinking, Zhou Xuan summoned his own bone shards and had them write characters on the temple wall to "communicate with the Taoist of Guishan."

"do not speak."

Zhou Xuan's bone teeth wrote these four large characters on the wall.

Instantly, the Turtle Taoist's eyebrows, like a dog whose tail had been stepped on, furiously wrote a row of "???" on the wall.

"..." Zhou Xuan stared at the shocking question mark, wondering what Guishan Daoist meant.

Immediately afterwards, using his eyebrows as a brush, he quickly wrote two more lines on the wall.

First line: Ouch...it hurts so much...

Second line: Sir, you can speak to the wall, I can hear you.

"..." Zhou Xuan.

This wall is indeed part of the Turtle Daoist's body. Because of this, every stroke of Zhou Xuan's Bone and Teeth was equivalent to carving a scar on the Turtle Daoist's body. It would be strange if it didn't hurt.

He wrote the characters so huge that they became long scars on the body of the Taoist Guishan...

Zhou Xuan coughed twice to cover his embarrassment, and said to the wall, "Don't speak. Speak when I tell you to."

"I understand, I get it."

Using his eyebrows as a brush, the Taoist of Guishan once again composed four characters.

……

With Zhou Xuan's prompting, the Turtle Daoist simply remained silent, lowering his head and continuing his meditation.
"Taoist priests, the Rat Lord has come to visit you. Aren't you going to come out and greet him?"

Li Dazhu called out twice more, but received no response. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer. He swaggered from the courtyard to the front of the main hall and kicked open the inner door.

Kicking down the door is the same as kicking down the Taoist priest of Guishan.

This rudeness, coupled with the excessive force, caused Gui Daoren pain. He really wanted to stand up and give Li Dazhu a good scolding.

There was nothing he could do; Turtle Taoist was too cowardly, and his sharp tongue and insults were the limit of any counterattack he could think of.

"Oh, meditating here?"

When Li Dazhu saw that Guishan Daoist was in a meditative state with his head bowed, exuding an air of superiority, he became less confident.

Those who don't speak are usually quite skilled.

Li Dazhu restrained himself slightly, no longer daring to make any moves, and instead began circling around the Taoist Guishan.

"Stop hiding, you are the Daoist of Bifang. The Rat Lord has come to bring you boundless wealth."

"Lord Rat, I know your master wants to deal with Zhou Xuan. He even wrote down Zhou Xuan's wish to die in the Book of Will, right..."

"But your master's will book cannot deal with Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan also has a book. It is still unknown who will win between your master and Zhou Xuan."

As Li Dazhu spoke, he walked to the incense table inside the temple.

On the incense table, four simple soybean oil lamps were lit—each lamp contained in a tiny porcelain bowl filled with soybean oil, with a single wick burning.

Li Dazhu picked up an oil lamp, blew out the wick, took it out, and then held the lamp and drank the soybean oil inside in big gulps.

"Little mouse, climbed the lampstand, stole some oil, and can't get down?"

"I'll smash your head in if I make you drink soybean oil!"

Zhou Xuan took in Li Dazhu's arrogant appearance through the crack in the window frame, and then said to the observation wall, "Old turtle, just say two words—quiet."

Li Dazhu wanted to contact Guishan Daoren in person, so Zhou Xuan had to make sure that Guishan Daoren didn't give himself away.

At this time, Guishan Daoren's identity was that of a "Daoist," and moreover, a "Daoist" under Bifang.

If Guishan Daoren were to engage in a verbal battle with Li Dazhu, it would seem beneath him. Therefore, in order to maintain the "Daoist persona" of the old turtle, Zhou Xuan's method was simple: to remain silent as much as possible.

Even if you have to say something, either be concise or speak in a mysterious way.

Making a move is also an option.

Either don't make a move,
If they were to take action, they would thoroughly defeat Li Dazhu in one fell swoop.

"quiet."

After hearing Zhou Xuan's instructions, Guishan Daoist didn't even lift his eyelids, appearing lazy, and only uttered two words.

These two words, though not loud, carried considerable weight. Li Dazhu immediately stopped what he was doing, put the oil lamp to his lips, lowered his eyes, and stared at the Taoist priest of Guishan.

At that moment, Zhou Xuan unleashed all his perception power onto the wall, emitting a whistling sound of his perception.

The Taoist temple, enclosed by four walls, resembled a giant loudspeaker, its powerful, spiritually polluting sound amplified and then bursting forth.

A whistling sound shattered Li Dazhu's eardrums, and two streams of bright red blood gushed from his ear canals.

Immediately afterwards, he suddenly lost his mind.

As if he had lost his mind, Li Dazhu chewed the porcelain lamp into large mouthfuls, and the broken pieces of porcelain pierced his mouth one after another.
But his chewing didn't stop. Perhaps the pain wasn't intense enough, so Li Dazhu simply picked up a bronze candlestick, swung his arm around it, and started banging it wildly against his forehead.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

With a powerful, muffled thud, Li Dazhu smashed his own head so hard that it was dented. Red and white blood mingled and flowed from his dented wound.

Zhou Xuan then said to the wall, "Old turtle, send him out of the temple. Be a little arrogant."

With Zhou Xuan's instructions, the Taoist priest of Guishan took control of the Taoist temple. A mountain wind suddenly rose from the ground, swept up Li Dazhu, who had nearly killed himself, and threw him outside the temple gate like a piece of trash.

"see a visitor out."

As Li Dazhu landed, his head was smashed to pieces by the stone lion outside the temple, and two seemingly polite but actually highly provocative words rang out like a bell inside the temple.

……

"Sir, that mouse is dead. It's completely dead."

After confirming Li Dazhu's death, Guishan Daoren used his eyebrows as a brush to write characters on the wall behind the temple.

"hold on."

"What are you waiting for?"

"Wait for the Rat King's attitude."

Zhou Xuan said with certainty.

He anticipated that the Rat King would send people again, but those who came again would not be as arrogant as Li Dazhu.

... About ten minutes later, another uninvited guest arrived on Little Turtle Mountain. This time, the person who came was a woman.

As soon as the woman entered the Taoist temple, she knelt down and kowtowed to the Taoist priest of Guishan, saying, "Master Taoist, Li Dazhu has always been arrogant and deserves to be killed."

Guishan Daoren continued to remain silent, pretending to be a master.

The woman continued, "My name is Chen Yulian, and I am a small mouse under the Rat King. Tomorrow, the Rat King will invite the Taoist Master and the deity Bifang to his cave in Pingshan, north of the city, for a meeting."

"You creature from the gutter, how dare you invite my master?"

This time, Zhou Xuan channeled his voice into the observation wall, speaking in the mysterious manner of a "Daoist".

The voices echoed through the temple, and the woman couldn't pinpoint their source, only feeling that people were talking from all directions.

Such a "miracle" made the woman even more afraid to speak loudly. She prostrated herself on the ground and begged for mercy, saying, "Great Daoist, please calm your anger. My Rat King is the offspring of a Heavenly Ghost and possesses great supernatural powers. If he joins forces with you, Zhou Xuan will be like a turtle in a jar. Killing him is just a matter of you nodding your head."

Zhou Xuan sneered behind the wall and said to it, "Old turtle, use some tricks to cripple her hands, then throw her out of the temple like before."

Guishan Daoren is not strong-willed; he's fine with being a helper, but he's very uncomfortable when it comes to using harsh methods.

However, he also knew that if he did not do as Zhou Xuan said, he would be the next one to be dealt with ruthlessly.

Helpless, he triggered the green tiles on the Taoist temple. Two tiles flew down like sharp knives, neatly severing the woman's hands.

Then, the mountain wind blew up again, throwing the woman out of the temple.

Zhou Xuan's unpredictable voice resonated from the stone lions outside the pavilion.

"Listen up, you rats in the gutter, if you want a partnership, come out here openly and honestly."

If they send any more mice to disturb my peace, don't blame my master for being ruthless... Get out!

As soon as Zhou Xuan uttered his final "Get out," the Taoist of Guishan seemed to understand, and he stirred up the mountain wind even more, carrying the woman from outside the temple all the way down to the foot of the mountain.

……

"Bifang, it seems you'll be hard to invite."

Among the people of Mingjiang who were watching the "Soul-Shepherding City in the Mist" in the west of the city, one person muttered to himself.

The Rat King's main consciousness then hid among those people.

"Don't act until you see the benefits? Or do you think I'm too incompetent to join forces with that god-like figure?"

The Rat King raised his head, looking at the City of Shepherds, which was faintly visible in the mist, his expression shifting uncertainly.

……

"Let's go, old tortoise, to the west of the city. The grand spectacle of Shepherd Soul City's arrival is about to begin."

"Just leave like that?"

Guishan Daoist said, "What if those evil rats from the abyss really come?"

"If he comes, we'll shut him out."

Zhou Xuan said, "You play the role of the Daoist, and I will play the role of Bifang. We are both divine beings in the heavens, not some rat in a ditch who can be seen at will."

"Isn't this overacting?"

"Don't worry. The more assertive we are, the more he'll believe we're the real Bifang. If we're too polite, he'll be uncomfortable! That sly rat in the gutter is just that despicable."

After Zhou Xuan finished speaking, he took the Taoist of Guishan and the five paper figures that had been made overnight, and went to the west of the city according to the original plan.

……

Mixed among the crowd in the west of the city were the Rat King and his little mice, as well as the real white-robed Taoist, "Jia Dao".

The Taoist priest descended to the mortal realm, and within just one night, he had already burned three incense sticks.

The Daoist descends without incense or fire. After landing in the human world, he will randomly choose a temple to quickly begin his cultivation.

The incense offering he chose was actually from a "shrine maiden".

The shrine maiden perceives the heavens and earth through the method of feigning sleep; similarly, the Kado also communicates with the Bifang in the heavens through the method of feigning sleep.

"Sir, I have descended to the mortal realm and am currently gathering information about Mingjiang. There are a few things I wish to report to you."

"Jia Dao, why does your voice sound a bit effeminate?"

Bi Fang heard Jia Dao's voice and felt a little awkward.

"Sir, the shrine I was randomly assigned to is a shrine to witches."

“…” Bi Fang.

Bi Fang suppressed his discomfort and said, "Tell me, what's the situation in the human world now?"

"Zhou Xuan's lecture last night caused an anomaly in Mingjiang. A thick fog rose in the west of Mingjiang City, and there seemed to be traces of Shepherd Soul City in the fog."

Jia Dao truthfully stated.

"Nonsense! Although Zhou Xuan's lecture yesterday stirred the will of all beings, those wills didn't even enter the Book of Willpower. How could it have caused such a great phenomenon?"

Bi Fang was, after all, the holder of the Heavenly Book, and he was very familiar with its characteristics. In terms of eyesight, he was also outstanding. He could tell at a glance whether the power of will had entered the Heavenly Book.

Jia Dao shook his head and said, "Sir, seeing is believing. I can already see Shepherd City in the fog."

Upon hearing this, Bifang became restless and paced back and forth in the thatched hut of the divine kingdom.

He really couldn't figure out where things went wrong.

"Sir, Zhou Xuan is still an enigma. In the grand scheme of things, who could have imagined that someone as young as five incense sticks could comprehend the true teachings of the Valley?"

"Now that something has changed, perhaps he has stumbled upon some strange opportunity."

Jia Dao's slightly speculative words also shook Bi Fang's confidence.

"That's not entirely unreasonable. Many of the ironclad rules in the Kingdom of Well can be invalidated by Zhou Xuan. It's also possible that he could find a new way to manipulate the Book of Will."

Bi Fang grasped the folding fan, opened the fan, and said, "Leaving aside whether the City of Shepherd Souls was truly guided by the Book of Will, which is why it descended so abruptly, why would such a Netherworld Palace descend upon us?"

"Sir, according to the intelligence I've gathered, the arrival of Shepherd Soul City is for..."

"Keep talking, keep talking... Jia Dao, where are you?"

When Bi Fangzheng heard the crucial point, Jia Dao suddenly went silent.

……

The donkey sheds in the west of the city were already packed with people, and the fog had risen high, with no fog visible up to three meters above the ground.

The thick fog that shrouded Shepherd City resembled a vast, low-lying cloud.

Jia Dao was sitting under a tree, pretending to be asleep, talking to Bi Fang, when suddenly a kind-hearted old lady shook him awake.

"Wake up, wake up, young man."

"Auntie, what are you doing?"

“You young people are really good at falling asleep, you just lie down and sleep, without any regard for the time of day, but... is it even safe to sleep here?” the old woman said.

"Why can't I sleep?" Jia Dao demanded angrily.

"You'll catch a cold!"

The older woman grabbed Jia Dao and said, "Go, run for a while. You won't feel sleepy anymore, and it'll be good exercise too."

"I don't want to exercise, I just want to sleep." Jia Dao was getting really frustrated. He was dealing with important matters here, and this old lady couldn't stop meddling in his business.

"Don't sleep! If you sleep again, I'll call the doctor!" the old woman said.

"Why are you calling a doctor? I'm not sick."

"Call a doctor to explain the dangers of sleeping outdoors without a blanket, young man. You're too young to understand. You'll know the consequences once your stomach gets cold and your bones get frozen."

Fearing that the old lady might actually call the doctor, and given his sensitive position, Jia Dao "accepted" the old lady's suggestion, saying, "I'll go run errands, I'll go run errands, okay?"

"Okay, go ahead." The middle-aged woman said, hands on her hips.

Having no other choice, Jia Dao ran to a sparsely populated area, leaned against the wall of a ruin, and pretended to doze off.

……

"Sir, I'm back."

"What is the purpose of Shepherd Soul City's arrival?" Bi Fang was already very impatient.

Jia Dao said, "It is said in Mingjiang Prefecture that as soon as Muhun City is established, the gates of hell will open wide, and the people who died in Mingjiang Prefecture will be brought back to life."

"That's for the reconstruction of Mingjiang Prefecture."

Bi Fang couldn't hold back any longer and scolded, "Once Mingjiang Prefecture is rebuilt, Zhou Xuan's name will be known throughout the country, and he will become the most popular storyteller. I don't want to see this happen. You... keep a close eye on things today. If there is any disturbance in Mingjiang Prefecture, report to me immediately."

"Yes, sir."

"By the way, what kind of incense does Zhou Xuan's fifth hall practice?" Bi Fang asked.

Jia Dao immediately said, "This is precisely one of the matters I wanted to report to you. Zhou Xuanxiu is..."

"What are you cultivating? The Path of the Abyss... the Path of the Abyss... you son of a bitch, just tell me!" At the most exciting part of the story, Bi Fang was abruptly cut off by the Path of the Abyss...

(End of this chapter)