Day and night tour

Chapter 385 Transforming the Path of the Ace

"Jia Dao, which line of incense does Zhou Xuan's fifth branch follow?"

Bi Fang was extremely frustrated. He had no idea what had happened at the donkey shed in Mingjiang Prefecture, or why his contact with Jia Dao had been so intermittent.
And coincidentally, every time he asked about the question he most wanted to know, Jia Dao would break off the contact.

"What happened? Is perception being blocked? Or has some strange change occurred in Mingjiang Prefecture? Is a new game of chess being started?"

Bi Fang kept imagining things, and the imagination became more and more fantastical, but no matter how hard he tried, he could never have imagined that the gears of fate for him, a celestial-level god, would actually start to turn because of a kind-hearted old lady.

……

"Arise, rise, rise!"

The kind-hearted woman shook Jia Dao awake.

"What are you doing? I'm just trying to take a nap, why do you keep calling me?"

Jia Dao's "pretending to sleep" was shaken awake again. He flew into a rage and started shoving the old lady.

Not to be outdone, the older woman poked Jia Dao's nose and said in rapid succession, "Auntie, I knew it! You ran away just to sneak off to sleep. I've been following you all this way."

"You're going to follow me all the way? Are you crazy?"

Jia Dao was furious. He was about to tell Bi Fang that Zhou Xuanxiu's fifth incense stick was from an unheard-of hall called "Caixi Hall" when the signal was cut off by the old lady at the crucial moment.

"But... after running all this way?"

Jia Dao looked around – a desolate wilderness, desolate and bleak, with not a single pedestrian in sight.

In this kind of outskirts, killing someone is simply a matter of killing them.

His anger rose from his heart, and evil thoughts arose in his mind.

“Auntie, since you like meddling in other people’s business so much, I’ll find you a quiet place so you can take good care of things.”

From Jia Dao's right hand, one red thread after another emerged.

This is the ruthless red thread of the "Miko's Hall." When the Path of the Ace descends, those randomly selected are the incense offerings of the shrine maiden, and the methods used are naturally those of the shrine maiden herself.

His eyes flashed with murderous intent, and he swung his right hand forward, the red silk binding the enthusiastic middle-aged woman's neck, pulling her sharply...

The red silk thread was sharper than any ordinary weapon; if pulled like that, the old woman would surely be decapitated.

However, there was no splatter of blood, nor any image of a head rolling on the ground.
Yes, it was just a linen dress, which was pulled into the hands of Jia Dao by a red thread.

Looking at the empty clothes in his hands, Jia Dao finally realized—that old lady wasn't human at all!

"What kind of ghost dares to cause trouble in front of your Master Jia? Get out here."

Jia Dao released the red silk and swept it haphazardly around, but he couldn't even sweep away a ghost.

"The witch's intuition."

Jia Dao closed his eyes and used his ability to sense the heavens and earth to detect the movements around him, trying to find out the true identity of the old woman.

He sensed a wind around him, a whistling sound as it cut through the air.

The sound was approaching him at an extremely fast speed.

He suddenly opened his eyes, only to see a dull-colored wooden stake being driven straight into his forehead.

"A storyteller?"

Jia Dao gathered the red silk into a large shield that shone with red light, intending to block the gavel.

Boom!
The gavel struck like an arrow, powerfully piercing through the silk shield, its momentum undiminished, hurtling towards Jia Dao's brow.

Boom!
Another dull thud echoed as Jia Dao's body was thrown over several times. After falling to the ground, he dragged himself along due to inertia, his body carving a long furrow into the earth.

"The divine weapon returns to its hand."

Not far away, a young man dressed in a Taoist robe reached out and called back the wooden clapper, then slowly walked towards the Taoist path.

On the young man's left and right shoulders sat two small figures—Miss Wall and the Engineer.

"You...you...are..."

Jia Dao's forehead was smashed open by the gavel, leaving a huge bloody hole. The blood blinded him, making it difficult for him to see clearly and preventing him from recognizing the person's face.

As Zhou Xuan walked, he removed the "Bifang" mask and said coldly, "Daoist, you searched for me in Mingjiang Prefecture all night, and you don't even know who I am?"

"You are……"

"I am Zhou Xuan."

Zhou Xuan's voice as he announced his name was barely audible, but to Jia Dao's ears, it sounded like a death knell.

"You are Zhou... Xuan...!" Jia Dao suddenly screamed, and quickly pretended to fall asleep to send the message to Bi Fang's ear.

As soon as he closed his eyes, Zhou Xuan's bone fang, which had absorbed countless drops of blood, flew out from his sleeve, pierced Jia Dao's right eye, and then, with a flick upwards, gouged out his eye.

"Ow..."

Jia Dao cried out in pain, covered his empty eye sockets, and rolled around on the ground frantically.

"Don't try any tricks on me, you Taoist who's only been around for three incense sticks..."

Zhou Xuan is now a true king of transcending realms. He is at the level of five incense sticks. After the Heavenly God's incantation, he possesses the combat power of seven incense sticks. Three incense sticks are easily within his grasp.

"Zhou Xuan... how did you manage to track me down..."

Jia Dao couldn't understand how Zhou Xuan had learned of his whereabouts.

Zhou Xuan didn't have time to waste words with him. He said to the engineer on his shoulder, "Engineer, well done. As long as we know he is a witch, we can definitely close the net."

The "auntie" from earlier was just a dress, and the reason why Jia Dao mistook the dress for an "auntie" was because the engineer also understood the tricks of the magician.

After confirming that the shrine where Jia Dao went was run by a witch, the engineer believed that the time to "close the net" had come, and used his mental power to contact Zhou Xuan, whose mental power was equally strong.

"We, the people of the Flesh and Blood Dynasty, are very intelligent," the engineer said, patting his chest with some pride.

Zhou Xuan then waved to the north: "Old Turtle, come here."

Guishan Daoist emerged from under a charred tree, grinning sheepishly, and said, "Master, what brings you here?"

"Make him look dirty."

Zhou Xuan pointed at the Daoist.

The method of feigning filth was something Zhou Xuan had seen the Taoist of Turtle Mountain use last night. Now, he was having the old turtle use it again on the Taoist of Armor.

Guishan Taoist shook his head violently and said, "The method of filling the paper figure with internal organs and shaping its consciousness requires all these steps to be done at Guishan Taoist Temple. This place cannot do it, and even if we force it, it won't work."

He was the guardian of the temple, and the temple was his source of sustenance. Without the temple, he could not perform many of his magical arts.

“I don’t want you to perform a complete method of dissecting the organs.” Zhou Xuan made a “grabbing” gesture with his right hand and said, “Can’t you take out the internal organs from a living person’s body? Take out the Daoist’s brain completely.”

"This..." Guishan Daoist was a little troubled.

"Can't do it?" Zhou Xuan frowned.

“It is possible to do, but this Taoist master is a celestial being, and I am... rather... rather... insignificant... unable to offend him.”

Guishan Daoist dared not cause trouble. Just two days ago, he was a Daoist who was afraid to offend even children. Although he had become stronger and the incense offerings had increased, his demeanor had not kept up.

Zhou Xuan looked up at the sky and said, "You don't have to do it, but I must remind you that all the gods in the heavens have a Heavenly Eye. This Heavenly Eye is not usually activated, but if Jia Dao doesn't contact Bi Fang for a long time, Bi Fang will definitely be unable to restrain himself and will activate his Heavenly Eye."
The Heavenly Eye can pierce through the thick fog and see everything in the mortal world. We'll wait here and let Bifang see how you, together with us, slay the Daoist."

These words made Guishan Daoist's hands tremble. He was immediately panicked by the name "Bifang" and kept saying, "I will do it, I will do it... I will try my best, but it's not enough. My life is so hard. I am always on the verge of getting into big trouble and getting into even bigger trouble."

With a bitter expression, Guishan Daoist held up an incense stick, lit a Daoist fire, and then, following the "name-changing ritual" of "pretending to be dirty," asked Jia Daoist while having him burn the incense, "Who are you?"

"I'm your Master Jia!"

"Bullshit! You're called... a hot potato, the kind that's burning hot."

Since he had already gone this far, the Taoist priest of Guishan went all the way. He dipped an incense stick in the blood of the Taoist priest, and the incense smoke became murky.

As the murky fog was inhaled by Jia Dao, his mind became clouded, and he repeated the "new name" that Guishan Daoist had given him.

"My name is Hot Potato, the kind that's scalding hot."

Even though Jia Dao is a Daoist, he still cannot escape the "name-changing ceremony".

Both Taoism and Wu (shamanism) have the ability to extract the internal organs of a living person. Wu relies on incantations, while Taoism relies on rituals.

After the name-changing ceremony, Jia Dao's internal organs and brain were in a state of rest, disconnected from his body.

Guishan Daoist's hand reached in from the back of Jia Dao's head; one hand wasn't enough, he needed two.

His hand continued to penetrate deeper, and then pulled out, holding a trembling brain in both hands, which he handed to Zhou Xuan with disdain.

"Here you go, here you go, I've become your secret door, doing this dirty work all day long."

"If you're considered a secret guild, then you're the most cowardly secret guild I've ever seen."

The "hidden door" refers to people who do the dirty work for the gang. These people, like the Fifth Master, are mostly the epitome of "ruthless and taciturn".

They may not be of a very high caliber, but they are absolutely ruthless when they take action.

Zhou Xuan chuckled as he tossed the fresh brain of the Taoist Master Jia into his secret realm, patted the shoulder of the Taoist Master Guishan, and said, "The Taoist side is dealt with. The rest is for Aqiang and Teacher Gong to train the Taoist's consciousness."

After training the Daoist, gather all the useful information, and then use the Daoist's mind to make contact with Bifang and lure Bifang to the human world as much as possible.

"The body...aren't you going to deal with the body?"

Seeing that Zhou Xuan was about to leave, the timid and fearful Taoist immediately reminded him.

Zhou Xuan turned his head and said, "As for the corpse, the You Shen Si people will come to clean it up in a while."

"Don't wait any longer! You said it yourself, Bifang has a third eye that can see through thick fog. If he finds the Daoist's corpse, he'll definitely make our life miserable," Guishan Daoist said anxiously.

Zhou Xuan said casually, "Old tortoise, actually, Bifang's Heavenly Eye can't see through that thick fog."

"..." Guishan Daoren.

"The dense fog was caused by the power of the gods. Bifang's Heavenly Eye is also a divine power, they are on the same level, so it can't break through the attack," Zhou Xuan explained.

"Sir, what were you doing just now..."

“That’s just a little encouragement for you. I’ve seen it all along. You have a unique skill, but your spirit and temperament aren’t up to par. I’m giving you a push to straighten out your weak points,” Zhou Xuan said.

Upon hearing this, Guishan Daoist wiped the cold sweat from his brow. Before he could fully relax, Zhou Xuan added, "By the way, old Gui, I just saw you take the Daoist's brain. You'd better cooperate from now on, or I'll expose this..."

"I'll knock!!!" Guishan Daoist broke out in a cold sweat again.

“Old turtle, this weakness of yours… I’ll live with it for the rest of my life.” Zhou Xuan patted Guishan Daoren on the shoulder and said with a smile, “Let’s go, the opera is about to start… you need to get in position.” Guishan Daoren, however, looked like Xianglin’s wife, saying pitifully, “I’m so stupid… really…”

……

The City of Shepherds remained suspended in the air amidst the fog. More than 90% of the survivors from Mingjiang Prefecture surged over, filling the four main streets of the Donkey Shed Shop area to capacity.

Zhou Xuan, on the other hand, was watching the situation in the donkey shed from the bell tower three kilometers away.

On the top of the clock tower, Pan Shanying served Zhou Xuan tea. This rooftop was also Pan Shanying's workplace in the days following the disaster.

He would release hawks every day to patrol Mingjiang Prefecture. To relieve his boredom, he also set up a tea table, stove, and sofa on the roof.

Now, Zhou Xuan has enjoyed all these luxury items.

"This tea is quite good, Lao Pan. You know how to enjoy life."

Zhou Xuan showed off his tea and praised it.

"I'm glad you enjoy drinking, but when exactly will the opera start? I'm starting to really want to see it."

Pan Shanying only learned from chatting with Zhou Xuan earlier that "Shepherd City in the Mist" was originally a staged performance arranged by Zhou Xuan, with the purpose of making the people of Mingjiang Prefecture believe that miracles would happen and that the dead people would be brought back to life.

"Wait a little longer, until noon. Noon is an auspicious time."

As Zhou Xuan sipped his tea, Miss Wall from the secret realm called out to him, "Ah Xuan, Ah Xuan, it's all done."

Upon hearing that the Daoist's mind had been so quickly and thoroughly trained, he focused his mind on the secret realm.

"Sir, your tea is gone. Shall we refill it for you?"

Seeing that the teacup was empty, Pan Shanying cautiously inquired, but seeing that Zhou Xuan remained unresponsive, as if in deep meditation, he knew that he should not disturb him at this moment.

He simply took the cup from Zhou Xuan's hand and waited quietly to the side.

……

As soon as Zhou Xuan entered the secret realm, he saw the Daoist's brain.

To be honest, the minds of these Taoist practitioners are quite different from those of normal people.

An ordinary person's brain has deep grooves and crevices, but a Taoist's brain is very smooth and round, and the surface of the brain is patchy with white and black markings.

When it was first sent into the secret realm, the eldest and third children thought Zhou Xuan had sent in a soccer ball, and they both wanted to kick it.
Fortunately, Miss Wall persuaded the two ginseng boys to stop, otherwise, with the strength of the eldest and third boys' legs, they would have kicked them to pieces.

Today, the mind of a Taoist is still a patchwork of white and black, but the black parts are lighter and the white parts are darker, with both colors tending towards a "gray" feel.

Moreover, the surface of the brain is no longer smooth, but has grooves that normal people have.

Miss Wall pointed to the Daoist's head floating on the black water and said, "The Daoist was originally a master who died in the mortal world at the age of seven incense sticks or more. He was drawn into the divine realm by the gods with divine threads."

The divine power within the divine realm resurrected the Daoists and also endowed them with consciousness.

Because consciousness originates from the divine realm, under normal circumstances, a Daoist would not disobey a deity; they would be absolutely loyal.

"What about in abnormal situations?" Zhou Xuan was more concerned about this.

"The engineer used the methods of Caixitang to deceive the consciousness of the divine kingdom and planted an instruction in the deepest part of the consciousness: to be loyal to Zhou Xuan. The priority of this instruction is higher than that of loyalty to Bifang."

"Now, this Daoist's mind is completely at our disposal."

Miss Wall replied.

"So magical?"

Zhou Xuan walked to the Daoist's head and asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Jia Dao, and I am the first Daoist under Bi Fang."

"Wow, you're very cooperative." Zhou Xuan praised Miss Wall and the Engineer's methods: "Your flesh and blood modification and consciousness modification are truly amazing."

Zhou Xuan then asked, "Why did Bifang send you down?"

“Bifang has nine golden tokens. Those nine golden tokens will indicate the progress in the Book of Will. If six of those nine golden tokens are shaken, it means that your... death is imminent.”

"Really? I'm not far from death?" Zhou Xuan almost burst out laughing.

"It is precisely because the Great Master is still far from death, but Jinqian believes that your death is imminent, that Bifang suspects that the time has come to kill you, so he sent me down to scout the way."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan clapped his hands together and said, "I understand. The karma I've gotten into has triggered that golden token."

A magician can impersonate anyone, but if he impersonates someone, he will incur that person's karma.

Zhou Xuan impersonated the Taoist priest of Guishan, and the Taoist priest of Guishan was discovered by Zhou Xuan due to karma.

Zhou Xuan also impersonated "Bi Fang" once, hoping to force Bi Fang to descend to the mortal realm through the karma created by his impersonation.

"So that's how cause and effect work."

The cause and effect between him and Bifang created an entanglement that triggered the divination.

The divination provided a strong reason for Bi Fang's arrival.

“Good, good. Jia Dao, communicate with Bi Fang again to keep him calm and prevent him from becoming suspicious. Of course, if you can lure him down to the mortal realm, that would be the best outcome—but do not force it and do not reveal your identity.”

“Sir, I understand the Way of Jia.”

……

"It's a pity that there was a god-level fog at the donkey shed, so my Heavenly Eye was useless. Otherwise, I would have definitely taken a good look and seen what Jia Dao was up to."

Bi Fang had not received any contact from Jia Dao for a long time and was very anxious.

Just then, he heard Jia Dao's voice in his ear.

"Sir, there's fog over Mingjiang, which keeps hindering my connection with the heavens and earth," Jia Dao said to Bi Fang in his effeminate voice.

Bi Fang always felt that Jia Dao, who had been "disconnected and reconnected," was becoming more and more feminine, and her charm was almost showing.

"I'm sending you down to the mortal realm, not into the palace..."

Bi Fang, suppressing his discomfort, asked, "What kind of shrine did Zhou Xuan cultivate during his fifth incense stick offering?"

“There is a great demon in Huangyuan, and a bitter ghost in the rivers… His fifth incense stick is the bitter ghost.”

Jia Dao responded.

"Hmph, he's lucky. He knows the Red Coffin Lady, and the Bitter Ghost values ​​him highly. This incense stick of his is a waste of his time."

Bi Fang was extremely angry, and a little jealous.

Once, the gods in heaven joined forces to prophesy that once the Zhou family's Great Nuo master cultivated to the point of seven incense sticks burning, he would be invincible among mortals.

Even if the other branches have nine incense sticks, their chances of winning against the Nuofang with seven incense sticks are very small.

Zhou Xuan now has five incense sticks, and Bai Rao has one stick of Bitter Ghost Incense, making a total of six sticks... He is very close to the seven-stick limit level.

"Sir, Shepherd Soul City is becoming increasingly substantial, and the reconstruction of Mingjiang Prefecture is unstoppable."

“Then I’ll see just how unstoppable he is,” Bi Fang said, smashing the porcelain bowl in his hand.

"Please calm down, sir. I have investigated Mingjiang Prefecture and found that the city is heavily guarded. Please do not come down. I suspect that the divination of those nine golden talismans is wrong."

Having served Bifang for many years, Jia Dao knew the deity's nature well and deliberately provoked him with words.

First, he mentioned the reconstruction of Mingjiang Prefecture, then he mentioned the divination using the golden divination sticks... each of these points struck a nerve with Bi Fang.

"Nonsense! The golden divination stick is an ancestral artifact, inherently extremely powerful. How could the divination be wrong? As for rebuilding Mingjiang Prefecture—I, Bifang, will not allow it. Even if it happens while Zhou Xuan is telling his story, I will personally descend to stop him."

Bi Fang appeared furious.

"Sir, please do not descend. The waters of Mingjiang Prefecture run deep."

"Are you teaching me what to do?"

"Jia Dao dares not."

"If you dare not, then shut your mouth. Do whatever I tell you to do. Today, keep a close eye on Shepherd Soul City."

After Bi Fang gave him a scolding, Jia Dao cut off the communication.

Bi Fangze's face was ashen. He tapped his folding fan lightly in his palm and said in a deep voice, "Zhou Xuan, we absolutely cannot let you live any longer. Five sticks of incense to cultivate the Bitter Ghost, the Bitter Ghost will give you special treatment and take extra care of you. With your talent, it won't be long before you can advance to the Six Sticks of incense."

It's hard to say whether the Nuo ritual, which takes six incense sticks to burn, can be suppressed by the Heavenly Book of Will.

"Rebuilding Mingjiang Prefecture, stealing the reputation of my Bifang; burning incense for six people, even their direct strength surpasses mine... I, Bifang, will not allow a storyteller's hall to have such a powerful disciple."

……

On the clock tower,

Several highly respected figures, including painters, musicians, Peng Sheng, Yun Ziliang, and Li Changxun, came over.

The silver cerebellum hovered beside Zhou Xuan.

"Master, may the opera begin?"

The painter asked.

Zhou Xuan took out his pocket watch; the time was 11:55, five minutes before the noon he had mentioned.

"The auspicious time hasn't arrived yet, but let's warm things up first."

Zhou Xuan waved his hand and said to Xiao Nao, "Xiao Nao, go to the donkey shed and make a commotion of ten thousand donkeys braying to create a gloomy atmosphere in advance."

"Yes, Mystic God."

The cerebellum, the mastermind of the Buddhist kingdom, possesses the ultimate speed. It skimmed through the thick fog, flying at top speed, constantly creating the sounds of donkeys braying in the donkey shed area.

It brayed hundreds of times on East Street, hundreds of times on West Street, and then to the south, north...

In just a few moments, he created tens of thousands of donkey braying sounds in the area of ​​the donkey shed.

But because he was so fast, the braying of the donkeys, though occurring at different times, sounded as if they were all howling at the same time.

With a single cerebellum, he shouted with earth-shattering force.

Immediately, the people of Muhun City who were watching from the donkey shed were startled by the sound of ten thousand donkeys braying and shouted.

"Donkey demons, these are all donkey demons..."

(End of this chapter)