Man in the heavens, wins by lying down to prove the truth

Chapter 367 An Absurd World, Falsehood and Truth

“In that case, I, Zhou, will go and visit Master Zhou’s house.”

Upon hearing Zhou Cheng's words, the old City God Sun hurriedly said, "You are merciful, Master. In that case, I will make the arrangements immediately. You will not have to wait long, Master."

Sun Chenghuang bowed respectfully, and he and the civil and military judges moved in a flash, like ripples on water, before disappearing into the dawn's light.

The solemn aura of the divine order in the courtyard dissipated, leaving only the freshness of the grass and trees in the mountains at dawn and the sounds of roosters crowing and dogs barking from the distant villages.

Zhou Cheng stood at the door of the side room, his eyes half-closed, silently recalling the contents of the "Spirit Binding and Commanding" technique.

After a long while, Zhou Cheng finally raised his head and looked at the increasingly brilliant dawn in the east.

Although it was still dark, the villagers of Shicun gradually woke up and prepared for the new day's work.

"Mr. Zhou, you're up very early!"

Shi Dazhuang rubbed his eyes as he came out of the main house and saw Zhou Cheng standing in the courtyard. He greeted him warmly.

As an ordinary mortal, Shi Dazhuang was naturally completely unaware of the visit of the underworld deities.

“The mountains and fields are peaceful, and I’m used to getting up early,” Zhou Cheng replied with a smile.

Shi Dazhuang stretched his body, then looked at Zhou Cheng and said, "Mr. Zhou, I'm going to the village entrance to exercise and practice my archery. Would you like to draw the bow a couple of times, Mr. Zhou?"

When Zhou Cheng was talking with Shi Dazhuang yesterday, he also mentioned that he also knew how to use a bow and arrow.

“Okay, no problem,” Zhou Cheng said with a smile.

At the entrance of the village, in an open space, stands a large willow tree, its lush green branches drooping gracefully, brimming with life.

At the village entrance, many people were stretching their muscles. They were all men who made their living off the mountains, and they all had to practice some sword and spear skills, otherwise it would be very dangerous to go into the mountains.

Zhou Cheng's gaze was drawn to the two conspicuous pairs, one large and one small.

The elder was an old man with white hair and beard, but he was vigorous and upright. He wore a faded coarse cloth short jacket and held a jujube wood cane that was polished to a shine. His eyes were gentle but revealed the wisdom of someone who had seen the world.

He is Shi Yunfeng, the clan chief and village head of Shi Village.

He held a tiny, exquisitely beautiful baby in his arms, about two or three years old, with big, bright eyes that curiously looked at Zhou Cheng. The baby's face was fair with a rosy glow, making him incredibly adorable.

"Xiao Hao, quickly call him Mr. Zhou." Shi Yunfeng chuckled and bounced the little baby in his arms.

"Hello, Mr. Zhou!" the little baby said in a childish voice, his pronunciation still a bit unclear, which was quite endearing.

"Shi Hao?" Zhou Cheng subconsciously uttered the name, his heart skipping a beat.

Like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, instantly creating a raging storm!
Shi Hao? Ishimura? Shi Yunfeng? !

This name...this combination.

An overwhelming sense of absurdity and déjà vu instantly seized him.

At that moment, Zhou Cheng suddenly remembered the man named Shi Linhu.

Right, all right.

Suddenly, Zhou Cheng remembered the eldest son of the Song family mentioned by the old City God Sun, including... Song Shuhang?

"Mr. Zhou? What's wrong? You don't look well."

Old man Shi Yunfeng noticed that Zhou Cheng's expression was a little off and quickly asked him what was wrong.

Zhou Cheng snapped out of his daze, forcibly suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and said with a light laugh, "It's alright, it's alright. I just found this little child exceptionally clever and adorable when I first saw him, and I was momentarily distracted."

Zhou Cheng's response was natural, but the feeling of utter absurdity lingered in his heart.

Shi Yunfeng had no doubts. Looking at the toddler taking his first steps, he stroked his beard and laughed, "Haha, Hao'er is quite a lovable child."

……

The next day, early in the morning.

Dust swirls along the rugged path leading from Shicun to the outside of the mountains.

A magnificent procession of carriages and horses broke the tranquility of the mountain village.

A lavishly decorated carriage, pulled by two magnificent horses, came to a steady stop at the village entrance.

The carriage curtain was lifted, and a middle-aged man dressed in a brocade robe, with a prosperous face but unable to hide his haggardness and anxiety, quickly stepped out of the carriage with the help of servants. Behind him followed several strong servants carrying heavy gift chests.

He was none other than Master Song, the extremely wealthy man from Dingxing Prefecture, as mentioned by the old City God.

Surrounded by a crowd, Master Song entered Shi Village and then met Zhou Cheng without any trouble.

"Song Bofu of Dingxing Prefecture pays homage to the True Man. Fortunately, the City God appeared to me in a dream and gave me guidance. I humbly request the True Man to visit my humble abode and save my son's life. The entire Song family is deeply grateful and is willing to give everything to repay the True Man's kindness."

Without bothering to straighten his robes, Master Song hurriedly stepped forward and bowed deeply to Zhou Cheng.

Zhou Cheng waved his hand: "Master Song, there's no need for such formalities."

"The City God has already mentioned your son's matter. I, Zhou, will do my best to help."

"Thank you so much, Master Song!" Master Song said hurriedly.

At this moment, Shi Yunfeng, the old village chief of Shi Village, walked over with a group of people. He looked at the luxuriously dressed Song Yuanwai and his entourage with wary eyes.

"Mr. Zhou, this is..."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Cheng smiled and said, "Old village chief, thank you for the villagers' hospitality these past two days. I have important business to attend to and must be leaving now."

After exchanging pleasantries, Zhou Cheng bid farewell to the villagers of Shi Village. He took one last look at the baby being held by the old man Shi Yunfeng, and then, surrounded by Song Yuanwai and others, headed towards Dingxing Prefecture.

That evening, Zhou Cheng arrived at the Song residence in Dingxing Prefecture.

In the backyard of the Song residence, in a room that was kept tightly sealed even in the sweltering summer heat, with various yellow talismans pasted all over the doors and windows, Zhou Cheng met Song Shuhang.

At this moment, Song Shuhang lay pale on the hospital bed. He had barely slept for more than a month, and every time he fell asleep, he would be startled awake.

"Is this your son, Shuhang?" Zhou Cheng looked at the wealthy Song family member beside him.

The man who was delivering the package, Master Song, nodded hurriedly: "It is indeed my son."

Master Song helped his eldest son to bow to Zhou Cheng, saying, "Shuhang, quick, quickly bow to the Master!"

Zhou Cheng raised his hand to interrupt Master Song's actions: "There's no need for that. I don't care about formalities."

As he spoke, Zhou Cheng raised his hand and placed it on Song Shuhang's pulse, passing on a wisp of pure Qi.

As a surge of Qi and vitality flowed in, Song Shuhang's complexion improved significantly, and a faint rosy hue appeared on his pale, sickly cheeks.

Song Shuhang struggled to sit up, clasped his hands in greeting to Zhou Cheng, and said, "This humble one, Song Shuhang, pays his respects to the Master! I beg... the Master to save my life."

Song Shuhang's voice was hoarse and weak, sounding listless.

"Don't worry, I will do my best."

Zhou Cheng looked at the young man in front of him. He could still vaguely see some delicate features and a scholarly air between his brows, but they were all covered up by his haggard appearance and sickly condition.

"Shuhang".

When Zhou Cheng spoke, his voice, imbued with the power of Qi, carried a peculiar calming force.

Before you were plagued by nightmares, did you encounter any strange people or experience anything unusual?

“You can tell Zhou anything that seems unusual.”

Upon hearing this, a hint of confusion flashed in Song Shuhang's eyes, and he then tried hard to recall.

After a moment, Song Shuhang seemed to have thought of something and spoke weakly, his voice broken and intermittent.

"Reporting to the Master, there is indeed something special."

"About a month ago, I went with the steward to collect rent in the suburbs. On the way back to the city, we encountered an old Taoist priest who was dying and lying on the roadside, barely breathing."

"I felt sorry for him, so I had the steward give him some water and dry food, and also a few taels of silver, so he could go see a doctor." "The old Taoist priest... thanked me when he took the money, saying that I had a 'destiny' and was a 'person destined for calamity,' and even insisted on casting a divination for me."

“He was talking nonsense, saying things like ‘knowing a thousand years in a dream’ and ‘great fortune.’ At the time, I just thought he was delirious from illness and didn’t pay much attention.”

"But now that I think about it, on that very night, I started having all sorts of strange dreams, which kept me from falling asleep."

After Song Shuhang finished speaking, Zhou Cheng remained silent and pondered.

Seeing that Zhou Cheng remained silent for a long time, the wealthy Song family member cautiously inquired, "Master, has my son encountered a demon or ghost... or has he been harmed by that wandering Taoist priest?"

Zhou Cheng did not make a direct judgment, but looked at Song Shuhang and said, "Shuhang, tell me what you dreamed about the first time you entered the dream."

Upon hearing this, Song Shuhang said, "The first time I entered the dream, I seemed to become a Taoist priest named Li Tianshuo, and then... I seemed to see that Taoist priest exorcising demons, and then I started to dream of demonic nightmares every day."

The ability to enter dreams.

No doubt about it, this Song Shuhang is the same Song Shuhang in a story Zhou Cheng saw in his previous life.

As expected, the wandering Taoist priest was named Li Tianshuo.

He dreamed of Li Tianshuo's early life and saw the Taoist priest subduing demons.

After seeing the demon in his dream, he was haunted by the demon's nightmares every day.

Either Song Shuhang scared himself, or... the demon sensed that Song Shuhang was spying on him through the dream and then clung to him.

If it's the second type, then the demon is probably no ordinary being.

For some reason, Zhou Cheng had a feeling that the demon would be very weak.

"Zhou already had a guess in his mind. Tonight, Zhou will personally keep watch for his young friend Shuhang and see what the cause and effect are."

As soon as Zhou Cheng finished speaking, Master Song hurriedly bowed and said, "Thank you, Master. Thank you, Master."

……

That night, in Dingxing Prefecture, at the Song residence.

The outer room of Song Shuhang's bedroom had been arranged into a quiet room, with sandalwood incense burning and lights shining brightly.

Zhou Cheng sat cross-legged on the futon, his eyes slightly closed, his breath deep and concentrated, and a powerful vitality and true qi circulated within his body.

Time is also passing by little by little.

In the blink of an eye, the midnight drumbeat sounded.

In the bedroom, Song Shuhang, whose breathing had been relatively steady due to the sedative medication, suddenly began to convulse violently.

He clenched his teeth, making painful "hoarse" sounds, veins bulging on his forehead, and beads of cold sweat instantly soaked through his nightgown.

An indescribable, chaotic, and foul atmosphere suddenly filled the bedroom!
coming!

Zhou Cheng suddenly opened his eyes. He did not get up. With a thought, the illusory image of the Taishan Prefecture Emperor that he had been visualizing in his sea of ​​consciousness suddenly solidified, majestic and awe-inspiring.

The light of the three souls shines like the sun and moon across the sky, the essence of the seven spirits flows like a river of stars, and a breath of immortal energy bursts forth from the dantian and rushes straight to the top of the head!
"By imperial decree! All spirits bow down, all evil spirits obey my command, arrest them!"

Zhou Cheng uttered an imperial edict, but there were no earth-shattering phenomena.

As soon as the words fell, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth surged, transforming into an invisible chain of the Great Dao, which suddenly shot into Song Shuhang's dream.

"Roar--!!!"

A roar filled with shock, anger, pain, and disbelief seemed to come from the deepest part of the Netherworld, causing the candlelight in the entire quiet room to flicker.

"Boom!"

Thunder suddenly exploded in the sky.

The clear night, which was just moments ago filled with stars, suddenly turned into a storm of dark clouds.

An indescribable sense of oppression filled the dark clouds, spreading out from Dingxing Prefecture in an instant and enveloping the entire Dayan Dynasty.

Within a radius of tens of thousands of miles, all those who cultivate, whether human, demon, god, or immortal, feel something in their hearts.

In a daze, two infinitely majestic beings appeared in the sky above, engaging in a battle.

In their minds, those were two truly all-encompassing beings, making the sun, moon, and stars seem infinitely small.

However, this strange phenomenon only lasted for a moment before it fell completely silent.

The dark clouds dispersed once more, restoring a clear blue sky, and the silvery glow of a crescent moon shone down upon the world.

……

Inside the quiet room of the Song residence.

Song Shuhang then fell asleep again, and a dark, invisible mass of Qi floated beside Zhou Cheng.

"Tell me, why are you clinging to Song Shuhang? And what is your relationship with Li Tianshuo?"

Zhou Cheng had expected a fierce battle, but to his surprise, the demon was immediately controlled and unable to resist after he had just used the Spirit Binding Technique.

"Song Shuhang has fragments of the Heavenly Dao in his body, so he has the great supernatural power of entering dreams of destiny. Devouring them will bring endless creation."

A deep voice came from the black aura.

“That Li Tianshuo is a cultivator from Nandao Mountain. He once killed one of my avatars, mistakenly believing that he had completely killed me. In fact, it was just an avatar that was corrupted by my thought. I am a true demon, transcending the six realms. How could I be killed by a mere cultivator like him?”

"True Demon? What realm is a True Demon?"

As Zhou Cheng finished speaking, the blank figure reappeared from the Qi ball: "To see through the falsehood of the world and touch a single real living being can be called true."

"Are you familiar with the realm classifications and power divisions among human cultivators?"

Faced with Zhou Cheng's question, the true demon honestly replied, "Being able to absorb and expel the spiritual essence of heaven and earth can be called entering the Dao, which is a level."

"To comprehend the true meaning of heaven and earth and open up one's inner vision is to reach a new level."

"To open up the inner alchemical furnace and refine the five elements in the chest is to reach a new level."

"The sacred embryo is formed, the primordial spirit emerges, and the three flowers gather at the top of the head, thus reaching a new level."

"To see through the falsehoods of the world and comprehend the true meaning is the highest level."

"There are thirteen continents in the world, and six of them are exclusively occupied by the human race. The Dayan Dynasty is located in the Divine Continent."

"In China, there is Nandao Mountain, a sacred place for immortal cultivation."

"Rongzhou has the Hidden Sword Pavilion, a sacred place for sword cultivators."

"Xuanzhou has the Martial Sect, a sacred place for physical cultivation."

"Zhuzhou has a mysterious gate, making it a sacred place for divination masters."

"Hezhou is a sacred Buddhist site, with various Buddhist Arhat practice centers."

"Yingzhou borders Yaozhou, and there is no holy land there."

After saying all this, the demonic energy suddenly boiled over.

"You are... the legendary ancient immortal, it must be you, you are real!"

"Yes, only in this way can you easily suppress me!"

"Hahaha, fix, fix, fix my ass, hahaha..."

A series of mad, demonic voices emanated from the demonic energy, causing Zhou Cheng to frown.

"Noisy!"

Zhou Cheng swallowed the mass of demonic energy into his stomach and activated the Six Treasures Immortal Thief Technique, transforming it into a human-shaped furnace to slowly refine it.

(End of this chapter)