Da Zaojun

Chapter 11 Tian Xingjian

On the city wall, seeing Chen Xiu shoot a ghost to death, Tian Chengbi frowned: "Sure enough, there are demons mixed in with the real ones."

The county school instructor stood next to Tian Chengbi. He was a juren, a ninth-rank official, in charge of education in the county.

But I saw a trace of righteousness in his eyes, and he was actually looking at the qi.

It turns out that the county school also has a "book collection pavilion" with portraits of Confucian sages. For many years, it has cultivated students and accumulated moral energy. He worshipped "Wen Dao" according to the rituals said by the City God, communicated with the ancestors and sages, and also inherited it.

It was just a county school, which in theory could only teach "scholars" to read, so the heritage it output was not profound.

There is only one "Haoran Yangqi Jue" and one "Wasting Qi Technique", which correspond to the ninth-rank Haoran Confucian scholars.

At this time, he was using the art of looking at qi.

"Father and mother, I have observed with my aura-gazing technique that many of the disaster victims have black aura rising from their heads. This seems ominous."

The City God Temple priest nearby was also performing the art of fortune-telling, but his technique was given to him by the City God with the ability to see Yin and Yang. It was different from the Confucian technique and belonged to the lineage of the Yin and Yang masters.

He said, "Those emitting black air are corpse ghosts. Those with red air rising from their heads have committed evil deeds and are involved in murder lawsuits. I'm afraid they have already eaten people."

"Only those with a frail, thin, and grayish aura on their heads are ordinary refugees."

Tian Chengbi frowned: "What about the monsters? The difficulty of monsters and ghosts lies mainly in the monsters. Haven't you found any monsters here?"

The temple keeper explained, "From what I've observed so far, I haven't detected any demonic aura."

"The county magistrate once told me that demonic energy has strange colors and tends to form clusters and images, revealing its origins. Once you see a demon, you'll know what demonic energy looks like."

"The county lord also said that this great demon will not easily leave the place where it was born, just like the county lord himself will not easily leave the city. Their birthplace is a demon cave, a devil's lair, which can benefit them."

"These corpse ghosts are probably the servants of the great demon. Just like how the county magistrate can use his divine power to write talismans and command the six officials to move, the great demon may also have this method."

Tian Chengbi had communicated with the City God a long time ago and knew that demons also had different "ranks", just like the official ranks of people.

A ninth-rank demon occupies a village. If it can devour minor gods such as the newly revived local land god, various magical powers and Taoism will be awakened... To be promoted to a seventh-rank demon, it needs to occupy a county, divide it into a hundred miles, and become a "demon county magistrate."

This is the fundamental crisis of the demons attacking the city.

The temple keeper said, "The more people this monster eats, the more memories and knowledge it will gain. It will become more cunning and deceitful, and the fewer restrictions it will face."

"It's like a county magistrate. The more believers and the more incense he burns, the more power he will naturally have. When he has enough divine power, he can go out and kill monsters without relying on the power of the city."

"These demons want to attack the city, but before they are completely sure of their victory, they have too many concerns. Therefore, they can only stay in their lair to prevent other demons from coveting their birthplace and damaging their foundation."

"When Zhang Tianshi felled mountains and destroyed temples to eliminate demons from the world, the most important thing he did was to destroy the demon caves. He killed those who could be killed, and sealed those who could not be killed to prevent them from causing trouble."

Tian Chengbi frowned: "Could this kind of thing have happened in ancient times?"

But then he said, "If the ancient myths are true, then if the sky is broken, Nuwa can mend it; if ten suns are across the sky, Dayi can shoot them down; if a flood is raging, Dayu can control it; if the Yellow Emperor can defeat Chiyou and his eighty-one demons; if Zhuanxu can establish the three elements of heaven and earth... Now it's just a matter of repeating the ancient times, and I can do it!"

Then he sneered: "These beasts sent so many corpse ghosts and demons to try to sneak into the city. It seems that they have been eyeing the people in the city for a long time."

"Teacher, just because you haven't seen any great demons doesn't mean they don't exist. They're cunning and treacherous, most likely hiding in the shadows, or possessing sophisticated concealment techniques." County School Instructor Lu Han asked, "If we can't identify them, will we still let the people into the city?"

"If you hesitate when you should make a decision, you will suffer the consequences. Since you have chosen to open the city, you will have to fight them sooner or later."

"These demons just want to sneak into the city, and I want to catch them in a trap! I can kill them directly outside, but I'm afraid of alerting them."

The City God Temple keeper quickly said, "As long as the great demons don't come out, these corpse ghost monsters are actually not difficult to kill. The only thing to be careful about is that they abandon their bodies and gather and disperse invisibly. Or if they have corpse poison or demon poison, if it spreads out, it will be a disaster."

"Please, sir, allow the victims to worship the City God at the City God Temple first. This will serve as an additional safeguard."

Tian Chengbi glanced at the temple priest and said, "The City God and the County Lord need incense, but I cannot force the victims to believe in it. You can do it on your own, but I cannot give you any orders."

The temple keeper sighed and said, "In fact, the six officials of the City God and the Inspection Officials can also identify demons and evil spirits. Please ask the county lord to arrange for personnel as soon as possible."

After saying this, he left the city wall.

Lü Han then said to Tian Chengbi, "The City God needs incense and worship. How can the officials, as parents, put a chokehold on him at this time? You must know that this is a matter of life and death. The more powerful the county lord, the more protection the people will receive from him."

Tian Chengbi asked in return, "What's the difference between a city god and a demon? What's the difference between placing hope in gods and Buddhas and placing hope in demons? One brutalizes their flesh and enslaves their bodies, while the other benighted their minds and enslaves their souls. In my opinion, both are evil-minded."

"Now it's like the Three Kingdoms period. I am Shu Han, he is Dong Wu, and we are fighting together against Cao Wei."

"You only see me guarding against him, but you don't see that he's also guarding against me. As he said, yin and yang, a harmonious government and people, are the key to life, and neither can be neglected."

"You and I should be independent and make our own contributions. Chen Xiu inherited his legacy from Fei Hou, and you inherited it from the county school. Could these inheritances be bestowed by ghosts and gods? Fei Hou was a military commander of the previous dynasty, and Haoran Zhengqi was created by Mencius. These are all sages."

"Another thing is that the name and the instrument cannot be given to others. If I order everyone to offer sacrifices to the City God, I will be handing over the name and the instrument to others. How can I, as the county magistrate, win the support of the people in the future?"

"Been taught a lesson!"

Lu Han stood in awe.

The little bit of righteous energy in my body cleansed my soul, and the hairs on my back stood up. All the meanings of the books of sages I had read in the past came to my mind.

Tian Xingjian, the gentleman is self-improvement.

Life is what I want; righteousness is what I want. I cannot have both, so I would rather sacrifice life for righteousness.

If a man does not show his ambition, his eight-foot body will be wasted.

Who has never died since ancient times? Keep your loyalty and history.

"No need to do that. There's no need to tell too many people about this." Tian Chengbi shook his head, but pointed at Mr. Sun who was registering his name and asked, "You are in charge of the county school. Do you know him?"

"I recognize him. His surname is Sun. He passed the imperial examination in his twenties and his writings were quite impressive. Now he is in his thirties and has become quite experienced. In my opinion, if nothing unexpected happens, it will not be difficult for him to pass the imperial examination before he is forty.

"There's some method to their actions," Tian Chengbi said, "but for some reason, it feels a bit deliberate."

(End of this chapter)