This humble Taoist priest, Qianhe, begins his quest for immortality by slaying demons and monsters.

Chapter 165 Lin Fengjiao Returns, Ghost Messenger Disappears

It took Zhong Bai five full days to return to Renjia Town from the Miao Gu tribe in western Hunan. Normally, it would only take him an hour to travel by sword.

However, Lin Fengjiao's injuries had not fully healed, so she could only move forward slowly.

Zhong Bai happened to have nothing urgent to do, so he simply followed them all the way back to Renjia Town. After all, he had personally promised Lin Qing'er that he would bring her father back, and Zhong Bai did not want to miss the father-daughter reunion.

Renjia Town.

The arrival of Si Mu, Tu Long, and Hua Ling these past few days has been a pillar of support for Zhe Gu. After nearly half a month of recuperation, Zhe Gu's injuries have almost completely healed.

They then returned to their respective dojos, as they could not linger there any longer.

In the courtyard, Aunt Zhe was pacing back and forth, while little Lin Qing'er was squatting at the door, holding her head in her hands, her eyes filled with anticipation. Unfortunately, after waiting for almost half a month, her father still hadn't returned, and the weariness in the little girl's eyes was visible to the naked eye. Her chubby face had even become a little thinner.

"Mother! Qing'er misses Father!"

After squatting at the door for about half an hour, Xiao Qing'er's legs started to ache. She got up and went to Aunt Zhe to tell her story in a low voice.

Hearing her daughter express her feelings so frankly, Aunt Zhe said with a hint of helplessness, "Qing'er, my dear, your grandmaster and grand-uncle have already gone to the Miao region to bring back your father. He should be back in a few days."

Although Aunt Zhe was comforting Lin Qing'er, Aunt Zhe herself also missed her senior brother.

Just then, a streak of light flashed through the void, and with a whoosh, the spirit sword arrived. Zhong Bai stepped onto the spirit sword, and the moment Xiao Qing'er saw Zhong Bai, she broke free from her mother's embrace and ran towards Zhong Bai, saying, "Uncle-Master! Uncle-Master, has my father returned?"

Zhong Bai smiled warmly and nodded.

"Little Qing'er, there's no problem with what your master promised you."

As soon as Zhong Bai finished speaking, the gate of the mortuary was pushed open. At the same time, Lin Junmen, Huang Zhen, Mao Xiaofang, and Lin Fengjiao returned together. When Xiao Qing'er saw her father, she no longer cared about Zhong Bai in the void and went straight to Lin Fengjiao, hanging on her body.

In the void, Zhong Bai shook his head upon seeing this harmonious scene; it was time for him to leave as well…

Without disturbing anyone, Zhong Bai quietly flew away on his sword.

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Tengteng Town.

Tengteng Town seems to be somewhat unsettled lately. The seals of Buddhism and Taoism have been in place for over a century, and their strength is weakening. Strands of corpse energy have begun to corrode the seal's talismans and runes.

News of the situation in Tengteng Town quickly reached the records of both the Buddhist and Taoist authorities.

Maoshan.

In the main hall of the sect, before Xuanmingzi, a phantom figure was emitting bursts of golden light.

“Brother Xuanmingzi, it seems that Tengteng Town cannot hold out for long. Although both our sects can easily eliminate Tengteng Town, we cannot let the Buddhist sect stay out of it.”

“Brother Lingxiao, indeed, it was originally sealed by both Buddhism and Taoism back then. Now that Buddhism is pretending to be deaf and dumb, we will naturally not be foolish enough to stand in front of it.”

"We should directly contact the Buddhist community to see their attitude. If that doesn't work, we should bring it up openly. Public opinion will tell; whether the Buddhist community needs its incense offerings to continue or remains closed off depends on their decision."

The golden light and shadow naturally belonged to Lingxiao Celestial Master of Longhu Mountain. Tengteng Town is close to Maoshan and Longhu Mountain, and the Buddhist sect's plan is to ignore it, since Longhu Mountain and Maoshan Mountain will take care of it if the sky falls.

However, neither faction can truly let Buddhism have its way; otherwise, they would be used as pawns.

"Hmph, these Buddhist monks are getting more and more outrageous. I'll take the lead in handling this matter. Fellow Daoist Xuanmingzi, just wait for my news!"

After the two communicated, Master Lingxiao planned to first go to the Buddhist sect to exert some pressure.

Watching the disappearing figure of Lingxiao Celestial Master, Xuanmingzi remained calm. The problem in Tengteng Town was not serious. The key was to clarify things between the two sides through this Buddhist-Taoist conversation. The matter in the capital could not wait any longer.

Zhong Bai was naturally unaware of these matters. At the moment, he was traveling by sword to Jinan Prefecture. The reason for Jinan Prefecture was simple: in addition to being a Taoist priest of Maoshan, Zhong Bai also held the position of Yin Inspector of the Yang Realm. Recently, the Yin Inspectors of Jinan Prefecture had been going missing one after another, so the Underworld entrusted Zhong Bai with the task of investigating. He had received the task a few days ago, so traveling by sword would not delay him.

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Upon arriving in Jinan, a place known for its outstanding people and beautiful scenery, Zhong Bai was indeed impressed by the bustling atmosphere. The streets were teeming with people, and while they weren't exactly beaming with happiness, it was a good thing that no one was emaciated.

As soon as Zhong Bai entered a tea shop, he heard the customers drinking tea boasting.

Hey! You guys don't know this, do you?

A while ago, I heard from Wu's third son, the guard behind the city gate next door, that a giant turtle and a carp had been causing chaos in Daming Lake a few days ago, stirring up the water for days and nights without clearing it. They said it was the work of evil spirits, so we brothers shouldn't go near Daming Lake.

Upon hearing this, a middle-aged man in a tattered coat picked his nose with a hint of disdain.

"You must be kidding me."
"We're all old Jinan residents, we've been playing around Daming Lake since we were kids, there's nothing like the things you're talking about here. Besides, even if there really are evil spirits, it's the officials who worry about them, we're just here to drink tea and fill our stomachs." "Exactly, these days we can't even get enough to eat, who cares about demons and evil spirits?"
Carp, giant claws? Good stuff!

A group of tea drinkers burst into laughter, clearly not taking the matter to heart.

Zhong Bai sipped his tea, still interested in the matter. He had come to investigate the reason for the disappearance of the underworld messengers.

Searching alone would be too much of a hassle. If there are evil spirits in Jinan Prefecture, questioning one or two of them might yield unexpected results.

After having tea, Zhong Bai strolled to the shore of Daming Lake. Hmm, at first glance, the scenery was quite nice.

"Tsk, there really is a carp spirit..."

Zhong Bai scanned Daming Lake with his divine sense and found that there was indeed a carp spirit in the early stage of Foundation Establishment deep in the lake. However, there were too many people around and Zhong Bai did not want to cause too much of a commotion, so he decided to come back at night.

Before you knew it, night had fallen.

When Zhong Bai returned to Daming Lake, the bustling scene of the daytime was gone. As for the carp spirit at the bottom of the lake, Zhong Bai had no intention of killing it. It was obviously a local fish that had always stayed at the bottom of the lake and had no karma on its body. It was clearly a well-behaved fish.

Otherwise, it would be impossible for such a powerful demon in the early stage of Foundation Establishment to occupy Daming Lake.

It's likely that other Taoist and Buddhist sects are aware of the existence of this carp, but there are still some things that need to be inquired about.

Riding the waves, Zhong Bai leaped lightly and landed above the carp spirit.

Standing on the water, Zhong Bai stomped his foot on the surface, causing ripples to spread across the entire lake, while the bottom of the lake was filled with raging waves.

Sensing Zhong Bai's aura as deep and boundless as the ocean, the carp spirit was filled with fear and unease. It quickly emerged from the bottom of the lake, transforming into a half-human, half-demon woman. Upon seeing Zhong Bai, it lowered its head and trembled uncontrollably.

"Little Fish has met the real person!"

The fish spirit bowed to Zhong Bai, and only after seeing that Zhong Bai had no intention of killing her did she become bolder. Even so, she still dared not look directly into Zhong Bai's eyes.

Zhong Bai nodded, then asked, "Fish spirit, I ask you, how much do you know about the evil spirits and demons in Jinan Prefecture?"

Upon hearing this, the fish spirit was somewhat stunned, but quickly began to recount everything in detail.

However, the text makes no mention of the demons and evil spirits in Jinan Prefecture, but instead talks about foreign monsters.

"Reporting to the Master, I don't know much about the demons and evil spirits in Jinan Prefecture. However, a while ago, a giant turtle that came down from the upper reaches of the Yellow River possessed the strength of an early-stage demon general and even tried to compete with me for territory in Daming Lake..."

The fish spirit's voice grew weaker and weaker as she spoke, because these were not the answers Zhong Bai wanted to hear.

Therefore, as Zhong Bai's gaze grew colder and colder, the fish spirit began to tremble.

"To be frank, some underworld messengers have mysteriously disappeared during their missions to collect souls in Jinan recently. Are you aware of this?"

Zhong Bai's voice was calm, but the fish spirit knew that if she concealed even the slightest thing, she would probably have to see her great-grandmother in the next second.

He simply knelt down on the water with a splash.

"Please spare my life, please spare my life!"

Little Fish dared not deceive the True Man, for there was a great demon in Jinan Prefecture named the Three-Eyed Golden Lord who forbade Little Fish to reveal anything, or else he would kill Little Fish…

"The Three-Eyed Golden Lord?"

Zhong Bai frowned slightly and continued to ask, "Who is this Three-Eyed Golden Lord? Tell me more, how dare he even mess with the underworld's ghost messengers!"

"Reporting to the Master, this Three-Eyed Golden Lord is no simple being. His true form is a three-legged golden toad, at the peak of the Demon General realm. He is considered the most powerful demon in the entire Jinan area, controlling the surrounding rivers. As for why this Three-Eyed Golden Lord would target the ghost messengers, I heard that he wanted to master a supernatural power called the Great Five Ghosts Transporting Technique, which requires capturing five ghost generals to master. However, it is difficult to find even one ghost general near Jinan Prefecture, let alone five."

So...so...this Three-Eyed Golden Lord set his sights on the underworld's ghost messengers..."

Zhong Bai almost laughed in anger when he heard this. This Three-Eyed Golden Lord really seemed to have a death wish. The underworld ghost messengers all had connections.

Losing one or two is no big deal, but losing them repeatedly is a blow to the dignity of the ghost messengers' superiors, so it's no wonder they sent someone like me, a patrolman from the mortal realm, to make an appearance.

"I understand. But you little fish, you think you're so clever. You think that giant turtle just wanted to use me to kill it? You might escape death, but you can't escape punishment. So, I'll have you lead the way to the Three-Eyed Golden Lord's cave. How about that?"

Faced with Zhong Bai like this, would the fish spirit dare to refuse?

He could only manage a bitter smile and nod in agreement.

"Little Fish understands, thank you for sparing my life, Master!"

(End of this chapter)