Cursed Mountains and Seas

Chapter 182 Enemies Meet on a Narrow Road, Bookworms Sing

Upon hearing this, both Wang Cheng and Zheng Qian's expressions changed slightly.

The latter was because he heard his junior brother's name and then developed a strong gossip fire about sensational words such as "male concubine," "nunnery," and "escape."

The former, by comparing his memory with Wang Fugui's, immediately recognized the voice and his heart skipped a beat.

"Is that Abbess Miaojing, the fourth-rank official of Qingque Nunnery, the 'Taishan Nun'? What's that dissolute nun doing here?!"

The moment the thought arose, the paper boat burst out of the ink-wash background and arrived on a vast lake spanning hundreds of miles.

But here one sees a thousand rivers and canals crisscrossing the land, stretching for eight hundred miles in all directions, with mountains rising like giant waves and waters reaching the distant sky.

Amidst the chaotic reeds, countless ranks of swords and spears stand; amidst the strange trees, thousands of layers of swords and halberds rise; above the pavilion, sorrowful clouds gather; before the Hall of Gathering Righteousness, a murderous aura arises.

A large flag stands in front of the hall, bearing the four characters "Acting on behalf of Heaven".

There weren't many people in the Gathering Hall. Sitting at the head of the table was a beautiful nun with a shaved head, dressed in a moon-white monk's robe.

She was dressed as a nun, yet her fair and delicate face held a captivating allure, with charming eyes and delicate eyebrows.

The pink prayer beads in her hand are engraved with nine forms and twenty-seven variations of the "Mysterious Woman Classic," including dragon turning, tiger stepping, ape fighting, rabbit sucking hair, fish connecting scales, and crane intertwining necks, totaling thirty-six forms.

It's obvious at a glance that she's definitely not a proper nun.

“Master Miaojing, you just promised to consecrate my son tonight, but you turned around and started praising Wang Fugui. Are you complaining that we brothers didn’t serve him well enough?”

"Yes. We've been classmates with that kid for years, how could we not know him?"
Wang Fugui is a rough and uncouth soldier, dull and unsociable, unlike us brothers who are understanding, handsome, and dashing. I think the so-called "frightening ghosts and gods" is just a rumor.

"Indeed, if those rumors are true, then one has to suspect that Wang Fugui has been possessed by some powerful demon and is no longer the poor boy he once was."

Four or five beautiful young men, dressed in flamboyant attire, were serving the nun. Upon hearing this, they were all greatly dissatisfied, their words filled with jealousy and rivalry.

Even absurd claims that Wang Fugui was possessed by someone else have surfaced.

"Wang Fugui is not as good as you?"

Jiang Wenyuan, a disciple of Grand Secretary Xu and former deputy envoy of the mission, who was sitting opposite Abbess Miaojing, almost spat out his tea upon hearing this.

He had personally witnessed the domineering way that "Ghostly Shock" used the combined martial arts and magic technique, "Thunder God's Chisel," to beat Mao Haifeng.

Even if we are enemies with them, we have to look up to them. How can they be compared to these few effeminate women in front of us?
Besides, he wanted to use Miao Jing's sword to eliminate this great enemy, so how could he let these scoundrels ruin his plans?

Turning his head, he saw four people arriving by boat, especially Zheng Qian, and exclaimed with delight:
"Speak of the devil and he shall appear."

Master Miaojing, this person is Wang Fugui's current third senior brother.

With such close brothers, loved ones, and friends mysteriously disappearing, it's highly likely that the 'Ghostly and Divinely Shocking' Wang Fugui will come to investigate their whereabouts.

Once he leaves the territory of that "Director of the Imperial Household" in Yuegang and arrives in Rongcheng, whether he's a dragon or a tiger, he'll have to coil up or lie low. Won't he be completely at your mercy?

Wang Cheng only realized he hadn't checked the almanac before leaving home when he saw Jiang Wenyuan. Not only had he run into his enemies on a narrow road, but he also had far more than one:
"Luo Wenlong has already sent me a message."

It is said that in the end, the upright officials in the court worked together to conclude that this person had fallen into the sea and disappeared on the battlefield. Whether he was dead or alive, he would not be able to hold office for the time being during the Shaozhi reign.

However, the Qingliu faction had already bet on the Crown Prince, and Xu Shaohu, the Grand Secretary, was one of the Crown Prince's many teachers.

Jiang Wenyuan is still young. As long as he doesn't die, he'll have a chance to make a comeback sooner or later once the storm passes.

Perhaps because of this, although Jiang Wenyuan no longer had the official status and airs of an official, he was still in a good mood and kept chatting and laughing with the beautiful nun.

He would occasionally massage his lower back, and his eye sockets were somewhat sunken and bluish. Clearly, even if he wanted to use someone else to do his dirty work, it wouldn't be without consequences.

“What Benefactor Jiang said is right. Wang Fugui will not escape from the nun’s grasp sooner or later.”

When Abbess Miaojing noticed Jiang Wenyuan's subtle actions, she winked at him knowingly.

"Thank you for your generosity, Benefactor Jiang."

Tao and Cao, the two brothers, paid no attention to the romantic matters they were discussing.

However, since the three of them, master and disciples, were staying at the Qingque Nunnery outside the city with the original manuscript of "The Loyal and Righteous Water Margin" and Zheng He's treasure map, they had to give the landlord the necessary respect.

They stepped forward together and bowed, saying:

"This junior pays respects to the nun."

We have invited two local officials who can decipher the treasure map, and we also need to take our master's decree to bring others along. Please look after these two for us."

To be honest, Tao and Cao, as disciples of Fengzhou Shanren, one of the leaders in the literary world, were very much in line with Master Miaojing's aesthetic. However, since they were only good to look at but not to eat, she was unwilling to waste her efforts and simply waved her hand to let them go.

"Farewell."

The two left Wang Cheng and Zheng Qian in the Hall of Righteousness and sailed away again.

Wang Cheng's close contact with the nun and a group of former "classmates" gradually brought back clearer memories of the scholar Wang Fugui. When he first borrowed the evil spirit's appearance to escape the Wang ship, he told the Zhang brothers, "I was studying at Lianjiang Academy in the prefecture city, but I encountered a shipwreck while returning home for some reason" (Chapter 4).

As for the "reason" for returning to her hometown, it was precisely the nun Miaojing and her Qingque Nunnery!
For an ordinary farmer's son to rise to the rank of a scholar through studying and taking the imperial examinations is no cheap affair.

The pens, ink, paper, inkstones, books, and literary treasures imbued with the fragrance of ink and paper are all extremely valuable, beyond the reach of ordinary families.

It was perfectly normal for poor students in various academies to receive financial assistance from gentry. Promising talents were often won over early on with gifts of money and marriage proposals, and were reserved to become members of a certain faction.

Those who are not particularly talented, who are neither here nor there, who are neither here nor there but are unwilling to succumb to mediocrity, have room to maneuver.

Wang Fugui, in his previous life, was tricked by the academy's instructor, who claimed that Abbess Miaojing of Qingque Nunnery admired scholars and had helped many students advance to the rank of "Confucian scholar." He said that if he could win her favor, he would surely achieve twice the result with half the effort.

He excitedly took his articles and poems to the "interview".

Fortunately, the nun had just interviewed a talented man ahead of him and personally conducted a "second interview" with him in the meditation room, which gave Wang Fugui the opportunity to discover clues among the beautiful nuns in the temple.

He discovered that all the nuns in the Qingque Nunnery were actually members of one of the four major branches of the Orchid Cult: the Taishan Nuns! (This is in contrast to the boatwomen of West Lake, the slender women of Yangzhou, and the women of Datong.)
These nuns from Mount Tai don't need to learn the orchid-themed methods of other practitioners to seduce unwanted suitors; they have plenty of money in their temples.

In today's world, compared to money shops, temples and nunneries are the major lenders, and their loans are even called "incense money".

The vault for storing money is also called the temple vault, pawn vault, inexhaustible vault, inexhaustible treasury, or longevity vault.
Emperor Han of the Great Zhao Dynasty cracked down on other temples, promoted the White Lotus Sect and established it as the state religion. Temples curbed their usury practices to a considerable extent, but many temples remained large landowners and property owners.

They and Lianjiang Academy were a perfect match, one being wealthy and the other possessing talented scholars.

Qingque Nunnery naturally became the major financial backer of Lianjiang Academy.

On the surface, a prestigious academy would certainly not do anything to dishonor or betray its students.

But it's incredibly easy to send them through the interview by finding reasons like "admiring the nun's Buddhist teachings," "borrowing a meditation room to study," "helping to copy Buddhist scriptures," or "the nun's appreciation for talent."

Wang Cheng could easily think of nine types, a full nine!
This is why, after fleeing the city and returning to his hometown, Wang Fugui's obsession was to stand out and be the center of attention.

Essentially, it's just about protecting oneself.

After Wang Cheng took over, he went far away from the state capital to Yuegang, feeling that the trouble would not be able to be found for a while.

In retrospect, Senior Brother Zhang Quan was a complete jinx. He didn't need to introduce any rich women; they lined up and offered themselves to him.

It's hard to say whether the "Official Star Peach Blossom Pattern" derived from Wang Cuiqiao has already begun to exert its great power.

A warning bell rang in Wang Cheng's heart:

"I absolutely cannot expose Wang Fugui, the first alias beneath Zheng Jin's second alias! Otherwise, things will be terrible."

Tragically, it seems that Wang Fugui wasn't the only one who attracted this "Taishan nun".

Miao Jing glanced at Wang Fugui's senior brother Zheng Qian, found him unremarkable, and then ignored him. She turned her attention to Wang Cheng, the wealthy and powerful Ximen Qing, a hint of interest on her face.
"Zheng Jin? I never expected that you could fit the protagonist that Lanling Xiaoxiaosheng specially created for you. You must be a hidden gem of talent."

Come, come, let this humble nun see if your 'Pan, Donkey, Deng, Little, Leisure' truly live up to its name!"

He opened his mouth and spat out a cloud of pinkish, carefree, and joyful Qi.

It swiftly transformed into a large bed that could accommodate ten people, covered with cloud-like gauze curtains. Within the curtains, enchanting celestial maidens danced a mesmerizing dance, their seductive music filling the air.

This nun didn't identify with a character from the book, nor did she have any character-based advantages, yet she was still able to unleash her full potential.

As a fourth-rank official who has reached the realm of "Five Temples of Divine Treasures" and completed the act of disguising oneself, she belongs to the first tier below the living gods and spirits. Any prey she targets is utterly powerless to resist.

"I accidentally escaped Wang Fugui back then, but I can't escape you today."

Deciphering Zheng He's treasure map is of utmost importance, but it shouldn't be a problem for this humble nun to enjoy herself before we get to the important matters. Amitabha.

Wang Cheng's innocence was hanging by a thread.

Ding!
A chime rang out.

Suddenly, a crimson cloud flew in from the sky, led by a Taoist priest with an otherworldly air. The priest wore a crown adorned with jade leaves, a crane-feather cloak embroidered with golden clouds, a long beard, broad cheeks, and square blue eyes.

Behind him followed hundreds of Taoist soldiers and Yellow Turban warriors, each carrying a large book box.

Upon seeing the newcomer, the nun Miaojing dared not continue her presumptuous behavior and quickly withdrew her supernatural powers.

Wang Cheng breathed a sigh of relief and looked up. The bookworm spirit hidden in the hole of the [Sihai Tongbao] coin suddenly let out an excited chirp.

This newly acquired personal secretary is Wang Cheng's biggest trump card in daring to venture into the world of "The Novelist" and the landscapes of "The Painter".

While its most useful ability is to traverse the sea of ​​books and integrate information, making it adept at governing a country, there is another capability that is often overlooked.

The bookworm is actually a insect that eats and damages books!
Therefore, insects are its true calling. Any world or landscape in a book that dares to devour it is doomed for life.

At this moment, its urgent chirping clearly indicated that it had discovered that the boxes of books in the sky contained top-quality food comparable in deliciousness to "The Influence of Sea Power," and it could no longer resist crawling out to feast.

(End of this chapter)