Terrifying Heavens: I'll directly worship the Black Law of Fengdu!

Chapter 167 The Withering of Maoshan

Maoshan is located in Jiangsu Province, in the south. Li Xuan and Mao Qing's group traveled south for about a month before finally arriving at the foot of Maoshan...

Li Xuan looked at Maoshan in front of him and fell silent.

In the real world, I once went to Maoshan with my classmates, and it didn't look like this at all.

The Maoshan Mountain before us is like an undeveloped primeval forest; it wouldn't be surprising if a few wild beasts suddenly jumped out from within...

At the foot of the mountain is a stable station, which is Maoshan's own property. Because the mountain road is rugged and difficult to travel, it is easy to cause danger if you force the horses to ride up.

Someone once rode a horse up the mountain, but fell and broke the horse's leg. The rider fell down the mountain and got stuck in a crevice between rocks, unable to move and starving to death. It wasn't until half a month later that he was discovered. The tragedy was too gruesome to bear.

As the group climbed the mountain, they gradually saw several small huts appearing.

Li Xuan finally saw the Taiyuan Hall of Maoshan, also known as the Jiuxiao Wanfu Palace. Although it was old and dilapidated, it could not hide its former glory.

The first thing you see are three statues of gods, namely the three brothers Mao Ying, Mao Gu, and Mao Zhong, also known as the Three Mao True Lords. In addition to them as the main gods and ancestral masters, there are also four duty officers in the main hall, and four marshals, Ma, Wen, Zhao, and Yue, on the left and right sides. On the east and west sides, there are the Earth God and the God of Wealth.

There are very few people on Maoshan Mountain.

This is also a Taoist temple, and the number of people here is simply unreasonable.

Li Xuan asked, "Is Maoshan usually this deserted?"

Mao Qing was slightly embarrassed and said, "Thirty years ago, there were quite a few people: the sect leader, elders, high-ranking Taoist priests, and disciples and grand-disciples. It was quite lively. However, in the last ten years, too many things have happened in the world below the mountain. The sect leader has been sending people down the mountain to train and save people. As a result, there are fewer and fewer people. In the end, the elders also went down the mountain, and almost no one came back."

As the sect leader's true disciple, I was inexplicably promoted to the position of sect leader without even having any elders, and was put in charge of handling some affairs inside and outside Maoshan in place of the missing sect leader.

In the past two years, the chaos down the mountain has intensified, with frequent appearances of zombies and numerous deaths among our fellow practitioners. Lacking the intellect to handle Maoshan affairs, I selected a temporary leader and led my personal disciples, Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning, down the mountain… However, before I descended, there weren't so few people.”

Just then, a middle-aged man in his forties came out from behind the main hall.

Upon receiving a report from his disciple that the sect leader had arrived, he quickly tidied himself up and rushed over to greet him, raising his hand in a salute: "Sect Leader, you've returned. And who is this benefactor?"

Mao Qing introduced, "This person is also a fellow practitioner, but he is rather special. He is a judge from Fengdu, named Li Xuan."

The middle-aged man was somewhat bewildered, having never heard of the Fengdu Judge, but he still showed him sufficient respect, bowing and saying, "So it is Fellow Daoist Li. This humble Daoist Zhang Fusheng pays his respects."

Li Xuan returned the greeting.

Mao Qing asked, "I've been down the mountain for about a year now, why are there so few people left on the mountain?"

Zhang Fusheng's eyes dimmed slightly as he said, "For many reasons, the people down the mountain are living in poverty, and fewer and fewer people are coming to Maoshan to burn incense and give oil. Everyone is gradually starting to tighten their belts, but even so, it's still not enough... In order for Maoshan to continue, many fellow disciples have volunteered to go down the mountain to exorcise demons and reduce the pressure on Maoshan."

The area down the mountain is too chaotic. There are man-eating zombies, and people who are even more terrifying than zombies!
A small number of us from Maoshan died at the hands of zombies, but the majority died at the hands of bandits and... government troops. There were all sorts of reasons, and even showing our ordination certificates to prove our identities was useless.

Zhang Fusheng was clearly moved by his sorrow as he spoke, and his hand holding the whisk trembled slightly.

Mao Qing fell silent. He had led his disciples down the mountain to subdue demons and monsters, and naturally encountered this situation several times. However... whether it was bandits or government soldiers, they were all afraid of those with strong fists.

He was able to "avoid misfortune and seek good fortune," while those with inferior martial arts skills weren't so lucky. The atmosphere suddenly became somewhat oppressive...

Mao Qing snapped out of her daze and realized how she could have fallen into such a state in front of Li Xuan. This time, she was returning to the mountain to save Maoshan from its current predicament!
As long as they can cultivate the mystical arts, Maoshan will surely be able to reach a higher level and have hope of survival.

He said to Zhang Fusheng, "Junior brother, Fellow Daoist Li is a divine being who can communicate with ghosts and spirits. The reason I invited him up the mountain this time is to try to summon the patriarch of Maoshan to perform a spirit ritual for Maoshan, to resolve the solidification of your dantian, so that you can embark on true cultivation..."

Zhang Fusheng: "..."

He smiled at Li Xuan and said, "I'd like to have a chat with my senior brother, the sect leader."

Li Xuan understood what he wanted to talk about. After all, in a "zombie" world that emphasizes science, it would be strange if Mao Qing's words didn't arouse suspicion.

Zhang Fusheng pulled Mao Qing to a corner at the back of the hall and said in a low voice, "Senior brother, ghosts and gods are just products of ancient superstition, figments of imagination based on the natural world of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning. They are merely symbols of faith, objects used to provide solace for the lonely and suffering. How could you believe in them?"

Mao Qing understood his junior brother's thoughts, because he hadn't believed it either before he saw the lightning.

“Junior brother, the reason we couldn’t cultivate was because our dantian was solidified and we couldn’t absorb the spiritual energy of heaven and earth. Now, with the help of Fellow Daoist Li’s secret medicine, my dantian has been opened and I can cultivate normally. The spiritual energy of Maoshan is much richer than that of the foot of the mountain, which is of great benefit to cultivation and makes it twice as effective with half the effort.”

He took the wooden box out of his pocket, opened it, and revealed five blood-red pills.

Zhang Fusheng sniffed it, frowned and said, "This... seems to be a mixture of flour and sweet potato starch. The red color is a bit like blood... but the smell is similar yet mixed with a fresh grassy scent. It's a very strange mixture."

He was fond of studying medicine and had a medicinal garden in Maoshan with many herbs that could treat basic headaches, colds, and fevers. He also tried alchemy, but ended up with a bunch of unidentified round substances that emitted a disgusting smell. They looked frightening and he dared not give them to anyone.

Seeing his junior brother's expression, Mao Qing knew that saying more would be pointless.

He took back the wooden box, picked up a pill from inside, put the box away, and punched his junior brother in the stomach with his left hand, causing the junior brother to open his mouth wide in pain.

"Try one!"

The dark red pill was thrown into Zhang Fusheng's mouth.

The pill was a bit big and got stuck in Zhang Fusheng's throat. Mao Qing was worried that spitting it out would be a waste, so he grabbed Zhang's neck and pulled it down.

Zhang Fusheng's face flushed red, and his finger trembled as he pointed at Mao Qing: "Senior brother, how...how could you do this?"

His abdomen ached from the beating, and now his throat hurt too. He wanted to recover so he could fight his senior brother, but suddenly his eyes widened as a tearing pain shot through his dantian. He felt it would have been better to have been beaten directly.

The pain traveled throughout my body, like falling into an ant nest.

Zhang Fusheng fell to the ground, rolling around, unable to utter a single curse...

Mao Qing deeply understands this feeling, because he has also experienced the pain.

At that moment, he squatted down beside him and comforted him, "Junior brother, we're both grown men, just bear with it and it will pass. Just think of it as having gone through a childless delivery. No pain, no gain. You'll thank me later."

Zhang Fusheng trembled with pain, and with all his might, he leaned close to Mao Qing's ear and weakly said, "Fuck...you...f*** Mao Qing! You son of a bitch, I was almost exhausted to death in Maoshan, and now you have to come back and torture me, you bastard..."

(End of this chapter)