White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 74 Wanxiang Mountain

"So you are the renowned Fairy Xiao. I apologize for my rudeness." Hua Yi returned the greeting with a respectful expression.

"Fellow Daoist, you are too kind. We are grateful for the help of you two and Fairy Qinghe on this trip. That Wuxiang Demon God is no ordinary being, so we must be extremely careful on this journey." Seeing that only one person was needed to finish the shout, Xiao Qianli prepared to begin explaining to the two of them.

But upon hearing this title, Hua Yi was taken aback. "The Formless... Demon God?"

"What's wrong? Is something amiss?" Xiao Qianli asked, noticing his expression.

"You two should both know about the evil dragon's rampage in Zhangyang County several years ago, right?" Hua Yi asked with a strange expression.

"I have heard of that. Fortunately, the Daoist brother, a master from Qianyuan Mountain, intervened and suppressed this dragon. Otherwise, it might have continued to wreak havoc on the human world," Ning Jue praised.

"Back then, my Qianyuan Mountain got involved in the matter of the evil dragon because I was tricked into it by a village god who claimed to come from Yunze Mountain. That village god called himself Wuxiang!"

"The God of Wuxiang Village?" Ning Jue's head throbbed, as if he had remembered something. His eyes widened immediately. "It's actually from Yunze Mountain... I also feel like the name sounds familiar."

Yes, a few months before the birth of the evil dragon, the sound of a dragon's roar could be heard in the Yunze Mountains, attracting cultivators from all directions to enter the mountains.

When I was slaying an eagle demon, one of its henchmen was named Wuxiang. His methods were incredibly bizarre, bordering on demonic, evil, and ghostly. If it weren't for my master's protective secret techniques, I would have perished at his hands!

"The God of Wuxiang Village?" Xiao Qianli frowned, feeling a sense of familiarity upon hearing the two speak.

However, his memories would be sealed after he was demonized, so he couldn't remember ever fighting against this Wuxiang.

"The formless demon you speak of should be in the Yunze Mountains. However, the tracking location on my magic mirror is in Qingzhou in the north, which is thousands of miles away."

“Since we have a treasure bestowed by our elders, let’s use this one as the standard,” Hua Yi said thoughtfully. “It might just be a coincidence. Our priority is to find this demon god first, and we must not let it bring harm to the human world!”

"I leave it all to Fellow Daoist Xiao," Ning Jue said. Among the group, he was the youngest and weakest. Although he was young and impetuous, he was not a reckless or competitive person.

“Then let’s wait a little longer for Fellow Daoist Qinghe. Once she arrives, we’ll rest and then set off!” Xiao Qianli decided.

After all, none of them had yet reached the Yuanzhen stage, and their physical bodies were still mortal. They couldn't travel for long periods of time by flying or escaping, and would most likely still have to rely on carriages and horses to get there.

A day later, a woman came to the pavilion. She was dressed in fragrant silk gauze and a sky-blue long skirt. Her face was as red as a lotus, and her round eyes made people feel as if they were bathed in a spring breeze. Her waist was as slender as a willow swaying in the wind, and every frown and smile was extraordinary.

The woman flew down from the sky, stepping on a green lotus leaf, and landed outside the pavilion. Her long skirt swayed and her clothes fluttered, making her look as beautiful as a fairy, untouched by the mortal world.

She bowed apologetically and smiled, "I am sorry for being late and keeping you three fellow Daoists waiting for so long."

Please allow me to apologize!

Xiao Qianli stood up and smiled gently, "Fellow Daoist Qing, there's no need to be so polite. I met you once more than ten years ago when I visited Emei with my master. Now that we meet again, your fairy-like demeanor is even more stunning."

Moreover, the wait was only about a day, which is just a moment for us cultivators.

Now that everyone is here, let me first explain to you in detail the habits of this formless demon god.

An elder in the mountains once observed this demon god during a spiritual journey through the void. This is a detailed record on a jade slip made by the elder; the three of you should pass it around for a while.

Xiao Qianli was meticulous in his work; after explaining his plan, he passed the jade slip around among the others.

Qinghe Fairy asked doubtfully, "Fellow Daoist Xiao, even those at the Yuanzhen realm cannot travel through the void in spirit."

"Since Senior Guishan discovered this demon, why didn't you immediately suppress and kill it? Eliminating this scourge early would have saved lives."

"Fellow Daoist, you may not know, but the seniors who have traveled through the void are no longer mortals. Although they have not ascended to the heavens to join the ranks of immortals, they can no longer interfere in the affairs of the mortal world."

The celestial deities are all eyeing these true immortals who remain in the mortal realm, waiting for an excuse to invite them to the heavens. Xiao Qianli sighed, "And it just so happens that the mortal realm is facing a calamity, the heavens and earth are in a state of chaos, all the paths are sealed off, and the primordial essence cannot emerge."

Therefore, the elders in the mountains instructed us to carry out this task.

"Oh, I see." Hua Yi, who was standing to the side, suddenly realized and said, "No wonder Master didn't send two other Yuanzhen Realm masters, but had to point me out."

"This calamity in the human world, when the heavens and earth are in a state of turbidity, must be experienced once every few hundred years. During this period, the accumulated death energy, resentment, evil energy and other turbid energies in the human world reach their extreme, requiring killing to stop killing, and the replacement of old and new dynasties, using the dynastic fortune to sweep away the evil energies in the world."

The realm of Yuanzhen is beyond the ordinary; if one were to enter the mortal world during this period, one would be tainted by the defilement of the mundane world, hindering one's path to enlightenment.

"Thank you for your guidance, fairy. I have learned a lot."

Ning Jue finished reading the jade slip and passed it to Hua Yi. After thinking for a moment, he said, "The jade slip says that the Formless Demon God is most good at bewitching people's hearts; his demonic magic and supernatural powers are secondary."

"We are all disciples of the Xuanmen sect who have purified our hearts for many years. How could we possibly be bewitched by them?"

"Hehe, we'll know the truth when we see it," Fairy Qinghe replied with a light smile.

……

A black crow swept across the sky, flew over mountains and rivers, crossed battlefields strewn with corpses and parched earth, and finally arrived at Skull Mountain.

The black crow ascended to the mountain, where it vanished as a wisp of black mist, leaving behind a small wooden box.

Upon seeing this, the black crow on the locust tree branch flapped its wings, grabbed the wooden box, and carried it into the White Bone Cave.

On the stone platform, Bai Wuxiang stretched out his palm, took the wooden box, sighed softly, and placed it in a crevice in the cave wall.

What's inside this box isn't any treasure, but simply the remains of that painter.

When he has achieved success in his cultivation, he will need to personally make the trip to bury him in his hometown.

This is the karma that Bai Wuxiang owes him, not the karma of Heaven, but the karma in his heart.

Autumn deepened outside the cave, and frost and dew turned the locust leaves yellow. The ground in front of the White Bone Cave was covered with withered branches and fallen leaves.

The white fox darted past, ran out of the cave, and came to the outside of the temple.

She skillfully scaled the wall and jumped under a table, where she crouched quietly.

Before long, she heard footsteps outside the corridor, and she knew that eight young men dressed in white were slowly walking towards her.

A rustling sound arose, and she knew without looking that the boys were looking for seats.

Then a faint knocking sound followed by unsteady steps told her that the old man had arrived.

Scholar Du, leaning on his cane, slowly walked to the corridor.

He picked up the ancient history of the previous dynasty that he had talked about yesterday, cleared his throat, and without going through any teacher-student formalities, said directly: "Yesterday we talked about the rise of the previous dynasty, Zheng Jin, and today we will talk about its fall."

The Jin dynasty was a period of prosperity, while the Later Jin dynasty was a period of decline.

The rise and fall of the Six Dynasties can all be found in books.

Although the eight boys were blind and could not see, they could listen with their ears and discern shapes with their hearts. They could recognize words and perceive their forms. Thus, based on hearing, with words as their form, and with their hearts as their source, they constructed a world in their minds. They could not see anything in the world, therefore they had no form in their eyes.

But in their hearts they are learning to understand the universe and all things, and their minds are filled with countless images.

The formless and the myriad forms merge into one within them.

An autumn breeze suddenly rose in the temple courtyard, turning the pages of the book on the table. A withered yellow locust leaf drifted into the pages.

Old Scholar Du looked down and saw a fox crouching secretly under a desk. He wasn't surprised, because he had already spotted the fox.

He didn't care whether the fox was intelligent or not; it didn't matter whether there was one more or one less person listening to his stories.

The temple keeper, for example, would feel uncomfortable if he came to listen to his lectures.

In Du Xiucai's eyes, the temple keeper was none other than the high priest A Liu.

Ah Liu listened for half a year before losing patience and simply stopped listening altogether.

His mind couldn't hold so much knowledge of the Four Books and Five Classics, the Six Principles and Nine Arguments; he only thought about the piety and respect the villagers would show him when they saw him after he left the temple.

Ah Liu became increasingly addicted to this feeling, growing deeper and deeper until he could no longer extricate himself.

From the initial prayers for weddings and funerals, to now where a single word from him can sway the villagers, and only matters large and small are considered legitimate only if he, the high priest, intervenes.

Ah Liu glanced at the study hall under the corridor, put on the new sacrificial robe that the villagers had worked on for half a month to make a few days ago, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the side door of the temple.

Along the way, the villagers he encountered bowed and greeted him. As if inspecting his own territory, Ah Liu strolled leisurely into the council chamber.

He sat down comfortably in the middle right of the four chairs.

According to Scholar Du, in the current system of seating etiquette, the right side is considered the place of honor.

Not long after, the sound of light footsteps could be heard.

However, You Junzi, who was thinner than before, did not mind seeing A Liu sitting upright. He simply sat down beside him and said with a smile, "The High Priest has arrived quite early today."

"After all, it's a major monthly meeting, so naturally we have to arrive early," Ah Liu replied calmly.

Some elderly people gradually entered the house, most of them respected elders from the village.

You Junzi glanced at the empty seat on the far left at the head of the table and asked, "Big brother, why isn't third sister here?"

“She caught a cold last night and didn’t want to get up. So I told her not to come and to rest,” Li Yiguang explained.

"If that's the case, then so be it. Third Sister doesn't really like these chores anyway." You Junzi nodded.

The high priest, Ah Liu, couldn't help but feel smug as he listened. He glanced out of the corner of his eye at You Junzi, whose white hair outnumbered his black hair, and at Li Yiguang, whose back had become even more hunched.

The three leaders are all getting old; time waits for no one. Black Stone Village has been built for over ten years now, and they will eventually grow old.

As for himself, he was only thirty years old, younger than them, and with Lord Wuxiang protecting him, he was fully capable of outlasting them.

As for the old people sitting beneath him, they were all on the verge of death, looking like they wouldn't live for many more years.

In the future, Black Stone Village will only belong to his High Priest! Of course, that's only when Lord Wuxiang is not around.

You Junzi smiled and said, "Since Third Sister isn't coming, we can have her nephew come and listen to the discussions so she can tell Third Sister about them and relieve her fatigue."

Come in, Da Wu.

A young man with slightly dark skin and well-proportioned features strode in, bowed respectfully to the person at the head of the table, and said, "Da Wu greets the two leaders, the high priest, and all the clan elders."

Upon seeing the child, Ah Liu's eyelids twitched. This was the child who had been carried to the temple unconscious years ago, begging for help from the Venerable Wuxiang.

Several years have passed, and with the guidance of Zhao Lengxiang and You Junzi, the honest and simple boy from back then has grown into a young man who is about to reach adulthood.

Ah Liu couldn't help but glance at You Junzi. This old guy knew he couldn't outlast him, so he was training younger people.

But... what use can a mere child be?
No one present had any objections, and Ah Liu didn't say anything either. He only said, "Second Master, it's time for a meeting. This matter concerns the future of our Black Stone Village, and we can't be careless."

You Junzi responded, stood up from his chair, a smile on his lips, and said, "Since last year, people from the foot of the mountain have been fleeing to Black Stone Village from time to time."

However, the village was short-handed and lacked farmland. Fearing a famine, I and the other leaders ordered that no one be accepted.

The village has had a good autumn harvest this year, and according to previous years, there should be a considerable surplus.

Therefore, I was thinking of asking the elders for their opinions on whether to open the village and recruit people.

Upon hearing this, the elderly people below all became serious, and several of them immediately stood up to refute it.

Some people agree, while others waver.

Although Ah Liu, who was at the head of the table, had not studied extensively, his wisdom was far greater than before. He simply sat aside and watched, noting who opposed him and who agreed.

Du Xiucai said that governing a family and a country is like planting a tree. You prune away the branches and leaves that you think are superfluous or unsightly, and keep the branches that suit your eyes. Over time, the tree will grow more and more in accordance with your wishes.

After everyone had been discussing for a while, Ah Liu coughed, stood up, and said, "Gentlemen, please listen to what this priest has to say!"

As soon as he uttered the word "priest," the crowd below fell silent.

"Since the village has surplus grain, we should recruit more able-bodied men to reclaim wasteland, dig irrigation ditches, plant crops, and expand the land."

Only in this way can we leave more farmland for our descendants, so that they will no longer suffer the hardships we once endured.

You Junzi raised an eyebrow. In his opinion, A-Liu's knowledge and wisdom had improved considerably. He was indeed capable of governing the village, but A-Liu's ambition and desires made You Junzi uneasy about entrusting the village to him.

Upon hearing this, Li Yiguang said, "I agree. The more people in the village, the better."

Life is tough down in the mountains; if you have the ability, do some good deeds and accumulate some merit in secret.

Once the leader spoke, no one dared to object.

Although this leader was usually indecisive, once he made a decision, no one would object.

Thus, the Black Stone Village of Skull Mountain moved down the mountain to open its doors and welcome the people.

After receiving instructions from Bai Wuxiang, You Junzi decided that Black Stone Village could no longer be included in the Yunze Mountain Range, so he renamed the mountains near Black Stone Village.

At the foot of the mountain, a brand-new boundary marker stands, inscribed with three characters: "Wanxiang Mountain"!
(End of this chapter)