A Scroll of Infinite Glory

Chapter 212 Upon First Encounter, a Flicker of Divine Shadow Flies Away

The distant mountains were shrouded in a gray haze. No matter what color the vegetation, rocks, and other rocks were originally, they all appeared monotonous and dull under the morning mist.

The colors nearby were also very pale. The houses in the village had walls made of yellow earth, with a thin layer of thatch on the roof, and blackened and gray wooden boards for the doors, which already showed some signs of decay, with old peach wood charms hanging on them.

Only a few patches of green on the ground offer a refreshing sight.

An old farmer got up early, boiled some water on the stove, and was busy in the vegetable garden outside the wall.

"Old man!"

A clear voice came from above. The old farmer looked up and saw two Taoist priests and a lean man dressed in a tight-fitting outfit.

The one who spoke was the younger-looking Taoist priest, dressed in a pine and crane robe, carrying a long sword with an apricot-yellow tassel hanging down his back, a whisk draped over his right arm, wearing a sandalwood crown, and sporting three long strands of beard, exuding an aura of Taoism.

"Old sir, I am Yiqing, and my brother and I were helping our master return home. However, we were in such a hurry last night that we missed the time to rest in town and had to walk all night. We are both thirsty and tired. Could we please have a bowl of water with you?"

The old farmer squinted and looked him over for a while. The sun hadn't risen yet, and he couldn't see things that were a little far away very clearly. But after taking two steps forward, he could tell that the Taoist priest was a very handsome man. He quickly said, "Okay, okay, come with me. Come inside and sit down. I just boiled some water."

The lean man next to the Taoist priest said, "Uncle, I see there seems to be a well next to your house. If you'd like, I can just draw water from that well; I don't need hot water."

The old farmer smiled kindly, which deepened his wrinkles. He shook his head and said, "You're from out of town. You don't know that the well water here is bitter and astringent. It's undrinkable. Even if you manage to draw some, you have to wait a long time until a film forms on the surface before you can drink it. It's better to just blow on the hot water and it will be hot and refreshing soon."

Yiqing Daoist nodded and no longer refused. Together with the lean man, he helped the elderly Daoist in the middle, who seemed stiff and had some difficulty moving, into the house.

The three of them went inside and sat down. The entire room contained only an unpainted square table and a long bench. There wasn't enough room for the three of them, so they let the elderly Taoist priest sit down.

The stove was set up in a corner of the room. As the old farmer went to fetch hot water, he said, "Although this is a small place, we actually have Taoist priests here."

"On a small hill about three or four miles away, there is a mountain god temple. There is a Taoist priest inside, I think his surname is Guan. He is very handsome, but he doesn't come down the mountain often. You rarely see him."

The old farmer muttered to himself as he brought over three bowls of hot water one after another.

Master Yiqing looked down at his own clothes, then at his uncle beside him, whose Taoist robes were quite luxurious and even more conspicuous than his own. He said, "Sir, the change of clothes I prepared is lost. My uncle and I have been traveling for days and have only been wearing this one set of clothes. It's a bit uncomfortable. Could you please give me two sets of clean old clothes? I'm willing to pay some money to exchange them."

As he spoke, Master Yiqing took a heavy money bag out of his sleeve and placed it on the table.

The old farmer just smiled, raised his arm and stretched his patched sleeve, and said, "Look, I don't have a second set of clothes at home. If you want to change, I can go to the village and see if anyone has any old clothes. It won't cost money, but it would be helpful if you have some grain."

The lean man untied his bundle, took out a stack of dry rations and flatbread, and asked, "Will this do?"

The old farmer was overjoyed. He took the pastry, gently stroked it, and swallowed hard, saying, "This pastry is so white, and it smells so good with oil. Good, good, good, this is enough."

The lean man pulled out a few more pancakes: "Consider this a special thank-you gift for you, old man."

The old farmer was so happy he almost cried, and thanked them repeatedly: "Heaven have mercy! In the past two years, I've heard that the court has won some battles and destroyed the Western Xia, but I haven't seen any benefits from the victories. All I know is that the conscription of laborers and the collection of taxes have become more and more ruthless. I don't know how long it has been since I smelled the aroma of such fine grains."

He quickly took a bite, stuffed his own few into his pocket, and then went out with the rest of the bread.

Actually, this kind of dry food can hardly be called a refined thing. Even lean men who are used to traveling around and often serve in the army and are hard to endure hardship don't really like to eat this kind of thing.

Watching the old farmer's retreating figure, the lean man sighed and picked up his bowl to drink water.

The elderly Taoist priest, who had remained silent until now, suddenly spoke up: "When did the Western Xia dynasty fall?"

"It's been six or seven years since the Western Xia suffered a major defeat, but news travels slowly in the countryside, so we probably only heard about it in the last two years."

Yiqing Daoren replied, "Back when we were fighting the Western Xia, the Emperor was wise and powerful, and his fighting spirit was far superior to that of the Daoist Emperor. If he could have maintained his power until now, we wouldn't have so many villages turned into wastelands and become deserted."

The elderly Taoist priest seemed to want to frown, but his face was stiff, making his expression awkward and strange: "The current emperor is Zhao Huan, isn't he? How old was he six or seven years ago? Besides, I saw back then that Zhao Ji still had some life left, so how could he abdicate so quickly?"

"There seems to be some private imperial secrets involved in the abdication of Emperor Daojun," Yiqing Daoren said hesitantly. "However, not long after this emperor ascended the throne, he demoted many treacherous officials such as Cai Jing, Tong Guan, and Gao Qiu, which truly swept away the corrupt practices in the court and the country and won him the hearts of the people."

The old Taoist priest let out a cold laugh: "Weren't the people who dug me out of my grave Gao Qiu's two cousins, Gao Lian and Gao Feng? If Gao Qiu had really been demoted, how could these two still be so arrogant?"

Yiqing Daoren said, "These two know some evil arts. The Emperor has always treated practitioners differently. He didn't punish them much in the past, and in the last two years... Alas, the Emperor has released Cai Jing and his ilk again."

The old Taoist priest said calmly, "It's not surprising that the Zhao family is fickle. However, Gongsun Sheng, don't expect me to wear the clothes of ordinary people."

Gongsun Sheng, whose Daoist name was Yiqing, said, "Senior, you wanted to cultivate into a Corpse-Dissolving Immortal, but you have been buried underground for many years without truly succeeding. You were also disturbed by Gao Lian and others, and now your magical power is not flowing smoothly and your limbs are stiff. However, this chaotic magical power is still very strong, which makes it impossible for me to take you on a cloud ride, and Brother Dai Zong is also unable to use his Divine Speed ​​Technique."

"We've only traveled less than 300 li in the entire night. If we don't disguise ourselves, Gao Lian and his men will catch up with us sooner or later."

The old Taoist priest scoffed, "So what if they catch up? Even if they lock me up, they can't truly harm me in the slightest. No matter where they take me, once I've recovered through internal energy cultivation, I'll unleash the Divine Firmament Thunder Technique and blast them all to death!"

Dai Zongjia, who was drinking water, quickly finished the bowl in two gulps, slammed it down, and said angrily, "Master Yuanmiao, Daoist Master Lin, you are being rather ungrateful. Do you know how the government has been oppressing so many Daoist masters these past two years?"

"Even a place as renowned as Longhu Mountain for thousands of years was forced to hand over all its magical treasures and scriptures, and to refine elixirs or help manufacture weapons according to the official's wishes. If they made any excuses or refused to comply, Chen Daozi, who claimed to be a disciple of the Celestial Master, would personally lead his men back to his sect and slaughter them, leaving a trail of heads rolling."

"What kind of magical power and supernatural abilities does Master Gongsun possess, Luo Zhenren of Erxian Mountain? Just because he refused to accept the imperial decree to go to Tokyo to accompany the emperor, he was surrounded by a large army and attacked for six or seven hours. The entire mountain peak was smashed and turned into a pile of rocks."

"You think this is still the same as before? As long as Gao Lian and his men bring you back to the military camp, they'll always find a way to deal with you."

The old Taoist priest listened to his long speech without showing any emotion, merely glancing at him sideways and saying, "I have long since renounced worldly life; how can I possibly get entangled with these common country folk any longer?"

Dai Zong was furious and turned to look at Gongsun Sheng: "Mr. Gongsun, you..."

He suddenly noticed that Gongsun Sheng's expression was strange.

Gongsun Sheng stood up, his expression grave: "They're coming after us."

Outside the village, two middle-aged men with stern faces and high-tied hair were riding around.

These two people looked somewhat alike, and both carried long swords on their backs and had gourds hanging from their waists. Fortunately, their clothes made them distinguishable.

Gao Feng wore a long crimson robe, layered with several layers of silky smooth fabric. In the dim light of the early morning, the fabric of his robe seemed to reflect a subtle shimmer.

Gao Lian wore a loose black robe with intricate patterns embroidered in gold thread on the hem and other parts. Although it looked simple, the fabric and the embroiderer's skill made it three times more expensive than Gao Feng's clothes.

"Those three people have entered this village," Gao Feng said. "Let's use our magic to release three hundred flying divine soldiers each to search the entire village. I don't believe they won't show themselves."

Gao Lian immediately said, "That's not advisable! Gongsun Sheng is quite skilled, and that old scoundrel Lin Lingsu was even more infamous back then. Now they're hiding in this village, and who knows what kind of arrangements they might have made? Those flying divine weapons were painstakingly crafted by you and me. If we rashly enter the village and some are lost, wouldn't we feel heartbroken?"

Gao Feng said, "Then how about we surround them without attacking?"

Gao Lian untied the gourd from his waist and said, "First, let the flying soldiers guard the surroundings, then we'll release this Chaotic Sea Heavenly Net Smoke to force them into the open."

Gao Feng nodded in approval: "Good idea. Why don't you and I have a competition to see who has more poison in their gourd?"

The two of them pulled out the stoppers, tossed the gourds into the air, and hung them high in the sky with the mouths tilted downwards, muttering incantations.

As the incantation spread, two streams of dark, turbid liquid shot out from the gourd, instantly spreading out and transforming into a persistent cloud of smoke and haze that encircled the entire village before gradually encroaching on its center.

The black smoke, to the villagers, resembled a gradually closing night curtain, causing them great astonishment as they pushed open their doors and windows to peek out.

The swirling, thick blackness hadn't even truly pressed down on one's head yet, but it already made one feel as if a heavy stone was weighing on their chest, causing great discomfort.

When the old farmer returned after changing into two sets of old coarse cloth clothes, he saw three passersby standing outside the door, looking up at a circle of "dark clouds" that suddenly drifted in from the sky.

"It is the Misty Sea and Heavenly Net Smoke."

Gongsun Sheng said angrily, "Wherever this poisonous smoke passes, whether it is human or animal, anyone who inhales even a trace will fall seriously ill for seven days. If the villagers in this village were to inhale even a single breath, they would probably die on the spot. This place is still within Gao Lian's jurisdiction, yet they treat human life so lightly."

Lin Lingsu lifted her foot and walked away.

Dai Zong quickly asked, "Where are you going?"

"They just want to force us out," Lin Lingsu said indifferently. "Do you want to see them slaughter the entire village?"

"That's not what I meant at all." Dai Zong followed up. "Daoist Master, weren't you just looking down on these 'ordinary people'?"

Gongsun Sheng followed and explained, "When you said you were untouched by worldly affairs, you meant you had neither gratitude nor enmity."

Lin Lingsu walked past the old farmer without sparing him a single glance, and said to herself, "I have never done anyone a favor in my life. Am I to bring them my own demise and break my principles because of these country bumpkins?"

Gongsun Sheng said a few words to the old farmer, then told him to go back to the house and hide. He then whispered to Dai Zong, "Although this poisonous smoke is quite harmful, it's not a big deal for us. After we leave the village, we'll find the gourd where they released the smoke. I'll use my sword to cast a spell and force the smoke back."

"But the flying divine weapons that the two brothers Gao Lian and Gao Feng have forged are not to be underestimated. They are made of iron, with red hair and red eyes. They can fly four or five feet off the ground, leap and bite, suck blood and release poison. They are very dangerous."

"I'll barely hold them off for a while. Brother Dai Zong, seize the opportunity to use your divine speed technique to send the senior away a distance first."

Dai Zong was a little nervous: "The Divine Speed ​​Technique is very inconvenient to use on Daoist Lin. It often fails, and I don't know how far I can send him."

Gongsun Sheng said, "I see that you have been able to control your aura somewhat, senior. You can at least hold out for more than ten miles."

As he spoke, Gongsun Sheng looked around and gazed at the surroundings.

He had just heard the old farmer mention a mountain god temple nearby, which might be a good opportunity to borrow some help.

Sure enough, on a small hill not far to the northwest, there stood a solitary black-tiled temple. Although it was not large, its walls were made of bluestone bricks, which were rare in the area. When it was built, it must have been a major event for the surrounding villages, and many villagers had placed their wishes on it.

Gongsun Sheng drew the ancient pine-patterned sword from his back and pointed it at the temple in the distance.

"The mountain god is supreme in might, subduing demons and monsters, and terrifying evil spirits and monsters. Please, mountain god, go forth!"

Inside the small temple stood a statue of a deity, holding a broad-bladed sword and riding a one-horned tiger, perched high on a three-foot-high altar, which did give him a certain air of majesty.

Unfortunately, the paint on the clay sculpture has faded, and there are already many cracks where the sword connects to the hand. In a few more months, the statue may break off from there.

Guan Luoyang had been in the temple for almost ten minutes. His current identity was that of a Taoist priest who managed the small temple.

In that short time, he had surveyed the place from the front to the back. It was just a low hill with a path leading down to the bottom. There was no one else in the temple except him. It was ordinary, old and drafty. It didn't seem to have any hidden background like the Snow Sweeping Temple.

Suddenly, some unusual noises reached Guan Luoyang's ears from down the mountain. Just as he was about to go out to see what was happening, a muffled thunderclap sounded in the sky.

The statues in the temple seemed to receive a command from the thunder, and their surfaces shone with a layer of golden light.

A phantom-like, transparent golden-armored general emerged from the statue, brandished his sword, roared, and flew three or four miles away, landing on the ever-shrinking black smoke.

(End of this chapter)