All Heavens: Dual Cultivation of Magic and Martial Arts Starting from the Republic of China

Fu Ze narrowed his eyes slightly.

He the Madman, the Earth God Temple, who eats dirt, went mad four years ago, and the village of Hewan started offering sacrifices four years ago...

Putting these things together doesn't necessarily prove anything.

But it's also something that can't be ignored.

The village chief seemed to realize that there was something wrong with what he had just said, and his expression gradually turned to horror.

Zhao Rui raised an eyebrow.

"What a coincidence!"

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan did not speak immediately, but stroked his beard and narrowed his eyes slightly.

Fu Ze asked.

"Village chief, are you sure?"

The village chief's face turned somewhat pale.

"I can't say I'm completely sure, after all, several years have passed. Besides, even before he went crazy, he was withdrawn and taciturn, and no one in the village paid much attention to him."

"But to say that he went completely insane, eating dirt all day and living behind the local temple, was around the year when strange things started happening in the village."

Fu Ze and Liao Xibai exchanged a glance.

Liao Xibai's voice was low and deep.

"Young friend Fu, what do you think?"

Fu Ze thought for a moment.

"It's hard to say. But this madman He is very likely to be related to the local earth god's demand for infant sacrifices."

Li Junfeng's gaze sharpened as he looked towards the courtyard gate.

"Then what are we waiting for? Let's bring the person over and take a look."

Even though you might not get any useful information from a madman who's talking incoherently, you still have to ask.

Liao Xibai nodded and looked at the village chief.

"Village chief, take two trustworthy young men and go find Crazy He. Remember, don't alert too many people."

"It's just suspicion now, nothing's certain yet. If he's really just a pitiful madman, it's not good for him to make a scene that the whole village knows about. If he really has something wrong, alarming too many people will only alert him."

The village chief nodded quickly.

"Understood, understood."

He didn't dare to delay and immediately called over two strong young men.

The three of them left in a hurry.

No one spoke in the courtyard.

Zhao Rui sat on the threshold, took out a cloth, and slowly wiped his pistol.

Li Junfeng stood behind Liao Xibai with his arms crossed, his gaze deep.

"The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan said in a low voice."

"A madman lived behind the local temple and went insane the year things started happening in Hewan Village. To say it was completely unrelated would be a stretch."

Fu Zedao.

"But he really doesn't have any evil aura. I've seen him twice with my spiritual vision, and he's just an ordinary person. His qi and blood are weak, his mind is confused, and his stomach is turbid, but there's nothing special about him."

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan nodded.

"I have also examined it, and it certainly doesn't seem like it's possessed by a ghost, nor does it seem like it has practiced evil magic."

Zhao Rui closed his gun.

Click!

"That's strange. How deeply could an ordinary madman get involved with this weird stuff?"

About fifteen minutes later.

The village chief returned with the two young men.

All three of them looked rather grim.

Fu Ze asked.

Where are they?

The village chief wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"It's gone."

Fu Ze frowned.

What does "disappeared" mean?

A young man quickly said.

"We first went to the shack behind the local temple, but no one was there. We then searched several other places in the village where he usually stayed, but he was still there."

"I asked several households, and they all said they saw him eating dirt in the village just a moment ago. But now, he's gone."

The village chief had a bitter face.

"This isn't the first time."

"He Fengzi never stayed in the village all the time. Sometimes he would go to the mountains, and sometimes he would go to other villages. He would only come back after two or three days, or even one or two months."

"Once, he left for a very long time, and everyone in the village thought he had died out there. But after a while, he came back on his own and was even sleeping behind the local earth god temple."

Fu Ze frowned.

"Does he often go to other villages?"

The village chief nodded.

"Yeah. He's crazy, who knows what he's thinking?"

"Sometimes he goes to Shuangjing Village on the other side of the river, and sometimes he goes into the mountains. People in Baitian Village have also seen him. In short, he has been to several villages nearby."

Fu Ze's heart stirred, and he asked again.

"Whether he'll go far away is hard to say."

The village chief shook his head.

"He the Madman is actually quite agile. If we really want to find him, we'd need to know which direction he went. Otherwise, with so many trees and forests in these mountains, finding a madman is like looking for a needle in a haystack!"

Zhao Rui's expression was strange.

"We just started to suspect something was wrong with him, and then he was gone. Was that a coincidence, or not?"

Fu Ze looked towards the distant mountains and forests.

"It's hard to say. Maybe he's just like this all the time, and he just happened to leave. Maybe..."

He didn't continue.

Liao Xibai said slowly.

"It's unrealistic to search for him now. If a madman goes into the mountains, nobody knows where he'll go. We can't waste all our manpower on this."

Fu Ze nodded.

"Then let's stick to the original plan. Tonight, we'll go to the Land God Temple in Hewan Village. If that Land God Temple really is the source, the line of He Fengzi will eventually circle back to us."

……

Having decided to go to the Earth God Temple in the evening, Fu Ze began to make preparations.

Zhao Rui already had cinnabar bullets.

But after the battle at the Land God Temple in Huai Shu Village, Fu Ze felt it wasn't enough.

Ordinary bullets were indeed ineffective against that fleshy, mud-like mass. If the cinnabar bullet hadn't struck the heart tumor, followed by a finishing blow with a lightning-struck jujube wood dagger, it might not have been resolved so quickly.

Fu Ze looked at the village chief.

Are there any black dogs in the village?

The village chief was taken aback.

"A black dog?"

Fu Ze nodded.

"Yes, a pure black dog. And a rooster, preferably a rooster with strong yang energy and a loud crow."

The village chief's expression changed slightly.

"What do you need these for, sir?"

Fu Zedao.

"Black dog blood and rooster blood are both extremely yang in nature. They can be somewhat effective in dealing with evil spirits."

That's it!

Zhao Rui, standing to the side, suddenly realized what was going on.

"Why didn't the Taoist priest prepare these for me beforehand? This way, I could be more effective against evil spirits and demons!"

The old Taoist priest Feng Xuan coughed.

"This is a method commonly used by the Southern Maoshan sect and some folk lineages. Our Gezaoshan sect is an orthodox Taoist sect that cultivates spiritual energy, casts talismans, and focuses on mental meditation. We don't usually study these things."

Zhao Rui laughed.

"Daoist Master, your prestigious sect is not as good as Brother Fu's folk lineage."

Feng Xuan blew his beard and glared.

"Nonsense! There is no superior or inferior method; any method that can subdue demons and monsters is a good method. Orthodox Taoism and folk magic each have their own advantages."

Zhao Rui shrugged.

"I understand, I understand."

Only this guy can still joke around at a time like this.

In truth, Fu Ze knew that the upper limit and power of orthodox Taoist sects were far greater than those of folk lineages. Feng Xuan's statement was a gesture of respect for him.

Upon hearing these words, the village chief turned pale and his voice lowered.

"The village doesn't have anything that adults need."

Fu Ze frowned.

"Nothing? There isn't even a black dog or a rooster in the village?"

This should be a very common thing in the countryside during this era.

The village chief gave a wry smile.

"It's not that we didn't have any, it's that we couldn't keep them alive. The first year the accident happened, all the black dogs and roosters in the village died overnight."

That morning, the whole village was littered with dead chickens and dogs. The black dog was bleeding from its mouth and nose, the rooster's neck was crooked, and its comb had turned black.

"Later, some people didn't believe in the superstition and wanted to raise a few more. But any black dog would die within three days. And any rooster, especially the loudest one, would also die within a few days."

"Over time, no one in the village kept these anymore."

The courtyard fell silent again.

Fu Ze and Feng Xuan exchanged a glance.

Zhao Rui cursed.

"Damn it, this evil thing is quite knowledgeable."

Black dogs and roosters can both ward off evil spirits.

They all died in the first year, and no matter how many times they were raised, they couldn't be kept alive.

This means that the thing killed off anything that would make it uncomfortable from the very beginning.

Or rather, the area around Hewan Village is no longer suitable for these creatures with abundant yang energy to survive.

Zhao Rui patted the bullet box at his waist.

"Don't worry, Brother Fu, we have enough cinnabar bullets. Didn't those guys in Huai Shu Village also have openings created by cinnabar bullets?"

Fu Ze shook his head.

"It never hurts to be prepared."

As he spoke, he picked out several talismans for exorcising evil spirits from the stack of talismans Yu Mingzi had given him. He then took a rough porcelain bowl and poured in some water.

Then, light the two talismans.

The firelight was bright, and the talisman turned to ashes and fell into the water.

Fu Ze gently guided the talisman ash with his spiritual energy. The talisman ash swirled in the water, but instead of sinking, it transformed into wisps of pale gray-gold threads that merged into the water.

Fu Ze took Zhao Rui's box of bullets and immersed it in the talisman water.

Zhao Rui found it rather novel.

"Is this thing useful?"

Fu Zedao.

"It's definitely not as good as proper ritual implements, nor as good as talisman bullets that have been consecrated in advance. But it's at least better than ordinary bullets. It'll be more useful when encountering evil spirits."

Zhao Rui nodded.

Thank you.

He dried the bullets that had been soaked in talisman water and reloaded them.

……

Time passed little by little.

As evening fell, the atmosphere in Hewan Village became even more somber. The setting sun cast a dark red glow on the small river at the village entrance.

The villagers closed their doors and windows early in the morning, remaining silent.

After nightfall, Fu Ze and Zhao Rui set off again.

Under the cover of night, the quiet of Hewan Village was unsettling.

The earth god temple soon came into view.

The temple looks fairly ordinary during the day, but at night it takes on a more eerie feel.

The temple door was half-open, dark and gaping, like a toothless mouth.

Zhao Rui lowered his voice.

"Brother Fu, can you feel it?"

Fu Ze nodded.

"The yin energy is very strong. Much stronger than during the day."

Zhao Rui gripped his gun tightly.

"Is there something?"

Fu Ze used his [spiritual vision] to look.

A layer of dark gray aura did indeed permeate the area around the Earth God Temple. The incense smoke inside was murky and made one feel suffocated. But apart from that, there was none of the eerie, flesh-writhing energy found in Locust Tree Village.

Fu Ze did not rashly cast the spell.

He first went into the temple and walked around the statue of the god.

I looked at the offering table, the incense burner, the corner of the wall, behind the statue of the deity... I looked at everything.

There was no movement.

Zhao Rui stood at the door, his eyes sharp, his gun lowered but ready to be raised at any moment.

"Is there really nothing there, or are they hiding it and not letting it out?"

Fu Ze whispered, walked to the offering table, and slapped it down with his palm.

boom!

The offering table suddenly shook.

The shriveled fruit on top rolled to the ground, the incense burner overturned, and incense ash was scattered everywhere.

The statue of the Earth God did not respond.

Fu Ze then raised his hand and swept all the wooden plaques, candlesticks, and broken bowls off the incense table.

Ping pong.

The temple was in a mess.

There was still no response.

Zhao Rui looked at Fu Ze and raised an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't this be considered blasphemy?"

Fu Ze sneered.

"If he is a true god, knowing that I am investigating evil spirits, he will naturally not hold it against me. If he is a false god, he would better come out and settle things now. Let's have a proper showdown."

After saying that, he walked to the statue of the Earth God.

"come out."

The statue looked at him with a smile.

Remain still and quiet.

Fu Ze's eyes turned cold, and he suddenly reached out and grabbed the right arm of the clay statue.

He released his hidden strength.

Click!

He actually broke off one of the arms of the clay statue of the Earth God. It fell to the ground and shattered into several pieces.

The statue remained unresponsive. There was no flesh or blood, no tentacles, and no black water.

At the break, there was just ordinary yellow mud and straw.

Zhao Rui was stunned.

"Nothing's happening? That's incredibly patient! Is this thing some kind of turtle?!"

Fu Ze frowned.

He then used a lightning-struck jujube wood dagger to gently pierce the statue's chest. Still, there was no reaction; it was just an ordinary adobe brick.

Fu Ze tried several times, but there was still no response.

There was neither any counterattack nor the appearance of any evil entities. It was completely different from Locust Tree Village.

Zhao Rui said in a low voice.

"What if the things here ran away during the day?"

Fu Ze shook his head.

"It's hard to say. It might not even be in this statue or temple to begin with. Let's go, take a look around."

The two then went out of the temple and searched the surrounding area.

The shack behind the land temple was also empty; Crazy He hadn't returned.

Ultimately, the two had no choice but to leave temporarily.

When Fu Ze reached the entrance of the local temple, he suddenly stopped.

He looked down at his feet.

The soil near the entrance of the local earth god temple is red.

He had seen it during the day, though he hadn't paid attention.

Back then, the soil was a more vibrant color, a darker red, as if mixed with a little blood. It was very similar to the dark red, damp mud that Crazy He had been eating during the day.

But now...

Fu Ze squatted down and grabbed a handful of mud.

The mud was still wet and still red, but the color seemed to have dimmed considerably, not as vibrant as it had been during the day.

He rubbed them between his fingers; the texture was different.

When he first entered the village during the day, he passed by He Fengzi, his shoes stepping on that small patch of ground.

As a martial artist specializing in internal energy, he possesses extremely keen physical perception. Even through the soles of his shoes, he can clearly remember the tightness, wetness, and stickiness of the soil.

The mud now lacks that sticky, supple feel.

Fu Ze frowned.

Zhao Rui walked over.

"What's wrong?"

Fu Ze spread the mud in his palm.

"Do you remember what the dirt He the madman ate during the day looked like?"

Zhao Rui shook his head.

"I don't remember. Who would specifically look at this?"

Fu Ze asked.

"Do you think the color and texture of soil can change drastically within a single day?"

Zhao Rui paused for a moment, then spoke very sincerely.

"Brother, I'm a soldier, I handle guns. If you ask me which gun I'm comfortable with, or which distance I can shoot from most steadily, I could talk about it all night."

"You're asking about mud? How would I know? I'm not some geology and soil expert from a Western-style school."

Fu Ze: "..."

He makes a lot of sense.

Zhao Rui added another sentence.

"But if you think it's wrong, then it's probably wrong."

Fu Ze did not speak.

He crushed the soil in his hands, letting the bits of mud fall through his fingers.

"Let's go back first."