Unsheathed

Suddenly, they heard a loud commotion at the foot of the mountain. Zhong Kui grabbed Chen Ping’an and said, “Trouble has come knocking, let’s go and take a look.”

The temple attendant of the water god temple was an old woman, and she was standing at the foot of the mountain with a transcendent-looking old cultivator who resided in the temple. They were currently blocking a woman in white from ascending the mountain.

In the distance, the people crowding around the snack stalls pointed at them and engaged in spirited discussions.

The woman in white appeared entirely ordinary from a distance, but a closer look revealed that she was practically a bamboo basket full of water. Her face was sickly and pale, and her white dress was drenched in water. Water was seeping out of her skin and dripping onto the ground, leaving a clear trail behind her.

The old woman thumped her dragon-head cane into the ground and said with a cold smile, “A measly water ghost dares to violate the water goddess’s temple? You’re seeking death!”

The old cultivator smiled and corrected her, “She’s already an evil spirit from the river, so it seems a little inappropriate to say that she’s seeking death.”

There was a cold and menacing smile on the old woman’s face as she glowered at the impudent water ghost from Burial River.

This water ghost was only a small fry, and the old woman could easily destroy her with a single wack from her cane. In fact, killing this water ghost could even be considered an act of virtue.

The female water ghost trembled in fear. However, she still bit her lips and summoned her courage, looking at the two high and mighty beings and saying in a timid voice, “Esteemed Temple Attendant, Esteemed Immortal, I’ve come here to look for a scholar. He said that he could help me break free from the control of the river demon, and that I wouldn’t need to commit evil and harm people anymore…”

The temple attendant, the old woman, raised her eyebrows and exclaimed, “What an absolute joke! You expect me to believe that you came ashore for such a reason? This is definitely an evil scheme cooked up by that river demon!”

The old cultivator stroked his beard and chuckled, “Should I deal with her, or will you deal with her?”

The old woman moved to raise her cane and smack the female water ghost to death.

However, she suddenly discovered that she couldn’t move her cane no matter what. She turned around in shock, only to see a smiling scholar.

“Let’s discuss things in a civilized manner, okay?” the scholar said. “This young lady isn’t lying, and I indeed promised that I would help her. It’s quite impressive that she’s summoned the courage to come ashore knowing that the water demon would ruthlessly torture her if she was caught.

“If I were a fraudster, then she might have suffered agonizing torture for the next ten years or one hundred years. In fact, she might have been reduced to one of those soul wicks at the bottom of Burial River. This kind of torture is more terrifying than any cruel punishment that exists in the mortal world.”

Zhong Kui looked at the female ghost—the one whose hair he had grabbed before—and said with a smile, “You have remarkable courage and even more remarkable judgment, young lady. I’ll help you escape your fate! Since you dared to come ashore, I’ll even try to help you reincarnate into a better life…”

The old woman’s face became beet red, yet she was still unable to lift her cane a single inch. This infuriated her, and she scolded, “What utter nonsense are you spewing, little boy?! Are you trying to shelter this subordinate of the river demon right under the nose of the water goddess?!”

There was a dark look on the old cultivator’s face, and his tongue was laced with even more poison as he said, “This person appears to have ulterior motives. Perhaps he’s trying to infiltrate the temple so that he can help the river demon attack our water goddess from the inside.”

Zhong Kui paid no heed to the temple attendant and the old cultivator, and his gaze remained firmly fixed on the eyes of the female water ghost.

There was fear and resentment in her eyes, and also a hint of remorse toward the impoverished scholar standing in front of her.

Zhong Kui nodded and said with a smile, “Seeing the kindness in your heart, I’ve decided to make an exception and break the rules for you even if Master scolds me afterward. At the very least, those who stand in front of me will receive rewards for their virtuous deeds. I make no distinctions between humans and ghosts. Please wait for a moment, young lady.”

Zhong Kui reached over and dragged his hand down, causing the dragon-head cane that weighed a whopping fifty kilograms to directly sink into the ground, vanishing without a trace. Then, he sent the old woman flying through the air with a solid slap, causing her to spin dozens of times in midair before crashing to the ground more than thirty meters away. With another slap, he sent the old cultivator flying into Burial River.

Chen Ping’an smiled faintly and commented, “This was reasonable in the context of the situation, but you were still a little… unreasonable.”

This was what Zhong Kui had said to him back in the small inn.

Zhong Kui laughed heartily and remarked, “Ask my own conscience, right?”

The smile disappeared from Zhong Kui’s face, replaced with a shameless expression as he said, “It’s already sufficient to act within reason. I’m only a noble scholar, not a sage, so there’s no need for me to strictly adhere to etiquette. This notion is far too profound.”

The female ghost from Burial River gaped at him in shock.

She had guessed that the scholar in front of her was a powerful Qi refiner, but she definitely hadn’t imagined that he was powerful enough to send the temple attendant and the old cultivator flying with a single slap each. The two of them had been completely powerless in front of him.

Zhong Kui’s aura suddenly changed as he strode forward and allowed his sleeves to billow in the air. He stood still in front of the female ghost and said in a solemn voice, “Tell me your name, hometown, and eight characters of birth-time!”[1]

The female ghost obeyed Zhong Kui’s request and offered all of this information.

Zhong Kui nodded in response, signaling that he understood. He then held two fingers together and gently placed them against the female ghost’s glabella, saying in a calm voice, “I, Noble Scholar Zhong Kui from Great Subduing Academy…”

Chen Ping’an discovered that apart from Zhong Kui, the female ghost, and him, everyone else near the water god temple had become completely frozen.

Time had stopped flowing.

“…hereby make this declaration to the netherworld.” Zhong Kui continued in a slow voice. “When traveling to the yin world, no ghost shall violate this woman, and no underworld official shall humiliate this woman. All of her negative karma shall be erased and passed onto me to suffer. Allow her to reincarnate, and grant her great fortune.”

Chen Ping’an suddenly looked up, only to see dark clouds stretching for hundreds of meters above Burial River, blotting out the bright moon. The head of a mountain-sized yin entity vaguely appeared in the dark clouds. Its aura was astounding, and its appearance was identical to that of the highest-ranked errand ghosts illustrated in the picture scrolls of some immortal forces in the mountains.

The sea of dark clouds became increasingly thick and heavy as it descended from the sky and spread across Burial River. The official from the yin world slowly walked out from the sea of dark clouds, quickly coming to a stop after it arrived onshore. It lowered its head, atop which an official hat of the yin world was sitting, and it cupped its fists and said, “As you command!”

As it raised its arms to cup its fists, a loud clanking sound revealed that there were actually two metal chains wrapped around its arms and hanging all the way to the ground.

Zhong Kui retracted his fingers.

The soul of the female ghost started to dissipate like scattering fireflies, drifting toward the errand ghost standing on the riverbank.

The female ghost sobbed and said, “Thank you, Young Master Zhong. I hope I can repay this huge debt of gratitude in my next life.”

Zhong Kui smiled and shook his hand, saying, “There’s no need. It’s best that you don’t come across me again in the future. Just enjoy a peaceful life as the daughter of a wealthy clan.”

In the end, the female ghost was taken away by the errand ghost from the yin world. The dark clouds above Burial River and in the sky also receded and vanished in a flash.

Before leaving, the errand ghost took a glance at Chen Ping’an. It was unclear whether this glance was intentional or not.

Zhong Kui wiped the sweat from his forehead and slowly exhaled. He then turned to Chen Ping’an and said, “Sure enough, your yin soul is different. You weren’t suppressed just now. Perhaps you’ve walked along the river of time before? This is surely impossible, right?”

Chen Ping’an sidestepped Zhong Kui’s question, instead saying, “I feel like Jiu Niang will probably take a liking to you.”

Zhong Kui’s eyes lit up, and he exclaimed, “You really think so?!”

“I was only being polite; don’t take it too seriously,” Chen Ping’an replied with a faint smile.

Zhong Kui couldn’t help but smile bitterly.

“I genuinely succeeded in performing this transaction that’s against the rules?” he murmured to himself.

He suddenly cocked his head and stroked his chin, clicking his tongue in wonder and declaring, “I’m so impressive! It’s rare to come across a man as handsome and capable as me.”

Chen Ping’an nodded and concurred, “You can even write doggerel and work as an accountant.”

Zhong Kui sighed in grief and lamented, “Chatting with you is so tiring.”

Green Roving Residence wasn’t constructed next to Burial River, but instead located in a mountain valley more than five kilometers away. There were no mountain paths near this section of the river, and this resulted in the mountains being desolate and sparsely populated. As a result, it was very difficult for the local officials to visit Green Roving Residence.

Fortunately, the water goddess was an elusive deity who rarely showed herself and seldom granted an audience with other people. This saved the officials a lot of difficult travel and hard work. Otherwise, the provincial officials and the prefectural officials would need to visit the mountain god residences and the water god residences once every year. This was already a custom.

Yin Miaofeng and Shao Yuanran—the master and disciple from Golden Summit Daoist Temple—were both cultivators, so they naturally didn’t find it difficult to traverse the mountains to visit Green Roving Residence. Upon arriving, Yin Miaofeng loudly announced his title, revealing both his position as a guest elder of the Great Quan Empire and his status as a member of Golden Summit Daoist Temple. He had no option but to do this.

Burial River’s water goddess had a strange temper, and all of the cultivators in the Great Quan Empire had heard about this before. Yin Miaofeng was afraid that Green Roving Residence would refuse to open its door and let them in if he didn’t reveal his affiliation with Golden Summit Daoist Temple.

However, Daoist Preserving Innocence Yin Miaofeng was still mistaken.

The front gate of Green Roving Residence remained tightly shut even after he revealed his affiliation with Golden Summit Daoist Temple and its abbot. Not even a single servant walked out to greet them.

Yin Miaofeng was furious, yet had no option but to suppress his anger. He once again announced his positions and kindly requested that the water goddess open the gate and grant them an audience. He also revealed that he was here with a secret edict from the emperor.

Shao Yuanran became increasingly curious. What was this important matter that his master needed to attend to? It was so important that his master was still trying even after being ignored and refused entrance?

In a brightly lit hall located inside the large residence that measured roughly seven acres in area, there was a short woman sitting with a foot on the bench and slurping a bowl of noodles.

More accurately, she was slurping a very large pot of noodles, more than two times the size of her head.

This was naturally stir-fried eel noodles.

Many stewards and maidservants stood around the large hall, and all of them were water ghosts who had died unjust deaths in Burial River.

“Milady, you’re really not going to grant an audience to those two Daoist priests from Golden Summit Daoist Temple?” one of the old stewards asked.

The water goddess didn’t so much as raise her head, and her chopsticks continued to move around in a blur as she loudly slurped her noodles. Her voice was muffled as she replied, “I won’t grant them shit! They repeat the same rhetoric over and over again, and it’s so bloody annoying!”

She suddenly looked up at an honest-looking chef who was just in the process of removing his oversleeves, and she praised, “The noodles are cooked quite well. However, remember to add a little more chili next time—you should add three or four ounces. That will make the noodles even more delicious. Oh, and also keep in mind that it’s best to use facing heaven pepper from Mr. Liu’s store. His peppers have the most authentic taste!”

The chef appeared to be a stutterer, and he nodded and replied, “Mi… Milady, I… I… understand.”

The short woman rolled her eyes and huffed, “Lady your bloody mom! I’m still a young maiden!”

Her heart suddenly jolted, and she slapped her chopsticks to the table before quickly standing up with strong killing intent on her face. “Bloody hell, someone actually dares to cause trouble at my temple?! Are they itching for a beating?!”

A wisp of smoke appeared on the table, rising like curling incense smoke. Along with it, there was also the voice of an old woman.

The water goddess listened intently, and still filled with killing intent, she burped in satisfaction before hurriedly bending down to eat another large mouthful of stir-fried eel noodles. Only then did she wipe her mouth and stride outside.

Before arriving at the door, she turned to the old steward and said, “I need to go to the temple for a while, so you can go to the front door and see the two guests off. Just repeat the same thing to them again—Green Roving Residence will insist on keeping its old plaque up unless the imperial court can ask the Confucian academy to give me that sagely book.”

A glum expression appeared on the old steward’s face. Even though he respected the water goddess, he didn’t necessarily fear her, so he directly asked, “Milady, what if the two Daoist immortals become angry and pummel me until my soul is destroyed? What should I do then? Who will travel to the mortal marketplaces to purchase goods for Milady in the future?”

“If you’re afraid of death, then just spit it out. Stop trying to find excuses for yourself,” the water goddess spat.

Even though she said this, her voice still reverberated around the area outside Green Roving Residence as she strode out and vanished in a flash. “Discuss things in a civilized manner, and don’t even think about killing any people… No, don’t even think about killing any ghosts.”

A short woman suddenly materialized in the water god temple with a saber by her waist and a sword on her back. She didn’t bring her long iron spear.

From there, she strode forward and arrived before the two culprits in a flash. “What are the two of you playing at? Why are you causing trouble here? The governor was the one who forcefully gave that old woman the position of temple attendant. I can’t even believe half of what she’s saying. Even so, you made quite the ruckus here. Why don’t you explain the situation to me? I’m all ears.”

The water goddess stealthily retreated as she spoke to Chen Ping’an and Zhong Kui.

She was afraid of them, but rather that she felt like she would lose a lot of face if she needed to crane her neck and gaze up at them as they spoke.

She finally stopped when she retreated to a distance where she didn’t need to crane her neck anymore. She suddenly recalled something, and she added, “Oh, that’s right, I’m Burial River’s water goddess.”

Zhong Kui explained the situation in a simple and concise manner, allowing everything to become very clear.

After hearing Zhong Kui’s explanation, the water goddess nodded lightly and said, “That sounds about right. You two can feel free to wander around the temple. I’ll tell that old temple attendant to pipe down and stick to her proper duties. She won’t trouble the two of you anymore.”

Upon seeing that the water goddess was truly about to turn around and leave, Zhong Kui hurriedly said, “I actually have some proper matters to discuss with you.”

The water goddess’ expression became serious.

She was the formal water goddess who ruled over Burial River, yet the peculiar commotion just then had been concealed as if some mountain mist had shrouded an area measuring more than five kilometers in radius. As a result, she had failed to observe the strange events that had taken place here.

However, the water goddess was still well aware of the scholar’s ability. He was definitely stronger than that troublesome river demon. Even though she was stronger in her temple than in the river, she was a young maiden, after all, so she would naturally avoid fighting if she could.

Since the scholar had explained everything clearly, she decided to treat this as nothing more than a chance encounter. The two parties could each go their own way. They could continue to pursue the Dao, while she returned to Green Roving Residence to enjoy her large pot of stir-fried eel noodles.

Unexpectedly, however, the scholar was claiming that he had proper matters to discuss with her?

Perhaps he was also here to discuss the promotion of her Green Roving Residence to the Green Roving Palace?

“Are you from Great Subduing Academy?” she asked bluntly.

Zhong Kui smiled and replied, “You guessed correctly straight away, Miss Water Goddess. Sure enough…”

“Stop, stop, stop… Stop right there. Don’t try to get started with ‘sure enough!’”

The water goddess raised a hand and cut Zhong Kui off before he could start praising her, and she snapped, “Sure enough, scholars like you are all fond of flattering others.”

Chen Ping’an found this very interesting.

Zhong Kui scratched his head and asked, “Is it truly impossible for you to request an alternative Confucian classic? Do you know how troublesome it is for the emperor of the Great Quan Empire to deal with your stubbornness? Perhaps the noble scholar in Mirage City will become frustrated with your foolish stubbornness as well. It’s not that Great Subduing Academy is unreasonable and haughty, and it’s simply the case that your request is far too unreasonable.”

The water goddess nodded and replied, “I’m aware that my request is very unreasonable. That being the case, you people can simply reject my request. It’s not like I care about Green Roving Residence being promoted to Green Roving Palace or anything. Oh, that’s right, I hope that the academy won’t unleash its anger on the imperial court of the Great Quan Empire. If the academy is truly angry, then they can come here and target me. I’ll take responsibility for my own actions. This is the least Green Roving Residence can do.”

There was helplessness on Zhong Kui’s face as he remarked, “I genuinely can’t understand this. Why do you insist on obtaining a Confucian classic written by that sage, Miss Water Goddess? Perhaps you’re acquaintances with that sage?”

Burial River’s water goddess shook her head in earnest and replied, “I’m just a measly water goddess, so how can I possibly be acquainted with the Scholarly Sage who’s even more knowledgeable than the heavens? I simply read one of his books before, and I felt like each character in his essays was a gem.

“His books are much better than those of the Etiquette Sage who expounds grand principles, yet are held back by his dull way of explaining things. It’s also much better than that of the Second Sage, whose knowledge is slightly inferior to the Etiquette Sage. Mhm, the Paramount Sage can somewhat be considered as equal to the Second Sage…”

Zhong Kui blinked in puzzlement and exclaimed, “Miss Water Goddess, are you truly uttering this in front of a noble scholar from a Confucian Academy? Are you not afraid of being struck to death by lightning?!”

Zhong Kui hailed from the most orthodox lineage of the Second Sage, after all, and his esteemed master, the mountain master of Great Subduing Academy, was also someone who had graduated from that Second Sage Residence in Middle Earth Divine Continent.

Even though Zhong Kui was angry, he wouldn’t go so far as to harm the water goddess standing in front of him. However, his conscience would feel troubled if he didn’t give her a good fright.

The true reason behind his actions was naturally because Zhong Kui was afraid of his master—who was guarding the central region of Parasol Leaf Continent—being alerted to the commotion here. If his master used a mystical ability to observe this area, yet he failed to step forward and speak up for his lineage, then wouldn’t he be scolded to death by his master once he returned?

Perhaps realizing that her careless remarks could well be regarded as blasphemy, the water goddess blinked and said, “I still have a bowl of unfinished noodles at home, so I really need to get going now. The noodles won’t taste good once they go cold.”

Chen Ping’an remained silent as he stood beside the noble scholar and the water goddess. However, all kinds of wonderful emotions were flying through his mind at this moment.

1. The eight characters (八字) are related to a Chinese astrological concept that a person’s destiny or fate can be divined by the two sexagenary cycle characters assigned to their birth year, month, day, and hour. ☜