Chapter 24
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“Oh, Immortal Master Qi, I’m your neighbor. I had some matters to attend to earlier, so I didn’t have a chance to visit.”
“I just got back from the provincial city, and thought I’d take the opportunity to come pay my respects.”
“Ha ha, Young Master Qi, my son is also studying under Teacher Su. He often hears Teacher Su mention you. If you have time today, how about coming to our house for some tea or a light meal?”
Men and women dressed in fine silk and satin crowded around him.
These were people who were either highly respected or quite wealthy in this town.
Ordinarily, they would never visit this remote, dilapidated part of the town.
But now, they not only came, but also brought gifts. And not just that—they had even walked here on foot to show their sincerity, smiling as they greeted the young man who they once referred to as a mere “beggar from another place who came seeking food”.
The wind that had swept through the town earlier had been far too strong. The events at the Li family’s residence spread quickly, and the news of Qi Wuhuo leaving alongside the Mountain God as a friend traveled fast.
In a small town like this, keeping any secret was a luxury.
Qi Wuhuo pressed his lips together and continued walking forward. Some reached out to grab him, others tried to force gifts into his arms. From above, their outstretched hands might have looked like greedy claws, trying to grasp at something. All wore smiles as they pulled at the blue-robed youth. As Qi Wuhuo reached his doorstep, he saw Li Puyu, and his steps halted.
“Puyu.”
Li Puyu’s face showed a trace of shame.
“I didn’t expect the news to spread so quickly.”
“There are too many people, but it doesn’t matter.”
Li Puyu held a wooden box in his arms and quietly said: “This is the qin I use when I practice. I noticed that Senior Brother Qi seems to enjoy playing the qin very much, so I thought you might need it…”
“And thank you for saving my family today.”
He had truly come to thank Qi Wuhuo from the bottom of his heart.
After Qi Wuhuo left, the guests also quickly dispersed one by one.
He was deeply grateful to Qi Wuhuo’s life-saving grace. Knowing that the young man likely had little money and having seen him play the qin, Li Puyu secretly brought his own qin to offer as a gift. But as he glanced around at the other attendees—wealthy townsmen and respected elders carrying luxurious gifts—his simple practice qin suddenly felt inadequate.
Qi Wuhuo reached out with both hands and accepted the qin.
“Thank you very much.”
“Huh? Ah! Yes, yes…”
Li Puyu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly handed the qin over to Qi Wuhuo, who cradled it in his arms.
Seeing this, the others quickly offered their own gifts.
Qi Wuhuo, however, did not accept any more.
Instead, he invited Li Puyu inside for tea, but the latter shook his head hastily.
Qi Wuhuo opened the door, placed the qin down inside, and then turned back.
With a small bow, he addressed the crowd: “I’m sorry, but I’m not accepting visitors today.”
The youth’s clear and sharp gaze caused the crowd to instinctively stop in their tracks.
He then shut the doors.
The wooden doors, crudely constructed from scavenged firewood, now separated the world within from the world outside.
Cold plum blossoms within.
Desire and greed are outside the door.
As he turned back, he picked up the qin and saw the old man still sitting beneath the plum tree, brewing tea. The old man looked up at him with a smile and asked: “How do you feel?”
Qi Wuhuo let out a breath, and the cool, composed expression on his face faded, replaced by the weariness of a young man burdened with worries.
The vague, dreamlike experiences he had endured could not compare to what he now faced in reality.
He rubbed his face, then replied: “I seem to know why some people, even when they know what the right path is.”
“They can’t help but give up on their cultivation and instead, turn to a heretical path, prematurely cultivating Primordial Qi.”
Possessing divine abilities as formidable as Tantai Xuan’s, exerting dominance over all directions.
Such power also brings endless benefits.
With fame and wealth within reach, how many cultivators, after witnessing all this, can still endure the quiet, disciplined life of cultivation?
The old man stroked his beard and laughed heartily.
The old man gestured for Qi Wuhuo to hand over the sword case he carried on his back.
Qi Wuhuo passed the black iron sword case to him. The old man tapped it a few times, shaking his head with an amused smile:
“Just as I thought, it’s not only a sword case—it’s also a storage device.”
“Crafted quite ingeniously.”
Qi Wuhuo asked: “Old Sir, do you understand spiritual treasures?”
The old man was momentarily taken aback,
As if such a question had rarely been posed to him.
After thinking about it.
He stroked his beard and chuckled:
“I understand a thing or two.”
“Nothing worth mentioning, though.”
He tapped his fingers lightly.
On the entire sword box, seventy-two postnatal seals and seventeen innate talismans were all shattered.
Tantai Xuan’s hundred years of hard work.
In an instant, it turned to flying ash.
The sword box buzzed and howled.
Suddenly, although it was broad daylight, dark clouds gathered overhead, and the sound of howling winds echoed in their ears. The very air in the courtyard seemed to chill instantly. The old man looked up and remarked: “It’s a device that commands underworld spirits.”
With a wave of his hand, a glowing jade light emerged from the sword box, flying into his palm.
It was a six-sided white jade column, with each of its six faces inscribed with extremely fine script. The characters emitted a spiritual aura, clearly not an ordinary object. The script was encrypted, and even if someone else obtained it, they would be unable to decipher its true meaning.
The old man glanced at it and said:
“Oh? [Lingbao Nine Underworlds Long Night Profound Chapter of Raising Corpses and Delivering Souls]…”
“Seems to be from a proper Daoist tradition.”
Qi Wuhuo’s Primordial Spirit faintly sensed a cold air wandering through the void. He asked:
“[Lingbao Nine Underworlds Long Night Profound Chapter of Raising Corpses and Delivering Souls]?”
The old man casually replied: “Yes.”
“Souls wander the Five Paths, spirits return to the void. In the vast Nine Underworlds, countless tribulations pass through the Three Calamities.”
“It’s a method aimed at ultimately liberating oneself, freeing oneself from the thirty-thousand cycles of life and death, and attaining immortality.”
“Hmm, it’s considered orthodox.”
Qi Wuhuo asked: “If it’s orthodox, why would someone use it for killing and stealing lifespans?”
The old man set down the six-sided jade column, shaking his head as he responded: “What defines righteousness, and what defines evil?”
“If an evil person uses a righteous method, it becomes evil. If a righteous person uses an evil method, it becomes righteous.”
“Using the Lingbao Daoist method to steal lifespans through murder—well, he did it in secrecy, using gold tainted with the aura of the underworld as a cover. Otherwise, he would’ve long been discovered and executed by the [Northern Pole Exorcism Institute], struck down by the Five Thunders, and his soul scattered.”
“But these ghosts…”
The old man looked at the dozen or so wandering spirits that Tantai Xuan had commanded, now without any true consciousness.
He lifted his right hand, preparing to perform a ritual to free them.
But suddenly he paused, thinking for a moment, then with a playful smile, said:
“You killed this evil cultivator, so you should bear this karmic consequence.”
“Hmm?! Me?”
Qi Wuhuo was stunned.
He subconsciously pointed at himself and then looked at the sky, saying: “I don’t yet have a method. How can I help them?”
The old man stroked his beard, thinking to himself. Qi Wuhuo had used the word “help” rather than “subdue” or “eliminate” these ghosts.
He could sense a faint trace of killing intent on Qi Wuhuo, likely from slaying the evil cultivator himself.
Able to kill and able to save.
He holds the heart to vanquish evil and the compassion to save the common people—this is what it means to be a member of the Daoist sect.
With a playful tone, the old man said: “Well then, how about playing the qin for them? Perhaps it will help them remember their past.”
Qi Wuhuo looked up. His Primordial Spirit faintly allowed him to perceive the ghosts, now lost and devoid of their original consciousness.
He saw their eyes glowing red, their [Spirit] teetering on madness.
It seemed as though, at the slightest provocation, they would pounce and kill any living being. Yet for some reason, within the courtyard, they remained unusually subdued.
Their appearance was wild and crazed,
Yet they did not move.
The stark contrast was almost bewildering.
Though Qi Wuhuo did not understand any specific method, he trusted the old man’s words.
He raised the qin that Li Puyu had given him—a standard instrument purchased from the qin shop in the city, meant for students to practice and familiarize themselves with the fingering techniques. The material of the qin was ordinary at best. Sitting beneath the plum tree, Qi Wuhuo placed his fingers on the strings and thought that an ordinary melody would not be enough to restore their spirituality. He needed to channel the power of his Primordial Spirit. With his eyes slightly lowered, he guided his Primordial Spirit.
In that instant, the sound of the qin arose.
In the blink of an eye, those ghostly souls became faintly clear.
At the same time, Tao Taigong, having just eradicated the lingering remnants of the soul, returned to oversee the Earth Veins under his jurisdiction. Suddenly, he sensed a faint disturbance in the yin wind.
Pausing for a moment, he listened carefully and faintly heard the sound of a qin.
“Hmm?”
“What is this…”
“Who is playing the qin here…?”
“I had better take a look, lest another mishap occurs.”
With a slight thought, he activated his Earth Escape Technique, following the sound of the qin as it guided him toward its source.
PS:
[Lingbao Nine Underworlds Long Night Profound Chapter of Raising Corpses and Delivering Souls] consists of 26 hymns and chapters, all contained within one scroll.
Source text: Daoist Canon: Dongxuan Section, Hymn and Praise Category.