Chapter 77. The world has never been peaceful

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Hé Qingmo instantly became alarmed, protecting himself with his spiritual power subconsciously. Just as he was going to unsheathe the sword in his left hand, the massive storm behind his back abated abruptly, [as if it had been put into a pocket]. The pressure vanished without a trace. Hé Qingmo was greatly surprised. He quickly turned around, and saw a person wrapped in a cloak. The person’s hood covered half of his face, but the other half was familiar to Hé Qingmo. The figure of this person had almost fused with the darkness of the corner.

This is..?

Hé Qingmo’s heart skipped a beat, and the words ‘Ghost King’ almost flew out of his mouth.

When the Ghost King restrained his ghost qi, he became one of the many ordinary travellers in the night market. Although he seemed very suspicious in Hé Qingmo’s eyes, when the Ghost King deliberately hid his aura, the crowds of commoners would not even throw him a second glance.

Hé Qingmo felt as if something had changed since the moment the Ghost King said “a Vajra Teaching of Subduing Ghosts”.

The ghost realm they had been trapped in had been lifted, and they had returned to the bustling market with a myriad of twinkling lights. Changming and the Ghost King were walking ahead, while Hè Xiyun was supporting Hé Qingmo, walking a bit behind them. Zhang Jie, meanwhile, was stumbling along, still in a state of shock.

Just a moment ago, they were fighting to the death, yet now they were idling about the night market.

The corner of his garment was tugged at. Hè Xiyun whispered in his ear.

“Somehow, I feel a little awkward.”

You aren’t the only one who is feeling that way. The corners of Hé Qingmo’s mouth twitched. He looked at Changming and the Ghost King conversing ahead of them, at a loss for how to respond to her.

“We probably aren’t inside the ghost city now, right?” Hè Xiyun asked for his affirmation again.

“Probably not,” Hé Qingmo thought for a while, and explained a bit more, “If I haven’t guessed it wrong, the Ghost King had an old friend who was injured. After her death, she was controlled by a Vajra Teaching of Subduing Ghosts, so her immortal souls flew away and her mortal forms eventually scattered. For some reason, the Ghost King had forgotten about this up until the moment the senior used an Art of Heart Manipulation to force this secret out of him, so the Ghost King recalled it.”

Hè Xiyun was barely holding on at that time, as her attention was mostly drawn to those wandering souls and malicious ghosts, so she had no time to take note of small details. Now, to her surprise, she had finally realised what had happened.

“Isn’t the Vajra Teaching of Subduing Ghosts a secret teaching of Buddhist sects?”

Hé Qingmo: “You’ve heard about it?”

Hè Xiyun: “My shifu told me once that Buddhist sects have many teachings that they always keep hidden. For example, this Vajra Teaching of Subduing Ghosts spares no one, and can’t even distinguish good from evil. Furthermore, its effects depend on the user. If someone who harbors evil intentions gets his hands on it, they can even control ghosts and stir up trouble, stopping at nothing.”

As she finished talking, she recalled that they were at the You Capital now, and the prestigious and illustrious Wanlian Buddhist Temple was located at the outskirts of the You Capital. A thought occurred in her mind, and she revealed an astonished expression, but she still did not dare believe in her own assumptions.

“…It can’t be?”

Clearly, Hé Qingmo knew what she was thinking about. His expression was pale, but not as dumbstruck as Hè Xiyun’s.

“Why can’t it? Demons have entered the world, and the hearts of humans have changed. The world has never been peaceful.”

Hè Xiyun still thought that if that guess was actually right, that would be terrifying.

“If it’s really like this… Daoyou Changming wants to help the Ghost King find that person in the Wanlian Buddhist Temple?”

After she had reunited with Changming, accidents kept happening one after another. She still had not given much thought to the way Hé Qingmo had spoken about Changming carefully.

Hé Qingmo thought that this turn of events was actually a good thing. This time, he had come to the You Capital with a single spear and a horse, and he had not expected to confront the Wanlian Buddhist Temple so soon. Now, with Jiufang Changming and the Ghost King, they actually had a chance to barge into the sect.

With a single spear and a horse: all alone

Thinking about the new realm he had comprehended just now when his life was on the line, his blood started racing. But, when he turned around and saw Hè Xiyun’s anxious expression, he unwittingly relaxed a bit.

“If you’re afraid, return to the guest house first. Act as if nothing happened here tonight, leave the You Capital, and return to your sect as quickly as possible.”

Hè Xiyun’s expression changed: “I know that daoyou Hé comes from a prominent sect, and your cultivation is higher than mine, so you see me as a nuisance. However, I’m not a faint-hearted person. If you want to go, I’ll definitely accompany you!”

Hé Qingmo was taken aback. He didn’t understand why his good will received such a bitter reaction from Hè Xiyun.

It was the same when he was in his sect—before he even finished saying no more than three sentences, his shijies and shimeis would always be displeased.

“Then do as you wish, but don’t blame me for not reminding you of this.”

He thought he had said nothing outrageous, but for some reason, when Hè Xiyun heard that, she became even more dissatisfied.

“Why did you look for us?”

Changming, who was walking ahead of them, was talking to the Ghost King.

They were strolling aimlessly, stopping at times. The Ghost King seemed to be interested in the trinkets sold by the side of the road, so he picked them up from time to time to look at them carefully. Even more surprisingly, the peddlers continued to mind their own business, and only started to recommend their goods if he asked them. Their expressions did not change at all, as if they were serving a normal customer, and did not feel amused or startled seeing his outfit.

“Someone made a deal with me, using a Ghost King Decree.”

“A Ghost King Decree?”

“After I became a ghost cultivator, I used to hide all the time. I’ve been through a lot of ordeals, and have also received favors, forming relationships. That person I’m indebted to came to me suddenly, and requested that I cause trouble for you.”

“To cause trouble, but not to kill?”

Changming ruminated over the meaning of his words. It seemed that the Wanlian Buddhist Temple had been expecting them to come to the You Capital, and was even watching their every move in secret.

Their enemies were in the dark, while they were in the light—

Had the Wanlian Buddhist Temple already set invisible unescapable nets all around, waiting for their arrival?

“Right.”

Linghu You used to think he had lost an immortal soul, so he was always in a despondent mood, as if something was missing inside his chest. However, after Jiufang Changming used the Art of Heart Manipulation to retrieve his memories, the Ghost King realized he had never lost a soul—instead, someone had sealed away some of his memories.

Ming Hui was killed by a Buddhist cultivator. Not only did that person kill her, but they also restrained her souls with a Vajra Teaching of Subduing Ghosts to refine a vessel using a secret method. Ming Hui would rather have her souls scattered away than submit to that person, so in the end she started burning both jade and stone, and wanted to take that Buddhist cultivator with her. But Ming Hui died, while that person was still alive.

Burning both jade and stone: destroying good and bad indiscriminately

To get his revenge, the Ghost King had to give up on his cultivation and kill himself by refining his own immortal souls to turn into a ghost cultivator.

After many years, he became the Ghost King, and Buddhist cultivators even had to come and seek his help. But he had forgotten Ming Hui, as well as the original reason why he had turned into a ghost cultivator.

“When are we going to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple?” the Ghost King asked.

Had he not happened to meet Changming, he would have become a chess piece in their plans, left in the You Capital by the Wanlian Buddhist Temple as a lackey they could order about.

The Ghost King could not tolerate such an insult.

“It’s not time yet. In two days, on the fifteenth of the seventh month,” Changming said.

“Why do we have to wait?”

The Ghost King was impatient. He wanted to leave right now, directly attacking the Yellow Dragon. His ghost fire was urging to burn that place into ashes at once.

Directly attacking the Yellow Dragon: storming the enemy’s den. The Yellow Dragon Residence was a stronghold a general wanted to conquer in the 12th century

Changming knew what he was thinking about, “The Wanlian Buddhist Temple as it is now is way more capable than what you imagine. If we go now, we’ll only walk right into their trap. The yin qi is the most powerful during the Ghost Festival; your strength will also increase with the qi around. On the contrary, the force of the Wanlian Buddhist Temple that controls ghosts will weaken, and we’ll benefit from it.”

The Ghost King frowned, suppressing the urge in his heart. His eyes fell on the small things that were swaying in front of him.

“What is it?”

“Persimmons. Their meaning is to wish for good luck. There is a custom among common people, which is to hang them up during the Ghost Festival to ward off evil.”

“Why haven’t I heard of it?”

“It seems it has only appeared a couple of years before. I also haven’t heard of it in the past,” Changming paused, “How long has it been since you last entered the Human World?”

The Ghost King: “I don’t remember. When I entered the lands of ghosts, the Human World had that nineteen year old emperor, Hong Zhi.”

Changming: …then it’s been at least a hundred years.

He had felt ignorant after having wandered through the Yellow Springs, and had not expected to meet someone who was even more oblivious to human affairs.

But it was not over yet. Soon, Changming discovered that what he brought back was not just a Ghost King who had been isolated from the world for a hundred years.