Chapter 310: Chapter 201 East Mountain Fox Lady_3
Yun Ziliang smiled and said, “If you don’t set traps, Tangkou disciples are too strong. There’s always a few with exceptional talent who slay the Old Gods and beco New Gods.
If the traps are buried too deeply, all the Tangkou disciples turn into useless cowards. First, the incense offerings won’t be enough, and a God-level entity’s power will decline.
Second, if they face challenges from other Tangkous under the Heavenly Do, the God-level won’t be able to handle it, and there won’t be capable Tangkou disciples available to help.
So, a God-level needs strong Tangkou disciples, but not overly strong. Eight or nine incense sticks are too powerful, four or five are too weak—six or seven incense sticks are just right.”
“Then Peng Sheng’s eight incense sticks…”
“There’s always soone with extraordinary talent, soone even the Gods can’t stop from growing.”
“Do God-level entities kill each other?” Zhou Xuan asked.
“Occasionally, there are wars, but most of the ti, they’re surprisingly harmonious.”
Yun Ziliang replied.
Zhou Xuan nodded, his knowledge of mysticism expanding further.
“Lao Yun, it’s always worth chatting with you. You’ve got a bellyful of mythic stories.”
Yun Ziliang: “…”
“We’ll catch up later. I’m heading out to buy a scarf to cover my neck.”
Zhou Xuan stepped out the door.
…
“Sister Liu’s Seamstress Shop” had the distinctive atmosphere of East Market’s funeral goods street. The storefront was small: clothes for the living on the left, funeral shrouds on the right.
A cloth curtain divided the middle of the shop, symbolizing ‘separation between yin and yang, clarity between life and death.’
Zhou Xuan browsed the scarves in the shop, picked a style, and asked Sister Liu to use a bamboo pole to grab it down.
He selected five scarves and tried them on one by one, while Sister Liu stared blankly out at the street.
“Sister Liu, what are you looking at?”
Zhou Xuan had chosen a blue scarf and was ready to pay.
“Boss Zhou, look at that scholar. He’s lying backward on a donkey.”
Following Sister Liu’s gesture, Zhou Xuan glanced at the street. A young man was lying on the back of a black donkey, head facing the donkey’s head, legs toward the donkey’s tail. He lay backward, and if he sat up, he’d still be riding the donkey in reverse.
And lying there wasn’t enough for him—he was holding a bound book in his hands, engrossed in reading.
“This guy really isn’t afraid of falling.”
Zhou Xuan thought the young man was showing off—it was flashier than riding a bicycle no-handed.
“He’s been wandering around East Market Street all morning. Could he be from a nearby ntal hospital?”
“Sister Liu, never mind which ntal hospital he’s from. Look, his donkey just peed in front of your shop.”
Zhou Xuan reminded Sister Liu.
Sister Liu quickly looked toward the doorway. Sure enough, the donkey had leaned forward slightly, and then a hefty stream splashed onto the stone slab at her doorstep.
The stench of the urine was eye-wateringly pungent.
“Oh heavens, you long-faced beast, of all places to pee, you had to choose my doorstep…”
Sister Liu jumped up and went after the upside-down donkey-riding young man.
Zhou Xuan pulled out two yuan, placed it on the counter, and pinned it down with the abacus on the table.
“Sister Liu, I paid. The money’s on the table.”
Sister Liu had no ti for Zhou Xuan; she was busy arguing with the young man.
Usually cheerful with everyone, Sister Liu had no tolerance for being taken advantage of and would leap up cursing if wronged.
Luckily, the young man was polite and admitted his mistake, pulling a one-yuan coin from his pocket and handing it to Sister Liu.
Sister Liu accepted the money, cald down, and even threatened, “If your donkey pees on my doorstep again, I’ll geld it.”
“Understood, understood.”
After apologizing profusely, the young man continued wandering on his upside-down donkey ride.
He wandered all the way to the big locust tree at the east end of East Market Street. Dismounting the donkey, he approached the tree step by step. Reaching out, he touched the bark and found several shallow scars on it.
“So, the Fox Lady chopped at this dragon in formation… Where is she now?”
The young man pulled out a compass he kept close to his chest.
The compass needle appeared broken—stuck against the bottom of the heavenly pool, utterly motionless.
“Tsk, tsk.”
Footsteps echoed.
The young man turned to look, spotting a middle-aged man wearing a long gown, tea-colored glasses, and carrying two rectangular wooden boxes. A long scar ran down the man’s face, giving him a fierce appearance.
“Good sir, may I ask what business you have with ?”
The young man was polite, cupping his hands and greeting the man.
The man was Xia Jin, forrly Ping Shui Prefecture’s Exorcism wandering monk.
Xia Jin removed his tea-colored glasses and asked, “You’ve got the power of five incense sticks—may I ask which Tangkou you’ve pledged to?”
“I am a Taoist and have never lied. I hail from the Heavenly Eye Temple.”
“Heavenly Eye” was one of the nine ancient Tangkous.
“Where is your Heavenly Eye?” Xia Jin asked.
“The Heavenly Eye cannot be casually shown to others,” the young man replied with a smile.
Xia Jin placed the rectangular wooden boxes on the ground and pulled a paper cut-out from his wide sleeve.
It was a lantern. He tossed the paper cut-out, and the lantern expanded in the wind, slowly floating upwards as it lit. The red lantern bore a painted white skull on its surface.
“An Exorcism wandering monk?!”
The young man imdiately changed his tune. “I’m a Dragon Seeking Taoist from Zhaojiao.”
“Show your tricks.”
With his hands clasped behind his back, Xia Jin’s tone was icy as he demanded the young man exhibit his Tangkou skills, proving he was truly a Dragon Seeking Taoist.
“Dragon Seeking, fifth incense stick: ‘Rise to Beco a Dragon.'”
The young man moved his right hand, and suddenly a gale whipped up around him, swirling with dirt and sand to the height of several feet. Within the winds, faint dragon roars could be heard.
Then, the young man leaped lightly forward, the winds following him as he took a step closer to Xia Jin.
“You are indeed a Dragon Seeking Taoist.”
Xia Jin waved his hand, putting away the lantern and picking up his wooden boxes before leaving.
The young man dismissed the wind and said to Xia Jin, “I am a Taoist and have never lied.”
“Just earlier, you said you were from the Heavenly Eye Temple.”
“…” The young man fell silent.
Xia Jin cared little about whether the young man lied—his only concern was whether he was the “Tattoo Evil Ghost.”
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