Puqi Shrine Talks, Guileful Tales of Banyue Pass
SAN LANG GLANCED at him and flashed a smile. “I’m gonna head out for a bit.”
He turned and left after casually tossing those words out. Xie Lian should have chased after him to ask, but he had a strange feeling that since San Lang had said he would leave for “a bit,” then for sure he wouldn’t be gone for too long, and he would definitely return. Thus, Xie Lian went back inside the shrine.
Xie Lian started rummaging through the junk he’d collected the night before when walking the streets and dug out a wok with his left hand and a butcher knife with his right. He eyed the vegetables on the altar and stood up.
After about one incense time, there was the sound of footfalls approaching the shrine, as expected. One could imagine from those unhurried footsteps that it was a particular young man, strolling leisurely. The two items in Xie Lian’s hands had now transformed into two plates of food. He looked over them and heaved a long sigh, unable to bear the sight of such a tragedy. He set the plates down and went outside for a look. Sure enough, he saw San Lang again.
Outside the shrine, perhaps because of the blazing sun, San Lang had his red tunic peeled and tied around his waist. It revealed his white undershirt, and with the sleeves pulled back, he looked rather neat and tidy. His right foot stepped on top of a large wooden board, and he had a hatchet in his left hand. The hatchet was probably borrowed from one of the neighbors. It looked blunt and heavy, but he wielded it as easily as if it were a very sharp blade. San Lang nonchalantly hacked at the board, shaving off wood like dough. He peered from the corner of his eyes and saw Xie Lian
come out.
“Just making something,” he said.
Xie Lian walked over to watch and realized he was making a door! It was the perfect size, clean and beautiful, the surface smooth—surprisingly, an exquisite specimen of craft. Xie Lian thought that, since he must’ve
come from a wealthy background, San Lang wouldn’t be the manual labor type. Yet who would’ve known he was quite deft with his hands.
“Thanks for your hard work, San Lang,” Xie Lian said.
San Lang simply smiled but didn’t respond. He casually threw down the hatchet, installed the door, and then knocked on it twice. He said, “If
you’re going to draw a seal, at least draw it on a proper door. Works better.” Then he swept aside the curtain and entered the shrine.
It seemed that the strong seal on the curtains had no effect on him, and he didn’t care about it in the slightest.
Xie Lian closed the new door behind him yet couldn’t help but open it again, then close it. He opened and closed it again. Then again. Amazed by how well it was made, Xie Lian opened and closed the door several
more times before suddenly realizing how silly he was being. San Lang had already sat down inside, and Xie Lian left the door to bring out the steamed buns the villagers had offered earlier in the morning and put them on the altar table.
San Lang looked at the buns and didn’t say anything. He merely chuckled softly as if he’d seen through something, but Xie Lian poured two bowls of water like nothing was the matter. Just as he was about to sit down, he saw San Lang rolling up his sleeves. There was a small line of a tattoo on his arm, something written in strange characters.
San Lang noticed his gaze and pulled down his sleeves, then smiled. “It was done when I was young.”
It was obvious San Lang didn’t want to speak more on the subject, so Xie Lian didn’t pursue it. He sat down and looked up at the portrait again.
“San Lang, you paint so well,” Xie Lian said. “Did someone at home teach you?”
“No, I just do it for fun.” San Lang poked at the buns with his chopsticks.
“How did you even know how to paint the Prince of Xianle?” Xie Lian asked.
“Didn’t you say I know everything? Of course I know how to paint him too,” San Lang laughed.
That was a cheating kind of answer, but San Lang was forthright in giving it. He evidently didn’t care if his answers made Xie Lian suspicious, nor was he afraid of being questioned, so Xie Lian grinned and dropped the subject.
Just then, there was a loud commotion outside the shrine. Both of them raised their heads at the same time and exchanged looks. Someone started knocking on the door urgently, shouting.
“Great Immortal! Something’s happened! Great Immortal, help!”
Xie Lian opened the door and saw a number of villagers crowding his doorway. The chief saw the door open and called out in relief.
“Great Immortal! This man looks like he’s dying! Please save him!”
Hearing this, Xie Lian rushed to the group of villagers standing in a circle around what appeared to be a cultivator. He was unkempt and disheveled with sand all over him, and his robes and shoes were tattered. It seemed he had been running for his life for a long time before collapsing and passing out in the village, where the villagers brought him to Puqi
Shrine in a hurry.
Xie Lian told the crowd, “Don’t panic, he’s not dead.”
He bent down and tapped a few of the cultivator’s acupoints, and in the process, Xie Lian found a few spiritual accessories: an eight trigrams map, a steel sword, and so on. This man didn’t appear to be an ordinary cultivator, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but grow grim.
Not long later, the cultivator slowly opened his eyes and asked in a croaking voice, “…Where am I?”
The chief exclaimed, “This is the village of Puqi!”
The man mumbled to himself, “…I’m out, I’m out… I’ve finally
escaped…” He looked around him, and his eyes grew wide as he screamed in fear, “S-save me! Help!”
Xie Lian had expected this reaction and gently asked, “My friend, what’s going on? What are you running from? Don’t be afraid, take your time to speak clearly…”
“Yeah, don’t be scared! We’ve got a Great Immortal on our side; he’ll definitely solve all your problems!”
“???”
None of these villagers had actually seen him perform any miracles, but they had certainly taken him for a real god, and Xie Lian didn’t know what to say to that. Solve all problems? I definitely can’t guarantee that…
“Where did you come from?” Xie Lian asked the cultivator.
“I…I’ve come from Banyue7 Pass!” the cultivator replied. The villagers looked at each other.
“Where’s that?”
“Never heard of it before!”
Xie Lian explained, “Banyue Pass is in the northwest, a fair distance away. How did you make it out here?”
“I…I’ve finally escaped and came here…”
His words were incoherent and his mood unstable. In such a situation, the more people around, the harder it was to speak with everyone talking at the same time.
So Xie Lian said, “Let’s talk inside.”
Xie Lian easily lifted the cultivator up from the ground and helped him into the shrine. He turned to say to the villagers, “Everyone, please leave. Don’t stand here and watch.”
The villagers, however, were very warmhearted. “Great Immortal, what’s happened to him?”
“Yeah, what’s going on?”
“If there’s anything we can do to help…”
The more enthusiastic they were, the less help they were. Left with no choice, Xie Lian told them solemnly, “He…may be bewitched.”
The villagers were alarmed at hearing this. Bewitchment was no joke! Better not stick around. The crowd broke up, and everyone hurried away. Xie Lian didn’t know whether to laugh or cry, so he shook his head. He closed the door. San Lang was still at the table playing with his chopsticks, and he eyed the cultivator askance.
“Don’t worry about him. Keep eating,” Xie Lian told him. He then set the man down on the other stool while he stood. “My cultivator friend, I’m the Shrine Master here and also something of a cultivator myself. Don’t be nervous, you can tell us anything. I can perhaps offer you my meager
assistance if there’s anything I can help with. You mentioned Banyue Pass?”
The cultivator took a few gasps of air. After coming to a place with fewer people and listening to Xie Lian’s comforting words, the man finally calmed down. “Have you ever heard of Banyue Pass?”
“I have,” Xie Lian said. “Banyue Pass is located within an oasis in the Gobi Desert. On nights of the half-moon, the scenery was beautiful to behold, hence the name.”
“Oasis? Beauty?” The cultivator shook his head. “That’s all from over two hundred years ago! ‘Half-Moon’? More like Half-Dead!”
“What do you mean?” Xie Lian asked.
The man was upset, terrifyingly so. “Because at least half of those who pass through its gates disappear! How is that not the Half-Dead Pass?”
Well, Xie Lian had certainly never heard that before. “Who did you hear this from?”
“I didn’t hear it from anyone! I saw with my own two eyes!” The man sat up straight. “There was a merchant group needing to cross the desert. They knew that place wasn’t safe, so they hired my entire sect to protect them on their journey. But…” He cried angrily, “But in the end, I’m the only one left!”
Xie Lian raised his hand, gesturing for him to sit back down, no need to get so excited. “How many were you?”
“With my sect plus the merchant group, we were about sixty people!” Sixty. According to Ling Wen’s records, in the one hundred years
Xuan Ji wreaked havoc, only two hundred or so people lost their lives. But
from what this cultivator said, this had been happening for over a hundred years. If so many people went missing every time over the course of a
couple centuries, the numbers would be significant once they added up.
“When did ‘Half-Moon’ Pass become ‘Half-Dead’ Pass?” Xie Lian
asked.
The cultivator replied, “Maybe about a hundred and fifty years ago?
It was right after it became the territory of an evil cultivator.”
Xie Lian wanted to ask for more details about the murders and this “evil cultivator” he spoke of. However, he couldn’t help feeling that something wasn’t right, and it didn’t sit well with him. At that point, there was no way to hide that strange feeling, and he furrowed his brows and
became silent.
Suddenly, San Lang spoke up, “You’ve run all this way from Banyue Pass?”
“Yeah! Barely survived!” The cultivator sighed.
“Really.” San Lang stopped talking, but Xie Lian already understood what was amiss.
He turned around and said warmly, “You must be thirsty, having run all this way?”
The man paused, but Xie Lian had already placed a bowl of water in front of him. “Here’s some water, my cultivator friend. Have a drink.”
Hesitation flashed across the man’s face at the sight of the water. Xie Lian stood next to him, hands crossed in his sleeves, waiting patiently.
This man had traveled far from the northwest, and was running for
his life, no less. He should be starving and parched. From the looks of him, it didn’t seem like he ate or drank anything the entire way. Yet when he woke, all he did was talk and never once asked for a single drop of water or a bite to eat. He had no visible cravings when faced with the food and water on the altar after entering the shrine. Heck, he didn’t even spare any of it a look.
Truly…it was entirely unlike the living.
Under Xie Lian and San Lang’s gaze, the cultivator held the water bowl up to his lips and bent over to slowly gulp the water down. He did not
look as if he was satisfying his thirst; instead, he looked cautious and guarded.
As he drank, Xie Lian could hear sloshing sounds, as if water was being poured into an empty bottle.
At that moment, Xie Lian knew what he was. He seized the man’s arm. “You don’t have to drink any more.”
The cultivator’s hand jerked as he looked at Xie Lian in bewilderment.
“Drinking wouldn’t help anyway, right?” Xie Lian smiled.
The man’s face instantly changed upon hearing this. He unsheathed his steel sword with his other hand and swung it toward Xie Lian. Without changing his stance, Xie Lian raised his hand and easily flicked the sword aside with a loud clang. Seeing that Xie Lian was still tightly gripping his hand, the cultivator gritted his teeth and pulled with force. Xie Lian felt the arm in his grip suddenly go limp like a ball deflating as it slipped away from his palm. The moment the cultivator broke free, he ran toward the door, but Xie Lian wasn’t concerned. In this undisturbed space without
people around, Ruoye could drag him back immediately even if he fled a good thirty meters away. But just as he raised his other hand, a sharp blast of air whipped by.
It was as if someone shot an arrow from behind him. It pierced the man through his stomach and nailed him to the door. Xie Lian looked closer, and it turned out to be a chopstick! He looked back and saw San Lang, unruffled, stand up from the altar and walk past him to pull out the chopstick.
San Lang waved the chopstick at Xie Lian. “This got dirty. I’ll throw it out later.”
Even with such a serious wound, the cultivator did not groan in pain, he simply silently slithered down from the door. Fluid flowed from his abdomen; it wasn’t blood but rather the water he just drank.
Xie Lian and San Lang knelt next to the body, and Xie Lian felt around the wound, which seemed like a pricked hole in a blown-up balloon. Cold air was leaking out of it, and the cultivator’s “corpse” gradually changed. He was clearly a buff man earlier, but now he’d shrunk a size
down, and his face and limbs shriveled as he continued to shrink. He looked more like a little old man now.
“It’s an empty shell,” Xie Lian noted.
Some nefarious beings, if they could not transform into a perfect human shape, would create these empty shells. They would use realistic
components to meticulously fabricate a fake skin bag. These skin bags often used real, living humans as references. Sometimes they would even use human skin directly to make the skin bags; naturally, that way their palm prints, fingerprints, and hair would all be flawless. And if the ghosts
themselves did not wear these skins, there wouldn’t be any evil aura stuck to them, so they would not be subdued by evil-repelling spells and talismans. That was why the seal on the door did not block the cultivator from coming inside.
However, these kinds of empty shells could easily be seen through. After all, they were hollow on the inside. If there was no one wearing the skin, it could only follow the instructions of the manipulator like a puppet. The instructions couldn’t be overly complicated either; they had to be simple, repetitive, and set up beforehand. Therefore, the expressions and behavior of these skin bags were lifeless and sluggish, unlike real humans. For example, they could only repeat certain phrases, do certain repetitive things, or finish certain thoughts. If one asked too many questions, they wouldn’t be able to answer and would end up exposing themselves.
Of course, Xie Lian had more practical ways of exposing these skin bags: just let them drink some water or eat something. After all, skin bags were hollow, without any organs. If they ate or drank, it would be like throwing something or pouring water into an empty can. The echo could be clearly heard, and it was a sound very different from that of a human consuming food and water.
The corpse had completely deflated into a pile of withered skin. San Lang poked at it with his chopstick and threw it away.
“This shell is rather interesting.”
Xie Lian knew what he was talking about. This cultivator’s
expressions and movements were more than realistic. He had conversed with them animatedly, gestured wildly, and responded emotionally, very
much like a real person. Whoever was controlling it had to be quite powerful.
Xie Lian glanced at San Lang. “Looks like you’re quite knowledgeable about the wicked arts too, San Lang.”
San Lang smiled. “Not really.”
This empty shell sought Xie Lian out specifically to tell him about
Banyue Pass. Whether it was fake or real, its intention was obviously to lure him there. To play it safe, he would have to inquire about it in the communication array. Xie Lian pinched his fingers and calculated the amount of power he had left; there should still be enough to use it a few
more times. So he formed a seal with his hands to enter.
The communication array was livelier than usual, and not because of deities bustling around on official duties. Rather, it seemed everyone was playing some sort of a game, laughing and shouting. Xie Lian was rather amazed.
Just then, Ling Wen reached out to him. “Your Highness is back?
How were your days down in the Mortal Realm?”
“It’s all right, not too bad. What’s everyone doing? They seem so happy!” Xie Lian asked.
Ling Wen replied, “The Wind Master has just returned and is giving away merits. Why don’t you go and see if you can grab any?”
Sure enough, Xie Lian could hear the many officials cheerfully shouting.
“I grabbed a hundred merits!”
“How come I only managed to get one…?”
“A thousand! A thousand! Thanks, Wind Master! Ha ha ha ha ha…”
It was like catching money raining down from the skies, Xie Lian thought. His donation box was empty, but first of all, he didn’t know how to make a grab for those merits, and second, the officials must be very familiar with each other to play this sort of casual game. Xie Lian wasn’t on good
terms with many and didn’t think it was appropriate for him to join, so he paid it no mind and called out to the crowd.
“Does anyone know of Banyue Pass?”
The laughing and shouting came to a sudden stop, and silence ensued.
Once again, Xie Lian felt depressed.
It was fine if no one responded to his little snippets if they were odd or awkward; the other officials didn’t share those, and he indeed seemed to be out of tune with them when he did so. But this was official business. The communication array was a place where heavenly officials often made
requests for information on ghosts or mystic issues. If something came up or someone asked for assistance, everyone pitched in, giving suggestions or lending a hand. Those without anything to add would say “I’ll ask around when I’m free.” Banyue was work, so there was no good reason for no one to respond.
Just then, someone shouted, “Wind Master just threw out ten thousand merits!!!”
The communication array came alive again, and the officials went away to grab for more merits, thoroughly ignoring Xie Lian. That made him realize there was probably more to this than there appeared, and he probably wouldn’t get his answers within the array. This Wind Master was certainly quite affluent, Xie Lian thought, giving away tens of thousands of merits like that, so amazing. He was about to exit the communication array when Ling Wen called out to him privately.
“Your Highness, why did you mention Banyue Pass?” Ling Wen
asked.
Xie Lian recounted his encounter with the skin bag. “That empty
shell pretended to be a survivor from Banyue Pass, and it has to have a motive. I wasn’t sure whether his words were true, so I came in to ask. What’s going on with that place?”
Ling Wen was quiet for a moment before she said gravely, “Your Highness, I advise you to stay away from this matter.”
Xie Lian had thought she might say something similar. Otherwise, something like this wouldn’t have lasted for over a hundred and fifty years without any questions, and make the entire court go silent just because he asked.
“Is it true that half the people go missing every time a group traverses Banyue?”
It was a long time before Ling Wen answered. “It’s not easy for us to speak on this matter.”
Xie Lian heard the deliberation in her words. There might’ve been something putting her on the spot, so he said, “All right, I understand. If it’s inconvenient, then we shall not speak of it again, and we have never spoken in private on this subject either.”
Xie Lian withdrew his consciousness and left the communication array. He rose to his feet and used the broom to sweep the fake skin to the side. After mulling over Ling Wen’s words for a moment, he looked up at San Lang.
“San Lang, I’m afraid I will be going on a long journey.”
Ling Wen’s attitude was enough to show that this matter implicated a lot of important beings. Since this empty shell came to him on its own, then it must have wanted to lure him there. It was definitely not a good place to be.
Yet San Lang said, “Sure thing. Gege, bring me along too, if you don’t mind!”
Xie Lian wondered curiously, “It’s going to be a long and difficult journey, so why do you want to come?”
San Lang smiled. “Do you want to know about the evil cultivator of Banyue?”
Xie Lian paused, then said, “You know about that too?”
San Lang crossed his arms and replied leisurely, “Banyue Pass was originally not known as Banyue Pass. Banyue Pass is where the Kingdom of Banyue used to be located two hundred years ago.”
He sat up straight, eyes going bright. “The evil cultivator of Banyue was…”
Xie Lian placed the broom against the wall and was about to sit down to listen when a knock on the door came.
It was already evening, and the villagers were hiding in their homes after hearing there was bewitchment about, so who was knocking? Xie Lian stood by the door and held his breath briefly, but he didn’t see the seal reacting. Another knock came. It sounded like there were two people outside.
Xie Lian contemplated for a moment, then opened the door. Sure enough, two young men dressed in black stood at his door, one handsome, one elegant. It was Nan Feng and Fu Yao.
“You two…”
Fu Yao rolled his eyes, and Nan Feng blurted, “You’re going to Banyue Pass, aren’t you?”
“Where did you guys hear that?” Xie Lian wondered.
Nan Feng said, “Some officials were talking about it. I heard that you asked about Banyue Pass in the communication array today.”
Xie Lian understood their intentions and crossed his hands in his sleeves. “I see. ‘I volunteer,’ right?”
Both junior officials’ expressions contorted as though they had toothaches. “…Yes.”
Xie Lian couldn’t help but smile, and said, “I get it, I get it. But I want you two to understand that, should there be any issues or crises enroute, you’re welcome to run away at any time.”
Xie Lian stepped aside to invite them in to discuss the journey in detail. But when the two saw the carefree teen sitting inside, their initially grim faces instantly turned dark.
Nan Feng charged in, pushed Xie Lian behind him, and shouted, “Stand back!!”
“What’s wrong?” Xie Lian asked.
San Lang stayed in his seat and shrugged in reply. Then he also asked, “What’s wrong?”
Fu Yao furrowed his brows and demanded, “Who are you?”
“He’s a friend of mine. Do you know each other?” Xie Lian answered instead.
two?”
San Lang, looking completely innocent, asked, “Gege, who are those
Hearing San Lang call Xie Lian “gege” made Nan Feng’s lips twitch
and Fu Yao’s brows spasm.
Xie Lian raised his hand and said to San Lang, “It’s nothing, don’t worry.”
But next to him Nan Feng shouted, “Don’t speak to him!” “What? Do you know each other?” Xie Lian asked again. “…”
“No,” Fu Yao said coldly.
“If you don’t, then what are you…”
Before Xie Lian could finish, he sensed lights flashing next to him.
Casually, he looked back and found that the other two had produced balls of divine energy in their palms at the same time. An ill sense of foreboding
overcame Xie Lian, and he grabbed at them in alarm. “Stop! Stop! Don’t act rashly!”
The bulbs of divine energy were pulsing, staticky and dangerous,
definitely not something a normal person could make.
San Lang clapped a couple times in polite appreciation. “Amazing!
Absolutely magical.” It was truly the most insincere compliment.
Xie Lian finally caught Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s arms to stop them from firing. Nan Feng turned to him angrily and questioned, “Where did you meet him? What’s his name? Where does he live? Where is he from? Why is he with you?”
Xie Lian answered, “We met on the road. His name is San Lang. I don’t know anything else, only that he has nowhere to go, so I let him stay. Will you two please stop?”
“You—!” Nan Feng couldn’t speak. It was as if he wanted to scream at Xie Lian but forcibly swallowed his words. “You let him in despite knowing nothing?! What if he has ulterior motives?”
Xie Lian wondered why Nan Feng’s tone made him sound like his father. Any other heavenly official or just any person, if they heard someone
younger say anything in such a manner, they would’ve been displeased. But first, Xie Lian was already used to all kinds of rebukes and taunts, so he felt nothing. And second, he knew that those two meant well and were only saying those things out of worry, so he didn’t mind.
At that time, San Lang cut in. “Gege, are they your servants?”
Xie Lian replied gently, “The term ‘servants’ isn’t quite right. To be more precise, they’re helpers, I guess?”
San Lang smiled back. “Really?” The youth stood up, grabbed an item, and threw it at Fu Yao. “Then why don’t you help out?”
Fu Yao caught the thing without sparing it a look. Once it was in his hand and he saw what it was, his temper surged straight to his head.
The youth threw him a broom!!
Fu Yao looked as if he wanted to crush both the broom and the teen into powder, and Xie Lian hurriedly took the broom from Fu Yao’s hands.
“Calm down. Calm down. I only have one broom—”
Before Xie Lian could finish his words, he was cut off by a burst of white energy that shot out from Fu Yao’s hand as he bellowed, “Reveal
yourself!!”
San Lang stayed where he was, arms still crossed in a relaxed posture, but he tilted his head just slightly as the beam of energy narrowly missed him and smashed one of the altar table’s legs. The table collapsed with a loud crack and all the plates crashed onto the floor in a heap. Xie Lian rubbed his temple and thought this had to stop. With a wave of his hand, he released Ruoye and bound Nan Feng and Fu Yao’s arms. Both men struggled but failed to break free.
“What are you doing?!” Nan Feng shouted.
Xie Lian made a gesture for a time-out. “We’ll talk outside. Outside.” Then he waved his hand and Ruoye flew out, dragging the two in
tow.
“I’ll be right back,” Xie Lian said to San Lang, then closed the door
behind him.
At the front of the shrine, Xie Lian called Ruoye back, took the sign at the entrance, and set it down in front of the two. “Read this. Then tell me what it says.”
Fu Yao read aloud, “Please kindly donate to the renovation of this broken shrine for accumulation of good merits.” He looked up at Xie Lian. “Donations for renovations? You wrote this?! You are at the very least an ascended heavenly official, how could you write such a thing? Where’s your dignity?”
Xie Lian nodded. “That’s right, I wrote it. If you guys keep fighting inside, then I will be asking for donations for construction, not renovation. And then I would have even less dignity.”
Nan Feng pointed to the shrine. “You don’t think that boy is at least somewhat odd?”
“Of course I do,” Xie Lian said.
“You know he’s dangerous, but still, you keep him by your side?” Nan Feng demanded.
Seeing they had no intention to donate, Xie Lian placed the sign back by the door and replied, “Nan Feng, that’s where you’re wrong. There are all kinds of people with various temperaments and mannerisms in the world; odd doesn’t mean dangerous. Look at me. I’m odd in everyone’s eyes, but do you think I’m dangerous?”
“…”
Well, that was undeniable logic. Xie Lian clearly possessed transcendent grace, and yet he still collected scraps all day; was that not the very definition of odd?!
Fu Yao demanded, “Aren’t you afraid he has ulterior motives?”
Xie Lian asked, “Do you think I have anything worth enough for him to scheme for?”
Nan Feng and Fu Yao were stumped.
Indeed, schemes against another were often designed because a person coveted another’s treasure. Tragically, they honestly couldn’t think of anything belonging to Xie Lian that was worth scheming for. He had no
money and no treasures. The boy couldn’t be eyeing that junk he collected every day, could he?
Xie Lian continued, “Besides, it’s not like I haven’t tested him.” The two stared at him.
“How did you test him?”
“How did it go?”
Xie Lian explained his previous attempts. “The results are inconclusive. I’ve already done so much. If he isn’t a mortal, then there’s only one other possibility.”
A supreme!
Fu Yao sneered, “Who knows. Maybe he is a supreme.”
Xie Lian said softly, “Do you think ghost kings are as idle as we are, such that they’d come to a small village to collect scraps with me?”
“We aren’t idle!” “Okay, okay, okay…”
On top of the small hill, outside the shrine, the three heavenly
officials could hear that youth moving about easily without worry within, as if he wasn’t the least bit concerned about anything.
Nan Feng said in a low voice, “No. We still have to think of a way to test whether he’s a supreme.”
Xie Lian rubbed his forehead. “Go ahead and try, but don’t go overboard. What if he really does turn out to be a runaway young noble? I get along pretty well with this kid, so be nice. Don’t bully him.”
The “don’t bully him” made Nan Feng screw up his face, and
Fu Yao’s eyes rolled to the back of his head. Xie Lian nagged a bit more
before reopening the door. San Lang was checking out the broken table leg, and Xie Lian cleared his throat to get his attention.
“Are you all right?”
“I’m all right.” San Lang smiled. “Just checking to see if we can fix this table leg.”
“Everything just now was a misunderstanding, please don’t mind them,” Xie Lian said warmly.
“Since you say so, I won’t mind. Maybe they thought I looked familiar.”
Fu Yao said frostily, “Yeah. Quite familiar. Probably why I was mistaken.”
San Lang laughed. “What a coincidence! I think you two look rather familiar too!”
“…”
Although still on high alert, Nan Feng and Fu Yao were no longer reacting violently. Nan Feng said gloomily, “Make some room, I’m going to conjure a teleportation array.”
The teleportation array was a spell that could compress thousands of kilometers into one step, infinitely convenient. However, each use consumed a considerable amount of spiritual power.
Xie Lian rolled up the straw bedding mat on the ground and said, “Why don’t you draw it here?”
With all the commotion earlier, Fu Yao didn’t have the chance to look at the shrine properly. Now that he had spent some time in the dilapidated shack, he looked around, feeling immensely uncomfortable. He wrinkled
his brows. “You live in a place like this?”
Xie Lian grabbed a stool for him to sit on and replied, “I always live in places like this.”
Nan Feng paused briefly when he heard that, then went back to drawing the array. Fu Yao didn’t sit down, but his expression also turned complicated. He mostly looked shocked, but there was a tiny part that looked to be cheered at his misery.
He quickly neutralized his expression, however. “Where’s the bed?” “This is it,” Xie Lian replied, hugging his straw mat.
Nan Feng looked up to glance at the mat, then lowered his head
again. Fu Yao side-eyed San Lang, who was standing aside. “You two are sleeping next to each other?”
“Is there a problem?” Xie Lian asked pointedly.
Alas, the two couldn’t squeeze out anything more to say, so no more problems.
Xie Lian turned to San Lang. “You were interrupted before, San Lang. Who is that evil cultivator of Banyue? Do continue.”
San Lang had been staring at them earlier, looking to be deep in thought, his eyes dark. He only snapped out of it when he heard Xie Lian call to him. He gave Xie Lian a small smile. “All right.”
He paused for a moment, then began, “That evil cultivator of Banyue was the state preceptor of the ancient Kingdom of Banyue, one of the Dual Evil Masters.”
“‘Dual’ means there’s two of them. Who’s the other one?” Xie Lian
asked.
San Lang, having all the answers, replied, “Another evil cultivator
from the Central Plains named Fangxin. He has nothing to do with the Kingdom of Banyue.”
Xie Lian widened his eyes and continued to listen.
Turned out, the people of Banyue were a brutish warrior race who frequently enjoyed invading nearby lands. They seized an important checkpoint between the Central Plains and the Western Region, and the two countries constantly fought over the border. Battles, skirmishes; the
conflicts were never-ending. Their state preceptor was learned in the demonic arts, and the soldiers of Banyue trusted in them with all their hearts, willing to follow the state preceptor to the ends of the earth.
However, two hundred years ago, a dynasty from the Central Plains finally dispatched an army to invade, and it leveled the Kingdom of Banyue.
Although the Kingdom of Banyue was annihilated, the resentment of the state preceptor and the soldiers would not disperse and remained behind to haunt the place. The Kingdom of Banyue was built upon an oasis, but after its fall and its eventual metamorphosis into Banyue Pass, it was as if
the aura of evil permeated the land; the oasis was soon swallowed by the surrounding Gobi. Some said they still saw shadows of Banyue warriors,
giant and terrifying, with maces in hand, patrolling back and forth, hunting. Thousands of civilians who used to live there gradually migrated, unable to make a living in a dying oasis. That was when the rumors of disappearing
travelers started to spread. All those who came from the Central Plains wishing to pass through must leave behind half their assets as “toll”: those assets being human lives!
Fu Yao smiled without mirth. “This young master sure knows a lot.” San Lang smiled back. “It’s nothing. You just don’t know very much,
that’s all.”
“…”
Xie Lian smiled in spite of himself, amused by San Lang’s sharp tongue.
San Lang continued lazily, “This is just based on unofficial history and ancient records of strange, supernatural occurrences. Who knows if the state preceptor of Banyue is real. Maybe the Kingdom of Banyue didn’t even exist.”
