Chapter 76. It turned out that Changming’s strength was even more unfathomable – Jinyu Translations
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Proofread by Snake & Lucia
There seemed to be an impenetrable wall around Yun Weisi and Sun Buku, isolating them from others.
Sun Buku squinted slightly, and then laughed all of a sudden.
“It’s been a while since we last met, but I didn’t expect Daozun Yun to have learnt how to play jokes on others. In the past, you would start fighting me as soon as we had a single jarring note in conversation, yet now you’ve mastered the art of quarrelling. It seems to me that the Nine Layers of the Abyss has actually changed you a lot. Perhaps Daozun Yun has achieved enlightenment.”
They were sizing each other up.
They had not met for years, but Sun Buku showed no signs of getting old. It was not surprising. After all, if someone of their cultivation realm actually got older, it could only be at the time when they had met with disaster and were about to perish.
But Sun Buku’s demeanour that used to be swaggering and self-important was now more reserved and calm.
Great skills often appeared amateur, just as great wisdom often appeared foolish. Obviously, Sun Buku’s cultivation had advanced.
As for how far it had advanced, Yun Weisi could not tell. Only by engaging in a fight with him would Yun Weisi be able to measure Sun Buku’s real strength.
Xu Jingxian had been looking at them for quite some time, but they were not bantering flirtatiously. So it seemed that they did not really get along.
It was rumoured that Sun Buku was wholeheartedly dedicated to studying Buddhist doctrines. He was the first person to pass the forty nine ordeals to become a school head since his Buddhist sect’s foundation. It was evident that his Buddhist heart was as resolute as a mountain rock.
Forty nine: lit. seven by seven, forty nine altogether: “magical number” in Buddhism. For example, the soul of a dead person goes through tests for 49 days before its fate regarding the next reincarnation is decided
Buddhist heart: by analogy with Daoist heart, how strongly one is devoted to Buddhism, I guess
Although he had worshipped Jiufang Changming as his teacher, after the latter had left Buddhism, Sun Buku did not follow him and continued to cultivate on the path of Buddhism. Moreover, he denounced his teacher for having a weak Buddhist heart, and declared that Jiufang Changming did not deserve to cultivate the path of Buddhism.
It was also said that Yun Weisi and him were as incompatible as water and fire. They used to fight a lot, but people rarely saw Sun Buku doing battle with anyone since Yun Weisi had left for the Nine Layers of the Abyss. People believed that Zen Master Buku had already reached the grandmaster level, so famous masters did not dare challenge him without careful consideration, and the bright younger generation were also unworthy of making Zen Master Buku go out to fight in person.
Xu Jingxian had not met Sun Buku either up until this moment.
Out of fear of Buddhists and Daoists, Xu Jingxian did not go near any of them. She would have never anticipated that this head of the Qingyun School, which was the chief sect of Buddhism, this famous leader of bald donkeys, was a monk with such a devilish appearance.
There was a year when a disciple of the Qingyun School, Bei Shu, rebelled against his sect. This man had a remarkable aptitude, but he was overwhelmingly ambitious and coveted the position of the school head. He tried seducing Sun Buku into evildoing by hook or by crook, and set eight traps for him, including trials of power, beauty, cultivation, treasures, and spiritual medicines, waiting for Sun Buku’s human nature to expose its lust. But the latter did not fall for his traps, while Bei Shu himself did not manage to overcome the trial of treasures. He stole the Golden Glass Beads Staff from the sect and ran away.
Back then, Xu Jingxian had told this story to Fang Suihan as mere gossip she would mention over a cup of tea after a meal. But Fang Suihan said, Sun Buku’s willpower is resolute and seldom seen in this world. If you happen to fight with him in the future, don’t use techniques like soul summoning or mind capturing, otherwise, they would just be hurled back at you, and you’ll have no strength to make the next move.
Fang Suihan’s cultivation was nothing special, but he was engrossed in alchemy all the time, and someone who was neither persistent nor prepared to endure loneliness and boredom could not tread this path. Since it was him who gave Sun Buku such a high estimation, Xu Jingxian remembered it clearly.
This smiling man in front of her eyes seemed to be pliant, but his cruel heart and malicious means were exposed the moment he had forced her to jump down the cliff.
Yun Weisi was motionless, and Sun Buku did not move either.
They were silently watching each other, as steady as trees.
Xu Jingxian knew that there was no great affection between them. Instead, they were looking for a gap in each other’s defences to launch an opening attack.
If nothing interfered, today would be a day where a brilliant confrontation would be on display.
“Daoyous, even if there’s a grudge between the two of you, why don’t you solve it after leaving this place? I’ve searched around here. I’m afraid it looks like it won’t be easy for us to leave here.”
The carefree voice of a person intruded, interrupting the spirit of an imminent fight.
“There seems to be a barrier underneath that is trapping us here!”
One rarely met cultivators with a full beard, slovenly attire and a demeanour like this. He was even carrying his broadsword on his shoulder, as if it was a bag of sand.
When Yun Weisi, Sun Buku and Xu Jingxian’s lines of sight fell onto his body, the bearded man grinned.
“This one is Jun Zilan from the Kunlun Sword Clan, what are your honorable names?”
Jun Zilan: his name means clivia, a lily-like flower [1]
Xu Jingxian: …
She was staring at him for half a day, but still did not manage to figure out where his name, ‘clivia’, stemmed from.
Perhaps, when his parents were giving him this name, they did not expect him to grow to look like a green foxtail [2] instead.
Jun Zilan was not embarrassed by the absence of an answer, and turned to the fifth person: “Daoxiong Qi, if we don’t fight, we won’t befriend. Let us put aside our prejudice for the time being, tide over difficulties first, and then fight to our hearts’ content when we return up there, how does this sound?”
The one surnamed Qi looked at him coldly. Without giving an answer, he headed for the cave that was emitting the purple light.
They were in a valley that was surrounded with mountains as tightly as meat dumplings that had been wrapped with dough. Clouds and mist were swirling above their heads, and they could not see the sky. Xu Jingxian realized that Jun Zilan was right: these clouds were only a layer of a barrier. She wanted to fly back, but unexpectedly, she could not do so, as if she was stumbling against a rock-hard screen that even her spiritual powers could not pierce.
That was rather strange.
To her surprise, after that miraculous stone shower, a barrier was discovered in the barren and forsaken mountain range.
Was it human-made, or was it formed by the stone shower?
If it was made by humans…
Xu Jingxian frowned as a vague guess started forming inside her head.
She looked at Yun Weisi and Sun Buku subconsciously. Although they still had not moved, the tense atmosphere between them had scattered away, just as if they were two fully-stretched bows that had now relaxed. Xu Jingxian sighed out of relief silently. At this particular moment, she did not want the two of them to start fighting.
The purple light they saw from the cliff before had turned out to be coming out of a cave.
The purple glow was bright one moment and dim another, the intensity slowly becoming more evident. Probably, a common person would not have felt it, but they were all cultivators, and could feel the invisible pressure becoming heavier and heavier as they moved forwards. That kind of pressure would usually make people shrink back against their will, but they were all excited.
Obviously, it was the pressure of a spiritual treasure coming into being!
There were many rare things in the world, but few people were lucky enough to get them. Even if they came from a formidable sect, like He Qingmo, who was a direct disciple of his sect’s master, not many people had actually had a weapon bestowed upon them by their sect master.
Moreover, compared to an actual spiritual tool, even the most famed weapons of this world could only be called first-rate goods.
To create his Sifei Sword, not only did Changming need to forge it from top-grade materials—if he actually wanted to create a spiritual weapon, he had to wait for an exceptionally favorable moment.
Treasures were indeed too tempting, and resolution alone could not restrain a person.
Xu Jingxian was very interested as well.
But, of course, she would not be the first to barge into the cave.
Seeing Jun Zilan and cultivator Qi take a step forward, she looked back at Yun Weisi.
As if Sun Buku had guessed her thoughts, he smiled at her meaningfully.
How could that fluster a seductress from a Demonic sect? She shot him a coquettish glance in return at once.
Sun Buku smiled even more brightly.
His eyes were long and narrow, and when he smiled, laugh lines appeared on his face. His thin lips were blood-red, which made him seem even more deserving to be called a devilish monk.
Xu Jingxian cursed at him silently, and could not help taking a couple of steps in the direction of Yun Weisi.
Although Yun Weisi was also moody, and even wanted to kill her, there was Changming now, on top of her ability to feel spiritual herbs which was still useful to Yun Weisi. Being beside him was definitely safer than being with Sun Buku.
“Slow down,” Jun Zilan said all of a sudden.
Cultivator Qi, who was just going to enter the cave, stopped and looked at him.
“If a divine glow appeared, surely there’s a valuable treasure here. But this place is very close to the Wanlian Buddhist Temple, and the news about what happened here appeared quite a few days ago, so why is there only us here? Don’t you think it’s strange?”
That was precisely the reason Xu Jingxian was feeling uneasy just now. Originally, they had come here for Zhou Keyi, but the Wanlian Buddhist Temple was silent. It was too quiet, but if something goes wrong, there must be a demon.
If something goes wrong, there must be a demon: there is a reason for everything, you should be careful
Cultivator Qi said: “Who are the Wanlian Buddhist Temple? Of course, they wouldn’t even look at such treasures, or stoop so low as to come here and brawl with us for it!”
Jun Zilan smiled: “You could have said that if there was nothing great about the treasure. But this time, the treasure was glowing with purple light, so a treasure rarely found in a thousand years must be concealed in here. People from the Wanlian Buddhist Temple still haven’t turned into Buddhas yet, how could they remain indifferent?”
Cultivator Qi knew what was said made sense, but refused to admit it: “So you’re saying there’s a fraud inside, so we shouldn’t enter?”
Jun Zilan: “Since we’re already here, surely we have to go in. I only wanted to remind you all that we should avoid being at each other’s throats no matter what we see there. I only came here to take a look, so I’ll give up on it for your sake. But [if there’s no treasure] and we all die here, it’ll only benefit others!”
Cultivator Qi said coldly: “You’re speaking generously now. Try to restrain yourself when the time comes!”
He did not wait for Jun Zilan to answer and stepped forward, quickly disappearing from their sight.
Jun Zilan heaved a deep sigh, showed a helpless expression, and entered the cave, following him.
After him went Yun Weisi and Sun Buku.
Xu Jingxian rushed after them.
…
The illusion was swept away like the tides of the ocean, revealing the original form.
Zhang Jie raised his head and looked around in confusion.
How was this a place of countless ghosts wailing together, and of a thousand souls demanding the lives of others? Lanterns were lit all around, and crowds of people were clamoring. It was a typical bustling scene in the Human World.
Those piles of bones under his feet, and the ear-piercing wailings of ghosts shedding bloody tears—everything seemed to be as transient as a fleeting cloud, like a mere illusion.
However, the feeling of being locked up with iron chains was still vivid in his mind. Zhang Jie lowered his head, but his robes were his own, and only the pain from the wounds he had received in battles reminded him that what had happened was not a dream.
“Hiss…”
The voice of a person in pain came from the side. Hé Qingmo rolled up his sleeve. The deep purple cut on his arm was a ghastly sight.
This wound had been left by the Ghost King just now. The Ghost King only brushed against his arm slightly, but the pain from that injury was almost unbearable for Hé Qingmo, and he was suffering with the slightest movement. His bones had also been supposedly corroded by the ghost qi, and his injury would not get better any time soon.
If it was not for Changming’s Art of Heart Manipulation, they would have probably turned into bones by this point already.
The Ghost King’s strength was truly terrifying.
But it turned out that Changming’s strength was even more unfathomable.
Hé Qingmo remembered that in the Nine Layers of the Abyss, although Jiufang Changming was already formidable, he did not make Hé Qingmo feel the insurmountable power of the strongest person in the world.
At that time, it was obvious that Jiufang Changming was frail from an illness, as if he could fall to the ground at any moment.
But the Jiufang Changming of today, although he was still like a light cloud and a gentle breeze, it was that kind of a lightness that could move a heavy load by clever manoeuvres, the one that would not be disturbed by Mount Tai itself.
In a short period of time, he had managed to recover to a level that could make Hé Qingmo feel the elegant manner of the unrivalled master of the world.
The wind was blowing under the full moon as the rain was pouring upon lifeless branches; a man came from the secluded mountains, turning snow into spring.
Hé Qingmo was looking at Changming’s back closely. His shizun had told him this seemingly meaningless incantation once, and he did not manage to comprehend it at all. But now, having gone through a desperate battle and surviving by luck, he had become keener and felt that he now understood the meaning of the incantation.
Thoughts were surging in his mind. He wanted to thank Changming, but suddenly dense ghost qi rushed at him from behind!
Tn:
[1] Jun Zilan:
[2] Green foxtail, lit. from Chinese — dogtail grass:
XJX is often called ‘seductress’, literally ‘evil woman’. This time, she called SBK ‘devilish monk’, that is, literally, ‘evil monk’ with the same ‘evil’. The meaning is similar: she implies that he is very alluring but uses it to do bad things.
Chapter 77. The world has never been peaceful – Jinyu Translations
jinyutranslations.wordpress.com
Proofread by Snake & Lucia
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 are those?”
“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.