Techniques and Dao

Chapter 57 The Underground Railway
At the central axis of Shanghai's elevated highways stands the legendary "Dragon Pillar".

This massive pillar requires more than twenty adults to encircle it. The high-strength cement pillar is covered by thick, silver steel, engraved with square auspicious cloud patterns, upon which are inlaid more than a dozen large and small golden dragons. All the dragon heads, large and small, point upwards, resembling the scene described in the fifth line of the Qian hexagram in the I Ching: "Nine in the fifth place: The flying dragon is in the sky; it is advantageous to see a great man." The dragons' bodies are adorned with continuous square patterns, large squares containing smaller squares, abstract yet lively. At the base of the pillar, the auspicious clouds transform from squares into equally sized circles; the larger circles are silver, the smaller ones are golden spirals, and at the very bottom, an even smaller ring of circular auspicious cloud patterns serves as an outer railing. The entire "dragon pillar" is depicted with solemnity and grandeur, yet with lifelike realism.

Hua Sheng and Tai Shang Xiao Jun stood beneath the golden dragon pillar located on the central axis of Shanghai's elevated highway, looking up at the five-story elevated road above them, where the wind noise and road noise caused by passing vehicles could be heard.

"The earth dragon is underground. If we want to see it, we have to go straight down the road here?" Hua Sheng stomped on the road beneath his feet.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun placed his left hand on the golden dragon pillar, then placed his palm on the ground, closed his eyes, and said, "The magic array barrier underground is extremely powerful. I'm afraid we cannot go down here rashly before we have a complete grasp of the situation. Otherwise, we might fall directly into the magic array and be trapped. In that case, we would either be injured and unable to move, or our bodies would be locked and we would fall into a deep sleep."

"So, we need to find an underground passage to approach from the side?"

“Yes, it’s safer to approach the dragon pillar from underground.” Tai Shang Xiao Jun asked, “Are there any underground passages nearby?”

Hua Sheng took out his phone, opened the electronic map, and checked: "If we want to find a place that leads dozens of meters underground, the best route is probably..."

"Subway?"

"Exactly! Find the nearest subway station, then go underground to the Dragon Pillar."

Modern metropolises are all built with dense, spiderweb-like subway lines. Shanghai is no exception. The nearest subway station to the dragon pillar is Huangpi South Road Station on Shanghai Metro Line 1.

The entrance to Huangpi South Road Station is located on the bustling Huaihai Road. No matter when you're here, you can feel the vibrant atmosphere and lively sounds of this international metropolis. Within a few hundred meters, there are several large, fashionable shopping malls, offering a dazzling array of brands. Whether you're taking a break for afternoon tea or going on a shopping spree, you can easily while away plenty of free time here. The nationally renowned fashion landmark, Xintiandi, is also just a two- or three-minute walk away.

"Wow! This is truly a bustling world!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun exclaimed, looking at the throngs of people on Huaihai Road.

"Big cities are crowded, but everyone is busy making a living. How can they compare to the leisurely life of Shengping?"

“I’ve lived a carefree life since childhood, and when I first arrived at the Taoist Academy, I found it quite lively. It seems that to see a sea of ​​people, one must come to the human world!” said Taishang Xiaojun. “How about we go for a stroll in Xintiandi?”

"Let's get down to business." Hua Sheng pulled Tai Shang Xiao Jun's arm. "Don't waste your energy. Without the Nine-Turn Rejuvenating Pill, we're likely to have a tough battle ahead."

"Look, there's a lake over there!"

"It's a very small artificial lake. It can't compare to the Enchanted Lake at the Daoist Academy. Let's go!" Hua Sheng pulled Tai Shang Xiao Jun into the subway entrance tunnel.

Standing on the subway platform, Hua Sheng looked around and said thankfully, "Luckily, I avoided the morning rush hour, so there were far fewer people. If I had come during peak hours, I probably would have been squeezed so tightly that my feet would have been dangling in the air."

The two took the headphones given to them by the monks of the Jade Buddha Temple out of their bags and hung them around their necks, looking just like two ordinary high school students.

“Based on the location of the dragon pillar, we should head north.” Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked around. “We’ll probably have to walk along the railway tracks for a while and find a way. It would be perfect if we could find a passage that goes directly north.”

As soon as she finished speaking, a subway train pulled into the station. Seeing that there were few passengers on the platform at the rear of the train, Tai Shang Xiao Jun walked towards the back. At the end of the platform was a glass door, behind which was a standing area for two or three people, where subway staff could stand and monitor the safety of passengers getting on and off the train when the train stopped.

As the subway train pulled away, Taishang Xiaojun reached out and pulled the door handle. As expected, the glass door was usually locked for safety. He looked around to make sure no one was watching, then, with his back pressed against the glass door, he whooshed through it and appeared behind it. Huasheng followed closely behind, also using his wall-penetrating technique to reach the other side of the door.

The work area behind the glass door is not large, and there are steps next to it that lead down to the railway tracks.

"If we walk down recklessly, we might be caught on camera by the surveillance cameras in the passageway, which would attract the police and cause trouble," Hua Sheng said, pointing to a surveillance camera ahead.

“Why don’t we just shrink? If we shrink, they won’t be able to film us,” said Taishang Xiaojun.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun's words made sense, but Hua Sheng thought that if he shrunk to the point where the camera couldn't capture him, the dark and damp underground would probably be extremely difficult to traverse.

Before he could even think, he saw Taishang Xiaojun mutter incantations to the camera in front of him, and then point at the camera with his hand.

"All done!" After saying that, Tai Shang Xiao Jun leaped onto the railway tracks and began to move forward along the wall.

Shrinking? Hua Sheng looked at herself, then at him. Her figure hadn't changed, as if nothing had happened.

"Hey!" he whispered, "We haven't shrunk, so we'll still get photographed if we walk over like this, right?"

Tai Shang Xiao Jun turned around: "Why didn't it get smaller? I reduced the camera's resolution to 10,000 pixels, but the result is a blurry mosaic; you can't see anything."

"Is this okay?"

"Hurry up, the spell's duration is limited. If it lasts too long, it will attract attention," Taishang Xiaojun urged Huasheng forward.

Hanamori hurriedly jumped off the platform. After walking only a few steps, he saw the headlights of a train on the bend ahead, followed by a subway train speeding towards him.

Look! We need to move to the side.

"Be careful not to get sucked in."

The subway train whizzed past them, accompanied by a strong wind. Hanamori immediately faced the wall, closed her eyes, and lay face down.

"Look, look! Just like in the movie! It's so cool!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun patted Hua Sheng on the shoulder.

Hanamori clung tightly to the wall and cried out, "It feels so dangerous! I'm going to be sucked in! I'm sweating bullets!"

After the subway train passed, the two turned on their phone lights and continued walking slowly in the pitch-black underground passage. A few minutes later, headlights lit up ahead, and another train sped by.

"I didn't expect the train schedule to be so frequent."

"Because there are many working people!"

"How interesting! I'd like to sit on it and experience it." Tai Shang Xiao Jun seemed to be full of curiosity about anything new.

"Come experience the morning rush hour for yourself at eight o'clock tomorrow morning!" Hua Sheng leaned against the wall, hoping the train would leave quickly.

After passing two or three more trains, the two arrived at an iron gate. Through the crack in the gate, they could see a long, narrow passageway inside. Tai Shang Xiao Jun placed his palm against the wall of the passageway, closed his eyes, and remained silent.

"How is it? What do you feel?" Hua Sheng asked.

"I can only describe it with one word: filthy!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun took his hand off the wall and smacked his lips. "Tsk tsk tsk, this wall looks like it hasn't been cleaned in hundreds of years."

"I'm asking if this passage is in the right direction."

"You're asking about that? It shouldn't be too far off."

The air in the passageway was cold and damp. Although there were lights, they were only for temporary use by subway maintenance workers, and the brightness was not high. Some of the bulbs were past their lifespan and flickered. Whenever a subway train passed by, a musty smell would waft through the passageway.

The long, narrow passageway could only accommodate one person at a time, and the echoing footsteps created a slightly oppressive atmosphere. Occasionally, centipedes or unidentified reptiles would suddenly dart across the concrete floor under the light of a cell phone, sending shivers down Hua Sheng's spine. Tai Shang Xiao Jun led the way, raising his left hand in front of him, much like when Wei Yu searched for gravitational waves in the Panxian Cave. The difference was that Tai Shang Xiao Jun was closing his eyes, searching for the faint chanting emanating from the underground magic array barrier. This sound was extremely faint; as a mortal, Hua Sheng's ears could barely detect it.

The Supreme Lord would sometimes close his eyes, sometimes open them, and then walk forward a short distance.

After passing several forks in the road, at the end of one of the passages, there was a set of iron staircases, one after another, similar to the fire escape staircases on the exterior of old-fashioned buildings. Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked up and down for a while and said, "It seems that we are still close to the ground. We need to go deeper underground."

"Is it still too shallow here?" Hua Sheng said. "The subway trains are running right above us."

“This area is where multiple subway lines intersect, and the subways have multiple layers, like an elevated bridge. Therefore, the earth dragon should be hidden at the very bottom.” With that, Tai Shang Xiao Jun climbed the iron stairs and walked deeper down.

"Two days have passed. How do you think Wei Yu is doing? How is she now?" Hua Sheng was worried about Wei Yu's safety.

“Although I haven’t had much contact with her, Wei Yu’s magical power is top-notch in the Academy of Arts and Sciences,” Tai Shang Xiao Jun comforted her. “You don’t need to worry too much. There must be a reason why Ming You captured her. If it was just to harm a disciple, they should have done it on the day of the Xuanwu Festival. There’s no need to go through all this trouble, kidnapping her to the mortal realm and then harming her. Besides, at this moment, the Academy’s immortal masters, such as Immortal Master Yu Ran and Immortal Master Jue Guang, are also thinking of ways to rescue her.”

Before she could finish speaking, a man in a security uniform carrying a large flashlight suddenly appeared before Tai Shang Xiao Jun. Because she was so focused on speaking, Tai Shang Xiao Jun was startled when they met.

"Hey! What are you doing here? Where did you come from?" The security guard shone his flashlight on the two men, then raised his walkie-talkie and shouted, "There are two strangers here at location B in underground zone 5. Send someone over immediately!"

"We were so busy talking that we forgot about the patrols. What a nuisance!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun pointed at the flashlight.

The flashlight, which had been blindingly bright like a searchlight, suddenly cracked, plunging the passage into darkness. Tai Shang Xiao Jun shouted again, "Freeze!"

The security guard immediately dropped the walkie-talkie, froze like a wax figure, his arms hanging in mid-air, with only his two eyeballs rapidly moving in their sockets.

Although the security guard was easily subdued, a flurry of footsteps could be heard in the distance, indicating that at least five or six people were running toward them.

To avoid causing a bigger commotion, the two quickly ran down the stairs to a deeper area.

"Follow me!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun sensed the direction of the barrier. They ran down countless floors until they reached the bottom of the stairs. Tai Shang Xiao Jun ran for a while, then stopped and said, "Almost there!"

"Where?" Hua Sheng looked around and saw that all around him were either stones or cement walls.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun pointed to the ground: "About forty meters below."

"Going further down? But we've already reached the bottom." Hua Sheng also placed his hand on the ground, after all, he was someone who had practiced immortal incantations. Because he was too close to the Sanskrit chanting array, Hua Sheng could feel his tiger's mouth tingling, and he could faintly hear the sound of chanting scriptures being transmitted to his mind through his palm. "I can indeed feel an extremely strong resonance from the Sanskrit chanting barrier."

Tai Shang Xiao Jun walked about twenty more steps and said, "This is the edge of the barrier. Use the earth-遁 (earth-遁 is a technique for escaping underground) to go down and you will reach the edge of the barrier. Then use the earphone magic device to pass through the barrier, and the earth dragon should be there!" After saying that, Tai Shang Xiao Jun turned around and leaped into the ground.

Hua Sheng waved his hand to brush away the dust, but then heard the hurried sound of people stepping on the steps above. He figured the security guards were looking for them, so he immediately began to use a teleportation spell to go underground.

"Hurry, hurry, as the law commands! Earth Escape Technique!"

Now underground, besides a relatively thin layer of cement, he could feel thick layers of sand and rock. The high density of the materials slowed his descent. He focused his energy and continued his descent, only to unexpectedly fall into a fast-flowing underground river. He quickly ducked and sprang back into the water to avoid being swept away. After swimming back to his starting point in the pitch-black water, he continued his descent.

Below the underground river lies another thick layer of rock, descending another ten meters or so, until Hua Sheng's view suddenly opens up. There lies a spacious underground cavern, roughly seven or eight stories high from its top floor to the surface. Amazingly, the cavern is not completely dark; its walls are covered in glowing moss.

Completely soaked, Hua Sheng landed with a splash. Remembering the move Wei Yu had taught him at the Pear Garden Lantern Festival, Hua Sheng quickly stood up, made a hand seal, shook his whole body, and as the water evaporated, he returned to dryness.

Upon closer inspection, he saw that the Supreme Lord was not far away from him.

In the center of the underground cavern before us stood a towering, circular magic circle. The circle was a translucent, yellowish-green color, covered with Sanskrit scriptures. Golden characters flowed back and forth, crisscrossing the outer edge of the circle. It was as if dozens of layers of glass domes inscribed with scriptures were encased within it, each layer rotating.

Hua Sheng was stunned by the breathtaking and beautiful scene. He slowly approached, wanting to touch the crystal-like barrier. Suddenly, he heard Tai Shang Xiao Jun call out from behind, "Be careful not to touch it!"

Hua Sheng was startled by his shout and withdrew her fingers as if she had been electrocuted.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun behind him picked up a pebble from the ground and threw it into the magic circle. When the pebble passed through the magic circle, it was like a drop of ink falling into a glass of water, turning into a cloud of mist and dissipating.

Upon witnessing this extraordinary sight, Hanamori gasped deeply, thankful she hadn't touched anything inappropriate. It seemed the headphones she'd been wearing around her neck were finally coming in handy.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun took out his phone and connected it to his and Hua Sheng's wireless earphones at the same time.

"Huh? Are you using this magic artifact to listen to music or to cross the barrier? Why do you need to connect it to your phone?" Hua Sheng looked at him, but Tai Shang Xiao Jun looked like a student wearing headphones, intently looking at his phone screen to select a song.

"You can do both things at the same time! Put it on quickly!" Taishang Xiaojun urged.

Hua Sheng still had doubts about the effectiveness of the magical artifact, and with a complicated expression, he put it on his ears. He saw that after Tai Shang Xiao Jun put on the headphones, an orange glow flashed around him, as if the artifact had taken effect. Listening again, he indeed found the surroundings had become unusually quiet, like watching a silent movie.

I couldn't hear a single sound from the outside world; the soundproofing is amazing! I guess I'll keep these headphones for listening to music later, Hana thought to herself.

At that moment, as a fast-paced electronic music started playing, Hua Sheng looked again at Tai Shang Xiao Jun, who was imitating the DJ's spinning moves on the electronic music stage, completely immersed in the electronic music.

"Is he going to dance?" Hua Shenggang thought to himself when he saw Tai Shang Xiaojun shout, "Come on! Baby! Yo Yo Yo! Put your hands up!" Then, with a turn, he glided into the magic circle with a spacewalk-like motion.

"Hey! Don't you even test the water temperature before entering the pool?" Hua Shenggang tried to pull him back, but it was too late.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun was clearly unharmed within the magic array, proving that the magical artifact bestowed by the monks of the Jade Buddha Temple was indeed reliable. Hua Sheng gently tested the edge of the magic array with his hand, finding no barrier whatsoever. He then mustered his courage and strode forward into the Brahma Sound Magic Array.

Tai Shang Xiao Jun, with her moonwalk-like steps, danced and weaved through the flowing Sanskrit scriptures, like a dancer immersed in electronic music: "Flowers bloom! Come on! Yay!"

Hua Sheng had previously learned some street dance from TV programs, and couldn't help but start dancing to the rhythm of the music.

The Sanskrit characters floating in mid-air, shimmering with multicolored light, seemed to transform into laser lights on a stage, illuminating the youthful and elegant dance of the two boys.

"Look at all these comments, the audience is really enthusiastic!" Tai Shang Xiao Jun pointed at the scriptures, deliberately calling them live stream comments, with a very satisfied expression.

As an electronic dance track came to an end, Tai Shang Xiao Jun and Hua Sheng arrived at the center of the magic circle.

There lay a colossal, jet-black dragon, its height equivalent to a three-story building when it lay prone. Beneath its right claw rested a gigantic gray beast, nearly the size of four buses combined. Both were fast asleep.

Hua Sheng patted Tai Shang Xiao Jun on the shoulder and pointed to the black dragon and the gray behemoth.

“So, now we’re going to wake them up?” Hua Sheng gestured in sign language.

Hanamori thought that if there were a mirror right now, her sorrowful expression would look quite terrible when she made this sign language.

(End of this chapter)