Yinshan Record

Chapter 256 Mountain Feast
“Jiangling once held a selection of the top ten beauties, and eight of the top ten were monsters.”

Mrs. Xie said with a smile.

"That's alright, at least there are still two women who won."

The Prince of Wuling said solemnly, "If I have the opportunity to go to Jiangling, I would like to meet these two..."

"The other two are a female ghost who has cultivated for three hundred years and a master of the demonic sect."

Su Che paused for a moment, feeling he should add: "He's still a man."

"This matter was later reported to His Majesty by the Jingye Division, and the Emperor was furious. The commander of the Imperial Guard at the time sentenced him to death by dismemberment. Three thousand six hundred cuts, not a single cut more, not a single cut less."

"So, that Commander Li from Jingzhou is dead?"

"Li Qianhu was appointed later."

"Isn't he afraid of dying?"

This time, the Prince of Wuling was truly shocked.

Su Che shook his head.

"Whether you call it a deeply ingrained problem or simply the way things are, this kind of thing will happen no matter who holds that position."

The Prince of Wuling looked at Su Che: "What about the imperial guards from Cizhou..."

"Your Highness, I can assure you that such a thing did not happen in Cizhou."

Cizhou is a different matter; Commander Shi's money wasn't scraped from those brothel prostitutes.

The Prince of Wuling remained silent for a long time, and became somewhat dejected on the way there.

However, after Su Che and Madam Xie talked about some interesting things, he finally smiled a little.

The group traveled north along the official road. Su Che had expected that Madam Xie would at least provide some means of transportation, but to his surprise, they walked until the sky darkened without her revealing any special treasure.

"Is Your Highness alright?"

Su Che, having cultivated himself, naturally possessed the skill of moving lightly. Although Madam Xie's cultivation level was unclear, she appeared to be full of energy and vitality.

As for the Zhu Yan, it has thick skin and flesh, so there's no need to worry about it.

However, having traveled on foot all this way, the Prince of Wuling was visibly exhausted.

I don't know what Buddhist practice he's following, but judging from his appearance, he's definitely not a beginner.

"Fortunately."

The Prince of Wuling smiled slightly.

"We can't keep up this pace."

Su Che shook his head.

"Where exactly is that place where the righteous and evil swordsmanship debate takes place? If we rely solely on our own two feet, let alone getting there and finishing the debate, the righteous swordsman might already have three children with the evil demoness."

Upon hearing this, the Prince of Wuling chuckled.

"Actually, it's not too far, it should be about a two or three-day journey."

Two or three days?
"The venue for this sword competition is the Jiangfei Temple on the Canglang River."

Jiang Fei of the Canglang River?

Su Che couldn't recall such a person at first glance.

After thinking about it carefully, Su Che finally remembered who this person was.

It was none other than Lady Gui Xiuxue, whom I had met once in Shanyin County.

During the Xuanshan Incident, this ghost cultivator successfully chose a side and secured a position with Yu Ze, the then Imperial Censor of Cizhou, thus obtaining a title from the imperial court. He is now a righteous god of the Great Liang Dynasty.

Not only was a Jiangfei Temple erected, but there were also many legends, some true and some false.

For example, there is a legend that this Lady Xue was originally a princess of the previous dynasty, who was later unjustly killed. After her death, her true spirit protected women and children all over the world and was appointed as a deity by Heaven.

There is also a legend that a scholar in this dynasty was stranded on the banks of the Canglang River due to continuous rain while taking the imperial examination. In the middle of the night, he had no choice but to write a cynical poem in the Jiangfei Temple.

Finally, the scholar's literary talent moved the Jiangfei (female deity) who sent her ghostly messengers to disguise themselves as boatmen. They traversed the swollen Canglang River in one night, allowing the scholar to successfully pass the imperial examination that year and ultimately become the top scholar.

All these stories merely serve to highlight the extraordinary nature of Consort Jiang.

"You know about the Nine-Page Golden Book, right?"

Madam Xie asked Su Che.

"That's obvious."

Su Che himself still had two pages of the golden book in his hand.

"It is said that if you collect all nine pages of the golden book, you can achieve the supreme Buddhahood."

As Madam Xie spoke, her eyes glanced at the Prince of Wuling, who was listening intently to her.

"This time, Consort Jiang of the Canglang River took out a page of golden book..."

Another nine-page golden book; Su Che gets a headache just hearing those four words now.

Last time, I went to the Yin-Yang Realm for this damn thing, but I didn't see a single page of the Golden Book. Instead, I ran into a bunch of ruthless people, including the Ghost Ancestor of Beimang and Yuwen Rui, the Grand Tutor of Northern Wei. The Yin-Yang Realm was also blown up by the Buddhist sect.

Now, hearing Madam Xue pull out another page from somewhere, Su Che's head started to ache.

It seems that for the sake of peace in the human world and the long-term stability of Daliang, I should throw all these things into the Yinquan Nine Bends.

According to Madam Xie's explanation, this so-called debate between good and evil actually started with Madam Xue.

The Canglang River stretches for thousands of miles and is one of the most important waterways in the Great Liang Dynasty. Naturally, it is a place where dragons and snakes lurk. Not to mention the people of the divine path who aspire to become the god of the Canglang River, the number of water monsters and dragons that live here is unknown.

Becoming the water god here is no easy feat.
Lady Xue received an imperial edict from the Liang Dynasty, thus becoming a legitimate and influential figure in the state. As the saying goes, a tall tree catches the wind, and she naturally became a target of hostility.

The cause of this incident was a blue dragon living in the Canglang River. It was originally a dragon seed and was supposed to use the essence of the Canglang River to transform into a dragon in one fell swoop.

The sudden appearance of Madam Xue naturally displeased him. Furthermore, Madam Xue's Jiangfei Temple was not far from his lair, making them the first to clash.

The initial conflict was manageable, but as the conflict escalated, all sides called on their allies. After all, the Azure Dragon was a local dragon, so it had more helpers. Therefore, Madam Xue offered this page of golden book as a reward.

This startled a flock of gulls and egrets, and people from all walks of life appeared, creating quite a grand spectacle.

As for both Madam Xue and the Azure Dragon's camps, they all used their banners as a shield, accusing each other of being evil, and thus the name of the duel between good and evil resounded throughout the region.

As for who is right and who is wrong here, that is naturally insignificant.

Having heard this, Su Che had a general understanding of the situation regarding the so-called duel between good and evil, but one question still lingered in his mind: What did the Prince of Wuling have to do with this?

To put it bluntly, the two sides are fighting for territory; to put it more nicely, it's a struggle over the fundamental principles.

But no matter how they fight over it, what does the Prince of Wuling have to do with it?

"Something's strange up ahead."

The Prince of Wuling suddenly frowned and looked ahead.

strange?
Upon hearing this, Su Che's eyes naturally turned to look into the distance.

It would have been better if they hadn't said anything, but upon closer inspection, there was indeed something unusual ahead.

There seemed to be a faint miasma.

Su Che looked at the Prince of Wuling on the other side; this prince's intuition was indeed quite sharp.

I don't know if it's something I was born with, or something I developed through Buddhist practice.

"Shall we go and take a look?"

The Prince of Wuling was clearly intrigued.

"If Brother Wu is interested, I would certainly be willing to accept it."

Su Che turned to look at Madam Xie on the other side.

"Since we're all out here, why don't we all listen to Brother Wu? If anything unexpected happens, with Brother Su here, it should be alright."

Madam Xie covered her mouth and laughed, her eyes revealing a myriad of charms.

Su Che didn't speak, but took the lead and followed the direction of the miasma.

Miasma is a type of foul air in the world, and as the name suggests, it is a kind of evil air that can make living beings sick.

In other words, it can deprive all things of their vitality.

There is a distinction between spiritual and impure energy between heaven and earth.

The spiritual and impure energies between heaven and earth actually have many wonderful uses. Taoist cultivators can obtain them and become immortals. Therefore, in the ancient times, Taoists were also known as Qi cultivators.

Foul air, like spiritual air, is a natural creation between heaven and earth. Originally, it had no inherent good or evil, high or low; it was only with the advent of humans that the distinction between good and bad arose.

What makes people feel comfortable is good, and what makes them sick is bad. The principles of this world are that simple.

Furthermore, due to the mysterious interaction between cultivators and the heavens and earth, spiritual energy and impurities are also divided into two types: natural and man-made.

The natural and untamed need no further explanation.

Generally speaking, the abode of immortals is naturally rich in various kinds of spiritual energy, while the abode of demons and monsters will naturally produce a lot of fierce and malevolent energy.

Take Su Che for example. If he were to take the path of transforming into the Nine Netherworlds to the very end, the surroundings would inevitably be filled with deep yin energy, just like the Nine Netherworlds, attracting all sorts of ghosts to come and seek refuge.

At that time, even if the Third Young Master Su claimed to be the leader of the righteous path in the world, probably few people would believe him.

If the miasma in front of him was naturally occurring, then it was nothing. However, most of the miasma that Su Che had seen came from various undead and corpse demons.

I had seen wisps of miasma in Tian'an County before, which eventually led to the methods set up by the Demonic Sect.

Once he reached the front, Su Che began to find it somewhat interesting.

Although it was a desolate wilderness, red lanterns were hung high, gongs and drums were beating loudly, and trumpets and suonas were blaring all around.

Although it cannot be described as a palace or pavilion, it still presents a lively and prosperous scene.

The fire in the stove was burning brightly, the clay seal on the wine jar was broken, and dishes were served one after another on the table.

Many people, dressed in bright red and green, were laughing and joking around there.

But there was a wedding taking place in this desolate mountain wilderness.

“In ancient times, weddings were held at dusk. Now, as the sun is about to set, they are having a lively celebration here, which is quite an old custom.”

Madam Xie was somewhat moved by the lively scene before her.

"It stinks terribly."

The maid shook her head in disgust: "Are you really going over there?"

The Prince of Wuling had an undisguised excitement in his eyes.

"Brother Su, shall we go and take a look?"

"What could be so important?"

Su Che, however, saw clearly that the guests and relatives were either monsters who had barely taken human form, or simply ghosts that had appeared out of nowhere.

They're just some insignificant demons.

Su Che led the way, with the Prince of Wuling, Madam Xie, and a maidservant following closely behind.

Before we even reached the gate of the house, a gentleman stroked his beard and came over to greet us.

He was dressed in a blue robe with a red sash across his chest, looking like someone who was in charge of things.

"Greetings, everyone."

"You're very polite."

The man smiled and said, "You all look unfamiliar; you're probably not from around here, are you?"

"We are all travelers on our way. We came over to offer our congratulations when we saw the host's lively celebration, and shamelessly asked for a bowl of water."

"Guests from afar are guests, guests from afar are guests."

He smiled and said, "Several friends happen to be passing by. It's fate that we meet. Why don't we all get together for a meal?"

"I am so ashamed of the host's hospitality."

As Su Che spoke, he pulled out a handful of loose silver coins from his sleeve.

"We are all merchants who went to Cizhou to buy seafood. It's not that we don't have money. Consider this our congratulations to the groom."

Su Che could see clearly that the gentleman who came to greet him was an old ghost, but his cultivation was quite poor, and he was also covered with a lot of demonic energy.

"Haha, sir, keep your money for now. In this peaceful and prosperous Liang, it's no trouble to offer a bowl of wine."

That Mr. Ghost was quite polite.

(End of this chapter)