Records of Mysterious Things in the Southern Dynasties

Chapter 144 Taking orders in times of danger
"I will be the head?" Ren Yuan's voice suddenly rose, and he waved his hands in shock, saying, "I am too young to bear such a heavy burden. Senior Brother, please find someone else."

"A man of ambition has no age limit. I have heard from my junior sister about your deeds, and she agrees with my decision." The senior brother insisted, "Besides, there are only three of us from the Shangqing Sect in Taohuayuan, and your senior sister can no longer practice our sect's skills, so once you leave, you will be the leader."

"Yes, Junior Brother, in times of crisis, being the Sect Leader is a responsibility, not an honor." Senior Sister also encouraged him, "Shoulder the responsibility like a man!"

"What do I have to shoulder?" Ren Yuan said with a bitter face, "I am just a mere three orifices, who would obey me? It's just that outsiders look down on our sect."

"This is not difficult. I can give you the golden elixir so that you can establish your prestige." The senior brother said confidently:
“Don’t think that I am half-human and half-ghost after being tortured by corpse worms. But as the corpse worms grow stronger, my magic power will also grow stronger. Now, let alone the seven orifices, even the eight orifices are not as strong as my magic power.”

After a pause, he looked at Ren Yuan with a sharp gaze and said, "We are from the same sect and origin. Your body will not reject my golden elixir. You can just store it in the Red Emperor Palace."

"Brother, are you kidding me? How can you survive without your golden elixir?" Ren Yuan shook his head decisively.

"I said I was going to die, but that was not true. The corpse worms will completely devour my body and turn me into a giant insect that only knows how to eat." Senior Brother sighed and said, "That would be more terrible than death. If it weren't for maintaining the 'Enter and Exit Array', I would have ended my life long ago."

He smiled with relief and said, "Now that I've been discovered, I don't have to maintain the formation anymore. I can finally be free."

"Brother..." Ren Yuan and A Yao were both very sad. It was like they had found their loved ones after going through so much trouble, but they had to say goodbye to them forever after just spending half a day together.

"Don't cry. We cultivators all need to understand the mysteries of life and death before we can fulfill our nature and destiny." Senior Brother smiled generously and said to Ren Yuan, "Think about it. Senior Brother was going to die anyway, but now he can pass on the Golden Elixir to you. It is such a good deal and a happy thing to let a part of yourself continue in this way."

After a pause, he deliberately said, "Besides, Senior Brother has no good intentions. I want you to take on the responsibility that I should have taken on for me!"

"Brother, you don't have to say anything, I understand everything..." Ren Yuan finally couldn't help but burst into tears.

Ah Yao also cried, "Where on earth did Master die? He was so powerful, why did he end up in such a mess after coming to the Dao Sect, and why didn't he help me?"

"Junior sister, don't blame Master." Senior Brother shook his head and said, "Because there are people in this world who are more powerful than him."

He emphasized his tone and said, "Believe what you say, Senior Brother. In the future, you will find that Master has shouldered too much for the world and for the Dao Sect."

"And he doesn't ignore us, does he?" the senior brother laughed again.

"how to say?"

"Didn't I bring you here?" The senior brother laughed.

"Here it comes again..." Ren Yuan said with a wry smile.

"Junior brother." Senior brother finally said seriously: "You should have a good rest tonight. I will pass on my skills to you as soon as I finish sword training tomorrow morning."

"I understand." Ren Yuan nodded in response, and went to the guest room that Zhang Jingyi had arranged for him, and fell asleep...

Taoist Priest Zhang couldn't help but feel envious. Being young is good. You don't even need a pillow. You can just sleep on the bed. ~~
Thousand miles on the ship.

The passengers waited for four days and thought that the ship owner would not board the ship this time, but Ren Yuan showed up on the fifth day.

"Hey, Third Brother, you're finally here." Chen Baxian jumped up from the deck, grabbed Ren Yuan and said, "If you don't come soon, the little monk will nag me to death."

"Third brother, tell me quickly, have you found the Peach Blossom Spring? What does it look like inside?" Fa Xiu asked Ren Yuan impatiently. The others also looked at him, obviously extremely curious.

"Found it. It's even more beautiful than what Tao Yuanming wrote." Ren Yuan sighed and said, "And it's just as the captive said. There are exactly 800 Taoist priests, plus their families, a total of 3,000 people."

"This is the last bloodline of my Taoist sect. We cannot destroy it all at once." Ren Yuan said, bowing to the crowd and saying, "Please give me some advice. How should we fight this battle?"

"Of course." Yang Zhong said in a deep voice: "But Third Brother, you have to tell me the specific situation first, such as the enemy's and our own military strength, which masters each side has, etc...."

"Yeah." Ren Yuan nodded and said, "Before I boarded the ship, I took a nap without the Youxian Pillow. As expected, I foresaw this fierce battle."

"Your ability is really amazing." Chen Lingzhi couldn't help but envy: "I also have the power of divination, but I can't have such a prophetic dream."

"This is the second time I've had this kind of dream." Ren Yuan said with a wry smile, "Both times I was about to face a catastrophe. I hope you never have to have this kind of dream again."

"Thank you." Chen Lingzhi nodded and smiled: "Go on."

"In the dream, I roughly figured out the enemy's details. They are a total of 3,000 ghost soldiers, and their combat effectiveness is very strong. Those ghost soldiers wear armor that is impervious to swords and guns, and wear ghost masks on their heads. When the commander blows the whistle, they will launch a fierce attack, which is impossible to resist."

"Yes, the ghost army is like this." Chen Lingzhi introduced: "I looked up the information during the day and found that although they are very mysterious, they seem to be very keen on assisting in rebellions. When the Eastern Jin Dynasty's powerful official Su Jun rebelled, Liu Yu of the Song Dynasty rebelled, and the current emperor... took revenge, they all received their help."

"They are not actually living people, but dead soldiers resurrected by the Ghost King. That's why they are not afraid of death or pain, and will not desert in battle." Chen Lingzhi went on to introduce: "But the officers should be living people with magical powers. They use whistles to control the advance and retreat of the ghost army, so we can consider focusing on them."

"Thank you Miss Chen, your information is very important to us." Ren Yuan smiled gratefully, "But I'm afraid it won't be easy, because the other side has so many masters - they have two seven-orifice great magical powers, two six-orifice, four five-orifice, and I'm not sure about the four-orifice and below, but it will be more, not less."

"So many..." The passengers gasped when they heard this. Even Huan'er couldn't help but ask, "What about you guys?"

"We have eight hundred Taoists here, one of them has seven orifices, three have five orifices, six have four orifices, and I won't mention the ones with three orifices and below." Ren Yuan replied.

"The difference in strength is too great." Yang Zhong pondered, "If we must say that we have an advantage, it is probably because we are the defenders and have the advantage of terrain."

"Aren't Taoist priests specialized in catching ghosts?" asked the young monk Faxiu, "Can't they restrain the ghost army?"

(End of this chapter)