Dao Qi Wu Zang Guan Guan: I became a Daoist Master in the 1990s

Chapter 192 Can you drink a cup?
As the Taoist priest spoke, both the young man and the fisherman looked at him.

The Taoist priest brushed off his clean robe sleeves and said slowly, "I was passing through a neighboring county when I heard that women and children have mysteriously disappeared there."

Often, after one night, the person would disappear without a trace, the doors and windows would be intact, and there would be no signs of struggle inside the house, as if they had vanished into thin air.

As the number of missing persons increased, observant individuals noticed that, without exception, each of these families had purchased an exquisitely crafted doll from a traveling peddler a day or two before their disappearances.

"What's even stranger is that after the person disappeared, the doll they bought also disappeared."

The authorities investigated, but the peddler was nowhere to be found, as if he had never existed.

The flickering firelight inside the temple cast an inconspicuous shadow on the Taoist's face, and his voice took on a mysterious quality: "I am a monk, living in the Xuanmen (Taoist school), and have some knowledge of extraordinary principles."

This method reminds me of a long-extinct, heretical sect—the Thieves' Sect.

"This is the thief's sect, not the Taoist sect."

They are thieves of the thief's kind. The people in this sect are skilled in using all sorts of evil arts and tricks to steal other people's property, vital energy, and even their souls and spirits.

They often disguise themselves as magicians, peddlers, laborers… even,” the Taoist priest paused slightly, his gaze seemingly intentionally or unintentionally falling on the silent, head-bowed fisherman, “to secretly cast spells and harm people.”

Thirty years ago, this sect was rampant and committed many evils, which eventually led to the joint efforts of the Buddhist and Taoist sects to eradicate it. It was thought that it had long since disappeared.

Unexpectedly, it seems that some remnants have recently resurfaced and reappeared in this land along the Han River.

As the Taoist priest spoke, he looked at the fisherman with a smile, "Esteemed benefactor, you have been ferrying people across the river for many years, traveling north and south. You have seen many people, but have you ever seen any peddlers or sorcerers who act strangely or are not like ordinary people?"

The fisherman raised his head, forcing a stiff smile, but his eyes flickered: "Taoist priest, you're joking. I'm just an old man rowing a boat. I only know the ups and downs of the water. How could I know anything about a master or not?"

Even if such a person were standing right in front of me, these old eyes of mine wouldn't be able to tell, haha..."

The young man with the sword beside him suddenly fixed his gaze on the fisherman with a sharp glint in his eyes. His hand returned to the hilt of his sword, and his voice turned cold and hard: "The Taoist priest just said that members of the Thieves' Guild can also impersonate ferrymen?"

His muscles subtly tensed, like a cheetah poised to pounce. "Brother, you're here alone in this deserted temple on this stormy night... You wouldn't happen to be one of those thieves, would you?"

The air inside the temple seemed to freeze instantly, leaving only the crackling of burning firewood and the increasingly urgent sound of rain outside the window.

The ferryman's smirk gradually faded, his hunched and humble figure slowly straightened, and a cold, inhuman light shone from his cloudy eyes.

He let out a strange chuckle, his voice becoming hoarse and unpleasant: "I said before that I would wait until the rain stopped before sending you two on your way peacefully... Since you two are in such a hurry, well, well..."

Before he finished speaking, a sudden change occurred!
The fisherman stomped his foot, and the shadow beneath him wriggled and expanded like a living thing. The entire ground of the dilapidated temple instantly became muddy, as if it had turned into silt from the bottom of a river. A powerful suction force emanated from it, trying to drag and devour people!

At the same time, he opened his mouth and spat out a thick, black, foul-smelling jet of water that shot straight into the face of the young man with the sword. Within the water jet, it seemed as if countless tiny, pale white faces were struggling and wailing!
"It really is you!" The young man with the sword's eyes flashed like lightning, and before he finished speaking, he had already moved.

The long sword at his waist was drawn with a clang, its blade revealing faint blood patterns. Instead of slashing directly at the water arrow, it fiercely slashed towards the feet.

The ground had turned into a pitch-black swamp at some point, and countless writhing shadows, like tentacles, wrapped around the two people's ankles!
"Sizzle!"

Where the blade passed, a surge of crimson light erupted.

The slash seemed to cut into the flesh of a living creature, causing a mournful hiss to emanate from the swamp, and the suction force abruptly broke.

The young man used the momentum to flip and retreat swiftly, his long sword rolling back with the blade precisely striking the incoming jet of black sewage.

The water jet veered off course, grazing his temple and striking the earthen wall behind him, instantly corroding a sizzling, charred pit that emitted a foul stench.

The moment the fishermen stomped their feet in protest, the Taoist priest in the green robe had already risen as gracefully as a falling leaf.

He lightly touched the muddy ground with his toes, and his body slid more than ten feet away in an instant, his Taoist robe fluttering without getting a speck of dirt on it.

He gestured with his fingers, his voice like the clinking of metal and jade: "Imperial Edict!"

A pale gold talisman, imbued with ancient seal script, appeared out of thin air, its clear light shining down.

Where the talisman covered, the writhing mud, like snow under the scorching sun, emitted a hissing sound and could no longer advance.

The Taoist's fingertips suddenly lit up, and the talisman expanded with a roar. Where the golden light passed, the mud disappeared, and the ground returned to its original state, with only a few wisps of black smoke lingering.

Seeing that his sneak attack had failed, the ferryman let out a strange, grating laugh. His form began to twist and blur, as if transforming into a human shape formed from turbid waves and sewage, with thick, foul-smelling black water constantly dripping from his body.

A sudden, eerie light flashed in his eyes, and he flung out three pale white talismans from his sleeve.

The talisman ignited upon contact with the wind, transforming into three grotesque skulls formed from river water, spewing putrid black water that attacked the two individuals!

The young man roared, and his blade flashed like a bolt of lightning. As the longsword danced, crimson light flickered, resembling blazing flames, and with a single strike, he cleaved a water skeleton in two.

His blade thrusts continued unabated, and with a backhand swipe, he deflected two streams of poisonous water, his steps as firm as a rock, refusing to retreat an inch.

The Taoist priest's sleeves fluttered, and three golden talismans shot out in quick succession, like golden arrows piercing the air, accurately piercing the foreheads of the other two skulls.

The rune flashed, and the skeleton howled as it disintegrated into foul-smelling black water.

In that instant, the water shadow that the ferryman had transformed into had already smashed through the temple gate and was about to plunge into the torrential rain outside!
"Stop!" the young man roared, his body moving with his blade, a blood-red blade aura slashing straight at Shui Ying's heart.

However, the water's reflection shifted between reality and illusion, and the blade only sliced ​​through a swamp of dirty water, failing to hinder its escape in the slightest.

The eerie water shadow was about to disappear into the surging Han River.

Just now.

A carefree laugh suddenly rang out from the temple rooftop.

"Hahaha! I didn't expect to hear such an interesting story while taking a break halfway! The Thieves' Guild? How intriguing! I wonder if my methods are enough to stop you!"

The sound arrived, the person arrived, and the sword light arrived too!

A blazing sword light suddenly shot out from the rooftop, like thunder and fire from the heavens, tearing through the dark, rainy night. With unparalleled force, it pierced the heart of Shuiying, who had already fled to the temple gate!

The water shadow let out a terrified scream, desperately urging its evil magic, its body surging with water light, trying to turn reality into illusion and disappear into the rain.

However, the power contained in that fire sword was extremely strong and yang, burning away all evil spirits and instantly evaporating most of the water elemental power flowing around him!
"Pfft!"

The sword tip pierced through the core of the water shadow without any hindrance.

Time seemed to freeze at this moment.

The water shadow that the ferryman had transformed into suddenly froze, letting out a shrill, inhuman scream. Its body twisted violently, unable to maintain its water form any longer, and quickly solidified, transforming back into the appearance of the fisherman.

He looked down in disbelief at the tip of a sword burning with crimson-gold flames, protruding from his chest.

The flames leaped, but instead of burning his clothes and skin, they directly burned the true qi within his body, bringing indescribable pain.

The sword trembled slightly, and a tremendous power erupted from it.

The fisherman's body trembled violently, the light in his eyes dimmed instantly, and the evil aura around him dissipated rapidly, like a punctured air sac.

He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. His body went limp and he fell forward, crashing heavily onto the temple threshold, splashing water everywhere. He was lifeless.

The temple gates were wide open, and a fierce wind and rain swept in, causing the bonfire to flicker unpredictably.

A wisp of green drifted down in the wind, as light as a feather, without disturbing a speck of dust.

The moment the newcomer's toes touched the ground, he bent down beside the still-warm corpse, and with two fingers, pulled out the long sword that was deeply embedded in the flesh and bone.

The sword was ablaze with crimson flames, yet it was as gentle as a firefly in his hand. As the flames danced, they reflected the man's half-worn Taoist robe, its collar and sleeves loose, with a bright red gourd hanging at his waist.

He flicked his wrist lightly, sending flames swirling around his longsword, yet not a single drop of blood remained. The flames vanished from the scabbard as if they had never existed.

The man turned to look into the temple, his gaze sweeping over the hilt of the young man's sword, then over the middle-aged Taoist's bewildered face. Suddenly, he grinned, fine lines appearing at the corners of his eyes.

"Gentlemen," he patted the gourd at his waist, his voice like shattering jade, "this rainy night is long, the story is over, and those who needed to be saved have been saved, so why don't... we have a drink together?"

(End of this chapter)