Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

"Go ahead."

Liu Qingyuan looked at the two girls in front of her. After learning that Ling Ziling came from the same place as them, Xiao Cui seemed to be thinking about something, her eyes darting back and forth between them and Ling Ziling. Perhaps she felt that the other girl's style was quite different from theirs.

Ling Ziling's state is somewhere between being self-righteous and feeling guilty, which is quite subtle.

Why are you two arguing?

No matter how you look at it, these two have no point of contention. How did they even start arguing? And the topic they're arguing about is so strange, completely unrelated.

She said I wasn't good-looking.

"She didn't believe that the little fox's tail had rings of patterns."

Listen to this, your thinking is completely unrelated; you two are focusing on completely different things.

"Little Fox...the one from the Fire House Buddhist Prison?"

"correct."

Ling Ziling nodded, feeling that her point of view was correct.

"The little fox's fur was not only white and gray, but the patterns on its tail were also much more elaborate than hers."

"I'll say it again."

Because Ling Ziling, whether in her way of speaking or the personality she displays, is a genuine young girl, and she also has "rare" black hair. Regardless of the real age of this young Taoist priest, she is a naive young girl.

"A fox's tail doesn't have those patterns, nor does any multicolored fur. The animal you're talking about is called a nine-sectioned wolf!"

Xiao Cui herself is a fox, so how could she not know what a fox should look like?

The nine-section wolf has small ears, a round face, short and thick limbs, and a tail with many ring-shaped patterns. In modern times, this creature is called the red panda.

Liu Qingyuan carefully recalled the little fox's fox form. You have to admit, it really did look like a red panda, but it was indeed a fox.

"Regarding this, Ling Ziling is not wrong at all. The fox named Little Fox was born in a special place, and in terms of appearance... it does look very similar to the Nine-Section Wolf. However, he is the only one like this. The other foxes are not much different from you."

"But other fox demons have beautiful patterns on their bodies, while she doesn't."

"Those born with special patterns are either divine beasts or have some divine beast blood. Where are they so easy to find?"

Just because she doesn't have any special markings, you say she's ordinary? Xiao Cui doesn't agree. Isn't her fur shiny? Foxes with naturally unique markings aren't even in the same league as her.

“There are clearly many harsh conditions, and rare birds and animals roam everywhere.”

This statement about "spirit itself" is actually wrong. In the Bitter Realm, there is no shortage of all kinds of strange and bizarre creatures. Moreover, let alone creatures, the appearance of humans alone has a lot of room for interpretation.

So the real reason these two girls were arguing was that they grew up with different worldviews, each held their own opinions and refused to give in. Simply put, they were stubbornly arguing and each thought they were right.

"Let's put aside the issue of the species of creatures in the Bitter Realm for now. Ling Ziling, why are you here?"

Upon hearing this question, Ling Ziling, who had been full of energy to argue, immediately shut up, gripping the whisk in her hand and looking into the distance.

"...As mentioned before, someone will be involved in the Dengdao case..."

"Your name wasn't on the letter that Todoan gave us."

That's the problem.

"Has the Immortal Elder agreed to my arrival?"

Ling Ziling put her hands on her hips, making herself look very confident.

"Besides the Immortal Elder?"

"Uh……"

His eyes continued to dart around, he seemed confident, but not very confident.

“Ah Zhen and Master Jing have finally become a couple. The great tribulation of ascending to the shore of enlightenment has passed, and I have grown up safely. Isn’t now the time for me, Ling Ziling, to realize my dreams again? That’s why I, Lingling Daoist, have come!”

"So, apart from Xianqi, no one else on the Dao Shore knows?"

"...Yes, I've been in seclusion and haven't seen everyone much, but I'm really powerful now. If I encounter bad guys again, I can take them down in no time!"

As she spoke, Ling Ziling pulled out a peach wood sword and a handful of yellow paper talismans from somewhere. Xiao Cui, who was next to her, raised an eyebrow when she saw the peach wood sword and moved away from her.

Compared to those mystical flying sword techniques, this peach wood sword and yellow paper were Xiao Cui's preconceived notions of Taoist priests. But this thing was similar; Ling Ziling's pink dress was completely different from those Taoist priests who wielded peach wood swords.

"Heavenly spirits, earthly spirits, the spirits of today are incredibly powerful, their actions are absolutely divine!"

“But you can’t just run out on your own, can you? Senior Dao didn’t inform us at all. We also know that you have made progress in your cultivation. If you want to fulfill your dream, you can go directly to the Bitter Realm to make a comeback.”

Since her dream is to be a female knight-errant, she can be one anywhere.

"...The Bitter Realm is no good. It's full of calamities. Everyone who has reached the shore of enlightenment has finally made it through. We can't let them be dragged down because of me. We've already escaped that bastard Yama. It's not worth getting involved in this mess again."

Yama?!

Upon hearing Ling Ziling's words, Xiao Cui turned her head sharply. What had she just heard? This girl named Ling Ziling had called Yama a bastard?!

"This Yama King is not that Yama King, it's just a name, Miss Xiao Cui, please don't misunderstand."

Zhao Shimingdeng saw Xiao Cui's actions and knew that she had misunderstood. Unlike the scumbag father in Ku Jing who did nothing, this one in Liaozhai was a real Yama, who was staying in the underworld.

"Oh……"

Xiao Cui didn't understand. What kind of person would dare to use such a name? Judging from Ling Ziling's words, the other party didn't seem to be a good person.

In short, after Ling Ziling argued her case, she stayed and became one of only two "runaways" in the mountains. Xiao Cui ran away because she was mistreated at her husband's house, while Ling Ziling left the sect to realize her dream (as Master Lingling said).

After their argument, the two girls became friends despite their initial conflict. As long as Xiao Cui's fur color wasn't involved, they actually got along quite well. Although Ying Ning had fox spirit blood, her body was human. Her adoptive mother was also human before she died. According to human social rules, unmarried women rarely went out, and Ying Ning had to abide by these rules as well. Although there were some leniency, she still couldn't be as free as Xiao Cui.

Even in some wealthy families, daughters were required to stay at home and not leave the house. This was partly the reason why Feng Xiangru's father disliked Hongyu so much. He felt that a young girl like Hongyu should stay at home and not run out in the middle of the night to meet his son in secret.

But Ling Ziling doesn't need to care about these things. She's not from here, and she's a cultivator, so she doesn't pay attention to these rules at all. Even if someone comes to cause trouble, she can sweep them all away with a whisk.

Moreover, most of the time, she doesn't even need to lift a finger. The people here are very timid. Ling Ziling only needs to take out a yellow talisman and wave it around in her hand a few times, and the people on the other side will voluntarily make way.

Lingziling: Isn't that too timid? I haven't even done anything yet.

Actually, what these people were afraid of wasn't the few yellow talismans in Ling Ziling's hand, but rather her feat of sending several adult men flying with a single flick of her whisk. That was in a busy city, and those men who were sent flying were all notorious local thugs. Everyone cheered that she had taught them a lesson.

Ling Ziling was dressed in pink. Pink dye is not easy to make, and the fabric of this color is also not cheap. Those who can wear it are basically from wealthy families. However, rich young ladies always have carriages and attendants when they go out. Ling Ziling does not pursue such things. She also has many features that can be recognized at a glance.

For example, the whisk wrapped with pink ribbons in her hand and the several very obvious pink tai chi patterns on her body are features that can be seen at a glance.

They didn't know if the female Taoist priest's talismans were effective, but they knew that her whisk was extremely powerful, capable of sending you flying into the sky and doing somersaults.

Ling Ziling was unaware of these things. In her view, she had only happened to see a hooligan harassing a girl and taught him a lesson. Such a commotion was nothing in the Bitter Realm.

"The ordinary people here are really timid. When they see my talisman, they all run away faster than rabbits."

Now, forget about chivalry; she couldn't even find anyone to spar with. She was thinking of looking for the Wu family's daughter, but the rich young lady never went out. Ling Ziling wandered around the city and found that the mountains were much more fun.

At the very least, a monster like Xiao Cui wouldn't run away as soon as she sees me. She doesn't attack everyone she sees, so why would she?

"Am I that scary-looking? Or is it that my lightning talisman is crackling with electricity? And that I run incredibly fast."

"Ordinary people are not only afraid of strange and powerful demons, but even government soldiers would be scared home if they took a walk around with their weapons. If you take out a yellow talisman, people will think you are cursing them."

Xiao Cui understands this situation. Ordinary people have too many fears and very few courageous ones. Those who have courage are often those who have transcended the ordinary and are not among these people.

Forget about spirits, if Xiao Cui were to use her fox form to say a few words to people, they would be so frightened that they would scatter and run away, then go home and fall seriously ill, lying in bed complaining that a monster had sucked away their yang energy.

If you're timid, just admit it. There aren't that many monsters that would covet your little bit of yang energy.

"Demons? Demons aren't actually that scary. They have joys and sorrows, gratitude and regrets."

"Devils are born to do evil and live in hell, how can they not be terrifying?"

Ling Ziling's attitude puzzled Xiao Cui. Here, there are good monsters, but definitely no demons.

"Nephew Zhen is a demon! He's been incredibly kind to me, his Taoist magic is amazing, and he even..."

"Wait a moment."

Xiao Cui sensed something was wrong. Although she had felt that the place where Ling Ziling and the others lived was quite different from what she had known for many years, this was a demonic cultivation path, wasn't it?

She had heard Ling Ziling mention Ah Zhen a few times before. Although she was Ling Ziling's junior sister, Ah Zhen's style of doing things sounded much more mature than Ling Ziling's, which might be due to the age difference.

This is not surprising. When a family or sect grows large, it is common for the age difference between different generations to widen. Even among scholars, there are teenagers and people in their sixties.

However, the fact that there are racial differences is quite unusual.

"Your nephew is a demon?"

In Xiao Cui's view, there are two main categories of demons: internal demons and external demons. Internal demons are things like inner demons and desires, which are relatively abstract and are things that all cultivators have to face. External demons are those underground that oppose Buddhism. Ling Ziling keeps calling himself her junior disciple, which clearly has a concrete image, so he can be considered an external demon.

External demons mainly target Buddhist practitioners, so why would they come to cultivate Taoism?

"Back then, Ah Zhen concealed his identity as a demon and entered the Ascension Shore. No one knew it. But although he was a demon, his cultivation in Taoist arts was exceptionally powerful, surpassing many others in the Ascension Shore."

Ling Ziling didn't notice anything wrong with Xiao Cui. Their worldviews were too different. She thought that the people here also had a lot of grudges with the demons, so she found the demon cultivation path very strange.

"Later, some things happened, and Ah Zhen's identity as a demon was discovered. But that's just a difference in race. In terms of character, Ah Zhen is better than a human. I once used a peach wood sword to split a watermelon, and he even made me respect the peach wood sword and apologize to it."

"Demons...do the demons in your land form their own faction?"

After thinking it over, Xiao Cui finally realized where her understanding of demons differed from the other person's. Taking "Azhen" from Ling Ziling's words as an example, she realized that he was a "person" with independent personality and emotions, not just a symbol that tempted people to fall.

This doesn't resemble those underground creatures anymore; it's more like those monsters.

"It's hard to say. There are many forces in the Demon Realm. Ah Zhen is from Tianyan Demon City. I heard that his father was born of Buddha, but I didn't ask for details. There are Heavenly Demons and Holy Mothers in the Demon Realm, as well as many demons and some outsiders. Anyway, there are a lot of them. I can see them every time there is a fight."

"...Born of Buddha? Never mind, your place is certainly unique."

After hearing these descriptions, Xiao Cui understood that these "demons," like Rang and monsters, lived in the mortal realm. Like many other living beings, they experienced joy, sorrow, and happiness in the mortal world. The "bitter realm" in which they lived must be a very vast place.

"What are the demons like here?"

After finishing her own story, Ling Ziling became curious about Xiao Cui's side. Seeing the other's surprised expression, she guessed that the demons on this side were probably quite different.

“I have never seen external demons. They rarely walk among humans. Internal demons are inner demons and excessive desires. My cultivation is not enough, so I have never encountered them.”

"that's it?"

Lingzi tilted her head; this introduction is far too brief.

That's all. If you want to hear more details, you'll have to go to a temple.

"Never mind then, the demons here sound too dangerous to fight."

"The danger of demons lies in attacking the mind. If one's will is broken, years of cultivation will be in vain, and all one's efforts will be destroyed in an instant. Isn't that enough?"

"Can't we just hit him directly? Our Buddhist elders can shatter a mountain with a single slap."

"..."

Thinking about the crack that Gu Chen had created before, and listening to Ling Ziling talk about splitting a mountain with one palm, Xiao Cui felt that the pressure on the mountains and rivers there must be quite great. If she wasn't careful, the terrain might be changed by someone.

Xiao Cui had never seen a high-ranking monk who could shatter a mountain with a single palm strike. She only knew that in the stories of ordinary people, the top Buddhist monk could turn a palm strike into a mountain and crush people under it.

"Let's not talk about that. Don't you know how to draw amulets? I'll take her to play with Ning-mei. You can draw some amulets for her and ask her mother to let her come out and play with us, how about that?"

If she continued talking, she felt that her understanding of that area would veer in an unbelievable direction. Every time she heard these things, they would overturn her understanding. If this continued, she might not be too surprised to hear that Laozi himself was personally involved in the fight.

Ling Zi Ling: Although it's not that bad yet, we have the Three Pure Ones Dao Realm.

Liu Qingyuan: Judging from the later plot of Pili, it's pretty much like the gods are fighting each other.

"By the way, put your peach wood sword away. Ning's family are all ghosts. You won't be able to get in if you have the peach wood sword."

The peach wood sword, elixirs, and talismans used by Ling Ziling were very similar to traditional Taoist methods. Ying Ning was fine, though. Even when she was examined with the demon-revealing mirror, the image of Ying Ning was still human, not a fox. Her fox spirit bloodline only gave her some minor spells, and she didn't participate in anything else.

But others are a different story. Yingning's adoptive mother is a ghost, and the servants in her household are also ghosts. If Ling Ziling were to bring these things over, the other side wouldn't dare to open the door for her.

"no problem."

Ling Ziling obediently packed everything away. She also wanted to explore other places. After wandering around the city, she found a beggar who seemed quite skilled, but he was too slovenly, and she didn't want to get close to him.

If Yingning could be brought along, the three of them could at least go out together and not be too bored.