Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

In the dead of night, most of the city's residents were already asleep, leaving only a few who couldn't sleep. Some were caught up in pleasure, while others had something on their minds and couldn't sleep.

For example, Guo Shen, one of the scholars who mysteriously disappeared from his home and then suddenly returned, is now in a state of worry and sleeplessness.

The scholars disappeared around the same time, so many people assumed that they were arrested by the same group of people. The magistrate's symbolic trial involved calling all the returning scholars together for questioning, without considering any other possibilities.

Guo Shen didn't want to tell others about his experience. When he was called away, he was still thinking about how to make excuses. But when he got there, he found that the other scholars had the same attitude. The group reached a subtle consensus in court and got away with it by exchanging words.

After leaving the courtroom, they all left without prior arrangement, showing no intention of sharing. Guo Shen only learned after returning that he wasn't the only one who had recently disappeared, but based on his experiences, he didn't think the others had the same fate as him.

However, the attitudes of the other scholars were also quite subtle, which made him suspicious, but everyone kept it to themselves and no one could get the other to say anything.

"No, what if it really is... a flute?"

Just as Guo Shen was pacing anxiously in his room, he heard the melodious sound of a flute mixed in with the night outside the window. He lived in an ordinary residential area, and the only time it would be noisy was during the day. In the bustling city on the other side of the street, everyone was asleep at this time, and there shouldn't be any other noise.

He was still playing the flute. There were no entertainers or red-light districts nearby, and even other literati who were just trying to be cultured rarely played music at this time.

Guo Shen remembered clearly that none of his neighbors were good at music theory, but just by listening to the flute music, he knew that the flute player was a skilled musician.

Having just experienced a bizarre incident, Guo Shen became much bolder and more inclined to believe in supernatural phenomena. He opened the window, and the previously somewhat indistinct flute music suddenly became crystal clear, as if the flutist was very close to his house.

He opened the window, but there was nothing outside. Guo Shen poked his head out and looked around. He didn't find anything amiss, but when he looked up, he saw a white figure standing in the moonlight on the eaves of a house not far away. The hem of his clothes and the strands of his hair fluttered in the wind, and the sound of a flute came from the wind.

"When enlightenment comes, I see the ancient rivers and seas, and I walk all over the cliffs to visit the Xuanmen. I casually write about the human world in the pursuit of the Dao, with a flute, a sword and Kunlun Mountain."

Moonlight streamed down, and a white-robed immortal descended from the moon. Guo Shen momentarily forgot where he was, his eyes fixed on the slowly falling figure.

With white hair and a youthful face, wearing a tall glass crown and a white-gold immortal robe, his demeanor was elegant and refined. If this was not an immortal, Guo Shen couldn't imagine what an immortal could look like.

"...I've encountered a deity again..."

"again?"

As soon as he landed, Jian Feidao caught a murmur in the wind. First of all, he was certain that none of the pseudonyms had met this scholar before, and the immortal the scholar was talking about was definitely not one of Jian Feidao's people.

From this perspective, he really did find the right person.

"My name is Dao Jian · Jian Fei Dao. I have come to visit you regarding the disappearance of a scholar in the city. Please forgive my intrusion, young master."

He chased after people all over the city, and finally found out about this one person. It was because the other person was the last to return that he was the most talked about in the city, and Jian Feidao was able to find out about him after just a few listens.

"road……"

The other person's name sounded closely related to Taoism, and he said he had come about the scholar's disappearance. Combining this with his own previous experiences, he felt he understood everything. He quickly retreated from the window back into the house, opened the door, and welcomed the person standing in the courtyard in.

"Please come in, immortal!"

"...Thank you."

Now it was Jian Feidao's turn to be puzzled. Before coming, he had anticipated several different scenarios, but he never expected the other party to be so enthusiastic. Because of his unique style, people in the city would rather avoid him, but this scholar in front of him was so enthusiastic that Jian Feidao did not know what to say.

Seeing how enthusiastic the person in front of him was, he felt that the other party might have misunderstood something and mistaken him for the previous group of "immortals" he had met.

"What would you like to ask, Immortal?"

"...I dare not claim to be an immortal. I only ask you, before you disappeared, did anyone give you any food?"

"Yeah!"

With the clues given by Lianxiang, Jian Feidao originally planned to test the waters first. If the other party was unwilling to talk, he would try another method. However, he did not expect that the person in front of him would not only immediately affirm his words, but also tell him all his experiences in one go.

About three months ago, Guo Shen was reading in his own courtyard when an old woman suddenly came to deliver wine. Although peddlers and water carriers usually came to his door, this was the first time he had seen this old woman. She wasn't selling wine, but delivering it.

Guo Shen was not related to the other party, so he naturally became cautious. But to his surprise, the other party didn't say anything extra, just smiled, put down the wine, and left without looking back.

Once the person left, he became less cautious, and the wine smelled so good that he couldn't resist drinking it all. He then quickly became drowsy and fell asleep.

When he woke up, he found himself in the Heavenly Palace...

"Heavenly Palace?"

Jian Feidao frowned. What kind of development was this? Had he contacted the wrong person?

"I only found out later."

At first, when Guo Shen woke up, he found himself in complete darkness and couldn't see anything. He only knew that he was lying on a bed, but it was definitely not his own bed, and there was a woman on the bed whom he couldn't see clearly.

What followed was typical of the plot of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: Guo Shen knew he had encountered a beautiful woman, but it was pitch black all around him, and he didn't know where he was. The woman said she was an immortal, but didn't reveal any other information.

This "fairy" kept Guo Shen in a pitch-black cave. Not only was he provided with three meals a day, but the fairy would also visit him from time to time. He lived a very comfortable life.

But after a while, he couldn't stand it anymore. There was food and drink here, that was true, but he couldn't see anything. He couldn't tell day from night, and he couldn't even see the bowls and chopsticks when he ate. Guo Shen couldn't help but feel depressed and started to want to go home.

The girl who claimed to be an immortal showed no emotion upon seeing this, only saying that she would let him tour the Heavenly Palace the next day, then send him back, and that they would never see each other again. As it turned out, Guo Shen did indeed see the magnificent Heavenly Palace and even met the fairy, and then he didn't want to leave.

How did this person finally return? One day, Guo Shen was told that he had to clean up the Heavenly Palace and that no one should discover that a mortal was hiding inside. He had to be sent away. After drinking a familiar cup of wine, Guo Shen lost consciousness and woke up back home.

It was only then that he learned he had been missing for nearly three months, his family was searching everywhere for him, and they were already considering his funeral. He also learned that several other scholars had mysteriously disappeared like him, but had returned a few days earlier.

Although the circumstances were similar, Guo Shen didn't think those people had the same romantic encounters as him. He didn't want to tell others because he remembered the warning he had been given not to tell other mortals.

But the person before him was clearly no ordinary person; he might even know that celestial maiden. That's why he was so excited to see Jian Feidao, whose appearance was so extraordinary, so late at night.

"..."

Jian Feidao understood. This guy was still hung up on that "fairy" and thought that the immortal he met was on the same path as her. Since the reason Guo Shen was sent back was that the immortals were cleaning up the Heavenly Palace, and he happened to be there to investigate the missing scholar, he was assumed to have discovered that the Heavenly Palace had hidden mortals and was there to investigate.

“The one I’m talking about is not the same kind of person as you. Although I am a disciple of the Supreme Palace, I cannot live up to the title of immortal. Moreover, a true immortal would never do such a thing.”

The "fairy's" actions clearly indicated that she had captured Guo Shen to be her male concubine. And what fairy would need to drug someone before taking them in? The so-called "cleaning up the heavenly palace" was probably just her getting tired of him and sending him away.

From this perspective, it seems Jian Feidao really did choose the wrong person, but looking at some marks on the other person's body, it seems he didn't make a mistake after all. As Guo Shen was about to be sent away, he begged the woman to leave him with a keepsake, something like a hairpin or a handkerchief, but she refused.

However, in Jian Feidao's view, he did bring something back.

"Please come closer, Young Master Guo."

"Alright, immortal..."

When Jian Feidao told him that he wasn't from the same lineage as the fairy he couldn't forget, Guo Shen still had doubts. He had only met two people who could be called "fairies," and perhaps it was because they didn't have specific names or identities that this person didn't recognize him? Judging from the other person's aloof appearance, he probably looked down on these matters between men and women.

He obediently moved closer and saw Jian Feidao rest the end of his Xuan flute on his shoulder. Guo Shen first looked down at the flute in the other's hand. Despite being dressed in a very cold and aloof white and gold outfit, he was using a dark-colored Xuan flute, which was truly unique.

Suddenly, Guo Shen couldn't help but shiver. He felt as if something had pierced through him, and the direction of the sensation was coming from the opposite side. He quickly looked up and met a pair of glowing eyes.

Because it was late at night, Guo Shen was afraid of disturbing his family, so he didn't light all the oil lamps. In the dimly lit room, his glowing eyes looked even more terrifying, as if they were illuminating him from the skin to the bone.

……

The next day, Liu Qingyuan met with Jian Feidao, along with Ling Ziling and Xiao Cui. The three of them gathered around what Jian Feidao was holding and fell into deep thought.

"These guys really have all sorts of tricks up their sleeves."

Because there was also a native named Xiao Cui, Liu Qingyuan didn't directly say that she was an illegal transmigrator. It would be difficult to explain if she said it directly. It was better to summarize it as monsters causing trouble. Anyway, the other party would understand the general meaning.

In Jian Feidao's hand was a ladybug-like creature, which upon closer inspection appeared somewhat illusory. It was unclear whether it was because it was already dead and dissipating, or whether it was inherently a mixture of reality and illusion.

This is what he found on Guo Shen. It's like a curse or a poison, and it doesn't look like anything good. If the whole story unfolds the same as the original plot, Guo Shen shouldn't have this kind of thing on him.

He seemed completely unaware of this. Jian Feidao believed that if the other scholars had similar experiences, they should also have this item, which they probably brought back with them when they were sent back.

The "fairy" needed alcohol and drugs to capture and release people, so she definitely didn't have the ability to do those things. It seems more like a time traveler was infiltrating that "heavenly palace" and was secretly making a fuss.

"This looks like something used for surveillance."

Ling Ziling looked at the strange ladybug that was neither real nor illusory. There were indeed traces of a curse on it, but it was not for harming people. It seemed to be more like monitoring the movements of the cursed person so as to obtain information at any time.

Looking at it this way, these people's methods are indeed varied and diverse. It's no wonder it's a transmigration system. Even those who fight illegally and alone have a comprehensive library of abilities.

"Guo Shen was unaware of this and did not feel anything unusual. I believe that the other scholars may also have been cursed, and we need to investigate them one by one."

There were only five or six scholars who were victimized, but they had no contact with each other and their residences were scattered, which is why other people were needed to come and investigate together.

Xiao Cui didn't recognize this kind of incantation, but she was quite interested in the celestial maiden that Jian Feidao had mentioned.

"If that scholar surnamed Guo's description is correct, there is a villa on the outskirts of the capital that is very similar to the Heavenly Palace. He may have been taken there to be a male concubine for one of the women of the Yan family."

"Yan family?"

Liu Qingyuan turned his head, and based on some of the descriptions in the original work, he had a bad feeling.

"It might be that high-ranking official in the capital, Yan Shi..."

"Ahem, now that we have a direction, Jian Feidao, what are your plans?"

"First, find the other scholars. If they have curses on them, it means their experiences are the same as Guo Shen's. Then find the old woman who delivered the wine and follow the clues."

There's another point of contention here: this place is quite a distance from the capital, and even the strongest sleeping pills shouldn't leave someone unconscious for several days, otherwise their life would be in danger.

The "fairy" who made the arrest didn't follow her predecessors' example of killing people when she got tired of them. Aside from the fact that she still lacked power, she might also have been afraid that if someone were really killed, it would be difficult to handle, so her methods were relatively more lenient.

The remaining one or two who haven't returned yet are probably not bored yet. As long as no one else interferes, they should be back soon.

The reason for drugging someone and bringing them back to the capital from such a far place could also be to avoid causing a major disturbance in the capital, where there are many high-ranking officials and nobles, and it might not be appropriate for strangers to deliver alcohol.

But according to Guo Shen's description, he was unconscious after drinking for only half a day, and he arrived at a villa in the capital within that time, which means that someone capable was definitely helping him.

"Young Master Guo is still obsessed with the fairy, but the others may not be. How are we going to get there?"

Under the moonlight and with the sound of his flute, Jian Feidao was mistaken for an immortal by Guo Shen, who warmly welcomed him inside. However, it was too early in the day to continue with the dream-sending trick since no one was sleeping.

We can't exactly go to the magistrate and ask him to summon the person again, can we? Now that the "fairy's" identity is clear, the magistrate here is afraid of those in power and wants to let the matter of the scholar's disappearance go unpunished. Aside from the fact that the person involved is unwilling to pursue the matter, it's hard to say that someone from the capital might have hinted to him to leave it alone.

"That's easy, just watch me, Master Lingling."

With a flick of her whisk, Ling Ziling stood at the door of a scholar's house and began her performance.

"Alas, someone in this house has offended an evil spirit; disaster is imminent! I never expected to encounter such a thing while traveling here..."

"...Who taught her that?"

"I don't know."

The others stood at a distance, watching Ling Ziling sigh and make a show of herself. If it were a middle-aged Taoist priest with a goatee doing this instead of a girl in pink, the scene would probably be more harmonious.

"They're quite similar to those swindlers and con artists."

Xiao Cui felt that apart from a slight difference in appearance, Ling Ziling was almost identical to the local Taoist priests, and the phrase he often used, "a descendant of Zhang Tianshi," was highly credible.

"Dengdaoan doesn't teach this, does he? Don't look down on me. Although I've tricked and deceived enemies before, I don't know this kind of rhetoric. I, Jianzi, always trick them directly."

"...Senior, I haven't said anything yet."