Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

It's already incredible that someone from your dream would appear in reality, regardless of their appearance. Just now, Dou Xu felt like he had only had a dream, and before he could even finish expressing his feelings of loss, the person from his dream came to knock on his door in reality.

Perhaps he was too shocked by the incident, because Dou Xu kept looking back and forth, completely forgetting to respond to the greetings from the people at the door.

"Looks like he's still hungover; we're too early."

Seeing Dou Xu's incredulous expression as he repeatedly checked his home and the view outside, Yuan Wuxiang made this judgment.

Last night, this guy got drunk and should be given some time to rest. But in their line of work, besides two innate beings who are fearless, there's also Xi Fangping, who's half ghost and half soul, and whose injuries haven't healed and who seems to be afraid of the scorching sun. If they come looking for someone in the middle of the day, they'll have to find a place to leave Xi Fangping first.

Moreover, Dou Xu was different from the others who went directly to the banquet. He was indeed invited to the Bee Kingdom in a dream, which was not wrong. However, as a spirit, he was best at combining the real and the illusory. Last night's banquet was both a dream and a real banquet for Dou Xu.

The so-called "bee kingdom" is the inside of the beehive. What food is in the beehive? Of course, it's honey. Dou Xu's drunkenness was just in his dream; there was no real alcohol in his stomach, so naturally he wouldn't have a hangover the next day.

Otherwise, given how tipsy he was last night, if he really drank that much, he wouldn't have woken up so early and be able to think clearly about whether what happened last night was a dream.

Finally, there's a problem that Juan Shoutian and Yuan Wuxiang realized after being invited by the Bee Kingdom before they even got close to the village: their outfits—one in gold and the other in silver—did indeed stand out a bit. This was just an ordinary village, and their arrival when there were many people might cause a disturbance.

Therefore, they chose to visit in the early morning, when the sun had just risen and it wouldn't affect Xi Fangping, when there were few people around and they wouldn't be noticed, and when Dou Xu was already awake.

Yuan Wuxiang said that Dou Xu was still drunk, but he was just reminding him that the adventure last night was real, that the drinking and laughter and the Lotus Princess were real, and that it was not just a beautiful but unreal dream.

"I was being foolish, you two immortals... you two Taoist priests, please come in quickly!"

Dou Xu had a good memory. Although he got drunk at the end of the banquet, he remembered the first half of the events very clearly, including Yuan Wuxiang's emphasis that he was not a deity, but a Taoist from afar.

But when daytime arrived, after eliminating the various distractions of the banquet and the hazy, indistinct feeling from his dream, the two figures appeared even clearer and more real. He still felt that these two were more like immortals from the heavens than Taoist priests.

Even under the sunlight, he felt that the radiance on the two Taoist priests seemed to shine even brighter. When the door opened just now, he was not only shocked, but he was truly dazzled by the combination of gold and silver in front of the door.

Unfortunately, due to insufficient conditions, Dou Xu did not encounter the 'Juan Shou Tian' at sunrise on the mountaintop; otherwise, he would have experienced a truly physical phenomenon of being blinded by light.

However, Dou Xu was happy to see them again, which meant that everything last night was not just a dream caused by his abnormal thinking.

"We learned from the King that Young Master Dou comes from a respectable family, is an upright person, and has considerable talent. We would like to ask you for a favor."

"Me? I'm just an ordinary mortal, how can I help you two?"

Since what happened last night is true, it is already a great joy for Dou Xu, an ordinary scholar, to be treated with such courtesy by that king. Although he does not know the reason, he has seen more last night than he has seen in the first half of his life. No matter who was there, any one of them was more capable than him.

He was a scholar with a respectable family background, but he didn't have many connections or prominent relatives. All he could do was write articles and recite poems. How could he possibly help the other party?

"To be precise, you're not helping us, but someone who has suffered injustice and is looking for justice."

After speaking, Yuan Wuxiang gestured to Juan Shoutian, who raised his whisk and swept it in front of Dou Xu, and another person appeared in the courtyard.

This was a young man about the same age as Dou Xu, dressed in the simplest coarse linen clothes. His features were fairly regular, but he had many injuries on his body, as if he had been severely tortured. There was also a vertical red mark on his face that was faintly visible, but it was unclear what kind of wound it was.

After a night's rest, Xi Fangping's condition improved significantly. At the end of the banquet, Yuan Wuxiang and Juan Shoutian consulted the Bee Kingdom King about the spirits' insights into the soul and exchanged some Bee Kingdom specialties, including honey and some incense, to give Xi Fangping some simple treatment.

It's also possible that this person's soul is stronger than others. After all, he's a ruthless person who can drink himself to death and remain silent even when sawed in half. Although Xi Fangping is still covered in injuries, it's not so obvious at a glance that he has been split in half. Others wouldn't be able to tell that he's a soul unless they look closely.

But Dou Xu didn't think so. He watched as Juan Shoutian raised his whisk, and the golden and white whisk bristles swept across his eyes, revealing a person covered in injuries. Even though the person looked to be in good spirits, he didn't think it was a living person.

At the very least, as a living person, I wouldn't just appear out of thin air like that, nor would I be without a shadow.

"This man has suffered injustice against his father and is planning to file a lawsuit. We are not from this world, and the articles we read may be different from yours. Your Majesty is certain of your talent and character, so we hope you can help him write a petition."

Xi Fangping is persevering and determined, but he has a unique characteristic compared to most protagonists in Liaozhai stories: neither he nor his father are proper scholars. Although they can read, they cannot wield the brush and ink like most scholars, and they always lose in verbal battles.

Moreover, in the original story, he accidentally bumped into the Ninth Prince's carriage and was forced to tell his story. Now that he has someone to escort him and will no longer be in such a sorry state, he will naturally have more ceremony to make a accusation.

"Whom does this gentleman wish to sue?"

Judging from the other party's demeanor, Dou Xu had a gut feeling that the other party was probably not suing any officials or rich people. If they really wanted to sue those people, they wouldn't need to make such a big show of it.

But looking at the injuries on the other person's body, it seemed as if they had been tortured by the instruments of torture in the yamen, so they were probably wronged.

"I'm going to sue the King of Hell in the underworld, and the City God of my hometown..."

"???"

Seriously, sir? You're playing this high-stakes game?! You dare sue even the King of Hell?!

Seeing Dou Xu's expression, Xi Fangping was not surprised. If he hadn't experienced it firsthand, he would never have imagined that he would one day be suing the King of Hell. Seeing that the other party was not afraid because of his appearance, Xi Fangping took the initiative to tell him about his experience, so that he would understand that the people he was suing were all guilty and deserved their punishment.

If Dou Xu being invited to a banquet by the King of the Bee Kingdom was a rare and beautiful dream that everyone would envy, then Xi Fangping and his father's experience was a real hellish ordeal that would make anyone's scalp tingle.

"This is really unreasonable!"

After hearing about Xi Fangping's experience, Dou Xu felt a surge of grief and indignation. He couldn't help but slam his fist on the table, so hard that the items on the table shook.

"The underworld is the place where the dead are judged, but who would have thought, who would have thought that even the King of Hell would lose his impartiality..."

Regarding the underworld, the living understand it as a place where one is judged by Yama, the King of Hell, after death. Good people are reborn into a better life and enjoy good fortune, while evil people are reborn as animals to atone for their sins in this life. Because of this concept of karmic retribution, many people restrain their behavior, fearing that they will suffer in the underworld after death.

Even those who suffer injustice in life often hope to receive justice in the underworld after death, but what is the result? Wealthy merchants bribe the City God after death, and the City God then bribes Yama, the King of Hell. Such corruption is no different from that of corrupt officials in the mortal world.

At first, he was startled when he heard that Xi Fangping was going to sue the King of Hell. In the minds of these mortals, the ghost messengers and judges of the underworld were already terrifying, and the King of Hell was not even mentioned in normal times. This guy was going to sue the King of Hell right away, which was shocking to everyone.

But after hearing about Xi Fangping's experience, Dou Xu felt more understanding and admiration. To seek justice for his father, he appealed from the City God all the way to the King of Hell, enduring countless tortures without fear. How many people in the world have such courage?

This matter concerns the righteous path of the world. Dou Xu is not a big shot, but he decided to help. He only helped write a lawsuit, which would not affect him. If Xi Fangping succeeded in the end, he would consider it a good deed.

"Brother Xi, how do you intend to file a lawsuit? Just say it. Although my literary talent is not as good as the great writers in the city, I can still write something worthwhile."

Now, dreams and princesses no longer matter. Dou Xu was captivated by Xi Fangping's story and ran to his room to get paper and pen, ready to write a complaint for him.

Xi Fangping was naturally very grateful that someone was willing to help him. Now that he thought about it, he had indeed suffered a lot in terms of words along the way. He was taught by his father not to lie and to only talk about the main point when speaking frankly. When the other party was ambiguous, he really couldn't reply.

He did say something very powerful, which was in the underworld when he said in the court that he had no money and therefore deserved to be punished. This sentence hit Yama right where it hurt, so he was arranged to be burned at the stake and sawed in half.

Previously, when he filed complaints, he didn't use a formal complaint form; he would simply go to the door and file the complaint. Now, he has more people to sue and more issues to sue, so writing a formal complaint would indeed be more convenient.

Seeing that the matter was settled, Juan Shoutian and Yuan Wuxiang left Dou Xu's courtyard, giving the two young men space to speak freely. They then went to the back of Dou Xu's neighbor's house to see the beehives where the Bee Kingdom was kept.

It was early morning when they arrived, and many people had just gotten up and hadn't gone out yet. After Xi Fangping finished telling his story, everyone around who was able to work went to do their jobs, including Dou Xu's neighbors.

The beehive was placed in the vegetable garden in the backyard, without any walls to block it. Bees could be seen flying around from the outside, and it was very prosperous. However, they came not to check on the bees in the beehive, but to check if there were any snakes, rats or the like around.

The calamity that destroyed the bee kingdom was caused by a snake crawling into the beehive. These bees were not very capable. The beehive was like a fairyland, but from the outside, they were just an ordinary group of bees.

If a hole is made in the beehive, and a rat or snake crawls in, they're helpless.

As Juan Shoutian looked around, he walked past the fence of the vegetable garden. Several bees flew out of the garden and came to Juan Shoutian's side. Hearing the buzzing sound of their wings in his ear, Juan Shoutian turned his head and met the eyes of the bees.

Of course, "matching eyes" is just a figure of speech; in terms of their eye conditions, they don't match at all. Juan Shoutian raised his hand, and a bee landed on his fingertip.

The beehive inhabitants clearly recognized them, but based solely on the bees' appearance, they couldn't identify who they were from the banquet. After the bees landed, there was still a faint sound in their ears, but it was so small and indistinct that Juan Shoutian couldn't understand what it was saying.

Holding it like that was inconvenient, so he let a few bees land on his collar and continued his previous actions. The bees were small to begin with, and their color was quite similar to the color of Juan Shoutian's clothes, so they were barely visible when they landed.

"There really are snakes."

On the other side, Yuan Wuxiang caught a large snake that was over ten feet long. In the original story, the snake entered the beehive so quickly that it could be ruled out that a snake had come here while looking for food. It was more likely that there was a snake's nest around this vegetable garden.

Even after being caught, the snake was restless. No one likes being suddenly grabbed. Yuan Wuxiang grabbed it casually, without strictly following the rule of grabbing the snake at its vital spot. The snake tried to break free and bit the hand that was grabbing it.

What does it mean to have a snake that's over ten feet long? It's more than three meters long, or four meters if you round it up. If it's straight, it can fit two people on top of each other. For a non-python species, it's incredible that this creature could grow to this size in the wild. It might even be intelligent.

Even if a bite from this snake isn't venomous, it could cripple your hand. But unfortunately, this snake was unlucky today. Yuan Wuxiang's gloves weren't just for drawing blood; they were a pair of rare and powerful weapons. The person bitten didn't even feel anything, but the snake almost broke its own fangs.

The snake felt as if it had bitten a piece of iron, not a person. Its tail, which had been tightly wrapped around Yuan Wuxiang's arm, was now wracked with pain, causing it to lose some of the strength to wrap its tail around him.

"Why bite me of all people?"

Yuan Wuxiang chuckled. He dared to catch the snake so carelessly, naturally he had his reasons for not being careful. This snake was big, but it was just an ordinary snake. Of all people to bite, it had to bite his. He was already thankful that its fangs hadn't broken.

"To grow to this length, you must be quite intelligent, unable to distinguish between flesh and silver... Don't take it away, let me take another look."

The two searched separately. Juan Shoutian searched near the vegetable garden, while Yuan Wuxiang looked around the bushes. When he heard Yuan Wuxiang say that he had caught a snake, he went over to take a look.

Then, he saw the large snake tightly coiled around Yuan Wuxiang's arm and bite his hand that was holding the snake. The bees on his collar, which had been sitting obediently, suddenly felt as if the temperature around him had dropped.

However, this should not be the case. The feeling that Juan Shou Tian gave them was that he was a moving little sun. At the banquet last night, some people from the Bee Kingdom talked privately and wondered if Juan Shou Tian was really a golden crow. The Bee Kingdom lives and thrives in farmhouses and vegetable gardens, and they know very few legends. The only thing that matches Juan Shou Tian is the characteristics of the golden crow.

"This snake is ferocious and its size is unusual; we cannot keep it here any longer."

Just as Yuan Wuxiang was about to pry open the snake's mouth to take a look, Juan Shoutian had already arrived in front of him, pulled the biting snake off his arm, and precisely grabbed its vital spot.

However, when he grabbed the snake, he startled several bees on his collar, which are natural enemies of this type of snake that feeds on small rodents and insects.

"This size is already capable of harming people, so we might as well kill it."