Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

On the very night that Master Mu chose to deal with his business first, leaving his son on the ship and departing in style, the old woman reappeared, this time with Bai Qiulian, who was said to be ill from missing him.

The old woman left Bai Qiulian on the boat and departed. Now that Old Man Mu, who disapproved of the marriage, was not around, Bai Qiulian and Mu Changong had enough time to carefully cultivate their relationship.

Ling Ziling looked at the sandbar blocking the boat. Now that the boat couldn't move, her journey was also blocked. Moreover, this was on the water, and she had to consider whether the distance allowed her to go to other places.

She still remembered that there was a giant turtle in the water that could cause storms and damage ships. Now, several merchant ships had been blocked by Bai Qiulian's mother using sandbars. If a giant wave were to come from another direction, not only the ships and their cargo, but also the riverbank where they were moored would be affected.

As the old woman was leaving, Ling Ziling stood guard at the door and asked her if her actions would anger the giant turtle in the river and cause disaster.

After all, look, the surrounding area has been filled with sandbars that have emerged. If a giant turtle were to pass through here, it would be blocked by the sandbars. This ridiculously large amount of river sand is not only blocking merchant ships, but also the inhabitants in the water.

This is how this person responded.

"That giant turtle has a large body and a long lifespan, but its mental cultivation is weak. It only comes out to cause trouble when it smells fish. All it wants is to satisfy its hunger. The giant turtle will not care about this matter at all."

Or rather, the giant softshell turtle is not intelligent enough to realize that the river sand might block its way. It will only seek food based on instinct. If it sees an obstacle in front of it and there is no meat that can attract it, it will not necessarily go through it. It will simply turn around and take another path.

The giant softshell turtle is enormous, longer than a small boat, but it lacks intelligence and still thinks like a wild beast. Ordinary people would be afraid of it, but a cultivated and virtuous woman like the old woman is completely unafraid.

"I am getting old and now only care about my daughter's marriage. If you are really worried about the giant turtle causing trouble, there is a temple nearby that I have been making offerings to every year because I am afraid of the giant turtle. You can go there and take a look."

After saying this, the old woman left. Ling Ziling didn't want to be a third wheel for Bai Qiulian and Mu Changong, and she also wanted to go to the temple the old woman had mentioned to look for the giant turtle.

But she was initially invited by the Mu family to protect the goods. She didn't know how many monsters were in the water. Although Bai Qiulian was also a monster, her magic power was weak and she had basically no fighting ability. If anything came to cause trouble, she would have to deal with it herself.

"Let's wait until tomorrow during the day; things are more likely to go wrong at night."

Speaking of temples, Ling Ziling thought of the monks on another boat. Their boat was also stuck on a sandbar, and Ling Ziling decided to go and test them out.

That monk wasn't human either; it was unclear whether he was a demon or some other creature. She would try to make contact with him. If he was trying to infiltrate the crowd and do evil, she would deal with him first. If not, perhaps she could get rid of him and ask him to keep an eye on the safety of the Mu family ship while she was away.

Ling Ziling planned to make arrangements for tomorrow, but others thought differently. They had seen the monk jump off the boat several times under the moonlight, his feet gliding across the water and the sandbars as if on flat ground, and he walked right in front of Ling Ziling.

It seems she wasn't the only one trying to test the monk; she clearly had something to say as well. Previously, the distance between the two boats had prevented Ling Ziling from discerning that the other wasn't human. But after witnessing the monk's actions, she realized he was also connected to water.

This monk was even more special; he was neither a ghost nor a demon, but was full of spiritual energy, and unlike any other orthodox deity, he was quite unique.

……

Hu Wulang decisively betrayed his companion's whereabouts. Ren Yunzong then went to the city to find the drinking Shiyilang and learned the exact direction Ling Ziling had left. However, the merchant ships that Ling Ziling had taken were the last ones in recent days. If they were to travel by water again, it was unknown when the merchant ships would depart again, and the fishing boats could not travel that far.

Of course, one could also use the innate human method to directly transform into light and fly, but he only knew that Lingziling had taken the waterway, and did not know which ship he had boarded. If the other party deliberately hid and did not come out, it would be easy to miss him from above.

Ren Yunzong was unaware of the many unexpected events that had befallen Ling Ziling on this ship, and that even her journey had been blocked by her mother, who was concerned about her daughter's love life. He could catch up quickly by water, so he ultimately chose to pursue her by land.

Regarding the suspected curse on Ren Yunzong, the City God examined him and said that the White Lotus Sect sorcerers were able to control ghosts to harass him not because the opponents were particularly powerful, but because of the sorcerer who turned his disciple into a pig.

His plans were completely disrupted, and he couldn't escape even if he wanted to. Naturally, that guy hated Ren Yunzong to the core, but he didn't care about that. After ensuring that this matter was over, Ren Yunzong left gracefully, completely disregarding what the other party thought.

The reason Ren Yunzong was harassed was that the sorcerer used a curse-like method to mark him with a very slight mark, but it would be very obvious to his colleagues in the White Lotus Sect. Through this small mark, the members of the White Lotus Sect began to harass and retaliate against Ren Yunzong.

Logically speaking, Ren Yunzong is a "stranger" from outside the world, untouched by the karma of this place, so such methods should have no effect on him.

"This is not a cause or effect of hatred, but just a special mark, like someone putting a leaf in your hair. Others can see it, but you don't feel anything because the mark itself is harmless."

The newly appointed City God explained in a good-natured manner that many people had been harmed by this kind of magic, and that he had seen similar methods in his lifetime.

After further investigation, Ren Yunzong learned that this was a kind of code, mainly used by charlatans to swindle wealthy people. The most common application was to mark a target who was foolish and rich, and then the other companions would harass and intimidate that person to break down their psychological defenses, and then they would pretend to be supernatural to swindle money.

Ren Yunzong: ...Isn't this the kind of thing thieves use to scout out locations?

There is no harm at all. The sensation is similar to walking in the forest. My sleeve was scraped with burrs, but I never really noticed. Now that I know, I can just pick them off.

One has to admit that the things in the world of Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio are so stream-of-consciousness that you can easily get tricked if you're not careful enough because you're not idealistic enough.

There was another reason for choosing to travel by land: Ren Yunzong had discovered that the White Lotus Sect in the vicinity was becoming increasingly arrogant. If they encountered them, he wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson. After all, he had already made enemies with them, so he didn't care about adding a few more.

"Ugh……"

Looking at the dilapidated local temple and then at the villagers worshipping the White Lotus Sect monks not far away, Ren Yunzong never imagined they had become so arrogant.

Judging from the noisy sounds, this group seems to be called "Guangmu".

"Guangmu, Guangmu girl saves her mother."

Guangmu was the predecessor of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Unexpectedly, it was used by cultists as the name of a sect, but these people do not worship Ksitigarbha.

Ren Yunzong lifted the incense burner in front of the table. Although the local earth god temple was dilapidated, the various facilities were still in good condition, and one could vaguely see that the incense had once burned continuously. The statue was a common image of the earth god, but it was covered in dust and most of the color had faded due to lack of care.

There were no offerings, and it was unknown whether the local earth god was still there. Ren Yunzong simply straightened the messy table and found a relatively new cup, which was not a set with the one on the offering table. It seemed that someone had brought it over.

This is a wine glass. There is very little dust on the glass, so it looks like it was just thrown here recently. You can even smell the lingering aroma of wine if you get close.

The aroma of the wine was unique, somewhat similar to Shaoxing wine, but lighter, with a fruity fragrance. If Ren Yunzong had to describe it, he felt it was like...

"Japanese sake?"

Ren Yunzong frowned. The Japanese pirates were rampant on the coast, and merchants rarely went to Japan when they went out to sea. How could there be Japanese wine in this place?

But upon closer examination, the White Lotus Sect was a mixed group, ranging from high-ranking officials and nobles to impoverished commoners. It wouldn't be surprising if a few Japanese people had infiltrated it.

The various White Lotus sects were among the main forces behind popular rebellions. If other countries intended to interfere, sending people to infiltrate the White Lotus sect was an option, although it was somewhat of a risky move.

After all, the imperial court didn't care where you came from when it suppressed the White Lotus Sect. They either beheaded you or arrested you. The interrogation was only for the high-ranking members who were arrested.

The chaotic noise outside grew louder and louder. This was no longer a simple missionary effort. Ren Yunzong planned to meet this sorcerer. If he could deal with him in front of everyone, the villagers' blind worship of him should cool down.

At the center, surrounded by villagers, was a wooden platform with burning torches around it, resembling an altar. Several people stood in the center of the platform, while noisy villagers mingled below.

In this chaotic atmosphere, Ren Yunzong walked out of the earth god temple. The people on the altar were chanting strange incantations, probably to summon something, such as the yaksha or demons he had seen before, or giants.

To be honest, it's very inconvenient to take action in the current situation. The villagers are clustered together, making it easy to accidentally injure them. Ren Yunzong doesn't want any additional casualties.

"What are these people doing!"

An angry voice broke through the crowd. Ren Yunzong turned his head and saw an old gentleman dressed as a Confucian scholar, with a carriage and attendants behind him. Seeing the old man running forward angrily, Ren Yunzong guessed that the man had gotten off the carriage after seeing the chaotic dance of demons ahead.

"The cults in the South are so rampant, I..."

"Please wait a moment, sir."

Good heavens, he's got a short temper. Ren Yunzong noticed that this man wanted to rush forward and quickly stopped him. He sensed that the old man's emotions were a bit off; he was too impatient, and upon closer inspection, he had dark circles under his eyes, indicating that he hadn't had much rest.

"I will come."

At this moment, a huge phantom appeared on the altar. It was a grotesque yaksha demon. Ren Yunzong realized that this was another illusion, and it was the familiar trick of the White Lotus Sect sorcerers.

Since it was just a trick, it didn't have much offensive power, so Ren Yunzong didn't need to worry about the spell accidentally injuring anyone. He stepped forward and climbed onto the platform. Suddenly, there was another person in the platform. The mage was confused, the enthusiastic villagers below were also confused, and the old man further away was also confused.

After all, he hadn't even seen what the person who grabbed him looked like before the next second, the person was on the altar, as if he had seen a ghost.

Before the man could react, Ren Yunzong swiftly subdued him. Learning from his previous experience, this time he not only used acupressure points but also promptly sealed his mouth, eliminating any possibility of the other party resorting to underhanded tactics.

These White Lotus Sect shamans were fragile in close combat. Ren Yunzong knelt in the center of the platform and could pin them down with one hand. Seeing their leader captured, the others were eager to run away.

There was no way to run away. Ren Yunzong threw the Wuhuan Flute in his hand. The flute spun in the air like a top, hitting the knees of the other people. The last one fell down on the platform. None of them managed to escape.

The person who cast the spell was captured, and the phantom of the Yaksha demon in the air collapsed. The originally fanatical villagers were terrified and fled in all directions when they saw this sudden change.

In the blink of an eye, the chaotic and frenzied atmosphere of worship vanished, leaving only a mess. Below the stage, only the old man, who was still in shock, and his even more bewildered attendants remained.

Finally, it was this somewhat impatient old man who called for help to tie up these cult members for Ren Yunzong. Before their mouths were sealed, they heard them shout "Asura King," which aroused Ren Yunzong's suspicion.

Asura King, which Asura King? Is it the Asura King he's thinking of?

As Ren Yunzong frowned in thought, the old man who had been stopped earlier was also sizing him up. Ren Yunzong's appearance was too striking, reminding him of some rumors he had heard during his trip south.

"Han Xiangzi manifests to fight the giant demon?"

"...My name is Ren Yunzong, and I am merely a cultivator."

This matter is far from over.

“I have some connections with the local government offices, so I can help the Taoist priest with this.”

From that move just now, it's clear that Ren Yunzong is a skilled practitioner. Coincidentally, what he's about to do requires someone with both skill and ability, so the old gentleman chose to take the initiative to show goodwill.

The old gentleman dressed as a scholar was surnamed Zhang and was known as Mr. Zhang. He was from Shanxi and had originally come south to prepare a dowry for his daughter, but now he was only here to seek revenge.

“A giant turtle is causing trouble in the rivers here. It rises to the surface whenever it smells meat, capsizing boats on the water. My poor wife and daughter have all perished in the water!”

Old Master Zhang doted on his daughter and personally brought his family to Jiangnan to prepare her dowry. When they crossed the river, he heard about the giant turtle in the river and warned his family not to cook meat dishes on the boat.

He had to leave midway, and when he returned, he found that his wife and daughter were gone. Only the wreckage of the original boat remained on the water. Some people who were good swimmers managed to escape. Only then did Old Master Zhang realize that the giant turtle had caused the chaos, destroyed the boat, and that the people had probably become its meal.

At this point, whether his family forgot his instructions to fry the fish on the boat or it was for some other reason, it didn't matter anymore. All Old Master Zhang wanted now was to avenge his wife and daughter.

He heard that a nearby temple had dealt with the giant turtle, so he planned to ask the monks in the temple how to deal with it. Old Master Zhang was filled with resentment and naturally couldn't sleep well. He wished he could fly over immediately and kill the giant turtle.

Old Master Zhang would pass by here on his journey. Seeing the chaotic and noisy surroundings, unlike the usual commotion in a village, he thought he would come and see what was going on, and also ask in detail about the temple and the giant turtle.

As it turned out, they stumbled upon a cult proselytizing scene. Mr. Zhang, whose mental state was already precarious, didn't think about running away, but instead charged forward, leading to the following scene.

"So, according to you, the giant turtle has been harming people for many years, yet no one has managed to subdue it?"

Ren Yunzong had seen Dragon King Temples along the way. The giant turtle's actions were like dancing on the head of the Jiangzhong Dragon King, yet it did nothing and let the turtle harm the people.

Find someone to pause the operation and deal with that harmful giant turtle first.