Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio, but Thunderbolt Taoist Sect

Is this also in your spring outing plans?

Jian Feidao's gaze fell on the notebook in Ren Pingsheng's hand. They had been taking notes as they traveled, noting down everything from the beautiful scenery and unique cultural features to the legends of treasures, and even what kind of grass should not be touched by the roadside. He felt that Ren Pingsheng was writing a natural history book.

The idea of ​​foxes and humans fighting in groups has completely crossed the line of "tourist attraction." It's a large-scale melee between humans and demons, and it's not suitable for watching at all.

"For us, everything here is unknown, so we should just look at what we can and remember what we can."

Ren Pingsheng stood up, put away his paper and pen, and picked up his jade bamboo cane again. This emerald green cane was one of the few bright colors on his body. It looked like a bamboo hiking stick. The head of the cane was very peculiar, shaped like the head of some kind of animal, with a maple leaf-shaped pendant in its mouth.

During the conversation, someone asked if the staff head was modeled after a snake's head, to which the answer was no. According to Ren Pingsheng, the shape of his staff head was modeled after the head of a chameleon.

Unfortunately, there was no chameleon species in the Central Plains. The people had never seen one, and they did not know that this "dragon" was not the kind of dragon they imagined. Therefore, they could only stare at the upper part of the jade bamboo staff and rack their brains to figure out what kind of dragon could look like this.

Ren Pingsheng didn't explain much, just enjoyed seeing them so distressed. Actually, there was another lizard that looked similar, but that species lived in the far south and few people had seen it.

"As the saying goes, traveling ten thousand miles, seeing ten thousand sights, and hearing ten thousand stories will give you something to talk about with your friends in the future."

“Travelers should know that we are only staying temporarily.”

Even if he memorized so much information and planned all sorts of tour routes, Ren Pingsheng would have very little chance of bringing people back to visit, or even any chance at all.

To this world, they are merely passersby. They are making a big fuss now, dealing with monsters, gods, and ghosts, but once everyone leaves, they will likely be forgotten very soon.

"Even if it's temporary, I should always keep it in mind, as a travelogue, or as a reference when explaining it to my friends in the future. I am very professional."

Ren Pingsheng didn't care about this. He had figured out why there were two City Gods here, and he had also decided where to go next. So, what followed was a trip that he could take on a whim.

He put his arm around Jian Feidao's shoulder and waved his arm at the other seated people, causing the maple leaf decoration on the jade bamboo staff to sway along with him.

"The rest of the wine can be divided among you fellow villagers as payment for this story."

In fact, given the nature of this world, after hearing the folk tales, they could go directly to the City God Temple and find the ghost messengers there to learn what happened. If the two City Gods were in a good mood, they could even interview the parties involved.

But from what I've heard so far, the two City Gods have a history of conflict and have different governing philosophies. They argue every three days and have a major argument every month, so they probably don't have the mood or the good temper to talk about the past.

Because there are two City Gods in charge at the same time, one of whom is upright and incorruptible, there are very few monsters causing trouble and harming the people. At most, they may see ghosts and be frightened, but they rarely suffer torment or face life-threatening dangers. It is a peaceful place.

With everything so peaceful, there was naturally nothing else to see. The biggest attraction here was the two City Gods who were worshipped at the same time. Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao knew that their appearances were not suitable for staying any longer, so they chose to leave decisively.

So, can't you go back to how you used to be?

As they walked along the road, Ren Ping asked Jian Feidao a question. Both of them had white hair, which was quite eye-catching, especially Jian Feidao, whose robes were inlaid with gold and armor, and whose Taoist crown stood tall. He looked like an immortal, making people feel cold and unapproachable.

If they could change into Jian Feidao's appearance, the team would not only have one less white-haired character, but with a bamboo hat and a chivalrous outfit, they wouldn't stand out too much at first glance. If it were the real Jian Feidao, then there's no way to change back. His hair turned white overnight due to some experience, but they are disguises created by the system. Changing from Jian Feidao to Jian Feidao is just a simple skin change.

Furthermore, if the plot is set against a family-friendly backdrop, certain experiences will not occur, or the story will not end in tragedy.

"No."

It wasn't that he couldn't, but that he didn't have any. Ren Pingsheng understood that his true form didn't possess any swords or sabers at all.

"If I were to change my appearance, what would you do, pilgrim?"

Jian Feidao asked, "If he really changes, then the only one with the conspicuous white hair will be Ren Pingsheng."

"That's easy to say."

Ren Pingsheng touched his chin, his tone relaxed.

"I'll put on a beard then."

His attire was originally a casual and retro style, which was different from the everyday clothes here, but it didn't make Ren Pingsheng look like some kind of celestial being. It wouldn't feel out of place for him to have a white beard and say that he was an old gentleman who liked to travel and enjoy nature.

Besides, he has a daughter and a nephew, and his nephew is quite grown up. The next generation is about to be born, so Ren Pingsheng is practically a grandfather.

"It's a pity that Xiu'er didn't come along, otherwise she would have been a helper on this trip."

The two could have used their light-footed skills to travel, but they chose to walk instead. This was Ren Pingsheng's suggestion, because they wanted to be able to discover new scenery or encounter new stories at any time.

This is a place teeming with supernatural beings and strange phenomena; perhaps there's an entrance to a "Peach Blossom Spring" somewhere along the way.

For various reasons, they didn't take the main road but instead took a forest path. Jian Feidao looked around at the scenery, which resembled a small grove of trees. Rather than discovering new scenery, he felt that this place was more likely to lead to new accidents.

Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao's intuition was correct. They soon encountered a small incident. As evening approached, they heard a rolling sound, which was getting closer and closer.

"There is something."

Realizing something was approaching, the two stopped. The rolling sound grew closer, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps.

Along with these, there was also a random shouting sound. The person shouting seemed to be constantly being stopped, and the shouting was intermittent and it was impossible to hear what they were saying.

"Ouch, ouch!"

As the bushes swayed, the answer was quickly revealed: a head rolled out, shouting. They were walking on a hillside path, which happened to be a slope, and the head rolled right in front of them at a considerable speed.

Then came the sound of footsteps, followed by a headless body running out, its arms outstretched as if trying to grab something, chasing after the head that had rolled past, and running right past the two of them.

"..."

Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao looked at each other, both speechless. This scene had completely baffled them. A head was rolling around in front of them, yelling, while a headless human body chased after it. The scene was both terrifying and hilarious.

"Hey you over there, help me... Ouch!"

Because his head kept rolling forward, the world in his vision was constantly spinning. He couldn't see who had just passed by, only two blurry white figures. He didn't know how long it would take for his body to keep chasing like this, and his head rolling on the ground was really uncomfortable, so he quickly called for help from the two people on the roadside.

"Okay, okay, I'm here."

Seeing that this guy didn't seem to be doing anything evil, and that his head was rolling around like that was really inappropriate, Ren Pingsheng flashed in front of the head and thrust his jade bamboo staff downwards, stopping the rolling head.

The moment the head stopped, the body that had been chasing after it quickly grabbed it, patted the dust off its hair, and placed it on its neck, finally making it a complete person again.

"Oh, this was so exhausting."

God knows how long his head had been spinning; his brain was buzzing. Luckily, he'd been dead for a long time, otherwise, after all that spinning, he'd probably be vomiting until he was completely disoriented.

"ghost?"

Ren Pingsheng looked at the person again and again, and finally determined that this was not a monster, but a person who had been dead for a long time. The head and body being separated probably meant that the person's cause of death was beheading.

"It's a ghost."

Jian Feidao stood behind, his eyes flashing for a fleeting moment, thus confirming Ren Pingsheng's judgment. It was already dusk, and the yang energy was gradually waning; it was normal for ghosts to emerge.

The way it appears is so peculiar: the head is running in front, and the body is chasing behind.

"Of course I'm a ghost, aren't you two?"

At this moment, the "headless ghost" was still seeing things. His head had indeed been rolling for a long time, and he saw double. Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao were just two blurry white shadows in front of him, looking like two drifting ghosts.

"Of course not, we are 100% alive."

Ren Pingsheng stretched out his jade bamboo staff and waved the tip of the staff in front of the other party's eyes a few times. He also found that this ghost brother's eyesight was not very good at the moment. Judging from the momentum of rolling out just now, if he were a living person, he would at least have a concussion.

"To be precise, I am a wandering traveler, and the man next to me is a Taoist priest."

"Huh? A Taoist priest?! Where? There's no Taoist priest here!"

If he had only said that the other party was a Taoist, the other party would have had to react for a while. But Ren Pingsheng directly said that Jian Feidao was a Taoist, which scared the still dizzy ghost back to reality.

His reaction seemed a bit too intense, as if he were facing not a Taoist priest, but some kind of ferocious beast.

"...Am I scary?"

"No, I guess it's the Taoist priest who's more likely to scare ghosts."

As a ghost, it's normal to be afraid of Taoist priests; Ren Pingsheng found it quite amusing to tease them like this.

"Don't get so agitated, we're just passing by. As long as you're not harming anyone... Oh dear, you haven't done anything wrong, have you?"

"No, no, no, that's not true!"

Now he was completely awake, his eyes were no longer blurry and his head was no longer dizzy. He finally saw clearly what kind of people were the two who had helped him catch up with his head. They looked and sounded like young people, but they both had white hair. He had been a ghost for a while and knew that people with this kind of appearance were either powerful beings or immortals. He should run away as fast as he could.

"Look how hard it is for me to chase after a head, how could I possibly have the ability to do evil? If I fall down, the head will just fly away."

That's exactly what happened to him. He just didn't see where he was going and tripped. He fell hard and his head came off too. He rolled down the mountain path and just rolled past the two of them.

"Thank you both so much for your help. If you want to get out of the mountains, just keep going along this road. I have an appointment here, so I'll have to go now..."

Realizing that the two people opposite him were not ordinary, the ghost brother, while holding his head to prevent it from falling off again due to an accident, retreated backward at an extremely fast speed. Before he finished speaking, the ghost had disappeared without a trace.

This was just a minor incident. The two realized that the ghost was not an evil one. Since it was getting late, they decided to find a place to rest and leave at dawn.

It's not that the two of them couldn't walk at night, but considering their conspicuous appearance, there was nowhere to put their feet if they actually went out. Just imagine, two people with white hair and white clothes walking on a road with almost no lighting at night. If they didn't encounter anyone, it would be fine, but if they did, they were afraid of scaring the person on the other side.

So not walking at night isn't for your own sake, it's for the sake of others.

Knowing that there would be people not far ahead, the two were not in a hurry. Halfway there, they found a dilapidated temple and decided to stay there for the night.

But things didn't go as planned. A merchant who came out to do business also arrived at the place that night, a little later than the two. He had come out alone, and now it was nighttime in a dilapidated temple. As expected, he was startled when he saw two white figures in the dark.

"...I really should get a mustache."

While comforting the frightened merchant, Ren Pingsheng pondered the feasibility of disguising himself as an old man by applying a beard.

"I don't think it's a matter of whether or not one has a beard."

Jian Feidao held a candlestick in his hand, and the warm firelight made the surroundings less gloomy. The firelight shone on the two of them, indirectly telling the merchant that there were shadows under their feet, indicating that they were living people, not ghosts.

"We were really just passing by. We're neither monsters nor ghosts. Look, we have shadows, and this man over here is a Taoist cultivator, a direct descendant of the Supreme Lord, in other words, a disciple of Laozi..."

“Traveler, the inheritance of the Supreme Palace is not calculated in this way.”

If he wasn't interrupted, Jian Feidao was afraid that Ren Pingsheng would say something outrageous. He only dared to talk like this because the two great seniors, Tianji and Dixian, weren't here. Mixing up the two Laozis would cause trouble.

"Isn't this just to prove we're good people? And there's nothing wrong with saying it this way, is there?"

"No, the problem is huge."

After several explanations, the merchant finally believed that he had not seen a ghost, but had just encountered two rather special people, one of whom seemed to be a very powerful Taoist priest, and that he did not need to worry about his safety.

In terms of clothing and appearance, he felt that both of them looked quite intimidating.

The merchant was from a nearby town and was out discussing business. He took a shortcut in his haste, but misjudged the distance and failed to get out of the mountains before dark. He had no choice but to stay in this dilapidated temple for the time being.

He was already a little scared being alone, and feeling a chill in the wind along the way, he was startled when he suddenly saw two white figures. Thank goodness they were alive, thank goodness they were alive.

"Speaking of the cold wind, it's understandable to feel this way when the night is dark and the mountain wind is blowing."

Judging from the decapitated ghost encountered earlier, the yin energy on this mountain road is quite heavy. The sun hasn't even completely set yet, and this ghost can still run out so brazenly. The merchant's feeling was actually correct.

Tonight was destined to be no quiet night, because soon, several more people appeared together, carrying wine and food, laughing and joking as they headed towards the temple. Ren Pingsheng and Jian Feidao both recognized one of them; he was the headless ghost who had been chasing after the head earlier.

Upon closer inspection, good heavens, all four or five of them were ghosts! This was truly a case of "seeing a ghost."