Fifteenth, The Two Elements and the Four Symbols, Part Three
Although the two had met once before, Mingjin still didn't know how to respond upon seeing Daoxin. He simply opened the courtyard gate and invited Daoxin into the courtyard. Usually, he was always greeting guests with his elders and other disciples, and rarely faced strangers alone, so Mingjin didn't notice anything strange. However, when facing Daoxin directly, Mingjin had no strategy he could rely on from his past interactions.
"Thank you for your help in the woods that day."
Upon entering, there was a courtyard, but the magnolia trees in the garden were still shedding their leaves, so it was not advisable to sit for long at the round stone table under the trees. In the center of the main hall, which connected to the courtyard, stood a square wooden table surrounded by four other tables, with a set of blue and white tea utensils placed on the upper left. Mingjin invited Daoxin to sit at the square table and poured him a cup of tea.
Dao Xin's height was not much different from Ming Jin's, but no matter what angle Ming Jin looked from, from all sides, even when he secretly glanced at her while pouring tea, he still couldn't tell whether she was male or female. Her voice was also somewhere between the sexes, and her behavior was dignified and polite, but it didn't reveal any particular characteristics of the person.
She didn't know if she could ask that.
"You're not fully recovered yet, sit down with me," Daoxin said with a smile, looking at Mingjin. "It seems you have many questions. Feel free to ask, and I'll answer them to the best of my ability."
"Thank you," Mingjin said, sitting down opposite Daoxin. "That day in the forest, in just a moment, the evil spirit was driven away or exorcised, giving me a chance to live. The elders who treated me all said that I was on the verge of death that day. I will definitely repay this life-saving grace."
"You really did die that day."
Mingjin was thinking about what to say when he heard Daoxin's gentle tone, so he calmed down and listened carefully. He didn't expect Daoxin to say something like that, which stunned Mingjin.
"Senior... what does this mean?"
Reminded by Dao Xin, Ming Jin carefully recalled his remaining vague memories.
She remembered being on the verge of losing consciousness, overwhelmed by pain, until Dao Xin's hand touched her, and the pain subsided. Like a breath of air obtained while suffocating, although it couldn't completely revive her, without that breath to prolong her life, she would have had no chance of escaping death.
"What did you do?" Mingjin asked tremblingly.
"Before you ask, perhaps I should say a few more words about myself," Dao Xin said with a smile. "I am not like you, a human. I am a messenger, traveling between the human world and the underworld. This identity grants me special abilities, which is why I can bring the dead back to life. That's why I was able to save you from that evil spirit."
"Did you exorcise that evil spirit?" Mingjin was also very concerned about this question.
"No. I don't have the ability to exorcise the evil spirit. To be precise, I used my abilities to change your fate at that moment, making the evil spirit let you go and giving you a second chance."
"You don't have the ability to exorcise evil spirits?" Mingjin asked incredulously, jumping up from his stool in agitation. "Aren't evil spirits the souls of people who crawled back from the underworld? If you really are a messenger from the underworld, why can't you capture them all and take them back? That way, no one would get hurt! In the end, why did you let the souls escape from the underworld?"
"The birth of the evil spirits," Dao Xin said in a deep voice, looking at Ming Jin's excited face, "is beyond our control. Don't be like that, sit down and let me explain. Evil spirits are formed from souls carrying obsessions and different powers acquired in the underworld. The key is that these souls tore open a hole in the originally intact wall of the underworld. Then, one after another, the souls found their way and ran out of the underworld. When we discovered this, quite a few souls had already escaped, and we were unsure of the number of cracks. More importantly, we currently do not have the ability to repair these cracks."
"What?" Ming Jin had forgotten the proper humility towards his savior and roared at him.
"To be precise, we still don't know how to repair these cracks," Dao Xin said, seeing Ming Jin's face turn red with anger. He quickly placed his unopened teacup in front of Ming Jin so she could drink some water and calm down. "Although we live in the underworld, and in your eyes we may be gods or something, the underworld wasn't created by us. For example, if one day Mount Kongyun suddenly cracked open from its summit and split in two, what way would you cultivators living in it have to restore the mountain?"
“You’re supposed to be gods, after all. How can you use things that are beyond our human control as an analogy to justify yourselves?” Mingjin asked grimly. “So you’re just going to leave it at that?”
“The good news is,” Mingjin’s words struck Daoxin directly, causing him to pause, “we’ve found an old immortal in the Heavenly Realm. She was also deeply worried about us when she learned of this, and felt that if this matter wasn’t handled properly, the Underworld would face divine retribution. So she’s trying to find a way to repair the cracks. But repairing this will take time. To prevent evil spirits from running rampant in the mortal realm and attracting the attention of the gods in the Upper Realm, the old immortal has instructed us to travel between the mortal realm and the Underworld to reduce the number of escaped souls and protect you cultivators who are spontaneously resisting evil spirits.”
"Divine retribution?" Ming Jin seized on Dao Xin's excuse, not taking it seriously at all. But after calming down a bit, he asked, "Why can't you just exorcise the evil spirits directly?"
"Because I can only come into contact with people and their souls," Dao Xin sighed. "The spells you cultivators use to exorcise evil spirits were learned from the heavens by highly skilled plant spirits. Those spells are no longer pure divine spells, but spells combined with human wisdom can more accurately deal with the evil spirits wandering in the human world."
“That means that the magic of the heavens can exorcise evil spirits,” Mingjin thought carefully. “But you also said that you are afraid of divine retribution, so you delayed in order to avoid responsibility, which has led to the spread of evil spirits in the human world to this day.”
"Whether celestial magic can be used, I don't know, nor do we possess pure divine power to fight against evil spirits. After learning about the cultivators' magic, that old immortal felt that the exorcism could be entrusted to you, so he instructed us to focus on the affairs of the underworld. To prevent a break in communication with the human world, he specifically chose an unknown minor deity, such as myself, to serve as the messenger. After all, one of the reasons why evil spirits run rampant is because 'a day in heaven is a year on earth.' We only delayed for a small period of time for ourselves, but as a result, we caused so much trouble in the human world."
"Are you sure you can clean up this mess?"
"The evil spirits are a problem, but fortunately, we know how to expose them. I've been trying to patch up the cracks in the underworld, and with the help of the old immortals, we'll definitely be able to solve it in the future," Dao Xin said. "It just requires all cultivators to persevere until the day it ends."
Hearing this, Mingjin involuntarily let out a sigh to ease her gloomy mood. The matter was very complicated, and she couldn't even fully understand it in a short time, but she suddenly thought of something else, which was something she should have asked from the beginning: "So, what brings you to me today?"
"Although you thanked me for saving you, my act of saving you was not simply out of kindness."
"What do you mean?" Ming Jin suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. Just when he was about to die, he had fallen into another trap. "You're taking advantage of my misfortune?"
“I told you before, I am an envoy, sent by the old immortal to protect you cultivators,” Dao Xin said. “However, because the immortals in the underworld each have their own positions, they took over my original duties in exchange for me being able to walk in the mortal world. This also means that the so-called envoy is actually just me.”
"What?" Ming Jin stood up from the stool in surprise. "Just you? Do you know how big the world is? There are countless evil spirits in this world, and even we cultivators cannot eliminate them all in a hundred years. And you're the only one?"
“Of course I know,” Dao Xin waved his hand again, gesturing for Ming Jin to sit down first. “We’ve thought of another way to remedy this.”
"What?" Upon hearing this, Ming Jin realized that the so-called underworld and heavenly realm were not some kind of immortal beings that could be completely relied upon. Therefore, his expectations dropped considerably, and he couldn't help but rest his chin on his hand and stare at Dao Xin, wondering what other unexpected and absurd things he would say.
"After reviewing the Book of Life and Death, we will select some promising cultivators to change their original fate of dying young, ensuring they live to be a hundred, so that they can better protect the people of the mortal world," Dao Xin pointed to Zhi Jin, "You are the cultivator I have recently selected."
Ming Jin frowned, and the corner of his mouth twitched involuntarily: "That's absurd."
“You can’t refuse me,” Dao Xin smiled, but Ming Jin saw something else behind that smile. “Because you are alive now only because I changed your fate in the Book of Life and Death. This is my sincerity in asking for your help. If you refuse me, you will be reporting to the King of Hell right now. I haven’t seen him in a long time, so please remember to give him my regards.”
Although she felt uneasy and realized that there might be other reasons why she had survived, Mingjin still mustered her courage and said, "Even if you say that, what evidence do you have to prove that everything you said is true? You're just making empty promises now, aren't you? Can you really let me die once, and then bring me back after I've spoken to the King of Hell?"
"After all, we were in the wrong first, so I can add another benefit."
Dao Xin extended a finger, and Ming Jin stared intently at Dao Xin's face, wondering what else he would say next.
"From today onward, if you encounter a situation where you must risk your life, do it boldly, and I will guarantee your safety. To avoid suspicion, you may suffer some minor cuts and bruises. At that time, you will have accepted my invitation, and then we can discuss your role as an envoy."
However, Mingjin did not take these words seriously.
“If you can’t be trusted, then I’ll really be dead,” Mingjin frowned, and because he had been frowning for so long, he felt his whole face starting to ache. “It’s a matter of life and death, how can you believe casual gossip?”
“That’s true,” Dao Xin said, feeling that he had said enough and that Ming Jin still didn’t quite trust him. He got up and poured himself a cup of tea. “I have had some exchanges with cultivators in the past, so I am naturally willing to give you some time to think. If I am forced to do this, it cannot last long.”
"Didn't you want to find a cultivator to act as your envoy?" Ming Jin asked, still seated, looking at Dao Xin who was drinking tea. "If that's true, wouldn't my refusal to agree mean there's still danger outside? How can you be so leisurely drinking tea?"
“It’s very simple,” Dao Xin said slowly, savoring the aftertaste of the tea. “Because I asked more than just you to help me.”
"Who else?" Mingjin asked without thinking.
“You won’t meet them,” Dao Xin smoothed the tea with the lid. “I’ve reviewed the Book of Life and Death of all those chosen, making sure their lives don’t overlap at all. After all, if these people met, who knows what trouble they might cause.”
“Then you still have no proof. How did the other cultivators trust you?” Ming Jin sighed, feeling utterly helpless. She looked up at the sky outside and suddenly thought of something more important, so she asked, “There’s one more thing. How did you get in? There’s a barrier outside Kongyun Mountain. You didn’t do anything to it, did you?”
"I know you don't approve of me right now, but don't accuse me of anything," Dao Xin said with a smile. "Those little things are nothing to me. Although I'm not a big name among the immortals, I'm still a minor deity, and dealing with these things is a piece of cake for me. I didn't break the barrier, so there's nothing to worry about."
“Instead of showing off your supernatural powers in front of us ordinary people, you should think about how to exorcise evil spirits yourself,” Ming Jin said. As she spoke, Dao Xin casually placed a teacup on the table in front of Ming Jin. Ming Jin glanced down slightly and her eyes widened at a new discovery. “What’s wrong with your hand?”
Upon hearing this, Dao Xin raised his right hand and found that his right wrist was still normal, but his hand had turned into five dark green to brownish branches. When he raised his left hand, he found that his left hand had also become like this.
"Ah," Dao Xin said, slightly surprised, "I'm not very good at transformation techniques yet, so I learned a trick from the flower and plant spirits, but I still often make mistakes. You humans use your fingers a lot, so it's easy to imitate a hand that looks the same, but it's more difficult to make the hand perform the same functions. That's why there are flaws. I've been learning for quite a while, and now only my hands often have problems. The rest of my body should be fine, right?"
"I have one more thing," Dao Xin said, glancing at Ming Jin and indicating that she should speak freely. "Is the form you've created a male or female?"
"I haven't decided yet," Dao Xin said. "In our underworld, there's no real distinction between men and women. It would be nice to take on a male form like King Yama, but I'm also tempted to take on a female form like that old deity in the heavens. Since I can't decide, I've put the matter aside and chosen an androgynous face. To me, it's just a matter of appearance; you can take whatever you want from me."
“Is that so?” Mingjin was speechless, not expecting such a consideration. “In my eyes, you are a woman. It’s settled then.”
"Alright then." Dao Xin also felt it wasn't a big deal.
"There's one more thing. How did your letter get delivered? And was your name chosen by a deity?"
"Just leave the letter on your desk. I can come and go as I please," Dao Xin recalled. "As for the name, I was planning to find a few suitable words in your human classics, but since I didn't understand them very well, I only looked at the first few pages and found two words that looked good to me. Not bad, right?"
“It’s not bad, is it?” Mingjin replied.
"I'll head back now. When the opportunity arises in the future, we will surely meet again."
“I don’t really want to see you again,” Ming Jin said, following Dao Xin as he got up and walked out of the courtyard to see the guest off. “From what you’re saying, it seems like my life is in danger again.”
“Then I am truly an ominous sign for you,” Dao Xin smiled at Ming Jin, standing in the middle of the courtyard. “One last thing: do not speak of me to anyone around you. You cannot utter a single word about my existence. The language and writing among you humans are for conversing and discussing matters among the masses; they cannot be used to discuss the true nature of a minor god.”
“I would never talk about you with anyone,” Mingjin frowned in distress. “To me, you are not a qualified deity at all.”
After saying that, Dao Xin, who had been standing in the middle of the courtyard, disappeared. Perhaps she used some kind of magic she mentioned, because Ming Jin couldn't find a trace of Dao Xin, nor could he find any other clues.
Once the Daoist mind disappeared, the courtyard returned to its original silence.
However, Mingjin suddenly had an idea. She used magic to summon Yazi and tried to discuss it with him. However, Yazi was still angry after being scolded by Shaojie, and as Daoxin said, Yazi was unable to know about the little god's affairs. So, after Mingjin mumbled that she had informed him, Yazi became uncontrollable and disappeared.
"He's small in stature, but has a big temper," Mingjin said helplessly.
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