Chapter 41 Li Liuyun: "Not a ghost, but a wronged spirit."
"Bing'er, Bing'er." The old grandmother walked into the room carrying the brewed medicine. "A Taoist priest has come outside. He said he's looking for Ya Ren."
Upon hearing this, Lu Bing immediately stood up: "Oh right, I almost forgot."
Zhou Yaren's thoughts were interrupted, and she looked up to ask, "Which Taoist priest?"
Lu Bingdao said, "The cultivators from Taihang Road arrived in Beiqu last night and spent most of the day at the yamen today, inquiring about all the strange things that have happened in the past few days. Among them is a young cultivator named Liu Yunzi. He initially asked the county magistrate about you. As luck would have it, I told him that you were recuperating at my house, and he said he would come to visit you after he finished his work."
"Liu Yun actually came." Zhou Yaren immediately tried to get out of bed, but Lu Bing pressed her back down by her shoulders.
"Don't make a fuss, I'll go and invite him in."
Zhou Yaren shook her head: "No, that's against etiquette."
Lu Bing couldn't understand: "What's wrong with the etiquette? It's not the head of the Taihang Dao sect, just a greenhorn, why is he acting so high and mighty?"
The old grandmother also came with a bowl of medicine to persuade him: "Yes, Yaren, you must be careful with your wound. You can't get out of bed and walk around casually. Drink this bowl of medicine first, and then let Bing'er invite that Taoist priest in."
As they were talking, Old Man Lu respectfully accompanied Li Liuyun into the house.
The young cultivator was dressed in white, with a refined and handsome face. His striking features exuded an innate coldness, giving him a sense of aloofness that kept people at a distance, yet he possessed an extraordinary air about him. His tone of voice was also devoid of warmth, as if he were born superior to others. He addressed him by his name immediately upon arrival: "Tingfengzhi".
Lu Bing, lacking any sense of propriety, said, "Young Taoist priest, please wait a moment and let him drink this bowl of medicine first..."
"Lu Bing!" Old Master Lu said sternly, "Don't be rude."
"Huh?" Lu Bing was confused. How had he been rude? "No, Father..."
Li Liuyun spoke up: "I would like to speak with Tingfengzhi alone. I would appreciate it if you could do me that."
Old Man Lu quickly agreed, "Of course." He then winked at Lu Bing, who was standing there bewildered, and said, "Lu Bing, Mother, let's go out first."
"Oh, oh, well..." The old grandmother, sensing the situation, nodded repeatedly, handed the medicine to Zhou Yaren, and whispered a reminder: "Yaren, remember to drink the medicine while it's hot."
Zhou Yaren replied, "Thank you, Grandmother."
"Alright then." Lu Bing nodded and had no choice but to pick up his remaining bowl of noodles and go out to eat.
After the three left the room, Zhou Yaren placed the medicine bowl on the table beside her, intending to greet them politely: "Your Highness..."
"No need for such formalities, just focus on recovering."
"I didn't expect His Highness to come in person."
"I have already entered the Daoist sect, there is no need to address you as Your Highness."
“Hmm.” Zhou Yaren readily changed her address, “Young friend Liuyun.”
He asked with cold concern, "How did you get injured? And so badly?"
“I encountered a water monster,” Zhou Yaren said succinctly. “A monstrous creature appeared in the river.”
A look of surprise flashed across Li Liuyun's usually calm face: "What?!"
"You must already know about the strange things that have happened in Beiqu recently. Those funeral processions that suddenly came back to life were caused by the Wangxiang."
“How could a monstrous creature appear out of nowhere in the river—” Li Liuyun suddenly stopped, as if he had just thought of something. “The walls and buildings of the Northern Qu Ghost Office are in ruins, the restrictions that were once placed on the Taihang Road have been completely destroyed, almost a layer of the land has been shoveled away, most of the foundation stone is exposed, and the crisscrossing cracks have spread for almost three miles.” The widest part of the crack is big enough for an adult man to fall into, and it is bottomless, as if it has experienced a cataclysmic disaster. According to the local people, a cataclysmic disaster of being struck by lightning did indeed occur here that night.
When Li Liuyun and his fellow disciples arrived in Beiqu, they immediately went to the Ghost Gate. Several disciples spent a day and a night circling around the ruins. They still hadn't figured out the ancient formation buried under the foundation stone, so they were so engrossed in their work that they refused to give up. They all doubted their own skills and tirelessly explored and studied the Ghost Gate.
However, the world is vast and the sea of knowledge is boundless. There are countless talismanic formations that they have never seen or heard of before. Even the Celestial Master is not omniscient, let alone this formation which comes from the handiwork of ancient people thousands of years ago.
But Li Liuyun was perfectly clear that he was the next Celestial Master chosen by the Taihang Sect. He possessed extraordinary wisdom and had an extremely high level of understanding of talismans and formations. He could see through things that ordinary people could not see. Otherwise, there would have been no need for him to come to Bei Qu this time.
Li Liuyun continued, "With the Ghost Office destroyed like this, the Taiyin/Dao Body that was suppressed must have been broken."
"Taihang Dao indeed knew."
"Back then, when the sect leader personally visited Beiqu, he only noticed that there was an exceptionally ancient formation suppressing this place. I told you the truth in my message back then, without hiding anything. As for what exactly the Taiyin/Dao Body is like, and what kind of ghosts are imprisoned there, I only learned about it today from the head constable Lu who just left. Even the Taihang sect leader didn't dare to easily venture into this place back then, and could only conservatively use talismans to set up a restriction. Yet you dared to be so audacious as to lead a few ordinary people who couldn't even kill a chicken to break in."
Li Liuyun was not blaming him, but merely reminding him of the dangers of the unknown, the unpredictable perils that might even cost him and others their lives.
Zhou Yaren was also very clear in his heart: "The situation at that time was truly out of necessity." It wasn't that he insisted on taking people in to explore.
“I know you are not a reckless person, and it is already difficult for you to come out alive. But if the Taiyin/Dao Body is broken, then the demons and monsters imprisoned inside will all see the light of day again.”
Zhou Yaren froze, his heart sinking suddenly, because until now, he had only paid attention to Bai Yuan and had only focused on Bai Yuan, completely ignoring the others: "You mean, Wang Xiang might have come out from Taiyin/Dao Ti?!"
"I dare not make a hasty judgment, but before this, have there been any water monsters like the Wangxiang in Beiqu or even the surrounding river valleys?"
No.
I've never heard of it before.
The Wangxiang appeared for the first time after the Taiyin/Dao body was broken.
Zhou Yaren's fingertips stiffened, and her thoughts began to grow wildly like weeds, but in a chaotic and disorderly manner.
He focused all his attention on Bai Yuan, and all the doubts revolved around Bai Yuan, but he ignored why Wang Xiang would appear out of nowhere.
If Bai Yuan and Wang Xiang are both Yin entities existing within the Taiyin/Dao body, then...
When the Taiyin/Dao body is shattered, the Wangxiang will naturally fall into the great river.
He was blinded by his own involvement, but fortunately Li Liuyun, an observer, had a clear perspective.
If we look at it from another angle, what if the Gu Master's target was the Wangxiang within the Taiyin/Dao Body? Luring Sun Xiuniang into offering her life as a sacrifice at the Ghost Gate might have been to find the Taiyin/Dao Body, then release and control the Wangxiang. This is because they could safely enter the River Tomb to retrieve the Gu-inducing Snake Eggs without the Gu Master having to personally risk his life traversing the unclean soil.
But……
"Listen to the wind," Li Liuyun said, seeing his solemn expression and long silence, and couldn't help but call out to his soul, "Listen to the wind."
Zhou Yaren suddenly snapped back to reality: "What?"
"Has something come to mind?"
“The Wangxiang appeared after the Taiyin/Dao body was broken.”
"I heard from that Constable Lu that there is another replica of the ghost government office inside the Taiyin/Taoist body. It is a prison. No, he described it as a hell. The hell is filled with countless prisoners who have been executed, all wearing shackles, and the other end of the shackles is firmly locked to a fierce ghost with a blue face and fangs."
Zhou Yaren frowned, thinking back to the injustice done to her. Where was the blue-faced, fanged creature?
Combining the magic array beneath the foundation of the Ghost Yamen with Lu Bing's words, Li Liuyun could roughly deduce the gist of it: "Since the Taiyin/Dao Body is another Ghost Yamen that has been copied, I think it must be filled with the souls of those who died under the Northern Judgment."
“No,” Zhou Yaren corrected, “It’s not a vengeful spirit, it’s a wronged spirit.”
Li Liuyun fell silent for a brief moment.
Then Zhou Yaren told the other party, somewhat reservedly, about the Taiyin/Dao Body, which is closely connected with the Ghost Bureau, and brought Bai Yuan and those who died unjustly to the same place.
But Li Liuyun was not easily fooled. After all, Lu Binghe and the two constables had given a vivid and terrifying description of the ghost. Compared to Zhou Yaren's current attitude of trying to downplay it, it gave people the feeling that he was deliberately hiding or protecting something.
Li Liuyun examined him, but the man didn't seem to have anything to hide, so he said, "In that case, not only Wangxiang, but all these wronged souls will also return to the mortal world."
Zhou Yaren suddenly seemed to have his mouth covered, his back stiffening. He wouldn't have needed to struggle so much to deal with any other disciple of the Taihang Sect. This Li Liuyun was born into a treacherous imperial family; members of the royal family were inherently more cunning than ordinary people—no, more resourceful. Moreover, he was the Taihang Sect's chosen next Celestial Master; even in his youth, he was a shrewd individual, far more intelligent than the likes of Lu Bing. Sure enough, the next moment, Li Liuyun said, "But where have all these wronged souls gone? Why haven't we noticed a single one?"
The shrewd man's unspoken meaning was: so many wronged souls have overflowed from the Taiyin/Dao body, and for a time they have nowhere to rely on, and the entire Beiqu will be filled with resentment.
However, in reality, there was no widespread resentment.
Where did all those grudges go? Did they just disappear for no reason, swallowed whole by some insatiable glutton?!
Only Zhou Yaren knew the truth: all the lingering resentment of those wronged souls was placed on Bai Yuan's shoulders.
Zhou Yaren opened her mouth, but no matter what she did, she couldn't push the innocent person away.
Since ancient times, good and evil have been irreconcilable, and the Taihang Sect takes it upon itself to eliminate demons and evil, so it will certainly not tolerate her in the world. Bai Yuan is now suffering from torture and injuries, and his spiritual veins have been sealed, so he is practically at the mercy of others.
After weighing the two options, he finally said, "I don't know."
Li Liuyun was clearly surprised that he would answer "I don't know," and glanced at him with some disbelief.
Zhou Yaren could feel the gaze directed at her, but she remained calm and composed, instead picking up the herbal soup from the table and slowly drinking it.
The herbal decoction was bitter, but he wasn't afraid of the bitterness.
Li Liuyun didn't ask any more questions. He took out a folding fan from his waist, stepped forward, and placed it on the edge of the bed: "The Grand Master of Music asked me to bring this to you."
Zhou Yaren paused for a moment when she touched the folding fan.
"He said you left the palace in a hurry and forgot to bring it with you. A wind master cannot be without a magic weapon for protection. He told you to be careful in everything you do and to find the Yin Sui and return to the palace as soon as possible."
Zhou Yaren nodded, a hint of respect involuntarily appearing on her face: "I know."
Li Liuyun thought for a moment, and since there seemed to be no other important matters to discuss, and his relationship with Zhou Yaren wasn't the kind of casual, aimless chatter, he told her to take good care of herself before leaving.
Zhou Yaren sat alone on the edge of the bed, stroking the folding fan in his hand. He could clearly feel a gaze filled with deep hatred piercing from the shadows. He didn't mind, but instead spoke in a low voice: "Qin San?"
Qin San stood in the darkness, his hands clenched tightly, his eyes seemingly filled with venom: "I will definitely kill you."
She immediately started shouting for violence, but Zhou Yaren wasn't surprised. Qin San had already tried to kill him once at the River Tomb, but hadn't succeeded.
There was no hope in Qin San's eyes, only hatred, an intense hatred that burned like a raging fire. Zhou Yaren could certainly feel it, but if she didn't find someone to hate, she couldn't go on living.
So Zhou Yaren was willing to bear the other party's somewhat unreasonable hatred and softly agreed: "Okay, I'll wait for you."
That expression and tone made it seem as if they were condoning a child's unreasonable behavior.
Tears welled up in Qin San's eyes, which were filled with hatred. She gritted her teeth and rushed out without regard for anything else.
Immediately from outside the courtyard came Lu Bing's loud shouts: "Hey, you brat, why are you running away! I just saved your life, and you didn't even say thank you before turning tail and running away! Come back here!"
The old grandmother immediately subdued her: "What are you yelling about? How can you be so fierce?!"
"No, Grandmother, she almost bumped into you."
"It didn't hit me!"
"If she gets hit, I'll break her legs!"
"I told you to shut up!" The old woman slapped the child twice in anger, her tone turning pained and pitying. "This child is so pitiful. He lost his parents at a young age and then his two older brothers. Don't you have any empathy for him...?"
Lu Bing cried out and begged for mercy: "Oh, Grandmother, don't hit me! How can I not have empathy? If I didn't have empathy, would I have picked her up? Who knew she would run away as soon as she woke up, almost knocking you over. I had to yell at her a bit."
“It’s already dark, where could she have gone? We should hurry up and chase after her.”
"Grandma, so what if she ran away? Why should I chase after her? Are we going to take care of her from now on?" Before his grandmother could raise her hand to slap him, Lu Bing said this and rushed out.
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