Chapter 710: King Wu Asks for Advice
The next day, Ma Qingji told him some unfortunate news, saying, "This is the resentment of a ghost, not an ordinary ghost. It cannot be subdued, but can only be resolved."
The King of Wu asked, "How can this be resolved?"
Ma Qingji said, "That depends on what promise the prince made to them."
King Wu looked at King Linchuan, and King Linchuan nodded. Only then did King Wu tell Ma Qingji the truth.
The God of Five Powers was plotting to become the true god, and the King of Wu wanted to be king, so they hit it off immediately and naturally had an agreement in place.
When the King of Wu proclaimed himself king, he would confer upon them the title of righteous gods; when the King of Wu proclaimed himself emperor, he would confer upon them the title of true gods protecting the country.
Although the King of Wu did not claim to be king, he was doing things that made him look like a king, and Wutong was killed by the immortals.
Ma Qingji frowned and said, "This is troublesome."
King Wu asked, "Master, please explain clearly."
Ma Qingji said, "To resolve this injustice, Your Highness must fulfill his promise and enshrine them as righteous gods. However, enshrining them as righteous gods consumes the nation's destiny. Now that they are dead, only their resentful souls remain. If they were to be reborn through this, I'm afraid Your Highness cannot afford the price."
The King of Wu naturally refused and sought advice from Ma Qingji, saying, "Wutong was punished by heaven and died. What has this to do with me? Why should I grant him a decree to revive him? Is there really no way to deal with this evil spirit?"
Ma Qingji said with a serious expression, "Wutong was originally a ghost deity with great magical powers. He has built countless temples and countless believers. The Wutong Temple in Gusu City is even more popular than the Hanshan Temple outside the city, not to mention the City God Temple, which has never been restored."
"Even if we kill these ghosts and gods, it's like the roots of a collapsed mountain remaining, or the valley of a dried-up river remaining. Their existence and influence cannot be completely erased."
"Whether I practice the Fu Yin Gui Ling method or other magical powers in Xima Mountain, they can only open a path at the base of the mountain and build a bridge across the river valley. I can avoid being harmed by it, but I can't erase the mountain base or fill up the river valley."
King Wu said anxiously, "Then please ask the Taoist priest to open a path and build a bridge for me so that the Five-Power God cannot harm me."
Ma Qingji shook his head and said, "Your Highness is the King of Men. He has accumulated endless popularity and prestige, just like a giant elephant. You can't trust me with this small path and bridge."
The King of Wu was filled with anger: "Since ancient times, countless mountains have been destroyed, temples have been demolished, and obscene sacrifices have been eradicated. Are the princes and nobles who presided over these things to be harmed by evil spirits?"
Ma Qingji glanced at the King of Linchuan, then at the King of Wu, and said, "There are two reasons. The first is something strange that I don't understand."
"Since arriving in Gusu, I've noticed the Great City God Temple is in ruins, with no deities on duty. Whether it's royalty or common people, as long as they have the protection of deities, they can avoid such harm. Your Majesty, of noble status, should have the protection of deities, but I haven't seen a single priest. This Gusu City is like a desolate place without the protection of the gods."
The King of Wu's face became visibly stiff, and the King of Linchuan lowered his head and said nothing.
Ma Qingji continued, "Secondly, the prince had an agreement with them beforehand, and the cause and effect are intertwined. Unless the ghosts and gods are constantly watching over you, if there are any omissions, you will inevitably be disturbed by them."
King Wu said with a gloomy face, "I don't know anything about Shinto. But is there really no way to eliminate those evil spirits?"
Ma Qingji said, "That's the skill of moving mountains and filling rivers. It's beyond my ability with my mere sixth-rank cultivation. I can only ask Your Highness to find someone else."
However, Ma Qingji changed the subject and said, "I cannot eliminate them, but I do have some ideas for other methods. Your Highness, you can first ask other experts. If they can solve the problem once and for all, that would be great. If not, then consider my method."
Of course, the King of Wu would not put all his eggs in one basket, nor would he believe Ma Qingji's one-sided words. The reason why he asked him for advice was because it was difficult for the King of Wu to explain to the masters of Hanshan Temple or Qionglong Temple why he was colluding with the evil god.
But now that Ma Qingji spoke so forcefully, he had no choice but to ask.
The King of Wu successively summoned the Zen Master Pobi from Hanshan Temple and the Taoist Master Tiezhu from Qionglong Temple.
When the King of Wu's invitation reached Hanshan Temple, Gong Mengbi was listening to the great monk Jishan chanting. Before the messenger arrived, Gong Mengbi said with a smile, "I'm sorry to bother you with an idler."
Monk Jishan waved his hand and said, "It won't bother me, but I'll go anyway."
Gong Mengbi left first, and the messenger came to see the great monk Jishan and explained his purpose.
Master Jishan looked regretful and said, "It's really unfortunate that Zen Master Pobi and Zen Master Zhanmin have gone down the mountain to travel."
But in the blink of an eye, he revealed a mercenary expression and said, "It's alright, I will personally go and give a lecture to the prince."
The messenger refused repeatedly and almost fled from Hanshan Temple.
When the King of Wu's invitation arrived at Qionglong Temple, Gong Mengbi was drinking tea with Taoist Tiezhu. Before the messenger with the invitation even arrived, Taoist Tiezhu laughed and said, "The person has already arrived."
Gong Mengbi and Taoist Tiezhu bowed and said, "Thank you for your help, Brother."
Taoist Tiezhu waved his hand and said, "It's just a piece of cake."
After Gong Mengbi turned into smoke and disappeared, Taoist Tiezhu poured out the porcelain bowl he used to drink tea, put aside the good tea that Gong Mengbi brought, and brewed a new pot of astringent old tea to entertain the envoy of King Wu.
The messenger drank a pot of old tea and felt more and more thirsty. Seeing that Taoist Tiezhu was about to make tea again, he quickly stopped him and invited him with kind words. Taoist Tiezhu then reluctantly agreed.
When he arrived at the palace, King Wu asked Taoist Tiezhu how to completely eliminate the evil god.
Taoist Tiezhu laughed and said, "Destroy the mountain, chop down the temple, cut off the incense and sacrifices, and it will naturally disappear."
The King of Wu continued, "I heard that an evil god was punished by heaven and died, but his lingering soul is still causing trouble. I wonder if there is a solution?"
Taoist Tiezhu gave King Wu a deep look and said, "That means we haven't eliminated them thoroughly enough. Even if we destroy all their temples and stop the incense offerings, we can still eliminate them."
"Ordinary evil gods destroy mountains and temples. As long as there is no one to worship them, they will naturally die out. Even an evil god like Wutong can be slowly wiped out within three generations."
King Wu suspected that Taoist Tiezhu knew something, but he didn't dare to point it out.
The method proposed by Taoist Tiezhu was even more impossible to accomplish. He was the one who had single-handedly promoted the spread of the Five-Power Divine Energy in Jiangnan, and their incense had even flowed to untraceable places along with the movement of people.
He did not have the ability to destroy all the Wutong Temples, nor did he have a long life or enough time to deal with this matter.
He could only ask, "Is there no other way?"
Taoist Tiezhu shook his head and said, "How can we easily cure the evil spirit's influence?"
The King of Wu sent the great master out of the palace in disappointment, but still invited the great monk Jishan with a glimmer of hope.
The great monk Jishan offered a third solution, saying, "As long as you become a monk, let go of everything, and practice Buddhism diligently, you can avoid being harmed."
The King of Wu also asked him to leave.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
