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墨書 Inktalez
The five individuals merely exchanged smiles, not engaging with Master Xiao. I clasped my fists and said, "It's just a small effort, nothing to worry about. I am Ling Liu X. May I ask how you, brothers from the Quanzhen Sect, came to be in this place surrounded by so many malevolent spirits?"
The older man replied, "I am Qiu Leyu from the Quanzhen Sect. These are my junior brothers, all disciples of various branches of the Quanzhen Sect. We came to Cutting Cliff for a specific purpose and inadvertently attracted those malevolent spirits, which led to our current predicament."
"Brother Qiu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I am Wang Xiaolu from the Kun Sect. I’m fortunate to participate in this Experience alongside brothers from various sects, and I didn't expect to encounter you here," Wang Xiaolu quickly stepped forward to greet them, adhering to the proper etiquette.
"What Experience?" Qiu Leyu seemed unfamiliar with the concept of Experience, which was understandable since they did not primarily focus on exorcism and purification techniques.
Wang Xiaolu briefly explained the details of this Experience, and as they gathered around the campfire, they began to chat while warming themselves.
The Quanzhen Sect is a major sect that encompasses many smaller branches. Those familiar with ancient martial arts dramas would certainly recognize the Quanzhen Sect and its Seven Disciples. Founded by Wang Chongyang in the late Northern Song to early Southern Song period in the Zhongnan Mountains of Shaanxi, it is said that Wang Chongyang was deeply passionate about martial arts in his youth. Later, he was enlightened by Lü Dongbin and abandoned his family to pursue immortality, establishing the Quanzhen Sect.
Due to Wang Chongyang's example, the teachings of the Quanzhen Sect differ significantly from those of the Zhengyi Sect. They emulate Buddhist Zen teachings, emphasizing inner alchemy in their cultivation methods while opposing talismans and other external techniques. Their core tenets focus on self-cultivation through understanding one's mind and nature, eliminating desires, enduring shame and hardship for others' benefit.
The Quanzhen Sect mandates that Taoists must live in monasteries without taking wives or families and has established strict rules and regulations.
The Seven Disciples of Quanzhen are Wang Chongyang's direct students, each of whom founded their own sect after leaving him. These seven sects include Qiu Chuji's Longmen Sect, Hao Datong's Huashan Sect, Ma Yu's Encountering Immortals Sect, Sun Bu'er’s Pure Land Sect, Wang Chuyi's Kunlun Sect, Liu Chuxuan's Longevity Sect, and Tan Chuduan's Namo Sect. In addition to these main sects, many other schools focusing on inner alchemy have also been incorporated into the Quanzhen Sect.
Qiu Leyu and his companions represent various branches of the Quanzhen Sect. Although they oppose talismans and external techniques, each generation selects someone to secretly study these matters for unknown reasons. Their purpose for coming to Cutting Cliff is to retrieve a skeleton belonging to an elder from their Longmen Sect.
Interestingly enough, this skeleton's owner had some connections with the White Lotus Sect. During a time when the White Lotus Sect was causing chaos, some elders from the Quanzhen Sect formed a resistance alliance specifically aimed at disrupting White Lotus activities and rescuing those misled or persecuted by them.
Before the White Lotus Sect's villains could wreak havoc in this area, several elders dispersed into various villages to warn residents that members of the White Lotus Sect were coming to slaughter them and advised them to hide in the mountains.
In one village under the elder's care, there happened to be a disciple from the White Lotus Sect who began causing trouble. This disciple incited villagers not to leave and claimed that the elder was a harbinger of disaster. He warned that if they followed him, they would be led straight into slaughter by members of the White Lotus Sect.
At that time, villagers were rather ignorant; they refused to heed an outsider’s warnings. Instead of listening to reason, they expelled the elder from their village.
With that disciple stirring chaos, it seemed inevitable that the villagers would be slaughtered. The elder re-entered the village seeking out a respected elder in hopes of persuading villagers to flee into hiding. During his efforts at persuasion, he was once again spotted by that disciple from the White Lotus Sect who had become increasingly deranged.
This disciple lay in wait outside the respected elder’s home for an opportunity to kill him as soon as he emerged. However, being trained in martial arts as a member of the Quanzhen Sect meant that killing an elder was no easy task. After a struggle ensued, it was predictable that instead of killing the elder, he ended up being killed by him instead.
A few villagers happened to witness this scene. With the villagers being killed, they naturally no longer believed the elder's words. They even suspected that the elder was a spy sent by the White Lotus Sect. That night, they captured the elder and locked him in a dilapidated temple.
Later that night, a group of thugs from the White Lotus Sect entered the village and slaughtered everyone inside. However, the elder, locked away in the broken temple, managed to escape. After the White Lotus Sect members left, he ran out of the temple and shook his head as he saw the village had been massacred.
From that night on, he began to have nightmares every night. In his dreams, the villagers transformed into Vengeful Spirits seeking him out to cry for help, saying that the people from the White Lotus Sect had used a Spell to prevent them from reincarnating and pleading for him to save them.
The elder thought that the souls of the deceased villagers were unable to find peace, so after returning home, he turned back and brought along several Disciples from his sect to help guide the souls of the villagers.
When he returned to the village again, he discovered that the reality was completely opposite to what he had dreamed. The Vengeful Spirits were not seeking help; instead, they wanted to kill him for revenge because they believed that it was this elder who had brought the White Lotus Sect members.
The village was small, with only a few dozen people. However, even with just a few dozen Vengeful Spirits, it was too much for the elder and his Disciples to handle since their training did not involve dealing with spirits. To avoid affecting his Disciples, the elder led the Vengeful Spirits away by himself.
The only desire of these Vengeful Spirits was to kill this elder for revenge. They thought that once they avenged themselves, they would find their path to Reincarnation. However, after trapping the elder in a shallow cave and leaving him to starve to death, they still could not release their resentment.
Once resentment takes form in Vengeful Spirits, it begins to replace their thoughts and actions. They lingered around the elder's corpse for a long time without dispersing. This time, Qiu Leyu and his companions came to take away the elder's Skeleton.
After Qiu Leyu finished explaining this matter, I asked him if they had found the Skeleton. He said they found it during the day and pointed to a piece of Yellow Cloth not far away.
I turned my head and saw that the Yellow Cloth had already been opened and laid on the ground, revealing a disassembled Skeleton on top of it. I walked over and carefully examined the large Yellow Cloth.
It seemed that this Yellow Cloth was not ordinary; it was inscribed with unfamiliar runes.
"Liu Shidi, why do you think we are being followed by so many Vengeful Spirits?" Qiu Leyu asked as he noticed me staring at the Yellow Cloth in a daze.
I responded with an "Hmm" and asked back, "Did you just open this Yellow Cloth recently?"
"Yes," he replied. "We took Grandmaster's Skeleton and started heading back. We suggested resting here when we could hardly move anymore. We opened up the Yellow Cloth to prepare for a blessing ritual for Grandmaster."
I wrapped the piece of Yellow Cloth and tied it up, saying, "This Yellow Cloth can isolate the aura emitted by this Skeleton. If you open it, it will naturally attract those wandering souls. They have been guarding this Skeleton for so many years that they have already left their Yin Qi on it."
"I see," Qiu Leyu said thoughtfully. "When we went to retrieve the Skeleton from that cave, we didn't notice so many wandering souls."
"That's because you went during the day. If you had gone at night, you would have seen them, heh heh," I replied with a smile.
Qiu Leyu nodded and continued to ask, "But according to what the seniors said, there should have been seventy or eighty Vengeful Spirits in the village at that time. If those are the wandering souls, there might still be more coming."
I shook my head and said, "No, there's a limit to it. Only the wandering souls around the Skeleton can sense its Yin Qi; others won't be able to."
"That's good to know. Thank you, Liu Shidi, for clarifying. The mountains aren't very peaceful either. Why don't we stay here overnight? We can look out for each other, and besides, we have some fresh game here as a way to thank you." Qiu Leyu lifted a waterproof cloth that had been pressed down by a rock, revealing a small wild boar underneath.
"Wow, you guys even dare to hunt wild boars!" Master Xiao exclaimed in surprise.
Qiu Leyu chuckled and said, "We caught this wild boar earlier in the night. Brothers, get ready to roast it and treat our saviors."
The other four quickly took out knives and got busy. Seeing there was wild boar to eat, Master Xiao hurried over to help, while Wang Xiaolu seemed even more excited—she looked like she had never seen a wild boar before.
While they were busy roasting the boar, I began to Send Soul. These wandering souls were just ordinary villagers; their lingering resentment had kept them trapped for so many years, and that resentment was based on something insubstantial. Resolving it wasn't difficult.
However, while I was Sending Soul, I suddenly thought of that White-haired Yin Spirit. It claimed to be a Taoist who performed rituals. Could it be the master of this Skeleton? It mentioned wanting to follow us to **the place**, which required passing through Cutting Cliff, and its Skeleton was on this side of Cutting Cliff.
After finishing the soul sending, I asked Qiu Leyu if he knew what their Grandmaster looked like when he was alive. Qiu Leyu rummaged through his bag and handed me a black-and-white Portrait, saying, "Here, this is my Grandmaster's Portrait."
I unfolded the Portrait and saw that it indeed resembled the White-haired Yin Spirit closely.
I couldn't believe this was just a coincidence. When I saw the Portrait, I was certain that the White-haired Yin Spirit must be the Grandmaster Qiu Leyu and his group were looking for; I just didn't understand why it ended up in Human Cave after death. Human Cave wasn't close by either, and there were so many Vengeful Spirits guarding its Skeleton. How did it manage to escape?
I could roughly guess its intention; it had said that finally someone from the Taoist sect had come to rescue them. The meaning was clear—it had been waiting for a long time. When I offered to help it move on, it refused; it clearly wanted to lead us to its Skeleton's location not for burial but to help us send away the wandering souls surrounding its Skeleton as well.
Unfortunately, its wish was shattered before it could be fulfilled by Meng Biao. One must admit, he is an admirable Senior Master, still thinking of those ungrateful villagers even when faced with the temptation of Reincarnation.
Perhaps it was fate; what was meant to be achieved would still come to pass. The heavens arranged for us to encounter Qiu Leyu and his companions, which destined me to help this Senior Master fulfill his wish.
After finishing the roasted pig, I said, "Brother Qiu, could you take us to the place where Senior Master Skeleton was discovered?"
"Why do you want to go there? Are you just bored after eating? There are still many Vengeful Spirits around," Master Xiao asked in confusion.
I explained the situation to everyone. With their support, the disciples from the Quanzhen Sect began to harbor ill feelings towards Meng Biao for disrupting their Grandmaster. One burly man, even more rugged than Master Xiao, said, "I hope I don't run into Meng Biao."
I started to persuade them, repeatedly explaining that it was a misunderstanding. What had happened had already occurred; Meng Biao wasn't at fault. If anyone were to be blamed, it would be me for not clarifying things earlier. In the end, I managed to convince them not to escalate any conflict if they encountered him.
Once we reached a consensus, dawn was approaching. Once daylight broke, it would be inconvenient to guide the spirits, so we would have to delay our journey for another day. This meant we would fall behind Mao Ruiliang and his group by yet another day...
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