Shizun - 007 - Divine sand inquiry

The two taoists were so shocked by the massive amount of divine energy that was granted to them, they didn’t quite know how to control it.

The idol exploded and the sealed spirit burst out. It tore through the flag with all of its strength and desperately rushed to escape.

Lu Yunzhen saw that ball like dark shadow come towards him. He didn’t know what to do, reached out without thinking, and managed to catch it.

The black shadow seems to be some kind of snake or frog spirit. It kept squirming in his palm and felt quite gross.

Lu Yunzhen was frozen in fear and filled with regret. He wanted to throw it off but was too scared to. He held out the spirit at Mo Changkong, not knowing if he should should it away or put it back.

He also didn’t know what to say.

Mo Changkong show that he understood by taking the spirit. He squeezed it in his palm, then threw it in his mouth and swallowed it cleanly.

“...”

The two Taoists held the sword, did some calculations, then ran over. Seeing the two who looked like they knew something, one decided to tentatively ask, “sir, did you see anything?”

Lu Yunzhen tugged at Mo Changkong’s sleeve curiously, trying to get him to hurry up and spit the spirit out.

This is someone else’s evil spirit! Not ours!

It was normal for monsters to consume each other in order to increase their powers. Mo Changkong thought this pathetic little spirit was worthless, but it was a gift from Shizun! How could he not eat it?

And now that he’s swallowed it he can’t spit it out anymore.

Lu Yunzhen felt a lot of guilt looking at these two Taoists. He was a stem major for twenty years and knew nothing about the supernatural. He only learned about this world last night, he didn’t know the rules, he didn’t know that he couldn’t seize someone else’s target...

Poor people couldn’t afford to pay back a spirit that cost vintage liquor.

Lu Yunzhen asked carefully, “How were you going to take care of this spirit?”

The older Toist was named Luo Fu. He has been cultivating for many years and is relatively steadfast. The younger one is named Huang Ming. He was blessed with talent and learned divine summons after studying for less than two years. He’s the hope of the generation at Baimao sect and has been pampered by his shifus and shixiongs. He also has a more upbeat personality.

Seeing that Lu Yunzhen was around the same age and could also spirits, Huang Ming concluded that he must be someone in the same business and relaxed. He admitted, “Of course we’re going to take him back and let Shifu take care of it.”

Lu Yunzhen asked again, “And what if you couldn’t?”

Ming Huang smiled wryly, “If a spirit of this level escaped... Shifu is going to kill us.”

They seemed relaxed but was really rather tense. It was worrying to think of the spirit running amok and hurting innocents.

Cultivators care a lot about karma. Every action has its consequences. And the crimes of a spirit that they released will partially be counted against them and affect their cultivation.

Since their patriarch answered their prayers and bestowed power on them, it was clear that this was an important matter. Perhaps it was because it was foretold that this spirit was catastrophic and this was meant to help them to defeat the spirit and restore the righteous way.

The patriarch must be disappointed.

The more he thought about it, the more afraid Huang Ming became. He didn’t have the temperament of his Shixiong and couldn’t hide his worries. Even though he was smiling his forehead was covered in a cold sweat. He started once more, “My colleague, let’s end the chitchat and tell me which direction the spirit went.”

Lu Yunzheng hesitated. The fact that Mo Changkong ate an evil spirit... seemed to be abnormal no matter how he looked at it. If he told the truth and his supernatural status was revealed, it was unclear what these cultivators would do to him...

That’s too dangerous.

He couldn’t sell out Mo Changkong. After thinking about it he decided to take the blame and gaslight them.

 Lu Yunzhen had worked as a summer part timer on film sets before. He spent two weeks as an extra. For his serious effort he had garnered the praise of the director and an extra chicken thigh. Now, he pretended to be one of the actors in the xianxia dramas, and laughed breezily, “my friend, you need not seek it any longer.”

Huang Ming was stunned for a moment and couldn’t quite connect the dots.

Luo Fu asked calmly, “what do you mean?”

“I am acquainted with Xuanyuan Zhenjin. It was quite a coincidence that I came across this today.” Lu Yunzhen said nonchalantly. “That insignificant spirit had broken its shackles. I foresaw that it would create issues and and exorcised it as it was convenient. It has now been scattered and you will find it no longer.”

Mansplain. Manipulate.

Mo Changkong had said that Xuanyuan Zhenjun was friends with him. Regardless of the truth of the situation he’ll lie first and find out later. Since he’s of such a high position and outside the mortal realm there’s no way he’ll come to pick a fight with a measly little human.

Huang Ming was furious. The patriarch of the Baimao sect had ascended thousands of years ago. This guy who looks around twenty dares to say that he knows the patriarch?

That evil spirit had been cultivating for centuries and was about to gain a corporeal form. It was amazingly strong and the two of them couldn’t possibly vanquish it. That’s why they were going to seal it and take it back to Shifu.

There had only been half a minute since the spirit escaped.

Even his Shifu, who had cultivated for fifty years and is of immense strength, would not dare to brag that he could exorcise such a spirit in half a minute!

Huang Ming resisted the urge to chew the man out with the patience of a cultivator and replied sarcastically, “kid, that’s quite impressive. You must be powerful enough to reach the heaven?”

Lu Yunzhen smiled but didn’t reply.

Luo Fu is quite a bit older than his shidi. He was more experienced and more reflective. The act of a cultivator meeting a god and receiving opportunities is rare but not unheard of.

And the spirit really was gone.

Lu Yunzhen seemed like a normal boy, but the silent man in black next to him was not normal in the least. Even though his appearance and atmosphere were amazing, he had controlled it to the extreme. It was as if he was a rock and there was no aura to him at all.

Heavy swords are often edgeless, while true craftsmanship is not manifested through delicate touches.

Through his observations, Luo Fu realized that the man in black has already physically cultivated to perfection. Such a man has never been seen in the xuanxue world before...

He felt fear in his heart and bowed to Mo Changkong. Politely, he asked, “And who is this friend?”

Mo Changkong was unruly and never cared for anyone other than his Shizun. Since Shizun didn’t ask him to speak he had no intention of being bothered by a little cultivator. Instead he performed a disciple’s bow at Luo Yunzhen to indicate his role.

Lu Yunzhen smile again, “my disciple isn’t good with words.”

In the Xuanxue world, the positions of master and disciple isn’t something to joke about.

Luo Fu became even more shocked. He suspected that Lu Yunzheng is actually some powerful being in disguise, who had hidden away his powers and is pretending to be mortal in the city.

Huang Ming didn’t notice that his shixiong’s face is now a different color and kept up with his taunts. “Hah. And how are you going to prove that you know our patriarch?”

Lu Yunzhen waved his hands, “You can go ask him.”

Huang Ming almost choked to death.

Lu Yunzhen felt bad that he might get punished once they went back to the sect, and asked. “Do you need me to give you another spirit as an apology?”

Even though he doesn’t have money, he could always go around the city with Mo Changkong and a shovel over the weekend. Haiping city was so big, there must be another evil spirit or two around, right?

Huang Ming gritted his teeth, “that won’t be necessary”.

He suspected that this guy was mocking the two of them. How awful!

Lu Yunzheng let out a sigh of relief when he realized he wouldn’t need to pay anything. He smiled, turned around dashingly, and slowly walked away. As soon as he turned the corner he immediately shifted expressions, dragged Mo Changkong into a job, and left the scene of the gaslighting as soon as he could to not give it away.

Once they were safe, he said smugly, “Well then, if they could they can go ask that plaque of theirs and see if their patriarch answers.”

Mo Changkong replied, “He will. They can perform a divine sand inquiry.”

Lu Yunzhen really was stunned....

After quite a while, he asked carefully, “I didn’t reveal my name, did I?”

“No.” Mo Changkong confirmed.

Lu Yunzhen went back to being relieved, “Well that’s good then.”

His hide is safe.

The district is quite large. Even if the Taoists had realized they were lied to, they probably wouldn’t be able to find him.

And even if they found him, he could... provide an apology and reparations...

Lu Yunzhen thought things through as he took Mo Changkong hime, then dragged him to the sink in the yard. His hands were washed seven or eight times, and his teeth were brushed three times.

He scolded, “Next time don’t eat random things, evil spirits are dirty!”

“Yes.”

“Does your stomach hurt? Do you need stomach medicine?”

“It doesn’t hurt.”

...

The two Taists remained in the spot for quite some time.

Mr. Wang from the development company got terrified the moment the idol exploded and took his workers to hide for a long time in the building. After te coast was clear, he carefully poked his head out. When he saw that the two masters were standing there seriously, he was worried that the worst had happened and that the entire investment was going to go down the drain. He was seized by bitterness and almost shed tears.

He walked out and asked with hope, “Sir, is there still a chance?”

Huang Ming lifted his head, “Shixiong, do you really believe that kid?”

Luo Fu replied decisively, “Divine sand inquiry for the patriarch!”

The two of them got Mr Wang to retrieve the tray of sand and tools, then set up in an empty spot. They asked first where the spirit went and second who the two strangers were.

The patriarch answered the former rather quickly, saying that the spirit was exorcised.

The second question was when the patriarch started behaving strangely. The two almost couldn’t hold on to the madness within the sieve. The patriarch kept writing divine words at a dizzying speed.

Divine writing was rather complicated and difficult to decipher.

In normal divinations, the gods would provide very simply answers. The two cultivators had never seen so many words. New lines would appear before they had finished the previous sentence, and they were about to cry from the stress.

Luckily the patriarch realized that his disciples were useless and summarized the important points, allowing Luo Fu to finally understand the situation.

The patriarch has ordered everyone in the Baibao sect, including the old sect leader in his eighties, to perform a bow for respected elders at that young man. There must be no delay, no questions, and no disobedience.

The Baimao sect was established to rely on divine favour. Every word that comes from their god was worth its weight in gold.

Luo Fu and Huang Ming didn’t dare to question things any further. The two knelt and kowtowed thrice, then immediately prepared to go home and inform the sect leader of the new sect rule. Then they would investigate who that young man was and apologize with kneeling and offerings.

Seeing that the two were about to leave, Mr Wang rushed up to ask about his worried.

Luo Fu smiled, “the spirit has been exorcised, you can start work now.”

Mr Wang was delighted and handed over a prepared bank card with a flurry of gratitude. “Thank you ever so much for saving us, please accept this small gift as a token of my appreciation.”

The card was pre-loaded with a million yuan. The password was 888888.

“There must be no reward for no work.” Luo Fu rejected the card with a wave of his hand. “The spirit was not removed by us but by another master. Please take this back.”

Mr Wang was shocked and asked hesitantly, “Sirs... where did that other master go? I would like to give him the reward money.”

Luo Fu thought of Lu Yunzhen’s grace. He had a passion for justice, exorcised evil, helped the people. When he was done he left with a shake of his sleeve without asking a thing and without a trace of the red dust on him. How divine.

He was ashamed of his own behaviour and replied, “The master cares not for material wealth and left long ago. You should donate this to a good charity and gather good karma.”

Mr Wang was immediately awed and agreed. He was only disappointed that he was too much of a coward to have seen the master before the man left.

Luo Fu took his shidi, said his farewells, and immediately took a flight back to Maibao sect. The sect leader was shocked at the report and immediately tried to divine the young man’s name.

The patriarch responded that the young man bears divine secrets and could not reveal his true name. But emphasized again that the man must be respected, and that everyone must take care not to be a miser in front of him, lest the entire sect becomes misers!

In the coming days, the patriarch was much more generous with providing power. Everyone in the sect benefited quite a bit and made leaps and bounds with their cultivation.

They were all curious as to who the young man was.

The younger disciples were more quick minded and immediately went to the cultivation forums. They made a new thread titled “Shocking appearance of immortal bossman in Haiping City, his real identity is...”

Baimao sect was a rather small sect, but the disciple was a good writer and often wrote dog blood novels. He narrated the events brilliantly and with great suspense, ending the post with a question about who the man was.

Everyone joined in the speculations and it quickly became a hot topic.

...

Lu-Immortal bossman-Yunzhen thought the weather was getting quite chilly. He sneezed a few times in a row and rubbed his nose.

He bought a few more changes of clothes for Mo Changkong then went on a second hand site to get a fold out bed. His wallet was getting rather flat and he was preparing to get another part time job.

So poor...