CH 54

According to the emperor’s attendants, His Majesty had been reading for about half a shichen the previous night. Afterwards, he said that he was tired, and wanted to go to sleep.

Since the emperor was not even in his twenties yet, the empress dowager forbade him from sinking into desire, and, as a result, there were only two maids in his imperial harem. The emperor was not very interested in these matters as well, but young people are attracted to novel things, so he was excited to meet the Zhaoyue princess who was to enter the imperial harem soon. He even wanted to leave the palace incognito and meet the famously beautiful princess in advance, but the empress dowager stopped him.

The emperor went to bed at his usual shichen, so his attendants did not pay it any special attention. After serving the emperor, they went out of his bedroom and waited for his orders outside; no sounds came from his room. In the morning, they went in to wake up the emperor, but realised that although his expression was serene, it was as if he had entered a deep slumber, and they could not wake him up at all.

A long time had passed since that morning. At first, the empress dowager only wanted to call for the imperial doctors so that they could make a diagnosis, but no matter how hard they tried, the emperor showed no signs of improvement. So, the empress dowager had no other choice but to ask for the cultivators and Song Nanyan.

In accordance with custom, the emperor would have to receive the Zhaoyue delegation tomorrow.

Even if they could use his illness as an excuse to let the emperor stay at his residence for now, he could not avoid seeing any courtiers. After some time, everyone would definitely become suspicious. Luo was only called the strongest country for having a slight advantage in military power, and You had always been eyeing it covetously. If they took the opportunity and joined forces with the Zhaoyue Dynasty and the nomads from the north, in the blink of an eye, they would conquer the whole world as if rolling up a mat, and a foul wind with bloody rain would sweep through the lands.

Thinking about this, the empress dowager felt nervous. She hurried to put an end to the conflict that might break out at any moment between the four masters.

“Immortal masters, the emperor’s strange ailment appeared suddenly and seems life-threatening, and even all the imperial doctors are at a loss. I’m utterly perplexed, and can only depend on you!”

The empress dowager’s status could not be disregarded, so the cultivators came closer to the dragon bed and looked at the emperor carefully. The empress dowager, on the other hand, went to Song Nanyan.

“Minister Song, do you have any suggestions about this matter?”

As if seeing the teacher he had been separated from for many years in his bridal chamber on the day he was meant to take a concubine was not bewildering enough, he now had to face such earth-shattering events. An ordinary person would have scarcely known what to say, but Song Nanyan was worthy of being the prime minister of an empire. He had already thought about it in the carriage, and now spoke in a low voice: “Taking into account the current state of affairs, we should first keep the news within the Imperial City. Anyone who knows anything can’t be let out of the palace lest troubles arise.”

The empress dowager nodded. They usually opposed each other, but now a common goal had united them.

“Minister Song is absolutely right. I will immediately order the generals of the guards to encircle the Imperial City…”

While the two of them were talking, the cultivators were on the verge of starting a dispute again.

“The Fleeting Soul Technique can’t be used if the victim is far away. We should interrogate everyone near His Majesty, and not a single person can be missed. Only if we find and force the culprit to do so will His Majesty’s injured soul be retrieved!”

Every human had three immortal souls and seven mortal forms. With the Fleeting Soul Technique, it did not mean that all the three immortal souls and seven mortal forms left the body; usually, only immortal souls disappeared, while mortal forms could only exist by relying on the body. Only when the immortal souls were retrieved would the person come to their senses.

Three immortal souls: Daoists believe that there are two types of souls: hun and po. The hun souls here are: Life Soul, Sense Soul and Spirit Soul. 

Seven mortal forms: the seven po souls are responsible for seven human obsessions: happiness, rage, grief, fear, love, hatred and desire [1].

Changming was acquainted with the one who was talking. The man’s name was Xie Chunxi; he was the mentor of the Jinque Daoist Temple, a renowned master of cultivation.

The common folk might think that coming to the imperial palace to guard it was a great honor for the mentor of a temple, but cultivators considered it a disgrace. However, the Jinque Daoist Temple was not at the top of Daoist sects, and since their first mentor’s martyrdom, the Jinque Daoist Temple had been steadily deteriorating. Nowadays, even if they still could not be called a third-rate sect, they could not be mentioned in the same breath with sects like the Celestial Abode Shenxiao either.

“The requirement of being close to the victim when summoning their immortal souls only applies to common people, while a master of cultivation is able to avoid this restriction; they only need their victim’s birthdate characters and an object they have interacted with. Then, even if they are a thousand li apart, the caster is still able to summon the immortal souls and seize the mortal forms. As I see it, there is no need to go through so much trouble, we should just question every cultivator who often interacts with His Majesty!”

Birthdate characters: bazi, eight characters used in fortune telling: four pairs, including the year, month, day and hour of a person’s birth

Obviously, the speaker was deliberately expressing this point of view to oppose Xie Chunxi.

Changming followed the voice and looked at the person. He looked unfamiliar.

Right around that time, Song Nanyan returned from the empress dowager’s side and answered Changming’s question in a low voice: “He is the master of the Zhenling Clan, Yue Chengbo.”

He was answering Changming and thinking at the same time, Teacher doesn’t know cultivation masters at all, I’m afraid that his cultivation is really no good; he regretted his decision to allow Changming to enter the palace.

Changming had a vague impression of the Zhenling Clan.

It was a small sect, inconspicuous among all the sects in the world, but, when he and Yun Weisi travelled to the past on the Void Shore, they went through an adventure together with Nie Emei from the Zhenling Clan.

Based on the amount of time that had passed between then and now, this Yue Chengbo should have been Nie Emei’s shixiong or shidi.

The other two are also easy to recognize. Presumably, they were Zen Master Kuhe from the Qingyun School mentioned by Song Nanyan, and Han Ye, an elder of the Donghai Sect. 

Yue Chengbo’s words were aimed directly at Xie Chunxi, pointing towards the latter as the main culprit.

Xie Chunxi’s anger flared up: “Yue Chengbo, what do you mean by that!”

Yue Chengbo laughed coldly: “Don’t you understand what I mean? Who is always leading His Majesty astray by performing convoluted Daoist arts? His Majesty is full of youthful vigor, so it’s natural for him to go overboard, but do you have no sense of propriety as well?!”

“What do you call convoluted Daoist arts? If His Majesty is interested in the techniques of Daoist sects, naturally, I have to display them. You are also from a Daoist sect, how can you say such words?” Xie Chunxi paused, and then sneered, “Oh, I’ve forgotten, but your Zhenling Clan started with the Illusion Art of Transforming Spirit, which is no different from those tricks of entertainers who perform in the streets. At most, you are an unorthodox sect, and thus you shouldn’t even be let in any place of culture!”

Han Ye tried to mediate the dispute: “His Majesty still hasn’t regained consciousness. Let’s put aside our prejudices for now. I’ll cast a brick to attract the jade first, and try to wake His Majesty up. If I fail, then you, daoyous, should try as well.”

Cast a brick to attract jade: break the ice

After saying so, he bent the fingers on his hands while reciting incantations, and stretched out one of his fingers to the emperor’s forehead, letting his spiritual power pour in.

It was a typical soul-seeking art. It could not only detect pieces of the emperor’s memory before he lost consciousness, but also find free souls compatible with the body. Such methods were slightly different for each sect, but they were the same in essence.

But, after a short time, he lowered his hands, mocking himself: “This humble one is not skilled enough, so you should look as well.”

Zen Master Kuhe, without saying a word, took a step forward, holding a Buddhist cane in his hands. He put his palms together devoutly, and silently recited a scripture.

As he was chanting in a low voice, a faint golden light appeared around the emperor’s body. Looking closely, the golden light was actually composed of countless tiny lines of scripture.

The empress dowager was inadvertently reassured, and stared at the emperor attentively.

The Qingyun School had an awe-inspiring reputation, so, of course, she placed her hope on Kuhe out of those four men the most.

But, unfortunately, after enough time to burn one incense stick had passed, the golden light weakened gradually, and the emperor did not get better.

Kuhe chanted the Buddha’s name: “This poor monk is incompetent. Maybe, if the school master was here, he would have come up with a solution.”

Chanted the Buddha’s name: probably, Amitabha. Like saying amen

The school master he mentioned was precisely the Qingyun School’s master, Sun Buku.

Of course, the empress dowager did not doubt Sun Buku’s cultivation level, but he was not in the Luo Capital right now, and a distant water would not quench a fire nearby.

Yue Lingbo and Xie Chunxi tried as well, but returned without accomplishing anything.

“This soul-retracting art is very weird. In my opinion, it didn’t come from an orthodox sect. The culprit must have trapped His Majesty’s soul somewhere!”

Hearing these words from Yue Chengbo, Kuhe nodded in agreement.

“I’ve looked through the sea of His Majesty’s consciousness, and discovered that the remaining emotions are neither panic nor fear, but rather peace and tranquility, even a bit of happiness.”

Kuhe was highly suspicious about this fact. Normally, a person whose souls were almost captured would be frightened, but the emperor, in contrast, was even happy. It could only mean that the emperor had entered an illusion before his soul was captured, so the culprit could manipulate him as they pleased.

The emperor was not a cultivator; he was young and weak-willed, which everyone understood. However, the Imperial City was full of layers of barriers and formations from the inside out. It was difficult for an ordinary cultivator to discern them, let alone penetrate them. How did the culprit break through the defenses, march through without meeting resistance, and succeed in assaulting the emperor?

That is, unless they were originally inside the Imperial City.

The empress dowager almost failed to maintain her calm appearance.

“Then what should we do now?”

Yue Chengbo said: “An accident happened to His Majesty. In theory, someone should act as a regent. But then the news will spill out, and His Majesty’s uncle, King Hui, will surely rise in revolt. As far as I know, Mentor Xie has good rapport with King Hui.”

Xie Chunxi’s expression darkened: “I only have a casual acquaintance with King Hui. Yue Chengbo, you are not trying to help His Majesty at all, only concentrating your attention on me, just how mean are you? Is it possible that this is the case of the guilty party complaining first? Then you are the most suspicious person!”

“Daoyou, since you came here, why are you keeping silent?”

While the two were quarreling, Kuhe turned to the other side and suddenly spoke.

He was addressing Changming.

Changming was standing in a corner silently and inconspicuously, but Kuhe paid attention to him.

After all, his cultivation level was the highest among the four of them, so he noticed that Changming was suppressing his cultivation level, and was not actually a common person.

Song Nanyan was even more worried than if he had been singled out himself.

Changming smiled: “My cultivation level is so humble that it’s not even worth mentioning. I can only listen to you all with respectful attention.”

Although he said he was listening to them with respectful attention, it was obvious from his expression that he was not a low-grade cultivator, but rather had extensive experience, so he could not even pretend to be ignorant.

Xie Chunxi squinted.

“Daoyou, you look unfamiliar, which sect did you come from?”

Changming: “I have no sect and no faction, I’m a rogue cultivator.”

Xie Chunxi: “Even if you are a rogue cultivator, don’t you have a master?”

Changming: “My teacher was an idler from remote highlands, his name is unknown here.”

Xie Chunxi only felt this person was even more suspicious.

“Even idlers from remote highlands have teachings they follow. You’ve never entered the palace before, and now, precisely when something has happened to His Majesty, you are here. How can there be such a coincidence?”

“Mentor Xie, this man is my first teacher. We haven’t seen each other for many years, and he is visiting the capital to see me. When I heard something happened with His Majesty, I decided to take my teacher with me to the palace in the hope that he’ll be able to assist.”

Song Nanyan had come forward to explain, because he felt that Xie Chunxi was too aggressive. Not only him, all four cultivators had to be polite in front of the empress dowager. Moreover, after the accident with the emperor, he could not afford to offend her.

He silently took note of this, preparing to wait for a convenient moment to settle accounts.

“Teacher? As far as I remember, Minister Song’s first teacher was Qiu Bingkun from the Liuyi Academy. How did he suddenly transform into this person? Could it be that Daru Qiu has shaved his beard overnight, and even changed his face?”

Xie Chunxi made it clear that he did not believe him, and even reached out to test him.

In Song Nanyan’s opinion, this one surnamed Xie was trying to shift attention from his dispute with Yue Chengbo, and he was doing so by making life difficult for Changming.

“Wait a moment!”

But Xie Chunxi had stretched out his hand too fast, and Song Nanyan did not manage to stop him.

Xie Chunxi turned a deaf ear to his words, grabbed Changming’s shoulder, and wanted to test his background.

But Xie Chunxi’s expression suddenly froze when he almost touched his opponent.

Why was he suddenly grabbing only air?!

Xie Chunxi reacted extremely quickly, and his spiritual powers immediately flowed from his palm, splitting into several strands to bind the other.

Changming waved his sleeves, and, to Xie Chunxi’s surprise, stopped them.

The two of them exchanged several moves, but not only did this nameless rogue cultivator not fall into a disadvantageous position, he even seemed to fight with ease, accomplishing a great task with little effort by making clever maneuvers.

Xie Chunxi was outraged. He could not believe he had met with such misfortune!

Originally, he had no intention to draw his sword, but, if he failed to subdue this person now, he would turn into a laughing stock who was taught a lesson instead of teaching one, in front of Yue Chengbo and the others.

“You really are suspicious!”

Xie Chunxi took the initiative to gain the upper hand, by simultaneously leveling an accusation against his opponent and summoning his sword with a gesture of his hand. It shone with white light, and swiftly flew towards Changming.

The white light split into a myriad of rays halfway, creating a thousand illusions, and sweeping away all the obstacles in its way.

Song Nanyan could not help but gasp.

The glowing sword stung his eyes, and he inevitably raised his hand to protect himself from it.

But his heart was beating so violently it could almost jump out of his chest.

If he knew earlier, he would not have taken his teacher with him. But it was already too late to regret his decision. He could not have anticipated that Xie Chunxi and Yue Chengbo would start to argue, and then decide to divert the calamitous waters to Changming, making his life difficult.

Song Nanyan was both worried and angry. They did not take Changming seriously at all, and did not even attach any importance to Song Nanyan.

The mentor of the Jinque Daoist Temple, a brilliant master of cultivation, suddenly found fault with a nameless rogue cultivator. He poured around seventy or eighty percent of his spiritual power into this attack, and a typical high-level cultivator would not have been able to withstand it at all.

A thousand pounds were hanging by a thread; no one would have managed to stop him now.

A thousand pounds were hanging by a thread: imminent danger

Just when the resting imperial palace was about to be smeared with blood, the myriad of sword rays suddenly went dark, as if night had fallen. All the sounds stopped abruptly, and the forms turned incorporeal.

Clang!

All of a sudden, the spiritual tool that Xie Chunxi was holding in his hand, fell to the ground.

Changming was standing with his hands lowered, and his expression was as usual.

“Is taking people’s lives on every corner a general practice of the Jinque Daoist Temple? To give my disciple face today, I won’t kill people here, otherwise, given my past habits, I’m afraid Mentor Xie wouldn’t have been able to get out of here alive today.”

He smiled noncommittally. His expression was not relentless at all, but his words were as piercing as a sharp sword.

Xie Chunxi’s face turned deathly pale, and he took three steps back.

Song Nanyan looked at his family’s teacher, slightly opened his mouth, and trembled with his eyes wide open.

The others were taken by surprise too.

Kuhe had tested him just now, feeling that this person was a bit suspicious, but Kuhe did not expect him to be able to intimidate a cultivation master.

It seemed that this man’s cultivation was actually deep and unmeasurable.

“My skills are inferior, there is nothing more to say. Since His Majesty and the empress dowager have such a capable person as this daoyou, he will surely be able to turn this calamity into a blessing, so I won’t show my immature skills here!”

Xie Chunxi was talking gloomily. He did not even want to continue discussing the other party’s background, and simply turned around, intending to leave.

“Wait!” Obviously, Yue Chengbo could not let him walk away like this, “Xie Chunxi, if you aren’t guilty, why are you running away so quickly!”

Xie Chunxi’s expression darkened: “Why are you trying to stop me?”

Changming’s voice came from behind.

“Mentor Xie wasn’t mistaken when he said that the one who wounded the emperor’s soul was a person close to him. In other words, one of the people here is an incarnation of a demon.”

When these words were spoken, everyone became frightened.

If they had not seen Changming’s strength just now, they would have deemed his words nonsense.

Who was in the room?

Changming, Song Nanyan, the four masters, the emperor, his two attendants, two high-level cultivators, and the empress dowager.

The author has something to say:

A small theatre unrelated to the main text:

Song Nanyan: Teacher, your showing off really…

Changming: ?

Song Nanyan: Almost made me lose my soul out of fright.

The werewolves have started killing people →_→

Tn:

A reminder: Xie Chunxi is the one who foretold Xu Jingxian’s destiny and made her follow the Demonic dao.

[1] Three immortal souls: as always, there are different interpretations of the concept, and as always, I’m going to share this priceless information.

seven pos in reverse order

Seven mortal forms: in medical interpretation, the seven mortal forms are seven functions of a human organism, namely: ‘dog corpse’ (when you feel something while being asleep, just like a dog that is always on guard), ‘lying arrow’ (consciousness), ‘sparrow shadow’ (reproductive function), ‘swallowing bandits’ (~macrophages that fight against bacteria), ‘non-poison’ (I’m too lazy to write the explanation, to sum it up, sleep well!), ‘rooting weeds’ (helps the organism to get rid of inner contamination), ‘rotten lungs’ (helps people breathe while asleep).