Lanke Chess Edge
Chapter 139: Exchanging the Truth for a Lie

[T/n: note on chapter title]¹

No matter how earnestly Bai Ruo begged, this was not something she could decide on her own.

Ji Yuan sighed. He immediately felt the difficulty of the situation.

“First, sit up and calm your turbulent energy. Let me think about this matter.”

Seeing that she was still kneeling, Ji Yuan made his voice deliberately colder.

“Why, you won’t get up unless I help you?”

At the change in the immortal’s tone voice, Bai Ruo didn’t dare act rashly. She straightened up quickly, not leaving the circle of “concealment” characters around her. She then sat down on the spot to meditate, stabilizing her breath, gathering demonic Qi, and reconnecting with the broken-off tail from the main body.

Although the tail was separated by a supernatural method, rather than having been physically broken off, if it remained unstable for a long period of time, it would truly cause the tail to become irreparable.

Bai Ruo was now in a state of nervous anticipation, but on Ji Yuan’s part, he now felt that all of these troubles would eventually fall on him.

This was the consequence of choosing to meddle in others’ business. However, if he were given the chance to choose again, he would probably still meddle. Ji Yuan only regretted that it was too late for him to intervene. If only he could have arrived here ten or even five years earlier… But there was no use in thinking of this – not only was time travel to the past impossible, he would not have even come into this world yet then.

Ji Yuan would never consider taking the White Deer Girl directly to the City God Temple. Bai Ruo had just caused chaos in the underworld. It was quite the unlucky situation.

To be fair, even clay statues could harbor grievances, let alone the gods of the capital of Dazhen.² Even if there wasn’t that high of a possibility of a fight, it would definitely not look good for them.

Ji Yuan’s brows furrowed in thought. He was not only considering Bai Ruo’s request, but also ways to resolve the whole issue.

In Ji Yuan’s mind, for a monster like Bai Ruo who already experienced true feelings, their views on sentient beings would no longer be the same of those of ordinary monsters. Instead, Ji Yuan hoped that she might be able to achieve enlightenment.

Suddenly, Ji Yuan had an idea. He looked to the White Deer Woman, who was carefully and slowly absorbing the surrounding spiritual energy.

“Even if I went to the underworld, the City God of the Capital Prefecture may not be able to fulfill your wish. My reputation is not worth much. It is too risky and not worthwhile to sacrifice my practice for this.”

Bai Ruo listened to Ji Yuan’s words, her face full of sorrow. She was speechless, but Ji Yuan’s words still suggested that she had a chance.

“Your idea is not feasible, but I have another idea. Perhaps it would allow you to go into the underworld to meet Zhou Niansheng, and even stay together for a while before leaving!”

Was there such a method?

Bai Ruo was stunned at his words. She couldn’t believe it.

“Master Immortal… Is there truly a way?”

“Of course there is, but Miss Bai Ruo will have to work extremely hard for a while. We will also have to make up a lie, and erase your identity as a ‘demon’!”

After speaking, Ji Yuan smiled at her.

“This method can also work also thanks to the fact that you kept your composure from beginning to end, and didn’t reveal your true form in front of the gods.”

“I was afraid of being inscribed onto the judgement list by the officials…”

Bai Ruo replied hesitantly. Although she was confused, upon seeing Ji Yuan’s serious expression, she felt a little expectant in her heart.

​​…

Two nights later, around the time for the third or fourth night watch, a night watchman passed by the Land God Temple on the western side of the city, ringing his gong.

The beats of the gong were slow at first, with the next couple being fast strikes, made to a faint rhythm.

“Boom… boom. Boom… boom.”

The watchman shouted: “It’s freezing cold!”³

“Boom… boom, boom, boom”.

“It’s freezing cold!”

After a few rounds of shouting, the watchman rubbed his arms and hurried forward. THe lantern in his hand swayed slightly from his shaking.

“Hiss… hoo… it’s really cold today. Let’s hurry up and finish so I can go back to sleep!”

Less than time time it took to drink a cup of tea had passed after the night watchman walked by, before the crisp sound of footsteps was heard outside the Land God Temple.

The sound was similar to that of a horse’s hoof hitting the ground, but different: the sound was more quiet and clear.

A giant deer as strong as a horse trotted down the road in the middle of the city. The deer had no horns, and was completely snow-white. Its fur fluttered slightly in the cold wind, and its body glowed with a faint white light. Its tail swayed from time to time to the rhythm of its steps.

Ji Yuan held the book “Imperial Discouse” in one hand, with an immortal sword slung across his back. He sat on the back of the deer, reading the book in his hand carefully. As the white deer moved forward, Ji Yuan’s body swayed occasionally, but it wasn’t clear whether that was due to the content of the book, or the bump of the white deer’s hooves.

After a while, the white deer arrived at the outer gate of the Land God Temple.

During this time of night, there were definitely no visitors. The temple steward and the workers would have already gone to bed, and the temple door was naturally closed.

The moment the white deer stopped in front of the temple gate, Ji Yuan put down his book, got off of the deer’s back, and bowed, still holding his book, towards the Land God Temple.

“I am a wandering monk, and have come to pay a visit to the Land God of the Capital Prefecture. I request an audience with the Land God!”

The sound of the Tao slowly penetrated into the ground. After about four or five breaths, a breeze slowly blew up from the ground, and a tall man with a strong physique, dressed in brocade clothes, appeared in front of Ji Yuan.

The man held an enormous rattan cane, and had a curly black and blue beard. Even without counting his hat, he was probably a head taller than Ji Yuan. Judging from the inky black and blue color of his eyes, he was definitely no ordinary ghost or god, but a true god of the mountains and rivers, ascended from the power of incense.

‘My goodness… This appearance is far from what I imagined based on the previous Land God…’

It was the first time that Ji Yuan had seen the Land God of the Capital Prefecture with his own eyes, and it was quite a shock.

The Land God was also observing Ji Yuan. This visitor was dressed simply and had a black hairpin in his hair. He could not see any special powers or divine aura, but he was nonetheless clearly quite an accomplished individual. His pair of eyes were calm as a deep well, as if he could see through the passage of time. Even the white deer he rode on was extraordinary, with the aura of an immortal spirit.

Seeing that Ji Yuan was still bowing, the Land God returned the greeting.

“I wonder, why might this fellow cultivator be looking for me?”

Ji Yuan looked apologetic and glanced at the white deer behind him, before answering the Land God.

“I have also come to report my crime to the Land God. It is a long story; could we find a quiet place in the temple so I might recount it slowly?”

The Land God looked at them carefully once again, then nodded slightly. He stretched out his hand and guided them to the side of the temple wall, where his own divine light permeated the ground.

“Please, come to my house and let us talk.”

They followed Land God, passing through the light in the ground, and arrived at the Land God Palace, deep in the earth. After a brief period of marveling at the novelty of this earth movement technique, Ji Yuan began to speak in front of the Land God.

Ji Yuan vividly spun the a story of a man who, while mounted on a horse, often recited some poignant love stories from “A Historical Account from Outside the Tao” to himself, which moved his heart. One of the stories told the tale of a spirit who quietly left when the Jade Emperor wasn’t paying attention, to find true love in the mortal world.

Ji Yuan only changed a few details of the story, but the general plot remained unchanged. The love between a human and a monster had been turned into the love between a human and an immortal deer. The true love was still as touching as ever, but the repulsive elements had been greatly reduced. More importantly, this was an immortal deer, and there was “someone in charge of it.”⁴

His cadence was sometimes fast, and sometimes slow, and it took Ji Yuan a full hour to finish this adapted story. Over the course of his retelling, the white deer was moved to tears several times, and the Land God clearly saw it.

“To be honest, I have only just found this white deer. She has neglected her cultivation for decades and even developed some demonic energy, but she has never harmed mortals. I couldn’t bear to see the white deer cut off from her pursuit of the Tao, so I cast a spell to save her when the Land God tried to apprehend her. But now, she dearly misses her husband…”

Ji Yuan sighed and completed the white deer’s previous request.

After listening for a long time, the Land God said nothing. He looked at the white deer and saw traces of its tears.

“Ah… In other words, Miss Bai Ruo is willing to be treated as a demon, wishes to enter the underworld to accompany Zhou Niansheng until his yin lifespan has been exhausted, and then she will not hesitate to have her soul refined?”

“Exactly!”

Ji Yuan smiled bitterly and shook his head, but agreed. Then, he smoothly spoke a verse of the poem:

“As we look at each other in the light of the moon, I only envy the mandarin ducks, instead of the immortals… alas!”

The Land God, who sat on a large chair at the root of a tree in his palace, took a sip from the tea on the table.

“I’ve seen plenty of love between mortals, but over the years, few can compare to this immortal deer Bai Ruo. Mr. Ji also doesn’t want the white deer to die like this, right?”

Ji Yuan smiled bitterly.

“If not, why would I come here to ask for help? Cultivators are rare, as is true love. I hope the Land God can accompany me to the City God Temple. You are both gods of the capital, so I can only hope that they give us some face.”

Spirits like the Land God were connected to the mountains and rivers, and cared for them. They were the most tolerant of all beings in the land, and were the least prejudiced even against monsters, not to mention immortal spirits like this immortal deer.

From the way the Land God sighed several times and his expression when he looked at the white deer, Ji Yuan could tell that his plan had succeeded!

1. Lit: “to steal a rafter and replace it with a column,” i.e. to replace an original with a fake/to perpetuate a fraud
2. Similar to saying “even a rock would feel this way”
3. T/n: LOL instead of shouting what time it is, he’s shouting about how cold he is XD
4. i.e. they can’t just dismiss the deer out of hand or else they risk offending this cultivator