Lanke Chess Edge -
Chapter 189: Another Way Forward
Ji Yuan now knew that, although the underworld had its own laws, it was not impossible for them to make exceptions. For example, with a good person like Qin Zizhou, so many underworld officials were willing to wait here for his family to complete their funerary rites at home before sending him on his way.
Even the Land God had come over from his temple on his own initiative. It would have been logical for the Land God to have merely waited in his temple for the family members’ funeral procession to arrive, given that the underworld sent messengers.
The idea that “if one held great virtue, even ghosts and gods would pay their respects” was vividly reflected here.
They were thus faced with Ji Yuan’s request. Although it didn’t conform to the system of the underworld, the man in front of them was obviously an extremely skilled cultivator of high level, and he also showed sufficient courtesy. Crucially, no one could stop him if he did want to force his way in.
The ghost messengers glanced at the Land God, who resembled an older man. The latter just nodded slightly.
Although the Land God, connected to the earth’s spiritual veins, could not sense Ji Yuan’s spiritual core, he could vaguely feel that after Ji Yuan had entered, the entire courtyard was filled with fresh air, and the dirt had been expelled. In this case, it was unlikely that the other party was a demon.
Seeing the Land God’s reaction, the ghost messengers were reassured. A daytime patrol officer spoke.
“Since the Lord Immortal wishes to see Qin Zizhou, we will of course aid you. It is our duty. Please allow us to enter first and explain to Qin Zizhou what happens now after his death. His soul must be confused at the moment!”
Ji Yuan used his supernatural eyes to look in the direction of the house. At this moment, Qin Zizhou’s soul had already begun to leave his body. Ji Yuan bowed to the ghosts and gods again.
“Of course. Please go ahead and call me when you are ready!”“Okay, please wait for a moment, Lord Immortal!”
The group of ghost messengers bowed in return, then rode on a gust of Yin-energy wind into the large room where Qin Zizhou lay.
The Land God took one step closer to Ji Yuan, bowed, and tentatively began to chat with him. The two of them waited outside in the courtyard together.
The entire Qin family’s compound comprised of eight rooms, excluding the kitchen and firewood shed. There was no distinction between the front and back wings. They were all surrounded by a large yard. Qin Zizhou was located in the largest room in the middle.
At this moment, the descendants of the Qin family and several of the students whom Qin Zizhou prized were gathered around the bed, making sure to dress the old man in his funeral shrouds while the body was not yet stiff. The sound of crying had grown weaker, but there were still the occasional sobs.
Tong Xian was Qin Zizhou’s most prized student, and the man had treated him like his own son. Mr. Qin’s eldest son had passed away a long time ago, so it was mainly he and Mr. Qin’s second son who took upon the task of dressing him in burial clothes. The others were just there to lend a hand.
“Ah… Dad, you have been treating illnesses and saving lives all your life. Please rest in peace after death!”
“My Master passed away today, over one hundred years of age. How many people in this world can live as long as he has? This is surely a reward from heaven, and he will be blessed in the afterlife!”
At this moment, a cold wind blew through the room, and many people felt a sudden chill. The older ones were more experienced, and had heard or experienced many similar things. Although they had never seen them, they all understood in their hearts what was happening, and they all pulled back and stood to the side.
According to the older generations, if the room suddenly became cold before or after the death of a loved one, it could be due to the arrival of a ghost.
At this moment, Qin Zizhou’s soul stood beside his corpse. He watched as his apprentice and his son put funerary shrouds on him in a daze. He gazed around at his relatives crying around his deathbed. His spirit was a little dazed.
“Qin Zizhou, your life span has come to an end. We are here to guide the way for you!”
Hearing this sound, Qin Zizhou suddenly felt his mind clear. He looked back towards the bed and saw six officials dressed in black and white clothes standing there.
Qin Zizhou asked carefully with a slight sense of fear.
“Are all of you underworld officials?”
The two daytime patrol officers actualy bowed to Qin Zizhou.
“I am the Right Messenger of the Daytime Patrol under the command of the City God of Desheng Prefecture. Next to me is the Left Messenger of the Daytime Patrol. Behind me are two Soul-Binding Messengers and two Protective-Shade-Umbrella Servants. I have been ordered to come here to escort you. We will take you on your journey only after you have enjoyed the ritual offerings in your home!”
Qin Zizhou hurriedly returned the messenger’s bow. Then he felt his ghost body being pulled, and he floated towards the other side. When he came back to his senses, he was already standing beside the two soul-binding envoys.
“Mr. Qin, your affairs in the world of the living are over. You are not allowed to contact your relatives, nor be attached to your old body. You can only return home in seven days. Before the funerary rites begin in your home, please wait beside us!”
“I understand, I understand. Thank you, Messengers, for letting me know!”
Qin Zizhou now felt anxiety mixed with a faint fear. He simply obeyed whatever the ghosts said, and didn’t dare raise any objections.
The two parasols opened, isolating the ghost of Qin Zizhou and the messengers. The two daytime patrol officers glanced at each other and nodded. The one who had just spoken turned to Qin Zizhou again.
“Mr. Qin, have you ever met an immortal before your death?”
Qin Zizhou looked at the white-robed officer with a tall hat.
“An immortal?”
“Well, it could also have been any strange individual or event that left a deep impression on you. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they displayed terrifying supernatural powers, but just any event where the other party was likely to be a divine being.”
Qin Zizhou thought hard. He had been called a living immortal countless times, but he had no recollection of ever meeting a real immortal. Wait… it seemed that there really might have been such a person.
“It seems that there was indeed someone similar. He was a Taoist priest. When he came to my medicine hall, he was barely breathing and about to die. A martial arts master and I saved his life…”
Now several of the other stern-faced ghost messengers were a little surprised, not just the daytime patrol officers. His life had been in danger?
In their minds, they had already subconsciously imagined the possibility of a fight between the immortal and some demonic evil spirits.
“Was there really something so special about that Taoist priest?”
The daytime patrol officer asked again.
“Of course there was. That Taoist priest was an extremely accurate fortune-teller. He always made correct predictions about people’s recovery after illness. When they came to my pharmacy for regular consultations, he would also perform readings for other patients.1 I remember one time…”
Qin Zizhou hesitated for a moment, but continued.
“Once, a man with a sallow complexion came to see a doctor. The Taoist priest happened to be there. Before I could even feel his pulse, the Taoist priest bluntly told the patient, ‘there’s no hope for you. From now on, do good deeds and accumulate virtue. Maybe you can live for another year or two. Just eat and drink healthily. Miracle doctors cannot save you, but the gods might be able to…’ A fight almost broke out in the pharmacy at that time…”
Even with a ghost body, Qin Zizhou still had some lingering fears. He continued.
“After I examined him, I found that he was indeed terminally ill, but I didn’t believe in superstition or hopeless cases and tried my best to treat him. Unfortunately, he died two months later.”
A few of the ghost messengers were a little puzzled. Originally, they thought that the man was a virtuous master when they heard the words “do good deeds and accumulate virtue,” but when they heard that he almost started a fight in the pharmacy they felt that it might not be the case.
It wouldn’t be good to delay for too long now, so they could only tell Qin Zizhou the truth.
“Mr. Qin, there is an immortal waiting outside who wants to see you. He says he is an old acquaintance of yours. I will invite him in right away.”
After speaking, the daytime patrol officer walked out under Qin Zizhou’s puzzled gaze. A moment later, he led a gentleman in a white robe into the hall.
When Ji Yuan entered the house, the first thing he saw was Qin Zizhou’s body. It was so thin that it looked like a dry skeleton. It was obvious that he had been unable to eat long before his death.
Then he spotted Qin Zizhou’s soul standing in the middle of the group of ghosts. He looked the same as he had back then, without much of a ghostly aura. He almost seemed like a living person.
The ghosts and the Land God might simply write off this matter as unusual, but in Ji Yuan’s opinion, it was absolutely extraordinary. Even more rare was the pure spiritual energy contained in his being, which gave off almost the same feeling as a “personal god” in a human body. This was incredibly rare in this world.
What was even more bizarre was that although Qin Zizhou was clearly dead, this pure aura did not dissipate. Even if he harbored a personal spirit, it would immediately dissipate or escape into the world after death, so long as a master didn’t take action to prevent it.
Ji Yuan’s heart was greatly moved. He suddenly remembered a concept in “Bright Strategies” that he had read the previous year. Even the author himself thought it was a stretch, but Ji Yuan now let go of some of his original assumptions.
“Doctor Qin, we meet again!”
Qin Zizhou no longer recognized Ji Yuan from his appearance, but he remembered those eyes and their affliction.
“You are… are you the martial arts master who could still see even while blind? You were an immortal!”
Ji Yuan bowed to him and smiled.
“Doctor Qin has a good memory. You have been practicing medicine and saving people all your life. When you passed away, the Land God was watching over your home, and these six ghost messengers came to see you off. The Left and Right Messengers of the Daytime Patrol of Desheng Prefecture came in person. You are one of the most prestigious people among mortals; I’m sure the underworld has already arranged a position for you, right?”
Ji Yuan’s last sentence was obviously a question to the Daytime Patrol. The latter did not dare to delay in answering.
“This matter will be decided by Lord Judges and the Lord City God. However, considering Lord Qin’s virtue, he will definitely be valued highly.”
The daytime patrol officer realized that his words functionally meant nothing, so he added another sentence.
“For a great doctor like Lord Qin, his Yin lifespan is nearly one hundred years. He would usually rest in the underworld for a few years, and receive offerings from his descendants. After cultivating and refining his soul, he will be given the position of Head Secretary and taught the Ghost Refining cultivation method. If there is a vacancy for a Division Head position for one of the twenty-four underworld divisions, he will most likely be appointed there!”
“Okay, thank you for letting me know!”
It was true that Ji Yuan wanted to know, but he also deliberately asked so that Qin Zizhou could hear it. After the daytime patrol officer finished speaking, Ji Yuan asked Qin Zizhou.
“Doctor Qin, will be in charge of a division of the underworld and can take care of your descendants. You can also keep your ghost body intact. With your virtue, perhaps the villagers will build a shrine for you in the future, and you can become an idle god.”
The term “idle god” referred to gods who practiced cultivation. They were neither righteous gods, such as Mountain, River, or Land Gods, nor gods of the underworld, such as City Gods.2
For example, some places might build a general temple to commemorate the deceased military generals from the local region, hoping to suppress any ghostly malice. For a miracle doctor like Qin Zizhou, a region might build a temple to commemorate him in order to suppress evil miasma and disease, and protect the villagers from illness.
Ji Yuan paused here. He looked at the ghost messengers, then turned his gaze away.
“Of course, your ghost body is already naturally refined, and filled with pure energy. In my opinion, there is another path forward. If a Lord of the Water, one who has accumulated a lot of incense power and has a high level of Taoism, helps you, you can refine and change your ghost body from extreme Yin to Yang. With this, you will not be burned by sunlight, nor affected by the cold. You can practice a true cultivation method, and cultivate the spiritual path. Even without a physical body, you can still attain a true body…”
When Ji Yuan finished his sentence, the Land God who had been standing by the door could no longer hold back, and blurted something out.
“Lord Immortal, are you referring to a Wandering God?”3
It was rumored that there existed a kind of deity that could travel all over the world without being constrained by the boundaries of the world. This deity could enjoy incense in temples, and be prayed to by ordinary mortals in their homes; they would not be affected by a change of dynasties. This deity was more miraculous than even the Mingwang Buddha. Such was the Wandering God of Realms. As the years passed, their accumulating spiritual power would become infinite, and they would come to be listed as “True” gods alongside mountain gods.
“The Lord Land God is quite insightful, but attaining the status of a Wandering God is still far off. Given Doctor Qin’s current condition, how can it be so quickly achieved? We can only look forward to it in the future.”
Ji Yuan’s casual words left the Land God shocked. How could one even consider becoming a Wandering God overnight? The Lord Immortal was essentially replying, “yes, this is exactly what you think it is.”
“But, becoming a Wandering God has always been a matter of luck and coincidence. How could it be possible…”
The Land God was a little incoherent at the moment, completely incapable of expressing the chaotic thoughts in his mind.
T/n: JY, gleefully tossing out candy: and YOU get a mental crisis, and YOU get a mental crisis, and YOU get some addendums to the fundamental laws of the universe, and YOU get a mental crisis too–
- T/n: *facepalm* Qingsong!!! You idiot!!! This is the exact behavior that landed you in the hospital in the first place!!!
- 闲 (xián): idle/unoccupied/leisurely Called “idle” is because they don’t have a specific territory to look after, not because they aren’t doing any work.
- 界 (jiè): boundary/border/realm, 游 (yóu): to walk/to tour/to roam/to travel, 神 (shén): god/deity/spirit. Lit “Realm-Traveling God”
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