Chapter 43.3: Hundred Ghost Parade~
Chapter 43 Part 3
With one hand taking the point and the other handing over the Kuman Thong, the matter was handed over to Hu Die to take charge of. Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi then planned to leave. They had just walked a few steps when Hu Die spoke, “Oh right, there’s something I forgot to tell you. Nan Yi is already rushing over here. He should probably arrive tonight at 11.”
Xi Jia looked at Hu Die in astonishment, and then looked at Ye Jingzhi.
Ye Jingzhi asked, “Why is Fellow Daoist Nan Yi coming here?”
Hu Die quietly laughed, “How would I know why he’s coming. Anyways, I’ve heard……En, I’ve heard it’s to take you to Tianji School.” Saying this, Hu Die raised his finger and pointed at Xi Jia.
Xi Jia, “Me?!”
Hu Die made things unnecessarily complicated as he covered his lips in a light smile and didn’t say any more.
Xi Jia was baffled.
Xi Jia had already heard the name, Nan Yi, from Pei Yu before.
The eldest disciple of Zi Wei Xing Hall among the Four Great Sects and most beloved disciple of the number one person in the Xuanxue world, Cengxiu-zhenjun, was Nan Yi. Although he was second place in the Modou Rankings, the gap between him and Hell King Ye in first place was very wide. This didn’t mean that Nan Yi was very weak, but rather Master Ye was completely OP. Placed within the younger generation, Nan Yi’s strength was very normal. Also, his strength suppressed Hu Die for so many years, and he had never been overtaken by Hu Die.
A major disciple of Zi Wei Xing Hall running all the way to C Province to find him and then take him to Tianji School……
Why did it feel like something’s fishy?
Not even 11 o’clock at night but just after 10 o’clock, Xi Jia was still in the hotel room packing clothes when he suddenly heard the doorbell ring. He thought it was hotel service who had knocked on the door so he casually opened the door and turned around to grab his jacket while saying, “You can put the things on the table, thank you.”
After waiting for a long time, there was no reply.
A clear male voice sounded outside the door, “Fellow Daoist Ye, long time no see.”
Ye Jingzhi was holding Song Song as he lightly nodded his head, “Fellow Daoist Nan Yi, long time no see.”
Xi Jia immediately turned his head and finally saw the young Celestial Master standing by the door clearly.
Nan Yi wore simple clothes and didn’t dress androgynously like Hu Die or as fashionable and cool as Pei Yu. He calmly and mellowly stood outside the door and greeted Ye Jingzhi with utmost courtesy. Seeing Ye Jingzhi holding a cat, he didn’t express a trace of surprise. Instead, he slowly turned his line of sight to Xi Jia who had opened the door for him. He lightly nodded his head at him, “Fellow Daoist Xi.”
Xi Jia, being called “Fellow Daoist Xi” by someone for the first time, was somewhat embarrassed, “……Hello.”
Only then did Nan Yi enter the room.
Xi Jia had never seen a Celestial Master that looked so much like a Celestial Master——various literal meanings.
Nan Yi was dressed no different than a normal person, and he also wasn’t like Hu Die who had grown a head full of long hair. After he entered the room, he courteously asked if he could sit down. He sat down only after getting permission and talked about his purpose for coming, “Fellow Daoist Ye, Fellow Daoist Xi, to tell the truth, Chang’an is in turmoil recently.”
Ye Jingzhi asked, “What is the cause?”
Nan Yi said, “It perhaps has something to do with the Mausoleum. However, several days ago, my Master had joined hands with Qishan-daoren to lay down a hundred formations outside of the Mausoleum. Everyday, there are always ten fellow daoists guarding outside, and they have never seen any ghosts escaping from the Mausoleum. It is reasonable to say that it should not be a problem with the Mausoleum.”
Xi Jia said, “If there really is something wrong with the Mausoleum, Ziying would tell me. I even talked to Ziying a few days ago. He’s been busy studying physics……Cough, he’s very busy lately, but he said that everything inside the Mausoleum is normal. Chang’an is so big, and it might not be related to the Mausoleum. For example, Wu Zetian’s tomb seems to also be near Chang’an?”
Speaking of this, Xi Jia was really a bit unhappy.
Nowadays, Ziying was properly studying in the Mausoleum and making progress everyday. He was even studying harder than the Gaokao students. Not to mention, the masters of the Xuanxue world would make a disturbance outside all day long, how come the first thing they would think of was the Mausoleum every time something happened in Chang’an? Ziying was being wronged.
“Yes, it should be.” Nan Yi paused before continuing, “We were all thinking that there is a malicious ghost causing trouble in Chang’an. However, after looking for more than ten days in a row, no traces of a malicious ghost have been found. The seniors of Tianji School joined together to fortune-tell. Senior Zhufeng had vomited three liters of blood. In the end, the divination still pointed towards the Mausoleum.”
Xi Jia, “……”
It really was the Mausoleum?!
Xi Jia was still somewhat biased towards Ziying, “Maybe it’s calculated wrong?”
Nan Yi, “Senior Zhufeng really coughed up three liters of blood.”
Xi Jia, “……”
Ye Jingzhi said, “Fellow Daoist Nan Yi, Senior Cengxiu has ordered you to come here, for what matter?”
It returned to the main topic all of a sudden.
Xi Jia turned to look at Nan Yi. The serious and young Celestial Master was also solemnly looking at him. He said while pausing per line, “Would Fellow Daoist Xi head to Tianji School, and with all the seniors of Tianji School, calculate what had happened in the Mausoleum?”
This was Brother Jia’s first time knowing that he had the ability to tell fortune.
Xi Jia knew about Tianji School’s ability of fortune-telling. Even if it’s the very unreliable Zhuzhao-zhenren, he had calculated that the one to escape out of the Mausoleum was Ziying three months ago. Now that Nan Yi personally came to fetch him to Tianji School, Xi Jia couldn’t just reject. First, the incident was linked to the Mausoleum, and he was good friends with Ziying so he needed to understand the truth. Second, he was the only person in the Xuanxue world that could contact Ziying. If they needed to know about the matters inside the Mausoleum, finding him was the easiest.
Ye Jingzhi originally wanted to go to Tianji School with Xi Jia, but Nan Yi said, “Fellow Daoist Ye, Chang’an is in chaos nowadays. I wonder if you can go to Chang’an and stabilize the situation with my master and Master Buxing?”
Ye Jingzhi certainly didn’t want to let Xi Jia go to Tianji School alone, and he asked, “What kind of chaos?”
Nan Yi’s expression was serious as he threw out three words——
“Hundred Ghost Parade.”
The troops split into two paths. Xi Jia followed Nan Yi towards Tianji School, and Ye Jingzhi went to Chang’an alone.
Xi Jia had heard of Japan’s Hundred Ghost Parade, but he had never heard that there was a Hundred Ghost Parade in Huaxia. As if seeing his doubts, Nan Yi explained along the way, “Starting from the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, there has been Hundred Ghost Parades in Huaxia. Later, it spread to Japan and slowly evolved into Japan’s Hyakki Yakou. In ancient times, during the middle of the seventh lunar month’s Ghost Festival, hundreds of ghosts would come out from the Hell Gates in droves and return to the secular world to enjoy their descendants burning joss sticks. During ancient times, people believed in the sayings of the supernatural, and the scale of the Hundred Ghost Parades was also very grand. Nowadays, there is no longer any Hundred Ghost Parades. First, there hasn’t been any ghost powerful enough to command the various ghosts and start a parade. Second, the people don’t believe in the supernatural. A lot less joss sticks are being burned in the mortal world so the power of faith is also less. Therefore, the Hundred Ghost Parade requires a strong ghost to act as the leader and is also powerful enough to resist the human world’s yang energy that is growing with each passing day.”
Song Song climbed into the back seat of the car to sleep. Xi Jia drove while asking, “Master Nan Yi, how is the Hundred Ghost Parade doing in Chang’an right now?”
Nan Yi said, “Since ten days ago, once Zishi (11pm-1am) arrives, hundreds of ghosts would appear from the ends of the four main streets in the North, South, East, and West and head towards the center. In one shichen, they would march to the Bell Tower and knock on the large bronze bell at the top of the Bell Tower.1 Twelve full tolls would ring, and the hundreds of ghosts would disappear back to the ground.”
Xi Jia, “……” This was a bit too rampant!
This was Xi Jia’s first meeting with Nan Yi, but Master Nan was very easy to talk to. The other wasn’t casual and didn’t joke, but each time he had asked a question, he would patiently answer. He was somewhat similar to Ye Jingzhi, but Xi Jia carefully distinguished and discovered that this Master Nan Yi seemed to focus on etiquette and treat people respectfully and courteously, unlike Master Ye who was pure from the bottom of his heart.
It took more than ten hours to drive from C Province to Tianji School.
When Xi Jia couldn’t find anything else to talk about with Nan Yi and while they were both silent, Ye Jingzhi flew and arrived in Chang’an.
The millennial ancient city was peacefully situated in the land of Huaxia. Ye Jingzhi swept his gaze and saw the masters of the Xuanxue world flying above the Bell Tower. He directly flew over. Upon seeing him, Master Buxing made a bitter face and urgently said, “Young Daoist Ye, you’re finally here. Q-quickly help this poor monk. This large formation uses too much magic power. This poor monk can’t support it any longer.”
Ye Jingzhi stepped forward and replaced Master Buxing on a formation crux on the Bell Tower.
Time went by and Zishi (11pm-1am) arrived. It was clearly already in the middle of the night, yet streams of people was still flowing like waves in downtown Chang’an. The tourists who had come from all over the world were happily eating, drinking, and having fun near the Bell Tower. But, they didn’t know that at this moment, a group of top Celestial masters of the Xuanxue world stood above them, each looking miserable.
Ye Jingzhi had just arrived and didn’t know about the situation at all. He just obediently stood on a formation crux and maintained the large formation. However, once Zishi (11pm-1am) arrived, his eyes suddenly contracted and looked at the starting point of Chang’an’s North Street with a sharp gaze. In the next moment, he quickly looked at the other three directions only to see traces of yin energy appearing at the end of these four main streets.
The yin energy was accumulating and getting richer.
Cengxiu-zhenjun made hand seals and recited loudly, “Dān Heavenly Lord of the South, Flowing Gold Great Flame Bell. Mid-sky across the Five Sacred Mountains, overturning the seas and shaking the universe. Crossing within the universe, commanding sharp celestial soldiers. Listen to my call to arrive, quickly without halting. Exorcise the demons and evil spirits, quickly capture to be sent to the City of Fire. Urgently, by order of law!”2
Once his voice fell, a blinding red light suddenly emerged from underneath Ye Jingzhi. Ye Jingzhi’s magic power was being rapidly absorbed into the formation array, and Cengxiu-zhenjun’s complexion gradually became worse. As their magic powers were being consumed, four red fire-like lights spread along the streets in the four cardinal directions with the Bell Tower in downtown Chang’an as the center.
On the major street, a tourist felt well all of a sudden and emotionally said, “How come I suddenly don’t feel tired anymore?”
“Me too. A moment ago, I felt half dead from walking around the whole day. Now, I feel like I could shop around for another day.”
The red light enveloped the four main streets and the Bell Tower at the center. The moment the large formation formed, the yin energy at the ends of the four streets also condensed into form, transforming into fierce ghosts that were around 20-30 years of cultivation. Among them, there were even two wild ghosts 500 years of cultivation.
How was this a Hundred Ghost Parade? Densely packed lost souls and wild ghosts numbered at least 10,000. They were divided into four groups. Coming from the four directions, they majestically set out for the center of the Bell Tower.
They passed through the bodies of mortals. Those mortals were being protected by the red light and simply weren’t aware of the ghosts.
In the end, they gathered underneath the Bell Tower. The two wild ghosts with 500 years of cultivation stopped at the tall building and firmly rang the large bronze bell with over 600 years of history.
Weng!
Twelve bell tolls heavily rang out and shook the skies.
The sound was blocked by the enchantment, and the mortals below didn’t notice.
The moment after the 12th bell toll rang, the bodies of hundreds of ghosts gathered at the Chang’an Bell Tower deformed and became faint before disappearing into the air. However, this was only the beginning. When he saw the Hundred Ghost Parade, Ye Jingzhi’s expression was still undisturbed as if he didn’t take it seriously. After all the ghosts disappeared, Ye Jingzhi widened his eyes and shockingly saw a five-clawed golden dragon spiraling out of the Bell Tower!3
A giant golden dragon carried the frightening purple aura of a true dragon as it flew from the Bell Tower towards Chang’an’s ancient city walls. Along its path, it sprinkled down a myriad of golden light. In the end, it flew into Chang’an’s ancient city walls and disappeared.
Ye Jingzhi’s gaze was like a torch as he stared for a long time. He turned his head and asked, “What is that?”
How would Cengxiu-zhenjun know? Master Buxing was also smiling bitterly to the side, “Young Daoist Ye, if we knew, would we still be standing here? Don’t mention 10,000 ghosts, even if there are 100,000 ghosts, we can still deal with them with all of us together. But that dragon is protecting them! If we get near, the purple aura of a true dragon would attack us. It just had to wait for them to finish ringing the bell before flying away.”
Ye Jingzhi looked down at the direction where the golden dragon disappeared. Suddenly, he took out his cell phone.
Master Buxing was stunned, “Young Daoist Ye, what are you doing?”
Ye Jingzhi said, “Sending a WeChat.”
Master Buxing, “……” This poor monk of course knows that your sending a WeChat! But we were just talking about a major national event, and once a remark doesn’t conform, you go and send a WeChat. How is this appropriate!?
Xi Jia had just arrived at an area with high-speed service. He drank some water and opened up his phone to take a look.
【 Ye Jingzhi: Chang’an is very dangerous, don’t come over. 】
Xi Jia, “???”
Master Ye put away his phone with full satisfaction.
En, wife not coming to this kind of dangerous place is most important.
The Author has something to say:
Hu Die & Master Buxing: Hell King Ye/Young Daoist Ye is already no longer the silly and meng Hell King Ye/Young Daoist Ye of the past T^T!!!
Mirror: Wife, here, give you points【ObedientlyWaitingForAKiss.jpg】
Translator’s Notes:
1 Shichen 时辰 – Chinese measurement of time of two-hour intervals. For example, Zishi 子时 often appears in this novel, and it’s 11pm-1am. ↵
2 南方丹天君，流金大火铃。半天横五岳，翻海震乾坤。周游六合内，统领利天兵。闻吾呼召至，急速莫稽停。收斩凶神并恶鬼，速捉将来赴火城。急急如律令 – Entire speech is the Exorcism Incantation 驱邪咒 from 太上三洞神咒卷 Taishang Three Caves Book of Spiritual Incantations (loosely translated). It is translated mostly literally. ↵
3 A 5-clawed golden dragon strictly represents the Emperor/Son of Heaven. ↵
Here is a map if you want a visual of the Bell Tower and the main streets.
