Ghosts Know What I Experienced

Chapter 65 Part 2

Another half hour had passed before Zhufeng-zhenren came out from the house. The three great masters bid the old lady goodbye and headed towards Canglang Pavilion.

Once out the door, Zhufeng-zhenren said, “It has something to do with the Xuanxue world.”

Cengxiu-zhenjun halted in his steps, “Is it really related to the Xuanxue world? This poor daoist had checked before, this mad woman isn’t possessed and had simply gone crazy.”

Chequ-daoren added, “She became crazy from fright. One hun and one po scared away.”

Zhufeng-zhenren took out a few tortoise shell shards with a flip of his hand and pointed at the patterns on their surfaces, “Xuanlong rises from the west, yin energy comes from the south. Yin chases the seven po, yang has three hun.¹ Evil qi has entered, righteous qi has no existence. The hexagram shows that it is related to the Xuanxue world. 30 years ago, this woman was frightened by something related to the Xuanxue world.”

Cengxiu-zhenjun thought, “Frightened by a malicious ghost to the point of madness?”

There were indeed people in this world who were frightened crazy by ghosts, but everyone had different levels of courage. If someone were less courageous, they may truly become crazy after being scared.

At this point, Zhufeng-zhenren didn’t know anymore, he could only say, “It’s related to Canglang Pavilion and the Xuanxue world. Fellow Daoist Cengxiu, there is a pavilion on Peach Blossom Island. Canglang Pavilion itself is a pavilion. Could it be……that something is wrong with these two pavilions that caused that woman to be crazy and two Bodies of Extreme Yin to appear in S City within 30 years?”

“It’s very possible!”

Without delaying any further, the three masters rapidly rushed to Canglang Pavilion. However, despite them using Yin-Yang eyes to observe and the luopan compass and tortoise shells for divination, there wasn’t anything wrong with the Canglang Pavilion. In the end, Chequ-daoren suggested, “Let’s tear these two pavilions apart! This old man doesn’t believe that we won’t be able to find a problem once the pavilions are taken apart?”

Cengxiu-zhenjun said, “The pavilion at Peach Blossom Island matters not, but Canglang Pavilion has several hundred years of history. If it is demolished……”

Chequ-daoren was helpless, “Then, Fellow Daoist Cengxiu, tell us what should be done?”

The situation was unable to be resolved. Cengxiu-zhenjun wasn’t able to give a good suggestion. The masters of the Xuanxue world also couldn’t find any abnormality with Peach Blossom Island and Canglang Pavilion. If there really was no way, then they could only tear the pavilions down.

Just when Cengxiu-zhenjun was resolutely prepared to inform the government to immediately demolish the Canglang Pavilion, Zhufeng-zhenren stroked his long white beard and said, “Since we cannot directly figure out the cause, then let’s think. 30 years ago, S City……did anything particular happen 30 years ago in our Xuanxue world?”

Chequ-daoren blurted out, “30 years ago? This old man remembers that it was the year of Bing Yin.² That year, the weather was favorable for crops. This old man dug out a 600-year-old snow ginseng at Changbai Mountains. The snow ginseng was still hiding in the snow, pretending to be a ginseng and thinking it could get away. What kind of person is this old man? With a single glance, it was recognized, caught, and refined into medicine……”

Zhufeng-zhenren, “Cough cough, Fellow Daoist Chequ, we are not interested in knowing about your war of 300 rounds with the snow ginseng.” You didn’t give the snow ginseng to us, who would want to listen to your grand past.

Chequ-daoren lightly humphed, “Then what do you want to hear? Fellow Daoist Zhufeng, neither malicious ghost nor a great evil spirit had appeared during the Bing Yin Year. That year, only a few malicious ghosts appeared at Fengdu Ghost Gate. Besides this old man obtaining the snow ginseng being very exceptional, what else was unusual? What else……”

His voice trailed off.

Chequ-daoren quickly turned to look at Cengxiu-zhenjun.

Zhufeng-zhenren took a look at his appearance and suddenly remembered something. His face greatly changed as he looked at Cengxiu-zhenjun.

Cengxiu-zhenjun lightly said, “30 years ago, this old daoist and Yi Lingzi were together……to handle Jiu Yi Jun who had a qi deviation.”

On the other side, Peach Blossom Island.

Qishan-daoren said, “You ask if there was anything that happened 30 years ago?”

Ye Jingzhi nodded, “Yes, Senior Qishan. That woman became crazy 30 years ago. If there really was something, then it would be 30 years ago.”

Qishan-daoren sat at the pavilion, bored to death while looking at the lotus leaves in the pond.

Qishan-daoren wasn’t good at Fengshui, so he could only stay here and stare blankly. Ye Jingzhi also didn’t know about this kind of thing. So, the two kept each other company and idly sat in the pavilion, looking at the scenery. After hearing Ye Jingzhi mention going to see Canglang Pavilion yesterday, Qishan-daoren stroked his long beard and thought for a long time before slapping his thigh, “Really! Didn’t your master place righteousness above all that year and finish off that good friend of his……what was his name again, that one from Qianshan Sect……”

Ye Jingzhi’s eyes became cold, “Senior Jiu Yi Jun.”

Qishan-daoren continued, “That’s right, that’s right, it was Qianshan Sect’s sect master, Jiu Yi Jun. Back then, that Jiu Yi Jun wasn’t a bad Celestial Master. This old man wasn’t familiar with him, but he was a great friend of your master and Fellow Daoist Cengxiu. Jiu Yi Jun was Fellow Daoist Lian Chen’s senior brother. After his death, Fellow Daoist Lian Chen was deeply hurt. This old man even specifically went to D Province to accompany Fellow Daoist Lian Chen and drown his sorrows with alcohol.”

Lian Chen-zhenjun died together with Yi Lingzi within the tomb of the drought demon. Three months ago, Ye Jingzhi and Xi Jia went to D Province and saw the remains of this senior.

Ye Jingzhi wanted to know something, “Senior Qishan, when I was born, Senior Jiu Yi Jun had already passed away for 5 years, and Master had only mentioned him a few times. What happened 30 years ago, can you tell me in detail?”

To ordinary people, what happened 30 years ago may seem very distant, but to Qishan-daoren, it was only a third of his long life.

Celestial Masters always had good memory. Qishan-daoren wasn’t present when Jiu Yi Jun had a qi deviation, but he was good friends with Lian Chen-zhenjun. When they were drinking, he once heard Lian Chen-zhenjun talk about his pain.

“Jiu Yi Jun was the most talented Celestial Master Qianshan Sect had in more than 400 years. Their Qianshan Sect is stationed in D Province for several centuries, specializing in Gu poisons and Fengshui. 30 years ago, your master, Yi Lingzi, Fellow Daoist Cengxiu, Fellow Daoist Bùkǔ, and Jiu Yi Jun, these four people were the cornerstones of the Xuanxue world. Unfortunately, Jiu Yi Jun died 30 years ago; your master died 19 years ago; Fellow Daoist Bùkǔ passed away 6 years ago. In the end, only Fellow Daoist Cengxiu is left.”³

Speaking of the past, Qishan-daoren was being relatively proper. He carefully recalled his memories, “Things that happened 30 years ago? Actually, it wasn’t very major, only Jiu Yi Jun went astray. He went deep into Vietnam and Thailand, learned their traditional arts and sorcery, and then combined them with Huaxia’s Gu poison arts and raised a child ghost.”

Ye Jingzhi said, “Raising a child ghost isn’t necessarily a bad thing.”

Qishan-daoren nodded, “Young Daoist Ye is right. There are some Celestial Masters who specialize in raising wild ghosts by signing a Mt. Lian contract with them and using them to fight malicious ghosts. But what Jiu Yi Jun did was different. The Celestial Masters raising the ghosts went to find wandering spirits and wild ghosts to directly form a Mt. Lian contract. At first, Jiu Yi Jun also did things this way, until that one year in October. In Q province, there is a village that got entirely massacred within one night.”

Qishan-daoren raised his head and looked at Ye Jingzhi, “Young Daoist Ye, do you now know what Jiu Yi Jun had done at that time?”

Ye Jingzhi’s lips moved, but he couldn’t say it out loud.

Qishan-daoren sighed, “The people of an entire village were all killed by him, and the resentment energy had sky-rocketed. Jiu Yi Jun laid a large spell covering the entire village. By using the Longxue treasured point to refine the villagers’ yin energy, he made them into vengeful and malicious ghosts. Then, the village became a ‘container for the Gu’, and the over a hundred villagers became the ‘Gu insects.’ Qianshan Sect were proficient in raising Gu. The so-called Gu King is born when the strongest Gu insect survives after engulfing all other Gu insects. After over a hundred malicious ghosts killed each other, that last remaining malicious ghost was raised by Jiu Yi Jun.”

“Why did he do it that way?”

“How would this old man know? He and this old man aren’t close. Jiu Yi Jun was very familiar with Fengshui layouts, great in power, and did things to perfection. Until a month later, it was exposed by chance. Then, Yi Lingzi and Fellow Daoist Cengxiu joined hands to put an end to him and that Gu King. That was the destruction of a village in Q province 30 years ago. Later, the government found a reason to cover up the incident.”

Ye Jingzhi slightly furrowed his brows, “Paper cannot contain the fire, sooner or later, there would be a day the Xuanxue world would notice what Jiu Yi Jun did. Just why would he do something like that……”

Qishan-daoren was unable to answer this question. The two started to talk about other things. At Canglang Pavilion’s side, Cengxiu-zhenun didn’t refrain from telling what had happened that year in detail. Regarding the question, he explained it as such, “Perhaps, he was jealous of Daoist Yi Lingzi.”

Chequ-daoren said with disdain, “Why be jealous of an old guy like Yi Lingzi? Yi Lingzi couldn’t even recognize a hundred-year Bamboo Heart and only knew how to fight and kill all day long.⁴ This old man isn’t jealous of him.”

Everyone deeply understood Chequ-daoren’s narcissism, and no one paid him any attention. It was still Cengxiu-zhenjun who was reliable, and he carefully said, “This daoist is more than ten years older than Yi Lingzi and Jiu Yi Jun. That year, this daoist was 29 years old, Yi Lingzi was not more than 15. Once he got on the Modou Rankings, he was number one. This daoist was also very deeply moved back then. The country has talented people emerging each generation. At that time, Yi Lingzi’s accomplishments wasn’t much less than Young Daoist Ye now. This daoist would’ve been 30 a year later and would no longer be involved with the Modou Rankings. However, Jiu Yi Jun was a year younger than Yi Lingzi. Since the day he got on the Modou Rankings, he was always beneath Yi Lingzi. A day where he was able to flip the score did not exist.”

Tianji Sect and Shennong Valley both were not sects specializing in hunting ghosts, so their thoughts on things like the Modou Rankings weren’t much. However, amongst the Celestial Masters at Canglang Pavilion, there were some who quite understood this feeling of helplessness and despair.

The purpose of the Modou Rankings was to commend the young Celestial Masters and encourage them to hunt more malicious ghosts. Ordinary Celestial Masters wouldn’t take it to heart too much, but geniuses were all prideful. Jiu Yi Jun, as the most heaven-defying genius Celestial Master of Qianshan Sect in 400 years, would have certainly been worthy of being the number one person in the Xuanxue world if Yi Lingzi didn’t exist. But with Yi Lingzi there, he would never be able to compare with Yi Lingzi.

The most frightening thing was the gap between Yi Lingzi and Jiu Yi Jun wasn’t very large.

Ye Jingzhi has been number one on the Modou Rankings for many years, pressing firmly on Nan Yi’s and Hu Die’s heads, and came to be called Hell King Ye from the stars. However, if someone asked Nan Yi or Hu Die now, if they’re jealous of Ye Jingzhi, their answer is more likely to be negative. First, it was because of Ye Jingzhi’s Body of Three Fiends. This physique was so special that them being unable to compare was very normal. Second, Ye Jingzhi honestly far surpassed them.

If someone was only stronger than you by a tiny bit, you might not accept it and strive hard to surpass them. However, if that person was stronger than you by a distance of the Mariana Trench, the thought of overtaking them simply couldn’t be mentioned, you could only sigh ruefully in reverence.

Jiu Yi Jun’s heart was also bitter.

He and Yi Lingzi only had half a year difference in age. Qianshan Sect and Wu Xiang Mountain were on good terms for many generations. From the moment he entered Qianshan Sect, he had been living under Yi Lingzi’s halo. He clearly wasn’t much worse than Yi Lingzi, but no matter what, he was always beneath the other party.

That year, Cengxiu-zhenjun and Yi Lingzi had always wanted to ask Jiu Yi Jun why he did what he did, but Jiu Yi Jun refused to answer. After his deeds had been exposed and he lost under his two old friends’ hands, this genius Celestial Master, at the end of his rope, slit his own throat with hardly any hesitation, ending his own life. Thus, Cengxiu-zhenjun could only guess that he was jealous of Yi Lingzi and had wanted to rely on the Gu King of malicious ghosts to surpass Yi Lingzi.

“For now, let’s not discuss the reason.” Zhufeng-zhenren felt that this conjecture was unlikely; however, now was not the time to be entangled in why Jiu Yi Jun would have a qi deviation. He said, “If it really is related to Jiu Yi Jun, we should immediately go to D Province and go to Qianshan Sect to take a look. Maybe, at that time, Jiu Yi Jun left something behind that’s related to S City. We can try to find clues from within.”

Everyone agreed in succession.

Because of Jiu Yi Jun’s downfall and Lian Chen-zhenjun’s passing, Qianshan Sect has long since ceased to be a first-class sect of the Xuanxue world. They settled on the border in solitude and had little contact with the Xuanxue world.

Cengxiu-zhenjun sent Qishan-daoren a message. Qishan-daoren opened his phone to take a look, “Eh, you want this old man to go find Young Daoist Yang Ze?”

Ye Jingzhi raised his head and looked over.

Qishan-daoren muttered, “Finding Young Daoist Yang Ze for what. Cengxiu, this guy, you yourself isn’t familiar with Young Daoist Yang Ze, so you come running to find this old man for help, but this old man is also not close to him. If it wasn’t for Young Daoist Yang Ze finding this old man of his own accord three months ago, this old man wouldn’t have even spoken a word with him before.”

That was what his mouth said, but Qishan-daoren’s body honorably went to give Yang Ze a call. However, just after the call was made, a robotic voice with no fluctuations sounded from the speaker, “The number you have dialed is not in service. Please verify the number before dialing again……”

Qishan-daoren was suddenly stunned, “Unused number?”

Ye Jingzhi turned to look at Qishan-daoren, only to see the latter also looking at him with a blank look, “What’s going on, Young Daoist Yang Ze’s phone number is not in use?”

Ye Jingzhi’s expression sank, “Senior Qishan, do you have any of his other contact information?”

Qishan-daoren shook his head.

Very quickly, Qishan-daoren told this matter to Cengxiu-zhenjun. Cengxiu-zhenjun was also very surprised. He thought for a while before asking around and found that none of the Celestial Masters had any of Yang Ze’s contact information.

Zhufeng-zhenren, “It’s okay. He may have changed his number. We can directly find ‘Ghosts Know,’ they have all of the WeChat accounts of the Celestial Masters. Only a few people are left in their Qianshan Sect, and they haven’t had much contact with the Xuanxue world. This daoist will ask the editor of ‘Ghosts Know’ to contact Young Daoist Yang Ze.”

As he spoke, Zhufeng-zhenren found “Ghosts Know.” However, an hour later, the editor of “Ghosts Know” replied like so——

【Senior Zhufeng, we have already sent a private message to Fellow Daoist Yang Ze. However, he has yet to reply. Once he replies, I will contact you.】

Translator’s Addition:
Mirror: *under the pavilion and staring off into space with Qishan-daoren* When can I have a date with Jia Jia…..

Translator’s Notes:
¹ Hunpo – Refresher: In Chinese philosophy and traditional religion, there are two types of souls: Hun which is the spiritual and yang soul, and Po is the corporeal and yin soul. There are 3 hun and 7 po. ↵
² 丙寅 Bing Yin – Name of one the years in the sexagenary (60 year) cycle. The last Bing Yin year was in 1986.   ↵
³ May be a typo on the author’s part, but the Buddhist relic that Xi Jia got from Ye Jingzhi was from the previously mentioned Abbot Buku 不哭 whose name means not crying. Whereas the Buku mentioned here is 不苦, no bitterness. ↵
⁴ 生竹心 – a part of bamboo that’s used in CTM. I just left it literally as I do not know what part of the bamboo is used and didn’t want to use scientific name. ↵