Chapter 97: Calamity
Wen Leyang was stunned. His mind kept replaying the scene where he and the old priest Qing Niao were locked in an embrace.
He had just realized how wonderful it felt to have been hugged by a master expert and not to be hugged to death but crippling the other instead.
Wen Leyang enjoyed the blissful moment before asking the old rabbit demon Bu Le, “Holy monk, what is the Jilong sect? What are their capabilities?”
The old monk Bu Le’s expression turned grave, “The Five Blessings have been around for thousands of years, n.o.body is a vegetarian (Translator note: it also means ‘n.o.body is simple”)…er, well, the Great Mercy Temple are vegetarians. A thousand years ago, the leaders and pract.i.tioners of the right path and the cultivators of the evil path almost perished together. The whole world of cultivation was a mess resulting from the never-ending battle between good and evil. Countless experts died having unsettled grudges.”
Wen Leyang had heard this story before, he continued laughingly, “The Great Mercy Temple, the One Word Palace and three others seized the opportunity and rose up, purging all the evildoers, bringing a thousand years of prosperity and stability to the mortal world…”
The old monk Bu Le reprimanded him jokingly, “You’re a loquacious one! But those who became great at the time were only the Great Mercy Temple, One Word Palace, Kunlun sect and Eyang sect.”
Wen Leyang was astonished, “How about the Jilong sect?”
“Jilong sect didn’t even exist at that time,” the old monk Bu Le replied unexpectedly with a laugh. “The heads of the good and evil path fought fiercely, the cultivators were in a mess. It was at this moment that a priest that was previously unknown made his appearance. With the help of his powerful magic tool, he single-handedly subdued the nine sects of the evil path. The priest called himself Tian Yizi. In the following years, he mercilessly hunted down all the evildoers, became famous and accepted disciples, establis.h.i.+ng his own sect on Jilong Mountain.”
The priest Tian Yi established the Jilong sect himself. Although he had great skills, what really made him famous was his powerful magic tool, the ‘Unmovable Sun and Moon’s Disaster’. The Sun’s Disaster advocates life and was used for defense whereas the Moon’s Disaster advocates death and used for offense. This magic tool became the treasure of the Jilong sect, pa.s.sed down from head to head.
Wen Leyang took out a carrot and scratched his puzzled head. The whole talk of Sun’s Disaster and Moon’s Disaster was too abstract for him.
The old monk Bu Le chuckled, “The Moon’s Disaster is a greenish-grey crescent blade that is slightly taller than a man. The Sun’s Disaster is a fist-sized golden orb. Once they are activated, even I have to take caution!” Bu Le’s tone suddenly became mysterious, “But from what I can tell, this magic tool is not of Tian Yi’s own making!” Usually, after completing their cultivation, a cultivator would go about gathering materials and use one’s own life vitality to refine their magical tool. It was only this way that the magic tool can be connected to its master and unleash its full potential when facing an enemy.
Wen Leyang was stunned, “How did you know…that the magic tool isn’t refined by the priest Tian Yi himself?”
The old monk Bu Le puffed up his chest, “When that Tian Yi went about killing every evildoer, I have already been cultivating for seven hundred years. Tian Yi might have fooled others but he would never be able to fool me. When this magic tool was activated, there was always a lag after he performed his incantations. As for the power, it would be a feat indeed for him to have unleashed half of its potential!”
With just half of the power, it already made Jilong sect one of the Five Blessings.
The head of every generation the Jilong sect would recluse themselves for long periods of time. The old monk Bu Le had never made the trip to find out, but by his reckoning, the heads recluse themselves to focus on unlocking the potential of the Sun and Moon’s Disaster.
Up until now, every decision trivial or otherwise in the Jilong sect was made by the enlightened sword-bearer Qing Niao. The head, enlightened Zi Que reclused himself with the magic tool. Other than these two, there were five others who were also famous in the Jilong sect. They were all Zi Que’s and Qing Niao’s disciples and were all well established in their cultivations.
The old monk finally chuckled, “The b.a.s.t.a.r.ds from the Jilong sect will come up the mountain sooner or later. I will never leave until they have come.” He coughed while his expressions became awkward again, smiling towards the four elders of the Wen family saying, “Err…the bull…s.h.i.+t about the poison in Wen Leyang’s body becoming chaos, was, was said by me…”
The old men laughed loudly and led the old rabbit demon to the stone table in the yard. They carefully recounted the events of the Jilong sect coming up the mountain, Wen Bucao facing the enemy and the fact that Wen Leyang can no longer absorb poison.
The old demon rabbit’s expressions were not unexpected. His small mouth opened widely, pondered for a long while before hitting the table while laughing out loud. He pointed a finger towards Wen Leyang, “You, boy, have good fortune! I might not know much about poison, but regarding what happened, I can give a good guess.”
Wen Leyang stomped his feet, “Then please guess quickly!”
The old rabbit demon started his guess, “The prehistoric earth poison’s attribute, in its ultimate form, will produce gold. After it fused with the Poison of Life and Death, it brought with it the Earth attribute of the Five Elements. The ten months’ exercise at Mount Emei was a strenuous training in the ultimate environment of the Earth attribute. Practicing Earth attribute poison in the Earth environment and achieving mastery of all the poison in your body is your good fortune. If you had trained in a Wood environment, not only you won’t make a name for yourself, your whole Earth attribute power will also be gone.”
The Poison of Life and Death, to Wen Leyang, was only a base, a base which could withstand any poison. The prehistoric earth poison of the giant toad s.h.i.+fted the poison in his body towards the Earth attribute and trained with him for ten months. He refined his body every day with the Faulty Punch in an Earth attribute environment. As a result, he s.h.i.+fted his power from a power of Death to a power of Life, and can now transition between them as he liked.
Wen Leyang pondered this for a moment, then asked, “Are you done?”
The old rabbit demon nodded, “I am!”
Wen Leyang grunted, picked up the red jade knife on his chest, “How about this? It can absorb thunder.” The old rabbit demon had previously scrutinised this tool, deeming it a magic tool used by the sword saint for cultivation.
The old rabbit demon did not even glance at it this time, shaking his head directly, “This one I cannot guess!” After a moment’s pause he added, “When master Chang Li comes back, you can ask her.”
Chang Li set out to capture the pangolin ten months ago and was not heard from ever since. Although n.o.body was actually worried, something felt off. The Great Mercy Temple already commanded all the Buddhist sects under the heavens to be aware of a pangolin demon. They were to report to the Temple immediately if they found any signs of it.
The group was making idle chatter when Wei Mo walked in with knitted brow and a face of despair. He did not even greet Wen Leyang who had just recovered and complained, “Why is your house so peculiar?”
Wen Leyang knew that he meant no harm, so he took it lightly. He chuckled and asked, “Why do you say so?”
Wei Mo answered with a huff, “The numbers in your house just don’t add up!”
Wen Leyang broke out hysterically, “You should spend less time with Ninth Uncle and Thirteenth Uncle, then you’ll be able to add all the numbers.”
Wei Mo was stunned, “What Ninth Uncle and Thirteenth Uncle?” Ever since he came to the Wen household, other than eating and sleeping, he spent his time calculating non-stop, ignoring everyone. He had not the time to learn about the antics of Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen. “I am now studying my senior’s way of thinking. Calculating the numbers behind the happenings of society is a very complicated process. I rarely came across this field before and now I had to study the entire thing carefully.”
Wei Mo paused for a moment before continuing, “These few days, I’ve been wanting to predict the meals for the next day.”
Wen Leyang laughed, “That’s easy, just go to the sheep pen and count the sheep!”
Fourth Elder Wen was sipping on his tea when he spat it out. Smiles were clearly evident in between his deep wrinkles.
Wei Mo pondered it for a while before coming to his senses, he reacted angrily, “One less sheep means a mutton meal? If you Wen clansmen eat mutton every day, then what’s the use of trying to predict it? Of course I knew that mutton would be served the next day. Only when I know the answer can I verify the correctness of my whole deduction process. But your family, there’s no way to calculate anything in your family!”
Wei Mo had been beating around the bush the whole time. He simply pulled Wen Leyang out of the yard, almost b.u.mping into Wind Rain Rainbow who came to see Leyang.
Wei Mo pointed at the trees surrounding the village, “Laws and numbers, laws and numbers, although laws come first, numbers are also important.”
Wind Rain Rainbow was puzzled, “There are trees, they’re all trees!”
Wei Mo ignored the fat men and continued, “Everything under the heavens has their own proper place. The two poles, the four seasons, Bagua, and the Sixteen Instruments all contain the position of everything on heaven and earth. For instance, if I wanted to deduce the inner workings of the world through these trees, I need to divide them into regions according to the two poles, four seasons and Bagua first, then count the actual number of trees in each region and finally apply mathematical reasoning to be accurate.”
Wei Mo paused after he finished. He paused for such a long time that Wen Leyang felt it was not appropriate if he didn’t nod, before continuing, “But look at the trees in your house, no matter which method you use, be it the two poles, four seasons, Bagua or Sixteen Instruments, there will bound to be a few trees sitting snugly on the intersections between regions no matter the orientation! Now you tell me, which region should I put them in?” Wei Mo was getting more and more frustrated by the moment. He did not wait for Wen Leyang’s response as he nagged on, “Not only the trees, but the houses in the village, the large rocks on the ground, and the birds’ nests under the eaves too! No matter what method I use to divide them into regions, there’s bound to be something sitting on the intersections, and there’s nothing I can do about it!”
As he was saying this, Wei Mo picked up a stone and drew a Bagua trigram as big as a table top, labeling the eight regions Heaven, Lake, Fire, Thunder, Wind, Water, Mountain, and Earth. After that, he picked up stones of various sizes. Wind Rain Rainbow also helped out merrily. Finally, Wei Mo arranged the rocks in the Bagua trigram, “This is the Wen village, two hundred and seventeen houses in total. There’s no need to compare, the positions can’t be wrong!”
The final rock represented the big house the elders live in, all the other rocks were placed in the right positions. At first glance, the arrangements were the same as the village. A group of Wen Bucao children circled them and merrily pointed out their respective houses.
Wen Leyang was astonished. He didn’t know that Wei Mo had a talent for drawing maps.
A few dozen rocks were sitting on the dividing lines of the eight regions.
Wei Mo continued his business. He carefully erased the Bagua trigram and drew a Sixteen Instruments image instead. Again, a few dozen rocks were sitting on the dividing lines of the new image. Wei Mo then tried drawing the Four Seasons and Two Poles, but still failed to avoid every rock. In the end, he turned to Wen Leyang in despair, “Do you see it now? Everything that can be counted in your village cannot be divided into regions. If I cannot divide them into regions, I cannot deduce anything.”
Wen Xiaoyi muttered under her breath, “All this for a dinner meal, is it worth it?”
Wen Leyang thought about it for a moment. He grinned suddenly, exposing a row of neatly arranged teeth, “That is why your senior wanted to meddle in the worldly affairs. The happenings in society are constantly changing, they are not so easily predicted. Just take the Wen village, for example, if you don’t mingle you won’t even know that trying to deduce anything using the method is impossible.”
Wei Mo knitted his brow, unsatisfied, “But from the two poles to Sixteen Instruments, everything under the heavens is placed inside them, there’s no way that they cannot be all separated…”
Wen Leyang chuckled and patted him on the shoulder, “A square frame created a thousand years ago may not fit the modern rules of today.”
Wei Mo nodded hesitantly, reached out his hand to wipe the bloodworm poking out of his nostril with his sleeve, “Are we…still having mutton stew for dinner tonight?”
Wen Leyang laughed, “That’s right, the holy monk Bu Le has come, we must celebrate no matter what…well, we’ll be having a feast, the holy monk will have his vegetarian meal.
…
Wen Leyang’s wound had just healed. The old rabbit demon Bu Le, seven fat Rainbow men, and Wei Mo were temporarily staying in Wen village. The Jilong sect of the Five Blessings might be back any time to exact their revenge, and there was no news from One Word Palace regarding the wedding. There’s still no sign of Chang Li and n.o.body had seen Wen Leyang’s apprentice Ji Fei and Shui Jing.
Wen Leyang and the four elders of the Wen family led the Death Trademark and busied themselves with applying poisonous traps around the village.
What astonished him was that not long after, his First Uncle Wen Tunhai who is now able to walk about was waving a phone at him, grinning, “Boy, a phone call for you!”
Wen Leyang took the phone in a daze, he had barely uttered a “h.e.l.lo?” when an excited scream came from the other end of the phone.
Wen Leyang was shocked initially but he came to his senses. It was miss w.a.n.g Luofu of Crow’s Ridge. Wen Bucao was busy defending against their enemy. In order not to drag the other two houses into the mess, they kept the news of Wen Leyang’s return a secret. If they had known, the Second Mother or Grand Elder Luo and Second Elder Luo would visit. If they had the misfortune of coming during the Jilong sect’s revenge, they might have harmed as well.
After her initial bout of excitement, Mumu’s tone became worried, “I wanted to ask if ancestor Chang Li is back or not…”
Wen Leyang frowned, then knocked himself hard on the head. Wind Rain Rainbow who were chatting merrily at the side immediately surrounded him. They all looked at him, heads slanted, wondering what he was doing.
Ever since Wen Leyang came home from Mount Emei, he dedicated his whole being to fighting the Jilong sect. He had unintentionally neglected an important matter: Ah Dan.
Ah Dan had died and reincarnated, and divine punishment was upon him. Chang Li had said that it would take about a year, and now ten months had pa.s.sed.
Mumu’s tone lowered again at the other end of the phone, showing no traces of its former liveliness, “Ah Dan’s heart is slowly warming up, I’m afraid that in a few days…”
Wen Leyang did not wait for her to finish her sentence when he ran out to look for the old demon monk Bu Le. He told him everything about Ah Dan. The old monk was panic-stricken on the spot, he s.n.a.t.c.hed the phone and said, “Bring Ah Dan to Nine Peaks Mountain immediately! I will cast spells to help that little rabbit b.a.s.t.a.r.d survive this calamity!”
Mumu grunted in agreement and hung up. She appeared on the mountain a few hours later, which startled everyone. That’s a little too quick, no? Mumu explained with a wry smile, “I was sick of waiting at home and I brought Ah Dan out with me. If ancestor Chang Li is not on Nine Peaks Mountain, I’ll go directly to Great Mercy Temple on Mount Emei to find the two holy monks. Coincidentally, I was at the foot of Nine Peaks Mountain just now.
Ah Dan was wearing his usual felt cap and sungla.s.ses, sitting atop the Delicate Pony gifted by Grand Elder Wen with a handsome air. He dismounted as soon as he saw Wen Leyang, squatting down while patting the top of his feet.
The old demon monk did not spare a minute. He straightened his thumb and forefinger, pinched his eyes in a lightning-fast movement. When he lifted his eyelids, his eyes were two pools of clear water! The gaze was so sharp that other people were uncomfortable looking at it. He stared at Ah Dan with those eyes. Shock registered on his aged face and he said with a slightly hoa.r.s.e voice, “Remove his sungla.s.ses!”
Ah Dan’s gaze was livelier than before, the vigor of life and cunningness of a child mixed together, giving others the impression of a troublemaker whom you would love and hate.
The old rabbit demon was performing the “insight” of Buddhist magical powers to investigate Ah Dan’s body. He did this for a while before saying slowly, “This child’s blood vessels and heart vessels have already connected. I’m afraid that in no time, the heart will start pumping. A calamity is upon us!”
Having said that, Bu Le gestured towards Mumu and made his way towards the green stone slab behind the village.
Wen Leyang trailed behind them, “Holy monk, what is this calamity? I mean… is it thunder or fire or stone rains?”
Bu Le answered while walking, “It will be Heaven’s Thunder, though how powerful it will be no one can tell. Ancestor Chang Li might be right, the dead resurrecting is reversing Yin and Yang. The punishment won’t be light.”
Wen Leyang let out a long sigh and pointed towards the giant lightning rod, “If it’s thunder then there’s no problem…”
He did not need to finish his sentence to anger the demon monk Bu Le, “The calamity is the Heaven’s Thunder. This dead child is coming back to life, upsetting the balance of Yin and Yang. Even if you had the largest lightning rod or numerous lightning rods around you, the G.o.dly thunder would still strike at Ah Dan. And the calamity must be pa.s.sed on by himself, if it were redirected by lightning rods or blocked by something else, the next calamity will be even more terrible.”
Wen Leyang knew that the lightning rod won’t work, but he was still unsatisfied, “But ancestor Chang Li once said to help Ah Dan block the calamity.”
The demon monk Bu Le shook his head, “What the ancestor meant was what I’m about to do now, trying my best to help Ah Dan block most of the calamity. But he would have to endure some of it himself. If the whole calamity was redirected by something else, not only will a next calamity come, but the destructive power would also increase.” As he was saying this, the old monk took out his prayer beads, wooden fish, sutras, Buddha sound and a few fortune-renouncing golden bowls, busying himself with setting up the ritual.
At the same time, a gale blew through the previously peaceful mountains without warning. The clear sunny spring afternoon disappeared with the wind as everything became dark and chaotic. A lump of burning cloud was constantly s.h.i.+fting shape after ferocious shape as it slowly made its way towards them.
The old monk Bu Le stomped his feet angrily, released his breath and said with an old voice that was thick and stern, “Speak of the devil. Ah Dan stay, everybody else, leave!”
Mumu and Wen Leyang said almost simultaneously, “I’ll stay!”
Wen Xiaoyi also wanted to stay, but it was nearly impossible to stand in this strong wind. She was carried by the Rainbow brothers back inside the house.
The demon monk Bu Le’s body was flitting swiftly among the scorching wind like a phantom, slamming the artifacts used for the ritual into the stone slab. Even a seemingly weathered sutra was embedded into the rock as it was thrown by him.
Wen Leyang was like a stubborn reef, steadily blocking Mumu who was holding Ah Dan. The fiery cloud was coming closer! The wind was incredibly strong, yet it did not make a sound. Heaven and earth were silently repressed, making it hard to breathe.
The old monk finally completed placing his artifacts, his hands working continuously to make complicated and ancient hand signs. Looking at him, he was even prancing in the magic circle with weird steps. Every time he stepped in front of an artifact, he would chant mantras which only he understood. He released his hand sign and a row of glittering words slammed itself into the embedded artifact!
The fiery cloud seemed slow, but it reached the top of Nine Peaks Mountain without a sign. It was like a majestic heavenly being, looking down at the people with scorn.
The fiery cloud that was dense and packed released a howl that was as sharp as a young wolf’s when it locked its aim on the Nine Peaks Mountain. It suddenly jumped and spread itself in all directions, covering the entire sky in an instant! In Wen Leyang’s eyes, there was an endless fiery red extending to the world’s end.
The old monk finally jumped to Wen Leyang’s side. He strongly poked his eyebrow with his long fingernails on his left pinkie and gouged out a piece of his flesh. His wound sprayed fresh blood. A golden light shot out abruptly from his eyebrow onto the magic circle. The golden light was like a fire kindle, lighting up the entire green stone slab.
In the darkness, the green stone slab was like a lighthouse in a storm, diligently and proudly giving out a ray of light. The old monk ordered with a deep voice, “Throw Ah Dan into the magic circle!” There was no trace of his usual friendliness and playfulness in his tone. Instead, it was filled with a sternness that cannot be resisted.
Mumu planted an untimely kiss on Ah Dan’s cheek, raised her hands and threw Ah Dan onto the green stone slab.
Ah Dan somersaulted and sat in the middle of the magic circle, seemingly aware of what’s going to happen next. He carefully stowed his cap and sungla.s.ses away in his chest. Ah Dan looked up and laughed foolishly at the strange sound coming from the heavens.
The old monk Bu Le sat cross-legged at the edge of the magic circle and ordered in a low voice, “Stay behind me. No matter the state Ah Dan is in, do not make any moves or we will d.a.m.n the entire village!”
Bu Le was a two thousand years old demon. He was worried that if any accidents happened when Ah Dan is pa.s.sing on the calamity, Mumu or Wen Leyang will rush in foolhardily. Not only would they fail, they would also die in vain. To prevent that from happening, he used the villagers as a threat. As he expected, both Wen Leyang and Mumu’s expressions became stern, his formerly tense body loosened up a bit.
A silver arc of light poked its head out of the center of the sky like a snake spirit sizing up its prey.
The old monk Bu Le reminded loudly, “Be careful, it’s coming!”
It was only now that Wen Leyang suddenly realised that the earlobes of the old monk had grown longer, sagging almost to his shoulders. The Buddha-like earlobes were shaking rapidly while a faint chanting was slowly coming out of Bu Le’s mouth. His volume grew louder and grew in sternness, the magic circle in front of him also increased in layers of brightness like Buddha’s light, blazing brighter and denser. Eventually, the chanting sound was shaking the heavens. The Buddha-light transformed into something solid from something formless, like a golden cover, steadily covering Ah Dan in the hurricane.
The silver arc in the center of the fiery cloud really behaved like a snake, slowly poking its body out. It did not hit directly towards Ah Dan but circled around from the center of the fiery cloud to the edge of the cloud. The fiery cloud which was covering everything started swirling vigorously with the movements of the silver arc. Rolling thunder could be heard as the fiery cloud became a great whirlpool, growling angrily while slowly pressing down on Ah Dan.
In an instant, a thunder that could crack the heavens burst out. A silver arc thicker than a house reared its tip, turned half a circle and struck fiercely towards Nine Peaks Mountain!
The old monk Bu Le also uttered a strange cry, his cross-legged body suddenly stretched. The Buddha-light that was protecting Ah Dan in the magic circle condensed and formed a long golden chain, spiraling in the opposite direction to meet the Heaven’s Thunder!
Wen Leyang clenched his teeth and fists, staring with unblinking eyes at the two G.o.dly light that was about to b.u.t.t heads. He suddenly felt his feet shaking slightly, like someone was. .h.i.tting his feet. Wen Leyang first said subconsciously, “Cut it out…” Then he immediately had a bitter realization and cried out in despair, “Ancestor, why did you come out!”
The Buddha-light rose up to meet the Heaven’s Thunder. Without anyone noticing, Ah Dan had run out of the magic circle, squatting on the ground and hitting on the top of Wen Leyang’s feet, giving him a well-rehea.r.s.ed greeting.