Chapter 74: Ghost Gate (Part 1)

  Bai Miao was deep in thought: "The Demon Sect and the Yunqing Gate had less contact before, and most of the matters were handled by the Zixiao Temple. In the past five years, the relationship between the Demon Sect and the Yunqing Gate, as well as the Leishan, has become increasingly close, while their relationship with the Zixiao Temple has gradually become more distant. Why is that?"

  Lin Fan said: "Could it be that Mo Jun has taken a liking to our family's leader?"

  "Don't talk nonsense." Gu Yan said: "Let's go."

  Bai Miao no longer only had the Wind Control Technique, he took out a Xuan Huang Cold Ice Flag and unfolded it, reversing the wind direction, borrowing the wind's momentum to move forward, his speed was not slower than Ye Wushuang's Scroll of Laws. Ye Wushuang's Scroll of Laws was unmatched in attacking enemies, but flying was not its forte. What surprised everyone was Gu Yan, who was actually riding a Peach Wood Sword.

  Three people behind him saw the ancient rock and calmly said, "The sword spirit of the Brimming Moon has disappeared." The Peachwood Sword is the closest to a mortal object, with only a hint of spiritual energy, used by Taoist practitioners.

  Riding a sword is like that, it will make the spirit of the treasure sword wear off, and finally become an ordinary iron. Gu Yan said it very calmly, but all three knew that Gu Yan had always regarded Zhan Yue Sword as his most important thing. Lin Fan remembered the words of the Sect Master before riding the sword, San San Zhen Ren's analogy was very vivid at that time. Gu Yan is now like a man who has lost his first love, and it will be difficult to ride the sword with a sincere heart in the future.

  Bai Mu: "Lin Fan, why are you still using a bamboo sword?"

  Lin Fan said helplessly, "I don't want to either." Besides the bamboo sword, he could only use the Wind Control Technique. The Green Jade Buddha Sword couldn't be ridden, and the Embroidered Flower Needle was even more impossible. This wouldn't do; after returning to the mountain this time, he would have to flip through some books and see if there were any flight-type magical artifacts that he could refine. This time out, he was really holding himself back.

  Bai Mudao said: "Why don't we take this opportunity to visit Qingzhou and Mo Mountain? Mo Mountain has flying boats for transportation, which are very fast."

  "Let's see what others have discarded and pick two ships." Lin Fan nodded.

  Gu Yanwu said: "The Tao of Yunqing Gate is vast and profound, why must you take things from others?"

  Bai Mu and Lin Fan exchanged a glance and smiled, while Gu Yan continued to lead the way without looking back. Lin Fan recalled what San San Zhen Ren had said about desires being endless. When he was building his foundation, he sought perfection; after achieving it, he sought the Golden Elixir; after obtaining that, he sought powerful combat techniques; now, he was pondering over rushing to create a flying boat... Hehe, although he didn't crave gold and silver, it was because they were useless. Although he didn't strongly pursue them, he would still seek them out. The key lay in finding a balance, as seen in Gu Yan's strong cultivation and pursuit of success, yet without much change; the human heart was indeed difficult to unify with a single principle. Upon reflection, if the Cloud Clearing Heart Method could eliminate all desires, wouldn't the hundreds of people under Cloud Clear Mountain have the same personality? There wouldn't be Ye Wu Shuang's mischievousness, nor Bai Mu's gentle elegance, nor Gu Yan's unyielding determination.

  Still the same, Bai Mu, Ye Wushuang and Lin Fan were chatting and laughing, while Gu Yan led the way alone in front. Thanks to Lin Fan carrying food with him, everyone's cultivation had improved a lot, so they didn't need to borrow an inn again. They thought this trip would be smooth sailing, but unexpectedly near the Great River Crossing, a strong wind was brewing on the Great River, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled, the river water surged back, and the original Great River Inn was flooded and washed away. Not only that, but also affected several tens of miles outside the village, and the villagers moved one after another.

  Bai Muzhen said, "The evil spirits are causing trouble, I'm afraid there's a strange creature at the bottom of the Great Crossing River."

  Da Yu controlled the flood, when he arrived at the Huai River, a water monster called Wu Zhi Qi stirred up wind and waves to disturb Da Yu. In the end, Wu Zhi Qi was captured by Da Yu and suppressed under Turtle Mountain. Later, Wu Zhi Qi became a synonym for a type of water demon in the twelve continents' inland rivers. When people encountered flooding in the inner river, they thought it was Wu Zhi Qi causing trouble. Some places threw livestock into the water as an offering, while others built temples for Wu Zhi Qi. This also led to the scene where on the left is the Water Dragon King and on the right is Wu Zhi Qi, with two temples connected together. (It's said that Wu Zhi Qi was the prototype of Sun Wukong)

  Twelve continents, especially the waterways of Xiaodongzhou are crisscrossed, with three major rivers and four major rivers. Although they provide sufficient water sources for agricultural cultivation, making Xiaodongzhou a land of fish and rice, there are often monsters in this water area that threaten the people along the river. However, most monsters will not be so arrogant, and it is common to see them attacking ships on the river. Some people also think that the ship-attacking creatures are just big fish, after all, these rivers have existed for tens of thousands of years, and no one knows how big the fish can grow.

  The Xiaodongzhou naval force also bore the responsibility of eliminating harm. When a ship was found to have been overturned, troops would be dispatched to the location, and water ghosts would dive into the water for reconnaissance, but often nothing would be gained. The naval force had also encountered large fish that capsized warships. At that time, thousands of arrows were fired simultaneously, and the ship's crossbow bolts flew through the air. The large fish quickly sank into the water and was never seen again.

  So, whether it's a monster or a fish, there are different opinions. Moreover, Xiaodongzhou is a Buddhist continent, and Buddhism is naturally broad-minded. Even towards evil people, they would first try to persuade them, without taking action to eliminate the monsters. However, the Hinayana Buddhists were quite dissatisfied with this approach, believing that evil people must be punished. They thought it was absurd to put down one's butcher knife and become a Buddha instantly, especially when there was no way out. The Mahayana Buddhists believed that those killed by evil people had their own karma and obstacles. Buddhism should not abandon anyone, even if they were evil.

  Who is reasonable? It has nothing to do with Lin Fan. The rules of the Yun Qing Gate are clear: if you encounter a demon beast that commits evil and harms the common people, regardless of cause or effect, it must be executed.

  Four people flew quickly towards the wind and thunder, only to see that above the Dadu River, dark clouds were densely packed, with over a dozen tornadoes extending from the dark clouds down into the waters of the Dadu River, where four Cloud Clear Sect disciples were darting back and forth amidst the thunderclouds.

  Bai Mu thought for a moment: "Last month, the sect leader sent four disciples to investigate the plague. They reported that the plague might be related to the Da Du River. The water from the river flows east into the East Island and then into the sea. However, all the places affected by the plague are drinking water from the Da Du River. The four disciples went upstream of the Da Du River to investigate and found everything normal."

  "Go!" Gu Yan flashed his body by the river and entered the thundercloud, pinched his fingers, eight swords out of their sheaths, and killed into the water.

  It's a human! Lin Fan had always thought there was some kind of monster, but as he flew closer, it turned out to be a naked man with skin and bones visible, his feet trampling on a pile of white bones, holding a soul-summoning banner in his hand. The banner emitted hundreds of black auras, entwining endlessly with the disciples of Yun Qing Men.

  "What's a ghost gate?" Bai Mu exclaimed, adding another sentence: "A ghost gate?!" The latter sentence was one of shock.

  "What's a Ghost Gate?" There were many people on the riverbank, Lin Fan held onto Ye Wushuang tightly, afraid that if Ye Wushuang went up, it would be a Thunderclap Shocking Light Technique. In Lin Fan's memory, he had never heard of a Ghost Gate.

  "The Ghost Gate was the first evil gate, also known as the Ghost Sect. 1,200 years ago, its headquarters were destroyed by the Ten Thousand Evil Gates, and both the Orthodox and Evil sects jointly hunted down and killed its disciples, eventually annihilating it. It's called the first evil gate not because of its large number of followers, but because its cultivation method was too evil, to the point where even the Ten Thousand Evil Gates couldn't tolerate it.

  This flag is called the Vengeful Spirit Banner, which is the Ghost Gate's treasure. They killed people and captured their souls, using their dark magic to refine the spirits, making them suffer unbearably. The more the spirits suffered, the more powerful the Vengeful Spirit Banner became.

  It's said that they hid in the Great Ferry River, then ambushed the coastal villagers, grabbing people from passing boats and refining them into the Vengeful Spirit Banner. These people's corpses sank to the bottom of the river, causing a water plague."

  As they spoke, a disciple of Yun Qing Men was disturbed by the tornado and reacted slowly, being caught by the black air and then pulled to stick on the vengeful spirit flag, wailing continuously, with smoke emerging from his whole body.

  "Haha!" The man on top of the pile of white bones laughed slyly and repeatedly.