"...And what is that?" Xie Lian asked.
However, Jun Wu seemed to be quietly concerned with the subject, and he deliberated for a long while before he said, "What is it, Xian Le? Why did you suddenly bring up your master? Did you run into something inside Mount TongLu? That has to do with him?"
Xie Lian came to his senses and was just about to give a quick account before pressing with more questions when suddenly, there was a clamouring noise on the other end. Jun Wu said, "I see the three mountain spirits you all spoke of before, indeed peculiar! I will take care of them first, and we can talk again later. However, since Xian Le you've made the inquiry, just remember one thing: your master isn't any simple character. If you do run into him, be absolutely careful!"
Then, the other end fell into deep silence. "My Lord?" Xie Lian called out.
Jun Wu did not respond again. Just one of those mountain spirits was hard to deal with; to have three surround and siege must be even more difficult. Even when Xie Lian had limitless spiritual powers earlier and controlled a heaven-defying giant divine statue he couldn't take care of it, and now Jun Wu was facing them by himself, so he would probably need to focus and exert quite a bit of strength. Xie Lian gave Hua Cheng a brief account of the conversation during the communication and the two stopped in their steps.
At this moment, they were situated at a wide and expansive large street. Gazing towards the sky, gloomy clouds concealed the moon, and faint threads and strings of black smoke like creatures could be seen drifting before the cold moon, like ink blurring in clear water.
Those were the resentful spirits sent over from the divine temple of WuYong. They hadn't yet entered because the Aura of the King within the Palace and the many temples of various gods within the royal capital shone brightly, their auras intertwining, weaving a solemn shield. A natural barrier such as this would block those wicked beings outside the shield, and so they could only drift high in the sky.
Almost every city fortress possessed a similar shield because outstanding characters and impressive heavenly officials would appear everywhere; rich land fosters talents, as they say. However, those shields couldn't block everything forever.
"It'd be good as long as we add reinforcements to the shield," Hua Cheng said.
But, the problem was how to reinforce? Xie Lian mused, "Talisman spells? Spiritual devices?" Then he said, "They probably won't be enough."
Those resentful spirits enveloped the entire sky of the royal capital, so unless they had millions of talismen and spiritual devices, they might not hold. Pacing back and forth, Xie Lian gritted his teeth, "San Lang, I have an idea that can maybe reinforce this barrier, but... I need people."
"How many?" Hua Cheng asked.
"A lot." Xie Lian said, "As many as possible. At least five hundred."
"Alive or dead?" Hua Cheng asked.
He listened seriously and wasn't joking around. Xie Lian replied, "Alive. Ghosts won't do. I need to borrow the spirit and Yang* aura of the living to strike those resentful spirits away."
"If that's the case, then that means they have to be willing volunteers too." Hua Cheng commented.
"That's right. They have to be willing volunteers." Xie Lian said, "And, they must have the will to fight back and protect. If they have fear in their hearts or their wills are weak, the spirits can take advantage to sneak through."
Hua Cheng inclined his head, "Just like the soldiers fighting in the frontlines in battle, they must be the ones who want to win the most, the ones with the most faith, because if they were helplessly forced or only want to run away without any battle spirit, they would never win, and would end up abandoning their gears, suffering utter defeat."
"That's it exactly." Xie Lian said. "Can San Lang find those people?"
After some contemplation, Hua Cheng replied slowly, "Gege, if you needed the dead, I can bring you however many you need. Involuntary living beings would be easy too. But to find voluntary ones, it won't be easy."
After a pause, he continued, "There certainly are plenty in the mortal realm who worship the Ghost King, but I know very well that one, they are only terrified of me, and two, they want to ask things of me, so they fear and obey me. I can force them with power and tempt them with benefits, but this method probably won't work in finding the people gege needs. I'm sorry."
Xie Lian was enthralled listening to this and said, "You don't need to apologize. Let's just think of a way together."
"En. However, gege, there's good news." Hua Cheng said, "Ahead of us about fifty feet away around the corner is a band of living humans."
Xie Lian sensed them too and he rushed forward to see just as that group of people also turned the corner, and they shouted in surprise by his sudden appearance, "A GHOST!!!"
Xie Lian looked closely and recognized them, and he exclaimed cheerfully, "Everyone, it's not a ghost, it's me!"
That group of various monks and cultivators were very familiar. The one leading was a cultivator dressed in glamourous robes – wasn't that Heaven's Eye? And that big group behind him, weren't they the band of monks and cultivators from before who harassed them relentlessly the entire way and was knocked out by the caved in roof of that shady inn?
Behind Xie Lian, Hua Cheng approached with his hands easily swaying by his side. He certainly wasn't in the form of a child right now; with that nonchalance and chilling smile, Heaven's Eye and the others jumped back three feet instantly from terror. "And you say it's not a ghost! There's nothing more ghost-like than him! A GHOST KING EVEN!!!"
Hua Cheng's smile faded away, and he clicked his tongue in annoyance, too lazy to even make a comment. Xie Lian was searching everywhere for living souls right now, so he hastily raised his hand, "Everyone, you've come right in the nick of time. There's something..."
Yet unexpectedly, the moment he raised his hand, the reaction from the other party was much more exaggerated than he expected. They all fell to the ground, high on alert, exclaiming to each other, "WATCH OUT FOR HIDDEN WEAPONS!"
"..."
Xie Lian had to think for a while before he remembered what the 'hidden weapon' they were referring to was, and was speechless for a moment. "You don't need to be afraid, I don't have any hidden weapons on me." The Incorruptible Chastity Meatballs weren't that easily forged anyway, just the knifework needed to craft them alone would take half the day. He added, "Besides, you forced my hand last time but I didn't do much anything to you, now there's even less reason to."
Hearing this, the mob contemplated and thought it reasonable and quickly crawled up from the ground, dusting themselves off, but still keeping a distance, their staffs and sacred swords and other such spiritual tools never leaving their hands. Heaven's Eye spoke up, "I say, this daozhang, we haven't seen you for many days but the essence of evil on your body has gotten worse. I think it's best you turn back now while there's still a chance. And speaking of, why is it this bad? I'm not trying to scare you, but I can barely see your face clearly anymore."
"..." Xie Lian was going to flush listening to him, not daring to look at Hua Cheng as he cut him off, "Let's talk about that later. Everyone, I was observing signs in the night sky and saw some ominous creatures. Have you all seen it?"
"Of course we saw it!" Heaven's Eye said, "Observing signs in the night sky is a homework we always do everyday. And here I thought it was some monsters or ghosts causing trouble, but could it be, is it Hua Cheng... zhu?"
"Of course not." Xie Lian said, "Otherwise I won't be here alerting you. We've also come because of those creatures, and was just thinking of ways to reinforce the aura shield of the royal capital."
Heaven's Eye was doubtful, "You two? Thinking of ways?"
"Why would the Ghost King be so kindhearted?"
Hua Cheng grinned, "It's not out of kindheartedness. But if I wanted to do something to the royal capital, this bit of aura shield has no way of stopping me."
The expressions on the fellow cultivators and monks were unreadable. Xie Lian knew that their caution and guard couldn't be so easily dropped either so he wouldn't try to force them, "I've faced those creatures in the sky before, very difficult to deal with. If we let them break through the protective shield of the royal capital and intrude, everything would be thrown into chaos, so I'm seeking for help right now to help form an array, I need about five hundred people."
Heaven's Eye gaped, "Five hundred?! What array is this, to need so many people?? I've never heard of it before??"
Xie Lian didn't have the heart to say that five hundred was the bare minimum requirement. In fact, if he could say it openly, then they needed at least eight hundred. The group of monks and cultivators were also babbering, "I've never heard of this either, has anyone seen record of this in any books?"
"Are those creatures really that powerful?"
"I've only heard monsters eat five hundred in one bite, I've never heard drawing an array needed that many."
"Is it dangerous?"
After much serious deliberation, Xie Lian answered truthfully, "I can't say for sure. Maybe, maybe not. I'm only eight percent sure, since, I've never attempted this array before either."
It would be impossible to find records of this from any books either, since this array wasn't something Xie Lian learned from books or someone else, but was something he'd been ruminating and came up with as he walked in the past eight hundred years, just what should be done if the human face disease should be unleashed again? They couldn't possibly just sit around and do nothing? At the time he didn't actually think he would have to face this big crisis again, and hadn't imagined this method would come to use.
On the other side, that group discussed for a while before in the end, Heaven's Eye turned around and said guardedly, "We don't have that many people. Plus...."
Plus, they didn't trust Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.
That couldn't be helped. After all, they didn't know what the human face disease was, how powerful it was, and with the past grievances between them and Hua Cheng, there must've been plenty of cases where they were played like nothing more than insects. Originally, Xie Lian had thought perhaps these men were masters and should have a number of disciples in their schools, so they could maybe gather some three or four hundred people and worry about the remaining numbers after, but it seemed this hope was fruitless.
"Gege, stop wasting your breath with them." Hua Cheng said, "Let's go."
Xie Lian nodded, not the least bit discouraged, and went away with him. However, Heaven's Eye and the others didn't just leave but sneakily followed behind them, actually thinking they were well hidden. Xie Lian was quite speechless, but then when he thought this group of masters were probably only trailing because they were fearful that he and Hua Cheng would cause trouble in the capital, their worries born of a kind heart, he thought it funny but stopped caring. Just then, Hua Cheng suggested, "Why not go to where the slums are. There should be plenty of those who are bold and daring and aren't afraid of death. Perhaps our search would be fruitful there."
Thus, the two changed course and went for the shadows of the royal capital. They came before a temple that was fairly demolished and swept a look. Within the temple were a bunch of people sleeping all over the ground, stretching all the way to outside the temple. This seemed to be a band of homeless folks, or rather, beggars. The air was frigid, the ground cold, but almost all of
them were in ragged clothing. There were men, women, seniors, and children, and none of them were shy from the improper closeness.
Some took over a tattered straw mat, some were hugging hay for warmth, and some just slept on the ground. The ones awake were either sighing and wailing over the rotten sores on their bodies or were picking off fleas from their persons. There was even someone who was dragging a lame leg shuffling about, seeming to be delivering bowls of water to the sick. Before they entered there was the suffocating smell of sweat and an odd odour that came wafting out.
That the most lavish and bustling area would be this close to the filthiest, most decrepit slums with only but a street apart, the contrast was truly lamentable. Of course, Xie Lian had no time to lament. He crossed over the threshold and called out, "Can everyone give me a hand?"
No one answered before someone cussed out, "GIVE YOUR MOM A HAND! AND I WANT SOMEONE TO GIVE ME A HAND TOO! YA GONNA LET US SLEEP OR WHAT, GET OUTTA HERE!"
Xie Lian wasn't offended and said, "It's something very urgent, if everyone is willing to help out, then you'll for sure... for sure bring prosperity to the world!"
He had wanted to say "be greatly appreciated", but if they came for the "thanks from the start, then their minds would not be pure. The beggars within the temple cussed even harder, "WHAT THE HELL DOES PROSPERITY OF THE WORLD HAS GOT TO DO WITH ME??"
Someone then questioned, "Is there compensation?"
Xie Lian looked back, and Hua Cheng's eyes were flashing with displeasure, seeming to be ready to be more aggressive, and he quickly pulled him back, saying hushly, "Not yet. You said it yourself, San Lang, we can't use force or temptation. I'll take my time to persuade them. There must be some we can use in this group of seventy, eighty people."
Only then did that sharp glare in Hua Cheng's eyes fade. Just then, a slightly raspy voice came, "Hey hey hey! Everyone, hear me out! HEAR ME OUT! STOP THAT NOISE! Let's hear what they've gotta say first!"
Hearing this, Xie Lian looked back, and saw the one who spoke up was that lame legged beggar. His clothes were tattered, his face grimy, his hair dishevelled, skinny and gaunt, his appearance unclear but his voice sounded fairly young. He waved his hand to hail at the crowd but the strange thing was, he only waved one hand, so his posture was a bit awkward. The other beggars all seemed to listen to him, so the sound of cussing and yelling faded.
"Thank you!" Xie Lian called out, and he didn't waste his time either, flipping his hand over and lit up a hand torch instantly, the flames blowing high. The crowd of beggars all howled from fright, and the ones not yet awake all woke up too, "WHAT IS THAT WICKED MAGIC??"
Xie Lian schooled his expression, "It's not wicked magic, it's spiritual magic. This proves that my words are not false. Truth to be told, it's like this: right now there's a large band of monsters and ghosts that have surrounded the royal capital, and they're about to attack. We need five hundred volunteers who are willing to join the spiritual array to protect the royal capital. Who is willing? I won't lie, there might be danger. I will never force anyone, I only ask for the willing!"
"..."
There was a blanket of silence in that broken down temple. The beggars looked at each other but there was none who would step forward to say they were willing. A moment later, someone spoke up, "Protect the royal capital? Forget it."
Xie Lian looked over, and that man slumped over, mumbling to himself, "The royal capital doesn't protect me, ha, and they'd have me protect them? Do whatever you want, it's none of my fucking business!"
His indifferent tone was laced with anger. It wasn't that Xie Lian couldn't understand, but this couldn't help him. Clearly, this temple is crowded with the same poor and suffering as that man who thought the same. Since there was no compensation and their days passed in the royal capital weren't that great, who would want to go help at a time like this? It was already cold to death huddling inside a temple in the middle of winter, who would want to go out?
Xie Lian tried to give one last shot, "If those creatures invade the royal capital, there will be a very terrifying plague that'd break out. Everyone would be affected."
An old beggar lying on the ground said, "What plague can be more terrifying than these old sores on my body?"
"If there really is a plague, why not just leave this place, eh? We don't gotta stay here, it's not like it's a good place anyway, it's the same no matter where."
"Just let those mighty, distinguished old masters and ladies in the royal capital go. Someone will go, why must it be us?"
"Well..." Xie Lian couldn't tell them straight out. Those mighty, distinguished old masters and ladies would also think the same thing: I won't go, someone will surely go. Besides, since they had built a foundation here in the royal capital, and when faced with danger, there'd be more things they couldn't let go, so that mentality would be even stronger. It wasn't that this mentality was wrong, that it was bad, it was just if everyone thought this way, then nothing could be accomplished.
After waiting for a while, no one stepped forward, and Xie Lian said resolutely, "Alright. Sorry for the intrusion."
He turned around and left the broken down temple. Hua Cheng comforted, "Don't worry, gege, I've got people on the move on my side too. The news has been spread, we should be able to find people."
Xie Lian nodded. It wasn't that he was worried they couldn't find five hundred, he was just worried there wasn't enough time, and to randomly grab people to make up the numbers would be counterproductive. He glanced at the sky; those rolling black clouds were still covering the skies, their intent unpredictable.
Just then, a voice suddenly rang from behind him, "WAIT! WAIT WAIT WAIT! – I'LL GO!"
Hearing this, Xie Lian was taken aback and he whipped his head around. That lamed legged beggar dragged his leg and hopped out of the temple door, "The people you seek, as long as they're alive it's fine, right? Broken limbs won't be a problem, right?"
So it turns out, this man's movements looked awkward because he didn't just have one lame leg, one of his arms was also broken as it hung limply and listlessly.
Seeing there was finally someone who voluntarily came forward, Xie Lian's heart was instantly warmed and he replied immediately, "Completely not a problem!"
That man was fairly straightforward too, "Then we're good! Take me along!"
The crowd of beggars inside the temple were shocked, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING??? DIDN'T YOU HEAR HIM, IT COULD BE DANGEROUS!"
"YEA! AND THERE'S NO PAY EITHER! THEY TALKED SO MUCH BUT NOT A MENTION OF COMPENSATION!"
"DON'T INVOLVE YOURSELF IN THAT MUDDY WATER, COME BACK, OL' FENG!"
"..."
Since earlier, Xie Lian had thought this man looked overly familiar, but because this appearance was too different than the one in his memories, plus his voice was slightly raspy, not quite the same, so Xie Lian didn't recognize him. Now that he heard the people on the side call out the word 'Feng'*, he suddenly snapped to.
Xie Lian watched him closely and said with disbelief, "...Lord Wind Master???"
That beggar laughed out loud, reaching out to swipe away the black hair covering his face, "You've caught me, Your Highness!"
Underneath that filthy black hair was a pair of exceedingly bright eyes, brilliant as they were before.
————-
●Yang of Yin Yang; Yang represented the sun, the male, and the living.
●Feng is the word for Wind.