Chapter 380: Master Ji Yuan

Although separated by a layer of the Land God’s magic, Ji Yuan’s ears could still hear the sounds inside the room, including the chaotic commotion.

‘This “master,” could they be referring to me?’

Ji Yuan was somewhat puzzled, but at the same time couldn’t think of any other possibility.

The Sword Intent Inscription was completed at least 80 or 90 years ago. It contained the sword intent and spirit of Zuo Li, who was recognized as the undisputed number one martial arts master in Dazhen and even in the surrounding countries at the time. It could be said that even when the scroll had been completed nearly a hundred years ago, it was already extraordinary, almost transcended the mortal realm.

In truth, only two people had the most profound influence on the Sword Intent Inscription: the first was naturally Zuo Li, the madman who wrote it, and the second was Ji Yuan. Although it had passed through many people’s hands in between, Ji Yuan felt that they had little impact on the Sword Intent Inscription itself.

The characters on the Sword Intent Inscription had transformed into tiny spirits, and were now calling out for their “Master.” This could only refer to Zuo Li or Ji Yuan. Then again, Zuo Li had been dead for almost a hundred years, and although the scroll was extraordinary, it was just a scroll.

‘So, they really were calling out for me?’

Ji Yuan looked at the side building shrouded in the Land God’s energy with a strange expression, finding the image of being surrounded by more than a hundred small characters calling him “Master” both odd and quite funny.

Inside the room, the Land God held up his cane, and the flame on it gradually growing in size from a small flickering flame to a torch-like blaze.

Even though the light of the flames greatly increased visibility indoors, the Land God could only see walls stained with ink, making it impossible to discern any traces of the hidden spirits.

The building was so small that everything was almost entirely visible, and yet he still couldn’t find them. The Land God knew in his heart that if they escaped, they would be on guard against him next time, and he probably wouldn’t get such an opportunity again.

“Since you still won’t come out, then don’t blame me for taking drastic measures. Having received so many offerings, it’s only right I help take you out!”

Whoosh!

The flames on the cane suddenly shot up several feet high, clearly indicating that the local Land God was not joking: he really was really going to burn the building down.

“How dare you!”

“You old man, how dare you!”

“Let us out of here!”

“Old man, let us out!”

“Yes, yes, we’ll go out!”

“I’m not going out!”

“Neither am I!”

“They’re going to burn us alive!”

“So be it!”

“Hey, hey, don’t burn us! Don’t burn us!”

The Land God was constantly annoyed by the clamoring of the spirits; all he could hear was a cacophony of sounds. Moreover, it was all talk and no action,

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there were no signs of them coming out.

“Hmph, still being stubborn. Here you go!”

With a flick of the cane in all directions, sparks flew out, scorching hot, and shot into every part of the room.

“Ah…”

“Wow…”

“I’m going to burn to death!”

“Master, save me!”

“Master, save us!”

…

The Land God unleashed his flames in this noisy and anxious atmosphere, preparing to burrow underground to avoid being engulfed in flames himself. This fire-controlling technique was not a particularly good one; the flames, once ignited, would become ordinary fire. Unless he continuously expended his spiritual energy, he would also be burned.

Before the Land God could even disappear underground, he discovered that the balls of fire he had thrown out were getting weaker and weaker in the air. By the time they hit the wooden walls or frames, they had been reduced to the size of tiny sparks, and finally extinguished without setting anything alight.

“Hmm?”

The Land God was surprised for a moment. He couldn’t believe his eyes. He waved his staff again to light the fire.

This time, the flames extinguished themselves before they had even flown a zhang away from the staff. The flame on the staff also grew weaker and weaker, before finally going out completely with a “poof,” making the room much darker.

‘Could these spirits be exceptionally skilled at controlling fire? No, that doesn’t make sense; they wouldn’t have been so afraid before!’

The Land God was still pondering when the noise inside the room reached a new level.

“Hahahaha… The old man’s tricks don’t work!”

“Hahaha, that’s great, that’s great, he can’t start a fire!”

“Let us out, you can’t set us on fire anyway!”

“Yeah, you can’t set us on fire!”

“If you don’t let us leave, we’ll complain!”

“Yes, complain! We’ll go tell the Master!”

…

The Land God frowned. Judging from the commotion, his failure to control the fire hadn’t been due to their actions. There must be some other special circumstance at play.

“I am the local Land God of the town of Lilong in Moyuan County. If any expert is present, please show yourself!”

The Land God held his cane with both hands, cupped his hands in front of him, glanced around, and tentatively offered a greeting.

As soon as he finished speaking, a voice responded.

“Greetings, Land God of Lilong, I am Ji Yuan, here to greet you!”

As the sound faded, Ji Yuan’s figure appeared in the room, just four or five steps from the entrance.

Upon hearing the sound, the Land God turned around and saw a gentleman in a white robe standing not far from the front of the room. He had long hair with locks that hung loosely to either side of his face, the rest tied up with a jade hairpin. His dark eyes were fixed on the Land God as he bowed.

‘There really was someone here?’

“Who are you……”

The Land God was slightly startled, but before he could voice his doubts, the room erupted in a cacophony of noise.

“Master!”

“Master!”

“Master!”

“Ah!”

“It’s Master!”

“It really is Master!”

“Oh dear!”

“The Master is here!”

“Master, save us!”

“This old man is bullying us!”

…

Ji Yuan scanned the surroundings. Even with his supernatural eyes wide open, he could only barely make out the faint writing on the darker parts of the roof, walls, and corners of the house. Even the glowing aura of the spirits was black.

“Come out, all of you.”

Ji Yuan spoke softly, his words calm, yet his voice drowned out all the noise, and the room fell silent instantly.

Then, before the Land God and Ji Yuan’s eyes, thick, richly-inked characters slowly floated out from every corner of the room, even from within the ordinary walls.

“Sword,” “I,” “myself,” “weapon,” “iron,” “intent,” “edge,” “sharpness”…

Some were unique characters, others were repeated, totaling over a hundred. Each character was clearly distinguishable, and each possessed a vivid and evocative aura.

Interestingly, many of the characters were somewhat curled and bent, with a half or a fragment of Yuan Ink attached below them, making it look as though they were holding Yuan ink in outstretched hands.

Ji Yuan smiled wryly; they had truly been caught red-handed.

“Characters? Words can become spirits?”

The Land God was shocked, and words of astonishment involuntarily escaped his lips.

All the characters floated in mid-air, forming a circle around Ji Yuan. Some were horizontal, some were vertical, and some would occasionally twist, as if they were peeking up at Ji Yuan.

Not even Ji Yuan ever imagined he would encounter such a situation, let alone the local Land God.

After a moment of surprise, the Land God shifted his gaze from the characters to Ji Yuan, suddenly remembering that he seemed to have seen this person by the river before.

At the time, he thought he was just an ordinary person, so he didn’t pay much attention to him. Now, he realized that he was a master of a caliber that he couldn’t even see through, even when the man was right in front of him. Moreover, even now, the Land God still couldn’t discern anything supernatural about him; he still seemed like an ordinary person.

As he took in the scene, the Land God’s gaze suddenly focused on the side of Ji Yuan’s clothes. He keenly noticed that something was peeking around in the man’s arms. Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a paper bird.

As if noticing the Land God’s gaze, the paper crane turned its head to look at the Land God, and then quickly shrank back into Ji Yuan’s arms.

‘Who on earth is this extraordinary person? How come so many spirits serve him?’

Clearly, the Land God considered that paper bird to be one of said spirits.

Out of reverence, the Land God solemnly clasped his staff between his hands and bowed again.

“This humble god is Huang Qiu, the local deity of the Lilong Township in Moyuan County. I was unaware that these extraordinary characters were the disciples of a master. If I have offended you, please forgive me!”

“Hahaha, now he knows fear!”

“Master, teach him a lesson!”

“Please, sir, do us justice!”

“Slay him with the Immortal Sword!”

“No, burn him with the True Fire of Samadhi!”

“No, use an immobilization technique to freeze him in mid-air for ten years!”

“Not enough, not enough! A hundred years!”

“Yes, yes, at least a hundred years!”

The surrounding characters became lively again. This time, Ji Yuan could see clearly that the sound actually came from the trembling of the lines of ink on the characters. Obviously, these characters had become spirits and naturally possessed some special abilities.

With each descriptive word of punishment, the Land God’s heart trembled. These spirits were clearly very simple-minded, but the simpler they were, the more truthful their words.

“Quiet!”

Ji Yuan silenced all the voices with a single word, and then bowed again to the slightly uneasy local deity.

“It was my lax discipline that led to this incident. By the way, may I ask the Land God, besides stealing ink sticks, have these characters done anything else harmful?”

“No, no!”

The Land God quickly waved his hand.

“These past few days, several wealthy people have come to the local temple to offer sacrifices and prayers, saying that their ink workshops have been repeatedly robbed. They have hired officials and experts to surround the storerooms, but it was no use. They’re afraid that it was the work of ghosts or monsters, so I took the offerings and went to investigate everywhere, which is how I encountered this incident today’.”

Ji Yuan understood. Just as he was about to speak, he heard a commotion outside. It was clear that the owner of the ink shop and others had arrived. After understanding the Land God’s intentions, he took the characters with him and departed first.

When the owner of the ink workshop arrived inside, they found the inksticks, which had been summoned back above ground by the Land God, scattered haphazardly on the floor, and many ink racks had collapsed.

Several li downstream from the ink workshop, Ji Yuan and the Land God sat on some rocks by the riverside. All the characters had flown back into the “Sword Intent Inscription,” but the calligraphy was not put away; instead, it was spread out next to Ji Yuan.

A pile of inksticks, some intact and some broken, lay next to the “Sword Intent Inscription,” the very same stolen goods from before.

After learning what had happened from the local Land God, Ji Yuan was both annoyed and amused, glancing at the Sword Intent Inscription beside him.

“You guys have a sharp eye, always choosing top-grade Yuan Ink to eat…”

These characters had addressed him as “Master” with great enthusiasm, and given the fact that they had been caught red-handed, Ji Yuan certainly couldn’t pretend to be ignorant.

Since the beginning, all the characters in the Sword Intent Inscription had all fallen silent. They had previously wanted to eat good ink, but they now understood that this kind of item couldn’t be obtained through skill and eaten at will. They also understood that they had caused trouble and displeased their master.

“This is the source of production for Yuan ink. May I ask, Land God, what is the value of an ink stick of this quality?”

Ji Yuan thought it was likely much cheaper at his place of origin, but the Land God was obviously very shrewd, and knew what Ji Yuan meant as soon as he opened his mouth.

“Mr. Ji, there’s no need to worry. What they stole wasn’t finished products. They’ll still be sorted out in the end. Besides, this isn’t about the price; the raw materials aren’t very valuable. Ten coins per piece would be about right. For these wealthy families who have already made a fortune, it would be just a drop in the ocean.”

“I see.”

The Land God continued.

“Sir, there is no need to worry about such a trivial matter. I will appear in the dreams of the owners of these ink shops and tell them that everything will be fine in the future. I will also take good care of the ink shops, which will be enough to make up for the losses.”

This was more than enough to offset the losses; those ink shop owners would definitely make a profit. The local Land God likely only said this because he had previously almost gone too far and burned these calligraphy spirits to death.

If they had been ordinary spirits, their death wouldn’t have mattered, but now that they had a powerful backer, this could be considered a gesture of goodwill.

Ji Yuan was naturally more than happy to accept.

“Thank you for your help, Land God. I am very grateful! How about this: if you have a way to get me some more good ink, I will buy it from you.”

Hearing this, the Land God was relieved and laughed heartily.

“Hahahaha… Mr. Ji, you jest. Obtaining some good ink is easy; I’ll get it for you myself. But why would I want your money? Besides, what would I need money for… uh…”

“Really? You don’t want this, either?”

At this moment, Ji Yuan opened his palm, revealing a quietly gleaming golden coin. It lay there on his palm, its spiritual essence flickering intermittently, clearly no ordinary object.

Lit. “all thunder, no rain”