Chapter 297 - 229: Manipulating Cause and Effect, the Plague Ghost Descends

"Is the information reliable?"

The monk in white softly asked:

"A rebirthed Bodhisattva from the Ling Mountain line?"

"Reliable."

The great monk, embracing two Mingfei, sat calmly on the flesh lotus platform formed by four interwoven women,

He spoke calmly:

"Notify the Walking Under God, then you and I will go hunting ourselves?"

The monk in white chanted a Buddha’s name, paused for a moment, then looked at the great monk who was unrestrainedly kneading the Mingfei.

The Mingfei was sobbing; the monk’s strength was great, and with each kneading, a sound of bone cracking would be heard,

Some sharp bone spurs even pierced through the white skin, with fresh blood flowing down.

The great monk laughed joyfully.

The monk in white, used to such sights, caressed the newly made Vajra Pestle crafted from a young girl’s thigh bone,

Then he spoke melodiously:

"Who knows what methods the rebirthed Bodhisattva may have? It’s safer to directly let the Great Black Heaven’s gaze fall upon."

....

"This is Mule Street."

Getting out of the taxi, many unfriendly gazes fell upon them.

The Ninth District, such a chaotic place, was always like this.

Zhang Fusheng glanced at his master’s wooden house and continued:

"The black market is just ahead, I’ll take you there."

Li Yiyi and Luo Cheng thanked him promptly.

"Such a good person."

The former whispered:

"When we leave, let’s give this Brother Zhang a boost in fortune."

Luo Cheng nodded.

Leading the way, Zhang Fusheng caught the whisper, feeling surprised — you can boost someone’s fortune?

These two little ones, how do they have so many special methods?

Turning into a small alley, Zhang Fusheng abruptly paused.

"Brother Zhang, what’s wrong?"

Li Yiyi looked around:

"Is this the black market? Why can’t I see it?"

"No, it’s still ahead."

Zhang Fusheng spoke calmly, continuing forward, his gaze deep.

Just now,

His spiritual sense was intensely stirred — someone was plotting against him.

And the scheme would put him in a highly passive situation.

"Cause and effect..."

Zhang Fusheng slightly lowered his eyelids, concealing the fine star lines flowing in his eyes, while delving into the myriad causes and effects upon him.

Any action by a person inevitably generates one or even countless causes and effects,

At this moment, the causes and effects upon him were countless, most quite ordinary, like the few between him and Lu Yao, and thousands between him and his parents...

Some cause and effect lines were extremely heavy, making it difficult to discern specifics or manipulate,

These were the ones linking him with beings whose cultivation surpassed his.

But among these countless densely woven threads of cause and effect,

One thin cause and effect line was born from the trepidation in his heart and the spiritual sense’s warning.

Standing before a small building.

"Inside is the black market entrance to the Ninth District."

Zhang Fusheng spoke, his hand making a peculiar gesture in the air — he was touching that newly emerged thread of cause and effect, trying to trace it back to its source.

He succeeded effortlessly — indicating that the person on the other end of that cause and effect had a cultivation lower than his.

A vague image of a person appeared before him.

Is it that Cui Qingyi?

Zhang Fusheng raised an eyebrow, what had this guy plotted that could warrant his spiritual sense’s warning, or even...

He glanced at that exceedingly dusky cause and effect line in his vision.

Life and death cause and effect.

The cause of killing lay with Cui Qingyi, the effect of death was on himself.

This cause and effect was weak and flickering, representing it hadn’t reached the point of certainty,

Just a kind of unusual omen — but would it warrant a death crisis for someone like himself now?

Zhang Fusheng withdrew his underestimation of Cui Qingyi.

"This woman cannot remain."

He paused for a moment, pushing open the wooden house’s door, leading the two towards the basement while dialing a phone.

"Master, it’s me. Is Old Lu by your side?"

"Hmm, I have something to discuss with him."

The three entered the basement, a black-clothed guard opened the iron door, revealing intercrossing underground pipes filled with a foul stench, yet surging with crowds.

Chongyang’s underground black market — the true ’underground.’

Walking inside, Zhang Fusheng calmly said to the phone:

"Old Lu, it’s me."

His eyes still held those intricate star lines, and with a call, hundreds of temporary causes and effects could be seen emerging.

Espionage.

More than hundreds were eavesdropping on this call.

With a gentle flick of his fingers, countless thin cause and effect lines were stuck to Zhang Fusheng’s finger, and with a light flick,

He transferred these hundreds of causes into another person making a call in the black market.

The cause of espionage still laid in those monitorers, but the effect of being overheard was transferred away —

Thus, the call being spied upon silently became that of a passerby.

Zhang Fusheng’s face slightly turned pale, the operation consumed significant energy,

Even if they were minor, insignificant causes and effects, the sheer number was immense.

"Old Lu."

Zhang Fusheng softly spoke:

"I’m not keeping your disciple."

The other end was silent for a long while, then Old Master softly said:

"Shall I clean up the sect?"

"No need, I’ll handle it myself," Zhang Fusheng calmly stated, "After all, it’s your disciple, still needs notifying you."

The Old Master responded in a low tone, letting out a soft sigh.

The call was disconnected.

At that very moment, across the vast Chongyang City, almost simultaneously, hundreds of people slammed their tables.

They realized, as if under some mysterious influence, that they had intercepted the wrong communication.

Whether due to operational errors, signal interference, or other various reasons— the result pointed to one outcome.

They had intercepted another person’s communication.

This didn’t cause any waves, as these people didn’t communicate with each other and only thought it was a small mistake.

An insignificant, unfortunate small mistake.

Meanwhile, in the underground black market.

Li Yiyi and Luo Cheng looked around at each other, the former covering her nose:

"Why is the Chongyang black market in such a place, it smells so bad..."

She glanced around, her gaze eventually fixing on a tent.

"Brother Zhang, Luo Cheng and I are going to post a bounty, what are you doing now..."

Before she finished speaking, Zhang Fusheng casually said:

"It’s fine, I’ll wait for you... I just happened to see an old acquaintance."

Li Yiyi and Luo Cheng nodded and quickly entered the tent, while Zhang Fusheng stepped on the wet, moss-covered pipes, walking to a stall and squatting down with a smile.

"Eh?"

The stall owner Lin Dongxi widened her eyes:

"Junior brother? What are you doing here??"

"That’s what I wanted to ask you."

Zhang Fusheng glanced at the small items on her stall, all made of bones, mostly animal bones, with a few human bones.

"Human bones from execution grounds and morgues." Lin Dongxi whispered, and Zhang Fusheng raised an eyebrow, protecting their conversation with Divine Thought so that not a word would leak.

"Why are you dealing with this stuff?"

"Fishing!"

Lin Dongxi said mysteriously:

"Junior brother forgot that I know the Living Corpse Technique? I planted this technique in those human bones."

She leaned in a little:

"You didn’t know, did you? Recently, plenty of Mandala Lineage followers have been seen around here."

"The Mandala Lineage loves using human bones to make Dharma Artifacts, so I’m waiting to see if anyone buys these bones, then I’ll turn them into living corpses to infiltrate the Mandala Lineage!"

Zhang Fusheng was somewhat speechless:

"Why are you provoking the Mandala Lineage people for no reason? Aren’t you afraid they’ll find out you’re a Living Buddha from Ling Mountain?"

Lin Dongxi sheepishly retracted her head:

"Precisely because I’m a Living Buddha... A Living Buddha must endure nine calamities to return to position. I’ve barely survived through the calamity of that turtle bastard Niu Dali."

"Still lacking eight calamities!"

Zhang Fusheng was even more speechless:

"So you’re looking for trouble with yourself? A self-inflicted calamity can’t count as a real calamity, can it?"

Lin Dongxi pouted:

"It’s worth trying nevertheless, plus, Senior Ancestor resides nearby, what am I afraid of... What’s with your hand? Is it cramping?"

She curiously watched her junior brother’s fingers tap the air rhythmically.

"No, I’m summoning the Plague Ghost I left in Golden City earlier, bringing it to Chongyang."

"What’s a Plague Ghost?" Lin Dongxi asked, bewildered.

Zhang Fusheng’s fingers tapped faster and faster, before suddenly stopping!

He said lightly:

"Something that should be quite powerful; I’ve imbued it with the diseases of tens of millions of people, let’s see how it performs now."

As his words fell and his fingers stopped tapping.

Somewhere in a dark alley in the city,

The five bone-white fingers of a black-robed figure also ceased their playing.

Great Transposition Technique, return to the marker.

The marker trembled slightly, space tore apart, and a portal opened.

Another tall black-robed figure emerged from within, and as the wind blew, the black robes billowed to reveal a blood-red undershirt.

Great Plague Ghost.

Carrying diseases of tens of millions, wielding the authority over plagues, it is the Great Plague Ghost of the Plague Divine Envoy.

As it appeared, the already dim alley grew shrouded in thicker darkness,

A limping stray cat pounced over, arching its back and hissing madly at it.

The Plague Ghost merely crouched down, gently stroking the cat’s head.

The cat’s ailments disappeared, but then a hundredfold, a thousandfold greater plague, accompanied by black mist, seeped slowly into the stray cat’s body.

The little cat grew into a big cat, tumors emerged rapidly, piling upon each other,

In just moments,

The unruly stray cat had ballooned into a monstrous mass of flesh and blood.

Its feline shape was still vaguely discernible.

The Plague Ghost leapt onto it, riding the monstrous mass, silently traversing the deep alley.

Shadows behind it, a procession of black-robed figures began to emerge.

More and more, densely packed, until it was an abundance.

Grandmasters, Great Sects, and even an Innate Skeleton.

They marched with uniform steps, their robes dancing, looking like a rolling black tide at a glance.

The black tide quietly made its way toward the Cui Family estate in Chongyang.

At this moment.

Within the estate.

Cui Qingyi held a wine glass, standing quietly by the window, downing the liquid in one gulp.

She tilted her slender neck, smiling softly:

"So soon?"

"The most devout follower of that Ancestor of Land Immortals has been found?"

The servant responded respectfully.

Cui Qingyi donned her robes, swaying her waist, and slowly sat down on the sofa.

"Bring him to see me."

She looked out the window, a faint smile appearing on her face.

Indeed, everything was under control.

Whether it’s the God of Plague or the Ancestor of Land Immortals...

Cui Qingyi laughed softly.

(The next Chapter will be a bit late again; I’ve been very busy recently, so the update time isn’t very stable. After these two days, the latest will have an extra update on the fifteenth or sixteenth.)