Chapter 386 - 238 Water God Immortality Technique_2

Apparently, he wanted Li Yan to take revenge for him.

"Water God Immortality Technique?!"

Daoist Feng was clearly aware of this and his eyes were full of shock. It took him a long time to recover and he shook his head, "This is the Three Gorges, where countless water gods are worshipped along the shores. Almost every village has a divine temple. It won’t be easy to find the right one..."

"It’s not completely without clues."

Li Yan said pensively, "The demon is now possessing an old Confucian scholar, and I suspect it’s Liu Danqiu, the Sacrificial Officer of the Danyang Academy."

Daoist Feng gently stroked his beard and nodded, "It’s possible. After his grandson died, he has been living alone in the mountains with secretive movements."

"Perhaps he doesn’t want anyone to notice the rotting smell on him."

Sha Lifei, who was listening beside them, was dumbfounded, "Wait, wasn’t the Yellow Demon God Temple only ruined during the Da Xing Period? Can there really be such an old monster still alive?"

Li Yan’s eyes turned solemn, "It should be."

"This guy could be from the remnants of the Ghost Sect who, seeing the adverse winds during the Great Xing Dynasty, used evil techniques to barely stay alive to this day, secretly nurturing the Ghost Sect..."

At this moment, he faintly had a sense of the situation.

The remnants of the Ghost Sect had long been secretly spreading their teachings here. The "Red Lady" came to collaborate with them, unknowingly conspiring in something.

Or perhaps, whether the Red Lady or Zhao Changsheng,

they were all people from the Ghost Sect!

After all, Zhao Changsheng had been a Taoist of the Taixuan Orthodox Sect who went to the Northern Border and inadvertently touched a forbidden seal, becoming possessed.

A chilling thought surfaced in Li Yan’s mind.

The Ghost Sect had not been eradicated but, using various longevity evil techniques, had hidden themselves across Divine State, either becoming evil spirits or escaping the cycle of life and death.

Zhao Changsheng had been appearing across Divine State these past years.

He was trying to awaken all of them!

This thought made his back feel a bit chilly...

Although Daoist Feng did not know what he was thinking, he also sensed the gravity of the situation, sighed, and shook his head, "What should we do next?"

"For now, let’s not alert them."

Li Yan spoke in a deep voice, "Let’s continue our investigation and pretend ignorance to avoid startling the snake."

"Daoist, is there a way to quickly contact the Zhenwu Palace?"

"There’s no way."

Daoist Feng shook his head, "The Taixuan Orthodox Sect has the thousand-mile voice transmission spell, but it must be used atop high mountains surrounded by Innate Astral Qi in Grotto Heaven Blessed Land, and it requires large ceremonies. It’s only activated when Divine State’s safety is concerned."

"The fastest method is still through the official court post stations.

But with the river monster haunting the Three Gorges waterway, we can only travel by mountain road. Even going to Yichang would take a day or two."

Didn’t Judge Zhou say reinforcements might arrive tomorrow? By then, the river monster might have been suppressed and sending messages would be easier."

"That’s also good."

Li Yan thought for a moment and didn’t insist any further.

In truth, the person he most wanted to contact was Luo Mingzi.

He had been transferred to the Capital specifically to track down Zhao Changsheng.

Their relationship was extremely close, and he would definitely take this matter seriously.

...

Having found significant clues at the Yellow Demon God Temple, the trio didn’t stop but continued along the stream, bypassing Guizhou City and heading north.

Along the way, peach trees were planted on both banks.

Peach blossoms bloomed profusely, scattering into the misty rain-laden streams, creating a hauntingly beautiful scene.

Sha Lifei glanced casually at the water and suddenly widened his eyes, "Look, those peach blossoms are moving!"

"That’s called peach blossom fish."

Daoist Feng shook his head, "The stream’s peach blossoms are also one of Guizhou’s scenic beauties. In previous years at this time, the scholars from Danyang Academy would go out to enjoy the spring weather, calling friends to join them by the stream to compose poems and match verses."

"This year, I fear no one is in the mood..."

As they spoke, they had left the west of the city.

Near Guizhou City, there were many streams and rivers, but compared to the southern docks, there were fewer villages here, with only the occasional person seen visiting graves during Qingming.

The road was remote and frequently required detours over bridges, so they were somewhat delayed.

By the time they reached the Gratitude Light Temple, it was already noon.

On the way, Daoist Feng had already introduced that Gratitude Light Temple, too, was ancient. During the Song Dynasty, Lu You visited Guizhou and stayed in the temple.

Before they even approached, the group sensed something was wrong.

Though it was drizzly and the Qingming festival period, the temple doors were tightly closed at midday.

According to Wu Defa, his son Wu Shiqing liked to study Buddhist principles and often went to the Gratitude Light Temple to chat and drink tea with the head monk.

The day Wu Shiqing had an accident, he had also returned from the temple at night.

But according to the government office, the monks in this temple only chanted sutras, meditated, burned incense, and worshipped Buddha, and knew no spells.

It was just an ordinary worldly temple.

Li Yan initially just came to have a look.

But now, there obviously was something fishy.

"Someone’s coming, hide!"

Li Yan narrowed his eyes and led the two into a nearby grove.

From the north gate of Guizhou City, several men looking like merchants came riding on horses to the temple door and started knocking.

"Why are the doors closed during broad daylight?"

"Could it be because of Qingming?"

These men spoke with a non-local accent, clearly just ordinary merchants.

Creak~

The gates slowly opened, revealing a crack, and a monk peeked through, speaking to them, "Sirs, what do you need?"

One wealthy merchant smiled, "These gentlemen are all my good friends. We’ve heard that the temple houses genuine works of Lu You, and we wish to admire them and then offer some money for incense."

The monk still appeared indifferent, "I’m sorry, sirs. Our temple has matters to attend today and isn’t receiving external guests, please leave."

With that, he promptly shut the door.

"Ah~ this..."

The leading merchant was clearly annoyed, "These monks... I haven’t been stingy with money for incense; why such an attitude?"

Speaking, he prepared to move forward and knock again.