Chapter 189: Lost Soul Valley
Chapter 189: Lost Soul Valley
"Master Lan is kind-hearted and saved my old friend from danger. I am truly grateful and would like to give him a pot of 'Eight Treasures Regenerating Pills' and a pot of 'Strengthening Heart and Activating Blood Circulation Pills' as a token of my gratitude."
In the reception hall of Yinling Miao Village, Cheng Xinzhan handed over two bottles of pills.
Lan Yinluo's eyes lit up, but she still declined.
"Master, you are so polite, but to be honest, when we rescued these mortals, we didn't know that there was a great cultivator like you behind them, so naturally we don't expect any reward from you."
"Oh?"
Cheng Xinzhan looked over with burning eyes and asked,
"What Village Master Lan said is exactly what I am wondering about. Your village is so hidden, I don't know why you took the initiative to expose it and save my old friends?"
It's not that Cheng Xinzhan is judging others by his own standards. This Miao village looks like a paradise, not a devil's lair. But in a place like Wuling Mountain, one has to be on guard.
"Since you have doubts, I will explain them to you."
Lan Yinluo knew what Cheng Xinzhan was thinking, so she explained.
"There are many reasons for taking in these mortals. First of all, our village is not a sect of immortals. There are many mortals here, all of whom are our people. Our Yinling Village has lived in Yupan Valley for generations and is isolated from the outside world. Intermarriage and reproduction require outsiders. Taking in outside Miao people is not the first time we have done so."
Cheng Xinzhan nodded. The reproduction of the tribe was a great reason.
“That day, this group of mortals were chased by several demons from the Hanging Coffin Gorge. Our village has a blood feud with the Hanging Coffin Gorge, so we dare not confront them openly. However, we still have the courage to kill the few demons who were trapped at our doorstep to vent our anger.
"In addition, Mr. Ji is a Yang Bird Fire Demon with high combat power, which is very rare in a place like Xiangxi. If we bring him in and invite Mr. Ji as a guest official, wouldn't that kill three birds with one stone?"
Cheng Xinzhan smiled. These three reasons were indeed very legitimate. He loosened his hands and two pots of pills flew to the table next to Lan Yinluo. Then, he took out a jade box and put it over as well.
"These two pots of elixir are my thanks to you for saving my friends. I also give you this box of talismans. I only hope you can take better care of my friends."
Lan Yinluo stood up, looking at the box of talismans that touched the spiritual power of heaven and earth, and couldn't help but say,
"The Taoist priest is too generous."
Cheng Xinzhan shook his head, indicating that it was okay, and then turned his hand to conjure an ivory scallop, which landed beside Lan Mujin. Then the scallop opened by itself, revealing sixteen pigeon egg-sized pearls with a shimmering water glow. This was a treasure that Huang Yunying from Huangliu Island gave him when he was overseas. It had both pearl luster and water charm. Whether it was used as an ornament or a treasure, it was a rare treasure for a second-level cultivator.
"Fellow Daoist Lan, this Dongzhu fan is my apology for offending you and for delaying your sale."
The woman was a little surprised when she saw the jewels on the fan, and she stood up to refuse it.
Cheng Xinzhan changed the subject, looked at the others and asked,
"Knowing that my friend has a place to live, I finally put my mind at ease. In addition, Village Chief Lan just said that your village has lived here for generations, so you must have some knowledge of the various forces in western Hunan. I would like to ask you a question. Do you know anything about the Lost Soul Gorge in Mengdong River?"
It was obvious that the three members of the Lan family all changed their expressions at the same time, so Lan Yinluo asked,
"Why did the Taoist priest ask about the Lost Soul Gorge?"
Cheng Xinzhan paid attention to their expressions and said slowly,
"To be honest with you all, I do have some grudges against you, and I am planning to seek revenge."
After hearing this, the three members of the Lan family were obviously relieved, but soon they all showed worried expressions. Lan Yinluo said,
"Master, please think twice. This Lost Soul Gorge is not that simple."
This was exactly what Cheng Xinzhan wanted to hear, so he said, "I'd like to hear the details."
"This……"
Lan Yinluo thought about it. This Taoist priest was very generous. She also remembered that the profound magic in the Demon-Slaying Painting that they sold to the group of mortals was also created by this Taoist priest. His origin must be extraordinary. They would definitely not be able to persuade him to do what he wanted to do. So she said,
"This Lost Soul Gorge has always been known as Hanging Coffin Gorge. They are the two largest demonic forces in Xiangxi. One is good at collecting people's souls and refining them into soul slaves, and the other is good at stealing people's bodies and raising them into corpse puppets. These two families often join forces to take what they need. They are rampant and do all kinds of evil in Xiangxi."
Cheng Xinzhan listened and asked,
"If there really was no one who could rule it, Xiangxi would have long been a land of ghosts and corpses. Then why is it still flourishing today?"
Cheng Xinzhan said "let a hundred flowers bloom" just to make his words sound better. In fact, in addition to the Demon Sect, there are countless side sects, groups of independent cultivators, and even local clans like the thousand-year-old Miao village. In fact, it would be more appropriate to say "a hundred flowers are mixed together and demons are dancing wildly."
Hearing this, Lan Yinluo explained,
“The Demonic Path is headed by these two places. In addition, there is a Three Kings Temple in Xiangxi, where the sages and high-ranking cultivators of our Xiangxi Miao ethnic group live. In addition, there is a Zhenwu Temple in Xiangxi, which enshrines the Great Emperor Zhenwu. It has been said that the master of the temple is at a very high level. It is precisely because of the existence of this temple and this temple that the Soul Gorge and Corpse Gorge have some concerns.
"It's just that this temple has a small population and is in a state of seclusion and cultivation, so it rarely takes action. Therefore, Soul Gorge and Corpse Gorge are only cautious about annexing and plundering land. Apart from that, they are still full of demonic flames on weekdays and don't take anyone seriously."
Cheng Xinzhan nodded. It seemed that this temple, this monastery and the Hunjian Corpse Gorge were the most powerful forces in western Hunan, and they brought together the Taoist, side sects and the demonic sects. He just didn't know if the Zhenwu Temple had any relationship with the Wudang Mountain in Jingchu.
"Can you please tell me more about this Lost Soul Gorge?"
Lan Yinluo nodded and explained it carefully to Cheng Xinzhan...
Cheng Xinzhan spent a night in Yinling Miao Village and wrote a prescription for treating eye disease for the old village chief and gave it to Ji Kaiming.
Because he had seen a lot of medical treatment before in order to cure his third sister's eye disease, the old village chief's disease, which was caused by heart fire entering the eyes, was not difficult for him to cure. The difficulty lay in the fact that the old village chief was old, so he had to use good medicine to slowly replenish his body, and at the same time he had to take good care of the old village chief's body.
The prescriptions he prescribed all used local herbs, and the old village chief should be able to recover after taking them for two or three months.
In addition, he also taught Ji Kaiming the "Great Sunlight Mantra" that he had comprehended by himself. Ji Kaiming was obviously much smarter than that idiot Jiang Nanjing. He got the hang of it in just one day and could perform the thirteen-character mantra right away. After he comprehends it on his own later, he should be able to simplify it a lot more.
Ji Kaiming said that he wanted to follow Cheng Xinzhan to the Lost Soul Gorge, but was politely declined by Cheng Xinzhan. The next morning, it was Lan Mujin who sent him off. They walked through the winding mountain paths, startled a flock of moths, and came out of the valley.
"Thank you, fellow Taoist."
Lan Mujin shook her head and said, "Fellow Daoist, be careful on your way there."
After saying this, the poisonous insect crawled out of the bell on the Miao girl's ear again, crawled across her face, and turned the girl into an old woman again. It seemed that she was going to set up a stall in Tulong Mountain again.
The two of them said goodbye.
----
Deep in the mountains of western Hunan, there is a turbulent Mengdong River. If you go upstream along the Mengdong River, you can see a cliff at the source.
The cliff looked as if someone had chopped it with an axe, revealing a crack. If viewed from a distance, the crack was just a shallow line on the cliff, but if viewed from a closer perspective, it was a gigantic rift with a span of over a hundred feet.
A stream of water flows out of the crack, which is the source of the Mengdong River. On the cliff, on one side of the crack, there are two bloody characters engraved, which are:
Lost soul.
If your realm is low, you will feel that your soul is being sucked away if you look at these two words for a long time.
Not only is river water flowing out of the crack, but there is also a dark green cold mist seeping out, which makes people feel chilly even on a sunny day. This also results in there being no grass or trees within a few miles of the crack, and the ground is covered with a layer of miserable green frost.
At this moment, at the junction of Qingshuang and Luye, on an ordinary mountain in the Luye world, a Taoist priest stood there with a sword on his back and a whisk in his hand.
At this time, a Taoist priest in a blue robe suddenly appeared from nowhere and stood beside him.
"You came here so soon, have you dealt with everything over there?"
Shen Zhaoming asked.
"Well, no problem. How are you doing here? Can you see anything real?"
Shen Zhaoming shook his head. "It's not easy. From yesterday to today, people came out twice, and they were in groups of three or five. It's not easy to kill them. My magic eyes can't see through the green fog. I tried to use the escape method to go in, but I couldn't get through the green fog either."
Cheng Xinzhan moved his green eyes and looked into the green mist. The magical eyes bestowed by the immortals allowed him to see some clues. There were many shadowy figures in the mist, and there were clearly many ghosts floating around. There seemed to be many caves and plank roads on both sides of the crack. It seemed that this was a force built on the cliffs on both sides of the crack. However, no matter how detailed the details were, he could not see clearly.
"Looks like we'll have to wait."
He said.
Shen Zhaoming nodded, and then the two of them waited there, exchanging the information they had gathered.
On the third day, they finally found an opportunity. Two men walked out along the stream. They were both wearing white clothes. Their faces were as white as their clothes, as if they had never seen the sun. They wore tall hats as big as clubs on their heads and chains with hooks wrapped around their bodies. Judging from their realm, they were only at the second realm.
Cheng Xinzhan and Shen Zhaoming looked at each other and followed.
After getting away from the Lost Soul Gorge, Cheng Xinzhan took the lead and spit out a stream of white smoke from his mouth.
Shen Zhaoming looked over curiously.
Cheng Xinzhan simply explained, "It's just an illusion."
Afterwards, Shen Zhaoming saw that the small wisp of white smoke quickly turned into a cloud of mist, enveloping the two people in the Lost Soul Gorge. Not long after, the two people seemed to have seen something horrifying. They knelt down and kowtowed, their heads bleeding and tears streaming down their cheeks.
"What did you conjure up to scare them like this?"
Shen Zhaoming was a little curious.
But Cheng Xinzhan shook his head and said, "I didn't intentionally become anything. They saw what they feared."
It didn't take long before the two demons became dull and their eyes widened in great fear.
Cheng Xinzhan and Shen Zhaoming walked up to the two of them.
"Do you know how to use soul-searching spells? Their souls are now empty of defense, so it's a good time to read their memories."
Cheng Xinzhan asked Shen Zhaoming.
Shen Zhaoming shook his head seriously. "We in the Dao sect never practice soul-searching magic. That kind of magic can destroy other people's souls, which is harmful to the harmony of nature. It can also pollute one's own mind and bring dust to the Purple Palace. However, we in the Wanshou Palace have a magic called 'Dongzhen Lingming Fa'. Although it is originally intended to identify the inner demons, it can also be used to explore memories."
Cheng Xinzhan rolled his eyes at him and said, "You are the best. You have this, and I have this."
Shen Zhaoming chuckled and pointed his finger at one of them's eyebrows.
Cheng Xinzhan naturally has a similar spell, which is recorded in the Secret Instructions of Changsheng Taiyuan Xianshen, called "Guardian of Guarding Oneness and Returning to the True God". In addition to being able to clearly see the inner demons and recall memories, it can also be used to awaken people who are sleeping and lost. However, when using this spell on others, it is best not to try if your own soul power is insufficient and your mind is not strong enough, as it will be easily contaminated by the memories of others.
However, considering Cheng Xinzhan's current state of mind and temperament, there is naturally no problem.
He directly controlled the intelligent soul "Shuang Ling" to enter the demon's purple palace and read his memories.
After a full half hour, the two of them finally recovered their thoughts. It seemed that it was not easy for them to cast this spell. They were breathing heavily, brows furrowed, and did not speak for a long time.
"Dirty, really dirty!"
After a long time, Shen Zhaoming opened his mouth and cursed, looking at the two demons with extreme disgust in his eyes.
Cheng Xinzhan was still closing his eyes and regulating his breathing, but he was clenching his teeth. It was obvious that what he saw was not much different from what Shen Zhaoming saw.
Then, he slowly opened his eyes and said, "Kill?"
"Kill quickly!"
Shen Zhaoming waved his hands repeatedly.
Cheng Xinzhan raised his hand and a gust of wind blew. The clothes of the two demons fluttered, and the magic weapons on their bodies fell down. Moreover, his wind magic was no longer limited to Xunfeng, he had also gained some knowledge of Neifeng magic.
Therefore, not only did the two demons have their external belongings taken off by the wind, but even the spiritual objects in their internal acupoints were forced out by the internal wind created by Cheng Xinzhan and fell to the ground.
Then, two points of fire emerged from his left eye and fell on the two demons, and the two demons were quickly turned into ashes.
At the same time, the void around Cheng Xinzhan suddenly twisted, as if flames were burning on his body. When the void calmed down again, he turned into the appearance of the demon whose memory he had just checked.
"Master Bai Wuchang should be a Five-wash Golden Pill, much higher than Yang Xuanla and Yao Kaijiang. I have a secret treasure that can hide it from his eyes. What about you? If not, I will go in alone to get the news, and you wait for me outside."
Shen Zhaoming transformed into another demon, and said,
"Don't worry. My master has cast a spell on me that can conceal the secrets of heaven. No one under the fairyland can predict me, and no one can curse me to death. It will be no problem to hide it from a third-level demon."
At this time, the two naturally knew why the two demons went out. They had agreed to come out to capture wandering souls. The disciples of the Lost Soul Gorge all their magic skills are focused on wandering souls, and their daily practice is to capture souls, refine souls, and control souls.
Naturally, the two of them would not try to catch any wandering souls now. They would just hang out outside for a day or two, relying on their memories to carefully memorize the situation in the Soul-Lost Gorge and familiarize themselves with the magic spells and magic weapons.
However, what made the two slightly worried was that they did not see any disciples of the Jingming Sect in the memories of these two demons. They could only go in and take the opportunity to get close to the elder named Qin Tianzong.
(End of this chapter)