Wandering Gods of Day and Night

Chapter 1453: Chapter 539: Did the Blood Well Chicken Out? (2)

Zhao Wuya was talking away in high spirits when suddenly a shoe sole flew over and smacked him so hard his eyes filled with golden stars.

"You ungrateful little bastard who bullies your master and betrays your ancestors, thinking about female disciples all day long—do you have even a shred of Taoist backbone?"

Yun Ziliang came over cursing and muttering, picked up the shoe sole on the ground, put it back on, then asked Zhou Xuan, "Xuanzi, that Yanfuti business—any progress?"

Li Changxun also squeezed over. Seeing the expectant look on his face, Zhou Xuan knew exactly what was going on—this old fox absolutely wasn’t worried about the fate of the nation, nor about whether evil had or hadn’t been defeated by righteousness; he was purely here for the gossip.

"Hmm? Actually, Lao Yun and Li Shanzu are both here for gossip."

Every Dragon Seeking Taoist was a gossip fiend; if you put them in a village, they’d absolutely end up as the head of the village information station.

Since they wanted to listen, Zhou Xuan was happy to talk.

He rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the willow tree.

A row of reclining chairs was set out beneath the willow.

Zhou Xuan picked one, lay down, and the old orange cats of the Zhou Family’s Troupe who’d been sunbathing on the eaves immediately leapt down, jumped into Zhou Xuan’s arms, nudged around a bit, then curled up and fell asleep.

"This cat’s got Spiritual."

After praising it, Zhou Xuan kept petting until the cat purred "gulu gulu" in its throat, then said to Yun Ziliang, "Lao Yun, that Yanfuti pulled off a big move in Ping Shui Prefecture."

"What kind of big move?" Yun Ziliang and Li Changxun both asked.

Zhou Xuan then recounted the whole "Silver Bodhisattva Flower" incident.

Yun Ziliang listened with his teeth grinding, and said, "Those Buddha Country bastards are really damn scheming, just like Ya Zi."

Zhao Wuya: "..."

He never imagined he could get dragged into the scolding like that.

"Lady Lianhua has also ’sat in transformation.’" Zhou Xuan added.

Yun Ziliang hurriedly asked, "Was the Lady beheaded by the Buddha Country people?"

"She wasn’t beheaded. The Lady is one of the Twenty-one Zen. If she truly died, Buddha energy would spread everywhere, but I didn’t smell that Buddha energy, so she’s not truly dead."

Zhou Xuan said, "However, I do have a way that might let us try to find Lady Lianhua."

"What way?" Li Changxun asked.

"Don’t know yet if it’ll work."

Zhou Xuan stretched lazily, and didn’t mention that he was about to carry out the Blood Well Divination,

Right now, he needed to send his Heart Spirit into the Secret Realm, but before entering the Secret Realm, he had one more thing to do.

He raised his hand toward the Ancestor Tree and called out, "Erwa, comfy up there on the Ancestor Tree or what?"

Back then, the Fox Clan had offered Zhou Xuan three Red Ginseng Children as tribute. Big Child and Third Child were both staying in Zhou Xuan’s Secret Realm, but Erwa’s soul had always been attached to the Zhou Family Ancestor Tree.

The Zhou Family’s willow tree was extremely nourishing for souls,

and every now and then those lonely wandering souls and wild ghosts would drift into the Zhou Family’s Troupe and perch on the willow leaves, as if they’d finally found a home.

These wild ghosts and remnant souls, with the nourishment of the Ancestor Tree, could keep their soul from dispersing and their consciousness intact. Of course, they also had to pay rent for the space—staying with the Zhou Family’s Troupe wasn’t free.

Whenever the Zhou Family’s Troupe needed help, these wandering souls and wild ghosts had to work for the troupe. Zhou Lingyi used to call these souls "little dogs."

Since there was a pack of dogs, naturally there was a Dog King.

As Zhou Xuan called for "Erwa," a voice came from the Ancestor Tree: "Since the Young Master wants to see you, your punishment is waived for today."

This voice belonged to a woman—she was the Dog King of the Zhou Family’s Troupe.

"Dog King, long time no see—you’re getting more and more impressive."

Hearing the voice, Zhou Xuan called out, and a shadow of darkness slid down from the willow and lounged on the chair beside him.

The Dog King had an excellent relationship with Zhou Lingyi; Zhou Lingyi didn’t fuss over many of her rule-breaking habits.

One glance told Zhou Xuan that compared to the last time he’d seen her, the Dog King’s shadow had grown denser and larger; as for the Incense Fire aura unintentionally leaking out, it was much stronger than before.

"Oh? Didn’t expect that, Dog King—you’re cultivating fast too, your Incense Fire’s gone up. When I left Mingjiang Prefecture, you were at four sticks of Incense; now you’re probably close to six."

These days, Zhou Xuan’s sense for Incense Fire was much sharper than most people’s—after all, his Perception was already the top of Jing Country,

and although the levels of Incense Fire couldn’t be seen, for Zhou Xuan it wasn’t hard to more or less guess other people’s Incense Fire.

The Dog King was taken aback and asked, "Young Master, how did you know my Incense Fire?"

Yun Ziliang, Li Changxun, and Zhao Wuya all had black lines on their faces—someone whose Perception could manifest as a Day and Night Wandering God knowing exactly the Incense Fire level of a remnant soul was as easy as breathing.

Did that really need explaining?

But Zhou Xuan actually went and explained in all seriousness. He said, "Simple—just look at your soul appearance."

"Look how dense your soul is now—so dense it’s like top-grade pine soot ink. Obviously that means your Incense Fire is high. But before, your soul... was way too thin... a thin soul, soul-dan, that Incense Fire level had to be low."

"Oh... thick soul... hun-dan... wait a second! Young Master, you’re cursing me."

Only then did the Dog King realize it; Li Changxun, Zhao Wuya, and the others burst out laughing.

"Xuanzi, when it comes to cursing people you really have a knack for it—you don’t show a hint of it on the surface, but the person’s already been scolded to death." Zhao Wuya gave Zhou Xuan a big thumbs-up.

The Dog King didn’t mind. She even couldn’t help poking fun at herself: "To be fair, Young Master’s right to scold me. I really used to be quite a bastard."

Back when Zhou Xuan first came to Jing Country, this Dog King had gone against him at every turn, and in front of Zhou Lingyi she’d badmouthed Zhou Xuan plenty.