8mi Chapter 381: It Will Be Lively In the Future
Chapter 381: It Will Be Lively In the Future
‘Treasure!’For any normal cultivator, this would be the first word that came to mind upon seeing spiritual coins like this one, and the Land God of Lilong Township was no exception.
The coin in Mr. Ji’s hand was larger and thicker than a regular five-wen coin. Its surface was gilded with a restrained divine aura, and there was a faint aura surrounding the coin. It even attracted the surrounding spiritual energy to cover it, as if it were coated with a spiritual membrane. In fact, visibly shimmering light also came from this spiritual energy.
The Land God could only imagine what wonders were still hidden within.
“This, this… uh, Mr. Ji, the coin in your hand looks like a treasure. Are you sure you want to use it to buy ink?”
The Land God originally wanted to say, “I can’t take this treasure,” but his irresistible urge made him ask Ji Yuan for confirmation.
All sentient beings had desires, both public and private. The intensity of desire was merely a matter of perspective and aspirations, not a matter of superiority or inferiority. The Land God was merely the deity of a small local village, so the treasures that passed through his territory were naturally limited. How could He possibly let this opportunity slip by?
Ji Yuan didn’t say anything immediately, but rather handed over the coin directly. After a moment of hesitation, the Land God accepted the coin and examined it closely.
“This item was refined by me, Ji Yuan, and and it is indeed a treasure. Strictly speaking, it is similar to the sacrificial money burned for ancestors after a ritual performed by a Taoist priest in other locations. The difference lies in the vastly larger amount of spiritual power that it possesses.”
“Oh, I see, I see!”
The Land God held the spiritual coin, growing more and more fond of it. Holding it in his palm, he could feel the essence of the Tao within it more clearly. He had heard of sacrificial coins before, and even seen them, but how could those things compare to the treasure in his hand?
The supernatural coin in his hand possessed profound spiritual power, and yet that power was crystal clear, without any impurities. Combined with the effortless ability to manipulate the spiritual energy of the coin at will, this was truly a versatile tool for all manner of uses.
It could be an aid in performing spiritual techniques and refining artifacts, and could even be uses as a last resort in life-threatening situations.
Moreover, the pure Taoist essence within carried a refreshing feeling. To put it bluntly, it likely embodied an unfathomable “Taoist realm.” With just a cursory glance, the Land God felt that if someone’s cultivation went astray and they showed signs of demonic possession, this spiritual coin could potentially save them.
The Land God didn’t know the true extent of Ji Yuan’s cultivation, but based on all the clues he had seen and heard, none of his guesses could ever be exaggerations.
“This is too precious, too precious… I… I will definitely find more good ink for you, sir!”
Returning it would be absolutely unthinkable, and the Land God knew he couldn’t offer anything comparable to this spiritual coin, so this was all he could reply.
Ji Yuan nodded and smiled.
“Then I’ll have to trouble you, Land God. By the way, I won’t be going to Moyuan County. I’ll just stay at your Land God Temple for now. That way, it will be easier for you to find me if you have any news. What do you think, Land God?”
On the one hand, he was waiting for the land God to prepare the ink, while on the other, he also wanted to take this opportunity to study these “characters” carefully.
The Land God nodded repeatedly.
“Of course, of course! It would be an honor for my humble temple if Mr. Ji would be willing to stay there. I will ask the temple steward in a dream to prepare a guest room. Please follow me, sir!”
With that, the Land God leapt off the stone and gestured for him to follow.
“Alright!”
Ji Yuan glanced at the Sword Intent Inscription.
“Let’s go together. Take these ink sticks and ink ingots with you. Since it has come to this, you can take these things. But don’t do it again.”
Hearing these words, the Sword Intent Inscription immediately erupted in a cacophony of voices.
“Haha, thank you, sir!”
“Thank you, sir!”
“Mine, mine, I claim the biggest piece!”
“Get out of the way, get out of the way, the biggest is mine.”
“Hey, don’t take mine!”
“Let go, let go!”
…
Ji Yuan shook his head at the bickering and scrambling. He raised his sleeve and gathered the still-squabbling characters and the ink sticks, along with the Sword Intent Inscription, into his sleeve. Then he looked down at the paper crane in his arms, who was carefully watching the scene.
“You’re not allowed to imitate them!”
The Land God pretended not to see anything, and only began to lead the way after Ji Yuan finished tidying up, quickly walking towards his Land God Temple.
During this process, he would occasionally take out his spiritual coin to examine it. After discovering a single flick would produce a continuous ringing echo, he would flick it repeatedly, much like a child who had received a favorite toy.
Ji Yuan realized that his sacrificial coins might be more popular than he had imagined.
…
Moyuan County was renowned for its ink making. The ink produced in different townships of the county varied slightly depending on their location. Linong Township primarily produced pine soot ink, with other types of ink as a supplementary product.
Moyuan County was considered one of the wealthiest counties in the country of Tingliang. Many wealthy families in the county made their fortunes through ink production. Since worship was a regular requirement, and the temples needed to be visited frequently, the local Land God Temple in the Lilong Township was not the small, dilapidated temple that Ji Yuan had imagined, but a temple with a spacious two-courtyard complex.
There are also numerous side rooms and a hall for storing so-called “merit lists,” which were essentially just a ranking list to see who had donated the most money to the temple. This money never reached the Land God; it all went into the pockets of the temple steward.
Today, the temple steward was resting in a side room of the Land God Temple, while the temple affairs were naturally handled by two temple staff.
It was originally just supposed to be a brief rest, but the temple steward unknowingly fell asleep.
The sound of knocking woke the steward.
“Who is it? I was just taking a nap!”
No one answered, and the knocking continued. The temple steward, somewhat annoyed, got out of bed, walked to the door, and went to open it.
“Who is it?”
When he opened the door, there was no one in sight. But just when he thought it was a prank, he caught a glimpse of the area below him out of the corner of his eye.
Looking down, he saw an old man, hunched over and only about half the temple steward’s height, leaning on a cane by the doorway.
“The Land God!?”
The temple steward exclaimed in surprise. Although he had made a considerable amount of money from the Land God Temple, he worshipped the Land God every day. Although he had only seen his depiction in clay sculptures previously, he recognized the real person at a glance.
Legend had it that many Land Gods were short in stature, and it turned out to be true!
“Hmm, at least you have some discernment!”
The Land God grunted in agreement and, without further ado, got straight to the point.
“A distinguished guest will be visiting today. His surname is Ji, and he is a refined gentleman in a white robe. Do not address him by his given name; just call him Mr. Ji. Quickly prepare a quiet and tidy guest room. Mr. Ji may be staying for a while. Remember, it must be quiet and clean, and hurry!”
“Yes, yes, I’ll take care of it right away!”
After bowing and accepting the order, the temple steward saw that the Land God had already disappeared.
“Ouch…”
In a daze, the temple steward woke up from where he lay in the bamboo recliner, sweat still on his face. He looked around the room and then at the door, but there was no movement.
“Was it a dream? No, this dream felt too real!”
Startled, the middle-aged temple steward with a short beard quickly got up from his chair, instinctively rolled up his own bedding and took out a new set from the box, and then began cleaning the room.
In terms of quiet and cleanliness, his room was the most suitable in the entire Land God Temple.
As it turned out, the temple steward’s reaction was absolutely correct, and very timely.
About fifteen minutes later, a member of the temple staff hurriedly ran into the temple steward’s room. Seeing that the temple steward was cleaning, he carefully knocked on the door.
“What is it?”
“Uncle Zhao, a gentleman in a white robe surnamed Ji came to the local temple looking for you, saying that you know him.”
The temple steward was taken aback, but quickly replied after realizing what he meant.
“Yes, yes, I know him, I know him! Quickly invite him in—no, I’ll go welcome him too!”
Although the visitor was polite, the temple steward was clearly nervous.
He did everything he could, helped the guest to his room and settled him in, and assured him that they would prepare three meals a day and would not disturb him.
Seeing that the man had no complaints, the temple steward was finally relieved. Then he was filled with overwhelming excitement. This was a distinguished guest invited by the Land God himself in a dream. Could he be a deity?
Ji Yuan, however, did not take it to heart as he settled down at the temple.
The Land God Temple was much more impressive than he had imagined, and the room was even better than the best room in an inn. He had thought that he could simply sleep on the floor, but now he felt as though he were here to enjoy himself.
After the temple steward left, Ji Yuan closed the door, sat down at the table, and spread out the “Sword Intent Inscription” scroll.
The paper crane in his robe hurriedly squeezed out of the brocade pouch and flapped its wings to fly to the side of the calligraphy. Even the usually “aloof” Green Vine Sword appeared and hovered in front of the table.
However, the “Sword Intent Inscription” was extremely quiet at this moment, not a single word making a sound. It seemed as though it were expecting to be reprimanded. He could even feel a sense of tension from the calligraphy.
“When did you start to develop your own feelings and thoughts?”
Ji Yuan spoke calmly. To prevent the room from turning noisy with chatter, he immediately pointed to the character for “sword” on the calligraphy scroll.
The collection of brushstrokes that formed the character “sword”1 lifted off a corner from the paper, as if stealing a glance at Ji Yuan, before suddenly floating off the page.
“Replying to the Master, we had some vague feelings about ten years ago. After listening to your teachings several times, the longer we spent by your side, the clearer our minds became… we grew more and more lucid! However, we could only hear and think; we couldn’t move or speak!”
Ji Yuan nodded. No wonder these little guys knew some of his special techniques.
“Why didn’t you just stay here in the ‘Sword Intent Inscription’? This calligraphy is your home, after all. It’s inconvenient to leave. Why leave?”
It would have been better if these words hadn’t been spoken; as soon as he spoke them, the Sword Intent Inscription fell into complete chaos.
“We wanted to keep the calligraphy scroll with us!”
“Yes, but we were too weak then, the scroll was too heavy for us to lift!”
“Yeah, we couldn’t move or fly while carrying it!”
“Exactly, we searched for a long time, hiding from the wind and rain, until we finally found some good ink and had the strength to absorb spiritual energy on our own…”
“Master, we’ve suffered so much!”
“Master, please don’t be angry, please don’t blame us!”
“Master, you gave the calligraphy scroll to that man surnamed Yan…”
“We all felt you didn’t want us anymore!”
“That’s why we came to find you!”
“Yes, the first thing we did after we could move was to try and find you, Master!”
“Yes, yes, we knew you were going north!”
“No, it was west!”
“Wrong, it was north!”
“West!”
“North!”
“Waaaaah, you’re wrong…”
“Ahhh, you’re the one who’s wrong!”
…
“Stop arguing, stop arguing…”
Ji Yuan was both amused and exasperated. Even after the room quieted down, his ears were still ringing.
“Ah! Things will be lively in the future…”
The paper crane swayed left and right, flapping its wings beside the “Sword Intent Inscription,” clearly expressing its opinion of his words.
剑 (jiàn): double-edged sword/sword strike