Stranger Danger

Chapter 962: The Curtains Draw Open

“If even you say that, then I guess it really is an opportunity.” Su Bancheng chuckled.

He was pretty confident in Chu Wangsun’s judgment because he knew a Confucian Magia known as the “Eye of the Sacred Heart”. Similar in vein to the Buddha’s “Telepathy”, he could feel and hear a person’s true thoughts. At the adept level, he could even influence another’s mind and manipulate them to his heart’s desire. It was an extremely potent Magia to say the least.

Chu Wangsun said suddenly, “I heard that the Qing Emperor and the North Duke Office share a good relationship with each other. If what the woman said is true, aren’t you worried that you might incur your master’s wrath?”

“My master is my master, and I am me. My master may share a good relationship with the North Duke Office, but I share no ties with them whatsoever.”

Su Bancheng laughed. “Besides, didn’t you say it yourself? To spurn the heavens’ gift is to incur their wrath. The mice fight, and the winner takes all the cheese!”

“I should’ve known that you, Su Bancheng, would say something like this.” Chu Wangsun smiled.

“When will you depart?” Su Bancheng asked.

“According to the woman, the North Duke Office is going to travel to the Kṣitigarbha Stupa and retrieve the ultimate treasure on the eighth of August. It’s probably because the eighth of August is a special day of sorts. We have a little over half a month before the eighth of August, which is a fair amount of time. Still, it would be wise to travel there sooner than later to avoid accidents,” Chu Wangsun analyzed.

Su Bancheng nodded in agreement. “Makes sense. I would like some time to investigate the validity of the treasure as well.”

So, the duo changed directions and flew in the direction of the Northern Sea.

......

“It’s done.”

Several hundred kilometers away on an island, Ye Qing suddenly opened his eyes and rubbed his palms together triumphantly.

“Even gods and Buddhas are like mortals before the promise of opportunities, much less true mortals like Chu Wangsun,” Feng Qingyou remarked.

Right now, the woman was sitting behind a yaoqin and plucking its strings from time to time, eliciting pure, crystalline sounds that resembled a clear spring.

“Indeed.” Ye Qing smirked. “In this regard, you and I are no different.”

The woman that spoke to Chu Wangsun and Su Bancheng earlier was naturally, Green Daylily, and he was the one who arranged for the “accidental” meeting to happen.

The plan was really simple. He would bait Chu Wangsun into traveling to the Northern Sea and participating in the competition for the Ten Directions Stupa using Green Daylily as the hook, and the Ten Directions Stupa as the bait. Looking at the results, it was clear that the plan was a resounding success.

Lu Tai Yuan was located at the northernmost region of the Northern Sea and close to the arctic regions. It was essentially a giant ice plain.

Lu Tai Yuan was lifeless and barren because it sported extremely cold weather and was covered in thick ice and snow all year long. Only a kind of Stranger named “Snow Deer” lived in the icy plains. It was how Lu (Deer) Tai Yuan got its name.

But of course, the Snow Deers weren’t the reason Lu Tai Yuan became famous. The Kṣitigarbha Stupa was.

There was a tall, sheer cliff at the deepest region of Lu Tai Yuan. It was dozens of kilometers long and over three hundred meters in height. Engraved into the walls was a stupa mural describing the ancient Kṣitigarbha entering the eight major hells and making the Great Wish to not become a Buddha before all of hell was empty. Hence, it was named the Kṣitigarbha Stupa.

The Kṣitigarbha Stupa was huge, impressive, grand, and overflowing with the air of Buddha. Those standing beneath the mural would feel like they were standing in the eight major hells and looking up to the Kṣitigarbha purifying countless ghosts and rescuing them from the hells.

It was also why Lu Tai Yuan had a second name called Kṣitigarbha Plains.

When the Kṣitigarbha Stupa was first discovered, it caused quite the stir as a matter of course. Countless people thought it was a grand opportunity and rushed to the mural in hopes of gain.

However, the greater the hope, the greater the disappointment. The jianghu people soon realized that the mural was just an ordinary mural. Sure, an image of Kṣitigarbha would appear, and a Hundred Ghost Parade would take place every eighth of August, but there was still nothing to be gained whatsoever.

Gradually, the jianghu people left, and Lu Tai Yuan regained its former tranquility. The only time it was busy was the eighth of August where the warriors who practiced the way of ghost refinement showed up.

This year’s eight of August should have been no different. It should’ve been overflowing with ghosts and warriors who practiced the way of ghosts. In reality, it was empty and almost devoid of life.

There was only the cold, the frozen blood, and the buried corpses.

“Ahhhhh!!!”

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream cut through the air. It sounded impossibly clear in the silent Lu Tai Yuan.

A tall, muscular man wearing a set of bloody armor and escorting a troop of soldiers slowly approached from afar.

The soldiers were all carrying long spears, and hanging on the sword tips were many heads. There were male, female, old and young. Everyone’s head was bound to the spear using their hair. As the soldiers marched, blood occasionally dripped from the severed stumps and left behind a scarlet trail amidst the pure white snow.

Despite carrying spears with countless bloody, bleeding heads on their speartips, the soldiers weren’t perturbed in the slightest. They were making light conversation with each other and generally looked to be in a good mood—a stark contrast compared to the severed heads with horrified expressions etched permanently on their faces.

It wasn’t long before the muscular man and the squad of soldiers arrived at a View Mound. He then dumped the heads on his spear on it.