Start practicing from Mr. Fox

Chapter 101: God of Desire
It’s actually another emperor.

Earlier, the mountain god received a cup of wine from the immortal, and the two of them were going to attend the emperor's birthday banquet.

Now Xuanshan is actually related to the Emperor.

Chen Ji was a little dazed for a moment.

But while Lu Pan was still there, he quickly seized the opportunity to ask.

"May I ask the name of this emperor?"

"What do you ask for this?"

Chen Ji then explained the previous experiences of the Xiantai Mountain God.

"I didn't think this had anything to do with the Emperor, but Lu Pan just mentioned the Emperor, so I was curious and wanted to ask if it was the same person."

"Is that so? No wonder the mountain god wants to be ordained. He must have both luck and ability."

Lu Pan said this and shook his head again.

"However, this emperor is somewhat special. Without urgent matters, his name cannot be disclosed casually."

"As for your question, I can answer it. As far as I know, this emperor did not hold a birthday banquet ten thousand years ago."

"Thank you, Lu Pan, for letting me know."

Chen Ji bowed and thanked him.

Although I didn't get any information from the Emperor, it answered the doubts in my heart.

After Lu Pan finished speaking, he thought of something.

"Where did you hear the name Xuanshan?"

"Among the miscellaneous gossips of the world, a scholar wrote a book called 'Xuanshan Guaitanlu' (Records of Strange Tales from the Mysterious Mountains), which records many strange stories. Among them is the story of him going to Xuanshan to listen to the Taoists, demons, and ghosts discuss Taoism. This is how I entered the Dao."

Lu Pan was silent for a moment, filled with envy.

"A place that can be related to the Emperor must be extraordinary, but unlike famous mountains like Kunlun and Penglai, only a few words have been left. It must be the Taoist temple of some hidden great power. Fellow Daoist, you really have a great opportunity."

Then he looked at Chen Ji seriously.

"This matter of Xuanshan involves the Emperor, so I can't tell you much. If you get an opportunity in the future, please remember not to reveal it."

"I understand."

Chen Ji nodded and thanked Lu Pan. After a pause, he asked how to deal with Madam Hongci's matter.

"Let's just pretend nothing happened for now... No, let's just go with what they say. They'll say the craftsmen prayed sincerely, and the Bodhisattva's thoughts descended, turning the blood seal into gold paint. The Buddhists have prayed for the deceased, and they'll let them change the wood and continue carving."

"Wait for me to report to the Lord of the Mansion and see how to deal with it. If you have any news, please inform your friends as soon as possible."

"Thank you for your help, Pan Lu!"

"What trouble? If you hadn't told me this, I don't know how big a mess it would have caused. I'll have to trouble you with human affairs. I'll go talk to the Yin Spirit first."

After Lu Pan finished speaking, he went to find Madam Hongci.

Madam Hongci faced Lu Pan respectfully, nodded repeatedly as she listened, then bowed deeply and looked at Chen Ji with excitement on her face.

After Lu Pan disappeared again, Mrs. Hongci went to Chen Ji with a frightened look on her face.

"I didn't know you were so advanced in cultivation. I was abrupt before. Please forgive me."

"Why do you say that?"

"I previously mistakenly thought you were a disciple of Taoist Master Xiyun. I never imagined you were a true cultivator who even had a say in the underworld. Lu Pan said he would investigate this matter and asked me to stay with you for the next few days."

Madam Hongci kept looking at Chen Ji's expression while speaking. Seeing that he had no other reaction, she gritted her teeth and took out ten incense sticks from her bosom and handed them to him.

"If you don't mind, these ten incense sticks will serve as an apology. Please accept them."

Chen Ji looked at Taoist Xiyun and saw him nod. He knew that this was indeed a legitimate offering, so he accepted the gift of thanks.

Then ask Madam Hongci about her plans.

"Lu Pan asked me to follow you first, so I will follow your instructions. If you need me, call me at any time."

"Can you leave this piece of wood?"

"A short absence is naturally fine, but a long one might damage your cultivation. It's best to stay with the memorial archway."

"That's right."

Chen Ji suddenly understood.

I used to think that the incense god was very good, but now it seems that he and ghosts each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

At least Mr. Su can live well without a place to stay. He will only die if his soul is affected by the long time he stays here.

However, being an incense god also has its advantages. As long as the incense continues to be burned, one can live forever. If the opportunity is sufficient, one may even be directly canonized as a city god.

All I can say is that on the path of spiritual practice, everything is possible.

Chen Ji shook his head, not wanting to think too much about it, and then looked at Madam Hongci.

"If you were to be my host, what would be the best thing?"

"Anyone with a spirit is fine. If you don't have one, that's fine too..."

"Have."

Chen Ji spread out the things on his body.

The lucky money given by Miss Bai, the leaves given by Senior Huai, the waist badge given by Lu Pan, and the amulet given by Taoist Xiyun.

There are indeed quite a few things.

After thinking for a while, he put away the lucky money given by Miss Bai.

"This one won't work. If there's another place you can stay, you can choose one."

"It seems that fellow Daoist has never received a ghost messenger."

Madam Hongci said slowly.

"How did you know that, fellow Taoist?"

Chen Ji looked at it in confusion.

When Lu Pan said this just now, he was not in front of her face, so Madam Hongci must not know.
"These things that Daoist friend brought out are so horrible that ordinary ghosts would be burned like boiling oil even if they were to get close to them, let alone live in them."

"If I had not received incense and official conferment, I would not dare to live in these magical instruments."

"I chose this waist badge because it has a stronger Yin energy, which suits a Yin spirit like me."

"I just realized that I shouldn't do this. I am actually being disrespectful to my fellow Taoist friends."

Chen Ji nodded slightly.

"Fellow Daoist, you are too kind. In my situation, if I really have nowhere to go, losing decades of cultivation is nothing."

"It's a great favor that you're willing to help me get justice. Now I have a place to stay, which is a benefit I can't even imagine."

Madam Hongci said respectfully.

After saying that, he thought of something and quickly added.

"Don't worry, I won't be able to sense the outside situation from inside my waist badge unless you call me."

"You are inside the waist badge, how can I call you?"

"As long as you transmit your mana to me, I can sense it."

"Okay, then please do as you please."

Chen Ji put down his badge and invited Madam Hongci to enter.

Madam Hongci's body paused, and she stepped out of the blood Buddha statue, forming a translucent shadow in the air.

It is more solid than when Mr. Su had not absorbed the Peach Fairy Ghost Body, but not as solid as Mr. Su now.

When passing by Chen Ji, there was no cold and gloomy aura that he had felt when encountering the ghost before. Instead, there was an inexplicable warmth, and he could even smell the faint scent of incense and candles, just like what he smelled in the temple.

Approaching the waist badge, Madam Hongci pointed her finger at it, and her entire body shrank and turned into a beam of light that disappeared into it.

Chen Ji looked at the badge again and found that it was indeed a little different from the previous one, as if it had a bit more charm.

The previous wood no longer had any spiritual glow, and at first glance it looked no different from ordinary wood, except that the blood marks on it had disappeared.

Taoist Xiyun noticed Chen Ji's gaze and spoke with a smile.

"Fellow Daoist, there's no need to be surprised. This is the spiritual response of the God of Incense and Fire. When the God is not within the statue or is not strong enough to respond, the object it inhabits becomes no different from any other object."

“Is this also true of the statues in the temple?”

"nature."

Taoist Xiyun nodded.

"However, the gods are extremely powerful. Even if there are thousands of temples and statues, they can sense even a ray of their divine consciousness. They will respond to major sacrifices or sincere prayers."

"Local deities like the City God and Lady Hongci usually only have a temple or memorial archway. If they're gone, they're truly gone."

"How can we summon the spiritual response from the statues of the Five Great Emperors?"

"That's the purpose of pretending to be dirty."

Taoist Xiyun said this and thought of something else.

"I was going to ask them later, but since I'm here today, I might as well ask them at the same time."

Taoist Xiyun and Chen Ji went out together.

The foreman and all the craftsmen were waiting not far outside the door.

Seeing the two people come out, they all bowed and thanked them.

Taoist Xiyun accepted the greeting before looking at Song San.

"Did Master Song tell us what happened inside?" Song San shook his head hurriedly.

"Without the instructions of the real person, I dare not speak nonsense."

Others also nodded in testimony, saying that Song San didn't dare to say a word after he came out.

"That's good."

Taoist Xiyun took out a talisman from his sleeve and handed it to Song San.

"Keep it with you. If anyone asks you, just tell them what's on your mind."

"Yes."

Song San hurriedly put away the talisman paper and kept it close to his body.

Taoist Master Xiyun then looked at the craftsmen and explained the reasons given by Lu Pan.

Everyone was relieved at this point and looked at the house with resentment.

"Excuse me, Master, how do you deal with that piece of wood?"

"Did you chop it up for the fire?"

"No need."

Taoist Xiyun shook his head.

"The wood is still intact, so you can carve a new figure. Remember this face."

As he spoke, he handed over a piece of drawing paper, which had the same face as Madam Hongci's just now.

One of the craftsmen present immediately took out paper and pen and began to draw the face.

"The Taoist master's painting skills are no less than his magic."

Chen Ji sighed.

Taoist Xiyun stroked his beard with a smile.

"It's just a small trick, nothing to worry about. I just captured a little idea and left it here so they won't remember it later."

After saying this, he saw that they were still copying the picture seriously, so he called over the leader and asked him how they were preparing to pretend to be dirty.

"This... I really dare not hide it."

He shook his head in shame.

"The Taoist priest said earlier that the Five Mountains Great Emperor statues must be filled with five-colored soil, five-colored grains, five-colored silk threads, seven-star copper coins, and the Five Mountains Great Emperor's exclusive collection."

"Everything else is easy to deal with. I really don't have any of the Five Great Emperors' exclusive treasures. Please find some for me, Taoist Priest."

"Got it. I will handle this matter with Taoist Master Chen."

After Taoist Xiyun finished speaking, he asked a few more questions and then took Chen Ji away and returned to the mountain on the talisman boat.

It was not until the Fu ship took off that Chen Ji asked what the secret and exclusive treasures were.

Taoist Xiyun then spoke slowly.

"Dirting the statue is a key step in giving it spirituality."

"Humans have five internal organs, and deities also have five internal organs, but they are not ordinary heart, liver, spleen, stomach, and kidneys, but special objects of the five elements and merits."

"The first few items the craftsmen mentioned can be placed on ordinary statues, but their spiritual response is not as good after all. If there is a special dirty item for the Five Great Emperors, even the spiritual response would be willing to stay for a while longer."

"If this wasn't about the Mountain God's ordination, even ordinary ones would be enough. Now it's time to use something better."

Chen Ji nodded, and he understood some of the rules of inviting statues of gods.

Then he asked what the Five Great Emperors’ exclusive storage for dirty items was.

"I have to go back to the mountain and ask Master about this. He is very knowledgeable, or maybe he told me this. I don't know."

Chen Ji was stunned.

No wonder Taoist Xiyun wanted to go back to the mountain after he finished speaking.

I thought he was in a hurry to go back because of something, but I didn't expect that he didn't know it himself.

Taoist Xiyun laughed heartily.

"The Taoists are free and easy, but they don't speak nonsense. If you don't know, then you don't know. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

As he said this, he looked at Chen Ji carefully for a few more times, then smiled and nodded.

"Madam Hongci knows the rules. She said that if you don't sense the situation outside, no spiritual response will be released."

"It's worth it that I asked Song San and the others to build a memorial archway and a statue for her."

Chen Ji was stunned and asked the reason.

Although he knew more in other areas, these were Taoist specialties and he was not as good as Taoist Master Xiyun.

"She gave fellow Taoist ten sticks of incense."

Taoist Xiyun spoke slowly.

"Is there something special?"

Chen Ji took out the ten incense sticks he had just received, and only then did he feel something strange when he held them in his hand.

These incense sticks are actually warm, unlike the usual incense sticks, and you can even feel the presence of people.

"How is this going?"

Chen Ji asked.

"This is what the incense of the human world looks like after it is materialized."

Taoist Xiyun said slowly.

"If ordinary people burn incense with sincerity, three sticks of incense can condense into about one centimeter of incense. If more is accumulated, it will be the same length as the burning incense sticks, which is something that ghosts and gods like very much."

"These ten incense sticks are enough to support the ghost messenger for a year."

"But looking at this incense, I know that Madam Hongci is indeed a good person. The incense is pure and not contaminated by the five elements. It is a top-grade incense."

"Is there any impure incense?"

"nature."

Taoist Xiyun smiled.

"Fellow Daoist, have you forgotten about the Water God? Those incense sticks are extremely mixed, and I don't know where they come from. I'm afraid they are closely related to evil prayers."

"They are all prayers, how can we distinguish between evil and evil incense?"

Chen Ji asked curiously.

"This is simple."

Taoist Xiyun said slowly.

"The incense offerings to the gods are mostly related to making wishes and doing good deeds. The gods will also choose the circumstances of the people who make the wishes when they help."

"Evil spirits are different. As long as you dare to make a wish, they will help you realize it. However, they will take away the luck and life span of the person making the wish. These incense sticks are also tainted with karma. If you absorb too much, you will inevitably go astray."

"Then wouldn't the Water God be here soon?"

Chen Ji thought about how he saw the City God that day. The five energies emanating from his body could not be said to be completely mixed, but they were certainly chaotic.

"Indeed, but he is a little different."

Taoist Xiyun shook his head and sighed.

"That Lord is probably using him for some experiments. I'm afraid he has other plans behind this."

"I just don't know how Lu Pan is progressing. If they really find out that these things are happening together, I'm afraid that everything we do will be in jeopardy."

Chen Ji also fell silent.

He knew what Taoist Xiyun meant.

If problems start to arise with the town gods in the mortal world, the demons and ghosts will probably become even more rampant.

By that time, the Demon King will be born, evil spirits will be rampant, foxes will take exams for fox studies, mountain gods will be ordained, and the Luotian Grand Ceremony will probably have other problems.

But there is no other way now.

Chen Ji guessed that there might be a bigger secret behind these things.

Xuanshan, the City God, the human court...

I don’t know what went wrong or if everything went wrong.

Lu Pan might know, but since he didn't say it, there was no need to rush to ask.

After all, he had only been practicing for more than a month, and even if he had some talent, he could only deal with some simple monsters and ghosts in the human world.

I am not yet so presumptuous as to participate in such a big trend.

The best way is to take advantage of the storm before it happens and record more strange stories to improve your own cultivation.

It will be easier to deal with problems in the future.

Just as he was thinking about it, the talisman boat had slowly landed in the old abbot's courtyard.

The cups and plates are not yet in disarray, but the host and guests are already enjoying themselves.

Mr. Su and the old abbot were lying unconscious on the low table, only Miss Bai seemed to be still conscious.

She looked at Chen Ji with flushed cheeks.

"Would you like a drink, sir? Would you like to talk about what's happening down the mountain?"

(End of this chapter)