From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

But there was one strange thing.

There wasn't a single child to be seen in the city.

Jiang Liu then stopped a night watchman and asked, "Brother, we are wandering cultivators heading west. We have heard the sounds of Taoism coming from your country and feel that it is a good place for cultivation. However, there is one thing we do not understand. We hope you can enlighten us."

The night watchman was startled by Jiang Liutian's appearance, but he was not intimidated and asked directly, "What is it that you don't understand?"

Why is it that I see not a single child in this city?

"So that's what it was!"

The night watchman suddenly realized, and then sighed, “You don’t know, my king recently took two Taoist priests as his national teachers, and wants to refine an elixir of immortality. Every household must chant scriptures for three months without sleep to gather the spiritual energy of heaven and earth and the essence of the sun and moon.”

The young children in the city are simple-minded and cry every night, making it difficult for their parents to recite scriptures.

The king then took them into the palace and taught the palace maids to feed them.

"If that's the case, then there isn't a single parent in this city who would dare to disagree?" Bajie exclaimed in surprise.

"Which parents would agree to that?"

The night watchman sighed, “If they don’t agree, they’ll be beheaded! They have no choice but to comply! And ever since those two Taoist priests came, the fields outside the city have been abandoned, with rice and weeds growing together. If the king doesn’t change his mind, the Kingdom of Wuji will face famine in less than half a year.”

Chapter 1463 The Way is in Excrement and Urine, and One Must Experience It

"Famine?"

Bajie couldn't help but sneer, "It must be because your Wuji Kingdom has many treacherous ministers, otherwise how could those two sorcerers have managed to sway the emperor's heart?"

In an instant.

The night watchman turned pale with fright, his lips trembling, and said, "These days, Taoism is revered and Buddhism is suppressed in this city. How dare you say such slanderous things about those two national teachers?"

And luckily it was me.

If others heard this, they would surely report it to the king and he would be given a lower or higher official position!

"cut!"

Bajie sneered and ignored him.

Jiang Liu remained gentle and said, "Brother, please don't be offended. My junior brother is upright and cannot stand seeing villains causing trouble in the area."

However, what he said wasn't entirely unreasonable...

Is it possible that there is truly no one in the court who dares to offer advice to your emperor on behalf of the country and its people?

"It certainly exists."

Speaking of this, the night watchman sighed, "Since those two Taoist priests came, they have neglected the fields and disrupted farming. Which civil or military official in the court is willing to submit to them?"

However, those two Taoist priests truly possessed some magical abilities; since the people of the city recited scriptures daily, they were able to remain energetic and undisturbed without eating or drinking.

The fragrant mist in this city has refined the primordial Qi. Even if a person with weak essence, energy, and spirit cannot refine it by absorbing it, the primordial Qi still existing in their body will resonate with the primordial Qi in the fragrant mist outside, naturally giving them a feeling of floating on air.

But in the end, it was all just a castle in the air.

Gradually, the civil and military officials fell silent.

Only the prince dared to speak out, saying that this was a sorcery, and that once they left the city and the fragrant mist, their bodies would become weak and powerless, as if they had not eaten for eight or nine days.

But the king did not believe it, thinking that the crown prince felt he had been on the throne for too long and wanted to usurp the throne, so he stripped him of his title as crown prince and demoted him to a commoner.

Three days ago, he even set fire to the Sanqing Temple that the king had built for the two Taoist priests, saying that even if he died, he would do it to rid the people of harm.

Before the fire could even blaze, it was discovered by a young Taoist priest in the temple, who reported it to the two Taoist priests. The two priests then used their Five Thunder Technique to summon wind and rain, extinguishing the fire.

After speaking for such a long time, the night watchman took a breath, and the fragrant mist from outside made his face look much rosier before continuing, "The prince was captured, and the king was furious. He no longer cared about the bond between father and son, so he ordered his men to tie him up and throw him into a well behind the newly built Baolin Temple. The well was then sealed, and he was already dead."

In the three days that followed, including today, all the wise men in the court were terrified. They all resigned and returned home, fearing they would suffer the same fate as the Crown Prince!

"I see... Thank you for telling me, brother." Jiang Liu thanked him and instructed Bajie to give the night watchman some loose change.

After the night watchman left, Pigsy muttered, "Brother Monkey, why do I have to pay him?"

"I have no money."

Jiang Liu replied matter-of-factly, "Besides, how could we cultivators be interested in money?"

"Even Old Pig can't argue with you."

Bajie was speechless, but he wasn't really concerned about that little bit of private money. He then got back to business, saying, "That well in the Imperial Baolin Temple is truly a 'feng shui treasure land.' Five hundred years ago, the King of Wuji Kingdom was buried there, and five hundred years later, the Crown Prince of Wuji Kingdom was buried there. It can be considered the ancestral tomb of the Wuji Kingdom's royal family!"

You know what—

That well is truly a place of auspicious feng shui.

Mind this.

Jiang Liu said, "In that case, we will split into two groups. Bajie, you, Hu Yuan, and Hu Jue will go to the Sanqing Temple that the tyrant built for those two evil Taoists to gather information."

Bajing and I returned to Baolin Temple and retrieved the prince's body from the well.

If he can be saved, those civil and military officials who have resigned and returned home will surely not want to see their homeland ravaged by those two sorcerers, and will follow the Crown Prince to restore order.

"Okay, let's do it this way!"

"Come on, junior brothers, your senior brother will take you to get some late-night snacks!"

Having said that, Bajie, Hu Yuan, and Hu Jue transformed into three gusts of wind, one in front and two behind, flying over ten streets and nine markets, crossing seven alleys and six bridges, leaping over five floors and four doors, ascending the Sanqing Temple, passing through two gates, and arriving in front of a courtyard.

Bajie used his transformation magic to turn himself, Hu Yuan, and Hu Jue into three squirrels. They landed on the wall and looked into the courtyard. They saw thirty to fifty Taoist priests chanting scriptures inside, buzzing and whimpering like flies, making it unbearably noisy.

So, Pigsy ran along the city wall and entered through the window of the main hall, where he saw three golden statues, not the Three Buddhas, but the Three Pure Ones.

"good fortune!"

Pigsy suddenly laughed.

"What kind of good fortune?"

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue were puzzled.

"Look what that is!"

The two looked in the direction Pigsy was pointing and saw two treasures placed between the golden statues of the Three Pure Ones: a purple-gold gourd and a jade bottle.

"Aren't those two things in that black man's hands?"

Hu Yuan was greatly puzzled.

Hu Jue was also surprised and doubtful: "Could this Taoist temple belong to Zhong Kui?"

"how is this possible?"

Bajie's nose twitched. "Although that young man works under that old crane-headed man, he wouldn't do this kind of gimmick. It's those two scumbag foxes!"

I can already smell those two familiar foxy odors!

That's all.

He dispelled his transformation magic, revealing his true form. He examined the offerings shrouded in incense smoke, swallowed hard, and said to the two brothers, "These offerings, though not peaches of immortality, possess a certain mystique due to the incense offerings. I, Old Pig, once ate such offerings with my eldest brother in the Kingdom of Chechi."

At the time, I didn't understand the Heart Sutra, so I just ate it like fruit, wasting the incense offerings.

Now, however, one can use the power of these beliefs and worship to cultivate spiritual practices.

"Then what are we waiting for?"

"Eat up!"

The two tiger brothers exchanged a glance and were about to reach for the fruits on the offering table.

Snapped!

But Pigsy slapped the back of his hand twice and asked, "What are you doing?"

"Eat!"

Hu Yuan was puzzled.

"You pig, are you trying to take it all for yourself?"

Hu Jue stared at him and said.

"Who is Old Pig?"

Bajie was speechless. He said to the two of them, "Our eldest brother taught us to come here. Besides investigating, he must have already figured it out. How can I keep it all to myself?"

Have you forgotten the method of practicing the Heart Sutra?

To eat these fruits, one must connect with the worship of all beings; therefore, we must first transform into the likeness of the Three Pure Ones.

Hu Yuan and Hu Jue suddenly realized.

"Move these three clay statues with gold decorations away first," Pigsy ordered.

"Where to move to?"

Hu Yuan asked.

"We need to put it in the back. What if someone passes by and sees these statues of the Three Pure Ones?"

Hu Jue was worried.

"Then move to the place where the five grains are recycled."

Having experienced this kind of thing before, Bajie was quite familiar with it and pointed the two in the right direction.

Although Hu Yuan and Hu Jue found it strange that Bajie knew about the place where the five grains were recycled in this Taoist temple, they still did as instructed.

Hu Yuan carried the statue of Laozi and walked in front;

Hu Jue carried the statue of the Tongtian Sect Leader and walked behind him;

Moreover, the two of them were carrying the statue of Yuanshi Tianzun on their shoulders. They walked out of the back door of the main hall and followed the direction indicated by Bajie, but they smelled a fishy stench.

It turned out to be a latrine.

"I thought it was a place for the five grains to be recycled, but it's clearly a latrine!"

Hu Yuan covered her nose and muttered.

Hu Jue also held his breath and muttered, "I've heard that pigs have a nose that's more sensitive than dogs. I guess that second senior brother must have smelled it long ago, so he knows the location."

As they talked, the two threw the statues of the Three Pure Ones into the cesspool.