From Under One Person: Sincere Journey Through the Heavens

# Chapter 730 Three Corpses and Nine Insects

Inside the cave.

Seeing Lu Jin and his group return, and wanting to say something, Jiang Liu smiled and said, "Since you have succeeded so quickly, there is no need to rush. We can talk about it after dinner."

Gollum—

Just then, everyone's stomachs began to rumble.

So everyone listened to Jiang's rumors, ate first, and then discussed the matter.

After the meal.

Lu Jincai then recounted how he dealt with the bandits: "Brother Jiang, they said they were from Green Wave Pool. One was called Benba, and the other Baben. At first, I even misheard them as Benboerba and Baboerben. Also, their leader is said to have the ability to release eight-headed birds..."

Upon hearing that Green Wave Pool, Benba, Baben, and possibly the existence of the Nine-Headed Worm, Jiang Liu said: "The Southern Song Dynasty's Lingbao Lingjiao Jidu Jinshu describes: Each of the three corpses governs three worms, totaling nine worms, and they also govern tens of thousands of worms, which gnaw at the body."

The Ming Dynasty text "Liaoming Pian" records: "The three corpses and six thieves are originally real, and the nine insects and seven souls frequently fight."

I have already bestowed titles upon the Three Corpses: Peng Ju, Peng Zhi, and Peng Qiao. The Three Corpses are meant to urge oneself to use them. As for the Nine Insects... I have not yet seen them.

In terms of Qi cultivation, the "nine worms" actually refer to the Yin Qi circulating throughout the body, as well as the evil desires of the mind and spirit. In other words, if they cannot be properly regulated, the meridians will be blocked, making it difficult to complete the Qi circulation.

The Nine-Headed Insect in Journey to the West is described as a feathered insect, but it essentially refers to the nine worms on the human body, namely, the obstructing yin qi that hinders the circulation of qi, and evil desires.

From the perspective of spiritual practice.

The ritual of sweeping the pagoda in Journey to the West involves Tang Sanzang and Sun Wukong lighting up each floor with glass lamps, symbolizing the process of "refining elixirs with fire" and "the flow of qi through the pagoda."

Taoism refers to the "twelve-story tower" as the trachea in the throat, which is the meeting point of the Ren and Du meridians.

The changes in light and shadow that occur as one ascends the tower step by step correspond to the "innate Qi" in internal alchemy practice, usually referred to as Yang Qi, and the "River Chariot Transport" method of rising from the lower Dantian to the throat.

The "low starting point" of sweeping the tower corresponds to the "starting from life cultivation" of internal alchemy cultivation, that is, starting from the acquired breathing and gradually cultivating to the state of innate fetal breathing.

When Tang Sanzang swept the pagoda, he "bathed and changed clothes" to "cleanse his mind and return to his true nature." When he swept to the tenth floor, he felt pain in his back, which proved that his skills were not up to par and his innate Qi was insufficient. He needed to activate Wukong's innate heart monkey fire to break through the shackles and make the Qi circulation smooth without any obstacles.

Unfortunately, the ancestral aperture was occupied by two evil spirits. The nine worms, corresponding to the yin energy of the nine apertures, stole the relic and the golden elixir.

"Benba described the Green Wave Pool Master's abilities as follows: initially a cloud of black mist, which later coalesced into an eight-headed bird. It is possible that his technique gathers the Yin Qi from the nine orifices of his body, or perhaps nurtures the Yin spirit of some kind of bird."

Based on just a little information, Jiang Liu was able to analyze two possibilities.

If the Yin Qi of the Nine Apertures is formed but only has eight heads, it indicates that the practitioner's skill is insufficient and they cannot control the Nine-Headed Insect—there is nothing to fear.

If it were simply forged from the yin spirits of birds, it would be precisely what Houtu Huangdiqi, the Earth Goddess, could counteract within Jiang Liu—

It is still nothing to fear.

Lu Jin breathed a sigh of relief and said, "I thought the nine-headed worm really existed, and that Xuanzang even encountered it when he traveled to the west and cut off one of its heads, so that it didn't escape to the North Sea, but came to the Sahara Desert in Africa!"

"There are indeed animals with multiple heads in reality, such as two-headed snakes, turtles, and even people with two heads, but mainly identical twins that have not separated properly or have undergone genetic mutations. They generally do not live long, let alone cultivate Qi."

Jiang Liu denied the possibility that a nine-headed carbon-based life form truly existed in this world, at least on this earth. "If there really were nine heads, they would definitely be a transformed Qi formation."

If it's a manifestation of qi, then we really need to be careful, lest we suffer an unexpected setback...

As they were discussing, the girl came over, knelt down beside Jiang Liu and Lu Jin, and asked, "Could you please do me a favor?"

"What kind of help do you need? Please tell me."

Jiang Liu helped the girl up.

"Green Wave Pool is a bandit stronghold two hundred miles from Atal. They frequently rob caravans, take lives, and cause widespread panic. We hope you can help us get rid of them."

The girl pleaded, "My father has also hired many retired soldiers to wipe out bandits, but they all returned empty-handed... If you have the ability, please help us!"

"Don't worry, we will wipe out the bandits of Green Wave Pool."

Although this place is not China, what's wrong with ordinary people who just want to live?

Even if the girl hadn't come to ask, he still intended to eliminate those bandits to uphold righteousness and prove the will of the people.

Of course, there was also the idea of ​​trying out the abilities of that nine-headed worm... oh no, I mean, testing the skills of that eight-headed bird, to see if I could learn from it and perfect my own system of three corpses and nine worms, so as to further urge the countless thoughts that fall into the three realms of human body, mind, and scenery to either cultivate themselves with the consciousness or be taught by the desire god, so that they could both seek pure yang thoughts, return to the original spirit, and obtain the Qi of the Three Pure Ones, sit in the three fields, and prove the primordial chaos.

The others were dissatisfied when they heard that Jiang Liu and Lu Jin were going to suppress the bandits, but they dared not show it.

Jiang Liu did not insist, but said, "If you do not wish to go, you may stay here for the time being. I will leave enough food and water for us to return."

"Bandit suppression! How could I miss something so interesting?"

Jax was the first to agree, firing a shot into the air and chuckling, "I'm a man of the wind, I won't miss any excitement!"

Ango also said, "Although I don't really like getting into conflicts with bandits, there's no need for a reason to help a little girl."

Zubo sighed and said, "Alright, alright, I don't like trouble, but Ango is right, I can't refuse the request of an innocent and lovely girl."

Jin Ge looked at the girl, his blank eyes clearing up a bit. He gently stroked her hair and said, "Don't worry, I will definitely help. Because I am also a father, and I believe that no father would want his daughter to live in an environment where she is threatened by bandits."

Yagata walked over to the girl, squatted down, brushed the dust off her, and laughed, "We'll definitely help you take care of those bad guys!"

Seeing this, the others, whether they were truly willing or not, all expressed their willingness to participate and help.

"thank you all!"

The girl was moved, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Watching that heartwarming scene, Duanmu Ying put one hand on her hip and complained in Chinese, "Although these five guys each have their own problems, at least they all still have principles."

"They are not really bad-hearted."

Jiang Liu, however, had already seen through their hearts and smiled slightly, "They all have psychological problems to some extent. But it's mainly related to the fact that there's no concept of mental cultivation in the West."

“Brother Jiang, the concept of cultivating one’s mind and character is actually quite abstract in our area, isn’t it?” Lu Jin said with a laugh.

"You're not wrong to say that."

Jiang Liu did not refute it. After all, the so-called temperament is viewed differently by each school and sect. However, there is one thing in common: one will not act recklessly just because one has the strength.

"Alright, it's late, let's rest. Everyone take turns keeping watch." Jiang Liu then clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention, and assigned the watchmen...

# Chapter 731 Green Wave Pool

Silent all night.

Day two.

After everyone packed their luggage, they ordered Benba and Baben to lead the way.

"Spare us! If the boss finds out we were the ones who took you to Green Wave Pool, he'll kill us!" Benba begged for mercy.

Baben repeated, "The boss will definitely kill us!"

"is it?"

Jiang Liu took out a fruit knife from his storage ring, patted Baben and Benba's cheeks, and said with a sinister smile, "If you two don't take us with you, I'll kill you right now."

If you two take us to Green Wave Pool, we might live a few more hours.

Isn't that a great deal?

Pemba: "Σ(っ°Д°;)っ"

Ba Ben: "∑（°口°?）っ"

The two counted on their fingers and found that it was indeed true!

The rest of the group: "..."

These two don't seem very bright—

Although he was a bit slow on the uptake, he still knew the way and led Jiang Liu and the others south for nearly fifty kilometers until they came across an oasis.

Unlike other desert areas, the oasis rises significantly above the ground, with steep cliffs nearly a hundred meters high, lush shrubs, and a refreshing green ambiance.

Jiang Liu sniffed the air and smelled the moisture. He also sensed the energy of the surrounding environment and exclaimed in surprise, "Is this a man-made energy field?"

"Qi Ju?"

Lu Jin was startled, "The Eight-Headed Bird, the master of Green Wave Pool, also knows strange techniques?"

"Do not."

After carefully examining the cracks and caves in the cliff face and trying to understand the flow of Qi, Jiang Liu shook his head and said, "Judging from the range of its Qi, it only covers the entire oasis and is not very large. It is not as exaggerated as the Ghost Realm or the Ruins of Return, and it cannot affect people's past, present, or future."

However, one thing is certain: it was not naturally formed at first, but rather artificially shaped. Later, external winds circulated and flowed into it, and over the years, it became the magnificent, seemingly naturally formed landscape we see today.

It is created by using acquired skills to borrow innate power.

It can only be said that the pioneers had great ideas, but most likely they didn't understand them very well, seemingly just refining them based on intuition... perhaps they had a strong instinctive sense of climate change or something similar.

After the conversation ended and the noise subsided, Jiang Liu returned to the topic and formulated a plan, saying: "Lu Jin, when you shout for battle later, that eight-headed bird is both an extraordinary person and a bandit, so he will definitely be belligerent. There is a greater than 70% chance that he will choose to fight you. Just have a match with him, and just be careful that he doesn't secretly send someone to attack you."

I led my men around to their hideout, wiped them out, and rescued the other prisoners who had been captured.

After finalizing the plan, Jiang Liu led Yagata, Ango, Jax, Zubo, Jingo, and ten mercenaries, including Jack, to quickly flank the enemy using the nearby towering cliffs as cover.

After Jiang Liu and his group disappeared from sight, Lu Jin ordered the flat-headed magician to openly escort Benba, Baben, and the remaining robber to the open space directly in front of the cliff, exposing them to the lookouts on the cliff.

"Waaah—"

When the lookout bandit saw someone below, he immediately grabbed the crescent-shaped horn from his waist, beat it, and blew it loudly, the sound echoing throughout the oasis, which was only a mile or two in diameter.

Before long, figures were seen moving about on the cliff, in the canyon, and under the cave, poking their heads out and holding guns. If counted carefully, there were at least nearly a hundred people.

"The number of people differs quite a bit!"

"A direct confrontation is not a wise choice," Siwarn said.

"It is precisely because they outnumber us that the chances of a duel are greater."

Lu Jin felt relieved. He then took a deep breath and walked from the cliff behind him into the open space. He shouted to the nearly one hundred bandits, "Listen up, men! Your men have trespassed into our territory. We have robbed your goods and killed your men. Now there are only three prisoners left alive. If you want them to live, give us 50% of all your supplies!"

Upon hearing this, the person on the cliff immediately went to report to the Eight-Headed Bird.

In less than five minutes, a "giant" with a face as ugly as a ghost, standing ten feet tall, wearing a black hemp shirt and white-gray trousers, and carrying a crescent-shaped shovel appeared above the cliff. Looking down, he saw that Lu Jin was short and had an Eastern face, and laughed and cursed, "Who do we have here? It turns out to be a fellow villager!"

Hearing the three-meter-tall, burly man speak Chinese, Lu Jin was startled, but quickly regained his composure and questioned, "Don't try to get on my good side! I'm asking you, your men trespassed on our territory, how are you going to compensate us?"

"You killed my men, robbed my goods, and now you want to come and demand an explanation from me?"

The eight-headed bird chuckled coldly, "I advise you to release those three and return my goods! I see you seem to have some skill, why don't you also pledge allegiance to me, and I'll make you my second-in-command, how about that?"