On the Path to the Great Dao

The Provincial Supervisory Academy lay in the western part of Gongzhou City. From afar, curls of incense smoke rose gracefully, and beside the academy stood the Confucian Temple, enshrining the Master.

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei arrived outside the Provincial Supervisory Academy. Many Divine Embryos from the counties of Gongzhou and Xinduo County were already queued up to register and await arrangements.

The two joined the line, leaving Blackie Pot and the cart outside.

Hu Feifei was terribly excited. She looked this way and that, searching for handsome scholars, and whispered,

"The scholars here aren't like those little brats from Xinduo County. We can definitely find a perfect match!"

Chen Shi said, "No point choosing now. Wait until the autumn provincial exam results are posted. Only then will we know who's a juren."

Hu Feifei looked a little worried.

"Our fox girls—if we can't pick a perfect match before he becomes a juren, our sisters will laugh at us. They'll say we have no eye for it, no skill, that we're left picking their castoffs.

If you're going to choose, you have to do it before he passes as juren. That proves you've got good taste."

Chen Shi had no idea the fox clan had such a rule. "If you can pick someone who gets second place, that shows unique judgment. If he takes first, you'll stand out like a crane among chickens among your fox sisters."

Hu Feifei explained the fox clan's odd customs to him.

"If he gets all three top places, it's like green smoke rising from the ancestral grave. All the sisters will be green with envy—they'll drop dead from it. You could call yourself Ancestral Grandma in the clan."

Chen Shi asked, "What if your perfect match doesn't pass as juren?"

Hu Feifei tensed up and shook her head.

"He definitely will! My eye's never wrong! Even if he fails this time, he can take the exam again next time!"

"What if he still doesn't pass next time?" Chen Shi asked again.

Hu Feifei grew uneasy, anxiety flickering in her eyes.

"Then the time after that!"

Chen Shi, eager to get revenge for her earlier mockery, pressed on relentlessly.

"What if he still doesn't? What if he never passes in his whole life?"

Hu Feifei's face went pale. She seemed lost in a daze, murmuring to herself,

"Yeah... if he never passes juren his whole life, if he's stuck as a Divine Embryo forever, how can I ever hold my head up in front of my little sisters? I'd have to call them Ancestral Grandma..."

It was finally their turn. But the registrar wasn't the Education Commissioner—it was a deputy assessor.

Two white-haired deputy assessors asked their names while examining their documents. They verified the pair's places of origin and master lineages. Then one stamped their papers.

"You'll lodge at the relay station in the eastern city from now on. Men and women separate. Provide your own meals."

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei offered thanks and headed east. Along the way, they heard plenty of scholars griping that the academy was in the west while the relay station was in the east—clearly designed to wear people out.

Hu Feifei was the bubbly type. She giggled and joked the whole way along, teasing Chen Shi that someone had sold him off. Chen Shi fired back by jabbing at the possibility that her future husband might never pass as juren. Each landed precise blows on the other's weak spots, inflicting mutual wounds all along the road.

Suddenly, people with red cloth wrapped around their heads came drumming and banging gongs from up the street. As they approached, they hawked loudly,

"Red Mountain Hall, Red Mountain Hall! One stick at Red Mountain—enshrine the Lady, no disasters befall!"

Clang, clang!

"Red Mountain Hall, Red Mountain Hall! Three sticks at Red Mountain—enshrine the Lady, no grain tax to pay!"

Clang, clang!

"Red Mountain Hall, Red Mountain Hall! Enshrine the Lady in Red Mountain Temple—Red Mountain Lady's fame spreads far!"

Chen Shi and Hu Feifei stood at the roadside. Households along the street flung open their doors one after another, lighting incense and inserting it into the censer held aloft by the group's leader.

"Looks like they're proselytizing."

Hu Feifei peered around and said so.

A scholar in his early twenties standing nearby laughed.

"This is Red Mountain Hall begging for incense.

Red Mountain Hall is a talisman master society here in Gongzhou. Everyone in it is a talisman master, and they enshrine Red Mountain Lady.

They don't preach doctrine—they just collect incense from every household. But Red Mountain Lady truly delivers. Prepare the proper offerings, pray for sons or fortune or wealth, and your wishes come true."

When Chen Shi heard it was a talisman master society, he promptly asked,

"How do Red Mountain Hall's talisman masters make a living?"

The scholar said,

"They go to the counties to exorcise evils.

Red Mountain Hall has informants everywhere. Wherever there's an evil stirring, they know first and send talisman masters to deal with it. Afterward, they collect bounty money from the yamen.

Word is, when they're exorcising evils, Red Mountain Lady lends a hand."

Chen Shi felt a pull toward it upon hearing this.

The money he had on hand would last until the autumn provincial exam. After the big exam, he'd be flat broke. Relying on selling talismans wouldn't earn much—not enough to cover his daily medicine expenses.

In a provincial capital like Gongzhou, talisman masters were as common as ants. Talisman prices were worthless amid fierce competition.

Joining Red Mountain Hall to exorcise evils and earn money was at least a viable path.

"Besides Red Mountain Hall, does Gongzhou have any other similar societies?" Hu Feifei asked.

The scholar said, "There's the Canal Elder Society and the Salt Elder Society. They're huge. One controls grain transport, monopolizing shipping and rafting on the Min River. The other handles salt harvesting and mining.

Both have government backing.

Some say the Salt Elder Society is fronted by the Transport Salt Envoy himself, but who knows if that's true."

Chen Shi thanked him for the pointers and asked,

"What's your name, brother?"

The scholar replied, "I wouldn't dare. I'm Zhao Kaiyun."

The moment Chen Shi heard the surname Zhao, he soured and pulled Hu Feifei away from him.

Zhao Kaiyun was utterly baffled.

The two carried on giggling and bantering without end.

Suddenly, Chen Shi halted.

He peered toward a grand mansion.

Hu Feifei noticed him stop and promptly did the same. Following his gaze, she asked in confusion,

"Brother Chen, what are you looking at?"

Chen Shi jerked his chin toward the mansion.

"Take a look with a heavenly eye talisman."

Hu Feifei hurriedly rummaged through her luggage for a heavenly eye talisman. Chen Shi could see it plainly with his naked eyes: incense burned prosperously inside the mansion, the fragrant smoke gathering into clouds that floated above the rooftops. Beneath those clouds roiled a thick, somber demonic aura.

The mansion sat right beside the Min River, connected by a waterway. The channel was fairly wide, some twenty to twenty-three feet across.

At that moment, dozens of men had each slapped a Yellow Turban Strongman talisman onto themselves. Towering over ten feet tall with immense strength, they shouted in cadence and hauled with all their might, slowly raising the massive iron sluice gate.

Chen Shi looked out and saw a bulge suddenly rising on the Min River's surface. Something enormous seemed to be swimming submerged, moving at terrifying speed!

Whoosh—

The river water surged up seven or eight feet high, pouring into the channel and flowing through the gate into the mansion.

Beneath the mansion's incense clouds, a pair of blood lanterns ignited. They drifted in the air, puffing clouds of mist.

Hu Feifei pulled out her heavenly eye talisman and activated it. Seeing the sight, she whispered in shock,

"Evil?"

Chen Shi lowered his voice.

"Should be.

Strange. Doesn't the city have a Myriad Souls Banner? How's evil getting in?"

Zhao Kaiyun sidled up and chuckled.

"That thing in the river just now is the Canal Elder Society's Min River Granny. She was originally an evil from the Min River. But after receiving incense from so many people, she gradually awakened spirituality and now protects an entire region.

So the riverfolk of Gongzhou enshrine Min River Granny as their godmother. That's how they founded the Canal Elder Society."

Chen Shi was astonished and asked for clarification.

"Evil can turn into a godmother?"

Zhao Kaiyun said,

"Receive enough incense, and it suppresses the evil nature.

Without the evil nature, and protecting those who offer incense, she's naturally a godmother."

Chen Shi's impression of him warmed a bit.

Zhao Kaiyun went on,

"The Canal Elder Society's boatmen have to ship and raft on the Min River, leaving the protection of Gongzhou City. Evils are everywhere out there.

Without Min River Granny's protection, the society's boatmen would've died off long ago.

With her, they manage to stay alive."

Chen Shi said, "I see."

Just then, a painted pleasure boat drifted past on the river surface. Chen Shi glanced over and spotted a father and daughter aboard—the same pair from the boat in Xinduo County.

"How are you here?"

Chen Shi was utterly shocked.

The boat aunt laughed.

"Lately, loads of Divine Embryos are heading to Gongzhou for the exams, so we're ferrying on the Min River. Came upstream from downriver to make some hard-earned cash.

Good luck on the exam, Divine Embryo!"

Chen Shi laughed.

"Thanks for the auspicious words.

Gongzhou's got the Canal Elder Society controlling transport. Watch out—they might give you trouble."

The boat aunt said, "We've paid our respects. No trouble coming!"

The father and daughter poled their boat away.

At the Canal Elder Society's headquarters, Altar Lord Cao Yunshen watched Min River Granny devouring incense vapors. Suddenly, he couldn't hold back a fit of violent coughing and spat up a great gout of blood. His face turned ashen.

Min River Granny's form manifested: a turbaned old crone leaning on a wooden staff two or three times her own height. She too coughed up blood repeatedly.

"What on earth is that pair's background? Such terrifying strength?"

Altar Lord Cao Yunshen spoke in a low voice, fear etched on his face.

"I cultivate jointly with Granny, yet we couldn't lay a finger on that father and daughter. Instead, they beat us both badly! Since when did Gongzhou get a pair of such master cultivators?

The Canal Elder Society controls grain transport, but those two dare ferry on the river and steal our business. It riled up the members, so some took boats to blockade them and teach a lesson.

Didn't expect to get thrashed.

Even our incense master stepped forward and came back beaten.

I knew they weren't pushovers, but we couldn't lose face for the society, so I called on Min River Granny for a personal showdown. Never dreamed we'd still get thrashed!

We couldn't even fathom their true depths!"

Chen Shi had crossed paths twice with the boat aunt and her daughter. He quite liked the aunt's fiery spirit.

It was a rare treat to run into them here, and Chen Shi was delighted.

At that moment, he let out another soft exclamation of surprise. He spotted another grand mansion where blood qi surged like a dark red sea. A meaty mountain lay sprawled there, the bloody hue emanating from it.

Ordinary eyes couldn't perceive the scene.

"This mansion is Red Mountain Hall's headquarters."

Zhao Kaiyun said, "Red Mountain Hall enshrines Red Mountain Lady. That meat mountain you see is her!"

Chen Shi blurted out in shock and doubt,

"What exactly is Red Mountain Lady?"

Zhao Kaiyun hadn't used a heavenly eye talisman. With mortal eyes, he couldn't see her.

"Can't bear to buy one, so I can't see Red Mountain Lady. But I've heard she's a blood flesh too-sui, dug up from the mountains.

When they unearthed her, every person and beast for ten li around dropped dead."

Chen Shi said in astonishment, "Red Mountain Hall's talisman masters enshrine something like that?"

Zhao Kaiyun replied, "Once she's received incense, she's no longer an evil."

By the time they reached the eastern city, Chen Shi had spotted four or five places along the way where incense burned high but demonic qi ran deep!

Such spots were invariably the bases of Gongzhou's major powers.

"Gongzhou has so many people, and what they enshrine are all evils who've grown powerful. Not one is inferior to Black Mountain Granny! Some are even much stronger!"

He mused inwardly in alarm.

"Doesn't Gongzhou fear the moon rising and those evils mutating?"

Black Mountain Granny's power had been immense. Chen Shi had slain her only after someone shattered her manifestation, leaving her at a tenth her strength—and even then, using a beam from the Mountain Lord Temple.

Yet Gongzhou City harbored six entities no weaker than her!

"In the past, incense could suppress their evil natures. But now there's moonlight even in daytime, demanding far more incense. I'm afraid these evil godmothers will cause major chaos before long!" Chen Shi murmured.

Zhao Kaiyun laughed.

"With the government watching, what chaos could there be? Gongzhou has the Provincial Governor, Governor-General, Commander-General, Investigating Censor, the Three Departments, Guarding Eunuch, Transport Salt Envoy, Salt Administration, Tea and Horse Office—how many high officials? They hail from great aristocratic clans, masters of profound arts. How could chaos erupt?"

Chen Shi shook his head.

"Letting evils into the city is no small thing.

Even with all those master guardians in Gongzhou, there'll be a day of oversight."

They arrived at the relay station, where Chen Shi and Hu Feifei parted ways. The place was packed to the gills—often four or five scholars crammed into a single room.

Chen Shi and Zhao Kaiyun were led by a station guard into a four-person room.

Chen Shi unpacked his things, tidied up, and brewed his medicine to serve as dinner. By nightfall, some were still reading by lamplight.

Chen Shi turned in. In the latter half of the night, a阴风 jolted him awake. He opened his eyes and, by the lamplight, vaguely made out a pitch-black shadow in the room. It was gnawing at the foot of one of his roommates, having already chewed the scholar's right leg and foot down to bare bone.

The scholar snored on in deep slumber, utterly oblivious.