On the Path to the Great Dao

The Red Fetus Lady arrived in Chen Shi's lower dantian, sitting upon his qi sea. He only felt his body and mind utterly relaxed, far more comfortable than back in the Red Fetus Hall.

The Red Fetus Lady sat in the lotus position of her own accord, her five viscera facing the sky as her own true qi circulated, helping Chen Shi sort out his qi.

This posture was indescribably comfortable.

Chen Shi felt a bit uneasy at heart and walked outward. A wave of powerful true qi transmitted through his body, regulating his qi and blood while nourishing his heart, liver, spleen, lungs, kidneys, dantian, qi apertures, essence hall, and travel chamber. It was indescribably comfortable.

"The Red Fetus Lady understands so much profound truth, far better than the Stone Nun."

In his heart, he thought, "With her around, the Stone Nun only moves when I move, but the Red Fetus Lady will help me regulate everything. Forming a four-turn golden core will happen even faster!"

At four turns, the golden core would turn black, allowing him to attempt sending his golden core out of his body.

Chen Shi had seen others send their golden cores out of their bodies and yearned to do the same himself, but his cultivation method differed from others', so he could only look on with envy.

He arrived at the incense hall. Incense Master Lu and Incense Master Xiao were still in the incense hall, while Zhao Kaiyun had already left, probably to catch up on sleep.

Incense Master Xiao had originally sustained heavy injuries, and after this commotion, not only had they not lessened at all, but they had worsened. He was now diligently drawing pure yang qi from the sesame oil lamp's flame to regulate himself. Sesame oil contained potent pure yang qi, though far milder than black dog blood. After lighting it, one could borrow the lamp flame to refine away impurities and yin qi from even a nascent soul or golden core.

Thus, treating injuries to golden cores and nascent souls often required lighting sesame oil lamps.

The lamps used during worship rituals were often sesame oil lamps as well, for the profound walker spirits being enshrined needed the pure yang qi in the lamp flames to regulate their walker power and transform toward yang.

"Brother Chen, are your injuries better?"

Incense Master Lu came forward to greet him, looking him up and down and seeing no issues before relaxing with relief. "Today, I'll handle your initiation first. After joining Red Fetus Hall, I can appoint you as the hall's talisman instructor."

"With your talent and learning, you'd have more than enough to serve as an incense master—even more than me. But only I can appoint incense masters."

"We'll have to wait for Hall Master Jade to return before that can be decided."

Chen Shi offered his thanks. "If not for Red Fetus Hall and you all, my life would have been in peril."

"Should the hall ever need anything of me, I won't hesitate even at the cost of my life."

Incense Master Lu laughed. "Hall Master Jade said it himself: we're all country bumpkins with no power or influence. If we don't help each other, we'll truly be eaten down to the bones with nothing left."

"Helping is just what we do."

"Golden Granny took a big loss this time and knows she's no match for the Red Fetus Lady, so she won't come troubling you anymore."

Chen Shi breathed a sigh of relief.

Golden Granny Society's Golden Granny was truly powerful with countless tricks up her sleeve. Being targeted by such an evil spirit would be a deeply unsettling matter, robbing one of sleep and appetite.

No one knew when Golden Granny might come slithering over to kill him.

Incense Master Lu fetched the Red Fetus Hall talisman society's roster, flipped to the instructor page, and registered Chen Shi's name and surname along with his monthly stipend.

He then led Chen Shi to worship the Red Fetus Lady and Crane Boy. After the worship, he handed over the Red Fetus Hall talisman society's instructor token. "For us new initiates, we still need to go out on the streets every day to shout and promote Red Fetus Hall and the Red Fetus Lady's name, begging for incense from a hundred households until we've gathered it all—that's when we're truly initiated."

"But since you're an instructor, you don't need the hassle."

"That said, if you encounter any brothers from Red Fetus Hall in peril, please lend a hand."

Chen Shi accepted the instructor token and asked, "I know too much already. As instructor, do I still need to teach the other talisman masters?"

"Too much?"

Incense Master Lu recalled Chen Shi's out-of-this-world talisman techniques and laughed.

"You're being too modest."

"If you have time, you can go to the practice hall and point out a few talisman techniques to the brothers there."

"No need to spend too much time on it. Learning talismans is very difficult. Even teaching them one or two will keep them studying for months."

Chen Shi was greatly enlightened. "Are talismans really that hard to learn?"

He had never found learning talismans difficult at all. When Grandpa taught him, he could draw them perfectly after one try.

Moreover, even without Grandpa teaching him directly, he could learn just by watching Grandpa draw once.

Incense Master Lu sighed. "Hard? More than hard! How can you learn these things without a teacher? Those who master them treat them like treasures and won't share them freely. Nor can everyone afford to take a master."

"Hall Master Jade founded Red Fetus Hall precisely for talisman masters to help and learn from each other."

Chen Shi felt deep respect in his heart for this Jade Hall Master of Jincheng Jade Hall whom he had never met. "What a broad-minded person."

He left Red Fetus Hall, where Black Pot and the wooden cart were guarding the door outside. Black Pot came yawning to greet him, then suddenly grew alert and scrutinized Chen Shi before leaning in to sniff him, looking at him with deep suspicion.

Chen Shi released the Red Fetus Lady. Black Pot let out a low whine.

It had sensed danger.

"Doggy!"

The Red Fetus Lady was both shocked and delighted, pouncing over to stroke its head.

Black Pot bared its teeth. Its keen senses had detected a trace of evil qi on this red-clothed girl.

However, after the Red Fetus Lady rubbed its head for a while, Black Pot stopped baring its teeth and seemed quite pleased, reluctantly accepting the girl.

Chen Shi walked the streets with one dog, one cart, and one lady.

The morning sun shone brightly, and Gongzhou City was filled with the breath of daily life. A bun shop clerk lifted the steamer lid, and hot steam billowed out, carrying the aroma of meat buns and green onions that swept away the night's drowsiness, invigorating the spirit and whetting the appetite.

The Red Fetus Lady was now in a concealed state. Ordinary folk couldn't see her, and even cultivators needed to activate golden eye talismans or cultivate golden eyes to spot her.

This lady appeared to be only twelve or thirteen, not much younger than Chen Shi. At this moment, she had come to the bun shop, standing on tiptoe to peer into the steamer before turning back to gaze at Chen Shi with pleading eyes.

Chen Shi stepped forward. "Clerk, how much for a steamer?"

"Six coppers a steamer, six scallion meat buns!"

"Four steamers."

"Coming right up!"

The clerk hurriedly fetched lotus leaves, dumped the buns onto them, and swiftly wrapped four packages.

Chen Shi handed one package to the Red Fetus Lady, one to Black Pot, kept one for himself, and gave the last to the wooden cart.

The clerk pocketed the money and was counting the coppers when he saw the dog rear up on its hind legs, one paw holding the lotus leaf while the other stuffed a bun into its mouth. He stared in stunned silence.

He rubbed his eyes, then saw another lotus leaf floating in the air with its bun floating as well. Suddenly, a chunk went missing from the bun, and his face paled.

"Crunch!"

The wooden cart spewed white smoke as its body split open into a bloody maw lined with red flesh, white teeth sharper and several times larger than a tiger's. It tossed the lotus leaf and bun into its mouth, then extended a long tongue to lick lingeringly at the cart frame.

The wooden cart's scarlet tongue reached for the steamer but shrank back after Chen Shi smacked it.

Seeing the clerk's terrified expression, Chen Shi quickly said, "Black Pot, do your thing!"

Black Pot's gaze swept over. The clerk seemed to stagger as if drunk, shook his head, and showed a puzzled look. He muttered to himself, "Everything's normal. I must've seen wrong... I thought an evil spirit was haunting us."

"Ha, as if evil spirits could haunt outside Red Fetus Hall!"

Black Pot perked up and followed Chen Shi step for step, munching its bun.

The street's residents remained emotionally stable, as if worldly veterans.

Occasionally, a young woman would let out a piercing shriek of surprise, pointing at them in terror, but after Black Pot's glance swept over, she too became a worldly veteran, unfazed by strangeness.

The Red Fetus Lady had a small body but a huge appetite. The morning market was all food stalls with nothing else for sale. She dragged Chen Shi along, buying and eating their way through, still brimming with excitement.

Chen Shi was the first to finish eating, Black Pot second.

After that, even the wooden cart was full, yet she still eagerly pushed ahead.

"I want to eat this!"

The Red Fetus Lady turned back with a crisp voice.

"Just how long have Red Fetus Hall's brothers starved this lady?" Chen Shi grumbled inwardly.

The Red Fetus Lady ate her way through three streets, emptying Chen Shi's pouch of exchanged silver and coppers. He had no choice but to cash a one-hundred-tael silver note at a money shop for more silver and coppers.

Only then could he continue satisfying the Red Fetus Lady's gluttony.

After the morning market ended, other shops opened too, and the bustle not only didn't die down but grew even livelier.

The Red Fetus Lady led Chen Shi this way and that, endlessly curious about everything. Gongzhou City was far more bustling and prosperous than Xinduo County, with every kind of business imaginable.

At every stall and shop, she would run over, either squatting down or leaning in close to watch curiously as the vendors hawked their wares.

Soon, she had bought every toy on a peddler's stall.

One hand clutched a pinwheel, the other a candy figure. When hands ran short, she sprouted another to grab a kite, then yet another for a rattle drum...

The peddler's stall had dozens of toys, and the lady sprouted dozens of arms to hold them all, playing happily.

Ordinary folk saw only the toys floating in the air: pinwheels whirling, kites soaring, rattle drums shaking left and right with endless clatter...

"Black Pot!"

Chen Shi grew quite nervous. "Can you handle it?"

Black Pot was even more tense, straining to control everyone's state of mind on the street. It panted heavily, mouth agape and tongue lolling out.

It was fully focused on crowd control for the hundreds of people on the street and thus forgot to interfere with Chen Shi's perception.

Ever since Grandpa passed, Chen Shi had been under the dog's interference. Now, with his mind suddenly clear, realization dawned. He looked at Black Pot in surprise and thought, "My doggy seems a bit off... Well, he's always been like that."

"Let him be."

Doggy was left to him by Grandpa, his closest "person."

Even if off-kilter, Chen Shi had no intention of abandoning him.

Black Pot struggled to control the street, a grueling task. Not everyone's willpower was the same, and some cultivators passed nearby too. Making sure no one noticed the anomalies tested its abilities to the limit.

But luckily, the Red Fetus Lady soon lost interest in the toys and eyed something else.

Chen Shi chased after her east and west. Before noon, he'd spent nearly half of the hundred taels. Later, they entered a cloth shop and found an embroiderer to make new clothes for her, to be picked up in a few days.

Finally, the hundred taels were spent.

Chen Shi fretted. Though Scholar Lord had some family wealth, it couldn't withstand such spending. It wouldn't be long before he'd be drinking northwest wind.

"I came to Red Fetus Hall to make money, but I've earned nothing and instead sunk a tidy sum."

He pondered quick money-making schemes, but all the fast ones seemed recorded in the Great Ming Royal Law—off-limits for ordinary folk.

Chen Shi suddenly recalled the bi'an shell he'd gotten from the Fetus Lord. Selling it could make money. Perhaps at the Red Fetus Lady's birthplace, he could find ruins or relics for another big score. He asked, "Lady, where exactly were you born?"

The Red Fetus Lady said, "The place I was born is at Yanxia Ridge in Henggong Vein. Forty li south out of the city."

Chen Shi asked, "Can you take me to see it?"

"Of course!"

Chen Shi hopped onto the wooden cart and pulled the Red Fetus Lady aboard. Black Pot returned the compass to Chen Shi.

"Black Pot, you get on the cart too."

Chen Shi said.

Black Pot clambered aboard and sat in the back. Chen Shi controlled the compass and headed south toward the city gate.

Before they even exited the city, a sea of people blocked the road ahead.

Chen Shi stood on the cart and peered forward, seeing a dozen or so beggars—men, women, old, young, some missing arms or legs—clogging the way. They begged from the merchants along the street.

Give money, or they'd block your path.

Pedestrians on the street couldn't pass either, stuck there.

"People from Golden Granny Society."

The Red Fetus Lady strained to look and said, "Golden Granny Society folk do no proper work. They claim to live off donations, but really they live off begging."

"They'll block this street for a while and won't leave anytime soon. Let's go around."

Chen Shi detoured, but the next two streets were also blocked by Golden Granny Society folk, forcing him to circle to the east city gate.

Golden Granny Society's headquarters was not far from the east gate, a grand estate spanning over ten mu. From afar, Chen Shi spotted Golden Granny's enormous skull looming among the buildings, rotating now and then to scan all directions, its mouth opening and closing slightly as if muttering something.

The Golden Granny Society headquarters was undergoing major construction, erecting what seemed a grand hall—far larger than normal, likely for enshrining Golden Granny.

Suddenly, Golden Granny spotted Chen Shi. Its gaze turned sinister, filled with malice.

Chen Shi's heart chilled, and he hurried away.

"Golden Granny Society has been thriving lately, with more and more members and ever-stronger incense. It won't be long before they catch up to us."

The Red Fetus Lady looked worried. "I can still suppress Blackie for now, but if one day I can't, I'm afraid Red Fetus Hall will suffer."

Chen Shi asked, "Lady, does Golden Granny Society only live off begging?"

The Red Fetus Lady shook her head. "Begging is just one part of their business."

"Golden Granny Society makes its living from livestock. I heard from Little City that they also do the child-harvesting trade."

Chen Shi understood and steered the wooden cart out of the city, heading straight south toward Yanxia Ridge.

Henggong Vein was a massive ley line running southwest to northeast for six or seven thousand li. Strictly speaking, Qianyang Vein belonged to it as one of its grander branches.

They traveled to Yanxia Ridge, where the surroundings turned desolate. The ground was barren of grass or crops.

Looking out, for over ten li, the earth had melted and resolidified into mirror-smooth surfaces everywhere.

Chen Shi jumped down from the wooden cart and walked across the mirror-like ground. Beneath the surface lay dragon-like bones sprawled endlessly for li upon li.

Ahead, Yanxia Ridge jutted abruptly from the mirror-flat earth.

It was as if a terrible battle had raged here, melting the land and sealing many ancient things deep underground!

The Red Fetus Lady led him to Yanxia Ridge, which had split down the middle. The other side was the great sea, carrying the salty scent of ocean wind.

The Red Fetus Lady pointed at the massive rift valley. "I was born from right here."

"I heard from Little City that a massive earthquake split this great vein back then. Then I emerged from underground, my flesh crawling upward to become an evil, killing many people."

Chen Shi peered into the valley, where a dilapidated temple clung to the cliff wall—a hanging temple!

Chen Shi left Black Pot and the wooden cart atop Yanxia Ridge, took the Red Fetus Lady to find a path down to the valley floor, then climbed the rocks to reach the hanging temple.

Chen Shi examined the collapsed lintel for characters, puzzling over them for a long while. He gathered scattered lintel fragments and pieced them together before recognizing the temple's name.

"Mazu Temple."