Water Margin: The Tale of Li Erlang of Guankou

Chapter 133 The echoes of the Investiture of the Gods war linger; the disciples of the Chan and Jie

"Heaven and earth possess righteous energy! It manifests in various forms! Below, it becomes rivers and mountains; above, it becomes the sun and stars! In man, it is called the vast and righteous spirit! It fills the boundless sky!"

Li Hanxiao sneered and recited Wen Tianxiang's "Ode to Righteousness". Although Prime Minister Wen has not yet been born, the righteousness in the world has been passed down since ancient times. At this moment, Li Hanxiao's body was also filled with righteousness, reaching the point where he was immune to all evil!

"You dare to flaunt such evil magic!"

Li Han laughed loudly, drew his golden bow to its fullest extent, and fired a silver bullet with a sound like thunder and lightning, aiming at the women. The women instantly turned into black mist and vanished without a trace...

At this moment, the bronze mirror reappeared out of thin air, and the mirror shattered in response, but blood flowed out in gurgling streams. The blood flowed into a vast ocean, and suddenly a human figure rose from the depths of the sea of ​​blood. It was actually the appearance of the Daoist Emperor!

Although he had never seen the real person, Li Hanxiao had seen the portrait of this scoundrel in later generations. The Daoist Emperor actually pointed his left hand at Li Hanxiao's three-pointed sword, golden bow, and silver bullets, saying, "If Chief Li is willing to abandon this bow and sword, I will give you a magnificent empire. Look what this is!"

Emperor Daojun raised his right hand, revealing a jade seal. It was four inches in diameter, with five dragons intertwined on the knob. The front was engraved with eight seal characters: "Received the mandate from Heaven, may your life be long and prosperous." One corner was missing, which was repaired with gold.

"Pass the country's jade seal!"

As the only stonemason among them, Wang Yin was the first to recognize the object.

This thing is the embodiment of the rule of law!

Li Han laughed loudly, "You think you can fool me? In the intercalary month of the 43rd year of the Qingtai reign of the Later Tang Dynasty, at the hour of Chen (7-9 AM), the last emperor of the Later Tang, Li Congke, along with his entire clan and Empress Dowager Cao, committed suicide by self-immolation at Xuanwu Tower. The Imperial Seal of the State disappeared from that moment on. What are you holding in your hand? Besides, the will of Heaven is not high above, but low below, among the masses, not in that worthless thing in your hand!"

Li Han laughed loudly and slashed with his sword. The "Emperor Huizong of Song" instantly turned into a vengeful ghost, his blood being shredded into a bloody foam by the sword energy. The bloody foam then seemed to be sucked up by a toilet bowl and quickly disappeared from the ground.

As the sea of ​​blood receded, a tortoise shell remained on the ground. Li Hanxiao picked it up and found the following inscription: "True gold fears no fire, loyalty and righteousness fear no evil."

At this moment, the surrounding scenery changed again. They had been in the ravine during the day, but now it was night.

As night fell, the Purple Star, the imperial star, shone brightly in the sky.

Now, Li Han laughed as he shattered the Mirror of Karma. It was already night, and just as everyone was wondering whether the spell had been broken, they suddenly saw a crimson demonic cloud rising in the northeastern sky.

The cloud, shaped like a nine-tailed fox, actually obscured the bright star of the Big Dipper, making it dim and without light!

At this moment, the voice that had been speaking earlier also sounded alarmed, urgently saying, "Be careful! There's an evil spirit at work! This is the method of a thousand-year-old demon from Changbai Mountain using the stars to shift its position!"

Before he finished speaking, a fierce wind swept through the Taihang Mountains, making it difficult for Li Hanxiao and the others to stand or open their eyes. They saw the wind sweeping across the land and destroying ancient trees, black mist obscuring the sky and blocking out the sunlight, birds and beasts hibernating in the mountains, and ghosts wailing in the valleys. The wind was coming with overwhelming force!

"not good!"

Li Han smiled as he looked at the three-pointed double-edged sword in his hand. Compared to this thing, his own three-pointed double-edged sword had already lost its luster. It seemed impossible to break the spell with weapons anymore...

A black mist emerged from the demonic cloud and crashed down, shattering half a mountain. As the debris flew, the black mist dissipated, revealing an old woman with white hair.

Li Han smiled and immediately realized that this was no good person, and his oppressive aura was stronger than anything he had ever seen before!

What did this old woman look like? She was dressed in a patchwork human skin coat, held a seven-section human bone staff, and had two balls of phosphorescent ghost fire burning in her eye sockets. She looked three parts human and seven parts ghost. She had a human form, but she was not human at all.

"Tsk tsk tsk! Such a junior dares to call himself a dragon? How could you possibly seize his destiny!"

The old woman let out a strange, grating laugh, like sawing wood or grinding stone, which made people's ears ache. Then she struck the ground three times with her bone cane.

Immediately afterwards, Li Hanxiao and the others heard a muffled thunderous sound coming from underground, which was quite shocking. Then, a hundred rotting corpses broke out of the ground.

These corpse demons:

Its mouth spews foul smoke and rotten grass and trees; its claws carry corpse poison that corrodes iron and steel.

The empty eye sockets glow with ghostly flames, the hollow chest cavity crawls with maggots.

Li Hanxiao suddenly remembered that the Taihang Eight Paths had been an ancient battlefield throughout history. He wondered what tricks this guy had used to create these old zombies from who-knows-which dynasty!

"It's a fake corpse!"

"Iron Whistle" Lehe shouted.

"Go!"

Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," fired three arrows in quick succession, just to see if he could kill the creature. The wolf-tooth arrows touched the corpse, passed right through it, but had no effect!

Lu Zhishen, the "Flowery Monk," swung his staff and smashed the head of a corpse demon. Hundreds of corpse beetles emerged from the severed neck and lunged at his face.

"Here you go!"

Li Hanxiao swept his three-pointed dagger horizontally, blocking the corpse beetles that were rushing towards Lu Zhishen. When the blade touched the corpse beetles, the Big Dipper pattern suddenly emitted a blue light. These corpse beetles ignited upon contact with the light and burned to death on the ground.

Seeing this, the old woman spewed out a plume of black smoke from the skull at the top of her bone staff, actually suppressing the blade's light from the three-pointed double-edged sword!

"Youngster, a mere incarnation of a magical artifact is nothing special. Behold my Myriad Soul Banner!"

The old woman laughed wildly and tore open the human skin garment on her chest, revealing a beating, pitch-black heart inside. The heart split open, and a blood-red banner flew out, with something written in Khitan script on it.

"Khitan script! It gnaws at the hearts of ten thousand souls, and causes the nine netherworlds to grieve!"

Although Li Hanxiao couldn't understand it, Yang Zhi, nicknamed "Blue-Faced Beast," a descendant of the Yang family generals who had fought against the Liao dynasty for nine generations, recognized the Khitan script and understood its meaning immediately!

"Is this guy a Khitan sorcerer?"

Li Hanxiao was taken aback, but before he could think any further, the banners fluttered and the Yin wind of Taihang Mountain rose up, transforming into thousands of wronged souls that attacked them!

Among them were countless ordinary people slaughtered in some unknown dynasty, numerous generals and soldiers who died in battle, and even more wronged souls and resentful spirits, all rushing directly towards Li Hanxiao and his group.

"Laojun, save me!"

Everyone was blown to the ground, but since the Liangshan heroes brought by Li Hanxiao were essentially celestial beings descended to earth, they didn't suffer much harm.

Li Hanxiao felt as if his soul was about to be torn apart. The Big Dipper on the three-pointed sword was obscured by resentment, and countless wails rang in his ears, rendering him unable to move.

Moreover, those vengeful spirits seemed to be gnawing at Li Hanxiao's flesh little by little. Although Li Hanxiao appeared to be unharmed, he was actually suffering excruciating pain, akin to being slowly sliced ​​to death.

This is a mental attack; in other words, it's an attack on the primordial spirit!

Li Hanxiao was completely at a loss and could only recite the Golden Light Mantra that he had seen in the Taoist temple in his previous life.

"Heaven and Earth are the origin of all things. Through countless eons of cultivation, I have attained divine powers... My body is enveloped in golden light... All gods pay homage, I command thunder and lightning, demons and monsters tremble in fear, and spirits lose their senses... The golden light swiftly appears, protecting the true man..."

"Trying to catch up at the last minute, only chanting scriptures when trouble strikes—it's too late!"

The old woman burst into wild laughter, pointed her bone cane, and was about to attack.

In the critical moment, Li Hanxiao spat out a mouthful of blood, which landed on the Big Dipper pattern on the hilt of the knife. Li Hanxiao felt the three-pointed double-edged knife in his hand suddenly become as hot as a branding iron.

In the critical moment, the Big Dipper pattern on the hilt of the three-pointed sword suddenly shone brightly, a dog barked from the heavens, a bolt of lightning cleaved through the demonic clouds, and a golden rainbow descended from the heavens.

The dark clouds were dispersed by the bright light, and a divine being appeared in the clouds. Who was it?

He wore a crown with three mountains and flying phoenixes, his golden armor shone brightly in the sun, his forehead had vertical eyes that illuminated the universe, his three-pointed swords were cold and awe-inspiring, his brothers from Meishan were powerful throughout the four seas, and his celestial hound swallowed the sun and moon. It was none other than the True Lord of the Pure Source Wonderful Way, who revealed his Dharma form and descended from the clouds!

Meanwhile, the six Meishan brothers stirred up a chilling wind and fog, and the two sides confronted each other.

The six brothers of Meishan waved their hands, and 1,200 grass-root gods, armed with weapons, appeared from the clouds. The generals under Erlang Shen, each leading a grass-root god, waved flags and shouted. To the left were the Divine Assistant King Jiaying Lizhe, the Divine Assistant Marquis Zhenxi Fuying, the Divine Assistant Marquis Yazhen Weixian, the Attendant King Chujiang, the Five Ladies of Wutong, the Lady of Daojiang Minjiang, the Attendant King Jinma, the Holy Lord King Shengzhong, the King Huangma of Chujiang, and the King Zhongxin Kuaili. The Left and Right Chancellors and Clerks, the Six Ministries and Officials, the Three Holy Grandmothers Generals, the Seven Holy Commanders Generals on the Right, the Left and Right Wind and Fire Generals, the Road-Opening and River-Opening Generals, the Sword-Wielding Fire Plate General, the Mountain King Tiger-Subduing General, the Demon-Subduing General, the Yulei Mountain God Tea God, the Lidui Human-Head Mountain God, the Rong Shenqing Gao Shi Generals, the Vanguard Red-Haired Boy, the Inner and Outer Temple Envoys, the Swift-Footed White Banner God, the Six Ding and Six Jia Gods Generals, the Cockfighting Sumo Generals, and the God of Chasing Balls and Hunting, all set out!

"Master..."

Li Hanxiao saw what was happening on the cloud and thought he was hallucinating...

"You wicked beast! How dare you! I have only taken one disciple in ten thousand years, and he is a fourth-generation disciple of the Jade Void Palace. How dare you harm him!"

Erlang Zhenjun's voice was like thunder, and golden light shot out from the vertical eye between his forehead, illuminating the Ten Thousand Souls Banner in the old woman's hand until it turned to ashes!

"Erlang Shen! You're our old nemesis!"

The old woman shouted loudly, as if she had a long-standing grudge against Erlang Shen.

Of course, despite her words, she actually wanted to run away, but she was caught in Erlang Shen's divine gaze and couldn't escape.

Although Erlang Shen isn't among the highest-ranking deities in China, he's definitely not to be trifled with, and he's very willing to get involved in human affairs. Back in the day, he carried mountains to chase the sun, explored the seas to slay dragons, split Peach Mountain with an axe to save his mother, shot down two phoenixes with a slingshot, and vanquished eight monsters, earning widespread fame. He formed a brotherhood with the Seven Sages of Meishan, and during the Investiture of the Gods war, he even killed six of the Meishan monsters, making great contributions. Finally, he achieved sainthood in his physical body, obeying orders but not summons, and stationed himself at Guanjiang Estuary. Later, when Sun Wukong, the Great Sage, wreaked havoc in the Heavenly Palace, he led the six Meishan brothers to Flower Fruit Mountain to capture Sun Wukong alive. He's famous throughout the Three Realms, and has roamed the human world for over a thousand years, specializing in hunting demons and monsters—he's extremely formidable!

"Hmm? So you're also a furry, horned, and egg-born remnant!"

Upon hearing what the old woman said, Erlang Shen looked closely and recognized her origin!

Back in the days of the Investiture of the Gods, the Tongtian Sect Leader set up the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation, which was later broken. The immortals went into seclusion, and many of them left the Jie Sect to become independent cultivators. This old woman was one of the immortals in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation. Her true form was a nine-tailed fox. She had cultivated for thousands of years and had some Taoist skills.

There are quite a few nine-tailed foxes in this world. For example, the matriarch of the Golden Horn and Silver Horn Kings in Pingding Mountain in "Journey to the West" was a nine-tailed fox, as was her brother, the Fox King Aqi.

Nine-tailed foxes are also divided into different levels. Some are born into the nine-tailed fox clan, while others are mixed-breed foxes that have gradually cultivated themselves into nine-tailed foxes.

This old woman was originally a mixed-breed fox who gradually cultivated into a nine-tailed fox. She was severely injured in the Ten Thousand Immortals Formation and was reduced to a six-tailed fox. She then left the Jie Sect and fled to the deep forests of Changbai Mountain in Northeast China, where she cultivated for over two thousand years before finally cultivating back to nine tails.

Logically speaking, her cultivation shouldn't have progressed so quickly. It was only because she had used her methods to manifest herself many times in the local ethnic minority areas and had taken in many shaman disciples. At that time, the Khitans, Jin people, including the Xi people, Balhae Kingdom, and even Goryeo, all these ethnic groups believed in shamanism.

The old woman then appeared and performed magic, attracting many disciples. Countless people set up temples to burn incense, make offerings, and petition for her. She was even granted an imperial title in the Liao Kingdom, so her recovery was rapid.

However, later, influenced by Sinicization, the Liao Dynasty converted to Buddhism as its state religion, and the old woman turned to the Jin Dynasty near Changbai Mountain.

After all, during the Investiture of the Gods war, without the Western Sect interfering, she probably felt that the Jie Sect wouldn't have been defeated so badly...

Moreover, it just so happened that the Heavenly Punishment of the Red-Bearded Dragon was born into the Jin Dynasty and became the fourth prince of the Jin Dynasty, Wanyan Zongbi, also known as Jin Wuzhu. The Red-Bearded Dragon was also a disciple of the Jie Sect in the past, so she and the Red-Bearded Dragon were considered to be from the same sect. Furthermore, the Jurchen people, the main ethnic group of the Jin Dynasty, lived near Changbai Mountain and worshipped her as a deity, so she also helped the Jin Dynasty.

As Gongsun Sheng, the "Dragon Entering the Clouds," said, Li Hanxiao's birth brought a person who could break the existing pattern and was not within the predetermined fate, which also meant that the Red-Bearded Dragon might be blocked by Li Hanxiao.

So, this old woman traveled a long way to see Li Hanxiao, only to discover that he still carried the aura of a member of the Jade Void Sect, making her suspect he was one of them. Enraged, she attacked him.

The so-called "Jie Sect" was founded by the Tongtian Sect Master, the third disciple of Hongjun Daozu. The Tongtian Sect Master upheld the doctrine of "education for all," allowing anyone, regardless of their background, aptitude, or character, to join the sect and cultivate as long as they aspired to immortality. This open and inclusive philosophy resulted in the Jie Sect having disciples all over the world, and many of its members were not human, but rather covered in fur and horns, born from moisture or eggs, or even from plants, trees, bamboo, and rocks, thus creating the magnificent spectacle of "ten thousand immortals paying homage" to the Jie Sect.

The teachings of the Jie Sect are profound, emphasizing that "the Great Dao is fifty, the Heavenly Evolution is forty-nine, and one is hidden away." This means that they seek a glimmer of hope within the rules of heaven and earth, and pursue the ultimate realm of cultivation and a broad space for development. This persistent pursuit of variables and opportunities is the core of the Jie Sect's spirit.

The Chan Sect, also known as the Laozi Sect, teaches that one should follow the will of Heaven, expound the Way of Heaven, classify all things into different classes, and educate them according to their talents.

Although there is a conflict in their ideologies, there is no inherent superiority or inferiority between the two sides. Over the years, there has been no large-scale conflict. However, these wild immortals who experienced the Investiture of the Gods war but were not listed on the Investiture of the Gods list inevitably harbor resentment and want revenge!