Wielding the Thunders Across Two Worlds-Chapter 59: Returning to Xiuyue County

"Wow!"

Upon arriving in Xiuyue County, the Silk Embroideress looked left and right, her curiosity piqued.

Although Cui Mountain Village was only thirty li from Xiuyue County, the Silk Embroideress had been here only a handful of times. In fact, she hadn’t left Cui Mountain Village at all since her parents’ accident.

Gu Zhao had promised to bring her out with him, so since he was coming to Xiuyue County with Taoist Yan Song, he brought her along.

"It looks just like the county towns in our ancient times!" Taoist Yan Song transmitted his voice.

Gu Zhao nodded and pointed at the shops lining both sides of the street. "Inns, taverns, teahouses, grain stores, clothiers, apothecaries, general stores... it has everything for daily life."

"And they even sell jade, calligraphy, cosmetics, and gold and silver jewelry?" Taoist Yan Song was quite surprised.

Bai Ke, hidden in the Silk Embroideress’s backpack, whispered, "What’s so surprising? Xiuyue County might not be large, but it connects three prefectures. Even if it can’t compare to Changping Prefecture, it’s still much more prosperous than an ordinary county town."

Changping Prefecture is located in southeastern Jiangzhou. Xiuyue County, in turn, is in southeastern Changping Prefecture, bordering Yongzhou Shide Prefecture to the east and Yazhou Celestial Spring Prefecture to the south. You could say it’s where three prefectures converge. Many merchant caravans pass through Xiuyue County, naturally making the city prosperous.

"A city like this isn’t under the Court’s jurisdiction?" Taoist Yan Song asked.

"Well, the Xuanwei Divine Sect’s divine altars in Changping Prefecture are all empty now. The Changping Prefectural Magistrate now worships the Golden Wind Divine Sect, and branch altars for the Golden Wind Sect have been set up in all eight counties under Changping Prefecture’s jurisdiction," Bai Ke said.

Taoist Yan Song nodded and glanced around. "So on the surface, everything under Changping Prefecture’s rule seems fine, but in reality, it’s teeming with Demons and Ghosts."

"Exactly. If the Xuanwei Divine Sect were still around, Three Extremes Mountain wouldn’t have the guts to refine a Blood Spirit Pearl." Bai Ke yawned. "Refining a single Blood Spirit Pearl requires slaughtering an entire village."

"The Court can’t control this area, but are there no other powers to stop them?" Gu Zhao asked.

"There are. The Golden Wind Divine Sect!" Bai Ke nodded.

"They stop Three Extremes Mountain?" Gu Zhao said in disbelief. "They aren’t exactly good people... or good ghosts, are they?"

"But the Golden Wind Divine King needs Incense," Bai Ke said, flicking its tail. "He can’t just let Three Extremes Mountain go on a killing spree. Of course, the Guardians and Divine Generals of the Golden Wind Divine Sect kill people too, but at least they kill far fewer than Three Extremes Mountain does."

Gu Zhao was speechless. "So everyone’s a villain, then."

Taoist Yan Song was also at a loss for words. "Are there no good people left in Changping Prefecture?"

"Usually, it’s only when a prefecture’s Spirit Monarchs and Mages are all gone that the Xuanwei Divine Sect can’t maintain control and has to pull out," Bai Ke said faintly. "It was the same for Changping Prefecture. The Golden Wind Divine Sect wants Incense, Three Extremes Mountain and Bian Palace eat people, and Stone King Cave is the only one that doesn’t really kill people, but it won’t help humans either."

"Across the Wanling River, Jiangyang Prefecture is much better. The Mountain Master of White Spirit Mountain is a Lark with a thousand years of Dao Practice. There are quite a few Spirit Monarchs and Mages on her mountain, and even the Golden Wind Divine King is no match for her." Bai Ke really knew a lot.

"Then why doesn’t she come to Changping Prefecture?" the Silk Embroideress asked.

"I don’t know either. Maybe she needs to defend Jiangyang Prefecture," Bai Ke said, shaking its head.

Taoist Yan Song said lightly, "It’s also possible that a Great Demon in the Wanling River rebelled against the Court, which is why Jiangnan and Jiangbei are two completely different worlds."

Gu Zhao nodded. "That’s possible."

"But for us, this is actually a good thing," Taoist Yan Song said to Gu Zhao via voice transmission.

Gu Zhao rubbed his hands together and replied via voice transmission, "Yes. Otherwise, it’s like we just popped out of a rock. We’d have a hard time explaining ourselves if the Court investigated us.

But now, things are perfect. Once we destroy the Golden Wind Divine Sect, we’ll be the bosses of Changping Prefecture. In the future, even if we cooperate with the Court, they’ll be too embarrassed to scrutinize our origins."

"Exactly. That’s the reasoning," Taoist Yan Song said, stroking his beard with a smile. "As for now, let’s first rescue the people of Xiuyue County and the surrounding villages who are caught in deep water and burning fire."

After dealing with the Ghost that the neighboring villagers had provoked, Taoist Yan Song made a circuit of the villages around Cui Mountain Village but found no other Demons and Ghosts.

Next, he went to check on the town closest to Cui Mountain Village, where he discovered a man-eating Demon. He harvested another wave of Evil Qi, and then waited for Gu Zhao’s return.

By now, quite a few days had passed since Gu Zhao killed Ren Tianhe. It was unlikely that the Golden Wind Divine King would wait for them in Xiuyue County forever, so they had come back.

Since Xiuyue County was closest to Cui Mountain Village, it was naturally the first threat to be eliminated, and the rewards would surely be the greatest.

"The Golden Wind Sect... Three Extremes Mountain... Bian Palace..." Gu Zhao turned around. "Right, what does Bian Palace do, anyway?"

"Bian Palace is a Water Mansion located in the Chang River, a tributary of the Wanling River. The river flows through Celestial Spring Prefecture, Bai Shi Prefecture, and Changping Prefecture. The palace is full of aquatic Demons. Stone King Cave is in Stone Mountain, outside Changye County in southwestern Changping Prefecture. The Cave Master is a Corpse King who refines corpses into stone, which is why it’s also called Corpse King Cave."

Bai Ke continued to fill Gu Zhao in, not forgetting to complain, "Where on earth were you living in seclusion before? How can you know nothing about any of this?"

Gu Zhao gave a perfunctory answer. "Our lineage went into seclusion several hundred years ago. We lived somewhere far away and remote, so we didn’t know the outside world had become like this."

Bai Ke blinked. "Several hundred years ago... You’re not remnants of the previous dynasty, are you? Hiding because you’re afraid the Great Ning Court will hunt you down..."

"Of course not!" Gu Zhao said seriously. "Our lineage emerges from the mountains in times of chaos to practice Exorcising Demons and Evil Spirits, and returns to them to live in peace during times of prosperity. Back then, we returned to the mountains because we saw that the Great Ning Court had stabilized the world and brought peace!"

The Silk Embroideress’s jaw dropped in surprise. "Young Master, you’ve emerged from the mountains... Does that mean an age of chaos is coming?"

Gu Zhao put on a solemn expression. "Indeed. The Xuanwei Sect has retreated, the Spirit Court has fallen silent, Demon Fiends run rampant, and Ghosts roam freely. This is precisely the time for people like us to emerge, practice Righteousness and Heroism, and support the state!"

The Silk Embroideress’s eyes were practically sparkling as she looked at Gu Zhao, but she was also deeply worried. "Then won’t it be very dangerous?"

"Don’t worry, I have many fellow disciples," Gu Zhao said, gesturing to Taoist Yan Song. "For now, it’s just Martial Uncle Yan Song, but after a while, other disciples should be emerging from the mountains too."

"Are the Young Master’s fellow disciples powerful?" the Silk Embroideress asked expectantly.

Gu Zhao thought for a moment. ’Never mind the Qi Refining and Martial Arts Training experts from Quanzhen Dao. In Zhengyi Dao, besides the Celestial Master’s Mansion that performs Receiving Talisman and Summoning Gods, you have the Shangqing Sect of Maoshan that focuses on Drawing Talismans, the Northern Emperor Sect that focuses on Reciting the Celestial Pig Curse, and the Qingwei and Shenxiao Sects that both wield Thunder Techniques...’

’And those are just the relatively famous schools. Heaven knows how many others there are, like Taoist Yan Song, who cultivate ancient Daoist Skills like the Taiyi Fire Mansion Secret Technique and command wind and fire.’

’After all, Primal Chaos Tai Chi, Yin Yang, Three Flowers Gathering at the Top, Earth Water Wind and Fire, the Five Elements Five Qi, the Six Lines Seven Stars, the Eight Trigrams Nine Luminaries... all of these concepts were developed by the Taoist Sects.’

So...

Gu Zhao nodded. "Extremely powerful!"