Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 16: The Mountain God's Memory

"You're lying! Master doesn't have any other disciples!"

Chen Huangpi jumped up and shouted, his fair little face flushed with anger.

He was angry, and also panicked.

How could master have other disciples!

He and his master had depended on each other for many years.

Master never lied to him. If he had other disciples, could he have hidden it from him?

"I'm not lying. I saw it with my own eyes. Your master has many disciples. You are not the only one, nor are you the first."

"Ah! I'm so angry!"

Chen Huangpi shouted in anger, cursing, "You bad fox, don't even think about driving a wedge between me and my master. I'm telling you, I am my master's only disciple, the sole heir of the Pure Immortal Temple!"

If it was as this fox mountain god said, that master had other disciples, then that meant he had senior brothers, second senior brothers, and so on...He didn't know how many senior brothers were higher in seniority than him.

Legally, they also had a more legitimate claim than him.

After master passed away, wouldn't they be able to fight with him for the inheritance of the Pure Immortal Temple?

On what grounds?

They weren't as filial as him!

"You believe me."

"If I have spoken half a lie, may my divine soul be eternally damned to the fires of karma, suffering endless torment for all eternity."

The fox mountain god's voice was urgent, and it had to be, because it was already on fire.

The true fire in the stove was too strange.

It could even ignite its deity statue.

Only Chen Huangpi could save it.

"If you let me out of this stove, I can share the memories I saw with you. You'll know if it's true or false with one look."

Hearing this.

"Let me think about it."

Chen Huangpi gritted his teeth, his expression changing, his hands involuntarily clenching.

He sat in front of the stove, his head lowered in thought.

The scorching flames reflected red on his forehead.

"Hurry up, this flame is too heretical. I can't hold on much longer."

The fox mountain god wailed incessantly.

At some point, a brass oil lamp floated into the kitchen.

It was Huang Er.

"Huang Er, should I believe it?"

"Does master really have other disciples?"

"Will my senior brothers fight with me for the Pure Immortal Temple?"

Chen Huangpi raised his head and asked three questions in a row, two streams of clear tears flowing down his small face at some point.

"Family, are you scared?"

The brass oil lamp looked at Chen Huangpi with pity, grew two slender hands, and wiped the tears from his face.

"Mmm..."

"I'm afraid master doesn't love me as much as I thought."

Chen Huangpi's voice was dejected. He was afraid that he was not his master's only disciple.

He was also afraid that his senior brothers would fight with him for his inheritance.

He was also afraid that his master had hidden many things from him.

"It's okay. At worst, we'll leave the Pure Immortal Temple, leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains, and go to the outside world."

The brass oil lamp made a promise to Chen Huangpi.

It was both heartbroken and excited.

Because this was a good opportunity.

If what the fox mountain god said was true, Chen Huangpi would definitely be very sad.

As long as it fanned the flames and drove a wedge between the master and disciple.

And then instilled some conspiracy theories.

Chen Huangpi was inexperienced and easily fooled.

At that time, when they went to the outside world, wouldn't it be like a bird flying high in the sky, a fish leaping in the vast sea?

What broken Hundred Thousand Mountains, Pure Immortal Temple? Every day spent there was a torment.

"Thank you, Huang Er."

Chen Huangpi was moved. He said to the burning fox mountain god in the stove, "I'll let you out, but don't play any tricks. I'm telling you, this is the Pure Immortal Temple. If you lie to me, you will die a miserable death!"

His tone was very firm.

The fox mountain god immediately said, "I will never lie to you."

Although it was a noble mountain god, this was the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Plus, the incense it had accumulated over many years had been completely sucked dry by that white-robed old Daoist, and it had been burned dizzy by the strange true fire in the stove.

Even if it wanted to play tricks, it didn't have the ability.

Having made his decision, Chen Huangpi no longer hesitated.

He picked up the fire tongs, reached in, and clamped onto the fox mountain god's statue, pulling it out.

As soon as it came out, the true fire, which was like maggots on a bone, instantly disappeared.

It was as if the flame was confined to the stove.

"Thank you, young master."

The fox mountain god let out a long sigh of relief, finally having a chance to catch its breath.

"Stop the nonsense."

Chen Huangpi urged, "I want to see it now, or my master will be back soon!"

The fox mountain god was a little bitter. It had wanted to catch its breath for a moment.

To recover some of its abilities.

But Chen Huangpi was pressing him, and it didn't dare to delay.

"Stare into my eyes! Look carefully!"

The fox mountain god's eyes were lively, and a gleam of light suddenly flashed.

Chen Huangpi looked at it, and his eyes instantly became blank.

Strange characters like flowers, birds, fish, and insects appeared in his eyes.

"Ahhh..."

The fox mountain god let out a miserable cry, and two streams of faint divine blood flowed from its clay eyes.

"Brother Huang, what on earth is hidden in the young master's head?"

It was terrified.

In that instant, its divine soul seemed to have touched something terrifying.

That thing was extremely weak, like a baby still in the womb.

It hadn't even come into contact with that thing, just touched it, and that thing, like a starving ghost that hadn't eaten for tens of thousands of years, took a fierce bite at its divine soul.

The brass oil lamp glanced at it and said disdainfully, "You think you can call me Brother Huang? I'd be disgusted if you called me Grandpa Huang. A broken mountain god, trying to get close to me."

These words were very rude.

It gave the fox mountain god no face at all.

If the fox mountain god was at its peak, and if they were outside the Pure Immortal Temple, it would definitely play dead.

But this was the Pure Immortal Temple.

No god was of any use here.

But the fox mountain god had no time to be angry with the brass oil lamp, because a crack had appeared on its deity statue.

Its divine soul had been swallowed by the thing in Chen Huangpi's head.

This had caused it great harm.

A perfectly good mountain god, now its incense had been sucked dry, its divine soul eaten, and its deity statue cracked.

It was simply miserable.

"If I had known this, I would rather have died."

The fox mountain god said shrilly and then uncontrollably fell into a coma.

The brass oil lamp ignored it and just guarded Chen Huangpi with peace of mind.

At this very moment, Chen Huangpi's consciousness was immersed in a world of light and shadow.

The world seemed to have turned white.

And his perspective was very strange, always looking up at the sky.

Rumble...

Streaks of lightning exploded in the sky, endlessly.

Chen Huangpi understood in his heart, "This is the fox mountain god's memory. I've entered its perspective. But why is it not moving? Doesn't its neck hurt?"

On the first day, the thunder rumbled, and the whole world was white.

Chen Huangpi didn't know if it was day or night.

Because all he could see was the lightning that filled the entire sky like a spider web.

On the second day, it was still rumbling.

Chen Huangpi felt his ears were about to go deaf and his eyes were about to go blind.

"I can't take it anymore!"

He was just a nine-year-old child, at an age where he loved to play and move.

How could he endure such suffering?

From the third day until the sixth day, a young man in a bluish-black Daoist robe walked to the top of his head.

The Daoist robe the man wore was the same style as the one Chen Huangpi wore.

The man also had a jade pendant hanging from his waist.

Chen Huangpi saw the name Xu Qingshan written on it.

This made him feel a little sour, "We're all master's disciples. How come I don't have a jade pendant? Master is biased."

He was sad.

And at this time, Xu Qingshan lowered his head and sized up Chen Huangpi.

"Finally found it."

"He's not looking at me, he's looking at the fox mountain god."

Although Chen Huangpi knew this, he was still very unhappy. He shouted at the other party, "I am the sole heir of the Pure Immortal Temple. I have taken care of master for so many years. The inheritance should be passed down to me. Don't you dare fight with me for it!"

Xu Qingshan suddenly waved his hand, and Chen Huangpi felt himself fly up.

His perspective also changed, and everything around him came into view.

Only then did he realize that he had become a stone. Before, only a small part of him was exposed above the ground, so he could only look up at the sky.

"So the fox mountain god is made of stone!?"

Chen Huangpi was stunned. He had thought the fox mountain god was already a mountain god at this time, just that it liked to look up at the sky.

Because before his master went mad, he also liked to look up at the sky.

"The fox mountain god is just a stone now, not yet a mountain god. Then why are there memory images?"

Chen Huangpi fell into thought. He was very confused, but he vaguely felt that it had something to do with the thunder.

Perhaps, there were some special principles and changes contained within.

But before he could figure it out, Xu Qingshan took out a carving knife.

Stone chips flew.

The stone became smaller and smaller, and finally, only a piece of stone marrow the size of a baby's fist was left.

"What a pity, there are cracks, and the color hasn't seeped in."

Xu Qingshan was a little disappointed and sighed, "All the good stones have been dug up by my senior brothers. I can only make do."

With that, he brought the carving knife down on the stone marrow.

The stone marrow was split in half.

Then, Xu Qingshan took out a piece of yellow mud, divided it into two with some reluctance, then hesitated for a moment, took one piece back, and divided the remaining piece in half again.

"I can't enter the Yellow Springs anymore. I have to be frugal."

"How come you don't even know how to enter the Yellow Springs?"

Chen Huangpi found it very strange.

When the earth dragon turned over, the Yellow Springs would spit out water, mixed with mud.

When it ended, the yellow mud would flow back, and following the current would lead straight to the Yellow Springs.

This was what his master had told him.

But Xu Qingshan didn't know...

At this time, Xu Qingshan pressed the two small pieces of yellow mud onto the two pieces of stone marrow and began to rub them vigorously. As he rubbed, he said, "The Temple Master is pressing me. I wonder how my senior brothers are doing. Can they find suitable strange stones to make deity statues?"

Hearing this, Chen Huangpi had a sudden realization.

"You call him Temple Master, I call him master. You don't know how to enter the Yellow Springs, but master told me personally."

"It seems there is also a distinction between disciples."

"Sure enough, I am master's most beloved disciple!"

Now Chen Huangpi was happy.

Xu Qingshan kept rubbing the two pieces of stone marrow with the yellow mud. The more he rubbed, the more yellow mud there was, and the stone marrow also changed, becoming soft and mushy, and soon mixed with the yellow mud into a ball.

Chen Huangpi felt the world go black.

He couldn't see anything anymore.

After an unknown amount of time, the scene before his eyes suddenly lit up.

Chen Huangpi's perspective had changed again. Before, he could see in all four directions, but now, like a person, he could only see a large area in front of his eyes.

Xu Qingshan looked at the two human-sized deity statues in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.

"One fox, one weasel. My senior brothers usually only make one, but I have two to hand in. Even if the consecration fails, the Temple Master probably won't blame me."

With that, Xu Qingshan took the two deity statues and walked away, shrinking the ground into an inch.

Chen Huangpi saw a large mountain ahead.

It was the Mount Yuqiong he was most familiar with.

But the Daoist temple on the mountain was different. It was very large, with many buildings, various side halls, and thousands of Daoists flying through the air, turning into streaks of light and flying into the mountain gate.

Each Daoist carried a deity statue.

There were people, objects, and beasts.

There were others he couldn't see clearly, but all those deity statues had no life, as if they could only become gods after being consecrated.

For a moment, his mind was in a trance.

Because the Pure Immortal Temple at night was like this, just without so many Daoists.

(End of Chapter)