Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 78-79: The Geomantic Divine Compass Again

Morning. The Hundred Thousand Mountains. A light, drizzling autumn rain had begun without warning.

Mount Yuqiong was the tallest mountain in the surrounding area. Not particularly jagged or scenically beautiful — but shifting, eerie, and strange. With the autumn rain falling, it looked bleaker and colder than ever.

Song Jiu held an oil-paper umbrella and could dimly see a Daoist temple on top from where he was. He looked further down. At the base of the mountain, thin wisps of smoke were rising.

"There are actually people here?"

Song Jiu's tone carried a trace of bewilderment. He stepped forward, and his silhouette appeared inside Huanghu Village.

In the village at this hour, some remnant villagers were already shouldering hoes to go work the fields. They had begun clearing wasteland since settling at the foot of Mount Yuqiong. But as Song Jiu walked past them — not a single person noticed him.

The City God of Qing'an County said expressionlessly: "There was an earth dragon turning in the Hundred Thousand Mountains recently. These must be people who fled here to escape it."

"Look — there's a cultivator."

Song Jiu's eyes sharpened as they landed on Granny Tang, who had absolutely no idea any of this was happening.

Granny Tang was only at Golden Core level. And now with her final days approaching, her only concern was making sure she could get the villagers' future settled as well as possible before she went.At that moment, Song Jiu's mind moved — and he appeared directly before Granny Tang.

"My respects to senior..."

Granny Tang's face shifted slightly. She immediately lowered her head. She had only glanced at this person for a moment and already felt her mind beginning to crack. She didn't need to think hard to know — this was definitely a Nascent Soul cultivator. And one who had reached the same terminus of the cultivation path as Twelfth Madam. One more step forward — and it would be ascending to godhood.

Song Jiu was not like Song Qiuyue, a pampered daughter of a great house. Nor was he like Twelfth Madam, decisive about killing. He was Song Tiangang's devoted servant. The kinds of people he had dealt with over the years — he had seen every type. Naturally, one look at Granny Tang told him everything he needed to know about her.

Song Jiu gave a light smile and said: "You people have not been at Mount Yuqiong for long. Have you seen a young woman, about eighteen or nineteen years old, with a group of Nascent Soul cultivators? If you have — please tell me honestly."

Granny Tang said: "They're all inside the Pure Immortal Temple. They're all dead. Chen Huangpi killed them."

At those words, Granny Tang was immediately inwardly horrified. She had simply listened to this person speak, and without thinking she had told him everything.

"Don't be afraid."

Song Jiu said calmly: "Just a small technique. I also want to ask you — who is this Chen Huangpi, to have such capability?"

"He's Guanzhu's disciple."

"Did he also kill those hundred deities?"

"He only killed forty."

"Is he a deity?"

"No."

Hearing that, Song Jiu's brow immediately furrowed. Not a deity — then he must be a Nascent Soul cultivator. A Nascent Soul taking on three cultivators of the same level and winning was already extraordinary genius. But killing dozens of peers in one go — along with forty deities — was beyond what even exceptional genius could explain. Could this Chen Huangpi be an evil spirit? One that could speak human language and was on par with a Disaster-class entity? And — most importantly — an entity that apparently had a master. At that thought, Song Jiu immediately felt a deep and heavy unease — like something unseen was watching him.

He asked Granny Tang again: "This Guanzhu you mentioned — what kind of existence is he?"

Granny Tang instinctively said: "Guanzhu is Guanzhu."

"Is he in the temple right now?"

"Yes."

"Thank you."

Song Jiu gave a polite bow with his fists clasped — and without hesitation turned and walked away.

A disciple who had killed dozens of cultivators and forty deities single-handedly — definitely no ordinary Disaster-class evil spirit. A master who raised something like that — at minimum, something that could be called a Calamity. It was just that this Granny Tang was mortal in her eyes and had had her mind clouded — she couldn't see their true nature, and simply saw them as a master and disciple.

Song Jiu had come to settle a score. He had not come to throw his life away. Yes, he had a County City God with him, plus his own temporary county magistrate authority, plus eight hundred grass-head deities. Even against a Calamity, they could still escape. But only escape — nothing more. The idea of killing a minor evil spirit right in front of a major one was a complete fantasy.

And stepping back ten thousand steps to say it — even if they actually managed to do it, who knew whether that so-called Guanzhu would come after them like a madman in pursuit? That would mean failing to settle the score and only sending more lives to their deaths.

But just at this moment — Song Jiu hesitated, stopped walking, and turned to ask: "Is that Chen Huangpi currently in the temple?"

If yes — leave immediately. If no — there might be room to maneuver.

Granny Tang shook her head: "Chen Huangpi has gone to the God-Burying Mound. He's not in the temple."

"Why would he go there?"

"Because Guanzhu died. Chen Huangpi is trying to find a way to save him."

"He died?"

Song Jiu immediately looked toward the top of Mount Yuqiong — where the Pure Immortal Temple sat, wrapped in autumn rain.

……

Inside the Pure Immortal Temple. Light wind. Drizzling rain.

The Fox Mountain God clutched Guanzhu's three portraits and sat cross-legged on the floor. It didn't dare put the portraits down carelessly, and didn't know where to put them. It had no choice but to grit its teeth and keep holding them.

At this moment — the Fox Mountain God suddenly furrowed its brow and called out toward the hall entrance: "Who's there?"

"A subordinate of the Xu Province Governor. Song Jiu."

Song Jiu walked into the main hall with perfect composure, clasped his fists toward the Fox Mountain God and said: "You are the Mountain God of Huanghu Village, I presume?"

"What if I am?"

The Fox Mountain God's expression shifted slightly. Although it had been drained of all its human qi and subsequently took a large breath of spiritual qi — making it quite different from before — it was extremely familiar with the smell of human qi. It could tell that the human qi emanating from Song Jiu was as blazing and brilliant as a great sun. And vaguely visible behind him — the silhouette of a deity in cyan armor. That was a presence whose divine rank was considerably above its own.

With that thought, the Fox Mountain God felt a sudden jolt of inspiration inside. It instantly opened its eyes wide with barely-contained excitement and said with quivering urgency: "Surely you've come to rescue me?"

"Rescue?"

Song Jiu's smile was ambiguous: "How would this rescue work, exactly?"

The Fox Mountain God said eagerly: "You have the Song surname — so you're family of the young Song lady! She and I were both trapped in this hellhole together. She told me that the Xu Province Governor is her uncle and would definitely send someone to save her. Unfortunately, that Chen Huangpi was far too ruthless and vicious — the young lady only owed him a bit of money, and he killed her mercilessly."

"Before she died, the young lady told me to bear it quietly and keep her body hidden."

"I may be a minor mountain deity, but I know the Qinghe Song family's reputation is excellent. You haven't come here to rescue me — but surely you haven't come to kill me either?"

Hearing this, Song Jiu was briefly taken aback.

He wasn't believing the Fox Mountain God's story. Someone of his experience — it was impossible to simply hear a few sentences and take them as truth. That was something only children did. He was only surprised — the young lady's body had been hidden. He had already assumed it had simply been eaten.

Song Jiu thought for a moment and said: "Where is the young lady's body?"

The Fox Mountain God said: "On the back of the mountain. There's a large open clearing there. The young lady's body — along with those of her cultivator companions — was hidden there by me."

"Very well. Take me there."

Song Jiu fixed the Fox Mountain God with a sharp stare.

The Fox Mountain God shook its head: "That won't work. I'm trapped here. If I could move around freely, I would have run off as soon as Chen Huangpi left."

Saying that, the Fox Mountain God gave a meaningful jerk of its chin toward the back of the hall.

Song Jiu looked in that direction and saw only what appeared to be a deity statue — with not a trace of incense or offering energy around it. He said sardonically: "I see no difficulty of yours — only that you appear to be quite comfortable in this hall, even kowtowing to that stat—"

He hadn't finished the word.

Song Jiu's expression froze completely.

That was not a deity statue. What was standing there was a grotesque corpse with two heads and a blurry mass of flesh and blood growing between them. He had only assumed it was an enshrined deity before. Now that he looked properly — he felt his hair stand on end and every nerve scream in revulsion.

And stranger still — as Song Jiu looked, he clearly saw that the corpse twitched every so often. As if it was not quite all the way dead.

Inside his mind, the voice of the Qing'an City God rang out like thunder:

"Something is very wrong here. Very, very wrong!"

"Governor Song — did you see that?! This Daoist's corpse — it's going to grow a third head!"

"Leave — we need to leave, before it grows the third one!"

Song Jiu's expression turned deeply uncomfortable. He immediately retreated from the Pure Immortal Temple's main hall.

"Brother Song — stop!"

The Fox Mountain God called after him: "Guanzhu is already dead. Don't be afraid. I've thought it over — if I stay here until Chen Huangpi comes back, I'm as good as dead anyway. Better to go with you. There might at least be a sliver of a chance."

But Song Jiu was already running — running even faster than he'd arrived.

Inside the hall, the faint trace of human qi that had just begun to accumulate vanished completely.

The Fox Mountain God gave a dismissive smirk: "And you call yourself composed — you came here trying to outwit me, but all it takes is one move from this deity to send you running with your tail between your legs."

……

Song Jiu transformed into a streak of escaping light and shot out of the Pure Immortal Temple.

If it had been Chen Huangpi alone, he wouldn't have been in such a miserable state. But Guanzhu — that presence had not sat well with him at all. He had only looked at it for a moment, and that disturbing image had lodged itself in his mind entirely, refusing to leave. The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he felt.

The feeling was much like something he had experienced as a child — when the Song family, in the process of training loyal servants of Song Jiu's kind, had him sleep inside a coffin with a corpse for seven days and seven nights. That same creeping dread that at any second the body beside him would reanimate and devour him alive.

Profoundly unsettling. In the most extreme sense.

Only after he had flown several hundred li from Mount Yuqiong did Song Jiu stop.

"Governor Song — are we withdrawing?"

"Withdrawing?"

Song Jiu shook his head: "Going back now with nothing to show — that's impossible. Chen Huangpi is probably just a Disaster-class evil spirit at most. Cutting off his head before we leave isn't too much to ask."

The Qing'an City God said: "He went to the God-Burying Mound. Does your lordship know where that is?"

Song Jiu said: "I don't either. Fortunately, I brought the Geomantic Divine Compass. He killed the young lady — which means he has traces of her human qi on him. If the human qi hasn't dispersed yet, I can get a rough sense of which direction he went."

Saying that, Song Jiu's mind moved. From the pouch at his waist flew a bronze square-framed Geomantic Divine Compass.

Then Song Jiu produced a single thin strand of hair — belonging to Song Qiuyue. He tied the hair to the compass's needle, channeled a burst of cultivation energy, and formed a hand seal. The needle immediately began to rotate.

After a moment — the needle pointed in a specific direction.

Song Jiu let out a measured breath and said: "Head that way. We'll catch up to Chen Huangpi."

But the words had barely left his mouth when the needle suddenly trembled — and swung to an entirely different direction. The two directions were not just somewhat divergent — they were completely opposite.

Song Jiu's eyes narrowed, and he said in a tone of disbelief: "It's sensing another Geomantic Divine Compass — whose? Lin Ye's group's, or Twelfth Madam's?"