A fine, drizzling spring rain, as precious as oil, fell without end, nourishing all of creation. But for the travelers on the road, this sudden shower was nothing but a minor nuisance.
A young man, having just returned home after foraging for ingredients, looked up at the sky with a book basket on his back. He then glanced at the surrounding mountain forest and an ancient temple in the distance, a look of surprise quickly spreading across his delicate, handsome face.
Before long, when the young man reached the temple entrance, he saw that many people were already inside, taking shelter from the rain.
He took a look inside. There were quite a few traveling merchants, as well as some families with young and old alike, who seemed to have been caught in the rain during a spring outing and were now taking temporary refuge. Several different groups had lit their own campfires, and the flickering lights, big and small, seemed to divide the people within into separate clusters.
’A little interesting...’
’Sister Chi, what do you think we should do?’
The young man blinked, a faint, almost imperceptible smile gracing his lips.
And right behind him, the faint, indistinct figure of a woman, seemingly unnoticed by anyone in the temple, appeared. Her arms wrapped around his neck as if to shield him from the wind and rain, and she spoke in an exceptionally lazy, deep voice.
’Let’s watch for a bit first.’
Hearing the voice that only he could hear, the young man, who looked to be no older than fourteen or fifteen, narrowed his eyes slightly.
’Got it. I won’t go in then.’
The young man, whose mind was far more mature than his appearance suggested, also found the situation strange. Logically, this sort of thing shouldn’t be happening within a hundred-mile radius of Jinning Town.
However, having long ago understood the principle of "letting fate run its course and abandoning any savior complex," the young man had no intention of interfering. He simply sat down at the entrance of the ancient temple, using the overhanging eaves to shelter from the wind and rain.
He even started a small campfire, hung a pot over it, and began simmering something inside.
It was hard to say whether it was the fragrant aroma of his cooking that wafted into the temple, tempting the people inside beyond their endurance, or if they simply couldn’t bear to watch a young man sit out in the cold wind.
The members of the family on an outing exchanged glances. Then, a woman who didn’t look very old but already wore her hair in the style of a married woman, suddenly called out.
"Young man outside, why don’t you come in and shelter from the rain?"
The young man sitting outside the temple entrance stirred the contents of the hanging pot, making the aroma within even richer. His actions drew the blank stares of many inside the temple as he gave a slight nod.
"Thank you for your kindness, but a gentle breeze and a fine rain create their own kind of mood. I imagine none of you would understand."
The moment he addressed them as a group, the woman’s expression changed slightly. She gave the young man another look but ultimately said nothing more.
However, at another campfire, an old man and a young boy, both dressed shabbily, were having a harder time. The old man swallowed hard and struggled to speak, while the poor child beside him also stared outside with an eager expression. The child hesitated, tugging at the old man’s sleeve, but it seemed to have no effect.
"Young man, what are you making that smells so..."
"So... incredibly fragrant and mellow?"
Perhaps because he hadn’t used such words in a long time, the old man had to think for a moment before speaking.
"Since we have both humans and ghosts here,"
"Let’s dispense with the theatrics."
From across the temple entrance, the young man’s expression held a trace of contempt as he addressed the figures inside whose faces had begun to change.
"Even if I did enter the temple, what could you possibly do to me?"
"You’re nothing but wandering ghosts of Tiers One and Two. Even if you were fierce spirits of Tiers Three and Four, would you dare break the pact signed with the many Sacrificial Cultivators of the Human Race?"
He stood up and looked toward the small child beside the old man inside.
"If not for the fact that you still possess a sliver of benevolence, we wouldn’t be parting on such amicable terms today."
He secretly erased a Talisman under his foot that he had been about to activate. If triggered, a Tier Five Garrison Cultivator would have arrived in an instant. Even if they didn’t destroy this ancient temple and ruin the hundred years of practice of the entity behind this, it would have been enough to seal this place and subject it to decades of confinement as punishment.
In truth, not long after he had approached the ancient temple, the spring rain outside had already begun to subside.
If not for the influence of the hidden entities within the temple, which made them believe it was still raining, the living people inside would never have stayed for so long.
"One bowl of plain porridge is enough to fill your stomachs."
"If you get hungry again, go to Jinning Town. Look for the shop that hangs a lantern out at night."
The young man shouldered his book basket again, ignoring the astonished expressions on the faces of the various people in the temple as he turned and walked away.
Before the young man had gone far, the expressions of some of the people in the temple turned vacant. Several non-human entities appeared within the ancient temple—they were entirely red, looked like three-year-old children, and had red eyes and long ears.
"He’s young and looks like an ordinary mortal, just with vigorous Qi and Blood."
"How could he see through our Divine Techniques?"
These Wangling Ghosts had come from another region. They had been caught in some disaster, suffering heavy damage through no fault of their own, and looked quite miserable. As a result, they could only rely on their innate talent for bewitching Divine Techniques to absorb human essence and recover. One of them, who had horns on its head and was clearly the leader, spoke quietly.
"Who cares where he comes from."
"That plain porridge smells too good!"
One of the Wangling Ghosts, drawn by the aroma, had already scurried over to the rack holding the pot over the campfire. It stared at the glistening white, seemingly unremarkable porridge inside, drooling uncontrollably.
"He’s not a Sacrificial Cultivator."
"How could something made by a mere boy be..."
The horned Wangling Ghost was still trying to resist the temptation and speak, but its brothers paid it no mind. They ran over, surrounded the pot, and prepared to feast.
An even more enticing aroma was soon released. More incredibly, the damaged parts of the Wangling Ghosts’ red bodies began to heal.
"H-How is this possible?"
Seeing this, the horned Wangling Ghost could no longer hold back.
It ran over, shoved one of its unlucky brothers aside, and buried its head in the pot to take a big gulp. The moment the seemingly ordinary porridge entered its mouth, an intense warmth instantly spread throughout its entire body.
It wasn’t as if it had never eaten human food before; in fact, it usually looked down on something as simple as rice porridge. It had tasted sweet, salty, sour, and astringent flavors.
But this porridge was different. The moment it entered its mouth, it was like the smoothest silk gliding across its tongue. The individual grains of rice seemed both melted and whole, releasing an explosion of pure, nutty rice fragrance with just a gentle press of the tongue. This was the first time it had ever tasted such a thing.
The rich, undiluted flavor blossomed in its mouth. The supreme fragrance of rice seemed to transport it to a world made entirely of rice grains, surrounded by puffed, cotton-soft kernels, allowing its whole body to relax into a state of ultimate comfort.
Soon, a silly, blissful grin appeared on the horned Wangling Ghost’s face.
The Wangling Ghost that had been pushed aside eagerly crowded back around the pot. The more the non-human creatures ate, the more satisfied they became. Not only did the damage on their bodies heal, but even their fierce and baleful aura seemed to be invisibly wiped away.
Looking at them now, these non-human creatures suddenly possessed some of the innocent charm of young children.
Only when the porridge in the hanging pot was all gone did the horned Wangling Ghost startle back to its senses. It stood up and looked in the direction the young man had gone, but his figure was no longer in sight.
’That young man...’
’He’s not just a Priest Cultivator... he’s at least Tier Three or higher?’
’But how old is he?!’
Unlike its thoughtless brothers, this Wangling Ghost had once served a powerful Demon Fiend. It remembered that great lord saying that Sacrificial Cultivation was different from other paths of Cultivation; reaching Tier Four or Tier Five at the age of forty was considered normal.
In fact, that was already considered young, promising, and a mark of a Priest Cultivator with a bright future.
’In the beginning of antiquity, there was only the Dao and the Sacrifice. To feast the nameless above, to comfort the masses below!’
’Unlike the culinary arts of primeval times, the Sacrificial Cultivation of today is...’
’A true and magnificent Immortal Dao!’
At this thought, how could the red-bodied, horned Wangling Ghost possibly sit still?
Such a powerful patron had just slipped right through its fingers!
It turned and kicked each of its brothers, who had become drowsy after eating their fill, to wake them up.
"You sleep as soon as you’re full? Are you all stupid pigs? Hurry up and go after him!"
"If we can become his servants, won’t we be able to eat and drink well every day?"
The other Wangling Ghosts, still dazed and not quite understanding what their leader had said, suddenly perked up when they heard the words "eat and drink well."
"Chase what?"
"Eat and drink well?"
Perhaps because their minds had truly been mended, the Wangling Ghosts started squabbling like a flock of ducks. Even the horned leader got drawn into the fray, and they all began blaming each other, instantly forgetting what they were supposed to be doing.
Outside, the ancient temple itself seemed to be growing unstable. Its distinct outline began to waver, and among the figures of the rain-shelterers, whose numbers had now dwindled by half, some were beginning to show signs of regaining consciousness.
...
’Tiansheng, why the sudden change of heart?’
As dusk fell, the young man walked along the road without a trace of fear, appearing completely at ease and familiar with his route.
Behind him was the woman in a teal-black gauze robe. Her face was stunningly beautiful, with a beauty mark beneath her left eye. Her eyebrows were like a stroke of an ink brush, thick at the start and fading to a delicate thinness.
It was just a pity that no outsider was fortunate enough to admire the face of such a peerless beauty.
The young man, Zhao Tiansheng, didn’t turn around. Hearing his Sister Chi’s question, he just chuckled softly.
’Since they still possessed some benevolence, and those Wangling Ghosts didn’t actually kill those unlucky people,’
’I decided to help them out a bit.’
’What I’m really concerned about is...’
’Why has the aura around Jinning suddenly become so chaotic!’
The young man’s pupils seemed to reflect countless different radiances, a kaleidoscope of phantasmal phenomena.
Among them, mists of blood-red and teal-black light were especially prominent, shrouding the depths of the mountain forests...