Chapter 102: Entangled by Karmic Fire |
Tab 1
The Book of Good and Evil was an Underworld magical artifact, closely connected to the Civil Judge.
Without needing to open it, he already knew why it vibrated.
It was nothing more than something going wrong with a person whose life was about to end.
And the aura of Chu Xun about to cast a spell was clear and distinct.
The Civil Judge immediately said, "Is the Immortal Elder going to defy the heavens and change the fate of that dying military general?"
"Do you not know that this action violates the rules of heaven? Stop quickly!"
Chu Xun looked over but ignored him.
The two centurions who had already pried open the door latch had just stepped into the room when they felt their whole bodies stiffen, unable to move.
Even if the knockout smoke was potent, it couldn't compare to water vapor mixed with spiritual energy.
Liao Shouyi instantly woke up and suddenly jumped up from the bed.
The incense number behind Chu Xun's divine office jumped directly from 2 to 70.
Seeing the two centurions entering the room with knives, he was startled.
The two instantly showed horror and felt despair.
Liao Shouyi was not a fool. Seeing their expressions, how could he not know what the two wanted to do.
His gaze instantly became gloomy and cold, "I have not treated you thinly, why do you want to do this!"
Although the centurion holding the scimitar couldn't move, he could still speak.
He only felt bitterness in his mouth and said, "Ma Huaian rebelled, has now seized the Southwest, and sent us a secret letter. He wants us to kill you, otherwise the lives of our entire families, old and young, will not be guaranteed."
"I beg Your Lordship for forgiveness, save the lives of my family!"
Over the years, the things Liao Shouyi had experienced were countless.
He had experienced life-saving grace, and also the danger of being stabbed in the back like now.
He did not have a weak character, and towards betrayers, he was never soft-hearted.
Walking slowly over, he snatched the scimitar from the centurion's hand, his gaze cold and gloomy.
"The lives of your families are lives, is mine not a life?"
"Don't be humans in your next life, you are not fit to be."
The scimitar slit the necks of the two without hesitation, blood spurting like a fountain.
When the guards rushed over and saw this scene, they were all scared pale and hurriedly knelt on the ground begging for mercy.
This matter didn't have much to do with them, but as guards, failing to protect their master should also be severely punished.
Each person was dragged down to be beaten with a hundred military sticks and demoted to miscellaneous soldiers.
"Ma Huaian!" Liao Shouyi gritted his teeth secretly.
This person was once Han Shizhong's Assistant Regional Commander. After he successfully assassinated Han Shizhong, he surrendered at the first opportunity.
He didn't expect him to be a two-faced character.
"After this battle is over, I will definitely trample the Southwest with my horses and kill your entire family!"
The murderous Liao Shouyi looked at the two corpses being dragged away, and doubts arose in his heart again.
Just now, these two people didn't resist, looking more like they were controlled by someone.
He cupped his hands and shouted, "I don't know which expert intervened to help, please show yourself, allow Liao to express his gratitude."
No one responded.
Outside the County Yamen, the Book of Good and Evil in the Civil Judge's hand trembled violently, and then a ball of invisible flame flew out and landed on Chu Xun.
The Civil Judge said, "The Immortal Elder defied the heavens and changed fate, forcibly extending this person's lifespan by seven years. Karmic fire will also burn you for seven years. A slight carelessness will result in your soul scattering, why bother."
When the karmic fire landed on his body, Chu Xun indeed felt discomfort.
It was as if something was drilling into his soul.
That feeling was extremely strange, as if flames were burning fiercely directly inside his body, unable to be extinguished no matter how he tried.
Karmic fire pointed directly at the soul and was the manifestation of karma. Even the most formidable immortal cultivators would be afraid.
The Civil Judge said no more, ordering the Underworld Emissaries to hook the souls of the two dead centurions and take them to the Underworld.
Those who should have died didn't die, and those who shouldn't have died died.
He had to go back and report to the City God.
Chu Xun watched the Civil Judge and the Underworld Emissaries leave with the two "unjustly dead" souls.
Remaining in place, Chu Xun frowned slightly.
He tried to use the Fire Control Spell to extinguish the karmic fire, but to no avail, simply because it was not a thing of the Five Elements.
This thing continuously burned in his soul, burning deeper and deeper.
The pain originating from the soul gradually rose.
No wonder the Civil Judge didn't make a move when he saw him defying the heavens and changing fate for Liao Shouyi.
Just the pain of this karmic fire was unbearable.
Moreover, it would burn for a full seven years. Even if the soul didn't scatter, one would be burned into a madman.
The soldiers patrolling near the County Yamen saw Chu Xun alone here and shouted, "What is that person doing! Leave quickly!"
Chu Xun glanced at this squad of soldiers, having no mood to respond.
Rain and fog suddenly rose, blowing so hard the soldiers couldn't open their eyes.
When the rain and fog dispersed, the area in front of them was already completely empty.
Returning to Pinecone Village, Chu Xun only felt unbearable pain.
The karmic fire was about to burn through the barrier connecting the soul and the physical body. He had no clue how to resolve it.
Could it be that he really had to endure the torment of karmic fire burning his body for seven years?
Just at the instant the karmic fire burned through the barrier and truly touched the soul, Chu Xun suddenly felt his whole body relax.
Although the karmic fire was still burning the soul, it didn't bring pain.
He was like a bystander, watching someone else suffer.
At the same time, Chu Xun sensed something in his heart.
Divine Office 69/30000
He clearly remembered that after saving Liao Shouyi, this number became 70. Why did it become 69 now?
Staring at the incense value for a long time, Chu Xun suddenly realized.
Could it be that after the karmic fire burned through the barrier, it hung onto the spirit of the Songliu Water God?
Although Chu Xun himself was the true body of the Songliu Water God, the physical body dominated everything and couldn't directly absorb incense.
Theoretically, there must be a hidden incense divine spirit bearing all this.
It was just that the incense divine spirit and Chu Xun were integrated as one. It clearly existed, yet couldn't detach from the main body to become an independent existence.
So even the Underworld couldn't detect it.
However, karmic fire was different. It had no spirit and was just the manifestation of karma.
It didn't care who you were or what identity you had.
Whether Emperor or beggar, immortal god or demon, it treated everyone equally.
So much so that after the karmic fire burned through the barrier between the physical body and the soul, it subsequently detected the existence of the incense divine spirit through the power of karma.
It naturally pounced on it, which was why Chu Xun no longer suffered the pain of his soul being burned.
Or rather, Chu Xun was still suffering, but not the one dominating the thoughts.
Such a strange thing was presumably unique in the world.
What surprised Chu Xun was that while the karmic fire burned the incense divine spirit, it also continuously made his body ethereal.
It was as if the impurities in his body were continuously being removed.
Although his cultivation couldn't increase, he still clearly felt some changes.
He immediately faced west, clicked his teeth seven times, and chanted the incantation of the Flying Mystery and Eight Convergences.
The Qi of Metal Essence appeared, converged into a pillar of qi, and drilled into Chu Xun's mouth and nose.
Originally, he could only gather one wisp of Qi of Metal Essence a day; any more and he couldn't bear it.
At this moment, Chu Xun clearly sensed that the Qi of Metal Essence he gathered was slightly more than before.
Although it was a very small margin of increase, it also showed that his body was indeed undergoing changes.
"So karmic fire burning the body not only brings pain to the soul, but also simultaneously burns away impurities that shouldn't be there!"
"Karma, karma. It burned my soul, so it should return it to my body. This is karma."
Chu Xun was overjoyed. He didn't expect a blessing in disguise, gaining some benefits.
The enhancement brought by the karmic fire wasn't large, but it could accumulate over time until his body was as ethereal as an immortal.
This was a long-term process and required a lot of time.
What Chu Xun lacked the least was time.
It was just that thinking the karmic fire could only last for seven years, judging from the current speed, let alone seven years, even seventy years might not be enough.
"If I had saved Tang Shijun back then, the karmic fire should have been fiercer and burned longer, right?" Chu Xun thought.
Then he shook his head. Tang Shijun's karma was too great, involving the entire Jing Kingdom.
The karmic fire brought by this karma could probably burn a person to death directly.
His ability to withstand the karmic fire now relied on the special existence of the spirit of the Songliu Water God.
The continuous decrease in incense value indicated that it was harmful to the spirit of the Songliu Water God.
If he had really saved Tang Shijun, the karmic fire might have burned the spirit of the Songliu Water God away in an instant.
At that time, the one suffering would still be himself.
"Even if I want to obtain karmic fire, it cannot be too great a karma!" Chu Xun thought to himself.
Someone like Liao Shouyi was pretty good, and he should be able to withstand something slightly greater.
But the premise was that there was enough incense value to consume.
In the City God Temple.
The Civil Judge reported that the military general who should have died had his fate changed by an unknown Immortal Elder, adding seven years to his lifespan.
"The Book of Good and Evil cannot find out the other party's background, presumably he has a great origin," the Civil Judge said.
The City God's voice was still muffled, "There was already such a figure previously, who killed so many people for some unknown reason. Now here comes another one who insists on saving people for some unknown reason."
"These people who cultivate immortality and attain the Dao just like to disobey the rules of heaven. I'd like to see if he suffers or not when entangled by karmic fire!"
This matter was dropped here. After all, the fate had already been changed, and the Underworld couldn't interfere much.
Otherwise, if the karmic fire burned over, they wouldn't be able to bear it.
A few days later, Chu Xun had basically determined it.
The current karmic fire would consume ten incense points every day.
Calculating it, that was three thousand six hundred and fifty points a year.
Such consumption could be called astonishing.
One must know that the accumulation of the Songliu Water God Temple over decades was only a little over eight thousand points.
Chu Xun persuading Huang Qi to leave, changing the fate of an unknown number of people, only gave less than two thousand points.
Now the total incense value of around ten thousand points was at most only enough to support for about three years.
Relying solely on the incense obtained from the commoners' worship was completely not enough to consume. He still had to collect more from other aspects.
It was slightly troublesome, but the benefits obtained were also obvious.
The impurities in his body were removed, and the power of his spells was enhanced.
Water Element, Limited control of the marsh of heaven and earth within one thousand and one zhang.
Clearly his cultivation hadn't increased, yet the range of the spell had expanded by one zhang.
Although it was only a one-thousandth increase, accumulated over time, it could not be underestimated.
The accumulated power was very astonishing.
Not only spells, but even the speed of gathering Qi of Metal Essence and condensing Essence of Ren Water was slightly faster than before.
Chu Xun lifted the hammer, and a white streak spat out from his mouth and nose, integrating into the extraterrestrial meteoric iron.
Clang—
Clang—
The sound of the hammer colliding with the meteoric iron seemed able to shatter the clouds.
Take it slowly, no rush.
What he lacked the least was time!
A few days later, at the Jishitang Pharmacy in Pingshui Town.
The assistant recognized who Chu Xun was and quickly stepped forward to greet him, "Mister Chu, are you here to get medicine or seek medical treatment?"
"Neither getting medicine nor seeking medical treatment. Where is your shopkeeper?" Chu Xun asked.
The assistant hurriedly went to call the shopkeeper. The elderly man in his fifties didn't put on airs because of his age.
He very politely cupped his hands and bowed, "Mister Chu."
Chu Xun didn't exchange pleasantries with him. He lifted the large bundle in his hand and shook it open.
Clatter—
With a burst of sound, whether it was the patients coming to get medicine or seek medical treatment, or the physicians and assistants sitting in the hall, they all stared blankly.
The ground was full of silver and gold, at least several thousand taels.
Chu Xun said, "From today onwards, when poor families come here to get medicine, do not charge a single penny. It will all be paid by me."
"I know very well which families in the town are poor and which are rich, so don't even think about deceiving me."
Everyone was dumbfounded upon hearing this. Poor families getting medicine without being charged a single penny?
A young man who was just short of money, wanting to get medicine for his old mother at home but only having enough for half a dose, hurriedly ran over and asked, "Is what Mister Chu said true?"
"Naturally it is true," Chu Xun said.
The young man, whose clothes had several patches and was so poor he didn't even have a decent padded jacket for the approaching winter, knelt down and kowtowed to Chu Xun without another word.
"I kowtow to Mister Chu on behalf of my old mother! For your great kindness and virtue, I will repay you by working like a horse or an ox in this life!"
The shopkeeper was stunned for a moment. After reacting, he also hurriedly cupped his hands, bowed to Chu Xun, and performed a grand salute.
"Mister Chu is so greatly benevolent, your merit reaches the heavens. This little old man bows to you on behalf of the poor families!"
"It is something within my power, no need for this."
Chu Xun waved his hand, turned, and went out the door.
Two crows subsequently landed, standing at the door like door gods.
Startling many people into retreating repeatedly, and then they remembered that these were the crows fed by Master Chu back then.
Chu Xun's voice entered everyone's ears.
"Do not treat them as mere livestock. They can distinguish who is rich and who is truly poor more accurately than humans."
"Those who intentionally conceal to take advantage, do not ask for trouble."
The people inside and outside the shop looked at the two majestic crows, astonished for a time.
Subsequently, Chu Xun went to the restaurant, steamed bun shop, cloth shop, and other places that rented his shops.
With continuous wars these past few years, there were many refugees and beggars.
He then used his rent to exchange for meals.
Calling the refugees and beggars over, giving some alms to each person.
The shopkeeper of the restaurant, besides admiring him, also felt happy.
The good deeds were done in his own establishment, without having to spend his own money, and he could also gain a good reputation. Why not do it.
It was just that this Mister Chu was a bit too generous. Nearly half the shops in the town were under the Chu family's name.
Now taking out all the rent to do good deeds and accumulate merit, that was several thousand taels a year!
Generous!
Too generous!
Just these were not enough. Chu Xun also exempted the rent for all the tenant farmers under his name.
The silver and grain collected were distributed to those more in need.
For a time, the title of Great Philanthropist Chu spread faster and wider than Great Guest Chu back then.
The people of Pinecone Village were all astonished by this.
Old acquaintances like Qi Ermao were even more full of surprise.
In the past, when Brother Xun was still around, although he would kindly do good deeds, he wouldn't be so extravagant.
Unlike "Chu Chen", who could almost be said to have dispersed all his family wealth.
Although they couldn't understand it, not many people felt it was wrong for him to do so.
It was his silver, he could spend it however he wanted, not to mention it wasn't used for bad purposes.
The County Yamen even sent over a plaque for this, with the eight large characters "Blessing the Neighbors, Joyful in Charity" clear and eye-catching.
The title of Great Philanthropist Chu became even more resounding because of this.
But to Chu Xun personally, these were all empty titles.
Having them was no harm, not having them was fine too.
What he truly wanted to obtain was naturally incense value.
[End of Chapter]
Comments 4