Blade - Unbound

"Those people were not simple." Lu San frowned and spoke seriously, "That foreign monk was an expert in both mystic arts and martial arts. He'd have been more than qualified to lead some organizations, yet he was merely guarding a mine. Now, there's this new gunpowder formula. Didn't Han Kun say that the people secretly purchasing it were all powerful hidden factions? On top of that, these people also possess secret arts passed down from Tang Dynasty alchemists.

"Even the Raft Sect has to stand guard for them. They might be connected to the current unrest in the southwest as well..."

Lu San did not speak much in ordinary circumstances, but that did not mean he was stupid. In fact, he was extremely cautious. Otherwise, how could he have managed to contend with Qiao Sanhu entirely on his own, biding his time until the night of the Lantern Festival before killing him?

He was bold, but whenever something happened, the first thing he considered was the risk.

Seeing Li Yan staring silently at the secret manual, Sha Lifei immediately grew anxious. "Brother Yan, don't do anything stupid. This thing may bring trouble, but if we use it properly, it could become something that saves our lives in the future!"

Li Yan nodded. "Don't worry. We won’t be giving up something that we already got our hands on so easily. I'm thinking about how we should deal with the consequences."

Sha Lifei froze, then gasped in shock. "What do you mean?"

Li Yan picked up The Classic of Lightning and Fire, his expression growing serious. "This thing is certainly marvelous, but now that we have it, there are three problems we need to deal with.

“On the surface, the imperial court strictly controls firearms. Even though the technology has already leaked, they still won't simply loosen those restrictions. We can't keep hiding them forever, so we need to find a way to obtain the right to use them openly.

"Then there's the hidden side of things. Now that we've taken this, its original owners have become our enemies. Judging by how vicious their methods are, this will probably become a fight to the death.

"Finally, there's producing the things in here. I took a look. Whether it's gunpowder or firearms, the materials require ritual implements or heavenly treasures. Thus, we'll also need to find a trustworthy mystic craftsman. Only after solving those three problems can this truly become an asset to us!"

Both Lu San and Sha Lifei nodded in agreement. They knew Li Yan was right.

Thinking of the Arts of Chenwei Wang Daoxuan had mentioned, Li Yan said gravely, "We'll take it slowly. Great Xuan has now stood for a hundred years. The opening of the seas, new gunpowder, the struggle between two factions at court, unrest in the southwest... All of it points to major changes in the order of things. If we don't use things like this, others will use them against us. How could we simply let them go? But we also have to guard against those people!

"Brother Lu, send your hawk to that phosphate mine in the valley right now. Keep watch over the area at all times. Someone will definitely go there to investigate. We need to identify them first before we can decide how to respond."

"Mm." Lu San wasted no words. He grunted once and gestured, and the hawk immediately soared into the air, flying toward the distant mountain valley beneath the night sky.

Li Yan nodded slowly before turning to Sha Lifei. "Uncle Sha, until we find a mystic craftsman, we'll have to rely on you. How many of the firearms recorded in this can we actually make?"

"Probably not many." Sha Lifei gave an embarrassed smile and rubbed his bald head. "You were right. A lot of the coded language in there belongs to the inheritance of mystic craftsmen. I can't even understand it. Especially that new-style firearm. It's actually like crafting a spiritual treasure. You have to forge it at a spiritual node inside a blessed land!

"Damn it... The forging methods are extremely intricate too. Ordinary craftsmen couldn't possibly make one."

As he spoke, however, a trace of smugness appeared in his eyes. "But I did figure out the new gunpowder formula, as well as how to use coal essence. It turns out that coal essence needs to be ground underwater, then allowed to settle and dry before being mixed into the gunpowder as a substitute ingredient. That allows its power to increase dramatically.

"There's also a special kind of red saltpeter, which is itself a heavenly treasure. With those two materials, making the new gunpowder isn't difficult. Until we find a mystic craftsman, we can use Fire Caltrops and Bamboo Thunder Arrow as substitutes. Their power is still pretty good."

"That's good enough." Li Yan thought for a moment. "Uncle Sha, make a few while we're dealing with the problem at Zhu Clan's Fort. We may need them very soon."

After discussing the matter, the group immediately borrowed a small stone mill from the village. They crushed the coal essence inside a basin of water, then ground it again and again until they had an entire basin of black liquid, which they left inside the tent to settle overnight.

By the time they finished, it was already midnight.

Suddenly, flames flared brightly within the village, followed by a burst of noisy voices, causing Li Yan and the others to hurry out of the tent.

A large crowd of villagers was approaching from the village entrance, led by Wang Daoxuan and Village Head Zhu, each person holding a torch.

Ahead of the crowd walked three elderly villagers, both men and women. Their expressions were vacant, and they staggered toward the river as if in a trance.

Upon catching sight of him, Wang Daoxuan yelled at the top of his lungs, "Brother Yan, stop them!"

Li Yan rushed forward without a word. Seeing that all three had lost consciousness of their surroundings, he could not be bothered with anything elaborate.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Three palm strikes landed beneath their jaws, knocking all three unconscious.

"Did everyone see that?" Wang Daoxuan pointed toward the river and shouted, "There is no evil spirit stealing their souls. Every ghost is inside your hearts. Good and evil both receive their due. Every grievance has its source, every debt its debtor.

“The murderers have already been executed by the imperial court. Dreaming of your ancestors blaming you is something deliberately caused by another person. So long as you conduct yourselves uprightly in the future, naturally you need not fear ghosts knocking at your doors!

"Brother Yan, did you discover any evil creature?"

"There's nothing in the river!" Li Yan formed the Yang Seal, drew in a deep breath, and shouted his reply.

He understood what Wang Daoxuan was doing. He was dispelling the evil in their hearts.

Most people lived ordinary lives, inseparable from the seven emotions and six desires. They could be generous and righteous, but they could also scheme and act selfishly. Over the course of decades, everyone inevitably accumulated a few guilty deeds.

Perhaps they were only minor matters, but like evil spirits, they hid within the heart. Normally, no one spoke of them. Yet once someone stirred those memories up, the resulting guilt could become impossible to bear.

The people of the Divine Continent worshipped the Earth God and also revered their ancestors. If their ancestors appeared to condemn them, how could they not feel fear? It was remarkably similar to a kind of psychological suggestion.

At that moment, Li Yan vaguely began to understand the Arts of Chenwei.

What was the realm under Heaven?

It was not merely thousands of li of mountains and rivers, cities and armies. It included the hearts of the people. Even the Gods of the Soil and Grain came after that. Thus, the people were most important; the altars of soil and grain came second; and the ruler was least important.

If the Son of Heaven[ref]The Emperor[\ref] had lost his way; the age had fallen into chaos; the common people could barely survive; and resentment filled the land; then someone who foresaw a great calamity approaching could manufacture prophetic portents and use them to push forward changes in the human world.

Of course, actually performing such arts was surely far more complicated. Otherwise, Confucianism would never have classified them as inner teachings, much less forbidden them and made both the imperial court and the Confucian schools wary of them.

At least, that was how things worked in this world.

After Wang Daoxuan's angry rebuke, the villagers all turned toward the river. The water glittered gently beneath the moonlight. Occasionally, a small fish leaped from the surface. Everything was peaceful and serene. Not a single evil creature could be seen. Only then did the villagers finally believe it completely.

One man immediately gritted his teeth and grunted, "That old scholar was truly vicious and malicious. My poor uncle died for no reason because of him!"

The man beside him cursed, "Wasn't it because you failed to discipline your family? Your nephew committed all kinds of evil, and you were still proud of him. You bragged that your family had someone formidable and no one dared bully you. Well, look what happened now. Not only did he lose his life, he brought disaster upon everyone else too!"

The first man wanted to argue, but when he saw the surrounding villagers glaring angrily at him, his confidence vanished and he no longer dared say anything.

Village Head Zhu stepped forward, leaning on his cane, and sighed. "Stop blaming one another. This matter is all my fault. As village head, I thought only of my own family's interests, clung to wishful thinking, and didn't want to invite trouble. That was how things were allowed to reach this point.

"From now on, the village rules and communal agreements must be established anew. Every family has its rules, and the nation has its laws. No one will be allowed to violate them!"

Hearing his speech, Wang Daoxuan nodded slightly. Now that the ghosts in their hearts had been dispelled, at least no one else should continue dying.

Next came the matter of the ancestral graves...

The next day, during the hour of the rabbit, the sky had yet to brighten, and everything was still dim and hazy.

Li Yan accompanied Wang Daoxuan up the mountain. Behind them, Village Head Zhu was supported by two people, while other villagers carried various fruits and offerings, incense, candles, and joss paper.

The ancestral graves of Zhu Clan's Fort were not far away, located on the rear mountain.

After the large group made their way up the mountain, Wang Daoxuan immediately took out his compass and examined the terrain from the summit, the foot of the mountain, halfway up the slope, and from every direction.

Here in the ancestral burial grounds, the compass was even more chaotic. Blocking Needle, Rising Needle, Sinking Needle, Spinning Needle... it shifted endlessly from one to another.

Wang Daoxuan's expression was grave. He instructed the villagers to burn joss paper at several specific locations. Flames flickered as ash spiraled up and down in strange circles.

The sight left the villagers staring in astonishment.

Wang Daoxuan thought for a moment, then looked toward Li Yan. "Brother Yan, a Blocking Needle means strange rocks or deep pools underground are causing interference, preventing the spirits from resting peacefully. Some of these graves must already have developed problems. I'll leave this part to you."

Li Yan nodded and formed the Yang Seal as he walked among the graves. With his current cultivation, he could detect unusual scents deep underground. The graves of ordinary commoners certainly were not buried that deeply, so he quickly identified the problem.

"This, this, and this! These are the problematic ones."

Once Li Yan marked the locations, Wang Daoxuan immediately got to work. He first performed a simple soul-pacifying ritual, then chanted incantations while scattering the five grains before arranging offerings, incense, and candles.

"Break the ground!"

At his command, the villagers immediately stepped forward. They swung their hoes, sending dirt flying.

Before long, the first grave had been opened, and everyone sucked in a cold breath at the sight within. The entire grave had been soaked through with filthy water. Everything inside had turned pale grayish-white, while an unbearable stench of decay immediately spread through the air.

"Immeasurable Life and Blessings!"

Even Wang Daoxuan's gaze turned grave at the sight. When the other graves were opened, they too were filled with foul water. Seeing the strange graves, everyone could tell something was wrong. There were rules governing the selection of burial grounds.

Although their ancestral cemetery could not be called an exceptional feng shui site, it was still located halfway up the mountain, where it gathered wind and qi. Even during torrential rain, this much water could not possibly accumulate inside the graves.

Wang Daoxuan became increasingly certain of his suspicions. Turning to Village Head Zhu, he asked, "Did anything ever happen near here involving the burial of a large number of corpses?"

Village Head Zhu froze for a moment, then recalled, "According to stories passed down by the elders, there was such an incident in the past.

"It happened during the chaos at the end of the Tang Dynasty. At the time, Guo Yu, the Military Governor of Jingnan, was killed in battle at Junshan. Lei Yangong seized the opportunity to invade, and a fierce battle took place near Zhu Clan's Fort, leaving tens of thousands dead or wounded.

"Lei Yangong came from the Dong tribes, and he had many military shamans among his forces. Legend has it that they summoned numerous demons and monsters, and even used witchcraft, gu poison, and pestilence to kill. After their deaths, the resentment of the fallen soldiers did not disperse, and they transformed into corpse soldiers that caused trouble throughout the region.

"Later, during the Song Dynasty, an expert from Mount Longhu came here and finally suppressed them. There are still suppression steles on the nearby mountains, though they're so old that the inscriptions have long since become illegible.

"But all of that was far too long ago. Zhu Clan's Fort is in such a remote location that even during the wars between north and south under the previous dynasty, we remained untouched. We've never found any great grave either.

"Only one old stone stele remains."

Wang Daoxuan quickly said, "Quick, take me to see it!"

Everyone immediately set off for a nearby hilltop. Sure enough, there was a stone stele on the summit. It was extremely old, its inscriptions long since blurred away. Cracks covered its surface, as though it might collapse at any moment. Beneath the stele were large patches of dark, almost black bloodstains.

"As expected, someone tampered with it." Wang Daoxuan looked at the compass and saw the needle spinning wildly. His head began to ache as he quickly climbed higher and surveyed the landscape in every direction.

By now, the sky had cleared. Blue heavens and white clouds stretched overhead, a gentle breeze blowing as the surrounding mountain ranges lay fully visible before him.

What Wang Daoxuan saw made his heart pound. "What formidable methods! They used the force of the Killing Dragon to create an entrapment formation, suppressing all those evil things underground!

"After so many years, the corpse soldiers themselves must have completely rotted away. But their resentment never dispersed. Corpse fluids and accumulated toxins gathered together until this place became an evil land!

"Bring some people over. Dig ten zhang out in all four directions and see whether the treasures buried there have already been damaged!"

The villagers hurried to work. Sure enough, ten zhang away in each direction, they unearthed stone statues of the Azure Dragon, Vermilion Bird, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise. Each was as large as a millstone, covered densely in talismans filled with cinnabar.

Only the Azure Dragon statue had shattered, and the direction the Azure Dragon statue faced was precisely the ancestral cemetery of Zhu Clan's Fort!

Wang Daoxuan could not help sighing. "What formidable technique. What vicious intent! That old scholar broke the seal here, then deliberately left a gap that channeled the vicious killing qi into your ancestral graves. Before leaving, he spoke a prophecy that fulfilled itself, borrowing the resonance between Heaven and mankind to kill.

"To accomplish this, he must understand history and fengshui, be intimately familiar with mountains and geography, and know the Arts of Chenwei. He is someone from the mystic path and the Confucian tradition.

"He had the ability to kill all of you outright, yet he insisted on destroying your hearts first!

"If this poor Daoist has guessed correctly, before long you would have been unable to endure it and would have moved away, causing the entire village to decline. The villagers would scatter across the land, yet still remain unable to escape this evil curse, dying one after another amid constant fear and unease. At that point, even the Taixuan Orthodox Sect might have failed to notice anything."

Beside him, Village Head Zhu felt his scalp go numb. His face turned deathly pale as he asked in a trembling voice, "Daoist, from what you're saying... this still isn't over?"

Wang Daoxuan replied in a grave tone, "That man is undoubtedly vicious and calculating, but his mistake was being far too arrogant. He believed his scheme was flawless. Ezhou is in chaos now, and the Taixuan Orthodox Sect has no attention to spare. Even if we reported this, no one might act on it, and we could instead alert the culprit.

"This poor Daoist will teach you a simple method. Investigate the people who died in that incident back then, and you should be able to identify the Confucian cultivator.

"Isn't your grandson studying at Yuelu Academy? Have him report this matter there. The orthodox Confucian schools consider the Arts of Chenwei to be deeply taboo, so experts will naturally investigate."

He then looked at the villagers and explained, "That man indiscriminately killed innocents, so this poor Daoist will naturally intervene to save you. But ultimately, this disaster still began because of your own village. Where Zhu Clan's Fort goes from here will depend on what you yourselves choose."

"Rest assured, Daoist." Village Head Zhu struck his cane heavily against the ground. "From now on, Zhu Clan's Fort will strictly enforce its village rules and communal agreements. If any household dares let its sons commit crimes again, this old man will personally have them bound and sent to the authorities!"

Once the truth had been uncovered, everything became much easier to handle. Wang Daoxuan first had them bring cinnabar and mix it with incense ash from the Earth God Temple. They dug a trench between the ancestral graves and the suppression site, then filled it with the mixture to isolate the two areas.

After that, he broke the White Tiger statue.

The sealing ground had already been damaged. The corpse soldiers buried beneath it had long since decayed, leaving only a cloud of vicious killing qi. Fortunately, the village was encircled by river water. They only needed to divert that killing qi into the river, and the current would naturally disperse it.

Finally, Wang Daoxuan performed another soul-pacifying ritual at the ancestral cemetery. Only then did Li Yan and the others bid farewell and resume their journey.

***

The river rolled endlessly onward, their sails billowing in the wind. Their wooden boat sped across the water. Along the riverbank, they happened to see soldiers from the Jingmen garrison galloping past in a great rush, heading in the direction of Zhu Clan's Fort.

"Looks like my letter had some effect." Li Yan shook his head slightly. "Those people are strange too. Brother Lu had the hawk patrol that phosphate mine day and night, but no one ever went there to investigate. We still have no idea which faction they belonged to."

He then looked toward Wang Daoxuan. "Daoist Wang, I remember you once said that people buried in evil lands often produce descendants who commit crimes and evil deeds. Could the troublemakers from Zhu Clan's Fort have turned out that way because of this?"

Wang Daoxuan shook his head slightly. "Fengshui is only one factor. The real problem was that people's hearts had grown scattered, and the village customs had become corrupt. That was what invited this evil consequence.

"Ah... And isn't Great Xuan itself much the same today? Beneath the prosperity of this flourishing age, human desire has become a bottomless pit. Various factions have plundered and accumulated enormous wealth over the past century, yet they remain unsatisfied and have instead developed even greater ambitions.

"The calamity of Zhu Clan's Fort is easy enough to resolve. But the calamity facing Great Xuan belongs to the great tide of human destiny, and everyone is caught within it. Will rites and order collapse as the nation's fortune declines, or will it be reborn through fire and enter a new spring?

"Until the very end, no one can tell."