Chapter 123: Advice

I walked out of the room.

The doorway was empty. Li Yue was biting her lip as she looked at me, her eyes clearly dazed.

I immediately guessed the reason for Li Yue’s state. Li Cangshui was her master, but they hadn't seen each other for many days. Aside from the short journey we just made, where she was allowed to stay by his side, he had then immediately ordered her to follow me to look after Wang Erjun. Now, he wanted to see me alone.

Sighing inwardly, I said in a low voice, "Don't overthink it. Senior Li and Zhang Chang have been friends for many years. Now that they have just reunited, and given what Zhang Chang intends to do, he is helping me."

"If you two are to return to Baihu Village with us, he will surely want to discuss things with me. Besides, Erjun’s situation is quite tricky."

Li Yue forced a smile and said, "I'm fine."

The door to the adjacent room was open. I walked straight in.

Li Cangshui stood with his hands behind his back, facing the inner wall and looking out the window. Zhang Chang was fiddling with something that looked like a chessboard.

I spoke with great respect, "Senior Li."

Li Cangshui said in a calm tone, "I will return to Baihu Village with you, but what I am doing is not to help you. That thing beneath Baihu Village will eventually bring disaster to the region; this is a matter of upholding justice."

"However, I can offer you a word of warning. The Three-Corpse God is the manifestation of extreme evil, desire, and greed—a mixture of all negative emotions. In Taoism, 'slaying the three corpses' is meant to purify the heart and mind. Your filial piety is commendable, but do not release her recklessly. It is extremely difficult to dissolve the resentment of the Three-Corpse God. Furthermore, having served as the source of the array for so long, the lingering spirits have only deepened her evil intent."

"If she commits evil, I will intervene."

I was startled, not expecting Li Cangshui to have called me over for this. I already knew something about the Three-Corpse God, but hearing it from Li Cangshui gave the concept a distinctly different weight.

I exhaled softly and said, "Senior Li, she is my mother. If she has grievances, I will find a way to dispel them. Even if she needs flesh and blood, she will consume mine—her son's. I will not let her commit evil."

Li Cangshui nodded.

At that moment, Zhang Chang looked up and smiled. "Li Cangshui, you are always so heartless. Your little disciple has faced many dangers following Xie Yuan. If not for him, she never would have survived to reach my Changyuan Stronghold."

Li Cangshui replied, "Life and death are fated; everyone has their own destiny."

Zhang Chang picked up the chessboard and remarked, "A fine 'destiny' indeed, but I simply don't believe in this fate you speak of. Do you know what we are going to do next?"

"You left Changyuan Stronghold, and Yalong Mountain nearly collapsed, didn't it? If you don't go straight to Baihu Village to find your great-grandson, what else could you possibly be doing?"

Zhang Chang shook his head and said, "That is what you don't know. 'Life and death are fated' is something only those who control everything should say. As for what I do, if you don't know, then it’s none of your business."

Li Cangshui’s brows finally furrowed. He turned back, looked deeply at Zhang Chang, and said, "Do not let Xie Yuan touch things he shouldn't."

Zhang Chang smiled again. "Although I have no blood relationship with Xie Yuan, in terms of seniority and human relations, he should call me great-grandfather. Since my father’s generation, our descendants have been few, and we have almost no other relatives. We cherish every child. I am very old now, and since he is the biological older brother of my great-grandson, I naturally care more about him than you do."

"If you could actually offer some help to Xie Yuan, then you could lecture me. But since you won't even lift a finger to help him, it's best you don't say too much."

I understood the situation within a few sentences: Zhang Chang disliked Li Cangshui’s code of conduct and was deliberately silencing him. Sure enough, Li Cangshui stopped speaking and went back to looking out the window.

"Let’s go, Xie Yuan. Great-grandfather will take you to a good place."

Zhang Chang stood up. His self-proclaimed title of "great-grandfather" left me momentarily stunned.

I glanced at Li Cangshui again, but Zhang Chang said with dissatisfaction, "Why are you still looking at that old Taoist? He isn't willing to help you. Don't think that letting Li Yue follow you was an act of kindness; he simply didn't dare enter Yalong Mountain himself, but Li Yue had to go in. That was exploitation."

"That chubby kid is an exception, but I can be certain that if the karma didn't involve him, he would remain unmoved even if you died right in front of him."

"Such is the way of the world. You think he is a good man, yet he is the most heartless of all."

Li Cangshui did not refute this, nor did he turn around.

I suddenly realized why Li Yue was so sad. Could it be that if Li Yue hadn't been sent to Yalong Mountain, it would have affected Li Cangshui in some way? Now that Li Yue had returned and retrieved the object, she was fine, and the karma weighing on Li Cangshui had diminished, meaning he no longer needed to maintain contact with her. Was this the reason for her low spirits?

As I followed Zhang Chang out of the room, he glanced down at my waist and said with satisfaction, "It seems you caught enough last night?"

I nodded. Regarding Zhang Chang, I could only feel gratitude.

Zhang Chang hummed and suddenly said, "Do you know what conditions are required for the Three-Corpse God to come back to life?"

My heart skipped a beat, and I replied, "My mother's body is undecayed. As long as there is a soul, she should be able to be resurrected, right?"

Zhang Chang shook his head. "It’s not that easy. I only promised you I would help her escape. But since you once called my son 'grandfather,' and there are things about you that even I cannot fathom, I want to help you a bit more."

"I am different from Li Cangshui. I will be direct: the past is in the past. These Ghost-Raising Jars and Thousand-Yin Ropes are my apology for what my family has done. Though they cannot bring back the dead, me coming with you is the only remedy I can offer."

"This extra bit of help is to allow your mother's Three-Corpse God to resurrect directly within her own body."

I clenched my fists, eyes wide, staring at Zhang Chang, not daring to interrupt.

Zhang Chang continued, "The Three-Corpse God is not an ordinary soul; it is the 'three corpses' separated from the body. Ordinarily, the Three-Corpse God no longer belongs to the original body."

"However, you mentioned before that your mother’s soul dissipated because she saved you, letting you consume her spirit, right?"

I nodded.

Zhang Chang hummed. "In that case, we can use your soul as a medium, attempting to use your memories to guide your mother's memories and fuse them with the Three-Corpse God. This requires a specific medicinal catalyst."

My eyelids twitched. "What catalyst?"

"Seven-Root Ginseng. Ginseng possesses spirituality; a special spirit ginseng grows one root every hundred years. Seven roots require seven hundred years to form. These seven roots can transform into a person's seven emotions and physical senses. The Three-Corpse God only has the three souls but lacks the seven physical senses. Even if she were resurrected, she would only possess the resentment of the Three-Corpse God. If the seven senses exist, they can be used to guide her, dispersing that resentment. Only then can she truly be a person again after being resurrected."

My breathing quickened. "Where can I find the Seven-Root Ginseng?"

"Heading south from here, the other end of this Yin Dragon River is Zhenyin Mountain. Yalong Mountain guards the dragon's tail, while Zhenyin Mountain sits at the dragon's head."

"After the Yin Dragon River took form, all the Yin energy accumulated in the belly of Yalong Mountain, making Zhenyin Mountain a rare Yang mountain in this world."

"Only in this mountain will the Seven-Root Ginseng grow. Furthermore, it is full of Yang energy and can even extend a person's lifespan."

Zhang Chang pointed in a direction outside the inn. "If you want to search for this ginseng, I can accompany you."

I nodded without hesitation.

A look of satisfaction appeared on Zhang Chang's face. Suddenly, he beckoned me closer. He lowered his voice and told me to bring the chubby kid and Li Yue along; their talismans and Feng Shui techniques would be useful.

The techniques he used were too Yin-heavy, which would cause the ginseng spirits to flee far away, and the techniques I used were too brutal, likely destroying everything with a single talisman.

I hesitated, as this would involve Wang Erjun and Li Yue.

Zhang Chang told me that I had done Li Yue a favor, and I shouldn't think she entered Changyuan Stronghold so easily. Moreover, Wang Erjun was a brother who had lived and died with me; if I went to find the ginseng without him, he would certainly be displeased. He told me to at least tell them the truth and let them choose for themselves.

I knew in my heart they would definitely go.

I suspected that Zhang Chang’s choice to help me was a deliberate move against Li Cangshui. Was he trying to drag Li Cangshui into this matter through Wang Erjun and Li Yue?