Chapter 71: Shattering the Earth's Vital Energy

From the afternoon, I sat on the mountain path outside the Mountain God Temple, waiting for my grandfather. Of course, I hadn’t told Niu Dahuang and the others about the dream I’d had; I simply waited there in silence.

Weiyang came over and sat beside me. She asked, “What are you waiting for?”

“I dreamed last night that someone told me my grandfather would return after sunset today,” I said, gazing at the rugged path.

“Really? Then I’ll wait with you,” she replied, a hint of surprise and delight in her voice.

As we waited, I asked Weiyang which path of cultivation she practiced. She said, naturally, it was the Ghost Path—she and Lin Yuan had both been disciples of that sect in their youth.

I nodded. “I’ve found my own path, but why can’t I refine my essence into energy, or condense true qi?”

“These things can’t be rushed. It took me half a year to condense true qi. You must give it time,” Weiyang said, looking at me.

I nodded slightly; indeed, I had been impatient. Besides, my grandfather’s great vengeance remained unavenged, and my mind was never at peace.

“Lin Yi, aren’t you waiting for your grandfather? Perhaps he really will come back after sunset,” Weiyang encouraged.

“In the end, it was just a dream. Maybe I thought about my grandfather too much, so the dream came,” I replied. In truth, I never truly believed it. Grandfather had been beheaded by Er Pang, who had even returned the Mountain God’s Order. How could my grandfather possibly return after sunset?

“Let’s not wait any longer. Let’s go back to the temple,” I said.

“Let’s wait a bit more. It’s not yet evening. Lin Yi, I believe your dream wasn’t just a dream,” Weiyang insisted, her gaze steadfast as she looked down the long mountain path.

Dusk arrived, and darkness gently descended. The path grew hazy, but still there was no sign of my grandfather. I stood up and told Weiyang, “Let’s go. He’s not coming back.”

I turned to leave, but Weiyang grabbed my wrist. “Lin Yi, look! Who’s that?”

At that very moment, I heard someone humming an old opera tune, the sound growing clearer. I turned and saw a dark figure swaying up the mountain path toward us.

Could the dream be true?

My grandfather—was he really coming back at dusk?

I was so overwhelmed, I could hardly believe what I saw. Weiyang was just as elated, and together, we rushed down the mountain.

When we reached him, my grandfather smiled faintly. “Lin Yi, lead the way. Take me home.”

“All right!”

I immediately led the way, with Weiyang and my grandfather following, back to the Mountain God Temple. Just as we arrived, Niu Dahuang was in the courtyard. When he saw my grandfather, he froze in shock and delight—his pipe even slipped from his hand.

“O-old Lin… you’re back!” he stammered.

“Yes, I’m back,” my grandfather replied, glancing around the temple. Then we went inside and sat down. I told him about my dream and asked how he had returned.

Grandfather explained that Er Pang had never actually beheaded him, nor Daoist Li. The execution had only claimed their stand-ins. For the past few days, he’d been hiding in Old Jieling Village, waiting for a moonless night to return so the underworld wouldn’t detect him.

And indeed, tonight was the last day of the lunar month; the sky was moonless.

Grandfather had Er Pang deliver me the Mountain God’s Order so that it could guide his soul back—without it, his newly formed spirit would have struggled to return.

I asked about Daoist Li’s whereabouts. Just then, someone knocked at the door. Niu Dahuang opened it, and sure enough, Daoist Li was there. He explained he had sent word in a dream to the Mistress of the Azure Robe Monastery, so she could recover in peace.

Now, both the underworld and its powerful backers believed my grandfather and Daoist Li were dead. Their names had even been crossed off the Book of Life and Death. Their journey into the underworld had been a clever ruse to escape danger.

The truth astonished us all. Niu Dahuang said, “Old Lin, Daoist Li, you two really put us through the wringer. I thought you were really… gone…”

Daoist Li replied, “We had no choice. If we hadn’t made it convincing, how could we have deceived the underworld—and the great figure lurking behind it all?”

At this, I couldn’t help but ask, “Who is this great figure behind the underworld?”

Daoist Li shook his head. “His identity remains unknown. Your grandfather and I hoped to investigate further, but he never appeared. Still, it’s clear he stands above even the King of Hell.”

Grandfather added, “That’s right. The execution was held openly in the village square, with no effort to hide from the will of Heaven. Clearly, their actions were permitted by fate itself—and the great figure behind it is closely linked to the workings of Heaven.”

No power in either world can defy the will of Heaven. If one is sanctioned by fate, there is nothing to fear.

After grandfather finished, I couldn’t help but ask, “What about Er Pang?”

“Alas… that child is truly to be pitied,” grandfather said.

His three souls and seven spirits had just gathered, his divine nature barely formed—he needed to remain in the temple for a hundred days, enjoying incense, to stabilize his spiritual body and divinity.

Daoist Li’s situation was simpler. His body was stored in the Icy Spring Cavern below the temple. Once his soul returned, he could immediately reclaim his true form. But he said now was not the time—if he revived, the underworld’s judge would sense it, ruining their plan.

I nodded, and recalling the two coffins in the cavern, I asked grandfather whose they were. This time, he didn’t keep me in the dark. They belonged to my simple-minded cousin and his wife—their bodies were inside.

So, the coffin burned for my cousin’s wife had been a fake.

I asked if my cousin and his wife were actually Lin Xiaofeng and Bai Ningxiang. Grandfather hesitated and said, “To tell the truth, I still can’t be certain. We’ll have to wait until the incense has burned for a hundred days.”

I nodded. It seemed the ancestral tablets at my uncle’s house were connected to grandfather, but he didn’t say who maintained them—only smiled.

I didn’t press further; I knew the truth would reveal itself in time. Afterward, I went out into the yard to continue practicing refining essence into energy. When grandfather saw this, he burst out laughing.

He turned to Niu Dahuang and asked, “Did you teach him?”

Niu Dahuang scratched his head awkwardly. “Yes, I did.”

“Neither Daoist Li nor I could teach him, yet you managed. Quite a talent you have!” Grandfather joked. Indeed, neither he nor Daoist Li would teach me, and I never understood why. As a result, I remained ignorant, a burden to others in times of danger, always needing protection.

This left me frustrated, so I kept pestering Niu Dahuang to teach me. He finally relented and showed me the basics, though he never dared accept me as a disciple.

“Old Lin, if you won’t teach your eldest grandson, he’ll just keep pestering me. What am I supposed to do?” Niu Dahuang glared at grandfather, then squatted on a stone to smoke his pipe.

Grandfather smiled, looking from Niu Dahuang to me. “Child, it’s not that I won’t teach you, but that you don’t need anyone to teach you. Even if someone did, it would be futile.”

“Do you remember, on Soul Severing Cliff, there was a stone covered in cracks?” grandfather suddenly asked.

I had no recollection and asked, “What stone covered in cracks?”

Weiyang approached. “I remember,” she said, and explained that when grandfather fell from Soul Severing Cliff and was presumed dead, in my grief I struck a massive stone with my fist and shattered it, leaving it covered in cracks.

As she spoke, a faint memory stirred. At the time, I’d been too distraught to notice.

“Child, do you realize that punch shattered more than just a stone? You broke the very ground energy of Soul Severing Cliff. If not for that blow, which disrupted the energy, my remnant soul could never have escaped the death trap I’d set for myself!” grandfather said solemnly.

“Really?” It sounded unbelievable.

Niu Dahuang immediately chimed in, “Exactly! I thought Old Lin had used magic to break the ground energy, but it was you, boy! No wonder the method I taught you for refining essence didn’t work!”