Chapter 24 Chapter Twenty-Four — The Funeral Street and the Daoist Temple

Before the eyes of all, the villagers of Xiaosha beheld the most unforgettable sight of their lives.

That gourd could not only fly of itself — it could drink up water?

At first they thought, how much water can a gourd hold? But gradually they saw they were wrong.

Column after column of water rushed into the gourd, and the pool sank swiftly — while the gourd, like a bottomless pit, could never be filled.

Pit-a-pat, pit-a-pat…

Many fish and shrimp fell upon the bank, thrashing upon the ground.

The Three-Realms Gourd could not take living things, and so it spat them out of itself.

The water sank lower and lower, until the bottom showed, where a brown shape could be seen darting to and fro.

After a few more breaths the pool was at last wholly drained, exposing the thick silt below.

A brown great fish over three meters long, mouth agape, its fins like saw-teeth, flopped in the mud.

Li Daoxuan's gaze fixed upon its swollen belly; without hesitation he stirred the immortal gourd.

"Burn it!"

Boom!

The Three-Realms Gourd spewed scorching red flame that fell upon the fish's back, searing it to raw wounds.

Li Daoxuan deliberately avoided its belly, lest he scorch the child.

After a moment the great fish's back was all but cooked through, at its last gasp, stripped of any power to resist.

Then at Li Daoxuan's nod the villagers leapt down one after another, hauled the great fish up, and slit open its belly — and there, sure enough, was Granny Zhang's grandson.

The child's face was blue and purple, his breath faint as a thread.

Li Daoxuan first set a Six Ding Six Jia Protective Talisman upon him to dispel the demonic qi, then worked to restart the child's breath and heart — pressing the chest, breathing into the mouth.

The child's parents and Granny Zhang all watched him with pleading eyes, hoping this omnipotent immortal master might bring the boy back.

Blessedly, the child was hardy; after Li Daoxuan worked at him a while, he coughed, spat up a mouthful of pool water, and his color returned to normal.

He opened his eyes, dazed, and saw his weeping mother beside him. "Mother, I just now… dreamt I'd been swallowed by a great fish…"

Then Granny Zhang dropped to her knees before Li Daoxuan, her face full of shame. "Thank you, immortal master. I — I doubted you before. I am worse than a beast — I deserve to die!" She raised a hand to slap herself.

Li Daoxuan hastily stayed her. "No need for this. I, too, was remiss earlier, nearly delaying your planting. Now the boy is restored — go home, all of you."

The old village elder came over, cupping dozens of copper coins in both hands.

"Immortal master, we are simple farmers, but we know that subduing a demon calls for payment. The village pooled what little we could — pray do not disdain it!"

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Li Daoxuan looked at those copper coins, and at their somewhat ashamed eyes.

Clearly these plain villagers felt that so small a sum was shameful — yet it was all they could muster.

Li Daoxuan smiled faintly and took up a single coin from among them.

"This poor Daoist sets his price for subduing demons by his mood. Today my mood is fair, and one coin suffices."

Had they been rich, he would have taken more without hesitation; but for villagers who could scarce fill their own bellies, a single copper was enough.

Just then the fish demon, of such stubborn vitality, at last died outright.

The Heaven-Subduing Demon Scripture blazed with light, and a line of script appeared.

"Early Zhenguan, fifth month — at the ancient pool of Longshou Mountain, slew a fish demon; this yaoguai had cultivated twenty years and occasionally fed on humans. Slaying it grants reward — 【one year of cultivation】!"

A gleam of joy rose in Li Daoxuan's eyes — at last his cultivation would advance!

In the next breath the mana within him swelled like spring flood, doubling at once; his limbs and bones grew warm, as if his strength too had increased.

But his gladness had scarce begun when a violent piercing pain seized his abdomen, as if ten thousand swords ran through him, tearing heart and bowels.

Li Daoxuan's face went deathly pale.

"Immortal master? Immortal master, what ails you?"

The old village elder asked, worried.

Li Daoxuan let out a long breath; the agony had already ebbed, yet he had a premonition the trouble was not resolved.

Something had gone wrong in his cultivation; if it went on so, it would only worsen!

He must find Daoist Zhang Qianyang without delay.

Li Daoxuan waved his sleeve and took the fish demon's corpse into the Three-Realms Gourd. "It is nothing — only that I recalled an urgent matter. This poor Daoist takes his leave."

With that he waved a hand and made to depart.

He paused, as if a thought had struck him. "Ah — Elder, there is a thing I would ask of you."

"Immortal master, command freely!"

"This time, that I could destroy the serpent demon was thanks in no small part to the Niu family's wife of Sanhe Village. Trouble me to carry word of the serpent's death to her, and tell the villagers of Sanhe that she is the true hero who subdued the demon — let no one sully her name."

The old village elder said at once, "That is simple — this old man will see it done!"

Li Daoxuan nodded, cast one last glance at the villagers of Xiaosha, and turned to leave. His steps shrank to inches, and in but a few breaths he had vanished from before their eyes.

…

At dusk, before the sun had set, Li Daoxuan reached Xinyang County.

The county town was noticeably livelier, its houses ordered and neat, mostly of timber, with the occasional brick dwelling — the homes of local great families, more imposing.

Li Daoxuan walked the market; the road was level and broad. Though not so clean as in later ages, it was far better than the village mire.

It was now dusk, and the market held few people; vendors were already packing up to go home.

The Tang enforced a curfew — to walk abroad without cause at night earned twenty lashes.

Of course, so long as you stayed within your own walls, you might do as you pleased; thus the Tang people were not without night-life — so long as the house was large enough, you could dance and feast to your heart's content.

Li Daoxuan stopped before a jewelry stall and smiled. "This worthy brother, might I ask you something?"

The stall-keeper was a kindly-looking middle-aged man, who smiled. "What is it?"

"Do you know where the Zhenyang Daoist Temple is?"

But at the words "Zhenyang Daoist Temple" the stall-keeper's expression changed utterly; his smile withdrew, and he scanned Li Daoxuan up and down.

"What do you ask of that place?"

"To pay a visit to a senior."

The stall-keeper shook his head repeatedly, not even looking at Li Daoxuan. "Don't know. Ask someone else."

Li Daoxuan wondered inwardly why his manner had shifted so abruptly.

He asked others, and found that at the very mention of "Zhenyang Daoist Temple," every face changed, and their looks at him grew strange — as if he were a plague god…

Yet through Li Daoxuan's relentless questioning, an old woman selling funeral goods at last told him the general direction.

In the most remote western street of Xinyang County, known as the "Funeral Street."

When Li Daoxuan came to this street, he understood why it was called the Funeral Street: the whole length was hung with apotropaic talismans and black cloth, and every shop enshrined a different god-image.

What this street sold was all that only the dead would use.

Burial-clothing shops, coffin-makers, custom epitaphs…

When Li Daoxuan stepped onto this street, it seemed the very temperature dropped a few degrees.

He walked swiftly, and at the street's end at last spied a broken-down Daoist temple.

Pushing open the door, Li Daoxuan sucked in a sharp breath.

In the temple courtyard, laid out plainly, were a straw mat and a coffin; upon the mat lay a man's corpse, its face marked with many stitching-traces — plainly sewn up after death.