Yunzhi Had a Clever Plan

The jade tablet seemed to be working again.

Chen Du took out the undamaged jade tablet that had been kept with the longsword and compared the two. They now seemed almost indistinguishable.

"The Earth Sage Seal!"

Chen Du recalled what he had learned about the Talisman School.

Every beginner in the Talisman School, roughly equivalent to someone who had just begun qi refinement, had a personal seal. They cast spells with paper talismans, stamping the seal after drawing one as a kind of signature, marking it as their own work. Then they wrote a prayer and set up an altar to petition a deity. If the deity approved, the paper talisman gained divine power.

The process was very similar.

This seal, however, involved no petition to a deity. It seemed to possess some kind of divine power itself.

That reminded him of the legendary ritual implements of the gods, which often contained divine authority. Many such implements took the form of seals.

Take the Rain-Giving and Wind-Dispensing Seal and the Cloud-Retaining and Moon-Borrowing Seal. Supposedly, one could write a divine decree and stamp it with the former to summon rain and wind. Doing the same with the latter could make clouds linger and bring the bright moon back into view. In ancient times, there had also been stories of a river god losing a ritual implement, only for a mortal to find it and gain divine powers through it.

This seal clearly possessed similar divine power.

Could it represent a mountain god's authority?

The founding master had indeed left a way to deal with the situation.

Unfortunately, Chen Du had only just begun cultivating. He had been unable to detect the seal weakening beforehand or reinforce it in time, and had even been powerless to stop the demon when it escaped.

Now the demon had fled far away, but the mountain's restrictions kept him from leaving. How was he supposed to find it?

Even if he did find the demon, all he had now was a lock. How was he supposed to get it into the box?

Chen Du continued to ponder.

Huh? Why was all the mountain's spiritual resonance flowing toward the temple?

Yunzhi was drinking from her new cup, which was printed with a picture of a kitten with side-swept bangs. She had no phone to play with, the immortal master had not turned on the television for her, and she had no friends who were also awake to visit, so she could only pace around the temple courtyard to cool off. Suddenly, she sensed a change in heaven and earth and could not help looking around.

Because she followed the Dao of yin and yang, the moonlight essence was what she sensed most clearly amid the spiritual resonance filling the sky.

She saw moonlight essence pouring down from the nine heavens like flowing water, spilling into the temple's rear courtyard.

For a time, she could not even absorb any lunar yin essence herself.

"This is..."

The place where the immortal master lived?

With such abilities, was he an earthly immortal, or a mighty figure from ancient times?

Yunzhi should have been surprised, but she had grown somewhat numb to it all.

What she felt more than anything now was relief.

She had actually encountered such an exalted immortal, one who was not only gentle in character but generous with his rewards!

At the same time, her trip up the mountain this evening had been a brilliant move. It had very likely left a good impression on the immortal master, too. Otherwise, he would not have gone out of his way to treat her to a supreme delicacy like instant noodles that night!

That had been her little scheme as well.

She would never have thought of such things on her own. Fortunately, she had been quite fond of reading in her spare time back then, and during her travels through the world, a recently published masterpiece called Romance of the Three Kingdoms had been circulating among mortals. It contained plenty of wisdom from those who had come before.

"It works!"

If she got the chance, she ought to build on her success. Perhaps, if the immortal master saw how well she performed, he would bestow another spirit fruit upon her! If things went on like this, who was to say she could not advance another step?

To gain favor, she first had to render service.

That was what the generals and strategists in the book all did.

But the demon's cultivation was clearly higher than hers. Even in its terrible condition, she had no confidence she could defeat it.

"What would the ancients do?"

Yunzhi paced as she thought.

The night stretched long, but she did not find it hard to endure. Like the ancients, she first went to sleep, waking in the middle of the night. Though she could not run off to visit a friend like Su Shi, she could sit in meditation and cultivate for a while. Once she grew sleepy, she slept again until just before dawn, then got up to sweep the floor and cook. It made for a fulfilling night.

But at breakfast, she noticed that something seemed to be weighing on the immortal master's mind.

Had an opportunity come so soon?

A thought stirred in Yunzhi's mind, but she gave nothing away.

"Immortal Master, what troubles you?"

"A few trifles."

"Could it be because of that demon from yesterday?"

"You're quite clever."

"You flatter me, Immortal Master. Yunzhi is merely not stupid."

Yunzhi even set down her chopsticks for the moment to share her analysis.

"Spiritual qi has only just begun to recover in the world, and that demon has only just broken out of its seal. It doesn't yet know how formidable missiles are. Now that it has escaped, it might recklessly cause trouble again and stir up panic, which is something you would not wish to see, Immortal Master. But you are practicing a secret art and cannot conveniently leave the mountain or take action."

Was making grand promises really that effective?

Chen Du thought for a moment, then followed her lead.

"If I leave it to cause trouble down the mountain, I'm worried someone might get hurt or killed, or that it might cause a panic. They might even trace it back to us in the end. It's still early, and as far as most people know, there are no demons in the world. So I'm considering whether I should break my precepts over this."

Yunzhi's heart skipped a beat at his words.

Right, she had not thought of that.

Spiritual qi had only just begun to recover, and the people down the mountain had not yet adjusted their understanding. If they discovered that demons really existed, and that the demon had escaped from here, the fact that she and Senior Xie were demons might be exposed as well. If that happened, Senior Xie would naturally be fine under the immortal master's protection, but the same might not be true for her.

"How could a mere demon be allowed to interfere with your practice of a secret art, Immortal Master?" Yunzhi could wait no longer and immediately volunteered. "Though its cultivation is not low, from what I saw, it has only just awakened. Its cultivation is impaired, its magic power is lacking, and its vital blood is depleted. I doubt it has gone far. Yunzhi is willing to find it for you, Immortal Master."

"Can you beat it?"

"Well..."

An embarrassed look appeared on Yunzhi's face.

"To answer you, Immortal Master, that demon's cultivation should be much higher than Yunzhi's. Thanks to the precious flower and spirit fruit you bestowed, Yunzhi's cultivation has recovered and even advanced another step, so I can put up a fight. But my true form is not very strong, so I might not, might not be able to defeat it. If a fight is unavoidable, Yunzhi hopes it comes as soon as possible, before it recovers its magic power."

"What if you can't beat it?"

"Yunzhi has a plan for that too."

Yunzhi paused before presenting her clever plan.

"In Yunzhi's view, your divine abilities are vast and your magic power boundless, Immortal Master. No matter how brazen that demon is, it certainly cannot escape the palm of your hand. It is only because you are practicing a secret art that you cannot conveniently take action. But only you and Yunzhi know about your practice of the secret art-oh, and Senior Xie too. The demon knows nothing of it."

Chen Du had a faint, unpleasant premonition.

"So?"

"The ancients said: the highest form of warfare is to thwart the enemy's plans; next is to break its alliances; next is to attack its army; and the worst is to besiege its cities. A siege is undertaken only when there is no other choice."

Yunzhi spoke confidently.

"Once Yunzhi finds it, I will first appeal to its feelings and reason with it, persuading it to return. If it refuses, I will borrow your illustrious name and mighty power, Immortal Master, and use my three-inch tongue to frighten it. It will surely not dare act rashly and will surrender without a fight. If none of that works, only then will I consider fighting."

"..."

"Immortal Master?" Seeing that he said nothing, Yunzhi asked, "What do you think of this plan?"

"Excellent..."

Hopefully it's as easy to scare as you are.

Chen Du could not even leave the mountain and had no other option for the moment, so he could only nod. "In that case, search the area around this mountain over the next few days and see if you can find it."

"I shall obey your decree, Immortal Master!"

Yunzhi readily agreed.

I finally got the task!

As a matter of principle, the immortal master had repeatedly shown her tolerance and treated her generously. He had even given her food and lodging and bestowed spirit fruit upon her. It was time she repaid him. As for her circumstances, she was living under his roof, and whether she stayed or left, and whether she enjoyed wealth and honor, all depended on a single thought from him. She ought to know which way the wind was blowing.

In the short term, the immortal master was generous, and he might give her another spirit fruit. In the long term, his magic power was boundless, and perhaps he could raise even his chickens and dogs to heaven with him.

Either way, she ought to be more diligent.

I finally handed it off!

Chen Du breathed a sigh of relief as well. He did not know whether Yunzhi's plans to thwart the enemy's schemes and break its alliances would work, but he hoped she could bring the demon back without trouble.

At the same time, he had to prepare for the worst.

There was no time to cultivate, and he had not even caught a glimpse of a spell.

In the end, Chen Du's attention returned to the seal.

His intuition told him that the seal was either a divine ritual implement belonging to that "Earth Sage" or had been made from a deity's ritual implement. It could command the spiritual qi of the entire mountain to suppress a demon, and very likely had more functions waiting for him to unlock.