Chapter 388: Classic
Mei Qing held the two things in her hands.
She looked at the fog in front of her.
The thick fog was pure and flawless.
There were almost no impurities!
She took a deep breath and there was no unpleasant smell in her lungs.
This place was so clean that it didn’t seem like the human world!
“What exactly is this place?” Mei Qing thought.
Unfortunately, the fog here was too thick and heavy.
And…
In this fog, Mei Qing’s magic power and cultivation seemed to have been locked.
She could not use it, nor could she use it.
It was as if all these years of hard work had been in vain.
“Is anyone there?” She asked.
Her voice echoed in the fog.
There was no response.
It was as if this place was a place where no one lived.
But…
The ground under her feet was unusually firm and very flat.
It was as if she was stepping on a marble palace in the palace!
Therefore, there were people here!
At least, there was something here.
Mei Qing raised her feet and walked forward bravely.
The fog seemed to be boundless, without borders and boundless.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Mei Qing was already panting.
In the depths of the fog ahead, an orange lamp quietly appeared.
“Lamp?” Mei Qing stopped. She looked at the lamp and began to hesitate.
Because…
The appearance of that lamp was too strange!
In such a place of fog, visibility was limited.
Moreover, all spells and divine abilities could not be used.
However, a lamp suddenly appeared in it.
Although the light looked dim, it was extremely eye-catching in this fog.
What did this mean?
Mei Qing naturally knew.
That must be the lamp of the master of this place!
And what could the master of such a strange land of fog be?
Now, all the gods and buddhas in the sky were in mourning.
Legend had it that someone once saw the eight trigrams furnace that the Grand Supreme Lao Jun poured down on the flaming mountain.
Legend had it that someone in the Southern Sea saw the demonic fog rolling in the purple bamboo forest.
Legend had it that someone once saw a great legendary bird spreading its wings in the Lion Camel Ridge!
So…
What kind of existence was the owner of this place? Was there still a need to think about it?
Mei Qing paced back and forth, hesitating.
However, the fog seemed to come alive at this moment.
The fog around her rolled like a malicious ghost.
In the distance, there was a terrifying and strange sound.
She vaguely saw an indescribable monster crawling from the depths of the fog.
She took a deep breath, “Looks like I have no choice but to go to the place where the light is!”
She knew that the fog had an owner.
The owner was urging her.
Come… or die!
She had no choice but to move forward.
As expected, the fog quieted down and returned to peace once she started moving forward.
Soon, she arrived in front of the light.
The orange light shook the thick fog.
The fog became much thinner.
She could even see the appearance of the place where the light shone.
A strange red brick building.
The gray walls were covered in dust and a plaque filled with the mottled traces of time hung at the door.
The two sides of the door were decorated with some colorless glass.
A figure stood at the door.
Beside the figure, a small cat shadow followed.
Mei Qing swallowed her saliva and mustered up her courage to walk forward.
She looked at the mottled plaque.
“Qiyuan Bookstore?”
It was a few simplified words.
Mei Qing asked carefully, “Your honor…”
The figure at the door walked under the light.
With just a glance, Mei Qing’s limbs turned cold and her body shook violently because that person had a head that was almost made of fog.
In the rolling thick fog, there seemed to be two sparks in the eye sockets that were slowly swaying.
And the lower half of its body was even stranger.
It wore clothes that had never been seen before. It looked very clean and also very strange.
Beside him, a small black cat followed closely.
Meow!
The black cat meowed softly, making people’s scalps go numb and making them feel uneasy.
God!
A God cultivated by a cat demon!
Moreover, he was a god that enjoyed the incense offerings of a country and was worshipped by the people!
This was because behind the cat, a strange building was reflected.
Endless prayers of the people flowed out from it.
And as everyone knew, because of that evil scripture, the Gods and Buddhas were all dead.
Legend had it that even the Western Heavenly Spirit Mountain was invaded by evil.
The Buddha Tathagata golden body was also shattered.
In the underworld, there was no more Hades, and the ghosts danced wildly. Ksitigarbha’s dharma body was stepped into the River Styx by his former mount, diting.
The underworld was not empty and the Bodhisattva, who had vowed not to become a Buddha, could no longer complete his own Buddhist oath because he himself had become a part of this hell.
So, how did this cat demon who had become a true God escape from the catastrophe?
Mei Qing did not know but she knew that she had encountered an omen that no one had ever encountered before.
“Guest…” the monster’s voice came into her ears. Unexpectedly, it was very easy-going and could even be said to be friendly.
“Are you lost in this fog?” He asked.
The fire in his eyes slowly lit up.
Like a golden crow, it spread its wings and flew, rolling in the thick fog.
Mei Qing was alarmed!
She quickly looked at the plaque at the door and immediately said against her heart, “Your honor, this humble priest is here to buy books!”
As she said that, she bowed and showed her horsetail whisk.
…
Ling Ping’an looked at the Little Daoist nun who called herself ‘this poor Daoist’ in front of him with puzzlement.
She was about eighteen or nineteen years old? Or maybe twenty years old?
She was very young anyway.
But…
Where was her Daoist robe?
Where was her dharma crown?
She called herself ‘this poor Daoist’ just because she was holding a horsetail whisk?
Was it so easy for the Daoist sect to accept disciple nowadays?
After thinking about it, Ling Ping’an had to admit that the Daoist sect was so easy to accept disciple nowadays.
Discipline?
Learning?
It didn’t exist!
As long as one was willing, they could spend some money to obtain the Taoist books of the Orthodox Party and Quanzhen sects.
This was also because of the monks!
Nowadays, as long as the monks entered their temples, the ones who burned incense were all laymen.
Moreover, the famous temples were also starting to become enterprises.
The monks had to clock in for work. There were five insurance policies, one gold, year-end bonuses, and stocks.
Some of the great monks had big gold chains, big watches, and sports cars and nightclubs. They were still highly accomplished monks!
The Taoists had no choice but to follow.
Otherwise, all the leeks would be cut by the monks!
Thinking of this, Ling Ping’an felt relieved.
All the guests were guests. Who cared if she was a bald donkey in the west or a poor Taoist in the east?
The Constitution of the Federal Empire was: Religious equality, freedom of belief!
Therefore, he said with a smile, “Please come in quickly…” He thought for a while and couldn’t figure out how to address a female Taoist priest, so he simply said, “This Taoist priest!”
…
Mei Qing listened to the monster in front of her.
She quickly cupped her hands and followed him into the ‘Bookstore’ in fear.
It was just as Mei Qing had imagined.
This place was indeed extremely terrifying!
She had just improved when she felt an endless pressure coming at her.
It pressed her so hard that she could not straighten her body and raise her head.
She could only lower her head and follow its lead.
Fortunately, this pressure seemed to only want to give her a show of force.
Therefore, it disappeared in the blink of an eye and she became relaxed again.
However, her body became relaxed and her vigor became heavy again.
“What exactly is this place?” Mei Qing thought in her heart, her eyes carefully observing this place.
The floor was made of wood but it was very strange.
From Mei Qing’s point of view, there seemed to be something slowly squirming under these floors.
This made her unable to help but recall the legend that the divine turtle carried the overseas immortal mountain that roamed the four seas.
On both sides of the walls, there were terrifying and strange murals engraved.
Mei Qing only took a glance before immediately lowering her head, not daring to look again.
Because…
The things in those murals… were alive!
“Priest, please sit!” The monster’s voice rang in her ears again.
Mei Qing obediently followed its instructions and sat on a strange bench.
The bench seemed to be made of an unknown leather and it was very soft and comfortable to sit on.
It was as if she was sitting on a living demon.
“I heard that…” Mei Qing thought, “Some powerful cultivators like to skin their enemies and put them on their artifacts…”
“Their artifacts gain spirituality as if they were alive!”
This was a very common thing nowadays.
Great cultivators used humans, demons and ghosts as raw materials to make all kinds of incredible things.
Human-skin lanterns, demon-skin war drums, ghost-skin talismans…
However, this was already a very benevolent cultivator.
In the past hundreds or even thousands of years, the immortals, Buddhas, and demons of the five great regions killed people and devoured the people of a country.
They used the hearts of thousands or even tens of thousands of boys and girls as medicine.
These were all very common things.
However, at that time, when all the Gods and Buddhas were present, instead of being punished, the demon god who did such a thing was punished.
Instead, he was protected by a great power.
On the contrary, those who did good, but with a small mistake, would be beaten up on the mountain gate, the whole family killed!
Skinning and cramping were child’s play.
It was not uncommon for the whole family to lose their lives.
Thinking of these, Mei Qing also slightly sighed.
“The golden belt of murder and arson… building bridges and paving roads without corpses…” she sighed as she read the words that her master often muttered.
At this moment, a cup of steaming hot tea was handed to her.
The monster’s voice sounded in her ear, “Priest, do you want to buy some Taoist classics to study?”
Mei Qing looked up and saw the tea in front of her.
The golden tea was bubbling.
It was like the legendary immortal tea at the Queen Mother’s peach feast, or the Buddha tea personally picked by the Bodhisattvas of Mount Lingshan.
The two flames were slowly rotating.
They were like two yin-yang fish.
The orange light shone from the top of its head and fell on this person.
It made its entire body seem illusory.
Mei Qing took a deep breath and nodded her head.
The monster sat across from it and crossed its legs.
The cat demon beside it jumped onto it.
“Then, what do you want?” It asked, the fire in its eyes shining brightly.
Mei Qing frowned.
She felt that the monster in front of her was not ominous.
On the contrary…
She looked at the cat demon who had cultivated into a true God and was lying on the monster’s body like a real pet.
Therefore, she mustered up her courage and asked, “Your Excellency, do you have a Daoist technique manual that can slay demons and monsters?”
Unexpectedly, the other side snorted and laughed.
It stood up and looked down at her.
“Daoist priest… wants to slay demons and monsters?”
Mei Qing nodded.
Who didn’t want to?
Demons and monsters filled the night and the land was covered in darkness. Their hatred was deep and the world was ruined.
The five provinces were in chaos.
The people were like ants and the common people were like dogs!
However…
She also understood that it was impossible to clean up the world.
Even the Gods and Buddhas in the Sky had died!
Now, it was an era of demons and monsters.
Legend had it that even the once beautiful world of the eastern land was now being ravaged by demons and monsters.
The great demon named An Lushan led beasts to eat humans.
The prosperous Chang’an city had already been burned to the ground!
Therefore, all she wanted was the ability to protect herself and her master and survive in such a chaotic and desperate world.
…
Ling Ping’an looked at the young lady who called herself ‘Poor Daoist’ and was dressed in a retro outfit.
She asked him very seriously if he had a Daoist technique manual that could slay demons and devils?
He was instantly amused.
One could only say that the Federal Empire really made people too free.
One Yuan for a fried chicken and five Yuan for a set meal.
There were also food banks and low-rent housing systems in every city.
All of these ensured that every citizen of the Empire would not end up on the streets, freezing and starving no matter what.
If one had some skills and entered a factory to become a blue-collar worker, they could at least work, support a wife and two dogs, and save up hundreds of thousands worth of stocks in twenty years.
Therefore, in today’s society, a large number of people were so idle that they were about to fall sick.
All kinds of strange hobbies and interests appeared along with it.
In the Nanzhou and Beizhou, the ‘Retro War’ had recently become popular.
A group of idle ranchers, anchers’ children and workers organized themselves during their free time to purchase a large number of equipment from the hundred-year war period.
They began to simulate the classic battles of the hundred-year war.
Last month, the Beizhou Kingdom even organized a 30,000-person rehearsal of the Battle of Xin’an Prefecture.
They even filmed a documentary for a few hours and uploaded it onto the Internet.
Needless to say, these people made it look like a real battle.
The organization, deployment and marching of troops were all exactly the same as the Battle of Xin’an Prefecture in history.
Lining up to be executed was so fun!
Meanwhile, in the metropolitan territory, Ling Ping’an had also heard about it. Nowadays, superstition was widespread.
The internet and financial circles were almost completely wiped out.
Almost all of the Internet factories’headquarters were on the seventh floor.
Why? Because it was chaotic!
There were even more legends on the Internet. Nowadays, the most popular person in the internet companies was the Growth Heavenly King, one of the four heavenly kings of Buddhism.
In a famous factory, there were several masters who were specially hired for higher salaries.
What for?
To calculate the birthdate characters of the promoted employees to see if they were in conflict with the birthdate characters of the bosses and directors!
If they were in conflict, the employees would have to change their names, or the promotion would be ruined!
Legend had it that a certain big shot did not believe in evil.
When he started his business, he insisted on building the headquarters into a ninth floor…
Then, that big shot went bankrupt and lost money. He went on a live broadcast to pay off his debts..
He even became the dark lamp of the industry. He was the legendary king of losses and hated by everyone. No one dared to talk to him about projects!
Thinking of this, Ling Ping’an gave up on his preparations to persuade this little girl to believe in science.
After all…
Even those internet elites with doctorates and professors, creative talents who played with big data and computers, believed in feudal superstitions.
How could he, with just a few words, make a young man who was obsessed with feudal superstitions and seriously believed that there were demons in this world suddenly believe in science?
That was impossible!
It was just like how other people had no choice but to make him believe in ghosts and gods.
Moreover…
It didn’t seem to be a problem for a little girl to believe in a Little Taoism?
This was her freedom!
Ling Ping’an had always felt that this religion and diet were actually the same.
Some people liked to eat coriander, while others hated it when they saw it and ran with their hands covering their noses.
Were they wrong?
No!
Coriander was even more right.
A qualified materialist had to learn to look at a problem objectively and dialectically.
Then, he had to choose the most effective and feasible method to solve the problem.
With this mentality, Ling Ping’an smiled, “Customer, I don’t have any secret manuals that can slay demons and devils…”
“Of course, if you need them…”
“I can recommend you a few Daoist scriptures that cultivate one’s body and mind…”
“Of course…” He narrowed his eyes, “If you really want to see the wondrous uses of the Daoist scriptures, I can also recommend you a few… Hmm… the ones that the young immortal cultivator counterattacked…” He thought hard, finally, he thought of a word that the other party might accept, “Classic!”
Look!
The ancient godhood romance, search for the gods and journey to the West were classics.
Why couldn’t the current online fairy fiction be classics?
If there was a chance, the young web novelist would be willing to contribute a little to the development of the web novel.