Chapter Ninety-Two: The Tragedy of Bai Qing

At the lower reaches of the White River, beside the Elder Ridge Mountains, there was a pool of water called White Dragon Pool. I am sure both of you know this place. In former years, Longhu Mountain joined forces with the Daoist orders and, acting on behalf of heaven, sealed a vicious dragon beneath this pool. Regrettably, the dragon pearl was destroyed back then. But as far as I know, the dragon essence remains. If we can seize it, with such a divine treasure at hand, it would be as easy for the Daoist orders to crush the Ghost Path as to pinch an ant to death," Ma Zhenlei said.

As soon as Zhang Yu heard this, he said, "Yes, Temple Leader Ma is right. White Clear Temple is, after all, a temple under the banner of Longhu Mountain. Why not set out at once?"

"Did not Zhang Changlu die at White Clear Temple? Do you still think White Clear Temple belongs to your Longhu Mountain?" Ma Zhenlei asked.

Those words made Zhang Yu blush. He was momentarily speechless. Ma Zhenlei went on, "If I am not mistaken, White Clear Temple has already surrendered to the Ghost Path. And White Clear Temple is in charge of the sealing formation at White Dragon Pool. If the Ghost Path should obtain the dragon essence first, then our efforts to destroy them will likely become difficult. Therefore, if we wish to obtain the dragon beneath White Dragon Pool, we must gather the full strength of the Daoist orders and seize White Clear Temple first!"

"White Clear Temple is only a female Taoist temple, with few disciples. Taking it should be as easy as lifting a hand," Qiu Yuanzhen said with a cold smile.

"Very well. Tomorrow I will go with the two of you to take White Clear Temple. How about it?" Ma Zhenlei asked with a sinister grin.

"Agreed!" Zhang Yu and Qiu Yuanzhen said at the same time.

After the events at White Bridge Town, Lady Immortal Bai and the Corpse King of the Conqueror remained there. The talk of the Corpse King rising and all living beings suffering calamity was nothing but a slander spread by the Daoist orders. Under the control of the Corpse King, the corpses buried by river burial beneath the White River, though soaked through with corpse breath and baleful energy, all remained obediently at the bottom of the river. It was instead the Ma family, one of the Daoist lineages, that had harmed many people.

I and Wei Yang returned from White Bridge Town together to the Mountain God Temple.

On the second day after returning, Daoist Li and I were cultivating in the mountains. During our sparring, however, Daoist Li accidentally wounded his palm with his own spell.

A stream of blood seeped out. Looking at his fingers, Daoist Li could not help frowning slightly. He said, "I have practiced the Dao for many years and have never been injured by my own magic. Now that I have seen blood, this must be a sign of bloodshed and disaster!"

"We are all in the mountains. How could there be any bloodshed and disaster? Why not return at once and let my grandfather divine what has happened?" I suggested.

My grandfather was most skilled in divination. After we descended the mountain and returned to the temple, I found him using copper coins for a reading. When he saw Daoist Li and me return, he said, "Fellow Daoist Li, your timing is just right. Something serious has happened at White Clear Temple!"

At my grandfather's words, Daoist Li raised his hand and began to calculate as well. After only a moment, his expression changed. He said, "Terrible. My disciple Qingyi is in danger!"

"Lin Yi, go with Daoist Li at once and hurry to White Clear Temple to save her!" my grandfather ordered.

"I'll go too!" said Granny Wang.

"Your soul is out of your body, and you have no yin body. If you go out and meet the sunlight, you will be scattered to the winds. You must not leave the Mountain God Temple by even half a step!" said my grandfather.

"But Qingyi is in danger. I cannot ignore her!" Granny Wang said, deeply distressed.

I hurried over and could only comfort Granny Wang. "Grandmother Wang, rest assured. I will go together with Senior Li, and we will be sure to keep Temple Leader Qingyi safe!"

Then Daoist Li and I set out at once and rushed all the way to White Clear Temple.

The dragon vein of Elder Ridge was originally connected to the water dragon vein of White Dragon Pool. Therefore, Daoist Li and I could travel directly through the mountains, much faster than by ordinary means.

When we arrived at White Clear Temple, the sky was already dark and a light rain was falling. From afar, the main hall of White Clear Temple had already collapsed, and even the temple-protecting flags around it, those yellow banners dyed the color of apricot blossoms, had all been burned away.

It seemed White Clear Temple truly was in trouble.

Daoist Li's movements were swift, and I followed close behind.

But when we reached the inner court of White Clear Temple, we found the female disciples of White Clear Temple lying sprawled all over the ground. They were drenched in blood, and there was no trace of their souls. They had all already lost their lives.

The main hall had caved in. Beneath the ruins, in a pool of blood, Temple Leader Qingyi lay there, her whisk burned away and cast to one side.

"Qingyi!"

Seeing this, Daoist Li cried out. Power surged beneath his feet, and he leaped through the air to land beside Temple Leader Qingyi.

At that sight, my heart sank. I thought, This is bad. I rushed over at once and pushed aside the blue stone beam pressing down on Temple Leader Qingyi.

Her blue Taoist robes had been dyed completely crimson with blood.

No matter how Daoist Li called to her, there was no response. Neither her pulse nor the pulse of her soul showed any movement at all.

Temple Leader Qingyi had been killed, and Daoist Li and I were still a step too late.

Who was it? Who did this?

I clenched my fists and looked around, but saw no sign of the murderer.

At that moment, Daoist Li held Temple Leader Qingyi in his arms, his eyes already brimming with tears.

"When a person dies, the soul remains. But now the soul is gone, and not even a trace remains. Someone from the underworld must have tampered in secret. Lin Yi, go and find the enemy who killed Temple Leader Qingyi, and capture them alive. I am going to the underworld myself. I will bring Qingyi's soul back, no matter what!" Daoist Li said. His expression had turned more terrifying than I had ever seen, and I could even feel a fierce aura of slaughter radiating from him.

I nodded in agreement.

Then Daoist Li took out a talisman and sealed Temple Leader Qingyi's corpse with it.

After that, he took out three more talismans, formed a hand seal, and said, "Yin becomes yang, yang becomes yin. When yin and yang are reversed and the ghost gate remains unclosed, I, in obedience to the Northern Yin, command it: swiftly, open the ghost gate!"

At once, darkness descended and wind and clouds changed color.

Beneath the steps before White Clear Temple, within the roiling black mist, there appeared a massive gate, no different from the one I had once seen before the City of Wrongful Death.

Daoist Li sprang down from the steps and landed before the ghost gate. Then thunder seemed to roll through heaven and earth as the bronze doors of the giant gate slowly opened.

Once Daoist Li entered through the gate, it closed again, and the black mist dispersed.

Temple Leader Qingyi's body could not be moved, so I could only leave her where she lay. Still, with Daoist Li's yellow talisman sealing her, ordinary evil things could not approach her body.

Yet Daoist Li had forcibly opened the ghost gate and entered the underworld. That journey would surely be fraught with danger. His expression told me I could not stop him on this path, and could only let him go!

Before coming to White Clear Temple, Daoist Li had already said that the trouble there was likely caused by someone seeking the dragon essence of the white dragon beneath White Dragon Pool. And within White Clear Temple lay the crucial eye of the sealing formation that controlled White Dragon Pool. Temple Leader Qingyi must have been fighting to the death to protect that seal, and so lost her life.

Daoist Li went through the ghost gate to rescue Temple Leader Qingyi, while I immediately entered White Clear Temple to search for the location of the formation eye.

According to Daoist Li, that formation eye in White Clear Temple was the well in the temple's back courtyard. Bronze chains extended into it, reaching deep to the bottom of White Dragon Pool, and it was the key to sealing the white dragon. I rushed there at once and discovered that the bronze chains descending into the well had all been snapped in two.

The breaks were not cut cleanly, but torn apart by sheer force.

The White Dragon Pool seal had been broken, and the formation eye destroyed. Those who had attacked White Clear Temple were probably already after the white dragon. So I immediately left White Clear Temple and went to search for their trail.

By then, the water level of White Dragon Pool was sinking at a speed visible to the naked eye. The mountain rocks that had once lain buried beneath the water were all exposed.

I took a small path down from the lakeshore, and the pool was already nearly drained dry. Just then, I suddenly heard from the distant mountains across White Dragon Pool a roar like thunder. In that direction, the heavens were changing in a terrifying way, black clouds filling the sky and shrouding the entire mountain.

Within the clouds, a gigantic shadow could be seen faintly, twisting and struggling.

At the sight of this, I could not help recalling what I had experienced before. Perhaps within those black clouds was the old female Taoist I had once seen; she was the white dragon. Besides that shadow flickering in and out of sight, streaks of golden light also flashed among the clouds. That golden light was naturally Taoist magic. It had to be the people who killed Temple Leader Qingyi, now using their spells to strangle that white dragon.

Thinking of this, I immediately went around the pool and ran into the deep mountains.

Who could be so deranged?

They slaughtered White Clear Temple, and now they wanted to strangle that white dragon too?

Mist was thick in the mountains, making the paths nearly impossible to see. Yet those bursts of dragon cries were so miserable that I followed them, heading deeper and deeper into the mountains by sound alone.

Along the way, trees and weeds I passed were all streaked with blood.

No human body could shed so much blood. This was likely the blood of that dragon after it was wounded. Daoist Li had said that the dragon pearl of the dragon beneath White Dragon Pool had long since been seized by people of the Daoist orders. The dragon pearl was the source of a dragon's power. Without it, the dragon would lose all its magical strength. If it were truly surrounded and attacked by masters of sorcery, it would have no power to resist at all.

I was deeply worried.

Even on the road into the deep mountains, my heart pounded wildly, and I could not calm myself.

In the unseen darkness, something dreadful was about to happen.

I quickened my pace and raced madly into the mountains. The dragon cries grew nearer and nearer, yet also weaker and weaker.

Wind and rain lashed through the mountains. Mist filled the air. Waves of fishy stench swept over me. When that fetid wind parted a stretch of dense fog ahead, I saw in the valley there a giant white python.