After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 45

Within the Li Manor.

Li Chi withdrew his gaze from the karmic threads.

In his eyes, the world was split in two: one side was the azure sky and broad earth as ordinary people saw it, while the other was shrouded in vast fog, murky and chaotic.

Illusion and truth, emptiness and reality.

One side of the world teemed with vitality and the flow of death, where life and death followed the Dao and all things operated according to principle.

But beneath that fog, the Dao was broken and the principle twisted. Rewards came without cause, extreme good turned to evil.

Li Chi lowered his eyes, and the karma that shrouded the world like vast fog vanished from his sight.

Karma, karma—this was the state of this world!

He had looked to the other end of the karmic thread and seen what Qing Fu had done, and he had also looked within the karmic thread itself to see his previous intersection with Qing Fu.

He hadn’t detected anything amiss, yet his heart felt inexplicably complicated.

After exposing the false obsession Qing Fu clung to, he had used his divine power to cleanse the resentment and fixation from her body, attempting to lead this woman who had suffered so much toward a path of liberation.

But once her obsession with finding her child dissipated, Qing Fu’s spirit also dispersed.

Now she clung to resentment as her obsession, avoiding the worry of dissipation, but had transformed into a vengeful ghost with a bitter heart and stubborn fixation.

Karma and fate, the underworld and reincarnation.

The reason why the owner of this deity’s body had wanted to establish the underworld and suppress karma was displayed before him more clearly than ever.

The underworld must be established, but he also had to remain himself.

Li Chi closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath.

Qing Fu harbored resentment, so gathering resentful fixation was normal, but having been refined by divine power, she shouldn’t have transformed into such a deeply vengeful demon-ghost so quickly.

Yet Li Chi had been unable to detect any problems from the karmic threads.

The Dream-Eating Tapir’s dream and Qing Fu’s resentment—both matters seemed reasonable on the surface, yet in their development left Li Chi with a vague sense that something was wrong.

These inconsistencies bred unease in Li Chi.

He wanted to quickly determine this body’s identity. Though he could understand the original deity’s obsessions and wishes, and would be willing to fulfill them if able, he first needed to ensure this body could survive, and that he himself would still remain himself.

He needed sufficient strength to protect himself—strength that belonged to him alone.

Li Chi lowered his head, looking at the qin on his lap.

Two Seven Emotion Triggers—one for Fear, one for Sorrow. After absorbing Wang Yue’s emotion of sorrow, the Sorrow string had become slightly clearer and more solid than the Fear string.

During Wang Yue’s trial plucking of the strings, Li Chi had discovered a new method of condensing the Seven Emotions—he only needed one Seven Emotion Trigger for each of the seven emotions.

The Seven Emotion Triggers for Fear and Sorrow were already complete. On Li Feng and Wei Qiuning’s bodies, there remained a Love Seven Emotion Trigger that could be harvested. Between the Huai River Divine Lord Meng Huai and Yu Jian, there was a Joy Seven Emotion Trigger that was nearly formed but not quite—if the opportunity arose, it might also be obtained.

What he still lacked were the three strings of Anger, Hatred, and Desire.

The conditions for birthing Seven Emotion Triggers were harsh and couldn’t be forced—one could only rely on fate. That he had obtained three in such a short time could already be called fortunate.

After organizing his thoughts, Li Chi determined there were only two things he could do next: first, scheme over the karma between Meng Huai and Yu Jian to condense a Seven Emotion Trigger; second, continue solidifying the three Seven Emotion Triggers he had already obtained.

The former he could only rely on himself for, while the latter… perhaps Ding Qin could help.

But Li Chi first needed to find a way to grant her the ability to stir the Seven Emotions. He himself could perform it through the Seven Emotion Triggers, but this method couldn’t be taught to Ding Qin.

However, in Shuigu Town, there happened to be a ghost-god who was quite skilled at using musical melodies to stir the Seven Emotions…

…….

In Shuigu Town.

Yu Jian leaned against the well, one hand resting lightly on his qin, the other paused on the well’s edge, fingertips unconsciously tapping.

“Even if you press a hole into that well platform, it still won’t play music,” came Meng Huai’s voice from within the well.

Yu Jian’s fingers paused, and he said aloud, “You’ve been trapped beneath the well, and now that there’s hope of escape, you yourself are in no hurry.”

Meng Huai seemed to lazily turn over in the well below. “I’ve waited over two thousand years—does this little while matter? That deity is not easy to move. Even if you worry yourself bald, it won’t bring the opportunity. Better to cultivate.”

Yu Jian wanted to glare at him, but with the deep well between them, Yu Jian only felt it wasn’t worth the effort, and sat cross-legged with closed eyes of his own accord.

He had simply been startled upon first hearing of the method to escape, and worried that the deity might grow tired of this place and leave—afterward, finding someone else capable of dealing with the seal on the well would be difficult.

But if Meng Huai wasn’t anxious, why should he be?

Better to cultivate. At worst, he’d endure these long thirty thousand years.

Yu Jian was sitting with closed eyes when he suddenly heard a splash from within the well. He opened his eyes and heard Meng Huai say, “A guest has arrived.”

Wind passed through the bamboo grove, its qi clear and cold.

The white-robed deity in the guise of a scholar leisurely emerged from the narrow path between the bamboo, a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl following behind him. Her eyes were bright with distinct black and white, lively and clear.

The water vapor that had been scattered around the Shuigu Well suddenly swirled and gathered, condensing into a dragon coiled in the clouds.

Li Chi waved his sleeve. The fallen bamboo leaves on the blue stone bricks spun away with the wind, revealing a clean patch of ground. After sitting down gracefully, he lifted his head slightly and gestured. “This is my divine messenger, Ding Qin.” Having introduced Ding Qin, he also gave his divine name.

Ding Qin performed a bow, then raised her head to look at the dragon in the clouds and the ghost-god holding his qin by the well, her gaze holding some curiosity.

Yu Jian felt suddenly guilty and embarrassed under her scrutiny.

After the matter with the Dream-Eating Tapir had ended, the deity had never appeared, presumably because he didn’t wish to deal with the Earth God and Chi Zhenzi. Yet Meng Huai had revealed this information to Chi Zhenzi using this little girl’s identity.

Though this couldn’t be called a serious matter, there was still some suspicion of taking advantage.

Moreover, Ding Qin had been coming and going in Shuigu Town for quite some time, yet the deity only brought her here now. Though his words of introduction carried a smile, they seemed to hold deeper meaning.

Yet Meng Huai seemed completely oblivious, praising openly, “What a spiritually beautiful girl!”

Li Chi smiled, letting the matter slide past like clear wind and bright moon, and turned the conversation to other topics.

Previously when Li Chi came here, he would usually listen to the qin, but today Yu Jian had no heart to pluck the strings, and Li Chi didn’t mention it either. The group spoke freely, yet with pleasure, from heaven to sea, from ancient times to the present, then back to discussing the qin.

People of this era valued the guqin as precious, believing its sound possessed elegant charm and transcendent quality, regarding the qin as the foremost of all instruments.

Yu Jian shook his head, his expression showing disagreement.

Li Chi turned to look at him, asking with a smile, “Does Fellow Daoist have a different view?”

Yu Jian said, “Though I am worshipped by later qin masters for my supreme skill at the qin, and thus became a ghost-god after death, I do not believe the qin is superior to other instruments.”

“Why do you say so?” Ding Qin asked curiously.

“Instruments are ultimately just tools. The quality of music depends on the musician, not the instrument. A musician without heart or intent won’t produce music more elegant or pleasant just because they use a guqin instead of a pipa. Though I’m accustomed to using the qin, I’m not incapable of playing other instruments. The same piece of music played by me on other instruments won’t be inferior to when played on the qin. It’s the musician who grants music its spirit, not the instrument.” Yu Jian answered.

“People of this era value the guqin as precious, but when I lived as a human, musicians held no high status—we could even be transferred between kingdoms as gifts. Today the guqin is valued, but has the status of qin-playing musicians truly risen? During my travels as a storyteller, I’ve seen countless qin masters performing in the streets with their guqins to make a living. The so-called ranking of instruments by superiority is, in my view, merely self-elevation through instruments.”

From within the well, Meng Huai interjected, “In ancient times, mortals once used the qin as an instrument to worship heaven and earth, and so valued the qin. Later, when sacrificial rites changed, the qin’s status also fell. Not just the qin—bells, drums… which hasn’t been honored as a sacrificial instrument? The so-called hierarchy is merely what mortals themselves elevate and demean. The Great Sound is Soundless—the music of heaven and earth, is it played on any particular instrument?”

Ding Qin seemed to understand, and looked toward Yu Jian, asking curiously, “I often hear the High God praise your qin music. Has your qin music reached the level of the Great Sound being Soundless?”

Yu Jian shook his head. “I’m ashamed to say, that is an extremely high realm. I’m still far from that step. Currently, I’ve only reached the level of conveying the heart through qin and stirring emotion through sound.”

Seeing Ding Qin’s bright eyes clear and curious about his qin music, and with his mood now broad and free of restlessness after their long conversation, he smiled and asked: “What would you like to hear? I can try playing a piece.”

Ding Qin’s eyes lit up. After thinking, she said, “I’ve made a friend. He was born under harsh circumstances with a simple mind, long trapped in one place, having never met others. After accumulating strength for so long, he finally broke through his predicament, but beyond that predicament lay more predicaments. Though his nature isn’t bad, enduring hardship for so long has left his sense of good and evil somewhat muddled. Could you play a piece for him?”

Yu Jian pondered for a moment and asked, “Could you describe it in more detail?”

Li Chi tapped his fingers on his knee and said, “Let me.”

Ding Qin was speaking of Mu Tou. He had been lonely for so long, rejected for his ugly appearance, his disposition inevitably developing fixations, yet his nature rarely remained free of evil.

Divine consciousness unfolded, clear and cold qi instantly scattered across the ground like rising fog that enveloped the entire bamboo grove.

The blue stone brick ground transformed away, the sound of swaying bamboo transformed away, the clear sky and flowing wind transformed away. From the central Shuigu Well, a stretch of pitch-black earth suddenly churned open. The earth opened for ten zhang all around, then the edges sank down, submerging into a pool of clear water.

Glowing phosphorescence rose from beneath the water, floating bit by bit to the surface, bursting forth as glowing decay fireflies. As the decay fireflies’ light flowed, the sky also darkened, becoming a vast but dark cavern.

Though this scenery was beautiful, its aura was deathly silent. Those beautiful flowing decay fireflies were merely manifestations of poisonous essence, not true living creatures, containing not a shred of life force.

Yet within this deathly silence, a point of life force was hidden, constantly worn down yet never completely extinguished. Finally, in unwilling obsession, it broke through the soil and sprouted, growing into a thin vine seedling.

In the cave without sun or moon, time was uncountable. Yet when this thin vine seedling finally lifted itself from the abyss to the surface, who could remain unmoved?

Mu Tou’s story grew within the deity’s illusion—his joy and suffering, fixation and anger, ultimately scattered like those fireflies, settling into a handful of warm light.

The illusion dispersed, revealing once more a well, a semicircle of bamboo grove, wind stirring their voices, awakening from the silence of the illusion.

Yu Jian lowered his eyes, fingers pressing the qin strings. His heart had already been moved.

The music flowed like water across the ground, yet stone walls imprisoned it, making the water blocked and unable to flow.

Collision, collision! The soft water shattered again and again against the hard stone, but how could water ever cease? Stagnant water ultimately becomes a putrid pool; only through movement does life emerge!

Water is soft and formless, yet gathers to form waves. The waves are resilient—as front waves shatter, rear waves surge. With soft substance it erodes hard stone, through thousands and tens of thousands of years unwavering in its will, capable of changing the course of embankments and pushing back cliff faces!

The qin music grew fierce—the stone cavern broke through! Those waves surged forth, then became gentle, flowing quietly in sunlight. Thus the qin music also became harmonious, melodious and flowing.

Yu Jian’s qin music was like water, circling through nine turns. Though there might be low ebbs or worries of pollution, if the heart remained unchanged, it could always cleanse away filth, preserve its purity, and surge forth again.

One pluck of the strings, the final notes lingering, like watching a trickling stream gather into a great river, rushing into the distance, merging into the vast sea.

Ding Qin sat stunned for a long while. At her fingertips, the divine art lingered, preserving Yu Jian’s qin music, long forgetting to withdraw them.

That was not merely a pleasant piece of qin music, nor merely using qin music to stir the listener’s emotions—within Yu Jian’s qin music was also his heart, his Dao.

After the lingering notes gradually faded, Li Chi opened his eyes. “Excellent piece.”

Yu Jian exhaled a long breath. Though he had previously been able to stir emotions through music, he had never reached this level of transmitting the Dao. Though it wasn’t much, for him it was already a rare layer of progress.

He sighed. “Such events and scenes move the heart and soul, thus giving birth to this piece.”

Mu Tou, piling up his vine body over thousands upon thousands of years, finally reached the cave ceiling and broke through his prison. His resilient nature precisely harmonized with Yu Jian’s disposition.

Previously, Yu Jian had spent 2,400 years trying to free Meng Huai from his predicament, his heart focused and unchanging. If Li Chi hadn’t appeared, even until the day when faith grew illusory and his ghost-god body collapsed, he would likely only feel regret, not remorse.

Mu Tou’s trapped circumstances and his lonely longing to have someone understand him as a friend, through the deity’s illusion as medium, stirred Yu Jian’s heart. In that moment of clarity, the Dao that had been vaguely accumulated through years of qin mastery suddenly broke through obstacles and rose another level.

“Pleasing the ear with music, stirring emotion with music, transmitting the Dao through music. You’re already approaching the third level.” Meng Huai spoke, then sighed, “A pity there’s no wine.”

Separated by the well, they couldn’t hold a feast, and a joyous occasion without wine lost three parts of its flavor.

Li Chi smiled. “I have spirit wine. Dragon Lord, can you drink it?”

“Please pour it into the well. I have my own method to drink it.” Meng Huai said.

“Very well.” Li Chi raised his arm, and several wine gourds flew from his sleeve. One landed before Yu Jian, one flew to the well’s mouth. As the stopper came out, the gourd tilted, and honey-colored wine liquid fell into the well.

The well water suddenly began to swirl, the vortex center leaving an empty passage as the wine liquid followed it downward.

After a moment, a splash came from within the well. “Smells like monkey!”

Li Chi laughed heartily.

With wine and qin, bamboo branches brushing clouds.

As the gourd was nearly empty, Li Chi asked Yu Jian, “Fellow Daoist, can your method of stirring emotions through sound be taught to others?”

Yu Jian nodded, his thoughts stirring as he formed a guess. He turned to look at Ding Qin.

Li Chi was indeed asking this for Ding Qin’s sake, wanting to request that Yu Jian teach her.

Yu Jian saw no reason to refuse and nodded in agreement.

Li Chi breathed easier.

If he wanted Ding Qin to help him condense the Seven Emotions, the ability to draw forth the Seven Emotions from human hearts was essential.

The Seven Emotions could only condense when strong and extreme, such as Wangyue’s intense emotions when, after long sorrow over Shuoyue, she suddenly heard news of her. Overly intense emotions would condense within the organs, harming body and mind, which was why the mortal world often had those who fell ill from worry or became addled from great joy.

But if one forcibly extracted such intense Seven Emotions, it would similarly harm the body and mind. Only by guiding them out from within the organs to dissipate could they be properly re-condensed.

When Li Chi had previously condensed Wangyue’s emotion of sorrow, he had first used qin music to draw out the sorrow congealed within her. But this method used the Seven Emotion Triggers and couldn’t be learned by Ding Qin. Yu Jian’s Seven Emotions sound was his own technique, requiring no special aids—this Ding Qin could learn.

After settling this matter, when the wine in the gourds was finished, Li Chi left with Ding Qin.

Yu Jian propped his arm on the well’s edge, tilting his head to ask, “Why didn’t you make your request to High God Li Chi?”

Meng Huai had something to ask of Li Chi, yet had no opportunity to raise his request. Just now when Li Chi asked him to teach Ding Qin—wasn’t that the perfect opportunity?

From within the well came a laughing sigh. Meng Huai said, “Wouldn’t that become a transaction, with the suspicion of using conditions to force agreement?”

Yu Jian paused, then understood. Having been a ghost-god for so long with little contact with people, he had forgotten all these matters.

Meng Huai laughed lazily, not elaborating further.

Making the request now would make it a transaction; making the request later would make it a favor.

Even if refused, the latter left far more room to maneuver.

His lifespan was long, and Yu Jian’s cultivation had also entered the proper path. There was no need to rush.

……

At the same time, elsewhere in Shuigu Town, Wangyue could hardly wait.

The High God had already said not to make premature contact, so naturally she would listen. But it had been hundreds of years—she had always believed Shuoyue was dead, and now suddenly learning she was alive, how could Wangyue bear to remain here?

She wouldn’t contact Shuoyue prematurely. She just wanted to go see whether Shuoyue was well, to wait near her for the opportunity to arrive. She wanted to reunite with her at the very first moment they could meet.

Wangyue left messages for the Yun family and gave instructions to Yun Ling. She had already requested the Earth God to watch over the Yun family during her absence. Though the Earth God was busy and couldn’t reside long-term in the Yun family shrine watching over them constantly as she did, if the Yun family encountered trouble and went to pray at the Earth God temple, the Earth God certainly wouldn’t ignore them.

After settling the Yun family’s affairs, Wangyue departed.

Though Yun Ling felt reluctant in her heart, she was also happy for Wangyue.

At night, she lay in bed preparing to sleep, the medicine sachet at her bedside emitting a faint fragrance, safely protecting one through a night of good dreams.

Yun Ling gradually entered dreamland. As she slept peacefully, a thunderous dog’s bark suddenly exploded in her dream.