Chapter 11: Daoist

All the villagers cried out in alarm.

Xu Daoyan saw three qi-eating ghosts, their faces twisted and extremely frenzied, charging towards him!

"Roar!"

But how could he be afraid?

With a fierce shout, a strong yang energy burst forth from his body. Moreover, with so many villagers gathered, their qi and blood were vast, and ghosts and monsters feared places with strong yang energy, especially when the crowd was agitated, which greatly harmed them. The three qi-eating ghosts were shattered by his shout, scattering and dying on the spot.

"Daoist Jia, what do you have to say? You raised ghosts to scare our villagers and extorted their hard-earned money!"

Daoist Jia was terrified, his mind blank. Three qi-eating ghosts would require at least a seventh-rank inferior to harm them, yet they were killed by this young man's shout. His mind was in chaos, and he shouted, "It's not my fault! The village chief approached me himself. He also took a share of the money. You promised not to kill me if I released the ghosts!"

Xu Daoyan coldly snorted and immediately twisted off Daoist Jia's two arms. Daoist Jia screamed, "You can't kill me! Do you know how powerful the forces behind us are? If you kill me, your entire village will suffer!"

Daoist Jia's vicious curses and threats made Xu Daoyan's heart tremble. Could there really be a powerful force supporting him? However, seeing the villagers' anger, Xu Daoyan did not kill him but threw him off the ghost-suppressing stone tower, leaving it to the villagers to deal with him.

Numerous villagers, enraged, quickly surrounded him and beat him to death.

Xu Daoyan put the bag containing the ghosts into his chest.

Immediately, hundreds of villagers stormed into the village chief's house. Cai Qiang, the village chief's wife, and several concubines who had assisted in his tyranny were beaten and killed, and their possessions were looted by the villagers.

Cai Village Chief had long oppressed the villagers, and they had many grievances. However, Cai Village Chief's henchmen were too powerful to resist, so many people dared to be angry but not to speak out. Now that the henchmen were dead and Cai Village Chief had deceived them so thoroughly, the villagers' emotions erupted, and it was not surprising that they would do such things. Even Cai Village Chief's rice shop and pawnshop were demolished, and many of their possessions were divided among the villagers.

Xu Daoyan stood on the walkway of the ghost-suppressing stone tower, looking into the distance. At this moment, Bai Yan'er, wrapped in her tattered clothes, stood behind him.

"Daoyan, thank you for saving me!" Bai Yan'er's beautiful eyes were red, tears streaming down her face, her voice choked with sobs.

"It's nothing, it's what I should do." Xu Daoyan did not turn to look at Bai Yan'er.

"My father is dead, I have no family left. Daoyan, you saved me, from today on, I am yours!" Bai Yan'er, who grew up in the village, understood that saving someone's life meant they should repay the favor with their body.

Xu Daoyan was taken aback, took off his cloth robe, and gave it to Bai Yan'er to wear, saying, "We'll talk about this later. I'll take you home first."

Bai Yan'er put on the cloth robe, covering her exposed body, and walked to Xu Daoyan's side.

Xu Daoyan picked up Bai Yan'er, her arms encircling his neck. He lightly leaped, landing silently, his body supple and the layer of membrane under his skin elastic. If an ordinary person were to jump down from a height of three zhang while holding someone, their feet would break, but Xu Daoyan had cultivated his liver to a certain level, so this was nothing to him.

Wu Xiaobai had already sent his mother home, so Xu Daoyan was not worried. He did not interfere with the villagers' looting of the village chief's house; these accumulated grievances needed to be released. The external turmoil was not his concern.

When Xu Daoyan brought Bai Yan'er to her house, she refused to go in. She had seen her father being eaten by the three qi-eating ghosts, and her home was now her eternal nightmare.

"Daoyan, take me in. I don't dare to be alone at home. I'm afraid of those three ghosts; they look so terrifying." Today was the biggest nightmare of Bai Yan'er's life, one that would never leave her.

"You can see those three qi-eating ghosts?" Xu Daoyan frowned, puzzled. After a moment of silence, he said, "Then you can stay at my house for now, and sleep with my mother!"

Bai Yan'er nodded, feeling a great relief. She was really afraid that Xu Daoyan would not want her, and she would be left alone and destitute.

At this moment, she felt that no one was as trustworthy as Xu Daoyan.

Xu Daoyan brought Bai Yan'er back home, where Wu Xiaobai was comforting Wu's mother.

"Don't worry, Daoyan will be fine!"

"Mother, Xiaobai, I'm back!" Xu Daoyan brought Bai Yan'er into the small wooden house.

"Daoyan, are you okay?" Wu's mother looked at her son, very worried, tears streaming down her face. If anything happened to him, she would not be able to live on.

"I'm fine. The plot of Cai Village Chief and Daoist Jia has been exposed, and the villagers won't cause us trouble. Bai Yan'er's father is dead, so she will live with my mother from now on. They can keep each other company!" Xu Daoyan said to his mother.

"Alright, poor child." Bai Yan'er was beautiful and naturally likable. As a woman, Wu's mother could see that Bai Yan'er had developed feelings for Xu Daoyan. Otherwise, why would she choose to follow her son back home instead of anyone else in the village?

That night, many things happened, and Xu Daoyan's mind was not at ease. He and Wu Xiaobai walked out of the small wooden house.

"It seems you have been taken as a disciple by a immortal." Wu Xiaobai's lips curled into a smile; he was genuinely happy for Xu Daoyan.

"Yes, I didn't want to tell you, but these things happened." Xu Daoyan laughed. Although he had killed many people that night, he felt a great sense of relief, unprecedented. He felt the strength in his hands, and it felt good.

"I know your thoughts; you want me to work harder. Don't worry, I will become very strong!" Wu Xiaobai said solemnly.

"I hope so. Go back and see your parents!" Xu Daoyan patted Wu Xiaobai's shoulder.

"Okay." Wu Xiaobai turned and left, with nothing to worry about.

Xu Daoyan also went into the house. The two women were not in good spirits, so he did not say much, calming his mind and sitting in meditation.

As dawn approached, Xu Daoyan walked out of the house. The villagers looked at him with awe. He nodded to them and leaped away, disappearing from their sight in a few steps.

That night, indeed, no more ghosts appeared. It seemed that Cai Village Chief and Daoist Jia had colluded to deceive the villagers.

Many villagers looked at Xu Daoyan's back and marveled, "Could he be a star of martial virtue descended from heaven?"

Xu Daoyan quickly arrived at the back mountain.

Xu Daoyan did not see the old beggar and continued to practice for two hours. Then the old beggar appeared.

"Haha, boy, you did well." The old beggar's mouth was greasy, eating a fragrant roasted mountain chicken and sucking his dirty fingers.

"Not bad, look, what is this?" Xu Daoyan took out the bag containing the ghosts and asked.

"Hehe, a ghost-binding bag. It seems this is your trophy, a Daoist technique!" The old beggar glanced at it.

"Ghost-binding bag? Daoist?" Xu Daoyan raised an eyebrow; he did not understand.

"Yes, Daoist, extremely powerful, with countless practitioners." The old beggar crushed chicken bones, chewed them, and swallowed them, enjoying his meal.

"Master, you talked about Confucianism the other day. Today, tell me about Daoism!" Xu Daoyan said seriously.

"Alright, but in the next ten days, you must catch ten wild rabbits and ten mountain chickens for me, to show your respect to this old man." The old beggar grinned, showing his teeth.

Xu Daoyan's lips twitched, and he nodded.

The old beggar's face bloomed like a chrysanthemum, and he began to speak.

"Daoism, the word 'Dao' contains myriad meanings. Their principle is to follow the natural way, to act in accordance with nature, to achieve self-transformation, and to govern without action."

"To integrate with the natural world, to understand the laws of nature, and to invoke the subtle laws of heaven and earth, this is following the natural way."

"Everything has its nature, whether good or evil, allowing it to develop freely, existence is reasonable, without suppressing its nature. Therefore, Daoism has countless schools, extremely diverse, with both great good and great evil. Of course, Confucianism also has evil people, but it is not as complex as Daoism. This is acting in accordance with nature."

"Master leads the way, but cultivation depends on the individual. In Daoism, there is little interference with disciples. They do not teach one-on-one like I do. Instead, they gather thousands of people and let the enlightened ones expound the great way of heaven and earth, allowing each person to understand and achieve on their own, to grow naturally, without limiting their thoughts. This is self-transformation and achievement."

"Govern without action, which means letting things develop naturally. In Daoism, not governing is the best form of governance, to let things take their natural course."

Xu Daoyan nodded, understanding a lot. His eyes lit up, "What are the techniques of Daoism?"

"There are many. Invoking the natural laws of heaven and earth for attack, using the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, earth, wind, thunder, rain, lightning, mountains, and marshes."

"The seventy-two transformations, a technique of transformation, can change into anything in heaven and earth, from fish, insects, birds, and beasts to plants, trees, and people of all ages, but it is difficult for ordinary people to cultivate, as not everyone has the talent."

"Divination, Daoism is also very skilled in this, able to predict the past, present, and future."

"Seal and spell techniques, invoking the subtle laws of heaven and earth to engrave seals, to attack enemies, to heal, and to curse enemies from a distance."

"Corpse control techniques, preserving the bodies of dead strong individuals, allowing them to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, incorporating other natural treasures, cultivating intelligence, and controlling them to attack enemies..."

"The techniques of Daoism are countless, encompassing all things, including illusions and licentious techniques, all of which are related to Daoism. This ghost-binding bag is a method of raising ghosts!"

Xu Daoyan frowned and asked, "Is the method of raising ghosts a righteous or evil path?"