Chapter 213: 213
 

At the gate of Datong County, Wang Chen dismounted from his tall green donkey.

Seeing Wang Chen’s attire, the soldiers guarding the gate not only did not charge him a city entry fee but also gave him a respectful bow.

Since its establishment, Great Qian under the jurisdiction of the Cloud Sun sect had always revered the Taoist Sect, so Wang Chen, this young Taoist of unremarkable appearance, also benefited from this adulation, receiving treatment entirely different from the common folk.

In fact, even if he had ridden the tall green donkey directly into the city, no one would have stopped him.

But Wang Chen was respectful of rules and regulations, leading his donkey along the street into the city.

Datong County was not much different from the other county cities he had been to before, like Ted and Three Rivers.

Narrow streets, low houses, haphazard shops, and many pedestrians bustled about on the streets—commoners, laborers, itinerant merchants, martial artists, beggars…

The hustle and bustle was quite lively.

For Wang Chen, this Taoist priest, most of them bore a respectful attitude and immediately gave way when they ran into him.

Clang~

Suddenly, the sound of a gong rang out, a shrill voice reaching everyone’s ears.

“The world shall fall into chaos, the Maitreya Buddha will be born!”

Hearing this voice, many people’s expressions changed, showing a look of reverence.

Someone said in a low voice, “The Maitreya Sect.”

Clang! Clang! Clang~

The sound of the gong grew louder and louder as a long procession snaked its way through.

Four mighty bare-chested strong men were at the forefront, clearing the way. They wore yellow headbands and red sashes around their waists; two of them held gongs while two lifted banners high.

The yellow banners were each embroidered with the large black characters for “Maitreya.”

Ten children, boys and girls alike, powdered and rouged and dressed in white lotus short jackets, closely followed behind, and next came the Red Lotus Buddha Seat Cloud Carriage, carried by eight strong men.

A thin gauze covered the Buddha seat, within which a graceful and slender figure could be faintly seen sitting upright.

Following the Cloud Carriage was a group of women holding baskets of flowers, smiling as they distributed fruits, pastries, and other treats to the passersby.

“Believe in the Maitreya, and peace will be yours!”

And those who received the pastries invariably knelt down, their words trembling with sincerity, “The Saintess is merciful, may Maitreya protect us!”

At first only a few people, then a dozen, chanted, but it quickly became a chorus.

The entire street on both sides was filled with devout followers on their knees!

In such an atmosphere, verging on fanaticism, even those with firm resolve might be infected unknowingly.

Wang Chen watched coldly from the side, leading his tall green donkey to one side.

He felt quite astonished in his heart.

The world shall fall into chaos, the Maitreya Buddha will be born, to think someone would shout such a slogan openly.

And by their looks, it was clearly not the first time.

The local government office actually turned a blind eye?

Wang Chen knew nothing about the “Maitreya Sect,” but the appearance of such a heretical movement in Great Qian, which had always revered the Taoist Sect, listening to the other side’s slogan beguiling people’s hearts, gave him the feeling that the world indeed had a tendency towards great chaos!

When the Red Lotus Buddha Seat passed by, he felt a scrutinizing gaze land on him.

Then it was withdrawn.

The procession of the Maitreya Sect quickly moved past with their gongs and drums, and the street returned to its previous state.

Wang Chen’s eyes flashed, and he led the green donkey onward.

He stopped a passerby to inquire, “Excuse me, how do I get to the theater in the south of the city?”

But the other person looked at him with a face full of terror, “No, I don’t know!”

Wang Chen asked several people in succession, and all of them claimed to be unclear, never having heard of it.

Their eyes flickered, and their words insincere, as if they had encountered the plague.

Not even Wang Chen’s status as a Taoist priest was of any use!

Having no other choice, Wang Chen found a small beggar sitting by the roadside, tossed him a silver ingot: “Take me to the south city theater, and this silver is yours.”

“Alright!”

The small beggar grabbed the silver, bit it hard at the mouth, and then with a smile, said, “Follow me.”

Under the lead of the small beggar, Wang Chen followed through streets and alleys.

They arrived in front of a market area.

“Just go straight down this road, and you will see the theater.”

The beggar boy halted and asked softly, “Taoist priest, are you going to face the Evil Wraith?”

“Hm?”

Wang Chen was a bit surprised, “How do you know that?”

“I’ve seen other Taoist priests like you before…”

The beggar boy shrank his head back, “They went there and never returned, none of us dares to get close.”

“Then do me another favor.”

Wang Chen smiled and handed over the reins in his hand, “Take good care of it, if I don’t come back, then this big green donkey is yours.”

The beggar boy accepted the reins in a daze, and stared blankly into the eyes of the green donkey.

The green donkey snorted disdainfully, “Achoo!”

By the time the beggar boy had wiped off the saliva from his face, Wang Chen’s figure had already vanished.

He shivered subconsciously, hurriedly led the green donkey to one side, and crouched on the ground to wait.

Meanwhile, Wang Chen had already reached the great theater platform with three consecutive “Shrinking Ground into Inches.”

The theater platform was in the middle of the market street, most of the surrounding houses and tile-roofed homes had collapsed, with no sign of human life in sight.

It was a stark contrast to the bustling scene of the street from earlier.

Wang Chen approached the theater platform step by step.

According to the information from the Exorcism Hall, just half a year ago, this place had been very lively, but after an actor accidentally fell off the stage to his death, strange phenomena began to occur.

In the dead of night, occasional opera singing could be heard from the stage, eerily captivating and soul-stirring.

The surrounding residents were so frightened that they fled, and those who attempted to uncover the secret often disappeared without trace.

The Exorcism Hall had also sent people to investigate, but they found nothing.

It was conjectured that an Evil Wraith was causing the disturbances.

The Government Office once thought of dismantling the stage, but no one dared to take on the task.

As long as the civilians in the city did not enter within a hundred steps of the stage, nothing would happen to them.

Over time, everyone accepted its presence.

Normally, they would avoid it and stay far away.

Wang Chen stopped walking and applied the Spiritual Perception Technique to himself.

His mastery of the Spiritual Perception Technique had already reached the level of Great Perfection, enabling him to see through illusions and directly observe the Yin and evil Qi, thereby determining the presence of the Evil Wraith!

At this moment, in Wang Chen’s eyes, the theater platform before him was shrouded in a thick evil aura.

It was like a dormant fierce beast that could awaken at any moment!

Wang Chen thought for a moment, then took out from his Storage Bag items like the Cloud Brocade Cushion, Purple Sandalwood Stand, Calming Incense Burner, Red Clay Tea Stove…

He sat down to burn incense and brew tea, waiting for the show to begin!

This was the last stop of his journey; after finishing here, he would retreat to break through to the ninth level of Qi Cultivation.

So Wang Chen was very patient.

As dusk slowly fell, shadows of people suddenly appeared around the theater.

Many commoners and hawkers gathered around, adults urging children to jump, and the originally desolate and quiet market street suddenly became noisy and bustling.

They sat down around Wang Chen, fanning themselves and cracking sunflower seeds, chatting, and laughing merrily.

As the sound of a gong and drums signaled the beginning, and with the music of strings and woodwinds, the characters in traditional opera roles, sheng, dan, jing, and chou, made their appearances on the stage one by one, singing tunes Wang Chen could not understand.

But he could clearly discern the story of lovesick men and women being described.

Wang Chen held a cup of fragrant tea, watching until the play ended and the crowd dispersed.

He had come to understand the story within the play.

On stage they sang of heartfelt farewells, while those who passed by the stage no longer saw their old faces.

A ghostly voice reached his ears, “May I ask, Taoist priest, what brings you here?”

Wang Chen smiled.

However, there wasn’t a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“To vanquish evil and exorcise wraiths!”

——-

The second update is here.

PS: I have seen all your comments, and the plot will pick up pace from here. Please continue to support, thank you!