Chapter 27: Rakshasa Sea City

  Lao Daozhang was unwilling to see himself for the last time, Xuan Kong was also a strong and determined person. Since he had made up his mind to make a name for himself at the foot of the mountain to win Lao Daozhang's favor, he naturally wouldn't linger any longer.

  Following Wang Qi with a joyful face, he walked down the mountain.

  Benli Wangqi intended to beg Xuankong to use the "御风之术" (Wind Control Technique) to take him back to Beihai, but Xuankong wanted to see the scenery and customs along the way, so he persuaded Wangqi to walk for a while before using magic. Although Wangqi had only stayed on Mount Lao for a few months, it took him over a year to get there from Beihai.

  The feeling of missing his hometown was heavy in his heart, but seeing the gloomy and unenthusiastic Xuan Kong, he couldn't muster up much interest, so he didn't say much.

  Anyway, it's just a matter of walking for a few more months, and after being away from home for several years, I don't care about this little bit of time.

  With money in hand, Xuán Kōng hired a horse-drawn carriage in the small town at the foot of Lóng Shān. He had no idea what prices were like in the mortal realm, and the driver deliberately overcharged him, demanding 500 taels of silver before agreeing to take them to Níng Hǎi Prefecture.

  Anyway, Xuan Kong handed over a 500 yuan bill from the pile of silver tickets he had robbed from Lianzi's family, and it was easily accepted without any haggling. Seeing that the customer was generous, the horse-drawn carriage driver smiled and waited for the two to get on board, then whipped the horses and set off on their journey.

  "Master brother, you shouldn't have agreed to it, and halfway through, you even allowed him to pick up other passengers."

  As the horse carriage started, Wang Qi complained to Xuan Kong in a low voice inside the carriage. Xuan Kong frowned: "Didn't they say this was the going rate?" He had also asked around in the small town and everyone said that the coachman was a very honest person.

  Wang Qi said on the way to Lao Shan, "Those townspeople are all his fellow villagers, of course they will speak for him. Five hundred taels of silver for a trip to Beihai is already very expensive, but he's not satisfied and wants to pick up other passengers along the way."

  Five hundred taels of silver can be exchanged for copper coins to fill this carriage, enough for a ordinary family's expenses for a lifetime.

  But the horse husband was still greedy.

  "Never mind, don't bother with him." Xuan Kong was in a bad mood and waved his hand to dismiss the matter. The silver was all obtained by Xuan Kong from robbing the Li Dizi, so Wang Qi didn't dare say anything more and changed the subject: "Big Brother Master, you seem to be quite familiar with our North Sea?"

  Xuankong smiled and said: "Beihai, I've been there too, but I'm not very familiar with it either."

  "Wang Qi said: 'Why is it that every time I mention Beihai, Master always has a thoughtful expression?'"

  Xuan Kong was taken aback, and he himself hadn't noticed: "Is that so?" Seeing Wang Qi's affirmative nod, Xuan Kong smiled and said: "Anyway, the road ahead is still long, let me tell you a story." He organized his words in his mind and asked: "Your family has lived on the coast of Beihai for a long time, I don't know if you've ever heard of Luosha Sea City?"

  This is what Xuan Kong remembered about Pu Songling's description. He went to see it especially against the wind, and he didn't think Wang Qi would know this fairy place.

  Who would have thought that Wang Qi's heart was filled with longing as he said: "So Master Big Brother also knows about Luocha City."

  Xuán Kōng was surprised and said, "You really know about Luó Chà Hǎi City?" He had originally intended to show off in front of Wáng Qī, but unexpectedly Wáng Qī also knew about Luó Chà Hǎi City. Pretending not to believe, he said, "Tell me, the Luó Chà Hǎi City you know, is it the same place I'm thinking of?"

  Wang Qi saw the shock on his senior brother's face and felt very pleased with himself, saying: "In our Ninghai County, there was originally a person named Ma Jie, who was elegant and refined in his youth. At that time, he was also a famous figure in our county."

  Xuan Kong exclaimed "Ah!" and clapped his hands, saying: "So Ma Jie is your fellow townsman!"

  He couldn't quite recall whether Pu Songling had written that Ma Jie was from which place, but he was still very familiar with the name. Wang Qi chuckled strangely and said: "That Luosha Sea City is indeed a strange place, I've also met Ma Jie once, his appearance is quite handsome, but in Luosha Sea City, there are actually people who think he's extremely ugly, and even thought he was a monster."

  Xuán Kōng smiled and waited for Wáng Qī to continue telling the story.

  It's nothing but Ma Jie going out to sea for business, encountering wind and waves on the sea, and after the boat capsized, he happened to drift to a place where ugliness is beauty and beauty is ugliness. Wang Qi laughed and said: "You say it's strange or not, those people in the Loshan Sea market are ugly and scary themselves, but they think Ma Jie is a monster."

  Xuan Kong burst out laughing and said: "That Ma Jie is indeed lucky!"

  Wang Qi turned his head and asked: "Why did you say he was good luck?"

  Xuan Kong asked Wang Qi: "You came to Lao Shan, have you seen any demons or ghosts?" Wang Qi shook his head. He had only been on the mountain for about two months and apart from Yun Xiao, the beautiful Cloud Weaving Princess who looked like a goddess from the Moon Palace, he hadn't really seen any other monsters.

  Xuan Kong laughed and said: "But Ma Jie has seen monsters, and many of them!"

  Wang Qi's heart skipped a beat, as if he had thought of something. He exclaimed in shock: "You're saying that all the people Ma Jie saw in Luocha City were monsters?" Xuan Kong nodded and said: "That's right, they were monsters. However, it's not that there are no humans in Luocha City, but rather those who can go there are also immortals, not the kind of people Ma Jie would normally see on the streets."

  Wang Qi stuck out his tongue and said, "Mother dear, with so many monsters, how come none of them ate Ma Jie?"

  "The demons of Luocha City don't even know they're demons themselves. They've all transformed from different original forms, so their appearances are naturally different too. And the education they received also told them that they were humans, which is why they think Marquis's appearance is strange and assume he's a demon."

  Wang Qi's eyes widened: "Someone is educating a monster?"

  "This world isn't just made up of human nations, there are plenty of countries formed by monsters too." Wang Qi was skeptical: "Monsters can form their own countries?" Xu Kong said: "Do you know that in the previous dynasty, there was a monk who was the emperor's younger brother?"

  King Wu nodded and said: "That is Emperor Taizong of the Great Tang Dynasty. You are talking about the Tang Monk Tang Sanzang who went to the Western Heaven to fetch scriptures."

  Xuan Kong Dao: "It's indeed this Tang Sanzang, he really exists. After obtaining the scriptures, he was conferred as the Camdan Buddha and ranked among the Western Heaven Buddhas." Wang Qi muttered to himself: "I thought it was just a mythological story written by ancient people."

  Xuan Kong shook his head and said, "You yourself have entered our Cangshan Sect to cultivate the Tao, and in the future, you will also have a chance to become an immortal. If these people are lucky, they may be able to see it with their own eyes." He continued, "On Tang Sanzang's journey to retrieve scriptures, he encountered a place called Lion Camel Country, where all the citizens were demons. And Luo Sha Hai City is almost the same as this place."

  So he thinks Ma Jie is really lucky, not everyone has the luck to roll around in a pile of monsters and come out unscathed.

  "Is there really such a country?"

  Xuán Kōng Dào: "Shī tuó guó suàn yī gè, Luó chà hǎi shì suàn yī gè, jù shuō zài qí tā dì fāng yě yǒu zhè yàng de guó jiā." Wáng Qī hū rán cù xiá de yī xiào: "Dà shī xiōng, tīng lái, nǐ duì Luó chà hǎi shì hěn shì shú xī ya." Xuán Kōng wàng zhe chuāng wài, bù yuàn duō shuō: "Yǐ qián qù guò nà lǐ, nà lǐ de yāo guài hé rén yě chà bù liǎo duō jiù shì la."

  Compared to the Shishou country where humans are considered food, the Rouzoku sea city's youkai who cultivate or manage their own lands are much kinder.

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