Chapter 14 The Mirror Reveals

The several Daoists turned their heads in astonishment to look at Feng Menglong.

The fragrance of this fox could intoxicate anyone, turning their minds upside down, making them forget everything, and then sending them into a deep sleep. As the saying goes, "Those who smell this fragrance will be confused, and see false visions." But how could this scholar be unaffected?

Wasn't it said that scholars were the easiest to be seduced by fox spirits and female ghosts?

This poor scholar felt truly strange, completely unaffected by the fragrant magic?

"I say, your incense isn't genuine, it's gone bad. Can this incense even be burned?"

Feng Menglong continued to nag:

"Where's your temple steward? I want to discuss it with him. How can you use this kind of incense to offer to Lord Laozi? He'll jump down from the platform to beat you! It's not that I'm saying too much, it's that you don't know how to burn incense best. Do you know that there are twenty-five kinds of incense, and their places of origin are different, and the process of making incense is even more complicated? I even know a poem about incense, I'll sing it for you..."

"Hey, why does your Laozi statue look different from the one I've seen? Where's his beard? Is carving such a casual matter? It's disrespectful to the gods. I don't think your temple is a proper temple, cheating and swindling. I'll report you to the government..."

The Daoists were expressionless, while Feng Menglong's incessant chatter continued. The leader of the Daoists waved his hand: "Let this strange pilgrim have a good sleep."

"Then send these two people and the treasures on their bodies to the Mi Long Casino."

Two burly men suddenly emerged from the crowd, grabbed Feng Menglong, and began to beat him violently.

When magical hypnosis was ineffective, physical hypnosis was used.

"Ouch! Don't hit the face! What kind of temple is this, harming people, not to mention hitting them! I'm a scholar, let's talk reasonably!"

Bang, bang, bang! Bang!

"Hu Xiaoshi, where's your Golden Light Charm, quick, ouch, are you really not going to save me!"

Feng Menglong's screams traveled far, but the surrounding pilgrims didn't care about his situation. The little fox, on the other hand, looked fanatical, like the other pilgrims, only giggling strangely.

The surrounding area was filled with a fervent atmosphere, and the leader of the Daoists revealed a fox tail. He reached out and stroked the little fox, who was like a tamed puppy, allowing him to stroke him, and even showing a look of intoxication and comfort.

"Good, good... It's a pity it's a male, it would be better if it was a female... When this is over, when you return from the casino, come to this temple and become my fox acolyte, and we will serve the Nine Lotus Fox Immortal together."

......

The East Great Vehicle Temple, incense smoke curling, crowds surging, with faces of fanaticism heading towards the temple for pilgrimage.

Ji Xiang stepped into the main hall, turned his head, and could still see the distant temple gates opening. There were many people around, but Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes.

Where were the little fox and Feng Menglong?

Such a thing could happen right under his nose, and he didn't even notice it?

The Sixth Supernatural Realm, it had been underestimated?

At this moment, not far away in the temple, a person walked over, expressing concern and sincere condolences for Ji Xiang's bewildered behavior.

"Compassion, compassion, this brother, seems to need a little help?"

Help?

"Who are you? Are you the temple steward? I have two companions, I don't know why they got separated."

Ji Xiang asked for help, while sizing up the "temple steward" in front of him. The temple steward smiled slightly.

"This poor Daoist is Xu Hongru, Daoist name Juyezi."

"It's just that people have gone missing, that's easy to solve, let this poor Daoist help this brother search for them. This pilgrimage meeting is once a year, and there are many people who come to offer incense, so it's inevitable that it's a little crowded."

As he spoke, he took out some paper from his sleeve, used his fingers as a knife, and actually cut out a group of paper judge officials, who could speak human language and act just like humans, paying respects to Xu Hongru.

"Hmm? Cutting paper to create soldiers?"

Ji Xiang narrowed his eyes. This magic made him have some bad associations.

This was a Song Dynasty divine art. Zhao Xuanlang's paper generals had left a deep impression on him. They were incredibly strong, could use divine arts, fly through the sky and escape underground, and other than being afraid of fire, they had almost no weaknesses.

"It is indeed the art of cutting paper to create soldiers. This is also a magic that this poor Daoist accidentally learned in his early years. If it is said to hurt people and slay demons, it is not powerful enough. These paper judge officials can only do the work of transporting goods, or looking for people to pass on messages."

Xu Hongru humbly said that his magic could only do deliveries, and could not achieve the legendary realm of turning into whatever he cut.

At this time, Ji Xiang was looking at the furnishings in the main hall.

In the middle were three statues. A statue of Lord Laozi was in the center, with two men and women on the left and right that he didn't recognize. On the left and right sides, facing the temple's entrance, was Maitreya Buddha on the left, and a statue of a fox on the right.

"Your temple is really interesting, first worshiping Daoism, then worshiping Buddhism, and then worshiping fox immortals. What exactly is going on?"

Xu Hongru smiled slightly: "Laozi converted the barbarians, Buddha was originally Dao."

"You can talk, but what about this fox immortal? You wouldn't say that it was Shakyamuni or Maitreya who transformed, would you?"

"You don't know this."

Xu Hongru told Ji Xiang that in the early years, the founder of the East Great Vehicle Sect was saved by a fox immortal, and out of gratitude for his kindness, he set up this statue of a fox immortal in the temple. After all, a drop of kindness should be repaid with a spring.

Since ancient times, it has been common to build temples to repay the kindness of saving a life, and it is not limited to gods, ghosts, or monsters. Local officials sometimes acknowledge this, and sometimes they don't, but this doesn't affect the people's worship. Immoral sacrifices come from this, and some evil gods also imitate similar deeds to build magnificent temples and develop believers to strengthen their power.

The orthodox gods of the Thirty-Six Heavens are all dead objects, all of them are divine tablets with no physical form, so only the gods below the Thirty-Six Heavens can become gods in various forms, either enlightened or worshiped, or receiving official recognition from the imperial court, or receiving Dharma from experts in the human world.

There are even special "fake gods" who replace the real gods. The most famous example is the fake Guan Yu.

Ji Xiang twitched his nose, feeling that this place seemed to have a bit of a foxy smell.

"Are you a branch of the White Lotus Sect?"

"Of course not!"

Xu Hongru made a look of shock: "This poor Daoist's temple has been reported to the government, it is absolutely legal, you can go to the government to verify, this is not an immoral sacrifice. It has been many years since the temple was established and preaching has begun! You can't say that the folk Dharma sects are all White Lotus Sects, right? That would chill the hearts of us Dharma sect disciples!"

Ji Xiang didn't speak, looking around with his eyes. The blank divine tablet didn't give any reaction for the time being, indicating that there were no spells here targeting him, but how did those two disappear? It was really strange.

His eyes wandered around, and suddenly the blank divine tablet reacted, but it was pointing at a square bronze mirror.

[Zhenzi Flying Frost Mirror: The phoenix sings on the zither, the lotus leaf holds the sky; walking on blue clouds, form and shadow are together.]

[During the Kaiyuan era of the Tang Dynasty, there was a man named Song Jing. When he was young, he once looked in this mirror and found that the shadow in the mirror formed the character "相" (prime minister). Later, he indeed became a prime minister.]

[This kind of mirror can reflect a person's future official career, as well as daily good fortune and misfortune.]

Ji Xiang stepped forward. There was a line in front of this square bronze mirror. Many people seemed to be here just to look in this mirror. Ji Xiang walked over and took a look. Xu Hongru's heart stirred, and he quickly told Ji Xiang the miraculousness of this treasure mirror.

"Brother, is this mirror of mine good-looking? This is not an ordinary mirror, but a magical face-reading mirror, which can reflect a person's future appearance. In the past, many people have come here to look in this mirror. Some of them wore feather fans and silk scarves, some became high officials, and some had many beautiful women like immortals around them, and their future was rich and noble."

"Of course, some people were unlucky, and the mirror actually showed a ragged, poor, and down-and-out appearance, like a beggar."

"In short, everyone sees a different version of themselves in the mirror."

Ji Xiang listened to his nagging, reached out and took the mirror. Someone beside him was unhappy, and was about to get angry, but when he saw Xu Hongru's smiling face, he immediately became amiable.

Xu Hongru turned his head again and saw Ji Xiang's situation when he looked in the mirror. In an instant, his face became extremely horrified!

This Tang Dynasty divine mirror could not reflect Ji Xiang's appearance, nor could it see daily good fortune and misfortune and future events. What it could reflect was actually a white-faced, closed-eyed martial artist, completely different from Ji Xiang. As for the appearance and shape....

Somewhat similar to Zhenwu!