...

During the day, Wen Yan drove to Yu State, and by the afternoon, at the end of an old street, he found himself in a dead-end alley.

The sun had not yet set, but here not a ray of sunlight could be seen. All year round, the surrounding buildings blocked out the light completely, suffusing the area with an eerie, bone-chilling Yin Qi.

At the far end of the alley, on the wall, someone had written: "No urinating or defecating here, violators and their entire families get rich."

He took out three sticks of incense, lit them at the northwest corner, stuck them between the bricks, and facing the wall, recited the passphrase.

"Don't entangle yourself in fleeting dreams, see if what's before your eyes is empty and vain, don't exhaust yourself with cleverness."

"Stop being so bold with molten brass and hot iron—wipe your heart and think carefully, are you truly unafraid?"

As soon as he finished reciting, incense smoke curling through the air, a great door appeared on the wall.

Two paper servants slowly opened the door; the moment they saw Wen Yan, one of them immediately turned and left, hurrying off to report.

Wen Yan stepped inside. Even though it was daytime and not as many ghosts were about as at night, the place was still bustling.

Wen Yan didn't rush; after less than three minutes, a fair, clean-cut, smiling ghost came briskly over to him.

"Aiyo, Brother Wen, how come you didn't give us a heads-up? Made you come in through such a place—our folks down here are getting worse by the day. I've told them to open a portal in Virtue City, but up to now, still nothing..."

"Just here on business. Happened to have some time, thought I'd stop by. There's something I want to ask you folks about."

"Brother Wen, this way please—come to my place for some tea, let's sit and chat at length, get a bit closer..."

They went into a residence; after they were seated, Wen Yan began to speak.

"Here's the thing: There's a Rakshasa Bird hurting people, and by its side there's someone using an artificial body.

I heard about this and started wondering: could that artificial body have come from the Righteous Store inside the Rakshasa Ghost Market?

Last time Lord Zhu blew his top over the very same thing—his pride took a serious hit.

If the Scorching Sun Department formally puts out a notice this time...

Since I happened to be around and caught wind of it, I took it upon myself to handle it. I'm coming to ask you quietly, save everyone some trouble, and let's not alert Lord Zhu again."

As soon as those words left his lips, the other party was startled at first, but then immediately cupped his hands and thanked him earnestly.

"Thank you for your chivalry, Brother Wen. Rest assured, I'll get to the bottom of this right away."

Last time, trouble over those artificial bodies had already left Lord Zhu humiliated. It's only been a few days, and again something with the artificial bodies—if this dragged Lord Zhu in once more, they'd really be out of luck.

...

Elsewhere, the Mountain Lord led the Rakshasa Bird, following the riverbank all the way west, and had already entered the territory of Luoyue County.

They arrived at a spot where the main flow of the West River met a tributary.

The Mountain Lord stood by the river, sighed.

"This should be the place. Pity—the business back then made the Dragon Clan really sore with me. I'm afraid this one won't want to work with me; at that point, I'll have no choice but to use force."

"Boss, want me to give it a shot?"

"Heh, forget it. These Dragon Clan folks probably wouldn't hear a word out of you. Just wait here on the bank—I'll be back in a jiffy."

The Mountain Lord leapt into the river, diving deeper and deeper, following the previous sense of resonance, soon found the King Guilong Temple, where King Guilong had sunk to the riverbed.

Landing in the courtyard, his brow furrowed slightly. He sensed for a moment, picked up only the faintest trace of Power, but King Guilong himself was nowhere to be seen.

He had probably only just been here, now there was no trace at all.

"I ask the Dragon King to show himself."

His voice rang out like a tiger's roar, reverberating under the water, resounding into the temple.

The temple was empty as a void—nothing at all inside.

The Mountain Lord was a bit surprised and called out again.

"Would King Guilong kindly come out and speak."

This time, his voice sent bubbles surging, rolling into the temple, shaking tiles loose from the roof in a steady cascade; the clear riverbed silt billowed up in the water from the force.

But inside the temple, still, nothing.

In the dark waters, King Guilong, hiding in the temple, heard the commotion and couldn't help but flare up—was this any way to ask an audience?

Someone who didn't know better would think this guy was here to knock his temple down!

Right now, King Guilong thought back to what Wen Yan had told him last time—it really hit the mark.

If he hadn't met Wen Yan beforehand, by now he'd definitely be enraged.

In the end, thinking it over, King Guilong simply blocked out everything from that side. Worst case, who needs the King Guilong Temple anyway?

He really was about to lose his temper, especially since it was the Mountain Lord—just seeing him was enough to make his hackles rise threefold.

But no matter what, there was no way he'd take the bait.

Annoyed as he was, he knew full well the other meant trouble. Coming in with the intent to provoke—wasn't that just treating him like an idiot, not even bothering with a polite word?

If he fell for it, wouldn't that just prove he really was an idiot?

King Guilong closed his eyes and shut out everything in the temple, choosing to ignore it all, treating it like a barking dog chanting at his altar.

King Guilong knew his own temper best—might as well not even meet.

On the other side, after the Mountain Lord had shouted several times inside the temple—almost shaking it down—still he got no response.

His brow creased; he glanced up at the words "King Guilong Temple" above, an odd doubt arising in his mind.

The most violent and brazen King Guilong of the old days could really hold himself in now?

But with no reaction at all, the Mountain Lord could only sigh—so the times really have changed, and so too have the people of the past.

Seeing half the temple collapse, the Mountain Lord shook his head and turned to leave.

This was a real surprise for him. He'd thought it would be a simple task, but in the end, he didn't even get to see the guy.

Rising up from the river bottom, the Mountain Lord looked at the dike, city lights stretching all the way to the horizon; then looked again at the city, aglow as bright as day in the distance.

Only now did he truly feel what it meant for the times to have changed.

It wasn't about standard of living, or advances in technology. What had really changed were the hearts and minds he thought immutable since time immemorial.

Even those ancient relics who survived the Last Dharma Decline Era—things they'd clung to for millennia might now be swept up in the changing times, starting to shift as well.

Until now, the Mountain Lord had never felt it so deeply. But now, things truly were different.

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