Chapter 55.3: In order to learn this art, you must dual cultivate.

Chapter 55 Part 3

The matter of changing the appellation couldn’t be rushed. The four men had slowly reached the secondary burial chamber, and the main entrance wasn’t far away. Qishan-daoren fished out his phone and started to randomly wander about. In one instance, he held up his phone above his head. In another, he bent down and placed his phone on the ground. His actions reflected in Xi Jia’s eyes, immediately sounding alarms.

Qishan-daoren muttered, “Why is there still no signal……”

Xi Jia calmly tugged at Ye Jingzhi’s sleeve. Ye Jingzhi slightly bowed his head, leaning in so his ear is by Xi Jia’s lips.

“Master Ye, do me a favor, go and talk to Senior Qishan about what happened 19 years ago, and divert his attention.”

Ye Jingzhi, “……”

Xi Jia, “Hm? Master Ye?”

Ye Jingzhi, “You called me ‘Master Ye’ again……”

Xi Jia, “……”

After a cough, Xi Jia’s face became slightly red as he said quietly, “Jingzi, help me out. You also don’t want to see all the points go to Senior Qishan, right? I earn these points all for our own family’s personal use. ‘The elbow mustn’t extend out,’ don’t you think so?”¹

When he heard “own family,” the tips of Master Ye’s ears were already red as he repeated nodded.

Do what your wife wanted you to do. Ye Jingzhi’s expression didn’t change as he walked forward and said, “Senior Qishan, about what happened 19 years ago, there are some things I still don’t understand. Can you tell me more about the specific details?”

How could Qishan-daoren be able to think that the honest moral model, Hell King Ye, would actually come to lie after being instigated by his wife. He placed down his phone and started to recall, “19 years ago ah, actually, there wasn’t much. At that time……”

As the four of them talked, they exited the ancient tomb and returned to the tunnel.

Qishan-daoren was still talking, and Ye Jingzhi was obediently listening. Brother Jia silently walked to the side, took out his phone, and opened WeChat.

Yang Ze was walking at the very back. He watched the three men leave, each minding their own business, before he stopped in his footsteps.

Walking halfway, Qishan-daoren suddenly remembered, turned around, and asked, “Young Daoist Yang Ze, why are you walking so slow?”

Yang Ze walked forward with quick steps and smiled as he said, “Senior Qishan, you all left, and no one remembered to close the door. Since we opened this Tusi tomb gate, we should do things properly and help them close the gate. So I was just closing the gate.”

Qishan-daoren slapped his thigh, “Sigh, look at me, I even forgot about this. We aren’t professional grave robbers anyways, and we have forgotten to close the gate. Hahaha, it is still Fellow Daoist Yang Ze who is thorough and helped close the gate.”

Yang Ze smiled but didn’t speak.

Qishan-daoren continued to look at Ye Jingzhi, “Where was I? Oh right, said up to when Fellow Daoist Lian Chen took us to this ancient tomb. It was like this, their Qianshan Sect have always been stationed at D Province and are familiar with things over there in Vietnam and Laos. Since something happened in D Province, Fellow Daoist Lian Chen would definitely take responsibility……”

The four men slowly walked out of the tunnel.

Xi Jia was the first one to walk out of the tunnel. He looked up and saw that stars densely covered the sky. D Province had Huaxia’s most lush primeval forest. Only in this kind of deep mountain forests could you see such a starry sky.

Seeing a bright river of stars like this, everyone’s mood became much better.

Xi Jia put away his phone and deeply inhaled before slowly exhaling. He felt refreshed, and his mood lifted.

Right at this time, Qishan-daoren suddenly remembered, “Ah, submit article! Right right right, this old man almost forgot. Right now, it’s exactly 10pm. Submit it now, ‘Ghosts Know’ will update at 12 o’clock, and then immediately get the points. Oh so happy, happy, ah!”

Saying this, Qishan-daoren took out his cell phone and found the editor of “Ghosts Know.” However, three minutes later, “How is that possible? The editor said that someone had already submitted this news? This, this, this……”

Qishan-daoren widened his eyes. His body trembled as he stiffly raised his head. He suddenly looked at Ye Jingzhi, and Ye Jingzhi’s expression was calm, “Senior Qishan.”

Right, it couldn’t be Young Daoist Ye. Young Daoist Ye had been talking to him this whole time.

Qishan-daoren then looked at Xi Jia.

Brother Jia slightly frowned and asked in surprise, “Senior Qishan, is something the matter?”

Qishan-daoren thought again: Young Daoist Xi isn’t someone of the Xuanxue world. What does he need points for? Definitely not him.

This time, Qishan-daoren silently looked at Yang Ze, who was standing at the very back, and faintly said, “Young Daoist Yang Ze……”

Yang Ze said with a bitter smile, “Senior Qishan, this junior is innocent!”

Qishan-daoren shed bitter tears, “Young Daoist Yang Ze, this old man has misjudged you, this old man has misjudged you, ah!!!”

Yang Ze didn’t know whether to laugh or cry since he was unable to explain. Brother Jia quietly watched to the side, deeply hiding his achievement and name.

The millennium drought demon had been eliminated, the remains of the four Celestial Masters had been retrieved, and also resolved Ye Jingzhi’s problem with the Year Fiend. During this trip, everyone had gained quite an abundance, and they headed out of the deep forest under Yang Ze’s lead.

They hadn’t reached the Heibu Village yet, and it was midnight. Qishan-daoren opened “Ghosts Know.” Old tears flowing unhindered, he noisily cried as he said, “This old man’s points, this old man’s points……Today’s four articles, the points of each one should’ve been this old man’s……Wuwuwuwu, Young Daoist Yang Ze, how could you bully someone like this!”

Yang Ze was unable to speak of his bitter suffering and could only smile slightly.

Xi Jia opened his phone and saw today’s four articles for “Ghosts Know.” As expected, “Ghosts Know” had put the millennium drought demon as the special topic this time, and the four articles individually eulogized the four Celestial Masters who had died along with the drought demon 19 years ago.

The lead article was naturally about Yi Lingzi. Followed by Lian Chen-zhenjun, Liushan-daoren……

Yi Lingzi had always been an influential person in the Xuanxue world. When he was young, he was popular with countless women, passing through numerous flowers without any leaves touching.² Naturally, a famous and dissolute man. After he became old, Yi Lingzi was also the number one person of the Xuanxue world with a wide-spread reputation. Now, Yi Lingzi had passed away 19 years ago, yet he could make it headlines on “Ghosts Know”’s main article. Within an hour, there were over 100,000 views, 30,000 likes, and 50,000 comments.

The most liked comment came from the current number one person of the Xuanxue world, the sect master of Zi Wei Xing Hall, Cengxiu-zhenjun: 【 Fellow Daoist Yi Lingzi was a person of noble character and unquestionable integrity, had endured heart tribulations twice, and used his own body to seal the millennium drought demon. Here at Zi Wei Xing Hall, this poor daoist will pray for Fellow Daoist Yi Lingzi. Fellow Daoist Yi Lingzi, farewell!】

That’s right. In Brother Jia’s submission, it only spoke of Yi Lingzi’s good things, and none of Yi Lingzi’s bad things were mentioned. For example, Yi Lingzi had made fun of Cengxiu-zhenjun in order to brighten up the atmosphere, and Brother Jia didn’t mention a word of him also looking down upon the current great masters of the Xuanxue world.

Brother Jia’s elbow never extended outward. When submitting articles about Master, he certainly must point towards Master’s good points. Master’s number one under the heavens!

Along the way, Qishan-daoren mourned over the large amount of points he had missed. He saw that Yang Ze kept on denying. Actually, he also had some suspicion that the one who had snatched the articles wasn’t Yang Ze. However, no matter how he thought, he was unable to understand how Ye Jingzhi was able to submit them under his eye. He simply didn’t suspect Brother Jia.

By the next day, Xi Jia received 150,000 points from “Ghosts Know.”

Seeing so many points, Brother Jia couldn’t hide his smile as he rushed to help Pei Yu pay back the debt. However, this time, he had clearly stated that he wanted to help Pei Yu settle a debt, but the editor of “Ghosts Know” said: 【 Fellow Daoist, you must be Fellow Daoist Xi Jia. It is like this. Last month, someone had already paid Fellow Daoist Pei’s debt back in full. You do not need to pay.】

Xi Jia was stunned.

Sitting on the bus returning to Chuncheng, Xi Jia read the text on his phone. Then, he slowly turned and looked at Ye Jingzhi, “Pei Yu’s debt……did you pay for it?”

Master Ye was currently carrying the urn of his master’s ashes, pretending to look at the landscape outside the window but was in fact sneaking glances at his wife. Xi Jia suddenly turned his head. As he was listening, he nearly exposed himself for peeking. After a moment of settling down, Ye Jingzhi nodded, “En, paid.”

Xi Jia slowly curved the corners of his mouth, “Paid a long time ago and still didn’t tell me?”

Ye Jingzhi was a bit at a loss, “Jia Jia, didn’t you say you wanted to help Fellow Daoist Pei pay off the debt?”

Xi Jia, “I remember that it was something that was said when seeing Pei Yu out the door, how did you know?”

Ye Jingzhi opened his mouth before closing in embarrassment.

Why did Master Ye know? Because when Brother Jia was talking, he first praised him and even called out his personal name. Once “Ye Jingzhi” was called out, what could escape past Master Ye’s ears?

Xi Jia also gradually remembered. He reached out and poked Ye Jingzhi’s arm, “You paid it last month and didn’t even tell me.”

Ye Jingzhi felt that he was wronged, “Jia Jia, you said that you wanted to pay it back, so I paid……”

Xi Jia, “That’s what I said, what does it have to do with you?”

Ye Jingzhi didn’t understand Xi Jia’s meaning so he asked back as if it was expected, “You wanted to pay it back, could it be that it’s not something I should pay?”

Hearing this, Xi Jia raised the corners of his lips, and his eyes curved with a smile. He was clearly happy in his heart, but his lips deliberately said, “Anyways, the things you want to do in the future, you must tell me first, understand?”

Master Ye held his master’s urn, feeling wronged, “En.”

At Chunfeng Changshui Airport, the four parted. Qishan-daoren took a plane back to Haicheng, and Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi needed to go to G Province. Yang Ze bided farewell to them at the airport. The first to leave was Qishan-daoren. When he was about to board, the old man was still wailing and complaining as he looked at Yang Ze. The crowd around them stared at Yang Ze strangely, thinking that Yang Ze had done something to Qishan-daoren. Yang Ze suffered in silence.

Lastly, Yang Ze sent off Xi Jia and Ye Jingzhi together. He waved his hand and smiled as they parted.

After entering the security check, Xi Jia said, “Master Ye, Yang Ze is truly a reliable person. This past half year, I got to know many Celestial Masters, and this is my first time seeing one as reliable as him. It is really hard to come by. Oh right, you are also very reliable. I’m talking about Pei Yu and them, not reliable at all.”

Ye Jingzhi, “Not ‘Master Ye’……”

Xi Jia, “……”

In the next moment, he smiled as he said, “Jingzhi Jingzhi Jingzhi, it’s Jingzhi, alright?”

The two started to laugh.

Yang Ze stood outside of the security check, watching them leave. Once their backs couldn’t be seen completely, he looked at the place where they disappeared, looked for 5 full minutes, and smiled as he shook his head before turning to leave.

The airplane took off in the early morning and arrived in G Province at noon. Then, they took a bus from the airport towards Poyang County. In the evening, the two finally returned home.

At this moment, night was quickly approaching. Ye Jingzhi didn’t rush to the library pavilion to find the method to settle the Year Fiend. He took Xi Jia upstairs. Xi Jia of course still didn’t understand why he would need to go upstairs. Were they going to find someone? But, when Ye Jingzhi took out a key and opened the door upstairs, Xi Jia, “……”

After a moment, Xi Jia asked, “……This place, it’s also your home?”

Ye Jingzhi gently nodded.

Xi Jia, “……” After a long time, he asked again, “Master Ye, please don’t say that this building is your Wu Xiang Mountain’s property……cough, I know I know, it’s Jingzhi, not Master Ye. First, answer my question.”

Ye Jingzhi said, “Originally, there were people that live in the unit across and the two below. However, when I was eight, I bought the apartment across. Two years ago, I bought the two units downstairs. So now, this building does indeed belong to Wu Xiang Mountain.”

Xi Jia, “……” What did he say? The lifestyle of the rich was just different!

He had money, but didn’t go and buy a high-class apartment building, and bought an outdated residential building. With one purchase, it was an entire building! Say, isn’t that frightening!

However, there was in fact a reason for this matter. Ye Jingzhi said, “This room contains the relics of grandmasters of Wu Xiang Mountain. The other rooms are the library pavilion. Wu Xiang Mountain has a lot of books and secret books, and before, they were all stored at the bottom of Poyang Lake. But in recent decades, all of Poyang Lake is being developed, so they can’t be stored at the bottom of the lake anymore. So I could only buy houses to put the books.”

Xi Jia waved his hand: No need to explain anymore, Brother Jia was already frightened.

Ye Jingzhi placed Yi Lingzi’s ashes among the numerous relics of Celestial Masters. He spoke a few words with Yi Lingzi, and then obediently burned a huge pile of paper money. That night, the two went to rest, and the next day, Xi Jia went to the building’s third floor under Ye Jingzhi’s lead.

Ye Jingzhi took out the keys and opened the rooms on both sides.

“Jia Jia, this is the library pavilion’s third floor. Master doesn’t remember where the secret book is. We may have to look for it a bit.”

Xi Jia who was looking at the mountains and seas of books, “……En, I can see that we might need to look for it ‘a bit’……”

With this search, it was three days and three nights.

In these three days, Ye Jingzhi’s Year Fiend erupted once more. This time, he gritted his teeth and didn’t utter a sound, not wanting to make Xi Jia worry. Xi Jia was engrossed in finding the book. Only after Ye Jingzhi was in pain for half an hour did he notice his abnormality. Seeing Ye Jingzhi’s pale stricken complexion, Xi Jia felt really bad and quickly hugged him in worry, “What did I say, you have to tell me when something happens. You have to tell me, understand?!”

Ye Jingzhi nodded, but thought in his mind: In the future, it’s still better to not tell Jia Jia. Seeing Jia Jia feeling bad, he felt even worse.

The Year Fiend erupted more and more frequently. In order to quickly settle this problem, Xi Jia worked hard to find the book, not letting go of any corner.

On the evening of the fourth day, the sun was setting in the west, and the glow of the sunset stretched across the sky.

After looking for a book for 4 consecutive days, Xi Jia was exhausted to the point his back ached. However, he was very worried in his heart so he didn’t sense his body aching. Xi Jia nearly gave up after searching for so long. He started to think, “Master has definitely read this book before. With Master Yi Lingzi’s character, where would he put the books he has read before at?”

Ye Jingzhi thought for a moment, “Master is very arbitrary and would often randomly place books.”

Xi Jia went to find those books that were placed so disorderly.

Searching until the end, it still hadn’t been found. He clenched his teeth and asked, “He couldn’t possibly have used it to fill the gap at the leg of the table, right?” Saying this, Xi Jia bent over and grabbed the book placed under the leg of the table. He flipped through it, “I was just saying that Master Yi Lingzi wasn’t that unreliable.”

Xi Jia placed down the book and went to pick up the other one that was placed under the table, “This one also couldn’t possibly be it. It’s so thin and covered with dust, and it was even put under……the……table……”

Xi Jia, “……”

Seeing the words 《Unity of Yang and Sha》on the cover of this book, Brother Jia had nothing to say.

Brother Jia turned his head and wanted to call out for Ye Jingzhi, but he noticed that Master Ye had just came downstairs. He then quietly waited before he looked down, opened the book, and started to read it first, “Yin Yang Gang Sha,³ the Five Elements in opposition. Using Yin against Sha, the Three Fiends are aligned. Extreme Yin and Three Fiends, unite by Dual……Culti……”

His voice suddenly stopped. Brother Jia’s gaze stared intently at the two words, “Dual Cultivation,” and his eyes widened.

“Jia Jia, I’m here, what are you reading?” A low male voice sounded by the door.

Xi Jia immediately looked up, and his face flushed red. He subconsciously hid the book behind him, eyes trembling as he looked at Ye Jingzhi.

Ye Jingzhi didn’t notice his wife’s unusualness. He went up and curiously picked up the book and said in surprise, “Eh, 《Unity of Yin and Sha》. Jia Jia, you found it?”

Xi Jia blushed, and his face became hot, simply unable to say anything.

Dual Cultivation? What Dual Cultivation!!!

No wonder Master said at the time that the solution to the Year Fiend had to do with him. Dual Cultivation……to hell with Dual Cultivation!

Didn’t you know that Brother Jia’s face was thin?!!!

Ye Jingzhi calmly opened the book. Just as Xi Jia wanted to stop him, Ye Jingzhi had already started reading those words out, “Yin Yang Gang Sha, the Five Elements in opposition. Using Yin against Sha, the Three Fiends are aligned. Extreme Yin and Three Fiends, unite by dual cultivation……Turns out it will be fine as long as we dual cultivation.” Ye Jingzhi raised his head and looked at Xi Jia with a clear gaze, “Jia Jia, let’s dual cultivate then.”

Xi Jia, “!!!”

You’ve changed, you’re not that pure Master Ye anymore!

How could that pure Master Ye boldly call out to Brother Jia to come and dual cultivate like so?!!!

The Author has something to say:
C+: #MyFamily’sOldGongHasBeenSwappedBySomeone#!!!!
Mirror 【Pure Face】: Jia Jia, let’s dual cultivate!
Yi Lingzi: This poor daoist thought of what’s wrong! With this poor daoist’s disciple and disciple-in-law’s pure state, what year would they be able to heiheihei!!!

Translator’s Notes:
¹ 胳膊肘向外拐过 Elbow extending outward – helping others when they’re not on your side/team. ↵
² Passing through flowers without any leaves touching – has been mentioned before. Means to have many girls/girlfriends without settling down. ↵
³ 阴阳罡煞 Yin Yang Gang Sha – Yin and Yang is Yin and Yang. Gang refers to the stars that make up part of the Big Dipper. Sha is the same sha as in the Three Fiends. ↵