Chapter 30.1: Thanks, Daddy!
Chapter 30 Part 1
In show business, there was never a lack of handsome men and beautiful women. Xi Jia had lived for this many years and saw countless handsome men and beautiful women, but he had never seen someone who was neither a man nor a woman——“Neither a man nor a woman” was not name-calling, purely a nondiscriminatory statement.
This unfamiliar……man, who suddenly paid a visit, had used a purple butterfly to break Ye Jingzhi’s spell to request for Ling Xiao. After the purple butterfly fluttered two laps by his side, it dispersed into a sparkling light beam in the air, disappearing into his palm. This person’s hair was very long and was loosely tied behind his head with a hair band. His facial features were extremely glamorous with red lips and white teeth, and he was completely a great beauty radiating light.
Xi Jia’s eyes swept this person up and down. He still hadn’t opened his mouth when he heard Ye Jingzhi indifferently say, “He is called Hu Die, Longhu Mountain’s eldest disciple.”
Ye Jingzhi nodded, “En, Longhu Mountain is one of the Four Great Sects.”
Xi Jia captured the main point, “Master Ye, you know this person?”
Ye Jingzhi stated as a matter of factly, “I know.”
Xi Jia, “……Then, why did you just say that he seems to be a man?” Since you knew him, shouldn’t you immediately know if he was a man?
Ye Jingzhi, “In the Xuanxue world, most people treat him as a woman.”
Xi Jia, “I see.”
Hu Die, “Laozi is still standing right here, do you dare to talk bad about me to my face?!!!”
Ye Jingzhi wasn’t the least bit apologetic as he said, “Sorry. Fellow Daoist Hu, I am unaware as to why you are here?”
Hu Die’s punch landed on cotton. He looked at Hell King Ye and the young handsome guy he was protecting behind him. All his bad temper completely vanished.
Next, Hu Die briefly explained the reasons for his appearance here.
Before, Hu Die said that Ye Jingzhi was snatching his points, but it was in fact not nonsense. It was actually true. Ye Jingzhi had already explained to Xi Jia that the Xuanxue world had been working together with the government and established an appropriate department, leaving it to the disciples of the Four Great Sects to deal with criminal cases with ghosts and monsters like Wang Ru’s.
“The Xuanxue world and the International Liaison Department had noticed this particular case last week. After the preliminary judgment, it should be related to ghosts, and I have been sent to investigate this case.”
This temple was both small and filthy. As Hu Die spoke, he tried to find a place to sit. He made his way around once with a face full of disdain. In the end, he squeamishly returned to the entrance and continued to lean against the doorstep, pretentiously positioning in a cool pose and saying, “The suspect surnamed Wang wouldn’t tell me the truth, and that victim surnamed Li entered reincarnation the day before I came to S City. They caused me to spend several days in order to find this old ghost. I hadn’t even had the time to gasp for breath when I saw him being pulled to here. I chased all the way to this broken temple. Then, I saw you guys.”
Xi Jia asked in shock, “Do you mean that when Master Ye summoned Old Ghost, you were right beside him?”
Hu Die was still in a cool pose that seemed like a difficult posture. He feigned profoundness as he threw out two words, “That’s right.”
Xi Jia, “Then, why didn’t you block Master Ye when he had just started, and instead chased all this way?”
Hu Die’s expression greatly changed. He choked on his spit and coughed a couple times, “S-shut up! I slipped up for a bit and accidentally let Hell King Ye snatch the points. If my mind didn’t wander, he simply wouldn’t be able to steal my points! He couldn’t steal them!”
Ye Jingzhi, “When I was using the Mt. Lian contract to summon the spirit, I did run into some hindrance. Turns out it was Fellow Daoist Hu who was interfering.”
Hu Die, “……” Do you dare to give someone a bit a face, ah!
After everyone said everything thoroughly, they proceeded to settle Old Ghost’s problem.
Ye Jingzhi directly indicated that he wouldn’t take Old Ghost’s points. Since Hu Die came, he could let Hu Die request for Ling Xiao, and he wouldn’t mind. Hearing this, Hu Die was fully satisfied and went to Old Ghost. He pulled out a set of candles, talismans, and an altar from his Qiankun bag to arrange a Deity Summoning Altar.
Even if it was arranging a Deity Summoning Altar, Hu Die also paid attention to the angle while setting up the altar. He noticed that this broken temple was too dirty, and he actually cleaned the temple. Only after the temple was a bit cleaner did he continue to arrange the Deity Summoning Altar. He was seriously a complete show-off.
Xi Jia watched this ghost hunting Celestial Master who had an indistinguishable gender, and he gradually understood why the people of the Xuanxue world would see this person as a woman.
But to be reasonable, women absolutely wouldn’t take this blame! Xi Jia has never seen a woman this dawdling, who would even clean a Deity Summoning Altar or used a ruler to see if the candles were orderly placed and leveled.
How was this a woman?
Women were meticulous and paid attention to details. This Hu Die was completely flashy! His name was Hu Die, there was a rich fragrance of flowers on him, and he even hung a small jingling bell……This blame, women wouldn’t carry this burden, absolutely wouldn’t carry!1
Xi Jia dumbfoundedly watched for a long time. After taking another medicinal pill from the Xuanxue world, he suddenly recalled where he had once heard this name from.
Xi Jia quietly asked, “Master Ye, isn’t he third place on the Modou Rankings? I remember that the one placed third on the Modou Rankings seems to be Hu Die, is it him?”
Ye Jingzhi nodded.
In response, Xi Jia profoundly looked at Hu Die’s eccentric figure of his back: Medicinal pill! Really was a medicinal pill! (Done for! It’s really done for!)2
Xi Jia completely didn’t understand how a great disciple of Longhu Mountain would have this kind of behavior. The Four Great Sects that Ye Jingzhi mentioned were Zi Wei Xing Hall, Shennong Valley, Great Wanshou Temple, and Longhu Mountain. Ordinary people probably don’t really know the first three since they were all Xuanxue world’s sects that were hidden in the darkness, not letting people know them. However the last one, Longhu Mountain was actually the most famous Daoist sect.
Longhu Mountain’s name originated from “a dragon and tiger appears when a pill forms,” indicating that it was from the Eastern Han period.3 The founder of one of the Daoist families, Zhang Daoling, had once concocted pills in a mountain, and his magic power was profound. Once a pill was formed, the qi appeared as a dragon and tiger. The common people then named that mountain, Longhu Mountain.
Later, Zhang Daoling’s descendants settled in Longhu Mountain and established the Celestial Masters’ Mansion.
The Qin Dynasty’s State Preceptor was Xu Fu, and he was highly regarded by the First Emperor. Following Eastern Han, many State Preceptors for the dynasties were Celestial Master Zhangs.
For the next thousands of years, Celestial Master Zhang had already become an official position, a sort of nickname, and it didn’t refer to a single person. Each appointed Celestial Master Zhang were Zhang Daoling’s descendants. They were highly regarded by the emperors and were given an official position of the highest rank. For many generations in the imperial court, they called the wind and summoned the rain. They were beneath a single person, but above millions of people.
Xi Jia always thought that Longhu Mountain no longer existed and was turned into a national-level tourist scenic area. Everyday, the amount of people going to see the Celestial Master’s Mansion was quite a lot, and the Celestial Masters’ Mansion would earn a large profit each year.
When Xi Jia was little, his father brought him to Longhu Mountain because of his strong yin energy, wanting to ask a master for help. However, when they arrived at Longhu Mountain, the father and son bought a ticket (Little Xi Jia at that time was short, free). They strolled in the Celestial Masters’ Mansion and bought a few unusual gadgets before leaving Longhu Mountain.
Thinking to here, Xi Jia’s expression became strange. He remembered the few gadgets he bought when he was a child. At that time, he really thought they were useful. In the end, after returning home, he turned it over and looked at it——
『Made in YIWU small goods mall』
……What are these?!!!
As if sensing Xi Jia’s speechlessness in his thoughts, Ye Jingzhi explained, “The Longhu Mountain of now is not the same as it was several hundred years ago, but it is of the same lineage. The lineage of the Celestial Masters’ Mansion gradually deteriorated, and this surviving line accepts numerous disciples and is thriving in comparison.”
Xi Jia lightly nodded. Of course he knew that the lineage of the Celestial Master’s Mansion was on the decline. They had already begun selling Yiwu Small Goods Mall products, okay?!
After Hu Die finished arranging the Deity Summoning Altar, he took out a long peach wood sword and started to request for Ling Xiao.
Probably because Longhu Mountain was the most geniune of the Daoist heritages, numerous characters in movies, shows, and novels would all learn from Longhu Mountain’s Daoist repository. Hu Die’s method of practice was very commonly seen. He used a peach wood sword to draw cinnabar runes on the yellow paper talismans. Then, he pierced through the rune, and the paper talisman burst into flames.
Shaking a string of little bells in one hand and holding a peach wood sword in the other, Hu Die danced back and forth between the two candles and talisman.
After the first talisman burned, the wind in the field suddenly stopped. It was silent inside the broken temple.
Translator’s Addition:
Hu Die: You dare steal my points!
Mirror: Humph! You dare interrupt my date! *gives no face*
Translator’s Notes:
1 Hu Die 胡蝶 – Hu 胡 is a surname, however paired with Die 蝶, it becomes a variant of butterfly 蝴蝶.
Take this blame/carry this burden 背这个锅 – It literally means carry this pot, but it means to take this blame/shoulder this burden, etc. ↵
2 Medicinal pill 药丸- homophone for 要完 “done for” in Chinese. Translated it literally a couple lines above the page jump for this, so the reference doesn’t get too lost in translation. Also they talk about pills a couple lines after. ↵
3 Eastern Han or Later Han (25–220 AD) ↵