Chapter 699: Erniu
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Old Master had quite a reputation in the village. Having been spread by his students, news of him bringing the odd young man back to his home quickly reached the village folk. As a result, numerous sneaky shadows started to appear outside his window within a short period of time.

The matter regarding the young man had already been transmitted throughout the village. Those who came were both curious and worried for the Old Master.

There was absolutely no time for Old Master to notice all this as he was wholly engrossed in the contents of the scripture. It was a thin golden piece of paper, with two words written on its contents –’Huangting’– the Yellow Court Classic. Its contents were very abstruse but oddly, Old Master could actually understand them.

Three hundred over words of Huangting were read within the span of six hours. When he finished, it was already night time. Old Master did not light a lamp as his house was surprisingly full of light and brightness.

At the same time, there was a warm current flowing throughout his body. Even in this cold autumn night, he did not feel the slightest bit cold.

The young man, however, had vanished. That sole page of the scripture vanished as well.

To be precise, the page had entered his body or to put it another way, it had reached his so-called brain. He was a profoundly knowledgeable person with vast experience. Even though he did not adept at matters of strange phenomenon, courage, armed rebellion, and supernatural beings, he knew very well that the world contained deities, demons, and Buddha – perhaps the young man was a proof of their existence.

The reasons for giving him this page of mysterious scripture may not be apparent but they surely exist.

However, with the young man’s sudden disappearance, Old Master was unable to make head or tail out of the situation.

He had always kept an open mind about the things that he could not get over. He was a man who placed great importance on the present. Hence, he got up and opened his door, to which countless villagers stormed in and they did not see the young man. Then, a young villager cried out in surprise. The rest of the villagers looked towards the direction which he pointed. On the wall, there was a poem:

‘Who shall bestow the fragrance and acclaim of Dao’s beard,

Great teacher for a century would also be heartbroken.

Smoke from the lonely underworld rustled through,

To this day he lowered his head and sighed at the uniqueness.

Unworthy disciple Shen Lian bestows this to the respected teacher.’
Old Master felt that he recalled something but with the crowd of villagers, it was impracticable for him to think. Finally, he let out a sigh and told the people outside, “Li Erniu and the rest, go home.”

When the villagers were young, they studied at the private school. Thus, they were very respectful of Old Master. Having seen that he was in no trouble, they did not dare to continue bothering him. The one who first saw the poem was none other than Li Erniu. As he looked at the graceful and mystical poem, a warm current flowed through his thoughts, for reasons which he did not know.

He rushed home and reached Niu shack.

At that time, a water buffalo was leisurely chewing on grass. Li Erniu walked to its side and told it about everything that happened at Old Master’s house. Li Erniu was a smart young man, even managed to notice the brightness of Old Master’s home despite the lack of a lighted lamp. All these details were told and finally, Li Erniu surmised that the young man was surely a deity. There was a reason why Li Erniu did not believe the young man to be a demon – he felt that a demon would not be able to write a poem so full of mystique.

Li Erniu said, “Brother Buffalo, it appears that there are immortals in this world. I have decided that I want to become such a person.”

He was the youngest in his family. Both of his parents had passed away and he now lived with his elder brother and sister-in-law. They had seen better days but Li Erniu himself did not know what to do with the future. That was before he encountered the events of that day which caused his heart to stir.

Recalling further on the myths and legends that were usually told by people, his yearning increased. These things, however, could not be told to anyone else, as they would surely elicit laughter and ridicule from them. All he could do was tell everything to a water buffalo that could not understand human language.

After a moment had passed, he once again felt gloomy, questioning, “Where could I find the ability to learn about the skills of a celestial?”

He was fully aware of the fact that he was merely the son of a peasant family, an ordinary person. Even if he were to leave home in search of celestials and seek Dao, elder brother and sister-in-law will not fork out all the expenses for him.

At that point in time, the water buffalo said, “You who wish to learn, I can teach you.”

Initially, Li Erniu did not react. After a while, he stammered, “B-brother Buffalo, y-you c-can speak h-h-human? Y-you are a demon.”

“look how you terrified you look,” the buffalo replied, “you need only tell me whether you wish to learn, or not.”

The big water buffalo did not explain too much but merely stared at Li Erniu with its copper-bell-like eyes.

Having received such a stare, Li Erniu no longer felt afraid. He solemnly replied, “I will learn.”

After that, the water buffalo held Li Erniu in its mouth and flung him onto his back with a tremendous force. Li Erniu could only hear the wind beside his ears and the slashing of the wind on his face. When the wind stopped, he found himself on a hillside ten thousand meters away. Having looked around, he found the surroundings to be white.

Li Erniu did not regard this as weird. After all, brother Buffalo could speak in human language and was indeed a demon. It was quite normal for the buffalo to run for ten thousand meters even with effort equivalent to that of a nap.

The Great Water Buffalo stood up on its two hind legs like a person. With movements indistinct from that of a person, it struck a few blows with its fists. Li Erniu watched intently and his body unconsciously followed its every movement. In the end, he was left sweating, with the sound of the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers ringing in his ears. At that moment, he did not know that the sound that he heard was the flowing of his Qi and state of blood.

For Qi cultivators, not many of them could hear the flowing of their own blood when they first started cultivating.

A bout of punches sufficed to cause incredible tiredness in him. Then, the Great Water Buffalo chanted a verse of incantation. Li Erniu’s memory could not be considered good, but surprisingly he was able to remember each word.

As he imitated the incantation chanted by Great Water Buffalo, he learned the breathing technique told in the incantation. It was as if he reached the clouds up high. The comfort he felt was absolutely indescribable. All the tiredness he felt before disappeared completely at that moment.

His mind became incomparably clearer. His eyesight improved to the extent that he was able to see the movements of tiny ants in the moonlight, despite the ants being fifty feet away from him. Even the antennae of the ants could be seen with such clarity!

Li Erniu thanked the Great Water Buffalo immensely but was met with a snort, “You must not tell anyone about the Dao formula that I have passed to you. I have to leave immediately.”

“Why?” Li Erniu asked.

Great Water Buffalo sighed, “The poem you were speaking about just now was written by Shen Lian and I cannot get by with him. If I do not leave, he might find me.”

“Contrary to what one might expect, you, the Bull King, are not stupid but based on your attainment, how could you possibly conceal your actions from a poor Daoist such as myself? To my surprise, you even dared to find the time to teach this youngster how to cultivate.” A Dao voice floated in the air from an unknown location.

Great Water Buffalo replied, “I know that I cannot conceal myself from you. Considering all the care that this young man had given me in the past years, it seems only right that I leave something behind for him since I know not of how immortal gentleman Shen would treat old buffalo.”

“After all, Xin Qubing and I had a period of friendly relations. You may be his son-in-law, but you were also the one who indirectly caused his death. As for the hatred he had, I will seek revenge on behalf of him. Fortunately, it could be considered that you died once before, and fourteen young women still have some feelings for you. As a result, to cause your body and spirit to be exterminated entirely would be excessively ruthless of me. How about you head to Biyou Palace and serve a millennium of penal servitude? You could call it a sort of reprimand.”

Great Water Buffalo felt relieved and answered, “Very well.”

It knew that there was no avenue for escape once he was found out by Shen Lian. A millennium of penal servitude? It could surely do that.

Li Erniu whispered, “Brother Buffalo, who exactly is this person?”

Great Water Buffalo shook its head as if it heard something preposterous. With hooves stepping on the air, it entered into the vast moonlight.

Li Erniu could only hear in his ear the telepathy of Brother Buffalo, “If you wish to see me, you can go to Biyou Palace.”

With a clenching of his fist, Li Erniu looked towards the direction where Great Water Buffalo disappeared, “Brother Buffalo, I will save you from this.”

From the void there came laughter, “Truly a hot-blooded youth.”

Throughout the ordeal, Li Erniu did not catch a glimpse of the person’s appearance. All he remembered were the words ‘Biyou Palace’.