Chapter Fifty-Nine — The Four-Nine Heavenly Thunder

Hearing Li Daoxuan's words, many murmured.

"Absurd — he is greedy to the bone; how can one give him gold and silver mountains? Would that not indulge his greed?"

"I find it rather interesting — if you give a gold and silver mountain yet he cannot take it away, would that not torment him the more?"

"Or crush him dead beneath the gold and silver mountains?"

Among those present were no lack of clever men; at Li Daoxuan's words they pondered, as if a certain gate had opened.

The Lady in Green tapped with her jade finger; the mirror's ground trembled and rose, forming two high mountains.

One burst with golden light, one with silver — and indeed there appeared gold and silver mountains!

The official, seeing these two mountains fallen from the sky, went wide-eyed, as if even the pain upon him had eased.

Endless greed rose in his heart, and his eyes grew hot.

"Mine — all mine!"

The Lady in Green looked to Li Daoxuan.

"Lady, since he wants them, then give them — but let us change the method."

Li Daoxuan whispered a few words in Fairy Que's ear; Fairy Que's eyes lit, and her gaze toward Li Daoxuan grew wary.

As if she looked upon a great villain full of bad water.

"Que'er, do as he says."

The Lady in Green nodded her assent.

Fairy Que at once became a skylark and flew from the hall; soon her figure appeared in the mirror.

She fetched karma-fire from the Nine Nether and set it upon the gold and silver mountains.

Under the karma-fire's roasting, the two high mountains slowly melted, flowing boiling gold-juice and silver-juice.

The ghost-officers, at Fairy Que's bidding, pinned the official's head, pried his mouth, plugged in an iron funnel, and began pouring the molten gold and silver into him without cease.

How hot was that boiled juice — at once it burned through his throat, cooked his five organs; the gold-soup and silver-liquid burst from beneath his skin and mingled with his blood — a scene too ghastly to behold.

The official, a funnel in his mouth, could not scream; but his pupils dilated, in utmost agony — and the greed of a moment ago was clean gone.

And because he was a soul-body, dwelling in the heavy-yin Blue Netherworld, he would not scatter, but soon recover.

Thus a new cycle began.

…

At the feast, Li Daoxuan said to the Lady in Green, "This method may not make him truly repent, but it can make him fear gold and silver; even reborn, when next he sees gold, silver, copper coin, he will subconsciously keep his distance."

"Besides, Lady might have someone check just how much he embezzled, then burn those coins to copper-juice and pour it down him to drink; the more he greedily took, the more copper-juice he drinks — this too is heaven's cycle, retribution sure."

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This method was not Li Daoxuan's own invention, but came from the Strange Tales — facing a corrupt official who had taken three million taels, King Yama had used this very method, with excellent effect.

After a time, the corrupt official in the mirror, on seeing gold and silver again, began to retch in fear, his eyes full of loathing and rejection.

The Lady in Green waved her hand and put away the mirror, then before all asked, "Li Daoxuan, would you become my Blue Netherworld walker on earth?"

At this, many were either full of regret or gazed at Li Daoxuan with envy.

They only hated that they had not thought of so clever a method, and had thus missed such a once-in-a-lifetime chance!

That little Daoist was already Zhang Qianyang's disciple; now he had clung to the Lady in Green besides — backed by two great gods, such fortune… truly envious!

"Cough, cough!"

Li Daoxuan coughed somewhat abashed and braced himself. "That… Lady — may I decline?"

In an instant the whole room fell silent.

The feast's air turned strange; not a soul spoke, as if a needle dropping might be heard.

Fairy Que, who had returned to the hall, quickly threw Li Daoxuan meaningful glances.

But Li Daoxuan could only pretend not to see.

He truly did not wish to be this Envoy; in his last life working for others had been tiresome enough — this life he wanted only to live free and unbound, to the full!

Had the Lady in Green not pressed him, he would not have stood to speak, and spoken that method.

The Lady in Green was a little startled; she truly had not expected Li Daoxuan to refuse her.

This little Daoist had given her too many surprises this night.

Those three treasures — even a Yang-Spirit cultivator would be moved; yet he could be so calm?

No wonder he had attained the samadhi state.

The Lady in Green pondered, her face like an ancient well without ripple, no joy nor sorrow to be seen.

The Meiling Mountain God's eyes flashed; he felt his chance had come — this boy was addled, to refuse so great a fortune; surely it would displease the Lady!

If now he stepped up, to help the Lady save face, perhaps the Lady, pleased, would let the Envoy fall to him.

"Humph — you little one, truly arrogant! Today this god shall teach you a lesson on your master's behalf!"

So saying his body grew ever larger, bursting his upper garment to reveal rock-wrought, sinewy muscle; the whole man became a walking mountain-giant, full of brute ferocity.

Li Daoxuan's eyes flashed a ruthless glint; in his hand he pinched ten Five-Thunder Talismans at once, meaning to unleash them all in one breath!

Fairy Que's heart quickened; she prepared to help, but the Lady in Green stayed her.

"Lady…"

Fairy Que was very puzzled — could the Lady truly be angry?

The Lady in Green only faintly smiled, shook her head, and gave no explanation.

Boom!

The Meiling Mountain God swung his huge arm down at Li Daoxuan, like a mountain-collapse, stirring a gale!

Li Daoxuan's gaze was firm; he had already pinched the Heaven-Thunder Seal and begun to silently intone.

Countless threads of thunder-light brewed above the Blue Netherworld; the sky seemed turned to a thunder-marsh, that destructive utmost-yang breath ever gathering, making many ghost-officers in the Blue Netherworld tremble.

Boom-rumble!

The wine-cups at the feast burst one after another.

A dazzling deep-green thunderbolt struck down, like a roaring green dragon, full of the breath of destruction and overbearing might; the terrible power of the thunder made all tremble with dread.

The Meiling Mountain God's pupils dilated; he seemed to see something inconceivable.

Boom!

All felt the world go white before their eyes, as if blinded; everywhere was vast thunder-sound and dazzling thunder-light.

This moment, even Yin-Spirit strongmen's hair stood on end, their Dharma eyes failing.

"Impossible — that little Daoist can summon so terrible a thunder?"

"This… this is the Four-Nine Heavenly Thunder — his thunder-art is so profound?"

"No wonder he sits at the head table; beneath the Four-Nine Heavenly Thunder, even we of the Yin-Spirit realm would have our souls scattered!"

When the thunder-light dispersed.

All pupils shook — for there before them, the once-arrogant Meiling Mountain God was now charred black, half his body near smashed to bits!

A dignified late Yin-Spirit Meiling Mountain God — even with his power declined away from the Meiling region — could not lose to an early-Bigu!

Li Daoxuan was the more bewildered.

For his hand still clutched those ten Five-Thunder Talismans; he had not yet finished his incantation, yet that thunderbolt had already struck!

This… Four-Nine Heavenly Thunder — who had summoned it?

A figure drifted down; a smelly foot planted straight on the Meiling Mountain God's head, and a glob of old phlegm was spat.

"Heh-heh — Meiling-second, decades since I last spanked you, your skin itches again?"

"Dao-grandpa's ears are none too good — just now you said, who to teach my disciple a lesson, eh?"