Legend of the Great Sage (Chapter 1-Chapter 100)

“What about the other villagers?” Village head Li received his own share of silver and looked at the large pile that remained. Since even a victim like Li Fugui had received a share, there were plenty of other victims in the village. It could be said that every family had given the witch offerings before.

Li Qingshan glanced at him. “Does anyone have any objections?” He sympathised with the villagers who had been deceived, but he had no plans on compensating others for their stupidity. If he had not killed the witch in such a swift manner, it might have even been possible for their fear towards the witch to impel them to turn against him.

Moreover, how was he supposed to split it? Who was supposed to receive more and who was supposed to receive less? It was impossible to be fair, and in the end, it was very possible that not only would he receive no benefits from this at all, he would even become resented by many instead.

The village head had realised this as well. He wanted this youth, who was at the height of his influence, to hit a stumbling block. At the end of the day, what did the interests of the village have anything to do with him? Instead, the person right before him threatened his authority in the village more and more. Who knows, maybe a few years later, when Li Qingshan truly became an adult, he might even end up losing his position as village head.

However, he never expected Li Qingshan to be so meticulous with his thoughts despite his age. The glance that seemed to have pierced through his thoughts made him tremble with fear, afraid to say anything more.

Li Qingshan wrapped up the remaining silver. “Then please explain this matter to the other villagers. If any of you run your tongue carelessly and it reaches my ears, hmph!”

Everyone agreed to that. They were standing right in front of a weapon, and they had all received benefit from this incident as well, so none of them would just blabber.

Under village head Li’s lead, everyone arrived outside and provided an explanation to the villagers, commending Li Qingshan tremendously for eliminating a menace. Some of the devout believers of the witch originally refused to accept it, but when the skeletons were carried out one by one, all of them shut up. There were so many remains buried in her backyard, so how could she be any good?

No one was willing to offend a strong and vicious character like Li Qingshan for the sake of a dead person, not to mention the group of ‘respected and authoritative’ elders.

Li Qingshan did not make an appearance himself. Instead, he picked up the bronze bell in the witch’s severed hand. He could vaguely sense the spiritual nature that made it different from regular items. He asked Xiao An, “Did she use this to control you?”

Xiao An nodded and gazed at the bell extremely nervously.

Li Qingshan grabbed the bell and twisted it, deforming its shape. All of its special effects vanished immediately. Afterwards, he arrived at the entrance and threw it away as hard as he could. He turned around and smiled. “You’re free!”





Chapter 17: The Umbral Yin Ghost Control Technique | Legend of the Great Sage




Xiao An was both happy and confused.

Li Qingshan searched through the witch’s house again. Xiao An stuck right behind him before suddenly extending his small hand and tugging at Li Qingshan’s trousers, pointing at a particular place.

Li Qingshan found a secret compartment in the wall. It contained a stack of paper, consisting completely of silver notes. He could vaguely recall that there were also private banks in this world, but this was the first time he had seen proper silver notes.

The witch must have buried the pieces of silver when she was still fit. Afterwards, as her strength declined with her age, it became impossible for her to continue digging. As a result, she had exchanged her earnings in the past few years for these convenient silvernotes. There were roughly several hundred taels in the secret compartments. She was so wealthy, yet she had actually fallen out with him over a single boar’s head, consequently dying in the end.

Li Qingshan finally found what he was looking for at the very bottom of the secret compartment. It was a single leaf out of a book, covered in tiny writing. He glanced through it roughly, and it was a technique to refine souls and control ghosts. The edge of the page was uneven like it had been ripped out of a book.

Li Qingshan practised the Ox Demon’s Fist of Great Strength and had barely managed to witness the path of cultivation, so he was curious about other techniques as well. He had never thought that the witch’s strange techniques would actually come from a single page of a book. If she had possessed the entire book, he probably would have lost his life here today.

However, if the witch had the entire book, it was unlikely for her to hole up in the Crouching Ox village for half her life. The witch was not a part of the village originally, having suddenly settled down here several decades ago. No one knew her origins. As for how she had obtained this page, Li Qingshan was at a loss as well.

However, below the page was another silver note. It actually amounted to a thousand taels. The silver note was extremely yellowed; evidently, it had quite some age to it. She had definitely received it before coming to the village. It also made the witch’s origins even more confusing.

Li Qingshan asked Xiao An, “Do you recognise this?” He felt like this might have some connection to Xiao An’s origins.

Xiao An remained dull and silent, neither shaking or nodding his head.

Li Qingshan knew that the question had already exceeded the limits of what the child could answer. Obviously, Li Qingshan kindly accepted everything in the secret compartment without holding back at all. When he was about to leave, he felt Xiao An tug his trousers again.

Li Qingshan looked back and saw him with a face filled with confusion; he was just like a lost child. He was indescribably pitiful. Li Qingshan’s heart softened. He squatted down and asked gently, “You don’t have anywhere to go?”

Xiao An nodded and Li Qingshan said, “Then you can keep me company!” As he said that, he opened the porcelain jar. He knew that Xiao An was afraid of moving about under the sunlight.

Xiao An smiled bashfully and flew into the jar.

Li Qingshan returned to his house with the jar. After burying the jar behind his house, he made a small burial mound.

The black ox returned and asked, “You’ve succeeded?”

Li Qingshan replied, “What’s so difficult about dealing with an old hag?” Afterwards, he showed the ox his spoils of battle this time. He took out the page, gave it to the black ox to take a look, and asked, “Is this also an ability? Can I practise it?”

“It’s an incomplete piece of paper, so obviously it’s nothing much. However, this page originates from an ability called the Umbral Yin Ghost Control technique. Who knows how she got her hands on this. However, practising something incomplete like that probably won’t bring about any benefits. Haven’t you ever heard of biting off more than you can chew? You better achieve something with the Strength of Nine Oxen and Two Tigers first!” The black ox glanced at him and stated the origins of the page.

“Then which one is better, the Strength of Nine Oxen and Two Tigers or the Umbral Yin Ghost Control technique?”

“If it were the original version of the Strength of Nine Oxen and Two Tigers, that’ll be difficult to say. Although the Umbral Yin Ghost Control technique does not focus on personal cultivation, it can amass a great deal of ghosts to overpower opponents with numbers. It’s an ability for battle. If you can’t defeat the caster in a single stroke, it’s extremely easy for you to be swallowed up by a sea of ghosts.”

“Then what about the strength of the ox demon and tiger demon that I cultivate?”

“It obviously outclasses it.”

With that, Li Qingshan settled down and no longer hesitated. He casually stowed the page away.