NHWSG chapter 61

As for the connection between “hearing the sound” and Mount Longhu, even Sheng Zhao himself only heard the complete version from Zhang Chengde later.

After leaving the Locking Demon Tower, Zhang Chengde invited them all into the inner courtyard, changed to a new tea set, and asked Sheng Zhao’s date of birth with a smile.

One’s date of birth was the most private thing, and for people like them who practiced occult skills, it was almost equivalent to the second most important thing after one’s life.

Xing Yingzhu had once warned Sheng Zhao not to reveal his date of birth to others rashly. But because Sheng Zhao had a lingering goodwill towards Mount Longhu, he didn’t hesitate to say it.

Before, he only thought that people like Zhang Jian would draw a symbol or recite a spell, like performing magic tricks, but he didn’t expect that their most proficient skill was not demon suppression, but fortune-telling.

Apart from the date of birth, Zhang Chengde hardly asked Sheng Zhao anything else. He calculated with his left hand, casually wrote a few words on the paper with his right hand, and when he spoke again, he had clarified everything about Sheng Zhao’s life from childhood to adulthood.

Separated from his family at a young age, lost his reliance at another age, and was fostered by another family at yet another age—if not for these things that even Zhang Jian didn’t know about, Sheng Zhao almost thought Zhang Chengde had cheated with outside help.

No wonder Xing Yingzhu had repeatedly reminded him to keep his date of birth safe. Sheng Zhao mused, wondering what kind of occultism this was. Just a few numbers, yet it could be so accurate.

“The Four Pillars of Destiny, Ziwei Star Chart, things left by our ancestors, they all have their reasons.” Zhang Chengde put away the pen and paper, smiled and stretched out his hand to him, saying, “Young friend, would you like to follow me to offer incense?”

Sheng Zhao was stunned for a moment. He glanced subconsciously at Hu Huanyang, feeling a bit hesitant.

Xing Yingzhu was still lying dormant in his sleeve, and he hadn’t woken up for half a moment. Sheng Zhao could only rely on Hu Huanyang for now.

Unfortunately, Hu Huanyang was just as clueless as him. It was his first time going up the mountain as well. After hesitating for a while, he said, “…How about you try?.”

“Fortune-telling” and “offering incense” were completely different matters in Sheng Zhao’s mind. There were plenty of fortune-tellers under the bridge, and Zhang Chengde was probably just making it up. However, Sheng Zhao was a bit unsure about what “offering incense” meant in Zhang Chengde’s mouth. Was it the literal meaning, or did it represent some kind of magical practice? He couldn’t be sure.

To be honest, from the moment Sheng Zhao went up Mount Longhu until he deciphered a fragment of his past life in the illusion, he had an inexplicable fondness for this place. If it weren’t for Xing Yingzhu, he might have agreed to Zhang Chengde’s invitation, become his disciple, and continued his relationship with this place.

But then again, since Xing Yingzhu chose him, he didn’t want to back out no matter how much he liked this place.

If that was the case, it was best not to have any relationship with Mount Longhu.

After hesitating for two seconds, Zhang Chengde had already seen his concerns. He stroked his beard and eased the situation, “Since you have a connection with our sect and accidentally entered our Locking Demon Tower, it’s best to clarify things, right?”

Since Zhang Chengde put it that way, Sheng Zhao couldn’t say anything else. He obediently stood up and followed Zhang Chengde into the inner room.

Passing through a side room, Sheng Zhao noticed an incense altar in the inner room, with a slightly aged portrait hanging on it, bearing the seal of Mount Longhu in the lower right corner.

After walking around in the illusion, Sheng Zhao’s mind had gained some instinctual memories, reminding him of the symbol he inexplicably drew near the underground river in Shanghai, which came from Mount Longhu.

Will memories from past lives also be recalled in this life? Sheng Zhao pondered aimlessly: If so, then what’s the use of the Forgetfulness Soup?

Zhang Chengde led Sheng Zhao to the side of the case platform. Sheng Zhao originally thought he was going to ask him to offer incense, so he hesitated for a moment, thinking to himself that it didn’t matter if he knelt down and paid respects, but Xing Yingzhuo was still lying on his hand, and if the old man woke up to find him kneeling and kowtowing to someone else while he was asleep, he’d probably flip the mountain.

The more Sheng Zhao thought about it, the more absurd it seemed. He quickly shook his head, thinking about how to politely refuse Zhang Chengde later.

“…Young friend?” Zhang Chengde’s hesitant voice interrupted Sheng Zhao’s wandering thoughts. When he turned his head, he realized that Zhang Chengde had already lit incense by himself, stood in front of the altar, paid his respects, and completed a set of procedures properly.

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Fortunately, he had overthought.

When Zhang Chengde caught his gaze, he thought Sheng Zhao was expecting to do it himself, so he apologized, “Please forgive me, although there’s a connection from the past life, this life you are still an outsider, so it’s inappropriate—”

“It’s okay, it’s okay.” Sheng Zhao seemed very magnanimous, waving his hand repeatedly. “Please go ahead.”

Zhang Chengde stood up from the cushion, turned his head to look at Sheng Zhao for a moment, and said, “Please close your eyes for a moment, young friend.”

“Oh…” Sheng Zhao felt Zhang Chengde was mysterious, and he couldn’t figure out what he was up to, so he could only obey his instructions.

When vision is cut off, other senses become more acute. Sheng Zhao heard a very subtle sound of fabric rustling for a moment, followed by Zhang Chengde murmuring something lowly, and then shaking a bell on the altar.

Sheng Zhao felt something slightly cool falling on his forehead, and he suddenly felt dazed for a moment.

The feeling was extremely mysterious. Sheng Zhao couldn’t explain it himself. It seemed chaotic, yet extremely clear. In a daze, he felt like a myriad of things flashed through his mind. Although he didn’t remember anything, he was left with a feeling of experiencing countless things.

It seemed like an instant, yet it felt like a lifetime.

“Young friend,” Zhang Chengde’s voice came from close by, “You can open your eyes now.”

Sheng Zhao opened his eyes and saw Zhang Chengde still maintaining the previous posture, except that he now held a roll of pure water-colored fabric in his hand.

Sheng Zhao noticed that there was no writing on it.

“How do you feel, young friend?” Zhang Chengde asked.

Sheng Zhao touched his forehead and said truthfully, “Very elusive… it feels like I had a dream, but also like I didn’t.”

Zhang Chengde smiled knowingly and gestured for him to sit down at a nearby table and chair.

“Are we going to talk here?” Sheng Zhao was somewhat surprised. “Not going back?”

“There are only the two of us here,” Zhang Chengde said. “The matters of the past life are ultimately your own affairs, so it’s not appropriate to speak in front of outsiders.”

Alright, Sheng Zhao thought, you occultists sure care a lot about privacy.

“Actually, when the Locking Demon Tower had anomalies, I didn’t expect such a big commotion.” Zhang Chengde said, “To be honest, I thought it was because Mr. Xing had transformed his original form, so the surrounding demons would behave abnormally.”

“But later, you found out it was me,” Sheng Zhao interjected, asking his own question, “Before, Hu Huanyang secretly told me that when I entered, the Locking Demon Tower’s seal almost failed, but… where did I get such great ability?”

“This matter is somewhat far-fetched to say it’s related to you young friend, but to say it’s unrelated is also not true.” Zhang Chengde hesitated, rare for him, and finally chose a gentle wording, “It’s just that those demons missed you too much. When they saw you return, they were excited for a moment, so… “

Sheng Zhao: “…”

Sheng Zhao understood.

The feeling was probably similar to a whole class of elementary school students seeing the art teacher enter after the bell rings, overly excited, easily causing localized earthquakes.

He couldn’t help but feel amused, thinking it was indeed reasonable. From the illusion, it seemed that in his past life, he was simply a community manager for monsters.

Wait a minute…

Sheng Zhao suddenly froze for a moment because he suddenly realized with sadness that this life wasn’t any better than the last one. He just went from being a community manager to being a building manager. If you calculated carefully, his scope of management even shrank.

He slowly covered his face, thinking that this job unexpectedly had a lifetime appointment.

“You can continue,” Sheng Zhao said.

Next, Zhang Chengde spent about half an hour to fill in Sheng Zhao’s vague understanding of the so-called “past life.”

It was almost the same as what Sheng Zhao saw in the illusion. According to Zhang Chengde, in the past life, Wen Sheng went up the mountain since childhood, had average aptitude, was honest in character, and had average abilities. He neither had any cleverness nor was he foolish, just the kind of person who would be drowned in a crowd.

But precisely because he was honest, he was assigned to guard the Locking Demon Tower.

However, it was unexpected, and it was fate. Typically, disciples who guarded the Locking Demon Tower could only stay for up to three years, as their minds couldn’t withstand the temptations and needed to be sent far away. But Wen Sheng stayed there for over sixty years until he died of old age.

At that time, demons were rampant in the human world, committing numerous evil deeds. Mount Longhu was at its peak, and many demons were killed from top to bottom. Everyone treated each other as enemies, wishing to treat each other as enemies.

But, coincidentally, there was Wen Sheng, such an anomaly. Not only did he get along well with demons, but he even secretly brought offerings for them to enjoy.

Initially, the people in the sect punished Wen Sheng for this, and several times wanted to transfer him away. However, every time he left, those demons would make a fuss. In the end, Wen Sheng could only stay in that one-acre, three-part field until he died of old age.

This story seemed to have no ups and downs, just an ordinary life of a homebody. If you set aside the fixed factor of the Locking Demon Tower, it sounded bland.

What Sheng Zhao didn’t notice was that Xing Yingzhu, who was in his sleeve, had already completed a small awakening and quietly lay on his arm, listening to the whole story with him.

No wonder everyone in the building had a good impression of Sheng Zhao, and even he couldn’t help but care more about this silly kid. In secret, Xing Yingzhu thought, it turns out there was still this layer of connection from the past life.

Xing Yingzhu knew everything that had happened over the years, and just hearing this much, he already understood the cause and effect.

But Sheng Zhao was completely clueless about these esoteric secrets, so he had no choice but to continue asking.

“But…” Sheng Zhao hesitated, “In the illusion, that fox lady once told me that I owed a favor to the demon Clan.”

If he was simply responsible for accompanying and playing with them as a community manager, how could it rise to the level of owing a favor?

Zhang Chengde seemed to have anticipated this question, calmly took a sip of water, then looked at Sheng Zhao with gentle eyes.

“She’s right, you do owe them… a great favor.” Zhang Chengde said slowly, “You saved their lives.”