Bodhi Tree was both surprised and amazed.
Li Yao smiled and said, "You flatter me, I was just lucky!"
The two talked as they flew through the sky.
Soon, Li Yao spotted a light not far away, indicating that someone must be living there.
So he descended from the sky and discovered that it was actually a dilapidated temple.
He put away his divine spear and, together with the Bodhi tree, entered the dilapidated temple.
In the courtyard of the dilapidated temple, there were ruins everywhere, and weeds grew rampant.
Inside the main hall of the dilapidated temple, a young man who looked like a scholar was reading by lamplight.
Beside the scholar was a bookshelf that could be carried on one's back.
Li Yao approached the main hall and knocked on the door frame. Only then did the scholar notice two strangers at the door.
Li Yao cupped his hands in greeting and said, "Brother, we are just passing through your area and would like to ask if it would be convenient for us to stay the night."
Actually, he was just being polite.
Before the scholar could speak, he and Bodhi Tree had already entered the main hall.
Seeing that the other person had already entered, the scholar could only smile awkwardly and nod, saying, "Of course, I was just passing by."
Li Yao nodded to the scholar, and then, together with Bodhi Tree, found a clean spot and sat down.
Li Yao said to Bodhi Tree, "You've just recovered from your serious injuries, you should rest early!"
Bodhi Tree nodded and lay down fully clothed.
At this moment, Li Yao noticed that the scholar had been watching them with curiosity.
When he turned his gaze to the scholar, the scholar quickly lowered his head and pretended to be reading.
Li Yao then casually asked, "Brother, may I ask your name?"
Are you asking me?
The scholar looked up blankly, and when he saw Li Yao nod at him, he bowed and said in a refined manner, "I am Ning Caichen."
"Ning Caichen?"
A glint flashed in Li Yao's eyes.
Unexpectedly, the other party turned out to be Ning Caichen.
This Ning Caichen is quite famous.
In his previous life, there were many men who regarded three men as idols and worshipped them greatly.
These three people are: Dong Yong, Xu Xian, and Ning Caichen.
One messed with immortals, one messed with demons, and the last one didn't even spare ghosts!
The Ning Caichen standing before us is the one who pulled the strings!
Since this scholar is Ning Caichen, then this must be the world of A Chinese Ghost Story.
Chapter 407 A Strange World (Revised)
A Chinese Ghost Story is based on the story of Nie Xiaoqian in Pu Songling's "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio". It was adapted into the movie A Chinese Ghost Story.
Therefore, based solely on Ning Caichen, Li Yao cannot conclude that the world he has arrived in is the world of A Chinese Ghost Story.
Perhaps this is the world from the novel "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio"!
To determine which specific world this is, we need to find more evidence.
At this moment, Li Yao turned his gaze to the Bodhi tree that had just fallen asleep beside him.
Bodhi Tree was a disciple of the Kunlun School.
In the second part of A Chinese Ghost Story, there happens to be a disciple of the Kunlun Sect with the Dharma name Zhi Qiu Yi Ye.
Hey!
The two people's Buddhist names seem quite similar.
Could it be that the two of them are fellow disciples?
Thinking of this, Li Yao directly asked Bodhi Tree, "Fellow Daoist Bodhi, do you have any close fellow disciples?"
The Bodhi tree has just lain down; it is not yet asleep.
He opened his eyes, looking puzzled, not understanding why Li Yao suddenly asked this question.
However, he didn't think much of it and said, "I have many fellow disciples, but not many close ones. My best friend is my senior brother, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye."
"A single leaf heralds autumn? Interesting!"
A smile flashed across Li Yao's face as he said, "Judging from your Buddhist names, you two must have a very good relationship."
"Yes, Senior Brother Zhi Qiu started learning earlier than me and has taken good care of me."
“I was inspired by the Dharma name of my fellow practitioner, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye, to give myself the Dharma name ‘Bodhi Tree’.”
"We came down the mountain together this time to gain some experience, but later we separated and went our separate ways to slay demons and monsters."
"I wonder how my senior brother is doing now?"
Bodhi Tree recalled the past and became immersed in it.
At this moment, Li Yao was certain that he had indeed transmigrated into the world of A Chinese Ghost Story.
A Chinese Ghost Story was filmed in three parts.
The plots of the first two parts are closely connected, and their timelines are also linked.
The third part takes place many years after Yan Chixia's death. The story is very independent. Apart from Lanruo Temple, the Tree Demon Granny, the Black Mountain Demon, and the imposter Yan Chixia, everything else is unrelated to the first two parts.
The stories of the first two parts of A Chinese Ghost Story are very simple.
The scholar Ning Caichen went to Guobei County to collect debts. Because he had no money, he came to Lanruo Temple to stay overnight. He was refused by the Taoist priest Yan Chixia in the temple, so Ning Caichen secretly sneaked into the temple.
As night fell, Ning Caichen was drawn by the sound of a zither and encountered the young girl Nie Xiaoqian.
Nie Xiaoqian was coerced by the tree spirit Granny into harming Ning Caichen, but fortunately Yan Chixia arrived in time to save Ning Caichen.
Ning Caichen was kind, upright, and affectionate. He didn't realize that Nie Xiaoqian wanted to harm him and even fell in love with her.
Nie Xiaoqian was moved by Ning Caichen's kindness and integrity, and fell in love with him.
The Tree Spirit Granny forced Nie Xiaoqian to kill Ning Caichen, but Nie Xiaoqian refused. Granny then ordered her female ghosts to kill Ning Caichen and Xiaoqian. Yan Chixia reappeared and saved the two, but Granny was seriously injured.
At this moment, Ning Caichen realized that Nie Xiaoqian was a wandering spirit controlled by the tree spirit, Grandma, who searched for strong men every night to drain her yang essence.
In order for Xiaoqian to be reincarnated, Ning Caichen agreed to send her remains back to the countryside for burial.
Unexpectedly, Nie Xiaoqian was abducted by the Black Mountain Demon of the Underworld to be his wife.
Later, with the help of Yan Chixia, Ning Caichen rescued Xiaoqian and sent her into reincarnation.
Later, Yan Chixia went into seclusion at Lanruo Temple, while Ning Caichen was unjustly implicated and imprisoned on his way back home. Fortunately, he escaped from prison with the help of Zhuge Wolong, a learned scholar.
After escaping from prison, Ning Caichen became entangled with Zhi Qiu Yiye, a Taoist priest from the Kunlun Sect. Their relationship progressed from misunderstanding to friendship, and they eventually stayed together at an abandoned mountain villa.
Later, they ran into the Fu sisters.
Later, everyone worked together to save Fu Tianchou, the father of the Fu sisters, and learned that the current imperial advisor, Cihang Pudu, was a centipede demon.
With Yan Chixia's help, the group finally killed Cihang Pudu, who was causing havoc on the world. Fu Qingfeng also decided to travel the world with Ning Caichen and Yan Chixia.
Li Yao gave a brief overview of the story of A Chinese Ghost Story.
He discovered something very strange.
Whether it's Yan Chixia in the first part or Zhi Qiu Yiye in the second part, they used Buddhist and Taoist methods alternately or even used them together when they were slaying demons.
For example, Yan Chixia frequently used two mantras: "Prajnaparamita" and "Heaven and Earth Without Limits, Borrowing the Law of Heaven and Earth".
Prajnaparamita belongs to Buddhism.
The phrase "Heaven and Earth are boundless, and Qiankun borrows the law" clearly belongs to the Daoist principles.
For example, Zhi Qiu Yi Ye often uses two spells: "Heaven and Earth Spirit, Expel Ghosts and Demons" and "Pañca Mani Hum, Wind, Fire, Thunder and Lightning".
The former belongs to the Taoist school, while the latter is a combination of Buddhist and Taoist teachings.
Normally, there is a sense of sectarianism between different sects, and they will not easily reveal their respective techniques to each other.
Why do both Yan Chixia and Zhi Qiu Yiye, who are Taoist priests, frequently use Buddhist techniques?
This puzzled Li Yao greatly.
Furthermore, why is the Black Mountain Demon, who is merely a mountain that has become a demon, able to occupy the City of the Wrongfully Dead in the Underworld?
The City of the Wrongfully Dead is the territory of King Biancheng, the Sixth King of Hell. Does King Biancheng just sit idly by and watch his territory be seized without doing anything?
In the underworld, besides King Biancheng, there are nine other Yama Kings, including King Qin Guang, King Chu Jiang, King Song Di, and King Yama.
Are all these Yama kings blind?
What puzzled Li Yao the most was that a mere centipede demon dared to use Cihang's name to swindle and deceive people in the imperial court.
He even dared to impersonate the Buddha.
Are even the Buddhas of the Western Paradise blind?
Therefore, the world of A Chinese Ghost Story is full of strangeness.
When Li Yao watched these two movies, he also thought about these issues.
However, the film did not elaborate on this point.
Now that he has come to the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, he intends to investigate these strange questions in detail.
In the world of A Chinese Ghost Story, there weren't many magical treasures that would tempt Li Yao.
For example, the Xuanyuan Divine Sword in Yan Chixia's hands was incredibly weak. When he stabbed the locust tree spirit, apart from sap splashing everywhere, the effect was mediocre at best, completely unworthy of the name Xuanyuan.
The Demon-Slaying Needle used by Yan Chixia was not as powerful as the Xuanyuan Divine Sword.