Chapter 459
Chapter 459
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 459
Chapter Title: Dark Heaven Village
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I was traversing rugged mountains the next day when I sensed something odd. It was because I had discovered an eerie yin ground in the range—a bizarre spot where swarms of chilling evil spirits clustered. Curious as to why human souls lingered on that high, desolate mountainside amid the raging blizzard, I headed toward it.
Ruuuumble...
'What a massive horde...'
I scowled as I surveyed the cavernous crevices in that secluded ridge. Activating the Heavenly Divine Scripture's incantation revealed the evil spirits clearly: each one stained blood-red, steeped in resentment, terror, and despair. Any living being passing nearby would likely suffer from their aura.
But it made no sense. This was a remote highland devoid of human traffic. Even ordinary people couldn't climb it without proper gear, and even I risked tumbling into a ten-thousand-zhang chasm if careless. Why were evil spirits gathered here?
After pondering deeply, I stepped into the pitch-black cave. The spirits reacted to me—not growing ferocious at the sight of a living being, but startling like frightened animals and fleeing to the sides.
"......?"
Boosting my profound inner energy could certainly repel them, and the Heavenly Divine Scripture's arts could control even this many. Yet I had merely taken one step into their midst without doing anything, and they all scattered. It was as if they feared my very presence.
It was deeper in the cave. Amid a putrid rotten stench, I found a muddy passage strewn with corpses here and there. No proper burials—their limbs and heads protruded from shallow graves, quietly decaying. They clearly hadn't died naturally, so after observing, I tested by summoning one evil spirit with the Heavenly Divine Scripture.
"Hey. What happened here?"
[#&@^#&@&^@#....]
The spirit flailed as if desperate to speak, but its words were garbled. It wasn't just a foreign tongue; otherwise, I could have communicated flawlessly with souls from centuries ago. No, this one simply couldn't reach me for conversation.
Frustrated, I summoned Zhuge-sa and explained the situation. He eyed the spirit intently before speaking.
"These are scraps."
"What?"
"They've already been offered as tribute to someone. Their souls belong to that entity now, so they can't respond to the Heavenly Divine Scripture."
Zhuge-sa averted his gaze irritably.
"Why come to a dump like this? Waste of time. Go find Peng Zhao."
"A dump...? Explain properly! There are at least hundreds of corpses here. Don't we need to know why?"
The sheer volume of visible bodies was simple: this had once been a vast cavern, but burying so many humans had narrowed it.
"Need it simpler? Precisely, it's a food waste bin."
Crack.
Suddenly, Zhuge-sa reached out and snatched the evil spirit before me. Souls can't normally be grasped by humans, but as a master of the Soul Separation Grand Method, he pulled off the feat. He shook it vigorously before saying,
"It's been stripped. Something fundamental to its soul is gone. Leftover trash from someone who ate it."
"......"
Only then did I grasp his words. My expression hardened.
"Tributed to an [Ancient Ruler]?"
"Could be..."
"Could be?"
"Apostles or high-ranking kin under them demand offerings too. Either way, this is where one of those dumps the souls it didn't finish. No point lingering. Get out."
Glancing at my face, Zhuge-sa grumbled curtly.
"Don't even think about taking down the owner of this dump. No time for that."
"But look at these bodies! Fresh kills. It's still happening."
"So? Gonna pick a fight with an apostle or [Ancient Ruler] you don't even know?"
Zhuge-sa's eyes gleamed madly.
"Sure, with the National Seal's power and your apostle abilities, maybe a high kin could manage. But know what that means? It's a preemptive strike on an [Ancient Ruler] by the Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' side."
"......!!"
"They have a Seven Desires truce for peace. Think Zhuan Xu will fight the western gods for you? He'll strip your apostle status for meddling and discard you."
"Damn it..."
"Ignore this stuff. Endless otherwise."
I ground my teeth and turned away.
'Another Taiqing Village massacre here...'
A village wiped out in secret, bodies devoured, souls toyed with endlessly even in death. Having stopped one such atrocity in the East, it chafed to witness it repeating in the West and walk away.
And Zhuge-sa's words proved prophetic.
Over the next five hundred li via lightness skill, I sensed thirty-nine more such spots. Nameless humans dying and wandering as vengeful spirits numbered at least thirty thousand. Though buried in uninhabited mountains, I felt them in ruins and wastelands too.
In ruined villages, no need to hide: mutilated corpses and bones littered openly, alongside viscous otherkin waste and husks.
Clop...
Overwhelmed, I halted mid-run and muttered unwittingly,
"Is this hell?"
Even Central Plains weren't this bad. Humans blatantly devoured or sacrificed to otherkin everywhere. Some villages looked intact, but they'd fall soon enough.
But odd. If humans died so indiscriminately, no nation could advance. Intact villages showed scant otherkin traces.
What criteria guided their raids?
Hours later, I reached a massive castle—grander than any in Arasa, rivaling Luoyang in scale though Western-style. Plan was to leap over unseen with lightness skill.
But the filthy human shantytown crowding the gates gave me pause.
'What is this?'
Central Plains had beggars and refugees outside cities too. Yet this felt like a whole village transplanted, even guided—Westerners moving in disciplined unison. Another dense hamlet outside the walls.
'Need intel.'
Unfortunately, I didn't speak Western tongues. Per Zhuge-sa, this continent was fragmented like Spring and Autumn Warring States, each nation with its dialect. No easy communication; the remoteness hit home.
No choice: in a secluded spot, I summoned Zhuge-sa. He scowled.
"Trying to meddle in unrelated business again."
"Ignoring suspicions is the real loss, no?"
"...There is a way."
"What way?"
"Use the Heavenly Divine Scripture. Find a strong local spirit nearby and possess with it. You'll understand the regional tongue temporarily. A proper soul, not those stripped ones."
"Got it."
I nodded and activated the incantation. Even in this distant land, the ten-li aura stirred, spirit energies palpable. Soon I found the 'potent spirit' Zhuge-sa mentioned and summoned it.
[I ask: who are you?]
The Westerner had brown hair and beard, clad uniquely with a longsword at his waist. Not quite knightly, but his piercing gaze bespoke a martial master in life.
[A warrior from the East?]
"Yes."
[My name is Johannes Liechtenauer! Do you have a task for me?]
"Hmm..."
Roughly comprehensible. Though a novel Western tongue, meaning flowed via spiritual conduit. I told him,
"Liechten...auer. Tough name."
[Call me anything.]
"Liechte. Get intel from those refugees on the situation."
[Simple enough!]
Whoooosh.
Liechte possessed me. He gazed down at my body in wonder, murmuring,
"You possess an immense Kraft. Unbelievable!"
Curious from the mental sidelines, I asked,
[What's that?]
"Hmm... The power enveloping the inner self. Not muscle, but what fills the core."
Ah, qi.
Western warriors understood and used qi too, just named differently. Liechte had instantly sensed the Millennium Snow Ginseng and elixirs coursing through me. Intrigued, I asked,
[Were you a martial master in life? Does the West have a martial world?]
"Huhu. No idea what 'martial world' means. But I led my own school, researching swordsmanship as a practitioner."
Step step.
He approached the refugee camp and addressed who seemed the chief.
"Don't scorn my black hair. I'm an Eastern exchange student come to study at the Liechtenauer school."
The burly, thickly clad chief replied gruffly. Dialogue flowed naturally.
"Who cares?! Buzz off and quit bothering us."
Eyeing the chief, Liechte asked,
"Why not enter the walls? Life inside must be easier."
"Damn it... Think we're nobles or bourgeois? Can't live in the castle."
"Not locals, yet camping outside? Why?"
"......"
The chief glared angrily.
"Foolish drifter. Time for a beating!"
Crack.
Stout men emerged from the camp, armed with shortswords and maces—not bare-handed. Clearly intent on killing or crippling; fight inevitable.
Swoosh.
Liechte swiftly drew my longsword, slashing three wide horizontal cuts lightning-fast. Garments split from skin by a hair's breadth on the men around. Precision rivaled Central Plains peak experts; I inwardly admired.
'Fast! Reached utmost speed realm.'
His qi control was exquisite too. Western martial arts weren't to scoff at.
"Gasp."
As the chief froze, Liechte held the blade to his throat.
"Told you: Liechtenauer school?"
"Ugh... S-sorry. I'll explain properly."
The chief soon elaborated.
"Rumors spread lately of villages annihilated, mystery beasts prowling forests and plains. Five villages fled here for the lord's protection. Even if beasts attack, he won't ignore carnage before his gates."
"Just request troops from the lord."
"Villages razed overnight—too late for that. Survivors describe horrors too gruesome to watch. Beyond us."
Liechte gleaned all details from the chief. Gathering intel, he withdrew and said,
"I've done my part, but one request?"
[What request?]
"Dead twenty years, but this is my homeland. Want a word with the lord."
First time for this. The Heavenly Divine Scripture summons potent spirits via great immortal for tasks, trading ample good karma. Empowered spirits strengthen or ascend easier. Naturally, they stick to assigned duties. Yet Liechtenauer volunteered more.
[Fine.]
Flash.
He lightness-skilled atop the walls, infiltrating. Bouncing qi from feet, he marveled,
"Amazing power!"
But the atmosphere shifted entering the inner keep. Outer walls resembled a typical developed Western city, but deeper in, dense magic seeped. Realizing it, atop the inner ramparts he muttered,
"Ugh... Can't go farther... Farewell."
He departed mid-sentence. Could force deeper, but deemed risky for host me. I understood: the magic before us billowed visibly like inky clouds.
Crackle.
Black clouds swirled atop the inner spire, lightning flashing. I scowled at the sight.
'Demons!'
Was it illusion recalling Jin So-cheong's Luoyang vision fifty years hence?
I knew this was the boundary. Potent demons dwelled inside; venturing further equaled declaration of war. As I pondered, the gate opened; a guard approached.
The guard's mouth gaped, writhing tentacles slithering out. The thing waved them, telepathing,
[You... apostle of Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors...?]
Otherkin magic had made the human a tentacle host. I replied calmly,
"You know me?"
[...Seven Desires... territories divided... Why invade my domain...?]
I realized then.
'This region's lord... high-ranking otherkin!!'
Absurd. Outer refugees sought his protection from raids—yet he was a mighty demon himself! Not [Ancient Ruler] or apostle by aura, but potent kin for sure. After thought, I responded,
"Just passing through. Not here to fight or harm you."
[Why... passing...? Why come West...?]
"No reason to tell you."
A stray thought struck; I added coldly,
"Note this: I'm on Three Sovereigns and Five Emperors' orders. Block or threaten me, and I'll use force."
Flinch!
Tentacles quivered. Clear agitation—karma would unbound me against him. He too hesitated fighting their apostle.
Soon the tentacles said,
[Fine... no interference... Leave quietly...]
"Hey. Plans for outer refugees? Send minions to devour them?"
[Why ask...? Think I care for such vermin...?]
I growled,
"Leave them be. Touch them, and I won't spare you."
[Kuhuhu... Scary... Fine... Plenty food for my spawn anyway...]
"......"
Nearby tens of thousands massacred fed the lord's grotesque otherworldly brood. Bitter, but nothing more now.
"One more question—as payment."
Swoosh.
I tossed hides from Zhuge-sa's moon beast stock. Valuable even to otherkin. Tentacles accepted silently; I pressed,
"Seeking Chang Hill and Peng Zhao. Know their whereabouts?"
[Don't... but...]
The lord hesitated, then,
[Warning... Many lords like me on this continent... Meddle in our affairs... and we'll sanction you...]
Flash!
Ruuush—
Rain fell. I gazed complexly at the guard's corpse, tentacles lolled. Few such monster-ruled lands meant the West was largely theirs.
'Headache.'
Great Britain Empire: advanced in tech and engineering.
Meant equally infiltrated by demonic path. Entering likely meant frequent high kin and monsters rampant.