Chapter 15
Chapter 15
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: [?]
Chapter Title: Night Terrors and Breakthrough
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Evil—Hundred Infants!
Li Kefa and the others felt their blood run cold. Evils were rare in the city. They had mostly heard tales of such things haunting the countryside, but they had never seen a monster as bizarre as this!
Only a few bailiffs who often ventured into the wilds had heard of such creatures. Legend had it that Hundred Infants emerged at night, adept at mimicking human voices. They liked lurking outside villages in moonlit woods, crying like babies.
If anyone from the village went to investigate, it would seize and devour them, leaving only their skin, still clad in clothes.
The Hundred Infants would then manipulate the skin, imitate the person's speech, and lure out more villagers to devour.
Once, in a place called Jianyang Village in Xinxiang County, a Hundred Infants had appeared. Through deception, it lured out and ate sixty percent of the village's population, leaving only the elderly, weak, sick, and disabled.
Hundred Infants were exceedingly rare, among the stronger types of Evil. Li Kefa and his group never imagined they would encounter one on their very first nighttime trek through the countryside.
"Kill it!"
Someone bellowed, and the remaining bailiffs and Li family experts unleashed their spells in unison. The air before them rippled faintly, and a clanging rang out from the Hundred Infants' body as sparks flew. It was the sword qi of the Subduing Evil Sword at noon and midnight striking the Hundred Infants, slicing through its scales!
The Subduing Evil Sword at noon and midnight was invisible to the naked eye, formed from true qi and divine power into a blade, making it impossible to guard against.
Several strands missed, slashing into the trees beside the Hundred Infants. Bucket-thick trunks were severed with single strokes, the power astonishing!
Yet spells of such might only severed a few scales from the Hundred Infants, failing to wound it.
"Ding! Ding! Ding!"
One spell after another flew out. The Hundred Infants' massive body took hit after hit, sword qi carving into its flesh, blood spraying everywhere.
Some strikes hit necks, decapitating heads that hit the ground and crawled toward them on hands and feet, wailing.
But as they crawled, they slowed, gradually losing breath, turning into piles of rotting meat that reeked foully.
The surrounding trees suffered too, crashing down one after another with thunderous booms.
Outmatched, the Hundred Infants sank its limbs and bolted, trees toppling haphazardly in its wake as it fled into the mountain depths, leaving a trail of green blood.
The survivors steadied their nerves, each harboring lingering fear.
Li Kefa scanned the group. From over fifty, more than ten were now missing.
Qu Ji whispered, "My lord, should we find a place to camp..."
Li Kefa shot him a grim look, silencing him.
"Press on! We reach Huangpo Village tonight!" Li Kefa barked.
The group clustered around Li Kefa, heading toward Huangpo Village.
The bailiffs at the rear felt uneasy, glancing about, suspecting other Evils hid in the woods or something trailed them.
"Old He, quit being so paranoid and looking back all the time."
One bailiff chuckled to the old one beside him. "Your constant turning makes even me jittery..."
Before he finished, the old bailiff turned, his neck snapping with a crack. His head lolled limply backward!
His neck seemed boneless, head dangling back, occiput pressed to his back.
The bailiff screamed in terror, whipping around, only to feel powerful hands grip his own neck.
"Crack!"
His neck broke, head flopping back onto his spine!
The other bailiffs panicked, activating their Divine Shrines, mobilizing Divine Embryos for spells, looking back.
But whoever turned had their neck snap instantly, head dangling back!
Evil—Neck-Breaking Weed.
"Don't look back!"
Qu Ji, drenched in cold sweat, shouted, "This is another Evil! Turning your head snaps your neck! Don't turn, and you're fine!"
They huddled together, trembling as they advanced, and indeed nothing happened.
One sighed in relief, laughing, "Lord Qu was right, no need to wor—"
Whoosh—
A colossal force yanked him skyward. The others looked up, hearing screams from above as he rocketed into the heavens.
Evil—Wire-Pulling Worm.
"Third kind of Evil!"
Cold sweat poured. Even Li Kefa, a God Transformation expert, regretted inwardly.
"What's with this countryside in Xinxiang? Evils everywhere?"
Then, ahead came the blare of horns and suona, merry and lively. Following the sound under the moonlight, they saw numerous foxes standing upright, playing music and dancing oddly as they approached.
Behind them floated a blood-red sedan in the air, swaying to the tune.
The curtain lifted in the breeze, revealing a bride in phoenix crown and rosy cape inside, beside a terrified scholar—likely some unlucky fellow caught outside before dark.
The curtain lifted again; the bride remained alluring, but the scholar was gone, only white bones left.
The crimson sedan glowed even redder.
"It's a Spirit!"
Panic erupted; spells blasted at the foxes and sedan.
Yin winds blew, dissolving sword qi. Suddenly, the curtain parted to reveal Bailiff Qu Ji in the sedan beside the ghost bride, face frozen in horror.
Li Kefa snorted coldly, activating his Divine Shrine. The Divine Embryo within ballooned massively, reaching a giant hand toward the red sedan.
Abruptly, the music swelled, foxes blowing fervently. Li Kefa's body shook, qi scattering; the giant hand faltered.
The group fled in disarray around County Magistrate Li Kefa, but no matter the direction, horns and suona sounded ahead, the fox troupe and red sedan blocking them.
Each curtain lift meant one vanished, appearing in the sedan.
Numbers dwindled around Li Kefa. When they reached a yellow mud ridge, the piercing music vanished; the foxes and sedan pursued no further.
They seemed to fear the village ahead.
Li Kefa steadied himself, counting: only three remained beside him!
From over fifty, before even reaching Huangpo Village, only four survived!
"Rural folk have rotten hearts, breeding such Evils!" Li Kefa lamented.
A deep voice came from nearby: "Evils arise from the moon above. What does it have to do with rural hearts? Don't blame us, Lord Li."
"Who's there?"
The three bailiffs hurriedly activated their Divine Shrines; divine light shot out, illuminating the source.
On Huanggang Ridge stood a towering elder, pale-green beard fluttering in the wind, eyes glowing red under moonlight like a starving wolf's.
Li Kefa huffed officiously. "Who are you? How do you know Evils relate to the moon?"
The elder's gaze was odd, as if addressing them or mumbling: "Because I sense a strange power in the moonlight, making me crave to eat every night..."
He trailed off, cupping hands. "Talisman Master Chen Yindu of Huangpo Village, at your service, Lord Li."
"Talisman Master Chen Yindu? You're Chen Yindu?"
A sharp glint flashed in Li Kefa's eyes. He stepped forward, demanding, "Did you kill my son Li Xiaoding?"
The towering elder shook his head. "Not me."
Li Kefa paused.
"My grandson did."
The elder continued, "I watched from outside the camp, guarding against threats he couldn't handle. Seeing him fight filled me with pride—he's finally gained some self-preservation."
Murderous light filled Li Kefa's eyes.
Killing his son, called self-preservation by this old man!
A direct humiliation!
The elder spoke unhurriedly, "Lord Li comes aggressively—here for revenge, to kill my grandson for your son? Since ancient times, killers pay with life, debts with money; it's just. Killing my grandson is fair; me killing you to protect him, reasonable."
Li Kefa roared, stepping forward. His Divine Shrine hummed, light blazing; it expanded like a temple hall, Divine Embryo enthroned, divine power vast as ocean!
But before his spell readied, a finger-sized fireball hurtled at him.
Li Kefa blocked with qi while unleashing the Li family's ultimate art, Six Yin Jade Wheels. Six yin streams wheeled toward the elder, slicing!
The Six Yin Jade Wheels were formless, faintly visible as wheel-shapes whirling.
His Divine Embryo's arms and fingers danced, controlling them with greater power!
Yet that seemingly weak fireball hit Li Kefa's protective true qi—boom! It erupted into a fireball spanning acres, shockwave cratering the ground three or four feet deep, surface soil melting!
The other three didn't even grunt before bursting apart, flesh vaporizing in flames.
Li Kefa's Supreme Eight Trigrams Bodyguard Talisman, Supreme River Chart Life-Preserver, Supreme Longevity Lifesaver—all iron-scroll talismans etched by Li elders with Nascent Souls—activated.
Each could withstand a Nascent Soul strike.
All three triggered, but shattered moments in the blaze!
Flames roared; Li Kefa screamed, incinerated to ash in an instant. Divine Shrine and Embryo melted utterly, traceless!
His unguided Six Yin Jade Wheels dissipated.
"So hungry. Must destroy the bodies to curb my surging urge to devour!"
The towering elder gazed warily at the moon, then vanished in a flash from under the tree.
"This moon grows stranger..."
In the ruined temple on the barren mountain, Chen Shi stood in the courtyard, knees subtly bent—not quite squatting—shoulders sunk, elbows dropped, body aligned, crown virtually lifted, slowly breathing.
Around him, starlight, sunlight, moonlight cascaded like fireflies swirling, gradually fusing into his body, strengthening his physique.
Since Moon Festival, whenever free, Chen Shi cultivated here. Practicing Three Lights Righteous Qi Art drew sun and moon lights, speeding his progress immensely.
Suddenly, he seemed to cross a wondrous threshold. The three lights from above surged manifold!
Starlight and sun-moon lights coalesced around him into seven stars, arrayed like a ladle!
"Is this the Big Dipper Seven Stars from the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art?"
Chen Shi marveled, examining the seven stars.
He had never seen the Big Dipper—never even seen stars!
Since he could remember, night skies held only the moon, nothing else!
Studying classics with Scholar Zhu, reading "Drunk, I knew not if sky was in water, full boat of clear dreams crushing the Star River," he wondered what a Star River was.
"Such stars not last night's, for whom do wind-dew stand till midnight"—gazing blankly, unknowing stars.
Even Thousand Character Classic's "celestial bodies arrayed" stumped him on celestial hosts.
Now, the Big Dipper appeared clearly around him!
Not true stars, but star power manifested—enough to thrill Chen Shi!
"The books didn't lie! Stars exist beyond heaven, the Big Dipper real!"
Curbing excitement, he shifted lightly; the Big Dipper shifted with him!
As it wheeled, streams warm or cool, hot or cold swept his body, tempering every flesh.
"Hoo—"
Exhaling foul qi like bellows fanning a forge, wind gusted before him, scattering dead leaves.
Inhaling long like bellows drawing air formed a tiny vortex around him.
With breaths, foul odors emerged—impurities from flesh and bone refined out!
"Huh, this is..."
Chen Shi sensed his body entering a new realm. With breaths, a mass of qi and blood roamed per his intent; focusing mind gathered it.
Mind stirring, he guided qi-blood to his arm. His right arm visibly thickened, tendons bulging, veins buried under toughened flesh, skin and muscle coarsening, hard as iron.
Swinging, he smashed the thousand-jin door-blocking stone—bang! A corner crumbled.
Chen Shi startled. This strike could shatter monuments and split stone!