Chapter 187
Chapter 187
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: 187
Chapter Title: True God's Gaze
-----------------------------------------------------------------
It was as if waves were surging in the sea. Beneath the blood plasma-covered surface, strange sounds emanated, like the murmurs of ancient gods. Hearing them was unbearably uncomfortable.
Crane Boy and Chen Shi were the first to hold out no longer. They collapsed at the cliff's edge, vomiting violently.
The sounds were truly bizarre, churning their blood and qi, sending their true qi out of control, as if their five viscera and six bowels were being turned upside down.
Chen Shi circulated his blood and qi, struggling to resist, but he still couldn't hold on. He continued vomiting over the cliff's edge.
Mazu Lady snorted. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried extremely far. The dark sea surface roiled with waves, and then one massive demon beast corpse after another floated up from the seabed!
The sounds gradually grew more intense. Suddenly, Mazu Lady waved her sleeves to left and right. The sea surface split open, the waters surging to both sides, instantly revealing the seabed!
Her divine power was boundless. Even as an incarnation in West Ox New Continent, she possessed inconceivable might. With a wave of her sleeve, she parted the great sea, revealing a channel dozens of li long and about a li wide.
Deep in the ocean, a pitch-black colossal entity coiled in the depths, emanating the terrifying aura of a god-demon.
A li wide, yet it revealed only a corner of that colossal thing. How vast its hidden body in the sea truly was, no one could know.
Its body was covered in scales that glowed with phosphorescence in the dark sea, clusters of ghostfire flickering between them. As for its full form, no one could make it out.
The Blood Spirit Mushroom flew forth, striking into the sea.
With a tremendous crack, the sea suddenly closed up, and the monstrous sounds from the depths vanished.
Only then did Chen Shi and Crane Boy recover. They felt lingering fear.
Chen Shi gazed out to sea, where raging waves surged. He couldn't tell if that massive sea demon was dead or alive.
A thing so enormous had likely suffered a grave wound and retreated in defeat.
"The border army guards against these things landing ashore? Truly impressive!" Chen Shi let out a breath of relief.
He knew, however, that the sea demons the border army guarded against were surely not this ferocious.
This assault had been so fierce because a colossal entity in the sea had come to prevent Mazu's revival and the reestablishment of her Dao lineage.
Now that Mazu had revived and would inevitably reestablish her Dao lineage, that demon didn't wish to fight to the death—and couldn't win anyway—so it had retreated.
Crane Boy eyed Mazu Lady, not daring to approach and acknowledge her.
Jade Heavenly City hesitated even more. The previous Red Mountain Lady had been a little girl, younger even than Chen Shi, always scampering about. Now she was a sacred and solemn lady, making him afraid to draw near.
At that moment, Granny Sha's voice came from afar. She laughed, "Lady, you've exposed yourself. This place is no longer safe to linger. The strikes from beyond the heavens will soon arrive."
Chen Shi followed the sound and saw Granny Sha approaching briskly with her bamboo basket, her face full of smiles.
Chen Shi wondered inwardly, "Why is Granny Sha here too?"
Granny Sha hurried to Mazu Lady's side and laughed, "Lady, your identity is inconvenient. Please conceal it."
"This old woman has come to properly arrange for you, to keep you safe from harm. Qianyang Mountain Lord has already been settled by this old woman. Lady, you can rest easy."
Mazu Lady nodded lightly. Her robes fluttered as her form rapidly shrank, soon transforming back into the appearance of Red Mountain Lady.
Though her body had shrunk to childlike proportions, still in Red Mountain Lady's form, the solemnity lingered, keeping Crane Boy and Jade Heavenly City from recognizing her.
Granny Sha looked to the crowd and laughed, "Aren't you leaving? The Lady's action cannot be hidden from the gaze of the true gods beyond the heavens. Strikes from beyond will soon arrive here. Stay, and you'll be reduced to ashes."
The crowd felt a chill and hurriedly made their way to the cliff top.
At the cliff top, Li Tianqing was covered in blood, sprawled on the ground vomiting.
The demonic sound from the sea had affected him too, making him want to empty his stomach.
Blackie Pot and the wooden cart guarded at his side, as if protecting him. They hadn't been affected by the demonic sound.
This sight made Li Tianqing wonder if the dog and cart were more formidable than he was. Why else could they withstand the sea's demonic sound?
Chen Shi said swiftly, "Tianqing, destruction is coming here soon. We must go!"
Li Tianqing struggled to rise and crawled into the cart. Blackie Pot manipulated the compass, and the wooden cart sped through the mountains and forests.
Jade Heavenly City, Hall Master Xue, and the others summoned their nascent souls one after another, flying to other peaks to tell the talisman masters and cultivators there to evacuate quickly.
Crane Boy also spread his wings and flew off to notify the others.
The guards of the garrison post gathered their wounded and hurried down the mountain toward Arch Province City.
Jade Heavenly City and the others cast spells, applying the Galloping Horse method to the talisman masters and cultivators one by one, speeding their flight.
The various talisman masters used their own arts, deploying all sorts of divine speed talismans.
From afar came a massive blue sheep, running while picking up people and placing them on its back.
The crowd hurried along, covering seven or eight li, when suddenly the sky grew incomparably bright.
Chen Shi was about to look up when Granny Sha shouted urgently, "Don't look up! You'll go blind! The true god beyond the heavens is gathering its gaze!"
The crowd felt their hair stand on end. A true god gathering its gaze?
This was clearly the method used when a demon mutated to a hundred days, destroyed by the true god.
The crowd ran for their lives, their speed ever increasing.
The sunlight around them suddenly intensified. The sky over Arch Province darkened for a moment as the sunlight contracted rapidly, converging into a beam.
Suddenly, an incomparably terrifying palpitation came from behind them—the shockwave from the true god's gaze destroying Mazu's temple!
"Run!"
Granny Sha shouted loudly, "You're safe once you're ten li out!"
Chen Shi's heart stirred. He recalled the glazed plain beneath their feet, about ten li in radius!
Could it be that the previous sinking of Mazu's temple was also due to an attack from the true god beyond the heavens?
He had just thought this when an irresistible shockwave struck, flipping him head over heels!
The wooden cart and Blackie Pot were also overturned by the terrifying force, tumbling through the air beside him.
Li Tianqing was flung from the cart, rolling uncontrollably in the air, unable to stabilize.
Jade Heavenly City, Kunjiang Granny, and the others were struck by the fearsome shockwave, unable to stand, hurled into the air.
Granny Sha raised her bamboo basket, trying to catch them, but suddenly lost her footing. The little old woman was also flung airborne.
"Don't summon your nascent soul!"
She shouted loudly, "It'll be damaged! Lady, don't intervene!"
Mazu Lady dispelled the thought of resisting. Suddenly, the blue sheep's massive body blocked behind them, taking the shock head-on.
With a sizzle, a surging torrent of flames roared in. In an instant, all the sheep's wool was burned away, the air filling with the aroma of roasted mutton.
From the side charged a nine-tailed fox, shaking its nine tails, attempting to slice open space and exile the shockwave to another dimension.
"Huff—"
Its nine tails ignited all at once, burning fiercely.
This nine-tailed fox was none other than the dragon-bearded brute Hu Xiaoliang. Seeing his tails catch fire, he wanted to activate his nascent soul but recalled Granny Sha's instruction and forcibly held back.
Finally, the sky gradually dimmed, no longer so blindingly bright. The surging flames and shockwave grew ever weaker.
Sunlight洒落 once more, and everything seemed to return to normal.
Chen Shi and the others landed, looking back in shock and uncertainty. At the coast, the peaks along Henggong Mountain's coastal branch were stripped bare of vegetation. The mountaintops were scorched red, molten rock evenly coating their surfaces, making each peak impossibly smooth and rounded.
The ground had also vitrified, like a perfectly flat mirror!
Suddenly, faint cracking sounds came—the noise of the glaze cooling.
Similar sounds emanated from those glazed mountains. In another thousand years, the glaze would weather into sand and stone.
By then, trees and flowers would grow anew here.
Granny Sha saw this and breathed a sigh of relief. "Lady, we're safe for now. But we must still watch for the Heavenly Listeners."
"Would Lady step aside to speak?"
Mazu Lady nodded.
The two walked off, speaking of who knew what, occasionally turning to glance warily at Chen Shi.
Watching from afar, Chen Shi wondered, "Granny seems to have come prepared, along with Blue Sheep Uncle and Uncle Hu. They came specifically to arrange for the Lady. It seems they knew Mazu Lady would revive."
He suddenly recalled that after Qianyang Mountain Lord's revival, it was the three of them who built the temple and made arrangements.
Could it be that Granny Sha and the others had joined some organization behind his back?
After a moment, Mazu Lady and Granny Sha returned. Granny Sha chuckled, "Everything's arranged."
"Jade Hall Master will build a temple for the Lady in Arch Province City. Don't inscribe a temple name; continue worshiping her as Red Mountain Lady."
"The Lady will live in Arch Province as before."
"As for all of you—"
Her gaze flickered as she looked to Min River Granny, Hall Master Xue, and the others. She laughed, "Everyone, this memory of Mazu Lady must be handled."
"Jade Hall Master, you're familiar with this. You do it."
"It's not that this old woman distrusts you all, but experts among the Heavenly Listeners will surely rush here. They're skilled at soul-searching. We can't guarantee they won't extract your memories."
She said apologetically, "I'm old now, soft-hearted. I can't bear to silence you all by killing. So please don't resist."
Hall Master Xue and the others had been inclined to resist but immediately gave up the thought upon hearing this, allowing Jade Heavenly City to work his arts and erase their memories of this segment.
The blue sheep had been burned bald, its body charred black. Chen Shi sniffed—indeed, it smelled like lamb skewers.
The nine-tailed fox reverted to the dragon-bearded brute, his beard and hair scorched patchy, no longer as imposing as before.
Chen Shi borrowed some wound salve from Li Tianqing and applied it to the blue sheep's burns. "Blue Sheep Uncle, did you and Granny join some shady organization?"
The blue sheep trembled in pain and glared at him. "What shady organization? We're just an interest group under the loose cultivators. It was your grandpa who proposed forming it."
Chen Shi was slightly stunned. "What interest group?"
"Searching for and protecting revived Huaxia deities."
Blue Sheep said.
"Does it have a name?"
"Of course."
"What's the name?"
"Heavenly Court."
Chen Shi blinked. An interest group under the loose cultivators' assembly, called Heavenly Court?
His grandpa and Granny Sha were truly bold as brass, fearless of execution.
"Right, after your grandpa left, you're the head of Heavenly Court."
Blue Sheep added.
Chen Shi snorted inwardly. Was he to be executed too?
"Fine then. Since I didn't pass the exam anyway, might as well rebel!" thought Chen the Arch-Rebel.
The crowd returned to Arch Province City and dispersed. Chen Shi followed Mazu Lady and Jade Heavenly City to Red Mountain Hall. Jade Heavenly City immediately busied himself with temple-building, while Chen Shi stayed behind to guard Red Mountain Hall.
From the moment they entered the city, many Heavenly Listeners appeared, squatting on rooftops or hanging upside down from trees, perking up their large ears to listen to the surroundings.
"Come shopping with me."
Mazu Lady came to his side. "You still owe me three days."
Chen Shi was surprised but nodded and took her out shopping.
He had indeed promised Red Mountain Lady to play with her for three days, though he wasn't sure of the relation between Red Mountain Lady and Mazu Lady.
Mazu Lady wandered Arch Province City, buying lots of food and toys. She even picked up custom-made new clothes from the cloth shop. She was no different from Red Mountain Lady, just a bit more solemn.
Chen Shi observed for a while, then mustered his courage. "Lady, what is your relation to Red Mountain Lady?"
"It's me."
Mazu Lady said. "I was like this as a child. I wanted to eat all the tasty things, play all the fun things, and loved new clothes and jewelry..."
"I want this one!"
Chen Shi hurried to buy it. "But Red Mountain Lady's fleshly body was clearly the Blood Spirit Mushroom..."
"Back then, I suffered a grave wound. My remnant spirit hid in the spirit mushroom and sealed the great mountain."
Mazu Lady looked around for the next item she fancied. "Later I awoke, but all my prior memories were gone. I didn't know who I was, so when others called me Red Mountain Lady, that's who I became... And this one!"
Chen Shi paid and bought the phoenix hairpin she fancied.
"But now I'm in charge of sea trade. I can't be as naughty and playful as before."
She was clearly a child in form, yet she put on an adult's mature air, her face carrying a touch of solemn divinity.
Chen Shi thought perhaps within Mazu Lady's body still hid the playful Red Mountain Lady who loved fun. But with the pleas of the common folk so numerous, enshrined as the sea goddess, she fulfilled their wishes and hid that childlike innocence deep within.
Only when acting as Red Mountain Lady did that innocence emerge.
Three days passed quickly. Jade Heavenly City had built the new temple, crafting a new statue and gilding it for Mazu Lady. The temple bore no name for the lady.
Mazu Lady said nothing more and took residence in the new temple.
Jade Heavenly City said, "Scholar, you offer the first incense."
Chen Shi didn't decline. He paid respects with incense to the new golden statue, then inserted it into the censer.
Fragrant smoke curled up toward Mazu Lady's golden form. The Lady received the incense.
Jade Heavenly City led the talisman masters, instructors, and incense masters of Red Mountain Hall forward to pay their respects one after another.
Granny Sha, Blue Sheep, and the dragon-bearded brute also came, each offering a stick of incense.
Granny Sha laughed, "Lady, await good news."
Chen Shi had planned to return to Xinduo with them, but in the blink of an eye, the three had vanished without trace. He had no choice but to bid farewell to Jade Heavenly City and the others alongside Li Tianqing.
Jade Heavenly City consoled them, "You two were just unlucky this time, failing the provincial exam. Next time, you'll surely place high! Your talents won't be buried!"
The two thanked him.
Chen Shi encouraged, "Jade Hall Master, you've been studying the Analects with me, and your scholarship has advanced greatly. Don't miss the next scholar exam."
"You're over forty, but don't feel embarrassed. Give it a try."
"You're an old steed in the stable, bound to shine brilliantly!"
Jade Heavenly City laughed heartily. "By then, the three of us will place together!"
Chen Shi took his leave, glancing back at the temple. A little girl in red sat on the divine shrine, swinging her feet and waving goodbye to him.
Chen Shi waved back and turned to leave.
"Tianqing, let's go."
"Back to Xinduo."