Chapter 198
Chapter 198
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 198
Chapter Title: Living Sacrifice
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Chen Shi changed into newly made clothes: a white inner robe underneath, a light purple-green round-collared robe outside, a pair of white-soled black-upturned soap boots on his feet, and a small gold crown on his head.
In addition, he had several other sets of clothes: two red-and-black flying fish uniforms embroidered with flying fish, paired with wing benevolence crowns of different colors; one set each of light red and light green Daoist robes; several sets of straight-waisted trousers; and five hair bands, all stored in the wooden cart.
Blackie Pot wore red pants embroidered with golden silk peach blossoms and green leaves, a red vest on top embroidered on the back with a Galloping Horse Talisman, rather loose-fitting. When he stood up, he actually looked quite the part.
Chen Shi also bought Blackie Pot a pair of shades with a tortoiseshell frame and two deep blue glass lenses, threaded through with silk ribbons tied behind the dog's ears.
This way, staring directly at the sunlight wouldn't be so piercing.
"Right, someone also gave me a Colorful Cloud Palanquin. Riding in a wooden cart just isn't as impressive as riding in a palanquin.
Why not take the Colorful Cloud Palanquin to Yudu instead?"
Chen Shi planned to switch vehicles, but suddenly the wooden cart opened its bloody maw and swallowed the entire Colorful Cloud Palanquin into its belly. There was nothing to be done but continue traveling by wooden cart.
The wooden cart rolled its wheels, passing over the high threshold of the Chen residence, down the steps, and out to the street.
Qing'er said,
"Master, let me accompany you. That way I can tend to your meals and daily needs."
Chen Shi shook his head and said,
"You'd be no help there. Stay home and behave yourself."
Qing'er said,
"Master, don't linger too long in Yudu. Next April is the metropolitan exam for the imperial jinshi. The road to Xijing is long and far—don't delay it."
Chen Shi nodded and said,
"I'll come back once before heading to Xijing."
He boarded the cart, and the wooden cart rumbled away.
Chen Shi said to Blackie Pot,
"Living the high life is such a hassle, with women bossing you around. Nothing beats the freedom back in Huangpo Village."
Yudu lay southwest of Xinduo and directly south of Gongzhou, a considerable distance away.
They followed the provincial post road. That first evening, they exited Xinduo Province and arrived at a coastal military post station. Towering city walls stretched along the coastline, with border garrisons every few li—watchtowers built atop the walls.
Giant bronze mirrors crowned the towers, guarded by six or seven border troops who drove back the monsters from the sea.
Chen Shi stayed the night at the border military post. That evening, roars from sea monsters echoed in his ears, like thunder rolling on the other side of the wall—terrifying, heart-pounding sounds that left him constantly fearing the beasts might crawl onto land.
But the night passed peacefully.
The next day, Chen Shi drove the cart along the inter-provincial post road, only to see a garrison ahead overrun by monsters. The outpost lay in ruins, its bronze mirror shattered, the soldiers either slain or fled.
Sunset came a full quarter-hour early, empowering the monsters more than before and allowing them to breach the garrison's defenses.
Farther on, a section of wall had collapsed. Sticky traces of monster claws marred the rubble, and not far off lay monster bones—enormous ones blocking the road.
The wooden cart passed beneath the bones. Several cultivators were sawing them up. Chen Shi stopped to inquire. One cultivator said, "Sawing the bones to refine treasures."
"How did this monster die?"
Chen Shi asked.
"Unknown.
Word is, when the monsters breached the wall, a red light flew in from the sea, and it dropped dead."
Chen Shi thanked them and urged the wooden cart onward.
"It was Mazu Niangniang who killed it with her Blood Lingzhi."
He said to Blackie Pot.
Suddenly, the monster's bones collapsed. The cultivators sawing them tumbled down, landing on the ground and clutching their rears in pain.
The monster's massive frame rapidly lost its vital energy from the bones, crumbling to dust upon depletion. Soon the entire skeleton turned to powder, piling up.
The cultivators ignored their pain and rushed forward to inspect. They cried out in alarm, "Its vital energy was drained dry by something!"
"There's an evil spirit nearby!"
Chen Shi's heart stirred. "It must be Lady Shiji's doing!"
In the small shrine, Lady Shiji let out a satisfied breath.
These days, Chen Shi had focused on cultivation, and she'd helped regulate his qi and blood while tempering his golden core. She'd benefited greatly too.
But as a demon god, absorbing petrification essence from bones was her specialty. Seeing this monster's skeleton, she couldn't help but rejoice and simply absorbed it.
"When I was a demon lord on Skeleton Mountain, I'd take a single breath, and all petrification essence from bones of humans and beasts within several li would be mine.
People wouldn't die—they'd just writhe, alive but boneless."
Lady Shiji said wistfully, "Later, I was slain and made a god, so I stopped absorbing bone petrification essence."
Chen Shi said cautiously, "Lady, don't you think you were killed by that master-disciple pair because you did wrong?"
Lady Shiji said, "I'm a stone spirit who gained cultivation. I lack your human notions of right and wrong.
I only knew refining human bones sped up my immortal path immensely.
Later, that pair treated me as a demon and killed me—my skills just weren't a match."
Chen Shi pondered a moment and said, "While under my tutelage, you must not harm others lightly."
Lady Shiji laughed. "After being slain, I learned my lesson. I dare not harm others lightly now.
Besides, I was enshrined as the Star Lord of Moon Wanderings—a proper god, at least."
Chen Shi thought to himself, "A crippled proper god."
They stopped in Fei County for the night and continued onward.
Within Gongzhou, thanks to Mazu Niangniang's protection, any sea monsters breaking the border troops' blockade all perished under her Blood Lingzhi, leaving massive skeletons behind.
Lady Shiji was thrilled, absorbing these bones along the way to bolster herself.
Yet after devouring dozens, she merely grew a bit more hair. Forget regrowing a body—even a neck was out of reach.
"I need to absorb demons."
Lady Shiji said to Chen Shi, still unsated. "Best would be demon seeds.
If the demon's too strong, I fear I'd take damage.
That little girl Ying Rumei would be perfect, but she's no weakling. With my divine power unrestored, I can't digest her.
Demon seeds are easy, though.
Or find treasures like divine bones or demon bones.
Absorbing those speeds my growth.
Places thick with demonic qi would aid my swift recovery too."
Chen Shi laughed. "Where am I supposed to find those? Demon seeds appear once every who-knows-how-many years, Ying Rumei runs all over the place—how could I just run into her? Divine bones, demon bones, demonic qi hotspots—none of that's easy to find."
Lady Shiji knew he was right and sighed.
The wooden cart left Gongzhou territory and entered Yudu's domain.
Lady Shiji suddenly cried out, "Upper Envoy, Upper Envoy! I sense the little demoness's aura!"
She exclaimed in shock and disbelief, "I detect a demon seed's aura too!"
Chen Shi froze. No way it was this coincidental?
Before he could speak, Lady Shiji cried, "The demonic qi here is thick—and growing thicker the farther we go. Strange, so strange! This is exactly
that demonic qi hotspot I mentioned! Upper Envoy, we've hit the jackpot!"
She said excitedly, "This demon seed has drawn tons of evil spirits there! We're rich—this time we're rich! I might not only fully restore my cultivation but my true form too!"
Chen Shi looked toward the distance.
That was the direction of Yudu.
Could Yudu itself be a demonic qi hotspot?
Lady Shiji urged him repeatedly to hurry lest Ying Rumei slip away. She said,
"That little girl came here for sure for that demon seed! She emerged early, not yet mature, so she wants to absorb it to grow.
The slippery thing—now that I've recovered some power, I absolutely can't let her escape!"
Chen Shi urged the wooden cart along the coastline, passing through Duocai County (Duocai County's prototype: Baltimore).
Chen Shi went into the county seat and bought many swords. That night, he cast a spell, turning the swords into birds that flew silently toward Yudu.
He didn't rush straight to Yudu but rested in Duocai County, waiting until the birds entered Yudu to scout its human geography, street layouts, and building arrangements great and small.
He directed the birds to Prince Zheng's Mansion, where they perched in trees to observe the people inside.
Chen Shi settled in Duocai County, staying two full days without moving toward Yudu. Lady Shiji grew anxious and urged him to hurry.
Chen Shi showed no sign of departing, continuing his observations.
Suddenly, he saw Pei Shusheng looking up at the birds in the tree. His heart stirred. "Young Master didn't execute Scholar Pei after all—quite the magnanimous air."
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind than Pei Shusheng flicked his hand, sending a sword qi that struck down the bird formed from Chen Shi's sword.
Chen Shi lost one viewpoint but had others.
Pei Shusheng shouted, "Quick! Quick! Shoot down these birds!"
Chen Shi's heart stirred again. He directed the birds to flap their wings, but suddenly they went out of control one by one, plummeting down free of his command.
Chen Shi shot to his feet, utterly shocked.
In Yudu City, some incredibly powerful expert had broken his flying sword spell in the blink of an eye!
Was it a powerhouse from Prince Zheng's Mansion, or Young Master himself?
Chen Shi's face darkened slightly. He stayed another day in Duocai County, finally breaking through to Golden Core Ninth Revolution, before calling Blackie Pot and driving toward Yudu.
By noon, Yudu finally came into view.
Outside Yudu's walls, workers were building new fortifications. This section had been breached and collapsed over ten li by sea monsters.
As Chen Shi passed, many had been conscripted by the officials to repair the walls.
Numerous workers dug foundations: over ten zhang wide and three or four zhang deep—immensely grand.
Lady Shiji cried out, "This wall section's foundation is thick with demonic qi. Something's buried underground!"
Chen Shi dismounted to watch. Many burly men dug downward when suddenly blood gushed from below. Terrified, they dropped their iron picks and shovels and scrambled up, screaming.
Several finely dressed men highly respected by the workers approached. Their leader was pot-bellied, affable, his oily face perpetually smiling.
Someone shouted, "Leader Qian is here!"
Chen Shi asked a worker, "What's Leader Qian's background? He seems so amiable."
The worker, evidently from the same group, puffed out his chest and said, "Leader Qian of the Luban Guild—most righteous and generous.
We Luban Guild's master craftsmen are building this wall section. Now we've hit trouble, so it needs a master like Leader Qian!"
Chen Shi always respected such artisans; he was a talisman master, an artisan himself.
Leader Qian, though fat, moved lightly as a swallow, leaping nimbly to the foundation's depths and standing at the blood pool's edge. He summoned his Nascent Soul.
The Nascent Soul measured the pool's size, then dove in to probe its depth underground.
Leader Qian stood poolside as his Nascent Soul hovered, muttering strange words rapidly, as if conversing with someone.
Moments later, Leader Qian ordered incense lit for sacrifice. But after ignition, a阴风 extinguished the candles.
Leader Qian's face darkened. He cast a spell before the candles. Dark clouds gathered over the pool with rolling thunder, bolts crashing down. The pool boiled in defiance.
After a while, the pool receded, exposing the ground.
Leader Qian, seemingly drained of qi and blood, needed support to climb from the pit, gasping, "The underground evil spirit is gone.
Resume work.
Wait—one moment, Old Liao. Take ten quick-handed brothers down first and level the ground.
Anywhere blood-soaked can't be used."
The worker Old Liao beside Chen Shi assented and called a dozen young men to descend the steps into the foundation.
Chen Shi turned to leave when Lady Shiji laughed. "An evil spirit underground absorbed moonlight and gained power. Needs a living pile to suppress it.
Fatty negotiated with it. Incense didn't work, and he couldn't force it, so only a living sacrifice."
Chen Shi asked, "What's a living pile?"
"It's a living sacrifice."
Lady Shiji said. "Offer living people to the thing below. Sated, it won't cause trouble.
Now it's gained climate—if no living pile, this wall won't stand.
These dozen are Fatty Qian's offerings to the thing below!"
Chen Shi had heard his grandfather mention similar tales.
In old times building walls against enemy spells, they'd kill many black dogs, mixing their blood with glutinous rice slurry for mortar.
Also kill people, bricking them into the walls so spells wouldn't topple it.
But usually death row prisoners—
Who ever heard of sacrificing your own living for a pile?
Chen Shi walked outward but suddenly retreated a step. Though one or two zhang from Leader Qian, that step brought him right before the man.
Too sudden for defense—even with Leader Qian's Nascent Soul cultivation higher than Chen Shi's: a blur, and Chen Shi was upon him, slamming into his body.
His ball-like fat frame flew back, tumbling into the foundation depths!
Leader Qian, shocked and furious, surged his cultivation, but Chen Shi's strike had scattered his qi and blood, rampaging internally and impossible to regather.
He summoned his Nascent Soul, a surge of mana to catch his body—but Chen Shi stood pit-edge, looking down, palm vaguely pressing downward.
Leader Qian felt a mountain's weight crushing down. Even his Nascent Soul couldn't hold; with a boom, he smashed into the foundation.
Terror in his eyes, he screamed, "Pull me out! Quick, pull me out!"
Old Liao and the others hurried down the steps. Seeing Leader Qian down, they sped to rescue.
But Leader Qian seemed pinned to the ground, immobile, his fat melting away rapidly until only white bones lay there, swarming with countless hair-thin white worm-like tentacles dancing amid the remains, seemingly unsated.
Old Liao and company blanched at the sight—none dared descend, frozen in place.
"The living pile is set."
Lady Shiji chuckled, absorbing petrification essence from Leader Qian's bones. They shattered to powder with a clatter.
The white worm-tentacles, startled, shrank into the earth depths.
Lady Shiji's absorption alerted it: a terror a thousand times greater had arrived. It dared not act.
Chen Shi glanced indifferently into the depths, then pushed through the crowd toward Yudu.
In Yudu City, the demoness Ying Rumei paled slightly and called to the begging Monk Wuchen, "No more alms—we're leaving Yudu at once!"
Monk Wuchen puzzled, "Didn't you say this place's demonic qi is perfect for Buddhist cultivation? The demonic atmosphere lingers—why leave in such haste now?"
"The foe is here!"
Ying Rumei said swiftly. "I sense his aura—he's entered the city. If we don't go, we won't escape!"
Monk Wuchen hurried after her and said,
"Aunt-Master, if we don't stay to subdue demons here, where else can we cultivate?"
"I've sensed another place thick with demonic nature—hundreds of times denser than here.
We'll go there."
Ying Rumei looked west.
"Xi—jing!"
End of chapter.