Chapter 205
Chapter 205
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 205
Chapter Title: Already Honest, Do Not Whip
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Chen Shi watched as Zhuge Jian departed into the distance, standing motionless for a long time.
Nuan Nuan was catching crickets in the grass with Blackie Pot. She might not have caught any crickets, but the little girl did snag a thick venomous snake, even bulkier than her arm. Pinching its seven-inch vital spot, she giggled as she chased the terrified Blackie Pot.
"
She sure has some strength in her.
Chen Shi thought to himself, averting his gaze.
The venomous snake had diamond-patterned markings and weighed three or four jin. It was nearly dead from her grip.
"
Red Chamber Association, Luban Sect, Windcry Pavilion, Merry Woods, Orthodoxy Pavilion, Empty Sect's Moving Mountain Sect... and we should add Bailian Hall too. All of them are the young master's enterprises.
Chen Shi pondered. Big Sis had mentioned Bailian Hall, saying the young master had its masters engrave talismans onto silver needles to deal with Chen Shi.
Bailian Hall must be one of the young master's enterprises as well.
He just didn't know if Bailian Hall was in Yudu.
"
Upper Envoy, have you noticed? Nuan Nuan seems different from normal little girls.
Chen Shi's mind rang with Lady Shiji's voice.
Ever since Chen Shi had warned her, Lady Shiji no longer possessed his body of her own accord. But she still occasionally spoke in his head from time to time, her voice deafening.
Chen Shi's gaze fell on Nuan Nuan. The little girl was squatting by the fire, which Blackie Pot had built by gathering and splitting firewood before lighting it with a single breath.
That massive venomous snake from earlier had already been skewered on a stick by Nuan Nuan, who was now roasting it over the campfire.
It was already sizzling with fat, oil dripping onto the coals with a hiss.
The air filled with the aroma of roasted meat.
"
Aren't normal kids all like this?
Chen Shi asked, puzzled.
He had been the same way himself—in fact, even more extreme.
Lady Shiji fell silent, wondering if the Upper Envoy was a bit off too.
"
Upper Envoy, this servant suspects that Nuan Nuan is that Yudu demon seed!
Lady Shiji voiced her suspicion.
Her eyes can distinguish yin from yang and see ghosts and gods. Plus, she gets along so well with this underworld hound. The dog takes good care of her.
This dog isn't normal to begin with.
Chen Shi cut her off:
Blackie Pot is perfectly normal!
Lady Shiji was stunned. Nuan Nuan normal, Blackie Pot normal, Upper Envoy normal—did that mean she was the abnormal one?
Of course, she had never been normal.
"
I still suspect she's that demon seed.
Lady Shiji stared intently at Nuan Nuan from the little shrine, muttering.
The moment she reveals her demon seed form, I'll pounce and devour her to restore my cultivation.
Chen Shi wasn't without suspicions about Nuan Nuan. Blackie Pot feared nothing in heaven or earth—not even daring to provoke Chen Shi—but it was scared of Nuan Nuan. Not just scared; it even tried to please her, playing with her, lighting fires for her, barbecuing food.
The dog wouldn't fawn over her just because she snatched a skewer of candied hawthorns.
That said, Nuan Nuan resembled Chen Shi. She could see yin and yang, ghosts and gods; she was mischievous and naughty, which made him feel a kinship.
So Chen Shi didn't want to believe she was a demon seed.
Believing Nuan Nuan was a demon seed would mean believing he himself was one too.
Nuan Nuan was eating the roasted snake meat, tearing off half to share with Blackie Pot.
Watching this heartwarming scene, Chen Shi suddenly asked:
Lady, if Nuan Nuan is a demon seed, what would happen?
Though he had witnessed two demonic transformations, both involved mature demon seeds transforming directly. He knew nothing about how immature ones did so.
Lady Shiji perked up and said:
She would draw many evils and spirits to her vicinity. They act as her nurturers, feeding her with their demonic qi. Some spirits possessing humans might come too, vying to seize her body and claim the demon seed's power.
All those evils and spirits in Yudu City might have been drawn by her. Unfortunately, the Myriad Souls Banner kept them outside the city, where they could only wreak havoc there.
She grew excited:
We'll know tonight if she's a demon seed.
Plenty of evils and spirits will come— it'll be a lively show!
Chen Shi's heart stirred as he looked toward Nuan Nuan.
The little girl had finished half the snake but wasn't full yet. She knelt before Blackie Pot, prying open its jaws, seemingly trying to dig some meat from between its teeth.
Sure enough, she found a strand of meat and stuffed it into her mouth.
Blackie Pot looked at her pitifully but didn't resist.
"
Yudu has accumulated so many evils and spirits. If she's that demon seed, tonight will be
a grand feast.
Lady Shiji continued:
If she survives, the demon seed will evolve, entering a cocoon-like state and falling into a deep slumber.
Centered on her, a bizarre domain will slowly form, giving rise to all sorts of strange phenomena.
If hidden in a well, sweet water would surge forth, golden lotuses blooming with an intoxicating fragrance that cures all ills and sends one to ecstatic bliss.
If buried underground, rosy lights would erupt, revealing green trees with red fruits or bodhi seeds amid the glow—such omens.
"
Chen Shi hesitated before saying:
Either way, we'll know tonight.
Lady Shiji was thrilled:
If it proves she's the demon seed, Upper Envoy, I must devour her!
Chen Shi made no comment, but Lady Shiji wasn't consulting him—she was declaring her intent.
That evening, the fox clan hosted them warmly. The banquet was lavish: stewed chicken with mushrooms, spicy chicken, farm-style stir-fried chicken, saliva chicken, beggar’s chicken, stir-fried chicken giblets, pickled cabbage with chicken hearts, chicken blood tofu soup—chock-full of chicken dishes.
The fox clan adored chicken and had endless variations. Serving a full chicken feast showed their sincerity.
After the banquet, a full moon hung in the sky, its light pure and bright. The fox spirits sang and danced. Chen Shi and Hu Feifei sat together watching their performance—a song-and-dance drama about a talented scholar encountering a fox spirit on his way to the capital exams.
After one play, they performed a second: a tale of a fallen fox clan chief who met a freakish man, a sheep, a stone engraver, and a beekeeper, leading to his downfall.
The fox spirits acted vividly, portraying the exiled chief's pathos, the freak's malevolence, the beekeeper's eccentricity, the engraver's viciousness, and the sheep's terror.
Chen Shi watched entranced, thinking:
This exiled chief has a full beard—looks just like Uncle Hu? Wait, that sheep couldn't be Uncle Qingyang, could it? And the engraver and beekeeper—surely my grandpa's other two evil-spirit friends? Then this malevolent freak is...
The fox spirits continued, showing the fallen chief joining the freak and others in grave-robbing.
They came to Little Qingqiu to tomb-raid, harassing the local ghosts and monsters until they fled, allowing the fox clan to claim a new home.
Chen Shi's face flushed red with shame, utterly embarrassed.
At that moment, Lady Shiji said:
Evils and spirits are here!
Chen Shi snapped to attention, leaping up and grabbing Nuan Nuan's hand, pulling her behind him. He scanned the surroundings and shouted:
Evils and spirits all around!
The fox spirits, mid-performance, let out fierce cries. Lights flared behind their heads as divine shrines and embryos emerged. Some with potent cultivation summoned their demon cores, spinning and darting about, illuminating Little Qingqiu as bright as day.
The highest cultivation here belonged to Little Qingqiu's clan elder, at the Nascent Soul Realm. She summoned her fox nascent soul—three inches tall, cradled in her divine embryo's palm. It was a yellow fox.
Outside Little Qingqiu,阴风阵阵 gusts howled, evil qi pressing in. The ground rumbled as massive shadows loomed around Hu Village.
The fox clan's cultivators tensed, spells at the ready.
Yet the number of spirits outside was immense. Even the clan elder panicked now. The invading evil qi dimmed many fox cores, making their spells sluggish.
The evil qi pressed harder, the pollution intensifying.
Though fox spirits were called evils and spirits, Hu Village's fox cultivators practiced orthodox arts, drawing on heaven and earth's righteous qi like human cultivators. Only rogue wild foxes practicing deviant fox zen turned to evil arts and became true evils and spirits.
Those could form cores, nascent souls—even primordial spirits.
But Little Qingqiu was small; no fox spirit here had reached primordial spirit.
The spirits outside were extraordinarily powerful. One spirit could command dozens or even hundreds of evils.
Evils were comprehensible, but spirits defied understanding.
The brilliantly lit fox village floor suddenly bore bloody footprints—yet no owners visible. Houses twisted and collapsed as if assaulted by invisible monsters.
A spirit had entered the village.
Core pollution worsened; many dimmed to nothing.
Spell pollution was worse—the prepared arts failed entirely, unusable.
"
How many evils and spirits came from outside the village?
Hu Feifei cried out.
She looked outward. Under moonlight, colossal shadows like small hills encircled the village in layers, sealing Little Qingqiu tight.
Suddenly, countless white threads erupted from the ground—hair-thin, dancing in the air.
It was the spirit from outside Yudu's walls, the one demanding blood sacrifices. It had come to Little Qingqiu.
This spirit was formidable—even Luban Sect's Money Branch Leader, a Nascent Soul cultivator, had been drained to a skeleton in moments!
Among Yudu's evils and spirits, it ranked at the top. Its white threads multiplied, rising vertically. Other evils scattered; the threads waved three or four zhang high, bizarrely.
Lady Shiji said excitedly:
Upper Envoy, was I wrong? Nuan Nuan is that demon seed! Her scent drew every evil and spirit from Yudu! They're here to feed her, make her grow fast!
Chen Shi felt a chill, sensing the evil qi surging toward Nuan Nuan's body.
Then, a white-clad man approached Little Qingqiu, wearing a tall white hat and emitting eerie giggles.
He entered the white-thread forest; the threads withered rapidly, as if drained of all evil qi.
The terrifying threads posed him no threat!
This was a cultivator possessed by a spirit!
Lady Shiji said rapidly:
Spirits possessing bodies grow stronger with each victim devoured, their demonic qi thickening.
They can't become demons, but encountering a demon seed, they'll try to devour it and transform. This spirit smelled Nuan Nuan and came to consume her!
Hu Village's clan elder saw the white-clad man and paled in terror, murmuring:
We're done for. All done for.
Why had calamity struck Hu Village?
Ordinary evils and spirits, she could handle. But this one was too strong—beyond her.
And now a spirit possessing a cultivator—far stronger!
Such power could annihilate not just Little Qingqiu, but overrun a town or small county!
The clan elder had only heard of such scenes in legends!
"
Flee! Whoever can escape, do so! Cover Grandma Feifei's retreat!
No sooner had she thought this than light bloomed behind Chen Shi's head. An earthen little shrine emerged, shining over Hu Village.
Lady Shiji flew from the shrine. Her stone head swelled massively, long hair whipping as she appeared over Little Qingqiu.
Hee hee hee!
Lady Shiji let out a bizarre laugh—eviler than the evils and spirits, a thousand—no, ten thousand times more wicked!
Her true form was a stone spirit turned demon cultivator, achieving demon immortal status. After death, she entered the divine path, absorbing incense qi to reshape her demon body with extraordinary power.
Now descending on Little Qingqiu in her true form, her head dwarfed the manmade hill. Looming down, terrifying demonic qi blanketed the village.
The fox cultivators' cores, nascent souls, shrines, and embryos gave feeble light—barely illuminating her colossal face.
Under her pressure, all felt infinitesimal.
Utterly infinitesimal.
Even the evils and spirits felt it.
Thrilled beyond measure, she inhaled deeply. The layered colossal evils outside deflated like punctured balls, shriveling as she sucked dry their evil and demonic qi!
The powerful spirits panicked, fleeing outward—only for bloody footprints to race away, fading lighter and lighter until not a drop of blood remained, fully absorbed by Lady Shiji!
The underground spirit that devoured Nascent Soul cultivators burrowed to escape her suction—but suddenly, its massive core burst from the soil, yanked out by her!
It resembled a tangled ball of translucent white threads, a heart faintly forming at the center.
This was what turned into the evil spirit, draining cultivators' vital blood.
But now, it became Lady Shiji's nourishment—sucked clean in an instant, threads and core utterly consumed, not a scrap wasted!
The evils and spirits panicked wildly, fleeing desperately. Even the possessed one bolted in terror.
Yet none escaped her single breath.
Mid-air, they convulsed, shriveling to papery husks that drifted lightly down.
Lady Shiji devoured hundreds of evils and spirits, ecstatic. Her massive eyes swiveled, landing on Nuan Nuan behind Chen Shi.
"
Upper Envoy, move aside!
Lady Shiji cried.
Chen Shi shielded Nuan Nuan and shouted:
Shiji, you dare act out in front of me?
Lady Shiji's ferocity surged. She sneered:
I revere the Lady—not you! The Lady hasn't revived anyway; she can't control me! Get in my way, and I'll eat you too!
She was a infamous malign spirit of HuaXia after all. With a mighty inhale, Chen Shi and Nuan Nuan flew uncontrollably toward her maw!
At that instant, Hu Village's fire turned ghastly阴惨惨 green, tongues of flame roaring skyward. The surrounding landscape grew bleak under mournful clouds.
Space tore on Little Qingqiu's flanks, revealing the underworld's desolate wastes.
A pitch-black demon god wielding a black mourning gate cudgel appeared to Lady Shiji's left; another snow-white with a white cudgel to her right.
The two demon gods swung from either side, smashing Lady Shiji's head smaller and smaller!
"
Black and White Impermanence!
Lady Shiji shrieked in horror, whistling back into the little shrine behind Chen Shi's head, trembling.
The pressure vanished. Chen Shi grabbed Nuan Nuan's hand, hugging her close as they floated gently down.
The Black and White Impermanence faded away, the underworld's grand yet dismal vista vanishing without trace—
本章完。