Chapter 273
Chapter 273
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: The True Reincarnated Constable
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They left the town and arrived at Divine South Village as night had fallen.
Chen Shi surveyed his surroundings. Although Divine South Village lay within Lone County's Death Valley, he saw no Evils anywhere nearby. It was eerily quiet.
The villagers of Divine South Village, unlike those in other villages who rushed home at nightfall, were wandering idly outside the village, utterly relaxed. A few had even caught a roe deer and were barbecuing it just beyond the village limits.
Zhuge Jian said,
"Iron Chi's presence in Divine South Village keeps the Evils at bay. The village Godmother has nothing to do and idles away her days."
Chen Shi looked toward the village. Sure enough, there was that ancient wisteria vine, several centuries old, its trunk and branches twisting like coiling dragons.
The vine was thicker than an ordinary tree. It had not climbed any other trees yet still grew straight upward, reaching more than ten zhang in height.
A young woman lived in the tree, clad in a purple dress, though she appeared sallow and gaunt. Evidently, after Iron Chi came into being, Divine South Village no longer faced threats from Evils. The villagers grew lax in their devotions to the Godmother, skimping on incense offerings and leaving her wan and hungry.
Zhuge Jian said to the group,
"Let's wait a little longer. At the Hai hour, once the villagers are asleep, Iron Chi will stir."
Chen Shi and the others waited until the Hai hour. Zhuge Jian said,
"Everyone, wait just a moment. I'll be right back."
He hurried off. Before long, the clanking of iron chains rang out. Chen Shi, Granny Sha, and the others followed the sound with their eyes. They saw Zhuge Jian dragging a monk toward them, the chain looped around the monk's neck as he struggled fiercely against him.
The monk appeared to be a cultivator of no small attainment. He had formed his Nascent Soul, yet for some reason, Zhuge Jian had him bound.
Zhuge Jian hauled the monk forward and said,
"This monk hails from Huaguang Temple outside West Capital City. A few days ago, some talisman masters from Red Mountain Society tracked me down. They said an Evil was terrorizing the countryside, abducting women left and right and sowing widespread panic. They hunted for the Evil but came up empty. I rushed over and ran into this monk from Huaguang Temple. I could tell right away something was off about him."
He yanked hard. The chain tightened around the monk's neck, choking off his air. The monk's ferocity erupted. Muscles bulged across his body, swelling outward. In moments, he towered over two zhang tall. Razor-sharp bristles burst through his skin. His form twisted into something insectile, celestial moth wings sprouted from his back, and antennae pushed from his head.
Moments ago, he had seemed a monk of virtue. Now evil energy poured from him. He beat his celestial moth wings, intent on taking flight.
Zhuge Jian hauled him back with brute force and said,
"While cultivating Buddhist techniques, moonlight must have tainted him with evil qi. Buddhist scriptures record methods for becoming a Heavenly Being, but he botched the transformation. I spotted the anomaly and took him down when his guard was low!"
Qingyang helped secure the chain. He asked curiously,
"What about the women he abducted?"
"Raped and devoured. I meant to turn him over to the authorities at first, but word got out he's the mistress of some high official's wife in the city. She'd bail him out for sure, so I skipped the yamen."
Zhuge Jian handed the monk over and said,
"The evil qi pouring off him will draw Iron Chi soon enough. My cultivation's too low—I'll fall back."
Granny Sha praised him.
"Little Ten, this young man's sharp and covers all the bases. Good pick on your part! He's a Yin Attendant after all. The rest of you, pull back too."
Chen Shi withdrew alongside the wooden cart and Blackie Pot, seeking higher ground. But this was a plain scoured flat by the True God's gaze—perfectly level, without so much as a two- or three-zhang mound.
Zhuge Jian summoned his Nascent Soul. He stood at the peak of the Nascent Soul Realm, his Nascent Soul housed in the Divine Shrine at the back of his head. With a casual gesture, his body lifted into the air. Chen Shi followed suit and floated up as well.
Blackie Pot barked below. With a thought from Chen Shi, his Nascent Soul extended a thread of mana, lifting the dog into the sky. Nascent Soul levitation relied entirely on such mana.
The Nascent Soul dwelled not in the mortal realm but in the void, immune to gravity. Cultivators summoned it to dart about. Lifting the fleshly body granted the illusion of flight.
Yet it was no true flight—draining on cultivation, sluggish, and imprecise. Good only for emergencies.
Buddhists flew via Heavenly Being spells, sprouting wings to soar. Daoists used transformation arts, shifting into divine humans or birds to beat the air.
Wind-riding demanded far higher cultivation and guzzled energy. Nascent Soul Realm cultivators rarely mastered it.
The wooden cart capered below, wheels spinning wildly—it clearly wanted a look too. Chen Shi had mana to spare, so he hoisted the cart aloft. It settled. Eyes studding its frame blinked open, peering toward Divine South Village.
Outside Divine South Village, Qingyang produced a shepherd's whip from somewhere and lashed the evil-warped monk. The monk shrieked, his evil qi surging ever thicker.
Suddenly, a man built like an iron pagoda strode from the village. His physique was imposing indeed—over eight chi tall, clad in a black short jacket and white trousers, chest bared. Two bony protrusions rose on his forehead like tiny horns. He tracked the monk's evil scent out of the village.
Iron Chi emerged. The protrusions on his forehead shot forth twin ox horns in an instant. Demonic flames roared between them! His frame swelled ever taller and bulkier. Smoke jetted from his nostrils, a gleaming black iron ring pierced his nose. Now several zhang high, he lumbered toward Granny Sha and the others.
His feet were cloven hooves, sinking deep into the earth. His hands were human, but tipped with talons two or three chi long, hooked and lethal.
He reached Qingyang, snatched the Huaguang Temple monk, and bellowed. He stuffed the evil Heavenly Being—man, chain, and all—into his maw and crunched down with fangs like blades.
The chain, a talisman soldier tempered a thousandfold, shattered between his teeth and slid down his gullet!
The monk wailed twice in his jaws, then fell silent.
Qingyang craned his neck at the behemoth and laughed.
"So this is the reincarnated Yin Attendant? Doesn't look so tough. The boatman and his daughter weren't lying—he really can't fight worth a damn."
Before the words left his mouth, Iron Chi's hand shot out. It pinched Qingyang's neck, sized him up, and yawned wide to cram him inside!
"Taking me for an Evil?"
Qingyang surged with shock and fury. And yet, he was one. His true form erupted—a colossal azure sheep the size of a mountain. He wrenched free, corpse qi boiling skyward. Forelegs reared, head thrown back, he slammed into Iron Chi!
Iron Chi ballooned further, hundreds of zhang tall. He dipped his head and met the charge. "Boom!"
A thunderous impact reverberated. Qingyang yielded, staggering back a step. His ovine ire ignited.
"Again!"
He retreated, then lunged. Iron Chi lowered his horns. Another "Boom!" pealed like thunderclap.
Trees roundabout shivered and swayed. The din jolted awake every soul for ten-odd li around.
Qingyang reeled back several paces. Teeth gritted, he charged anew.
"I've never lost a headbutt in my life!"
Another cataclysmic crash. Qingyang stumbled rearward, hind legs buckling—he nearly toppled. Thrilled, he crowed,
"Good! Good! A matched foe at last! Again!"
"Boom!"
They smashed together once more. Iron Chi, for all his titanic might, reeled dizzily.
Qingyang readied another go, but Hu Xiaoliang barreled in. He unveiled his heavenly fox true form. Nine tails lashed forth in a mana deluge, pinning Iron Chi's freakish strength. The tails coiled like dragons, binding him tight in layers.
Iron Chi roared. His arms heaved, straining to rip free.
Granny Sha swooped in close. Her palm hammered his forehead in rapid stamps. Sealing divine sigils assailed, shrinking his primordial spirit relentlessly! Iron Chi's colossal frame dwindled apace—from a hundreds-zhang titan to mortal scale!
Granny Sha and Hu Xiaoliang sealed him jointly.
"A mere Yin Attendant. Child's play."
Granny Sha chuckled.
"And here I brought all these fire weapons. Didn't fire a one."
Hu Xiaoliang shuddered in aftershock.
"Were it not for Little Ten's spirit pills—adding centuries to my lifespan and restoring my mana to its zenith—pinning him down would've been a real scrap."
Granny Sha brimmed with peak vitality herself.
"True enough. Qingyang's raw power butting heads with him, and he still held."
Qingyang's hindquarters quivered.
"I've been dead a long time—not what I was. At my peak, I'd outmatch him."
Granny Sha smiled.
"Yes, yes."
She fished a rope from her basket.
Qingyang took it and advanced to truss Iron Chi.
He bound Iron Chi's arms behind his back, legs folded rearward and lashed, then hands and feet cinched as one. Hu Xiaoliang eyed it dubiously, then barked,
"Qingyang, you went to Great South Lake looking for A Zhu, didn't you?"
Qingyang flushed guiltily.
"Me? Never! Wouldn't waste time on that ingrate!"
Hu Xiaoliang sneered.
"Liar. His family's bees tie up just like that! You went, got stung, and they hogtied you—inverted four-hoof style! That's how A Zhu's bees leave you. You learned it firsthand!"
Caught out, Qingyang reddened further. Then epiphany struck.
"Wait—how'd you know the details? You got stung too, strung up for a lashing, didn't you?"
Hu Xiaoliang faltered.
"I did not. Ungrateful cur like him? No visiting."
From afar, Chen Shi watched the scene and relaxed. He eased the wooden cart and Blackie Pot downward. They had yet to touch ground when a shadow streaked past nearby—blindingly swift! Chen Shi's keen gaze pierced it at once: the private tutor Yong Nan from town.
Chen Shi's eyes pierced ghosts and divinities alike. The leopard-faced, ring-eyed scholar brimmed with unfathomably dense otherpower, tyrannically potent—rivaling gods like Qianyang Mountain Lord Guan Sheng Dijun! Worse by far, netherworld ghost-god demonic qi seethed within him, bursting forth!
His robes flushed scarlet in heartbeat. His body ballooned. He hurtled toward Granny Sha's trio!
Chen Shi grasped it instantly.
"Lone County's Death Valley hides two reincarnated Yin Attendants! Wrong one—we nabbed Iron Chi. He's no Zhong Kui! Yong Nan is!"
He bellowed,
"Sister Sha, heads up!"
But his cry had barely sounded when Zhong Kui slammed into the trio. Qingyang's battle sense was keenest. He sensed the killing intent, reared upright, wrenched free his head-horns like twin scimitars, whirled, and hacked at the foe!
Unfathomable brute force assailed. Qingyang jolted. The blades spun from his grasp. The weird power struck home. Cracking bones echoed in his ears.
His frame arced skyward, true form manifesting midair—bones snapped beyond count!
He had endured lethal hurts aplenty before. Last came trailing Chen Yindu into the underworld to retrieve Chen Shi's soul. Grievously wounded and facing death, loath to burden Chen Yindu's grief, he had secluded himself on Qianyang Mountain to perish.
Zhong Kui's strike reopened them all!
His vitality plummeted. Yet solace filled him.
"I've bought Granny Sha and the Heavenly Fox time to react!"
They lacked his reflexes, but these instants let them brace—not taken utterly by surprise!
As he foresaw, Hu Xiaoliang recovered. No time for true form, he palmed outward. Titanic mana met godlike force. His own power never fully unleashed—pulverized by horror strength, hurled backward.
Simultaneously, Granny Sha vaulted rearward to hover. She invoked the Supreme Eight Trigrams. The trigrams wheeled about her, conjuring the uncanny vista of Supreme Old Lord's alchemy furnace. Foot stamped—the greenstone path bridged yin and yang realms, drawing on underworld might!
Readying incomplete, the scarlet colossus rocketed aloft. He trod into the trigrams furnace, barreling at her core! "Boom!"
Greenstone path crumbled piecemeal. Trigrams furnace ruptured. Granny Sha闷哼ed, flesh parting from soul, flung away. Pain gritted through, she lofted man-high iron caltrops at Zhong Kui.
The first detonated thunderously. Blazing thunderflame engulfed dozens of mu in crisscross bolts of dread! The blast gale hurled even Granny Sha!
Second caltrop, third—six blasted into the inferno sequentially, erupting in train!
Blast upon blast rolled forth. Hu Xiaoliang flashed to nine-tailed heavenly fox form, tails fanning to parry the cataclysmic shocks, sparing the village below. Seventh caltrop neared the blaze to burst—when a titan palm thrust from the flames and seized it.
Granny Sha, Hu Xiaoliang, and charging Qingyang froze. Amid thunderflame loomed a ghost-god near a thousand zhang tall, robed fiery red. Maw gaping, it crammed the caltrop inside and gulped.
The man-high iron exploded in his gut. His belly distended faintly—then smoothed.
Hu Xiaoliang dashed up. Granny Sha alighted betwixt his ear-tufts. Qingyang, agony curbed, reclaimed his blades and vaulted alongside the Heavenly Fox. They stared at the thunderflame's emerging hulkish ghost-god.
"Seems... this 'not-so-tough' Zhong Kui outfights every Yin Attendant we've met."
Qingyang muttered. Zhong Kui's blood-robe rippled behind, snuffing sky-spanning thunderflame. Fury-glaring eyes bulged. He charged.
First exchange had wounded all three. Grimacing, they steeled for clash. Then sword-gleam arrived. Moonlight bathed it; the blade clove yin-yang realms.
The trio plummeted into the underworld.
Chen Shi drove the Nether Spring Wandering Dragon Sword, spiriting Granny Sha's group to safety. He recalled it. Then Zhong Kui wheeled, gaze locking. Chen Shi unleashed the sword without pause, rending the netherworld. It whisked Blackie Pot, wooden cart, and Zhuge Jian inside!
Scant moments after they dropped from underworld skies, those skies rent asunder. Zhong Kui's gargantuan visage intruded—iron features dragon-bearded, savagely grotesque. Spotting them, vast hand plunged to snatch!
Blackie Pot ballooned mid-drop, catching Chen Shi, Zhuge Jian, and wooden cart. Legs pumped in frantic flight, evading the sky-falling grasp. Fleet as lightning, it overtook Granny Sha's band, hoisting all aboard. It bolted desperately onward.
Overhead, Zhong Kui's colossal face blazed crimson demonic flame, hands groping downward unceasing!