Chapter 41
Chapter 41
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Translator: Ace
Chapter:
Chapter Title: Cannon Haul and Paper Soldiers
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Young Master Xiao wasn't there, but the four horses pulling the carriage and the coachman hadn't turned to stone—they still obeyed orders.
"Head to Thunderstrike Mountain!" Chen Shi climbed aboard, brimming with excitement.
The mountain he spoke of was the one that the Red Yi cannons had nearly leveled. The coachman immediately cracked the reins with a shout, and the horses set off in a whirlwind gallop.
It wasn't long before they arrived at the base of Thunderstrike Mountain. Chen Shi searched around and found a complete Red Yi cannon in a mountain ravine. The soldiers of the Divine Mechanism Battalion who had operated it lay dead, their corpses scattered haphazardly across the ground.
The moon hadn't risen yet, so the bodies were still there.
Chen Shi leaped down from the carriage. A moment later, he hoisted the two-to-three-thousand-jin cannon onto his shoulder and loaded it into the cart.
The coachman glanced at him curiously but didn't ask any questions.
Chen Shi didn't bother with the damaged cannon carriage. Instead, he loaded crate after crate of head-sized black iron cannonballs onto the cart, grinning with excitement. "Let's go! Back to Huangpo Village for the coronation!"
The coachman drove the carriage to Huangpo Village. Chen Shi hopped off, full of enthusiasm. He slung the Red Yi cannon over his shoulder and paraded through the village, utterly delighted.
The massive two-to-three-thousand-jin behemoth rested on his shoulder as he circled the village three or four times without tiring.
Not a single villager dared show their face. Every household had barricaded their doors. Far from children kneeling to welcome King Chen or cheering his ascension, not even a ghost shadow could be seen.
Chen Shi quickly lost his enthusiasm and grew sullen. He dumped the Red Yi cannon at the old Chen place, propping it upright against the wall, while piling the black iron cannonballs into the doghouse.
Blackie Pot lay on the ground, watching his little master bustle about. After a while, the dog crawled onto the cannonballs and went to sleep. The cool metal made for a very comfortable bed.
Once Chen Shi finished, a sudden idea struck him. He hoisted the Red Yi cannon again, planning to fire off a couple of shots to liven things up for the newly crowned King Chen. But then he remembered it belonged to the Divine Mechanism Battalion—if that drew their people here, King Chen would surely end up in chains. He had to give up the idea.
Chen Shi glanced at Blackie Pot sprawled atop the cannonballs and quietly slipped into his room. He fetched a length of iron wire, crawled under the bed, and poked around in a mouse hole, fishing out a small cloth pouch.
He opened the pouch to reveal several taels of silver fragments.
He let out a long sigh of relief. This was his secret stash of pocket money, scraped together bit by bit. Grandpa hadn't found it, and neither had Blackie Pot dug it up.
"I'm strong enough now. As long as a single wisp of true qi doesn't dissipate, the Divine Shrine can hold steady for a long time. If I save up a bit more money, I can enroll in the town private school, take this year's county exam, and pass the scholar test."
Chen Shi counted his meager silver fragments, thinking to himself, "Once I become a scholar, there'll be the divine bestowal ceremony, with the true god descending in spirit to grant a Divine Embryo. If I muddle through it, maybe the true god will grant me a new Divine Embryo. Then I won't be a cripple anymore. In the future, I'll pass the provincial exam as a juren and live the good life, bullying the villagers alongside Grandpa."
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he suddenly noticed a dog's head in the shadow cast by the sunlight on the floor. He jolted in shock and hurriedly looked up.
There was the big black dog, front paws hooked over the windowsill, head poked through the window, staring at him with eerie eyes.
"My money's been discovered!"
Evil intent surged through Chen Shi. He lunged forward, grappling with the black dog and shouting, "Blackie Pot, you've uncovered my secret—today, I'll kill the dog to silence you!"
Blackie Pot fought back fiercely, barking nonstop and refusing to yield.
Man and dog tussled for a good while before reaching a compromise: Blackie Pot wouldn't snitch, and Chen Shi wouldn't kill the dog to silence him—but in exchange, Chen Shi would buy Blackie Pot a couple of jin of exotic beast meat in town. As further compensation, Blackie Pot would contribute a bit of black dog blood for Chen Shi to draw talismans.
Both man and dog were quite satisfied with the deal.
Chen Shi took the dog and rode the carriage out again. Young Master Xiao's carriage was remarkably swift; before long, they reached Bridge Bay Town over twenty li away.
Bridge Bay referred to the bend in the De River, where a five-arched bridge spanned the water. The town had taken its name from the location.
Chen Shi bought Blackie Pot two jin of exotic beast meat, along with some kites, puzzle boards, Luban locks, humming tops, and spinning tops. He didn't have any of these toys himself and desperately wanted to play with them, but he forced himself to hold back.
He stowed the toys in his book box and rode Young Master Xiao's carriage to Huangyang Village.
The villagers of Huangyang Village eyed him with some fear.
Country folk kept clear accounts of kindness and grudges. Chen Shi had done Huangyang Village a great service: he'd saved the children, paid to bury the dead, avenged three of them, and taught their godmother a lesson so she wouldn't bully them anymore. When Sanwang died, Chen Shi had avenged him by killing the enemy.
Everyone in the village remembered that favor.
But the villagers were still worried. Six scions of the Zhao family had died in Huangyang Village—if the Zhao family came seeking revenge, how could ordinary folk like them resist?
Chen Shi summoned the village elder and said, "The Zhao family from the provincial capital lost six scions this time—they might not let it slide. If they come investigating the village, just give them my name. If they come looking for trouble with me and I beat them to death, they naturally won't bother you."
The elder was an old man over seventy, a bit hard of hearing. He didn't catch it all and rambled on, "Our Huangyang Village might not have any big shots, but we'll never betray our benefactor! Last time, it was Guanghao's wife who sold you out—she couldn't take the torture, confessed after a beating, and shamed our village. We've got her tied up already. Just give the word, benefactor, and we'll send that woman on her way!"
Chen Shi jumped in alarm. No wonder he'd seen a woman tied to a tree when he arrived—he'd thought the villagers were playing some quirky game, not waiting for him to decide her fate.
Chen Shi picked up a tree branch from the ground, went over to the woman, and gave her two swats before tossing the branch aside. He laughed. "Ungrateful wretch—deserves a beating. I've punished you now. Guanghao's wife, bygones are bygones. Don't do it again."
The woman kept her head down and thanked him.
Chen Shi repeated his earlier words. Only then did the elder hear clearly and breathe a sigh of relief, though he still fretted. "Won't that just bring trouble down on you, benefactor?"
Chen Shi laughed. "This matter has nothing to do with Huangyang Village anymore—it's my affair. I'll handle my own affairs! If the Zhao family sends people, I'll kill one for each that comes, a pair for each pair. Once enough of them are dead, the Zhao family will naturally drop the grudge."
He gave some further instructions, then rode the carriage straight into the mountains.
The coachman carried him and Blackie Pot without a word of complaint.
Along the way, Chen Shi offered incense to Granny Zhuang, Great Serpent Xuanshan, Stream Maiden, and the other mountain spirits. He also gave the woodland fruit spirits the fun toys he'd bought, thanking them for rescuing Young Master Xiao.
The participating spirits were overjoyed, playing with the toys to their hearts' content.
Chen Shi took Blackie Pot into the Mountain Lord Temple. He hadn't been there in days, and the sunlight had vanished from the temple, leaving it dim and chilly.
Even the extraordinary power wasn't as lively as before.
Chen Shi set down his book box and lit three sticks of incense in the temple's censer. Then he circulated the Three Lights Righteous Qi Art, stepping through the Big Dipper asterism, pacing slowly through the hall.
Unnoticed, the extraordinary power in the temple sprang back to life, and the place gradually brightened—not with sunlight from the roof, but with hazy moonlight.
Blackie Pot lay on the ground, craning his head to gaze at the sky inside the temple. There hung a crescent moon amid scattered stars, brilliant as the Milky Way.
This wasn't the crescent of the local moon at night.
The local moon was the true god's vertical eye, with two eyelids that closed together, giving it a willow-leaf shape.
But the crescent in the temple resembled a girl's arched eyebrow or a young woman's smiling eyes—charming and serene.
The sight left the dog stunned.
Behind Chen Shi's head, the Divine Shrine emerged, shrouded in divine radiance that lingered without fading.
His Divine Shrine grew ever more stable. Though it lacked a Divine Embryo, true qi now flowed through his body, accompanied by bursts of Big Dipper starlight that tempered his frame.
The Big Dipper Seven Refinements rapidly forged his body, advancing him ceaselessly toward Complete Five Viscera Truth and Bone Refining Marrow Cleansing!
At this rate, it would take only a few days to achieve Complete Five Viscera Truth and Bone Refining Marrow Cleansing!
At that point, he would possess a Holy Embryo Body!
With a Holy Embryo Body, his frame would rival a Divine Embryo!
Chen Shi grew tired from cultivating and stopped. He simply lay down in the temple, hands pillowed behind his head, lost in the alien starry sky overhead.
*"Drunk, I knew not if the sky was in the water; my cabin full of dreams pressed down the starry river.* Another world—what place is it? When will I see it with my own eyes?" he wondered.
Outside Mirror Lake Manor, a tall, emaciated ghost carried a lantern as it approached slowly. The lantern's glow cast a round light spot on the ground, and a red figure walked within it.
The Divine Mechanism Battalion's Golden Red Tassel had finally tracked down Young Master Xiao.
"Who would have thought such a serene manor lay hidden in these deep mountains. Young Master Xiao, you think hiding here means I can't find you?"
Golden Red Tassel smiled faintly. "One sword to slay the Divine Mechanism Battalion's eunuch supervisor—you live up to your reputation as a predecessor of the battalion. But that sword also exposed how you're all show and no substance."
The manor held only coffins of various sizes, standing silent beneath ancient trees. It was utterly still—no one answered her.
Golden Red Tassel felt no fear. She stepped over the threshold into the manor, then her expression shifted slightly as she warily eyed the coffins.
There weren't many coffins in the manor, equal in number to the trees.
Chen Shi's was a thin-skinned coffin, but the others qualified as outer coffins—immensely thick and luxurious.
With her first step into the manor, immense pressure emanated from the coffins!
"Playing tricks!"
Golden Red Tassel snorted coldly and took another step forward.
The pressure surged with her second step!
The coffins filled her vision, growing larger and larger. The entire world twisted and spun in her sight!
Golden Red Tassel flushed red and took a third step.
At that step, her body trembled violently. The tall ghost carrying the lantern behind her burst with a pop, dissolving into blue smoke and perishing unjustly!
Golden Red Tassel's nostrils warmed. Two streams of blood trickled from her nose, flowing down onto her snow-white bosom and between.
"Wah—"
She couldn't hold back any longer and spat out a mouthful of blood. She dared not linger, turning to flee.
She had just exited the manor when her red robes swirled, transforming into a streak of scarlet that fluttered away.
A moment later, the sound of robes slicing through the air returned from outside. The red robes flew back, and Golden Red Tassel's laughter echoed from beyond the manor: "Young Master Xiao, it just occurred to me—if living people can't enter the manor, what if it's not a living person who comes?"
Under the moonlight, two snow-white paper figures toddled in from outside.
They were paper cutouts with limbs and heads, only palm-sized, walking with arms and legs swinging in sync—clumsy and endearing.
They clambered over the threshold into the manor, muttering unintelligibly as they went.
The two little paper figures drew paper swords from behind their backs and chanted something under their breath.
Suddenly, they sped up, charging toward Young Master Xiao's coffin. They leaped high, thrusting their paper swords at it.
The circling small swords around the coffin flew out, clashing with one paper sword in a shower of sparks!
The force from the paper sword was astonishingly powerful, forcing the small sword back repeatedly.
This sword was one of Young Master Xiao's paired blades, named Shrike.
Shrike Sword guarded the coffin, blocking the other paper figure's paper sword. As it parried, the first paper figure landed lightly, then sprang up with blinding speed, slashing down.
The two tiny paper figures darted left and right, front and back, their paper swords a whirlwind, leaving Shrike Sword hard-pressed on all sides.
Suddenly, Shrike Sword accelerated. It pierced one paper figure through the back, impaling it!
The other paper figure leaped up, ringing against Shrike Sword to deflect it and rescue its companion.
Shrike Sword thrust repeatedly, like an invisible sword master assaulting with peerless skill. The two paper figures felt immense pressure; the wounded one couldn't keep up and took another hit, sliced in half by Shrike Sword and collapsing.
Shrike Sword turned to strike the remaining paper figure, only to see it kneel before its companion's corpse, feigning loud wails.
The halved upper body of the little paper figure trembled as it reached out a hand to grasp its fellow's, head tilted as if to speak—then lolled forward, dead.
The surviving paper figure pounded its chest in mock grief, then whipped around with savage eyes fixed on Shrike Sword.
It sprang up, lunging even faster—but Shrike Sword was quicker still, its blade never leaving the paper figure's front or back.
The paper figure parried a few strikes before its guard crumbled. Its chest was pierced three times in succession, and it toppled.
Knowing death was near, the paper figure crawled toward its companion, straining to reach out and grasp its hand.
Shrike Sword flew up and cleaved it in two. The paper figure threw back its head, desperately extending its right hand—then slumped, finally expiring.
Shrike Sword relaxed. Suddenly, a dozen or more paper figures were clambering over the manor threshold—walking the same synchronized, clumsy gait as the first pair, absurdly cute.
Some paper figures hoisted paper muskets and cannons from behind the threshold, while others shouted commands nearby, plainly preparing to assault the manor.