Chapter 57
Chapter 57
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Ace
Chapter: [Unnumbered]
Chapter Title: Porcelain Grief and the Evil Bodhisattva Emerges
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Over a hundred Embroidered Uniform Guards and sixteen Zhao family disciples, plus that Golden Core Realm expert Zhao Yanliang, pursued Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Blackie Pot but surprisingly failed to catch up. The two men and one dog managed to escape.
Chen Shi was extremely familiar with the terrain of Qianyang Mountain, while they hailed from the provincial capital and knew nothing about the local geography.
The mountains shifted in complex ways, riddled with caves, crisscrossed by streams, and choked with dense forests. Dodging them was naturally a simple matter.
After searching for quite a while, the group still failed to locate the two men and the dog. Instead, they suffered an assault from evils and spirits, losing over a dozen men. Shocked and enraged, they hurried back to camp.
It was impossible to tell now whether it was day or night. The sky was a uniform pale red, providing light but not much brightness.
In such weather, the eyes could not make out things in the distance. Venturing out rashly meant a high chance of dying outside—or, more likely, of losing the way back.
When they returned to camp, Zhao Yanlong, now transformed into a porcelain doll, sat there woodenly on the edge of the table. No matter how others tried to劝 him, he refused to budge, staring vacantly and foolishly.
He was made of porcelain now. If he fell off the table, he would likely shatter into pieces.
But he was far too heartbroken at the moment to let go.
"No need to劝 him."
Zhao Yanliang said to the others.
"My brother is the Lord of Xuan Ying Mansion, after all. Though he grieves, his resolve is extraordinary. He will pull through."
Seeing this, the crowd sighed to themselves, lamenting how good people never live long.
The Lord of Xuan Ying Mansion, Zhao Yanlong, still sat on the edge of the table, lost in a daze.
Zhao Ziyu was his eldest son. He had many children—a total of nineteen sons and daughters, not counting those lost young.
Zhao Ziyu was not the most outstanding of them, nor the one he doted on most. But during this demonic transformation crisis, Ziyu's performance had comforted him greatly in his old age. He felt he truly was a tiger father with no dog sons.
These past days, with him turned into a porcelain doll, Zhao Ziyu had managed the camp in an orderly fashion. Meanwhile, everyone else who went out hunting either died or came back gravely injured.
Many Embroidered Uniform Guards and Zhao family disciples had gone out and never returned. They were probably dead outside—fed to strange beasts or evils, or perhaps slain by other cultivators.
Only Zhao Ziyu always came back from his hunts with gains. He even brought along servant girls sometimes and always returned with full loads.
His excellence filled Zhao Yanlong with pride.
Zhao Yanlong had even made up his mind: when he grew old, he would hand over Xuan Ying Mansion to Ziyu to manage, freeing himself to live leisurely as a wealthy retiree enjoying his twilight years.
Yet this outstanding son had been stabbed to death by some snot-nosed brat who charged out from who-knows-where, wielding a short sword.
Right in front of him. Right in front of everyone in the camp. Stabbed to death while still alive!
Zhao Yanlong's hands trembled. If he still had a heart, it would surely be dripping blood right now.
That snot-nosed brat—that vile peasant from some godforsaken backwater—what grudge, what resentment could drive him to such a vicious act?
He simply could not comprehend it. He truly could not!
The noble Zhao family—as parental officials of Xinxian Province, all the common folk under their rule were his subjects. He loved the people as his own children. How could Qianyang Mountain produce such a rebellious wretch to kill his flesh-and-blood son?
How could he dare kill his own son?
What infuriated him even more was that the boy had used no spells, no talismans—just his fists, just a single short sword. Right in front of him and everyone else, he had killed his son!
Why hadn't Ziyu fought back?
Why hadn't Ziyu activated his Golden Core?
Why hadn't Ziyu unleashed any spells?
Why hadn't Ziyu used every talisman he carried?
Had Ziyu fought back then, had he activated his core, had he unleashed spells, had he deployed all his talismans—Ziyu would not have died.
He was overcome with grief, tears rolling down from his porcelainized eye sockets.
Such pain.
Like a knife carving into him.
At that moment, Zhao Minrou suddenly spoke up.
"Dad, the man who beat Big Brother to death just now... he looked like Chen Shi."
"Who?"
Zhao Yanlong's eyeballs rolled slightly. He hadn't heard clearly.
"It's that Little Honest who tricked me into the kiln works."
Zhao Minrou hesitated for a moment, then said through gritted teeth.
"I recognize him. I'd know him even turned to ash! It's him! The first time I met him, he seemed so honest and innocent. Laughable that I believed him, and ended up like this! He's a bit taller now, but it's definitely him!"
Zhao Yanlong was dazed.
Chen Shi.
Grandson of Chen Yindu.
The very Chen Shi who had killed his third son Zhao Yue, his daughter Zhao Xue'e, his sixth son Zhao Yan, his twelfth son Zhao Rui, plus other Zhao clansmen and a bunch of Embroidered Uniform Guards.
He had even killed Old Man Iron Brush and the steward of Xuan Ying Mansion!
What grudge, what resentment?
To be so malicious, so fixated on him—on Xuan Ying Mansion, on the Zhao family!
Hadn't Second Uncle Zhao Cunyi gone to kill him?
How was he still alive?
What kind of job had Second Uncle Zhao Cunyi done!
He wanted to rush back to Xuan Ying Mansion and tear into his second uncle, who had slunk home for dinner—curse the useless old fool for botching the job and getting his son killed!
Harming my two daughters, killing my four sons—Chen Shi, if I don't tear you limb from limb, scatter your bones and ashes, and wipe out your nine clans, I swear I'm no man!
On the northern slopes of Qianyang Mountain, atop the peak, a massive serpent coiled, sheltering the folk of one region.
The head of the great serpent Xuan Shan was unimaginably huge, reared high like a motionless cloud fixed in the sky.
When it exhaled, clouds and mists rose steaming in the valley ahead, condensing into sweet dew.
When it inhaled, winds stirred all around the mountains, rustling the porcelainized leaves across the slopes with a tinkling chime.
In the shadow beneath the serpent's head, Chen Yindu and the black-clothed youth were no longer playing chess. It was unclear who had won that game.
"Your grandson is impressive. Even revived after being dead so long, he's already outshone you from back in the day."
Xuan Shan said.
Chen Yindu revealed a faint smile.
"He's the cleverest, picks up anything fast, and he's always been sensible. Back then, as an itinerant cultivator, I was always busy outside and neglected the family. I only went home once a year. But Little Ten never forgot me. Every time I came home, he'd spot me from afar, run over, call me Grandpa, and ask Grandpa to pick him up. He was only three or four then."
Xuan Shan pondered, not fully grasping human emotions.
"Even after reviving, he remains outstanding. The other humans look dim by comparison. So, porcelain doll, are you willing to let him go?"
Chen Yindu shook his head, hands clasped behind his back as he gazed toward the distant mountains. He said in a low voice.
"Let go of family ties? I'll never be able to."
Xuan Shan stood behind him.
"Sometimes, you have no choice but to let go."
Chen Shi led Li Tianqing back to the valley where Mr. Ye and the scholars had been killed. He buried their corpses to keep wild beasts from dragging them off and eating them.
Chen Shi twisted some grass into makeshift incense and stuck it before the graves piled from scattered stones. He bowed and murmured.
"I hope that in the underworld, you can keep studying diligently with Mr. Ye and pass the ghost scholar and ghost juren exams."
He turned and caught up to Li Tianqing. The two left Qianyang Mountain.
This time, they exited from the northern side, not the original path they had taken at first. But the two were already used to it.
Qianyang Mountain spanned too vast an area—even the most experienced old hunters often got lost. But as long as they made it out of the great mountains, they were safe.
The mountain road led straight to Shanyin Village. With the sky neither fully dark nor bright, a woman in deep robes and a long skirt stood by the roadside, cradling an infant. Her face full of sorrow, she called softly toward the village.
"Is anyone there? Save the child!"
"Save the child."
Tears fell from the woman's eyes as she choked out.
"Some kind-hearted soul, please take him away. This servant can't feed the child anymore."
"Kind-hearted soul!"
A voice of unimaginable coarseness boomed from the forest behind the woman, like rolling thunder. Seeing no one in Shanyin Village pay heed, the evil rose to its feet. It waved dozens of long, snake-like necks, each ending in an infant-shaped head. In unison, they cried.
"Save the child!"
The Hundred Infants glared at Shanyin Village, itching to charge in and gorge itself. But the godmother of Shanyin Village made it wary. After hesitating a moment, it finally turned and departed.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing waited until it was far off before emerging.
Li Tianqing still felt a lingering fear.
"Luckily, the people of Shanyin Village are sharp. They weren't fooled by this evil. Otherwise, one who came out would mean one dead."
Chen Shi said.
"Anyone daring to venture out now is naturally a cultivator. Ordinary folk turned to porcelain long ago outside. This evil still thinks it's the usual—lure people out and eat them. Little does it know it's become a laughingstock."
The two hurried back along the road at the mountain's base. They had not gone far when they felt the ground tremble faintly.
"Could the Hundred Infants have come back?"
Li Tianqing wondered.
"The sound's off. Hide first."
Chen Shi whispered.
The two led Blackie Pot into the woods and crouched down, peering outward.
The faint tremors from the ground gradually grew in intensity. The two men and one dog held their breath, not daring to make a sound. The shaking was so intense that Chen Shi even felt his heart fluttering in panic.
"This evil coming our way must be enormous!"
No sooner had he thought that than a blue-and-white porcelain pillar came into view.
He immediately realized it was no pillar—it was a leg.
A blue-and-white porcelain leg!
It was simply too thick and sturdy, thick as a pillar!
Then, amid the quaking ground, an eight-armed matron bodhisattva statue entered their sight.
It towered over ten zhang high, like a mobile porcelain hill. Its eight arms were massively thick. Cracked porcelain flakes marred its surface, but it remained largely intact overall.
Its blue-and-white hues were vivid and eye-catching. The artisans of the True King era must have been renowned painters of the time—they had adorned it with gorgeous, exquisite floral patterns and even painted an azure dragon coiling around its robes, so lifelike it seemed ready to leap free.
As it moved, the joints where its porcelain parts met scraped against each other, emitting a piercing "screech-screech" sound.
The Evil Bodhisattva!
The two men and the dog's hearts pounded wildly, but they forcibly suppressed it. The Evil Bodhisattva had actually left the kiln works and come here—to the mountain road right in front of them, mere steps away!
At that moment, the Evil Bodhisattva seemed to sense something. It bent down, and its enormous face appeared before the woods where Chen Shi and the others hid.
Its face nearly blocked Chen Shi's entire field of view. The eyeball was a perfect sphere the size of a banquet table, complete with pupil and sclera. But within the pupil and sclera were drawn extraordinarily complex talisman patterns.
Chen Shi didn't dare look closely and couldn't make out the talisman's details.
For at that instant, a porcelain kiln worker was crawling out from the Evil Bodhisattva's eye socket, patching the cracks in its eye.
That porcelain kiln worker stood about a zhang tall—tall and spindly, with elongated limbs. It was one of the kiln workers from the kiln factory, somehow burrowed inside the Evil Bodhisattva.
"Screech. Screech!"
The harsh scraping rang out from the seam between the Evil Bodhisattva's head and neck. It was turning its head, bringing its other face toward the woods to inspect.
It too had a pair of porcelain ball eyes, equally massive. The talismans drawn in them were highly complex, but Chen Shi spotted the structure at a glance and recognized the talisman.
"Heavenly Eye! Damn it!"
Cold sweat beaded on his forehead at once. The pupil of the Evil Bodhisattva's second face bore a Heavenly Eye talisman—far more intricate than the one Chen Shi had learned from his grandpa, but unmistakably the same foundational structure. The True King era's artisans had simply crammed extra elements into it.
The Heavenly Eye could pierce heaven and earth, detecting spirits and ghosts. With this talisman inscribed in the pupil of the Evil Bodhisattva's face, the moment it activated, their hiding would be meaningless!
Chen Shi was just about to grab Li Tianqing and bolt when the Evil Bodhisattva suddenly seemed drawn by some sound. It straightened up and turned toward Shanyin Village.
"Thud!"
It took a step toward the village.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing's hearts still raced in terror. They watched as everything living in the Evil Bodhisattva's path turned to porcelain—even Shanyin Village's godmother rapidly porcelainized into a porcelain tree.
The Evil Bodhisattva poked around the village, then recalled the faint motion by the roadside earlier. It turned back, striding to the spot where Chen Shi and the others hid. The Heavenly Eye activated, sweeping the woods once over. Finding nothing unusual, it finally lumbered off with a rumbling boom.
Some distance away, Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Blackie Pot came to a halt, still shaken.
This Evil Bodhisattva was hunting survivors!
Hiding in the villages was no longer safe!
"It wants to round up every living being and turn them all to porcelain!"