Chapter 8 - Giant Black Snake

Warning: This work is classified as restricted. Readers under the age of 18 are not allowed to read it.

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At the border of the central mainland and Xingtian Valley was a boundary of ice, a channel connecting the two realms. According to legend, long ago an ancient with great power created it using a formation. Today, only two people had the ability to open the array: the two guardians of Xingtian Valley, Ye Ya and Sang Jiu. They were the right and left hands of the Devil Master of the Darklands.

“Ye Ya, there’s only one day left of the ten-day time limit set by the master.” Sang Jiu frowned. “We’ve broken into the secret cultivation rooms of most of the various sects and still haven’t found a pure Yin body. Not to mention, more and more people are after us. If we go on like this…”

“The master’s body is getting weaker and weaker.” Ye Ya murmured, “Why hasn’t that person arrived yet?”

“What person?” Sang Jiu held his forehead. “I say, Ye Ya! If we keep on like this, it’s no different than standing around and waiting to die!”

“There’s no hurry….” As Ye Ya spoke, his eyes suddenly lost focus. “I can feel that someone’s heading towards us. He’s the one the master needs… An excellent and perfect pure Yin body.”

“You old swindler!” Sang Jiu turned his head. He couldn’t bear to look directly at his companion. Although the master attached great importance to Ye Ya, a psychic with the gift of prophecy, after so many years Sang Jiu still couldn’t look directly at the man when he wore this dazed expression. “How is it possible for a pure Yin body to just arrive at our doorstep…? Are you sure you’re in your right mind?”

“…” Ye Ya continued to stare ahead in a trance, and Sang Jiu shook his head with indifference. Then, all of a sudden, Ye Ya grabbed at him. The trance in Ye Ya’s eyes dissipated, and he stared sharply into the thick fog ahead of them.

“What is it now?” Sang asked impatiently.

“He’s coming!”

“Coming?” Sang Jiu turned his head to look where Ye Ya was staring, and then his entire body stiffened—

This foggy, ice-bound realm rarely saw visitors, but today they suddenly heard the sound of light, quiet footsteps.

Tap. Tap. Tap….

As the person approached step by step, Sang Jiu vaguely saw that the other party was a thin young man dressed in plain white.

Sang Jiu swallowed. Eventually, the young man came to a stop about ten meters away from them.

“Excuse me.” The young man’s voice was clear and pleasant, and his skin was as white as snow, somehow giving them the illusion of pure, unsullied innocence. “Is this the frozen boundary? Are you two the guardians of Xingtian Valley?”

Sang Jiu exchanged a glance with Ye Ya. “Yes,” he said.

The young man took a deep breath, seeming a little nervous. Then, as if he’d made some kind of decision, his shoulders relaxed.

“In that case, please take me into Xingtian Valley. I’m Rong Jin from Yaowang Valley. I came here to cure the Devil Master,” he said.

He paused, then added, “I heard you’re looking for a pure Yin body for the Devil Master, and I happen to be one.”

“Please… Please come with me!” Sang Jiu’s legs softened. He looked at Ye Ya with bewilderment, feeling that happiness had come too quickly. He excitedly stretched out his hand and grabbed Rong Jin’s wrist, as if afraid the young man would change his mind, and hurriedly took him into the formation.

—

Rong Jin barely had time to see darkness in front of him, and then his body soared upwards with Sang Jiu. He didn’t know how much time passed before he landed on the ground, as softly as a feather.

After they landed, Sang Jiu slapped his own thigh and said, “Oh, oops. Ye Ya, you’d better apply a sealing technique to him, or after the sun sets, every devil cultivator in Xingtian Valley who smells that tender pure Yin body will tear him to shreds!”

Ye Ya, who was leaning on a black staff, looked quietly at Rong Jin. He raised his hand and applied an isolation technique to him, saying, “You are… here to save the Devil Master…. Ye Ya is extremely grateful to you.”

“But aren’t you a little too suspicious? A pure Yin body, and you just throw yourself into the net?” Sang Jiu looked up and down at Rong Jin. “You must have some goal in mind.”

Rong Jin smiled gently. “Of course I do. If I dual cultivate with the Devil Master it will improve my own cultivation. I just hope the Devil Master will let me live after his injuries are healed.”

“Riches and honor are only obtained through risk, after all!” Sang Jiu laughed. He was an old yao who’d lived for hundreds of years. He could tell at a glance that this person didn’t have the sour attitude common to people from the central continent. He didn’t look down on devil cultivators at all. At any rate, it wasn’t unprecedented for someone to defect from a central continent sect and take refuge in Xingtian Valley, so he believed what Rong Jin said and patted him on the shoulder. “I appreciate your honesty. Don’t worry. It’s true that our boss is unpredictable, but if you’re really able to cure him, I’ll definitely plead for you. “

Ye Ya, however, who was standing behind him, saw a trace of sadness flash in Rong Jin’s eyes. Then the young man’s eyes seemed to frost over. The knot in his throat rolled, but in the end he said nothing.

—

The journey to the Darklands went smoothly. Gradually, there were more and more devil cultivators around them, and the scent of blood and evil that lingered in the air grew heavier and heavier. Various kinds of probes and malicious glances inspected Rong Jin, but he never looked away. With a calm face, he followed Sang Jiu and the other guardian. Finally, they arrived at the main hall where the Devil Master was located.

Rong Jin looked thoughtfully at the magnificent yet eerie hall—the floor was made of glossy yet extremely dense basalt, while the walls were formed of orange-gold bricks. The entire hall seemed permeated with the heavy scent of old blood. The building materials were certainly gorgeous and costly, but they were also bizarre, as if the hall was soaked with blood every so often, and therefore it was fashioned of materials like deep golden bricks and basalt stones that couldn’t easily be stained.

Rong Jin gently sniffed the air. Sure enough, there was an extremely faint odor of death. Moreover, as they continued to advance deeper into the hall, the scent grew stronger and stronger, like they were approaching a hand that was stained with blood. It seemed like at any moment something might pull him into an abyss and devour him in one bite.

Rong Jin’s breath came a little faster, and he pursed his lips. Then he reached up and gripped the emerald jade half-pendant over his heart and strode forward into the unknown.

The corridor ahead began to twist, and the route grew more and more tortuous. Rong Jin looked over at Ye Ya and observed that he really was whispering a spell to change the layout of the walls. Rong Jin looked away. The farther he walked, the dimmer the light became, and the heavy scent of blood became mixed with a hint of fragrance that was cold and slightly obscene.

“Here we are.” The three halted before an ancient black iron door. Sang Jiu breathed a sigh of relief, handed the key to Ye Ya, and motioned him to open it. He turned and patted Rong Jin on the shoulder. “Brother, those who want to achieve great things can’t worry about trifling details. Have faith in your pure Yin body. The boss won’t kill you. You must hold on. Don’t die of fright.”

Rong Jin frowned. He wanted to ask Sang Jiu what he meant, but a moment later, Ye Ya opened the heavy black iron door—

Hiss….

An overwhelming odor of blood combined with a strange cold fragrance flooded over them. Rong Jin’s pupils constricted. His face went pale and he took several steps back. He never thought that in such a spacious and beautiful hidden room, the first thing that would meet his eyes was a pair of corpses whose lower bodies and legs were stained with dried milky-white bodily fluids and black-red blood. The facial expressions of the two corpses were distorted and hideous, and the throat of one of them seemed to have been bitten through by a wild beast. Blood was scattered all over the floor.

Hiss….

Rong Jin felt numb. He moved his eyes towards the depths of the shadows and finally saw the culprit responsible for the two corpses—a giant snake covered in jet-black scales. occupying half of the enormous chamber!

The giant black snake appeared to be seriously wounded, but his temper was irritable. From time to time he lashed his tail with a loud snap, splashing some of the blood that hadn’t yet coagulated, making the scene within the secret room even more bloody and cruel, like a hellish place of suffering.

Rong Jin’s face turned ashen. As he stood just outside the chamber he couldn’t help but turn around and open his mouth, feeling bile rise up in his throat. Without uttering a word, the two men behind him stepped into the room and unobtrusively began to perform their duties—

One quickly carried out the bodies, and the other used a water element technique to wash away the blood on the floor.

When Rong Jin looked up, the two guardians had long since disappeared, and now that Ye Ya was gone, so was his chance to retreat. Rong Jin trembled and looked slowly around the secret room again. And then he was shocked to see a pair of bright yellow eyes with vertical pupils staring directly at him!

—

The author has something to say:

I don’t know if anyone will be disgusted by this…. Well, if you don’t like snakes, just skip the next chapter!! Blame me for being too heavy-handed. Please be gentle.

TL Notes:

swindler – 神棍 – “god stick” – a con artist type of priest / magician / psychic

yao – from 妖怪 – yāoguài – monster, devil – Can refer to weird, abnormal things and phenomena or to spirits that have become plants, animals, etc.

Please be gentle – 求轻拍 – request light tap (Internet jargon)

Transliterated names, places, and titles—new in this chapter:

Ye Ya – 夜鸦

Sang Jiu – 桑旧

the master – 主上 – Alternatively: my lord, Your Majesty

brother – 兄弟 – brothers / younger brother, fraternal, brotherly; buddy, general term for like-minded people

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