Chapter 9

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“So…so these whatever imps, what are they usually in?”

“I think they would have been in wine.” Hearing Xi Ping ask about the insects instead of the soul-driving spice, he thought he hadn’t understood, so he patiently explained, “The soul-driving spice has a very faint scent, and the insect eggs are very small. They can be taken for sediment in unfiltered wine—but you must only have consumed the soul-driving spice, not the eggs, or else if the two had combined, they would have acted up by now.”

The breath caught in Xi Ping’s chest eased: that was all right. Because of the “heart disease” that didn’t impede him in eating or running around, the Marquis never touched a drop of wine when he was out of the house.

“How would I know?” He at last turned his attention to the soul-driving spice and laughed bitterly. “At Overflowing Splendor, I drink wine like I breathe air. If you asked which breath I took it in with, wouldn’t that…”

Just then, a wailing like the sound of a bugle horn sounded in the fog-covered woods, interrupting Xi Ping.

Wssh. Strong rain came down, breaking up the thick fog, like a hand wiping steam off glass.

Before Xi Ping could get accustomed to the suddenly clear view, his eyes met with an attack—he saw four…”people” carrying a coffin they had lifted out of some grave.

One of the people carrying the coffin was the man who had been carrying the lantern. In this crowd, he was actually rather put together. Among the other three, one had no facial features, only a single crack in a ghastly white face that may have been an eye or a mouth; one was missing a shoulder, his head perched precariously on a triangular chest, like a flag on a pole; there was another one missing a big piece of his skull, the caved-in place covered with a rag, the pounding of the blood vessels in the brain making the thin cloth skip and hop.

The people carrying the coffin were facing directly towards Xi Ping, less than a hundred steps away!

Unexpectedly seeing these monsters head on, Xi Ping nearly missed a breath. He felt as if the sight had taken a decade off his lifespan.

“Evil cultivators often lose their minds, and their external appearances are frequently bizarre. No need to be afraid.” The green-gowned man sipped a mouthful of the wine in the wine pot. Seeing Xi Ping trip over a tree root as he backed up and nearly sit down, he reached out to support him and raised the wine pot towards him. “I have wine. Do you want some?”

“Yes,” said Xi Ping.

The green-gowned man: “…”

He had only been being polite, figuring that now that the boy knew he had been dosed with something in his wine, he certainly wouldn’t dare to consume something another person gave him at random. He hadn’t thought he would really want it. But the words had been said, so he couldn’t not give him the wine. He handed the wine pot over a little regretfully. “There’s not much left, go easy.”

The young master had reached his present age without learning the words “go easy.” He took the wine pot and gulped a big mouthful, nearly draining it dry.

The wine was very strong. As soon as he put it in his mouth, the alcohol surged down his throat and swept through Xi Ping’s organs, then decisively turned around and went back up to his head. In a few breaths, the burning feeling suddenly disappeared, and the rich wine flavor surged up.

Xi Ping exhaled a warm breath, emboldened once more.

Then he noticed that there was someone following the coffin.

This person was dressed in deep mourning, her face bloodlessly white.

It was Jiangli.

But…she didn’t seem like Jiangli.

Xi Ping couldn’t say at first what was different about her. The features were hers, and even her hairstyle was the same as usual. But somehow, she didn’t look tender or sweet. Before, she had looked like a flower that ate the wind and drank the dew, but now, she had suddenly grown a warm, living human body that could spoil and stink; there was a coarse “humanity” about her.

“Someone you know?” the green-gowned man asked. “A lovely confidante?”

“She is lovely.” Xi Ping’s eyes didn’t leave Jiangli for a moment. He was remembering how, in order to protect her, he hadn’t even trusted his own page boy, but had gone to seek her himself, from the mortal world to the nether world. He thought he was a little ridiculous. Clenching his back molars, he laughed. “I’m no confidant of hers—I’m not worthy.”

There was a thump as the demons put the big coffin on the ground. Jiangli and the coffin bearers walked around the coffin in a particular tempo, each step falling precisely on the ground. The ground seemed to become a big drum. Each time they stepped, a dull thump came from the ground, each seeming heavier than the one before.

Xi Ping’s oversensitive ears hurt from the pounding. He was about to cover them with his hands when, suddenly, he caught a faint sound…coming from the coffin.

He was instantly chilled all over. There was someone in the coffin beating time!

Next, an exceptionally clear female voice came in among the drumming. The singer whose voice had stunned the Lingyang River sang, so beautifully it made you tremble.

Once, a person had listened to Jiangli’s songs to the point of addiction, then had thrown down his cup in a fright and left, saying, “This singing is inauspicious, there’s bewitchment in the voice, and the singer has the look of a devil.” Hearing this, Xi Ping had laughed, because most of Jiangli’s songs were written by him. His family’s works could be used as lucky charms; how could they be “inauspicious”?

The person who said these words must have been another idiot dazed by loveliness.

Now, at last, he knew who the real idiot was.

As she sang, a greenish light appeared above the coffin, floating in midair like a ghost light. The people surrounding the light had nothing human about them; they were like ghosts.

The singing, the footsteps, the knocking inside the coffin, and the shaking of the ground wove together, louder and louder. Xi Ping could hardly keep his footing. He had to drape himself over a tree next to him. He turned to ask the green-gowned man, “Exalted, aren’t you going to do something?”

“Exalted?” The green-robed man had been considering how to get his wine pot back without seeming stingy. Hearing this, he raised his eyebrows. “Do you know who I am?”

I’m not stupid, Xi Ping thought—he had heard the man holding the lantern say that there was a trap in the woods specially set for Heaven’s Design Pavilion. This impoverished-seeming old brother had not only not fallen into the trap, he was instead watching avidly from the sidelines. Obviously he was more powerful that these terrifying-looking demons.

Anyway, in his capacity as human-shaped incense burner, instead of obediently lying on the incense table, he had followed the “leads” that these people had left for Heaven’s Design Pavilion and run off here, but they had no idea. Did that make sense? There had to be some master making trouble in the background.

Though this master couldn’t keep accounts, he could casually reference the salary of a high general of cavalry; he had evidently been to court. He might be a high official in Heaven’s Design Pavilion, or even…

The green-gowned man shook his head. “This is only a ceremony. There’s no point in interrupting. They’ve already offered themselves up.”

As he spoke, a long groan came from the north, like the roar of some enraged beast of prey. It came on a fierce wind, suppressing even the drumming that was ringing in Xi Ping’s ears.

Jiangli’s voice broke. Like torn silk, the exquisite voice turned into a hoarse shout; it hardly even sounded human.

This was Xi Ping’s first time learning that sound could become a hammer. He felt the mingled noises bang against his chest and nearly crack his ribs open on the spot. His vision went dark. When he recovered, there was blood flowing from his nose.

But he didn’t take the time to wipe it away. In that instant, inexplicable tremors crawled up his back. He felt that there was someone…no, something behind him, looking at him through the thin “mustard seed”!

The languid stance of the green-gowned man in front of him changed. Silently, he stuck up a finger towards Xi Ping. His suddenly sharp gaze went past Xi Ping, aimed behind him.

The blood from Xi Ping’s nose dripped down to his mouth. He didn’t dare to wipe it away at first. After a while, he heard extremely faint footsteps shuffle past and recede. He quickly turned his head but saw nothing at all, only a line of distinct, shallow footprints in the loose earth, unhurriedly walking towards Jiangli and the others.

The stride was neither big nor small, very steady, but…there was no one making the footprints!

Xi Ping had never believed in ghosts or gods. Now that he was seeing a ghost with his own eyes, the top of his head nearly burst off.

He looked again. The people next to the coffin were kneeling. The lid of the coffin that the knocking had been coming from flew up!

An evil wind rose inside the coffin and scattered in all directions. The lush foliage of the woods was swept by the wind, and the green leaves instantly dried and yellowed. They trembled and fell to the ground.

Jiangli didn’t so much as blink. She efficiently brought down a knife and cut open her wrist.

It must have been a ruthless stroke; it cut nearly halfway through her wrist. The blood sprayed all over the coffin. The footsteps had reached the coffin now.

The people crouching on the ground called out, “Welcome, Tai Sui—”

Just then, Xi Ping heard a crisp sound, like a sharp weapon shattering a glass cup.

Next, four or five blue-robed figures descended from the sky. The one in the lead held a sword, slicing towards the coffin. Heaven’s Design Pavilion’s people had come at last!

Xi Ping was dazzled. He didn’t even see who had come from Heaven’s Design Pavilion, and he didn’t know whether the footsteps or the sword stroke reached the coffin first. He only knew that the walkers in the mortal world and the demons had begun a chaotic fight.

The crash of metal on metal was fierce enough to send up sparks. Then there was a clatter, and the coffin in the middle suddenly burst apart. Among the wreckage, a man stood up!

The dear friend who had been trying to open the coffin lid earlier revealed his true face.

His figure was tall and broad. He was wearing dark brown grave clothes with a Five Blessings design1, auspiciously planted in the center of the coffin. Some evil cultivators gathered back to back to defend him, confronting the walkers in the mortal world.

But Xi Ping didn’t have attention to spare even for the risen corpse. His attention was all taken up by Jiangli—in the moment he had missed looking, her face like a lotus standing above the water had turned dry and wrinkled as an old woman’s. Her spine had folded up, and most of her black hair had turned white. If not for the fact that the cast of her features remained in the bones of her face, he would hardly have dared to identify her!

“Move over!” A clear whistle came from the woods nearby as an acquaintance brushed over the treetops on a sword. Assistant Commander Pang had come in person!

Pang Jian mimed drawing a bow in empty air. The rain swirled and gathered in his hands, congealing into a “water arrow.” It shot straight toward the man in the coffin.

Jiangli stepped forward without giving it a thought and bodily blocked the water arrow. She opened her mouth and let out a sharp howl.

The green-gowned man had come up beside Xi Ping at some point. He slapped Xi Ping on the ear.

At his light slap, there was a buzz, and the sound of water burbled as it “flowed” from his right ear all the way to his left ear, rendering him temporarily deaf.

He couldn’t hear Jiangli’s voice, but he could feel the foliage around him shaking. The wheels of the carriage that was stopped at the roadside splintered out of nowhere. The horse fell to its knees, twitched a few times, and didn’t move again!

The scream shook the sword out from under Pang Jian’s feet, and he vaulted and landed on the ground like a swallow.

The noise of water only burbled in Xi Ping’s ears for a moment, then soon exited by his left ear. His hearing was restored, but his mind was numb—what had he seen?

The delicate flower Jiangli had just sent Heaven’s Design Pavilion’s unfathomable commander staggering!

Pang Jian called out, “Form the array!”

Several swords were already woven together. The sword array of the blue-clothed men fell like thunder. Numerous sword strokes formed a net and came directly towards the man in the coffin wearing grave clothes.

But just then, the dead man opened his eyes.

His eyes were gold, his gaze arresting. He raised a hand, and a stinking wind rose out of nowhere. The blue-clothesers didn’t even have time to draw breath before they were sent flying, swords and all, several zhang away.

Pang Jian’s expression at last became grave.

The horrifying gold irises lowered. The golden-eyed man lightly flicked the dust off his grave clothes. His gaze, almost gentle, swept over the evil cultivators around him. The stiff corners of his mouth turned upwards in a faint smile.

He put one in mind of an unknowable divine image.

The skinless man who had carried the lantern was trembling all over. He mumbled, “Tai Sui…it’s Tai Sui…”

The evil cultivators reacted half a beat late. One after another knelt at his feet, crying and laughing as if demented.

“Tai Sui!”

“Behold Tai Sui!”

“Tai Sui! Tai Sui has truly arrived!”

The man they were calling “Tai Sui” looked at Jiangli and extended a deathly pale hand towards her.

Jiangli was kneeling. She shuffled in front of him on her knees.

“Sister of the Chen family.” His voice was actually very soft, and it had a faint Ning’an accent. “Thank you. I know your story.”

Xi Ping froze.

Sister of the Chen family… Jiangli’s surname was Chen?

He inadvertently reached into his clothes to touch the birthday jade.

The jade said “Ning’an Chen family.” Could it be…

Just then, Tai Sui’s figure flickered slightly.

Jiangli was startled. She called, “Tai Sui?”

Tai Sui pressed a hand to the center of his brow and sighed. He looked up towards Pang Jian. “Commander Pang, Jinping’s dog. Your reputation is deserved. You truly are hard-hearted. Dozens of lives spread out before you won’t move you. It seems that the brothers and sisters lying in wait by the Azure Dragon Towers have died for the cause.”

Pang Jian gave a cold laugh. “Well said.”

Hearing this, the crowd of demons around the coffin looked distressed. Someone involuntarily cried out, “It can’t be! We haven’t received news of any mishap!”

Jiangli raised her head quickly. “Tai Sui, if they are unable to take the essence of the Dragon Vein, then you…”

Tai Sui looked at her with an almost compassionate gaze. “My body is only barely sustained by your ‘offerings.’”

“I’ve heard of someone who seized a body and presumed to use the veins of the earth to sew together body and soul. That person was struck down by heavenly lightning afterwards. This is my first time seeing someone set his mind on the Dragon Vein. Your will is truly lofty, senior.” Pang Jian sighed in admiration and saluted. “There may be no need for heavenly lightning tonight. I think that walking corpse of yours can only be sustained for a short while by the lives of these monsters. Why go to the trouble? It’s so ugly. Why not take it off and…”

Before he could finish, there was a sudden flash of lightning that threw Tai Sui’s shadow behind him.

His shadow was a dragon’s!

The dragon shadow flowed at Tai Sui’s feet. Wherever it passed, birds and small insects that had no time to get out of the way were sucked dry and blown to sand. The shadow dragon threw back its head in a silent roar and launched itself towards the walkers in the mortal world!

Fortunately, while Pang Jian had been chatting, his nerves had been tensed. The moment the lightning flashed, he immediately tossed out a talisman.

But before the dragon shadow reached it, the talisman went to pieces.

Pang Jian shook his sleeve, and seven or eight talismans left his hand at once, tightly shielding his colleagues behind him.

“Indeed, this body of mine can only be sustained for a brief moment.” Tai Sui calmly rolled up the long sleeves the grave clothes. “But for you little ‘open-eyed’ ones, isn’t a moment enough?”

This time, Pang Jian couldn’t say a single word. He could hardly keep the feigned frivolity on his face.

His origins were humble. He had climbed up by himself step by step. While walkers in the mortal world could only be open-eyed, he had encountered more than one established foundation evil cultivator and better in his life. Relying on his many years of experience and extensive travels, even if he couldn’t win from a weak position, he could still hold out until reinforcements came.

He had never before been brought, as at this moment, to the point of having no strength to fight back after a single exchange, as if he had become a powerless infant in front of a robust man eight chi tall.

And this was only a walking corpse… What level had this demon reached?

Tai Sui evidently didn’t take the group from Heaven’s Design Pavilion seriously. His golden eyes turned in Xi Ping’s direction. “And here is this friend with his vast magic powers. Have you seen enough?”