Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 119

Long Shen shook his head. “I’ll be fine after I get some sleep.”

After saying that and seeing that Dong Zhi was still worried, he stretched out his finger and pointed it at Dong Zhi’s brow. “Or you can probe?”

Dong Zhi blushed and stepped back to avoid it. “Don’t use this to change the subject.”

There was a little more smile in Long Shen’s eyes. “I’m not. The restorative power of an artifact spirit is already stronger than that of ordinary people. I’ve had some opportunities, so my energy will be better.”

Dong Zhi said solemnly, “But you’re not an immortal.”

Long Shen nodded. “Yes.”

Both inside and outside the Special Administration Bureau, many people regarded Long Shen as omnipotent and a powerful existence, but he wasn’t an immortal.  He could still be injured and get fatigued.

But Long Shen didn’t need to be omnipotent to see the worry on Dong Zhi’s face.

Only this person truly regarded him as a person and would be concerned and worried. Long Shen was now slowly beginning to experience those feelings he had never felt before—they were soft and gentle, like a fluffy ball that was buried deep in his heart.

“I have a sense of proportion. Songen spent decades, but even with that, he only managed to open a hole in the abyss.”

After returning from Xianda, it was the first time Dong Zhi heard Long Shen talk about the passage to the abyss in detail. Hearing this, he asked, “If the energy opening the passage is large enough, can the Mara’s true body come out?”

Long Shen said, “In theory, it’s possible, but Songen can’t do it because there’s no entrance to the abyss in the first place. It was only his power going against the heavens. He collected souls to summon the demon’s qi, and after it condensed to a certain extent, he transplanted it into the abdomen of a human body, and that body was used to give birth to the demon fetus.”

Dong Zhi was stunned when he heard this. After he recovered, he couldn’t help but remain horrified. “He used a human abdomen as a passage?!”

Long Shen nodded. “When I went to that room, I saw the woman he used to give birth to the demon. Her belly was enlarged, as if she were seven or eight months pregnant. The demon fetus would soon be born. We were one step early and accidentally prompted the premature birth of the heavenly demon, so its strength wasn’t as good as expected. However, even if he were born as scheduled, Mara would only be a phantom split off from his real body. In the end, there’s a limit to Songen’s sorcery.”

“So it wasn’t difficult to seal the passage to the abyss. Don’t worry.”

After he finished speaking, Long Shen gently rubbed Dong Zhi’s smooth chin and applied heat with his fingertips. It seemed that through this method, both parties were given the same sense of security.

Long Shen began to understand why couples liked to express their love through hugs and kisses. It wasn’t necessarily out of lust, but because when they were in physical contact, the heat of the other party could convey their hearts and make each other feel dependent on that warmth. He was now slowly able to understand this behavior.

After thinking about this for a while, Long Shen hugged Dong Zhi, patted him on the back again, and repeated, “Don’t worry.”

The person in his arms was special to him.

At first, he was his only apprentice. He wanted Dong Zhi to grow up quickly and hoped that he wouldn’t be afraid of any storms. Later…

When thinking about Dong Zhi, he couldn’t help feeling happy in his heart. Long Shen once thought this was similar to the feeling Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun had for their apprentice, but later he found out that it was different.

At the very least, he knew that when Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun spoiled their favorite disciple, they wouldn’t have the idea of divine intercourse, kissing them, and hoping that they would walk with them for the rest of their lives.

Dong Zhi wasn’t moving and frowned slightly, feeling that something was wrong.

“Master, are you hiding something from me?”

“No, wait a moment before you go. Make sure to take a Shangqing pill and practice your kung fu tona before bed. Also, don’t miss your morning practice.” Long Shen said this in a flat tone, the same as in the past, and let go of Dong Zhi’s hand. He patted Dong Zhi’s waist and motioned for him to sit down.

Dong Zhi: “What about you?”

Long Shen returned with a puzzled expression, not understanding what he was talking about.

“During this time, you’re not going to leave the capital, right?” Dong Zhi tried to confirm.

“Yes. When I blocked off the passage to the abyss, I was swallowed by demonic qi, so I have to recuperate, just like you.”

Dong Zhi: “I remember when you were dealing with the bone dragon on Changbai Mountain, He Yu said you were injured. Have you recovered from your old injuries?”

Long Shen nodded. “After all, I am a transformed artifact spirit. My body is different from ordinary people, and my recovery speed is faster. Otherwise, the passage to the abyss wouldn’t have been sealed so quickly.”

Dong Zhi finally felt relieved and smiled. “You haven’t eaten tonight. Why don’t I order some barbecue?”

Long Shen wasn’t actually hungry but still agreed. This made Dong Zhi happier, and he quickly ordered barbecue takeout and beer from his phone, then ran downstairs to get them.

Dong Zhi was already prepared that his curse wouldn’t be lifted and that he would meet an untimely death. Now that he had survived such a catastrophe, he inevitably felt that he was quite fortunate to get his life back. He knew that Long Shen was a good drinker, so he dragged him to drink a lot of beer. He turned on a singing talent show and sang along with the singers on TV, singing love songs to Long Shen.

Listening to Dong Zhi’s singing for half the song, Long Shen was able to follow and hum a few lines. It must mean that Long Shen was probably in a good mood. Otherwise, he would never make a sound.

Dong Zhi almost thought his master had been swapped.

“Master, have you never sung a song before? I remember He Yu likes to invite people to karaoke.”

Long Shen shook his head. “I have never gone with them. If I don’t sound good, then I won’t sing.”

“No, no, no!” Dong Zhi hurriedly spoke while holding Long Shen’s face and giving him a sincere look. “It’s very nice. Your voice is very suitable for this song. I’ve just never heard you sing before. Can you sing it again, yeah?”

His apprentice’s soft tone sounded in his ear. Long Shen looked at Dong Zhi’s tipsy eyes and smiled.

If you’re the fireworks at sea,
Then I’m the foam of the waves.
For a moment, your light illuminated me.
If you’re a distant galaxy,
It’s so dazzling that you make people cry,
My eyes are chasing after you,
Always looking at the night sky when I’m lonely.

… …

Long Shen had an excellent memory. After only listening to it once, he could sing all the words. There was some mistake in his pitch or tone, but Dong Zhi didn’t care about this. He rested his forehead on Long Shen’s shoulder and hummed softly.

He didn’t have to think about it. This must be the first time Long Shen opened his mouth to sing. His master hadn’t broken many things in his life, and almost all of them should be for him. Dong Zhi felt that even a few years or even decades later, he would never forget what happened today.

However, in the end, he still couldn’t listen to Long Shen finish the song. Because he was fatigued and under the influence of alcohol, he fell asleep halfway through hearing it.

“Go back to bed and sleep.” Long Shen patted Dong Zhi on the cheek.

Dong Zhi let out a confused mumble and moved slightly but failed to open his eyes.

Seeing him like this, Long Shen knew that he was tired and didn’t bother to rouse him again. He picked him up and placed Dong Zhi in his bed, then covered him with a blanket.

The wine wasn’t intoxicating, but Long Shen felt a bit tipsy. Perhaps the atmosphere was too good. It was different from the time at the seaside, and also different from the heavy thoughts on the eve before they fought Songen. At this moment, peace and beauty, calm and realness, were feelings that Long Shen had never thought of. Even if he didn’t say anything, looking at Dong Zhi’s sleeping face, he could feel a faint joy in his heart.

He used to guard the world, but the world was vast, and eventually human became just a broad term. Now, there was an exact object from that vague concept. Dong Zhi was part of the world but also independent from it. The two weren’t contradictory, but they were an unexpected surprise.

Unconsciously, Long Shen leaned his head on the bed and fell asleep for a while. When he woke up again, the clock on the wall displayed midnight.

Long Shen looked sideways and found Dong Zhi dreaming in full swing. The corners of his mouth were slightly raised, which meant he was probably dreaming of something good.

Long Shen pulled the blanket that had slipped off the other party’s shoulder, quietly got out of bed, and walked through the mess of cups and plates in the living room and left the dorm room.

Time passed slowly on the rooftop. At this moment, the scenery was still reflecting the haze of the autumn water. Long Shen waved his hand, causing the haze to fly away, and the day instantly changed into night. Countless stars twinkled, illuminating the night sky.

“The sunset is infinitely good. Why did you change it to night?” A voice came from behind the rocks. Long Shen glanced over and saw Zong Ling.

“I didn’t know you were here,” Long Shen said. “Should I restore it?”

“Forget it.” Zong Ling waved her hand. “I just want to come up and get some air. The scenery is all the same. Is Xiao Dong Zhi okay?”

Long Shen nodded. “The curse has been lifted, and he’s safe and sound.”

Zong Ling looked at him for a moment, then suddenly smiled. “You reconciled? Are you not angry with him anymore?”

Long Shen hummed softly.

Zong Ling smiled again. “What did I tell you? Don’t disappoint your heart. I’m very happy that you listened to it. Life’s too short, but the lifespan of monsters and spirits is too long. They often don’t know how to cherish it. When they finally react, it’s already too late.”

Long Shen arched his hand towards her and silently expressed his gratitude.

Without Zong Ling’s enlightenment, it was indeed very likely he wouldn’t be able to take that next step until now, or perhaps even much later.

“Is Zong Lao in a bad mood?”

Zong Ling had lived for thousands of years, and her state of mind wasn’t comparable to anyone’s. Seeing that she was here in the middle of the night, Long Shen guessed that there was something troubling her.

“No, I was just looking at my fate,” Zong Ling said slowly.

Long Shen’s heart jumped.

Seeing his solemn expression, Zong Ling smiled instead. “Even the celestials have their decline. All life cycles have ups and downs. I have lived for so long. If I lived longer than the heavens, isn’t that abnormal?”

Long Shen was silent for a moment. “We met with Boss Che in Yinchuan before, and he said that his lifespan is approaching.”

Zong Ling sighed. “If he has no will to live, no matter how long his life is destined to be, it will be useless. I’m different from him. After I became human, I lived for thousands of years, and it was time for me to enter the reincarnation process for exhausted gods. Originally, I wanted to go to Japan in person, but I didn’t know when my strength would be completely exhausted, and I didn’t dare to hold anyone back. Otowa Yasuhiko has bewitched others and been hiding for decades. Although Yu Buhui and Ding Lan are strong, I’m afraid they are not a match for Otowa.”

Long Shen said, “I’ll go.”

Zong Ling was surprised but immediately vetoed. “No, it’s too risky with you alone!”

Long Shen: “There’s also Wu Bingtian and Tang Jing. They will come also.”

Zong Ling’s expression was solemn. “In fact, I have always suspected that the reason why Otowa Yasuhiko was able to become a demon was perhaps because he got hold of a certain magic artifact and managed to crack its secrets. Doing so, he’s able to obtain a steady stream of power from it, so he could afford to be unscrupulous. If this is the case, this person will be harder to deal with than any monsters or demons you have encountered before. Unfortunately, this was during the time when I was dormant and didn’t walk around the world. Otherwise, I would have noticed it much earlier.”

Long Shen nodded. “Not only that, but we also suspect the reason he wants to destroy the stone tablet is most likely to completely open the passage to the abyss. You are the longest living being in this world. Do you know anything about the demon seal back then?”

Zong Ling smiled bitterly. “Xiankun and the others have already asked me this question several times. The history of the demon seal is longer than my own lifespan. At that time, I was ignorant, only knowing to wake up in the summer and hibernate in the winter. When I took form, it was past the period when the ancient gods emerged and the great powers fell and retreated one after another. At that time, I was still a little-known monster. Who would tell me about the rise and fall of the demon seal? The gods, Buddhas, and demons became myths, and the great wars of the past became legends. The existence of the stone tablets is even more unknown. Perhaps a few words had been passed down, but I’m not privy to this.”

“However, when I was a child, I heard my parents say that there were several great wars in ancient times. In one of them, a demon god was born and almost destroyed the world. Later, the place where the three realms met was completely sealed, and the spiritual energy of the world gradually depleted. Because of this, you should have noticed that after the Tang and Song dynasties, there were fewer and fewer records of immortal ascensions. It wasn’t because of the degradation of human spiritual intelligence, but because of the weakening of the world’s spiritual energy.”

If the demon seal composed of the stone tablets were the bind that led into the abyss of hell, it was understandable that Otowa Yasuhiko would try everything possible to destroy them—he wanted to release a demon that was more powerful than a sneaky yaksha, than an Archfiend, and even the phantom of Mara. Perhaps it could be the complete body of Mara, or maybe the demon god in the abyss. Zong Ling had no way of knowing.

She raised her head. Clouds had floated over at some point, covering the gleaming stars and darkening the world. The wind and rain were about to come.

A huge crisis was looming, and her lifespan was approaching. What could she do for this world?

Even if the world was full of human desires and the cruelty and viciousness of human nature were often worse than those of demons, this was the world that gave birth to her; a place where her beloved once existed, as well as Long Shen and Dong Zhi. Countless people she had high hopes for. Zong Ling didn’t want to see them destroyed.

“I’m going to find Che Bai and go to Kunlun with him to find the eye of the array,” Zong Ling said.

She turned around and looked at Long Shen. “If you get news about the array, notify us immediately.”

“Yes.” Long Shen paused. It was rare that he showed hesitation. “I don’t want to tell Dong Zhi about this for the time being. Please keep it a secret for me.”

Zong Ling was slightly surprised. “Why?”

Long Shen said, “He’s about to lead the team at the exchange conference. I don’t want him to be distracted by it.”

Zong Ling immediately saw through his thoughts. “You’re just afraid that he will be worried. If he knows, he’ll definitely ask to go with you. You don’t want him to take risks. Long Shen, you finally have the selfishness to protect someone. If you treat him as an apprentice, you should want him to face the storm even more. Even if he loses his head and his life, it must be in order to live up to his original intention.”

Was it like this?

Long Shen couldn’t refute it.

Indeed, it was.

The experience and competition of the exchange conference were also life-threatening, but he believed Dong Zhi could cope.

Just like when they went to find Songen, Long Shen didn’t say anything, but he was sure, so he took Dong Zhi with him.

But during this trip to Japan, Long Shen wasn’t sure he could protect him.

“I’m sorry,” he said to Zong Ling.

There was a slight compassion in Zong Ling’s eyes. “You don’t need to apologize. This is natural. If you love someone, you will hope that they are safe and sound. Even if you are rolling in a sea of swords and flames, you don’t want him to even touch half a spark.”

Dong Zhi didn’t know what happened last night. When he woke up, Long Shen was beside him, sleeping peacefully.

For fear of waking him up, Dong Zhi quietly opened the blanket and prepared to get out of bed, but as soon as his body moved, Long Shen woke up.

“Master, are you going to work today?”

Long Shen’s voice was a little drowsy and lazy. “No need.”

Dong Zhi smiled and gave him a good morning kiss. This was a habit that developed after his confession. At first, Long Shen felt it was a bit too raw, but now it felt natural. When Dong Zhi leaned over, Long Shen raised his chin slightly to accept it.

“Then sleep more! I’ll go to the rooftop for my morning session before you nag me again.” Dong Zhi quickly put on his clothes and went to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth.

From the moment he woke up, the picture seemed to come alive. Long Shen stared at the background until it disappeared before closing his eyes again.

Dong Zhi stayed on the rooftop for a full two hours.

He still had a plaster wrapped around one hand, but this didn’t affect his performance. The Changshou Sword was temporarily taken away, but Long Shen gave him the Qingzhu Sword again, allowing him to use it when he practiced.

The Qingzhu Sword was also an old friend to Dong Zhi, and it felt natural in his hand, but what surprised him the most was the change in his body.

After the ghost-faced peach blossom curse was lifted, his ability seemed to have also increased by a level. The most obvious contrast was the qi that he managed to draw from the sword. The power of the qi was much greater than before, and the time it took to summon heavenly thunder seemed to have been shortened.

Dong Zhi was clear about his own situation. He knew that he was talented and had worked hard to keep making progress, but this kind of progress was orderly, like climbing stairs, one step at a time, but it seemed this time he had taken two steps at once, as he felt it wasn’t as difficult as before.

He thought for a moment and finally believed the root cause should have been when Che Bai helped him suppress the curse; it seemed to have also benefited his body.

Now that the curse was lifted, the threat alarm in his body stopped sounding, so naturally he could exert 100% of his abilities.

With the qi gathered, he cut a rainbow arc in the air, and a big stone not far away quickly cracked before it split in half with a loud bang.

Before Dong Zhi could give birth to a sense of accomplishment, his stomach growled shamelessly.

Regardless of whether he was a sword master or an immortal, eating was his first priority.

When he returned to the dorm, Long Shen was no longer there. The bed was neatly made, as if no one had slept on it, and even the upper and lower creases of the blanket were in complete parallel. Dong Zhi suspected his master might’ve been in the army before; otherwise, he wouldn’t have such a strong OCD.

He sent a message to Long Shen asking him where he was and got a reply a few moments later, saying that he was in a meeting and that breakfast was already made in the kitchen and he could help himself to it.

Long Shen did say he didn’t need to go to work today, but he didn’t say that he would have a meeting. Dong Zhi thought about this helplessly as he made his way towards the kitchen to find breakfast. Soy milk and fried dough sticks were on the table. While a common breakfast, the soy milk and dough sticks were kept warm on the rice cooker. When Dong Zhi took a bite, the meat-stuffed buns were still hot.

He began to live a life of being fed the day after entering cohabitation.

Dong Zhi nestled comfortably on the sofa and took out his phone to start reading information—he had to change to a temporary phone card when he went abroad, and only now, after he returned, did he have spare time to use his cellphone.

When he used to work for the game company, he would only use it to play games or paint. Sometimes, when he had to work overtime and it was too late to go home, he would spend the night in the company’s lounge, grab his phone, and play games in the middle of the night before falling asleep. Later, he gradually got tired of this kind of life. In addition, their project manager was constantly nitpicking all day long and kept making repeated demands. Dong Zhi reached his breaking point, resigned, and, on a whim, decided to go on a trip.

But when he looked back at the life he was tired of at that time, he couldn’t help but think it was a kind of comfort and happiness. Only after experiencing so many near-death experiences did he learn to cherish the short-term peace now.

Except for him and Long Shen, the others in Group 2 were still on the field. Dong Zhi sent a message to the Group 2 chat saying he had returned to Beijing. He Yu and Kan Chaosheng started screaming, while Zhong Yuyi, with his slow reflex, took a while to reply. He Yu hadn’t seen him in a long time and started posting a few photos, saying that he was looking for the whereabouts of the stone tablet near Zijin Mountain, while Kan Chaosheng said he swam the Qinhuai River a few times but found no trace of any stone tablets.

Dong Zhi told them about how he and Long Shen managed to kill the phantom of the heavenly demon in Xianda Village. He Yu reacted quickly and said that the boss must have guessed that this heavenly demon wasn’t a true heavenly demon, so he only took the four of them to kill it.

It was likely that He Yu didn’t have much chance to speak when he was out on the field, as he flooded the chat endlessly with his ramblings. He didn’t even bother to type those words out and instead just sent large paragraphs of voice messages.

He Yu: “According to my guess, the stone tablets we’re looking for now should be related to the abyss. This is why Otowa Yasuhiko is so emboldened and didn’t cooperate with Songen. It’s because he has an even bigger ace up his sleeve!”

His voice was accompanied by the sound of wind, full of smugness and confidence, and it was the familiar Lao He in Dong Zhi’s impression.

Dong Zhi thought for a while and found that what he said was reasonable.

Yamamoto Kiyoshi was Fujikawa Aoi’s martial brother who defected from his teacher and ran to Southeast Asia to buddy up with Songen. He was determined to serve the heavenly demon with all his heart. Since Fujikawa Aoi was Otowa Yasuhiko’s lackey, it was impossible for Otowa not to know about this, but he chose not to join forces with Songen and instead became just a spectator. It could be seen that Otowa didn’t take Songen’s movement seriously. He firmly believed that what he was doing was for the greater cause.

He had been planning for so many years, from after World War II to the present. His secrets were still unknown, and until now, the conspiracy had gradually surfaced. Yu Buhui, Li Ying, and Ding Lang had gone to Japan, but could they really kill Otowa and stop all this?

Dong Zhi realized it would be difficult.

Thinking of last night, he found Long Shen’s attitude quite abnormal, and this made Dong Zhi’s heart thump.

He hurriedly said to He Yu, “Lao He, I can’t chat anymore. I have something to do. See you later!

He Yu: “??? Where are you going?!”

Dong Zhi didn’t bother to reply to him. Poor He Yu. He finally caught someone to talk to, but Dong Zhi had already run away.

Dong Zhi lost his leisurely move just now. He put on his coat and ran upstairs. He ran all the way to the outside of the conference room. The heavy door had cut off all sounds, and it wasn’t easy for him to push in the door and disturb the meeting, so Dong Zhi could only linger outside and wait.

Finally, the door opened, and a strange man and woman came out. When the two sides met, both were stunned.

The author has something to say:

In fact, Long Shen has been growing up, but Dong Zhi tempers his physical will, so what he perceives is the state of mind. Master shoulders morality and justice with a pair of iron shoulders, but now there are small fireworks in his world~

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 118

Wu Bingtian wiped his face, as if intending to erase the fatigue of staying up late.

“I haven’t had time to tell you. The day before yesterday, I had a meeting with Zong Lao and Zhang Lao. They all agree that the eye of the array should be on Mount Kunlun. However, Mount Kunlun is too big. The exact location can’t be determined yet. We can only start little by little. Zong Lao and Zhang Lao have rushed over and participated in the search as well.”

Mount Kunlun wasn’t just a mountain but an endless range of mountains. It was regarded as the ancestor of ten thousand mountains of China and the starting point for all dragon veins. Numerous myths and legends originated there and had never been cut off since ancient times, so it was indeed likely that was where the eye of the array was located.

However, this place had 19 peaks that were 6,000 kilometers tall, and the snow caps didn’t melt all year. Not only that, but there were also deep caves and trails that no one had ever set foot in before. If they were to search them one by one, it would take at least five years, not to mention the countless natural wonders out there.

Long Shen asked, “Are there any news from Ding Lan and the others?”

Wu Bingtian shook his head. “I told them to put their own safety first, and they don’t need to keep in touch unless it’s extremely critical.”

Li Ying lacked experience, but he wasn’t the leader of this three-person operation. With Ding Lan and Yu Buhui, they could act according to the circumstances. However, Otowa Yasuhiko had been in business for many years, so it was impossible to not expect anyone to come to his door. Ding Lan and others had to act calmly as there were many hidden dangers.

Long Shen turned his head and said to Dong Zhi, “Go back and rest first.”

Dong Zhi had listened to them this entire time and heard a lot of news but couldn’t assist in any way. Seeing that the atmosphere was turning solemn, he felt uncomfortable. He nodded and got up when he heard Long Shen’s words.

“Wait.”

Song Zhicun stopped him and handed over a folder. “This is the information from the exchange conferences in previous years. Take a look at it. When everyone gathers, I’ll say a few things, but you’ll have to come up with the specific division of labor on your own.”

Dong Zhi was taken aback. He thought the candidate for team leader was only verbal and had to go through a specific assessment, but after hearing Song Zhicun’s meaning, it seemed a foregone conclusion.

He subconsciously looked at Long Shen, who nodded slightly with encouraging eyes.

Dong Zhi suddenly showed composure and courage. He took the documents and said goodbye to Song Zhicun and the others before leaving.

Watching him gently walk to the door, Song Zhicun finally showed a smile that had been missing for a few days.

“Your apprentice did a good job. I regret it a bit now. If I had rushed to grab his hand from you, perhaps he would be calling me master today.”

Wu Bingtian chuckled. “Really? I thought he didn’t eat anything cooked by people*. It turns out that his heart wasn’t move, but he met someone who moved it.”

*(不食人間煙火) Idiom has a few meanings but refers to the Daoist belief that celestial beings never eat cooked food. This later on is used to describe a person who has other-worldly qualities similar to those of celestial beings, but it could also mean being out of touch with reality. || In this context, Wu Bingtian is jokingly saying he thought Long Shen didn’t touch things that were mortal, as his heart is unmoved by them, but it turns out that he touched things that moved his heart (Dong Zhi).

Although these words were easy to misunderstand, what they were teasing about was actually just the matter of accepting disciples.

Long Shen smiled slightly, and his brows loosened a bit. He had no intention of actively mentioning his relationship with Dong Zhi, but he wouldn’t deliberately conceal it either.

“Dong Zhi is really good.”

Song Zhicun smiled again. “I was worried before. As soon as Li Ying left, Dong Zhi was cursed. Liu Qingbo and Zhang Song aren’t capable of taking on the responsibility of leading the team. If that didn’t work out, we would’ve had to re-select people again. Now it’s fine. Dong Zhi has worked with Liu Qingbo a few times. With him, who can restrain Liu Qingbo, Zhang Song should be a cinch.”

Wu Bingtian added, “After they come back from this exchange, we can put a heavier burden on them.”

The three of them took advantage of this topic to relax for a while. Long Shen talked about the result of his meeting with Carlos and the others in Bangkok.

“The remnant qi of the heavenly demon may take advantage of this exchange to mix in with the practitioners. I suggest sending two more people to the team to replace Li Ying.”

Wu Bingtian said, “This is fine. I will find suitable candidates as soon as possible. How about Chi Banxia?”

She had been accepted as Song Zhicun’s apprentice, so naturally he had more say on this issue.

Song Zhicun shook his head and said, “She’s not suitable at this moment. The most important thing for this kind of experience is team cooperation. She and Li Ying are in love. I’m afraid with Li Ying’s life and death right now on the line, she’s too concerned and may not be able to concentrate on the competition.”

Dong Zhi didn’t know what Long Shen and others would discuss next. After he left the conference room, he went back to the dorms.

He hadn’t been back here for more than half a year. The mattresses were still stacked up where he left them, still neat and deserted, but the tables and chairs weren’t covered with dust. There was a gap in the window, and the pots and plants on the windowsill were also well taken care of. When he looked at the coffee table again, there was a note saying: [The cat is being watched at the pet shop at 175 North Point Lane. The foster care fee has already been paid for half a year.]

This should have been written by Long Shen before he went to Shencheng. At that time, he probably felt he wouldn’t have returned so soon, so the note was probably for the person entrusted to read it.

Dong Zhi paused for a moment to reflect. The two of them had met again in Shencheng and then went to Hainan before going to Thailand and Myanmar to kill Songen and eliminate the demon. Accidents happened one after another, so when he looked at this note and recalled what had transpired, he found that he had experienced quite a lot.

When he went from the capital to Lucheng, he had already been prepared to not return to Beijing for several years. After confessing to Long Shen, he felt he would never come back in his life. Who would have expected that life would always turn around and miracles would occur? The feelings that he thought were hopeless were responded to by the sea in Sanya. Being here again, it was inevitable that he would have the illusion that these things were a lifetime away.

There was no need to clean up. Dong Zhi sat down at the desk and decided to call Liu Qingbo first.

When the line connected, the other party didn’t even give him a chance to speak as a flurry of questions bombarded him. “Where are you now? Have you returned? Did you solve the curse? Is Boss Long with you?”

Dong Zhi couldn’t laugh or cry. “Which question do you want me to answer?”

Liu Qingbo quipped back, “All Of them, one by one!”

“Okay, okay, okay,” Dong Zhi replied good-naturedly. “I’m in the capital now. My curse has been lifted. The exchange conference is about to be held, and I’m injured. Master asked me not to go back and forth, so I’ll recuperate in the capital and wait for you to come. When will you be coming?”

Liu Qingbo said, “In two days. Mu Duo wants to report the situation here through video chat. Is it convenient now?”

“Sure!” Dong Zhi was just about to ask, yet the other party took the initiative and brought it up.

The two hung up and used the communication software to start video calling. Dong Zhi quickly saw Mu Duo and Zhang Chong on the other side. Nothing had changed. Zhang Chong was still carefree and happy, Mu Duo was just the same as before, and Liu Qingbo naturally still had airs of a young master.

“The Lucheng branch has worked hard during my absence. When I return, I’ll treat everyone to a meal,” Dong Zhi said sincerely.

Liu Qingbo rolled his eyes. “We have worked so hard for so long, and that’s only worth a meal?”

Dong Zhi smiled. “Then what do you want? Except for my body, I can agree to anything.”

Liu Qingbo scoffed. “Cut the shit! Let Mu Duo tell you about what happened during this time!”

Hearing this, Dong Zhi knew that his deputy director was probably a handful during this time.

Liu Qingbo had never had the patience to deal with specific affairs, let alone cumbersome interpersonal contacts, so no matter how capable he was, he would never be able to lead a team like Li Ying or Dong Zhi. Either he could be a lone ranger, or he could only be led. This was also his shortcoming.

There was no shortage of lone rangers in the Special Administration Bureau. Most people could take the lead alone, but there weren’t many who could lead. During this session, Li Ying was the favored one, and now there was also Dong Zhi.

Mu Duo began to report on the work progress to Dong Zhi.

The milk tea shop had been renovated and was open for business. Unfortunately, business wasn’t booming, so the first month was a loss, but after it stabilized, it could basically make ends meet. In fact, this was just a cover for the office to be hidden from the world. No one expected it to make money, and all profits would be used for the operations of the office.

The initial proposal by Dong Zhi was good. The location was close to a school, and students often came to buy drinks. Mu Duo and Zhang Chong were busy at times, so they hired two young men to help. On the pretext that the shop owner was a novelist who liked to collect supernatural stories, they often communicated with customers to collect rumors. During this exchange, if they heard anything strange, whether it was true or false, Mu Duo would screen the stories.

She was, after all, meticulous. Among the gossip, Mu Duo found some abnormalities. Finally, it was discovered that there was a transnational drug smuggling case. After it was handed over to the relevant departments, they cooperated with them and arrested the drug dealers. During the bust, there was even a gunfight. A policeman was almost injured. Luckily, Liu Qingbo was there at the time and managed to block the bullet with his sword. Seeing how his sword was faster than a bullet, everyone looked at him as if he were an alien.

For this matter, the office received praise from the top and thanks from their sister departments. Wu Bingtian believed that this method of concealment in Lucheng was worth promoting throughout the world’s offices, so he frequently asked them to write summaries of their experiences. Naturally, Liu Qingbo was impatient to do this, and Zhang Chong’s writing disgusted Mu Duo, so she had been writing summaries until she was about to vomit.

When Dong Zhi heard what had transpired, he was stunned. He didn’t expect so many things to happen in the office after he left for a short time. In this way, it seemed that he was more incompetent than a “negligent” leader.

Mu Duo saw his apologetic face and laughed. “These changes are only after you came to the office. We would still be a lifeless office if it weren’t for you. Director, when you go to the exchange, you must fight and get some face for our office!”

Dong Zhi pointed to Liu Qingbo. “With Deputy Director Liu here, there will be no problem.”

Dong Zhi then said to Mu Duo and Zhang Chong, “Since Lao Liu and I will not be in Lucheng, if you have anything, you should report it to Boss Tang. Don’t try to take it on yourself. I’ll send some sunlight talismans later. Put them on your body to drive away evil spirits and calm your mind if you don’t have any use for them.”

Mu Duo recognized his generosity and immediately expressed her gratitude, wishing them good luck on their journey and a safe return.

Not all practitioners were from extraordinary origins like Liu Qingbo, who was so arrogant that they didn’t even bother to engage with others. After all, there were those who went to extremes, such as Cheng Yuan. There were many, like Xiao Qi and Yan Nuo, who were more capable than ordinary people, but were also influenced by human nature. They would be afraid or jealous and push back or procrastinate. Naturally, such a personality wouldn’t achieve anything great.

For a few years after Mu Duo entered the Special Administration Bureau, she went from being ambitious to being so indifferent that she had considered resigning; in the end, she met Dong Zhi.

This young man was tender and inexperienced, but he was smart and studious. These were the necessary qualities to become an excellent practitioner. What was even more rare was that he was willing to take responsibility when things happened and didn’t hog the credit afterwards. On the contrary, he was willing to share it with them.

Mu Duo felt that working with such a person was like a spring breeze. If she had to add a comparison, she had to say that Dong Zhi was much stronger than Yan Nuo and Xiao Qi. Only such a person could truly lead everyone forward and make people willing to follow him, even through heaven and hell, life and death.

Dong Zhi said a few more words to Liu Qingbo before ending the call. He rubbed his eyes and looked at the information that Song Zhicun had handed over when he left just now.

The full name of the World Exchange Conference was actually the World Unknown Field Cultural Exchange Conference. It began after WWII but was not held on a regular basis every two years. It had been suspended several times due to some reason or another. Nowadays, once every two years, the executive council of each member country takes a turn hosting.

The so-called unknown field of cultural exchange was actually a general term for the practitioner world. It was a term that was all-encompassing, including Taoism, witchcraft, yin and yang techniques of the East, psychic spiritualism, demon hunting, voodoo, and the like. Many practitioners were naturally willing to take this opportunity to enhance their understanding and expand their influence.

Today, the exchange conference was actually an arena for practitioners from all over the world. Many unknown practitioners had gone on to become world famous after leaving here. Naturally, some fell and lost their lives.

Teams from various countries or regions were generally organized to participate in the conference. Individuals weren’t allowed. China had participated five times, of which Long Shen was included as a team leader once but did not participate in the competition.

Seeing this, Dong Zhi couldn’t help but smile.

He knew why Long Shen didn’t participate—simply because he was too strong. Once this man joined, there would be no chance of anyone else winning. As a senior member of the Special Administration Bureau, Long Shen didn’t actually need to be in the limelight. Carlos obviously knew a bit about Long Shen’s abilities, which was why he regretted not being able to see the skills of Long Shen’s apprentice with his own eyes.

With Long Shen’s ability, even if he didn’t deliberately show it, it was destined that it couldn’t be hidden in the crowd. Dong Zhi could imagine, in the years he wasn’t able to participate in Long Shen’s past, what a dazzling light this man had shed and how heartbreaking his strength and tenacity were.

On Changbai Mountain, Long Shen still had old wounds on his body, yet he was still able to fight the bone dragon. This time, he even sealed the passage to the abyss with his own strength. It was no wonder he dared to break into Songen’s lair with just his apprentice. Even though Dong Zhi could be considered his closest, he still couldn’t explore the limit of what this man’s strength was.

He had already missed a lot of the former Long Shen but would not miss Long Shen’s future for the rest of his lifetime.

Dong Zhi’s fingertips rubbed the familiar name as he continued to look at the folder.

He Yu had participated once, but he didn’t see Kan Chaosheng. This was not because of his lack of abilities, but most likely because the Special Administration Bureau feared that Kan Chaosheng didn’t have enough self-control and, in some cases, would expose his true body, causing unnecessary trouble.

He Yu took part in it on the Siberian ice fields at the time. Participants needed to fight against strange beasts in the snow and eventually get the items designated by the organization. That time, He Yu and the others were able to achieve the final victory. He had participated with Zhang Heng and Yu Buhui. The appearance of these familiar names meant that the stars were shining during that time.

After that, the last exchange was a competition held in Africa, where black magic was prevalent. Everyone fought in an environment full of witchcraft and traps, with the United States ultimately coming out victorious. Dong Zhi took a look at the people who participated last year and saw two acquaintances from the Northeast Branch, Zheng Sui and Wang Jinguan.

Naturally, Lao Zheng and Wang Jie weren’t newcomers who had just joined the special administration bureau. Being in the Special Administration Bureau for so long, Dong Zhi had developed a deep understanding and knew they weren’t the elites of the Special Administration. The fact that they participated last time meant there were no great talents that year, so they had to temporarily fill the participants.

It was said that this time, there would be even more teams participating than ever before, so by allowing Dong Zhi to participate, the Special Administration Bureau hoped that they would win this year.

When Dong Zhi closed the file, he breathed a soft sigh of relief.

He never thought that he could take on the responsibility of leading the team. This trust came too suddenly, and he only felt a heavy weight on his body, diluting the sense of honor and happiness that he should be feeling.

Liu Qingbo, Zhang Song, and Liu Si were all considered future elites by the Special Administration Bureau. They had performed equally well in training and actual combat. If there was no accident, the future of the Special Administration would belong to them. A year ago, he didn’t even dare think that such a position would also be his own.

At first, he was attracted to the “beauty”, and then he was retained by the magnificence of the new world. He could no longer move his eyes from it. He was originally self-aware and felt that, at best, he would become an ordinary staff member in logistics in the Special Administration Bureau. Just having the chance to look at his male god from time to time would be enough satisfaction, but every time something happened, he wanted to try his best. He didn’t want others to look down on him, and he wanted to feel worthy of himself. So step by step, he got to where he was today. When he looked back, he couldn’t help but laugh.

He had walked all the way only looking at the front, walking on thin ice and trembling, but when he suddenly looked back, he found that he had inadvertently sprinkled a large number of seeds. Those seeds had broken through the soil and blossomed before his eyes, bringing about unexpected joy that could be considered a reward from heaven.

Dong Zhi was full of anxiety. He was worried that Zhang Song’s temperament would not accept him and that it would be difficult to integrate into the team. He was also worried they would not be able to win the competition this time. They would lose face not only for the Special Administration Bureau but for their country as well, but now that the matter had been settled, he didn’t think about shirking or evading and instead began to plan what to do and how to do it well.

After his return, he didn’t rest much, so he fell asleep on the table before he knew it.

A cold wind blew from outside the window, causing Dong Zhi to sneeze. He rubbed his eyes and found that an hour had passed.

The dorm outside was quiet, which meant Long Shen hadn’t come back yet. He put on his coat and went out for dinner first, then would pick up Longlong on the way back.

He hadn’t seen it in more than half a year. Longlong had grown up and was well-groomed. The advantages of a white cat were now fully revealed. When Dong Zhi saw its round and innocent face, he almost told the pet shop owner that they had given him the wrong cat.

“When Mr. Long brought it here, he specifically specified a certain brand of cat food. We have been feeding it one can per week during this time. We just gave him a physical exam last week, and everything looks healthy.” The clerk smiled and handed over the results of the physical examination. After seeing the results, Dong Zhi marveled at their meticulous care.

Of course, such meticulous care came at a high price. Dong Zhi found that the cat food they had been feeding Longlong was exactly the one he had bought before he left.

Long Shen’s thoughtfulness was usually not easily noticed by others.

After confirming his identity, the shopkeeper praised Longlong’s breed and his good behavior with the other cats. She even remembered Long Shen’s appearance and mistakenly thought Dong Zhi was Long Shen’s younger brother, saying that both siblings were so good-looking that it was hard to forget.

Dong Zhi didn’t bother rectifying it and just laughed at the shopkeeper’s compliment. Before leaving, the shopkeeper gave him a generous 20% discount and a free bag of cat food so that he would use their service here next time.

When Dong Zhi left the pet store, he held the cage and said to Longlong inside, “I had to sacrifice my appearance for your cat food.”

Longlong meowed, stretched out its fat paw, and rested it on Dong Zhi’s hand, as if he hadn’t forgotten his cheap owner.

Dong Zhi nodded. “I’m taking you back to see your other master.”

As night fell, one person and one cat returned to the Special Administration Bureau.

Long Shen had already returned. The door to his dorm room was ajar, and light was streaming out from inside.

“Master?” Dong Zhi opened the door and poked his head in.

“Your back.” Long Shen had just come out of the bathroom. From a few meters away, Dong Zhi could feel the moisture exuding from Long Shen’s body.

“I picked up Longlong.”

Dong Zhi opened the cage and let the cat out. Longlong wasn’t afraid at all. He walked around their legs a few times and curled his tail up and down their legs.

“Leave the Changshou Sword with me for now. During this time, it accompanied you through many hard battles. The sword’s body will inevitably be polluted. I’ll take it to have it purified and return it to you later,” Long Shen said.

Dong Zhi naturally had no objection. Even if Long Shen didn’t explain it, as long as he asked him for it, Dong Zhi would not hesitate to give him the sword. There was a trust between them that didn’t need to be expressed.

“Master, when you blocked off the abyss passage, were you also injured? I’m not going to leave right away, so it’s okay to release the Changshou Sword in advance.”

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 117

After the group arrived in Bangkok, Long Shen and the others met Songla, the white-robed master who would be attending the meeting. He was also an important figure in the White Robe Association. It was said that his status in Southeast Asia was almost equal to that of Xinchai, but unlike Xinchai, Songla was tall and looked more like an athlete than a sorcerer. He didn’t speak fluent English, so Kenta attended as his translator.

The deputy team leader of Group 51 was an American named Carlos. Long Shen and him seemed to be old acquaintances. The two didn’t have just a courtesy meeting but instead met in a small conference room for a while before moving to the large conference room.

Long Shen didn’t avoid Dong Zhi during this time and even asked him to stay and listen to their separate meeting with Carlos.

Carlos had known Long Shen for many years. Hearing that Long Shen was introducing his own apprentice, he couldn’t help but be surprised. “I heard that you never accept apprentices. This time, you made an exception. It seems that this little guy must be extraordinary, right?”

Long Shen nodded, holding no intention of explaining too much about it.

Although there was frequent international cooperation now, they were still two different countries. It was hard to say when they would stand on opposite sides. Long Shen had no intention of developing any deep friendships with practitioners outside his own country. However, this time, because he wanted to lift Dong Zhi’s curse, kill Songen, and destroy Mara, Long Shen briefly mentioned these things to Carlos.

Carlos looked relaxed the entire time. When he heard that the heavenly demon had managed to escape, he couldn’t help but complain. “You can’t stop Mara from escaping? Long, this isn’t like your ability!”

Long Shen said indifferently, “I couldn’t stop it at that time, but you can certainly try.”

Carlos curled his lips. “Then you should have called a few more people when you went, such as notifying Group 51 in advance, instead of acting on your own and now telling us.”

Long Shen sneered, “Songen has been there for decades. How come I haven’t seen you guys find Mara and go over and do justice?”

Carlos was speechless for a moment and then laughed. “Don’t be like that, Long. I’m just joking!”

His performance changed within a split second, which surprised Dong Zhi.

However, Carlos didn’t feel that he was thick-skinned.

“Long, you know we’re all working for the top. Now that something so big has happened, I will have to make a report on it. Where is that place? I’ll let someone go and investigate later. Maybe I can find something.”

Long Shen told him the location. When they left, they had done a thorough check, so there was no omission. Even if Carlos sent people there now, it would be impossible to find anything.

Carlos naturally knew this, but in order to have something to account for, he had to ask.

“In your opinion, after Mara’s demonic qi escape, where will it go?”

Long Shen said, “Well, the United States is far away. It may not get there for a while.”

Dong Zhi almost laughed out loud. He discovered that the relationship between Long Shen and Carlos was a bit like the current relationship between the two countries. They cooperated with each other but also tested each other. While trust wasn’t something on the table, it wasn’t to the point that they would tear each other’s faces.

In the past, he didn’t know that Long Shen would have time to chat with others so leisurely, but now that he had seen it, he found it quite entertaining.

Carlos also heard the other party’s ridicule and smiled bitterly. “I already apologized for my previous recklessness earlier. Isn’t that enough? You may have heard that recently, the United States and Europe have also discovered traces of demons. Among them, there is a plague demon. We’re very worried that something like the Black Death* will happen again. The demon hunters are quite understaffed right now. We hope to get your help.”

*Bubonic plague pandemic that was the most fatal pandemic recorded in human history, causing the deaths of 75-200 million people.

Long Shen shook his head. “We also have important things to deal with.”

Carlos inquired suspiciously, “Isn’t Mara already eradicated?”

Long Shen said, “There’s something else.”

Seeing that he refused to divulge more, Carlos smiled slyly. “Is it Japan? Do you need our help?”

Given Carlos’ abilities, it wasn’t impossible for him not to know something. Long Shen replied, “Thank you, but I don’t need it for the time being.”

Carlos was disappointed that he didn’t get any other information. He shrugged and spread his hands. “Well, let’s talk about the World Exchange Conference. We’re planning to send five people to participate this year. How about you?”

Long Shen said, “We haven’t decided yet, but it shouldn’t exceed previous years.”

Carlos glanced at Dong Zhi and said with a smile, “Your disciple has never participated before. It seems that you plan to let him attend this year?”

There was nothing to hide about this, so Long Shen nodded. “Where is the location this year?”

Each conference had a host country. Because it had a competition aspect, the location would change every time. This year was Carlos’ country’s turn.

Carlos said, “On a deserted island in the Atlantic Ocean. We will use the latest simulation equipment to perform holographic simulations. The old rule is that the team that gets the designated props first will naturally win.”

After speaking, he saw Long Shen frowning deeply in a contemplative state.

“What are you thinking?”

Long Shen said, “The escape wisp of Mara’s demonic qi can’t pose much threat for the time being, but it will definitely seek opportunities for growth in the future.”

Carlos nodded. “Yes, demons like to draw nutrients from the breath of the living, and it’s likely to go to a prosperous metropolis.”

Long Shen: “No matter how much the breath of a living person is, it’s not as pure as the breath of a practitioner. Given Mara’s nature, I think he would prefer this shortcut.”

Carlos was slightly shocked. He immediately understood what Long Shen meant. “You mean it will take advantage of the World Exchange Conference to attack!”

Long Shen: “I’m just raising a possibility.”

Carlos sighed. “It seems that this time it’s destined to be uneasy again. Fortunately, I’m not leading the team, so I can leave this trouble to someone else for the time being.”

Long Shen raised an eyebrow. “Who’s leading the team?”

The World Exchange Conference aimed to facilitate the exchange and cooperation of practitioners from all over the world. For the competition portion, there was an unwritten rule that only newcomers who had never participated before would compete. In principle, they weren’t allowed to participate a second time. The leader of the team was a senior, but they weren’t allowed to participate in the competition. They could only lead the team.

Carlos smiled and said, “It’s been confirmed that Lily will be leading the team. Otherwise, I really want to see your disciple’s abilities. After all, he is your only one.”

He didn’t hide his interest in Dong Zhi and would look at him from time to time.

Dong Zhi maintained his usual style in front of outsiders. He would smile politely, giving off a soft and cute feeling every time.

Carlos couldn’t help sighing. “Long, did you figure out what you lack so you specially found a disciple who’s completely opposite of your personality?”

Long Shen didn’t bother answering.

When they left the small conference room, the three of them headed to the meeting with practitioners from all over the world. The content was mainly to exchange current monster incidents in various places. Japan had sent their onmyojis, who, whether intentionally or not, didn’t communicate with Long Shen, and Long Shen didn’t take the initiative to talk to them. The two sides maintained a delicate cold war until the end of the meeting.

This was the first time Dong Zhi had been involved in this kind of event and met with so many practitioners from all over the world. Although their names were different, their mannerisms weren’t much different from ordinary people. After all, a country wouldn’t send someone who had been isolated in a deep forest or mountain to a world exchange. Even the wizards from Africa wore suits and ties and spoke fluent English, which Dong Zhi couldn’t help finding contrary to the fantasy in his head.

Everyone communicated on the whereabouts of Mara’s demonic qi and agreed that Long Shen’s speculation was most probable, which made the upcoming world conference heavier. Carlos expressed that this was a good opportunity to tempt the heavenly demon to throw itself into their net and hoped to take advantage of the conference to completely eliminate Mara so as to avoid future troubles.

All parties didn’t immediately express their opinions on this. They believed that they needed to go back and discuss further before making a decision. The meeting ended quickly. Long Shen didn’t stay in Bangkok much longer. After bidding farewell to Songla and Kenta, they returned to China.

On the plane, Dong Zhi couldn’t restrain his curiosity and asked Long Shen, “The person for the exchange conference has been selected?”

Long Shen nodded. “Before we confronted Songen, it was already settled. It should be you, Li Ying, Liu Qingbo, Zhang Song, Liu Si, and one more. Now that Li Ying has gone to Japan, he will be replaced.”

Dong Zhi pondered. “Didn’t Carlos say that a senior can lead the team. We’re all newcomers though?”

Long Shen said, “Most of the bureau is busy with the stone tablet right now, and they can’t find a reliable candidate. Rather than finding a random person, it’s better to compose the team with all newcomers. The tacit understanding you developed during your training is better than others.”

Dong Zhi nodded, thinking this was true.

“I understand Master’s painstaking efforts.”

Long Shen raised his brows. “What painstaking effort?”

“The painstaking effort to take me to this meeting!” Dong Zhi said with a smile, “Although I may have been buying soy sauce* all that time, I have also watched a lot and listened. I now at least know how to deal with practitioners from other countries.”

*(打酱油) It has two meanings. The internet buzzword meaning (which applies here) refers to not caring about public topics (acting like a passerby). || In this context, Dong Zhi is basically saying, he didn’t participate in the meeting and just sat there and listened.

Long Shen smiled inwardly but didn’t show it on his face.

“Then tell me.”

Dong Zhi spoke a lot.

“Our relationship with Group 51 is a bit like the relationship between the two countries. It’s neither too close nor too far away. We must cooperate but also guard against it. There are several independent institutions in Europe. They usually do their own thing, which makes it difficult to cooperate at critical moments. This is why the European monsters are so chaotic. Southeast Asia mainly has the White Robed Association, but this association is relatively loose and isn’t an official association. There are also practitioners from Japan, which are now controlled by Otowa Yasuhiko. During the meeting, I noticed that their onmyojis didn’t greet us. In the end, we all have our own positions and interests. It’s fine to cooperate to eliminate demons, but the stone tablet is a matter of great importance, and we can only solve it by ourselves.”

Long Shen looked approvingly at him.

In fact, the new members of the Special Administration Bureau from Dong Zhi’s training class were the best in terms of overall quality in recent years. For example, Zhang Song’s qualifications and abilities were quite high, but his personality was too rebellious, which made him unable to become a team leader. Liu Qingbo, in terms of strength, wasn’t any inferior to Dong Zhi, but he was too easy to fold and also lacked a bit of resilience that could bend and stretch. Others have their own deficiencies in terms of strength. If it had to be said, the most favored ones were Li Ying and Dong Zhi.

This wasn’t just a bias that Long Shen had for his apprentice. Even Wu Bingtian, Song Zhicun, and even Zong Ling and the other bigwigs believed that Li Ying and Dong Zhi may be the mainstays of the Special Administration Bureau ten or twenty years from now, so when Long Shen brought Dong Zhi to this meeting, it was actually decided internally by the top.

Dong Zhi, Liu Qingbo, and others may not think so, but many people were secretly cultivating and nurturing them. This time, Long Shen went because of Dong Zhi’s curse. He had brought a slew of precious pills with him. Although these pills didn’t come in handy in the end, this wasn’t something that Long Shen could bring casually. He needed written consent from Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun.

Seeing his expression, Dong Zhi became happy and tilted his head to ask for merit. “Did my answer make you feel like you didn’t receive an apprentice in vain?”

“Don’t be mischievous.” This was said with a softness that Long Shen himself didn’t notice, as if he were joking.

Was this being mischievous?

Dong Zhi grabbed Long Shen’s finger and put it on his mouth, gently nibbling on it, then deliberately smiling. “Is this also being mischievous?”

Long Shen held onto Dong Zhi’s mischievous hand and pressed it onto the armrest.

“That’s called teasing.”

Dong Zhi burst out laughing. His master, who was such an unearthly person, actually said teasing.

“Then, has Boss Long been teased successfully?”

Long Shen shook his head. He looked like he was in a good mood as he joked, “I’m not messing around.”

When Dong Zhi’s hand was held down, he wanted to move his feet, but before he could move a toe, the other party seemed to have noticed his intentions in advance.

“If you move again, I’ll forcefully enter your sea of consciousness here.”

Dong Zhi: ……

He didn’t want to be misunderstood by others with his face flushed and his body soft on the plane, so he immediately retracted his hand and stopped teasing his master.

Long Shen turned his head and smiled silently.

They hadn’t rested much since their great battle. On the plane home, with Long Shen sitting next to him, Dong Zhi relaxed his mind and fell asleep before takeoff. The noise and movement on the plane during takeoff failed to wake him up.

Long Shen wasn’t sleepy at first, but perhaps seeing Dong Zhi sleep soundly infected him, and he gradually became tired. He pulled the blanket covering Dong Zhi up, closed his eyes, and subconsciously took a nap.

A few hours later, they returned to the Special Administration Bureau. Dong Zhi looked at the familiar building in front of them and felt nostalgia as he saw the familiar doorman.

The uncle sat there with his arms folded and was dozing off, but his ears had already heard them approaching. He raised his head and glanced at them with his sharp eyes and saw Long Shen and Dong Zhi. Dong Zhi hurriedly greeted the uncle, who nodded slightly at him, then lowered his head and continued to doze off.

Every time Dong Zhi passed this doorman, he felt that there was something mystical about him. At all hours of the day, he would enter and exit the back door and would always see the uncle sitting there. He felt that as long as the Special Administration Bureau existed, he would always be there. If he had to select the number one mysterious figure in the Special Administration Bureau, this uncle was definitely at the top of the list.

He once suspected that the doorman wasn’t a human, but now it seems that even ordinary monsters may not have this energy.

Given that Dong Zhi’s old injuries hadn’t healed yet and the World Exchange Conference was going to be held soon and Liu Qingbo and the others would meet in Beijing, Long Shen asked Dong Zhi to stay in the capital to recuperate first, so there was no need for him to run back and forth. Besides, the network was so well developed that he could communicate remotely at any time.

It happened to be in the afternoon. Because the two were busy, there was no deep affection as imagined between the two lovers.

Long Shen and Dong Zhi first went to greet Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun and reported their trip to the two directors. He found that both Boss Wu and Song had looked a bit thinner, which showed that they hadn’t been idle these days. At that time, Long Shen was busy closing the abyss passage while Dong Zhi was engaged in a life-and-death struggle with the heavenly demon. The two complemented each other’s story to fill in the blanks. Although Wu Bingtian and Song Zhicun weren’t there in person, they were people who have been through many battles. How could they not hear the danger? Song Zhicun sighed at that moment. “I should have gone with you. This trip was way too close to death for comfort!”

Long Shen’s expression was indifferent, and he replied simply, “Since we have returned safely, there’s no need to talk about this. How’s your side?”

Song Zhicun had just returned from Sichuan and was covered in dust. He didn’t even have time to go home and take a shower and spend a little bit of time with his wife and children; instead, he had to rush back to the General Administration for a meeting—because the Special Administration Bureau had found another stone tablet, but things weren’t good.

The eight stone tablets made up an array and were found along several dragon veins. When the stone tablet at the foot of Mount Shaohua was discovered, it had already been broken for hundreds of years and was unable to be restored. After that, the people of the Special Administration Bureau accelerated their actions but found nothing. This forced them to divide their forces. While they sent Li Ying and the others to Japan to find Otowa Yasuhiko, they continued to search for the remaining stone tablets.

Coincidentally, at this time, an ancient tomb near Sanxingdui was excavated. Archaeologists found half of a broken stone tablet in the main tomb. The runes above were incomprehensible and were almost regarded as a new type of text that had never been discovered before. The Southwest Branch rushed over immediately after learning the news. When they completed a comparative survey, it was found that the half stone tablet was indeed one of the stone tablets they were looking for.

In 316 BC, during the reign of King Huiwen of Qin, the ancient Kingdom of Shu was destroyed by Qin troops. The king of Qin appointed Minister Chen Zhuang as head of the Kingdom of Shu. The owner of the tomb who excavated the half stone tablet was Chen Zhuang’s deputy. He should be a nobleman of the Kingdom of Qin at that time and one of the important figures who conquered Shu.

According to the epitaph, the stone tablet was handed down from ancient times. It was regarded by the Shu people as a gift from heaven, and it was regarded by the King of Shu as a mandate from heaven. No matter how many kings changed in Shu, the stone tablet was preserved intact in the ancestral temple. However, since the Qin empire wanted to annex the Kingdom of Shu, they naturally wanted to break the King of Shu’s theory on the mandate of heaven, so Chen Zhuang ordered the stone tablet to be broken in half. Half of it was shipped back to the Kingdom of Qin and dedicated to the King of Quin, while the other half was kept in place.

In the following decades, the situation in Shu gradually calmed down, and the political significance of the stone tablet was gone. Chen Zhuang’s deputy, who was the owner of the tomb, brought half the stone tablet to study it. He later died of illness and was buried alongside the stone tablet, which was discovered thousands of years later.

This news, however, was bad for the Special Administration Bureau. The stone tablet had been broken in half. Even if they found the other half, it wouldn’t help. This meant that there was another gap in the demon seal array.

Hearing this, Wu Bingtian couldn’t help but huff bitterly. “We now have three broken stone tablets.”

Song Zhicun sighed. “There’s a total of eight stone tablets that form the eight-sided demon seal. I’m worried that the formation will be loosened now that three of the eight have been destroyed. I hope that Ding Lan and the others will gain something in Japan. Even if we know where the formations are, we won’t be so passive.”

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 116

It was Long Shen!

Dong Zhi widened his eyes. He almost forgot about his desperate situation on the verge of death as he stared at the figure that suddenly appeared.

Long Shen raised his sword high and slashed from behind the demon!

The sword light was like a heavenly sword, splitting from the sky. Purple lightning covered the sun, sending stormy waves, as if the heavens were judging Mara for the crime of trespassing by leaving the abyss without permission.

At this time, the grip around Dong Zhi was tightly pinched by the heavenly demon with one hand, and he was unable to move. He even felt he was losing his breath and that his sanity was wandering from the realm of yin and yang, unable to distinguish between reality and illusion. He didn’t know whether the Long Shen he saw was real and out of danger or whether it was an illusion moments before his death, but this illusion was so beautiful that he couldn’t bear to blink.

Dong Zhi gritted his teeth, flicked his wrist, and his qi cleansed the sword. He laboriously lifted the Changshou Sword, which felt as if it had become tens of millions of pounds heavier than himself, pinched with his left hand, and started chanting out the words that he had already memorized without any padding to summon heavenly thunder.

“The four great enlightenments, heaven and the earth are eternal, by the Jade Emperor’s orders, clear the three yuan. The mighty sword of the Divine King, slay evil and destroy its traces. The purple qi ascends to heaven, the landscape collides, swallowing demons and ghosts, and drinks the wind. With the sound of wind and thunder, startling ghosts and spirits from thousands of miles…”

Mara’s perfect face was like a hellish ghost in his eyes, unable to tempt or shake him in the slightest. The top of his head suddenly lit up. Thunderclouds surged, announcing the arrival of Long Shen’s qi!

The heavenly demon finally changed his color slightly.

When Dong Zhi had exhausted the last bit of strength in his entire body, he thrust the Changshou Sword into the heavenly demon’s body and was thrown away like a rag doll.

In the last scene, he saw a fusion of lightning and the sword light that was dazzling white, mixed with a trace of purple. Clouds had gathered from all sides, forming layers upon layers, and the sky had descended. Heavy clouds accumulated under the power of thunder and wrapped the heavenly demon in them.

With the heavenly demon at the center of the circle, the white light was intertwined with a huge cyclone. Dust flew everywhere, and the breathing was mixed. Even the remnant body of Songen’s disciple was swept in and thrown about in all directions before it fell into the river and was quickly washed away by the turbulence.

The next moment, Dong Zhi fell heavily to the ground.

All his bones and limbs were in severe pain. It felt as if he had broken his neck, but he couldn’t feel any pain. He closed his eyes and let himself fall into boundless darkness.

Dong Zhi didn’t see it. In the cluster of light, the heavenly demon watched in disbelief as his hands were swallowed up by the light and turned into ashes, followed by his arms, shoulders, and finally his entire body.

He shouted miserably, just like the screams made by the people whose necks he broke, but this cry was sharper and angrier, as if it were coming from the abyss. It roared with the intention of making a final struggle. Suddenly, a ray of black qi desperately broke free from the light cluster and swept towards the back of Long Shen, where the original black cyclone appeared.

Long Shen frowned. His heart moved at will. The sword was already let go, and the sword light turned into a rainbow shadow chasing after the black qi. As if knowing this was its only chance to escape, the black qi sped up to a speed that the sword light couldn’t catch up to.

The passage to the abyss was blocked by Long Shen, and the black cyclone disappeared with it. Before the body of Hong Rui, which the heavenly demon used as its vessel, fell to the ground, black qi had emerged from his nostrils, merged with the escaped black qi, and flown into the sky, disappearing without a trace.

Seeing as it had lost its target, the sword light stopped in the sky. The dazzling light, together with the presence of Long Shen, made the nearby villagers think that this was a punishment from the gods, and they kneeled down and kowtowed.

Long Shen recalled the sword light, slowly landed, and looked around at the wreckage of the flat terrain. Just in this battle alone, almost everything within a 10-mile radius had been destroyed, including Songen’s stockade and the nearby villages; all were reduced to ashes.

His gaze swept past Kenta, who was holding onto Xinchai’s body and sobbing, then fell on Songen, not far away.

Songen’s heart had been eaten by the heavenly demon just now, and there was a big hole through his back, but his other body parts were still intact.

Long Shen walked over and thrust his sword into his head!

Sorcerers’ shenanigans were endless. Since Songen could curse Dong Zhi, there was no guarantee that there weren’t some unknown secrets that remained in this dead person. Long Shen would not give him the chance to resurrect again.

“Burn him!”

Kenta’s voice suddenly came. He carefully put down his master, strode over, took out a bottle of unknown liquid from his arms, and poured it on Songen’s body. He lit a fire and threw it down. The fire instantly ignited, setting Songen on fire.

“As long as the body is burned, he will no longer be able to do mischief!” Kenta said angrily, with tears streaming down his face.

After taking care of Songen, Long Shen strode towards Dong Zhi and helped him up. He rubbed his hand against Dong Zhi’s arm and found it was broken and couldn’t help frowning. He found a wooden board, took off his coat, and made a temporary splint, then gave Dong Zhi a Shanqing pill.

After a while, Dong Zhi slowly woke up. He wanted to open his mouth but choked instead and coughed due to the sudden inhalation of air.

“Don’t talk,” Long Shen said.

He shook his head and saw that there was blood at the corner of Long Shen’s mouth. He couldn’t help but reach out and wipe it away, but when he raised his hand, he found it was fixed to a wooden board.

Long Shen noticed his gaze. “Your hand is fractured. It should have been when you landed just now. Other places should be fine. We’ll check once we return.”

Since entering this job, injuries had been commonplace, so fractures were nothing.

Dong Zhi nodded. “I just thought you…”

Long Shen knew exactly what he was going to ask and said slowly, “This heavenly demon isn’t a real heavenly demon.”

To be exact, it was the heavenly demon Mara, but not its true form, which could make even Buddha helpless. Its power, even if it could not match Buddha’s, was still quite powerful, and by no means could mortals compare to it. Simply put, it was a powerful existence that didn’t belong in this world.

The universe had its own unique laws for maintaining balance, and the forces that would cause the world’s balance to run askew would naturally be abandoned. As in ancient mythology, when Pangu created the world and the door of heaven and earth opened, chaos was first created. A being such as Pangu was too powerful, so he was no longer suitable for the world. Because his joy and anger and every little move would lead to the world’s premature destruction, he decided to decompose himself and divide his power into mountains and rivers, vast lands, and scatter it to every corner, finally allowing the world to exist safely.

Naturally, Mara didn’t have such great love as Pangu, so he could not come into the world in his complete and true form. He had to separate a phantom of his body through the gap in the abyss. Using Songen’s long-lasting worship, the phantom was nourished by flesh and soul. When the so-called resurrection day commenced, even if it was a demon’s phantom, it could still set off a huge bloody storm, involving countless people.

“Like Xinchai, I initially assumed that because it hadn’t been fully resurrected and was only a phantom of a heavenly demon and not its true form, it wouldn’t be too difficult to deal with. I didn’t expect that our arrival would prompt its resurrection in advance, but we managed to kill it because of its unstable strength when it was first born.”

“The reason why you can’t kill that heavenly demon just now is because of the black cyclone. That’s actually the entrance to the abyss. He draws power continuously from it, and as long as the passage is opened, no one can kill him.”

Hearing this, Dong Zhi finally realized something. “So you have to seal the passage just now before you can kill the demon!”

Long Shen nodded. “The entrance is in the body of the woman who gave birth to the magic fetus. When the magic fetus is born, the woman becomes a natural passage to the abyss. In order to find such a suitable vessel, Songen must have found many people, Han Qi being one of them.”

Dong Zhi: “Is the passage completely sealed now?”

“It’s sealed. When the heavenly demon is first born, it’s also its weakest moment. I had to seal the passage to cut off its power source, so I wasn’t able to help you just now. However, the heavenly demon is extremely cunning. There are still traces of the demonic qi that escaped. We can only hope to find another opportunity to destroy it next time.” Long Shen showed a trace of exhaustion between his brows.

Dong Zhi leaned against a tree. The pain in his body made him not want to move.

As soon as he pulled on Long Shen, the other party also sat down, and the two watched as Songen’s corpse burned in the raging fire that was gradually shrinking.

The villagers nearby had most likely noticed the commotion, but no one came. Rather, no one dared to come. They were probably hiding in their own rooms, trembling, not knowing that the mysterious and powerful Master Songen had been reduced to ashes.

Dong Zhi lowered his head. Master Xinchai had died in order to save his disciple, without even leaving any last words. Kenta must have a good relationship with his master. He knelt beside Master Xinchai’s body, lowered his head, and remained motionless for a long time.

Only four people came to find Songen. Dong Zhi felt wronged, because he knew that Long Shen was strong—strong enough to bring down a bone dragon alone, so he didn’t call a few extra people for help. This was probably within Long Shen’s consideration.

Seeing Xinchai’s death, he couldn’t help but feel guilty, because in the end, it was indirectly because of him.

“It has nothing to do with you,” Long Shen said.

Dong Zhi found that he seemed to have spoken his thoughts unknowingly and hurriedly said, “Master, I’m not complaining about you.”

Long Shen: “I understand what you mean. The Special Administration Bureau is running around trying to find the stone tablets, and we can’t mobilize more manpower. If you bring a few people casually and aren’t prepared, you’ll only die in vain. The United States can help, but if they get involved, things will only get more complicated, so this time, it was my decision after discussing it with Xinchai.”

At that time, they speculated that there was still some time before the heavenly demon was fully resurrected and that its body was unable to descend due to space constraints. The heavenly demon in front of them wasn’t sufficient, so the four of them were enough to destroy it.

Looking at the entire Special Administration Bureau, there were few who could match or were stronger than Long Shen. Those who were most likely played other important roles. It was impossible for them to leave their posts. If there were more people like Dong Zhi, Long Shen would get distracted and would be bound, unable to let go like he did just now.

What was more, Xinchai was a peer and a top sorcerer.

Things didn’t turn out as planned as the heavenly demon was born in advance, which they didn’t expect, and with the battle constantly changing, there were countless possibilities. Just as when he was in the underground tomb in Yinchuan, no matter how many people there were, ultimately there would be sacrifices. Life and death were entirely dependent on oneself.

But Long Shen didn’t say much about these things. He believed that Dong Zhi could figure it out on his own.

When the Special Administration Bureau didn’t have so much manpower back then, Long Shen single-handedly manned many missions that had just as much of a risk factor as this one. He was used to this feeling of not being burdened.

It wasn’t so easy to find a tacit combat partner. In the past, he had tacitly cooperated with Song Zhicun, but later, Song Zhicun got promoted to deputy director and led a group himself. It was impossible for the two of them to have the opportunity to go on missions together. Currently, Zhong Yuyi couldn’t do it. Seeing that Kan Chaosheng’s temperament was too jumpy, let alone He Yu, could barely do it. Since He Yu was the best in Group 2, he had more opportunities to take the leading role, but he was likely to take Kan Chaosheng with him on missions.

Dong Zhi was like a rising star. Long Shen found that his performance often surprised him, but in reality, he was surprised beyond what he expected.

At that time, he had been busy blocking the passage to the abyss and hadn’t appeared in a while. In Dong Zhi’s eyes, he most likely thought that he had encountered misfortune, but Dong Zhi didn’t lose his sanity or fighting spirit. He was able to support him until he came back. Compared to the young man who was pale with fright and was at a loss when they met on the train that day, Dong Zhi had grown up more than expected, and it had only been a year since then.

Long Shen wiped away the blood stains on Dong Zhi’s face with his hands. Dong Zhi seemed to be able to sense his mood. He rubbed his face against Long Shen’s hand, but there were no other intimate actions. The two sat under the tree and enjoyed this rare moment of peace.

In just a few words, Dong Zhi already understood the dark tide that was surging under the calm.

“Master, is there any progress on the stone tablet?”

Long Shen was silent for a moment before revealing amazing news. “Ding Lan from Group 3, together with Yu Buhui and Li Ying, have gone to Japan.”

Dong Zhi was silently stunned, then let out an exhale.

China was vast, so it wasn’t easy to find a few stone tablets on land that was 9.6 million square kilometers. Even if they knew that the stone tablets were hidden on dragon veins, there were many of them, small and large, and they were inextricably linked. Not to mention anything else, the Kunlun Mountains alone stretched for thousands of miles, and its terrain was so vast that the stone tablets could be anywhere.

And with this, it seemed that Otowa Yasuhiko and Songen were two separate groups. Otowa didn’t care about the heavenly demon that Songen was about to resurrect, so whatever he wanted to release by destroying the demon seal array must be more powerful than a heavenly demon. Instead of continuing to look for a needle in a haystack, the most effective way was to go to Otowa Yasuhiko’s lair and either kill him or find the source on which he relied on. Naturally, once that was over, everything else would be resolved.

Dong Zhi had never met Yu Binghui. He had heard about him several times but wasn’t familiar with him. He only knew that he was a powerful figure in the Special Administration Bureau. Ding Lan was Song Zhicun’s deputy. When Song Zhicun was absent, Ding Lan would take charge of Group 3. Dong Zhi remembered that during the Special Administration training when the groups were split into two, he and Chi Banxia followed Zhong Yuyi to summon God, while Li Ying, Liu Qingbo, and the others followed Ding Lan into an unearthed tomb.

Naturally, these three people weren’t small fry by any means, but Japan was Otowa Yasuhiko’s home turf. Such a visit would be extremely dangerous.

Dong Zhi couldn’t help asking, “Then they are now…”

Long Shen said, “This is an internal decision by the General Administration. I don’t agree with it, but most people think we can try it. Ding Lan and Yu Binghui also volunteered. Before we came here, they should have already set off as well. There’s no news yet.”

When they set off and when they started, these were top-secret information that would affect the safety of the operators at every turn. It wasn’t possible to inquire at Dong Zhi’s level, so he no longer asked.

Long Shen pressed Dong Zhi’s hand to probe and, after a long while, breathed a sigh of relief.

“Your curse has been completely lifted.” This was the best news of this trip. Even Long Shen couldn’t help but feel relieved. “Let’s help Kenta send back Xinchai first. In Bangkok, there are a few people from all over the world who are waiting to meet me. Since you’re here, you’ll go with me as well.”

Naturally, Dong Zhi had no objection.

The rope around his neck had been cut, and the remaining injuries were minor in comparison.

After the darkness dissipated, the sky was still bright as the sun peeked out from behind the clouds again. Being close to the equator, the night was overwhelmed by the battering daylight that was reluctant to descend. Dong Zhi realized it had only been a day since they came to Xianda village.

Though a day had passed, it felt like he had walked through the underworld, surviving near death.

Some people were dead, and some were still alive, but everything wasn’t over yet. Those who were still living had to continue to fight.

“Happy birthday.” He heard Long Shen say.

Dong Zhi was stunned for a moment and suddenly realized that today was the winter solstice and also his birthday.

Though there was no cake or candles, the one he loved was by his side. This, Dong Zhi felt, was the best gift he had ever gotten.

Dong Zhi thought for a while and said, “I hope that every year and every birthday will be spent with you in the future.”

—-

Over the years, Songen practiced many dark arts, of which most were appalling. He used the human body and soul as an introduction to his curses, and he wasn’t afraid to maximize the evil of human nature. To him, it was nothing to take others’ lives. After killing many people, he used their bodies as a vessel, and even their souls would be imprisoned eternally. However, the heavenly demon that he tried his best to summon didn’t take him seriously at all and killed him without hesitation. Dong Zhi didn’t understand how he felt if he knew this.

Now, as the stockade had turned into ruins, those bottles and jars and insidious magic arts were all destroyed without leaving any traces behind, which saved them a lot of trouble when addressing the aftermath. Accompanied by Dong Zhi and Long Shen, Kenta packed up his mood and burned the body of his master on the spot.

There were many unknown special doorways in witchcraft. Death, in the opinion of a sorcerer, was not the end of everything. There were at least a hundred ways to use human corpses to do various things through witchcraft, and Kenta would never let his master be used in such a way after his death. There would be no peace, so he hurriedly cremated the body and took the ashes back.

When the three of them left, none of the villagers in Xianda dared to stop them. They all regarded Dong Zhi and his group as more powerful sorcerers. Even Suqi’s grandmother, who had appeared before, was missing.

Dong Zhi had thought about negotiating with the local government and having them burn the poppies but was stopped by Kenta. Kenta told him that the United Nations had brought a lot of seeds for alternative crops and taught these villagers to grow coffee and other cash crops to replace poppies, but the villagers believed that those alternative crops didn’t earn money fast enough like poppies, so after the United Nations staff left, they all secretly planted poppies again. In fact, the government had banned them several times, but to no avail. Due to the proximity of the border and being located in the high mountains and dense jungle, if the poppies were burned, the villagers would hide in the mountains and come out after the limelight faded. Then things would only get worse. If the entire village was destroyed, they would start cooperating with drug lords and create vicious circles, so the local government could only turn a blind eye in the end.

In human nature, there was both the good that was willing to help others and the evilness of being extremely selfish and only caring about immediate interests. Long Shen and Dong Zhi weren’t omnipotent either. They could kill real monsters, but they were helpless against such weak-willed people who were willing to serve as slaves to demons. Such people were inexhaustible, and they existed as citizens of every country, including their own. Since their own government couldn’t intervene, Long Shen could only at most negotiate at the government level and strictly guard the national borders to prevent these raw materials and finished products from entering the country.

After leaving Xianda and moving all the way to Chiang Mai, the traces of modern civilization came back. What Dong Zhi experienced in Xianda seemed to be an illusion, but he knew very well that those people and things had really existed, and even the trace of the heavenly demon qi that escaped may also become a hidden danger in the future.

Xinchai’s hometown was in one of the provinces of Chiang Mai. In order to prevent his master’s rivals from learning that his ashes were returned to his hometown, Kenta divided Xinchai’s ashes into several parts: one to a lake, one to fertile soil, and one to his parents’ tombstones.

After doing this, Kenta set off to Bangkok with Long Shen and Dong Zhi.

Recently, not only China but also other parts of the world, like the United States’ Group 51 under the CIA, heard that Long Shen had come to Southeast Asia and specially proposed a meeting before the World Exchange Conference, to which Long Shen agreed. The original white robe master from the White Robe Association who was originally going to attend was Xinchai, but now that he was dead and his apprentice wasn’t qualified enough, they could only send another senior white robe master in his place.

At first, Dong Zhi thought that Group 51 was the 51^st group of a certain department, but he later discovered it was completely different.

The code name 51 came from Area 51*, one of the most mysterious air bases in Nevada, USA. It was claimed that it gathered all of the United States’ mysterious research results that were not open to the public, including extraterrestrial civilization and the like. Group 51 had little to do with Area 51 but invoking this code name was enough to imagine the mystery.

*A highly classified United States Air Force facility in Nevada. Details of its operations aren’t made public, but it’s said that it’s an open training range and is commonly thought to support the development and testing of experimental aircraft and weapons systems. There have been many conspiracy theories about UFOs related to it.

Of course, this was for ordinary people. In the eyes of Long Shen and the others, Group 51 wasn’t mysterious and was nothing more than the same relevant department as the Special Administration Bureau. The members of the group were all practitioners, but they call themselves demon hunters over there. They also had scientific workers dedicated to high-tech research. The zombie simulation training they had received during the administration test was the result of a joint effort between Group 51 and the Special Administration Bureau. It was said that this system was now being introduced in Britain, France, and other countries. The price was still being negotiated. Knowing this was eye-opening for Dong Zhi, who suddenly realized that this kind of simulation system could be used to make a lot of money.

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 115

Although Dong Zhi was temporarily out of trouble, the fight between Xinchai and Songen was at a stalemate.

The styles of the two sides were different, but there was no doubt that they were both extremely talented masters. Perhaps Xinchai was slightly inferior to Songen in his methods, but Songen wasn’t able to easily gain the upper hand.

Dong Zhi was a little worried about Long Shen. Seeing that Long Shen hadn’t appeared, it could only mean that his side was more difficult to deal with. He was about to leave for Long Shen’s side when he saw the building at the end of the stockade explode.

The explosion lasted only a moment, but the movement was earth-shattering. Even Xinchai and Songen, who were fighting to the death, couldn’t help but pause for a moment. Dong Zhi and Kenta not only witnessed the explosion, but also saw the roof collapse and a black cyclone rise into the sky. The dark clouds above their heads surged endlessly, responding to one another, as if the sky was being torn apart by a hurricane and was opening a passage to a different world.

“What is that?!” Kenta said in a low voice.

Dong Zhi rushed over without thinking, and at that moment, he only thought that Long Shen was there.

Xinchai was held back by Songen, unable to get away, but his face changed when he saw the scene.

Only Songen was overjoyed and was laughing wildly. “It’s the power of the great Lord Mara! Our lord has returned from the abyss, and you ants who dare disrespect him will all die here!”

As he spoke, the hurricane was getting smaller, but the force was getting more powerful. Everywhere it went, it razed the ground, causing countless fragments to fly and circle in the air. The trees were uprooted, and the water in the nearby rivers was sucked up and turned into countless drops of water, becoming water vapor that then condensed into a black mist around the hurricane.

In the eyes of mortals, it was like a scene of the sky and sun being covered. Even Suqi couldn’t be bothered with the pain in his stomach. He kneeled to the ground, trembling, and kept chanting Mara’s name.

Dong Zhi couldn’t get close. He struggled to move forward on the edge of the gale, and his face turned pale.

He knew that Long Shen was powerful, but in the end, artifacts were still only flesh and blood, while Mara was a legendary demon that made the gods and Buddhas tremble. Even if the demon was just newly born and hadn’t yet gained full power, and the two sides were still comparably matched, this battle was still bound to be bloody. He hated that he didn’t have the ability to teleport to Long Shen’s side. Even if he did his best, it would be better than doing nothing here.

When the surrounding buildings were razed, the field of vision became wider. The black hurricane gradually shrank into a small cyclone. Its height was still connected to the clouds in the sky, and the center was filled with black qi, making it impossible to see the situation inside.

Dong Zhi’s steps were stopped in their tracks.

Kenta had finally caught up after the remaining medicine man was subdued, and he saw that Dong Zhi wasn’t moving and felt it was a little strange. When he saw the situation ahead, he couldn’t help being stunned.

In the black mist, a man walked out. To be precise, a naked man walked out.

He had no hair, and his appearance was extremely handsome. His nose was high, and he had deep eyes, a fair complexion, and a figure that was the perfect golden ratio. His muscles were strong and elastic, as if his body had been designed with the word perfection in mind.

That was the ultimate pursuit of all mankind, and it was a perfection that even Michelangelo couldn’t imitate, but such perfection didn’t cause marvel or envy.

Dong Zhi and Kenta only had chills running through their bodies, and they only felt fear.

It was because of evilness.

They saw in the man’s eyes the cruelty and viciousness that destroyed everything in the world. Through that man’s eyes and face, all extreme and unimaginable evil was seen.

The human form was just a body to facilitate his walk in this world. He was born for the purpose of death and destruction. Wherever he walked, there would be plagues and wars, suffering and wailing, piles of corpses scattered with limbs, and sticky blood that would flow through the soil. The living dead would become his servants, and heaven and earth would be much darker.

At that moment, Dong Zhi and Kenta seemed to witness such a scene, and their limbs remained frozen.

This was not a scene they chose to see, but rather what the other party wanted them to see.

The demon that came out of the abyss of hell, a creature that should not appear in this world, would eventually destroy the world, but the door was opened by humans themselves.

The man walked towards them, step by step, slowly and calmly. He was the most beautiful, but he had the most chilling smile on his face. Even his voice was magnetic, as gentle as a spring breeze blowing across one’s cheek, which made people’s bones lax, but Dong Zhi and Kenta knew this was just an illusion by the demon to confuse people’s hearts.

People were born to be attracted to flesh. If a beautiful person stood next to an ugly person, even the most self-proclaimed fairest people in the world couldn’t deny that they would look at the beautiful person more. And demons, knowing the weaknesses in the depths of the human heart, would transform into their favorite appearance according to human preferences.

Mara raised his hand slightly, and a stone at his feet flew to his hand. He clasped his palms together, and the stone immediately turned into dust and flowed from his fingers.

He looked unhappy, like he wasn’t satisfied with his current strength.

Dong Zhi and Kenta remained motionless. It wasn’t that they didn’t want to move, but they couldn’t move.

The tremendous magic pressure overwhelmed them, and it was surprising that they could maintain their stature without retreating or kneeling.

“…Where, is, Long, Shen!”

Almost bursting out of his teeth, Dong Zhi stared at Mara and asked him word by word.

Mara tilted his head. His expression was puzzled, as if he didn’t understand what Dong Zhi was talking about.

“Lord Mara! You—you are the honorable Lord Mara!”

Suqi ran over and kneeled directly on the ground. He crept forward step by step, looking up at Mara. Tears were streaming down his face as if he had seen a real god descend to earth.

“My lord, please help me. My stomach hurts so much… I am your most pious servant. My name is Suqi…”

The man retracted his magic pressure and Suqi suddenly felt the pressure on his body was light. He couldn’t help but become overjoyed, speeding up his movements as he crawled towards his god.

Mara looked at him with a bit of curiosity.

Suqi reached his feet, hurriedly lowered his body, and kissed it carefully.

“My lord, I would like to be your most loyal servant. Please accept me!”

His abdominal pain hadn’t been eliminated, so the words he spoke were intermittent.

“Servant? You?” Mara repeated what Suqi had said.

“Yes!” Suqi smiled with joy. He turned his head and pointed at Dong Zhi and Kenta. “My lord, they are the enemy. They wanted to stop your resurrection!”

His voice stopped abruptly, and the smile on his face froze. In the last moment of Suqi’s life, he only heard a click, which was the movement of his neck being broken.

Then, his vision went completely dark, and his breathing disappeared in an instant. Naturally, he didn’t know that his neck was twisted off by Mara and blood was spurting out of his broken torso. The nerves caused by the body that had lost its head convulsed reflexively for a long time before dying. The blood and brain matter that was flowing from the detached head went directly into the man’s mouth.

Mara ate quite well, without even looking at Dong Zhi and Kenta. The unstoppable blood flowed down from the corner of his mouth. His perfect face was stained with blood, and it became even more cruel among the beauty—a kind of beauty that was laced with death.

The battle between Xinchai and Songen had also reached a critical point.

These two masters knew that this battle would never end. They had already sacrificed their best techniques. After Songen’s poison was cracked by Xinchai, he summoned the ghosts he had refined for many years. About eight skeletons flew out of the house and pounced on Xinchai. These skeletons were preserved using a secret method and soaked in a corpse bag. Anything they came into contact with would become infected with corpse poison. Xinchai summoned ten thousand insects to fight against them. The skeletons met with thousands of insects in mid-air, and the bugs fell and died one by one when they encountered the corpse gas, but there were some who were persistent and managed to bypass the skeletons to pounce on Songen.

At this time, Mara had resurrected and was walking towards them, step by step. Songen was overjoyed to see the heavenly demon but when he saw Suqi killed by the demon without saying a word, doubts suddenly arose, and his focus was inevitably loosened. Xinchai saw this gap and released his five poisons*, causing Songen to vomit blood and fall to the ground.

*(五毒) Refers to centipedes, poisonous snakes, scorpions, geckos, and toads.

With its controller damaged, the skeletons fell one after another, but Xinchai also suffered heavy losses as well. Those insects that he cultivated were infused with the essence of his own blood. Every time an insect died, it meant he himself also suffered backlash. He was now exhausted and injured and was no longer able to fight.

However, though the threat of Songen was temporarily lifted, a bigger enemy was born.

Mara was still sucking on the head with his hand, savoring the taste.

It seemed that this was perhaps his first food after coming into the world, and maybe he was really hungry, so he cherished it like a treasure, refusing to waste even a single drop of blood.

Dong Zhi hadn’t found Long Shen’s figure, causing his mood to sink. He didn’t want to think about it, but what he faced was most likely bad news.

He clenched the hilt of his sword and felt that the magic pressure seemed to have eased a little. Knowing that this was the moment when the demon’s defense was most relaxed, he suddenly jumped up and poured all his qi into the sword.

He even felt that he had truly understood the essence of swordsmanship because this was almost the fastest attack he had ever used.

With all his strength, Dong Zhi was dazzling. Only then did Dong Zhi find that when people were extremely sad and angry, their minds would go blank.

The sword’s movement was getting faster, and the sword light turned into a stream of rainbow as it pierced the demonic pressure around the heavenly demon!

Originally, the heavenly demon, who hadn’t put the enemy in his eyes, finally raised his head and showed a trace of surprise.

Mara raised his hand, causing the sword light to penetrate his palm and head straight towards his heart.

The vast plain was flat, which made the advance unstoppable.

However, Dong Zhi didn’t have any time to rejoice. He found that his sword could no longer advance. At the same time, a huge reaction force came from the opposite side, pushing him back a little.

Bu Tian Gang qi and the demonic qi collided, bursting into the sky. Dust scattered everywhere as grass and rocks danced wildly in the air. Kenta flew back without being able to grab onto a fixed object, while Songen and Xinchai were unable to dodge; countless small wounds began to appear on their faces and bodies.

A few seconds later, the duel ended with Dong Zhi’s failure. He immediately followed in Kenta’s footsteps as his entire body was overturned by the demonic qi and fell heavily to the ground a few meters away!

“You look much better than him.”

Mara looked at the head, which had all its brains sucked out, and threw it away before walking towards them again. Suddenly, he could speak a language that others could understand.

Dong Zhi suddenly understood that this was due to the absorption of Suqi’s flesh and blood.

The “he” in the mouth of the heavenly demon was Suqi, who had just been disembodied.

This poor, sad young man blindly worshiped a powerful being and ended up being buried at the hands of the demon he wished to serve—a demon that didn’t give a damn about him.

“I like you.” Mara smiled faintly at Dong Zhi with unparalleled tenderness. “I’m going to save you for last and enjoy it when I eat you.”

But this kind of gentleness was only skin deep. His eyes were cold and ruthless, and he looked at Dong Zhi and Kenta as if they were no different than dirt.

In the eyes of the demon, any living thing was dead.

They were born to destroy, and the pain of the world was the most enjoyable music to their ears. Their most proud masterpiece and greatest pleasure was watching humans struggle and sink in their desires, wailing for mercy in order to survive, and willing to be servants to the demon.

Dong Zhi gritted his teeth and said nothing. He held onto the Changshou Sword with one hand and secretly started pinching his hand for another trick.

Mara didn’t take him seriously. In the heavenly demon’s eyes, Dong Zhi was just a fun toy that could be played with slowly.

He looked around for a while, and his eyes fell on Kenta. He started to slowly walk towards him.

Kenta naturally refused to sit still. He propped up his body and sat cross-legged on the ground. He held a wooden staff in one hand and tapped it on the ground as he opened and closed his mouth, as if he were chanting a curse.

With his movements, the ground seemed to move slightly and then calm down again.

He was the proudest disciple under Xinchai and was extremely talented with witchcraft. Otherwise, Xinchai wouldn’t have brought him along. At this moment, he specialized in snakes, which he studied for over ten years—hundreds of highly poisonous snakes’ species were mixed together, letting them kill each other until only one surviving snake remained. It could penetrate gold and jade, into earth and water, and kill people invisibly. It was similar to witchcraft practiced in the Miao area.

Mara’s brows moved, and he suddenly stood still.

Kenta stared at him nervously.

Mara lowered his head and stretched out his hand, slowly pulling out a small golden snake from his chest and abdomen.

The palm of his hand that was pierced by the Changshou Sword just now hadn’t healed, but there was no blood flowing out. This time too, the little snake had opened its teeth and drilled a hole through his chest and abdomen. Others would probably feel their bones run cold, but Mara didn’t take it seriously. He opened his mouth and ate the poisonous snake in one bite.

Kenta let out a low growl and rushed forward, where he was directly grabbed by the throat by Mara.

Seeing the situation, Dong Zhi no longer hesitated. His pinching had attracted thunder, and clouds billowed in the skies, filling them with dazzling electric arcs. Suddenly, lightning struck and covered Mara, but in the light, only Kenta’s screams could be heard.

Dong Zhi’s heart thumped, and after a second, the lightning dissipated, leaving behind a scene of Kenta with a hand impaled in his chest.

Mara was completely unscathed after that attack. He even had the leisure to smile at Dong Zhi. A slender and soft hand was stirring and digging inside Kenta’s chest and abdomen, causing his face to turn red and the corner of his mouth to overflow with blood. Kenta struggled with all his might, but it was to no avail. A single hand firmly controlled him.

Xinchai tried his best to get up from the ground. He used his wooden staff to command the insect net to fly and surround Mara, trying to rescue his disciple, but the bugs fell one after another the moment they touched the man. Dong Zhi took the opportunity to raise his sword and leapt towards Mara. The sword pointed directly at his skull, while at the other end, Xinchai also attacked with his wooden staff.

Dong Zhi’s sword light was extremely fast. He had saved up for this moment to strike. The blade of the sword gathered heavy murderous qi, broke through the black mist around the man, and went forward into a heavy siege.

“Are you looking for the man just now?” Mara suddenly smiled at Dong Zhi.

His accent was rough, but his words were clear and unambiguous.

“He has been crushed by my demonic qi so that not even bones remain. What a pity. I originally wanted to taste him.” When he spoke, Mara licked his lips as if he couldn’t help himself, and there was a trace of regret on his face.

The tip of Dong Zhi’s sword trembled.

Mara laughed as if he were waiting for this tremble. His hand grabbed the body of the sword and ignored the blade. He twisted his hand, leaving a deep cut on his wrist, and demonic qi swept over, causing the sword light to suddenly shatter and blow Dong Zhi back.

On the other side, Xinchai’s eyes widened.

The wooden staff he had been carrying for 30 years, given to him by his village, splintered. The last sight he saw was a hand stretching out towards him.

“Master!” Kenta roared. His eyes flushed.

He saw Mara’s hand directly insert into his master’s skill, crush it, and directly take out the warm matter inside and begin to feast.

Although Kenta’s chest and abdomen temporarily stopped bleeding, he desperately wanted to move, but he was powerless in the end. He could only watch as his master died under the poisonous hands of the heavenly demon in order to save him.

Songen got up from the ground and didn’t foolishly rush up to show his loyalty. He stood not far away, as if observing whether Mara still recognized him as a loyal servant, but Dong Zhi found that he was in a clever position where he could attack and retreat.

As long as he killed Songen, he would be free from the ghost-faced peach blossom curse. Before the change, Dong Zhi would have done this long ago, but with Long Shen’s death, he changed his mind. He had to conserve his strength and hope that he could land a blow. Even if this killed him, he had to take the heavenly demon down.

The heavenly demon wasn’t allowed to leave. Otherwise, it inevitably set off a bloody storm. Even Xinchai had died, so those unarmed ordinary people outside were like vegetables waiting on the chopping block for the demon. If they lost here, the outside world would become purgatory.

His dim eyes slowly raised, sweeping past Kenta, who was dying and in grief. He still refused to give up and moved towards the heavenly demon, sweeping past the black whirlwind that hadn’t stopped behind the heavenly demon. Even if it was a world that he wasn’t familiar with, Long Shen vowed to guard it with all his heart, and it was also the world that he had grown up in since childhood.

Dong Zhi closed his eyes and focused all his energy on the Changshou Sword. The dull edge suddenly glowed slightly, and the light kept strengthening.

Mara finally dropped the skull in his hand. He glanced at Kenta with disinterest and finally landed on Songen, not far away.

Stared at by those sad and joyless eyes, Songen’s legs softened, and he knelt down immediately.

“Lord Mara… Do you remember me? I am Songen, your loyal servant, who helped you return to the world!”

Mara smiled at him. He didn’t know if he remembered or not. Songen felt uneasy, and his voice became softer and more sincere.

“On the night of the full moon twenty years ago, I summoned you into this world with great sincerity. For the past twenty years, every day, I have tried my best to find suitable vessels from all over the world and to refine your soul and provide you with nutrients. You said that when you are resurrected, you will make me your most loyal servant under your seat!”

“Me, did I say that?” Mara smiled. His voice was soft, but his face, neck, and hands were covered in blood, which provided a stark contrast.

Songen’s heart sank. He barely pulled out a smile. “Yes. Have you forgotten all about it?”

Mara beckoned him. “You, come here.”

Songen didn’t move.

Mara narrowed his eyes.

“Didn’t you say that you wanted to be my most loyal servant?”

Songen hesitated. “Do you remember everything?”

“Of course.” Mara smiled. It was bright and radiant, dazzling and intoxicating. “My most loyal servant, Songen. How are you?”

“Yes, yes!” Songen was overjoyed. He took a few steps forward, looked at Mara, and knelt down slowly. His face was pious and moving. “You have finally returned from the abyss of hell. I am very excited. From now on, I will follow you, obey your orders, and fight for you.”

Mara walked over slowly. He looked at Songen and stretched out his hand.

Whether it was intentional or not, Songen had bowed his head against the soil just out of Mara’s reach.

Mara smiled slightly. His hands were as swift as lightning as his five fingers turned into sharp claws and pierced Songen’s head!

As if Songen had eyes behind the back of his head, before he raised it, his body quickly reached out, grabbed his dying apprentice, Shawang, next to him, and threw it at Mara.

The demon grabbed him and broke Shawang’s neck with a click. He lowered his head and smelled it, as if a little disgusted, and threw Shawang away like a rag doll and continued to walk towards Songen, unconcerned.

Songen’s vicious and mean eyes in the past were full of fear at this moment. He couldn’t believe the heavenly demon he had resurrected with all his heart was going to kill him in the end. However, he reacted quickly. Even if he couldn’t believe it in his heart, he still turned and ran away at the fastest speed of his life.

However, the cat-and-mouse game was finally over. Mara’s figure moved. When Songen was about to run out of the stockade, there was a sharp pain in the back of his neck. Songen didn’t even turn his head as he felt a hand insert into his back and pulled out his beating heart. Songen felt cold, and his body lost all its strength and fell limply to the ground.

“I don’t need any servants.” The heavenly demon smiled happily. “But since you summoned me from the abyss, I will eat your heart as a reward for your deeds.”

In a daze, Songen seemed to hear something being said in his ears, but the voice seemed to be nothing, and it quickly floated to an unknown distance.

He opened his mouth, unable to spit out even a word of regret or scolding, and then lost his breath. His eyes were wide open, full of sadness and regret.

The black-robed master, who had been rampant in Thailand and Myanmar for decades and had claimed countless lives, had lost his own life in such an ironic way.

At the same time, Dong Zhi felt cold in the center of his brows, as if something had been taken away from there. He couldn’t help but reach out and touch it, but he didn’t touch anything.

He understood that Songen’s death meant his curse was lifted.

Mara ate Songen’s heart one bite at a time. But it wasn’t enough. He turned his head and looked around, finally focused on Dong Zhi.

He was covered in blood, as if he had returned from a bloody battlefield, with an extremely evil smile on his face. His perfect figure covered in blood formed a visually impactful scene. With each footstep, black lotuses bloomed in the soil, withered, and then instantly turned to ashes. The beauty of extreme evil could be admired and desired, but Dong Zhi would never be that person.

He recited the spell silently, and the sword light in his hand became brighter.

Mara didn’t care. His steps didn’t slow and kept a steady pace.

In the eyes of the heavenly demon, everything in the world, whether it was Songen, Dong Zhi, or even the grass or woods, were just toys that he could play with at will. The only meaning of these toys was to allow him to kill and destroy for his own amusement.

This was supposed to be an extremely evil demon that shouldn’t exist in this world, but Songen forcibly tore open the gap in space and summoned it into the world, setting off a stormy wave that created a monstrous sea of blood.

Mara stretched out his hand towards Dong Zhi, while at the same time Dong Zhi met it with his sword light.

Thunderclouds surged in the sky, and lightning illuminated half the sky. The sword light suddenly flourished with the thunder and pierced Mara’s chest.

“You can’t kill me like this, stupid.”

Dong Zhi was horrified. He couldn’t believe that two heavenly lightning bolts in a row had no effect.

Could it be that the legendary heavenly demon was so invincible that there was nothing in this world that could kill him?!

The heavenly demon smiled and stretched out his hand and grabbed Dong Zhi’s neck.

The strength choking him tightened, and Dong Zhi’s complexion turned blue. He grabbed at the wrist that was pinching him in vain with one hand and kept pushing the sword light further with his other. Under the power of the lightning, the black qi around Mara frequently dispersed, and even his body fluctuated and was starting to become unstable.

There was finally a look of impatience on the heavenly demon’s face. He didn’t want to play with this “toy” any longer. Dong Zhi’s constant provocation had finally made him feel irritable. He wanted to leave because there were more delicacies waiting for him outside.

At this moment, the black whirlwind behind him suddenly changed!

In the midst of a loud noise, the whirlwind suddenly collapsed and turned into countless spots of light, and among the spots of light, a figure emerged from the void, holding a long sword, like a god descending.

Kinky Thoughts:

RIP Xinchai. So if this is the casualty level in the battle with Mara… How many are going to die battling the earth demon in the final arc?

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 114

Dong Zhi dealt with the three medicine men alone. Although his life wasn’t in danger for the time being, he couldn’t think of a better way to deal with them, so he could only dodge and retreat. The perimeter of the stockade had been rearranged by Shawang’s black magic. There was also still Songen in the house, who hadn’t appeared yet. Even if they wanted to run away now, it was too late. Today’s battle was a situation where it would only end with either their deaths or the others’.

Kenta was dealing with another medicine man and didn’t seem to be at a disadvantage, but in Shawang’s eyes, they were already a turtle caught in a jar*. In fact, if it weren’t for Lord Mara’s fancy for Dong Zhi, who wanted to use the other party as a vessel for his temporary residence before his resurrection, he would have released thousands of corpses and insects long ago to devour these two people. Why would he bother to have them consumed so slowly?

*(瓮中之鳖) Metaphor referring to under control and cannot escape.

At this moment, a violent shout rose to the ground.

“Where is my enemy!”

As soon as the voice fell, a head flew out of the room extremely fast and hovered in the air. A pair of bloodshot eyes slowly turned, swept over Kenta and the medicine man, and finally fell on Dong Zhi.

Even if that figure had turned to ashes, Yamamoto Kiyoshi would still recognize it.

“Dong Zhi!”

Yamamoto Kiyoshi, who only had his head left, would never forget his nightmarish experience in Lucheng.

The unbeatable man was actually beheaded by the sword of some unknown guy. If he hadn’t left a backup, he would truly be a dead man now.

When enemies met, they wouldn’t be happy to see each other let alone an enemy who had killed him. Yamamoto Kiyoshi’s fierce face locked on the target and rushed straight towards Dong Zhi.

Kenta couldn’t help but explain, “Flying head descent!”

Flying head descent was an extremely complicated and difficult black magic technique. It was said that if the master exercised this technique, he could detach his head from his body and take people’s lives from thousands of miles away. Generally, this was a technique black robe masters were passionate about, and Xinchai regarded it as an evil technique and strictly forbade his discipline, Kenta, from practicing it.

Strictly speaking, what Yamamoto Kiyoshi was now doing wasn’t considered a flying head descent because he had no body left. Songen had used a secret art to seal his soul into a skull so he could survive.

Seeing that Yamamoto was heading straight for Dong Zhi as if he was going to smash him into pieces, Shawang angrily said, “Stop! That is the body specified by Lord Mara and is not allowed to be damaged!”

However, Yamamoto couldn’t care less. Although Songen promised to help him recover his body, finding a suitable one wasn’t easy. Most people here were darker and had high cheekbones. Those that Yamamoto found pleasing to the eye weren’t suitable because they didn’t match his physique. As the days went by, he became more anxious and manic from being unable to find a body. Now, seeing Dong Zhi in front of him, how could he bear it? He couldn’t wait to bite into him, tear off a piece of flesh, and swallow it to stifle the hatred in his heart!

Seeing that Yamamoto wasn’t listening to his command, Shawang, who was afraid that he would accidentally bite into Dong Zhi’s neck, leaving Lord Mara without a vessel, was ready to intervene, but suddenly he felt a strange itch on the soles of his feet. He quickly took two steps back and looked down. As a result, Shawang felt a tingling sensation in his back, prompting him to yell, knelt, and stare in disbelief as an inexplicable hole appeared in his heart, directly from his back to the front. He was unaware of how this had happened!

Who! Who else was hiding in the dark?!

Shawang raised his eyes and looked around, only to see that Dong Zhi and Kenta were busy dealing with the medicine men and Yamamoto, so they didn’t have time to plot against him.

He couldn’t believe that a proud discipline of his dignified Master Songen could be so easily cursed.

“Master!” Blood gurgled from his throat as he screamed in pain while covering his heart. A pool of blood had already formed under him.

A hand touched his back. Using some unknown method, Shawang’s bleeding temporarily stopped, and his frazzled and frightened expression gradually calmed down.

Songen, who had been hiding inside, was finally forced to appear.

He stood next to Shawang, holding his apprentice’s shoulder with one hand, and looked at the rustling shadows of the trees outside the fence.

“If you don’t come out, I will kill your apprentice!”

Not long after, in the direction he was looking, Xinchai walked out slowly.

Songen’s face showed an expression of “it’s really you”.

“I knew that after you lost the duel you had been resigned to revenge, but I waited for so many years, but you were afraid of death and didn’t dare come. Do you think you will win today because you found helpers?”

Perhaps it was because of his long-term practice of sorcery, but even in his calm voice, Songen gave them a gloomy and indescribable feeling, as if there were invisible bugs biting all over them.

Xinchai looked at him and said in a deep voice, “I didn’t know you were trying to resurrect Mara. Otherwise, I would have come here a long time ago!”

Songen laughed. “Xinchai, your brother died at my hands, but you didn’t dare come to me to get revenge for decades. A coward like you still has a day where you would show up at my door!”

Xinchai smiled sadly and sighed.

“He learned dark arts by mistake and harmed people’s lives. It was purely self-inflicted.”

Songen shook his head. “It’s a pity. If he were alive now, he would definitely become a greater sorcerer than you! A person like you, who has no talents and is rigid, shouldn’t have learned any sorcery. It’s because of you that the dark arts have become a protective umbrella for the rich and powerful and are looked down upon by others! I am the one who carries forward black magic. Me! These are all my masterpieces. Those medicine men were created by a dark art not seen before. Can you do such a thing?!”

Songen raised his voice. “Of course not. You only crawl under the feet of the powerful and lick their boots, begging them to give you a little glory so you can show off your power in front of ordinary people!”

Xinchai was unmoved and wasn’t angered by him. “Demons have their own places, but you want to lead them into the mortal world. Do you think it will really remember your service and make you its loyal servant? On the day that Mara is truly resurrected, even you will become one of its victims!”

Songen laughed. “I’ll be very happy! I’m willing to dedicate every drop of my blood, my life, and even my soul to Lord Mara! Those with power have the right to dominate this world that has been occupied by incompetent humans for too long. I will change its owner and make it better!”

Xinchai looked at his crazed expression. Knowing he didn’t need to go on, he raised his staff and slammed it heavily on the ground.

Suqi, who was hiding at the door, quietly poked his head out and found that the horizon had been shrouded in dark clouds for some unknown time. The dark clouds gradually descended and flew towards Songen. Looking closer, he found that they were countless flying insects, densely packed together. They buzzed closer and closer. Following the command of Xinchai’s gesture, they wrapped tightly around Songen.

Suqi’s heart sank, not for the sake of faith but for his master. Those insects flapped their gray wings, and they connected one by one, forming an airtight sheet. The net made out of bugs made his scalp numb, but he couldn’t help but look at it.

The insect net gradually shrank its enclosure, but Songen, who was wrapped in it, didn’t move. Suqi wondered if he was being eaten little by little by the flying insects.

Songen’s apprentice had a hole in his heart. Even if he had used a secret art to save his life, he lacked the ability to fight back for the time being. He fell to the ground and his breathing became more labored, not to mention commanding the medicine men to help Songen.

Yamamoto Kiyoshi was bent on revenge with all his heart and was frantically attacking Dong Zhi. Kenta and Dong Zhi were dealing with the four invulnerable medicine men, and their situation looked deadlocked for a while.

Suddenly, the insect net was torn open!

Xinchai’s slightly closed eyes abruptly opened and looked in the direction of the insect net.

He saw Songen’s head sticking out of the torn hole, and with a loud bang, the entire insect net was completely broken apart and scattered!

Master Songen was truly the most powerful! Suqi, who was watching the battle, became happy again and continued to pray for him.

“You’ve been so busy flattering the rich all these years that you probably didn’t have time to improve your cultivation. Did you want to trap me with this trick?”

Songen laughed out loud. Suqi only saw his hand raised as if to release something, but when he took a closer look, there was nothing.

Xinchai’s face changed because he saw Songen release a small, translucent bug.

Only one bug.

But it was able to dig a hole through the dense insect net. When the insect saw that bug, it instinctively avoided it and didn’t dare fight with it.

“Poison*?!” Xinchai said it in a daze.

*(药降) Similar to gu, the practitioner uses various medicines, such as oils, insects, and hair, to curse their opponent.

The technique was in the same vein as Chinese witchcraft, since it was related to the insects used in gu techniques. The so-called poison was actually a kind of bewitched insect refined with a secret technique. When this technique was achieved, the bewitched insect would become completely transparent and unrecognizable to the naked eye. Wherever this thing went, it would eat human flesh, bones, and blood. It was an extremely powerful black magic technique that couldn’t be easily refined. Like the one released by Songen, its outline could vaguely be seen, and it wasn’t completely transparent; while it wasn’t in the most powerful form yet, at this stage it was nonetheless quite amazing.

This translucent bug rushed towards the center of Xinchai’s brows menacingly, and ordinary methods couldn’t resist it. In a few seconds, Xinchai’s head would be pierced by two blood holes.

Under the strong will of Xinchai, the insect net resisted timidly, trying to stop the bug, but they quickly fell to the ground one after another. The speed of the bug didn’t decrease but rather increased, and its prey wasn’t the insect net, but Xinchai who was not far away!

Time reversed half an hour ago. Before Dong Zhi entered the stockade under Suqi’s guidance, Long Shen and the others weren’t far behind in the stockade.

Long Shen didn’t rush to protect Dong Zhi but went around the rear of the stockade alone and sneaked into it quietly, looking for traces of the heavenly demon.

The most dangerous opponent of their journey, in his opinion, was not the powerful Songen, but Mara, whom he served.

Even if it was a heavenly demon that was not fully formed, it was still powerful enough to cause great damage to the world.

In the entire stockade, there was an area that was densely covered in demonic aura. It was rich and overflowing, signifying that this was where the heavenly demon resided.

The stockade was full of dangerous traps. Along the way, Long Shen encountered hands that suddenly popped out of the ground, poisonous arrows shot out in the dark, and countless tricks, but this didn’t hinder him. Whenever the sword light went out, evil spirits and demons would all turn into ashes.

The room filled with demon qi was at the end of all dangers. The door and windows were tightly closed, making it impossible to see a trace of them.

Long Shen didn’t rush forward in a hurry. He raised his sword and broke the door from a distance of more than ten meters.

Wind poured in from outside, slamming the door against the wall and causing it to bounce back with a loud bang.

But nothing came out of it. Everything was extremely quiet, as if Long Shen had disturbed the good sleep of the resident inside.

The quiet was surprisingly eerie.

Long Shen walked in slowly. There wasn’t any light inside. The only single candle that was burning was blown out by the wind.

The light from outside came in, adding a little bit more pop to the room.

Long Shen looked around and found bottles and jars everywhere on the table. There was a large table against the wall that only had a dark clay pot about a meter high. The jar was an ordinary pottery jar that could be seen anywhere, but Long Shen knew well that what was in the jar might be the focus of this room.

Incense was lit next to the clay pot, and the entire room was full of strange smells. The fishy sweetness was too sweet, as if it were wrapped in a thick sea of blood. Beside the table, there was a person sitting, half leaning against the edge, with his head lowered, as if he was asleep.

At the other end, a glass coffin had been erected, containing a blond woman soaked in yellow liquid. Her abdomen was bugling like a ball, and a mass of blackness flowed slowly from there, ready to come out.

Soon, there was a loud noise from not far away. It should be that Dong Zhi had started his confrontation with Songen.

Long Shen didn’t rush to turn around to go help. Dong Zhi was grown up enough to take the lead, and he should give him his full trust.

He moved suddenly.

With the long sword in hand, he slashed at the woman in the glass coffin towards her abdomen!

The sword light swept away, and the glass coffin cracked into countless pieces as the yellow liquid gushed out. However, the woman’s abdomen wasn’t cut by the sword’s light but suddenly broke open. The mist-like black ball swelled sharply, circled quickly, and formed into a small black cyclone. It merged with the black qi that was jumping around in the pottery jar next to it and spun in the air in the same place, swallowing the sword light with it.

At the same time, a small stream of black qi from the black ball flowed into the top of the man’s head. The man immediately opened his eyes and raised his head, smiling at Long Shen.

The light coming in from outside shone on the man’s face. It was Hong Rui, the mainland businessman, who had been missing all this time.

“After today, I will be able to take shape. Your body is good. Stay and be my 99^th vessel!” Hong Rui cackled.

It wasn’t so much Hong Rui’s voice but more like a demon crawling out of hell through Hong Rui’s throat.

Long Shen didn’t say any nonsense. His hands rose and fell, and another sword light slashed out towards Hong Rui. He then leaped up with his strength and swept towards the rapidly rotating black mist with his sword. The sword was as powerful as a rainbow, almost as fast as lightning, and almost unmatched.

When the sword light pierced the black cyclone, the black qi wrapped along the sword light and quickly engulfed the entire sword’s body and spread. At the same time, Hong Rui gave a grin and attacked Long Shen from the side. Long Shen had to take some effort to pull the sword out of the cyclone and instead dealt with Hong Rui who was attacking him.

Hong Rui’s figure was extremely fast. He was no longer an ordinary person who was bent on pursuing power and glory but was directly possessed by the demonic qi of the heavenly demon. He was soaked in it day and night, and his body became semi-demonic, becoming a vessel for the demon.

Even so, despite how powerful the heavenly demon was, it was impossible for a mortal body to carry all its power. Before its own body was fully formed, it had to keep replacing its body over and over again.

Long Shen previously felt that with him and Xinchai, even if he couldn’t completely destroy it, he could temporarily seal it up, or drive it back into the abyss of hell, but at this moment, he found that he had underestimated its power.

It was a great demon, and when compared to the Archfiend, it should be several levels higher.

Legends told that the heavenly demon, Mara, often blocked Buddha’s cultivation and did everything possible to prevent Siddhartha from becoming Buddha. Although he was finally defeated by Buddha’s light, even Buddha could not completely destroy him. He could only let it transform into a heavenly demon, which showed how powerful this thing truly was.

Forces that were too powerful would automatically be excluded from the world, so the complete body of Mara couldn’t completely descend into this world. It could only accept sustenance from Songen and from the space of the abyss of hell, separate its qi little by little, and finally condense into shape, which would be its so-called resurrection.

But for this world, such power was enough to cause great damage.

At this time, Long Shen was held back by Hong Rui, and he had no time to deal with Mara, so the cyclone kept getting bigger and bigger. There was a strong wind blowing around, and all the furniture in the room was swept away by it. The cyclone at the center was spinning frantically, but Long Shen and Hong Rui were able to stabilize themselves.

The two fought against each other around the cyclone, almost turning into two shadows in the wind with sword light crisscrossing, but Hong Rui was able to match Long Shen by relying on the qi provided by the cyclone.

He smiled grimly and said, “You’re too late. Twenty years on earth are enough for me!”

After saying these words, he didn’t take the initiative to attack Long Shen. Instead, he turned around and ran into the expanding cyclone. His body was immediately engulfed by the black mist. Long Shen’s face suddenly changed. He raised his sword, turned around, and rushed out. At this time, the black qi behind him had quickly spread out and filled the entire room. An explosion sounded, and the roof was overturned. The black cyclone instantly turned into a hurricane and rushed straight into the sky.

As a disciple of Xinchai, Kenta was talented with the dark arts, but he wasn’t very good at melee combat. Facing the deadly crazed attacks of the medicine men, despite dealing with just one, it was already difficult. Dong Zhi had to deal with the other three, plus the crazy head of Yamamoto Kiyoshi.

Although the medicine men were still humans, they had lost their fear and other feelings that normal people have. Even if their hands and feet were useless, as long as their bodies could still move, they would attack endlessly. From this view, the medicine men were no different than zombies.

At this time, Long Shen’s teachings showed their advantage.

Before entering the Special Administration Bureau, although Dong Zhi envied Long Shen because of how powerful he was, he also knew that he had been an ordinary person since he was a child, so it was impossible to reach the same level as Long Shen in this life. After he worshiped the Hezao Sect and was named a disciple, Dong Zhi felt that if he could combine the sunlight talisman with the five thunder dharma, the result would be quite amazing. When he became a disciple of Long Shen, he decided to explore it again. Under Long Shen’s strict requirements, he not only got up earlier than chickens but also worked more diligently than chickens. He continued to practice his kung fu tona and sword paintings on a daily basis. Over time, his physical fitness greatly improved, and his agility and reflexes were significantly different than before. It was like his entire being was reborn. It could be seen that people’s potential was unlimited. The difference was only whether there was someone out there to tap into their abilities and if the person was willing to put in that kind of hard work to achieve their goals.

Dong Zhi used to think that he was lazy and unambitious and was just muddling through. Like countless ordinary people in the world, he worked a nine-to-five, rushing back and forth to the steel jungle, arguing with his project manager every day, and maybe meeting up once or twice with friends on the weekends for dinner or karaoke. Occasionally, on a whim, he would bring his drawing board and get on a train bound for spring and use his own brush to paint the scenery before his eyes. Perhaps he would meet an ordinary but cute girl, have a love that was no different from others’, get married and have children, and run around in the exhaustion of life, spending his entire life in such an uneventful way.

But that night on Changbai Mountain, an unprecedented and magnificent world opened up for him, allowing him to see a gorgeous world different from one of feasting and revelry*. Since then, he had been unable to calm down. Whether he admired Long Shen or the restless throbbing in his bones, today he finally understood that this was the life he wanted.

*Red lanterns and green wine (灯红酒绿) Idiom describing a corrupt or pleasure-seeking life. It’s also used to describe the bustling and lively scenes of cities or entertainment venues at night.

Everything was just right. He just happened to get on that train, happened to meet Long Shen, happened to have the curiosity to explore, and since then, his world had been turned upside down. Like a breach was blasting through a valley and stream, the course was changed and was heading straight towards a surging river.

Even if he were to meet death, even if he ascended to heaven and earth and explored the depths of the sea and mountains, he was able to find the love of his life and find a goal that he was willing to follow and work endlessly towards. He was willing to do his best for this, to give his blood and sweat, and even pay with his life, and he would have no regrets!

The wind was blowing behind him. Dong Zhi let out a loud cry, and white mist condensed and shot out from his sword. The medicine man staggered to the side a few times, and before he could stabilize, tried grabbing Dong Zhi again. In the gap of half a second, Dong Zhi had already thrown the sunlight talisman out. The talisman ignited and was followed by the tip of the sword, shooting straight towards the center between the medicine man’s eyes.

“The heavens give birth to water, the earth gives birth to fire, the heavens give birth to wood, the earth gives birth to gold. The five central palaces, subdue malignity, overcome disasters, and eliminate all traces of evil!”

The talisman fire burned the medicine man’s eyes, causing him to go blind. He scrambled aimlessly and could no longer pose a threat.

Without looking back, Dong Zhi lowered his body and stretched out the sword, knocking away Yamamoto Kiyoshi’s head that was trying to bite him, then turned around, spun twice in the air, and landed on one knee. He stuck the sword to the ground and pulled out the talisman paper. He slid his fingers across the edge of the sword and smeared blood on the talisman paper. He avoided another medicine man’s attack, twisted his arm with his backhand, and pulled it to his side towards the sword. Dong Zhi slapped the talisman between the medicine man’s eyebrows and drew a blood mark on it, causing the talisman to ignite. As Dong Zhi broke away from the medicine man, he stuffed an unburned talisman into his mouth, causing the medicine man’s figure to instantly fix in place. Dong Zhi raised his foot and kicked him carefully, causing the medicine man to fly out, breaking the stockade’s barrier and rolling into the river.

This series of actions were all done so smoothly, like floating clouds and flowing water, but Yamamoto Kiyoshi didn’t have the mind to appreciate his opponent’s heroic posture. He couldn’t wait to gnaw on Dong Zhi’s bones and eat his flesh. After being swept away by the Changshou sword, he quickly flew back again. Facing the talisman fire thrown by Dong Zhi, Yamamoto Kiyoshi opened his mouth and swallowed the talisman. He sneered, “Is that all you have?”

When he opened his mouth, black mist spewed out and rolled towards Dong Zhi.

On the other end, the third medicine man also roared and rushed over. His opponent was already big, so it felt like a small Mount Tai pressing down on him.

After being attacked relentlessly by the enemy, it only took Dong Zhi a quick second to react. After the black mist spewed out of Yamamoto’s mouth and drifted towards him, it surrounded him from three sides, but Dong Zhi remained motionless and didn’t panic like Yamamoto had expected.

Well, it didn’t matter. Even if he wanted to hide, it was too late! Yamamoto showed a hideous smile.

His head could move freely and much faster with the assistance of Songen, but as a person who had lived for decades, how could Yamamoto Kiyoshi get used to his current appearance of being neither human nor ghost? He hated that he couldn’t cut off Dong Zhi’s head and let him experience this hell! No, simply beheading wasn’t enough. He wanted Songen to turn Dong Zhi into a medicine man so that the other party could still maintain his sanity while being tortured by him, begging for death.

Rumble.

Yamamoto suddenly heard a muffled sound that came not from the front but from the top of his head. With his body physically restricted, he couldn’t look up, but soon, there was another rumbling sound in his ear.

This brought back bad memories for him because he had first heard a similar sound inside the warehouse on the outskirts of Lucheng…

Heavenly thunder!

Yamamoto’s face changed drastically.

No!

It took time for his opponent to summon thunder, and this time around, it was much faster than last…

The bright sky suddenly changed color. Dark clouds rolled in with lightning that illuminated them. The thunder had already arrived!

At the moment when he heard the thunder, Yamamoto Kiyoshi subconsciously withdrew and flew back, but he never expected that heavenly lightning would have a tracking function. Even though he had flown back several meters in an instant, the heavenly lightning was impartial and still struck him squarely, as if to make up for its regret at not being able to completely kill him like last time. Yamamoto didn’t even have time to say his last words before he was immediately burned into charcoal!

The power of the heavenly lightning was so great that even Songen, who was busy fighting Xinchai, couldn’t help but lose focus.

He never thought that by cursing Han Qi’s body through Hong Rui would bring him so much trouble and consequences.

But it was too late to regret it now. When Yamamoto’s head was burnt by the heavenly lightning, Dong Zhi flew directly sideways and kicked his head like a ball and shot it towards the medicine man that was entangled with Kenta!

Kenta’s reaction was quite fast. When he heard Dong Zhi say “duck”, he didn’t hesitate and immediately lowered his head to dodge.

Yamamoto’s head flew over Kenta and directly smashed into the medicine man, instantly burning him up.

Kenta breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t good with words, so he gave Dong Zhi a thumbs up, which Dong Zhi replied with the same gesture.

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>

Author: 梦溪石 / Meng Xi Shi

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

Chapter 113

Because of the long-term fighting in Myanmar and the division of various forces, comprehensive peace hadn’t been restored. Artillery fire was common in some areas, with fighting during the day and cursing at night. For people who lived in a peaceful country, such things were unimaginable. In the border areas between the two countries, hundreds of thousands of refugees gathered. These people were homeless and could only do small business on the border. Life was extremely precarious, and they could barely survive.

The village of Xianda was at the foot of a high mountain on the border. There was dense jungle around the area. Without the guidance of the locals, it wasn’t difficult for outsiders to get lost, let alone find Songen. Although Long Shen and Dong Zhi were practitioners, they weren’t omnipotent immortals. They had to ask for directions. Xianda had a small population and was very sensitive to outsiders. If there was anything amiss, Songen would know about it in advance and that would put them in a passive situation.

At this time, Dong Zhi proposed they split into two groups. One person would walk separately ahead with light, while the other three followed in the dark, so they could disperse being targeted and also have someone watching their backs.

Master Xinchai said, “Splitting up is a good idea. I’ll have Kenta join you.”

Dong Zhi shook his head. “You’re all natives here. They’ll notice right away that you’re not ordinary people because of how you’re dressed. I’ll go alone and pretend to be someone seeking Songen’s help, which will lower their guard. You should stay far away. If you can find another way to get in, that would be even better. Since Songen expected that we would find Qi Rui, he must be waiting for us to deliver ourselves to his door.”

Their opponent probably expected Long Shen to come, but they might not have expected that Xinchai would join as well. At this time, the more cards they hold, the greater their chances of winning. Since this was Songen’s territory, no matter how fierce a dragon was, it was easy to fall into a trap set by the local snake.

Hearing his point, Xinchai nodded and agreed to the plan.

“Don’t be reckless,” Long Shen said to Dong Zhi.

Hearing his concern, Dong Zhi smiled at him and waved his hand. He turned and walked in the direction of the small town. After walking for a while, he looked back and found that Long Shen and the others were gone.

When he reached the town, he took a car to the terminal. After passing through the small town, the terrain became rugged, and there were more dense plants covering the area. A path that was man-made could be seen on the ground, but there was not a single figure along the way. There was a village in the distance around the corner, but despite walking for more than half an hour, he didn’t seem to get any closer to it.

At noon, the sun was just at its highest point. The temperature here was much higher. Dong Zhi had to roll up his sleeves to relieve a bit of heat. The qin case he was carrying with the Changshou Sword was on his back and was soaked in sweat. His shirt was sticky, and it made him feel uncomfortable.

At this moment, there was a scream in front of him, as if someone had been bitten by something.

Finally hearing the voices of people, Dong Zhi cheered up and ran over. When he turned the corner, he saw a man sitting on the ground.

At first glance, the other party looked like a local boy with a dark complexion, about 17 or 18 years old. He had baggy pants that were rolled up, revealing his calf, and his face showed a painful expression, and he was curled up in a ball.

Hearing the sound of the footsteps, the young boy turned his head. Seeing that Dong Zhi was an outsider, he immediately showed a vigilant expression.

Dong Zhi pointed at the boy’s leg and made a gesture, then said in English, “What’s wrong with your leg? Do you need help?”

He was already prepared to take out a translation software if the other party didn’t understand, but who knew the other party would also reply in English? “I was bitten by a snake just now. It seems to be poisonous, and I can’t stand up now. Can you help me to my house? It’s right there.”

After Dong Zhi took a look, he did indeed find a bite mark on the boy’s leg, which was bleeding. The boy wrapped a cloth strip around his leg and tied it there to temporarily prevent the toxins from flowing through his body faster.

“Of course. Do you need to be taken to the hospital?”

The young man shook his head. “We have detoxifying herbs in our family.”

Dong Zhi raised the young man’s arm and put it on his shoulder, helping him walk to the village in the direction guided by the other party while seemingly unintentionally asking about it.

He learned that the young man was named Suqi and that he was a villager from Xianda, the village located on the border. In the past, when Thailand and Myanmar relations weren’t good, the village was often implicated. Many refugees from Myanmar fled, but they were not welcomed by the government here. Suqi’s family were refugees who fled because of the war in Myanmar, but after Master Songen came, everything changed. Many people came from afar to meet the master, which benefited the villagers of this village. Even the drug lords who used to control the area didn’t dare cause trouble.

Dong Zhi glanced at the poppy fields in the mountains in the distance. He knew that in some parts of Southeast Asia, this plant was grown as a cash crop, and many depended on it for survival. He’d also heard that, more than ten years ago, the local government was under international pressure to destroy the majority of the poppy fields and make the drug trade illegal, though that was only on the surface and they had never stopped. The local government tried to get residents to grow coffee beans and flowers, but the alternative crops didn’t make as much money as poppies, and remote places like Xianda had complex situations that often couldn’t yield much.

Just when Suqi enthusiastically introduced him to the poppies that were about to bloom in the distance, all Dong Zhi could think about was how China’s national borders were able to guard the peace and tranquility in the country, but outside the national borders, there was still a steady stream of poppies being planted. For the locals, it was an economic source for survival, but the manufactured products were used as a source of malice that tempted the depravity of human nature. Time and time again, narcotics officers were exhausted and sacrificed silently, and countless families were ruined.

“Dong, why are you in a daze? Don’t these flowers look good?” Suqi couldn’t tell the difference between “Dong” and “Dong”* so his pronunciation was off, but Dong Zhi didn’t correct him.

*[Dōng] (冬) vs [Dǒng] (董) The former being the Dong in Dong Zhi’s name. The accent marks on each of them affect the pronunciation slightly.

Dong Zhi smiled, didn’t say more, and instead inquired, “So, does everyone know Master Songen? If I want to visit him, can you introduce me?”

“I knew you were looking for him. Every year, many people come to see the Master. They have many wishes and want the Master to help them realize them. Do you have them too?” Suqi showed a sly smile.

Dong Zhi pretended to be distressed and sighed. “Yes, my girlfriend left me, and I want her back. I heard that Master Songen can help me become richer. If I have money, I can beat all her suitors and win her back!”

Suqi nodded. “Then Master Songen will help you. He’s a very good person.”

For the villagers here, the grace that could protect them was naturally considered good.

While talking, Dong Zhi and Suqi reached a home. An old woman was sitting at the door. When she saw Suqi’s wound, she hurriedly got up and walked away. After a while, she came back with a bowl and applied crushed herb and juice to the wound.

Suqi said a few words to her and then pointed to Dong Zhi, as if explaining the purpose of Dong Zhi’s visit. The old woman nodded at Dong Zhi and smiled kindly as she folded her hands. This was the meeting etiquette of the locals. Dong Zhi did the same gesture and greeted her back.

“She is my grandmother. Her name is Sara. I told her that you helped me back. She’s going to prepare lunch for us. After eating, I’ll take you to the Master,” Suqi explained.

Lunch was simple. It was a common meal of grilled fish and rice. While it didn’t taste delicious, Dong Zhi was a bit hungry, so he thanked Suqi and his grandmother and finished eating with them.

After they finished their meal, Suqi brought out two glasses of water and told him, “It’s the juice of a plant called kalanchoe. We often use it as a drink. It’s very tasty.”

Dong Zhi took a sip. He found that it tasted very sweet. Soon, he felt a little dizzy and couldn’t even stand. He had to hold onto the edge of the table and look at Suqi. At this moment, this simple young man showed an ambiguous smile.

“What did you put in it?” Dong Zhi held his forehead with a horrified expression on his face.

Suqi gave a smug smile. “You’re not here to ask for Master Songen’s help, are you? I have long seen through you. You want to harm the Master. You’re a bad person. Now that you can’t move, you can watch me consciously as I cut off your hands and feet, then dedicate your head to the Master. He can use your head for his arts. This is the last contribution you can provide to him.”

Dong Zhi frowned. “You’re so young, yet you’re this vicious? Does your grandmother know this?”

Suqi sneered. “Of course I know that Master Songen is our benefactor. Whoever wants to harm him is working against us! Are you numb all over and unable to move?”

Dong Zhi: “No.”

Suqi: ?????

Dong Zhi stretched out his hands and moved them. “Look, I can still move. Is your poison not working?”

Suqi: ……

Dong Zhi said innocently, “I think the reason why I got dizzy just now was maybe because I ate too much. Could you have eaten the poison yourself?”

Suqi was furious. “How’s this possible?! What I gave you was cursed!”

As soon as his voice fell, his face changed. He covered his stomach and bent down, groaning in pain.

The old woman who was hiding somewhere suddenly ran out and held Suqi. She was panicked and said many things in the local dialect that Dong Zhi didn’t understand, so he ignored her.

“I’m telling you, you must have given it to yourself. Now you’ll need to see Songen and have him relieve it.” He looked at Suqi as he said this with a smile.

“Impossible. I obviously watched you drink it just now, and it’s also in the food!” Suqi refused to believe that he had been tricked.

Dong Zhi shrugged and showed a look of regret. “Sorry, I have already taken an antidote before I came here. I heard that you’re sheltered by Songen, and he’s someone you respect, so he probably taught you some small tricks. Being a local here, do you think it’s reasonable that you got bitten by a snake out in the wide open area like this? I can only say I’m smarter than you.”

This place was hard to guard against. Although they came in a hurry, they didn’t forget to make preparations. Not only was this place dangerous, but there were also many snakes, insects, rats, and ants. Even if they weren’t cursed, it was easy to become poisoned. Xinchai had given them preventative measures in advance and even taught them how to fight back. Although many curse techniques were complex, and there was no guarantee that their methods would be effective against them, small tricks like this were not a problem.

Taking 10,000 steps back, Dong Zhi already had the ghost-faced peach blossom curse in his body, so he didn’t worry about his debts. Compared with Songen, Suqi’s small trick could only be considered superficial.

As he was speaking, Suqi was already suffering from abdominal pain and was rolling on the ground with his arms around his stomach. The old woman was sweating profusely. She eventually kowtowed to Dong Zhi again and again, speaking in a language he couldn’t understand but didn’t need to in order to know that she was begging for mercy.

In normal times, Dong Zhi may be soft-hearted, but knowing that her grandson had tried to curse him and the old woman didn’t stop him, it could be seen that she wasn’t much better, so facing her begging for mercy, Dong Zhi was indifferent and said to Suqi, “I’ll give you two choices. Either you take me to see Songen and I will give you the antidote, or you take me to see Songen and have him detoxify you.”

Suqi wanted to ask what the difference was between the two choices, but he couldn’t speak due to the severe pain. He could only look at Dong Zhi full of resentment.

This kind of pain made people unable to do anything, but it wasn’t to the point of death. Suqi was so uncomfortable that he thought it would be better if he died. He really couldn’t bear it, so he had to agree with Dong Zhi’s request.

“I’ll take you…”

Dong Zhi pointed to the old woman. “Let your grandmother take me there. When I see Songen, I’ll give her the antidote.”

Suqi responded intermittently, “Only I know where the Master lives. I am the most trusted person in this village…”

Dong Zhi said suspiciously, “Are you still able to walk?”

Suqi said, “I can’t walk, so you have to get rid of the poison first.”

Dong Zhi: “Oh, let’s not go. You can just die in pain.”

Suqi: ……

If Liu Qingbo could be angered to the brink, then how could a mere Suqi compare? In the end, he could only endure the pain. He clutched his stomach and stumbled in front of Dong Zhi as he led the way.

Suqi led Dong Zhi around to a dense jungle behind the village and took him through it. They made various twists and turns before they finally came to a river.

Seeing the river meant that he was out of the dense jungle. Dong Zhi widened his eyes as the scene evoked a sense of familiarity for him.

At Che Bai’s place, he once came to this place in spirit form and had a brief confrontation with the heavenly demon.

Rather, it was Che Bai who had the brief confrontation with the unformed heavenly demon.

As a legendary demon, Mara was not only evil, but also powerful. It shouldn’t have been resurrected yet. Songen, one who yearned for the darkness, forcibly broke the balance of the world by trying to summon and resurrect Mara. If it completely formed, no one would be a match for such an opponent. There was also Yasuhiko Otowa, who wanted to destroy the stone tablet and awaken an even more powerful demon. The consequences would be unimaginable.

Therefore, it was better to destroy the heavenly demon before it was fully formed. This was the best chance they had.

Once he arrived at this spot, Dong Zhi no longer needed Suqi to lead the way.

In the jungle on the other side of the river sat a two-story stockade that had its roof exposed. This was where Songen was.

He had no time to think about whether Long Shen and the others were hiding somewhere or if they had already entered the stockade earlier than him. Dong Zhi had heard from Xinchai that the territory of a top black-robed master would be full of dangers and traps, and his opponent knew that they were coming, so he didn’t have to imagine what kind of consequences lay there.

He followed Suqi, and while he was walking, he sprinkled powder that Xinchai had given him all over his body.

Suqi was waiting for Dong Zhi to step into a trap by himself, but when he turned around to look at him, he was surprised to find Dong Zhi was still walking forward as if nothing had happened. Suqi’s face quickly changed.

Seeing Suqi acting sneaky, Dong Zhi confirmed that there were traps abound.

“Are you also a sorcerer? Are you here to find out about the Master’s fighting method?” A trace of fear finally appeared on Suqi’s face.

“Yes,” Dong Zhi said casually. “Did any sorcerers come here to fight him before?”

“A lot, but none have come out alive.” Suqi snorted. “When they went, their attitude was more arrogant than yours, but now they have become vessels for Master’s cultivation, and among them is Tisong!”

When he said the name of this person, Dong Zhi didn’t know who it was, but he could guess that it was probably a very famous sorcerer.

Xinchai had told them that Songen had killed many sorcerers over the years and made countless enemies. There were even several famous sorcerers who banded together to destroy him, but they were ultimately unsuccessful. Of the five, two had perished, and due to this battle, it made Songen famous in one fell swoop. Later, he hid in a corner and didn’t come out to cause trouble, so everyone turned a blind eye and pretended this person didn’t exist.

But now, with rumors spreading that he was secretly trying to summon a heavenly demon, even Xinchai couldn’t sit still. Once the heavenly demon was born, the first to bear the brunt of its destruction would be where it first landed its feet. There would be mountains of corpses and a sea of blood, which no one wanted to see happen.

“Master, I am Suqi. Please forgive me for bringing your enemy here. I was coerced!”

When the two reached the outside of the stockade, Suqi knelt down on the ground and hugged his stomach as he wailed in the local language.

From the outside of the wooden fence, Dong Zhi saw a few people cleaning the yard. Obviously they had heard their movements, but they acted as if they hadn’t heard anything and continued to mind their own task.

However, after Suqi said these words, he suddenly jumped up. Before Dong Zhi could stop him, he had already rushed into the yard, stood on the steps outside the building, turned around and leaned against the wall to catch his breath, then gave Dong Zhi a weird smile.

Dong Zhi had no time to look at this smile. Under his feet, countless thin snakes suddenly appeared under the soil. They had copper ring lines and were black and gold. They hissed at him, not afraid of the powder on his body, and erected themselves, opened their mouths, and tried to bite at his calf.

Dong Zhi jumped up and took a few steps back, but soon the number of thin snakes condensed, and had surrounded him from all sides. Their speed was extremely fast. In the blink of an eye, the first group of snakes was already half a step away from him and about half a second from biting him.

Suqi knew this trap. He had also seen several sorcerers and some enemies who dared disrespect Master Songen fall for this line of defense. Swallowed by ten thousand snakes, riddled with holes, and died without leaving a corpse.

There was no doubt in his mind that Dong Zhi wouldn’t be able to escape this time.

But the next moment, Suqi’s vicious smile froze on his face.

He saw Dong Zhi take out two pieces of yellow paper with both hands and start chanting something, then he threw those two pieces of paper to his front and back. As a result, the moment the two pieces of talisman paper touched the snakes, they spontaneously ignited, and the fire quickly swept through the entire group of snakes, devouring them all.

“What kind of sorcery is this?!” Suqi screamed in a daze.

In his mind, Master Songen was almighty, and he prided himself on being on the righteous side. He couldn’t wait for Dong Zhi to fall to his death. Who knew that instead of things going the way he wanted, the other side had broken through the first line of the stockade’s defense.

Dong Zhi also discovered that, after the curse was suppressed by Che Bai, he was no longer sick at every turn. It seemed that his original abilities had also improved a bit. Long Shen said that this was because the Shangqing pill was originally an excellent medicine for conditioning the body, but at the time when he took it, he was in a rush and his body hadn’t had time to fully recover yet, so the effect of the Shangqing pill hadn’t fully played out. Now that Che Bai had temporarily suppressed his curse, his full strength could be naturally utilized. He wouldn’t have to worry about anything once the curse was lifted.

Just as the snake was useless, a person walked out of the building. Siqi turned his head and said with joy, “Master Shawang!”

Songen’s disciple, Shawang, ignored Suqi. His gaze was on Dong Zhi, and there was a sneer at the corner of his mouth, as if he were looking at a dead man.

“You’ve really come.”

Dong Zhi spread his hands. “Didn’t you tell me to? Where’s Songen? So scared that he’s hiding in his house?”

Shawang snorted coldly. “My Master doesn’t need to deal with you. Call out all your helpers so I don’t have to clean them up one by one later!”

“Are you talking about me?”

Kenta, Xinchai’s apprentice, appeared on the fence of the stockade. He was holding a large snake with a bowl-shaped mouth that was as thick as an adult male arm. The snake’s body was black and golden, and only its eyes were red and bloody. It didn’t look like anything good at first glance, but in Kenta’s hands, it was stiff and surprisingly well-behaved.

Shawang’s expression sank. “Let it go!”

Kenta threw the golden snake to the ground. It trembled twice and finally stopped moving, completely losing all its breath.

“Who are you?!” Seeing his beloved pet killed this way, Shawang flushed with anger.

Kenta folded his hands and walked over. “I won’t tell those who are evil my name.”

He whispered to Dong Zhi, “Mr. Long has already gone to find the heavenly demon. Let’s bait out Songen first.”

Dong Zhi nodded softly. He understood what Kenta meant. The enemy was still in the dark. With Master Xinchai still hidden, when he appeared, it would catch the opponent even more off guard.

Seeing them whispering, Shawang became even more furious. He bent his index finger, bit his mouth, and whistled. Four figures rushed out from behind the building towards Dong Zhi and Kenta.

The four people were covered in gold and were completely expressionless. Before Dong Zhi had time to observe carefully, he heard Kenta shout, “They are medicine men*. It’s useless to shoot them. Don’t fight head-on!”

*(药人) Term used for drug tester. In the context of this setting, they’re basically people soaked in various poisons/medicines, so they are impervious to them.

Dong Zhi quickly understood what it meant by it being useless to shoot because, as soon as his Changshou Sword came out of its sheath, it swept towards the neck of his opponent. Normally, this was the most vulnerable part, but the part the sword cut was unscathed. Taking advantage of the situation, the opponent grabbed his sword and tried to drag Dong Zhi in his direction!

Naturally, the Changshou Sword couldn’t be torn off. Dong Zhi used this opportunity to leap up and sweep towards another opponent, using his first opponent’s shoulder as a springboard, and aimed the tip of his sword at the center of the other opponent’s forehead.

The tip of the sword managed to poke a hole in the center, but that was all, and soon two other people surrounded him. Dong Zhi had to withdraw his sword to retreat, but his shoulder was caught and pulled to the point where it almost tore to pieces.

These so-called medicine men were cut open when they were about to die and stuffed with various poisons, then had voodoo performed on them, causing them to lose their self-awareness and completely become puppets.

Some of these people were Songen’s enemies, while others were those who had come to ask for Songen’s help and had accidentally offended him. Some of them were villagers from Xianda, where Suqi lived, because they refused to pay tribute to Songen and accept his asylum. There was never a shortage of all kinds of various containers for refinement, and there were all kinds of sorcery that many couldn’t imagine that could be seen here.

The author has something to say:

Long Shen: Don’t be naughty.

Dong Zhi: Okay, then I will pretend to be poisoned for a longer time next time and cooperate with them.

Kinky Thoughts:

To celebrate my 1-year anniversary of starting danmei translation, here’s the rest of the current arc of Bu Tian Gang. Happy reading.

<<< || Table of Contents || Lore Glossary || >>>