Chapter 108: Corpses Hidden at the Bottom of the River, Souls Refining Elixir |
Chen Shi and Fu Leisheng walked along the river towards Qiaowan Town. Before they even reached the town, they saw several boats floating not far from the shore. There were people on the boats, extending bamboo poles far out over the water. The poles had hooks tied to them, and they were slapping the water''s surface.
On the shore, there were also people carrying white funeral banners, scattering paper money, and calling for the souls of the deceased to return.
There weren''t many people, just over a dozen, men, women, old, and young, their faces pale and sallow.
This was the water inlet below Qiaowan Town. The river was wide here, and on normal days, there were many fishing boats, their sails fluttering, white gulls gathering in clouds.
The Dejiang River''s current was swift, but when it reached this place, it calmed down. With clear waters and green mountains, it was like a paradise on earth.
Chen Shi and Fu Leisheng approached and saw a little old woman performing a ritual before the river. She was shaking a King Wen drum in her hand, dancing wildly, performing a shamanistic dance to drive a soul-summoning, corpse-finding spell. Waves of yin energy rose from the river.
That little old woman was none other than Granny Sha from Gangzi Village. It seemed someone had paid her to find the bodies of their loved ones.
The little old woman''s Daoist arts were profound and unfathomable. Finding corpses was just a minor task for her. They saw her finish the ritual, point a finger, and then the river water churned. A corpse, bloated and pale from soaking, rose from the riverbed.
When it surfaced, its posture was very strange. The corpse''s head emerged from the water first, its hair like black water weeds, covering the area around the head. Then most of the body floated up, as if standing on the water''s surface.
The corpse''s hair spread out, revealing its face, which vaguely appeared to be a woman''s.
That corpse had been washed down by the floodwaters. It had no clothing on, but the body was intact, with no signs of being nibbled by fish or shrimp.
The dozen or so people on the shore began to cry.
The people on those several boats were corpse retrieval teams, accustomed to fishing bodies out of the river. Seeing this, several fast boats hurriedly rushed over, wanting to snatch the business.
From a distance, they raised their bamboo poles, preparing to hook the corpse with iron hooks and drag it to their boats.
According to the river''s custom, once a corpse was dragged to the boat, it wouldn''t be brought ashore immediately. The deceased''s relatives had to pay money first. How much they gave depended on the relatives'' goodwill.
If they gave too little, some unscrupulous corpse retrievers would deliberately cut a few large gashes in the corpse. So, generally, the money given wasn''t too little.
Suddenly, the river water churned, and another corpse rose from the riverbed. It was also washed down by the floodwaters and had no clothing on.
When that corpse surfaced, it stood on the water''s surface, then splashed as it fell into the water.
Then came a third corpse, which also burst out of the water, stood on the surface, paused for a moment, and then fell into the water.
Then the fourth, the fifth, the sixth, the seventh...
This stretch of river water seemed like boiling water in a pot, bubbling and gurgling. Corpse after corpse rose from the riverbed, standing on the water''s surface one after another, like water ghosts. It was indescribably terrifying.
In just a short moment, thousands of corpses stood on the river''s surface, their long hair draped over their shoulders, not a single piece of clothing on their bodies, bloated and pale from soaking.
Their heads were wrapped in hair, making it impossible to tell which side was the front and which was the back.
"Plop!"
...
The sounds of heavy objects falling into the water kept coming. Soon, thousands of corpses fell over, floating on the water''s surface, a vast expanse of pale white.
Even though Chen Shi had refined a Golden Core and Fu Leisheng had refined a Nascent Soul, their hearts still went cold at this moment, goosebumps rising all over their bodies. They felt this scene was indescribably eerie.
"Were these corpses... standing upright in the water?" Chen Shi felt a chill run down his spine.
The corpse retrievers on those few small boats on the river were also stunned. Thousands of pale, bloated corpses surrounded their small boats like dead fish. When had they ever seen such a scene?
On the shore, those dozen or so men, women, old, and young were also dumbfounded by this sight, not knowing which one was their loved one.
Seeing this, Granny Sha immediately mobilized the Four Great Ghost Kings, ordering them to retrieve the corpses from the river.
Chen Shi walked forward and asked, "Granny, where did so many dead people come from?"
"Drowned in the flood upstream."
Granny Sha gestured with her chin towards the upstream direction. "There was a flood dragon moving upstream. A flood dragon wanted to transform, so it caused a flood to drown people. This isn''t the first time a flood has drowned people; it should have happened many times, which is why so many corpses have gathered here. There should be a dragon''s nest down there, and that flood dragon lives inside. That beast drowned these people, transported them here, and then used their souls to refine an internal core... Little Ten, I need to deal with these corpses quickly, lest the moon comes out and they undergo corpse transformation!"
She seemed quite tense. With over a thousand corpses, if they underwent corpse transformation and turned into corpse spirits, it would definitely be an extremely spectacular sight.
These people died unjust deaths. Some entire families met with misfortune, their resentment heavy. If they turned into corpse spirits, they would definitely be extremely fierce.
"That flood dragon has already been eliminated by you. There won''t be any more flood dragon movements."
Fu Leisheng looked at the corpses on the river and shook his head. "We are just livestock raised by the powerful..."
"Master Fu, we are not livestock."
Chen Shi looked at him, speaking seriously. "We are human beings. Our ancestors fought against heaven, fought against earth, fought against evil spirits, not so that we could live like livestock. I think they wanted us to live like human beings."
Fu Leisheng was deeply moved in his heart, then shook his head and threw out the question he had once asked Chen Shi again: "Chen Shi, this is the way of the world! Can you change it?"
Chen Shi unconsciously stopped walking.
Fu Leisheng walked ahead. Seeing Chen Shi stop, knowing an internal struggle was raging within him, he didn''t try to persuade him.
Back in the day, he had also been like Chen Shi, feeling he had a scale in his heart that could measure right and wrong, judge the crooked and straight of the human world. It wasn''t until he was taught a thorough lesson by this world, battered and bruised, that he finally figured it out.
After he figured it out, he became much more tactful, much smoother, hiding his principles beneath that tact and smoothness. Thus, he moved through the world like a fish in water, living happily himself.
Now, Chen Shi was coming into contact with this world earlier than he had, recognizing the truth of the world. Perhaps this was a good thing for Chen Shi.
"He''ll figure it out." Fu Leisheng walked towards Qiaowan Town.
Chen Shi stood by the riverside for a long time. In his ears came the murmuring of the river water, sometimes surging, sometimes low.
"I can''t figure it out!"
Chen Shi suddenly started walking again. "Black Pot, I just can''t figure it out! I truly cannot change this world, but if I can change a little, then I''ll change a little! If you do nothing, nothing changes! Don''t you agree? I''ll only do what is within my power!"
Black Pot nodded vigorously, puzzled. "Woof?"
Chen Shi walked upstream along the Dejiang River. "I''m going to take a look upstream."
Black Pot hurriedly followed him. Man and dog followed the river''s course.
Across the river from Qiaowan Town was Baisheng County, under the jurisdiction of Xianzhou Province. But following the Dejiang River upstream still kept them within the jurisdiction of Xinxiang Province, though they had left Xinxiang County and entered the territory of Lei County.
They saw that many villages along the river in Lei County had been flooded, many houses washed away. Some villages were nearly empty, presumably due to the flood dragon''s movement.
Chen Shi walked through the muddy villages. Some places were still wet, with fish in the puddles, very small ones, floating on the muddy water''s surface with their mouths open, desperately trying to breathe air.
The people in the village were like these little fish.
They stared blankly, woodenly, at Chen Shi, this passerby.
Chen Shi walked through the village, pausing for a moment before the village''s godmother.
This village''s godmother was also like the villagers, her face pale and sallow. There weren''t many incense offerings before her temple. The villagers could barely feed themselves, let alone support her.
Chen Shi offered a few sticks of incense to her and continued onward.
Not far away was a town in Lei County. It seemed the flood had just broken through the godmother''s defenses, sweeping away many people. Funeral wreaths and paper money were everywhere, mixed with the mud on the streets. Walking on it was very uncomfortable.
In the town, there were still suona horns playing, a funeral dirge, very mournful and sorrowful, making people remember their loved ones.
Chen Shi passed through this town. About a li outside the town was a mass burial ground. Some of the drowned people who hadn''t been swept into the river were dumped here, just hastily buried, with no proper funeral.
"If wild animals dig up these corpses and moonlight shines on them, I''m afraid they''ll give birth to corpse spirits."
Chen Shi had just thought this when he saw ghost fires flickering within the mass burial ground. His heart jumped. "Corpse spirits are about!"
He signaled the dog to slow down and quietly crept forward, looking from a distance. He saw a young Daoist sitting among the grave mounds in the mass burial ground. Ghost fires the size of heads swirled around him, constantly flying. Some ghost fires drilled into the miniature shrine behind his head, while others flew out from the grave mounds.
Inside the miniature shrine behind his head, a Divine Embryo sat solemnly, eyes closed, concentrating. Before the Divine Embryo floated a round, thumb-sized Golden Core, emerald green, likely at the seventh revolution.
"So it''s a cultivator! Judging by his attire, he should be a provincial graduate. But why is he cultivating in a mass burial ground?" Chen Shi thought.
Xiucai and provincial graduates, though both scholars, had different statuses and wore different clothes, making them easy to distinguish.
This provincial graduate wore a wine-red scholar''s robe, a square scarf on his head, jade pendants at his waist, a golden crown on his head, with a golden hairpin inserted through the crown.
He was just about to leave when he suddenly heard a cracking sound from the provincial graduate''s head. It slowly began to fly up from his neck.
Chen Shi stared wide-eyed, not blinking.
Black Pot cautiously caught up and, seeing this scene, also couldn''t help but widen its eyes, almost letting out a yelp.
Chen Shi quickly pinched the dog''s mouth, signaling it to be quiet.
The red-robed provincial graduate''s head flew up, with trachea, blood vessels, and other things still dangling below the neck, swaying as it floated into the air.
Immediately, another head actually grew out from his neck.
Chen Shi almost cried out. Black Pot hurriedly went to cover his mouth. Chen Shi swatted away the dog''s paw and stared wide-eyed. He saw the scholar''s newly grown head also make a cracking sound and rise from the neck!
This happened again and again. Twelve heads floated in the air, front and back, looking in all directions.
The headless body on the ground, however, did not grow another new head from the neck. Instead, it sat cross-legged and continued cultivating.
"What kind of sinister cultivation technique is this?" Chen Shi was horrified in his heart.
"Whoosh—"
A ghost fire flew past Chen Shi''s face, green tinged with white, with human facial features, though the features were blurred. Its mouth was wide open, as if screaming in agony.
"This person is using the souls of the dead from the mass burial ground to refine a Golden Core!"
Chen Shi had just thought this when suddenly one of the heads spotted him and let out a sharp, piercing shriek.
One of the heads immediately descended, landing on the headless neck. The red-robed provincial graduate immediately activated his Golden Core. Streaks of sickly green blade light crisscrossed, attacking Chen Shi.
Chen Shi immediately activated the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword. Several sword qi beams shattered the opponent''s sickly green blade lights. However, the Ziwu Evil-Slaying Sword didn''t have many variations. Three blade lights broke through the sword qi blockade, arriving before Chen Shi and the dog.
Chen Shi used his palms, either slapping, blocking, or smashing, to shatter the three sickly green blade lights.
His hands immediately felt a burning sensation. The skin that had touched the sickly green blade lights began to rot.
Chen Shi was shocked. He stirred his blood and qi, expelling the evil energy that had invaded his skin. Only then did his skin stop festering.
Eleven heads flew over from the air. One of them opened its mouth, and a sickly green tongue of flame shot out. Chen Shi immediately flipped and leaped aside, avoiding the flame attack.
That flame was also extraordinary. Wherever it touched, even grave mounds were melted away in large chunks. The melted areas oozed a green, viscous liquid of unknown substance.
"So sinister? Has this provincial graduate refined himself into an evil spirit?"
Other heads attacked from all directions, flying back and forth in the mass burial ground with incredible agility. Some weaved between grave mounds, some attacked from above. Chen Shi, with Black Pot, dodged everywhere. They saw trees, sprayed by the green tongues of flame, would immediately break and topple over.
Chen Shi frowned, about to counterattack, when he heard a voice laugh loudly, "Stop! Yan Fang, stop! This little brother is not an outsider! He''s Chen Shi, the top scorer in the Xinxiang County-level Imperial Examination, Chen Xiucai! Stop quickly!"
Hearing this, the red-robed provincial graduate, Yan Fang, immediately halted his flying heads, each returning to his side.
Chen Shi was both shocked and suspicious. He saw several fast horses approaching from the post road on the other side of the forest. On horseback were also red-robed provincial graduates, each with feet in stirrups, sitting bolt upright in the saddle, reining in their horses and smiling as they looked at them.
These were all unfamiliar faces. Not a single one was someone Chen Shi recognized.
The head on the red-robed provincial graduate Yan Fang''s neck retracted into his belly. After it disappeared, another head descended, also retracting into his belly.
This happened again and again until only one head remained on his neck. He apologized to Chen Shi, "So it''s Chen Xiucai. I thought an outsider was spying on my cultivation, intending me harm, so I rashly counterattacked. Please forgive me, little brother. Don''t blame me."
He was very polite, making it hard to stay angry.
Chen Shi''s gaze swept over the faces of these several people, still extremely wary. "Gentlemen, I don''t know you."
On the post road, the red-robed provincial graduate who had spoken earlier laughed heartily. "It''s normal that Brother Chen doesn''t recognize us. We are disciples of the Xuanwu Pavilion in Lei County. I am Yan Rong. This is my third brother, Yan Qing. This is my seventh brother, Yan Shuo. Brother Chen Shi rarely comes to our Lei County, but we have long heard of your reputation."
Yan Fang reminded him, "Our aunt is the second wife of Governor Li''s family in Xinxiang Province."
Chen Shi understood. These people were the nephews of the Li Family''s second wife, Yan Jingshu!
"Your cousin, Li Tianxiu, was killed by me."
Chen Shi thought for a moment and said, "Don''t commit evil deeds. If I catch you cultivating like this again next time, I''ll kill you just like I killed Li Tianxiu. Black Pot, let''s go."
Yan Fang, Yan Qing, and the others couldn''t help but get angry, about to take action. Yan Rong raised his hand, a smile on his face as he watched Chen Shi walk away. He laughed, "The Li Family hasn''t moved against him. Why would our Yan Family move against him first? Brothers, the important matter is at hand. Today, no matter what, we must find the flood dragon that our uncle lost!"
