Chapter 335: Reunion |
Wei Yue tumbled and rolled, crashing dozens of miles away. After finally steadying himself, he immediately charged back this way, thinking, "Yang Bi has murderous intent toward me. All the guards of the Twelve Primordial Spirits Hall have been replaced with his people. If I fail to handle this matter properly, he'll probably kill me! I absolutely cannot let Huo Dog kill Chen Shi!"
His injuries had never fully healed, and now Huo Dog's slap sent him flying, adding fresh wounds to the old. He was utterly bewildered—why was Huo Dog no longer obeying?
Huo Dog was an underworld beast, born with a Ghost and God Domain, capable of wielding demonic fire. Its combat power was astonishing. This creature was closer to a demon, extremely dangerous.
This Huo Dog had originally been lying prostrate outside the Primordial Palace where Chen Shi's mother was held. It had been sleeping all along, only waking when someone approached the Primordial Palace, blocking the intruder—even devouring ghost gods!
After Wei Yue took control of the Immortal Capital, he had always believed Huo Dog was a guard left by the King of Hell and the Son of Heaven to watch over Chen Shi's mother, specifically to deal with Chen Shi. There were many such ghostly creatures in the underworld, called prison wardens, specifically responsible for guarding the great prisons to prevent anyone from breaking inmates out.
So, Wei Yue had ordered ghost gods to sneak up on Huo Dog, attach chains to it, and control this behemoth. Over the past few years, Huo Dog had cooperated with them—until they approached Chen Shi's mother's Primordial Palace. Then Huo Dog would suddenly wake up and pounce on anyone getting close. Whenever that happened, they would paste special talismans on Huo Dog's forehead, sending it back to sleep.
Last time, when the Boatman and his daughter kidnapped Chen Shi's mother, it was many underworld officers following Huo Dog to capture them.
But this time, Wei Yue felt something was different.
He suppressed his injuries and charged over at full speed, only to see Huo Dog lowering its enormous head to touch Chen Shi's mother's palm. He froze.
Realization struck him, and he wailed in despair, "This Huo Dog was stationed outside Chen Shi's mother's Primordial Palace, specifically to protect her! They've known each other all along!"
He had assumed Huo Dog was a prison warden, thinking that by chaining it up, he would become its new master. But now it was clear—this creature had been placed at the doorstep as a guard dog!
"Release the chains! Release the chains!" Wei Yue shouted as he rushed this way.
At that moment, on Huo Dog's back, those hundreds of underworld officers were still straining with all their might, pulling the chains in an attempt to restrain Huo Dog. The behemoth suddenly erupted in fury, violently shaking its body. The hundreds of underworld officers were sent flying through the air like scattered leaves.
Wei Yue's heart shuddered. Without a second thought, he changed direction and fled far into the distance, thinking, "Yang Shaohu guessed wrong. Chen Shi doesn't need me to save him at all—Huo Dog charged over specifically to rescue him! Releasing Huo Dog was a mistake!"
He escaped, and the other underworld officers fled in panic along with him.
Chen Shi stared dumbfounded at this scene, shaking his head. He thought, "How can I confirm whether what I'm seeing right now is real? Could I have been deceived by Huo Dog, my perception altered?"
He knew well how terrifying Black Pot's abilities were. Huo Dog's abilities could only be even more frightening—capable even of influencing the mortal world!
He feared that what he was seeing was an illusion, that when he followed Huo Dog home, he would discover all this beauty was fake, and he and his mother would already be back in their prisons!
That was the most terrifying thought of all.
"Stone Ji, is this scene real or fake?" Chen Shi asked the Stone Ji Your Ladyship inside the small temple.
Stone Ji Your Ladyship twitched twice but remained silent.
Black Pot looked up at Huo Dog, a puzzled expression on its face. Huo Dog was many times larger than Black Pot, and the aura it radiated was far more powerful. Black Pot was also enormous in the underworld, but compared to Huo Dog, it was still a little runt.
Huo Dog extended its crimson tongue and licked Black Pot's face twice, covering it with slobber.
"That's my dad," Black Pot thought.
"Or maybe it's my mom," it thought again.
It could sense a familiar aura—the scent of its closest kin, the scent it had smelled from the moment it was born.
Chen Shi stared at this behemoth, full of questions. How could Huo Dog know his mother? And how had Grandpa brought Black Pot home?
Huo Dog seemed to sense his train of thought. Its massive eyes, burning with demonic fire, shifted and landed on him.
When Chen Shi's gaze met those eyes, the surrounding scenery abruptly changed. Enormous jagged mountain peaks crisscrossed chaotically, sharp and piercing. His perspective shifted to Huo Dog's, and he found himself in this treacherous environment, battling against incredibly powerful beings.
She was pregnant, surrounded by enemies. She barely fought her way out of the encirclement, but she was already covered in wounds, at the end of her strength.
The enemy's target was the child in her belly.
A fully grown, powerful Huo Dog was formidable, but it would never submit to a master. This kind of lifeform, straddling the line between ghostly monster and demon god, had a unique pride. Even if killed, it would never bow to another creature.
But a newborn Huo Dog could become the perfect servant for ghost gods.
So these enemies were after the unborn pup in her belly. Kill her, take her child, and become its master!
She was at death's door. In her critical condition, she gave birth to a son. Licking the blood from the little Huo Dog's body, she steeled herself to bite it to death.
This was their clan's rule. She would never allow her son to become a slave.
Just then, an equally battered old man dragged his weary body past this place.
This old man had come to the underworld alone to find his family. He too had been beaten to a bloody pulp, hanging by a thread.
"Huo Dog, I want to make a deal with you."
Though the old man's life hung in the balance, his spirit remained vigorous. He declared loudly, "I will protect your son, take him to the mortal world, and raise him. You stay in the underworld and protect one person for me. When your son reaches adulthood, he will return to your side!"
Huo Dog's powerful mind read this old man's thoughts and sensed his honesty.
Two beings at the end of their rope made a deal at this moment.
The weary old man brought the little Huo Dog back to the mortal world, and Huo Dog, after recovering a bit of strength, set off for the Immortal Capital.
She found the Primordial Palace where Chen Shi's mother was imprisoned, lay down, and guarded it.
The scene before Chen Shi's eyes suddenly shifted, and the northern borderlands ice field appeared once more.
Suddenly, a gust of yin wind blew past, and Huo Dog vanished.
Black Pot barked incessantly and charged into the underworld, but couldn't find Huo Dog.
After a moment, it returned to the mortal world, looking dejected. It said to Chen Shi, "Woof..."
"She might be worried that those people chasing you will find you."
Chen Shi guessed. "Those people probably have enormous power in the underworld, and they shouldn't be from the Thirteen Great Clans. Also, Black Pot—she's not your dad. She's your mom."
Black Pot said, "Woof?"
Chen Shi said, "I'm sure of it."
Black Pot looked confused. "Woof woof."
Chen Shi shook his head. "I don't know where your dad went either."
He still had his mother return to the small temple and continued on their way. Without the ghost gods tracking them this time, both Chen Shi and Black Pot relaxed a bit.
"Black Pot, you stole the Ghost Script from a Primordial Palace. Whose Primordial Palace was it?"
Chen Shi asked, "Could it have been your dad's Primordial Palace?"
"Woof woof woof!"
"How would I know if a Huo Dog could have a Primordial Palace? You went there to steal a book, and you don't know whose Primordial Palace it was?"
"Woof."
...
Xinxiang Province, Qianyang Mountain, Huangpo Village.
Chen Tang had been home for a few days. During this time, he had cleaned the house, visited Chen Yindu's grave to pay his respects, and climbed the Yellow Earth Mound to thank his teacher Scholar Zhu for grooming Chen Shi so well that he achieved the top scholar rank. —When Scholar Zhu learned of this, he was absolutely stunned.
Scholar Zhu asked him to confirm it several times before finally believing that Chen Shi had indeed become the top scholar.
"The world has truly gone as rotten as I predicted!"
When Chen Tang walked down from the Yellow Earth Mound, he heard his teacher's cynical shout echoing from the slope, "The Ming Dynasty is finished!"
Chen Tang also went to pay respects to the great snake Xuan Shan, Madam Zhuang, and other spirits in the mountains.
Everyone was very warm when they saw him return, but when they heard that Chen Shi had become top scholar in the Western Capital, they all fell silent, hemming and hawing.
Chen Tang considered this a glorious achievement for his ancestors, so he was quite proud of it. He didn't notice their reaction.
These past few days, he couldn't let himself rest. Perhaps he was too used to keeping busy, or perhaps he was too worried about Chen Shi. Whenever he had free time, his mind would wander to dark places.
He forced himself to stay occupied. He repaired all the old furniture in the house, repainted the walls, replaced the roof tiles, fixed the road in front of the door, and cleaned every day.
He would also go into the mountains to catch mutant beasts, feeding the meat to Chen Shi's Wooden Cart. In just a few days, the cart was gleaming with oil and polish.
He also went to buy black dog blood, meticulously tracing over the talismans on the cart and the Huagai again and again.
In the past, he wouldn't have helped Chen Shi with these things. But now, he had to keep himself busy.
Four days ago, Granny Sha returned to Gangzi Village. He went to see her, but Granny Sha had no news of Chen Shi either. She could only confirm that Chen Shi was still alive.
Two days ago, the newly appointed County Magistrate Hu arrived on his first day in office and immediately came to the village to visit him, the Grand Master of Glorious Salary, delivering the court's monthly stipend.
And yesterday, a painted pleasure boat appeared on the Jade Belt River outside the village. The boat girl and the Boatman were fishing on the river. When he heard about it and rushed over to ask, the boat girl only said that they had rescued her, but whether she could escape Huo Dog's pursuit was unclear.
Last night, Chen Tang hadn't slept a wink, wavering between hope and fear all night.
Today, he untied the reins of the Wooden Cart, letting it wander out on its own, then wheeled Chen Shi's mother out to get some sun. He stretched her limbs and worked her joints.
Before they separated, Chen Shi had taught him the Supreme Sun Moon Primordial Chaos Sutra, asking him to help Chen Shi's mother cultivate. Chen Tang hadn't dared slack off for a single day. He had already refined his wife's Golden Core through nine cycles, building up more and more accumulated power.
He cultivated for his wife, guiding the Golden Core into her acupoints, returning the fire to the source. He left her still sitting in the wheelchair.
After this session of cultivation, his wife's hair was a bit messy again. He took out a comb and carefully combed her hair.
"Ah Yu, we've been away from home for so long. Yuzhu has grown up, and Grandma Yuzhu has aged. Many people have grown old. When you come back, you'll be really surprised—there are many new faces in the village, children who were born here. When we were still in the village, they were just tiny little things. Now I barely recognize them. Only Godmother hasn't changed."
Chen Tang chatted as he combed her hair. "Little Ten gave Godmother a name, called Sangyu. But she's clearly not a mulberry tree or an elm tree. I think our son's scholarship might not be as good as I thought."
He kept talking to himself, then suddenly fell silent for a moment. In a low voice, he said, "Ah Yu, I miss you."
His tears landed on the back of his hand.
"I've missed you for ten years. Even though your body is here, I can't feel you. All these years, I've felt so alone. Ah Yu, come back. Our son found you. Please come back quickly..."
He had been strong his whole life, a dignified Vice Minister of the Ministry of Revenue with an unshakable Dao Heart. He never let his emotions show on his face, not even when facing the entire court. Yet now, somehow, standing before his own wife, he revealed all his vulnerability.
Just then, a villager's voice came from the village: "...You're back?"
"I heard you became the top scholar..."
"Grandma Yuzhu, from now on, call me Master Top Scholar! Yuzhu, this time I'm back, I'm going to bully you all something fierce!"
Chen Tang heard a robust voice, and his heart trembled. He was about to go outside when something occurred to him, and he quickly wiped away his tears.
He was about to push his wife out to welcome Chen Shi when, suddenly, his wife on the wheelchair raised her hand and grabbed his right hand.
Chen Tang froze.
"Ah Tang..."
His wife's voice came through, weak but clear. "Ah Tang, I found our son. He brought me home."
Chen Tang wept like rain. He crouched in front of his wife, gently holding both her hands, looking up at her face.
The person he had dreamed of day and night had finally returned to this body.
"Yes. Our family... is finally reunited," he said softly.
His wife, Wu Qingyu, felt the warmth from his palm, and her heart was filled with peace.
Eleven years.
This family had been broken for eleven years. Husband and wife, and Chen Shi—how many hardships had they endured? How many dangers? How many partings of life and death?
Today, the family of three was finally reunited.