Chapter 395: The Year of the Rat
Chapter 395: The Year of the Rat
"The Blood Xiu Guardian enters the Mansion, nourishing the Divine Soul!"
As the Wugong Clan Leader revealed his true intentions, Zhuang Erchang, the Chief of the Mine, summoned help from the One Coin Sect, nearly destroying the Wugong Clan Leader's venomous bug. However, the situation turned chaotic with Wu Song's appearance, and Hu Ma remained seated quietly inside the wooden house, listening intently to the events outside.
He heard every detail, understanding the cause and effect, but chose not to intervene.
He simply couldn't afford to be distracted.
This was his chance to refine the Blood Meat, a step towards ascending to the Mansion. With the help of the Golden Silkworm Curse, he accelerated the digestion of the Blood Pellet, completing the nourishment of the leader.
But he never expected that, as he proceeded to the next step of nourishing the Divine Soul, this unexpected incident would occur.
The Divine Soul left his body, like an esteemed guest, enjoying the offerings of the Blood Xiu.
He could feel the surging Blood Qi entering his body, or rather, his Divine Soul enjoying this Blood Qi, causing him to sense a sense of transcendence, making the nourishment process even smoother than he had imagined.
In fact, the prepared Blood Xiu was insufficient, and Hu Ma was prepared for the final push...
But it turned out to be enough.
The Dark Empyrean had filled this final void.
However, the crucial point was that during this entire process, while Hu Ma himself had refined and completed the vitality cultivation of his brain, when it came to the latter part, it seemed as if his Divine Soul had taken the lead at a subconscious level.
"My Divine Soul... has completed this step of cultivation on its own?"
Hu Ma's mind was momentarily confused, and he felt bewildered, unsure of what was happening. Neither the Blood Xiu cultivation nor the Ghost Path, nor the Town Year Book, had ever recorded such a situation.
But his own actions had naturally led to this...
...and he had even borrowed the power of the Dark Empyrean to complete the final step of his Mansion entry?
Since leaving the Great Sheep Village, Hu Ma had been told by both the Second Young Master and Little Hong Tang that consuming the Dark Empyrean would cause problems...
What about himself now...
Taking this opportunity to ascend to the Mansion, he entered his Life Spirit Temple and looked at the deity behind the incense table. Now, the Life Deity Statue, which could reflect the reborn person, was completely illuminated.
Golden threads ran through the entire statue, showing it sitting in darkness, radiating light. However, all Hu Ma could see was a human figure outlined by the golden threads representing meridians.
There was no skin, no bones, and thus, he couldn't see the statue's appearance.
The statue sat on the ground, with one hand raised and the other pointing forward, the palm in a loose grip, indicating that it should be holding something.
But in the pitch-black darkness, it was impossible to determine what the hands were holding, or perhaps...
...as Hu Ma stared at the golden meridian lines outlining the statue, especially at the ribs, he suddenly thought, "These aren't two arms?"
"This deity statue is severely incomplete. Now that I've barely refined a human form, are there things outside this form that shouldn't belong to a human?"
"Other reborn individuals say that this statue reflects themselves, but... does this statue truly reflect me, or do I reflect it?"
"..."
As he pondered, he looked at the deity statue behind the incense table, and as he stared intently, he felt as if the statue moved, revealing a mysterious smile. It slowly turned towards him, leaning forward.
A faint, eerie voice resonated within his Life Spirit Temple:
"The Heavens are dead, and the Yellow Heavens shall rise."
"The Year of the Rat brings great fortune to the world!"
"..."
Hu Ma was startled by these words, and he straightened his chest, looking again. The golden thread-outlined statue remained steady in the darkness, unchanged from before.
But these sixteen mysterious words suddenly made his heart skip a beat. The more he thought about it, the more his scalp tingled with fear.
Instinctively, he looked outside, his gaze piercing through the wooden houses, and amidst the chaos, he focused on the mineral vein covered by the crimson cloth. Suddenly, his heart shuddered as certain information, accompanied by the Dark Empyrean, surfaced in his mind:
"The Heavenly Age Lord is alive, waiting for the emergence of a new emperor..."
"To fulfill the promises this world once made to him!"
"..."
This consciousness was unclear to Hu Ma himself; it seemed to have been triggered by his contact with the Dark Empyrean, or perhaps a mysterious consciousness had been awakened by the Life Deity Statue's words.
Hu Ma was at a loss, unable to explain, and he desperately wanted to understand, but the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became. Instead, he felt an urge to distance himself from his Life Spirit Temple.
This chaotic feeling, like tangled thoughts and an anxious heart, lasted until a sudden pain in his arm startled Hu Ma, causing him to tremble and open his eyes. All the bizarre things before him had vanished, leaving only the real and chaotic scene within the wooden house.
And Little Hong Tang, with her eyes wide open, stared at her own little face...
...She had bitten her arm, and upon seeing herself awake, she quickly jumped back, looking at herself with caution.
"What...?"
Hu Ma was a bit surprised, pausing for a moment before slowly lowering his head to look at his arm. There was a dark tooth mark on it, a sign that a little devil had bitten him.
"Brother Hu Ma went crazy. Not having enough blood food, he went to eat the Dark Empyrean, and he seemed to have gone mad, looking so scary..."
As Little Hong Tang spoke, she quietly hid her hand behind her back, letting her sleeve hang down. In fact, Hu Ma had just seen her raise her hand as if to bite him again, but he had already opened his mouth to stop her.
"So, it was just a strange illusion caused by touching the Dark Empyrean?"
Hu Ma took a deep breath, looking around again. The chilling feeling from earlier was gone, as if it had all been just a dream.
But was it really just an illusion? Hu Ma didn't believe so, but he decided not to delve deeper into it for now. Instead, he slowly revealed a smile, pretending to be relaxed, and said to Little Hong Tang, "It's done. You've been a great help, Little Hong Tang."
Hearing his praise, Little Hong Tang tilted her head and looked at Hu Ma. Seeing that he no longer had the scary appearance from before, her eyes lit up with happiness.
"Now that my task is complete, it's time to deal with the matters outside."
Hu Ma took a deep breath, paused for a moment, and then said to Little Hong Tang, "Little Hong Tang, let me see your basket!"
Not knowing his intentions, Little Hong Tang obediently handed him the basket she was carrying on her arm. Hu Ma lifted the crimson cloth covering the basket and saw that it was filled with all sorts of things, including some items he had given her to play with.
After a quick search, he pulled out a piece of black bone and nodded in satisfaction, ignoring Little Hong Tang's widened eyes. He then tucked the bone into his sleeve.
Having decided on his next move, Hu Ma stood up, straightened his clothes, and took out Lady Red Lantern's lantern from the nearby bundle. This lantern was something that every Red Lantern Society disciple carried with them when they arrived in a new place.
He removed the cover and lit the oil lamp inside the lantern with a fire stick, then held the lantern in one hand and picked up the jagged blade with the other.
Clearing his throat, he nodded to Little Hong Tang.
Confused, Little Hong Tang hurriedly opened the door for him. To outsiders, it seemed like the door opened by itself.
Hu Ma held the red lantern and stepped out of the wooden house, gazing at the chaotic valley below and letting out a low sigh. "That Monkey Wine guy, he's really got a tough head..."
...
...
Under the influence of the Dark Empyrean, the enigmatic Wu Ya, along with the Clan Leader Wu Gong, who had used his body as a vessel to cultivate a mysterious poison bug, and the Dharma King of the One Coin Sect, who had received the descent of the Nine Heavens Lotus Divine Mother, as well as an experienced Year-End Guardian who had ascended to the mansion, all joined forces to attack Wu Song.
Wu Song, on the other hand, stood in the way with seven incarnations, surrounded by countless poison bugs dancing in the air. Each of his bodies cast a hazy, shifting shadow, intertwining and crisscrossing, almost engulfing half of the valley.
This mysterious and unpredictable poison technique allowed him to withstand the combined assault of these four individuals. However, the countless poison bugs around him began to fall, and his incarnations crumbled one by one. Even the stones and cliffs beside him were silently shattering, piece by piece.
Now, as these originally opposing forces joined hands and approached, the overwhelming pressure they exerted fell upon Wu Song. Four of his seven incarnations had already been destroyed, and even the remaining three sorcerer incarnations showed signs of collapse, barely holding on.
As the distance between them closed, it seemed that Wu Song would be the first to die.
Clan Leader Wu Gong, riding on the poison bugs, watched this scene with a mix of astonishment and excitement. The mineral vein, concealed by a crimson cloth, seemed to be right before them.
He could almost hear the mysterious summons from within and feel the urgent will of the sorcerer god descending.
Everything seemed so easily within reach, just a stone's throw away.
However, at that very moment, a low voice suddenly echoed from within the valley, followed by a faint glow from a red lantern, which quietly tore through the thick darkness of the night, creating a narrow opening.
A figure holding a lantern slowly emerged from the depths of the darkness, scanning the chaotic valley before shaking his head.
He sighed softly, "A bunch of rule-breaking fools, what have they done to our Lady's blood meat mine?"
(End of Chapter)
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