Chapter 294: The Madman
The five heaven’s cone nails were crushed in succession… or stolen. The situation in Black and White Island changed abruptly. The three strange snake’s heads of the sun, moon, and fire elements were simultaneously awakened. All sorts of bitter cries shook heaven! Thousands of Wood Mountain Demons too gave up on chasing and killing the enemies. When the strange neck was howling, they threw themselves onto the ground in unison, giving out dry and bitter lamentations.
Zhui Zi’s reaction was extremely fast. She picked up Wen Shulin and surged up. Just as she was about to get to Wen Leyang, three enormous black shadows appeared from the front, left and right of her without a sign. They struck at her ferociously at lightning speed!
The thick stench enshrouded around her all at once.
Zhui Zi was of a demon body. Xiang Liu inherently fancied swallowing great demons’ spiritual vitality. After the three evil souls that had been suppressed for thousands of years were finally awakened, they pounced towards her together in surprise. The evil snake’s speed was so fast that even a top demon immortal as strong as Zhui Zi did not stand a chance to dodge.
Zhui Zi’s beautiful hair was suddenly blown apart, scattering a dash of heavy darkness into the air. Thousands of ice spikes appeared out of thin air, the ghastly pale color of water, the sharpness that could break the world! She had already suppressed the demon for thousands of years! How could she fear to fight this ancient evil creature once more? Or ten times more? Or hundreds and thousands of times more?
The entire Black and White Island has suddenly lost all sounds. The temperature dropped abruptly, freezing every sound, gaze, and second!
Wen Leyang turned around. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. Zhui Zi’s beauty, penetrating with loneliness, was blowing in the wind. Wen Shulin’s sparse lashes were trembling gently. The enormous ice spikes filled the place with layers of coldness…
The first evil snake was of the moon genus. Its entire body was covered in silver radiance. Its gigantic scales were rippling with a darkness that could not be seen through. It was surrounding Zhui Zi!
The force that was attacking it was the soft water’s rage!
Time was truly stopped when the moon genus evil snake came into contact with the ice spikes. One was an evil creature born in heaven, the other was the entire cultivation base of a top water demon. The two gushes of tremendous force slowly resisted in unison…
The silver bottles were shattered. With a loud bang, the hourglass that seemed to have frozen ferociously finally fell to pieces as well. Time was like the wind that had struggled free from its shackles, pushing everything forward on the Black and White Island madly!
The ice spikes veiled the entire sky. They covered the sky and shielded the moon in a flash. Zhui Zi raised her pointed chin. A puff of bright red blood mist, capable of seizing souls, spurted out from her mouth!
The moon genus’ strange neck too was covered with pus and blood. Its body was struck by Zhui Zi in full force that resulted in it being tossed high up towards the back.
It only took one strike. Zhui Zi had already risked the vitality of her entire body. An ordinary man was capable of taking her life with one punch right now.
The second strange neck had pounced forward. Its red-colored scales were covered in fire pattern, it’s hot waves akin to a typhoon. It was the fire element evil snake.
Zhui Zi was smiling. She widened her eyes with the last of her strength. She was looking for Wen Leyang, but there was only boundless silvery-white in her sight. In an attempt to shout “run quick!”, she swallowed a mouthful of scorching hotness.
Her words turned into the muffled sound of cracking in her throat, akin to laughter!
Just as Zhui Zi was about to swallow the fire element evil snake, a stone tower giant mountain wrapped in a demonic, fire glow descended from the sky like a meteor. The fire element evil snake’s neck immediately raised and sprung towards the devil tower stone tower at lightning speed.
A loud sound and bloody red color filled the air. The evil snake charged into the giant tower. Wen Shulin could feel his blood freeze. The heaven and earth before his eyes felt like someone had splashed a basin full of blood on it…
One of the giant tower’s corners was completely shattered. The tower swayed, tossed and turned. It had returned to midair by the evildoer’s blow.
The fire element cone nail was destroyed a few years ago. In comparison to the sun and moon double snakes that had just struggled free from their entrapments, the fire element evil snake was the most energetic. It still had some strength to spare after it struck the devil fetus stone tower away. Just as it was about to turn around and swallow Zhui Zi; next to the dragon-shaped Ning Jiao, there was still Wen Leyang with thunderous punches and kicks, with a body as hard as a mountain!
Zhui Zi’s body fell limply. She was just like a fallen leaf. She fell onto the ground gently.
The strong poison splashed. The Faulty Punch danced messily. Ning Jiao was like electricity. The snake knife was shimmering! Wen Leyang was so furious his eyes were almost cracking in rage! The evil snakes had just recovered earlier. The strongest and largest fire element snake resisted the stone tower’s blow. It still found that it was tough to last for one minute under Wen Leyang and Ning Jiao’s joint attack. Yet it was during this one minute, the third sun genus evil snake was blooming in golden light. It hissed joyously as it pounced towards Wen Leyang.
“Full Moon executes demons like the wheel that dances!”
“First Quarter Moon expels the evil, akin to the hook that churns!”
“Last Quarter Moon suppressed the wicked like the sickle that waves!”
The three descendants of the moon cone nail had seized the opportunity to escape when the evil snake ambushed Zhui Zi. They stopped walking as if they suddenly had a conscience. They simultaneously guided their incantation spell and summoned three supernatural powers, flipping over the three evil snakes onto the ground mercilessly. They waited no more, dashing and leaping as they surged out of the Black and White Island. Their figures disappeared and Full Moon burst out laughing, “This is just another favor from us!”
Finally, with the sound of a raging roar, Wen Leyang too struck down the fire element evil snake. He stretched out his hand and picked up Zhui Zi who had fainted. He spread his legs and ran. There was still a slight puzzlement on his mind at the same time, “Why did Full Moon bother to say so?”
They were dashing out of the Black and White Island. The raging hiss of the three evil snakes echoed from his back. Wen Leyang could not care about the prohibition spells on the island. He leaped high up into the air and dived headfirst into the great sea…
The prohibition spells around the Black and White Island allowed exit but not entry. This elated Wen Leyang. If there were no strong wind or waves, just by depending on his skills, it was not a problem for him to bring two people and swim until the next day’s daybreak.
Zhui Zi had awakened groggily. She took out the Centipede Grass’ leaf that she brought along beforehand and put it in her mouth. She cracked into a smile towards Wen Leyang, “Stop swimming, you are swimming in the wrong direction.” Upon saying that she closed her eyes, she concentrated on healing herself.
Wen Leyang tossed the devil tower stone tower back into the depths of Mount Hua. Guo Huan was sitting in the state of a primordial spirit as he broke into curses next to the huge pit…
Wen Leyang was floating and sinking in the seawater. Two days had passed in the blink of an eye. Wen Shulin was barely breathing due to hunger. He regretted that he did not bring along two potatoes with him. It was only until the third day’s daybreak that Zhui Zi opened her eyes. She raised her arm and wrapped her arms around Wen Leyang’s neck. Her small face was filled with affection, “I’m fine now. I’ll be completely healed after a few days of recuperation. Let us go now!”
The silver-colored waves appeared, firmly lifting the three of them. They cruised in the direction of where they first came from. Not long after that they finally returned to the fishing boat.
The fishing boat heaved the anchor and headed back home. Wen Leyang notified the family about his safety through the boat’s captain. When the First Grandfather heard that Wen Leyang and Zhui Zi had returned safely along with Wen Shulin, he immediately made arrangements for the kitchen to prepare stewed mutton.
A few days later Zhui Zi had completely healed. It was only then Wen Leyang was completely relieved. The two of them sat on the boat’s bow, the sea wind was blowing in their hair. They did not speak but immersed themselves in the joy of being safe after a life and death situation.
The bright moon had risen to the sky. Wen Leyang spoke, “I remembered that we discussed this in the past, that the descendants of heaven’s cone nails were the same as Tian Yin. They were limited by the prohibition spell. They were utterly incapable of moving sand or a stone on the Black and White Island. The three moon cone nail’s descendants not only dug away the moon cone nail; there was also a ‘First Brother’ who was hidden in a secret place that crushed the sun cone nail, and released the three evil snakes to stop us.”
Zhui Zi pouted her little lips. She was feeling slightly unhappy as Wen Leyang ruined the ambiance. Still, she explained based on Wen Leyang’s train of thoughts patiently, “At least the three persons of Full Moon, First Quarter Moon and Last Quarter Moon, are certainly the moon cone nail’s descendants. As for their doings on the Black and White Island… they had either figured out a method to break the prohibition spell, or it was Kong Nuer who helped them to remove the prohibition spell. However, the prior one had a higher possibility or they would never make a move to save us.”
Zhui Zi raised her head gently. She was charming with the chilly and refreshing sea wind. “The matter about the moon cone nail’s descendants, there is no way for us to explain. It is also useless for us to ponder too much over it.” As she was saying that, Zhui Zi suddenly changed into a joyous expression, “We shall discuss everything else after we have returned home. You are not allowed to mention anything else now!”
Wen Leyang coughed, he laughed too. “It’s still alright about other matters, but there is just one issue that I cannot be quite at ease. Xiang Liu’s three heads are alive now. Even though the remaining four heaven’s cone nails are still in perfect condition, the cone nails will not withstand the evil snakes’ lashing…” Wen Leyang was most worried that the awakened evil snakes would soon crush the rest of the few heaven’s cone nails. By then that monster would return to the mortal world once again.
Zhui Zi pouted, “You’ve looked down on Kong Nuer. This great formation is magnificent to the utmost extent. It is also precise to the utmost extent, and even schemed to the utmost extent! The location where every heaven’s cone nail is standing… not only is the cone nail suppressing on the heaven’s lair of Xiang Liu and the dharma place that guided the power of heaven and earth. Moreover it is also perfectly situated on a spot where the rest of the snake’s heads are incapable of pulling at! Let me put it this way… even if there is still one remaining heaven’s cone snail, and Xiang Liu wants to struggle free from its entrapment, it can only hope that the evil snake under that heaven’s cone nail struggles free by itself. The rest of the heads are of no help to it!”
Upon saying that, Zhui Zi widened her eyes, “You are not allowed to mention it anymore, do not spoil my mood!” Then she regained the manner of wandering about to enjoy the beauties of nature. Wen Leyang laughed aloud as he nodded. Anyhow even if they were to discuss now, they would still need to explain again to Chang Li and Hanba when they arrived home.
This time Wen Leyang did not leave nor abandon Zhui Zi on the Black and White Island. Zhui Zi was extremely touched, she waved her hand and conjured a few huge fishes the next day. She rolled up her sleeves and steamed the fish for Wen Leyang personally. Wen Shulin too benefited from association with them.
The old man smiled but did not speak at all while he was eating. Two days later he found an opportunity to be in Wen Leyang’s company by himself. He used a very low voice to speak to Wen Leyang, “That meal from the other day… if she were to thank you this way the next time, then there is no need for you to save her anymore…”
Wen Leyang had the expression that he had encountered someone with the same understanding as him. He had only nodded and yet to speak when Zhui Zi suddenly appeared in front of both of them. Her eyes were filled with sadness as she looked at the young and old man. Wen Shulin felt that his scalp turned numb from her stare. After a long while, Zhui Zi shot her dim gaze into the great sea. The old man did not even hesitate, he said, “Thank you for the fairy immortal for your forgiveness!”, he immediately jumped over the boat’s rail and into the great sea.
Wen Leyang wanted to jump into the sea too. Zhui Zi hastily stretched out her hand and held on to him. She said smilingly, “You don’t need to do that. I shall get some fish later and prepare dinner for you once again!” Wen Leyang wanted to jump into the sea even more…
Two hours later, Zhui Zi cooped up Wen Shulin who was almost drowning in the sea…
Zhui Zi was constantly joyous, and of course Wen Leyang refused to dampen her joyous spirit. Wen Shulin attempted to mention the calculation result of ‘big flat cake, broken gong, and dog’ that he gained over the past few years, but he was so startled by Zhui Zi’s piteous expression that he dared not discuss further.
The three of them returned to the Nine Peaks Mountain together. The family was safe and sound. The little supreme leader Liu Zheng was fully healed. Hanba Fifth Brother too brought Little Five from the Qinling Mountains back to the Wen family. Red Pot still remained frozen in the ice cube. The siblings, Fei Fei and Xiao Sha were still living on the Nine Peaks Mountain.
After they returned to the village, they immediately went to the chief’s house. Ji Fei and Shui Jing were summoned by Chang Li. The two monks’ faces were filled with anxiousness and honor. They stood straight on one side of the room.
Wen Leyang explained their encounter during their trip to the Black and White Island. Everyone on the scene was a senior generation with extreme intelligence, yet no one could predict what were the few moon cone nail’s descendants doing there. They discussed for a while and the conversation grew messier and messier. So, they left the topic aside temporarily.
Xiao Sha pulled at Wen Shulin. She asked about the situation on the Black and White Island in all seriousness. Fei Fei was on the scene, so of course Wen Shulin did not have the chance to lie. The Black and White Island had been dead silent for the past few years all along. Before Wen Leyang and Zhui Zi’s arrival, no one else had visited.
When Xiao Sha was done interrogating. She exchanged a gaze with Fei Fei. The expression of ‘I told you so’ appeared on his face.
Wen Leyang knew that the siblings were staying on the Nine Peaks Mountain. They were trying to investigate if Red Pot was a friend or foe. He could not refrain himself from asking, “So what is going on with Red Pot?”
Xiao Sha did not answer the question directly. She looked towards Ji Fei and Shui Jing, “Are all of you acquainted with a rogue cultivator named Hu Asi?”
Ji Fei felt that this name sounded slightly familiar. He frowned as he pondered for a moment before he asked, “Is this the Hu Asi who was cultivating at the Daming Lake in the city of Jinan?”
Xiao Sha had yet to speak when the fat monk Shui Jing recalled this person. His expression was filled with pleasure in other people’s misfortune. “This old lad engaged in cultivation until he was possessed by the devil. He had turned mad decades ago. Sometimes he was sinister and evil, while sometimes he was heroic and just. Sometimes he called himself a woman… It was roughly about ten years ago when Hu Asi suddenly lost contact.”
Xiao Sha nodded, “That is correct. After he turned mad he committed some deeds, and caused the death of hundreds of lives! Ten years ago it was Old Gu who captured him personally.
The fat monk Shui Jing still possessed the merciful heart of a Buddhism Sect’s disciple. He was startled upon hearing that, the facial features on his face squeezed into a bunch, “What happened?”
In the eyes of the cultivation world, Hu Asi was just a cultivator who was possessed by the devil and was acting like a lunatic. Yet to the mortal world, this person was a genuine devil. Gu Xiaojun went through all sorts of twists and turns before he managed to capture Hu Asi. Afterward, he used many tricks and finally discovered that Hu Asi suddenly turned mad because he was practicing a crooked way’s cultivation method.
This sect’s cultivation depended on feeding on the human brain in order to refine the ordinary human’s inherent soul power. After Hu Asi cultivated the Art of Devilry he did not achieve much improvement in his cultivation power. Instead, he turned into a genuine lunatic.
Fei Fei too spoke from the side, “When Hu Asi was captured, he had already split into seven or eight independent personalities. We have studied about him before. Even though he only caused harm to ordinary humans, yet only a few of them were inherently gifted in soul power.”
Ji Fei frowned from listening to the conversation, “That is to say, Hu Asi failed to refine the soul power. Yet he invited a wolf into the house… brought disaster upon himself? He was growing a few primordial spirits in his body, and everyone was competing… or taking turns to use his body?”
Fei Fei on the other hand shook her head, “Not really, you still do not understand my explanation. There is only one primordial spirit that belonged to Hu Asi!” Upon saying that she paused for a moment. She watched helplessly as the group of people before her were filled with puzzlement. She could not refrain herself from laughing, “Let me put it this way, he ate the brain to refine the soul. After the primordial spirit was refined, his primordial spirit absorbed another person’s memories. In the end he could not even differentiate who he was actually!”
Mumu had the most contact with modern life and was the most knowledgeable one. She had already understood Fei Fei’s words roughly. Her small face revealed an expression that was at a loss of whether to cry or laugh. “So you’re saying that… Red Pot refined the evil soul, but it turned crazy from that. Occasionally it regarded itself as Red Pot, occasionally it regarded itself as the evil soul?”
Fei Fei finally exhaled a long breath. “That is correct! Moreover, we have inquired from an expert recently. The memories between these two identities of the toad is not connected to one another. That is to say that the evil soul did not know what Red Pot was doing. Red Pot too did not know what the evil soul had done before.”
Red Pot possessed the inherent ability to refine souls. After it surged out of the prohibition spell, its actual power could not be restored all along. Even though the rest of the demon immortals did not mention it, everyone understood in their hearts that Red Pot that had consumed the Centipede Grass. Not that it was not recovering, but it had already recovered to the greatest extent. Or one could say that it was old, it was no longer as impressive as before.
The evil soul was albeit weak and feeble, but it had inherited the power of chaos anyhow. It was not an easy task to refine and dissolve it completely.
The two weak parties fought against one another. Both sides were defeated and wounded. Red Pot did not have the ability to completely refine the evil soul, the evil soul too did not have the ability to seize Red Pot’s abode. The two monsters fought until the end and melted into one primordial soul.
“However…” Xiao Sha waited until the rest of the people gradually understood the situation, only then he continued to speak. “In the final analysis, Red Pot was still at a loss, because he would not be alarmed that he was a toad. Yet when the evil soul saw that it was a toad…”
Wen Leyang did not wait for him to finish speaking before he gave a forced laugh, “The evil soul is capable of understanding the sequence of events that took place, yet Red Pot is still kept in the dark!”
Xiao Sha laughed as he nodded, “This way, the situation with the toad can be clarified. The interchange of the two identities is closely related to the change of the environment. When the toad was back on the Nine Peaks Mountain, it was genuinely Red Pot. It was constantly thinking about looking for Kong Nuer and the nine-headed monster for revenge without a moment’s pause. Naturally it was capable of instructing all of you to search for the immortal grass and the ancient events that it talked about were real. Yet when it left the Nine Peaks Mountain and rushed towards the Black and White Island, it turned into the evil soul. It was also deliberately planning on how to deal with all of you. It was figuring out a way to seek revenge from the Wen family and Kong Nuer. That was why it gifted the three preciouses to the Jilong Sect.
Fei Fei too complemented from the side, “Before Wen Leyang’s return, we have already guessed correctly. All these years, the toad had never gone to the Black and White Island before!”
Wen Shulin hastily nodded, “That is correct, I have one day to stroll around the island every month. Yet I have never seen some unknown toad before.”
“The death of the true soul, the failure of Xiang Liu’s true body to struggle free from the heaven’s cone nails. In the end, these events are closely related to the water element evil soul’s eagerness to gain victory and act on its own by running out of the snake’s head.” Fei Fei’s tone of speaking sounded crisp, there was unspeakable pleasantness in her voice, “The moment the toad approached the Black and White Island, it turned into the evil soul. That evil soul was too ashamed to go back to meet its brothers right now.”
“This theory of yours sounds exciting!” Chang Li’s delicate brows that were frowned all along had gradually relaxed. She stretched out three fingers, “But there are still three more matters that I still cannot quite understand. When it was on the Nine Peaks Mountain, the toad was Red Pot itself, yet the evil soul was capable of calculating precisely on the mountain’s actual power? I thought you said that the memories between the two personalities are not connected?”
The Jilong Sect truly received Red Pot’s three treasured weapons. They were especially used to exercise restraint on the Nine Peaks Mountain. The powers were just perfect. If it were not for Wen Leyang’s accidental return, the Jilong Sect would have already firmly conquered the Nine Peaks Mountain by now.
Xiao Sha intentionally squinted his eyes in suspense. There were only two streaks of seams akin to being pried out using fingernails under his brows. “Since the evil soul was capable of understanding that it was swallowed by Red Pot, naturally it had a way to look for the people in the village to trick some truth out of them after it descended from the mountain.”
The old monk Ji Fei’s expression remained unchanged. He was smiling yet calm. A drop of cold sweat flowed down from the corner of his forehead without his notice. The fat monk Shui Jing straightforwardly gave out an ‘oh no’. He stretched out his hand and patted on his bald head, giving out the muffled sound of a clap. “The toad once asked from both of us in the past…”
Ji Fei immediately broke down. He hastily bent down to make a bow with his hands folded in front. He put on a long face as he said, “We did not know about that beforehand… that Red Pot was mad!”
Zhui Zi giggled, she waved her hand in a generous manner, “All of you are not to be blamed.”
Chang Li did not acknowledge the two monks. She continued to ask Xiao Sha, “The second matter, the toad that we saw, was all the genuine Red Pot. If it did not know about the situation on the Black and White Island, then why did it make up fake stories to deceive us?”
Xiao Sha’s eyes were already indistinguishable if he was squinting or straightforwardly closing them. His sparse brows were raised slightly, “I have discussed this matter with the expert. He said that all those were made up of Red Pot’s own imagination. Not that it was deliberately trying to deceive others. It was because it thought that those were all its personal encounters!” Upon saying that, he stretched out his hand and pointed to his head, “After all, the toad is already mad, it cannot even distinguish who it is. It is very normal for it to fantasize about the imaginative situation.”
Chang Li nodded gently. She tossed out three more questions, “And most importantly, I want to clarify this, in the past four years, what did the evil soul do?”
The toad was already suffering from a psychotic break for four years. It was not on the Nine Peaks Mountain for most of the time, of course it was impossible that it only committed the deed of gifting treasured weapons to the Jilong Sect. Even though no one knew what it did specifically, yet in the final analysis it was related to its effort in seeking revenge from Wen Bucao’s disciples and Kong Nuer.
Fei Fei shrugged her rather skinny and weak shoulders, “This is not a difficult matter to settle. The toad is Red Pot. The evil soul was utterly unaware of everything else that had happened after it had returned to the Nine Peaks Mountain. As long as we made up the same testimony, such that it could not notice any flaws in the testimony, then the remaining effort will still need to invite the few demon immortals to attend to the matter personally. Follow its tracks, then naturally we will be able to find out about its scheme for the past few years.”
Chang Li rolled her eyes. Her gaze swept past the two monks wickedly.
Shui Ji puffed up his chest. He answered in a low muffled voice, “Fairy immortal please be at ease. If I were to reveal any more secrets, the monk will pluck off his head for you!”
The old monk Ji Fei nodded in determination, “That is correct!”
Chang Li burst out laughing. Of course she would not be deceived by the old monk, “If you were to make any more careless mistakes, I am taking the both of your heads.”
Ever since Wen Leyang’s return, Darling Little Five’s face has been filled with excitement. It was as if she had some proud experience that she wanted to share with him. Wen Leyang waited until the matter about Red Pot came to a conclusion. Only then he chuckled as he looked towards her and asked, “What happened, that made you so joyous?”
Unexpectedly Little Five tried to keep Wen Leyang in suspense. She turned her little round face to the side, “Nothing!”
Chang Li sniggered aloud. She shook her head as she diverted the topic of conversation. She stretched out her hand and pointed to the old man Wen Shulin as if she was ordering a meal, “It is your turn. Tell us about the matter of the big flat cake, broken gong, and dog!”
