Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Fang Zhengzhi’s body shook.
Nothing was scarier than witnessing the sudden opening of the eyes of a dead person.
Although he did not see how Zhang Yangping was killed with his own eyes, the hole of blood on Zhang Yangping’s throat was extremely obvious.
Even a powerful individual of the Rebirth State would be severely injured after having their throat penetrated by a sword, what more for Zhang Yangping, an ordinary villager?
How could he still be alive?
A drop of cold sweat dripped from Fang Zhengzhi’s forehead. He suddenly felt chills behind his back, as though there were pairs of eyes staring at him.
Then, an even more exaggerated scene took place in front of him.
After Zhang Yangping opened his eyes, he sat up quickly from the ground. Although there were blood stains on his throat, he smiled as though he was heartened.
“Zhengzhi, you are finally back?” Zhang Yangping’s mouth opened and his voice was extremely clear, as though he was whispering right beside Fang Zhengzhi’s ears.
“Ah…” Fang Zhengzhi did not believe in ghosts. However, the scene in front of him stunned him as he stepped back out of fear.
At this moment, he saw the villagers’ shocked expressions as they continuously shouted beside his ears.
Wu Yuer too.
It was evident that Wu Yuer was very nervous. She shook him with one hand while uttering some words that he could not make out.
“What’s wrong, Zhengzhi, I am Uncle Yangping. Zhengzhi… Your Dad and I miss you, we miss you a lot…” Zhang Yangping’s voice sounded again.
Furthermore, as he spoke, Zhang Yangping started to crawl towards Fang Zhengzhi with his black eyes like the abyss of hell.
“Uncle Yangping…” Fang Zhengzhi’s body shook again and felt the chills behind his back. Meanwhile, he took a glance at the surrounding villagers.
He could tell from the villagers’ expressions that they were very concerned. However, what was strange was that none of them noticed that Zhang Yangping had woken up, or rather, nobody saw Zhang Yangping crawling towards him with his eyes opened.
“Zhengzhi, the evil demons came. They killed Li’er and was about to kill all of the villagers in the Northern Mountain Village. Zhengzhi, you have to take revenge for Li’er, they killed Li’er, my Li’er… No, wait a minute, you can’t take revenge. The evil demons are too powerful, you definitely can’t take revenge.” Zhang Yangping crawled to the front of Fang Zhengzhi, places one of his hand on Fang Zhengzhi’s hand and talked to himself.
This time round, Fang Zhengzhi did not dodge.
That was because Zhang Yangping mentioned about the evil demons and his son Zhang Li, the current Deputy Captain of the Hunting Team of the Northern Mountain Village, the chap with a muscular built.
“Uncle Yangping!” Fang Zhengzhi’s eyes welled up in tears as memories flashed past his mind. He remembered that he first met Zhang Yangping on the Cang Ling Mountain.
He was only seven years old then and had just joined the Hunting Team of the Southern Mountain Village. He was rivals with Zhang Yangping of the Northern Mountain Village and fought with each other for the animals in the region surrounding the Cang Ling Mountain.
However, their relationship turned out to be similar to that of a father and son.
Zhang Yangping had lent a helping hand to Fang Zhengzhi’s family when they were struggling. He gave them a new living environment and supported everything he did. He had invested all the savings of the Northern Mountain Village on Fang Zhengzhi. The efforts he had put in to support Fang Zhengzhi was even more than what he did to his son Zhang Li.
“Zhengzhi, I’m glad that you are back. With your presence, the Northern Mountain Village will be safe and sound and the evil demons will not dare to invade us anymore. Uncle Yangping can finally leave in peace.” Zhang Yangping held Fang Zhengzhi’s hands tight and gave him a look of admiration.
“Uncle Yangping, do you know…”
“Hmm, Uncle Yangping knows, of course I do. Yes, I am already dead, I can’t drink and dine with you and Houde anymore.”
“Uncle Yangping…”
“Don’t cry, Zhengzhi. You are the pride of our entire village. Without you, the Northern Mountain Village would not have prospered and we would have probably all starved to death a few years ago. You must stay strong and live on, stay strong and live on for the Northern Mountain Village!” At this point in time, Zhang Yangping looked into the sky before his body disappeared gradually as though he had “dissolved” into thin air.
“Uncle Yangping, Uncle Yangping!!!” Fang Zhengzhi pounced forward and wanted to hold on to Zhang Yangping but to no avail.
Then, a wave of intense pain surged from his heart like floodwaters that flowed into his brain.
The world in front of him changed again. It was still black and white but it felt completely different like before, as though nothing had happened at all.
Zhang Yangping was still lying on the ground like before with his eyes closed and un-dried blood stains on his throat, as though he had not moved at all.
“Uncle Yangping!” Fang Zhengzhi shouted again.
“Zhengzhi, Zhengzhi, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Zhengzhi, can you hear Auntie? Zhengzhi, don’t scare Auntie!”
“Zheng’er… Zheng’er what’s wrong with you?”
The villagers including Fang Houde and Wu Yuer were desperately yelling beside Fang Zhengzhi’s ears. However, he could neither hear or feel them.
Moreover, the strangest thing was…
He saw another shadow on the bodies of the villagers, Fang Houde and Wu Yuer. It was constantly present and had intertwined with their bodies.
“What is happening? What’s wrong with me?” Fang Zhengzhi’s heart felt extremely heavy, as though there was a gigantic mountain rock pressing down on his chest that prevented him from breathing. He could feel his own breath but he could not hear the sound of it.
Not only was he unable to hear the sound of his breath, but he was also unable to hear anything, including the wind, footsteps, rustling of the grass…
All sounds disappeared.
The only thing left in the world was an intertwined black and white.
Following that, Fang Zhengzhi felt that his entire body had become light, as though he was slowly floating up to the sky of the Northern Mountain Village.
In the sky, he looked at the villagers beneath. Suddenly, he felt that the villagers were crying and their cries seemed to originate from their spirits.
Boom! A loud but neat sound was heard.
A row of figures appeared at the entrance of the Northern Mountain Village. The leader was a general with his whole body covered in a black cloak and riding on a beast that was covered in scales.
“Vice Domain Chief, they seemed to have discovered our whereabouts?”
“…”
“…”
“Little Radish will protect the village and will never allow these villains to hurt Uncle Fang and Auntie Qin, Little Radish is brave…”
“…”
The scenes kept changing as though the villagers’ spirits were conveying the entire sequence of events to Fang Zhengzhi.
“No! Mister Mo Cheng, no!” Fang Zhengzhi wanted to stop Mister Mo Cheng from being killed by the Vice Domain Chief of the Demon Race in front of his eyes, but he could not do so.
“Ah…”
“Uncle Yangping, Uncle Yangping don’t go!”
“Ah, I will fight till my death with you evil demons!”
“…”
“Yun Qingwu, Yun Qingwu!!!” A violent rage surged from Fang Zhengzhi’s heart and he felt extremely painful, as though he was being burnt by intense flames.
“Ah!!! Yun Qingwu, I am going to take revenge!!!”
Plop! Fang Zhengzhi’s head dropped and all the images disappeared completely. The world was no longer black and white but instead turned completely black without a trace of light.
“…”
“Zhengzhi, Zhengzhi, what’s wrong with you?!”
“Hurry, help, Zhengzhi fainted, he fainted!”
The villagers started shouting as Fang Zhengzhi had collapsed on the corpse of Zhang Yangping and spat out a mouthful of blood.
“Hurry, get him into the room to rest, his anxiety must have attacked his heart!”
“Be careful, very careful…”
…
Nighttime approached.
The Northern Mountain Village was not a busy town. On normal days, when night approached, there would not be too much light or movements as villagers tend to go to bed early in preparation for the next day’s morning work.
However, the Northern Mountain Village was different today. Almost every family lit up their oil lamp and nobody slept in early.
Meanwhile, a crowd had gathered in front of the Fang family in the small courtyard. Everyone stretched their necks and waited in anxiety.
“Why are there no updates?”
“When will Zhengzhi wake up?”
“Sigh… The Village Chief has brought Zhengzhi’s family to the Northern Mountain Village. However, the first thing Zhengzhi saw when he returned was the corpse of the Village Chief. How could he possibly cope with this sudden turn of events?”
The villagers discussed quietly. Everyone was saddened but nobody dared to enter the small courtyard and disturb the Fang family.
Meanwhile, in the small courtyard of the Fang family, Wu Yuer sat quietly beside the bed and watched Fang Zhengzhi with a face of anxiety and concern.
“Yu’er, Auntie Qin has woken up.” Fang Houde’s voice was heard. It was not loud but very clear.
However, Wu Yuer continued to sit beside Fang Zhengzhi’s bed, as though as she did not hear him.
“Zheng’er, how’s Zheng’er?!” At this moment, Qin Xuelian’s voice was heard and she rushed over.
Wu Yuer’s body shook and she finally turned towards the entrance of the house. She bit her lips as she saw the pale face of Qin Xuelian.
“Auntie, did Yun Qingwu bring the Demon soldiers over? Tell me, did she?”
“Yes!” Qin Xuelian nodded.
“This despicable Yun Qingwu, despicable!” Wu Yuer gritted her teeth and her heart palpitated with anger as a chilling gaze flashed in her black eyes.
“Yu’er, we won’t be able to win. She is the Demon Young Lord. I only can hope for Zheng’er to wake up quickly, my Zheng’er…” Qin Xuelian walked to the bedside as she spoke, sobbing uncontrollably as she saw Fang Zhengzhi with his eyes shut.
“Xuelian, why are you crying again right after you woke up? I told you not to come in but you insisted to…” Fang Houde hugged Qin Xuelian in one hand, his eyes welled up with tears as he spoke.
“Alright, I won’t cry. As long as Zheng’er is still alive, as long as our family has reunited. I won’t cry, yes, I won’t cry…”
“Yuer, you mentioned that one of your masters was proficient in medicine?” Fang Houde tapped Qin Xuelian’s shoulder and turned to Wu Yuer.
“Hmm, I have already sent a letter to him, it should arrive in about a few days’ time.” Wu Yuer nodded and took out a small jade bottle from her chest. “Uncle Fang, I have a Nourishing Pill, do you happen to have hot water in the room?”
“Yes yes yes, I will get the hot water right away.” Fang Houde immediately nodded and looked at Qin Xuelian. “Xuelian, go and rest in the room, please don’t cry again.”
“Should I get the hot water?”
“No, you should rest. I will go!”
“…”
…
The night passed quickly. The morning sun shone on the village.
At the entrance of the courtyard of the Fang family, the villagers were still waiting patiently. Although nobody went in to disturb, some villagers had brought porridge and breakfast over.
“Brother Fang, Sister Qin, I have brought some breakfast, please have some?”
“Thank you Sister Lee.” Fang Houde ran out of the house quickly. Although he had bad dark eye circles, he quickly accepted the bamboo basket from the lady. Then, something struck him. “How is Little Radish? Does he know that his parents…”
“Little Radish is with Sister Wang. Now that both Village Chief and A Li had passed on, Sister Wang decided to adopt Little Radish as her grandson,” The lady who was addressed as Sister Lee sighed.
“Hmm, that is the best plan.” Fang Houde nodded and continued, “I have to trouble Sister Lee with the funeral for Village Chief. I will go over to help after I finish my breakfast with Xuelian. No matter what, we have to settle the funeral properly for Mister Mo Cheng and Village Chief.”
“Everyone had already discussed about this. Now that both Village Chief and A Li has passed on, we have to trouble Brother Fang to overlook the village. We know that Zhengzhi is still in a coma right now, and Princess is… However, our village is in a mess right now, we…”
“Sister Lee, please stop. I understand. I am familiar with the things happening in the village as after all, I have been managing the things with Brother Yangping all these years. Since the villagers trust me, I will definitely take on the job!” Towards the end of his sentence, Fang Houde looked into his house and sighed deeply.
At this moment, a sound was heard from the entrance of the Northern Mountain Village. The ground shook and loud ‘neigh’ sounds of the horse was heard.
Rumble!
The rumble caused the expressions of Fang Houde and the villagers of the Northern Mountain Village to change. They looked at each other in horror.
“The evil… evil demons are back?!”
