Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Grand Elder Wen was indeed a man of great experience. When he saw that the almost-dead Wen Leyang had suddenly recovered his full strength, he was only slightly stunned before he asked, “Was it to test Nineteen? Grand Master Chang Li had not gone away to recuperate!” Wen Leyang nodded hastily to his inquiry.
The group passed through the forest and arrived at the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death in the blink of an eye. A few capable and experienced Death Trademark disciples immediately came over to welcome them. These men were the elites of the Death Trademark and had been left behind in the Red Leaves Forest by Fourth Elder Wen. They were in charge of supervising and controlling the people of the other Trademarks and to prevent Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle from escaping.
The Wen family were extremely secretive in their investigation concerning the cultivator who was hiding within the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death. Other than these trusted Death Trademark good hands, nobody within the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death knew about that matter. The Death Trademark’s leader, who was standing guard within the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, nodded slightly at the group. His gesture meant that every disciple of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death was present and no one had escaped.
Fourth Elder Wen’s voice was cold and stern, “Nobody moves until I tell them to!” The old man then glanced at Wen Leyang.
Wen Leyang hastily nodded. His telegnosis ability was able to firmly cover the entire area of the Red Leaves Forest which was not that large to begin with. Unless Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle who was hiding within the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death had abilities like Chang Li or the Cone Nail, he could not escape from the Red Leaves Forest without Wen Leyang noticing.
At this moment, if anyone was to make any suspicious movements, there was no need for the Rainbow Brothers to confirm it, it would definitely be from that obscure cultivator.
Wen Leyang put the little girl down and asked her in a gentle voice, “Where are the corpses? The ones buried underground…”
Before Xiaowu could reply him, the Death Trademark disciples who had been in charge of sealing the wooden houses in the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death suddenly yelled in surprise!
Fourth Elder Wen ruled with an iron hand and the Death Trademark’s good hands were well-trained. Other than Wen Buzuo who loves his mouth more than his life, the other disciples would not even bat an eyelid even if they were to see their own eyeballs fall on the ground. However, those screams were now filled with terror!
At least half of the corpses inside the Life Trademark had leaped up!
There were fake corpses inside the Life Trademark!
Although the movements of the zombies were rigid, they were much faster than an ordinary person. They immediately swarmed like bees out of the wooden house. Wen Leyang’s body flashed as he went forward to meet them but the moment his fist was about to land on the zombies, he suddenly squalled. He then somersaulted and returned to the group before he asked with fright and anger, “What’s the meaning of this!?”
The zombies which had leaped out of the Life Trademark, whether it was their appearance, body figure, or their attire, it clearly showed the others that they were all ancestors from the Wen Family. Even if Wen Leyang had eaten the gallbladder of a leopard, he dared not attack his own ancestors.
The people of the Wen family were surprised and angered. They gritted their teeth until they made grinding noises but they dared not act rashly as they were worried about profaning their ancestors.
Only the little girl Xiaowu sneered. Her body swayed and she pounced without hesitation like an agile young leopard towards the zombies who were running towards the Wen family disciples!
Grand Elder Wen and Fourth Elder Wen turned pale with fear. They then growled in unison, “No!” Wen Leyang did not need to be ordered as he leaped again. He intercepted the little girl Xiaowu in mid-air and the duo dropped to the ground at the same time.
Wen Leyang had a shocked expression. He staggered back several steps before he managed to regain his balance. He had guessed that Xiaowu has unique skills or else Hanba would not have sent her to the Nine Peaks Mountain but he never expected this little girl to be this powerful. In that short space of time, the two of them had exchanged dozens of blows. Wen Leyang, who had not used the Ning Jiao’s sting and the Ning Jiao’s armor but had relied solely on the Faulty Punch, could not gain the upper hand.
Wen Leyang had landed shakily but Xiaowu also fared no better. A pretty red color like dripping blood flashed across her snow-white delicate face. She bit her lip and managed to regain her footing. Although her voice was young, it was domineering as she bellowed sharply, “You ungrateful wretch, again!” She then flipped her long hair and ignored the zombies as she gritted her teeth and pounced towards Wen Leyang.
Even if their ancestors have truly been turned into zombies, the Wen Bucao disciples could not allow anyone else to lay their hands on them. Wen Leyang was of the same thought. With a muffled grunt, he summoned the Ning Jiao’s armor to protect himself. He did not show any weakness as he met the little girl Xiaowu in combat. Just as the two were about to clash, a light laughter which was pleasing to the ear suddenly rang out. Chang Li, who was covered in fragrance, had appeared in the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death from out of the blue. Her movements were as fast as lightning as she ran in a circle around the zombies and sealed all of them within it. She then pulled the two people who were about to brawl apart. Her palms were like white jade as one of them pressed the little girl’s head while the other pushed Wen Leyang’s chest as she laughed, “Don’t fight yet, don’t fight yet. Please explain everything first!”
When the group of Wen Bucao disciples saw that Grand Master Chang Li had appeared and that the zombies were temporarily under control, they could not help but sigh in relief.
Xiaowu struggled a few times but she could not get past Chang Li’s palm. She then stopped resentfully and spoke spitefully to Wen Leyang, “Indiscriminate fellow! These aren’t zombies at all! They aren’t even dead men! I was born in a corpse pit, can they deceive me?”
Wen Leyang exclaimed in understanding but Chang Li was slightly confused. A cute question mark was pressed between her brows. She squatted down and asked Xiaowu with a smile, “What do you mean?”
Xiaowu had only wanted to help but she was then wrongly stopped by Wen Leyang. She had wanted to attack him out of rage. Now that Chang Li was willing to hear her case and that she was also as beautiful as a fairy, Xiaowu felt an indescribable friendliness and love when she looked at her. The resentment quickly surged up into her little face and a few unconcealable sobs were heard in her tone as she said, “He’s done me wrong! These things aren’t fake corpses, nor are they zombies!”
When she saw that Xiaowu’s eyes were red, Chang Li’s own eyes also reddened. She nodded strongly and glared at Wen Leyang.
Wen Leyang quickly hid behind Grand Elder Wen.
Xiaowu, upon obtaining Chang Li’s support, also increased her volume, “They’ll know if they had allowed me to kill one! These dirty things are under the Art of Corpse, that’s why they’ve become what they are now!”
The expressions of the two Wen elders changed. They were afraid that Chang Li would agree to Xiaowu’s request.
It was not that they did not believe Xiaowu’s words but they dared not gamble with the bodies of their ancestors. The way they saw it, although the ancestors’ fake corpses were frightening, it does not seem to be anything serious. They would continue to tend to the dead which were lying down on the ground while the fake corpses could run around the world and they would not mind, they just could not let anyone harm them.
As expected, Chang Li did not even look at the expressions of the Wen family elders. She nodded gracefully and said to Xiaowu with a smile, “Then you go and try but… If you’re wrong, I’ll have to tear you apart and offer you up as a memorial for the dead of the Wen family. Even Hanba can’t protect you then!”
Chang Li’s tone was mild and gentle. To the casual listener, it sounded like a big sister who was trying to persuade a little child to eat an apple.
Xiaowu was startled and jumped a little, her reaction was somewhat delayed. She now understands that Chang Li was not some goddess who had come down to earth, she was at most a demon lady or a flying immortal. Xiaowu gritted her teeth as she nodded. She then quickly flew towards the nearest zombie. Her dexterous fingers were like a chisel as they poked between the zombie’s brows, sinking in until her fingers could not be seen at all. The zombie howled suddenly, its body shuddered and almost convulsed into a ball. After a brief moment, a puff of black smoke dispersed and left only a bone and the remains of a talisman which had lost its effect on the ground.
Chang Li exclaimed in surprise. With her cultivation base, ordinary magic spells could not escape from her telegnosis ability. However, a magic trick like this which turned a bone into a corpse was so dishonest that she had not been able to notice it beforehand. Also, although this kind of magic was peculiar, it has no practical use in combat. Even for the likes of Ji Fei and Shui Jing, when faced with these ‘zombies’, they could kill many of them with a single strike of their magic powers.
Xiaowu finally proved her good intentions. She pouted her little red lips and mumbled as she pointed at the other zombies that were trapped by Chang Li, “These zombies are all like that. They’re all made from human bones, they’re not their ancestors at all!”
The faces of the two Wen family elders who were present were so cold that they almost froze over. First Uncle Wen Tunhai was no better. He braced his fists until his knuckles cracked as he asked with rage, “Where are the ancestors’ bodies then!!?”
The bodies which had been kept within the Life Trademark had all turned into bones. Therefore, where had the un-decayed bodies of their ancestors gone?
Xiaowu pointed at an empty patch of land at the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death’s edge. Fourth Elder Wen growled as he brought some men and rushed to the site. They started to dig around carefully. After a short moment, a hysterical and sorrowful wail rose from Fourth Elder Wen’s mouth! The expressions of all the Wen Bucao disciples including Wen Leyang also changed instantly. The corpses buried in the ground were rigid and ice cold but the Wen family disciples could easily recognize them as their ancestors based on their attire!
The corpse pit had been surrounded with magic talismans to seal the poison within the corpses of the Wen Bucao’s ancestors.
The bodies had been switched into an Art of Devilry refined by bones while the real bodies had been buried underground ground. Needless to say, the faces of the Wen Bucao had been rubbed in the dirt this time!
Fourth Elder Wen’s eyes were bloodshot as his whole body shuddered. Grand Elder Wen had been his brother for a lifetime so he immediately knew what his youngest brother wanted to do. He shouted fiercely and mercilessly hit Fourth Elder Wen on the head. “If you want to apologize to the ancestors, you should find the culprit first. After you have butchered that *sshole, Second Brother, Third Brother and I would give you your due beating, you little b*stard!”
As the master of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, Fourth Elder Wen was arrogant and aloof. Before this, it would not have occurred even in his wildest dreams that half of the ancestors’ bodies in the Life Trademark would be switched by someone else. He felt so dejected that he was about to explode. He stared at Grand Elder Wen with bloodshot eyes as his mouth made chattering sounds, gnashing his own teeth until they shattered!
The teeth fragments broke his skin and flesh. A thin strip of magenta-colored blood trickled in a crooked pattern down the edge of Fourth Elder Wen’s lips.
There was a soft noise of a swinging hinge and Wen Xiaoyi ran over quickly. She pulled on Fourth Elder Wen’s hand and her big eyes were full to the brim with tears. She saw that Fourth Elder Wen was torn by grief so she had no time to bother about the rule of not being able to see Wen Leyang.
Grand Elder Wen did not reprimand her either. Instead, he smiled at the young lady. The Wen family have a lot of rules but each generation of elders understood that the biggest rule amongst the Wen Bucao was the mutual affection within the family! In the eyes of the Wen Bucao, there were no worlds, there were no other people, nor was there any right or wrong; there was only affinity to their own family!
At this moment, the door hinge creaked again. An old man poked his head out timidly as bewilderment and terror flickered within his murky eyes.
A Death Trademark’s elite yelled, “Wen Shulin, return…”
He was cut short by Fourth Elder Wen’s sharp voice, “Silence!” Almost at the same time, Grand Elder Wen’s gaze also turned sharp. Like a malicious knife, it mercilessly stabbed into the old face beside the wooden door as he asked in a low voice, “It was you?”
Wen Leyang could not help but exchange a glance with Wen Xiaoyi. The eyes of the young couple were flickering with bewilderment. Within the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, other than Fourth Elder Wen, Wen Xiaoyi and the two men who had been brought up by wild beasts, the only other person that Wen Leyang had some impression of was this old man.
He was the one who had given Wen Xiaoyi the blunderbuss and was the one who had fainted out of shock when he had seen the fake corpses of the ‘eight ancestral generations’. It was Wen Shulin of the Life Trademark!
The fake zombies have come from the morgues of the Life Trademark but the ‘eight ancestral generations’ had been real…
Wen Shulin’s voice does not sound like a cultivator’s. Instead, his voice was very weak. It was unknown whether it was because of his advanced age or if it was out of fear, his hoarse voice shook endlessly as he said, “I… I haven’t profaned the ancestors of your family… I’ve just… Asked them to change their place, rest… Rest in peace underground…”
Fourth Elder Wen did not wait for him to finish before he suddenly yelled, “Under your f*cking ground!” He was like an angry dried bat as he howled shrilly and pounced forward! Grand Elder Wen also leaped and followed behind his younger brother.
If it had not been for Shui Jing’s Mountain-Searching Spell which had unintentionally discovered the hidden obscure cultivator or the person in the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death who had changed the setting of the Wen village thirty years ago, the elders of the Wen family would never had thought that Wen Shulin, who looked as if he would die at any moment, was the sought-after obscure cultivator from the Heaven-Telling Sect.
As the other party was an obscure cultivator, Wen Leyang was worried that Fourth Elder Wen would suffer a loss so he prepared to rush forward. However, Chang Li unexpectedly stopped him. She shook her head and said in a low voice, “Don’t worry, he has no life vitality!”
Wen Leyang knitted his brows. Even Wei Mo knows how to cultivate Qi, he also had a nimble body and sturdy bones but Wen Shulin does not even have an ounce of cultivation base?
At this time, Fourth Elder Wen has pounced forth like a strong wind as he raised his fist and punched firmly on Wen Shulin’s face. If it had not been for Grand Elder Wen who reminded him just in time not to kill Wen Shulin, Fourth Elder Wen would not have reduced the strength of his punch to half and would have shattered Wen Shulin’s head in one hit.
Just as Chang Li had said, Wen Shulin could not evade that attack. Fourth Elder Wen’s punch landed squarely on him and he squalled as he somersaulted into the house. The two Wen family elders also rushed into the house after him…
A series of thumping sounds soon mingled into a mess. At first, they could hear someone begging for mercy but after that, there was only yelling. In the end, only Grand Elder Wen’s voice was heard as he said, “Poison him, poison him, just don’t kill him!”
Suddenly, a great sound which was loud enough to shake the heavens came from Wen Shulin’s mouth. The entire Red Leaves Forest then quieted down.
Wen Xiaoyi had hidden behind Wen Leyang all this while. She poked her head out from behind him and carefully scrutinized Wen Shulin’s rickety wooden house.
After a brief moment, Grand Elder Wen’s voice rang out again, “I’ll give him the antidote now, we’ll continue after he wakes up!”
They heard Wen Shulin sigh as he slowly woke up. Fourth Elder Wen then snorted and there were sounds of him administering the poison. Wen Shulin then squalled again before he fainted which was soon followed by the sound of Grand Elder Wen detoxifying him using the bamboo needles… These sounds were repeated in that order over and over again.
The Wen family disciples outside the house were utterly quiet, nobody dared to speak. The little girl Xiaowu had initially listened with interest but she decided to cover her ears soon after. She frowned as she sat on the side and did not dare to listen to this any longer.
The three old men had tussled for almost four hours before Grand Elder Wen and Fourth Elder Wen towed Wen Shulin out with satisfied looks on their faces. Fourth Elder Wen’s expression was much better but Wen Shulin’s complexion was uglier than death…
Chang Li looked at Wen Shulin with interest, “You’re the Martial Uncle of Wei Mo from Heaven-Telling Sect? You can predict everything, even the world’s situation?”
Wen Shulin only has half his life left. He managed a nod, “That’s right! I’m from the Heaven-Telling Sect…”
Chang Li was still all smiles when she suddenly flashed beside Wen Shulin. She then reached out and mercilessly plucked Wen Shulin’s nose!
Wen Shulin’s body jumped suddenly and he squalled like a pig being butchered. Wen Xiaoyi also tossed her blunderbuss casually on the ground and said with contempt, “An object given by a person who has profaned the ancestors’ bodies, I don’t want it!” She then stomped on it twice with her foot before Wen Leyang hastily pulled her away. He had clearly seen with his telegnosis ability just now that Wen Xiaoyi’s blunderbuss was filled with Thunder’s Heart Sand. It was one thing to not want the blunderbuss but it was another thing if the blunderbuss had misfired.
Chang Li’s expression was slightly gloomy, “I thought you’ve disguised yourself? Your nose is real!” She threw the nose in her hand away as she said that. She then stretched out two spring onion-like fingers and slightly furrowed her brows, as if she was thinking whether she should go for the eyes or the mouth.
Wen Shulin finally understood that a single hair from this beautiful lady in front of him was a thousand times more merciless than the fierce-looking master of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death. He pressed a hand against his nose and his body shuddered as he tried to defend himself weakly, “I do not dare to profane the bodies of the Wen ancestors. I took a bath and burned incense for prayers each time before I moved them…”
There was a certain gloominess in Chang Li’s expression as if Wen Shulin does not understand her at all, “I’m not a blind person, of course I can see that those corpses were all protected by magic.” Chang Li was halfway through her sentence when she suddenly changed her tone. She summoned a sharpness which covered the heavens out of nowhere and said, word by word, in a low voice, “I’m blaming you because you clearly knew that you were a bane and there would be no tranquility wherever you are. However, before you hid within Red Leaves Forest, you had leaked the information to others! Every single life the Wen family had lost at the hands of the Sun Dynasty Palace are on your head! You’re lucky, not many people know that you’re hiding on the Nine Peaks Mountain. If Xiang Liu was to discover that you’re on Nine Peaks Mountain, do you think that there would still be anyone left alive here?”
Wen Leyang was initially uncomfortable with Chang Li’s violent methods but after he heard her words, he also narrowed his eyes slightly.
However, Wen Leyang was surprised when Grand Elder Wen lifted his arm and stopped Chang Li, “Although he was the initiator of evil, an unintended fault does not warrant his death. Besides, the Sun Dynasty Palace is done for and the grudges of those disciples have already… May you have mercy…”
Chang Li frowned as she glanced at Grand Elder Wen. She then curled her lips, “Why are all his descendant disciples like this, why is there a need to be so particular about these matters!?” She then paused for a moment before her tone regained its usual playfulness, “I was trying to see if he had disguised himself by tearing off his nose…” She looked at Wen Shulin, “Are you truly Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle?”
Wen Shulin was nodding when he noticed that Chang Lis bright eyes had locked onto his ears. He was intelligent enough and he made no more silly mistakes as he hastily squalled, “This is a magic art, the nose is still my nose, only its shape has been changed. Even if you were to tear my entire face off, it wouldn’t be of any use!”
Everyone present was well-versed with the cultivation world, even Wen Leyang understood that Wen Shulin was an important person to their cause. The fewer people know of him the better. Although the seven fat men were outside the forest, it would be best if they did not know too much as well. Now that Wen Shulin was in front of their eyes, there must be some other way to examine him.
It was at this moment that Wen Tunhai suddenly laughed, “The way I see it, this Wen Shulin is a fake. Wei Mo’s Martial Uncle was said to be able to predict the world’s situations. If that’s true, how could he not foresee that such a great calamity was upon him!? Moreover, this cultivator is no better than an ordinary person!”
“That’s right, he had not foreseen that misfortune would befall his nose.” Chang Li was all smiles. She tilted her head as she scrutinized Wen Shulin’s facial features, “Hurry, you better do a telling now. Otherwise, I wonder if your next unlucky facial feature is your left eye or your right ear?”
Wen Shulin hastily pled innocence in a loud voice, “Telling the world’s situation isn’t what you guys think…” He then paused without even thinking of covering his nose this time. He was so anxious that he only rubbed his palms together. He was worried that his ear would suffer if he did not explain himself clearly, “For example, if you want me to foretell what Zhang Sanjia would eat today, you must bring me to Zhang Sanjia’s kitchen first. Even if I was to go to his kitchen, I might not be able to tell what’s for dinner, I might only be able to tell what place this kitchen was a hundred years ago, how many people had died here or when this kitchen will collapse!”
Wen Leyang and Chang Li exchanged a strange look. Wen Leyang then asked Wen Shulin probingly, “You mean that… you can’t foretell anything that you want to foretell but you can only start telling with what you have in front of you? Also, you can’t say for sure beforehand what you would be able to tell from it?”
Wen Shulin saw that he had understood and heaved a relieved sigh. He wiped the abundant blood on his face as he said, “If I’m in the kitchen, the things I can tell would mostly be connected to the kitchen. However, as for the directions of the things I’ll be able to foretell, I don’t know that myself.”
Wen Leyang shook his head, “Your Martial Nephew Wei Mo had helped me by foretelling the route to exit the mountain while we were at the mountainside! It’s like setting a question first before guessing the answer!”
Guo Huan also chimed in, “They even found me while they were at it! Could it be that your cultivation base is inferior to Wei Mo’s?”
Wen Shulin frowned in confusion. He first asked about the process of how Wen Leyang had dug through the mountain with Wei Mo’s help. His face then showed a disdainful expression and he wanted to snort but he suddenly realized that his nose had disappeared and he could not snort, “That’s him being lucky! He wanted to foretell the way out of the mountainside but he foretold the other… That… The other god It was obvious that he had made some deviations. Also, you dug your way out but how do you know that it’s the shortest route!? You can go back and measure it. If that’s the shortest route, I’ll cut my head off to serve as your toilet bowl!” As he said this, Wen Shulin’s temper as an obscure cultivator rose up again, “With Wei Mo’s abilities, what can he foretell? I can tell without you telling me he must’ve set a clear goal first before he started his calculations on what he wants to foretell. If the world’s situations could be calculated like that then something must be wrong. Nothing can deceive the Heaven-Telling Sect. If he could calculate that, then he’s a living god…”
Chang Li was bored of all this listening and waved an arm in front of Wen Shulin to cut him short. Wen Shulin was so frightened that he fell to the ground. Chang Li was amused by him and chuckled, “Enough of this nonsense. First, you do a telling for me. If it’s accurate, you can then keep your ear!”
