Chang Li squinted her eyes as she thought for a moment. She continued to explain to Mumu, “The ghost’s flesh is formed from a decayed skeleton and grew into the shape of a mushroom under the constant influence of the vitality energy around it. However, the sinful aura of the corpse is gathered outside on the land of evil spirits. The mushroom itself will never grow into an evil spirit, nor become a demon.”
Wen Leyang was the last to understand. He nodded his head, “I also felt that it was weird, who could build a temple in that place.”
Mumu’s mind was preoccupied with her thoughts of Ah Dan, yet she did not know what to ask. Her expression was beyond anxious.
“The ghost’s flesh under the constant influence of the vitality energy, would slowly turn into a mushroom, but at the final moment, little girl do you know what shape would it turned into?” Chang Li peered once at Mumu with a spurious smile, “It will turn into the form of a human, with blood and flesh, nerves, bones and, even hair, teeth and eyeballs. However, it will never walk or move or grow or think. It is just an undead and unalive living dead!”
Even though the sun was shining high above their heads, the grasses were tall and the nightingales were in the air, Wen Leyang and the few others immediately they felt their goosebumps erupted over their entire bodies as they recalled the ghastly underground cave under the broken temple and that they were faced not with a stretch of mushroom field but a group of living dead with ghastly pale skin. Luckily the Second Mother and her people entered the temple earlier. Otherwise, if they entered after the ghost’s flesh turned into human forms, the Qing Miao clansmen’s appetite would be greatly reduced.
Chang Li’s smile melted off the eerie gloomy feeling in time, “When the ghost’s flesh turns into human form, it is still a dead being. But if it is used to cultivate a soul, then it will be the perfect place for the primordial soul to grow up together with the ghost’s flesh. The day the mushroom has finally taken the form of a human, then the person will be considered alive once again!”
“How about Ah Dan?” The three youngsters asked simultaneously.
Chang Li peered once at the bald little guy that was riding on the galloping pony in the Wen family village, her expression was rather baffling to the others, “The mushrooms were unintentionally destroyed by all of you. That primordial soul that had yet to be fully grown, it had no spiritual intelligence and only had a little soul power. From the zombie baby’s point of view, it was the best nourishment for him! It seems to me, in another year and a half A Dan, shall decently become alive! However…”
Chang Li’s abrupt turning point froze the surprise expressions of the three youngsters. “The resurrection of a dead person is bound to be damned by the wrath of gods!”
Wen Leyang suddenly felt that after Chang Li’s travel from around the world, she had cultivated the character of Wen Buzuo. She slowly and patiently spoke the sentences even though the three of them were so eager to know. Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu asked in unison, “What do you mean by the wrath of gods?”
Chang Li felt rather helpless. She muttered to herself, “They really don’t know anything!” She continued to explain, “The wrath of gods is also known as the god’s punishment! Should the primordial spirit be resurrected from the ghost’s flesh, the entire land of evil spirits would help him to bear the burden of the god’s punishment. The ghost’s flesh had always cohabited with the land of evil spirits, when the wrath of gods was upon them, the land of evil spirits would naturally try to share his burden, but Ah Dan could not, he had the power of the soul, so the day he is resurrected will be the day the god’s punishment arrived!”
Wen Leyang questioned closely, “How bad is the god’s punishment?” The truth was that even if he did not ask, he would know that the god’s punishment was not a light-hearted matter. However, the matter involved Ah Dan, this vague and insubstantial matter must surely be quantified, so they could be well prepared, for example, they could build a high-grade alloy structured insulation box or something.
Chang Li shook her head, and explained honestly, “I don’t know that either, the matter of god’s punishment differs for each individual. Some can be big while some can be small, but the resurrection of the dead is equal to overthrowing the Yin and Yang forces of nature, it will not be mild.” Upon saying that, she suddenly broke into a smile, “Since it is still too early to tell, we shall not think too much on this matter. When the supposed day is upon us, I will come with the two little rabbits to offer our help, hey, the few of us combined makes almost a million-year worth of cultivation. How difficult can it be for us to help bear the burden of the god’s punishment.”
Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu simultaneously heaved a sigh of relief. Their gaze towards her was filled with admiration, gratitude, and also the complaint of ‘You should have told us this earlier’.
Wen Leyang thought of a backup plan too, “That primordial soul, was it planted in by a human, or did it ran into the ghost’s flesh itself?” He halted for a moment and told Chang Li of the story of how the big and small demon rabbit were injured.
Chang Li, on the other hand, was not too surprised, “Of course it was planted in by a cultivator, the primordial soul was already broken beyond repair. The body was certainly blasted into pieces by some strong spell, perhaps it was the relatives or perhaps it was the fellow disciples that protected his primordial soul and planted it into the mushroom. I am not sure if the two injured little rabbit are related to this matter though.” As she was talking she smiled, her eyes were glimmering with the glow of cheekiness, “Let’s wait until you are done with the matter of marrying your wife, we shall pay a visit to the temple and ask the both of them.”
In Chang Li’s heart, even if the sky were to fall upon them now, she would not miss witnessing the great show put up by the One Word Palace.
Wen Leyang continued to pester nonstop, “But that doesn’t seem right either, why is the person who planted the soul not guarding in the temple. By any chance, anyone who enters can accidentally destroy the mushroom.”
Chang Li grew impatient, she raised her nose into the air and sniffed and cheered up at once. “It’s the sweet scent of fish!” Following that she explained in the speed of a machine gun, “Most people will not enter the land of evil spirits, even if they were to enter, they are unable to touch the soul-growing mushroom. I thought someone from your Wen family tried to hold the mushroom and was almost drained into a human jerky. It was only the set of strange and unusual Faulty Punch left behind by him that could break the spell, only then you could destroy that mushroom.” Upon saying that, she did not bother to turn around as she leaped and hopped towards the kitchen with a delighted expression.
Chang Li had only opened the kitchen’s door; when a rough voice broke out in a torrent of abuse from the inside, “Get out! I hate it when people come in and disturb me when I am cooking!”
Wen Leyang was so shocked he threw away his carrot. He was preparing to dash into the kitchen to rescue the chef. Yet, unexpectedly, the majestic-looking Chang Li was flattering a smile, trying to speak into the house, “Please continue, please continue, I dare not disturb you, please continue to cook well, cook the fish scrumptiously alright? Please put less chili on it.”
“Go away quickly, I will not be instructed around when I cook.”
Chang Li retreated. She stuck out her tongue towards the three youngsters in a playful and cheeky manner, her huge eyes were overflowing with saliva…
In the next few days, Chang Li stayed comfortably in the Wen family village, when she was free she would roam around the village while humming to the tune of ‘Persian Cat’. Other than Wen Leyang, Wen Xiaoyi and Mumu, she did not speak to the others. Sometimes she would look the others in the eyes, and that was considered her courtesy.
Wen Leyang asked Chang Li, on a few attempts, of whether she managed to trace back on any clues about the grand master Tuoxie in the past year and a half. Chang Li utterly refused to acknowledge him. This great grandmother of his had a serious cat-like behavior in her bones. One needed not to ask of what she wished to speak, yet what she refused to speak she would be too lazy to even elaborate insincerely.
Not long after, the Second Mother brought along little Chi Maojiu and a few surviving master cultivators in the Miao stockade village and rushed over to the Nine Peaks Mountain and solemnly paid their respects to the grand master grandmother. Chang Li gave a few sincerely praises towards the Second Mother. If it wasn’t for this woman, the two words of Miao Bujiao would not be heard in the world right now.
The Second Mother and little Chi Maojiu were exceptionally affectionate when they met up with Wen Leyang and Mumu. She vowed to send a few Qing Miao women to him as a gift. Wen Leyang became anxious, he was thinking in his heart that you could say this as a joke with me but you should not say it in front of Mumu here.
Mumu pulled along Wen Xiaoyi’s hand as she looked towards Wen Leyang smilingly, “I don’t care, you can take them if you like them.”
Wen Buzuo rubbed his palms together aside, he was almost salivating as he smiled towards the Second Mother, “Second Mother, on our Nine Peaks Mountain, other than Wen Leyang there are other good lads around here too. I am the grown up here and I don’t have a wife yet…”
The Second Mother muttered to herself for a while, “We, the Qing Miao women do not have particular care towards anything, except that our husband must be a real man.”
Wen Buzuo slapped on his thigh once, “When I have a wife, I will speak less to become a real man?”
The Second Mother roared with laughter, as she patted Wen Buzuo’s shoulder once straightforwardly, “I will discuss with your grand family elder the first thing tomorrow morning and when I return this time, perhaps I will bring along you two brothers Bushuo and Buzuo to do a matchmaking in the stockade village!”
Wen Buzuo was delighted, “Please don’t forget about it and please inform the Fourth Grandpa as well. He is the leader of our Death Trademark.” A few people were gathered around talking nonsense with their saliva spluttering everywhere. Chang Li suddenly lighted up with pleasure, as she ran in front of Wen Leyang akin to a blast of wind, “They’re here they’re here, there are finally here! The theatrical troop is here!”
The Second Mother was not aware of the matter about the One Word Palace. She was still pondering with a puzzled expression. Did the disciple of Wen Bucao meet with a joyous event or a theatrical troop?
Sure enough, after a moment, an orchestra of the melodious sound of flute echoed from all directions, its rhythm was delightful, its tune was gentle, the sound was loud and clear but not ear-piercing. One could not help but smile and wished that one could toss away the chore on his hands and dance to the rhythm of the flute sound.
No one could tell where the countless colorful butterflies came fluttering from. The butterflies’ wings fluttered and sprinkled layers upon layers of vague dazzling colors. They fluttered gracefully in midair. The sound of flute became more joyous and melodious with time, while the colorful butterflies started gradually arranging themselves according to their colors in a clear arrangement into streaks upon streaks of magnificent arches, yet a strand of gloomy shadow seeped through the arch without the sun’s shine.
Little Chi Maojiu and Ah Dan cheered in unison. Only then Wen Leyang could see that the colorful butterflies in the sky formed into seven colors under the flute sound’s guidance. The long arch separated into seven streaks of red orange yellow green blue indigo purple, just like a ribbon dancing in the wind. The colors then separated and then slowly combined once again, finally gathering into a streak of dazzling rainbow that extended all the way from the top of the Nine Peaks Mountain to the sky! Layers upon layers of halo glowed out of the rainbow. The entire Nine Peaks Mountain was enshrouded in an intoxicating fragrance.
The flute sound grew louder and clearer, its distracting high pitch continuously played, and continuously increasing its pitch, one pitch rose up after another like endless gentle waves, every time people thought it was almost fading away, it would surge up to a new melodious musical scale abruptly.
Finally, the brilliant melody, with its breathtaking tune, erupted in a crisp explosion sound. The rainbow made up of colorful butterflies all over the sky simultaneously rippled in a charming and dazzling brightness. The moment the flute sound ended, it dissolved into a shower of flower petals that showered down!
Chang Li was very excited now, her eyes stared with a fixed gaze at the dazzling scenery that was more splendid than fireworks. She said joyously to Wen Leyang, “This show portrayed by the One Word Palace, they must have put in a great effort for this true piece of art!”
Wen Leyang chuckled, “They are only trying to display their strengths and put fear in our Wen family.”
Chang Li gave a ‘huh’, she peered towards Wen Leyang, “Since when did you become smarter already?”
At this point, a vigorous and firm voice, echoed from the foothill far away, “Ma Heshui from the One Word Palace of Lake Luohai, is requesting the permission to ascend the mountain and meet the fellow family elders of the Wen family of Western Chuan. I have something important to consult with you.”
This time, the four old elders of the Wen family had an angry expression. A person with much strong Qi would not be able to shout from the foothill. This man with the surname Ma must have used some cultivation spell and it was obvious that he was using the art of cultivation to bully the Wen family. Whether they chose not to respond to him or to send people downhill to inform him, by the time he ascended the mountain, the Wen family would be humiliated.
The old monk and the fat monk did not possess such skill, but the two brothers’ attention was clearly distracted. They were smiling, as the fat monk explained to the four family elders, “There are three magnates in the One Word Palace, the eldest supreme was surnamed Xia, the second supreme was surnamed Ma, the third supreme was surnamed Wei, their surnames combined into ‘Xia Ma Wei’. Everyone in the cultivation world secretly called them by ‘Put the fear of God’. This Ma Heshui, is the younger brother of the second supreme. He is considered one of the important figures in the One Word Palace.”
The old monk said to Wen Tunhai in a prude manner, “His name is Heshui (The same pronunciation as drinking water in Mandarin), he is much weaker than you Tunhai (Same pronunciation as swallowing the sea in Mandarin)!”
The four family elders and the First Uncle were ghastly pale; they did not acknowledge the two monks.
The butler Gou was extremely excited. His mouth was muttering, “The second master Ma is here.” He was preparing to go downhill to welcome his arrival.
Chang Li snickered, her charming eyes swept past everyone’s expression and finally, she waved her arm once at Wen Buzuo and held out her delicate fingers akin to spring onions. She drew a complicated symbol in midair, her fingers were like sharp cat claws, every stroke she drew was akin to tearing the air apart, and left behind a streak of greyish black-colored mosaic patterns.
When the seal script had taken its form in midair, it shook once vigorously and bore into Wen Buzuo’s body following the guidance of Chang Li’s hand gesture. Only then Chang Li smiled as she watched Wen Buzuo, “Say something?”
…
Me Heshui is the younger brother of the second magnate ‘Put the Fear of God’ in the One Word Palace. He had a high and prestigious status and position there. He was renowned in the cultivation world, he was no less inferior than the five supreme monasteries’ seat of honor of the Great Mercy Temple and he was considered a peer personage to them. This time he represented the One Word Palace to search for the disciple of Wen Bucao, he created a beautiful formation using his cultivation spell first. He then launched the Art of Voice Transmission. At this moment, he was smiling proudly waiting for the Wen family to come downhill hastily to welcome his presence.
After a while, there was utterly no movement from the top of the mountain. Ma Heshui laughed once. Just as he was preparing to transmit his voice once again, suddenly a voice louder than a thunder erupted next to his ear vigorously, “What do you want me to say, oh no…damn it, why is my voice so loud…”
The surrounding dense mountain forest was shaking.
After a while, that voice lowered its volume in a probing manner, “Hello…hello hello…” It was still as loud as a thunder.
A moment later, a gush of rampant arrogance surged skywards akin to a small man intoxicated by success. The voice exerted itself with a roaring laughter. It was still assuming a feigned manner in the beginning, yet at the end, it turned into a sincere delight. Wen Buzuo, who lived his life for gossiping and chatting, this sky-rocking and earth-shaking loud voice that came unexpectedly was true to his satisfaction.
The voice of Ma Heshui earlier, as compared to the voice of Wen Buzuo upon being cast with Chang Li’s spell now, was akin to a frog’s croaking to a tiger’s roar.
Ma Heshui could only feel as if a thunder followed by another thunder blasted into the depth of his eardrums. His gaze was anxious and doubtful as he looked towards the mountain slope.
Grand Elder Wen he felt much calmer now, as he laughed and instructed Wen Buzuo, “Stop talking nonsense and invite them up here.”
Wen Buzuo gave an ‘okay’ with his muffled thunder voice and he roared loudly in the direction of the foothill in a cherished manner, “The masters at the foothill, please come up!”
Ma Heshui’s voice was still the same as before, the volume remained utterly the same. “Thank you for your hospitality.” It only took a moment’s effort, under a happily fluttering shower of flower petals, two big lads one dressed in red, while another dressed in green they carried a Jampan on their shoulders. Their feet almost did not touch the ground as they trotted up the mountain.
Wen Buzuo spoke in a low tone towards his Three-Inch Nail brother, “Are they filming a movie?” Only for him to realise, in astonishment, that his voice could be heard from the highway at the foothill.
Ma Heshui appeared to be a man of over fifty years old. He did not have a tall stature but he had a tough and sturdy body. He leaped down from the Jampan at one go upon arriving in the village. Gou Changxi brought along the Twelve Moons as he welcomes Ma Heshui hastily and bowed his body in salutation with the utmost respect at the village entrance, “Gou Changxi is pleased to meet Second Master Ma.”
Ma Heshui only gave a slight nod in Gou Changxi’s direction. Following that he chuckled as he spoke to the village folks, “Which one is the leader of the Wen household. Ma Heshui took the liberty to disturb him. Forgive me for my keeping you waiting.” His tone of speaking was flat and uninteresting; it was not uncourteous nor arrogant.
Wen Tunhai took quick strides as he walked out of the crowd. He made an obeisance by cupping his hand in the other before his chest and spoke, “We are an obscure village away from the outside world, the descent of an immortal to the world. We are truly overwhelmed by the unexpected favor. I wonder what happened, such that the Second Master Ma of One Word Palace is gracing us with your presence.” The First Uncle’s smile was sincere and he was courteous and sincere in his speech, yet there was just an ounce of mocking in his tone of speaking.
Ma Heshui was not bothered. He continued to ask with a cold smile, “Your Excellency is…?”
“You are too flattering, I am humbly Wen Tunhai, the immortal elder can discuss anything with me.”
Ma Heshui nodded his head in understanding, “So you are the first uncle of Wen Leyang…heh-heh, this matter is best to discuss with the Grand Elder of the Wen family, if it is to your convenience…” The One Word Palace had already clarified the key persons amongst the disciples of Wen Bucao.
The First Uncle interrupted his speech in a courteous manner, as he rubbed his palms together in a slightly awkward manner, “You see, our family elders are very busy, the matters related to the village are mostly decided by me. You can convey anything to me. If the matter is of dire importance and you truly refuse to speak to me then…you should return now and come back again when the family elders are less busy?”
The four elders of the Wen family are actually not busy at all. They clasped their hands behind their backs like the others and stood on the same spot without any reactions. No matter how Ma Heshui’s gaze swept past across them, they refused to pay any regards at all.
Ma Heshui’s expression changed slightly but he did not speak. The red-shirt man behind him smiled eerily towards Wen Tunhai, “Don’t be impolite to us when we are being nice!”
Wen Tunhai was as calm as before, he answered laughingly, “You can discuss with me about anything. However, if you are here to seek for a polite treatment, then I am afraid that I am of no help to you.” He turned around immediately after he finished talking and clasped his hands behind him before strolling off. He left the highly-worshipped One Word Palace persona of the cultivation world at the village entrance.
The old monk concluded the situation to the fat monk in an extremely low voice, “It’s over, this time the ‘Put the Fear of God’ really had the fear of god placed in them.”
‘Not a single root grows on the Wen. Never befriend a Miao. Die a dog’s death on Crow Ridge.’ The three families’ philosophy of life had never been virtuous and sincere. It was alright if the outsiders did not offend them, but once they were offended, they must repay the offence by tens and hundreds folds. The One Word Palace showed off their entire mannerism earlier, whether it was to intentionally reveal the information so that their people would come bearing gifts to the mountain, or the sky-covering rainbow earlier, the voice transmission over a thousand miles, or their arrogant mannerism that was sometimes publicizing and sometimes obscure.
In comparison, Wen Tunhai’s deliberate attempt to create difficulties for them would seem rather uncourteous, yet it was in a more direct manner and it was also more vengeful manner.
The red-shirt man turned hostile, he did not try to hide his thriving rage as he walked in great strides over to grab onto Wen Tunhai. Ma Heshui on the other hand chuckled once and stretched out his arm to stop his worker, “Oh, the disciples of Wen Bucao oh, as they said you really have some temper, if the first uncle of the Wen family can truly be the master of decision, I suppose there is no harm for me to discuss with you.”
Only then Wen Tunhai halted his footsteps. He did not invite the guests to be seated nor offered a serving of tea to them. He stood on the same spot and used his usual head of county’s accent as he spoke, “As I have said, tell me what happened?”
Ma Heshui’s anger flashed past his expression once. He completely stopped smiling as he spoke lightly, “This is in relation a grand joyous event. The supreme leader of One Word Palace heard that there is a youth named Wen Leyang in the Wen family, who has the ability to adjust to ever-changing circumstances. The elder brother Xia had a rather high appreciation of this child’s abilities so he plans to make peace with the Wen family by marriage and betroth my precious niece to Wen Leyang.”
The red-shirt man who was speaking earlier spoke again with a sneer, “Miss Xia is our supreme leader’s beloved daughter. It is considered Wen Leyang’s honor to be marrying her. The purpose of the master to come here this time is to represent the One Word Palace to discuss with the decision-maker of the Wen family about a suitable time for us to organize the wedding.”
Wen Leyang gave a forced smile as he gazed at one another with the relatives by his side. The One Word Palace’s justification was worse than a fart. They could not even trick the Ninth and the Thirteenth, yet they spoke with such a bold and self-righteous manner. They plainly declared that they were betrothing their maiden daughter to the Wen family and that it was the Wen family’s utmost pleasure to strike such a good bargain. They refused to be rejected at all.
Wen Tunhai was still affectionate as before, he nodded continuously, “Such a joyous event such a joyous event, however…” As he was saying that, he took another two steps forward, “I am afraid I cannot make a decision on this matter.”
The red-shirt man finally erupted in rage, “You are the one who said that you are the decision-maker earlier. Tou said that it is alright to discuss with you, yet you are saying that you can’t make a decision now, you really think that the One Word Palace is a joke huh?”
Ma Heshui waited until his worker was done talking, only then he feigned a pretentious manner to stop the worker. He then continued to look at Wen Tunhai without any emotions displayed on his face, “Since you can’t make a decision now, then please disregard my words earlier and let the family elder capable of making the decision to come in your place then.”
Wen Tunhai shook his head, “I am afraid that my family elder cannot make such a decision either.”
Ma Heshui suddenly took a step forward, he stood so close to Wen Tunhai their eyes almost touched, “Who can make a decision then?”
Wen Tunhai refused to retreat. He squinted his eyes, as his chilled gaze eerier than a poisonous snake penetrated through, he laughed eerily, “The county, the bureau of civil administration.”
