Estranged - Chapter 88

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The surface of the earth was shaking even more violently.

The Ghost King and Xu Jingxian had already disappeared without a trace. The tops of the boulders were falling down heavily one after another. The whole cliff had been covered in cracks, and had started to collapse.

Changming was not in a hurry to leave.

The two of them were standing a step away from the very edge of the cliff, in imminent danger of falling down.

Changming raised his head, looking for a way out.

There must be a node connecting the two small worlds—as such, even when damaged, it would not disappear.

But Yun Weisi was strangely silent.

He was staring unblinkingly at Shengjue, who was at the bottom of the abyss.

Before dying, Shengjue had glanced at him.

That glance had the faint trace of a smile, as if it had contained a profound, hidden meaning.

What had Shengjue been thinking about?

Yun Weisi was not someone who often let his imagination run wild, but subconsciously, he felt it was strange.

He recalled their battle.

Shengjue’s cultivation had advanced a great deal throughout the past few years, and he was significantly different from his past self. Yun Weisi clearly felt that Shengjue had almost become a grandmaster, and had Shengjue put all his efforts towards cultivating, he could have reached that realm.

Shenjue had lost because of his negligence. He had underestimated his enemy, he had felt too confident on his own turf, and had attached no importance to Yun Weisi under such circumstances. That led to him dying without even leaving a corpse behind.

But was this really the case?

Yun Weisi touched his chest.

He felt the familiar heartbeat through his palm, but it seemed somewhat different when compared to the past.

In a moment, he heard someone sneer with contempt.

Hah.

No, it was not that he heard it—rather, it was coming from his heart.

Yun Weisi frowned.

Was it coming from him, or was it a trick Shengjue had pulled off before his death?

Reportedly, the Buddhist sects had a technique called Passing Profound Sense. One could leave a thread of their spiritual sense to infiltrate someone else’s sea of consciousness and merge with it, gaining the ability to eavesdrop on everything the victim was thinking and feeling. After some time, the monk would be able to take control of the victim’s heart, and even seize their body after death.

Could it be that Shengjue sent himself to death with no regrets just to plant a seed of demonic thought in Yun Weisi’s heart?

“What’s wrong?”

Changming noticed that Yun Weisi was acting strange, so he lightly patted Yun Weisi’s arm, and asked him this question.

Yun Weisi suddenly felt his arm burn, as if scalded, and he wanted to shake it off on instinct!

This thought appeared in his mind, but he froze.

He had never felt such ardent disgust.

He closed his eyes calmly.

“Everything is fine, we should find a way out first.”

Hah.

Just as he said this, the sneer from before sounded again.

It was his own voice.

You’re doing your best, and came here to your death just because he wants to save Zhou Keyi. Your body is changing, but does he ever care?

“Yun Weisi!”

The voice had dispelled the mist in front of his eyes, making Yun Weisi tremble slightly.

“Are you really alright?” Changming asked again.

Yun Weisi was not sure either.

Changming had sealed his demonic qi at the glazed tile pagoda in the country of You for a while. While he had not gotten rid of the qi completely, Yun Hai and Yun Weisi had been merged together, so he should not lose control of himself again.

Yun Weisi lowered his head to look at the red line on his palm. It had stopped at the center of his palm. It looked almost translucent, and had not moved a bit.

Could it actually be Shengjue?

“We’ll talk after we get out of here,” Yun Weisi said.

Changming had no time to inquire further. The cave had already collapsed, and those ice thorns had been submerged under boulders, burying Shengjue’s corpse underneath.

“Follow me!”

…

The Ghost King, Linghu You, who had been chasing the ghost fire just now, found himself in a sea of ice.

He was floating in the crystal clear blue water. To his surprise, there was a whole glass-like world under the ice thorns.

The frost here could chill a person down to their bones, but that did not matter to the Ghost King. He had long since lost the ability to experience cold and heat. Even if he had fallen into a sea of flames, he would have survived it as well.

What had made him freeze was the scene in front of his eyes.

A person was bound to an iron pillar by chains, their long hair drifting in the water. The person’s head was hanging down, and he could not see their face.

Linghu felt that this person was familiar to him, and that they were someone important to him.

Someone grabbed his hand.

Black flames erupted from his body as he turned around to see the person. His ghost qi grew thicker.

The person stopped, as if startled by him.

“You can’t go there!”

Even though Hé Qingmo did not open his mouth, his voice could be heard clearly and directly in the sea of the Ghost King’s consciousness.

“This place is a formation. If we want to leave, we have to find its core. Whatever you see in front of you is definitely a trap!”

He had fallen here some time before the Ghost King, and had already looked through this place meticulously. This sea of ice stretched as far as the eye could see, and they could easily lose their sense of direction here. Hé Qingmo had already gone around in three circles here. The first time around, he saw a person tied to a pillar; for the second time around, although he had certainly returned to the same location, the pillar was already gone; the third time, which was now, the Ghost King had appeared here, alongside the iron pillar.

Hé Qingmo was one of the most outstanding disciples of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao as of this generation. Moreover, he was proficient in setting formations. His shifu had told him once that, with the exception of Chi Bijiang from the Wanxiang Palace, He Qingmo was probably the best in setting and breaking through formations in the whole world.

But he could not find a way to breach the formation in front of his eyes.

There were numerous formations in the world, and he could figure all of them out after careful investigations and some time—all of them, except those that had been set by Chi Bijiang herself.

According to rumors, this woman was exceptionally talented, but weak from birth. She could not cultivate, so she was committed to studying the art of heavenly bodies, and setting formations. Eventually, she became the best at this.

Unfortunately, Chi Bijiang had died. It was said that the news of her death had started circulating a month ago, but no one knew the reason or the hour of her death. Perhaps, there was more to her death than they were aware of.

Hé Qingmo stopped thinking about unrelated things, and realized that the Ghost King had already shaken off his hand, going up ahead step by step.

His heart jumped nervously, and Hé Qingmo hurried forward to stop the Ghost King. But, unexpectedly, the Ghost King threw his arm out abruptly, and potent black fire dashed up to the skies, boiling the sea water. Hé Qingmo was thrown aside with a single push, while the fire soon condensed into a rope that tied Hé Qingmo so tightly he could not take a step.

“It’s a trap, don’t go there!”

The Ghost King shot a swift glance at him. The Ghost King’s yin qi brought with it such an intimidating aura that Hé Qingmo felt the blood freeze inside his body, and he could not utter a single word.

After they had gone from enemies to allies, the Ghost King had been living with them for two days. During this time, he resembled a young country bumpkin who had not seen the world, and was amused at everything. He constantly followed them, asking about this and that, and had not even spared Hé Qingmo while the latter was setting the formation, and he left no question unasked about the art of formation, all the way down to its foundations, making Hé Qingmo run out of patience. Hé Qingmo did not know how much he would remember in the end, but he became familiar with the Ghost King for this reason, and had even learned something about the Ghost King’s life. Hé Qingmo thought the two of them could already be counted as friends.

But this time, the Ghost King was looking at him as if Hé Qingmo was as insignificant as an ant. Hé Qingmo did not doubt for a second that he could be killed by the Ghost King, if the latter felt like doing so.

What “friends”? That’s total bullshit! That was only my own wishful thinking!

A thin piece of silk appeared suddenly, obstructing the Ghost King’s way.

Xu Jingxian had popped out of nowhere, and immediately engaged in a fight with the Ghost King. Obviously, her cultivation was a lot higher than that of Hé Qingmo, who had only studied formations wholeheartedly. The Ghost King was not in an advantageous position, and for a while, he had no means of driving Xu Jingxian away.

“Daoyou Xu, stop him!” Hé Qingmo transmitted his message to her consciousness as fast as he could.

Xu Jingxian did not know the Ghost King, but recognised Hé Qingmo. Although she found him annoying, the heavy yin aura on the Ghost King’s body made her sick, which in turn gave birth to enmity. Even if Hé Qingmo had said nothing, she would have attacked the Ghost King.

The person tied to the pillar raised their head slowly.

The Ghost King caught a glimpse of that person, and his mind was disturbed.

Save me…

He heard that person say.

“Are you crazy, what ‘person’?! Obviously, there are only bones tied to the iron pillar!”

The Ghost King turned a deaf ear to these words, viewing the Xu Jingxian who had obstructed his way as his mortal enemy. Black flames suddenly erupted around his body, blotting out the sky and covering the earth. They crawled towards Xu Jingxian, surging forward in waves with obvious killing intent.

Xu Jingxian gnashed her teeth. She had hardly been able to keep him in one place with her spiritual power. For a while, the two of them were in a deadlock.

The silly, endearing Ghost King of the past two days had disappeared. Hé Qingmo derided himself for misjudging the Ghost King. He had even shown a bit of sympathy for the Ghost King’s plight. But the Ghost King in front of their eyes right now, the one who had raised his hands to kill them, was an existence that would truly make people tremble with fear on hearing of him.

The black fire licked the hem of their robes, and, winning over a cun, urged to get a chi, the flames slowly crawled up Hé Qingmo’s and Xu Jingxian’s entire sleeves, before enveloping their bodies. They could not activate their spiritual power, and had their clothes wrapped with black ropes tightly.  Now, the two of them could only watch the Ghost King move towards the iron pillar.

Ghost fires were flying around the skeleton, and fragments of dark-blue evil spirits only wished to entice his mind.

Kill them, and she’ll come back to life.

Kill them.

Kill!

When Hé Qingmo saw the Ghost King stop halfway, he thought that the latter had returned to his senses. However, contrary to his expectations, the Ghost King turned around and stretched out his hand to catch Hé Qingmo!

His line of sight was thoroughly occupied by black flames, as the fire was cutting through the crystal blue water, bringing murderous intent close to Hé Qingmo’s body, swiftly.

And Xu Jingxian—

Her thin silk had been torn into pieces under such overwhelming pressure. Xu Jingxian’s heart could not be more distressed. It was unknown whether Zhou Keyi was still alive, and, on top of that, she still had not laid her hands on that muslin. Even worse, the only tool she could use was now destroyed!

Black flames darted from behind the Ghost King’s back. They gathered into a giant silhouette that bared its fangs, slashed its claws and roared wildly, just like a ghost in the middle of night. It was so large it could cover the sky with one hand. Suddenly, it leaped up, throwing itself at the two of them!

At the moment when her life was hanging by a thread, Xu Jingxian thought of many things.

She thought about the muslin that was within her sight but beyond reach, and of the Yangzhen Grass she had obtained after much suffering, but had not yet managed to make full use of by, for instance, boasting at a Qianlin Assembly in order to make the whole world remember the notorious Demonic cultivator, Xu Jingxian. If she had done so, her life would not be lost in vain. After all, she had never held the extravagant hope of reaching the realm of breaking through the void and ascending to become an immortal.

However, since the day she left the Nine Layers of the Abyss, she had been embroiled in a messy maelstrom against her will. She had been through all kinds of crafty plots, conspiracies and setbacks, and had no time to relax. She had come to the Luo Capital from the Jianxue Clan, and then—to this place. A hand, hidden from everyone, was silently rolling up the whole world like a mat, plunging it into chaos. The previous dynasty being overthrown was a minor disturbance in the secular world. Meanwhile, cultivators could sit on a mountain away from the dust and watch the tigers fight. Of course, common people would plead with them to come and help. At first, Xu Jingxian was only a normal girl who cultivated diligently. What she was seeking was not the path of the Great Dao, leading to immortality, but only the ability to have control over her own life.

Now, she was panic-stricken, but not because of the imminent danger in front of her eyes. She suddenly felt that even if the Ghost King had not killed her now, perils like this one would continue coming for her one after another.

The Ghost King, demons, the Wanlian Buddhist Temple. After all, what were these people hiding behind their backs…

The giant fire collapsed on their heads, opening its mouth to devour them.

Xu Jingxian stared at it, and her heart almost stopped beating for a moment.

The next second was probably the moment of her death!

…

Su He had moved to the You Capital a decade ago.

At first, he was staying at the outskirts, and made a living by farming there every day. His wife had given birth to a boy and a girl. Their daughter had gotten married and moved away, while their son had moved to the city to do petty trading there. Because their son was clever, the life he lived grew better day by day. Not only had he managed to find a house in the You Capital, but he had even married the daughter of a grain store owner. Afterwards, Su He and his wife had moved to the city as well, so the family had reassembled.

Su He had been toiling a lot, but, nearing his deathbed, he could enjoy the happiness of an easy and carefree life. However, he could not rest. He was always thinking of those few mu of land he had lent to his neighbor to cultivate. He deliberately left a few mu for himself, and spent most of his time there with his wife feeding the poultry, or looking after the crops. Every month, he would go to the city for several days. This way, he did not bother his son and his daughter-in-law, and even supplied them with grain.

On the fifteenth of the seventh month, their family should have left the city and returned to their homeland to offer sacrifices to ancestors. However, his daughter-in-law was pregnant, and could have given birth to a child any day. The family was anxious, and in the end they decided to leave their son in the city to take care of his wife, while Su He and his wife were to return to their homeland to worship their ancestors and return before the town gates would close for the night.

In the beginning, everything was going smoothly. But the sun was setting early these days, and the sky gradually darkened after the hour of shen. The sky had started turning red. The color of the sky resembled that of blood.

Hour of shen: 3-5 p.m.

“My old man, why does the sky seem strange today? Is it possible that there’s something wrong with my eyes?” His old wife urged Su He to take a look.

My old man: lit. old-head: wife addressing to her aging husband

Su He also felt it was abnormal.

“Maybe it’s because today is the Ghost Festival? Everybody said today those Ghost Gates or something open wide?”

“Then why was it different before?”

“Sigh, enough talking. Pack up quickly, the horse carriage is still waiting for us outside!”

Su He’s son had sent a worker from the grain store to meet the old couple with a carriage. Su He and his wife did not need many things for themselves, except for the food and the clothes that they had in the city anyway. They had only brought along a bit of food with them. Su He’s old wife had thought that their son would like to taste a sweet potato from their homeland, so she picked a whole bucketload of it for him, and put it in the carriage to take to the capital.

Their house was not far away from the city, and normally they could reach the gates in less than one shichen. Today their carriage was more loaded, so the sky had already darkened by the moment they entered the city. The smell of burning ritual paper was coming from every direction.

It was, after all, a festival, so Su He did not pay attention to this smell. During the Ghost Festival, every household was making sacrifices to honor their ancestors, so everyone was putting ritual money into braziers near their thresholds, thus adding another smell to the fragrance that always filled the You Capital that worshipped Buddhism. After living in the city for a long time, he had already gotten used to this smell, but it was especially intense today. Su He felt it assault his nostrils, but, for some reason, he neither covered it to cough, nor did his eyes suffer from the smoke. On the contrary, he felt that it smelled rather pleasant today.

It was different from the usual fragrance of burning joss sticks, strong yet not overpowering, as if inviting people to sniff it again. It was also somewhat relaxing, and he stretched his body with satisfaction.

Su He yawned several times. He was sitting at the front of the carriage, and saw that their cart driver was feeling the same. Fortunately, they reached their house soon. Su He wanted to call for his son, wash his face and take a rest.

Just as he was about to jump off the carriage, he froze.

The flames of the brazier near their neighbors’ doors suddenly surged up, and a shadow seemed to have flashed by, sinister and violent, opening its mouth to bite him!

Su He thought that there was a problem with his eyes, so he rubbed them.

The shadow had disappeared, as if what he had seen was an illusion.

He mumbled something, turned around and opened the curtain of the carriage to call for his wife, but his eyes fell on a horrific scene.

A human-shaped shadow was laying on top of his wife who had lost consciousness. Its cheeks were heaving, as if it was gnawing on something.

He looked at her, and saw that his wife’s cheek and her ear had already been bitten off, the wound was smeared with blood and even her white bones had been revealed.

Su He took a few steps back, shouted, grabbed a stick in the carriage, and charged at the black shadow!

The stick fell down, and the shadow suddenly dispersed. However, the black bits quickly reassembled into the previous shape again. It jumped out of the carriage, and vanished, leaving no trace behind!

Su He howled in grief. He hurried to wake his wife, but no matter how long he shook her, she would not react. Only then did he remember that he could call other family members to help, and quickly send for a doctor. Stumbling, he left the carriage and ran to the house.

The cart driver had already disappeared somewhere, and a suffocating silence had enveloped the place. Only the fire from the braziers was crackling. At first, Su He had not noticed it and went up to knock on the door while shouting for help.

The door was not closed, so he opened it with one push.

There was also a brazier in the courtyard. A gust of wind lifted sacrificial money up in the air, and it covered the sky.

“A-Xin! A-Xin! Come here quickly! Your mother had an accident!”

Su He was weeping and calling his son’s name, but no one answered him.

His mind was in turmoil, and he ran into the backyard reflexively.

Their house only had two yards, so he could go through after taking several steps. Very soon, Su He heard something move.

“A-Xin! Quick, follow me, your mother…”

His voice went down abruptly.

Two bodies were lying on the ground, one big and one small.

The big one belonged to a woman. Her belly bulged. She seemed to be in her seventh or eighth month of her pregnancy, and should have given birth soon.

The little one belonged to his grandchild who was about three years old. Usually, he was lively and smart. Su He’s grandchild loved running around him, asking for sweets.

Su He stared at this, and could not recognise his family.

Because his son, Su Xin, was lying on his wife’s belly, his cheeks moving non-stop.

The lantern on the eaves was wavering in the wind, making shadows flash across Su Xin’s face.

Su He saw that his daughter-in-law’s belly had already been bitten through, and inside, there was…

He did not dare think about it again, and could only breathe out with difficulty: “A-Xin, you… what are you doing…”

Su Xin stopped, and raised his head slowly.

No, it is not my son!

This is a monster!

That was what Su He thought looking into Su Xin’s bloodshot eyes.

For some reason, he did not dare take another step forward. He turned around on instinct to run away, even though his weak legs were trembling.

Hu… Hu…

Su He had no idea whether the sound was coming from his chest breathing loudly, or the monster chasing him. Not daring to turn his head, he ran out of the gates of his household wildly, and only then, could he seem to breathe more relaxedly.

But very soon, he knew that it was too early to feel relieved. Wherever Su He looked, he only saw deserted streets, and only scraps of ritual money were floating out of houses with sparks, drifting up to the air.

“Save me! Save me! There’s a monster! Quick, someone! Aaah!”

Su He was shouting as loudly as he could. Usually, the large You Capital was full of streams of people coming and going. There were many households near the place where they resided, and normally there would always be someone entering the gates to a house nearby. But now, no one answered him.

There were no humans around, and even the dogs were not barking.

“He, he…”

Far away, Su He saw someone open a door and look outside through the crack. Without thinking, he ran over.

“Gentleman, quick, help me, we—”

That person raised his head, gradually revealing a smiling face to Su He. But his chin seemed to have flown away somewhere, even though it obviously could not have wings. His pearl-white teeth could be seen as he smiled, as well as his bones.

Su He could not run anymore. He took a few steps back and fell to the ground heavily.

There were traces of red drifting through the pitch-black sky.

He could not understand it at all. Everything had been fine yesterday, without a doubt. How could the You Capital turn this way after he had left it and returned immediately?

What on earth had happened?

Was he seeing a nightmare he could now wake up from?

Why?

“Ah!!!”

A shrill shriek pierced through the night sky, startling the crows on a branch of a fallen tree.

The city was still reeking of blood.