The scene shifted, and Xu Qi’an saw the “monster”, its whole body covered in wounds, dragging its massive, mountain-like form and crawling into a bottomless chasm.
The structure of this creature’s body was truly horrifying. Thick tendons bulged, and swollen muscles were knotted together, as if the entire mountain was made from flesh.
Rows of pores lined the “mountain” of muscle, spurting forth dark green smoke, which lingered in the sky and formed ink-green clouds.
Thick, viscous shadows streamed at the base of the flesh-mountain.
The Gu God!
The last time he had seen the Gu God was in a hazy dream after he slept with the National Teacher.
Compared to then, the Gu God was now far weaker: its mountain-like body was covered in scars, there were no living beings mating around it at all times, nor were there the walking dead that usually followed it.
Although it was just a dream, Xu Qi’an could sense the Gu God’s frailty.
As the Gu God entered the fathomless abyss, the scene shattered, and Xu Qi’an opened his eyes in the darkness of his room, realising something was nibbling his arm.
Turning his head, he saw Xu Lingyin hugging his arm, gnawing away in her sleep, her delicate brows slightly furrowed, as though puzzled about why she couldn’t bite through this pig’s trotter.
Honestly, enough is enough. How did I end up with such a dumb and gluttonous little sister… Xu Qi’an pulled his arm back and pinched Xu Lingyin’s little nose. A dozen seconds later, she woke up, rubbing her eyes, looking adorably dim and confused.
“Are you hungry?”
Xu Qi’an asked.
“Big Bwother, I just dreamed of delicious food!”
Little Pea gestured excitedly, speaking in an exaggerated tone.
She immediately looked aggrieved. “But I couldn’t bite through it.”
*If you could gnaw through a perfection stage Vajra Body, you could go down into the abyss and eat the Gu God… Xu Qi’an pointed at her right hand, which was covered in tiny bite marks:
“See, you’ve bitten your own hand too.”
There were still faint tooth marks on her right hand, though the saliva had already evaporated. Xu Qi’an reckoned she might have held back because it hurt to bite her own wrist.
But when she bit him, Xu Lingyin used all her strength.
Little Pea looked at her right hand. Sure enough, there were bite marks. She stared in exaggerated shock, eyes wide:
“Who wants to eat my hand?”
“It was Lina!” said Xu Qi’an.
At this, Little Pea’s face grew wary. After holding it in for a while, she declared loudly:
“She must have wanted to steal the meat I had for dinner!”
Xu Qi’an took a few seconds to grasp her meaning:
Lina wanted to eat her, to snatch away the meat she would have for dinner.
“I just drove her off,” Xu Qi’an comforted her.
“Thank you, Big Bwother~”
Little Pea looked greatly relieved. If her teacher wanted to eat her, she simply wouldn’t stand a chance, because her teacher was stronger than her.
Xu Lingyin had just advanced a stage, and her appetite had grown. That was why she felt hungry, but being such a sleepyhead, she hadn’t woken from hunger and ended up gnawing “pig’s trotters” in her sleep.
Xu Qi’an left the room, found a giant leg of some unknown animal in the kitchen, sliced it up, and stir-fried a plate of meat for Xu Lingyin.
In the dim candle-lit room, sitting at the table, he watched his little sister devouring meat with oil all around her mouth, while his mind drifted far away.
*The gods and demons were once the rulers of heaven and earth. Just how terrifying were gods and demons? In the present, no one could say for sure.
But one could infer from the strength of certain god-demon descendants.
The Yao and barbarians who ruled the north, the Nine-tailed Celestial Fox, the powerful spirit beasts on the mainland and overseas, all were descendants of gods and demons.
From this, one could infer that the gods and demons of antiquity were unfathomably powerful.
Later generations of human cultivators have always debated about the reason for the end of the age of gods and demons.
The most widely accepted, mainstream view was that the human and Yao races rose up and defeated the gods and demons who once ruled all living things across the ancient lands.
After the gods and demons died, their descendants fought the humans and Yao for thousands of years before being wiped out completely.
But in the scenes I saw, there were no humans, no Yao…
These scenes, in all likelihood, were sent to me by the Sevenfold Gu. And most likely, the Sevenfold Gu is a means for the Gu God to break the seal. In other words, these are probably fragments of the Gu God’s memories.
If not humanity, then what was capable of massacring all gods and demons? And how did the Gu God survive? It looked like it almost got beaten to death as well.
Xu Qi’an thought of the “gatekeeper”. What gate are they keeping? No, “gate” must be a metaphor.
Baidi didn’t ask the Gu God about the fall of the gods and demons, does that mean it already knows the truth? If the gatekeeper slaughtered the gods and demons, why would it bother to ask?
And the Gu God said it had once thought the gatekeeper was the Confucian Sage, but the Sage lived just a thousand years ago. So, the gatekeeper was probably not the murderer of the gods and demons. There must be another reason for their extinction.
Baidi first asked about the location of the Daoist Venerable, confirmed the Venerable might have died, and only then asked who the gatekeeper was. Does this mean Baidi suspects the Daoist Venerable might be the gatekeeper?
At the end of a great era, He would not be absent… Tch, is this perhaps why the Sage sealed all beyond-rank beings?
With his rigorous logic and deduction, he still managed to extract some useful conclusions.
Ah, that’s right. Duke Wei once said in his will that this world is far more cruel than I could even imagine. Did he know the secrets, or at least have his suspicions? If so, Duke Wei’s game was not merely limited to the court.
At this moment, Xu Lingyin gave the ceramic plate a lingering lick and said,
“I’m full now.”
Xu Qi’an returned from his thoughts and glanced at the plate, spotless:
“Really full?”
“It would be nice to have another plate,” Xu Lingyin wheedled.
“That’s enough. It’s not good to eat too much at night,” Xu Qi’an said, picking her up and tossing her onto the bed. “Time for sleep.”
“But if I’m not full, I can’t fall asleep…”
Little Pea put up a struggle. A few minutes later…
“Ahoo… ahoo…”
She was fast asleep.
Xu Qi’an blended into the shadows and left the Chief’s courtyard.
Sleeping, for him, was a kind of enjoyment, not a necessity, he’d simply learned too many things today to actually want to sleep.
After wandering around Bo Mountain for a while, he found a clear spring pool.
He decided to have a bath and wash his clothes.
After fighting the shaman chieftains today, and then travelling to the abyss, he was definitely not clean.
Sigh, ever since I set foot in the Jianghu, my personal hygiene has become worse and worse. I often fall asleep without washing or brushing my teeth…
Though for a beyond-mortal, hygiene was hardly a critical matter.
Splash…
He took off his clothes, jumped into the water, feeling instantly refreshed by the coolness.
The spring only came up to his waist. He stood in the clear water, his upper body displaying smooth, athletic lines filled with strength, but not in an exaggerated, muscle-bound way.
Together with a handsome, masculine face, even without the aura about him, his body remained deeply alluring to any woman.
“Tsk tsk! Just the sight of Silver Gong Xu’s body makes us forget how to walk.”
A charming, seductive laugh came from the bank.
In the moonlight, a tall, stunning woman stood prettily at the water’s edge, dressed in a white breast wrap and white shorts, covered by a sheer, gauzy long dress.
Her legs were toned and slender, her slim waist and ab lines perfectly matched, her breast wrap bulged enticingly with curves, and her face was alluring and captivating.
“What are you here for?”
Xu Qi’an said grumpily, “Although I promised to spend three months with you, it doesn’t mean now.”
Luanyu covered her mouth and giggled, running her hand over her fragrant shoulder and letting the gauzy dress slip off. She walked slowly into the pool, the cold water rising past her long legs, past her slim waist…
She walked up to Xu Qi’an, fluttering her lashes flirtatiously,
“During the day I absorbed the aphrodisiac that little bitch Chunyan. It’s all built up now and my heart has been feeling rather itchy, so I simply longed for Silver Gong Xu.”
Is it really your heart that itches… Xu Qi’an replied coldly,
“Go back.”
Luanyu pursed her red lips and pouted, “You men always say one thing and mean another. If it weren’t to have a secret meeting with me, why did you come here? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice me following you.”
Xu Qi’an sighed,
“I didn’t come here to meet with you. I’m meeting someone else.”
Luanyu’s expression changed slightly, “That little bitch Chunyan?”
Xu Qi’an shook his head. “Look behind you.”
With suspicion, Luanyu turned to look, and under the moonlight, at the pool’s edge, a woman in feathered robes was suddenly standing there. She wore a lotus crown, carried an ancient sword on her back, and rested a horsetail whisk in the crook of her right arm.
Her features were exquisitely beautiful, of peerless beauty that could topple a kingdom. A dot of cinnabar marked her brow, lending her an aura of cold, celestial grace.
A night wind rose, making her feathered robe flutter, as if she could ascend and vanish at any moment.
For someone to approach so close, within five paces, without making a sound, Luanyu’s willow brows shot up. She shouted,
“Who are you?!”
There was a hint of dread in her eyes, but with Xu Qi’an by her side, she had enough confidence.
Luo Yuheng’s smile was as cold as the pond, and her eyes were even colder,
“The one who’s here to take your life!”
In an instant, sword qi filled the world, slashing towards Luanyu from all sides.
Ding ding ding…
Sword qi, as fine as cowhair but as dense as rain, was blocked by a layer of golden light.
Xu Qi’an had expanded the protective field of his Vajra Divine Art and blocked Luo Yuheng’s angry blow, saving Luanyu from a crisis of being pierced by a thousand arrows.
“National Teacher, she’s the chief of the Desire Gu tribe of the shaman clans, and also an ally of the Great Feng. Please stay your hand.”
Xu Qi’an hurriedly said.
Then, turning to Luanyu, he explained, “She’s the National Teacher of the Great Feng, and also my Daoist partner.”
Luo Yuheng gave him a sidelong glance, seeming disdainful, but retracted the sword qi.
“Go!”
He pushed Luanyu, sending her out of the pool and floating her away.
Luo Yuheng did not stop them.
Having sent the third wheel away, Xu Qi’an said playfully,
“It’s a long journey from the Great Feng to the Southern Marches for business, so I couldn’t get in touch with the National Teacher.”
Luo Yuheng showed no expression. “I went to Qingzhou to find Sun Xuanji. He said you were in the Southern Marches.”
After arriving in the Southern Marches, she tracked him here by sensing the talisman she had given him.
Xu Qi’an looked at her for a long time and said,
“It seems the National Teacher is able to restrain her karmic fire?”
Luo Yuheng nodded.
“The karmic fire has weakened slightly compared to last month.”
So you’re able to suppress it for now? Xu Qi’an quickly offered congratulations, “Congratulations, congratulations. The National Teacher is now a step closer to becoming an Earthly Immortal.”
First rank Daoist: Earthly Immortal.
Only then did Luo Yuheng show a hint of a smile, and her snowy lotus beauty became radiant.
She glanced around, frowning slightly.
“This wild land of the Southern Marches has not even an inn. I’ll take you back to the Central Plains.”
Does dual cultivation need ceremony? Xu Qi’an looked around and grinned,
“It’s perfect here, deserted and quiet, no one will disturb us.”
Luo Yuheng’s pretty face instantly became frosty as she looked at him coldly.
Xu Qi’an walked over to the bank and tugged at her loose sleeve.
Luo Yuheng pulled it back, her face cold and silent.
Xu Qi’an pulled again, and Luo Yuheng pulled it back again.
After a brief struggle, Luo Yuheng frowned, half-resisting, half-acquiescing, and was pulled into the water.
…
Songshan County.
Upon the city wall, Xu Xinnian wore a military uniform, holding a torch as he walked along a cracked and potholed path atop the wall, inspecting the city’s defences one by one.
Groups of militiamen clustered atop the wall, busily repairing the damaged defences.
Songshan County bordered steep peaks to the south, making the ground extremely high. The wall here rose even higher than in ordinary counties. There was the Song River to the west, which acted as a natural barrier, cutting off any large-scale enemy deployment.
Therefore, the eastern and northern gates needed to be guarded closely.
This was Songshan County’s natural advantage. Moreover, as a hub for river transport, trade thrived here, the land was fertile, the treasury was full, and the granaries were well stocked.
For these reasons, it became one of the three most important cities in Yang Gong’s second line of defence.
Xu Erlang had been entrusted with heavy responsibility by Yang Gong and was in charge of the defence of Songshan County.
“If the city stands, I stand. If the city falls, I fall.”
That was how he had replied at the time.
Yesterday, six thousand rebel troops had come to the city, engaging the garrison in fierce combat.
The rebels had brought forty cannons, which traded fire with the twelve on the city walls.
Infantry had assaulted under cover of the bombardment.
The fighting lasted until dusk. The rebels left behind eight hundred corpses and retreated.
The garrison lost three hundred men.
“You think those bastards will attack by night?”
A careless voice sounded behind him.
Xu Erlang looked back. The speaker was an ordinary-looking young man, carrying a sabre in one hand and a flatbread in the other.
He slouched as he walked, wearing light armour riddled with sabre marks.
“Night attacks are a foolish move in siege warfare.”
Xu Erlang said coolly, “There’s no need to worry, Brother Miao.”
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