Chapter 99: Black-Hearted Old Woman
Chapter 99: Black-Hearted Old Woman
Under the glow of the seven-star lamp, Li Si walked on the streets of Kao Mountain Town like a thief. Almost no one was left in the town; all able-bodied men and women who could still move had been called away.
The main attraction was the promise of food. The Great Soul-Returning Broth was not common for these ordinary people. The restored Magic Power they couldn’t store for long, but it still made their bodies more energetic.
After sensing a little, Li Si found the Floating Cloud Sect’s temporary base in Kao Mountain Town.
To be honest, the Floating Cloud Sect’s move was very forceful. It was clear they treated Kao Mountain Town as their own home.
Sighing inwardly, Li Si entered the Floating Cloud Sect’s temporary base. It was a small, temporarily vacated courtyard, not very big, but quiet.
At the main gate, a Soul Lamp was lit to ward off evil spirits. Little Bean and Little Vegetable Root were happily playing with Zhang San’s grandson, each holding a stick.
Yue Shan, Bai Yu, and Qi Linger, as disciples of the Floating Cloud Sect, had to make appearances outside the town.
At the entrance of the main room, a radiant Jiang Ying, looking at least twenty years younger, held Little Radish and was teaching the little one to speak. The child giggled happily.
As for the terrifying old woman? Wait, where was the old lady?
“Junior brother, what are you staring at? Are you uncomfortable with the new environment? It’s fine. The people here are nice. This will be our new home from now on.”
Jiang Ying smiled. The young Senior Sister Jiang was truly beautiful, especially with that rare, hopeful vitality shining in her eyes.
Li Si’s originally uneasy heart immediately calmed down. Just for that hopeful smile, even being hung up and beaten would be worth it.
Well, mainly because the terrifying old woman wasn’t here.
“Senior sister, didn’t Master come with us?” Li Si asked with concern. He had almost grown used to paying respects morning and evening, offering greetings and salutations.
“Master needs to stabilize the Fate, so she won’t arrive until tomorrow noon. She’s still in the small village,” Jiang Ying replied casually.
Hearing this, Li Si first felt relieved but then remembered the Blood Coffin. Others could leave, and other supplies could be moved, but how could the old lady move?
Once she moved, the Blood Coffin would follow.
“Then… who is guarding her there?”
“Master said no guard is needed. The urgent task is to complete the core of the Kaoshan City grand array. Once done, the array’s hub will cover a hundred-mile radius.”
“Wait, Kaoshan City? What Kaoshan City!” Li Si was stunned.
“Master said so. She mentioned she had spoken with Ancestor Kaoshan, and both agreed to upgrade Kao Mountain Town to Kaoshan City. Anyway, it’s a good thing for the future. Also, Master said that in a few days, people from the Jiuxuan Spirit Sword Sect will also move here. By then, Kao Mountain Town’s layout would be too small. Taking this chance to upgrade to Kaoshan City will help with future planning.”
Saying this, Jiang Ying looked at Li Si. “But these matters don’t concern us disciples. You should focus on your cultivation. Leave external affairs to your senior brothers Xu Shen and Ji Chang.”
“Oh!” Li Si’s mind buzzed. What the hell? Jiuxuanzi is coming too? Doesn’t that show disrespect for me, the Kaoshan Patriarch?
Sigh!
What’s the point of talking about the Kaoshan Patriarch now?
Making up an excuse about going to help, Li Si left with a heavy heart.
But in the end, he closed his eyes and directly teleported back to the small village where the Floating Cloud Sect had been.
Only a lonely Stone House remained; everything else was gone. The door of the Stone House was wide open, pitch dark inside. However, a Three Talents Demon-Purging Array was still active around it, preventing the Dark Mist from flooding in.
With this atmosphere, was the old lady planning to shoot a horror movie here?
Grumbling internally, Li Si steeled himself and entered the Stone House. A flame ignited in his right hand, lighting the Soul Lamp by the door.
Under the dim yellow light, the bare Stone House looked even more like a tomb.
The white-haired old woman with a sallow complexion sat there, maintaining her eternal motionless posture, like a dried corpse.
So, still chatting online?
Li Si respectfully bowed. Then, he lit a fire in the usual spot, set up the Medicine King Cauldron given to him by Shendanzi, and started boiling a pot of Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction.
He then drank the Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction while waiting for the old lady to go offline. But as he watched, he suddenly felt something was wrong. He stepped forward and reached out his hand, his face changing dramatically.
The old lady’s arm had completely turned into clay. He touched her hand; it could still move before—no, she had drunk a bowl of Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction this morning. How could it suddenly become clay?
The more Li Si thought about it, the more alarmed he became. He touched her head, her face, her torso—finished, all finished!
It was all over; everything had turned into clay.
Wait, there was still the third hand.
“Master, I apologize for my disrespect!”
Gritting his teeth, Li Si reached out to touch it. But it was still clay! His heart turned cold.
It was truly no different from an ordinary clay statue. When he applied force, he even rubbed off some yellow clay. The third hand was gone…
So, had the old lady ascended or passed away?
No wonder she so decisively ordered Xu Shen and others to move the Floating Cloud Sect to Kao Mountain Town while making excuses to stay behind herself. She must have known her time was up.
For a moment, grief overwhelmed Li Si. He couldn’t help but carefully examine her again. This time, he was sure: the old lady had ascended. Even Divine Grace Baptism couldn’t save her now.
A giant of the immortal path had turned into a pile of yellow earth…
“Wah… Master, you died so tragically! I haven’t even gotten married or had children yet. How could you leave like this!”
Li Si wept a few times, consoling the old lady’s spirit in heaven. Next, no matter what, he had to move the ascended clay statue of the old lady back. But to do that, he needed to deal with the Blood Coffin first.
While Li Si was pondering a solution, he suddenly looked up. The old lady was staring at him with cloudy eyes, full of fierce, terrifying light!
“Holy crap, she’s haunting me!”
Li Si was so startled he shivered. He immediately cast a Heart Cleansing Curse, followed by an Iron Prison Discipline, and then slammed down the Soul-Quelling Bell, trapping the haunting old lady inside.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.
Li Si held a Thunder-Summoning Curse in his left hand and Palm Thunder in his right. He was prepared for the worst. To prevent the Evil God’s power from defiling the old lady’s body, he was willing to destroy it if necessary. He believed the old lady’s spirit in heaven would praise his proper handling.
We Cultivators fear neither life nor death. Master, I have inherited your will. Rest in peace!
“Wretch! What are you doing?”
From inside the Soul-Quelling Bell, the old lady’s furious voice suddenly rang out.
“Monster, I knew you weren’t human! Take this!”
Li Si was extremely tense; this was no joke. Mainly because the Evil God’s Blood Coffin was right there, so the old lady’s corpse turning was very possible.
Crack, crack, crack!
Bolts of thunder struck down, forming a dense thunderstorm net. Crap, I forgot about my Soul-Quelling Bell.
“Boom!”
The Soul-Quelling Bell suddenly shattered into pieces. The reanimated old lady pointed a finger, and Li Si turned into a clay statue…
Damn!
That finger was clearly the old lady’s third hand!
But I just checked it earlier…
Ah, it’s all an illusion, all a fantasy. I’m just dreaming. As long as I don’t wake up, this is all a dream…
“Slap!”
“Slap, slap!”
Li Si’s hands suddenly started slapping his own face left and right!
…
…
This was truly a tragic ending.
Half an hour later, Li Si’s nightmare finally ended. He was forced to accept a fact: thousand-year turtles, ten-thousand-year tortoises, hundred-thousand-year old ladies… sigh, he was still too naive. No, too kind-hearted. That’s why he always got hurt.
“Do you admit your mistake?”
A bonfire burned brightly. The old lady, looking kind and gentle, held a bowl of Hundred Herb Soul-Restoring Decoction and drank comfortably.
“Yes, I admit my mistake. I shouldn’t have hidden…” Before Li Si could finish, he found his mouth couldn’t speak, as if sealed by something.
The old lady across from him blinked seriously, then continued slowly:
“Your mistake was presuming to make decisions for your master, attempting to pass the Seven Emotions Tribulation. Do you know you almost died? If I hadn’t discovered it in time and intercepted the endless resentment for you, what you endured was far more than just the resentment of a hundred thousand souls. That little Spirit Cultivator couldn’t save you!”
“But you also gained some fortune from this misfortune. The Bedrock Dao Heart—the hardest to obtain among the seven great Dao Hearts. With this Bedrock Dao Heart, your path to Tribulation Crossing Grand Completion and even achieving True Immortal will be smooth.”
“But the situation is more serious than we imagined. This world cannot be saved by just one more True Immortal. So, you must be protected. I discussed this with your Aunt Jiuxuan, and she agreed. She is bringing her disciples here. From now on, we will be your shields, blocking everything, hoping you can seize that slim chance.”
“Don’t be confused. Those who can be officially recognized by this world are definitely on our side. I told you this on the first day, you fool! You just didn’t believe it and insisted on playing tricks…”
“Remember, don’t speak of this again, because walls have ears. I stopped you from speaking before for this reason.”
“Alright, handle the rest as you see fit!”
After saying this, the old lady closed her eyes and visibly turned back into a dried corpse clay statue.
Li Si: …
Li Si: Damn it, old lady, undo this silencing technique or whatever first…
A few minutes later, Li Si gave up. This black-hearted, vengeful old woman was just too much.
But he really had no temper left. If the old lady hadn’t told him, he wouldn’t have known he had brushed with death.
Thinking carefully, the old lady probably wasn’t lying. If the resentment brought by the Seven Emotions Tribulation was only from a hundred thousand souls, it would have been too easy. These World Guardian True Immortals could pass it effortlessly, so why were they so on edge?
Therefore, the old lady had essentially saved his life.
But then again, this old lady was too sneaky. If the Phantom Bride hadn’t warned him this time, would she have kept acting?
Before, she kept calling him “Dao Brother”!
Hmph!
Her heart was too black!
But despite his complaints, Li Si finally carried the old lady’s dried corpse clay statue on his back. Following behind was a Blood Coffin invisible to others, heading straight for Kao Mountain Town.
Life still had to go on.