Cataclysm Chapter 78: Afterbirth 4; Copper Coins Sword

Chapter 78: Afterbirth 4; Copper Coins Sword

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: Karai

 

Chen Yang hurried to the school and as soon as he stepped into the teacher’s office, he heard a loud noise. He pushed through the crowd and saw Kui Xuan sitting in a chair, his feet not touching the ground, quiet and obedient. As if sensing something, Kui Xuan looked up and smiled, “Chen Xiaoyang.”

The crowd immediately quieted down, all eyes turning to Chen Yang. The handsome and gentle young man, perhaps due to his experience as an office director over the past two years, exuded an undeniable presence. He walked up to Kui Xuan, checked her over and found no injuries before standing upright, his sharp gaze sweeping around, “Teacher Lin, what happened?”

Teacher Lin was Kui Xuan’s homeroom teacher, currently being harassed by two troublemakers, feeling a headache. Seeing Chen Yang’s arrival relieved her, but before she could explain, she was pushed aside by someone from behind, stumbling and nearly falling. Fortunately, Chen Yang caught her, and after Teacher Lin steadied herself, she thanked Chen Yang gratefully before sternly addressing the two troublemakers behind her, “If you two don’t learn to restrain yourselves, I’ll have to call the police!”

Chen Yang remarked, “Haven’t called the police yet?”

Teacher Lin replied, “I was going to, but I was worried it might have a negative impact on Kui Xuan. So I wanted to get your opinion.”

Chen Yang nodded, his sharp gaze fixed on the two troublemakers. They indeed had bruises on their faces, and their arms seemed twisted, likely fractured. He said, “So, you two intended to abduct our Kui Xuan?”

Kui Xuan’s swinging legs paused, and she held her cheeks in her hands, looking at Chen Yang with innocent and obedient eyes. Her legs swung even faster, like a wagging tail. Chen Xiaoyang saying ‘our Kui Xuan’ made her so happy.

The two troublemakers immediately shouted, “We were just trying to help her get home, but she lured us into the alley and beat us up! We tried to do a good deed, but got beaten for it. I don’t care, but you have to pay for our medical expenses! Don’t deny it, I know you want to say it’s impossible for two grown men to be beaten up by a little girl. But that’s the truth, she’s a martial arts master! Let me tell you, she can even fly, she’s a martial arts master. We couldn’t fight back at all, inexplicably beaten up, we must be compensated!”

The incident attracted a crowd of teachers. Upon hearing this, it instantly refreshed their understanding of shamelessness. Teacher Lin disdainfully said, “Martial arts master? Then I must be a sword immortal.”

Chen Yang asked solemnly, “Did you hit them?”

Kui Xuan stopped swinging her legs and turned to look at the two troublemakers. With an innocent and obedient expression, she said, “I just lightly tapped them, and their hands turned red.” She extended her hand, indeed red. Several female teachers softened at the sight, giving the two troublemakers fierce glares in passing.

“How shameless! Social scum! Bullying a little girl, shameless.”

The two troublemakers, faced with Kui Xuan’s innocent smile, reflexively hugged each other, their bones aching faintly. The teachers, seeing this, found them even more despicable for resorting to such tactics.

Chen Yang asked again, “Were they trying to take you home?”

“Yes,” Kui Xuan nodded, “They said they wanted to take me to find Chen Xiaoyang. I asked them where Chen Xiaoyang was, and they said he was at home. So I followed them home.”

The teachers were distressed, staring at the two troublemakers with even more hostility. Several male teachers quietly blocked their way to prevent them from running away; they were indeed human traffickers. Teacher Lin suggested, “Mr. Chen, you should call the police.”

Chen Yang nodded, “Thank you,” and promptly made the call. The two ruffians, seeing this, attempted to flee, but were held down by the eager teachers, inadvertently pressing on their fractured arms and legs, eliciting a pained scream.

Shortly after, the police arrived, completed the routine procedures, and arrested the two troublemakers, reminding them to educate Kui Xuan more and not let her be deceived by strangers. Chen Yang nodded seriously, and Kui Xuan seemed to understand, looking particularly cute, making the police itch to pat her.

Kui Xuan looked up, “Chen Xiaoyang, are we going home now?”

“Kui Xuan, did you hit them?” 

Kui Xuan nodded, anxiously watching Chen Yang’s expression, “Is Chen Xiaoyang angry? But they wanted to lift my skirt and touch me, I didn’t like it.”

Hearing this, Chen Yang regretted not incapacitating those two scumbags earlier. He advised Kui Xuan, “Don’t hit them next time you encounter such people. Kick them where it hurts. Kick hard or kick them to the ground. If anything happens, the whole office will back you up.”

“Okay!” Kui Xuan nodded vigorously, smiling brightly. She climbed down from Chen Yang’s arms, took his hand, and said, “I’ve seen them before. They wanted to lure me into a warehouse. I heard them saying they wanted to make me afraid, mentioning prices and warm beds. After I scared them away, I saw them again today. But they didn’t seem afraid, still trying to abduct me. I could sense that they were calmly lifting my skirt, their intention not elsewhere but to make me afraid. After I broke their hands and feet, they should have gone to the hospital immediately, instead of waiting two hours for a situation that was completely unfavorable to them.”

Chen Yang stopped in his tracks, lowered his head to meet Kui Xuan’s gaze, “So, you mean their goal wasn’t to harm you physically, but to use your fear to make you into something? And they probably didn’t even feel pain?”

“Not exactly,” Kui Xuan shook her head, “Not that they didn’t feel pain, but that they were fearless.” Jiangshis couldn’t perceive the physical pain caused by attacks, so she knew those two men weren’t unable to feel pain. It was just that their fearless emotions made them unafraid of pain and unafraid of her strangeness.

“In that case, they have ulterior motives.” Knowing that it was absurd for two adult men to be beaten up by a nine-year-old girl, yet still causing a scene at school, even calling the police wasn’t justifiable. Unless there were other motives. Chen Yang gestured for Kui Xuan to get in the car first, then asked as he sat down, “Have you encountered any other strange things?”

Kui Xuan replied, “There’s a classmate in our class whose situation isn’t very good.”

“How so?”

“She’s jealous of me and she’s in contact with those two just now. It was her who lured me to the warehouse before. She seems to know about the ‘warm bed.’ Also, her emotions are tightly wound, ready to explode at any moment.”

“Emotional instability?” Chen Yang murmured, then asked, “Take me to meet your classmate tomorrow, and we need to investigate those two guys.” Kui Xuan introduced her Maojiang underlings to Chen Yang. Chen raised an eyebrow, “They’re at the branch office?”

Kui Xuan, thinking about her homework, kept her face unchanged as she observed Chen Yang’s expression and nodded cautiously, “Just arrived. They don’t trust me. But they hide pretty well and won’t go out to scare people.”

Back at the branch office, Chen Yang saw the two Maojiangs standing in the corner with dejected expressions. When the two Maojiangs saw Kui Xuan return, they immediately showed a look of grievance and sadness. Chen Yang asked Ma Shanfeng, “Uncle Ma, what happened to them?”

Ma Shanfeng sighed, “When they went out today, they were scared by the old ladies and children in the neighborhood.”

Chen Yang momentarily suspected he misheard the words, “Who got scared?”

Ma Shanfeng nodded towards the two Maojiangs hiding in the corner, “Them.”

Chen Yang immediately requested a live broadcast from Ma Shanfeng. Ma Shanfeng then vividly described the situation, “They haven’t been to the human world for many years. Taking advantage of the relatively mild evening sunlight, they sneaked into the neighborhood under an umbrella. At that time, the neighborhood was filled with old men and women walking their dogs and children just out of school. When they saw these two with faces and bodies covered in fur, everyone gathered around, mistaking them for sufferers of hypertrichosis. They enthusiastically recommended various hair removal products, and it inexplicably turned into a matchmaking session. They got scared and ran back, but were caught by us. Now,” Ma Shanfeng lowered his voice, “the impact is quite significant, don’t provoke them anymore.”

Chen Yang nodded, indicating he understood. Just before going upstairs, he suggested, “Most hair removal products aren’t reliable. The more you use them, the more hair grows. Be cautious with these.”

After some consideration, Mao Xiaoli also advised them, “I suggest permanent hair removal at a beauty clinic, but your hair grows quite fast, so it may only last for a while. But after hair removal,” she carefully examined the faces of the two Maojiang creatures, their white fur was fine and short, their features still discernible, “your appearance will definitely improve.”

Upon hearing this, the two Maojiangs lifted their heads eagerly, their eyes full of hope. Kui Xuan covered her face, not wanting to talk to them, but Mao Xiaoli was moved by their gaze and stayed to explain how good they would look after shaving off their fur. She even went back to her room and brought down her eyebrow razor for them to try, “You guys give it a try.”

So when Kou Xuanling and Lu Xiuzhi returned to the branch office, they saw the two Maojiangs standing stiffly in the corner, their faces covered in foam, looking pitiful. Mao Xiaoli stood in front of them, eager to try, and when she saw Kou Xuanling return, she shouted without looking back, “Old Kou, lend me your razor.”

Kou Xuanling refused, “A man’s razor is like his underwear, not for lending out.”

“Stingy.” Mao Xiaoli grumbled, sighing as she looked at the eyebrow razor in her hand, “The eyebrow razor doesn’t shave clean, it’s too small.” Zhang Qiudao came downstairs, and when he heard the suggestion to use a kitchen knife, Mao Xiaoli’s eyes lit up, “Not bad.” She shouted downstairs, “Brother Chen, can I use a kitchen knife to shave their hair?”

Chen Yang came out from the room, peering downstairs, “There’s a brand new kitchen knife in the cabinet below the kitchen. Use that. After using it, don’t mix it with other things, and better not put it back in the kitchen.”

“Got it.” Mao Xiaoli quickly ran into the kitchen and brought back the kitchen knife. The kitchen knife glinted coldly, and although the two Maojiangs were like iron walls and steel walls, they couldn’t help but feel afraid at the sight. They wanted to refuse, but couldn’t speak, and were directly suppressed by Mao Xiaoli. It took her two hours to shave off all the hair on their faces. After washing away the foam, their originally handsome faces were revealed.

“Handsome!” Mao Xiaoli exclaimed with her mouth wide open. Kou Xuanling showed a hint of surprise, and Lu Xiuzhi, with a cold and expressionless face, blocked in front of him, the sharp gaze like knives sweeping over the two Maojiangs. Even Ma Shanfeng came out holding a teacup, exclaiming, “So refreshed.”

Chen Yang heard the exclamation and also wanted to go downstairs to see, but Du Shuo pulled him back, “Watching with me is enough.” Chen Yang waved his hand, “I can watch you anytime, I’ve been watching you for years, it’s rare to see them, they might grow their hair back tomorrow.”

It was just a casual remark, but Du Shuo sensed a crisis from it. “Are you tired of watching?” 

“Huh?” Chen Yang didn’t know how Du Shuo came to this conclusion, originally eager to go downstairs to see the appearance of the two Maojiangs, but when he turned around and saw Du Shuo’s expressionless face, he paused. Du Shuo let go of his hand and went back to the room, “As you wish.”

Chen Yang froze, looked down at the lively scene downstairs, then closed the door and saw Du Shuo with his back to him under the light. Walking closer, he saw Du Shuo spreading out a newspaper from a few days ago, pretending to read it. Chen Yang pushed his shoulder, “Are you angry?”

Du Shuo shook the newspaper, without looking up. Chen Yang saw his expressionless and dignified face, and didn’t feel like he was angry. He directly snatched the newspaper from his hand and then pushed himself into Du Shuo’s arms, “I was just a little curious. If you don’t like it, I won’t look.”

“No.” Du Shuo denied that he didn’t like it, encircling Chen Yang’s waist and pushing the newspaper he threw aside next to the sofa, making room. “Whether you look or not is your business, I don’t care.”

“Oh.” Chen Yang stood up, “Then I’ll go downstairs now, there should still be time.”

Du Shuo pressed Chen Yang onto the sofa and whispered, “Finish your business before going downstairs.”

Busy until late at night, Chen Yang slept tiredly under the covers, grabbing Du Shuo’s arm to push away his wandering hands. Hoarse and groggy, he warned, “Try again, and we’ll sleep in separate rooms.”

Du Shuo withdrew his hand awkwardly, staring silently at Chen Yang’s sleeping face. After a while, he turned off the lights and lay down, pulling Chen Yang back into his arms and falling asleep. In the darkness, he pondered whether their marriage had reached a stage of boredom. Chen Yang actually wanted to see other men! 

The next day, Chen Yang indeed did not see the faces under the white fur of the two Maojiang creatures. In one night, their hair had grown out a bit more than the day before. Because Mao Xiaoli had chased the two Maojiang creatures for several hours, they became fearful of shaving. Compared to shaving, doing middle school homework was truly a blessing, and it was better to have their own young master around.

Kui Xuan waited for Chen Yang to wake up, sitting on the sofa with her small backpack on her back, sitting up straight and very obedient. As soon as Chen Yang came down, she had the two Maojiangs drag out two large boxes. “Open them.” Inside the big boxes were all precious Taoist instruments. Kui Xuan nodded in satisfaction, “Chen Yang, pick whatever you want.”

Chen Yang asked, “Where did you get so many Taoist instruments?”

“They’re in the thirty-six tombs. They were basically used to suppress me. But now that they can’t suppress me, I dug them out for you to use. Don’t worry, there are many more in the tombs, just use them however you like, and if you use them up, just throw them away.” After all, Kui Xuan was a wealthy jiangshi with a 2,000-year-old tomb and thirty-five subsidiary tombs. Wealth was her middle name.

Chen Yang laughed, “No matter how many Taoist instruments there are, they’re useless if they don’t feel right.” Kui Xuan suddenly looked disappointed, so he could only pat her head and coax her kindly. Later, when Ma Shanfeng finished tending to the flowers and plants in the courtyard and returned, he seemed to remember something and suddenly realized, “I almost forgot. Xiaoli mentioned that your copper coin was missing. I mentioned it to the old folks in the Daoist realm, and they sent over many Taoist instruments this morning. You can also choose. Oh, and there’s a copper coin sword.”

Chen Yang was surprised. “You can get back the lost copper coin without any trouble.” Ma Shanfeng had a WeChat group of old people, all big shots in the Daoist realm. He mentioned Chen Yang’s lost Taoist instruments in the group, and all the big shots picked out a piece from their collection and mailed it to the branch office. None of the things they collected were ordinary.

Ma Shanfeng said, “Anyway, they have many private collections, and if they don’t bring them out for the younger generation to use, they’ll just gather dust and rust.” He pointed to the pavilion outside the courtyard. “They’re all piled up there, so feel free to choose.”

Those unusual Taoist instruments were packed in ordinary express boxes, some simply stuffed into plastic bags, like cheap goods piled up in the pavilion. Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli came downstairs prepared to have breakfast, and when they saw the express packages in the pavilion, they showed no surprise. “The logistics are fast, five-star rating.”

Ma Shanfeng asked, “Is your express package among them?”

Mao Xiaoli replied, “Didn’t brother Chen’s Taoist instrument go missing? We need replacements for the time being. I mentioned it to my family, and they said they would send over Taoist instruments today. I don’t know if brother Chen will find them useful. Why not try them now?” Zhang Qiudao nodded, his situation was similar to Mao Xiaoli’s.

Kui Xuan tightened her small face nervously and said, “Chen Yang, choose mine.”

Chen Yang was momentarily at a loss. There were so many Taoist instruments that he couldn’t possibly accept them all. But it wouldn’t be right to only accept one person’s. Especially when Kui Xuan’s eyes were full of expectation fixed on him. He could only keep a straight face and said, “Kui Xuan, hurry up and go to class so you won’t be late.”

Reluctantly, Kui Xuan climbed into the car, and Ma Shanfeng happily got into the driver’s seat. He seemed to be indulging in the vanity of having a genius granddaughter who was only nine years old but already attending junior high school. Every day, he walked Kui Xuan outside the neighborhood, modestly accepting the envious gazes of the old men and women, pretending to be extremely hypocritical.

Kou Xuanling walked in carrying soy milk and fried dough sticks, with Lu Xiuzhi beside her. This pair was completely hopeless. Everyone at the branch office thought they were dating, but one of the parties involved always claimed innocence from start to finish. After understanding what had happened, Kou Xuanling slurped his soy milk and said, “Even if Chen Yang’s Taoist instrument is missing, isn’t it already prepared by the Office? He must use the Taoist instruments provided by the Office.”

Coincidentally, Du Shuo came downstairs, admitting that Chen Yang’s replacement Taoist instruments had indeed been prepared. He took out a bundle of ancient copper coins wrapped in red thread, about twenty of them. He said, “Yangyang, stretch out your hand.” As he wrapped the entire bundle of copper coins around Chen Yang’s wrist, he said, “There are a total of twenty ancient copper coins. You can use them individually or string them together into a copper coin sword.”

The bundle of copper coins wrapped around Chen Yang’s forearm didn’t look strange because of its unique design; instead, it looked quite nice. Chen Yang looked stunned. “Where did these ancient copper coins come from?”

“They’re the ancestral Taoist instruments of the Wu Clan’s ancestors. At that time, the Ba Shu ghost country had not yet been destroyed. I wanted to give them to you when I found them, but I was worried that you wouldn’t be used to them.” After binding them, Du Shuo looked up, “This time your Taoist instrument is missing, so let’s replace it with a copper coin sword. Copper coins are full of Yang energy, and the sword is sharp and dangerous, the leader of all weapons, born to kill. It’s most effective for suppressing evil spirits.”

Chen Yang murmured, “Didn’t Grandpa Wu say to leave only one ancient copper coin?” The ancestral Taoist instruments of the Wu Clan, passed down from generation to generation, were full of Yang energy and powerful magic. He treasured them very much.

Du Shuo paused and chose to remain silent. Kou Xuanling said, “The Taoist instruments of the Daoist tradition won’t just use one ancient copper coin. Generally, they are strung together into a copper coin sword. Taoist instruments that only have one ancient

“Copper coin left have long been phased out and are simply impossible as ancestral Taoist instruments passed down through generations of clan leaders. So, Chen Yang,” even if it was hard to break the news gently, she couldn’t help but laugh heartily as she revealed the truth, “you’ve been fooled.”

Chen Yang, who appeared particularly shrewd and handled things with great discretion, and the very clever Chen Yang, were actually deceived by such an obvious lie. Kou Xuanling laughed heartily, “I thought you knew, but it turns out you didn’t. You believed the lie just because the ancient copper coins were given to you by your relatives.”

Kou Xuanling laughed heartily as he searched for allies, but Zhang Qiudao and Mao Xiaoli looked at him coldly. Because they both believed in the lie, Kou Xuanling’s mockery made them particularly uncomfortable.

Chen Yang didn’t believe it and decided to inquire with the Wu Clan Chief, who now served as the City God of Pingcheng. The Wu Clan Chief recalled the ancient copper coin, “I remember now. Back then, I had poor talents and could only get the copper coins that nobody wanted. Later, Kui Xuan taught me some techniques, and I exchanged them for Taoist instruments. The Yang energy on that copper coin and its attached magic made it the most suitable defensive weapon for you.”

Chen Yang remained indifferent, “So it’s not actually an ancestral Taoist instrument passed down through generations?”

“I can’t say it’s not. After all, it’s the ancestral Taoist instrument of the Wu Clan’s ancestors. Even if there’s only one left, it’s still a family heirloom.” The Wu Clan Chief’s face was serious, unable to recall the deception of tricking the innocent and obedient Chen Yang. “Why the sudden question?”

“No reason.” Chen Yang teased the old man’s beard, scaring him into finally breaking free and giving some casual advice before hurrying away. By now, Chen Yang was as deflated as a pufferfish version of himself, glaring at Du Shuo. “And you didn’t tell me either!”

Du Shuo hesitated, “…I thought you knew.”

Chen Yang instantly deflated, “That copper coin is really powerful, and even the red thread strung with copper coins has the magic power to whip away evil spirits.” He stared at the twenty ancient copper coins wrapped around his forearm, the smallest scale of a copper coin sword. Daoist copper coin swords came in twenty-one, forty-nine, and one hundred and eight coins, with the maximum being forty-nine. The missing coin in the copper coin sword wrapped around his forearm was the one lost on the monster’s back. “One copper coin is already so powerful, so if there are twenty coins, the power should be even stronger.”

At Du Shuo’s words, his expression became somewhat strange. Deliberating his words, he said, “Yangyang, have you ever thought that it’s not the Taoist instrument that’s powerful, but the person using the Taoist instrument?”

Chen Yang looked up, his face full of confusion. “Huh?”

Du Shuo raised his hand to pinch Chen Yang’s soft cheek and smiled, “Do you have a misunderstanding about yourself? The Wu Clan Chief is, after all, the City God of Pingcheng. Without any extraordinary abilities, he wouldn’t have accumulated enough merits to become a City God. His techniques were basically taught by Kui Xuan, a jiangshi of over two thousand years. With such a long time as a jiangshi, her techniques couldn’t be lacking. And then there’s me, trained by the Emperor of Fengdu, how could my discipleship be lacking?”

Chen Yang felt a bit dreamy and couldn’t believe it. “I don’t quite understand.”

“Yangyang, you’re very powerful. Your ability to catch ghosts and drive away evil doesn’t rely on Taoist instruments, but on your own strong abilities. Taoist instruments aren’t inherently powerful; it’s because you, who use them, are powerful. If it were someone else, it would just be a copper coin with a slightly stronger ability to drive away evil.” Du Shuo looked at Chen Yang, who was dumbfounded, with a smile in his eyes. “Otherwise, how do you think they all heard about you losing your Taoist instruments and immediately sent so many by mail? Letting you choose from various Taoist instruments instead of selecting similar ones based on the Taoist instruments you’re used to.”

“They all realized that you haven’t found your own Taoist instruments yet.”

The author has something to say:

Emperor: “Chen Yang is interested in other men.”

Ancestor: “He’s bored.”

Emperor: “How can I make Chen Yang interested in me again?”

Ancestor: “Learn from me, change your face. Immediately rekindle the passion, endless happiness.”

 

 

 

This Title is available for faster chapter releases through paid Patreon membership. Any proceeds go to keeping the website running. Check it out HERE.