He and It Chapter 203: Inquire Here (31)

Chapter 203: Inquire Here (31)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

“Everyone left!” Liu Fuguang said happily. 

Yan Huan couldn’t share in his happiness, but by seeing Liu Fuguang joyful, he felt a sense of relief as well.

“A good method,” he said. “Almost like transcendence.”

“A clumsy method.” Liu Fuguang shook his head. “Just reliable enough. Without people, there is no country. Across the seventeen cities, one by one, the souls are dispersed. I’m eager to see what else the Holy Ancestor can use to rule.”

He removed the pearl and put away the jade rod. As he surveyed the vast and silent city, the effort to ferry souls consumed his mind. Meanwhile, Liu Fuguang relaxed his vigilance slightly and casually turned his head as he said, “It’s strange that the auxiliary guards haven’t come to cause trouble here…”

Before he even finished speaking, within the range of his spiritual senses a twisted, dark black light suddenly flashed, like a venomous snake that had waited for an opportunity, and silently aimed at a vicious and cunning angle as it lunged towards him!

Words are the channel and bridge for communication between all living beings, the heavens, and earth spirits. Therefore, spoken words are both spells and spirits. So, as the ancient saying goes, “trouble comes from the mouth,” when referring to such matters.

The shadow-like, deadly auxiliary guards hadn’t failed to come. They had lurked in the dark, and waited for an opportunity to ambush. Still Yan Huan defended flawlessly, and prevented them from finding any openings to sacrifice themselves. When the jade bell rang and the song accompanied the brilliance of the Pearl, even the gu worms inside them mostly dissolved—so batch after batch of auxiliary guards were sung away.

Thus, the remaining bronze-faced cultivators needed to be even more cautious. When Liu Fuguang spoke carelessly, with the help of that verbal oversight, the Holy Ancestor’s hounds finally found the opportunity to strike.

Thunder clashed with a metallic sound! Yan Huan didn’t revert to his human form. Instantaneously, still in dragon form, he tightly encircled Liu Fuguang, like a dark and malevolent giant egg. Countless limbs surged forth, and erupted into a myriad of deformed blades on the surface of the “egg.”

There was no more vicious meat grinder to be seen. The auxiliary guards surged like tidal waves, as they continuously rushed forward, and like tidal waves, they continuously and tragically died on the spot. Black-purple blood and flesh splattered and reformed into gushing toxic water on the ground.

The cultivators of the Mortal Realm emitted intense, non-human-like screams. In the blink of an eye, whether it was the mutilated limbs and flesh, or oozing poisonous water, it all flowed like streams, then was sucked into the dozens of sharp-toothed giant mouths opened by Yan Huan and swallowed completely.

The Dragon God slowly relaxed his body. Apart from a strong pungent smell in the air, some surrounding collapsed houses, and the crushed wet blue stone street, Liu Fuguang could see nothing else.

“You killed them,” Liu Fuguang sighed slightly. “It was my negligence.”

Although Yan Huan indulged in massacring the trailing auxiliary guards, the evil fire in his heart could never be completely vented. In his view, the so-called Holy Ancestor repeatedly sent servants to chase and kill, and used the cheap lives of mortals to make Liu Fuguang suffer and be unable to live peacefully. This had greatly touched his bottom line. It was taking his bottom line and dancing on it. How could he not hate it? How could he not want revenge?

Liu Fuguang had his way. His belly surged with poisonous water. He had also thought of a way.

“What kind of negligence is this?” Yan Huan laughed. “People always make mistakes…”

The Dragon God returned to his human form, and warmly embraced his beloved, as he said, “My love…Hmm. Actually, I feel like this cannot go on.”

Liu Fuguang replied, “Oh? Why do you think so?”

“Wuping is completely within the grasp of the Holy Ancestor. From several incidents, it’s clear that this person views the overall area as their own vegetable garden. Wherever there’s a disturbance, they immediately dispatch their underlings to arrive at the first possible moment. Although we aren’t afraid, ordinary people suffer the hardships…Besides, too many insects and ants can also be quite disturbing, right?”

Liu Fuguang initially thought Yan Huan found the method of transcendence too slow and inefficient. However, Yan Huan’s viewpoint now completely exceeded his expectations. After all, “ordinary people suffer the hardships” was something Liu Fuguang could never have imagined him saying.

With a mixture of curiosity and surprise, Liu Fuguang immediately asked, “So what do you have in mind?”

Yan Huan chuckled. He opened his mouth and spat out a dark, dull object that resembled an inner core. 

“Inner core.” He reshaped his human form, to create a vague appearance like black mist.

“External incarnation?” Liu Fuguang exclaimed in surprise. “Has your cultivation base recovered?”

Yan Huan casually clapped his hands and replied, “It’s not quite an external incarnation. It’s just that after consuming so many golden cores, I’ve been able to produce a puppet, and there’s more than enough.”

He turned to look at Liu Fuguang, his expression unexpectedly innocent, as he said with a smile, “Fuguang, shall we collaborate from within and without?”

–

“Why does Your Majesty look so worried?” A warm fragrance filled the lotus pavilion, and a soft and pleasant female voice issued forth. Many young girls’ voices, as clear and sweet as orioles, had passed this age, but in their eloquence and elegance, they were far from those inexperienced little maids.

The most beloved concubine of the Holy Ancestor gently extended a jade-like finger, wanting to wipe away the deep worry between the Emperor’s brows. The Emperor didn’t relax his brow, nor did he speak.

He felt the approaching troublesome situation, yet he couldn’t find a way to solve it.

Vast memories were a heavy burden. In the cycle of reincarnation, time was difficult to count; every occasion time reversed, the Holy Ancestor would use the restrictions laid down by the cultivators to forget the experiences of the previous time. Thus, as time flowed away again and again and he became the master of the Empire, he faced a complete blank and was destined for a happy life.

He would not allow that happiness to be broken by outsiders…He absolutely would not allow it!

The Holy Ancestor was furious, and ground his teeth hard. He suddenly waved away the delicate wrist of the concubine, pushed the beautiful woman aside and walked out of the palace to gaze at the misty mountains and rivers in the distance. The concubine’s face was full of panic, but she wisely held back the cry of pain that almost escaped her lips, as she quietly moved to the side, and waited for the Emperor’s anger to subside.

For the two foreign cultivators, the Holy Ancestor had to retrieve memories from the previous cycle. In chilling fear, he saw that young man in white, brilliant and terrifying like a deity, approached him step by step with an unstoppable and irresistible determination.

He wanted to destroy him, destroy Wuping, destroy his perfect era under heaven!

The Holy Ancestor was frustrated and angry, as he pounded on the railing with a roar of sorrow and anger.

He couldn’t resist, couldn’t even avoid…He dispatched his elite troops, swore to find out the identities of those two people, all to no avail. What was even more worse was that the auxiliary guards killed by those two could no longer reincarnate, as if they had entered a black hole and disappeared without a trace.

Am I being driven to a dead end? His thoughts spun madly, his teeth ground with a squeak. Am I finished?

As the sun set in the west, his elongated shadow suddenly stretched out until it resembled a boiling swamp emitting ever-changing bubbles. Startled, the Holy Ancestor reached for a red line, about to summon the auxiliary guards.

“Hush…” 

A voice, entwined with mist, swiftly reached his ears, and induced a warm drowsiness.

“Don’t speak. Let me have a good look at you,” the voice seemed neither fully male nor female, and mixed the frailty and solemnity of an elderly person with the vitality and innocence of a youth. It spoke like a myriad of voices speaking together in unison. “Holy Ancestor.”

The last two words seemed to carry profound implications.

The Holy Ancestor remained composed and cautious as he asked, “Who are you to dare to be so bold before me?”

“Me?” The voice chuckled lightly, and at that moment, its tone seemed to transform into that of an unparalleled beauty, so that each softly spoken word was like a soul-stirring and mesmerizing dagger.

“Emperor, you have fought my mortal enemy several times. You recognize neither him nor me?” 

The Holy Ancestor didn’t dare to let down his guard. Yet, for some reason, deep in his subconscious, he already had a profound knowledge that the unexpected guest before him was extremely dangerous. However, his body couldn’t muster the strength to resist, like an addict enchanted by a mesmerizing poison, facing a blooming lily flower. ¹

“…Explain yourself clearly.”

The voice changed once again, this time resounding like a founding emperor’s; full of majesty, akin to a true deity. It was a voice that all rulers would be jealous of and yearn for, because it precisely demonstrated how noble and aloof a person could be.

“Do you know the person against whom you are at odds? Who you have provoked?” The voice questioned sharply. “He is the river of the world, the mountain of the world, the valley of the world. Are you blinded and deluded, that you are unable to recognize the true appearance of the supreme goodness?”

The Holy Ancestor suddenly froze, incredulous. “Supreme goodness? Is he a person?”

“What is your Ziwei Emperor’s air, your worldly fate, to him?” The voice continued to mock the Emperor ruthlessly. “You call yourself the Holy Ancestor, yet in front of a true saint, you are like a sick cat facing a fierce tiger. To escape with your life is already a great fortune!”

In his heart, the Holy Ancestor already believed three-quarters of what it said.

“You…If you claim to be his mortal enemy, then who are you?” Sweat appeared on his forehead as he managed to ask.

The voice became mischievous, “Guess.”

The Holy Ancestor whispered, “Yin and Yang together, good and evil opposing each other. If he is the utmost goodness, then you are… You…”

His throat bobbed up and down. Cold sweat already dripped down his back. He was choked speechless for a moment.

“…What are you here for? Wuping is just a small world. What qualifications do you both have to appear here?” 

The mist-like voice laughed rudely, “Such a small place isn’t even worthy of being my washbasin. If it weren’t for the supreme goodness running here, I wouldn’t have come!”

A washbasin was used for washing feet. When it said washbasin, it meant washbasin. The Holy Ancestor was hit with unprecedented shame, but couldn’t argue back; only grit his teeth.

“But,” the voice mysteriously changed, lowering its voice. “You’ve created a very interesting world, haven’t you? I can clearly see your potential here. You’re a talented person, Emperor. Such talent could allow you to confront the supreme goodness.”

The Holy Ancestor frowned subconsciously and asked, “…What talent? What talent do I have?”

The sun had already completely sunk behind the mountains, and the Mortal Realm was plunged into darkness. The royal city neatly lit up with lights, but then they flickered and wavered under an unknown chill wind, trembling and swaying.

The Evil One laughed recklessly, a laughter so wild that even the Holy Ancestor had never heard such madness. After laughing, it continued, not yet satisfied, “The price of being a king is heavy. It’s not about gaining everything by becoming a king, but about having to abandon everything to become a ruler.”

“Now, you have ascended to this lofty and chilling position, yet you must desperately cling to the most beautiful and best things in your life, dragging them along for a thousand years…ten thousand years.”

The palace lanterns glowed dimly. Their flames cast a flickering light on the side of the Emperor’s face. He looked like a frozen, rigid clay sculpture, devoid of joy or sorrow, love or hate.

“Isn’t this the ultimate form of greed, the ultimate evil?” the Evil One asked excitedly. “How can I not favor you!”

The laughter turned into approval as it lingered, going from the left ear of the Holy Ancestor to the right.

“Join forces with me, and I will help you eliminate the threat to the Emperor.” It was a tremendously tempting proposition, calmly put forth. “Join forces with me, and Wuping will still be your kingdom, your possessions, your happiness and peace, all unbroken…”

The Holy Ancestor didn’t know how long he remained silent.

The night wind howled, and several palace lanterns suddenly extinguished, and emitted a line of trembling white smoke.

“…There’s no such thing as a free lunch in this world.” The Holy Ancestor hoarsely asked, “What are your conditions?”

The Evil One laughed.

Lowering its voice, countless slick fingers pressed onto the Holy Ancestor’s shoulder. It gave him a chilling yet strangely comforting sense of power.

“I want your time,” it said. “The best time of your life, of course! I won’t ask for much, just…two hours.”

The Holy Ancestor froze, and the Evil One added, “Every reincarnation of yours, I want you to shorten it by two hours for me. I’m not asking for the moon. Think about it. What other choice, what other way out do you have?”

It was right.

The Holy Ancestor knew full well that neither he nor the elite guards he had painstakingly trained and selected could confront that saintly figure. The supreme goodness had come to judge his sins, to demand his end. Only that completely unfamiliar Evil One was willing to extend an uncertain hand of assistance.

“I…” The Holy Ancestor swallowed hard, his mouth suddenly terrifyingly dry, “I agree to your terms.”

“The deal is struck!” the Evil One exclaimed cheerfully, “Here’s to a pleasant cooperation, most esteemed Emperor of the Mortal Realm.”