He and It Chapter 214: Inquire Here (42)

Chapter 214: Inquire Here (42)

Translated by Addis of Exiled Rebels Scanlations

Editor: GaeaTiamat

 

Noticing Liu Fuguang’s unusual expression, Jin Cuixu timidly asked, “What’s wrong? Is there a problem, Brother Fuguang?”

Liu Fuguang came to his senses. He shook his head, and smiled as he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear. “It’s nothing. Don’t worry, it’s nothing.”

After he left the barrier he’d set up, Liu Fuguang pondered for a long time how to handle Jin Cuixu.

“I would say, we might as well not intervene for now,” Yan Huan said. “To resolve this matter, we need to first understand the whole story. Although it’s time-consuming and laborious, it is a long-term solution.”

“You mean,” Liu Fuguang said, “we should first pretend to part ways with her, then quietly follow her to see what she encounters?”

Yan Huan nodded.

Liu Fuguang sighed, “Although I think the main issue actually lies with her sect, this method will work too.”

“Did you notice,” Yan Huan asked. “What her cultivation base was the last time we saw her?”

A hint of melancholy appeared between Liu Fuguang’s brows. “I knew you wouldn’t pay attention. Last time we saw her, she was only at the middle stage of Foundation Establishment, but this time, she has already touched the edge of Foundation Establishment Completion. Such exceptional talent…I don’t know how many people’s jealousy and murderous intent she has stirred up…”

“The taste of jealousy is both sour and bitter, yet it can be addictive,” Yan Huan chuckled. “Fortunately, we now have a target and no longer need to search aimlessly.”

Liu Fuguang continued to protect Jin Cuixu for a few more days. When her injuries healed, they nominally bid her farewell, but in truth concealed their presence and quietly followed her to see where she would go next.

After parting ways with them, Jin Cuixu did not delay along the way. She flew straight towards her sect on her sword, while the two followed behind.

The mountains below were like waves, and the rivers and valleys quickly passed by. As she led  them, Jin Cuixu brought her flying sword lower until amidst the treacherous peaks and mist-covered mountains, a Taoist temple with flying eaves, blue tiles, white walls, and jade railings could be vaguely seen. There were people coming and going, and in front of the temple was a large sign with three iron-clad characters.

—Luo Xian Temple. ¹

Liu Fuguang said softly, “Naming it the Qixian Temple would have been fine, but this name…”

“Let’s go in and take a look,” Yan Huan said.

As they were about to follow Jin Cuixu into the Taoist temple, the moment they crossed the threshold, it was as if they had touched a mirage. The large temple suddenly vanished!

In their line of sight, there was only the rolling sea of clouds and mist, the peaks covered in damp green moss, and the pine trees twisted like iron sculptures.

Liu Fuguang had never seen anything like it. He could recognize even Yan Huan’s true self at first glance, so what in the world could deceive him? Yet the Luo Xian Temple was nowhere to be found. It disappeared without a trace as if it had never existed.

The Supreme Goodness and the Supreme Evil wandered in the sky, bewildered as they circled around, but couldn’t find any clues. When they retreated to the approximate area of the temple, the entirety of Luo Xian Temple reappeared amidst the clouds and mist.

Yan Huan, provoked, sneered, “How strange! Luo Xian Temple, could it really have a celestial being backing you? I’d like to see…”

Liu Fuguang hurriedly stopped him.

“Have a little patience,” he chided gently. “Jin Cuixu was the anchor point, but she truly didn’t notice us. Could it be that the temple’s avoidance of outsiders entering is a rule of this world?”

Yan Huan’s anger dissipated the moment Liu Fuguang grabbed his sleeve.

So, they waited outside. By the time the moon rose for the third time, they saw Jin Cuixu fly out on her sword, her expression a mix of anger and frustration. Her eyes shone brightly, either from rage or tears.

“Follow her,” Liu Fuguang said.

As they followed Jin Cuixu, they indeed went to another place where demons and ghosts caused havoc—a seemingly prosperous and grand city, but there were hardly any living people left, only ghosts who did not realize they were already dead, and were living their days like ordinary people, rising with the sun and resting at sunset.

Many years ago, there was a courtesan in that city who earned her living in the brothels. Since she was thirteen, after being violated by a brothel client, she had been endlessly subjected to clients, and developed a severe disease but had no money to treat it. Eventually, she could no longer serve clients and was sent to appease clients with peculiar tastes, and resulted in her being beaten to death one night.

In brothels, such women were numerous, and the brothel madams, accustomed to such fates, discarded them with a single mat, leaving them in a graveyard for the unnamed dead.

Unexpectedly, that night there was a full blood moon rising high into the sky. The blood moon’s radiance gathered over the graveyard. The courtesan’s soul had dissipated, but her vengeful spirit remained, and under the blood moon’s light, it fused with her corpse, and turned it into a wandering corpse which instinctively chased the moonlight.

If it had been only that, the wandering corpse would have been turned to dust by sunlight when the sun rose. However, fate had its quirks. Two grave robbers, greedy for wealth, had been paid handsomely by a Taoist priest to find a special corpse. These two men stumbled upon the wandering corpse as they reached the graveyard and were immediately drained of their life force.

The wandering corpse, having fed on blood essence, suddenly gained a bit of intelligence and developed its own thoughts.

After that, it had carefully lurked and lived by absorbing others. Over the years, it regained its memory and original appearance.

It could no longer be called a wandering corpse. The once-prosperous and sinful metropolis had nourished it into a powerful, iron-like, flying demon. The courtesan, having transformed, gracefully revisited her old haunts. Her former violator and the brothel madam were still alive, having drained all the wealth from women’s flesh and bones, and were now settling down to enjoy their old age.

The courtesan took brutal revenge. She seized the brothel madam’s assets, and became the new owner of the brothel. She used the methods of the undead to transform many women into her kind. By day, they hid and rested. By night, amidst fragrant lamps and musical screens, the brothel was full of red sleeves swaying, as eerie and beautiful undead devoured the men who came seeking pleasure.

They were unaware they were already dead. The living who came at night disappeared by day, and left only their souls behind.

Initially, it was a single brothel, but it gradually expanded to two, then three brothels, and finally an entire brothel street was now infested with zombies and evil creatures.

The enormous shadow engulfed the whole city. Although some people noticed something was wrong, those who were wise fled with their families. The less wise tried to warn others or seek justice from cultivators, and they ended up with grim fates.

When Liu Fuguang and Yan Huan discovered the issue, cold sweat broke out on his back.

The city had become a den of zombies, not to mention the original wandering corpse. After all those years, it had settled into its lair and almost consumed the essence of half the city’s population. The pervasive smell of burning in the city made Liu Fuguang realize it had long since transformed into a Hu.

What was a Hu?

The lion and elephant that Buddha rides are known to people. The Hu that Buddha rides is not known to people. The Hu is what a zombie transforms into. The Hu, a mount of the Buddha, was capable of battling dragons.

Such a revered Buddha stood there, and Jin Cuixu ran past without even looking back!

Liu Fuguang ordered Yan Huan to put a special herb into Jin Cuixu’s food. After consuming it, she would be able to sleep peacefully and would not awaken under the sun.

Then, he directly walked to the flower street, which stood at the highest point of the city. He quickly removed his disguise and immediately drew his sword!

The pure light of the Supreme Goodness shone like another rising sun, which caused the souls in the city to scatter in a daze, and the zombies to revert to their true forms as they screamed and fled in all directions. The blood Hu howled and rushed out, but at the moment of collision, it felt an irresistible and unparalleled heavenly will, as high as a mountain; unreachable.

He had come for her…but not for her redemption, he had come to kill her!

“Heavenly will has never favored me, nor favored us!” The Hu roared with disheveled hair, and in a misstep, her body, once as solid as gold and stone, had already torn open a huge gray-white wound. “You do not love us, you still seek to destroy us. How cruel, how cruel you are…”

Liu Fuguang remained silent. He gasped heavily, as his eyes reddened.

“When will the cycle of resentment and misfortune end?” he asked softly. “You have already killed an entire city’s worth of people, hundreds of thousands, and yet your hatred remains unquenched?”

The blood Hu wept tears of blood and roared, “The past hatred and suffering can never be compensated! Don’t you understand? Where were you when I was sold into prostitution? Where were you when I was used like a piece of dead meat? Where were you when I miscarried repeatedly, my intestines almost falling out? Where were you when I was beaten to death, covered in sores like tumors? I called out to you, begged the heavens for a hint of compassion, and pleaded for mercy! But the heavens gave me only harsher beatings and even greater misfortunes!”

The blood Hu’s bared her fangs while her beautiful skin turned into a fearsome visage.

As he looked at her, Liu Fuguang slowly lowered his sword.

Whether it was called kindness to a woman or soft-heartedness, how could he continue to strike? When he saw those bloodied eyes, once clear but now fierce like cinnabar…He had decided to draw his sword, but now the sword tip fell, the sword-light weak, like a tear of pain.

The blood Hu suddenly froze.

She saw the lowered sword and the tears in his eyes.

…It was truly a weight as heavy as a mountain, a burden no living being could bear.

Liu Fuguang completely lowered his arm.

“Maybe you are right,” he said. “For six thousand years, there have been no good intentions, only growing malice…I indeed feel guilty for this issue, and for you. For all of you.”

He wept as he asked, “Now that I am here, how do you want me to favor you?”

The blood Hu slowly closed her mouth and looked at him with sorrow.

She shook her head, took a step back, then continued to retreat two more steps.

“I…” The blood Hu trembled and, in an instant, could not contain it any longer. She suddenly burst into tears, “I no longer need you! A missed opportunity is a missed opportunity. Late compensation is useless to me!”

Liu Fuguang said, “No one gave you a second chance before, but now I am. You may leave with your disciples and descendants. I will not kill you.”

The blood Hu stared at him blankly, and saw that he had planted the sword’s tip vertically into the ground and embedded it deeply.

“However, if another innocent person dies at your hands, this sword will be drawn and the guilty will be punished. Do you understand?”

The blood Hu remained silent. She had been a prostitute in life and continued to be a prostitute even in death, as she sought revenge. For a prostitute, having someone weep for her was not love, spending money on her was true love.

Now, he had not only wept for her but had also made a promise with his sword…could that be considered a form of love?

She retreated into the shadows and let out a deep, muffled howl. Hundreds of zombies bowed and fled from Liu Fuguang’s majestic presence, as they crowded around their ancestor.

The blood Hu turned and, moving with the wind and clouds, left without once looking back.

When Jin Cuixu awoke, the city was empty, as if it were a dead land, with the zombies having fled in droves. Only a pure sword, clear as water, stood upright before the lair, like a small piece of sunlight left in the Mortal Realm.

She was stunned for a long time. After she spent an entire day investigating the city and found nothing, she flew away on her sword, and returned to report to her sect.

The wind howled in the sky. Liu Fuguang remained silent for a long time, and Yan Huan’s tone was gentle as he asked softly, “What’s wrong? Did seeing that flower girl make you feel uncomfortable?”

“Actually, she was right,” Liu Fuguang said. “Her plea to the heavens for compassion is no different from asking me for compassion. Yet I could not respond to her pleas and suffering…”

The Dragon God lowered his head and confessed, “…I’m sorry. This is truly my fault. I…”

“It is indeed your fault,” Liu Fuguang said bluntly, which caused Yan Huan’s shoulders to tremble.

“However, even if you hadn’t taken the path of killing to save me, could I have arrived in time to save her? In the three thousand worlds, countless beings suffer. In the end, what am I?”

He smiled bitterly and said, “Having the name of Goodness, I am still only a person. Even if I split myself into tens of thousands of incarnations, I am still but a drop in the bucket, unable to change the fate of the heavens or save all the vengeful spirits.”

The words were so empty. Even though Yan Huan could twist the truth, he couldn’t offer any words of comfort at that moment, for what Liu Fuguang said was also an almost eternal pain in his heart.

“Originally, you spoke of the injustice of the heavens, and I couldn’t fully understand it.” Liu Fuguang seemed to be speaking to himself. “Because I was too young at that time. At just over two hundred years old, I had only seen the tip of the iceberg. Only recently did I truly realize that being a Supreme Goodness or Supreme Evil, when weighed against the individual, cannot be considered glory; it is merely…an extremely absurd and laughable joke.”

Yan Huan was moved, and gently called out, “Fuguang…”

Liu Fuguang shook his head.

“Let’s go,” he said. “And finish this matter. Do good deeds, and don’t ask about the future.”

They followed the original plan, and observed Jin Cuixu coming in and out of the Luo Xian Temple, her expression growing increasingly weary and her complexion more haggard. They continued to resolve four exceptionally troublesome supernatural disturbances—each related to women and each involving a mysterious unidentified cultivator.

Finally, after Jin Cuixu completed the last task, she didn’t emerge again.

“Alright,” Liu Fuguang said decisively. “We have resolved all her tribulations. It’s time to go in and investigate.”