Chapter 29: Immortal Burial Town
East of Zangxian Town, the two hundred zhang wide Sui River falls here as if severed, forming a spectacular cliff waterfall, like a giant dragon beheaded, hence the name “Dragon Slaying Pass.”
The Jiu Li Tribe scoops up otherworld coffins from the Blood Sea Coffin Dock, needing to carry the coffins through two hundred li of extremely perilous Departed Spirit Fog Domain, then ascend along a small path and steps to reach Dragon Slaying Pass. Here, they can board the already prepared giant ships to transport the otherworld coffins to the various cities and tribes downstream.
Shi Jiuzhai stepped into Zangxian Town, and the grey mist cloud enveloping the three dissipated.
“Thud! Thud!”
Li Weiyi and Gao Huan fell to the ground.
……
“Welcome Master!”
“Xing Wanxing,” “Fang Tong,” “Yan Qingqing”—the three martial arts masters from the Earth Wolf King Army hurried forward and bowed to Shi Jiuzhai in unison.
The three of them led over a thousand soldiers, arriving at Zangxian Town one day ahead of Shi Jiuzhai. They had slain all two hundred or so tribe members left by the Jiu Li Tribe in the town to handle reception, meals, supplies, and docking ships, piling the corpses into a bloody little mountain in the center of the market town.
Xing Wanxing was Shi Jiuzhai’s tenth disciple and also one of his money bags. Short in stature and pot-bellied, he smiled and reported, “We’ve questioned everyone we needed to. This time, the ones heading to the Blood Sea for coffin scooping are from the Cang Li Tribe, one of the Jiu Li. Led by Li Songlin, the number one expert of this Jia Zi cycle in the Cang Li Tribe, with Cang Li, the number one outstanding person of the Cang Li Tribe in nearly a thousand years, also accompanying.”
“I only care about how much money we can make this time.” Shi Jiuzhai said.
Xing Wanxing had already calculated it clearly: “Li Songlin brought five thousand people, scooping at least a thousand coffins. If we take them all, selling for a million Yongquan Coins is conservative.”
“They say otherworld coffins are frighteningly expensive, items only great cultivators can afford. Indeed worth a fortune, profit without cost.” Shi Jiuzhai was in a great mood.
Xing Wanxing smiled along: “If there are particularly rare otherworld coffins among them, one could sell for a million Yongquan Coins, which exchanges to ten million silver coins.”
“Additionally, in the Jiu Li Tribe, only future tribe leaders have the qualification to name themselves after the tribe. If we capture Cang Li, won’t the Cang Li Tribe obediently offer another million Yongquan Coins to redeem the person?”
Shi Jiuzhai’s mood improved even more. He felt this trip, though distant and arduous, was worth it!
Yan Qingqing was in her late twenties, with a plump and graceful figure, eyes full of seductive charm. She was of the dog-like deformed humanoid race, with furry ears and a fiery red tail dangling from her skirt.
She coquettishly reminded, “Master, the main purpose of this trip isn’t for money.”
“Who says it’s not for money? This master is here for money.”
Over a hundred million silver coins—not only would it make Shi Jiuzhai’s eyes red with greed, even sect leaders of ten million gateways like those dominating a prefecture such as Dragon Gate or Zuo Qiu would absolutely take notice.
To maintain such a large army, how could it work without provisions and pay?
……
After being thrown to the ground by Shi Jiuzhai, Li Weiyi immediately stood up and saw that he and the other three had gone to a distant spot for a secret discussion.
Thus, his gaze quickly scanned the surroundings, observing the environment.
All around were burly men in brown monk’s robes holding weapons, along with a small number of tall, gigantic half-beast half-human monsters, making up only one or two tenths, all looking fierce and vicious.
But when looking at the two of them, they showed either confusion or awe.
Li Weiyi quickly had an idea. Pretending an arrogant and fierce demeanor, he beckoned to one of the burly men who seemed the least bold: “That’s right. You, come here!”
Though Gao Huan couldn’t understand what Li Weiyi was saying, he felt his demeanor, gestures, and tone were overly arrogant, making his heart pound with anxiety.
After the less bold burly man approached, he immediately put on a smiling face, his mood even more anxious than Gao Huan’s.
Li Weiyi pointed at the distant Shi Jiuzhai with his thumb while asking, “Do you know who we are?”
“I know, I know.” The timid burly man said repeatedly.
Li Weiyi said, “If you know, then say it.”
How could the timid burly man know who he and Gao Huan were? Everyone was temporarily drawn from the Earth Wolf King Army, rushing a thousand li, arriving at Zangxian Town only yesterday.
The timid burly man wasn’t truly timid, but afraid of Shi Jiuzhai behind them, so he had avoided Li Weiyi’s gaze earlier.
Those brought back by the Nine Zhai King with a magic power cloud—could they be ordinary people?
Knowing he couldn’t afford to provoke them, the timid burly man told the truth: “Everyone arrived only yesterday, and we’ve been cleaning and deploying all night without time to rest. Forgive my poor eyesight, I truly don’t know the lord’s identity. But to travel with the Nine Zhai King, the lord must be an extraordinary figure we can only look up to.”
Li Weiyi secretly breathed a sigh of relief and patted the timid burly man’s chest: “Good that you know. We two are the Nine Zhai King’s personal attendants. Got any food?”
“Yes, yes…”
The timid burly man hurried off to fetch it.
Li Weiyi pulled Gao Huan along and followed.
He didn’t want to linger under that Nine Zhai King’s watchful eye, or he’d be exposed sooner or later.
Fortunately, Shi Jiuzhai was meeting a top-secret distinguished guest, discussing various deployments for seizing the otherworld coffins, with no time to bother with their two “little wolf cubs.”
This top-secret distinguished guest wore a silver robe and white jacket, with a black Buddha Head Mask. From his upright figure and the delicate white hands holding the flute, it was clear he was quite young.
Yet this young man, facing the fearsome Shi Jiuzhai, stood with hands behind his back, his gaze and attitude not arrogant but utterly unafraid.
He said, “The sect leader’s meaning is not only to seize the coffins but to kill them all. Only by making it bloody enough can we incite great chaos in Li Zhou.”
Shi Jiuzhai only wanted to make money, frowning tightly: “You nobles of the ten million gateways are even more ruthless than us thieves. Before, you didn’t say to kill them all—this includes the Cang Li Tribe Leader Li Songlin and five thousand commoners…”
The Buddha Head Mask distinguished guest laughed: “What, don’t dare now? Afraid of stirring up those old monsters from Jiu Li Mountain and Jiu Li City?”
Shi Jiuzhai shook his head: “This King’s meaning is, robbing coffins has its price, killing people has its price. Add money!”
……
Under the timid burly man’s lead, Li Weiyi and Gao Huan had a hearty meal in the Earth Wolf King Army’s crude kitchen camp, eating very satisfactorily.
All their strength and fighting spirit instantly recovered.
Gao Huan was stuffing food to pack for escape preparations, whispering lowly: “Passing the market town center earlier, blood flowed like rivers, corpses piled into mountains—it nearly scared me to death! This group absolutely isn’t cultivating Buddha. We need to slip away as soon as possible.”
Li Weiyi said: “The robe-like monk’s robes on them are all brand new, definitely made recently. Knowing only their own people wear such robes, that’s why the Nine Zhai King mistook us.”
“If I’m not wrong, the three eaten by the Thousand-Headed Dragon Vine were very likely three of the reconnaissance personnel sent out.”
“Additionally, though they call themselves the Earth Wolf King Army, I see their military discipline is lax, all exuding fierce auras, with uneven strength—not like any proper army.”
“Third, on the road I observed that this abandoned market town has all street intersections sealed. Escaping without anyone knowing won’t be easy. If discovered… even our fox-borrowing-tiger-might capital will vanish.”
Gao Huan exclaimed in admiration: “On the way here, my mind was full of food. I didn’t realize you observed so much.”
“Not only that.”
Li Weiyi continued: “Hiding in this market town, they must be targeting that coffin carrying team. Earlier on the halfway hillside, I calculated their marching speed—it’ll take at least two hours to reach here.”
Gao Huan said: “I get it! Two hours later, when they start fighting, that’s our chance to slip away.”
“Exactly.”
After thinking, Li Weiyi added: “But one thing I don’t understand: with so many people hiding in the market town, how do they stay concealed? That coffin carrying team surely has masters, and masters’ senses are extremely sharp.”
Shi Jiuzhai came to the foot of the corpse mountain in the market town center, formed hand seals with both hands, spat a mouthful of grey mist magic power that enveloped it. At the same time, a nearly transparent bead flew out from his body with the grey mist, hovering above the market town.
“Boom!”
Shi Jiuzhai’s palm suddenly struck the ground.
Flame-like magic power surged underground, and in an instant, the ground within a dozen zhang radius ignited, heat waves surging toward the various streets of the market town.
Vitality from the corpse mountain transpired like strands of red smoke, rushing toward the bead in midair.
After absorbing all the vitality, the bead shot out semi-transparent scriptures one by one. Soon, the entire Zangxian Town was enveloped in scriptures.
“Pass the order: wait until half of the Cang Li Tribe people have come up before acting, cutting the coffin carrying team in two. Slay them all, leave none.” Shi Jiuzhai was imposingly domineering, his tone extremely cold.
The kitchen camp wasn’t too far from the market town center. Li Weiyi heard Shi Jiuzhai’s order, and his face turned extremely ugly.
Only now did he realize the timid burly man wasn’t timid but terrified of Shi Jiuzhai’s cultivation and murderous nature, thus also fearing the two of them by Shi Jiuzhai’s side.
“Slay them all, leave none. How many people are they planning to kill?”
After learning this, Gao Huan said dispiritedly: “I suddenly feel that survival is equally cruel everywhere—either be worked to death like an ox or horse, or be slaughtered like pigs and sheep. Only standing out is the real way to live.”
……
Two hours later.
The vanguard of the Cang Li Tribe coffin carrying team had arrived below the Dragon Slaying Pass Waterfall.
Water roared, air damp.
A barefoot girl beautiful as a night mist elf walked at the forefront, five slender jade fingers holding a bronze ancient lamp emitting blue firefly glow. On her wrist, nine silver bracelets.
Though barefoot, her skin was like jade, unafraid of the ground gravel.
Each step was light and silent, yet spanning over a zhang, with blue mist light marks flowing underfoot.
She was Li Ling, the “Nether Lantern Guide Envoy” in the Cang Li Tribe coffin carrying team, a priest successor who could find paths through the Departed Spirit Fog Domain via nether light, leading tribesmen to and from the Blood Sea Coffin Dock.
