Chapter 101: Mass Grave, Road-blocking Demon
“Old Chen, your water skill is quite good, much improved from before.”
The two went ashore. Lin Shou Zhuo wiped the water from his body and gave Chen Shun’an a strange look.
Fetching water from the well is no easy task.
That Eight Treasures Mercury is heavy, and a full sack weighs nearly seventy to eighty catties.
Holding one’s breath to fill the water, and frequently traveling to the well bottom four zhang deep, is no small test even for a second-rate martial artist.
Lin Shou Zhuo had originally thought Chen Shun’an would need to rest several times midway; he had even prepared to fetch the water by himself.
Who knew Old Chen actually managed to finish it in one go.
After coming ashore, he wasn’t even red-faced or out of breath, and was full of energy.
This made Lin Shou Zhuo, who had intended to take a long break midway to catch his breath and relax,
silently abandon the thought and continue to endure it.
A person strives for a breath, a god strives for an incense stick.
How could a first-rate expert be outdone by a second-rate martial artist?!
Not in any aspect.
Chen Shun’an smiled, “Perhaps it’s because I’ve been going to Banye Ferry Crossing often to catch fish and shrimp, and playing in the water and waves… I really feel much lighter and my breath is more sustained.”
Much lighter?
Hearing this, Lin Shou Zhuo’s heart stirred, and a guess suddenly popped into his mind.
Could it be that after Old Chen opened his apertures, underwent Houtian Transformation, he gained some special root bone or physique?
Otherwise, how could his rapid progress in strength over the past six months be explained?
However, water delivery was urgent. Lin Shou Zhuo suppressed his doubts and ordered Sun Xiao and others to load the Eight Treasures Mercury onto the cart.
Sun Xiao, Cheng Bin, and the others glanced at Chen Shun’an again. Seeing that his breathing was normal and he seemed at ease, they also breathed a sigh of relief.
It’s good that Old Chen isn’t holding them back…
After all, once Instructor Lin is transferred, if nothing unexpected happens, Chen Shun’an will be responsible for the task of going down the well to fetch water from now on.
At first, they all harbored some doubts.
Now, most of their lingering doubts had been dispelled.
…
The cart used for this water delivery was specially made.
It had eight wheels and a giant, flat cowhide bag on top, holding the Eight Treasures Mercury.
The hub was made of hard wood, and the teeth were wrapped in iron plates to prevent them from cracking.
On the side of the cart, a black triangular flag was inserted. It was made of gauze and bore the large characters ‘Water Transport’.
There were no oxen or horses pulling it; Sun Xiao and the others were the oxen and horses.
They all put their strength into pushing the cart together.
Lin Shou Zhuo and Chen Shun’an walked at the front, leading the way, with two second-rate experts at the rear to provide support.
The sun slanted westward, rolling into a huge, molten-gold-like warm orange, pressing heavily against the serrated silhouette of the distant mountains.
Carriages and horses on the street gradually became fewer. Passersby saw this water delivery team, especially when they noticed the ‘Water Transport’ triangular flag. Their faces stiffened, and they all avoided them.
Even those young masters and martial arts experts, riding tall horses and wearing silk clothes, reined in their horses and stopped, voluntarily making way.
This Water Transport triangular flag was personally granted by His Majesty the Emperor to the Capital Water Merchants Association in those years.
To fly the flag was like obeying an imperial decree; any obstruction or interception of transport would be considered treason, punishable by death without mercy!
Water delivery, and it’s somehow related to imperial orders…
Walking on the road, Chen Shun’an’s heart was filled with so many doubts that his chest felt stuffy, especially when he noticed Lin Shou Zhuo, Sun Xiao, and the others feigning calmness and even looking around carelessly.
Chen Shun’an opened his mouth, and a long-lost feeling of embarrassment flashed by.
“Instructor Lin, what exactly are those well bottom caves and the Stone Rhinoceros? Will there be any trouble on the way?”
Chen Shun’an finally couldn’t hold back and poured out all his doubts to Lin Shou Zhuo.
Seeing this, Sun Xiao and the others couldn’t help but burst into laughter.
Old Chen, Old Chen, we thought you were cunning and always had a plan.
It’s finally your turn to be anxious!
Instructor Lin didn’t hide anything, his expression somewhat solemn as he said,
“Below the Capital Region, it’s hollow! To be precise, all the ancient wells in the Capital Region that can produce Five Wheels Eight Treasures Immortal Water are connected!”
Instructor Lin said with a sigh, “All water transport in the world originates from the Capital City. Iron chains connect to the earth veins, forming a passage to the sea eye. When the world is in chaos, this place is safe; when there is a great drought, water overflows here… That is a great water vein, or rather, it is the Dragon Vein!”
Dragon Vein?!
Chen Shun’an’s heart trembled upon hearing this!
The cave suppressed beneath the Stone Rhinoceros in the Grit Well actually leads to the Capital City’s Dragon Vein?
So the saying that there’s a sea eye under the Two Forks River isn’t groundless, it’s also true?
“So, the turbid water and sweet water we deliver every day, and the Five Wheels Eight Treasures Immortal Water we deliver at night, are all the Dragon King’s saliva!”
Lin Shou Zhuo said, “Old Chen, the second rule is: shake the water transport cart, and fate will ignite like fire! Those who can do this job must be people with strong fire or wood elements, or at least strong earth elements! The best zodiac signs are Ox, Horse, Snake, and Sheep; avoid Rat and Pig!”
“As for what kind of trouble might occur on the way?”
Lin Shou Zhuo narrowed his eyes, clenched his fist subconsciously, his qi and blood circulating, and his voice turned cold,
“Perhaps, we will encounter demons.”
…
The group pushed the cart and traveled on. After less than half an incense stick’s time, they gradually moved away from the orderly houses, with mounds of earth and burial grounds on either side.
This place is called Bajia Village, which is actually the mass grave and ordinary people’s burial grounds in Wuqing County. There aren’t any proper tombs; a stone tablet is considered good enough.
Outside the large area of graves, there are some cultivated fields with sparse crops.
Illuminated by the moonlight, they looked like grotesque demons, stretching their claws and fangs, and emitting wailing ghosts’ sounds as the cold wind blew past.
Several families lived in Bajia Village, hired by people from the county to guard their ancestral graves, and to prevent grave robbers and martial artists practicing evil martial arts from stealing corpses and disgracing their ancestors.
“Hm?”
After rounding a mountain pass, Chen Shun’an frowned, his heart rising with vigilance.
Now that he had successively slain the bandits of the body, eyes, and nose, his five senses were as sharp as a monster’s.
He could clearly detect the scents of various wild beasts carried by the airflow at night, the subtle vibrations from underground, and the occasional night owl passing through the mist and fog in the mountain pass.
Even from a distance of thirty to forty zhang, if someone harbored killing intent or looked at him, Chen Shun’an could sense it beforehand, as if he were being burned.
And now, Chen Shun’an realized that a ghostly figure was rapidly approaching them from afar!
“Old Chen, what’s wrong?”
Lin Shou Zhuo noticed the unusual expression on Chen Shun’an’s face and stopped.
“Meow meow…”
A wild cat with glossy black fur, as smooth as silk, darted across the road ahead with a field mouse in its mouth.
The wild cat paused briefly on a stone tablet in the desolate grave, looked back at everyone warily, and then quickly disappeared.
Its emerald-green pupils emitted a strange light.
Then it quickly vanished.
“Phew… you scared me. I thought we were really that unlucky, encountering an evil spirit on the very first water delivery with Old Chen,” Cheng Bin said with relief.
However, Cheng Bin’s words made Chen Shun’an’s hair stand on end, his glabella ached, and his instincts screamed a warning.
Swoosh swoosh!!
A sharp, cold wind whistled by, carrying a fishy stench.
Several muffled groans followed.
Sun Xiao and Cheng Bin’s eyes blurred, and they felt a pain in their chests as immense strength, like a mountain collapse and tsunami, struck them.
The water carriers, several of them pushing the cart, found large rips in the front of their clothes, with scraps of cloth flying everywhere, revealing a fitted, ring-shaped iron plate underneath.
Although it wasn’t chainmail, it was assembled into a half-body garment, also protecting their lower parts, and possessed considerable defensive capabilities.
The third rule for night water delivery: travel at night, wear iron armor, protect heart, back, and life.
However, there were now clear scratch marks on this iron armor, almost piercing through it, a shocking sight.
“Instructor Lin, save us!”
Sun Xiao rolled on the ground and quickly got up. Without resisting or fighting back, he hastily dodged to the side, giving Lin Shou Zhuo ample space.
With a first-rate expert like him here, why would they need to play the hero?
Please, Instructor Lin, slay the demon!
Cheng Bin and the others were equally quick, letting go of the water cart and jumping to the side.
Chen Shun’an’s gaze sharpened, and he clearly saw that the attacker was a weasel with mixed fur and a docked tail.
Its eyes were bloodshot, its gaze bloodthirsty, and it bared a row of sharp fangs.
The weasel’s claws were bleeding, somewhat everted, clearly injured by the iron plate.
At this moment, the Eight Treasures Mercury on the cart seemed to have a special attraction for it.
The weasel, relentless, lunged towards the water cart again.
“Hmph!”
Lin Shou Zhuo pushed off with his legs and shot forward like an arrow released from a bow. His voice still echoed in Chen Shun’an’s ears,
“Old Chen, the fourth rule is that human strength can also change fate! What kind of fortune-telling or predetermined destiny is there? In the end, it all comes down to fists!”
Before he finished speaking, Lin Shou Zhuo’s ape-like figure appeared before the weasel.
His arm muscles bulged, but there was no trace of ferocity; instead, they were filled with a light and natural grace of returning to original purity. Like a nimble monkey plucking a peach, his right hand curved into a hook, and with a grasp and lift, he reached for the weasel’s neck!
In a flash, the weasel twisted its upper body at an incredible angle in mid-air, narrowly dodging the attack.
It opened its mouth and bit at the cowhide bag on the cart!
“Beast!”
A furious roar erupted, like thunder from a clear sky.
Lin Shou Zhuo’s toad-like eyes exuded a terrifying light, shooting out like two streaks of radiance.
The weasel immediately showed fear, and its eyes became much clearer.
Then, Lin Shou Zhuo extended his left hand, carrying a ‘woo woo’ whistling sound, like a heavy hammer descending, and smashed it down towards the weasel’s head.
Crack!
A crisp bone-cracking sound was heard.
The weasel immediately rolled to the ground, exhaling hot air from its mouth.
Its entire head looked like a torn sack. Grit on the ground was splattered and blown away by the blood, and its limbs were still twitching. It was clearly dying.
The words ‘Beast!’ still echoed in everyone’s ears.
Startled birds took flight, and the families guarding the graves quickly extinguished their lights and locked their doors, not wanting to get involved in this trouble.
Sun Xiao’s eyelids were still twitching; he was stunned by Lin Shou Zhuo’s skill.
Cheng Bin and the others were no better, their hearts pounding so hard they felt like they would burst out of their throats.
Is this the strength of a first-rate expert…
Chen Shun’an took a few steps forward and looked at the weasel’s corpse, a hint of doubt in his eyes.
His face full of awe, he flattered Lin Shou Zhuo, “Instructor Lin’s martial arts have reached Great Accomplishment. Your might is incredible, truly opening my eyes. Instructor Lin, you truly have the potential of a Martial Saint!”
Lin Shou Zhuo withdrew his strength. Although his expression remained unchanged, he couldn’t help but smile slightly at Chen Shun’an’s flattery.
“You flatter me. It’s merely slaying one bandit; I am far from having the potential of a Martial Saint… Sun Xiao, you all clean up this weasel and continue on your way!”
That weasel was clearly a monster. However, it had probably been stained with human blood, its spirituality clouded, and it was dazed. But its entire body was a treasure, estimated to be worth fifty to sixty taels of silver, which could be considered an extra benefit for this water delivery.
Sun Xiao and the others reacted, chuckled, and happily went to pick up the weasel and hang it on the water cart.
Cheng Bin saw a lever accidentally roll into the grass by the roadside, so he walked over and bent down to pick it up.
“Don’t move.”
Suddenly, Lin Shou Zhuo’s feigned calm voice came, containing a hidden ferocity, with uncontainable surging waves within it.
Cheng Bin’s body instantly froze in place, his hair standing on end, breaking out in a cold sweat.
The forest, which had been alive with the chirping of insects and birds, suddenly fell into dead silence.
Wisps of yin energy flowed from all directions.
At the end of the grass, a dense forest was visible. A massive dark shadow could be vaguely seen emerging from behind the trees. It was not human-like and stood over a zhang tall.
A ‘hissing’ sound of a tongue flicking came, bringing with it a fetid, sweet, and foul-smelling gust of wind!
That dark shadow was clearly a snake as thick as a washbasin, with black armor all over its body. It stood upright on the ground, its head raised, its length unknown, disappearing into the trees.
That black shadow was clearly a large snake as thick as a washbasin, its entire body covered in black armor. It raised its head upright on the ground, its length indeterminate, disappearing into the forest.
