Chapter 139: Flick Of The Finger To Destroy The Spirit, Unfilial Son!
The light overhead was dim, and the yellow soil underfoot was muddy.
On the winding dirt road outside Wuqing County, filth left by the camel caravan from the west was visible everywhere.
Straw mixed with turbid urine among it, the smell pungent, almost making it impossible to find a place to step.
Cheng Bin, face covered, walked quickly, feeling the sky wide and earth vast, the air fresh.
The end of that muddy dirt road seemed, in his eyes, to lead to a serene and prosperous Peach Blossom Dreamland.
Reaching the side of the dirt road, under a crooked-neck tree, Cheng Bin finally stopped, looking around, silently waiting.
He had arranged with Xiao Man earlier: he would bring part of the household goods, gold and silver jewelry and the like, and go ahead to the crooked-neck tree.
Xiao Man would handle the follow-up matters, hire a horse-drawn carriage, bring the fine soft goods that were inconvenient to transport, and meet here.
Banknotes from Guanghui Money House were not recognized in the prefectures and counties to the south.
Cheng Bin went to a major bank, exchanged them at a heavy discount for present silver.
Now, Water Carrier’s post had been sold.
Real estate mortgaged for banknotes, and the banknotes exchanged for present silver.
The previous debt of one thousand taels that he borrowed, Cheng Bin also decided not to repay.
Take the money and run, bring Xiao Man to find a small town in the south, and live happily as a rich family patriarch!
Truly delightful~
Thinking of the free days ahead, Cheng Bin couldn’t help but a smile float at the corner of his mouth.
However, for some reason, he had waited a long time, already past the appointed time for the two.
Still no sign of Xiao Man.
“Strange…”
As Cheng Bin muttered, suddenly he heard some movement from not far away.
Someone’s breathing sounds came.
His heart leaped with joy, he hurried forward a few steps, calling: “Xiao Man! You’ve finally—”
Before the words finished, three wrinkled old faces emerged from the woods.
Lin Shou Zhuo walked at the front, brows knotted, looking fierce and savage as he rolled up his sleeves, flexing his muscles and bones while walking, his whole body emitting crisp popping sounds.
Shopkeeper Li followed closely behind, full of worry on his face, sighing as he walked.
Chen Shun’an was at the rear, glanced at Cheng Bin, and couldn’t stop shaking his head.
Seeing the three, Cheng Bin was momentarily stunned in place, mouth agape, speechless for a long time before stammering,
“You, you all… how are you here?”
Lin Shou Zhuo immediately pointed at Cheng Bin and cursed loudly,
“You useless lump of mud that won’t stick to the wall, don’t you know in your heart why we’re here? You ask yourself, at your age shrinking under this crooked-neck tree dreaming big spring and autumn dreams?
Head swollen from overeating or storybooks making you dumb, actually believing that crap about love!? Eloping, are you some young hot-headed lad!?”
Shopkeeper Li let out a long sigh, said warmly: “Old Cheng, come back with me, I’ve kept your errand for you… Luckily Brother Shun An informed me in advance, otherwise I really thought you wanted to retire to your hometown…”
Hearing this, Cheng Bin suddenly froze, abruptly turned to look at Chen Shun’an, voice trembling: “Old Chen… was it you?”
Chen Shun’an was kind-hearted, couldn’t bear to see a colleague he had always been on good terms with truly ruined by a little vixen, losing home and wealth, ending up destitute.
So he had notified Shopkeeper Li early, had him hold down Cheng Bin’s resignation letter for retirement to hometown, and found people to put on a show, pretending to buy an official post, all to intercept him today.
Chen Shun’an said gravely,
“Brother Cheng, I hinted to you many times, that Xiao Man is a secret agent of Guanghui Money House, specializing in harmful deeds, precisely to drive you borrowers from King of Hell’s Account to desperation.”
Cheng Bin shook his head fiercely, hugging the wooden box in his arms tighter, stubbornly saying,
“Impossible! Most of the money is with me! She must be delayed by something on the road… I have to go back and find her!”
Chen Shun’an sighed, saying,
“Then take a look at what’s really in your box.”
With trembling hands, Cheng Bin opened the box in his arms, and the box that should have been filled with gold and silver treasures was instead packed with heavy stones.
It turned out that at some unknown time, Xiao Man had already swapped out the gold and silver jewelry in the box.
Now, Cheng Bin was essentially ‘cleaned out’!
In an instant, Cheng Bin’s sky collapsed.
Cheng Bin’s face turned deathly pale, his whole person hunching over.
But he still seemed unwilling to believe, eyes dazed, staggering toward the direction of Wuqing County,
“No, it can’t be… She must have run into an emergency and needs money for turnover… I have to go find her…”
“Hmph, stubborn as a mule, break one of his good legs!”
Shopkeeper Li finally lost his temper, shouting coldly.
Crack!
Lin Shou Zhuo moved at the sound, his leg shooting out like lightning, strength bursting forth, precisely striking Cheng Bin’s knee!
Strength circulated, with a crisp snap, Cheng Bin’s whole body went soft, collapsing to the ground.
Chen Shun’an said coldly: “Lock him in the water prison first, let Old Cheng cool off for a few days!”
……
Outside Wuqing County, there were plenty of wild graves and barren lands.
Especially from that flood hundreds of years ago, who knew how many lives it swept away; even now, the scouring traces could be seen, and there were bone burial towers collecting ownerless ashes and corpses.
Near Bajia Village, under an unnamed bone burial tower, there was a water prison.
It was secretly built by the Wuqing water station, holding enemies who were inconvenient to slay outright.
“Yo, Shopkeeper Li is here?”
“Brother Mao, clear out a clean cell, my brother needs to stay inside for a few days.”
“Oh, no problem, then lock him in that Ding cell.”
The stone slab opened, revealing stairs sloping downward.
Chen Shun’an and the other two entered the water prison under the bone burial tower, hit by a wave of chilling dampness mixed with the stuffy air of poor circulation.
Dim oil lamps dotted the passages on both sides.
One by one, cells with refined iron bars held disheveled, filthy martial artists whose faces couldn’t be made out, like wild men.
This water prison was divided into four levels, Jia Yi Bing Ding, from light to heavy ‘education and reformation’ methods.
Ding cells were normal ones, straw for bed, stone slab for floor, finger-sized ventilation holes.
Bing cells were tougher, making third-rate gathering muscle strength martial artists stand in cages day and night, shoulders bearing stone grindstone mills; second-rate He Yu Shu martial artists ceaselessly produce Bone Thunder Sound, twelve hours a day shaking the bone marrow…
Yi cells were small pits filled with maggots and venomous creatures, cutting countless dense but non-fatal wounds on the martial artist’s body, then suspending them, slowly sinking bit by bit into the pit.
As for Jia cells, they hadn’t been used in years.
Chen Shun’an had once asked the brothers guarding the water prison, but they all looked deeply taboo, some even shuddering in fear.
It had to be said, this water prison gave Chen Shun’an a lot of inspiration.
In the future, when encountering unyielding, unreformable heretics, perhaps he could build a large prison with many varieties.
Under Great Thunder Sound Temple, demonic dens were suppressed.
Beneath Cave Heaven Blessed Land of immortals and gods in the sky, blood seas roiled.
Such prisons were very necessary to maintain the deities’ majesty.
Plop!
Lin Shou Zhuo threw the despondent Cheng Bin into the prison, looking exasperated like hating iron for not becoming steel, snorting two streams of white from his nose, then turned and left.
Shopkeeper Li instructed the water prison guards,
“This man is a brother from my water station, recently his mind has had some issues, needs to sober up here, trouble you all to take good care of him daily, good wine good food delivered, here’s silver, take it.”
“No problem…”
Chen Shun’an stood in the prison, gaze sweeping around, about to turn and leave when his peripheral vision suddenly caught something flashing in the corner.
Blurry features, human-like body, chilling aura.
Just like a little person.
Chen Shun’an’s heart stirred, but he kept it hidden, soon following Lin Shou Zhuo and Shopkeeper Li away together.
……
That night, after Wan Niang fell asleep, Chen Shun’an quietly got up, draped clothes, and went out.
Between his legs, the Cloud Movement Armor Horse runes flashed by.
His figure shook, almost turning into green smoke without shadow or outline, quickly heading to the bone burial tower.
With Chen Shun’an’s current speed of Divine Movement—still as green duckweed, moving like flying immortal—plus Formless and Shapeless ability to interfere and distort others’ sight, hearing, body, and smell senses.
All the way, even walking main streets and official paths, no one could detect him.
Patrolling soldiers, passing martial artists, even brushing past True Intent Masters.
Chen Shun’an was like walking alone in another dark world, others not even qualified to see his back.
Soon, Chen Shun’an arrived at the bone burial tower.
In one corner inside the tower, a stone slab perfectly flush with the ground silently cracked open a slit, and Chen Shun’an entered.
The water prison guards were either patrolling the passages or gathered at a table playing Pai Gow.
Chen Shun’an didn’t alarm anyone, took a key from a martial artist’s waist, and quietly reached the cell holding Cheng Bin.
The bars opened, Chen Shun’an stepped inside.
Cheng Bin was already fast asleep, face full of exhaustion, brows tightly furrowed, as if having a nightmare.
Chen Shun’an’s gaze roamed, finally detecting a faint familiar chilling aura by Cheng Bin’s one ear.
Chen Shun’an instinctively retreated a few steps, wearing Ziwei Gauze Soft Robe, mouth containing antidote pill, Flying Immortal Strength circulating his body, protecting heart meridian, glabella, lower yin, and other vital points.
Only then did Chen Shun’an flick his finger, shooting a thread of Flying Immortal True Intent into Cheng Bin’s right ear.
“Hiss hiss hiss…”
Immediately, a shriveled, emaciated figure utterly unlike a living person, carrying a tangible yin evil death aura, crawled out from Cheng Bin’s ear.
Eyes bulging, just an inch long.
Chen Shun’an was stunned for a moment.
Zombie?
No, whose zombie is this small?
Chen Shun’an had wandered the martial world for years, heard tales of corpse refining with life bases, ancient tomb mummies.
There were enlightened immortals who, after death, had incorruptible corpses, even emitting fragrance; such bodies called shed husks.
There were ancient corpses dug from graves, undecayed for years, lips red teeth white, but shriveling upon touching outside air.
Even Sacred Dynasty officials after death wore stone-green official robes with civil birds and martial beasts, topped with feathered plumes, exuding eerie dignity; whether zombies or not, the sight alone chilled the heart.
He himself had encountered martial artists cultivating zombie arts, Turtle Breathing to hold breath, nails hiding deadly poison, hopping and pouncing like walking corpses, yet living people.
But Chen Shun’an had never properly encountered blood-sucking zombies.
Today, he ran into this thing.
The little person, forced out by Chen Shun’an, lunged straight at him, and while still mid-air, its eyes opened and closed, turbid pupils shooting a misty green light like smoke.
Chen Shun’an carefully sensed this ‘little person”s aura, finding it eerie and strange but only around Slaying One Bandit level, so he relaxed, a proud look on his face.
“Mere Heretical Paths, daring to wreak havoc, you shall be slain!”
Whoosh!
Strength surged wildly, blowing away the green light.
Vast Flying Immortal Strength pressed down, vaguely formless flames, Dragon’s Roar and Tiger’s Howl, blinding golden light, qi sea torrent, all coming at once.
The ‘little person’ persisted only a brief breath before instantly turning to flying ash.
Yet Chen Shun’an felt some surprise and doubt, thinking to himself,
“It actually held for a breath, even Slaying Two Thieves experts probably couldn’t take this freak’s beating?”
To be cautious, Chen Shun’an had used five or six tenths of his strength; even a Slaying Three Bandits expert would be wounded or dead on touch.
This ghostly thing resisting a bit was already beyond imagination.
“Mm mm…”
Cheng Bin groaned, as if waking.
Then a hand gently pressed his occiput, and Cheng Bin fell back into deep ‘sleep’.
Chen Shun’an carefully checked the spot.
He found that after the little person died, it left no body powder at all, as if not a physical entity, turning into wisps of green smoke returning to heaven and earth.
Moreover, the green light shot from its eyes earlier reminded Chen Shun’an of True Intent Masters, after Slaying Eye Thief, sex light shining down on Dantian, eyes with golden light feature.
The two seemed of the same lineage.
“This thing, could it be something Zhao Guanghui made? No wonder Guanghui Money House isn’t worried about loan runners; with this little thing, even fleeing to the ends of the earth, they have to repay honestly.”
For no reason, Chen Shun’an suddenly thought of the domineering clauses on that IOU during the day.
Zhao Guanghui seemed to have used the borrowers’ flesh bodies and cultivation.
To refine this thing?!
Thinking of this, a chill flashed in Chen Shun’an’s eyes.
As someone over half a century with deep roots-returning and hometown sentiments, Chen Shun’an most hated grave robbers and those digging up corpses to refine them, heretical paths.
“This Zhao Guanghui is simply inhuman!”
