116. The Mass Grave
“I said I would find a way—how else could you remain so calm?”
It was really the first time Li Xintian had encountered a deity, so he was curious and wanted to learn more, even trying to coax information out of it.
“Haha, I didn’t expect you to be so naive, trying to trick me. Don’t even think about it; your little tricks might fool a three-year-old, but not me.”
The Mountain God was an ancient demon who had lived for countless years and devoured many minds; there was no way it wouldn’t see through Li Xintian’s thoughts.
“Is that really so?”
After speaking, Li Xintian suddenly raised his palm, sending a bolt of lightning crashing down on the Mountain God.
A piece of immortal talisman flew out from within the Mountain God’s body, blocking the lightning, which then vanished without a trace.
“Haha, just as I thought, this immortal talisman is truly a marvelous artifact—it can protect its master autonomously.”
The Mountain God had expected injury but found itself unharmed.
“We can’t fight now, but we can imprison it. There will be an opportunity to sever its power.”
Flying Tiger King was also powerless to act; the Mountain God could manipulate the spiritual energy of its domain, essentially contending with the very laws of heaven.
“If I can’t defeat you, I can still imprison you.”
Li Xintian wrote the character for “prison” in the void with righteous energy, which transformed into a flash of light and entered the Mountain God’s body.
Suddenly, a radiant glow emerged, forming a spherical barrier around the Mountain God that steadily shrank until it was the size of a glass bead. Li Xintian reached out, and the bead flew into his palm.
“Release me at once! You are defying the Heavenly Court.”
The Mountain God struck the barrier of righteous energy, shouting in anger.
“Don’t even think about escaping. If you want out, you’ll have to find the most wicked person on earth and use his blood—perhaps then you might escape. But if he dares to come after me, you won’t have the chance.”
Li Xintian pocketed the bead, ignoring the Mountain God’s frantic cries. Mist formed inside the bead, and silence fell.
“Red Tiger, let’s go catch up with the group.”
Li Xintian climbed onto Flying Tiger King’s back.
“Alright, alright.”
Flying Tiger King trotted off, leaving Qu Tian Mountain to pursue Hu Qiuyan and the others.
After Li Xintian and Flying Tiger King had been gone for a while, another visitor arrived—an old man named Lu Benshan, drawn here by the lingering demonic aura.
Lu Benshan searched repeatedly but found nothing, then transformed into a streak of rainbow light and departed.
“Red Tiger, do you know something about the Heavenly Court?”
Li Xintian, seated on Flying Tiger King’s back, asked carefully.
“The Heavenly Court now is no longer what it once was. The Mountain God can harness the power of its domain; within its territory, it is a god. Killing it is extremely difficult. You just saw how it wielded the land’s power—those bandits, if they survived, they’d have been crushed flat like dried persimmons.”
Flying Tiger King spoke as they traveled.
Li Xintian recalled the bandits, who had been turned into pools of blood scattered across the ground, forming rivers.
“That’s true. So there’s no way to deal with them?”
Li Xintian, reluctant to dwell on the bandits’ fate, pressed on.
“There is a way—seize the Mountain God’s title. But to do that, you must kill it first. If the Mountain God has loyal followers, though, wresting the title is almost impossible.”
Flying Tiger King answered without hesitation.
Meanwhile, Hu Qiuyan’s group was facing trouble, unaware of what was happening.
“Finally, a place to rest.”
Hu Qiuyan looked at the brightly lit inn. The Yuehe Inn was luxuriously decorated despite being located in a desolate wilderness.
“Let’s stay here for the night and wait for my cousin to return.”
Chen Yuanwen, weary from a day’s carriage ride, was eager for rest.
The Zouwu beast descended and snarled at the Yuehe Inn, signaling to Hu Qiuyan’s group to hurry away.
“What’s wrong with the Zouwu? Could there be something wrong with this inn?”
Chen Zishan was unsure how to respond, and Chen Linqing and Huo Wanping, having already caused trouble, dared not make decisions rashly.
“This inn must be suspicious. How could an inn appear in the middle of nowhere? When Xintian and I passed this road before, there was no such inn; it was the Zouwu that warned me.”
Hu Qiuyan thought about it—she and Li Xintian had indeed traveled this way.
“Let’s detour. Stay far away from here.”
Hu Qiuyan advised.
“There’s a fire ahead. There must be an inn there.”
At that moment, three people approached, followed by a hopping figure.
“Make way! They’re corpse drivers.”
Chen Linqing immediately urged everyone aside. Without his command, they would have moved anyway. The Zouwu sensed the newcomers and had already left.
“This esteemed Daoist, please do not enter the inn. There is something strange about it.”
Hu Qiuyan intercepted the three: a middle-aged man, a young man, and a boy about ten years old.
“I am Daoist Zhou You. These two are my apprentices: Bian Yiyuan and Bian Yi.”
Zhou You was the head of the Xuanxu Temple, here to drive corpses to Chen Family Village. Unexpectedly, he encountered others. Bian Yiyuan spotted Hu Qiuyan and stared hard, trying to signal her from behind Zhou You’s back.
“Where is this strangeness you speak of?”
After introductions, Zhou You inquired.
“I can’t say exactly. I didn’t enter, but there must be danger inside. Daoist Zhou, it’s best not to enter.”
Hu Qiuyan politely ignored Bian Yiyuan and spoke to Zhou You.
“You won’t go in yourself and won’t let us either? Are you trying to trick us?”
The boy Bian Yi challenged Hu Qiuyan.
“You little brat, how amusing. We’re only warning you out of kindness. Why would we deceive you? And she’s my cousin’s wife, so don’t get any ideas.”
Chen Yuanwen stepped forward, annoyed, confronting Zhou You and the others.
“Yi, apologize quickly. They mean well. Miss, this gentleman, I apologize on behalf of my apprentices.”
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