Zhong Chengshuo sat in the middle of a group of evil creatures, looking like a big red date surrounded by steamed cakes.
He sat lightly, not wanting to put too much weight on the shell of Yin Ren. Countless evil creatures ran around him, occasionally carrying small things that he didn’t know what they were but they would certainly cause bleeding.
Not far away, Yellow Millet’s version of Huang Jin was lying on the ground like a sack of potatoes, too lazy to move. Ge Tingting found a shady spot under a tree and took a nap in the cool mountain breeze.
Waiting in place was indeed the most basic response. But something about it didn’t feel right to Zhong Chengshuo.
Although investigating the data of the Evil Spirit from a thousand years ago was important, the ultimate goal of this trip was to figure out what Yin Ren was. Their center of observation was bound to be Yin Ren, the “Great Celestial Master”.
But now the protagonist, the Great Celestial Master, was sitting still, not doing what he was supposed to do, and the memory environment was inevitably going to deviate. A small deviation was still manageable, but if there was a big mistake, who knew what would happen?
After all, the original plan was for Yin Ren to personally guide them and for everyone to peacefully observe together.
After a moment of contemplation, Zhong Chengshuo’s eyes scanned the evil creatures, picking out the types that roughly spoke human language. Seeing the Great Celestial Master consciously approach, a hairless, monkey-like evil rubbed affectionately on his calf.
“I have a headache and can’t remember things,” Zhong Chengshuo said, turning his head like he was trying to remember. “How far away are we from that place?”
“Just down the mountain, sir.” The evil creature bent over, and it responded in a hoarse and unpleasant voice. “But it’s only the seventh today, sir, and your village needs to prepare. We’ll have to wait two more days. If you’re hungry, we can go into the mountains and get some wild fruits—they’re sweet in the autumn and very filling.”
After speaking, the evil creature looked at Zhong Chengshuo with puppy-dog eyes, like the expression of a child begging for candy.
It was probably asking for a reward.
Unfortunately, though Science Post Zhong Chengshuo had the intention, he lacked the ability. He forced himself to nod calmly and walked towards the mountain as if nothing had happened. The bald, monkey-like evil didn’t get what it wanted and let out a whimper in its throat.
There were no trees to block the view at the edge of the cliff, and in the rolling mountain mist, Zhong Chengshuo could vaguely see a small village.
Behind the red veil, Zhong Chengshuo’s pupils shrank.
He recognized the layout of the buildings; he had seen this village just a few months ago in Yin Ren’s memory in the Archive. Both the dirt road outside the village and the sparse houses at the village entrance were identical to what Yin Ren remembered.
It was definitely the same village.
On September 9th, the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi would return to that village. According to what the evil creature said, today was September 7th…
September 7th.
Zhong Chengshuo closed his eyes. Countless records about Divine Descent and Evil Spirit flashed through his mind, finally settling on a short record.
In the last year of the Gong Dynasty, on the 9th day of the 9th month, an Evil Spirit was born in Yin Village—the birthplace of the Great Celestial Master Zhong Yi in legends. Fortunately, Zhong Yi returned home at that time and sealed the Evil Spirit directly in the village, making it a sealing operation with the fewest casualties in human history.
However, legends often didn’t mention that Yin Village had already been massacred by the Guluo Army before Zhong Yi faced the Evil Spirit.
All the dust, death, and evil were buried deep in history in just a few short lines.
Under layers of red cloth, Zhong Chengshuo opened his eyes.
He caught a strand of long black hair. Despite the erosion and pain from the Evil Force on Yin Ren’s body, no wing cluster had grown. Yet, Zhong Chengshuo still subconsciously grasped it as if his lover were still by his side.
This was a logical destination.
Lu Xiaohe and Fu Xingchuan were both clever people who knew about these metaphysical secrets and would come sooner or later. Yin Ren… He probably knew the importance of this place too. If he wanted to meet with Zhong Chengshuo, he would also choose this place.
Even if it was likely the worst memory for Yin Ren at this time.
…However, to face the Evil Spirit… Zhong Chengshuo felt apologetic as he searched Yin Ren’s body.
He pulled out a short knife that was very similar in shape to the “Evil Fruit”, but the blade was plain iron-gray. Judging by the usage marks on the metal, this was probably Yin Ren’s knife that he used to eat meat with.
At present, he had no weapons or equipment and didn’t know magic. The pain also restricted his body movements, making it difficult to move.
Zhong Chengshuo took a deep breath and still headed in the direction where Unit 9 was.
“I found a village,” he reported truthfully without saying more.
If this were in the past, he would definitely not take such risks. But now…
For some reason, Zhong Chengshuo felt an unscientific confidence. He knew Yin Ren must also be looking for him, so there would be a way to handle the situation.
At least there was still Fu Xingchuan. Even if nothing else, he had a lead this time!
……
“Dogs barking? Our dog hasn’t barked. Speaking of which, my second aunt lost her big yellow dog. Have you seen it?”
Fu Tianyi used an illusion spell to disguise himself as a Taoist boy and went out to ask the villagers. Fu Xingchuan was transformed into white using magic, giving him a faint, immortal-like aura.
“Haven’t seen it,” Fu Tianyi said nervously, glancing at Fu Xingchuan. “Auntie, think again. My master has heard that sometimes Yin Village will have a hundred dogs barking at once, which made him curious.”
“Are you kidding me? I don’t know what you’re talking about, but if you want to talk about the king of dogs, there’s one in our village.”
The auntie immediately stopped beating her clothes when she had some gossip to share.
“See that ancestral hall? There’s a divine dog inside. It was brought by the guardian of our village a hundred years ago, and it was just a puppy then! It has guarded our ancestral hall for a hundred years and has saved many drowning children. If someone’s family is lost in the mountains, they will also ask it to find them, and it always does!”
Fu Tianyi: “It truly is a divine dog.”
To be precise, it was probably an evil cub that the Great Celestial Master caught somewhere and, seeing that it was docile, gave it to the village.
“That’s right. The last time we had torrential rain, there was a mudslide, but luckily it barked in advance and warned us. Otherwise, the family at the east end of the village would have been buried in the mud… Oh, you’re not talking about this. When it barks, all the dogs really bark along.”
The aunt suddenly came back to her senses.
The white dog stepped on Fu Tianyi’s shoe, and his expression twisted. “Thank you, Auntie. I will go find my master for instructions.”
After contacting Lu Xiaohe, the three of them rushed to the ancestral hall.
When it was in its Evil Spirit state, its mind was like a pile of loose sand, and Shian could only extract an environment that was relatively comfortable for it. Now, with Yin Ren’s memory as a “solid framework”, the memory of the Evil Spirit itself was like a grapevine, winding and filling in the gaps.
At first, Shian could only determine that the prototype of the Evil Spirit was a “dog.” Now, it seemed that the underground Evil Spirit was most likely the evil dog that the villagers had worshiped for hundreds of years.
Although Lu Xiaohe was wearing old-fashioned shoes and socks, she still walked as fast as she could and didn’t forget to take out a charcoal pen and paper from her pocket.
Fu Xingchuan ran the fastest. He quickly became familiar with the use of his four legs and ran like an arrow, leaving the bow. No matter what situation the so-called divine dog was in, the earlier they controlled it, the more advantageous it would be for them.
However, when they arrived at the temple, they only found a broken piece of silk and a bowl of untouched pig’s head meat.
The divine dog was gone.
The ancestral hall itself was very simple, with local specialties from the mountain village on the altar plus a few bowls of rough, cold food. The setting sun went down, and the red light passed over the low wall as if everything had been sent into a furnace.
“Damn it.” Fu Tianyi gritted his teeth. “Someone beat us to it… I’ll go ask around!”
As soon as he stepped out of the temple, he saw men carrying farm tools back to their homes, and the quicker ones were already using bark to seal their windows.
The women carried buckets of water and carefully poured them into the water tank in their homes. The elderly hung red and green paper lanterns from poles on their doors. The children looked like they were preparing for New Year’s Day, playing and laughing in the yard with snot dragging behind them.
“When the red light is on and the green light is burning, every household closes their door. At midnight, when the fruit ripens, be careful what you say with your back to the door.”
They sang out of tune, grinning with their mouths open.
“Pray for tranquility, wish for good fortune, and shut your eyes so you can’t see. The rooster crows, with footsteps far away, that comes back next year to report the peace.”
The originally quiet village became lively with people coming and going, their faces filled with smiles.
“What are you doing, folks?” Fu Tianyi’s heart was burning with fire, but he could only force a relaxed smile as he stared with the shell of “Fu Shangliu” of Huajisi.
“We’re preparing sacrifices to welcome god.”
The man closest to them offered two wild rabbits and eagerly responded.
“Our village’s guardian comes to help every year. The god is good at everything but can’t be looked at directly with your eyes. This isn’t just to prevent the elderly and children from wandering around. We seal our homes and prepare offerings a day in advance, which is also a holiday.”
At this point, the man’s expression became serious.
“Even if you are immortals, don’t stay here and look around. Our god is very powerful. If you look around casually, you might get hurt… Alright, I’m going back!”
Watching the man’s figure disappear into the distance, Fu Tianyi felt like a lead weight had been added to his stomach.
No wonder the entire Yin Village was thoroughly massacred in the past.
The villagers all waited happily indoors, anticipating the arrival of their guardian god. But what awaited them wasn’t their god, but only the iron hooves of invaders.
Unfortunately, the tragedy was imminent, and they couldn’t even shout out to warn these people.
This was an irreversible past, and interfering would only make things worse. These villagers who hummed songs, nailed doors and windows, and prepared offerings, and these children who ran around laughing and playing, were already long dead skeletons buried in the smoke of war a thousand years ago.
The lively scene in front of him suddenly changed its tone, the originally bright red turning blood red in an instant.
It wasn’t until a secret tug on his pants leg that Fu Tianyi snapped back to reality.
Fu Xingchuan raised his head and shook it slowly.
Fu Tianyi looked at Lu Xiaohe, who also had a bitter expression on her face, and took a deep breath. Finding that divine dog as soon as possible was what they needed to do now.
And this search took several hours.
The sun set, and the starry sky lit up. Each house was sealed tightly, and the small mountain village became even quieter. The three of them searched the village in circles, with Fu Tianyi using all the exploration methods at his disposal, but still to no avail.
It was at that moment that they returned to the ancestral hall again…
At the edge of the village, the warm candlelight in the windows turned into flames that engulfed the sky, and the gentle voices turned into continuous screams. The sound of hooves mixed with shouts, bringing chaos and blood all the way to the center of the village.
Amidst the black smoke and wailing, the doors of the houses were kicked open, and the offerings in front of them were trampled on. Half of the red and green lights rolled to the ground and were trampled into dirty, mud-covered scraps of paper.
Lu Xiaohe couldn’t bear to look any longer. She retreated further into the ancestral hall, looked up, and saw their target for this trip—
That big black dog floated with hidden charms all over its body. In the midst of the chaos, it crouched on top of the shrine, its black and mysterious eyes reflecting the light of the flames.
There was a strange mockery in its expression.
And not far away, the desperate villagers had nowhere to escape. People carried their injured relatives and instinctively ran towards the ancestral hall.
“Master Yi, help us!”
The villagers’ bloody footprints stained the stone steps of the temple, and their desperate cries pierced through the night.
“Master Yi, please save us—”
The author has something to say:
Yin Ren’s past, loading (?
Kinky Thoughts:
Oh, no wonder why this was Yin Ren’s worst memory…
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