Ch.172: Ride the Black Ox; Flying Hooves Mount the Kiln
That was the sacred guardian sword Yu Shi Huang used to slash her own throat, so of course! It was a spiritual device for sure, but it was also a weapon. Rong Guang said, “Yu Shi Huang sure is generous, otherwise she was doing it on purpose to scare him. Think he’d dare use YuLong? Hahaha…”
Xie Lian couldn’t contain it anymore, “I don’t think so. There wasn’t any need to be so shrewd?”
Then he slapped on another talisman to seal Rong Guang’s mouth. It just so happened that right then, Pei Ming also called out from the distance, “Your Highness, Crimson Rain Sought Flower, are you two rested? Time to put the beds away and let’s get on the road.”
The resting time wasn’t that long in the first place, and time passed while they were chatting.
The others stayed behind while Xie Lian, Hua Cheng, and Pei Ming set off. The Rain Master had a steed, and offered to give them a ride to send them to the foot of the Kiln mountain. Xie Lian thanked her graciously. That black ox shook and transformed, and became three times bigger than its previous size, now with room to carry six people on its back. Its front legs lowered to the ground, laying his body low, and the Rain Master mounted, riding at the very front. Pei Ming was next, but he left a large space between the two of them. The last were Xie Lian and Hua Cheng.
Xie Lian mounted and that black ox rose to its feet, now incredibly tall in height. Xie Lian felt that smooth and shiny black coat and was amazed, “Lord Rain Master’s steed truly is magical. San Lang, I think you might’ve mentioned it before, but how did it come to be again?”
The black ox spread its four hooves and started running, the landscapes on either sides quickly disappearing behind, incredibly fast and steady. Hua Cheng was sitting behind Xie Lian, lightly hugging his waist, as if afraid he might fall, “It was the door knocker of one of the side doors at the Temple of YuLong, the royal cultivation hall of YuShi.”
Turns out, there was a small custom at the Temple of YuLong: when one saw a golden beast upon the door knocker, one would rub it to add a bit of the aura of life. When devotees visited, what they usually rubbed were mostly dragons, tigers, herons, and other such holy beasts; people didn’t typically rubbed oxen, so it was rather deserted and lonely. Thus, while Yu Shi Huang was cultivating at the Temple of YuLong, every time when she went to seek water and passed that door, she would rub the head of that ox. The door knocker soaked in her essence of life, and when the Rain Master ascended, the ox ascended with her. As for the others, she appointed no one else.
The black ox sped rapidly, and Xie Lian’s body was leaning back slightly from the force, almost like he was sitting in Hua Cheng’s embrace, and he smiled as he listened, “There sure isn’t anything San Lang doesn’t know, it’s like no tales or classics can trip you up.”
Hua Cheng smiled too, “Is there anything else gege wants to know? I’ll tell you everything if it’s within my knowledge.”
Pei Ming sat in front of them and didn’t try to chat with the Rain Master, so he was listening in on them, “Indeed, Lord Ghost King. Your Highness, why don’t you ask about Crimson Rain Sought Flower’s background? See if he’ll answer you?”
Xie Lian’s smile faltered.
To inquire after the background of a Ghost King was quite rude. To raise an inappropriate example, in Xie Lian’s mind, this kind of personal secret was no different than asking for the size of a man’s manhood. He instantly changed the subject, “General Pei!”
“What?” Pei Ming asked.
“There’s bumps up ahead, watch out!” Xie Lian exclaimed.
“What are you talking about?”
Just as the words left his lips, the black ox carrying the four of them mooed a long cry as deep as a bell, and Pei Ming was flung off.
He was stupefied, “What the heck?”
This was truly never heard of nor seen. Flinging aside, mistakes happen after all, but, why not fling off the one at the front or the back, and it just had to be the one in the middle? Was that even possible?
The ox never paused in its steps, and Xie Lian looked back from ahead, his hollers trailing back, “Didn’t I say there were bumps ahead and to watch out, General Pei…”
Throughout the entire journey, Pei Ming was flung seven to eight times, and the four riding the Rain Master’s protection steed finally arrived at the foot of the Kiln mountain.
The Kiln used to be a lusciously green mountain sitting in the heart of the royal capital, its sceneries beautiful and elegant, much like Mount TaiCang, and at its foot was the majestic royal capital, the most prosperous imperial city.
This imperial city used to be buried deep underground, but it probably resurfaced after going through many earthquakes, emerging back above ground. Xie Lian sat on the black ox and his eyes roamed the surroundings for a moment and was about to dismount when he saw Hua Cheng was standing there with his hand out towards him. Xie Lian’s heart skipped a beat and gave him his hand before hopping down, “There must be a divine temple here in the imperial city too, right?”
“There certainly is.” Hua Cheng replied.
Although Pei Ming fell seven to eight times during the ride, but, as expected of a martial god, he was very sturdy and when he walked he didn’t limp even once, and even reached out to pat the ox’s neck. He piped up, “The tallest building in the city must either be the palace or the divine temple, I’m guessing.”
Hua Cheng replied, “No. The WuYong Temple in the imperial city is on top of the mountain.
He pointed. Sure enough, halfway up the deep crimson mountain was a corner of an eave peeking out, but the majority of the building itself was hiding behind the misty red shadow. Xie Lian wondered, “Why is that mountain red…”
He didn’t get to finish his question when suddenly, that ox roared and threw its head back. They were already moving ahead, but startled, they looked back. That ox was already rolling on the ground, and the rope was tightly gripped in the Rain Master’s hand never loosened, “What’s going on?”
That ox let out a human scream, “AAAAHHHHHHHH–!!!”
Xie Lian was further away and hadn’t seen clearly what was happening, but he did see the Rain Master, who upon hearing that cry, pulled out YuLong and struck down towards the black ox!
The shine of the blade flashed, and something black and furry was flung away, crashing against a wall on the street, splashing a large, astringent red flower. It was a corpse-eating rat!
What screamed earlier wasn’t that black ox, but that corpse-eating rat who climbed onto the ox when no one was looking and bit into it. Although the rat was at the brink of death, it was still screaming, “Your Royal Highness – Your Highness Your Highness Your Highness! SAVE ME SAVE ME SAVE ME!”
BOOM!
Xie Lian’s heart lurched, his ears ringing, and Hua Cheng instantly pulled him behind his person, raised his hand and that corpse-eating rat was instantly blown to a ball of misty blood.
Yet, the little eyes still stuck on the wall was still shimmering in madness.
“Lord Rain Master, I suggest you check over your steed.” Hua Cheng said.
The Rain Master felt and turned over the black ox’s hair and said, “It’s just a scratch.”
However, there were more and more human voices rising from all around.
“Cough, cough cough, take me away, take me away!”
“I should’ve fled a long time ago…”
“We shouldn’t have believed his nonsense, what a wrongful death!”
“Gege, gege? Your Highness!”
That last line was particularly clear and it was Hua Cheng’s voice. Only then did Xie Lian snapped out of it, “Sorry!”
Hua Cheng looked serious, “Did you understand what they were saying again?”
Xie Lian nodded. Hua Cheng reached out and covered his ears, “Don’t listen to them. Those words weren’t directed at you.”
“I know.” Xie Lian said.
Thousands upon thousands of corpse-eating rats came swarming towards the four of them, pouring in like black tide. This was the imperial city, the population much denser than the city before, which meant there were more deceased, providing a more abundant meal for the rats.
Thus, their numbers were quite impressive. They were being heavily surrounded. Pei Ming was growing serious, a thin layer of protection aura covered him, “You all leave first, I’ll lead them away…”
Yet unexpectedly, before he finished, that large, ocean-like flock of rats screeched and dashed in a particular direction – they were running towards the Rain Master!
Before anyone had noticed, the Rain Master had already remounted her black ox, and was running away in the opposite direction. That ox had already made a distance of some tens of meters away, but it wasn’t going too fast; it was fast enough that the corpse-eating rats couldn’t keep up, but slow enough that the rats still kept her in sight, keeping the perfect distance to lead them away without them catching up. Yu Shi Huang called out from the distance, “My lords please go forth on your way, I can lead them away.”
As the Rain Master moved riding her ox, she scattered white and full grains of rice along the way. Rats loved rice by nature after all, and who knows how many years it’d been since they last saw such full and white large grains of rice, and they rushed after her. What Pei Ming had wanted to do was robbed by the Rain Master, and his expression was conflicted. Hua Cheng dropped his hands and said, “Gege, let’s go.”
When Xie Lian heard the voices of those corpse-eating rats his head would throb, so when the voices were gone he let out a breath of relief and nodded. However, Pei Ming turned to them, “You’re going to leave just like that?”
“Yea?” Hua Cheng said.
Pei Ming frowned, “The Rain Master can’t possibly take care of that on her own, it’s crazy to run off like that.” Then after some thought, he finally came to a decision, “Your Highness, you both go on first. If I can catch up after then we’ll meet up at the divine temple!” Then he turned around and went off to chase after the Rain Master.
Xie Lian was perplexed, “How come General Pei doesn’t think the Rain Master can take care of herself? Wasn’t the situation just now more than obvious that Lord Rain Master is more than capable?”
Hua Cheng laughed, “He probably can’t stand being protected by a woman.”
Without wasting any time, the two crossed through the imperial city and the innumerous empty shelled stone people, and ran towards that big mountain.
They finally set foot on the Kiln.
The reason why this mountain looked like it was dyed in the colour of blood was because the forests on this mountain were all red. They weren’t maples, but they were crimson like maples, the colour of blood. Xie Lian could also smell the stench of blood. It seemed, the nutrients of the plants here were plenty of resentment and human blood.
This fourth WuYong Temple was built halfway up the Kiln, the largest of the four temples, and in comparison, also the most well maintained. Within the halls were also many stone people, their poses and expressions all different. The two ran straight for the grand hall, and when they entered, sure enough there was a mural. However, after Hua Cheng swept a look. He said, “It appears someone’s come before us.”
Within the grand hall was only one mural. The other two walls, while the walls themselves were fine, but their surfaces were already slashed and destroyed.
This was the first time they’ve encountered this. Xie Lian was slightly dumbfounded, “Who could’ve done this?”
They didn’t even know who painted the murals, and now they had to add the mystery of the mural destroyer into the mix. Still, they were short on time, so they studied the mural that was left. With just one glance, not even a close examination, and all the hairs on Xie Lian’s back were raised.
“WHAT IS THIS?!”
This mural was completely different than those of the other three temples. There was only one person in the painting, however, the colours were dark, the lines and faces were extremely twisted, the appearance of the person couldn’t be discerned at all, only that it was a civilian in tattered clothing.
But that was nothing. What made Xie Lian shrink back in chills was, this person appeared to be in excruciating pain, he’s ripped his own clothing, and exposed his own flesh.
Upon his body there were three faces, and each one was as contorted as his own!
It was the human face disease!
Under such a shock, Xie Lian unconsciously hugged his head and mumbled, “…It’s the same. It’s exactly the same!”
The Crown Prince of WuYong had also encountered the human face disease!
Why was this person’s experience almost exactly the same as his?!
Hua Cheng saw how quickly things were going downhill and he steadied him, “Your Highness, don’t look anymore.”
After some hesitation, he pulled Xie Lian over and pressed him into his embrace, the tone of his voice firm but gentle, “…Alright! Your Highness, listen to me. Listen to me… All the murals before were shown chronologically; the last one had the Crown Prince of WuYong build a sky bridge, so the next one should’ve been an event that came right after. But, this mural doesn’t connect to the last one at all, the timeline doesn’t make sense, isn’t that right?”
Just now, Xie Lian was overly shaken by the image of the human face disease, its shadows too great in his heart, which was why he was petrified. However, he also came around really fast, and instantly began thinking, “You’re right… there must be something missing in between. Someone had destroyed the previous two murals before we came.”
“Since this person destroyed the other two murals, then why didn’t they destroy this one too?”
Hua Cheng asked, “Why did they leave just this one? And it just had to be the one of the human face disease?”
“There are two possibilities.” Xie Lian said, “First, they might have thought leaving this mural behind was inconsequential, and it didn’t matter if it remained. They were more concerned with us seeing the other two.”
“And the second?” Hua Cheng asked.
Xie Lian said slowly, “This person actually destroyed all three murals and this one was painted on afterwards. It’s fake.”
“En.” Hua Cheng replied, “It could very well be that all the murals we’ve seen along the way are fake. We’re already very close to the answer, so before that, don’t start overthinking things on your own, alright?”
Having been buried in his arms for so long, Xie Lian finally, completely tossed out that mural from his brain, and only then did he notice the position the two of them were in, and was about to pull himself away from the hold, “How embarrassing San Lang, I got overly agitated just now…”
However, Hua Cheng didn’t allow him to break away, and instead pulled him in closer, smiling, “Nothing to be embarrassed about, but…”
He lowered his head and said, “There’s actually a third possibility.”
The bottom half of Xie Lian’s face was still buried in his shoulder, and Hua Cheng’s voice was right next to his ear, extremely, extremely soft, and other than Xie Lian, no one else could hear.
Xie Lian’s breath hitched slightly, and he heard Hua Cheng whisper, “The third possibility is, it wasn’t that this person didn’t want to destroy all the murals, but they didn’t make it in time. Just as they were destroying the other two, we’d come, so now, they’re hiding in the grand hall this very moment.”
——
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