Chapter 233 - Little Girl
Chapter 233: Little Girl
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The moment Wen Leyang had come into contact with the prohibition spell of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death, the Ning Jiao’s sting which had been cultivated within his body had appeared of its own accord. It had then summoned the Bone Snake which had then rushed into the forest and absorbed the prohibition spell’s poison its heart’s content.
The people outside the forest were very shocked while the disciples inside the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death were even more shocked. Wen Xiaoyi waved her blunderbuss mightily as she quickly ran towards the edge of the forest while she was escorted by a few people from the Death Trademark. She shouted a question in a crisp voice, “Who’s there?”
A dozen people on the outside shouted in unison, “Wen Leyang!”
Wen Xiaoyi exclaimed in surprise before she turned around and ran back into the house. Her face was blushing tenderly…
Wen Leyang’s face flushed red as well, he never expected his own family members to be so united during this one occasion.
As they witnessed the forest’s lifeless greyish-white color gradually recover to its originally flourishing fiery red, the happiest of them all was, of course, Grand Elder Wen. His wrinkled face was filled with smiles as he walked up to Wen Leyang and asked, “What’s the matter?”
Wen Leyang did not say anything while Guo Huan laughed and replied, “This Ning Jiao has turned into a spirit!”
Only demons which have turned into spirits could retain their nature within their bones after their flesh and soul have dispersed. This was how the Ning Jiao had manifested itself as the Bone Snake as it pounced out to absorb its own poison within the forest. Guo Huan explained this in simple terms to the others. He then added as if he had not given his full view, “It’s not a beast, it’s an evil spirit which has refined its demonic primordial energy and obtained divine wisdom!”
Guo Huan laughed happily as if it was nobody’s business. However, Wen Leyang and Grand Elder Wen both said in unison, “Wrong!”
Of course, Wen Leyang dared not steal Fourth Elder Wen’s limelight so he immediately took a step back as he smiled and extended a hand to implore his grandfather to speak first. Fourth Elder Wen narrowed his eyes slightly, “Us old men had mixed eleven types of poison into the Ning Jiao’s flesh and blood. That was through nine types of finely refined herbal formulas before we could finally break its poison down. We then planted it into the Red Leaves Forest’s prohibition spell. Although it was the Ning Jiao’s poison in name, its toxicity has been changed…”
Fourth Elder Wen’s meaning was clear; the nature of the poison within the prohibition spell has already changed drastically and it was now a totally different thing compared to before. It was clearly not the Ning Jiao’s strange poison anymore but if that was the case, why was the Bone Snake absorbing it?
Guo Huan kept quiet as Wen Leyang was hit with a sudden realization. He now understood why the Red Leaves Forest had turned into the Grey Leaves Forest, “The Poison of Life and Death can assimilate other poisons…”
Fourth Elder Wen was immediately stunned. He did not need to wait for Wen Leyang to finish what he was saying before he grunted. Fourth Elder Wen’s expression was slightly depressed and helpless. He finally understood the reason why the prohibition spells’ poison had silently changed.
The Ning Jiao’s poison was extremely similar to Wen Leyang’s Poison of Life and Death. The Poison of Life and Death could assimilate other toxins so, naturally, the Ning Jiao’s poison would also have this ability though at a much slower rate.
Back then, the Wen family elders had joined forces as they used a dozen toxins and refined formulas. Eventually, they managed to crack the Ning Jiao’s poison and turned it into a poison which the Wen family could use on the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness and Death’s prohibition spell. However, after some time, the Ning Jiao’s poison had gradually assimilated the other poisons. It then returned to its original toxicity after merging with them. That was why the prohibition spell’s antidote no longer worked and their own people could not enter nor leave the Red Leaves Forest. However, the Bone Snake enjoyed this bitter situation as if it was malt sugar as it immediately speared and absorbed the poison.
Guo Huan did not understand the Art of Poison so he put on a show and laughed. He then asked Fourth Elder Wen timidly, “Have you understood the situation?”
Fourth Elder Wen nodded honestly. Wen Leyang picked this moment to speak up on something which he felt was not right, “Painting Town has been helping Hanba to kill demons and extract their demonic primordial energy. If this Ning Jiao was an evil spirit, it should’ve been killed by Leyang Tian ages ago!”
The Ning Jiao had been summoned by Leyang Tian using witchcraft to defeat the enemy. The relationship between those two was like Wen Leyang and ‘You’ve Got Me’, a master and his pet. However, Leyang Tian was not as close to the Ning Jiao by comparison.
Guo Hua sighed secretly, he could at least explain this, “Firstly, maybe Leyang Tian and the Ning Jiao had been on friendly terms and he couldn’t bring himself to kill it. Secondly, the Ning Jiao contained the Poison of Life and Death as well as the Power of Yin and Yang within its body. A monster like this is rarely seen. Its demonic primordial energy had been covered up by the poison and could hardly be noticed. Maybe Hanba and the Leyang family didn’t even know that it had already cultivated itself into a demon.”
Guo Huan’s voice has barely faded away when a young voice sounded from far away and replied him, “It’s all blind guesses! This was a monster which had cultivated poison, its demonic primordial energy is poisonous primordial energy. Not only could it not be refined, even if you had obtained a demonic primordial energy such as this, you could even kill the wicked soul with poison.”
A petite figure had accompanied the voice as it swiftly barged into Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability. As soon as they heard that voice, its owner has also appeared before them.
A little girl, who looked to be about five to six years of age was standing before them. She carried a black cloth bundle on her back while a Longevity Lock weighing half a kilogram hung from her neck, glistening gold under the sunlight. The little girl had red lips and white teeth. Her little face was so delicate that it made the others want to pinch it to see if they could pinch some water out of it. The little girl’s long hair was especially striking as it fell straight down like a waterfall to her ankles. Only her garment looked slightly unsuitable for her. Her big, padded jacket was clean but the sleeves almost reached her little calves. The front and rear flaps of the padded jacket had been pulled down, barely revealing her quilted shoes. Otherwise, she would not have been able to walk at all.
When Wen Leyang was testing out the prohibition spell, Ah Dan had seized the opportunity to occupy the palanquin. Ah Dan, who was seated on the palanquin, cried out in surprise and joy as he leaped down and ran towards the little girl who had suddenly appeared. After a moment’s hesitation, he plucked the silver necklace around his neck with great effort and shook it in his left hand. He then tiptoed and pointed vigorously at her Longevity Lock.
The Rainbow Brothers signaled each other and moved slightly. They formed a formation without anyone noticing and inconspicuously surrounded the girl.
The little girl was half a head taller than Ah Dan. She was stunned at first but after she understood what he had meant, she pushed him aside. Mumu’s body flashed past and she held Ah Dan tightly. She then spat out a statement with some humorous anger, “You’re not stupid!”
Ah Dan was still waving his necklace forcefully. He looked upset…
This little girl was even more glittering and translucent than the Hua family youths, she looked like a doll which had been sculpted from ice! Though her appearance may be strange, it had not made anyone feel nervous. Wen Leyang was uncertain whether he should ask in a sharp voice or inquire softly. He decided to keep up his sick act and asked feebly, “Who are you?”
The little girl looked to be not much older than Ah Dan but her voice was clear and she was eloquent. She was nothing like the silly young boy who could only make babbling sounds, “Daddy had sent me to ask you, did something happen on Xiang Liu’s part?”
Although Wen Leyang understood a decent amount about the cultivation world and knows that he should not judge a book by its cover when it comes to cultivators, he was still extremely surprised at this little girl who had moved like the wind and knew about the Ning Jiao as well as Xiang Liu.
Guo Huan seems to have felt something as well as he asked with interest, “What’s your name? Who’s your dad?”
“Daddy is Hanba! Daddy is known as the Fifth Brother! I’m… Xiaowu!” The little girl’s voice was not loud and her tone was young and light. Nevertheless, the words she said were like a heavenly thunder which shocked everyone to their core.
Who would have guessed that Fifth Brother Hanba had a daughter named Xiaowu! Everyone was dumbstruck and they looked at each other for a long while. The seven Rainbow Brothers, Grand Elder Wen, the two Luo family elders, Qing Miao’s Second Mother, Ji Fei, Shui Jing, and First Uncle Wen Tunhai almost asked in unison, “Who’s your mom then?”
The little girl had made a dexterous entrance but when she was faced with this bunch of unreliable people, her childish nature appeared instantly. Her features crumpled into a ball on her small face as she bit her lip and answered resentfully, “I don’t have a mommy, only daddy…”
Ah Dan had broken free of Mumu’s embrace again without anyone noticing. He then stood in front of Xiaowu, radiating unhappiness and outrage as he held the silver necklace out and looked on. He resembled Nezha right at this moment.
Xiaowu felt aggrieved for a while before she continued, “Daddy had been recuperating initially. The wicked soul which he was cultivating had suddenly started behaving restlessly recently. The old man is worried that something bad has happened on the Black and White Island so he had sent me to find you guys to see if you needed any help.”
Hanba had worked together with Chang Li to trick someone else. Though they had completely eradicated their archenemy, San Wei, Hanba was also badly wounded. He had returned to the Corpse-Forming Land to heal his wounds. Before he left, he had said that he would approximately need a hundred and ten years’ worth of effort before he could completely heal himself. However, recently, the wicked soul within his body has been stirred up wildly. Hanba was worried that Xiang Liu has broken free from the Black and White Island. Fifth Brother Hanba could of be of any help himself so he had sent the little girl in his stead.
The little girl Xiaowu had stated her origins clearly and the grievance on her small face was even more apparent now, “Today was daddy’s birthday but I can’t even be by his side!” As she said this, she removed the bundle on her back and tossed it to Wen Leyang spitefully, “This is a demon figurine, daddy’s token!”
Xiaowu spoke with reason and with the demon figurine which only Guo Huan knows how to make, her identity was unquestionable. However, not one of them could wrap their minds around the idea that Hanba has a daughter. If Xiaowu was a toddler corpse like Ah Dan was before, she would definitely not be so exquisite and bright nor would she be able to talk; if she was a girl adopted from the world, even if she had started her cultivation in the womb, she would not possess such amazing techniques. She had been able to fly into Wen Leyang’s telegnosis ability and stand in front of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death in the time it took for her to complete a sentence.
As for why Fifth Brother Hanba had never mentioned his daughter Xiaowu before, it was not difficult to understand. These people from the Tuo Xie Sect had rarely come into contact with the Fifth Brother. Knowing the Fifth Brother’s character, he would also be reticent to talk about such matters with them.
Guo Huan chuckled within the jade knife. When Xiaowu had appeared, he had already guessed what was happening, “Have you fellows heard that there were some strange plants growing within the major Corpse-Hiding Lands such as the Ten Thousand Corpses Tomb, the Thousand Heads Pit, and the Hundred Bones Cave?”
The Taoist monk Ji Fei nodded from the side, “Legend has it that these plants had been formed by the foulness of the dead. They’re like venomous snakes, the more brilliant the colors, the more dangerous they are…”
“The foulness of the dead are things of extreme Yin, how could they bear beautiful flowers?” Mumu has returned Ah Dan into her embrace and did not allow him to make a mess anymore. She smiled and shook her head, “These flowers are called the Yang Grass. After a person dies, their primordial Yang energy will be utterly dispersed. If it was on a vast plain then naturally that would be fine but if the land was special, the primordial Yang can’t disperse quickly so they would condense and bear these flowers. They’re not the fruits of foulness and they won’t harm people, on the contrary, they could even save people.”
Wen Leyang nodded, he remembered seeing such a record inside the Birth Trademark. Sometimes, within a mass of graves and tombs, magnificent flowers which do not wither with the seasons could occasionally be found. These flowers have amazing detoxifying properties but they would wither the moment they were plucked.
Guo Huan laughed and praised, “As expected, Mumu knows more! These plants are formed by the Yang energy. Think about it, if plants could grow within a Thousand-Man Pit, why couldn’t it bear a little girl?!”
The Taoist monk Ji Fei was hit with a sudden realization. Fifth Brother Hanba had been badly wounded and had returned to his old lair to recuperate. His Corpse-Forming Land would naturally be different. In other people’s imaginations, it would be a land covered by white bones. If they were to compare the Thousand-Man Pit to Hanba’s Corpse-Forming Land, it was like the difference between an ashtray and Emperor Qin’s mausoleum. It would not be surprising even if a little girl could be formed from that place.
The Rainbow’s Leader was the head of the World Sect so his knowledge was naturally better than Ji Fei and Shui Jing’s. He frowned as he heard Guo Huan’s words, “When a person dies, not only will they release primordial Yang energy, foulness will also be released. They would be utterly negated before they spilled out of the inner and outer coffins. I’ve also heard of the Yang Grass before but these objects are too rare, only one or two Yang Grass will be formed when a thousand people have died peacefully on a Yang-Gathering Land. It’s already hard to ask for two drops of water, how could they gather and form a great lake?”
It was unsure whether it was Ah Dan’s tireless disturbance or because a huge group of people were discussing her origins in front of her, Xiaowu’s expression has turned gloomy. She pouted and asked them, “‘The initiator of evil will have no descendants’, have you heard of these eight words before?”
The others were puzzled and only Guo Huan laughed, “So that’s how it is! I get it now. I was wondering how such a coincidence could exist under the heavens!”
A thousand years ago, the figurines used by nobility during their funerals were not clay figurines of warriors and horses but had been made out of real human beings who were then buried with the high nobles. That was why Confucius had cursed the person who had invented this wicked act to have no descendants.
Guo Huan continued to explain to Wen Leyang, “At first, making figurines out of living human beings was regarded as a magic art. The foulness released by the dead would be fully absorbed by the figurine. After some time, when the magic art has taken shape, the corpse figurine would then turn into a figurine warrior which guarded the grave. Although it has no magic powers, it has incredible strength. Their bodies were tough and they know no pain nor do they fear death. It was not difficult to handle one or two of them but when it was a number so great that they covered the heavens and earth, even the gods would avoid them!”
At this moment, the Rainbow’s Leader’s face lit up with sudden realization, “The foulness of the dead were sucked away by the figurine and the primordial Yang energy could also not be dispersed within the sealed figurine pit. In the end it… Had given birth to Xiaowu!?”
The other Rainbow Brothers looked at each other before they huddled together and muttered amongst themselves, “What’re the vilest methods that we have in our practice?”
“Stealing Souls to Refine Streamers, With a Moon Streamer, Break the Helpless Bridge!”
“Invoke a Ghoul With a Blood Pool, Let the Blood Pool sparkle for a Hundred Years, Five Ghouls Kill Men Softly!”
“Hide the Corpse to Forge Swords, Conceive Mischief, Break Bones to Gain a Zombie… It’s uncountable!”
The Rainbow’s fat men all said a few sentences before keeping their mouths shut in the end. They all looked dejected. The Rainbow’s Leader smiled bitterly and shook his head as he said to Wen Leyang, “These methods of ours, when compared to the ancient people who made figurines, all look like child’s play!”
Guo Huan snorted, “You guys are not bad already! All of these magic arts could easily take a hundred or a thousand lives!” After he had finished speaking, he ignored the Rainbow Brothers and changed into a milder tone as he asked Xiaowu, “If you’re a child born from a figurine pit, why do you call Hanba your dad? From what I can see, that old zombie has some good fortune in him to have adopted such an intelligent child!” He then added to complete his own views, “It’s even his birthday today, a zombie, celebrating his birthday!”
The little girl Xiaowu giggled. She puffed her chest out and said proudly, “It’s true that I was born from a figurine pit but the figurine pit had been dug by my daddy and he had made all the figurines inside. In the end, the one who had brought me back to life was also that old man. If he’s not my daddy, then who is?”
During those ancient times, Tuo Xie and his brothers had very different personalities. Big Brother Lue Luo and Little Brother Tuo Xie had some semblance of being erudite persons while Second Brother Mi Xu who was steeped in the Art of Corpses had always envied the riches of this world. Fifth Brother Hanba too had inherited his master’s will so it was in his nature to love gold and silver.
The three strange men had cultivated on their own after they had accomplished their own methods of practice. Second Brother Mi Xu had helped the high nobles to refine living figurines. Not only was he able to improve his cultivation base, he does not have to run around by himself to find someone to kill and he could have all the money and women he wanted. He could hit many birds with just one stone so he had been happy to do it. It was precisely because Mi Xu knew how to use his art flexibly that he eventually figured out a way of killing demons to extract their demonic primordial energy, cultivate a demon figurine within a corpse and finally sealed the wicked soul within Hanba’s body and completed Grand Master Tuo Xie’s request.
It was a turbulent time for the western Han dynasty two thousand years ago. To obtain longevity, the nobles had secretly continued the art of making live figurines which had been abandoned for hundreds of years. It was a golden opportunity for Grand Master Mi Xu to show his capabilities. At that time, Fifth Brother Hanba had not obtained his spiritual intelligence yet, he was only a thousand-year-old zombie king who only knew how to respond to his master’s commands. Basically, his job had been to deal with all the heavy manual labor. There was an especially crucial step, a small hole must be bored between the corpse figurine’s brows to let the primordial Yang energy escape. This step must be carried out by the zombie king Hanba to have an effect.
Fifth Brother Hanba had slept for a thousand years after he started to cultivate demonic primordial energy. His whereabouts was the largest figurine pit which Mi Xu had left behind. After he had woken up, he noticed with surprise that the primordial Yang energy within the figurine pit had condensed silently without anyone noticing and formed the shape of a human. Another few hundred years passed before it finally condensed into the little girl Xiaowu. However, at that moment, Xiaowu only had Yang energy. Although she was alive, she could only sleep and not wake. She was completely opposite to a zombie, the little girl had a consciousness. She had dreams but she could never wake up; while the latter could move but had no instincts or consciousness.
The corpse’s energy within the demon figurine was greatly detrimental to the wicked soul but it was a golden remedy for Xiaowu to mediate her Yin and Yang energies. Hanba used a few demon figurines which had been tainted with corpse’s energy. Under the nourishment of demonic primordial energy and corpse’s energy, the little girl Xiaowu’s Yin and Yang finally complemented each other, causing her primordial soul to condense and awaken.
Xiaowu had been born from the condensation of Yang energy so she was already alive. After she had been awakened by the corpse figurines, she would not incur a divine punishment as Ah Dan had. After she had woken up, she had naturally taken Fifth Brother Hanba as her father.
After the little girl Xiaowu had woken up, she had gone around to play. However, since her life had been condensed from primordial Yang energy, she had the playfulness of a child but not the foulness of a zombie. She made no mischief and only studied under Lei Feng thus her name was not widely known… At this point in time, Hanba had returned to the figurine pit to tend to his wounds and Xiaowu had also returned at the same time. She was then dispatched by the Fifth Brother to the Nine Peaks Mountain. After Xiaowu had finished speaking, she patted her padded jacket with utmost satisfaction, “This is also a gift from daddy!”
The Rainbow Brothers were dumbstruck as they listened. They were stunned for a moment as they all looked at Wen Leyang and the group of Tuo Xie disciples before bowing with cupped fists. They muttered endlessly as they smiled, “We’re impressed, we’re impressed. We had thought that we were the evil ones but we now know that compared to the ancestors of your family, we’re not even little lambs…”
Guo Huan laughed, “Lambs eat grass and wolves eat lambs, that’s how it always has been. It was you guys who had wanted to differentiate between good and evil no matter what. What about the wolf? Should they be categorized into good wolves and bad wolves?”
The Rainbow’s Leader was not a good person himself but he could not hold himself back and retorted, “Wolves do not kill wolves. To the wolf, every wolf under the heavens are good wolves. Men are different, they kill their own kind…”
He had not finished speaking when Guo Huan cut him short rigidly, “Nonsense! Do you think that the likes of you can be considered the same as Mi Xu and Tuo Xie? It’s the survival of the fittest in the world. Before Mi Xu, what difference did you have with wolves, lambs, grasses, and ants? To the ants, you’re a god but isn’t Mi Xu a god in your eyes as well? If a god wants to kill you, it’s enough for you to complain a little, there’s no need to be resentful.”
The Rainbow’s Leader naturally could not accept Guo Huan’s demonic words. He grinned with rage and cursed, “Mm! You had also been killed by Mi Xu so it also counts that a god had wanted to kill you. Haven’t you been complaining all these years?”
Guo Huan was filled with rage. He immediately started to calculate if he would be done for if he was to cast the ‘Demon Body Breaking Spell’ once more. Wen Leyang quickly stepped in and interrupted their quarrel.
The Bone Snake was still slithering amongst the branches and was absorbing the Ning Jiao’s Poison continuously. The greyish-white leaves had turned red in layers and gave the onlookers an unspeakable comfort just looking at them. By the looks of things, in no time at all, the poison in the prohibition spell should be completely drained.
Relief was written all over Fourth Elder Wen’s old face. At least the prohibition spell of the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death does not need to be destroyed while in his custody. Wen Tunhai was not as moved as the old man as he secretly pondered whether they should have broken the Ning Jiao’s poison after all. In the end, Wen Leyang was the one who had reaped all the benefits.
Guo Huan uttered something about beating up the Rainbow Brothers after he finds his split body in contempt before he finally ignored them. He continued to ask the little girl Xiaowu, “Do you know about the Ning Jiao?”
Xiaowu nodded. She pouted again out of habit as if the Ning Jiao was nothing special, “This snake was originally a demon. After it was exorcised by daddy and Painting Town, they discovered that they could not refine its demonic primordial energy so they had let it go. The snake got its life back and would occasionally lend Painting Town a helping hand. Otherwise, the snake wouldn’t be this obedient just because of those few toads, it even went and helped Painting Town fight!”
With the Ning Jiao’s abilities, it could eat a toad of any size of its liking. Leyang Tian’s Art of Witchcraft was already dwindling with his own abilities, if he had wanted to direct such a powerful demon around, it would have been slightly beyond his powers.
Wen Leyang nodded in sudden realization. He then returned the topic to when Xiaowu had first appeared, “You had said that demonic primordial energy is poisonous primordial energy? How do you explain this?”
“These poisonous beasts had refined their Power of Poison into demonic primordial energy. They had then used that to refine their primordial spirit and obtain spiritual intelligence. However, the Ning Jiao’s poison has some special properties; Yin and Yang energies had intertwined to form chaos and the primordial spirit which had been refined could not be separated from it. It was one with the Poison of Yin and Yang within its body. Its poison was its demonic primordial energy while its demonic primordial energy was its poison. It could not be separated nor could it be refined!”
Wen Leyang’s expression was strange and he could not help but mutter, “Why did it have to refine its Power of Poison into life vitality?” The Ning Jiao’s poison was extremely potent and its characteristics were also similar to his Poison of Life and Death. If the Ning Jiao was the second most venomous being in the world, only Wen Leyang would dare to call himself the first.
With such a powerful and domineering Power of Poison, it was much more powerful than a cultivator’s life vitality. It was apparent from the Red Leaves Forest’s prohibition spell that the members of the World Sect had lost many lives but they had still been unable to pass through the forest. The life vitality which cultivators had gone through so much pain to refine was as fragile as a soap bubble when faced with the Ning Jiao’s poison. However, the Ning Jiao had refined part of its Power of Poison into life vitality. It was like it had refined a handgun into a knife. No matter how one looked at it, it was not even a particularly good knife, more like a kitchen knife.
Guo Huan understood his thoughts and scolded Wen Leyang rigidly, “Stupid young lad, do you think that the Ning Jiao has your good fortune? It was a beast so if it wanted to obtain spiritual intelligence and transcend into a demon, there was no other way than refining its own demonic primordial energy! Otherwise, even if its Power of Poison could destroy the world, it was only still a beast in the end. It would be the same as ordinary zombies with only its instincts but not spiritual intelligence!”
Mankind was the soul of the universe. The road to Heaven’s Cultivation for a human was much smoother than that of a beast’s. Wen Leyang had been born with spiritual intelligence. The Power of Poison within his body was, in essence, his life vitality. The other cultivators had absorbed the spiritual primordial energy of heaven and earth before refining it into their own life vitality whereas Wen Leyang had strengthened his body and heightened his powers by absorbing poison.
However, the Ning Jiao could only refine its Power of Poison into life vitality first before it could refine it into its primordial spirit and obtain its spiritual intelligence before it could advance in its cultivation. Only then could it turn into a demon. Whether it was the peerless great demons like Chang Li or Guo Huan; or ordinary demons like Po Tu, Bu Le, and Shan Duan, on the first stage where they had cultivated their form, they had lost a great amount of strength before they could obtain their spiritual intelligence. Hence, in normal circumstances, when an evil demon turned into an evil spirit, not only would its powers not increase compared to before, it would greatly decrease instead.
Wen Leyang nodded but only comprehended half of what had been said. He at least understood that he could not compare himself to a demon’s standards. After some time, amidst a long joyful howl and the fluttering of shaking leaves, the forest outside the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death was completely restored its enchanting crimson look. Every bit of the Ning Jiao’s Poison has been completely absorbed by the Bone Snake. The Bone Snake was also no longer just a skeleton, it was now enshrouded in a layer of substantial grey mist. In a casual glance, it looked almost like the former Ning Jiao in life!
However, the Snake Knife, Ning Jiao’s sting, had not changed much. Its only change was the mottled black and white spots which had appeared on the blade. It rang cheerfully with the Bone Snake before it returned to Wen Leyang’s body.
Even a person who knows nothing about cultivation understood that Wen Leyang had gained the benefits again this time. The huge, strange demon Ning Jiao, from its blood, flesh, poison to its bones and sting, even its skin, scales, and armor had been turned into Wen Leyang’s magic weapon!
The good hands of the Death Trademark who had followed them then entered the forest to test things out. The people outside the Wen family understood that this was a crucial land for the Wen family so nobody else had dared to barge in uninvited.
Grand Elder Wen was frank and he waved at the others, “Come in.”
Fourth Elder Wen added coldly, “After you enter, listen to my orders. Those who wander will die for nothing!”
The little girl Xiaowu furrowed her brows. She raised her chin and asked them, “What is this place? Your ancestral grave?” She was a little demon who had been brought to life from the land of corpses so she was more sensitive towards corpses than Ah Dan ever was. After the barrier of the Ning Jiao’s poison had disappeared, she immediately noticed that there were many corpses which had been dead for a long time inside the forest.
Grand Elder Wen snorted, “You can put it that way.” The ancestors of the Wen family were well accomplished in the Art of Poison and their bodies do not rot or decay. If they were buried, not even a blade of grass could grow in the perimeter of a few kilometers. The corpses of these Wen family ancestors had been kept inside the Life Trademark. At normal times, they were suppressed by medicinal herbs to prevent the poison from dispersing.
The little girl exclaimed and smiled, “No wonder there are so many bodies under the ground…”
She had not finished speaking when Fourth Elder Wen suddenly squalled. He gave an order impolitely to the others, “Stop! Other than the Wen family members, no one is to enter!” His voice has barely faded away when every Wen Bucao disciple rushed into the forest. Wen Leyang no longer played his wounded act anymore as he carried the little girl Xiaowu and followed closely behind his two grandfathers.
It was true that countless corpses of their ancestors had been kept in the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death but none of them had ever been buried underground!