CH 12

Ning Shaosi’s arms were warm and soft, but surprisingly powerful. Despite such impact, he didn’t budge an inch and stood quite stably. The specks of cool snow on his fox fur collar sprinkled a little in Lou Muge’s neck.

After Lou Muge stood firmly, he let go and dusted the snow that fell on him in passing.

Lou Muge had no time to thank him. He looked up at the man who suddenly fell and saw his black robe swaying in the thin snow. The man stood up, shook his long hair, and turned his head to look at him.

Lou Muge sighed a long one and said, flabbergasted, “You, kid, had to make some noise to feel satisfied, huh.”

“Isn’t it because I knew something happened to you?” Wen Changchu was covered with snow, but he was grinning. “How about it? Did I come in time?”

“Weren’t you following Zhang Rong and his party?”

When Wen Changchu heard the name, his smile immediately disappeared, and he said disdainfully, “Those three good-for-nothings went to sleep as soon as night fell. I followed them for a few days but didn’t see them doing anything. I had nothing to do, so when I heard screaming, I came to investigate.”

He asked rhetorically, “What did you find?”

Lou Muge pointed behind him with his chin, “Look behind you.”

Those bloody skeletons were blown away by the wind when Wen Changchu landed on the ground. Occasionally, there were fresh corpses whose skin and flesh hadn’t fallen out, trying to stand up. Wen Changchu looked behind him with radiance shining in his right hand. He took out his blade that was bent like a crescent moon, curled his lips and smiled, revealing half of his fangs. “They finally appeared? Are these the culprit?” 

“No.” Lou Muge was rather regretful. “They’re just puppets possessed by Demon Gu.”

“Demon Gu? How can these people here have Demon Gu?” Wen Changchu was surprised.

These words reminded Lou Muge. His eyes turned toward the stage and replied, “Maybe… Someone brought them here.”

However, the state was entirely empty at this time. The Tao brothers was swept by the gust somewhere.

“Let’s get these sorted out first.” Lou Muge said, “Anyway, there’s no use keeping them. I reckon there are still plenty of them in the cemetery.”

Wen Changchu hummed in response, and a cold glint suddenly flashed at the tip of his blade. He raised his hand with a wave, and a dark purple light glowed at the tip of the blade. With the howling of the cold wind, he crushed several rotting corpses easily.

He put the blade in his hand down and sneered, “Slicing these things is easier than tofu.”

Lou Muge casually returned, “You’ll find it’s better to cut tofu once you try it.”

The three walked towards the dark graveyard. Ning Shaosi brought out an illuminating pearl to light the way ahead for Lou Muge, and from afar they saw the outline of a human form.

As Lou Muge said, the graveyard was swarming with corpses arising from the earth. Some were slowly moving forward, and some were still struggling to get out of the mud. The illuminating pearl illuminated a limited range, but it was apparent that each gravestone had traces of soil newly turned out.

“Is this a collective grave relocation?” Wen Changchu raised his eyebrows.

Lou Muge saw a corpse with half of its body still stuck in the soil and was trying to crawl out. He suddenly burst out laughing: “This is too much work. Why not help them repair their tombstones?”

Wen Changchu was surprised, “How do we repair them?”

Lou Muge stretched his hand to him. “Give me your scimitar.”

Wen Changchu smiled and handed the blade to him. The moment it entered Lou Muge’s hand, he felt the weight and almost stumbled. He hurriedly used his other hand to support.

His two hands holding the handle overflowed with a pale aqua light. With a bit of power infused into the blade, it became lighter. 

Lou Muge’s eyes sank slightly, and with a sudden raising of his hand, he pointed the blade at the ground, and pressed his arm into the snow.

The scimitar buried into the ground halfway, and a splash of aqua blue flashed, with no other movement.

Lou Muge had a good grasp of his own strength. One more point and it would be wasted; one less point wouldn’t be enough. Thus, after the blade hit the ground, he took it all back.

He straightened up, smiled and turned to Wen Changchu. However, before he could say a word, his smile solidified. The handsome man who was still standing beside him now turned into a wolf cub, whimpering and barking at his feet.

Lou Muge wondered: “What’s wrong with you? Why did you turn into this form again?”

Wen Changchu’s furry ears drooped, and he turned in a circle. He whimpered a couple of times, but Lou Muge didn’t understand what he wanted to say.

Lou Muge had intended to let Wen Changchu take the next step, but seeing him in this shape, he could only give up. He couldn’t let two wolf paws hold a scimitar handle, right?

He turned his attention to Ning Shaosi and said, “You do it.”

Ning Shaosi saw him take two steps back to give him some space, so he stepped forward and stood in front of the scimitar.

“Fix their gravestones,” Lou Muge said.

Ning Shaosi withdrew his gaze, stared at the hilt of the scimitar, and raised his right hand. The cold wind mixed with snowflakes abruptly rose and passed through Ning Shaosi’s hair, blowing the fox fur around his neck and lifting his brocade coat.

Lou Muge felt a very faint force, which was very different from Wen Changchu’s. This force wasn’t oppressive but couldn’t be ignored. It was as soft as the first breeze that blew into the earth.

However, as soon as Ning Shaosi held the handle of the scimitar, white light coursed through the blade and penetrated into the ground. Cracks appeared in the earth covered by thick snow, and the blade that was inserted into the ground snaked out, forming half of a net shape.

The earth trembled slightly, and the crack quickly crept into the darkness, extending to a certain distance. Afterward, a large area collapsed, splitting into several pieces of land as if kneaded by a giant hand. All the gravestones and bloody skeletons were kneaded in the soil, and even the white snow was mixed into thin mud.

In the blink of an eye, everything in front was cleaned and turned into a wasteland.

Ning Shaosi loosened the hilt of his scimitar and turned his head to Lou Muge. He asked hesitantly, “How about this?”

Lou Muge blinked, returned to his senses, and answered him, “Excellent.”

After getting his affirmation, Ning Shaosi’s eyes were stained with a smile, but Wen Changchu kept kicking with his front paws on the side, as if he was unsatisfied with this scene.

Lou Muge’s fondness for this kid deepened. He was quite satisfying in all aspects. He was neither arrogant nor impetuous, but obedient. He exuded a pleasing aura all over.

He unknowingly kept staring at him for quite some time. Wen Changchu grimaced and bit the hem of his robe, tugging him backwards.

Lou Muge lowered his head, teased him with his toes, and said to Ning Shaosi, “Let’s go. Go and check how the mortals over there on the stage are doing.”

Wen Changchu whined some more. Seeing Lou Muge leaving, he chased after him. The scimitar that was left buried in the earth turned into a wisp of smoke and silently disappeared.

After the wind stopped, the snow fell, and amidst the chaos, the few survivors supported each other and surrounded their dead.

Lou Muge stepped over, brushed aside the bystanders and crouched down next to a sprawling corpse. He pushed the man’s head to the side with a finger, revealing his neck.

There was a very dazzling bite mark around his neck. He couldn’t see it clearly because the light was too dim. He narrowed his eyes, and just as he tried to get closer, Ning Shaosi stopped him. 

He moved the illuminating pearl in his hand to the dead man’s neck, and the crowd saw the circle of teeth marks that bit a hole in him. He, however, wasn’t bleeding, which was quite shocking.

“The Demon Gu has already drilled in him. Don’t make much contact with this corpse.” Ning Shaosi explained to him, “The Demon Gu is alive.”

When the others heard this, they took several steps back. Lou Muge pondered for a moment, stretched out his hand and explored above the body, then his eyes turned gloomy: “His soul is gone.”

Like Uncle Zhao who died in the street, his soul disappeared completely after death.

But the three of them were nearby. If someone here was performing a spell, it was impossible for it to escape the notice of the three of them, unless that person’s power was far above them.

Lou Muge felt deeply uncertain. All his power was sealed in his body, and he could use it whenever he needed. If there was indeed a demon more powerful here, he really might not detect him.

There was Wen Changchu, who could turn into a wolf pup in the blink of an eye, as well as a child impersonating Ning Shaosi, whose depth was unfathomable. 

Lou Muge suddenly felt that the difficulty of the first test was too high.

Seeing the two Little Divine Immortals standing there silently, the few survivors discussed and started digging the ground to bury the dead.

Lou Muge couldn’t help commenting, “What’s the use of burying them? They’ll just get up in a few days.”

The few Shan’an villagers didn’t dare to pick a fight with him and diligently buried the corpses from head to foot. However, the burial grounds were shallow. Once the sun came out and the snow melted, half of the corpses were likely to be exposed.

“All right, let’s go back to the city.” Lou Muge rubbed his face, while walking and muttered, “This place is really evil.”

The survivors were still in shock after experiencing what had just happened. After being rescued, their shunning behavior previously had gone into nothing. It was only now that they truly believed that these outsiders were life-saving Divine Immortals.

They promptly responded to Lou Muge’s command, and without tidying their things up, they quickly boarded their carriages.

Lou Muge followed quietly. His eyes wandered on several people and stopped on Tao Ming.

The young man was supported by his brother as his other hand knocked with his wooden stick. He seemed to be frightened and his pace was a bit shaky.

Others might not have seen it, but when Lou Muge arrived, he clearly saw that Tao Ming was bitten firmly, right around his neck.

But now, he looked as if nothing had happened. There was no trace on both sides of his neck, so it was really suspicious.

On top of this, Lou Muge had long discovered that the Tao brothers were totally suspicious.

Lou Muge was pondering while walking when he suddenly felt something warm in his hand, interrupting his train of thoughts. He raised his hand and saw a familiar oil paper bag.

When he looked sideways, he found Ning Shaosi pursing his lips, looking a bit bashful. He whispered, “Here, eat.”

Lou Muge was not actually hungry, but the food was already delivered to him. He subconsciously wanted to open it to see what it was. After opening the seal, he sniffed peach blossoms.

There were three peach blossom cakes in the oil paper, emitting heat with floral fragrance, straight into his nose.

Lou Muge’s heart throbbed and pounded on his chest. He took out a piece and saw that the cake was small and delicate, all pink and tender, in the shape of a peach blossom.

His body went rigid all over. He bent his creaky hands and sent the piece to his mouth. The sweet taste overflowed in his mouth with peach blossom fragrance. The tip of his tongue picked the honey wrapped in the center of the cake, which was so sweet.

After Lou Muge tasted this bit of honey, he could no longer maintain his composure and looked at the person beside him in amazement. “The honey stuffed peach blossom cake from the Hundred Fragrance Restaurant?”

Hundred Fragrance Restaurant was Lou Muge’s favorite pastry building, and honey peach blossom cake was also his favorite pastry all his life.

Ning Shaosi’s clear eyes bent, and he smiled: “Do you still like it?”

Still like it?

Do you still like it?

There was just one word difference, but had separate meanings.

But at this time, Lou Muge was eating something that he had been craving for many years. He was so happy that he couldn’t tell north from south. He also failed to register this small detail at all, and immediately slung his arm around Ning Shaosi’s neck.

“From now on, you are my brother,” Lou Muge said.

“… ” Ning Shaosi: “I’m unworthy of such honor.”