CH 22

Chapter 22: I Told You There’s Goodness in the World

Lou Muge was too familiar with this sound, this is the unique bell jingle of the Divine Ghost Bell.

His eyes widened in astonishment, and he looked at the copper bell on his wrist, not knowing how to react.

This copper bell was a spiritual tool that he asked from an old friend for storage. How could this be the Divine Ghost Bell?! He stored a lot of stuff in it!

He was bewildered, and his eyes on Ning Shaosi changed completely. However, the latter remained entirely calm, and he said to him, “Do what you want.”

Lou Muge grabbed Ning Shaosi’s wrist in astonishment. As soon as he moved his lips, he heard a loud shout from the side, “You have repeatedly hindered me, so you are really in cahoots with these evil demons!”

The man spoke recklessly with a rough roar from his throat, as if he was trying to break free from the shackles of the Divine Ghost Bell. Even his blue veins were almost bursting out of his neck.

Seeing this, Lou Muge had no choice but to put the matter of the Divine Ghost Bell aside. He infused power in his palm, and used the power of a water demon to pour it into the bell. A crisp jingle rang out, and the Divine Ghost Bell burst into a dazzling light. It rang three times in a row, as if to welcome an old friend.

As soon as the bell rang, warm winds gathered from all directions, banishing the cold wind of the waxing moon. It swept the fluffy snow in the air, melting them into a white mist before dissipating.

Lou Muge has been controlling the bell for years and was all too familiar with the Divine Ghost Bell. The breeze lifted his long hair that was tied up, and the gentle power lingered around him, filling his limbs with strength.

This was the divine power of the artifact itself. It complemented the bell-ringer. After the fusion of power, all the people fell on their knees synchronously as the bell fell. Even Lady Zhu, who was floating in the air, fell down and knelt in front of Lou Muge, agog.

Wen Changchu was also caught off guard. He hugged his legs and carried the pressure on his shoulders, and sat down in the snow pit. Only then did he avoid kneeling.

Only Ning Shaosi stood straight.

Lou Muge shook the bell again, and the pressure on Wen Changchu disappeared. He quickly got up, patted the slush off his body, and stood behind Lou Muge.

Zhang Rong couldn’t bear the power and vomited a mouthful of blood. He addressed Lou Muge, “This is the Divine Trial Convention, and you are not allowed to commit evil!”

“You still can’t tell the difference between right and wrong,” Lou Muge said.

“These twin brothers are a disaster to mortals. They broke peace and order, and should be taken back to the Immortal Realm to receive punishment. If you insist on helping them, you are disregarding the righteous path. Besides, how can you tell right from wrong?!” The man from the Immortal Realm seemed to have realized that the bell was no trivial object, and his tone calmed down a lot, as if planning to convince Lou Muge.

Lou Muge seemingly laughed in annoyance. “What righteous path? You know the deeds of these kind mortals, and still call it the righteous path?”

The man choked, unable to string a retort.

“Let me tell you what the righteous path is.” Lou Muge’s eyes turned cold, and the Divine Ghost Bell floated in his palm, emitting a subtle contention, like a sharp sword about to be unsheathed. Soon, a silky green watery glow surrounded the bell.

His voice carried a rare hint of seriousness, “Compassion for the world regardless of gains and losses is the righteous path; it is also the righteous path to requite grace with kindness and revenge for vengeance. If good deeds are not rewarded, and evil deeds in the world are left unpunished, then what’s the meaning of the word ‘good’ in existence? If this matter must end with an evil deed, then let me be the evil one and uphold justice to these two brothers!”

The contention of the bell was getting louder and louder, and a chill mixed into the wind with the heavy snow falling on everyone. The whistling gusts heralded a brewing storm.

“But these mortals just want to live, and it is also righteous for the Immortal Realm to shelter them!” the man shouted, swallowing a big mouthful of snow.

After hearing this, Lou Muge finally could no longer restrain his emotions. With a look of disgust on his face, he responded sternly, “Those who return kindness with ingratitude don’t deserve asylum!”

He flicked the bell vigorously, and the sound caused the wind to move ten miles. The sky quickly darkened, and heavy black clouds gathered. Echoing, ethereal shocks the soul. The light from his body spread to the Divine Ghost Bell in the air like wind. The tinkle of bells reverberated layer by layer, ethereal enough to shake the soul.

The Divine Ghost Bell floated in the air, spinning slowly, and Lou Muge became the center of the chaos as the lights circulated.

He embodied the Devil Venerable 800 years ago.

A divine bow was drawn, a sword pointed to the sky, and with the copper bell ringing gently, turmoil reigned in all eight directions.

Some elderly people who had been caught in the mud pillar by Tao Zhai suddenly issued shrill cries and covered their heads in pain.

Lou Muge’s eyes were tinged with the green and gray of the copper bells. He could clearly see that the souls of those elderlies were being torn apart by the Divine Ghost Bell, forcibly drawing them out of their bodies and sucking them into the bell.

After a soul left the body, the person immediately died, and his body fell to the ground and sank into the snow.

The mortals screamed in horror, on one hand out of fear, and on the other out of agony. With these intertwined, the place seemingly turned into a slaughterhouse that was all too gruesome.

The man from the Immortal Realm snapped furiously, “You will definitely end up terribly if you oppose the Immortal Realm like this!”

Lou Muge thought it was funny, and said to him, “It’s not the first time I’ve stood against the Immortal Realm.”

With a wave of his palm, the Divine Ghost Bell jingles continued for a long time. The prolonged ending sound dragged on, and then the light the bell emitted gradually turned darker and darker, until the souls of those people were all sucked into the bell. Not long after, it slowly calmed down and fell lightly, floating above Lou Muge’s palm.

Lou Muge flexed his fingers, flicked the bell lightly, and the bell rang incessantly. From each hollow pattern, a myriad of lake color rays burst out, condensed into a ball, and formed a pile of crystal clear jade beads.

Lou Muge held the Divine Ghost Bell and stopped it from ringing. In an instant, the wind stopped howling and the snow stopped falling, all the dust settled.

The jade beads floated to Tao Ming’s face and melted into his eyes, which had always been closed.

Tao Ming’s body shook for a moment, and once the light dissipated, he slowly opened his eyes.

He once again saw light and everything, with a pair of clear, new eyes.

A pair of eyes refined with the soul of mortals.

Lou Muger said, “This is only fair.”

The moment Tao Ming saw everything in front of him, he couldn’t help crying, and immediately kowtowed to Lou Muge. Even Tao Zhai put aside all his anger, and sincerely imitated his brother’s actions, expressing his gratitude.

Seeing this, Ning Shaosi raised his eyebrows and smiled.

After the Divine Ghost Bell’s shackles were released, the man from the Immortal Realm suddenly burst into flames, and he charged to stab Lou Muge with his halberd. He moved lightning fast.

Ning Shaosi raised his hand lightly, and as if he had summoned an invisible barrier, he blocked the man ten feet away. The man bellowed loudly, and a beam of light emanated from his body. In the next second, he shot straight to the sky.

It seemed that he went to seek reinforcements from the Immortal Realm.

Lou Muge was ready to fight a battle, but he didn’t expect Ning Shaoji to suddenly capture his wrist. He gently tapped his immortal stone, and the dull stone shone brighter and brighter.

Immediately afterwards, the light on the immortal stone gushed out, and innumerable threads converged, forming a door in front of Lou Muge. The door was a blank white.

Lou Muge glanced at him in doubt.

“Immortal Gate.” Ning Shaosi whispered softly, “Go in, no one will know what you’ve done here.”

“But the Immortal Stone…” Lou Muge wanted to say, didn’t the Immortal Stone present everything on the Immortal Mirror? Wouldn’t going to the Immortal Realm now be throwing himself into the net?

Ning Shaosi still said, “Trust me, don’t you have something else to do?”

Lou Muge gazed at him. “But I still have questions to ask you.”

“I’ll stay here to take care of the aftermath.” He said, “I will go to the Immortal Realm to find you later.”

“Then we have a deal.” Lou Muge said, “You must come and find me.”

Ning Shaosi nodded.

“I remember your name. If you do not come to me, I will go to the Demon Realm to find you.” Lou Muge said fervently, “712.”

Ning Shaosi raised his eyebrows, smiled, and finally answered, “Okay.”

Hearing his agreement, Lou Muge tied the Divine Ghost Bell on his wrist again and stepped into the Immortal Gate.

Wen Changchu followed behind him. Before leaving, he glanced at Ning Shaosi again and asked, “You should stay alive, right?”

Ning Shaosi turned serious. “Naturally, there must be one person left to report to the Immortal Realm.”

Wen Changchu didn’t say anything further, and followed into the Immortal Gate.

The Immortal Gate puffed into smoke and dissipated after the two entered. Ning Shaosi stared blankly at it for a while, then stood still.

After the shackles were lifted, Lady Zhu got up to leave, but found that an invisible cage surrounded the area at some point, and she could not break through it. She pinched the fire feather in her hand and without saying a word turned towards Ning Shaosi to attack him.

This move unleashed all the power she amassed. The fire feather split in the air and turned into raindrops, and then sprinkled thousands upon thousands on Ning Shaosi, but after getting close to him, everything stopped, without exception. 

Her attack startled someone who was in a daze. Ning Shaosi turned his head, staring at her with lazy eyes tinged with imperceptible coldness. His appearance now was a far cry from that gentle teenager moments ago.

He raised his right hand lightly, and a black mist oozed out from the palm of his hand. Akin to wildly growing vines, it quickly cloaked his arm, and then wrapped his whole body.

Suddenly, the black mist erupted, piercing fiercely into the ground and forming thousands of cracks. It spread out in all directions from the place he was standing, like a fast-opening massive net, instantly enclosing the entire Shan’an City in it.

Ning Shaosi stood steadily amid the wind blowing in all directions. The wind fluttered his black gilded robe into a screeching noise. Under everyone’s cracked vision, he unhurriedly folded his fingers and put his palms together.

The earth shook violently. All the houses in Shan’an City were twisted together. The walls collapsed, and even the livestock were spared. After a period of earthquake, the original rich town turned into ruins. All the things exchanged for the jade beads turned into powder and ceased to exist.

Under the powerful force, the only thing the weak felt was fear. Even Lady Zhu sat on the ground, her face covered in fear. She opened her mouth and uttered tremulously, “Ning…”

Hearing that name, Ning Shaosi turned to look at her and smiled rather politely.

This was the last picture the woman saw. She saw a flashing cold glint, and a short half-arm-length blade pierced her heart. In an instant, the black light melted all her vitality.

Even the dozens of immortal soldiers from the Immortal Realm were not spared. The short dagger fell into Ning Shaosi’s hand after a circle. Blood trickled down the blade, and after a while, it flowed cleanly without leaving a drop. The short knife remained as pristine as before.

But in the blink of an eye, the corpses on the site were scattered all over the place, blood spilled everywhere on the ground.

Tao Zhai and Tao Ming stood side by side, and they made no secret of their fear towards Ning Shaosi, yet they neither dared to escape nor beg for mercy.

Ning Shaosi put away the knife and walked gently in front of the two brothers, but his smile suddenly turned loving, like an old father. He reached out and patted Tao Zhai’s head. He sighed almost silently. “I’m too late.”

This made the two brothers stunned.

The black mist in Ning Shaosi’s hand drifted down along Tao Zhai’s body and slowly condensed his scattered body parts, completing this physical body. He said, “What did those mortals do up the mountain after they coveted your eyes?”

Tao Ming froze for a moment and said honestly, “They cracked my left leg, then cut trees and mud to seal the entrance of the cave.”

After listening to this, Ning Shaosi pondered for a moment, and then said, “You’ve successfully awakened your divine consciousness with my tears and cultivated for many years. Now you’re starting afresh. Live well in the future. Do no evil, and nor do just good deeds either.”

The black mist climbed onto Tao Ming’s feet, got into his left leg, and disappeared.

After leaving a simple command, Ning Shaosi then turned his head and made sure that Zhang Rong was still breathing before walking away.

The two brothers watched him leave in a daze, not noticing that the black mist that penetrated into their bodies turned into a little black mole, and stayed between their eyebrows.

The snow began to fall again. The snow was so heavy that it seemed to bury Shan’an’s ruins. However, the snow would melt one day, whether it was the ruins hidden underneath, or the sins that the villagers tried so hard to bury.

Fifty years ago, when it was almost winter, the people of Shan’an City harbored evil intentions and gained everything, but they also lost everything at the end of winter50 years later. The fathers who planted the cause of sin in those years paid for it with their souls, but the evil fruit was still borne by their children.

The surviving Shan’an villagers hugged each other tightly and cried for everything they had lost. Only Guo Chuangen, who was over 50 years old and foolish for several years, laughed happily at this time.

Ning Shaosi patted the fluffy snow on his body, propped up an umbrella, and walked away little by little under the fluffy feather snow. He exhaled, thinking that his master shouldn’t blame him for handling the matter in this manner.

After all, even his master himself couldn’t remember the jade statue he carved with his own hands…