Chapter 196 — Merit

The spirit said, "Naturally, I guard the Goddess's sacred image. But beyond that, I stand watch here for two reasons: first, that no outside force may revive this fiend; second, that ignorant men may not enter and throw their lives away. Do you understand?"

Ming Li nodded.

The spirit gave a bitter smile. "And yet in the end I failed the Goddess's great trust, deceived by that beast, and committed a grave error—the fiend was revived, and the world's living things were plunged into misery." His voice trailed off toward the end. Then, as if steadying himself, he went on, "I had already fallen into despair, thinking there was no one left in the world who could stop this fiend from ravaging all living things. But some time ago, he returned gravely wounded. The Central Plains are rich in talent and spirit—there are still masters there who could deal him a heavy blow. That was truly beyond my expectation."

The corner of Ming Li's eye twitched slightly. He gave a sudden cold laugh. "You need not trouble yourself over it too much. The Beast Sovereign was defeated, yes—but whoever defeated him is hardly much better off!"

The spirit was taken aback, not knowing what Ming Li meant by this, but at the moment he could not be bothered to probe further. He said, "If this fiend can be destroyed, so much the better. That wish has been in my heart for several thousand years. My only regret is that even in the days before he awakened, I was no match for him. You come from the Central Plains—perhaps you may succeed where I could not. If you truly do"—the ghostly aura around the spirit abruptly drew inward, and he stared wide-eyed, crying out in a loud voice—"then I shall thank you here on the Goddess's behalf!"

So saying, he slowly shifted his body aside, opening a path and revealing the dark, bottomless ancient cave behind him.

Ming Li gazed once into the depths of the cave, then turned and gave the vengeful spirit a long, deep look. The spirit was gazing back at him.

Ming Li nodded slowly and said no more. He walked slowly inside. As he passed the spirit, the monkey Xiao Hui on his shoulder suddenly raised its head and looked with some curiosity at the spirit's gigantic frame, its three eyes unblinking.

The malevolent spirit suddenly called out toward Ming Li's retreating back, "One more thing you must guard against. That day the Beast Sovereign did not return alone. Besides the vicious beast Taotie at his side, there was another demon of exceedingly high cultivation. You must be careful."

Ming Li paused in his steps and said, "As far as I know, all thirteen of his demon beasts were wiped out."

The malevolent spirit shook its head. "It was not one of the thirteen. Before that day, even I had never seen this demon. You must be careful."

Ming Li nodded slowly and continued deeper into the ancient cave.

Jin Pingyue followed slowly after. The two of them and the monkey drifted gradually into the darkness, their silhouettes swaying onward through the depths of shadow, slow and unsteady, until at last they could be seen no more.

The ghostly aura of the malevolent spirit's form likewise began to blur, but its enormous eyes remained fixed on the darkness deep within the cave. Suddenly it loosed a roar toward the deepest dark like a thunderclap, a howl that surged forth like a tidal wave overturning mountains and seas, so that even the piercing cold wind was driven back, and the exceedingly hard rock walls rang out with the crash of heaven splitting and earth rending.

Amid that wild howling, the malevolent spirit's massive form slowly sank into the darkness.

Yet as the malevolent spirit vanished, it did not notice that outside the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression, behind the divine statue, a black figure was faintly revealed—none other than Hei Mu, who had that day stirred up the civil strife among the five tribes of the southern border and seized back the five tribes' sacred artifacts to revive the Beast Sovereign.

The black, voluminous robe shrouded Hei Mu's whole body as always, radiating a chill air, but in his eyes flickered an exceedingly complex gaze as he looked deep into the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression. Only after that malevolent spirit—his former elder brother—had vanished did he slowly withdraw his gaze, and it fell once more upon the statue of the exquisite shaman woman beside him.

In the rustling cold wind, he seemed to whisper, "Niangniang."

At the same time, far from the scorched black mountain peak where the Ancient Cave of Demon Suppression lay, beneath that vast dark forest, a party of a dozen or so slowly emerged. At their head was a woman clothed in white like snow, of peerless beauty, a blue Tianxuan immortal sword in her hand, her face like clear frost, yet in her eyes there seemed an indescribable sorrow and world-weariness as she gazed silently toward the distant scorched black peak.

In the Central Plains, thirty li outside the city of Heyin.

On the great road, after so much time, most of the refugees fleeing disaster had already returned to their homes in the south. This place lay not far from the foot of Canglan Mountain, and even here one could still from time to time see ragged common folk trudging along with difficulty. But among them there were now more peddlers and small traders coming and going, and things were better by far than in the months when that great calamity had struck.

"Immortal guidance, a reading of your half-lifetime fate!" Suddenly a loud cry rang out on the great road, breaking the silence here and grating harshly on the ear.

"Wealth and office, marriage and whereabouts; feng shui and physiognomy, character divination and bone reading—nothing we do not master, nothing we do not know. Come one, come all, only five taels of silver apiece, a bargain!"

Zhou Yixuan came striding over, holding aloft the bamboo pole bearing the sign "Immortal Points the Way," calling out all along the road, and every passerby turned to look.

The Wild Wolf Daoist followed behind without a word, carrying all the luggage as usual, but little Wan at his back seemed to start. She lifted her head from the black-covered book with no writing on its cover that she had been studying closely all along the way, and said with some astonishment, "Grandpa, what did you just say—how many taels apiece?"

Zhou Yixuan turned back with a chuckle, every inch the Daoist immortal descended from heaven, and held up five fingers, saying with great solemnity, "Five taels of silver."

Little Wan knit her brows. "But yesterday you were asking three taels. And what has gotten into you these past few days? Three days ago we were doing fine as always, charging each customer five qian of silver for a reading. But you—you have been jumping the price up and up. Five qian went to one tael, and a day later it was two taels, the day before yesterday it became three taels, and today, of all things, you have simply called out five taels."

Little Wan walked up to Zhou Yixuan and looked him up and down carefully. Zhou Yixuan, unnerved by her scrutiny, stepped back and cleared his throat. "What are you staring at now, you little girl?"

Little Wan paid him no mind and reached out toward Zhou Yixuan's forehead. Startled, he stepped back again and dodged. "What are you playing at, you strange girl?"

Little Wan spat. "You are the strange one. I am checking whether you have a fever and your brains have been addled!" With that she turned to the Wild Wolf Daoist behind her and asked, "Daoist, would you say my grandpa has been a bit muddled lately?"

It being broad daylight, the Wild Wolf Daoist wore a cloth strip wrapped around his face as usual, but his two eyes shone bright and clear. Now, caught in Little Wan's gaze, he gave two chuckles and then at once nodded. "He—er, I mean the elder is getting on in years, so it is only natural that he is a little—"

"Bullshit!"

Zhou Yixuan leaped up in front, furious.