Chapter 50 - Heaven’s Will
Roar. Fu Li’s hind legs kicked out. With a shout, he leaped and landed on the head of the golden dragon. Underneath the moonlight, his tiny body emanated a dark red light. He looked down at the golden dragon beneath his feet. “How can I let a minor like you throw your life away at this juncture?”
“Fu Li!” Zhuang Qing’s tail moved at will, attempting to hook Fu Li back. But as a rabbit that had cultivated till he gained intelligence, the speed at which Fu Li leaped was too quick, so quick that Zhuang Qing was unable to grab a hold of him.
In comparison to the gigantic cyclone, Fu Li’s body seemed as small as dust. When he leaped into the sky, everyone was looking at the incomparably large cyclone in a daze. A feeling of powerless despair surged in their hearts.
Wei Cang transformed into a white tiger with slanted eyes. In one jump, he arrived at Zhuang Qing’s side. The tiger lowered its body slightly, its posture indicating extreme vigilance.
The moment Fu Li charged into the cyclone, his body felt as if it was about to be torn apart. All his strength went into breaking past the cyclone’s resistance. His front claws slapped against the ground and the dust and rocks on the ground rose up, forming a four-sided wall in an attempt to trap the cyclone.
Oujiang paid no heed to Fu Li’s struggle with the cyclone. He changed into his human form, a huge pair of wings still on his back, and stopped in front of his green pythons. These two green pythons were pets he had raised for over ten thousand years. At the same time, they were also his attendants. Yet today, they were killed by an unknown little yao. Not only did his heart ache for his attendants, he was infuriated that the other party had caused him to lose face.
The two green snakes hanging by his ears opened their mouths and hissed, revealing mouths full of poisonous teeth.
Oujiang gently stroked their icy heads. As he looked at the cyclone he had created, he let out a sudden laugh. “It seems I haven’t made an appearance for too many years, allowing these inferior creatures to forget my existence.”
He raised his hand lightly. The cyclone broke through the walls surrounding it as if it was a living dragon and directly barreled towards the golden dragon at the side.
Roar! Fu Li flew into the sky and transformed into his human form. He flung a magic weapon at Oujiang.
Fu Li had heard from White Ape that Oujiang’s elemental attribute was water. He feared fire the most, so he could only use a fire magic weapon against him. Even if it dealt him no harm, it could at least disrupt his actions.
Zhuang Qing and Wei Cang saw the cyclone sweeping towards them. Wei Cang’s body expanded once more as he raced towards the cyclone with increasing speed, attempting to use his head to push against the cyclone’s advance. On the other hand, Zhuang Qing directly hissed. Widening his mouth, he spat out countless drops of seawater. In the instant the seawater made contact with the cyclone, it turned into ice. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Zhuang Qing moved forward, winding his body around the cyclone to bind it.
“Thanks to the universal communications infrastructure, there’s a signal even in the depths of the mountains,” Zhang Ke fished out his phone and started getting in touch with the security department so that they could contact the local weather department. The weather department could then release a cyclone warning so that everyone would know to hide in their houses. They would have to let the health department know to prepare as much medicine as possible for treatment of plagues as well.
Li Xu was half-kneeling on the ground. Hearing Zhang Ke reporting the situation to the person-in-charge on the other end of the call, he took the Soul-Pulling Whip from his waist and told his bailiff underlings. “You guys stay here, I’ll go take a look.”
“Sir, it’s dangerous outside, you…”
“As a cultivator, how can I look on as a city full of people perishes? At that time, won’t the millions of souls tire us yinchai to death?” Li Xu stood up and looked at Fu Li, who was entangled in battle with Oujiang. “Even the yao are protecting the humans. I was a human when alive, how can I not even measure up to the yao?”
Zhuang Qing brought the cyclone temporarily under control. Looking back, he saw Fu Li and Oujiang battling. Changing into his human form, he unsheathed a long sword and said with a face of displeasure to Wei Cang, “Hold the fort here, I’ll a.s.sist Fu Li.”
Wei Cang shook his tiger tail and his hind paws dug a deep hole in the ground. He wondered somewhat despondently whether the cyclone would strip his head of hair. When he next turned into his human form, he would probably have to wear a wig.
Zhuang Qing’s swordplay was very polished. When he joined hands with Fu Li, they were actually an equal match for Oujiang. Narrowly evading the toxic wind sent by Oujiang’s flapping wings, Zhuang Qing’s lower body changed into a dragon tail, helping Fu Li to slap back the green snake that had mounted a sneak attack. He told Fu Li with a cold face, “I reached adulthood a long time ago.”
Fu Li: …
Was this the right time to be arguing over this matter?
Fu Li’s palm gripping the whip gradually heated up as he started to recall the information White Ape had told him that year about Oujiang. He had only himself to blame for not sitting still when young and constantly not listening to White Ape’s words. Now that it was a crucial point, he finally experienced what it was like to ‘wish to read more only when using what was learnt’.
Oujiang was a yao cultivator revered by humans as a G.o.d. In reality, he was similar to Zhuang Qing in that human blood also coursed through his veins. However, he didn’t possess even a single bit of humanity. In his eyes, the lives of all creatures were worthless. Life and death was up to his whim and fancy. In those years, there might have been great yao who were capable of putting a stop to Oujiang’s behavior. But the yao world of this day had withered. Even he was considered an expert among experts; what yao would be able to hold Oujiang back?
No, not right. Perhaps there was still one yao who could.
Fu Li’s hands moved swiftly. It was his first time using the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission.
Ever since arriving in the human world, the Kunpeng’s favorite hobby was eating and sleeping. When he was abruptly woken in the middle of the night by Fu Li’s voice, he replied with closed eyes, “Rabbit, what are you doing using the Thousand Mile Sound Transmission in the middle of the night?”
“Kunpeng daren, this humble one has something to request of you.”
The Kunpeng opened his eyes and glanced out at the somewhat gloomy sky. “It’s definitely not anything good for you to seek me out at this time. Speak.”
“Oujiang has reappeared. May I request Kunpeng daren to lend us a helping hand?” Fu Li used his whip to help Zhuang Qing block a blow from Oujiang. Hovering midair, he took out a vermilion-colored feathered fan. When fanned, what was produced wasn’t wind but raging fire. Oujiang failed to dodge in time and a great half of the feathers on his left wing was burned off.
“Vermilion Bird?” Hints of loathing and fear appeared within Oujiang’s eyes. He turned and gazed at the vermilion fan in Fu Li’s hands. Which hole had this little yao popped out from? Why did he have so many magic weapons?
He had the greatest loathing for yao cultivators like the Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and Baize who bemoaned the state of the universe and pitied mankind all day long. Wasn’t it very normal for weaklings to be killed or eaten? Whether yao or human, there was no difference between weaklings and trash, so why not give them a quick death?
“Who?” Upon hearing the name Oujiang, the Kunpeng nearly thought that something had gone wrong with his ears. “Heavens, you guys provoked that maniac?” In his eyes, Oujiang was a maniac. When happy, he ate humans and yao. When he was unhappy, he would even tear apart his own subordinates for fun. The only long-lived creatures by his side were probably the four venomous snakes he raised.
“Rabbit, it’s not that I don’t want to help you. A yao like Oujiang doesn’t give any yao face. Isn’t it a bit inappropriate for a fiend like me to help you beat up another fiend?”
Fu Li waved the vermilion fan in his hands. This red fan had been given to him by King Ganglie for self-protection after the Feiyi scared him into wetting himself. It was a pity, however, that he hadn’t used it even once these few years. Only now did he realize that this fan consumed a significant amount of spiritual power.
“Daren, look at the times, why would there be a need to be so conscious of sides?” Seeing a gust of poisonous wind heading towards him, the fan in Fu Li’s hands instantly expanded, shielding him completely. “If the human world was destroyed and Zhuang Qing and I lost our lives, how would you eat your delicacies?”
The Kunpeng responded, “What a joke. Would a yao like I, a Kunpeng, change sides because of human food?”
“Brother,” An underworld bailiff patted Zhang Ke dazedly. “Where did that master of a rabbit yao pop out from? How does he have so many magic weapons?” Despite the fact that he had low cultivation and hadn’t seen much of the world, the formidable power emanating from the magic weapon was so oppressive that he nearly couldn’t breathe.
Zhang Ke shook his head foolishly. He was just an ignorant human cultivator who held them back. He wasn’t capable of answering such a profound question.
Wind rammed against the fan. The next instant, it was beaten back by the fan, sending Oujiang two steps back. “No wonder this king found you so loathsome on sight. You’re actually a disciple of the Vermilion Bird.” The fan had clearly been enhanced by the Vermilion Bird’s magic power. If this little yao hadn’t received the Vermilion Bird’s acknowledgement, how could he be capable of using it?
What was a disciple of the Vermilion Bird?
The fan in Fu Li’s grasp shrunk into a convenient weapon. The brain of a yao cultivator who had slept too long wasn’t very good; to argue with him over the exact nature of a weapon would be a decision of extreme stupidity.
Oujiang transformed into a bird. Its gigantic wings flapped and three immense cyclones took shape in the sky. He let out a cold laugh. “So what if it’s a vermilion-feathered fan? I would feel no fear even if the Vermilion Bird were in front of me, much less a mere fan.”
Fu Li looked at the three raging cyclones in the sky. His expression turned heavy.
Oujiang’s weakness… what exactly was it?
“Oujiang was born ugly. It can manipulate water and wind and its wings naturally carry pestilence. It is a yaoguai of utmost cruelty.”
“Then what should I do if I run into him?”
“If you run into him…” White Ape’s voice trailed off as he stroked the tiny rabbit’s soft fur. “Then run. The vermilion fan King Ganglie gave you can block one or two blows from him.”
Fu Li opened his eyes and gazed at the approaching cyclones. His heart sank bit by bit.
He remembered now. White Ape had not told him at that time how to deal with Oujiang. All he told him was to run upon seeing Oujiang. He had wanted to question White Ape more, but it was shelved because the pheasant yao had come looking for White Ape.
But with countless living creatures living beyond the mountains, how could he run?
Fu Li cast a glance at the already-injured Zhuang Qing. His hand gripped the vermilion fan tightly. King Ganglie had once said that those born yao should revere all creatures in the universe and have a benevolent heart. Only then would one receive the care of heavenly law.
“What G.o.d? He’s nothing great,” Zhuang Qing wiped the blood at the corner of his mouth and smiled coldly. “After living for so many years, he’s still as ugly as ever. Clearly a creature abandoned by heavenly law.”
“Shut up!” Ever since Oujiang’s birth, he had never received his father’s liking due to his brutal nature. Yet, he didn’t exercise any restraint in his behavior. On the contrary, he became even more vile to humans and yao. If he was in a bad mood, he would cause an epidemic on land, striking fear in the hearts of humans and yao. However, veneration was borne from fear. Ever since then, virtually no one dared to provoke Oujiang, but there was also no yao who was on good terms with him. Oujiang bore the greatest grudges towards those who commented on his appearance, so Zhuang Qing’s words incited him into directly slamming a palm towards him, no longer in the mood to continue manipulating the cyclones in the sky.
A mere underaged dragon dared to mock him!
The Kunpeng rolled around on the ground a good few times. He flung off the blanket with some vexation and opened the window, preparing to leave. But before the claws on his feet had even stretched out, the black clouds in the sky were already roiling. There was a glimpse of lightning. Some strange force seemed to be bearing down from the skies.
He thought about it and then retracted his claws. Not only did he do this, he even closed the door and windows and pulled the thick curtains close.
“Zhuang Qing!” Fu Li watched Oujiang aiming a strike at Zhuang Qing with all his strength. He hurriedly flung out his red whip in an attempt to block Oujiang. But Oujiang forcibly broke the red whip, his palm slamming heavily against Zhuang Qing’s chest.
The force of this palm was reduced by four-tenths due to Fu Li’s obstruction, but to Oujiang, the six-tenths of power contained in this one palm was enough to end Zhuang Qing’s life.
Rumble.
The glare of lightning flashed in the sky. A huge bolt of lightning streaked across the vast sky, as if tearing countless holes across the sky.
Fu Li seemed to have thought of something. He transformed into a white rabbit, swiftly picked up the still-dazed Wei Cang, and took consecutive steps back. In his immense slanted-eye tiger form, Wei Cang looked down at the tiny rabbit beneath his feet. He still hadn’t came to his senses.
He seemed to have been dragged away by a tiny rabbit?
Boom!
A gigantic purple bolt of lightning rained down, landing squarely on Oujiang. Oujiang looked up in shock and realized that there were several bolts of lightning descending from the skies. The magic weapon he had manifested was very quickly destroyed in its entirety by the lightning. Sensing that he was in a bad situation, he spread out his wings in preparation to flee. But how could heavenly lightning permit him to escape? An incomparably large scarlet bolt of lightning slammed down. Oujiang fell head-first from the sky with a blood-curdling screech.
As Oujiang fell, another nine bolts of divine lightning plunged down from the sky. Oujiang wasn’t even in time to shriek miserably before the lightning reduced him to a scorched, black skeleton. The moment he died, the churning cyclones also lost their power and gradually morphed into a mountain breeze that blew towards the city at the foot of the mountain.
Not far from him, Zhuang Qing, who was completely untouched by the lightning, lay sprawled on the ground as he spat out two mouths of blood consecutively. He staggered up from the ground. Someone behind him helped him up and then a medicinal pill appeared in his mouth. He turned his head. The person supporting him also had a face covered in grime, along with a few gashes caused by the wind.
“Complete extermination of a G.o.d’s soul…” Li Xu didn’t dare to get too close to Oujiang’s skeleton. Swallowing, he turned towards Fu Li. “Daoyou, what was with the lightning just now?”
Fu Li looked up at the still-roiling black clouds in the sky. There still seemed to be flashes of lightning within. His voice shook slightly. “It’s heavenly lightning.”
If Oujiang only ate, drank, and slept like the Kunpeng after his sudden reappearance, perhaps heavenly law would have tolerated his existence. But the instant he appeared, it was all wind and chaos. He incited gales and pestilence and even wanted to beat up the dragon of national fate that heavenly law had acknowledged. How could heavenly law tolerate him?
At that time when the Zhongdiao and Zheng were battling in the mountains, their momentum had been too great, attracting the attention of heavenly law. Their eventual outcomes were similar to Oujiang – complete extermination of their G.o.dly souls via lightning, vanishing from the realms of Heaven and Earth.
“F-Fu ge, did those great yao you said were killed by lightning die in this way?” Zhang Ke ran over. Stretching out his neck, he took a few glances at Oujiang’s scorched skeleton. It really did look very miserable. The fright caused him to take a few steps back. “That lightning left only a pile of carbon.”
Zhuang Qing covered his chest as he asked Fu Li, “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” Fu Li fished out a bottle from his Qiankun pouch and stuffed it into Zhuang Qing’s hands. “These medicines can restore vitality, remember to eat them. Oujiang’s strike wasn’t light; if not for the fact that you’ve joined with the nation’s fate, you might not even be alive. Didn’t I tell you to stay inside the barrier? What are you doing running out?”
Zhuang Qing clutched the medicinal bottle tightly. “You’re my colleague, there’s no such thing as letting you face danger alone.”
“Isn’t it only right and proper for a senior to protect a junior?” Fu Li took out yet another colored gla.s.s bottle that contained a light green liquid. He pried open the cover. “Come, quickly drink it.”
He placed the medicinal bottle by Zhuang Qing’s mouth. Seeing that Zhuang Qing was motionless and was even dazedly staring at him, Fu Li touched his face and discovered a layer of dust on it. Thinking that Zhuang Qing was looking at the dust, he lifted up Zhuang Qing’s chin and directly poured the medicine into his mouth. “It’s just a bit of dust. If you’re a guy, don’t care so much about small things like this.”
“Fu ge, what’s that medicine you fed the boss?” Zhang Ke watched as Fu Li doled out medicinal pills one moment and medicinal liquids the next. He feared that even if the boss wasn’t beaten to death by Oujiang, he would eventually be driven to death by Fu Li’s medicine.
“This is Duheng. It’s used to improve blood circulation and treat toxins,” Fu Li crudely fed Zhuang Qing the entire bottle of medicine. “Oujiang is poisonous by nature, and the wind it wields also contains quite a bit of poison.”
“So that’s the case.” Zhang Ke saw that Zhuang Qing’s complexion had indeed improved considerably and couldn’t help asking, “Fu ge, you really have a lot of good items.”
Zhuang Qing took the empty medicine bottle from Fu Li’s hands. “Thank you.”
“We’re all fellow brothers, saying thank you would be a courtesy,” Fu Li smiled brightly, his eyes curving. He shone like starlight.
Zhuang Qing looked at his eyes before lowering his head silently.
At this moment, the black clouds in the sky dispersed. Light rain landed gently on everyone’s heads. Only then did everyone slowly come to their senses. The night’s crisis had finally pa.s.sed.
Fu Li glanced at the dusky mist in the mountains and forests. He took out a jade bottle from his Qiankun pouch and overturned it. A lot of green mist poured out of it abruptly, following the path of the wind out.
Upon looking back, Fu Li saw Zhang Ke looking at him like a curious baby. “That was morning dew from the mountains. I used spiritual qi to make it evaporate into the air. It’s good for removing the toxins Oujiang released.”
“Fu ge, do you have a hundred treasure bags on you? Why do you have everything?” Zhang Ke felt that the place Fu Li lived at previously had to have many good things. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to casually take out all these rare things.
Li Xu, who was standing at the corner, couldn’t help glancing at Fu Li. He had indeed seen many good things in Fu Li’s cave dwelling two thousand years ago when he went to Reflecting Mist Mountain for soul-ferrying.
Treasures and spiritual plants had been aplenty. Even the bed had been made out of spiritual jade.
“Those were all given to me by the yao cultivators on the mountain,” The light rain had dampened the hair on Fu Li’s forehead, leaving them drooping over his forehead. He looked both harmless and dejected. “They stayed together and constantly had this delusion that I would run into so-and-so yaoguai. When they thought of one, they would shove things at me, telling me to throw magic weapons and run if I can’t beat them.”
Zhuang Qing observed his dispirited expression and interjected abruptly, “Then why didn’t you run today?”
“What would happen to you guys if I ran?” Fu Li noticed that Zhuang Qing was still a little pale, so he supported him by the arm. “There’s no way you would look on unfeelingly as Oujiang destroys a human city. Without me, wouldn’t you be risking your life against Oujiang?”
“Fu Li.”
“En?”
Zhuang Qing stared at him. Suddenly, he let out a mocking laugh. “The fact that you were able to live for so many years was entirely because of the kindness of those yaoguai on your mountain.”
If not, given his character, he would have long died eight hundred times over.
“That’s true. Our mountain’s yao cultivators were really nice,” Fu Li’s eyes shone at the mention of his mountain’s yao cultivators.
Seeing Fu Li’s appearance, Li Xu recalled the subsequent tragedy that had occurred on the mountain. There was a bit of distress in his heart. Taking a few steps forward, he bowed and said, “Tonight’s incident is a serious one. Now that the danger has been resolved, this humble one will proceed to report to Yama.”
“Please, yinchai chief,” Zhuang Qing returned a half-bow.
After Li Xu’s departure, Fu Li told Zhuang Qing mysteriously, “Zhuang Qing, I discovered a huge secret.”
The faces of the two brothers, Zhang Ke and Wei Cang, tensed up.
“What?” There was a faint bad premonition in Zhuang Qing’s heart. He had a nagging feeling that Fu Li’s so-called secret differed from what he was thinking.
“I feel like…” Fu Li cleared his throat. “I’m definitely not an ordinary rabbit yao. When I entered the green python’s body, my entire body suddenly started heating up, and then the green python just vanished. Say, do you think I have some mysterious bloodline that even I am not aware of?”
Zhuang Qing stared blankly. Seeing the antic.i.p.ation br.i.m.m.i.n.g in Fu Li’s eyes, he couldn’t stop himself from nodding. “P-Possibly?”
Wei Cang: ?
Zhang Ke: ?
What did that mean?
At this juncture, the Kunpeng finally made a late entrance, looking like a heroic policeman in a movie. Immediately upon arrival, he heard Fu Li saying that he might not be an ordinary rabbit yao and instantly broke out into laughter.
“Rabbit, did you watch too many Xuanhuan dramas? From the moment of a great yao’s birth, they possess an innate legacy. Do you have such a thing in you?”
Indeed, Fu Li didn’t possess an innate legacy. His walking posture and cries were all learnt from the tiger yao on the mountain. His skills were also all taught to him by other yao on the mountain. His knowledge on the various aspects of the yao world was also told to him by White Ape. He didn’t have any innate capabilities from birth.
Thinking of this, he replied unwillingly, “Maybe I’m the darling of heavenly law, an exception among yao cultivators?”
“The darling of heavenly law is this one beside you. There’s no link to you,” The Kunpeng walked over to Oujiang’s skeleton. The smiling expression on his face slowly faded.
Ancient great yao like them once experienced a period of glory when they fully experienced heavenly law’s favor. In this age where yao were swapped out for humans, their lives were also taken by heavenly law.
This was the so-called Heaven’s Will.
The next morning, a certain city’s residents started to curse their local weather bureau online for being idiots.
Netizen A: The dishonest weather bureau anxiously notified our city in the middle of the night about some cyclone, warning us not to step out of our homes. Because of this, our entire family was so frightened that we didn’t even dare to sleep. After waiting fearfully for an entire night, we opened the windows in the morning, and what f*cking cyclone? What is that sun hanging in the sky? Does the weather bureau have a conscience?
Netizen B’s reply: Friend, you’re overthinking. They don’t have a conscience to speak of.