TN: For anyone who wants to cry or throw something, I have tissues. And bricks.
Trigger warning: Death scenes.
C11. Trap
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He was but a mortal, so why would Chen He fear him?
Because he was worried about s.h.i.+ Feng"s safety, Chen He did not want to bother with these two people at all. He turned, about to leave, when he heard someone behind him scorning, "I filled up the pond, I know you can only become a real devil there! Now you won"t be able to, ha ha ha."
Before the laughter even ended, Chen Shu suffered a heavy blow to the abdomen. It hurt so much that he curled up like a cooked prawn.
Chen He"s eyes turned bloodshot as he hauled the man up, saying, "What did you say? The pond? The fire started because you filled the pond up, you moron!"
Having said that, he gave Chen Shu another punch.
Chen Shu cried out pitifully; the woman threw herself at Chen He, scratching wildly, "Devil! Let go of Shu"er, the one who owes you your life is me! I was the one who ordered for you to be pushed into the pond, and I too was the one who allowed Shu"er"s attendants to throw you off Sky-High Cliff!"
"Mother?" Chen He was shocked. He only knew that his cousin had hit his head after falling into the pond, and in his past life, he had seen Chen He rise from the pond, surrounded in flames, before he died. In his panic, he had guessed that the pond was the true lair of the devil.
There was no way a human could stand amidst fire.
Chen He"s horoscope had been read countless times by the diviners, and all of the Chen family, including Chen Shu and his mother, believed the sayings about his terrible fate that clashed with everything. Other than the talks of demons, monsters, and spirits, there was also the path of semi-immortality where people sought immortality and insight into the Dao. If, in this moment, a person who glowed faintly and carried not a speck of dust on him appeared before Chen Shu, he would view this person as some immortal. But if it was Chen He, he would view him as an evil spirit.
Even Old Madam Chen had not given a single thought about Chen He after believing the verdict given for this fool of a grandchild. The Chen family was virtuous and good, so how could they stand being tortured by someone with such a terrible fate? It must have been the family ancestors who caused him to drown, but they only damaged his mental faculties instead of taking his life, because they could not bear to kill him.
In the previous life, all of the Chen family believed it. When Chen Shu had been on the brink of death, and heard that the murderers after his family were here to look for Chen He, of course he felt hatred.
—the Chen family was destined to fall because of Chen He, he was a devil!
Even without those murderers who wiped out the entire family, he would have brought on other disasters; the family would be destroyed because of this devil!
"No, no, Mother, it wasn"t you! It was the wise ancestors who knew that this devil had incarnated into our family! They drowned him to imprison his intelligence, and trapped it in that pond!"
"How regrettable that I didn"t think of this earlier," Chen Shu"s eyes were bright as he raised his voice, "for I thought I"d settled the matter when I tossed you off the cliff. These ten-odd years, because that pond wasn"t filled up, you turned into an evil spirit and hung on. You finally broke free half a month ago, and stirred up trouble in the backyard, causing unrest in the household!
Today must be the day you"re planning to destroy the Chen family. In order to lure me back home, you appeared in front of me and Brother Yao. To think I was blinded by my rage, and I fell for your trick! Devil, you"ve plotted and planned, and now you"ve gotten what you wanted. What are you waiting for, do it!"
Amidst the crackling of the flames, both Mrs Chen and Chen He were stunned by this speech.
Realisation seemed to dawn upon Mrs Chen, but she found it hard to believe—there really were ghosts in this world!
Yes, there were many people with blood on their hands, but why had they never come across evil spirits seeking revenge? Ghosts feared evil people as well. They were no use alive, and they could accomplish little by becoming ghosts after death. But Chen He was a devil from the start!"
"You"re right, Shu"er." Mrs Chen"s expression became twisted; seeing how the fires around them were growing, she abandoned any thoughts of escaping, beginning to cackle insanely, "I thought it was strange back then; how could your cousin be so hardy? He fell in the water, hit his head on a rock, and Chen Ershun even smashed him in the same spot. He bled so much, but still didn"t die!"
Forced to hear how his relatives had plotted against his life, the tip of Chen He"s heart flinched, though he had been keeping a blank expression all the while.
"Bled a lot?"
It was common knowledge in the cultivation world that many treasures and magic items acknowledged owners after being bathed in blood!
Chen He felt incredibly dizzy, and he could not help but open his mouth and gasp for breath.
It was as if there was only a paper wall between him and the truth, something that could be poked through easily. However, the immense pressure that had surfaced along with the truth made Chen He feel cold in his chest, causing his limbs to twitch, as if he had been trapped in millennium-old ice.
So this was the case!
This had been the case!
Chen He took two staggering steps back, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"You directed the servants to harm me?" Chen He asked in a low voice, wanting to make sure all of this was not part of a nightmare.
The Chen family disappearing, Yunzhou City being on the verge of becoming a sea of flames, Senior Brother being in grave danger just for his sake - all of this, because of a stone that had been smashed against his head, because his cousin"s mother had plotted against him ten-odd years ago?
Mrs Chen was so terrified that she shuffled backwards along the ground, only letting out a peculiar laugh when she was safely behind Chen Shu, "It was a coincidence that you hit your head on that rock when you fell in the water. I wanted to say you died from hitting your head against that rock, and you hit that huge rock with just a push, which saved me so much trouble. Chen Ershun only added another hit in case you weren"t dead."
If one wanted to harm someone in secret, they would definitely choose something that could be easily obtained and discarded.
There had been so many stones by the pond, but that one, it had been the Stone-borne Flame.
Next to the woman, Chen Shu shrieked with regret, "The rock! The Chen ancestors must have sealed this devil"s intelligence in that rock, why didn"t I go and smash that rock to pieces!"
Chen He"s pupils shrank.
He knew many methods of splitting tendons and dislocating bones, and could use spiritual energy attacks to cause people unbearable pain. He could take revenge for his past self—would he still need to acknowledge a cousin who had led him astray and tossed him down Sky-High Cliff, just because of something the diviners had said?
No, this was just a lunatic!
A lunatic regardless of his speech or behaviour!
Although his aunt had tried to harm him, she still retained her sense of reason, unlike Chen Shu, who spouted nonsense and behaved in inexplicable ways.
Chen He did not want to continue wasting time here; his senior brother was still dealing with the Stone-borne Flame further in the manor!
"You destroyed my everything, and you want to leave just like that, you devil?" Chen Shu leaped up, crazed; the pain of being burned alive in his past life had overlapped with the sight before his eyes, now his conscience was becoming unclear.
"My father, my wives, my unborn children, they all died in these flames! Last time, this time, the heavens are blind!"
Chen He did not pay them any heed, instead turning to leave.
BOOM!
The flames rollicked, surrounding this yard in an instant, like a dragon risen from fire.
Instantly on alert, Chen He retreated, but the spiritual energy he had manifested was still partially consumed.
As if seeing the malicious intent the flames held towards Chen He, Chen Shu laughed as if he understood everything, until he was coughing and choking, "You devil, you regained your intelligence, but you still haven"t gained the strength that was sealed in that rock, and now you can"t control—WHACK"
Fed up with him, Chen He gave Chen Shu a punch without touching him, causing his head to veer to the right and his entire being to roll on the ground twice over. Now his soot-covered cheeks were so swollen that they exceeded mantou buns[1] in size.
Mrs Chen screeched, throwing things in his direction as she stepped back. She stepped on a loose tile, and a tongue of flame rose up, burning her entirely.
"Mother!"
Chen Shu saw this horrifying sight the moment he got up.
The woman had only taken a few steps before all trace of her existence turned to dust. Chen Shu only managed to catch a gold hairpin that fell off.
A terrible scream followed as the burning hot hairpin left a deep red scar on Chen Shu"s hand.
Following which, flames emerged from the wound. Chen Shu had been burned to death by this in his past life; the familiar pain sent him das.h.i.+ng madly towards Chen He. His movements seemed to have triggered something, for flames suddenly appeared from the ruins, filling every nook and cranny of the yard. Faced with such blazing flames which defied common logic, feeling the soles of his shoes begin to heat up, Chen He burst out, "The Stone-borne Flame?"
—the core of the fire should have been at the pond, so why was it here?
This had been a trap!
It had not been Chen Shu and Mrs Chen who set the trap. They only served as bait, and also as obstacles to slow Chen He down.
While they had been talking, the flames concealed themselves within the ruins, beneath the ground, linking up silently…so that they could burst out at the last minute, caging him completely?
So the Stone-borne Flame had such a well-developed spiritual sense? Then Chen Shu and his mother had not been lucky enough to escape, only to be trapped here; they had been spared intentionally by the Stone-borne Flame and corralled here.
"Its target is you."
Chen He suddenly remembered what s.h.i.+ Feng had reminded him of before leaving.
In this crisis, however, he unconsciously sighed in relief: the Stone-borne Flame was setting up an ambush here, Senior Brother would not be able to find it if he went to the pond, Senior Brother would not be in danger.
Chen Shu"s right arm was covered in flames, making him scream and roll about.
The Stone-borne Flame did not want him to die so soon, consciously directing the flames away from his body.
On the other hand, the flames surrounding Chen He were extremely fierce, and the spiritual energy used to protect himself was diminis.h.i.+ng rapidly. He knew that things were getting bad. All a.s.sertive magic items and treasures had a possibility of biting back; if the Stone-borne Flame knew to set traps, then now it was attempting to exhaust Chen He"s spiritual energy, forcing him to hold out until he was utterly exhausted. If it were to bite back then, it would be able to obliterate its master"s soul.
Having thought about this, Chen He gritted his teeth, removing all his defences.
His clothes burned at once, and the heat spread to his skin, but there was no pain—as expected, the Stone-borne Flame could not directly burn its master to death.
Concentrating and adjusting his breaths, Chen He waited solemnly.
He knew that the upcoming trial would be a matter of life and death.
A few wisps of flame pa.s.sed through his pores, digging into his meridians and heading straight for his dantian.
This overbearing power forced back even Chen He, who was prepared to resist. Scarlet firelight shone from under his skin. Unable to stop the Stone-borne Flame, Chen He could only protect his meridians and bones with all his might, preventing himself from losing consciousness.
Chen Shu"s right arm had been burned away, and his outward appearance was now completely ruined. He pounced onto Chen He, using his left hand to choke Chen He"s neck, bellowing, "You destroyed the Chen family, now die along with us!"
Chen He was at the most crucial point of his standoff against the Stone-borne Flame; he could not hear any sounds from the outside world, much less spare any effort to deal with his crazy cousin.
The brute force that a person exhibited on the brink of death was not something to be overlooked. Chen He"s throat creaked as it was squeezed; he was knocked to the ground by Chen Shu.
In the distance, there was a flash of red—when the core of the Stone-borne Flame erupted, s.h.i.+ Feng immediately discovered that something was wrong. As he traced Chen He"s presence, his expression became increasingly sombre. He knew, through sensing the jade orbs, that his junior brother was here as well.
s.h.i.+ Feng arrived just outside the court, but was blocked by the layers of flames.
In the court, Chen Shu, who had been laughing crazily, suddenly heard a childish voice.
"Dumba.s.s!"
"Who?"
"There"s a paper-cutting knife[2] on your left, and a wooden stick on your right. Yet you chose to strangle with your hand instead of picking those up. Can you strangle someone to death with only your left hand?" The voice was soft and weak-sounding, but its tone was full of scorn.
Chen Shu was shocked, "Who are you, and where are you?"
"I"m in your body, and my master"s body. You"re such an idiot; to think I thought you"d be able to help!"
The flames jumped about, forming a huge, twisted human face with all the features, its expression that of derision, "You ran back fiercely, saying the pond had to be filled, and I sensed my master"s presence on you!"
Chen Shu stared blankly at the flames, then looked towards Chen He, who had his eyes shut tightly.
"I slumbered in the stone for a long time, and was awakened by you people from the Chen family, but you threw me into the pond…" The flames transformed into a monster with sharp teeth and talons, hovering around Chen Shu and taunting him with a voice only he could hear, "The one you saw before dying in your past life was actually me, not that fool."
"What—what did you say?"
Shocked stiff, Chen Shu unwittingly loosened the hand that was grasping Chen He by the throat.
Reincarnation was Chen Shu"s secret that had been kept hidden for all these years. Yet, in this moment, it was being exposed by a ball of fire.
"I"m a treasure born in Nature! How could a mentally handicapped mortal possibly be my opponent, I had already taken control of him…d.a.m.n it, in the end he wiped out my spiritual sense! I refused to accept this, and when I awoke again, I found myself still lying in the Chen family"s pond," the flames said, exasperated, "and your cousin, that master I acknowledged in the midst of my silliness, had disappeared from the Chen household! I released my spiritual sense, and finally it attracted the attention of the cultivation world. if I can"t find him, I"ll let all of you look for him too!"
"You! Why did you come to the Chen family?"
"What"s there to gain from the Chen family? I was born in Nature, and resided in the forests in the mountains! It was enough that you mortals made a pondside pebble out of the stone I resided in. But you still had to hurt each other and use me as a weapon to harm someone else. If I hadn"t been drenched in blood, why would I acknowledge a fool as my owner?"
Chen Shu trembled all over, his eye sockets seemingly about to split, "No, that"s not the case! He"s a devil; his birth was the bane of his mother, his existence is the bane of the Chen family!"
"Last time, the ones who slaughtered the entire Chen family were actually looking for me." The flames swirled around him disdainfully. "What good would it be for them to look for a fool? I may have destroyed the Chen residence, but you people were the ones who put me by the pond. The Chen family, it was destroyed because of a single decision by your mother!"
"You"re spouting a load of nonsense!"
Chen Shu"s angry roars finally woke Chen He up. Opening his eyes slightly, he eyed the transformed flames with confusion.
"The Chen ancestors protected us, they sealed away this devil"s conscience, Mother only happened to—”
"Your mother just wanted the family a.s.sets." Chen He"s gaze was icy, his low voice cutting Chen He"s bellows clean off.
In his memories of being three years old, he had only one cousin, and his father had no other sons.
Chen He"s gaze was vacant as he said, dispa.s.sionately, "You hate me for destroying the Chen family, but actually, you"re hating me for making you lose the Chen family."
The flames let out a strange laugh. Chen He trembled, as if he wished to say something, but in the end, he let out nothing but a screech before the flames rose up and burned him to ashes.
The beast formed from flames snapped its head back, like it had been attacked.
With a twist of its body, the Stone-borne Flame sent all the flames rising into the air, and they cast themselves into Chen He"s body like water sucked up by a dragon.
The standoff within his dantian began again. Staggering, Chen He fell into that familiar red-shadowed embrace.
Notes:
[1]: [Kind of long] Also known as Chinese steamed buns/bread, usually plain white, and can vary in size. However, the mantou buns used as comparison here are most likely the larger mantou that are common in northern China, where mantou was a staple lunch of the working cla.s.s. No exact numbers, but I would a.s.sume that mantou buns which can serve as your entire lunch are quite big; about the size of a grown man"s hand, for example. (Another hint: if your face is swelling up that much, you"d definitely need medical attention…)
[2]: Original term was 裁纸刀; when I looked it up, all the images were of penknives…Such a modern item wouldn’t have existed in such a world, so I opted to translate it as ‘paper-cutting knife’, since it serves such a purpose.
If you are seeing this text, you are NOT reading it on the original site. Head on down to lovelysweetdream 959085286 dot wordpress dot com to read the original!