Chapter 180: The Small Town
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Juigui Sect was an inconspicuous, small sect amongst the rogue magic pract.i.tioners. Their approach and supernatural powers were nothing out of the ordinary. They rarely came into contact with outsiders, they were even more obscure than the Heaven-teller Sect. However, the Juigui Sect occasionally made an appearance during important events in the magical realm. That was how the name of their sect was remembered.
When all the evil cults that wors.h.i.+pped the nine-head snake had arrived like a swarm of bees, the Jiugui Sect’s disciples had become restless. However, their form of sacrificial offerings, or their methods of wors.h.i.+p were enough to cause anyone’s blood to boil.. Juigui Sect was only a small sect that had existed for a few millennial but a few thousand people have died tragically as sacrificial offerings.
In their course of ‘special training’, the small-eyed Xiao Sha was unexpectedly quick and proficient in picking up the sect’s folk magic. He almost never forgot anything after one glance and he could remember all the complicated, violent and ghastly ceremonies. He rapidly mastered the understandings, descriptions, and recordings the Juigui Sect possessed in relation to the nine-headed snake Xiang Liu.
Besides that, they also investigated the abilities, magic arts, and approach of the foreign believers. However, the information on them was limited and the existing information did not present anything unusual.
Wen Leyang’s current ability was almost on par with the old demon rabbit Bu Le. In the entire world, other than a few top master pract.i.tioners, there was almost no one worthy to be his opponent. Amongst these master pract.i.tioners, San Wei was already dead. Chang Li, Cone Nail, Hanba, Tian Shu, and Tian Hua were all severely injured. Hence, if someone were to jump out and point at Wen Leyang and shouted, “You are the world’s number one sorcerer now!”, Wen Leyang would certainly have laughed at this while being startled.
Before Qin Zhui had even comprehend the process of ‘Hide the Force’, his own supernatural power were no less inferior to that of the top-tiered master pract.i.tioners like Qing Niao and Ma Heshui that preceded the supreme leaders. He once was equally matched with Wen Leyang, back in the Gold-consuming Lair. When he had comprehended the process of ‘Hide the Force’, he made astonis.h.i.+ng progress in his powers. Even if he was not evenly matched with the little demon rabbit Shan Duan, he could have given the rabbit a run for his money.
Without underestimating the enemies, the two siblings were not too worried either. Gu Xiaojun fulfilled his duties responsibly. He instructed them seriously, “These unorthodox evil sects, still thrive and resist despite the country’s attack for millennials. They certainly must have have some strong points. Additionally, the people that have arrived are all key leaders of the evil cults. It is best that all of you be cautious. I am not saying your powers are not good enough but make sure you are not tricked by the opposing party!”
Wen Leyang gave a forced laugh as he shook the few pieces of thin paper in his hand. “I understand what you’re trying to say. However, how are these ten pieces of paper that you have handed me prepare us to face them?”
Gu Xiaojun worried, he was afraid that the secret sect of this country that wors.h.i.+pped the nine-head snake could not understand the methods of these foreign pract.i.tioners. The information in Wen Leyang’s hand only consisted of simple introductions to the regional Sorcery Arts or Devilry that could only serve as a reference in desperate times.
After seven days, Gu Xiaojun finally obtained the information regarding the movements of these foreign pract.i.tioners. After they had entered the country, they had first strolled around, leaving no clues or directions to be follow. However, a few days ago, all of them had started advancing from all directions towards the western part slowly. At that point, Wen Leyang and the rest were also almost done with their preparations.
Before they departed, the miraculous small-eyed Xiao Sha had preceded to make Wen Leyang relax. Then, he rubbed Wen Leyang’s face ferociously. When Wen Leyang stood in front of the mirror, as expected, he could barely recognise himself. He had turned into a teenager that appeared to be sixteen or seventeen years old.
No matter which angle you looked from, just by looking at his facial features, he was still Wen Leyang. There were no traces of glue or yellow mud on his face but his appearance was different. His spirit, temperament, expression, and looks were that of a young, teenage boy.
Xiao Sha was rather satisfied with his work. He laughed as he clapped himself on the back. “Every twelve hours, I will need to pinch you, least you turn back to your original self.”
Wen Leyang nodded, he remarked as he chuckled, “Then you need to pay attention to pinch me into the same appearance. Don’t you change my appearance every time you rearrange my face.”
The people who had entered the country were the religious key persons of the nine-headed snake cults that were scattered all over the world. There were almost seventeen groups of people at this point, coming in from the North, South, East, and West, all the way from Europe, North America, Africa, and other regions. They were a mixture of races. These people were followers of the evil cult and were from low-profile, tight-knit organizations. However, they did not have contact with one another or came into contact with one another. They were akin to migratory birds of different species, migrating from all directions towards one single location.
Since no one was acquainted, it was easy for Wen Leyang’s group to move among them. They followed behind others. Those that still milled about in the downtown district, Gu Xiaojun kept an eye on them. On the other hand, Wen Leyang, Qin Zhui, Fei Fei, and Xiao Sha had left Wuhan City. They shadowed the movements of the foreign cultivators as they went about. However, their main direction was still pointed firmly towards the northwest.
Wen Leyang could truly appreciate the benefit of having another strong figure supporting him. Whether the enemies were in Beijing, Jinzhou, Haikou or Guilin, he was constantly receiving updates on the enemies’ comings and goings, to the point that he only need ask and he could know how many bowls of rice these people had for dinner.
The mission for Wen Leyang and the rest was simple, keep a steady pace and walk in the general direction the group headed.
They toured the scenic spots along the way. The further they walked to the West, the more followers there were. They slowly converged with the group of foreign pract.i.tioners. After that, the journey became even easier for Wen Leyang and the rest. Even if they did not have Gu Xiaojun’s feedback, all they would need to do was follow any troop they wished. Everyone was heading in the same path. They could even say that they were not following the enemies’ tracks, but that the troops behind Wen Leyang was actually following them.
Wen Leyang’s group of four was led by by the leaders.h.i.+p of the small-eyed Xiao Sha along the way. They persistently completed their set of wors.h.i.+pping ceremonies every day, of course, without the real sacrificial offerings but instead more in gesture.
According to the message delivered by Gu Xiaojun, the rest of the troops were also carrying out the acts of wors.h.i.+pping diligently.
They went from Lanzhou, to Xining, to Dunhuang, all the way to Tibet. Fei Fei said to Wen Leyang with a smiley face, “If you were to go on such a journey with a travel agency, I bet it would cost you no less that four thousand bucks!”
Wen Leyang nodded; he made himself comfortable as he answered, “If all of you were to pay me for services as a bodyguard, I would certainly earn back the money this operation has costed me!”
Occasionally, a few puffs of white clouds floated calmly pa.s.s the sky, which was so blue that it looked like water was about to drip from it. Underneath the clouds, all things, such as gra.s.s, trees, humans, animals, distant hills, and blue lakes, ancient silence and vigorous vitality glistened under its reflection, condensing into a peacefulness that could not be broken.
On the third day upon entering Tibet, the group received news that left them at loss on whether to cry or laugh. All the evil cults along the way have slowed down, almost every cult was affected by alt.i.tude sickness and majority of them were very sick.
After Xiao Sha received this information, he was surprised. His small eyes were filled with astonishment. “These people practice magic all the time, why are their bodies so weak?”
Fei Fei answered coolly, her face still filled with a joyous smile, “No matter how strong a pract.i.tioner is, he is still human. It is very normal for one to experience alt.i.tude sickness the first time he comes up onto highlands. However, I predict that they will get used to the change faster than ordinary people.
Xiao Sha was enlightened. His face filled with a maniacal smile as the counted with his fingers. “Those from Africa, those from southeast Asia, those from Europe… they all added up to a total of twenty meters above sea level.”
Wen Leyang was joyous as well. He asked the two siblings, “Are both of you feeling alright, up on these highlands?” His body and bones had been transformed by the Poison of Life and Death. When he had arrived at Tibet, other than feeling the air here was exceptionally pure that it refreshed his mind, he did not feel the least bit sick.
Fei Fei shook her head. Her smile was conveyed a slight hint of proudness. She was just over twenty years old after all and she was at the peak of her radiance and high-spirits of her age. “We received special training on the highlands every year when we were off mission, we have since gotten used to…”
Before she could finish her sentence, Qin Zhui entered, staggering as he pushed the door open. His lips were as purple as kelp, his gaze drifted everywhere in a scattered manner.
Xiao Sha grabbed onto Qin Zhui’s hand and looked. He gave a forced smiled as he spoke to the other two, “Laughing at others, now we have done it… he has alt.i.tude sickness.” Qin Zhui’s fingertips were darkened and started turning blue. He appeared even scary than usual.
Qin Zhui was so uncomfortable that even the act of breathing was difficult, yet he still found strength to retort in a hoa.r.s.e voice, “You’re the one laughing at the others, but why am I the one who’s suffering?”
Xiao Sha cared little to quarrel with him at the moment. He hastily pulled out medicines from the medical kit he carried along with him, which contained all sorts of pills such as Highland Health, Highland Calm, Highland Peace, Highland Strong…
Qin Zhui burst out laughing upon seeing this, still spouting nonsense, “Is there a Highland Red?” As he said this, he lifted his Tang knife and proceeded to head for the exit. “I’m actually here to inform you that I am leaving for a day or two.”
Wen Leyang grabbed him by the handful. “What for?” He did not dare allow Qin Zhui to simply go off while he was so ill, and he did not trust that Qin Zhui could take care of himself. After all, according to Wen Leyang’s knowledge, the mortality rate for alt.i.tude sickness was rather high.
Qin Zhui panted for a long while as if working a pair of bellows before answering in a strained voice, “This is the force! I need to fight the force, it’s just right for me to practice my knife skills!” Upon saying that, he paused for a moment of rest before adding, “I know my limits, it will only take me a day or two to understand the force. I have no need for medication.” Upon saying that, he exerted his strength and desperately pushed Wen Leyang aside. He then pushed past the door and left.
Wen Leyang was filled with astonishment, Fei Fei consoled him softly, “Relax, there are still people nearby that are on our side, he will be fine.”
The rest of the believers suffered greatly from the alt.i.tude sickness. It was here that the different practices between the evil cults were revealed. The evil cult that came from rich and prosperous regions sought medical attention, while the evil cults that came from desolate, remote places performed dances meant to exorcise demons.
That night, Fei Fei’s expression was downcast as she informed Wen Leyang that Qin Zhui was missing.
Wen Leyang was furious. He went out in search of Qin Zhui in the middle of the night. Thankfully, on the second evening, QIn Zhui had returned, his face glowing red. The group was relieved upon his return.
The small-eyed Xiao Sha may have had some understanding of folk magic but despite having crossed paths with its pract.i.tioners regularly, their methods were still most mysterious to him and he had difficulty understanding them. He rubbed the back of his head with hands in slight surprise. “Is it true that you can actually study and understand the force here and stop having alt.i.tude sickness?”
Wen Leyang’s mind was at ease, he laughed aloud as he explained on Qin Zhui’s behalf, “He is trained in the supernatural powers of force. He has his own force, while the sky and land here have their own. He had to first understand the force of the sky and land here before he could adjust his body, this is known as… going with the force? Two forces that counteract one another and two forces that are akin to… I don’t really understand it all too well either but I think I have it figured out, that is roughly what it is.” Upon saying this, he shot Qin Zhui an inquiring look.
Unexpectedly, Qin Zhui tossed his Tang knife to the ground. “Ah bulls.h.i.+t! I had only been training for mere moments when I pa.s.sed out. I was saved by the herdsmen of Highland Health!”
…
Qin Zhui was strong as a cow. If he hadn’t been so blindly stubborn, he would have only had to suffer for a day or two before his body naturally adapted to the surroundings. Since he had taken some medication, he was now fine. Even Qin Zhui was struck with alt.i.tude sickness, much less the foreign pract.i.tioners. By the time they departed, seven or eight days had pa.s.sed. Almost every troop left behind a few corpses. Wen Leyang and his people moved along with the troops.
The purest Qinghai Tibet plateau had conveyed it’s awe-inspiring mannerism.
The Xiang Liu wors.h.i.+ppers smiled less and less as the journey progressed. They grew ever solemn, while Wen Leyang received less and less information. Tibet was a large area of land with scare population and the enemies practiced some strange methods, it became extremely difficult to keep watch over them.
Fei Fei and Xiao Sha continuously tried to predict the final destination of the evil cults. Finally, based on the route’s direction, they concluded that the destination was Lhasa.
However, the evil cult followers proved the siblings’ predictions wrong. A few troops pa.s.sed by Lhasa but did not stop there. Other troops circled it, utterly ignoring Lhasa city and continued walking towards the west. Finally, a few days later, they slowly a.s.sembled in a small village known as Tuer and settled down there.
Every evil cult that wors.h.i.+pped the nine-headed monster had finally reached their intended destination. Not far ahead of the small town of Tuer was a lake sacred to the Tibetan Buddhism Sect, the lake Namtso.
The sacred lake Namtso was also known as the Oasis, it’s name carried the meaning ‘Heaven’s Lake’ in the Tibetan language. The Buddhist followers considered it one of the four great powerful lakes. Legends say that it was the Buddhism rite location used by Heruka, the enlightened being of the Vajrayana Sect. This body of pure water was both considered to be sacred land by the Buddhist followers and also an important tourist attraction in the the northwest of China.
The small town of Tuer was situated adjacent to the great lake, but it location was not easily accessible. That was why the population there was scarce. There were less than a hundred households in the town. However, in just a few days time, a dozen troops had taken up residence there. The small town suddenly became crowded.
Crowded albeit without the bustle.
The locals did not possess an ounce of the usual Tibetan people’s boldness or enthusiasm. They paid no attention the arrival of the outsiders. Their gaze from glazed eyes did not contain any sense of curiosity or enmity, there was only numbness.
The intruding evil cults also appeared lifeless. Their expressions gloomy. There was almost no conversation even between traveling companions. They did not seek lodging but instead built their own tents, milling around and waited like walking corpses.
Wen Leyang’s group of four set up a base camp at the edge of the small town. Under Qin Zhui’s protection, Fei Fei went out for stroll. It took her only a short while to circle around the entire small town. When she returned, she informed the rest in a determined manner, “This town is filled with ghosts!”
Of course, Wen Leyang understood that Fei Fei did not mean that there really were ghosts like Fifth Brother but that there were hidden secrets in this town.
The small-eyed Xiao Sha laughed at Wen Leyang. “These people may not cry or laugh. They appear to have no emotions but they can’t hide the truth from my sister!”
Fei Fei’s specialty was that she could pry into another person’s real emotions through reading his or her expressions, or the changes in their voice. Even when the person puts on a straight face, Fei Fei could tell from their eyes. Fei Fei wasted no time in speaking nonsense. She lowered her voice and spoke directly, “The people in this small town and the intruding nine-head snake wors.h.i.+ppers are the same, they are all agitated and in antic.i.p.ation, just like wolves… wolves! Wolves that had a sip of blood but have yet to partake in the fles.h.!.+”
Wen Leyang took out his last stick of carrot. He had not been able to buy anymore carrots since entering Tibet. Even his last stick of carrot had shriveled up and lost it’s crunchiness. It’s texture was awful. “Did the people of this town know the evil cult was coming? To this small town…”
Fei Fei frowned as she shook her head. “We can’t be certain of that. We will need to investigate the leaders of this town to a.s.sess the situation…” Before she could finish her sentence, Qin Zhui who had been on guard outside suddenly gave out a ‘huh’. Simultaneously, Wen Leyang laughed with a peculiar expression on his face. With his power of clairvoyance that spread out like water, he could sense a familiar presence.
Moments later, the portiere of the tent was lifted. An old man with a straight back walked into the tent, covered in dust. Gu Xiaojun who had been following behind had come! Gu Xiaojun brought along with him a lot of provisions. He had also brought along a bag full of carrots, this elated Wen Leyang.
Gu Xiaojun entered the tent. He first nodded as greeting to everyone, then he started to explain simply, “Ever since you had left Lhasa, I set off to follow you as well. As I am familiar with the West Tibetan region, I came here to be your guide. On the other hand, I found out, there are no forms of modern communication over here. Rather than sending someone else here, I might as well come over in person and explain myself clearly.”
Wen Leyang laughed in a carefree manner, “So did you bring your ping pong paddle or not?” Wen Leyang remembered that Gu Xiaojun had once said that his specialty lied in playing ping pong.
Gu Xiaojun did not acknowledge Wen Leyang, instead continued, “I have already dismissed the people monitoring from the sides. This town here is too small, there is no safe distance to watch from. Moreover, now that the destination has been reached, the efforts that follow are entirely up to all of you.” As he said this, Gu Xiaojun looked towards Wen Leyang once again. “But we will still keep a close watch on one or two of the troops, otherwise, we are as good as blind. After just a night’s sleep, they could be gone. In order to monitor them closely, we must depend on you.”
Wen Leyang was stunned. “Me?”
Gu Xiaojun nodded reasonably. “If these three were to try to get close, their presence will be noticed by the enemy party’s psychics.” No matter how weak or strong these foreigners were, they were still no ordinary human. Among them must certainly be sensitive people with psychic abilities that allowed them to sense their surroundings.
Wen Leyang gave out a forced laughed as he exchanged his stick of carrot for a new one. “I am just like all of you. I am not able to hide my presence.” Wen Leyang’s powers were great, but he had not learned how to conceal his aura or evade another’s psychic ability. Thus, within the eyes of a magic pract.i.tioner, he would always be an ordinary person.
When his Qi points were first remolded by the Poison of Life and Death, he was recognised as an ordinary person with superb inherent abilities in the eyes of the magic realm. Now that his body and bones were remodeled, he had lost those superficial endowments of his. Even in the eyes of Chang Li, Wen Leyang was just an ordinary youngster. Qin Zhui chuckled as he poked his head into the tent. “I will go! Combining the supernatural power of force and combining it with Heaven and Earth, it allows one to move about stealthily which is my specialty!”
Xiao Sha laughed. His eyes squinted and turned mischievous. “Be careful, remember to bring along a few tablets of Highland Calm!”
Qin Zhui laughed out loud. “It’s Highland Health!”
Fei Fei laughed forcefully, interrupting both their carefree behaviour. She wanted to comment on Gu Xiaojun’s report of his recent discovery about the small town. As she was about to speak, she was interrupted by the old man. “Ever since all of you left Lhasa and traveled west, I already predicted their destination. If it was not the Namtso Sacred Lake, then it would have been the Tanggula Mountains. I have looked into every nearby area that had a name and at first did not come up with anything of interest. However, upon closer inspection, I have found a hint. Tuer Town, it’s history is rather interesting!”