novelThe Letter Talismans
| ← Ch.222 | Ch.224 → |
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The hide contained a very simple map which was marked with the coordinates and distance from Lhasa to the small town of Tuer.
Fei Fei rubbed the area between her brows in distress, "These fake lamas had been headed to the small town of Tuer. They were... Perhaps they were the descendants of King Gesar's other warriors. They must have sensed the destruction of the mandala seal which was used to suppress the golden monkey. They were rushing here to stop it when they unexpectedly bumped into Tian Yin and were then killed in cold blood!"
Fei Fei's hesitant tone of speaking which was filled with uncertainty slowly became more convinced. Other than her speculation, there was no better explanation.
Xiao Sha shook his head again, "They are imitation-brand lamas..."
Old Gu interrupted him before he could finish his sentence, "Who decided that the master cultivators that King Gesar had left behind were real lamas? During King Gesar's reign, Buddhism has yet to spread into Tibet! Even if King Gesar was a Buddhist, his inferiors may not necessarily have become monks and lamas. Still, on the highland, having the identity of a lama does allow one to carry out tasks more easily."
Nothing else could be found on these corpses anymore. It seems that they had brought their treasured weapons along as they rushed ahead on their journey. As a result, they were completely annihilated before they could reach the small town.
Wen Leyang peered at Wen Make and Wen Make understood Wen Leyang's intention. He laughed grimly as he shook his head, fate was indeed strange. If these people had not been killed by Xiang Liu, the Wen family disciples who were transporting the medicinal materials to the highland would certainly have been mercilessly slaughtered by the other party.
Gu Xiaojun was not a criminal police and he was even less of a community police. He was too lazy to pay attention to this type of cultivator's murder case in the desolated mountains. The group was making arrangements to bury these corpses when Wen Leyang suddenly sat on the ground.
His telegnosis ability which blanketed the surroundings had suddenly trembled ferociously without warning. It was not a person or some other thing which had triggered his telegnosis ability. Instead, it was a burst of formless and tremendous force. It felt like an enormous tide rippling with a force capable of sweeping away the snowy land. It had appeared out of nowhere and was roaring as it swept its way from the direction of Tuer Town!
Soon after that, a long, loud, and sonorous hum echoed through the sky! Wen Leyang chuckled, patting the dust from his buttocks as he stood up, "The dog-headed eagle has freed itself!"
Xiao Sha stomped his feet in frustration. He should have waited in the small town of Tuer for a few more days. He had hoped to capitalize on Wen Make's popularity after he had successfully helped the dog-headed eagle to fulfill Xiao Sha's wish for a group photo with that creature...
Wen Leyang's vast telegnosis ability shook vigorously as Qian Ren, who had been sealed away for thousands of years, surged skywards on the hurricane raised by the dog-headed eagle. Near Wen Leyang's feet, one of the frozen-solid cultivator's corpse suddenly stood up stiffly. Its movements were rigid and clumsy but also as fast as lightning as its claw-like hands slashed towards Wen Leyang's chest brutally!
It was a zombie!
Wen Leyang's reaction was unbelievably swift; just as the pair of ghost claws came into contact with his shirt, his hands were already positioned before his chest. A muffled sound was heard as Wen Leyang gripped tightly onto those two ghost claws.
Wen Make and the others have only just reacted to the situation at this point. They shouted one after another and were about to pounce forward when Guo Huan shouted uncourteously from the jade knife, "Everyone, scram! None of you here is useful to him!" Wen Leyang was green with rage as the recently enhanced Poison of Life and Death in his body circulated vigorously. His hands twisted once, twice, and three times strenuously! He exerted his strength on the third twist and the cultivator's corpse jumped away ferociously before it staggered and fell back.
Wen Leyang spread his arms out but he did not continue to attack. Instead, he fell back a couple of steps to protect his companions who were behind him as he watched that dull-looking zombie which seems immune to pain with a cold stare!
The zombie's fingers had been twisted together into a crooked mess like it had been put through a wringer. Beneath its skin and flesh, its bones were visibly throbbing with a series of small waves. These waves caused its metacarpal bones to collide with its carpal bones which then collided with the bones its forearms. The force rippled outwards through its arms, scapulae, spine... And traveled downwards all the way to its feet. The popping noise of its bones cracking sounded like exploding beans which merged together into a muffled orchestra within the zombie's body.
Ten seconds later, the two hundred and six bones within the zombie's body had been completely crushed by Wen Leyang's three strikes!
The zombie fell limply on the ground after its bones had been shattered. However, it still attempted to raise its head with great effort. Its expressionless face suddenly filled with ferocious enmity as, within the explosive sound of bones cracking, it shrieked in a manner which sounded like a curse, "The person who defies the Heavens can never atone for their sin even if they were to die a million times!" After that, its body stiffened abruptly and stopped moving completely.
Wen Leyang and the others looked at each other, not understanding the situation which has just happened...
Only Guo Huan scoffed in a rigid voice, "These cultivators had been heading here to suppress the monster and reseal the mandala. When the dog-headed eagle broke free from its shackles, the remnant power of the corpse's primordial spirit was awoken by the spiritual primordial energy released by Qian Ren. That was how it became a zombie!"
In the small town of Tuer, a series of crystal-clear and loud, rousing cries accompanied by the shaking of a humongous spiritual primordial energy was released as the monkey Qian Ren finally struggled free from the seal which had trapped it for an unknown amount of years. It could finally see the light of the day once again!
Wen Leyang nodded with lingering fear, that zombie's power earlier was not inferior to the old demon rabbit Bu Le's power. The fact that the corpse and the scattered treasured weapons could still possess such power shows how strong was their actual power was in life. It was unfortunate that they had bumped into the recently-defeated Tian Yin who had just escaped from the snowy peak.
After he had dealt with the zombie, Wen Leyang felt rather relieved in his heart. After all, Qian Ren was the only one who was filled with enmity and vengeful feelings but was not a top demon immortal who had suffered in Chang Li's hands. He was enjoying the good feeling of purely committing a good deed, it felt rather pleasant.
The piercingly cold and bold spiritual primordial energy was soon restrained by Qian Ren and the loud cries were heard further and further away from them. It seems that the direction where the dog-headed eagle was headed was different from Wen Leyang's group.
Wen Leyang was afraid that there would be more cultivator zombies so he sent the others away as he blasted a huge hole using the Faulty Punch. He then buried those corpses before the group departed and rushed towards Lhasa once again.
However, what was even more joyous and surprising to Wen Leyang was that two days later, when the highland's old city of Lhasa was visible to the eyes, Qin Zhui had screamed and shouted all the way until he had caught up to Wen Leyang's group.
Qin Zhui still looked hideous as ever. He was unlike the other cultivators who became more fair-skinned and high-spirited the longer they cultivated. Wen Leyang had no clue and he could not tell if there was even any transformation in Qin Zhui. On the contrary, it was Guo Huan who burst into laughter within the jade knife, "This young lad is a little more interesting now!"
Qin Zhui pounced over and did not say a word as he gave Wen Leyang a crushing bear hug. He finally released his grip when their bones creaked. Wen Leyang's body erupted with goosebumps as he asked Qin Zhui, "Are we even that close? Had you really missed me that much?"
Qin Zhui burst out laughing, "I'm so happy that I'm afraid I might strangle people to death if I was to hug someone else."
The ugly youth Qin Zhui has become a disciple of Qian Ren's sect. After his marrow was washed and his foundation reestablished using the Wood Elemental magical art, he continued his cultivation as the dog-headed eagle's body healed. Qin Zhui's cultivation was complete once he had completely absorbed and refined the life vitality that Qian Ren had inserted into his body. It was then that the master and disciple emerged from their closed-door cultivation and left the small town of Tuer. In the eyes of a cultivator, Qin Zhui's creation was virtually comparable to the destiny of becoming an immortal. His cultivation power has been vastly enhanced in a few short months. It was especially rare that his foundation establishment was reforged, such that there was an exceedingly huge room for improvement in his cultivation thereafter. However, Qin Ren could only help him to this extent. His future achievements in cultivation wholly depended on Qin Zhui's own power of understanding and favorable opportunities.
Wen Leyang squinted his eyes as he raised his head and looked at the sky. The blue sky appeared smooth and boundless but there was no sign of a dog or an eagle. Wen Leyang then asked Qin Zhui in slight puzzlement, "Where is your master? Is he not with you?"
Qin Zhui sniggered as he shook his head, "That grand old man had stayed in the dog-headed eagle for a long period of time but this was the first time he is guiding the dog-headed eagle to fly in the sky... Uh... His control is unstable and the eagle was flying up and down. He was afraid that he would embarrass himself so he refused to leave with me. He said that he wanted to understand this flesh armor thoroughly on the highland first and he would meet me on Nine Peaks Mountain after a while."
Wen Leyang nodded as he smiled but he was startled when he heard Qin Zhui's final sentence, "The Nine Peaks Mountain? You're meeting your master at my home?"
Wen Make has a rough idea of the dog-headed eagle's size. His eyes rolled up as he pondered for a moment on the number of lambs the Wen family has to prepare before Qian Ren arrives on the Nine PEaks Mountain...
Qin Zhui nodded in a natural and righteous manner, "Of course we will meet at Nine Peaks Mountain! I will request Nineteen to bear witness by the time I've returned, we are still going to fight each other in a battle too!" The ugly youth rubbed his palms and his face was filled with excitement, "After I have come out to the outside world this time, I'm at least not weaker than you!" He suddenly jumped up as fast as lightning and punched the ground. The ground, which was covered in a layer of thick snow, did not even shiver under his punch and not even a piece of ice shaving floated into the air.
Old Gu and the rest were filled with puzzlement yet Wen Leyang's brows throbbed. Both he and Guo Huan in the jade knife praised at the same time, "Awesome!"
Qin Zhui's brows, eyes, nose, and mouth almost struggled free from his face out of pride. He clapped and waved his hand pompously, "Let's go back to the Nine Peaks Mountain!"
After the jade knife Guo Huan was finished with his praises, it laughed at Qin Zhui, "Your ability is truly no less inferior to the old demon rabbit but you're still no match for the current Wen Leyang!"
Qin Zhui widened his small eyes strenuously as he sized Wen Leyang up and down and asked cautiously, "You... Again? What have you done again?!"
Before Wen Leyang could speak, Guo Huan exaggerated and recounted their encounters on the snowy peak from the start until the end. By the end of the story, Qin Zhui's expression has become even more hideous than the zombie earlier but he was still unyielding and persisted to return to the Nine Peaks Mountain with Wen Leyang so that they could measure their powers against each other in front of Nineteen.
Fei Fei sized Qin Zhui up and down a few times before she smiled and spoke to Wen Leyang, "He's not speaking truthfully from his heart. You ought to be careful, I can tell by his look that he still has an ace up his sleeve..."
The large group of people continued on their journey once again. Xiao Sha and Fei Fei kept looking back frequently but that piece of snowy land which had been punched heavily did not seem to show any change as before... It was only when the next spring had arrived and the snow on the highland melted away that it was possible to see a hole the size of a fist on the ground. It was so deep that one could not see the bottom of the hole. Dozens of enormous fissures emanated from the hole in all directions, with the longest at almost a thousand meters!
In Lhasa, Gu Xiaojun brought along the Fei Fei siblings as they hastily boarded the earliest flight and left. They had not even asked where the flight was heading to. Wen Leyang was truly interested to inquire whether there were any scheduled flights from Lhasa to Xigazê...
The next day, the remainder of Wen Leyang's group boarded a train headed to Sichuan. This trip to the highland was bittersweet but it can be considered as a successful one.
Many good things had happened during this trip. Wen Leyang managed to crack Tian Yin's grand scheme of forging a Water Element evil soul. Even though the 'heavenly water spirit' was never ending, there was only one qualified evil cult follower left and that was Tutatunte. Zhui Zi had cleared up her misunderstanding with Wen Bucao's disciples because of her relationship with Wen Leyang. The addition of Zhui Zi in their group brought a strong assistance when it comes to dealing with Xiang Liu. As for the three youths - Wen Leyang, Qin Zhui, and Liu Zheng, each has received a vast enhancement of in their cultivation power.
The bad things which had happened were even more severe. Xiang Liu's evil soul had gained control over Tian Yin and the Enlightened Tian Shu and the Enlightened Tian Hua had been killed. No one else was capable of chanting the formation-conjuring spell which could reform the great demon-executing formation.
On the other hand, Zhui Zi's memories from the past and the monkey Qian Ren's freedom were still an unpredictable variable. The whereabouts of the 'big flat cake, broken gong, and dog' too suddenly became an important and urgent riddle to be solved at this moment.
Wen Leyang called his family and it was First Grandfather who picked up the call personally. The old man was elated and urged Wen Leyang repeatedly to hurry back. Since it was difficult for him to talk about their family matters in the call, he would wait for Wen Leyang to return home before he explained any further.
The train ride took two whole days to reach Chengdu from Lhasa. Wen Leyang and Qin Zhui slept soundly all the way. They had both received a vast enhancement in their cultivation power and as they were always busy during the day, they had not felt tired then. However, once they fell asleep on the train, they did not wake up again until they had reached their destination. The both of them still yawned constantly and their eyes were so red even the old demon rabbit Bu Le would run away in shame.
The moment the group came out of the train station, a few ferocious-looking young lads surrounded them immediately. Qin Zhui shook off his drowsiness in an instant as he felt for the Tang Knife behind his back habitually. Wen Leyang hastily stopped him as these were Wen Bucao's disciples and Wen Leyang's fellow brother disciples.
Wen Make frowned a little as he placed himself between those disciples and Wen Leyang. In the internal management of Wen Bucao, there were two systems which were quite distinct from each other in the Wen family village and the Place of Birth, Life, Sickness, and Death. Even though Wen Make has been tasked by the Wen family to run the errands this time, all authority and responsibility were entrusted to Forth Elder Wen as the leader. In accordance with the usual routine, the Wen family would not send anyone to welcome them at the station. Even if someone were to come, they should be people from the Death Trademark instead.
Wen Bucao disciples had lived this way for the past two thousand years. Even though everyone held the surname of Wen, an established rule was still an established rule. The Wen family disciples who had come to welcome them immediately took out a letter written on cattle hide and some bamboo chips the size of a palm from his chest pocket. He then passed these items to Wen Make with a solemn face.
The moment Wen Leyang and the others saw the bamboo chips which were glowing from prolong rubbing, their expression changed drastically!
Everyone from the Nine Peaks Mountain knows about these bamboo chips without exception. These were the letter talismans which belonged to the family elders! In the past, for exceptionally important matters, it was enough for the family elders to use one person's letter talisman to assign a disciple to the task. However, there were a total of five bamboo chips this time. The letter talismans from all four grandfathers and First Uncle Wen Tunhai had all been brought here.
Wen Make examined the letter talismans before he passed them to Wen Leyang's hand. He then removed the envelope which was stamped with the four family elders and First Uncle Wen Tunhai's heirloom seals! There was only a sparse row of large and thick characters written with powerful strokes in the letter. It said: 'Wen Leyang, head to Crow Ridge on Southern Chuan immediately upon receiving this command. You are not allowed to question why'.
Under this command was a haphazard arrangement of stamps from the four Wen family elders and First Uncle Wen Tunhai's heirloom seals. Under these stamps was another row of smaller letters which said: 'The rest of the Wen family disciples should hastily return home, Wen Leyang will go by himself'.
This row of smaller words was almost obscured by the stamps; it was apparent that they had added the words later when they have thought of it.
Wen Make's face was filled with disbelief and he glared at the Wen family disciple who had delivered the letter, "What's going on?" For any Wen Bucao disciple, whether it was an heirloom seal or the letter talisman, only one was needed. There was no need for such a messy array of stamps or to deliver so many letter talismans that were equal to the token of authority.
The Wen family disciple who had delivered the letter knows that an important matter was on hand. His expression was solemn as he shook his head, "I was running errands outside the mountain and when I returned, Uncle Nine and Uncle Thirteen were waiting for me at the foothill. They had asked me to deliver this letter to all of you. Uncle Nine and Uncle Thirteen had the letter talismans of the four grandfathers and First Uncle in their hands. This was equal to the presence of our five family elders! We dared not procrastinate as we rushed all the way here."
The letter talismans and the heirloom stamps were real but there was such a huge pile of items and the use of inappropriate wordings in the command. In addition, the ones who had passed command were Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen. This matter was becoming more suspicious every minute.
Wen Leyang wasted no time as he immediately fished out his cell phone and called the family. He called each of the four grandfathers, First Uncle Wen Tunhai, and finally Wen Xiaoxin. He called every single phone number that he knew in the family yet to his surprise, none of his calls were picked up. He eventually called the landline and no one answered as well. Wen Leyang pondered for a moment and gave Luo Wangfu a call with the same results.
The gentle voice in the automated message of 'the person you are calling is unavailable right now' has gradually turned horrible to Wen Leyang after he had listened to it so many times.
Wen Leyang then called the old demon rabbit Bu Le but only received the message that the number was barred because he owed the company money...
Wen Leyang was dumbstruck as even his call to the landline had gone unanswered. Unless Nine Peaks Mountain has been taken over by the government...
Everyone was feeling rather apprehensive when Wen Leyang's cell phone suddenly rang. It was an unknown number but Wen Leyang felt like a drowning man who has suddenly grabbed hold of a lifebuoy. He immediately picked up the call and exhaled a long breath of relief soon after. He asked in a loud voice, "First Uncle, what's really going on?" He then informed his first uncle about the matter which has just taken place earlier.
Wen Tunhai's voice in the call sounded very peculiar. He said, "The heirloom seals and letter talismans belonging to me and the four grandfathers has been stolen. Also, every cell phone and landline phone in the village has been tossed into the well. We are still scooping the phones out from the well at this moment..." On the other end of the call, First Grandfather's raging roar echoed from afar. First Uncle paused for a moment before he spoke through clenched teeth, "Those two b*stards Wen Nine and Wen Thirteen, it was all their fault..."
Wen Leyang hummed in agreement and he muttered to himself, "I had talked to First Grandfather on the phone before I boarded the train..."
First Uncle's voice was filled with grievance as he said, "They had tossed the phones into the well that very night!"
Wen Leyang was at a loss whether to laugh or to cry. He did not know what else to say but he finally understood that the letter talismans, the heirloom seals, and the secret message were part of his two favorite uncles' trick. He hastily read the content of the secret message to Wen Tunhai before asking, "The two uncles... How was it possible for them to steal all these items from your hands?"
Wen Tunhai cursed ferociously, "Those two sonofab*tches have received a vast enhancement in their cultivation power, no one else in the family except for you is worthy to be their opponent."
Wen Leyang was shocked, he understood better than anyone else about the two silly uncles' abilities. Even though they had mastered the Faulty Punch, they were still much weaker than the First Uncle and they were no match for the four grandfathers. Yet, to his surprise, they have now somehow managed to steal these important authenticating objects. They even managed to steal the entire village's phones without being discovered. This was a little too unbelievable and he suddenly recalled something as he asked in astonishment, "Could it be... The cultivation method left behind by the Grand Master. My two uncles..." He was halfway through this sentence when he felt that it was impossible, even if someone in the family has managed to crack the mystery of the Grand Master's legacy cultivation method in the jade talisman, they would not have allowed someone without an intelligent mind like the Ninth and Thirteenth Uncle to cultivate first.
First Uncle sighed heavily as he acknowledged Wen Leyang's statement, "What do they want from you by asking you to meet them at Crow Ridge?" He was halfway through his speech when he was suddenly enlightened, "Those two b*stards had been constantly professing their wish to become the number one master cultivator on Nine Peaks Mountain. They were afraid that the family elders would never agree to the fight so they tried to trick you to fight them on Crow Ridge! Bring the both of them back to me, Fourth Grandfather has already been driven to madness by rage..." Before he could finish his sentence, Wen Leyang could not refrain himself anymore as he laughed out loud.
Wen Tunhai laughed as well, "Everything at home is fine, there's no need for you to worry. Chengdu is located in the middle of the Shu State, it's not that far from Crow Ridge. It is also convenient for you to return home, just remember to bring your uncles along."
Wen Leyang nodded in agreement but he was a little puzzled, "I thought all the cell phones in the village had been tossed into the well, does this mean that you've... come out of the mountain?"
Wen Tunhai immediately lowered his voice and spoke with a furtive voice, "Come out of the mountain, my *ss! I'm the head of the country, how will I... There are certain calls that I make which are not convenient for your First Aunt to hear. That was why I had hidden another cellphone somewhere else which I could use to send a text message or something occasionally..."
Wen Leyang burst out laughing, "So, I'll send the others home first. Shall I buy some cell phones before I return home?"
Wen Tunhai was startled, "Boy, are you seeking your doom? First Grandfather said that he would try to see if the cell phones can still work after drying them out..."
Wen Leyang nodded; he could imagine First Grandfather's expression as he mentioned that. He laughed grimly as he diverted the topic of conversation, "How are the abilities of Ninth Uncle and Thirteenth Uncle now?"
Wen Tunhai ground his teeth, his forced laughter carried a sense of pride, "Anyhow, I cannot tell but Ji Fei, Shui Jing, and the old man Gongye can't even catch their shadows now! However, they will never be as strong as you. The seven fat men are very close to the both of them. They refused to fight the two uncles for they are the motherf*cking Wind Rain Rainbow!"
Wen Leyang could no longer laugh about it for Ji Fei and Shui Jing were amongst the strongest of the rogue cultivators. Though they were no match for the master cultivators from the famous sects of the Five Blessings, they were skilled in everything including treasured weapons, supernatural power, and martial arts cultivation. Judging by First Uncle's words, his two silly uncles were now almost at the same level the two rogue cultivators. When he had first learned of Grand Master Tuo Xie's message in the jade talisman, he already knew that once the three magic arts of poison, corpse, and witchcraft were combined into one, the cultivator would achieve vast improvements in their cultivation power though he really had not expected that improvement to happen so soon.
Wen Tunhai laughed grimly once more and his tone of speaking turned solemn once again, "It's best that you be more careful these days. The World Sect's members have become agitated, they had attacked the Jilong Sect recently and triggered their great mountain-sealing formation spell before a fierce battle ensued. The Kunlun Sect had disappeared overnight, there was nothing but emptiness in the Yuxu Palace. Moreover, there was also the presence of a devil's trace on Mount Emei. Two divine monks had rushed back to Mount Emei two days ago to take charge of the overall situation. When you find my ninth and thirteenth brother, I want you to return home immediately."
Wen Leyang nodded. No one understood the situation in Kunlun Sect better than himself. These disputes between the righteous and evil paths were not related to them and only two complete sects were left in the righteous path of the Five Blessings. Even the One Word Palace's 'Brothers of Xia Ma Wei' had turned into 'Brothers of Xia Ma'. It would be odd if the World Sect had not seized the opportunity to counterattack.
Wen Tunhai gave him some advice and was just about to hang up when he suddenly recalled something. He laughed as he asked Wen Leyang, "The position of 'Number One master cultivator on Nine Peaks Mountain', you're not trying to compete for that, right?"
Wen Leyang huffed as he shook his head and laughed. He understood that his first uncle was albeit furious but he still loved and protected his brothers anyhow. He reassured his first uncle repeatedly before he ended the call. He then laughed as he informed the others about the course of events which had just taken place.
The corners of Wen Make's mouth were twitching as he tried to resist the urge to laugh. He resisted for a long while before he finally gave in, laughing as he waved his hand at the remaining disciples, "All of you, return to Nine Peaks Mountain first. I will accompany Wen Leyang to look for our family's Number One Master Cultivators!"
| ← Ch. 222 | Ch. 224 → |