Seeking Truth with a Sword

Chapter 408 - 359: Great Disaster

"You two have recovered nicely," Jun Qianzi said with a smile, stopping before the glass container.

"What have you done to us?" Yuan Sou demanded, his expression dark and unsettled as he braced himself with both hands against the inner wall of the container to keep from falling.

"I simply rescued you," Jun Qianzi said nonchalantly. "Lian Xuanyao’s sword is unstoppable by anyone in this world. At that time, Ghost Shovel was reduced to just a head, and Brother Pang, half your neck was slashed, leaving you bleeding, on the brink of death, and unconscious. I had no choice but to send you both back through the Zhao Ming Iron Plate, using a Secret Technique for emergency treatment."

"’Emergency treatment?’" Yuan Sou’s expression changed slightly as he lifted his right arm. "You call this ’emergency treatment’?"

On the back of his right arm grew grape-like superfluous organs, including tumors, cysts, fingers, and even eyeballs.

"Superfluous organs can simply be cut off. Think of it as trimming fingernails or removing dead flesh," Jun Qianzi said, his tone still light. "Without the secret technique, Brother Pang, you would have already passed your first seven days of mourning by now."

"Humph." Yuan Sou’s face was grim. He glanced at Ghost Shovel beside him. "How is he?"

Jun Qianzi spoke casually, "Better than expected. Ghost Shovel’s Candle Cloud Cultivation relied heavily on the Consuming secret technique. The mouth on his stomach is his true form. With enough Blood Meal, it won’t take long for him to return to the Cloud Patrol realm, and even regain his Candle Cloud Cultivation."

Demon Cultivators who had merged with Mutated Objects generally possessed Life Force and recovery capabilities far exceeding ordinary people; even injuries as severe as being reduced to a mere head weren’t entirely beyond remedy. It’s no wonder the Former Sui cultivators, in their mutual slaughter, collectively plunged into madness. They willingly embraced a deformed visage, neither human nor ghost, all for the sake of power.

"Ultimately, it was your disciple’s arrangements and the faulty information you provided," Yuan Sou said gloomily. "Lian Xuanyao wasn’t delayed by the Faith Cultivation Cardinal and arrived at the Banzheng Square garrison instantly. And he didn’t look like he was on death’s door at all."

"Lian Xuanyao’s lifespan is indeed nearing its end. Perhaps you two simply didn’t exert enough pressure to make his injuries flare up, nor did you have the courage to face him head-on, which is why you were repeatedly pushed back." Jun Qianzi remained casual and relaxed, completely unconcerned by Yuan Sou’s grim expression.

"Bullshit!" Yuan Sou cursed loudly, launching into a tirade of profanities interwoven with a fair amount of Zhou Kingdom dialect.

"Master..." Ya Jiu began, then hesitated.

Jun Qianzi glanced at her and gestured with his hand for her not to interrupt, standing still and quietly waiting.

Gradually, Yuan Sou’s eyelids drooped, as if exhausted from cursing and drained of energy. He drifted into a stupor, suspended in the middle of the container.

Jun Qianzi walked out of the courtyard, Ya Jiu following behind. She whispered, "Master, Yuan Sou’s face... why is it growing on the back of his head?"

She saw clearly that Yuan Sou, floating in the container, had his back to them. However, the monkey-like face was growing amidst the hair on the back of his head, facing them.

Could it be that when Jun Qianzi was stitching the wound, he sewed the neck on backward?

"Side effects of the emergency treatment secret technique; he simply grew an extra human face. The one speaking to us just now was also Yuan Sou. It shares a head with the original face. When both faces awaken, they will likely fight to the death, with only one survivor. Let’s hope the original face survives; otherwise, he’ll have to walk backward from now on."

Jun Qianzi smiled casually. "Of course, they might negotiate and live together, switching directions day and night to take turns being the ’person’. In that case, I’d be rather curious which way he’ll face when he relieves himself."

Ya Jiu’s thoughts weren’t as bizarre as Jun Qianzi’s. She pursed her lips and said softly, "Were Ancient Secret Techniques always so... so..."

"Evil?" Jun Qianzi shook his head. "What is evil? Humans domesticate poultry and livestock, eat their flesh, and use their skin. Parasitic wasps lay their eggs on spiders, their larvae feasting on the spider’s blood until it’s reduced to an empty husk. Scavenger insects, when food is scarce, will kill their underdeveloped young and feed them to the others. The inherent nature of all things in the natural world is cruel and indifferent; ’evil’ is a word only humans use. In Ancient Times, when people had no Cultivation Path, they had no choice but to imitate those most powerful Aliens. The Cultivation Secret Skills born from such an environment would naturally appear somewhat ’evil’."

He paused, a bizarre look crossing his face. "Newspapers in Yu Country call artemisinin the greatest life-saving invention in history, but this statement isn’t entirely accurate. The Haotian Bell and the Heavenly Bell are what have truly saved the most people. As long as the bells chime, the vast majority of Aliens can only roam the mountains and desolate wilderness, unable to interact with the Human World. During the chaotic times at the end of the Qin Dynasty, the Haotian Bells in every city, town, and mountain village across the land all failed, a silence that lasted for ten days. After those ten days, seventy percent of the world’s population was lost. If the chiming of the bells were to cease for a month or two, perhaps less than thirty percent of the world’s population—cultivators included—would manage to eke out an existence."

Not even three in ten would survive. The chaos of the Late Sui period probably wasn’t much worse than this.

Ya Jiu’s brow furrowed.

Seeing this, Jun Qianzi laughed. "Of course, the silencing of the Haotian Bell would, at worst, plunge humanity back into the dark, barbaric era when gods and humans coexisted. Compared to a true cataclysm, it’s hardly worth mentioning."

"Master," Ya Jiu hesitated, "what would a true cataclysm be like?"

Having followed Jun Qianzi for so long and heard him mention the impending catastrophe countless times, she still wasn’t clear on the specific form the calamity would take.

Floods? Heavenly fire? Plagues? Famine? Eternal night? An endless winter?

Jun Qianzi remained silent for a long time, then looked up at the azure sky, murmuring, "In Qi Country, there was a man so worried that the sky would collapse, leaving him with no place for his body after death, that he neglected his sleep and meals. Tell me, if the sky were to fall, could people still live?"

How could the sky fall?

Ya Jiu was perplexed. She had been undercover in Yu Country for so long, never missing an issue of the Natural Science publications, and her understanding of Natural Science might even rival that of students from the Academic Palace. She knew the sky was ethereal and intangible, composed of air but lacking substance.

How could something without physical form collapse and crush the Human World?

Just as Ya Jiu was about to ask more, Jun Qianzi picked up an ant from the ground that had strayed from its nest. He then lay down on a lounge chair in the courtyard, cradling the ant in his hand.

"Sleep now, sleep," Jun Qianzi murmured to himself, gradually dozing off on the lounge chair. The ant in his hand also stopped moving.