Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 106: I'm Here for Corvée Labor?

On the sky-piercing Mount Luopo.

Over ten thousand beings — each roughly two to three meters tall, clad in black robes, wearing bamboo hats with colorful cloth strips dangling from their brims — marched toward the summit with blank indifference.

These eerie entities moved in unbroken succession.

Like a single organism.

Not only did they look identical, as though stamped from the same mold.

Even their footsteps fell in perfect unison.

And at the very rear of this procession.

There was one glaringly out-of-place figure.

Shorter, also wearing a bamboo hat, but dressed in Daoist robes. From the build, it looked like a twelve- or thirteen-year-old sword-bearing acolyte.

"These things are absolutely hellish."The Brass Oil Lamp hung from Chen Huangpi's waist, speaking with nerves on edge. "Maybe after Yi Qingzhou's corpse fell into the Underworld Yellow Spring, it transformed into one of these creatures too. It later wandered up to the mortal world, I suppose. Now you're wearing its hat down here, and they've taken you for one of their own."

"But why are they bringing you up the mountain?"

"They're not bringing me up. They were going up already."

Chen Huangpi said, his face pale. "I can only follow them. I have a feeling that if I step out of line, the mountain itself will attack me — and something very bad will happen."

After joining this procession.

It truly felt as though he had fallen into formation. Chen Huangpi sensed he had become one with these creatures.

The ground underfoot was no longer treacherous terrain.

It was a staircase, step after step.

Each step was roughly a meter high.

For these Evil Corruptions that resembled the Slender Evil Spirit — he might as well call them what they were — their tall, elongated frames handled the stairs effortlessly. One casual stride covered each step.

But for Chen Huangpi.

Each step rose to his waist.

He had to scramble up on all fours just to keep pace.

Though after joining the column, the mountain's appearance had dramatically changed from before.

Looking upward, he could see the summit — dark clouds massed around it, as though standing up there and tilting one's head back would pierce through to the sky itself.

But...

This procession tolerated no stragglers.

When Chen Huangpi had slowed even slightly.

The Evil Corruption ahead of him stopped. Even though its face was hidden behind the bamboo hat, Chen Huangpi could feel a suspicious gaze sizing him up.

Though it said nothing...

Chen Huangpi could tell.

The creature was clearly thinking: 'Something's off about this newcomer. Is there some mistake?'

At that moment, Chen Huangpi's body had gone rigid, bracing for a fight.

But when ten thousand suspicious gazes locked onto him simultaneously.

Every combative thought evaporated.

Never mind whether these Evil Corruptions were immortal corpses like Yi Qingzhou.

Their stares alone had been enough to cow Mount Luopo into submission.

These things were undeniably powerful. Undeniably terrifying.

Killing Chen Huangpi would be child's play for them.

So even if it meant climbing on all fours, he dared not fall behind.

"One step at a time."

The Brass Oil Lamp cautioned, "They're identifying you by the bamboo hat. As long as you don't do something suicidal like taking it off, you should be fine."

Chen Huangpi wasn't wearing the Life-reaping Ghost's skin.

These Evil Corruptions obviously wouldn't mistake him for one of their own on appearance alone.

The only possibility was that they recognized the hat, not the person.

Rather like a mortal bureaucracy — they verified the seal, not the face.

"Maybe once we reach the top, they'll escort me back down."

Chen Huangpi said through gritted teeth. "Once I'm clear of this mountain, I'm shaking them off for good."

True enough, there was indeed great terror between life and death.

When he'd been climbing alone, he had given it everything he had.

But it was nowhere near as desperate as this.

Evidently, only the very brink of death could force out a person's true potential.

Inside the Soul-Hooking Manual.

The Life-reaping Ghost watched everything unfold.

It watched with worry gnawing at its heart.

So far, Chen Huangpi's ascent of Mount Luopo had been harrowing but not fatal.

On the Yellow Spring tributary, the Ferryman had come to help.

On Mount Luopo, when crisis struck, this column of Evil Corruptions had pulled him to safety.

Yet the Life-reaping Ghost couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.

The Ferryman had recognized that its master was no ordinary being. But did these Evil Corruptions know that too?

Chen Huangpi had no idea whether the Evil Corruptions knew or not. All he knew was that he was about to die.

About to die from exhaustion.

His entire body was drenched in sweat, his robes practically soaked through.

His arms burned with soreness, feeling as though they might snap off.

Both legs trembled without pause.

He had truly reached his limit.

"Chen Huangpi, don't stop! Keep climbing!"

"Huang Er, I really can't go on. I can't climb anymore."

Chen Huangpi said in despair. "I've never suffered like this in my entire life. No — my life hasn't been that long. I'm only eleven or twelve. I'm still a child."

"This is nothing — and you're already giving up?"

The Brass Oil Lamp saw the Evil Corruption column grind to a halt and cried out urgently, "Didn't you want to save the Guanzhu? Didn't you say you'd climb Mount Luopo? It's only been one period and you're already done?"

"Where's your ambition?"

"These Evil Corruptions never stop! Even a man forged from iron couldn't endure this kind of torture!"

Chen Huangpi wailed.

If the Evil Corruption column weren't here and he could set his own pace.

He would absolutely have made it to the top.

But climbing non-stop without a single moment to rest or catch his breath? That was pure torment.

The Brass Oil Lamp ached for him.

It knew Chen Huangpi had hit his wall.

But falling even slightly behind would provoke the column. How could he possibly stop?

Then, an idea struck.

"Chen Huangpi — we're almost at the summit! Just push a little more! I can see plum trees up there!" "Really?"

Chen Huangpi jerked his head up but saw only dark, roiling clouds. No plum trees in sight.

"Huang Er, where are the plums? You're lying!"

"Your cultivation is shallow — your eyes aren't as sharp as my Nine Nether God Lantern's. I can see an entire grove of plum trees. Every plum is the size of an egg, so heavy the branches are bowing under the weight. You've tasted plums before, right?"

"Of course, sweet and tart, makes your mouth water."

As he spoke.

Chen Huangpi suddenly felt his throat wasn't so parched after all. His body seemed to find new strength.

"I'm climbing this mountain. I'm eating those plums."

A quarter of a period later.

"Huang Er, I can't do it. I truly can't."

"We're nearly at the top! Just hold on! Oh — there aren't just plums. There's a spring up here too, ice cold, right there among the plum trees."

Another quarter period later.

"Huang Er, what else is up there?"

"A woman. Naked. She's bathing in the spring."

"What?!"

Chen Huangpi braced his hands on his knees, head bowed, panting like a bellows, murder gleaming in his eyes. "That's outrageous! Does she expect me to drink her bathwater? She deserves to die!"

Yet another quarter period later.

"Huang Er, what else?"

"Nothing. I've run out of material."

"No, keep going. Come up with something new. Otherwise I really won't make it."

And right then.

The Life-reaping Ghost spoke suddenly. "Master, there's no need for more stories. We really are almost at the top."

Hearing this.

Chen Huangpi quickly tilted his head and looked.

Sure enough, the lead figure in this ten-thousand-strong column had reached the summit.

Its upper half vanished into the dark clouds, then it was gone in the blink of an eye.

Then the second...

The third...

The fourth...

One after another, they pressed forward, reaching the peak.

And Chen Huangpi, at the column's very end.

Was now fewer than a hundred steps from the top.

Ninety-nine...

Ninety-eight...

Chen Huangpi mumbled the numbers in a daze.

Until he reached one.

Only then did his mind snap fully awake. The Evil Corruption ahead of him had taken a single step up to the summit, its upper body disappearing into the cloud cover.

"I made it!"

Without hesitation, brimming with elation, Chen Huangpi took the final step.

One step, and the world opened wide.

No more waist-high stairs beneath his feet — just the flat, level ground of the summit.

"The air up here really is sweeter."

Chen Huangpi was young and small.

Unlike those Evil Corruptions whose upper halves were lost in the clouds, requiring tippy-toes to reach through — he stood well below the cloud layer.

Still, he gulped in a huge breath of air and felt the relief flood through him.

"Actually, the air up here is no different from down below. Not sweet at all."

The Brass Oil Lamp shook its head. "You were so fixated on reaching the top, so consumed by the hardship and exhaustion of the climb, that your mind played tricks on you."

"Your mind is the one playing tricks!"

Chen Huangpi huffed. "The Soul-Restoring Jade is up here. The air has to be sweeter."

He followed the Evil Corruption column forward, scanning his surroundings as he walked.

"A Gui, do you see the Soul-Restoring Jade?"

"Not yet, but it's definitely up here somewhere. I can feel it. It seems to be just ahead."

The words had barely left its mouth.

When the entire Evil Corruption column abruptly halted.

Chen Huangpi, not paying attention, walked straight into the creature in front of him.

That Evil Corruption froze where it stood.

Then Chen Huangpi watched as the upper half of its body — the part hidden in the clouds — bent sharply downward toward him.

As if folding in half.

Through the colorful cloth strips, a pair of eyes — black and white inverted — stared at him with an eerie, probing gaze.

And it wasn't just this one.

The entire column did the same.

Every last creature turned around, and in one synchronized motion, fixed Chen Huangpi with that same uncanny stare.

"Run!"

Chen Huangpi's scalp went numb. He was about to summon the black smoke and flee, but before he could move, a weight slammed onto his shoulder. He turned to find a deathly pale hand clamped down on him.

Then.

The Evil Corruption yanked hard.

Chen Huangpi was instantly jerked backward.

Immediately, with a grand sweeping motion.

The creature threw open its tattered black robe, exposing its tall, spindly body.

Only — to Chen Huangpi's immense surprise.

This gaunt frame didn't have the hollow cavities of Yi Qingzhou's corpse. Instead, it looked as though it had been chiseled from stone — hard, rigid, inert at first glance.

And at its waist hung a pickaxe.

The Evil Corruption seized the pickaxe in both hands. Without any visible effort, it simply pulled its hands apart — and now held two pickaxes, one in each hand.

The extra one was thrust directly toward Chen Huangpi.

"This is for me..."

Chen Huangpi stared at the surreal scene before him. Reflexively, he accepted the pickaxe, and only then noticed that every single Evil Corruption now held a pickaxe of its own. They were already swinging them into the ground.

The one that had given him the tool shot him another look.

As if to say: Break's over. Get to work.

Pickaxe in hand, Chen Huangpi began digging, groaning inwardly. "Huang Er, you were right. The air up here really isn't sweet at all. I assumed this column of Evil Corruptions saved me out of kindness. Turns out they rescued me so I could do corvée labor for them — mining!"

"What could possibly be worth mining on top of Mount Luopo? Don't tell me they're here for the Soul-Restoring Jade."

"Besides bringing the dead back to life, what else would you use that for? You couldn't use it for god-creation... could you?"