Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 129: Turning Back — Nails! Nails!

"Huang Er, are you sure you're not mistaken?"

Chen Huangpi said in surprise. "They were clearly good people. How could they be evil spirits?"

"Good people?"

The Brass Oil Lamp scoffed. "You're blind right now — you can't see the hunger and greed in their eyes. But I saw it plain as day. They just hid it very well."

"I noticed it too."

The Fox Mountain God frowned. "But calling them evil spirits based on that alone seems a bit hasty, doesn't it?"

What were evil spirits?

They were eldritch things that hid by day and prowled by night, mortal enemies of the living.

They were the byproducts of the Heaven and Earth Mutation.

Some evil spirits could speak in human tongues.Some were lucid, appearing no different from ordinary people.

But if you truly mistook them for humans, the joke would be on you.

The Brass Oil Lamp sneered. "Little fox, what do you know? This lamp is the Nine Nether God Lantern. There is absolutely no chance I'm wrong. They are evil spirits."

"They wore masks and were wrapped in black robes, not a single inch of skin exposed — yet the stench of human flesh on them was unmistakable. They probably gorged themselves before setting out this morning."

"What puzzles me is that their power isn't particularly remarkable — about on par with Mang Shan Jun. So how are they maintaining their sanity?"

The Brass Oil Lamp was thoroughly confounded.

Chen Huangpi thought about it. "Could evil spirits from the outer world be different from those in the Hundred Thousand Mountains?"

The sun and moon of the Hundred Thousand Mountains weren't even the same as those of the outer world.

Differences among evil spirits might also make sense.

But the moment he said it.

Chen Huangpi shook his head and dismissed the idea. "No — in the memories of cultivators like Song Qiuyue, evil spirits in the outer world are no different from those in the Hundred Thousand Mountains. They kill every human on sight, devoid of any reason."

The Fox Mountain God said with a twinge of unease, "Let's hope those four are just an anomaly. If evil spirits could all behave like that, the outer world would be terrifying — who knows how many might be hiding in plain sight among the crowds?"

If evil spirits could pass as perfectly human.

Then who, exactly, was the evil spirit?

"It probably isn't all of them."

The Brass Oil Lamp mused, "Those four evil spirits' condition was highly unstable. They were in a hurry to leave the Hundred Thousand Mountains before dawn — perhaps if they returned too late, they'd devolve into true evil spirits."

True evil spirits — the kind that killed and devoured humans.

Just then.

Chen Huangpi suddenly felt the Golden Horn inside the Soul-Hooking Manual calling out to him frantically.

"Huangpi Daddy! Huangpi Daddy!"

"That golden seal! That golden seal is glowing! It's so bright I can't sleep! I want out! Let me out!"

Hearing this.

Chen Huangpi focused his mind, and a spectral glow rose from the Soul-Hooking Manual.

A moment later, the Golden Horn's massive, fearsome soul-form materialized before him.

The creature opened its enormous maw and spat out a ball of golden light.

The light settled into Chen Huangpi's hand and solidified into a golden square seal.

It was Xu Province Governor Song Tiangang's golden seal.

Previously, after killing Song Tiangang and cremating his remains into the jar.

Chen Huangpi had tossed the golden seal into the Soul-Hooking Manual.

"Let me take a look at what's going on with this seal."

Behind Chen Huangpi, the Magic Tree's spectral form flickered into being.

The all-perceiving ability was his to wield once more.

Just as before.

Song Tiangang's soul was not inside the seal.

But right at that moment.

The Brass Oil Lamp and the Fox Mountain God said in unison, "Wait."

"Chen Huangpi, take a few steps forward."

"What's wrong?"

Chen Huangpi walked a few steps forward.

"A few more."

"Now to the left."

"No — to the right. Go right."

Chen Huangpi had no idea what was happening.

He couldn't see how the golden seal's pulsing glow changed tempo as he shifted direction — quickening or slowing with each step.

Until Chen Huangpi walked toward the back hill.

The seal's light became searingly intense.

As though its owner were ceaselessly calling out to it.

...

Deep in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Chen Five and his three companions, already dozens of miles away, had no idea.

Their cover had been blown by the Brass Oil Lamp with a single glance.

And the lamp's assessment had been almost entirely correct.

"We should've devoured everything on that Mount Yuqiong on our way out."

"Our job's done anyway. Eating a few people to fill our bellies wouldn't hurt."

"Shut up."

Chen Five frowned. "Once we're back in Xuzhou City, there'll be plenty of people for us to eat."

"Boss, we are evil spirits now, after all."

You Eleven said helplessly. "The nails keep us looking human by force, but it goes against our nature. Are you telling me you don't feel the urge to devour every human you see?"

The reason they could remain lucid despite being evil spirits.

Was because a nail had been driven into each of their souls.

These nails possessed some eerie power that suppressed their base instincts.

But each day, the nails developed rust.

If they weren't replaced within a year, they would lose their rationality forever.

Chen Five said impassively, "If His Majesty's plan succeeds, we won't need to eat humans anymore."

"True enough..."

"My nail's almost due for replacement."

"Mine too, but I'm still a few merits short."

"Boss has the most merits of all of us. After this Xu Province affair wraps up, he should qualify for a better nail."

"Still not quite enough."

Chen Five shook his head, unwilling to say more on the subject.

His merits were indeed substantial.

Enough to qualify for a better nail, certainly.

But to obtain the Dragon Nail — the one corresponding to his zodiac rank — he fell far short.

In fact, Chen Five suspected that particular Dragon Nail had already been claimed by someone else long ago.

Because his designation was Chen Five.

Above him stood Chen Four, Chen Three, Chen Two — all the way up to Chen One.

And above the Twelve Earthly Branches sat the Ten Heavenly Stems.

Twenty-two master nails in total.

All the others were merely imitations. But one of those master nails was most certainly genuine.

Chen Five's memories from his time as a living human had grown dim.

But he still remembered what happened after he became an evil spirit.

It was the spring of the fourth year of the Qingli era.

He had awakened in a region of absolute darkness. That lightless void was filled with many evil spirits just like him.

But none of that mattered.

What mattered was the colossal deity statue standing in that darkness.

In the center of that statue's brow, a massive nail had been driven in.

The nail was golden, etched with countless black runes.

One end was buried deep in the statue's forehead. The other protruded outward.

The nail seemed alive.

As though it were boring its way into the very depths of the statue's soul.

Chen Five had once suspected that the golden nail might be the true mother nail — the original from which all others derived. But he had only seen it that once, and even in his private thoughts, he dared speculate only in silence. He had never spoken of it to anyone.

But right at that moment.

All four of them came to an abrupt halt in midair.

They turned to look behind them, and saw a mountain.

Atop the mountain, countless yellow dots shimmered.

Each one was a clone of the Brass Oil Lamp, glowing.

"Someone practiced the ancient methods and turned into an evil spirit..."

"Who could it be?"

"Who do you think?"

"His Majesty has decreed time and again that cultivators are forbidden from hoarding ancient methods. But those great families openly comply while secretly disobeying. Luckily, I was also an evil spirit born from practicing ancient methods before the nail was driven into me — so I can see right through his transformation."

"Let's go back and pay Governor Song a visit."

"And that blind kid. He was honest when he spoke — he probably has no idea Song Tiangang was hiding right there in his temple. As the saying goes, ignorance is innocence. We might as well split him between us."

"Be careful."

Chen Five's mind was not as far gone as the other three's.

When Song Tiangang had fled into the Hundred Thousand Mountains, he'd been uninjured.

On top of that, he'd had the golden seal's empowerment.

For him to have resorted to ancient methods and devolved into an evil spirit, he must have faced a mortal crisis — with no other way out.

...

The back hill of the Pure Immortal Temple was a vegetable garden.

Chen Huangpi rode Golden Horn, with the Brass Oil Lamp and the Fox Mountain God in tow, and quickly reached the spot.

The golden seal's glow grew ever more brilliant.

It bathed the entire back hill in a radiance as bright as day.

The vegetables planted in the fields — wheat, melons, herbs — all perked up the instant they saw Chen Huangpi arrive.

One after another, they began clamoring.

"Chen Huangpi, you've been slacking off lately."

"You haven't visited the back hill in ages! Look — my wheat ears are nearly as big as a human head! The aroma is incredible! Hurry up, grab a sickle and cut my head off. And remember: grind me with a stone mill, multiple passes — that's how you get the most flour."

"Eat radish in winter, ginger in summer. Chen Huangpi, you don't have the guts to eat ginger — but do you have the guts to eat me?"

"Of course I do."

With that, Chen Huangpi casually yanked the loudest radish out of the soil. The radish excitedly shook the dirt off itself.

Then — crunch.

Chen Huangpi bit its head clean off.

"Ptoo, ptoo, ptoo."

Chen Huangpi spat the radish out. "Why is it so spicy? This is terrible."

The radish's severed head lay on the ground.

Barely clinging to life, it burst into laughter: "Ha ha ha! Bet you didn't expect that — I'm a hot radish! Mom, Dad — Chen Huangpi has finally been tricked by your son! I've accomplished what ten generations of our ancestors could not! From now on, your son is the ancestor!"

With that, the radish breathed its last in perfect contentment.

Golden Horn, visiting the back hill for the first time, was stunned speechless.

"Huangpi Daddy, that radish — and the wheat — what are these things?"

"What do you mean, 'what are they?'"

Chen Huangpi said in confusion. "They're radishes and wheat. Isn't this what they're always like?"

"Country bumpkin."

The Brass Oil Lamp urged him on. "Forget about them. Quick — head to the scallion patch. I can sense the aura of an evil spirit."

Not far away.

The human-tall scallions in the scallion field were sound asleep.

They had been making a ruckus all day. At night, naturally, they needed their rest.

They hadn't even stirred when Chen Huangpi walked by.

But within the scallion field.

An intensely eerie aura was slowly rising to the surface.

In the air, a dreamlike, murmuring voice drifted:

"Immortal... become Immortal..."

"Song Tiangang!"

Chen Huangpi nodded in understanding. "Song Qiuyue's memories contained information about the ancient methods. After the Heaven and Earth Mutation, the moment a cultivator practiced the ancient methods, grotesque growths would sprout from their body — and they would transform into an evil spirit."

"Once the process starts, it cannot be reversed."

"It seems Song Tiangang must have activated the ancient methods right before death."

"Let me see what kind of evil spirit he's become."

The moment those words left his mouth.

Chen Huangpi channeled the Magic Tree's power without a moment's hesitation.

In the darkness, a sound like rainfall cascaded through the air — the rustle of the Magic Tree's branches quivering.

The canopy blotted out sky and stars.

And it cracked open — a single slit.

An eye opened. A colossal eye: darkness for a pupil, the crimson moon for an iris.

The Magic Tree's eye was also Chen Huangpi's eye.

Through the vision of this evil spirit, this Calamity, he saw it — hidden in the scallion field, a cocoon invisible to the naked eye.

The cocoon straddled the border between illusion and reality.

A single glance at it gave Chen Huangpi a disorienting, dreamlike sense of unreality.

And inside the cocoon, a caterpillar bearing Song Tiangang's face writhed and squirmed.

The caterpillar's body was covered in countless nauseating black dots.

One look.

And Chen Huangpi was thoroughly revolted.

His scalp crawled. He shouted, "Huang Er — burn it! Burn it now!"