Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 98: Into the Black Coffin

Chen Huangpi had no parents.

From childhood to now, he'd only ever had Master and the Brass Oil Lamp for company.

So watching Yi Qingzhou weep like an ordinary mortal left Chen Huangpi feeling somewhat helpless.

"Yi Qingzhou, stop crying."

Chen Huangpi said. "I'll agree to your request. When my cultivation is strong enough, I'll come and kill you and deliver your remains to your mother. Is there anything you'd like me to tell her for you?"

The fifteen minutes were nearly up.

Soon, Yi Qingzhou would lose his mind entirely and become nothing more than a mindlessly murderous immortal corpse.

The next time they met might look nothing like this.

Hearing Chen Huangpi's words.

Yi Qingzhou opened his mouth several times but couldn't manage a single word.In the end, he could only say, "I'll write a letter home and keep it on my body. That will be enough."

Some things, after all, could never be entrusted to another's lips.

Chen Huangpi, however, had a thought of his own.

'If I were Yi Qingzhou, I definitely wouldn't bother writing a letter. I'd just make some kind of recording device and send that instead. Otherwise, what was the point of cultivating to immortality if you end up doing things the same way as an ordinary person?'

Yi Qingzhou read Chen Huangpi's thoughts.

But he merely chuckled once and said nothing more.

"Time's almost up."

With that, Yi Qingzhou waved a hand, and the frozen flow of time around them resumed.

Everything that had been suspended returned to normal.

As though only a split second had passed.

At this moment.

On this immense altar, aside from Chen Huangpi's group, only the Deity of Broad Sight remained, along with Mang Shan Jun, Song Jiu, and a swarm of lesser evil spirits.

Yi Qingzhou asked, "Do you want these evil spirits killed as well?"

At those words, every one of them turned to look at Chen Huangpi.

Among them were the underlings of Lord Huangpi.

Though underlings came in varying degrees of closeness.

These particular followers had joined of their own volition — unlike the earlier ones, who had formally signed contracts and pledged through notarized debt agreements.

Chen Huangpi thought for a moment. "I'm a reasonable person. You and I have no grudge between us, so naturally I won't kill you. But letting you go just like that — that's not something I'm willing to do either."

One evil spirit thought about it, then picked up a stone.

Chen Huangpi recognized it.

It was the same one that had tried to trade him a rock for black smoke back at the market.

After all this time.

It was still just as shameless.

And the others, seeing this, promptly followed suit.

Chen Huangpi shook his head. "I don't want rocks. I don't want sticks either. And you — what are you doing ripping off its head? Put it back right now."

The evil spirits obediently complied.

But the truth was, they were all dirt poor.

They had nothing of value to offer.

Chen Huangpi thought for a moment, then produced the Soul-Hooking Manual.

The Soul-Hooking Manual possessed extraordinarily mysterious powers.

But in practical terms, it had become somewhat useless to Chen Huangpi at this point. He mostly just used it as a portable storage space for odds and ends.

Even if these evil spirits signed binding contracts.

Even if they pledged their lives to him, they could still breach the agreement.

And in the end, he'd still have to send the Life-reaping Ghost to kill them.

That ran counter to what Chen Huangpi wanted.

But right then, the Life-reaping Ghost chimed in unexpectedly. "Don't worry, Master. Go ahead and sign them up freely. Once they've signed, I have a way to make them serve you loyally."

Chen Huangpi was surprised. "You mean that?"

He was the contract holder. If the Soul-Hooking Manual truly had such a function, he should have known about it.

The Life-reaping Ghost said in a low, eerie tone, "The Soul-Hooking Manual is incomplete..."

That single sentence told Chen Huangpi all he needed to know.

Looking at the crowd of evil spirits staring at him with hopeful eyes.

Chen Huangpi said flatly, "No need to worry. Go ahead and pledge your lives to me. Once you've signed, we're all family."

"Thank you, Lord Huangpi!"

"The King is a good evil spirit!"

"From now on, we're all surnamed Huang!"

The evil spirits were ecstatic, lining up one by one to sign and stamp their marks.

Those without hands who couldn't write simply pressed their claws down as handprints.

Once it was all done.

Yi Qingzhou willed it, and every one of them vanished — teleported out of the God-Burying Mound.

He was imprisoned here, unable to leave.

But sending others away was effortless.

And right then.

Song Jiu and Mang Shan Jun exchanged a glance.

As though they had come to some decision.

Song Jiu turned to Chen Huangpi and was about to speak when a branch materialized from thin air and punched clean through his skull.

The Brass Oil Lamp sneered. "Stupid mutt. You didn't seriously think you'd get to live, did you?"

A wisp of pale smoke drifted into the Soul-Hooking Manual.

Chen Huangpi then turned his gaze to Mang Shan Jun.

Mang Shan Jun let out a bitter laugh. "I only regret not joining forces with Calamity Eye to kill you when I had the chance. Instead, you got to lord it over me, riding on an immortal's coattails. Go on then — make it quick. If there's a next life, even if I'm reborn as a stray dog, I'll sink my teeth into you and taste your flesh all the same!"

At these words.

The Brass Oil Lamp grinned.

Because it saw that Chen Huangpi was grinning too.

That smile made Mang Shan Jun's scalp tingle.

Chen Huangpi studied Mang Shan Jun's head and said dismissively, "Drop the 'this lord' act. Other people might not know your true form, but I've read plenty of books. I know you're a monkey."

"Heh."

Mang Shan Jun had expected some sinister trick.

It hadn't anticipated mere ridicule. A shame the boy was so shortsighted.

Its true form wasn't a monkey.

It was a mandrill — a mandrill that had been venerated as an Arhat.

But why was Chen Huangpi staring so intently at its head?

Surely he didn't mean to chop it off?

The next second.

Chen Huangpi's words dissolved every question. "Monkey brains — an excellent tonic!"

Chen Huangpi's tone was entirely earnest.

Hearing this.

Mang Shan Jun's expression became spectacularly colorful.

Then it watched the immortal wave his hand with a look of resignation. It felt a tightness around its neck, its vision went dark, and consciousness fled entirely.

With a heavy thud.

Mang Shan Jun's body rapidly shrank and crashed to the ground.

Around its neck hung a collar.

A chain trailed from the end.

It looked just like a one-legged monkey freshly escaped from a cage.

Chen Huangpi slapped the Soul-Hooking Manual.

A flicker of spectral light enveloped Mang Shan Jun and drew it into the pages.

Yi Qingzhou said, "With that collar in place, the creature can't cause any trouble. You need only will it — life or death, it's entirely your call."

"Only..."

Yi Qingzhou hesitated. "Monkey brains as a tonic? But it's a mandrill..."

Chen Huangpi said, "A mandrill is still a monkey. If anything, it's an even better supplement!"

Master was dead right now.

But soon enough, he'd bring Master back to life. When Master woke up, his body would definitely be frail.

A few servings of monkey brains to fortify him.

Surely then, Master wouldn't still be angry about being drugged unconscious.

At that point.

Chen Huangpi turned to the Deity of Broad Sight. "Come back to the Pure Immortal Temple with me. Later, we'll travel to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty together. How does that sound?"

The Great Qian Immortal Dynasty was sealed.

Powerful as the Deity of Broad Sight was, it surely couldn't break through that seal.

Even if they crossed the Nine Dao Sea and scaled the Triple Mountains, they still wouldn't be able to enter.

The Deity of Broad Sight hesitated as well.

"I committed a wrong..."

"You had your reasons. You did nothing wrong."

"That's not how it works. A wrong is a wrong. The two shouldn't be conflated."

"Then let me be the judge!"

That declaration — "let me be the judge" — threw the Deity of Broad Sight off balance.

Because Chen Huangpi's tone was absolutely serious, identical to the tone he'd used when he told it to get behind him so he could block Calamity Eye's sword light.

"Very well. Then you shall be the judge."

The Deity of Broad Sight nodded. "When the time comes for you to journey to the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty, I shall carry you there on my back. Let those cultivators, those immortals, see just how magnificent you truly are."

It was a deity of the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.

At the height of its power, it could have stirred the heavens and shaken the earth — extraordinary, divine. Otherwise, the Guanzhu would never have brought it to the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

If it carried Chen Huangpi there.

It would certainly shock everyone who laid eyes on them.

Chen Huangpi grinned broadly. "Then after you leave the God-Burying Mound, go wait for me at the Pure Immortal Temple. When I get back, I'm going to sneak some of your offerings again!"

"It's a promise!"

The Deity of Broad Sight made its pledge to Chen Huangpi.

Then it, too, was sent out of the God-Burying Mound by Yi Qingzhou.

Now.

Upon this vast, immeasurable altar, only Yi Qingzhou and Chen Huangpi remained.

The Brass Oil Lamp urged, "The fifteen minutes are almost up. Chen Huangpi, we need to go."

After fifteen minutes.

Yi Qingzhou would lose all clarity.

He would become nothing but a mindless, murderously rampaging immortal corpse.

Because, at his core, he was an evil spirit.

Yi Qingzhou smiled. "You should go now. I'd rather you not see what I become."

"I cultivate very fast. I'll come find you soon."

Chen Huangpi took one long, deep look at Yi Qingzhou.

Then he turned and walked toward the black coffin.

The coffin opened on its own — Yi Qingzhou controlled it from afar.

Inside, an endless flood of water-like black smoke surged outward. That was the source. It looked similar to the black smoke on Chen Huangpi, yet was fundamentally different.

Because his was far more pure.

Chen Huangpi stared at the source, and his brow suddenly creased.

He had a nagging feeling he'd forgotten something.

So he asked, "Does this source have any connection to the black smoke on me?"

"No."

Yi Qingzhou's voice carried a faint edge of something savage. "This source originates from me. It is my death qi, my immortal power. In a certain sense, I am the source."

"Chen Huangpi, you really need to go now!"

With that, Yi Qingzhou snapped his head up to look at Chen Huangpi, and the endless torrent of source energy surged forward.

Before Chen Huangpi could react.

It swept him into the black coffin.

Immediately, the lid slammed shut.

The bronze oil lamps at the altar's eight cardinal points flickered — bright, then dim, bright, then dim.

Their cold glow fell upon Yi Qingzhou, stretching his shadow long and twisted across the stone.

"No."

Yi Qingzhou's expression suddenly shifted, as though something had occurred to him. Terror crept into his voice. "Why didn't I tell him there are three thousand God-Burying Mounds in the Hundred Thousand Mountains..."

"Wait — three thousand God-Burying Mounds?"

"The Guanzhu brought exactly three thousand immortals from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty..."

"No, no, no!"

"How did I die? Why was I sealed here?"

Yi Qingzhou's face contorted, his body writhing, his skin draining of all its jade-like luster to a deathly white. Great splotches of dark, purplish-black marks bloomed across his flesh.

The next second.

Darkness swallowed the altar whole.

In the black, there came a faint, skittering sound.

Then a deranged, anguished howl tore through the void: "Why is there a nail in my primordial spirit?!"

"AAAAAAH!!"

"Kill, kill! KILL!"