Yellow Skinned Taoist Master

Chapter 102: Let Me See What You Really Are!

Evil Corruptions were essentially the same as evil spirits.

Only, in the Underworld Yellow Spring, they were called Evil Corruptions.

And there was no classification system of evil spirits, Disasters, Calamities, or Misfortunes here.

Because the Underworld Yellow Spring effectively contained only two Evil Corruptions.

One was the Yellow Spring.

The other was the Yin Lands.

But the Ferryman had said that Chen Huangpi was also part of the Underworld Yellow Spring. That he, too, was an Evil Corruption.

And its tone had been utterly certain.

As if Chen Huangpi were a creature born and bred by the Underworld Yellow Spring itself.

"Ridiculous."Chen Huangpi scoffed inwardly.

Sure, he'd been born from an egg — but that egg came from the Great Qian Immortal Dynasty.

He'd later hatched in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

If anything, he was part of the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

What did the Underworld Yellow Spring have to do with him?

Don't tell me I grew up drinking Yellow Spring water and eating Yin Land dirt?

That would just be bizarre.

Still, this Ferryman gave Chen Huangpi a deeply strange feeling.

He couldn't gauge its strength at all.

It seemed no different from an ordinary mortal.

He wasn't sure what to make of it, and they had no grudge between them.

So although Chen Huangpi found the claim laughable, he politely asked, "Elder, A Gui and Golden Horn are both creatures of the Underworld Yellow Spring. So are you. We're all family here. Can you tell me how to save them? I'll repay you."

The Life-reaping Ghost and Golden Horn both felt a surge of warmth at those words.

They knew exactly what kind of person Chen Huangpi was.

He liked to fib, liked to boast, and was utterly shameless.

And slyly devious to boot.

But when it came to the people at his side, he never spoke empty words.

The Ferryman replied in its chilling voice, "After nightfall, the Evil Corruptions will crawl out of the Yellow Spring to kill them. There is no escape — unless you bring them back to the mortal world."

"One day in the mortal world equals one year down here."

"Before the next earth dragon turning, they can stay alive."

At this.

Chen Huangpi let out a breath of relief.

Earth dragon turnings happened frequently in the Hundred Thousand Mountains.

Though they were brief, once he revived Master, if those Evil Corruptions dared come to the surface, Master would surely deal with them.

But while that was his thinking.

The Brass Oil Lamp was considering something else entirely.

An earth dragon turning occurred once every three hundred sixty-five years.

And the last one hadn't been that long ago.

Those Evil Corruptions would have to wait a very long time before they could seize an earth dragon turning to crawl up and hunt the Life-reaping Ghost and Golden Horn.

However, the situation for them was different.

"Chen Huangpi, ask the Ferryman how to get back to the mortal world."

The Brass Oil Lamp urged mentally.

They had arrived in the Underworld Yellow Spring through the black coffin. Surely they couldn't retrace their route through it.

A now-completely-insane Yi Qingzhou was up there.

Chen Huangpi naturally understood this.

So he asked, "Elder, do you know how to get back to the mortal world?"

But the Ferryman replied, "You came a certain way. Why not just go back the same way? Why ask me?"

Chen Huangpi was instantly at a loss for words.

True — the original plan had indeed been to return the way they came.

The problem was, the passage in the God-Burying Mound turned out to be inside Yi Qingzhou's coffin.

For a moment.

Chen Huangpi felt absolutely stuck.

But the Life-reaping Ghost murmured, "Master, this is precisely why I insisted you bring a Son of Diting."

Chen Huangpi looked at Golden Horn.

"Huangpi Dad, I..."

Golden Horn hesitated.

Back in the old days, the Daoists of the Pure Immortal Temple had come to the Underworld Yellow Spring to excavate yellow mud.

That was considered a grave offense here — a serious taboo.

And yet Golden Horn had told those Daoists exactly where the best, most abundant yellow mud could be found.

It had even guided them on a shortcut back to the mortal world.

That was its ability as a Son of Diting.

Silver Horn — the younger sibling — wasn't nearly as talented in that regard.

But so many years had passed, and with the Heaven and Earth Mutation, the connection between the Underworld Yellow Spring and the mortal world had been severed in normal times. The only ways through were during earth dragon turnings, or through anomalous places like the God-Burying Mound.

Those old paths might have long since collapsed.

Still, looking at the hopeful expression in Chen Huangpi's eyes.

Golden Horn couldn't bring itself to say anything discouraging.

So it gritted its teeth and gave its word. "Don't worry, Huangpi Dad. Once we've gotten the Soul-Restoring Jade, leave the trip home to me. I know an even shorter route. As long as we don't die, we'll definitely make it out."

"Good!"

Chen Huangpi's heart settled, and without further hesitation, he turned to the Ferryman. "Please take us to the nearest Mount Luopo."

"Of course."

The Ferryman smiled. "So — do you have anything on you that you can give me?"

"I have money."

Chen Huangpi produced a handful of copper coins.

Besides his own string of coins, there was also the money Song Qiuyue and those other cultivators had pooled together earlier.

"I don't want money."

The Ferryman's voice turned cold. "That stuff is worse than dirt."

"Then what do you want?"

Chen Huangpi frowned. "Apart from money, I don't have much else to give you."

"That's not necessarily true."

The Ferryman turned its gaze upon Chen Huangpi.

In the countless eons of its existence, it had ferried untold beings across the Yellow Spring and through the Yin Lands.

Not every passenger carried something of great value.

So the Ferryman simply picked the best from what was available.

Its eyes could see the most valuable thing on a person's body.

And so, the Ferryman's gaze fell on the sword behind Chen Huangpi's back.

Jet-black, archaic in design. The Void-Piercing Sword.

Chen Huangpi frowned. "I can't give you Dongxu. Yi Qingzhou gave it to me."

"An Evil Corruption forged into the scabbard and blade... this sword is alive. That Yi Qingzhou you speak of is quite skilled. I am no match for him. But there seems to be something else hidden within this sword. Let me take a closer look."

As the Ferryman spoke, its gaze — as solid and sharp as any real blade — pierced directly through the Void-Piercing Sword's scabbard and into its core.

Drip... drip...

Two trails of gray, blood-like tears slid from beneath the Ferryman's hood and splattered onto the bamboo raft.

The Ferryman had seen it.

Seen it clearly.

It was a sword reflection. Razor-sharp, terrifying beyond measure.

The reflection itself wasn't particularly powerful.

A sword passes, leaving its shadow — that was all.

The shadow wasn't strong. But the sword that had cast it was.

"Take it away. Take it away now."

The Ferryman's voice trembled with fear. "Why do you have that sword's reflection on you? Are you here to destroy me?"

Chen Huangpi said, "You mean the True Void Sword?"

"No, no, no..."

The Ferryman waved its hands frantically. "Don't say its name. Don't tell me anything about that sword. I'm not done living yet."

"Put it away! Put it away!"

"All right."

Chen Huangpi relented and stored the Void-Piercing Sword inside the Soul-Hooking Manual.

This visibly relieved the Ferryman.

"That sword..."

"What sword?"

The Ferryman waved dismissively. "You don't have any sword. I didn't see anything."

But even as it said this, it couldn't help stealing another glance at Chen Huangpi.

Carrying the shadow of that sword.

What exactly was this Evil Corruption?

And with that glance.

The Ferryman went rigid.

It saw, within Chen Huangpi's body, bizarre characters in gold and black — flowing like depictions of flowers, birds, fish, and insects.

Then it looked at the brass oil lamp beside him.

The Brass Oil Lamp's true, hidden form was laid bare before the Ferryman's eyes.

The Nine Nether God Lantern...

Its surface was the color of aged, corroded bronze.

The Brass Oil Lamp scowled. "What are you staring at? Never seen a lamp before?"

"I have. More than once, in fact."

The Ferryman let out a sigh and smiled. Then it turned to Chen Huangpi. "Your companion just now called you Chen Huangpi. Your surname is Chen?"

"Yes, I'm surnamed Chen."

Chen Huangpi asked, puzzled. "Elder, is there something wrong with my surname?"

"No — and please stop calling me 'Elder.' I'm actually quite young."

The Ferryman fought to keep its voice level, but it couldn't stop itself from bending down low and speaking in the gentlest tone it had ever used in its entire existence. "You want to go to Mount Luopo, right? I'll take you there right now. And then — just pretend you never saw me. Can you do that?"

"Please."

"Okay."

Chen Huangpi said with some confusion. "Then what do you want in return?"

"Payment?"

The Ferryman stared at the copper coins in Chen Huangpi's hand. It studied them intently. Once it confirmed they were genuinely just ordinary copper coins, it exhaled.

"Money is perfectly fine! I absolutely love money!"

"How much do you want?"

"How much should I want?"

"How would I know?"

"Then I'll just take one copper coin. Um... does that seem fair?"

"Sure."

The word barely left his mouth before the Ferryman snatched a single coin. Without a heartbeat's hesitation, it swept its robes through the air.

The gray fog churned and surged.

The Ferryman drove its bamboo pole into the Yellow Spring.

In the blink of an eye, the entire raft appeared beside a distant shoreline.

"That fast?"

Chen Huangpi exclaimed in amazement. "I thought it would take at least a while."

"You need to get back to the mortal world. Time is precious for you."

The Ferryman urged, "Get ashore. Now. You have eight two-hour periods before nightfall. If you haven't returned to the mortal world by then, split up immediately. That Son of Diting and that member of the Yellow Spring Nether Race — if they die, they die. Their species are extinct anyway. You're different. If you can run, run."

"And also — we never met. We have absolutely never met!"

With that, the Ferryman rapped its pole against the raft.

Chen Huangpi, the Brass Oil Lamp, and the others were instantly deposited on the shore.

Without the slightest pause.

The Ferryman plunged its pole into the Yellow Spring.

And vanished as though fleeing for its life.

It truly was fleeing.

As it fled.

Its mind screamed in silent hysteria. 'Flowers, birds, fish, and insects. Gold and black. It's that egg. It has to be that egg.'

'No wonder it carries the aura of the Underworld Yellow Spring.'

'It's already hatched — why on earth is it back?! Visiting its old home?!'

Even as these thoughts raced, the Ferryman kept hammering the raft with its pole.

Ripples spread rapidly outward.

It was sending this intelligence to every other Ferryman.

Upon the Yellow Spring, there were untold numbers of Ferrymen.

They never set foot on land.

And within the Yellow Spring, they could relay messages through the ripples at any time.

Wherever the ripples passed.

More and more Ferrymen learned that the egg had returned — not only returned, but had truly hatched and been born.

"Nobody ferry it! Don't let it into the water!"

"The Yellow Spring can't go dry again! Let it go wreak havoc on the Yin Lands. Hardly anyone there recognizes what it is."

"Stop talking. After nightfall, that one wakes up. It will hear you."

"I'm still young! I've only lived a few hundred thousand years! I haven't lived enough — will you all please shut up!"