Chapter 42: The Stars Shift and the World Changes

You Xiao hugged the jar tightly, almost collapsing to the ground: "Monster!"

Under Cang Ming's astonished gaze, the dead men began to stomp their feet and jog on the spot, turning back and forth, left and right, as if looking for direction.

The leader suddenly hung his head and shouted, "Move!"

With a sudden crash, thousands of stiff bodies scattered, dragging their limbs into the forest of red candles. A moment later, they came out again, holding all kinds of objects.

The training ground was bustling with activity. Some men were wielding spears and clubs, others were standing on the ground mending clothes. Some were diligently sweeping the courtyard, wiping the ground inch by inch with rags. Many were plowing the fields ahead, while others, carrying baskets, were sowing seeds evenly behind them.

What's even more outrageous is that there is an extremely elite team that was building fortifications on the sidelines, studying combat blueprints, and discussing military strategies in incoherent language.

Although they all have crooked eyes, crooked mouths, hideous faces, and drooping necks, if you ignore these, they can be seen to be very skilled in their actions. Although they stumble and tremble, each move always ends at the edge of danger without failing.

Just as Old Guilian was about to say something, Cang Ming unexpectedly threw out a handful of yellow talismans, which flew across half of the training ground and rushed towards that face at a rapid speed.

The shadow of the flying talisman paper could still be heard in the air. Cang Ming had already flown up and danced with his long sword with great skill. The yellow talismans changed their formation according to the instruction of the sword tip.

Old Guilian, however, seemed prepared and repeated his old trick, pulling his head downwards with both hands, easily dodging the oncoming yellow talisman. He held the head in his hands, the paper-made white face giving Cang Ming a sinister smile.

"How dare you smile so frivolously!" Cang Ming shouted angrily, and with a casual move, two circles of wind-fire wheels opened and closed, his body like a strong grass in the wind. Then he followed up with a series of somersaults, spinning endlessly, which was really dazzling.

The long sword was flying, and the yellow talisman formation was like raindrops in the sky, sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes splitting up, sometimes merging together, surrounding the old ghost lotus in the center, fighting in circles.

Old Guilian was naturally afraid of fire. Whenever the talisman paper approached his white paper door, it would burst into flames with a crackling sound. However, the old man was extremely agile. With a flick of his sleeves, he deflected the flames and tossed the head in his hands back and forth, always avoiding the flying flames.

After a short while, the talisman paper burned out, leaving only a pile of dry leaf powder. Old Guilian smiled triumphantly and put his head back on his neck. Cang Ming leaped back and landed lightly in front of You Xiao to block him.

You Xiao excitedly said from behind, "What a thrilling Kung Fu! I wonder if I can learn it?"

Cang Ming stared at Old Gui Lian and nodded as he replied to You Xiao: "No problem, I will slowly teach you some self-defense skills in the future."

"Thank you, Master Daochang!"

The corpses that had been scattered all over the field, having been frightened away, now dragged themselves over and gathered once more in the training ground.

Old Ghost Lotus cursed: "After all, the time you wear embroidered shoes is too short, a bunch of useless things."

Cang Ming held up his sword and demanded, "How many living people are there in the cave? How many innocent corpses are there?"

"Aren't my loyal corpse servants good enough?" He stroked the large fan on his head, his ink-wash features transforming into a crooked smile. "Your Weiyang Crown absorbs the wisdom essence from the minds of the living, and then puts it on the head of the dead, making the dead act like the living."

Cang Ming's eyelids twitched suddenly. Old Guilian seemed to have known who she was, regardless of whether she was hiding her identity and wearing a mask. You Xiao was still asking, "How could such a deceptive thing exist?"

Old Guilian continued, "My embroidered shoes are simply imitating your Weiyang crowns. You wear them on your heads, and we wear them on your feet. The shoes first consume the vital energy of the living, then slip them onto the feet of the dead, infusing them with wisdom and enabling them to do the things of the living."

The corpses became busy again, their movements strange and ghostly, and it was hard to tell how much intelligence they had.

Cang Ming took a deep breath and said, "Why are you so greedy and create so many servants? No matter how rich and glorious you are, you only have three meals a day and a place to sleep at night."

"General Wu is truly an angel of great enlightenment, always spouting beautiful words." Old Ghost Lotus sneered, "Aren't you, Weiyangguan, also stealing the wisdom of the people and driving the dead? I am upright and honest, and I don't lie. I simply want the dead to hold important positions and the living to be slaves."

You Xiao said indignantly: "The dead absorb wisdom from the living, but then replace the living. This is really against the will of heaven!"

"With no way out for the living, they can only be slaves," Cang Ming said, staring coldly at Old Guilian. "Although the dead may be responsible for important military affairs, they can never betray you. In this way, neither the living nor the dead can shake your position, and you will unify the world."

Old Guilian smiled elegantly and said, "Don't say anything nonsense. I am not the one who will unify the world. The world belongs to our great king!"

"Stop talking nonsense!" Cang Ming was so frantic when he heard that there was a hidden king behind the scenes, "Hand over the Weiyang Crown!"

As soon as Old Guilian raised his hand, the ginseng doll walked up from behind him with its short legs, blinking its little eyes and holding the gorgeous hair crown with the red cloth on its body.

Cang Ming stared at the Weiyang Crown. The relic he had sought for so many years suddenly appeared before his eyes, only to be left with even longer confusion. Over the past decade, so much bloodshed had been caused by this relic, and who could truly explain why?

You Xiao poked his head out from behind Cang Ming and said, "Can you please not capture this little kid and just let it go? Don't you already have so many dead ghosts as servants?"

Old Guilian rolled his eyes at him and said arrogantly, "Do you think I have too many servants? Ask this thing whether it wants to follow me or you?" As he said that, he kicked the ginseng, making it stagger.

"Once we are captured, we will eventually become slaves. If we don't serve Master Lian, we will serve others." Ginseng cowered in front of Old Ghost Lian and glanced at Cang Ming. "Don't you Taoists often use us to make elixirs and medicine?"

Cang Ming began to regret not stripping off its red cloth. Back then, it had tried to trick Cang Ming into helping it regain its freedom, but its tactics were clumsy and aroused suspicion. As Wei Qiang had said, this creature had some clever ideas, but not many.

Just as the ginseng doll was holding the hair crown and retreating in small steps, Cang Ming thrust his sword into the sky, and a whirlwind suddenly arose. Old Guilian's sleeves fluttered, and the bead curtains collided and made sounds.

Without waiting for Old Ghost Lotus to retaliate, Cang Ming rose from his spurs, his sword held high in the air. Whether he was kicking the Purple Gold Crown backward or spinning across the sky like a flying swallow, his movements were as graceful and swift as the night wind. Each move was a result of his will, his hand guiding the sword like grasping a flowing cloud.

For a moment, You Xiao and the group of corpses stared blankly at Cang Ming's figure. It was unpredictable, rising and falling as if without support, its dancing form tensing and relaxing, its swordplay shrouded in meaning and boundless mystery.

A hexagonal snowflake magic circle spread across the underground palace like a fishing net cast across the sea. Old Ghost Lotus, realizing the situation was dire, had already turned and retreated into the candle forest, but there was no way he could escape the overwhelming magic circle.

Suddenly, there was widespread grief and wailing. The embroidered shoes worn by the corpses all jumped up and down, causing the corpses to dance wildly. Old Ghost Lotus fumbled around in the magic circle, and her sleeves were burned so hard that white smoke rose.

Soon, the embroidered shoes were melted by the magic circle's snowy light, burning into a pile of charred, dark red fragments. Without the embroidered shoes, the corpses fell limply to the ground, finally closing their eyes before quickly turning into a pile of bones.

You Xiao shook his head regretfully and said, "It's a pity that he died without a complete body. He can only be buried here, dying in a foreign land."

The red cloth on the ginseng doll was also burned. It jumped three feet high, threw the Weiyang crown into Cang Ming's outstretched hand, and escaped underground.

The hexagonal snowflakes grew brighter, and bursts of fine snow fluttered by, making the cave feel like early winter in the Great Wall. Old Guilian, his fragile head tucked beneath his arms, finally let out a strung-out, operatic scream and collapsed in the center of the magic circle.

Cang Ming also performed the final move, and the longsword slowly descended. Old Ghost Lotus trembled on the ground, his pink and white petal-like robe burned to tatters, and his exposed limbs looked less like lotus flowers and more like rags.

"Old ghost lotus demon, you raped and plundered, made embroidered shoes and killed innocent people, used curses to cause floods and plagues, and stole innocent corpses to serve as servants. Today is the day to atone for your sins!" Cang Ming took off the small gourd with a corner on his belt, read out the charges and verdict as usual, and was about to put him into the gourd and suppress him on the spot at the foot of the mountain.

You Xiao breathed a sigh of joy, patted the jar in his arms and said, "Master Taoist, you took on so many demons and monsters single-handedly. You are so powerful! You must be a god!"

Cang Ming wiped his temples with his sleeve, turned around and smiled, "You're too kind. Actually, since I came to Fengyan City, the monsters I've fought have been particularly powerful. It seems that my strength has improved without me noticing."

The old ghost lotus was gradually shrinking and was about to be sucked into the gourd. He looked at Cang Ming with hatred, and suddenly his face was filled with surprise, as if he saw something behind Cang Ming.

Cang Ming's heart tightened. He only heard him shout, "Master! King!"

Looking back, Wei Ci was standing behind Cang Ming. I didn't know when he appeared, always so silent, just like any other time.

You Xiao: “Ah?”

Wei Ci folded his hands and stared at Old Gui Lian gloomily with his eyes lowered.

Old Guilian pointed at him and shouted desperately: "He is my master, this whole mountain belongs to him, he orders me around, everything..."

With a thud, a huge rock fell from the cave ceiling, emitting a green light like a ghost's fire, and mercilessly smashed into Old Guilian's head. The paper-mache head tilted to one side, and the ink-and-wash features gradually faded. This time, he didn't grow a new head.

Cang Ming looked straight at Wei Ci who was walking towards her step by step, and felt as if the sky was falling and the earth was spinning around her.

Wei Ci looked at her expression and stopped a few steps away from her: "General?"

Cang Ming asked, "His master... is you?" She wanted to shout at him fiercely and punch him in the nose until he bled. But her voice was shaking so badly that by the end of her question, her voice was as soft as a thread and she could hardly speak.

Wei Ci was stunned for a moment and said, "General... do you believe the nonsense he just said?"

"If not, why did you kill him to silence him?" Cang Ming looked into his eyes and asked softly.

Wei Ci remained motionless, his eyes filled with a layer of cold mist, like a rising tide: "I didn't kill him."

You Xiao patted his chest and said sadly, "Didn't we come here to save people? How come everyone died in the end? Not a single one is left?"

Cang Ming suddenly gave Wei Ci a bleak smile: "Did I kill him?"

"General." He stood there like a pine tree. Old Ghost Lotus was dead, the candles in the underground palace had gone out, and the hexagonal snowflake formation was dissipating, the white light of the snow gradually dimming. Wei Ci's face also grew dimmer with the light of the snow.

"This whole mountain is yours?" Cang Ming raised the ice blade sword towards him, but he didn't dodge it. He looked down at her with a look of grief in his eyes.

Cang Ming nodded and said, "No wonder you always tell me not to become a god. I'm afraid you also want to defeat me so that you can monopolize the Weiyang Crown!"

Wei Ci moved his lips but said nothing. The mountain suddenly shook violently, and You Xiao grabbed Cang Ming in time to prevent him from falling.

Then, waves of earthquakes came, one stronger than the other, and rocks of all sizes in the underground palace fell like a meteorite shower.

"Cang Cang!" Wei Ci rushed towards Cang Ming, but was pushed away by her with the hilt of the sword.

Cang Ming dodged and pulled You Xiao up. You Xiao held the jar, and the two of them sprinted back the way they'd come, escaping the underground palace before the mountain collapsed. The huge ancient tree also tilted and swayed due to the earthquake, dropping more leaves, but Cang Ming had no intention of picking them up.

Wei Ci's cry still lingered in her ears, making her feel familiar, so familiar that it was scary, but she couldn't remember anyone calling her that before:

gray.