Chapter 131 Who are you going to kill?
Little Mudball sank into the two shadows, one fat and one thin, then removed the last, moderately sized shadow from the wall. As she raised her arm, her movement suddenly stopped. Pingyu grabbed her wrist, his gaze deep: "Is that enough?"
Little Mud shook off her hand, handed the shadow to Pingyu, and then walked outside as instructed.
The thick curtain over the haystack was drawn, and the three stood facing each other outside the door. Little Muddy, clutching the mud on his hands, cut to the chase: "You want to kill me."
Pingyu hadn't expected her to be so blunt.
Little Muddy's fox-like eyes stared intently at her, pupils as small as needles. She spoke of her own death and the deaths of others so easily, appearing completely indifferent to everything.
The demon child himself had little cultivation, and his evil magic was only effective against mortals. For Ping Yu and Nezha, killing the little mud boy was a piece of cake. Due to the vast difference in strength, Ping Yu was more interested in understanding the cause and course of events than simply and efficiently eliminating the demon.
She asked, "I will not interfere if you kill the evildoer, but why are you involving the innocent stall owner? Transactions are conducted with money, which is the proper way. He did not humiliate you."
"Because it's too late."
Little Muddy pointed at her: "You've come, but it's too late."
What's too late?
"But I stopped making shadow paintings a long time ago."
Little Mud looked confused, as if she didn't understand why Ping Yu would say something so harmless. She looked at the two of them in surprise, and as their eyes met, she said, "Whether you have your face or not is none of my business. As long as the human soul is restored, Peipei's mother's eyes and mouth can be restored to normal."
“My father is dead, so I have no intention of resurrecting him,” Little Mud explained, word by word. “I just want Peipei’s mother to get better.”
The motives given by the parties involved differed from those revealed by Master Hui. When Little Mud stirred up the shadow of Peipei's soul in the haystack, Pingyu clearly saw an eye emerge from it. Was Little Mud doing all this simply to restore the five deficiencies and three lacks to health? Nezha, who was watching from the side, lightly tapped his fingertip upon hearing this. The Hun Tian Ling instantly appeared, sharply wrapping around the girl's slender neck.
He pulled Ping Yu aside and emphasized, "These rumors are not to be believed."
Nezha took Pingyu's place, his Hun Tian Ling (a magical ribbon) choking Xiao Niba until he could hardly breathe. He looked down at the child and said, "If you don't tell me the reason, I'll kill you. You can imagine what state the blind girl would be in if you died now."
Little Mudball didn't care about her own life or death, but she valued Peipei's life more than anyone else's. Before the ceremony was over, she was still able to steal and hunt to barely make a living. If she died now, Peipei, without anyone to care for her, would probably be devoured by these scoundrels until there was nothing left. Her face was pale, and she clutched the red ribbon around her neck, saying, "I'll talk, I'll talk!"
The magic ribbon loosened slightly, allowing her to catch her breath. With her weakness exploited, Little Muddy obediently said, "My father died a long time ago."
Driven by the desire for pleasure and to please Daji, King Zhou mobilized the entire nation to build the magnificent Star-Picking Tower. Millions of slaves were conscripted, and fine timber transported from all over the land was bound together with blood, flesh, and tears to create the tower, a structure designed to invite immortals to admire its grandeur.
On the day the extravagant skyscraper was completed, Daji summoned countless fox demons to transform into celestial beings and dance and sing within its walls. Little Mud's father was one of them. Troubled by his troubles, he sought solace in wine. However, demons cannot hold their liquor, and halfway through the banquet, he and his companions revealed their fox tails. As they departed, they were burned to ashes in a cave by Bigan and Huang Feihu.
Little Mud's biological father also died on that day.
After his death, no one could control Little Mudball's actions anymore. Compared to the peasant girl she had never met, Peipei, who accompanied her day and night, was more like her mother. Thus, the evil magic that resurrected others was quietly replaced with Taoist arts that healed the disabled.
To mend Peipei's disability, she employed the "harvesting yang to replenish yin" method from the Shadow Divination Technique. After they assaulted the blind girl, Little Mud would follow them, peel off their shadows, and feed them to Peipei's soul. Now, all that was needed was the souls of two more to complete Peipei. Little Mud's statement that "there wasn't enough time" stemmed from this.
Whether it's shadow-binding or absorbing yang energy to replenish the soul, both are acts against the natural order. People are prejudiced against demons and have high expectations of women. Little Mud was worried that if Pingyu and Nezha found out about this, they would stop her. To avoid any complications, she took in the shadow of the noodle stall owner instead.
Now, the shadow she shouldn't have taken has been returned to Pingyu. Little Mud felt she hadn't done anything wrong. After saying this, she lowered her head, refusing to look at Pingyu and Nezha. She tapped the ground with her toes and said to the two, "You can kill me, but could you wait until I heal Peipei's mother first?"
Fifth Master Gray only knew the initial cause of the trouble, but he didn't know that the motive had changed beyond recognition as the incident progressed. This relieved Nezha's confusion; he realized that no one would go to such lengths for a blood relative they had never met. If Little Mud only used the souls of those who deserved to die to do their bidding, they might let the other party go.
However, Pingyu still had some questions to ask:
"Did you get Peipei's consent for what you did? Or was Wang Tian aware of it?"
“Of course!” Little Mud’s tone became cheerful. “Although Wang Tian is a cook, he has served in the army for many years. These farmers think they can cover up the truth, but how can their superficial and perfunctory cover-ups fool him? He is only taking care of Peipei’s mother out of a sense of responsibility. If this method can help Peipei’s mother regain her sight and speech, he has no reason to refuse.”
"As for Peipei's mother..." she said, "Men are medicine to her. As long as they can heal her physical defects, she is willing to do anything."
Those people are evil, not good.
Those who bully mute girls and abuse children deserve to die.
But Nezha was right; words spoken by demons cannot be trusted. They wouldn't just listen to Xiao Niba's side of the story. Pingyu possessed her and leaned closer, saying, "I can stay here for two more days. Provided that innocent people are not killed indiscriminately, I'll give you two days to complete this magic. If you exceed the deadline, we will take over Peipei's transformation."
"Two...two days...?"
Little Muddy read the date aloud and suddenly felt uneasy. She muttered, "The date is too short, where am I going to find the souls of two people who deserve to die?...Wait!" Before she finished speaking, her eyes darted around, and she realized something. Little Muddy counted on her fingers, then quickly looked up at Pingyu solemnly, "Okay!"
The child was just troubled, so why is she answering so readily now? Pingyu scrutinized her suspiciously, warning her repeatedly, "I said we must not harm the innocent. Whose soul do you want to take?"
But then Little Mudball raised her hand high, then touched it to the tip of her own nose and said, "Me!"
Author's Note: I've been so busy with work lately, so I'll have to postpone this extra chapter TT
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