Chapter 40
Afterwards, Chu Xianyue looked at Xie Wen without any emotion.
It was as if he hadn't done any of those things.
Xie Wen was so angry he wanted to kill him.
Forget it, Xie Wen swallowed his anger. The most urgent thing was to kill that local deity.
Meanwhile, the procession circling the south of the city continued. After completing three laps, everyone's souls would voluntarily be offered as sacrifices to the mountain god.
Xie Wen exclaimed in alarm, "This is bad! We have to stop them right away, we can't let them go in circles anymore, this seems to be the last one! My sister is still inside!"
Xie Wen paced back and forth, trying to forcibly stop the march but to no avail. Chu Xianyue's brow twitched as he asked, "Your older sister? Xie Yichun? Why is she here?"
Xie Wen was so anxious that he jumped up and down, scratching his head and ears. "How should I know? Now is not the time to ask this. Hurry up and think of a solution. Oh right, Pei Xuan and Yun Yan are among them too."
“I saw my older sister in the crowd of people in the parade just now, so I went to chase after her. But then I got separated from you, and I couldn’t find my sister either. Then, I don’t know why, I suddenly found you again. It was as if someone brought me to your side,” Xie Wen said.
Chu Xianyue knew that it was the local earth god who had sent Xie Wen to his side.
Because of his desires.
The Earth God knew his desires and wanted to use Xie Wen to shatter Chu Xianyue's ruthless path, so he could reap the benefits.
Chu Xianyue remembered what he had just done.
He remained completely calm and composed.
I'll remember it when I think of it.
If you want to eliminate desires, isn't the best way to do it by getting them?
Since that was the case, he did just that. And he did indeed regain consciousness.
The Earth God didn't understand the true meaning of the Heartless Path, naively believing that letting Chu Xianyue break the rules would shatter his Heartless Path. He used to cough up blood during meditation simply because he forced himself to remain calm, causing his breathing to become disordered and his Dao heart to become unstable.
Now he understands that his Daoist heart was unstable because he had never dared to face his own heart and his own desires.
If it exists, it exists. If desire exists, it exists. Chu Xianyue accepted it, no longer rejecting or despising this version of herself.
The best way to eliminate desire is to obtain it.
Clearly, the Earth God hasn't grasped this principle yet.
Having grasped these insights, Chu Xianyue felt that his ruthless path had reached a new level, and his spiritual power surged within him.
He leaped into the void, looking down at the people mechanically parading around the south of the city. He summoned a zither, casually plucked its strings, his robes fluttering, and waves of music emanated from his fingertips, shaking the nerves of the people. The parade stopped moving forward, halting in the final circle.
Now, the land god had no choice but to reveal himself, baring his fangs and claws as he urged the procession: "Hurry up, move forward! You were just a little bit away from completely belonging to me!"
Chu Xianyue looked down and saw a man standing below him glaring at him with a greedy glint in his eyes. The man complained, "Well, Chu Xianyue, you've forced me to show myself! You think I'm afraid of you!"
Chu Xianyue, holding the zither, said calmly, "I could take you in once before, and I can still do so now."
As he spoke, he flew towards the man possessed by the Earth God. Before Chu Xianyue could get close, the man disappeared in the blink of an eye, fleeing towards the Earth God Temple.
Chu Xianyue went to chase after the Earth God, while Xie Wen tried to rescue and awaken Xie Yichun, Pei Xuan, and Yun Yan in the procession.
Before long, a bloody storm suddenly erupted in the dilapidated temple. The entire temple teetered on the brink of collapse under the onslaught of the two. In no time, two figures locked in combat burst through the roof and flew out. Unexpectedly, the true form of the local earth god was the statue of the earth god inside the temple.
It had just been cut in two by Chu Xianyue's sword, but now it had reattached itself and reassembled itself. Its arms, legs, and head could be separated and reassembled at any time, so simple sword moves could not cause it any damage.
Taking advantage of this moment, Xie Wen successfully found Xie Yichun, Pei Xuan, and Yun Yan in the group. Xie Wen recalled that when Chu Xianyue lost his mind, he slapped him, and he came to his senses.
Xie Wenyi tried it out on Yun Yan first, just like trying to copy the method.
The main reason was that Xie Wen couldn't bear to slap Xie Yichun. As for Pei Xuan, Xie Wen feared that if this method were truly effective, it would be too easy for Pei Xuan to be the first to wake up.
Xie Wen swore that she had absolutely no intention of settling personal scores. She rubbed her hands together and then used the Yun Yan fan to fan herself a few times.
Huh, no response?
Xie Wen didn't believe it and called out to Yun Yan a few more times.
It still didn't work.
Xie Wen had no choice but to try Pei Xuan again.
A few seconds later, Pei Xuan's hazy eyes regained focus, landing squarely on Xie Wen. Xie Wen hadn't held out much hope; his actions against Pei Xuan were purely for personal revenge. He hadn't expected him to actually wake up. This was a real boon for Pei Xuan.
Immediately afterwards, Xie Yichun and Yun Yan both woke up. Xie Wen, his eyes shining, grabbed Xie Yichun's shoulders and checked her over thoroughly to make sure she was unharmed before saying, "Sister! You're finally awake! And what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at the Sword Sect?"
Xie Yichun was still a little dazed after just waking up. She stood there blankly for a while, and Xie Wen didn't force her. He let Xie Yichun calm down first. In short, it was a good thing that she had woken up. There would be plenty of time to talk about the rest later.
When Yun Yan and Pei Xuan regained consciousness, they felt a burning sensation on both cheeks, as if they had been slapped several times. They touched their faces, feeling strange but unable to speak.
Suddenly, a fireball fell from the sky, creating a huge crater in front of the four of them. They stared intently and saw that it was the Earth God. At this moment, the peeling paint on the statue had turned into powder, mixing with the mud on the ground.
Chu Xianyue then descended, his azure figure shimmering with a faint silver light in the magnificent moonlight.
It turned out that Chu Xianyue had killed the local earth god, and those people controlled by his evil magic naturally regained their self-awareness, just like puppets with broken strings.
The marchers woke up one by one, their eyes filled with confusion and emptiness. They looked around like headless flies, then at each other, all wondering how they had suddenly found themselves in the middle of nowhere while they were sleeping soundly.
Since they couldn't figure it out, they simply treated it as sleepwalking. Now, a huge crowd of people surged from the south side of the city into the city, each heading home.
Xie Wen stepped forward to examine the fragments of the local earth god in the giant pit. They were scattered here and there. The mountain god statue that everyone used to worship was now rotting in the mud, surrounded by dust.
Xie Wen asked, "Is it still breathing?"
Before Chu Xianyue could answer, a faint sound came from the muddy debris, followed by a snort, "Chu Xianyue! You think you can kill me completely like this? How naive!"
It has received incense offerings from mortals for over a hundred years. As long as there are incense offerings and worship, it can be reborn again!
Chu Xianyue said, "Do you think people will still obediently worship you now? A wicked creature that relies on eating human souls to enhance its magic power actually wants to be worshipped by people? How laughable."
Chu Xianyue's mocking laughter provoked the Earth God, who let out a small roar: "So what! What I did with those people was a legitimate transaction, a matter of mutual consent. How could I be considered to have harmed them? They should be grateful for my great kindness."
Chu Xianyue said, "You truly have no remorse whatsoever. Do you remember when I was a child, I visited you once with my father?"
Back then, you were just a small earth spirit, with only a statue made of a few stones, built for you by the villagers. The villagers respected and loved you greatly, offering you fresh fruits and vegetables every day. You always moved cautiously among the villagers, repairing their waterwheels and fences in the spring, casting spells in the summer to make their vines grow more lush, chasing away the weasels that stole chickens from the mountains in the autumn, and busying yourself in the winter to rebuild the villagers' thatched huts bent under the weight of the snow…”
Now, in order to enhance your magical power, you are willing to harm mortals. Is this really what you truly desire deep down?
Chu Xianyue's words seemed to have touched a nerve, and the Earth God suddenly shouted, "Shut up! Shut up!"
Chu Xianyue indeed shut his mouth, simply gazing silently down at the Earth God buried deep in the pit. His eyes were cold and silent, like a snowy night buried deep in snow. After a while, the Earth God could no longer contain himself, his emotions surging out like a burst dam. He sobbed, "I think I really was wrong." In order to enhance his magical power, he had become obsessed and did not hesitate to harm innocent mortals.
When did it start? When did it become like this?
It began to feel resentful when, after a hundred years of cultivation, its magical power was far inferior to that of a newly cultivated demon. Why? Why had it done so many good deeds yet received no corresponding reward? Why were there still so few people who worshipped it? Of course, it was unwilling to accept this; too few people knew of it, but its magical power was limited, and it could only do what it could.
However, people have many troubles, and most of them cannot be fulfilled.
Later, someone told it about this wicked cultivation method. At first, it only tried it out of curiosity, but it became increasingly obsessed and couldn't stop. Even it didn't realize that it had completely fallen into it and lost itself.
The faint ray of light that fell into the deep pit looked somewhat melancholy. It wanted to stay in the mud and dust for the rest of its life, feeling that it was just like the mud itself.
But a hand picked up that glimmer of light, and Chu Xianyue said, "We still have questions for you. Even if you want to die, you have to give me your greatest value."
The Earth God asked weakly, "What do you want to ask me?"
Chu Xianyue: "More than ten years ago, a young master and servant came to you to pray, didn't they? One was sickly, and the other was taciturn."
Upon hearing this, the Earth God's wisp of remnant soul flickered twice. From Chu Xianyue's description, it knew who Chu Xianyue was referring to.
There was no other reason than that the actions of those two people had left a deep impression on it. It was impossible for it not to remember them. And now, one of those master and servant had transformed into the Ghost Palace Master, lingering around the former Plum Mansion, unwilling to leave.
It was in the nearby Green Lamp Forest. Come to think of it, the Ghost Palace Master had been keeping this Earth God company for over a decade.
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