Chapter 100 The world turns, time presses on (Part 5) Evil spirits.
That eerie, pale shadow, like a ghost.
She saw it too.
It was unclear what kind of substance it was. If one did not observe carefully, one would only mistake it for a gentle breeze. However, after being attached to Isuzu, Xia Zhu's eyesight improved several times over. In her eyes, the white smoke had form and spirit, with a tail like a flying snake and ears like shavings of bamboo.
It's like...
A certain type of animal.
Si You's death may have been a murder. In Xia Zhu's view, the crowd's agitation was abnormal, including the man who first stood up and shouted "Kill him."
But what is the purpose of doing this?
Killing a person without spiritual power, abandoned as a plague demon, and creating a curse that instills fear in the people—was it to take revenge on this tribe, or perhaps to take revenge on the female cultivator?
Regardless of the reason, Si You's death was by no means simple.
Subconsciously, she was trying to connect everything.
A dream that traps the human heart, descendants of gods known as unidentified officials, legends that truly happened but have gradually become distorted over the years, demons, prophecies, plague spirits, Isuzu…
She had only dozed off in class, and it was as if she had fallen into a vortex that had been accumulating for millions of years.
She didn't want to, but she had to think about what role she played in this seemingly never-ending drama.
Xia Zhu thought of that mask, like a demon from the underworld, under the flickering lamplight, and those all-too-familiar gray eyes.
She imagined the bright full moon, its gentle light cascading down, and the scene of her holding a sword to her neck, while the man fiercely asked her who she was.
Her head was throbbing with pain from thinking so much that suddenly everything went black before her eyes.
It is likely that Yu Chan could no longer hold on and fainted.
When she woke up again, Xia Zhu thought she would break down, be sad, and be in great pain.
Her heart ached, and she silently prayed that the girl, who was facing death and separation for the first time, could get through this period peacefully.
But Yu Chan acted as if nothing had happened. After waking up, she not only went to see the female cultivators and elders, but also took on the role of comforting the clansmen, visiting each household to offer her condolences and telling them that the curse was nothing to fear.
The men asked her anxiously, "The people of our tribe will surely abide by the law and prevent the curse from coming true, but what if the Gonggong from the north attacks?"
With a wave of her hand, Yu Chan instantly froze and then thawed a small river in front of the house. Her "Thousand Miles of Ice Seal" technique had reached a level of unparalleled mastery.
Although lively and playful, Yu Chan is indeed a hardworking and ambitious genius. She is also a lucky charm for Zhuanxu, so she only needs to make a slight move to calm the panicked hearts of her people.
Soon, the Zhuanxu tribe returned to its former peace and tranquility. Labor training, sacrifices to the Nine Heavens, and the education of awakened girls were all proceeding in an orderly manner. The birth of new life made the joy dispel the gloom brought by Siyou's death, and Yuchan slowly faded from everyone's sight.
She began frequently visiting the homes of the elderly and respected members of her tribe. She would fetch water for them to wash clothes and bring them freshly caught prey. When the elders asked Yu Chan if there was anything they could do to help, Yu Chan would simply shake her head, smiling as she gripped the ice blade in her hand to bleed and skin the animals.
As night fell, the sky was filled with stars. They sat around the fire pit, watching Yu Chan roast the rabbit meat in her hands until it sizzled and dripped with oil. The night was deep and quiet, with only the occasional stirring of the fire and the crackling of pine wood.
This reminded the old woman of what Yu Chan looked like when she was a child. She lovingly stroked the girl's head and asked if she would still like to hear the old woman's story.
Yu Chan stared intently at the fire in the pond, her eyes burning, and nodded obediently with a smile on her lips.
The mother-in-law asked again what kind of story Yu Chan wanted to hear this time.
Yu Chan thought for a moment, then poked at the embers in front of her with a stick and said softly, "East, please."
The old man's low, hoarse voice told the story, like an old tree battered by wind and rain showing the grass under its shade the rings of its trunk. Its bark was covered with moss, dry and rough, but its gnarled branches were strong and powerful.
The night breeze gently caresses, telling its story in a soft, flowing manner.
She said that to the east were the tribes of the Dongyi, including Taihao who was good at wood, Shaohao who could control birds, and a magical tribe where men were in charge.
Yu Chan's expression changed slightly. A man? A man with the power of divination?
The old woman shook her head and said that the leader of this tribe was known as the War God Chi You. Legend has it that he had three heads and six arms, with horns on his head, ears and temples like swords, and a blue face with fangs, making him look like a demon and extremely ugly. But like other men, Chi You was also physically disabled.
However, he was extremely skilled at finding a stone called "gold" and was also adept at winning people's hearts. He accepted the remains of many other tribes, refugees of unknown origin, and eccentric and unruly demon gods.
He led his people to move mountains and fill seas, collecting all kinds of stones. They threw the materials they obtained into fire and created something harder than stone and more beautiful than wood.
Weapons made from this material made the Chi You tribe invincible. It is said that the Huang tribe in the north has also begun to use this technology, trying to use their weapons to resist foreign tribes while expanding their own territory.
Outside, there was constant warfare; inside Zhuanxu, there had been frequent epidemics in the past, and recently strange things have been happening one after another.
The old woman shook her head and sighed, lamenting her bad luck and the unfortunate year. She said that even the heavens above were blind to the anxieties of the world.
"We don't know when the flames of war will spread to our feet..."
Yu Chan did not answer. She stared intently at the stone in the hearth. A gust of wind blew by, and the firelight blurred her face, making her shadow on the ground appear erratic.
Chi You.
Yu Chan kept repeating this name in her heart, as if she were obsessed with it.
Chi You.
After Si You's death, the female cultivator worried that her daughter might become despondent or resent her. She even put aside the trivial matter of entering the dream to retrieve the stone, intending to take this opportunity to care for Yu Chan more, only to find that she was no different from usual, and even overnight she became much less willful and more obedient and sensible.
At first, she was afraid that Yu Chan's personality change was due to excessive grief, and she secretly observed her daughter's every move. However, after several days, Yu Chan did not show any abnormality, so the female cultivator was relieved.
That's fine, she thought. Sooner or later, her daughter would face separation or death again. It would be a good thing to understand the meaning of life and death early on and to consider the future of the Zhuanxu tribe.
So she was completely relieved and threw herself back into her busy work.
One day, when she had some free time, she walked to Yu Chan's hut and saw her daughter sitting by the window, carving a piece of wood with an ice blade. She thought, perhaps it's time to talk to her daughter about everything that has happened recently, and it's time to teach her how to take on the responsibilities of the future clan leader.
Yu Chan held a piece of wood in her hand, carefully carving it by the light of day. Only when the sunlight flickered in front of her did she realize that someone was standing in the doorway.
"Mother?"
Upon seeing that the visitor was a female cultivator, she put down what she was holding, sheathed her ice blade, and obediently stood up.
"Why has Mother come?"
When the female cultivator heard Yu Chan's greeting, she felt relieved, and all her remaining worries and fears disappeared. She felt that her daughter was indeed out of danger, so she went into the house and invited her to sit down.
"Your mother has come to see you."
Yu Chan poured her water, set up the window, and busied himself in the room with an expressionless face.
A group of children ran noisily past the window, and she watched them go with a smile.
As dusk fell, smoke rose from the village chimneys, drifting into the houses on the warm evening breeze. Outside, laughter and cheerful songs filled the air, creating a harmonious and peaceful atmosphere. Gazing at Yu Chan's serene face as she sat opposite her, the female cultivator's heart softened considerably. She couldn't help but recall her daughter's childhood, when she too had sat so obediently and cleverly with her.
“Yu Chan, your mother has heard that you’ve been going to the elders’ places often lately to help them with chores. That’s good. You’re not young anymore; it’s time for you to be more sensible and learn to help your mother with affairs, to return to your natural self…”
"We must learn from Si You's incident. When you become the clan leader in the future, you must never allow your clan members to violate the laws and regulations."
"For a tribe to endure, it should..."
She suddenly stopped. Yu Chan sat there, seemingly unchanged, not even blinking. But the female cultivator felt extremely uneasy. She carefully examined Yu Chan and found that the corners of her mouth were still slightly raised, without any abnormality. However, her eyes were devoid of any light.
"Fish cicada?"
The female cultivator tentatively called her name, but there was no response.
She quickly got up, went around to her daughter's side, and held her hands, only to find them ice-cold, as if the blood had long since stopped flowing.
"Fish Cicada!"
She heard a faint sound coming from Yu Chan's chest, so she leaned closer to listen carefully.
Each breath was like an elderly man lying by a fire pit, trying to make the flames burn brighter by blowing on them.
The exhalation grew louder and louder, eventually reaching Yu Chan's throat. She began to gasp for breath uncontrollably. The female cultivator hurriedly looked up and found that her daughter's face was covered in tears, and her clothes were soaked.
"My son, what's wrong with you!" The female cultivator called out anxiously to Yu Chan, but she was unresponsive like someone who had lost their soul. Suddenly, her throat moved, and a stream of black blood gushed out of her mouth, most of it splashing onto the female cultivator's body and staining her jade cong.
The cicada fell before her eyes like a withered leaf, continuously emitting terrifying screams.
"Someone! Someone! Summon the witch doctor! Quickly, summon the witch doctor!"
"Fish Cicada!"
*
As the moon rose above the willow branches, the female cultivator sat wearily by the fish-and-cicada couch. From Xia Zhu's angle, a strand of white hair could be seen falling from her ear. In just one night, she seemed to have aged considerably.
Her dignified and beautiful face was covered with delicate lines.
She frowned as she looked at the person lying motionless on the bed, as white as gold paper, a look of pain spreading through her expression.
Xia Zhu also heard what the witch doctor just said.
She said that Yu Chan looked like someone who was on the verge of death.
The female cultivator questioned the witch doctor in disbelief, and found members of her tribe to testify. They all said that Yu Chan had been acting normally lately, so how could she be in a state of exhaustion and near death as she had described?
The witch doctor shook his head and asked the nun if she knew about the dolls that children played with.
The human figure was sewn from animal hides and hemp ropes, stuffed with sawdust and soft soil, and finally the eyes and eyebrows were painted, making it as lifelike as a real person.
She said that for so many days, Yu Chan was like that doll, outwardly similar to usual, but inwardly her liver and gallbladder were ruptured, and her heart and lungs were rotten, even more dilapidated than sawdust and soft soil.
That's why she was able to vomit so much blood.
The witch doctor said that a person's body contains no more than this much blood.
The female cultivator still refused to believe it. Her eyes widened in disbelief as she asked the witch doctor how such a body could still function normally, according to her. She clearly heard Yu Chan call her "Mother" and prepare water for her.
Hearing this, the witch doctor couldn't bear it either, and she lowered her head, not daring to look the female cultivator in the eye.
"Perhaps some obsession is what drives her to do all this."
That's what she said.
The crowd dispersed, leaving only the mother and daughter inside.
Xia Zhu noticed that the female cultivator's body was trembling slightly. Her eyes were red and her lips were twitching. She seemed unable to bear it any longer and turned around and rushed out.
She was the god Zhuanxu, the head of a clan, and would never shed tears in front of others under any circumstances.
Even in front of her daughter who couldn't open her eyes.
When she finally calmed herself down and returned to the room, there was only a pale moonlight shining on the bed. She couldn't see her youngest daughter anywhere. The female cultivator knelt by the window and was shocked to find a wooden mask lying on the ground.
With a blue face and fangs, and ears and temples like swords.
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