Chapter 956

Dou Xiayan’s blindness was cured, but he did not leave; instead, he circled the Deep One’s corpse, murmuring in amazement.

“Tsk tsk… You actually found its corpse? I thought all the Jiaorendou had been slaughtered by the First Emperor!”

“Legends say the Eastern Sea harbors a race of Jiaoren —half-fish, half-human, immortal, with females of unmatched beauty and males of grotesque ugliness. Their flesh grants eternal youth; their fat burns forever without extinguishing. In ancient times, the First Emperor sailed east seeking the elixir of immortality, and it was said the Jiaoren ’s immortality stemmed from an immortal elixir within their kind. Thus, he ordered their extermination, hunting countless numbers, using their fat to make eternal lanterns for his palace…”

Dr. Hua frowned. “Doesn’t this sound suspicious?”

“If Jiaoren flesh grants immortality, why didn’t the First Emperor just eat it directly, instead of searching for some immortal elixir?”

Dou Xiayan chuckled. “Immortality has degrees. Look—you stand before something that is also immortal. Do you envy it?”

Dr. Hua snorted, then suddenly understood.

“You mean, eating Jiaoren flesh grants immortality because it turns you into a Jiaoren ?”

Dr. Hua pointed at the corpse, his face grim.

Dou Dabi Bao slapped his thigh. “Finally, you’ve got a bit of sense. The First Emperor was a proud man—how could he possibly become a Jiaoren ? Moreover, Jiaoren are demonic deities’ followers, hence immortal. Their immortality is utterly different from our Daoist pursuit of transcending to eternal life!”

“Besides, this thing isn’t even a corpse.”

Dou Dabi Bao glanced at the Deep One with his single eye, pained. “Its pearl was my eye. This creature’s organs are abnormal, brimming with boundless vitality—Xuanzhen Sect used it to nurture my eye! Now that it has my eye and restored the pearl, it’s growing strong and will awaken from hibernation soon.”

The Crow inserted a silver needle into the Deep One’s Zhongtan point; the needle trembled, transmitting invisible vibrations through its nervous system. “It won’t wake.”

Dou Dabi Bao chuckled. “If you don’t let it wake, it won’t wake.”

“But this Jiaoren is trivial—the force behind its creation is what matters. This thing must be a great demon of the deep sea, bearing the bloodline of the Sea Dragon Lord.”

Dr. Drummond’s eyes flickered. “Sea Dragon Lord? Among the natives of Dongji Island, it’s called Dagon; in the Three-One Scripture, it’s the Philistine sea god, Dagon!”

Dou Dabi Bao shuddered, lifting his head. “You captured the Sea Dragon Lord?”

He raised his thumb. “Damn impressive! In our Central Plains, it’s the deity worshipped by the Hui people, also called Canghai Jun. Your Western ships dominate the seas—truly remarkable, capturing a god of sea dragons!”

Dr. Hua, head of the Three Emperors Society, turned ashen, staring fixedly at the slumbering Deep One. “Stop gloating! This man was a sailor on their ship—he only transformed into a Jiaoren these past few days.”

“So the force that transformed it isn’t in the West—it’s likely just outside Tianjin Port!”

Dou Dabi Bao’s grin vanished.

“The ship carrying Canghai Jun is docked in Tianjin Port? Then why haven’t you driven them off… Wait! Damn the imperial court—they’ve gone mad for the emperor’s elixir! Those Western devils mean to feed our Zhigu people to fish and shrimp!”

Dr. Huo comforted them. “The other day, a great fire swept through Zhigu City at the river mouth—they say the Fire God, Nezha the Third Prince, used his Wind-Fire Wheels to extinguish all the demonic flames and saved Zhigu City.”

“If another flood were to drown Zhigu City, Nezha the Third Prince probably hasn’t even left yet! Another Nezha Raging the Sea—peel the Canghai Jun’s dragon tendons right off its bones…”

The Crow’s expression shifted slightly, but he said nothing.

Dou Dabi Bao sighed, slumping onto the stool. “Go ahead and play your games! The southern mouth of the Grand Canal still holds the Nine-Eyed Fire Xia! Outside Tianjin Port, another Canghai Dragon Lord has appeared. The old course of the Yellow River is stirring too—if you summon the Yellow River demon, and something else emerges from the north, even the Heavenly Empress Palace won’t hold! When these four ultimate demons converge, the Sancha River mouth will be chaos!”

He fell silent, then suddenly cursed: “So that’s why Cui the Daoist passed by my door—he lured me out to face this calamity!”

He slapped himself twice. “A prophecy spoken aloud—my mouth’s always too loose. One day, four earth-shattering demons will surely plague Zhigu Port.”

At that moment, an old man, bent and clad in worn clothes, walked calmly into the Medicine King Temple. Seeing him, Dou Dabi Bao rose instantly, ready to lead his donkey away.

The old man looked up and called out: “Dou Xiayan, don’t run—I’m not here to collect money today.”

Dou Xiayan dropped the rope tied to the big blue donkey and grinned. “Insect King, what brings you here today?”

“Everyone says you, Dou Xiayan, have divine eyes. But what makes me, the Insect King, the master of insects in Zhigu?” The Insect King scanned the group, then answered himself: “My ears.”

“Unlike you, Dou Dabi Bao—your eyes were blessed by dragon marrow, capable of seeing all treasures. How ostentatious! Who in Zhigu doesn’t know you can spot any celestial or terrestrial treasure at a glance? Back then, you caught that purple-eyed General Beetle on the muddy road—a rare Nine-Li Insect King. You thought you’d rule the insect market! But you lost to my crippled-toothed Overlord.”

“I knew you’d want revenge. Dou Dabi Bao—how proud you are! How could you let yourself be humiliated by a useless fool like me who only loves toys?”

“So I planned it. I spent all nine thousand silver dollars from my first win in three days—just to bait you. Later, I leaked word that a strange metallic chime came from the Temple of the Earth God outside the city. With your skills, you’d guess it was a rare insect—the Heavenly Treasure Insect King, Qiangjin Guacai.”

Dou Dabi Bao could no longer sit. He rose, stared at the Insect King with his single eye, then said: “Stop.”

“I, Dou Dabi Bao, thought myself brilliant—I caught the Qiangjin Guacai using a live lamb, but lost to your master’s White Bone Bodhisattva. I accepted defeat and lost my precious insect-rearing treasure—the Thumb Gourd.”

“Later, when I fell into poverty and needed medicine, I gambled insects again, brought eight-deadly insects, and won one round against you. But I didn’t know your White Bone Bodhisattva was a demonic insect—it could fight living insects with dead ones. I lost my last remaining asset, yet you, brother, showed mercy—you lent me the Danggui Medicine King!”

The old Insect King smiled. “So don’t think your divine eyes are the only marvel—I, the Southern Insect King, have ears just as remarkable!”

He tapped his cane sharply. “My ears—aren’t inferior either!”

Only then did the others realize: the old Insect King’s collection of rare insects came from those ears.

“The White Bone Bodhisattva is entirely white!”

“The Insect Canon records five colors: red, yellow, brown, blue, white. The first four have black bases, with brown or blue markings—each step more powerful. Blue-marked insects are already Insect Kings. White-marked ones are rarer than a century’s rain. How much rarer is one entirely white?”

“How did I catch it? I fought insects at the Temple of the Earth God in the south. That Ghost-Faced General Beetle collapsed at the sound of a single chirp. I knew then—it was a rare Insect King. I heard the chirp clearly, followed it to the White Bone Pagoda in the west, waited all night on the second floor before a skull—and there it emerged.”

“This insect doesn’t chirp—only once a year! It must be raised inside white bones, fed phosphorescent fire…”

At this, Dou Dabi Bao paled. Not only was the Temple of the Earth God far from the White Bone Pagoda, but Zhigu City was a metropolis of millions—filled with noise, shouts, and chaos.

The Insect King had tracked the insect by a single chirp—his ears could be called divine.

Unlike Dou Dabi Bao, he never flaunted his divine ears. For years, no one knew his secret—only that he mastered insect lore and could identify rare insects, earning his great reputation in Zhigu’s insect market.

He survived only by betting on insects.

This extraordinary man had gained fame while hiding his true power.

The Insect King stared straight at Dou Dabi Bao’s lips, pointing to his ears: “But now—my ears are deaf. The day before yesterday, atop the White Bone Pagoda in the west, I heard another chirp—identical to my White Bone Bodhisattva. They say crickets are divine insects, never two alike. Yet I was bewitched—I searched all night to the White Bone Pagoda, and there, before the same skull on the second floor, I saw another White Bone Bodhisattva!”

“Its antennae, legs, wings, body—all pure white bone. On its back, a skull fused with wings, forming a White Bone Bodhisattva seated on a lotus throne.”

“I froze. This insect was identical to mine. Could two such insects truly exist?”

“Then the White Bone Bodhisattva leapt—jumped from the skull straight into my ear. Only when it burrowed into my ear canal did I realize: it was another rare insect—the Thread-Puppet Cricket! Tiny beyond measure, ferocious, feeding on its own kind. It bites open a cricket’s belly, devours its flesh, then wears the shell like armor, controlling it as if alive. It mimics sounds perfectly, luring others to their doom!”

“A first-class evil insect!”

“That White Bone Bodhisattva was mine. Its corpse was stolen, and the Thread-Puppet Cricket hid inside it, ambushing me.”

“The Thread-Puppet Cricket bit through my eardrum, scraped off the fine mercury on its legs, and deafened my divine ears…”

The Medicine King Temple fell utterly silent.

Then another old woman entered the temple. Seeing everyone, she stuck out her tongue, pointing to her white coating.

Dou Dabi Bao’s spine chilled. “Juxialou, the Fairy Bi!”

At that moment, the Insect King burst into wild, mad laughter.

The physicians of the Three Emperors Society and the Westerners all turned to Xuanzhen Sect—only the Crow remained unmoved, his expression calm.