Chapter 958: Heavenly Sound Divine Insect Becomes Heavenly Ear

The sky gradually darkened. By the time the market outside the gates dispersed and the chirping of insects began to rise within the Medicine King Temple,

the Insect King made an excuse to use the latrine and quietly came to the rear hall. He found the Physician Hua of the Three Sovereigns Society and asked, "Do you know that the Profound Truth Sect's intentions are not kind?"

Physician Hua frowned, only to see the Insect King standing there in a slovenly manner, loose and disheveled, carrying a three-part air of arrogance.

Suddenly, the Insect King's eyes widened. Before the physician could point at his nose, the Insect King laughed: "Before I had this pair of ears in my early years, I also mixed on the streets. I can be considered an old figure in the 'Green Skin' trade!"

"Later, after I got this pair of divine ears, most of the secrets in this Zhigu Port could no longer be hidden from me."

"As for this Open-Bellied Buddha in your Medicine King Temple, it's fine if others don't know the bottom line, but to me, it's no secret at all!"

Physician Hua asked, "What do you mean?"

"That brat who came looking for revenge calculated first. That 'Thread-Pulling Play' is hidden in my ears, using my head as a bucket. I don't intend to just accept this! Moreover, among the insects in my hands, not one is confident in defeating that 'Thread-Pulling Play'. That is a demonic insect!"

"But there is a saying: within seven steps of a poisonous creature, there must be an antidote. In this Medicine King Temple of yours, there is also a divine insect!"

The Insect King stared into Physician Hua's eyes, then rose and left. He circled the Medicine King Temple twice and came before the golden body of a Great-Bellied Maitreya Buddha statue.

He gazed at this golden body, pressed his ear against the Maitreya's belly, and said with certainty, "The sound comes from here. I heard it clearly in Zhigu City before, but hindered by the rules of the Green Skin trade, I couldn't enter."

"Back then, when our trade lost the Open-Bellied Buddha Patriarch to you, it was said that whoever worships the Patriarch within the trade must not use any means to demand the Patriarch's remains back from you."

"Even if it is a cricket born inside, it is the same."

The Insect King sighed: "So, if you don't help me this time, I'm done for!"

Physician Hua looked at the Maitreya Buddha statue, suddenly pried open the Buddha's belly. The golden belly skin was peeled down, revealing the open internal organs inside. Those visceral organs were slightly air-dried and shrunken, and the flesh presented an air-dried grayish-pink color.

But the form and structure of the internal organs were completely intact.

The Insect King pressed his palms together to worship the Patriarch. Immediately, he looked with his eyes; after his ears went deaf, he could no longer find insects, so he could only use his eyes to look.

He looked for a long time but didn't discover where the insect disaster was.

Physician Hua watched him nervously and said, "You can't move! This is your ancestor!"

Seeing this, the Insect King gritted his teeth: "Then there is only one way!"

He pursed his lips and emitted a high-pitched but silent whistle. Immediately, there was sharp pain in his ears, and a strange insect chirp came from his left ear. As the pair of wings parted, the sound was like plucking a zither. The mummified corpse inside the golden Buddha immediately responded with a sound like a copper bell.

The two looked up and saw a small, pitch-black snake crawling out from the ear hole of the golden Buddha, with a cricket the size of a fingernail on its head.

It was blood-red all over, with all its feelers and tail, biting the snake's head with murderous intent.

The black snake shook its head and tail, and with great difficulty, finally shook off the blood insect. The Insect King was quick-eyed and fast-handed, hurriedly covering the insect with a jar. The black snake swam into the golden Buddha's belly and disappeared.

The Insect King saw Physician Hua staring blankly at the golden Buddha, seemingly hesitating whether to pull the snake out.

He laughed: "It looks like a thing but isn't a thing. What you saw was a snake; who knows if it was transformed from some object on our ancestor's body! Better not to disturb it!"

Physician Hua trembled all over, then followed the Insect King back to the crowd.

The Insect King lifted his robe and said slovenly: "That piss, I had a very comfortable time!"

The Blood Tooth Protector of the Profound Truth Sect just smiled gently.

The Insect King took out the jar and flicked the blue-and-white porcelain wall, hearing a long, lingering insect chirp from inside the jar. Among the many people in the side hall, the sounds, large and small, were actually suppressed by this one sound.

"Brat, do you know what kind of insect this is?"

The Insect King stared at the young man.

"There are many who play with insects in Zhigu. Since the previous dynasty, some people have compiled an 'Exotic Insect Manual' outside the standard insect manuals. In the Exotic Insect Manual, there is a category called 'Coffin Insect', found in graveyards of the dead, specializing in being fierce, treacherous, and ruthless, especially good at fighting. This insect, when unearthed, has a head like blood amber, a black face with blood teeth, a golden-bucket-silk yellow brain cap, silver forehead lines, white-spotted blue patterns on the fire-basin-bottom neck, golden wings and golden hair, six pale yellow feet, a pale yellow tail tip long as a needle, and black hair on the tail. It is only found in graveyards of the dead after autumn. It is the Blood Tooth!"

"This kind of insect is a ghost insect; once it sees light, it must fight until death."

"But in the Exotic Insect Manual, above the Blood Tooth, there is another insect called the 'Netherworld Blood Ghost', blood-red all over, with feelers, teeth, body, and tail all blood-colored. It only haunts the facial orifices of a fierce corpse—the Blood Corpse—and feeds on the Blood Corpse's brain. Since ancient times, insect fighting does not involve ghost or demon insects, but since you used the 'Thread-Pulling Play' to drill into my skull, then this Netherworld Blood Ghost is also something I prepared for you!"

The Insect King sneered: "Brat, in this gambling fight, if I lose, I naturally die, but if you lose, then put this Netherworld Blood Ghost into your own ear hole!"

The young man naturally nodded.

The Insect King opened the jar. The blood-red cricket had a ghost face growing on its wings; no wonder it was called the Netherworld Blood Ghost.

He brought the jar close to his right ear. The Netherworld Blood Ghost found the ear hole with ease and drilled in. Immediately, the Insect King's face showed pain, and a trace of blood flowed from his right ear.

It was the Netherworld Blood Ghost biting open his eardrum, drinking his blood greedily, then drilling deeper to find the Thread-Pulling Play to fight.

The Insect King endured the pain, pursed his lips, and a silent, hidden insect whistle went straight into his ears from the small hole in his mouth. The Blood Tooth of the Profound Truth Sect only took an ancient zither from his pouch, hooked his right pinky finger, and emitted an old, hoarse zither sound.

The Insect King immediately kicked his legs, his whole body flipped, flipped three times in mid-air, and fell heavily to the ground, screaming.

"Ah ah ah ah!"

His eyes bulged, and both hands grabbed his ears tightly.

His mouth was wide open, but the screams turned silent. Only two strange insects were seen crawling out from his left and right hidden ear holes, pouncing onto his tongue. The Netherworld Blood Ghost spread its wings, and the ghost face immediately twisted, as vivid as a miserable ghost screaming. A shrill insect chirp was emitted from the Insect King's mouth.

And that Thread-Pulling Play, a small insect like a sesame seed, pounced straight behind the Netherworld Blood Ghost, biting toward its lower abdomen.

The Insect King bit down hard with his teeth, but bit his own tongue. A piece of blood-red tongue fell off. He was full of blood, rolling on the ground clutching his ears.

The two insects crawled out from the corners of his eyes again, fighting on his eyeballs. Fighting fiercely, they drilled into his eyeballs.

Soon, the Insect King's eyes were bloodshot, and one could faintly see two insect shadows inside his eyeballs... He kept rolling on the ground, making all the onlookers feel a chill in their hearts. Dou Dabiebao turned to look at the Profound Truth Sect crowd and shouted: "Everyone, be forgiving where you can!"

Physician Hua was also extremely uneasy.

At this time, Blood Tooth finally stopped the zither sound and said to the few: "The outcome is decided. Whether he can live next depends on you!"

The physicians of the Three Emperors Society and the foreigners all crowded forward to examine the condition of the Insect King.

Blood Tooth, a Dharma Protector of the Profound Truth Sect, said calmly, "He cannot control this Nether Blood Ghost, so when the fight was fierce, the Nether Blood Ghost could only eat his brain to replenish its strength in order to battle the Thread-Pulling Play. Now that the Blood Ghost has been defeated, it has hidden in his brain to recover its strength. To save him, one can only help him extract the insect..."

Xilin curiously shone a silver lamp into the Insect King's ear canal and, sure enough, saw a tattered eardrum. After discussing it with the doctors nearby, he said, "We can drip mercury into his ear!"

The doctor beside him took out an extremely thin steel wire; the very tip of the wire was a tiny pair of pincers that could be opened and closed by pulling the wire.

"Use mercury to poison the insect to death, then perform a craniotomy to clamp out the corpse."

"No!" Physician Hua intervened, "The Nether Blood Ghost is a divine insect with immense vitality. If the mercury fails to poison it, it will only drive it mad, causing it to burrow deeper into the Insect King's brain."

The foreign physician looked up at him, and only then did Physician Hua roll his eyes and ask, "Can we use food or provocation to lure the Nether Blood Ghost out?"

"The Nether Blood Ghost's food is his brain!" Crow said, casting a glance at the Insect King.

"Then what solution do you have?" Physician Hua asked Crow, posing this question.

Crow said indifferently, "The cricket is a sound-insect, so once there is a sound that moves the heavens and earth, like the music of the spheres, it will inevitably be drawn out. When I captured that Thread-Pulling Play, I relied on the zither music I learned from the Sect Master."

"But after the Nether Blood Ghost was defeated, it lost its fighting spirit; my zither music alone cannot lure it out."

"We must bring him to Zhigu City overnight. If the moonlight is just right, the Sect Master will play the zither by the river under the moon; such music will surely intoxicate the Nether Blood Ghost and make it crawl out."

Physician Hua and Xilin both frowned deeply, never having imagined that the Profound Truth Sect would have such a method of treatment!

Crow glanced at them: "Do you know why this Nether Blood Ghost lost? The Nether Blood Ghost is a divine insect transformed from the essence of an eardrum among strange corpses, while the Thread-Pulling Play is merely a strange, demonic insect that feeds on its own kind. However, because the Thread-Pulling Play mimics the sounds of its kind to lure them to be eaten, it is most adept at imitating sounds. When I first captured this insect, I was fortunate enough to have it listen to the Sect Master's zither music with me, and the insect actually memorized three notes."

"That is why Blood Tooth plucked the zither to lure it into imitating the music, and only then did the Nether Blood Ghost fall to it..."

Mimicking Qian Chen's zither music—Qian Chen's zither notes are also known as the Divine Thunder of Xiyi; mimicking even one percent of its charm is enough to make ghosts and gods lose their souls.

It is fortunate that the Nether Blood Ghost is a cricket; if it were a true ghost, it would likely have been shattered the moment the zither music sounded!

Crow nodded at them, then returned to the group of Profound Truth Sect members and said no more.

A group of doctors discussed for a while; although everyone had become very capable of accepting the strange and bizarre illnesses of the world.

Yet, this difficult, miscellaneous disease and the bizarre treatment method created right before their eyes still gave them a feeling of the world spinning and being dead drunk.

Within the Profound Truth Sect, Blood Tooth lowered his head and asked, "Deacon, do you think they will follow your advice and treat him?"

"To cure him, this is the only way."

Blood Tooth pondered slightly, raised his head, and said, "The Thread-Pulling Play and the Nether Blood Ghost ate the Insect King's cochlea, and having heard the Sect Master's zither music, they will inevitably transform into true divine insects of the heavens. Such strange insects can cure all deafness in the world. As long as they are placed into a deaf person's ears, they can restore hearing, and they will be self-taught, able to play all the music in the world."

"In this way, our sect has achieved another pair of divine ears, and the sect's grand plan is perfected by one more step."

"But there is one thing I do not understand... what will be the fate of the Insect King?"

Crow glanced at him: "He has lost a pair of marvelous ears; are you still not satisfied?"

"How can a pair of ears compare to one's parents?" Blood Tooth's eyes burned.

"But how much of your father's fate was self-inflicted, and how much was due to our sect?" Crow countered.

Blood Tooth was silent for a long time before saying, "Is there ever much logic in revenge?"

"If you still wish for revenge, do as you please; it has nothing to do with our sect!" Crow said, "Our sect's grand cause now is to raise the Jiazi Pillar, a merit for saving the world. You should know that all the events of the past are merely illusions within the embers; do you still wish to wallow in them?"

"If we do not view the illusion as truth, why would you, Deacon, be so obsessed with saving the world?"

Blood Tooth said, "Are we not all wallowing in this lifelike illusion?"

Crow was speechless...