Chapter 43: Seeing the Buddha to the West

Wu Chang returned to Huaigu Village, feigning that nothing had happened, and continued to lurk outside the villagers' residential area.

The sounds of shouting and killing from the direction of the Year-End Ritual were fading; there should be a result soon.

After the Year-End Ritual, how could he persuade Liu Shan to let him complete the side quest? Before he could think of a suitable excuse, he saw a villager running quickly toward the residential area, shouting as he ran, "Hero Wu!"

The villager was shouting with such intensity that he was startled into a shiver when a voice suddenly came from behind him.

"What is it?"

The villager turned his head and said anxiously, "Hero Wu, the Village Chief asks you to come over."

Wu Chang followed the villager to the ritual site and saw Liu Shan standing on the altar at a glance, holding the Four-Direction Year-Fire Lamp.

Seeing Wu Chang, Liu Shan seemed to have found a savior; he hurried over to meet him and introduced the current situation.

As the battle continued and casualties increased, the villagers' fear of the evil spirits intensified.

The intensified fear allowed the evil spirits to break free from the seal to a greater degree.

Pale black evil spirit energy overflowed from Hollow Mountain and burrowed into the bodies of the two Year-Suppressing People controlled by the evil energy.

The evil energy within the Year-Suppressing People surged, causing them to not only incite evil thoughts in the villagers' hearts but also bring about illness and plague.

The villagers fighting the Year-Suppressing People began to show obvious symptoms of illness; fever, colds, tinnitus, dizziness, and weakness in the limbs were just the basics.

Villagers wounded by the Year-Suppressing People would fall to the ground, severely ill and limp, their foreheads as hot as red charcoal, coughing up blood five times for every three words they spoke.

Given the medical conditions of an ancient setting, let alone continuing to fight, even an ordinary Physician would throw out the "Bian Que Triple" upon seeing them: "Cannot cure," "Wait for death," and "Goodbye."

The villagers not only had to spare manpower to care for the wounded but also had to be constantly vigilant about whether those caring for the wounded had been controlled by evil thoughts and might kill the wounded in cold blood.

Because of all this, even with Liu Wei having killed one Year-Suppressing Person, the villagers remained at a great disadvantage.

Liu Shan asked anxiously, "Hero Wu, what can be done about this?"

Wu Chang’s mind raced; the seal inside Hollow Mountain was loosening—was this not the best opportunity to see the source of the evil spirits? He lowered his gaze to keep Liu Shan from seeing his thoughts and said solemnly, "The situation is complex. I would like to take a look at the Year-End Great Array in Hollow Mountain; perhaps there is a way to break the deadlock there."

Liu Shan hesitated for a moment before agreeing to Wu Chang's request.

Liu Shan held the Four-Direction Year-Fire Lamp, and with the light of the Year-Fire, the two could easily travel through the pervasive evil spirit energy.

They soon arrived at Hollow Mountain; due to the loosened seal, the cave was already filled with evil spirit energy.

The two villagers guarding the cave entrance were already stone-cold.

They stood straight, having drawn the mountain-cleaving sabers at their waists, and were swinging them at each other with determination.

The force of the swings was immense, enough for the poorly maintained, dull blades to tear through skin and flesh and embed themselves in each other's necks.

They watched each other's blood spray from their necks in silence, joyful smiles on their faces.

The two villagers who had perished together, in this bizarre posture, had transformed into an archway before the cave, welcoming Wu Chang and Liu Shan inside.

Liu Shan used the Four-Direction Year-Fire Lamp to shine upon the two, purifying the evil energy from their bodies; only then did the two villagers collapse, clearing the way.

The interior of the cave was even worse.

The villagers left inside to maintain the array had all been killed, their manner of death the same as the two guards—dying by mutual slaughter, with smiles hanging on their faces after death.

The pen for raising the Mountain-Suppressing Beasts had also been destroyed in the chaos, and the beasts inside had vanished, likely having escaped during the confusion.

Liu Shan looked at the mess before him, and whether it was because the shock was too great, he fell into a strange state of numbness.

He turned to look at Wu Chang and asked, "Hero Wu, where should we begin the investigation?"

Wu Chang feigned a look around, not forgetting to pinch his fingers to calculate as he did so.

He walked around the spot twice, suddenly stopped, and looked sharply at Shi Ning.

"According to my observations, the evil spirit energy is surging from underground. I wonder if there is still a passage leading to the subterranean cavern in the village; perhaps we will find something there." Liu Shan frowned and shook his head, saying, "Hero Wu, the underground is treacherous. Several heroes have entered before, and none have returned. If you go..."

Wu Chang reached out to stop Liu Shan from continuing.

"It is no matter. With tragedies occurring constantly in the village, how can a practitioner like me stand idly by? Village Chief, do not try to persuade me; I have already steeled myself to fight the evil spirits to the death."

Liu Shan sighed and asked, "Does Hero Wu truly wish to go?"

Wu Chang nodded.

"Very well, Hero, follow me."

Liu Shan led Wu Chang to Shi Ning, reached out, and pressed a spot on the statue. The seamless Shi Ning actually opened a secret door at the Buddha's belly.

Wu Chang held up a torch to the secret door and leaned in to look down.

Just as Liu Shan had said, below the mountain was a bottomless cavern, pitch black and unfathomable.

He was just about to turn and ask Liu Shan for a way down when he suddenly heard a gust of wind behind him.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the thin, elderly Liu Shan, now like a vulture, his movements as fast as a low-flying bird; he had been five meters away just a moment ago, but in an instant, he was behind him.

A bony, withered hand curled into a claw and grabbed at his heart.

Under the immense force, he was sent flying into the secret door uncontrollably, falling into the bottomless cavern.

Fortunately, while the cavern appeared bottomless, there was actually a pool formed by an underground river some thirty or forty meters down.

Thanks to this underground river, he did not die upon impact.

Relying on his robust physical constitution, Wu Chang dog-paddled out of the pool, spat out the water in his mouth, and his eyes were filled with astonishment.

This old codger Liu Shan usually appeared frail and senile, and he had always hidden behind others when the Year-Suppressing People mutated, looking terrified.

Who would have thought he was the number one combatant of Huaigu Village, with true strength even a cut above Liu Wei's.

Truly, the dog that bites doesn't bark; what a fine old dog.

He looked up and saw Liu Shan holding the Four-Direction Year-Fire Lamp, looking down at him from the secret door.

"Village Chief Liu Shan, what is the meaning of this?" Wu Chang shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Hero Wu can still speak? This old man is truly getting old. When I roamed the martial world, my peers called me the Flying Cloud Eagle. Back then, one claw should have been enough to shatter half of a hero's bones. It has been so long since I fought, my skills have grown rusty."

Having shed his disguise, Liu Shan now stood straight, his shoulders stretched and his posture relaxed.

His hunched frame now looked somewhat burly.

"The matter of the evil spirits concerns the lives of everyone in the village, yet we have been exceptionally trusting of the talented outsiders who come into the mountains, daring to let them act as they please. Does Hero Wu know why?"

"Why?"

Liu Shan said leisurely, "Because the evil spirit is no different from livestock; it is a fool with only instinct. As long as you feed it, it will quiet down and fall back into a deep sleep."

"Hero, see the Buddha to the West. Since you said you have steeled yourself to die, then please help Huaigu Village with this final leg of the journey."

Having said this, Liu Shan let out a burst of wild laughter, the sound hoarse and grating, like an aged crow.

"Village Chief Liu Shan, wait!" Wu Chang shouted, stopping Liu Shan, who was about to turn and leave.

"If Hero Wu has any last words, please keep them brief; the village is waiting for me to return," Liu Shan said coldly.

"It’s nothing major, just a suggestion."

"What is it?"

Wu Chang cleared his throat and said, "As a villain, you don't need to laugh with a 'jie-jie-jie-jie-jie'; the flavor isn't quite right. Go back and practice it; I'll test you next time we meet."

(End of chapter)