Chapter 67

66. The Emperor's Decree Chain

Boom!

The illusory flow, filling the coffin chamber and scaled like a snake's tail, was suddenly embraced by the Nian corpse; as it tore and bit wildly, the flow also began to thrash violently!

In an instant, this thrashing of the 'snake tail' shattered the coffin chamber where Zhou Chang stood!

Rolling grains surged like snow into the shattered coffin chamber!

Amidst the pile of grain sprouting sparse mycelium, the Nian corpse, clutching that illusory, mottled snake tail, rose into view!

The scent of feasting, vast as a sea and a tide, coiled around the entire wine cellar!

Amidst this great tide of feasting scent, Zhou Chang, in a trance, seemed to see mottled snake tails parading between the void and the rice mounds; the mottled, slippery scales of the snake tails covered every corner of the wine cellar, even sprouting from the air itself!

"Swish, swish, swish!"

He manipulated the Ghost Life Robe on his body, constantly tightening it; every thread of thought drove deep into the flesh and bones of the Nian corpse, sucking up every wisp of feasting scent it had drawn in, forcibly controlling the Nian corpse's actions until the Nian corpse abandoned its gnawing at that feasting-scent snake tail—

Zhou Chang had once again seized the initiative!

His proud, jagged body swayed unsteadily as he crawled out of the fermentation pit.

Zhou Chang opened his eyes; what met his gaze was nothing but streams of feasting-thought currents, growing mottled fine scales like snake tails, crossing the layers of fermentation pits above and below the wine cellar, coiling around rice mounds covered in wildly growing mycelium!

A strong, mellow aroma of wine floated in waves through Zhou Chang's nostrils.

As he inhaled that wine scent, he suddenly turned his head and saw—within the living spring at the bottom of the fermentation pit, liquid was constantly gushing forth!

That rolling, gushing liquid was the very source of the intense wine scent in the cellar!

The liquid in the living spring had now been brewed into wine!

What attracted Zhou Chang's attention most was not the wine gushing from the living spring, but rather, at this very moment, a chain of brilliant, non-corporeal golden light bursting forth from the gushing wine cellar.

This chain, seemingly formed entirely of majestic golden light, kept extending upward toward the upper levels of the wine cellar.

Zhou Chang examined the flowing golden light closely and saw within it a series of stacked Chinese characters:

"By the Mandate of Heaven, the Emperor decrees:

The Wen family of Qingyi has cultivated and studied for generations, passing down poetry and books; though none have yet attained official rank, they remain the foremost virtuous family of the locality.

We bestow upon the Wen family ancestor, 'Wen Yongsheng,' the divine banner of 'Grass-Headed Dragon Rampant.'

Once Wen Yongsheng holds this divine banner, he shall willingly offer his headless corpse to serve the grand strategy of Emperor Shizong!

Thus ordered!"

Indeed!

Wen Yongsheng, the Wen Ancestor, had indeed struck a deal with the Golden Head of Emperor Shizong in the Bai family tomb!

He obtained this single 'Grass-Headed Dragon Rampant Divine Banner' from the Golden Head of Emperor Shizong, while Emperor Shizong, after he received the banner, utilized his headless body for certain schemes!

All the spring water in the living spring had turned into wine.

Emperor Shizong's Golden Head's scheme was most likely related to the entire Yongsheng Winery!

Zhou Chang's thoughts raced like lightning!

He saw that the golden chain, formed entirely of the Emperor's decree, extended at one end to behind a tall rice mound on the upper level of the wine cellar, while the other end remained deeply embedded within the living spring.

What exactly did this golden chain connect to?

The instant this thought arose in Zhou Chang's heart, the Emperor's Decree Chain suddenly snapped taut and straight!

From the living spring, which constantly gushed wine, an arm covered in honeycomb-like Kong Dong holes emerged—clear spring water flowed over the countless holes on that arm, instantly turning into intoxicating wine!

As that arm emerged from the spring eye, its half shoulder, the other arm, and its lower body all climbed out of the living spring as well!

This 'person' wore a tattered, dark-blue official robe.

But on 'his' official robe, there were no official badges—'he' likely held no proper official rank during the Qing Dynasty either, having merely donated an unknown amount of money to obtain this official robe without badges.

The 'person' wearing the official robe had an empty neck.

The smooth-cut neck cavity was likewise densely covered with honeycomb-like holes.

Such holes, enough to make one's scalp crawl, filled every part of its body!

One end of that Emperor's Decree Chain was now deeply embedded in the neck of this headless body!

"This is the body of the Wen Ancestor!

It has always been submerged in the living spring!

These holes on its body—"

Zhou Chang's thoughts raced like lightning!

Just then, he saw that the mottled snake tails circulating and coiling around every layer of the wine cellar above and below instantly converged entirely onto Wen Yongsheng's headless body, covered in holes!

Hum!

Countless mottled light points condensed within the various holes of Wen Yongsheng's headless body!

At this moment, as Zhou Chang looked again at Wen Yongsheng's headless body, he suddenly felt a sensation of dizziness and mental confusion!

His pupils trembled!

"Feasting scent, deluded thoughts!

Unknown how many years they have accumulated, unknown how many years of feasting scent and deluded thoughts Wen Yongsheng's headless corpse has collected; now they have all gathered together!

This headless body is likewise a 'Feasting-Thought Aggregate,' just like the 'Consort Gui Fei' in the Bai family tomb!

The feasting thoughts gathered within it are even more terrifying than those of Consort Gui Fei!"

As the vast, tide-like feasting thoughts converged into the many holes of Wen Yongsheng's headless corpse, mottled feasting scent rose from Wen Yongsheng's empty neck, gradually forming a hazy set of facial features.

The head, dragging a rat-tail braid, swayed slightly, and the Emperor's decree formed of golden light atop it swayed along.

The other end of that glittering golden Emperor's Decree was deeply embedded behind a rice mound on the upper level of the wine cellar; now, as the Emperor's Decree began to sway, faint, fragmented voices from different people emanated from behind that rice mound.

Upon hearing that sound, Zhou Chang's expression instantly became heavy and solemn.

He heard the voices of many people chanting secret spells and true words; that secret spell, he had happened to hear from Zhou Eryang's mouth before:

"Om! Vai! Sarva-naya! Svaha!"

This is a secret spell involving the 'Cai Bao Tianwang'!

This secret spell points directly at the 'Cai Bao Tianwang'!

Who is chanting this secret spell?

Who taught the 'person' in the rice grave this secret spell?

"Om! Vai! Sarva-naya! Svaha!"

Zhou Chang took off running, first to escape Wen Yongsheng's headless corpse, that terrifying aggregation of hunger-thoughts, and second to see who exactly was hidden behind the rice grave connected to the Emperor's decree?!

The words White Horse had once spoken echoed again and again in Zhou Chang's heart.

"For this Nian corpse to complete its fetal transformation and grow into the form the Cai Bao Tianwang likes, it needs more 'food' to replenish its nutrition.

Qingyi Town is the farmland where the food needed by the Nian corpse can grow..."

To make the Nian corpse grow, the Cai Bao Tianwang will find ways to bring it more food—

The Nian corpse first consumes the qi of delusional thoughts, then eats ghosts, and finally devours the limbs of Thought Demons!

Now that this Nian corpse shell is severely depleted, relying solely on the qi of delusional thoughts is absolutely insufficient to satisfy its needs for fetal transformation; it can only grow wildly and transform into an Old Nian by consuming small ghosts and devouring the limbs of Thought Demons!

Then, does some existence chanting the mantra behind the rice grave possess the ability to spawn ghosts, causing numerous ghosts to grow in the farmland of Qingyi Town?!

Zhou Chang turned his head to look at Wen Yongsheng's headless body still at the bottom of the fermentation pit—

If all the hunger-thoughts gathered by this aggregation of hunger-thoughts were scattered over Qingyi Town...

Zhou Chang's pupils contracted tightly!