Xu Ying followed the snake demon toward Mount Wuwang. The Qinyan Cave where the snake demon lived lay at the foot of Mount Wuwang, though it was quite a long journey.
As they passed Huangniqiao Village, they saw from a distance a woman over a zhang tall with four arms standing at the entrance to the village. Each of her four arms clutched a sword as she gazed around in all directions.
That was the deity enshrined and worshipped by Huangniqiao Village.
"Guard every intersection! Do not slack off!" the woman commanded the gathered villagers. "That fellow named Xu Ying is bound to pass this way. Do not let him slip through!"
Xu Ying and the snake demon hurriedly halted their steps. They saw people guarding every fork in the road; there were even watchers stationed in the roadside paddy fields!
"The City God has placed a death order on me!"
Xu Ying's heart pounded wildly, and dizziness washed over his eyes.
There were simply too many deities in Lingling. Lingling possessed eight hundred peaks, five hundred rivers and lakes, and when combined with all the villages and towns, there were more than two thousand deities, large and small, enshrined and worshipped!
With so many deities, Xu Ying had virtually no hope of escape, even if he grew wings; fleeing to Mount Wuwang seemed all but impossible.
Whichever way he went, it was a dead end!
"Leave it to me!" The snake demon chuckled, suddenly shooting forward like an arrow released from a bowstring, heading straight for the villagers blocking the road.
When the villagers saw this massive snake—over three zhang in length—rearing its head and charging right at them, they hastily cast aside their weapons and took off at a desperate sprint, crying out in terror.
"A snake demon!" "The snake demon is eating people!" "One at a gulp!" "Empress, save me!" "The Empress has been eaten!"
Listening to these cries, Xu Ying realized they sounded just like the snake demon's own voice.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Xu Ying swiftly dashed through Huangniqiao Village without alerting a soul. Before long, the snake demon caught up, bearing two fresh sword wounds on its body.
"Nothing serious. The deity of Huangniqiao Village is just a woman. She gave me two slashes, but seeing as she's of the fairer sex, I won't hold it against her," the snake demon said with grand magnanimity.
Xu Ying said solemnly, "Many thanks for the rescue, Brother Snake. Might I ask what I should call you?"
The snake demon replied with utter solemnity, "My ancestor practiced the Elephant-Strength Bull Demon Fist, so he adopted the surname Niu. When I was born, my father said that in ancient times, our kind of venomous snake was called yuan, and since I ranked seventh among my siblings, he named me Yuan Qi."
Xu Ying hesitated for a moment, yet couldn't help but say, "Brother Niu, the word 'bull' in Elephant-Strength Bull Demon Fist does not mean you train yourself into a bull demon. Rather, when practicing this fist technique, your spirit must be fearless like a bull demon. This fist technique has nothing to do with actual bulls or oxen."
The snake demon Yuan Qi froze, blinking his eyes. "You mean to say my ancestor misunderstood the Elephant-Strength Bull Demon Fist? My given name is fine, but my family's surname is wrong?"
Xu Ying tested, "Perhaps... you could change your surname?"
The snake demon Yuan Qi burst out laughing. "My ancestor was surnamed Niu, and my father was surnamed Niu. How could I forget my roots? A true man never changes his name, standing or sitting—so I shall be called Yuan Qi!"
As for the surname Niu, he cast it clean out of his mind.
Along the way, they repeatedly encountered ambushes and cordons from rural deities. Yuan Qi charged ahead to draw the deities' attention, allowing Xu Ying to slip past in the confusion.
These deities were all over a zhang tall and took myriad bizarre forms. Some had four arms, some possessed two faces, others had eyes in the middle of their foreheads, and still others had eyes in the palms of their hands, holding their hands aloft to peer in all directions.
They were mostly souls of the dead attached to divine idols. Having received the offerings and sacrifices of the living, over time they developed supernatural powers and could move about freely through the bodies of their idols.
Xu Ying avoided villages and towns as best he could, trekking along rarely trodden mountain woods. However, even the forests held shrines to mountain gods and Earth Gods, and deities were usually enshrined within. The mountain rivers were often home to river gods as well; the slightest carelessness could alert them.
These wilderness deities were often monsters invested as gods.
They were grand demons with successful cultivation who had reached the pinnacle of the Qi Harvesting stage and the seventh tier of martial arts. Once capable of assuming human form, they accepted the City God's amnesty and summons, being invested as mountain gods or water gods under the City God's command.
Such deities were far stronger than those in villages and towns, and with their untamed, feral nature, they were even more dangerous!
According to the snake demon Yuan Qi, Xu Ying was currently only on par with an accomplished grand demon, still far behind demon gods on the level of demon kings.
The boy and the snake avoided villages, towns, and mountain shrines as much as possible, making slow progress. By noon, they had covered merely twenty li of mountain terrain.
Yuan Qi sniffed the air and said, "The moisture is heavy over there. There must be water!"
Xu Ying had finished the fruit in his shirt and was parched with thirst. He followed the snake, and soon the sound of a babbling stream reached their ears. Yuan Qi was about to approach when he suddenly froze. Ahead, the stream opened into a pool of water, beside which stood a horse-drawn carriage. A master and his servant were fetching water.
Not far off ran the courier post road.
"It's fine. It's Sima Liu, Lord Liu!" Xu Ying's heart stirred, and he walked out into view.
Heavy chests were loaded onto Liu Zongyuan's carriage, as if he were setting off on a long journey. Xu Ying stepped forward, bowed, and asked, "Is Sima Liu leaving Lingling?"
Liu Zongyuan was startled to see him and the snake demon, but then smiled. "Ah, little brother Xu Ying. I have received an imperial edict from the Emperor summoning me to the capital."
Xu Ying felt happy for him and said from the bottom of his heart, "With Sima Liu returning to the capital, you are sure to be granted great responsibility by the Emperor. I haven't read many books, so I don't know the proper words. But Your Excellency has seen the plight of Yongzhou's people with your own eyes. Once you rise to great prominence, please do not forget the folk of Yongzhou. When the Emperor places you in high office, remember to see that the common people have a bite to eat."
Liu Zongyuan said with solemn earnestness, "Rest assured, little brother. In journeying to the capital, I shall surely root out old abuses, reduce exorbitant levies and miscellaneous taxes, push forward reforms, and bring back an age of prosperity, never betraying the trust of our elders and fellow folk!"
Deeply moved, Xu Ying bowed low. "This rustic boy shall await Sima Liu's good news."
Liu Zongyuan returned the courtesy. "You do me too much honor."
The servant finished drawing water and readied the carriage. "My lord, we must hurry along our way!"
Liu Zongyuan boarded the carriage. Xu Ying waved in farewell, watching the carriage fade into the distance.
"Sima Liu holds the realm at heart. Life will be better from now on!" Xu Ying smiled to Yuan Qi.
Alas, he could not see into the future.
Liu Zongyuan was not placed in high office upon reaching the capital; instead, he was repeatedly ostracized, later demoted to Liuzhou, and died in despair only a few years later at the age of forty-eight.
The snake demon Yuan Qi was puzzled and asked, "Xu Ying, since you know this high official, why didn't you ask him to plead your case and clear your name?"
Xu Ying smiled faintly. "Brother Niu, you said just now that a true man never changes his name, standing or sitting. I also have a saying."
Filled with boundless mettle, he declared, "A true man answers for his own deeds. Why borrow another's hand? I was the one who killed the Lord Deity, and I shall bear all the consequences on my own shoulders!"
"Well said!"
Suddenly, an exclamation of praise rang out from the far side of the waterfall, startling birds into scattering from the woods.
Startled, Xu Ying looked toward the sound. Standing across from the waterfall was a minor official in green robes, around twenty years of age. He possessed a scholarly air and refined features, clearly hailing from a far better background than a country youth like Xu Ying.
Xu Ying's heart thudded violently twice.
An official!
The kind of person he dreaded meeting most.
He had seen all too often how these petty officials barged into villages to extort rents and levies, hauling off the villagers' oxen and sheep without a care, unmoved by the heavens-shaking weeping and wailing, their hearts as cold as stone.
What was more, among the officials were Nuo masters who wielded mysterious, unfathomable arts!
'I only hope he isn't a Nuo master...' Xu Ying's heart pounded.
"Truly well said!" The green-robed official clapped his hands in praise. "Xu Ying, since you say a true man answers for his own deeds, then having committed heinous rebellion by butchering a deity, violating heavenly law, and murdering Squire Jiang, you had better surrender and submit to the law."
"Submit to your grandmother!"
Xu Ying laughed heartily. "I can beat even a deity to death. Aren't you afraid I'll beat you to death as well?"
The green-robed official smiled faintly. Reaching out with his thumb and forefinger, he gently pinched a tender leaf from a vine beside the pool. Right in his hands, that tender leaf began sprouting branches and buds, rapidly flourishing into lush greenery that climbed up a willow tree by the pool.
Xu Ying's heart leapt. This was an official who commanded Nuo arts!
A Nuo master!
They possessed mysterious, unfathomable methods, having unlocked the secret depositories of the human body and mastered power unimaginable to mortals. Driving gods and commanding ghosts, subduing demons and slaying fiends, they wielded the greatest combat strength in this world!
Crack!
The willow tree collapsed!
The vines brought forth by the green-robed official's Nuo art were like giant pythons, strangling and snapping the bucket-thick willow tree into several pieces!
Xu Ying's eyelids twitched.
"My name is Ding Quan, Judicial Assistant of Lingling. Xu Ying, what you cultivate is demon arts, is it not?"
The green-robed official casually lifted his foot and tapped it lightly onto the water's surface. The pool trembled slightly, and beneath the water, lotus flowers and leaves grew at astonishing speed!
One of the lotus leaves caught the foot of Ding Quan, the green-robed official!
Ding Quan lifted his other foot and stepped forward; another lotus leaf rose from below, bearing his stride.
"Xu Ying, cultivating demon arts granted you formidable power, and killing a deity inflated your confidence. However, the one you killed was merely a village deity. Village deities have a moniker: 'straw-headed deities.'"
Treading upon the water, a lotus blooming with every step, Ding Quan strolled across from the opposite bank with leisurely poise. "We humans have our own true path of cultivation; why bother practicing demon arts? Even pushed to its absolute limit, demon cultivation amounts to nothing more than the Qi Harvesting stage. As for the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body, opening any single depository—even just its first tier—is enough to surpass village deities and surpass demon kings!"
He spoke as he walked. Beneath his feet, lotus leaves continually grew and flowers bloomed, while behind him, the leaves and blooms withered and decayed in an instant, crumbling into black ash!
Xu Ying tightened his fists and smiled. "May I ask, what are the Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body? Which depository has Your Honor opened, and to what tier have you cultivated it?"
Suddenly he froze, realizing the space beside him was completely empty. Clearly, the snake demon Yuan Qi had long since slipped away without a trace.
Xu Ying felt a pang of disappointment, but immediately felt relieved.
This was his own affair to begin with; he had never wanted to drag Yuan Qi into it.
Ding Quan arrived opposite him, less than two zhang away, only he stood upon the water while Xu Ying stood on the bank.
"The Six Secret Depositories of the Human Body: Crimson Palace, Yellow Court, Jade Capital, Bubbling Spring, Jade Pool, and Mud Pill. Of these six, one can only open a single depository. And seeking out these depositories is no easy matter."
Ding Quan was in no hurry, patiently explaining, "The exact location of each person's depository varies. One requires a Grand Nuo of profound cultivation to seek out the dragon veins, pinpoint the depository's position, and assist in opening it. How could common rabble ever have such an opportunity? Only those born to prominent and aristocratic clans with Grand Nuos of their own can open their secret depositories, become Nuo masters, and master Nuo arts."
He sighed in admiration. "Hence, becoming a Nuo master is extraordinarily difficult. It is not something just anyone can achieve."
Xu Ying smiled. "I've only ever heard of Magistrate Zhou's family being a prominent clan, but never of any prominent clan surnamed Ding. It seems there is another way to become a Nuo master: by serving as a dog to a prominent clan."
Ding Quan's face darkened. "You court death!"
Xu Ying's words had struck him right where it hurt!
Beneath Xu Ying's feet, earth suddenly burst outward as thick green vines erupted from the ground, coiling tightly around his legs and binding them fast!
The green vines grew frantically like venomous dragons and massive pythons, swiftly winding around his entire body until he was wrapped like a twisted hemp braid!
Ding Quan's expression was grim. He raised his hand violently, and the green vines swept Xu Ying howling into the air, hoisting him upright more than ten zhang high, far above the treetops!
His hand swept down violently, and the green vines whipped Xu Ying around, slamming him ruthlessly downward!
With a thunderous crash, Xu Ying was smashed against the jagged rocks by the pool, sending shattered stones flying in all directions!
Ding Quan spread his fingers, and sharp green vines ripped out of the ground all around, hissing as they lunged toward Xu Ying amid the rocks from every direction like green swords, plunging straight into where he had fallen!
Countless rock fragments shattered and ricocheted wildly!
Ding Quan clenched his right fist tightly. Innumerable green vines coiled around Xu Ying, forming a nine-foot-wide sphere of green. Suddenly, the sphere twisted, tightened, and crushed inward!
Even a solid stone inside would have water squeezed out of it and be crushed to powder!
"Do not blame me."
Ding Quan's clenched fist slowly relaxed, and the corners of his mouth twitched. "When hitting someone, do not slap their face; when scolding someone, do not air their flaws. You touched my sore spot, so you must die!"
As his hand opened, vine after vine in the sphere shattered, disintegrating into fine powder.
The power of his Nuo art was simply too immense; the force unleashed had surpassed the limits of what the green vines could endure. Once the Nuo art's power burst forth, the vines were naturally blasted to dust!
Such was the power originating from the secret depositories of the human body!
Chapter 4