Divine Arts?

Helian Chen's medical skills were unparalleled in Panlong City, having cured numerous incurable diseases. Wen Daolun held him in high regard because the man was also adept in the art of gu witchcraft. The strike that ambushed Wen Xing was clearly far from a simple lethal poison. Helian Chen pondered in silence, then drew a small jade vial from his robes and released several leech-like creatures onto Wen Xing's wound. Unlike ordinary leeches, they were pitch-black all over, with only a bright red stripe running down their backs. Yet when these creatures touched Wen Xing's wound, they seemed completely at a loss. They only drank blood and showed no interest in the green pus oozing from Wen Xing's injury. Helian Chen had no choice but to cut another small slit into Wen Xing's body, letting the leeches burrow inside. Before long, the things crawled back out. Yet the moment they emerged, their bodies slowly stiffened, turning rock-hard in fewer than ten breaths. Helian Chen picked them up for a closer look, visibly shaken. The leeches had actually turned into small chips of wood. When tapped against the headboard, they made a clear clacking sound. Wen Daolun was frantic beside him. "Is this a toxin, or a supernatural ability?" "I'm afraid... it's neither," Helian Chen said with a bitter smile. "Wen Xing's pulse is remarkably stable. Aside from excessive blood loss, I can't find a trace of poison, nor any sign of a curse taking effect." "What do you mean?" "If not for looking at the wound, I would assume he merely suffered some superficial flesh wounds," Helian Chen said, meeting his eyes. "You couldn't detect what supernatural ability afflicted him either, could you?" Wen Daolun nodded with a dark expression. Just then, footsteps sounded outside as if more than a dozen people were rushing over, followed by an announcement: "Commander Zhong has arrived!" He Lingchuan's gaze sharpened. The supreme helmsman of this legendary city, the owner of the Dafang Pot, Zhong Shengguang, was finally appearing! In over twenty dreams, he had never once met Zhong Shengguang. Who could have guessed that the ambush on Wen Daolun and Wen Xing's injury would draw Zhong Shengguang out in person? The wooden door creaked open, and a man walked in wearing ordinary civilian clothes. He entered alone and shut the door behind him. He Lingchuan studied him closely. Zhong Shengguang had neither three heads nor six arms; he was merely slightly taller than average, with handsome features and eyes full of vibrant spirit. His countenance looked more weathered than He Chunhua's, with gray hairs already dusting his temples. Yet He Lingchuan knew Zhong Shengguang was only thirty-seven or thirty-eight at this time and had cultivation to his name. Clearly, holding Panlong City and repelling foreign invasions was an exhausting, soul-draining endeavor. Ignoring He Lingchuan and the others nearby, he strode straight to the bedside. "How is he?" Wen Daolun's eyes remained fixed on his son. "The monster was targeting me. Xing'er took the blow in my place." Helian Chen looked ashamed. "There is no poison, nor any supernatural ability, nor even a gu curse. I can find no symptoms." Without symptoms, there was naturally no way to prescribe targeted treatment. Facing Zhong Shengguang, he could only be candid to avoid delaying matters. Zhong Shengguang examined Wen Xing's wound closely while saying, "I was also ambushed on my way here. This time, three ferry whelps struck together." Everyone's expression shifted slightly, but seeing Zhong Shengguang standing there unscathed, they knew he wasn't the one who had suffered. Helian Chen looked him up and down, checking for wounds. "Are you all right, Commander?" "Once I heard Wen Xing was injured, I was prepared. I just didn't expect their target to be you." Zhong Shengguang furrowed his brow deeply. "Of those three monsters, two are dead and one is wounded. All have been brought over for you to examine." Having defended Panlong City for over a decade, he had survived countless assassinations and was thoroughly experienced. Helian Chen looked at the unconscious Wen Xing, hesitating before saying, "I suspect this might be... a divine art." Zhong Shengguang whipped his head around. "Wen Xing was injured by the ninth child of the ferry mother?" *Could it be?* He Lingchuan couldn't help glancing toward the tray. Could such an unremarkable, cricket-like creature truly be the ferry mother's most formidable offspring? The one he had encountered at Chifeng Mountain had turned the entire mine tunnel into its nest, claiming total home advantage. If General Red hadn't stepped in, the patrol guards likely would have died on the spot. "Only the final child can cast divine arts." Wen Daolun looked at his son. "The large one crouching under the bridge to ambush us was merely a decoy." He pressed a hand to his forehead. "We were careless. We thought the battle at Chifeng Mountain had wiped out the remnants and lowered our guard. Who would have guessed that a second litter of ferry ghosts had infiltrated the city?" A ferry mother bore at most nine whelps in a single litter. Having slain nine earlier, they had lifted martial law and stopped deploying the Three Corpse Worms on nighttime patrols. After all, the Three Corpse Worms were hardly benign creatures themselves; releasing them too often risked inviting new trouble. Yet now that new monsters had surfaced, there was only one explanation: There was more than one litter of ferry whelps wreaking havoc! A Ghost Mother of the Ferry bore nine children to a litter, with the last born being the strongest. But the "ninth child" wasn't necessarily a tormentor. In truth, the odds of a tormentor appearing were vanishingly small. Even if a Ghost Mother gave birth a hundred times, not a single litter might yield such a creature. What was more, under the current circumstances, it was not easy for a Ghost Mother to give birth at all. Yet even if not a tormentor, each youngest ferry whelp possessed its own unique talents. Zhong Shengguang nodded. "A citywide search is underway; we'll have results soon." He then asked Helian Chen, "Can you be sure this is a divine art?" "Seventy percent sure," Helian Chen said. "When we cast water or fire arts, they inflict damage from the outside in. These three spines are like three seeds—once planted inside Wen Xing's body, they began transforming him, turning flesh and blood into wood. This is fundamentally different from ordinary supernatural abilities. Only divine arts can explain it." He glanced at Wen Daolun and lowered his voice. "The injuries on his limbs are manageable, but the abdomen is troublesome. If even his internal organs turn to wood, his life will be in peril." If the internal organs ceased functioning, how far from death could a person be? A muscle twitched on Wen Daolun's face. Zhong Shengguang asked, "How much time is left?" Judging by the rate at which the woodification was spreading across Wen Xing's body... "Seven shichen at most." Zhong Shengguang nodded, tossing a crescent-shaped whistle to He Lingchuan. "Command the sparrowhawk to relay the order: General Red is to return to the city immediately." He Lingchuan was startled. With fierce fighting raging at the front lines, Zhong Shengguang wanted to recall his commanding general? Wen Daolun also looked up sharply, protesting repeatedly, "No! Absolutely not! If White Crane Ridge falls, even Weicheng will be in danger..." "If it falls, we can take it back," Zhong Shengguang said nonchalantly. "Besides, there are other generals at the front; General Red isn't the only one capable of holding the line." He glared at He Lingchuan. "What are you still standing there for? Deliver the order!" At a moment when every second counted, He Lingchuan jogged out to carry it out. He stepped behind the Martial Review Hall, away from the crowd, and blew the whistle. The whistle was not shrill like ordinary people might imagine; instead, it produced a low, raspy tone, crafted from the horn of some unknown beast. Before long, a small black speck appeared in the sky, not growing much larger even as it descended. It landed before He Lingchuan and tilted its head. "Why are you the one blowing the whistle?" This fellow was an old acquaintance of He Lingchuan's. Last time it had been injured by a ferry whelp, it had convalesced in his quarters until half-healed before flying off, during which it had been treated to choice meats and enjoyed wine every single day. Since flying off that day, it hadn't shown its face again. He Lingchuan offered a tight smile. "If I didn't blow the whistle, you wouldn't show your face at all, would you?" Scumbag bird, eating and drinking its fill only to fly off without a word! "Pass on Commander Zhong's verbal order: General Red is to return to the city immediately!" "Understood!" The sparrowhawk spread its wings and took flight, heading due west. *** Because of the ambush on Wen Daolun, all public gatherings—including the lectures at the Hall of Immortal Inquiries—were canceled at once, and the entire city was placed under martial law. Zhong Shengguang dispatched dozens of squads to conduct door-to-door searches across the city. In any other place, this would have sparked public outcry or widespread panic. But the people of Panlong City possessed high civic awareness, and timely notices were proclaimed everywhere, so people were mentally prepared. When patrol guards knocked on doors, most cooperated readily. The patrol guards and city garrison focused their searches on abandoned buildings, sheds and pens, river ponds, and other secluded spots. Sure enough, they flushed out another ferry whelp, slaying it on the spot after a fierce struggle. What sent chills down everyone's spine was that the whelp's hiding place was very close to the residences of high-ranking officials in Panlong City. Furthermore: When Helian Chen, A'luo, and the other physicians dissected the ferry whelps' carcasses, they all discovered ash inside their stomachs. These monsters had been born at least two or three days ago, yet compared to the previous batch that had plagued Panlong City, they hadn't consumed a single bite of human flesh since birth. At most, chicken feathers and dog bones were found in the stomachs of two of them. In other words, they stole poultry and dogs, but did not prey on humans. Feeding was pure instinct. Suppressing even their primal urges was certainly not out of kindness. The apothecaries naturally analyzed this fine ash and soon reached a conclusion: This was the powder of nether pearls. When accomplished sorcerers or great demons died and were cremated, their remains could coalesce into nether pearls containing spiritual energy. The ash here likely came from the cremated remains of some demon beast that had been quite large in life and probably inhabited lakes or seas, as a tiny trace of unburnt algae was mixed in. By feeding on such nether pearls, the ferry whelps could survive for a short time without needing live flesh, which greatly reduced their chances of exposure. As the enemy's scheme was uncovered to this point, it was truly chilling. Evidently, the batch of ferry whelps born from Yun Gu was in the open to draw all of Panlong City's attention, while this batch that fed on nether pearls and avoided preying on ordinary people operated in the shadows, biding their time to assassinate Panlong City's key figures. Just then, Xiao Maoliang returned with his squad. Aside from the carcass of the ferry whelp that had fled, they also brought back an older woman. When He Lingchuan caught sight of her, he took a sharp breath. "It really is her!" Skinny was right beside him. "Who's that? You know her?" "Do you remember that shop I owned on Panlong Main Street?" "Of course I remember! What about it?" One shop could feed three generations; it was a golden goose. Skinny had drooled over it to no end. "When I was clearing out the shop, an older woman came by—her—" He Lingchuan pointed at Xiao Maoliang's prisoner, "—asking for a jar from my shop to pickle vegetables. I had no use for it anyway, so I gave it to her. I remember others called her Sister-in-law Ji, in her early forties." Seeing her disheveled hair, weathered face, and emaciated frame, Skinny gasped in shock. "Forties? She looks sixty to me!" "Both her sons died on the battlefield." He Lingchuan still remembered the scene from that day. "A'luo happened to take her pulse back then and said she was four or five months pregnant—and carrying more than one."