Ch42 - A Courageous Demand

Editor: Sahloknir

The places ghost cultivators tended to gather were infested with strong resentful energy.

After Jiang Yinghe entered the ancient tomb, a ghost at this odd ‘hotel’ brought him to one of the catacombs. There was a large and solemn coffin in the middle.

How…avant-garde.

The way this hotel took payment was also strange. Ghost cultivators naturally had no use for the monetary items of humans, and they also didn’t accept the spirit stones used in the cultivation world. The manager glanced at him like he wanted to take Jiang Yinghe’s mask, but after a moment of hesitation, he only asked for a piece of red cloth from his sleeve.

Although his clothing was an artifact, he had many others just like it. Jiang Yinghe was surprised, but he immediately ripped off a piece to give to the manager.

He scanned his surroundings and concluded that he blended in passably with the crowd. Only then did he enter the catacombs and sit in the coffin provided.

As soon as he was seated, Jiang Yinghe reached out to summon Wangchen. His gaze rested on the cold jade mirror stone hanging from the sword. After a moment, he pulled the sword pendant off. He originally wanted to place it in his spatial ring, but thought better of it. If this sword pendant really was able to track his location, then it could do so no matter where it was on his person.

Jiang Yinghe struggled for a long time before steeling his heart and using his spiritual energy to break apart this treasure, made from an ancient relic, piece by piece.

The internal structure of the mirror stone was fragile. When the frosty spiritual energy permeated throughout, it was like fire meeting ice. It broke apart quickly and soon lost all its spiritual presence.

Jiang Yinghe stared at the mirror stone for a while before lightly closing his eyes and breathing out. After he stored it in his personal dimension, he began to consider the words the landlady said to him.

“You can taste sweetness, so you aren’t completely devoid of emotions. However, you are insensitive to excessive ‘love’. Is it possible that your passion root has been removed?”

The landlady tapped her pipe as she said this.

“I heard that some cultivators who cultivate the heartless way choose to sever their emotions and abstain from love, but it’s a dishonest practice. None of them are able to reach the higher stages of the heartless way. Your cultivation is quite high, even I can’t see exactly how powerful you are. Yet you don’t know for sure if you have a passion root?”

Jiang Yinghe couldn’t recall anything about extracting his passion root, so he remained silent and listened.

The landlady sucked hard on her pipe. Her voice was languid, “If you lack your passion root, you won’t be able to sense attraction from anyone nor perceive it in yourself. Even if you love someone, your feelings for them would stop on the cusp of romantic love…just like a piece of driftwood stuck on the shore.”

“Wood…”

“How strange. You actually can’t remember anything. The process to remove a passion root is quite painful, so how can you forget so easily? Fine, fine. Since you’re such a beauty, the tea will be on me.”

Jiang Yinghe unconsciously tried to touch his face, but all he felt was the grimacing mask. Just as he was questioning the standards of beauty of ghosts, the landlady at his side suddenly rubbed at her neck and sucked in a deep breath near him. It was like he was more addicting than her pipe. She smacked her mouth. “What a fragrant spiritual scent you have, beauty.”

Jiang Yinghe: “…”

As expected, ghost cultivators had a twisted idea of what was beautiful. No, not just them. Heavenly demons, devils, they all had strange ideas about beauty. The sword pendant on Wangchen was the ultimate proof that all his disciples had something wrong with their heads.

So that’s the situation right now.

Jiang Yinghe left the coffin and poured himself a cup of tea from the pot on the small table. He stared at the blue concoction that was radiating miasma before helplessly putting it down.

His mind was a mess, what with thinking about his passion root, his current situation, the River Styx deviating its flow and affecting all life… Even if he had no intentions of being a saviour, he didn’t want to see the world completely destroyed before his eyes.

If he really couldn’t go home…

Jiang Yinghe spaced out for a second. Then he took out the transmission tablet to contact Zhangmen-shixiong and ask in a roundabout way about his ‘missing passion root’. Before he could do so, he heard the incessant clamour from outside suddenly still. Then he heard the manager speak beseechingly, “Who could Darens be looking for at my humble establishment?”

The voices of two children, a boy and a girl, sounded at the same time, “An honoured guest.”

“How can an honoured guest possibly reside in our shabby little place? Only stray ghosts without a grave to call their own stay here.”

The girl said, “He is the Patriarch’s…”

The boy finished her sentence, “Shizun.”

Girl, “And he’s also the Patriarch’s…”

Boy, “Cultivation partner.”

The two spoke in this strange way. It was like they were a single soul and mind split between two bodies. If they didn’t speak in unison, they could only take turns like this.

The manager spoke up. “All of our guests have already retired for the day. How will Darens conduct your search?”

Jiang Yinghe peeped out to see the girl glanced at the low leveled stray ghosts around her. Her head spun in a complete circle before facing the manager again. “Bring out all the evidence you have collected.”

The boy continued, “What things have you accepted?”

The manager didn’t dare to dally. He immediately brought out all the payments he’d received. There were stones the size of goose eggs from the riverside, teacups from the landlady who sold seven emotion tea, a teardrop from an emotionless being…and the scrap of red cloth from Jiang Yinghe.

The two kids circled the items, looking at them this way and that. “The three Half-step Golden Immortals are all at the Patriarch’s residence. The vengeful ghosts from the eighteen layers have all been recalled as well. They are waiting at You Ming Palace to be debriefed. We are just carrying out his orders…”

The two kids suddenly stopped muttering to themselves. The girl grasped the red fabric and brought it to her nose. She sighed, “How fragrant…”

The boy said, “Must be from a true beauty.”

The girl blinked. “But the Patriarch is looking for an honoured guest.”

The boy tilted his head at her, “Is this guest a true beauty?”

Their gazes met. Two voices answered together, “He is!”

Not only Jiang Yinghe, but even the manager was stunned by the thought processes of these two. He stuttered before agreeably complying, “Then this one will lead the way.”

The ghost cultivators parted as they watched the two children walk towards the catacombs to the side. Discussions erupted everywhere.

“I saw that beauty come in. He was wearing a mask and seemed to be a rabbit devil in life.”

“I’ve noticed him from the very beginning. His fragrant soul was enough to make my mouth water.”

“I’ve heard that Jade Girl Daren brought back countless beauties with every search, but none of them were the right person.”

Their words were very quiet. Neither of the children turned back as they entered the catacombs. There was a little devil in red seated before the table. He only reluctantly looked up as they approached.

The Jade Girl had a somewhat higher level of cultivation, so the delicious scent of his soul was even more prominent to her. She had to wipe at the corner of her mouth. Just as she was about to say her spiel about ‘conducting official business’ again, the red-clothed devil in front of her took off his mask.

Removing the grimacing mask revealed a handsome face with dark eyelashes and starry eyes below. The man was expressionless and aloof.

His finger touched the rim of the teacup and slowly circled around. “Are you two…little friends Qin Jun’s helpers?”

The two both nodded before grumbling, “Just because you’re good looking doesn’t mean you can address the Patriarch by his name. Since you know already, then there’s no reason to drag this out. Come back to You Ming Palace with us.”

…That bastard was really using child labour.

Jiang Yinghe’s thoughts veered off-track as he paused. Then he asked another question, “Then Qin Jun must favour you two a lot?”

The Golden Boy puffed up as he raised his chin. “We’ve already warned you to not directly call the Patriarch by his name.”

The Jade Girl hugged his arm. “We’re the Patriarch’s most beloved subordinates!”

Jiang Yinghe nodded, “That’s good. I just happened to have something to discuss with him.”

He grasped Wangchen from its resting place by the table. The snow sword’s icy body gleamed, even under the dim rays of light in the room.

Jiang Yinghe stood as he revealed his long-hidden cultivation. He shed his disguise. The tattered red cloak returned to being a soft, white robe. The overwhelming presence of an immortal more than strong enough to level the entire hotel condensed into being.

As the little ghosts outside began to panic and stampede towards the exit, a frosty sword light grazed over the entrance of the ancient tomb. The ground this ‘hotel’ was on was severed from the rest of the Nether Realm border. Then, the icy snow sword stabbed into the crevice, marking the divide with a sword light barrier that was as sharp as knives.

In the midst of the chaotic and miasma encrusted catacombs, Jiang Yinghe slowly knocked against the table several times as he glanced at the two children. “You are not my opponents.”

He was the leader of the cultivation world’s righteous faction. There were scarcely any people on the level of his bastard disciples in the present world. But Jiang Yinghe wasn’t made from paper-mache. As long as he wasn’t up against them, he could sweep away their subordinates, no matter how ‘beloved’, with one hand.

Whether it was Li Huanhan’s long time follower Chou Mojun or Xiao Mojun who had tried to use underhanded methods against him. Whether it was Devil Baron Sanqing who guarded Wanyao City on Chang Ye’s behalf or Devil Baron Jiuying who had his core extracted, none of them could beat Jiang Yinghe alone.

He was a widely known sword cultivator after all.

“It is not honourable to bully the weak,” Jiang Yinghe’s tone was apologetic, “but I have been left with no choice. Little friends, I can only let one of you go to inform your Patriarch that I wish to discuss repairing the River Styx.”

He emotionlessly looked at the two delicate and naive looking little friends as he issued a threat, “If Qin Jun doesn’t agree to my demands, I will kill the one who remains.”

He said it with an appropriate expression and serious tone, but the two children sensed no violent killing intent from him. They glanced at each other. The Golden Boy started, “But we…”

Jade Girl finished. “Are already dead.”

Jiang Yinghe couldn’t speak for a moment. He thought about what would be most terrifying to ghost cultivators and changed his approach. “…Then I’ll have a good friend of mine who happens to be a buddist cultivator exorcise you all.”

After that, the little ghosts that were eavesdropping from outside silently retreated to the corners and began to hug their knees and shake. Some even began to weep. Yingyingying

…He actually managed to frighten the ghosts?

—-

The atmosphere in You Ming Palace wasn’t as peaceful as Jiang Yinghe had imagined.

“Are your people all useless after all?” Chang Ye crushed another teacup. His deviously beautiful face was filled with anxiety, “They’ve turned up nothing so far. This area isn’t that big, Qin-shixiong. Your performance has been quite lacking.”

He became even more hostile after he finished voicing his previous thought. “If it wasn’t for you blowing your cover, this could’ve been delayed for a few more centuries. I could have slowly built up a relationship with Shizun…”

Qin Jun raised his eyes to give him a sweeping glance. He sneered, “Does a two-faced evil devil like you believe yourself to be spotless? Haven’t you lied to him enough? You’re truly worthy of being called the Devil King with how malicious and calculating you are.”

Chang Ye slammed the cup down rim first. His expression was dark. “If a motherfucker like you can’t handle it then leave it to the devil tribe. Do all you ghost cultivators lack brains? What if something happens when finding Shizun that offends him? The entirety of your Nether Realm wouldn’t be enough to compensate.”

“I’m only tolerating your tantrums for Shizun’s sake.” Qin Jun’s steel-gray eyes were burrowing into Chang Ye. Aloof arrogance and killing intent were brewing in his eyes. “You acted so obedient and meek while deceiving him. If only Shizun could see you now.”

As the atmosphere between the two became more tense, Li Huanhan, who has remained silent this whole time, suddenly opened his eyes.

…The presence of the sword pendant disappeared.

Wangchen was stored in Shizun’s personal dimension, so there was no possibility of it being lost. Which meant…

Li Huanhan’s heart sank. He already knew why Jiang Yinghe had destroyed the sword pendant. He raised a hand to his chest. It felt like even the slightest of movements from his internal demon infested heart created a sense of being constricted by burning chains of despair, which caused him unbearable agony.

He lowered his head and took in a deep breath. Something seemed to force itself out of his mouth from his lungs. It was only when it touched his tongue that he discovered it was a long suppressed mouthful of fresh blood.

Specks of it dotted his lips.

Li Huanhan wiped at the traces. He continued to look down and say nothing.

But the other two seemed to decide to stop at the same time to watch him wipe at the scarlet drops. Chang Ye stared momentarily and sighed as he came to a conclusion, “You lunatic. If I didn’t know any better I would’ve never guessed you’ve been possessed by internal demons.”

He was like a drunk person. His mind was still clear and his words calm, red herrings that hid his intoxication from the others. Only when he made decisions and acted upon them could Chang Ye sense Li Huanhan’s insanity.

“Heavenly demons,” Qin Jun laughed derisively, “are not so different from internal ones. They are both hypocritical evil cultivators.”

Chang Ye sent him a warning glance. “Every crow in the world is the same shade of black. You talk as if you’re any different.”

When the two were about to argue again, the childish voice of a girl rang out from outside You Ming Palace. It held the characteristic empty serenity of ghost cultivators.

“Reporting to the Patriarch.”

Qin Jun looked up and asked, “Did you find him?”

The Jade Girl hesitated. “We haven’t found the honoured guest, but we found a true beauty.”

Qin Jun didn’t bother to hide his impatience, “Beauty schmuty. Don’t come unless you find him.”

He only noticed that the Golden Boy was missing after he finished speaking. When he was about to ask, he heard the slightly wilted voice of the Jade Girl.

“That beauty wants to meet the Patriarch.” She said, “He said if you don’t go, he’ll exorcise the Golden Boy. This subordinate is not his opponent.”

Exorcise? …Did a buddhist cultivator come to the Nether Realm?

Qin Jun knew all about the tastes of these ghost cultivators. It was probably a buddhist cultivator with a holy aura about his entire body. As long as their soul was fragrant, the Jade Girl would call anyone a beauty. Qin Jun’s temper was originally short, and her words only stoked the fire raging in him. He narrowed his eyes and said with a chilling tone, “He wants to see me, huh? Alright.”

He stood; his dark long robes shifting with his movements. A sharp edge appeared in his dark and cold voice.

“I want to see—who exactly has the courage to demand such a thing?”

Author’s Corner

You can go take a look, but don’t start kneeling once you meet him 🙂