Chapter 199 - The Swarm

Xujiaping Village was a name that haunted Xu Ying’s dreams, yet one he dared not dwell on.

A strange seal lived within him. His memories were thrown into chaos whenever he recalled the village. Every recollection reshuffled his parents' faces and names. Terrifyingly, he remained completely unaware of these changes, unable to recall a single true face or name.

The more he tried to remember, the more he seemed to trigger a mechanism within the seal that systematically wiped out details of Xujiaping Village.

Attempting to recall the village only restarted this vicious cycle.

Xujiaping Village was like a curse that held Xu Ying’s memories captive, never letting them escape.

Fu Yi said, “According to what I’ve learned, Xujiaping Village was your home in your first lifetime.”

Emotion surged through Xu Ying. His voice was slightly hoarse as he pressed, “Where is Xujiaping Village?”

Fu Yi shook his head. “You’re far older than I am. How could I possibly know where you were born in your first lifetime?”

Xu Ying fell silent, disappointment settling over him. “Perhaps my memories of Xujiaping Village are merely another kind of seal. One deliberately designed to scramble my memories.”

Fu Yi hesitated. “I don’t believe so. As far as I know, your memories of Xujiaping Village change every time to muddle your real memories, not to seal them.”

Xu Ying felt a jolt and looked at him.

Desperate and resigned, Fu Yi added, “My only duty was to monitor you. Wherever you settled, I erased your memories and forged a new identity, keeping you weak and powerless. I wasn’t the first Qi Cultivator assigned to this. I had a predecessor, and likely he did too. Cultivators like us are completely expendable.”

He gave a bitter chuckle. “Once we’re used up, we get to ‘ascend.’ Heh. Right into the abyss as corpses and fertilizer!”

Grief and anger filled his voice. It took him a while to steady his Dao heart.

“Forgive me for losing his composure, Young Master Xu. I lack the answers, but someone does. She knows more than I do. Meng Po.”

Xu Ying instantly recalled the old woman selling tea on the Bridge of Oblivion. He had met her when he entered the Homeward Pavilion and had nearly drunk her tea. However, she recognized him, accused him of trying to swindle her out of tea, and drove him away.

“To reset your memories, we watchers first have to go to the bridge over the Hell River and ask Meng Po for a bowl of tea.”

Fu Yi said unhurriedly, “Watchers are Ascension Stage Qi Cultivators. Even if we evade heavenly tribulation and take immortal herbs, we live only around four thousand years. I was barely four hundred when I inherited your surveillance. Now I am decrepit, sustained entirely by immortal herbs. Yet Meng Po has not aged a day. She may be as ancient as you or older.”

Xu Ying collected his thoughts. “It’s possible that Meng Po isn’t human. She could be a ghost god of the underworld, which would explain her long life.”

Fu Yi said, “Exactly. Meaning she could know much more. Judging by how she has cooperated with me, patiently giving me Meng Po’s soup every time, she has a duty to fulfill, just as I do.”

He paused, then added, “If anyone still remembers Xujiaping Village, it is her.”

Xu Ying nodded slightly. After a moment, he asked, “I have another question. Bei Chenzi has an altar with a shrine and a stick of incense on it. A talisman originally sat inside, and you later brought another. Were their inscriptions identical?”

Fu Yi’s expression grew tense. He said hoarsely, “Answering that could kill me.”

Xu Ying glanced at him. “Refusing will kill you now. ”

Cold sweat beaded the old man’s forehead.

“When I became a watcher, I swore an oath. Breaking it triggers my death. A talisman descended from the heavens back then, and I was told to burn it while taking the oath...”

Xu Ying said, “I am not asking for details or a character-by-character recitation of the immortal script. All I want to know is if they were the same. That shouldn’t violate your oath, should it?”

Fu Yi composed himself and carefully recalled the oath he had sworn all those years ago.

“The two talismans were differen—ahem!”

He began to cough, belching a stream of gray smoke.

The smoke was bizarre, composed of distinct, visible particles that darted through the air. Once expelled, the specks swarmed back toward his eyes, ears, mouth, and nose, trying to burrow inside!

His expression changed. He cried out, “I haven’t said anything that violates my oath... Cough, cough, cough!”

He coughed violently, spewing more and more smoke. It grew thicker, and the gray haze poured from his eyes, ears, and nostrils like swarming insects.

Alarmed, Xu Ying stepped back and shouted, “Master Zhong!”

At his call, Dazhong surged forward, his tolling sending reverberations through Fu Yi.

After Zhu Chanchan’s modifications, the bell had transcended its former limits. Beyond clearer imprints and amplified power, his control had reached unprecedented precision. The toll thundered through Fu Yi without harming him in the slightest, targeting only the gray mist inside him.

Whoosh!

With a rush of air, clouds of gray mist blasted out. Yet not a single particle was damaged. Like a swarm of insects, the mist gathered again and flew back toward the old man!

Shocked and furious, Dazhong flew forward, tolling relentlessly to scatter and shatter the gray mist. But as soon as the tolls dispersed the mist, it gathered again. Dazhong failed to destroy even a single particle!

Alarmed, Xu Ying activated his Third Eye and looked. The particles of gray mist were minuscule insects, each with wings, legs, and oversized, scissor-like jaws with inward-curving blades!

Fu Yi screamed. Xu Ying turned his gaze back to him and saw his Primordial Spirit collapsing, his soul unraveling!

Dazhong’s earlier attack had not expelled all the gray mist from his body. Now the insects still inside him were devouring his flesh and Primordial Spirit, dividing and multiplying as they fed. In moments, they had riddled his Primordial Spirit with holes!

Fu Yi coughed frantically, screaming through the pain.

“A-All I spoke of was... my pr-predecessor and my... own affairs! I haven’t r-revealed... any of his secrets... That doesn’t bre-break the oath...”

Before he could finish, the insects began devouring his face from within. Then a thin scrap of skin lifted away.

Xu Ying and Yuanqi watched in horror. They could see distinct gray particles clinging to that scrap of skin!

The particles soon devoured it completely, then flew back onto the old man!

Agonized screams tore from Fu Yi as he thrashed and slapped at his body. Every palm strike drove out plumes of gray mist, which whirled briefly before burrowing right back inside.

Before long, his arm bones were visible!

The gray mist was a plague of bizarre, microscopic gnats, devouring him from within. Soon, nothing remained of Fu Yi but a stark white skeleton.

Then even the bones rapidly withered, rotted, and vanished into the swarm.

A mighty Ascension Stage Qi Cultivator had been erased without a trace!

His bones, his soul, his clothes, and his artifacts had all been consumed!

Xu Ying and Yuanqi were horrified. Dazhong was still battling the cloud of gray mist, trapping it beneath his bell rim. “Master Qi! Ah Ying! Help me! I can’t hold them down much longer!”

The gray mist slammed furiously against his walls. A sharp metallic clang echoed as the swarm bit straight through Dazhong, carving a hole through its bronze shell!

They streamed through the hole and joined the swarm that had consumed the old man. Wheeling through the air, the insects arranged themselves into a talisman, its surface shimmering with bird-worm seal script!

This had to be the talisman before which Fu Yi had sworn his oath all those years ago!

Xu Ying thought, Fu Yi said he saw the talisman burning after he swore the oath. It never burned; it transformed into a swarm of insects and nested inside him!

The talisman flashed and flew upward.

Dazhong flew over. Without a word, Xu Ying swept out his sleeve, caught him, and unleashed the bell’s power!

Dang!

A mighty toll rang out. A terrifying surge of power struck the talisman, blasting it back into countless wisps of scattering mist.

Gripping Dazhong, Xu Ying rose into the air and charged toward the gray mist, which was already gathering again.

Dazhong cried at the sight, “Ah Ying, I can’t do it! I really can’t—”

Another thunderous toll cut it off.

Xu Ying became a streak of rainbow light. In a few strides, he reached the space above the gray mist, then plunged from the sky, driving Dazhong down upon the gathering swarm!

Dazhong’s power erupted once more. The Immortal Dao rune for “imprison” lit up on its wall. The bell spun rapidly, dazzling light bursting outward!

Before the countless insects could gather, innumerable “imprison” Immortal Dao runes emerged across the bell’s wall. Dao sound thundered through the air alongside the ancient, majestic tolling, as though countless gods embodying the laws of heaven and earth stood in the void, reciting the principles of their own Dao!

Each insect was confined within an “imprison” rune, forbidden to escape. They hurled themselves haphazardly, struggling, even opening their sharp jaws to gnaw at their “imprison” cages!

The combined rasp of their gnawing was deafening.

Dazhong revolved slowly above Xu Ying’s head. He brought the fingertips of both hands together, forming five “imprison” characters, then shouted fiercely.

All the “imprison” runes began merging in pairs. Before long, they formed a single “imprison” cube that floated in the air.

Within that compact seal, only one insect remained.

Utterly ferocious, it scuttled around its “imprison” cage, beating its wings incessantly yet unable to take flight. It tried to bite through the cage, gnawing so hard that sparks flew, but it still couldn't break it.

Dazhong stopped spinning and murmured, “I can do it after all? I really can!”

The bell was beside himself with joy. Then realization struck, and he hurriedly asked, “Ah Ying, how could you wield me so easily and unleash power that even I can’t?”

Xu Ying reached out and lifted the little “imprison” cage. “I was the one who carved those eight Immortal Dao rune imprints onto you, Master Zhong. Of course I can unleash the power of those eight characters.”

Dazhong remained doubtful. “You haven’t secretly left any other imprints on me besides those eight characters, have you?”

“Absolutely not.”

Xu Ying activated his Heaven’s Fate divine ability. Countless eyes appeared on all sides, examining the insect. “Master Zhong, you already possess all that power. You simply can’t activate it yourself. I just happen to know how to unlock the strength that is rightfully yours.”

Pleased, Dazhong laughed. “Master Qi, you’ve taught Ah Ying well. That flattery really hit the spot.”

Yuanqi reminded him, “Master Zhong, flattery is all well and good, but don’t forget why he can wield your power but you can’t.”

Dazhong was floating on air. “That’s not important. As Ah Ying said, I simply can’t activate that power myself.”

Yuanqi shook his head. That bell’s been flattered witless. Then again, now that the battered old bell has turned into a fool, my position as Master Qi is secure.

With a buzz, the insect in the cage split apart, instantly dividing into countless insects to escape. However, the cage divided with the insects, confining every insect. The insects quivered and merged back into one, and the cages did the same.

Xu Ying marveled at the sight. “Just what I’d expect of an Immortal Dao rune that can imprison even me. What incredible power. Master Qi, open your mouth.”

Yuanqi was reluctant. “Ah Ying, could you please not put that thing in my belly? What if those insects bite through the seal?”

Xu Ying said with a smile, “Don’t worry. If the ‘imprison’ rune were that easy to break, it couldn’t have kept me sealed for so many years. Come on, open your mouth.”

Yuanqi was just about to comply when a voice rang out from afar, bright with laughter. “Unless I’m mistaken, the technique you just used was an Immortal Dao sealing art. And what you sealed must also be an Immortal Dao rune!”

Surprised, Xu Ying turned toward the voice. A young man alighted gently on the Golden Summit. He wore a black cloak over blue robes and had handsome features. His eyes were fixed on the “imprison” seal in Xu Ying’s hand, and he couldn't help but marvel at it.

The young man approached and bowed to Xu Ying. “Yan Kongcheng, a disciple of Emei, pays his respects to the Ageless Immortal.”

Puzzled, Xu Ying asked, “Have you met me before?”

“I saw you at Emei three thousand years ago, before heaven and earth were sealed,” Yan Kongcheng replied.

Taken aback, Xu Ying looked him up and down. “Are you an Ascension Stage Qi Cultivator?”

Yan Kongcheng shook his head. “I’m still in the second Gate-Knocking Stage. I have yet to form my Primordial Spirit.”

Doubt stirred in Xu Ying’s mind. “Brother Yan, opening the mystic gateway at your Central Ridge Pass lets you replenish the oil of life and extend your lifespan, but surely not enough to survive until now?”

Yan Kongcheng said, “When Emei was sealed all those years ago, I saw heaven and earth curling up. I was about to flee, but I was also sealed before I could. When I woke again, three thousand years had passed. The old landmarks remain, but the familiar faces are gone.”