Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1576 – Incense Child

Anywhere that there was light on this earth would have dark shadows too.

Even the capital of the West Desolate, which was known as the most bustling and lively city in the area, also had a lot of dark secrets hiding in corners.

Many homeless people in disheveled clothes used a stone bridge as a shelter. There were men and women and there was a detestful smell in the air that made people wrinkle their noses involuntarily.

The appearance of the veiled lady here felt like a breath of fresh air and many were attracted to her. Some women were jealous and envious of her while the men were greedy and passionate after their initial shock.

Their adam’s apples bobbed up and down. Suddenly, there was a rumble. Someone swallowed their saliva and it acted as a signal to the rest.

Someone stood up with a fierce look in his eyes and he scanned the other men. A deep laughter emerged. The man wore scruffy clothes but his attire was considered good in terms of the standard here. He was also burly and his eyes were burning fiercely.

Unexpectedly, the veiled lady walked towards him, making him momentarily stunned. He smiled warmly, “Since you understand the situation here, I can help you and make this smoother for you. I may even escort you out later.”

He reached forward to grab onto her veil, wanting to take it down and see her beauty. His actions were smooth but the moment he peeled off a corner of her veil, he licked his lips and his eyes bulged wide open.

No one knew what he saw, but he froze and looked like a wooden stick. With a ‘thud’, he fell to the ground.

His aura was gone and he was as still as a corpse. Obviously, he was already dead and he could not die again.

The veiled lady paused in her tracks and glanced at the body. There was a complicated look in her sad eyes.

Without hesitation, she stepped over the man’s corpse and continued towards the hole in the bridge.

This time, no one dared to look at the lady anymore. Everyone who lived here kept their heads as low as possible and dared not make any sound.

The veiled lady stopped only when she was deep under the bridge. The pungent smell in the air was piercing. There was also a thick rotten smell that felt never ending.

Around seven or eight dead bodies were piled over each other. Some of the bodies were so decayed that more than half of the bones were gone. Others had died recently and the bloodstains were still there.

The lady stretched out her hand and pushed aside the first two bodies at the top. Then, she stared blankly at one of the corpses in front of her.

Wounds were all over every inch of flesh on this corpse. Looking at it from the top of its head to the bottom of its feet, every piece of flesh had been vandalized.

All the blood had been sapped out of the body through these wounds and the revealed muscles and bones were a pale white color.

The long robe the corpse originally wore was torn away by someone else, revealing his state. No matter how hard the veiled lady looked at this corpse, she could not see the elegance and gratefulness that this man had in the past.

However, she knew that this body was his.

She thought that she would not feel sad and she only wanted to confirm his end with his body.

But, she realized she was wrong. Her heart pounded strongly like it was whipping her face and asking her if she was regretful.

Bang –

Bang –

Clear heartbeats reverberated from this woman’s chest and her body started shaking. Her violent heartbeats echoed through the bridge and every living person there had a painful expression.

There was fear in their eyes and they desperately wanted to run. However, all their energy seemed to have been sapped out of them and they could not move.

Blood started to gush out of their eyes, noses and mouths. Soon, blood was seeping out of their skin pores and they were mummified in the blink of an eye. There was still fear and desperation in their expressions, but after all the blood and water in their bodies were sapped away, they became mummies.

“Ah!”

A scream came from the woman.

Flames burst through and surrounded the entire stone bridge. As scorching heat flooded the air, a fox’s body could be vaguely made out.

One after another, tails appeared behind the fox. Energy surged into the air and the aura was superb!

……

Marquis Chongwu Residence.

Rourou’s eyebrows suddenly lifted and she looked in the direction where there was blazing fire in the air.

“Eight tails…no, it is going to transform. Hehe, how hidden.”

She looked at it more intently with glimmers in her eyes that were speedily shifting.

“Hehehe, how pitiful and how laughable. Is the Demon Clan that pathetic now? This should be the golden chance in its life but it is going crazy after its completion.”

Her eyebrows were raised and she pouted. Her face was full of dissatisfaction.

However, the nine-tailed fox’s Demon Elixir was a delicacy because they stole secrets from others to go through many calamities. They could be said to be all encompassing.

Rourou felt greed for a moment but she soon let out a long sigh and helplessness filled her face. If she fought with the nine-tailed fox in her current circumstances, she would expose herself. Then, she would be chased back and it would be troublesome to descend again.

Without any choice, she had to withhold her greed for the nine-tailed fox’s Demon Elixir. She couldn’t eat it…not to worry, she could think of another solution in the future or devour a few other elixirs to make up for this.

Mm, three, she needed at least three elixirs to make up for this. She wants to be filled!

Rourou closed her eyes, hoping that not seeing it would make it less tormenting for her.

……

After the incident with Marquis Hou in Huicui Pavilion, another nine-tailed fox appeared in the capital. Not only did it burn down a stone bridge, it also burnt through a large part of the city, ruining it. Many were injured and dead.

This humiliated the Defense Division in the capital and they were slapped left and right. It was also a challenge to the capital of the West Desolate.

If they could not deliver a good result, the Defense Division of the capital would suffer the rage of the miliary.

However, after fire shot into the sky, there was a flash of the fox’s shadow before it disappeared. Even after experts of the military were deployed, they could not find a trace of the fox.

It was almost as if it had evaporated into thin air.

……

Imperial Palace.

Behind the curtain, the emperor wore a stern look.

“It is the nine-tailed fox.”

Seated on the throne, he could sense everything that happened in the capital.

Even if there was only a flash of the fox’s shadow before it disappeared, he sensed it.

Below the throne, Lord Chengtian and a few other ministers of the court frowned deeply.

Living creatures in the world could cultivate, and this included various demons. The Fox Clan was one of them.

However, the nine-tailed fox was different. It represented the peak of demonic cultivation and it had great Divine Ways.

Because of the natural laws of the world, the strongest demon clans came from the Divine Central Desolate region. It was hard for any creature to be born around its borders and hence, the nine-tailed fox came from the Central Desolate.

It was not known when this demon infiltrated the capital. What was the reason for its sudden reveal?

The emperor sighed a long breath and suddenly said, “Lord Chengtian, have there been any disturbances in Parasol County?”

The Li Family enjoyed wealth and peace but it was already being monitored by the capital since a long time ago. It could be considered a shock, or the Li Family knew about this already but chose to remain silent.

Lord Chengtian bowed, “Your Majesty, there was an urgent report regarding them yesterday. All males of the Li Family in Parasol County gathered at their ancestral hall yesterday. We could not investigate further because of the distance, but based on what we gathered from later events, two Young Ancestors descended to the Li Family. If we are not wrong, they are from the Li Family of the Central Desolate.”

Behind the curtains, the emperor drummed his fingers against a table. Li Family men from the Central Desolate descended to Parasol County and then the nine-tailed fox appeared. Could these two events be related?

He suddenly thought of a top secret report from an investigation. Recently, there had been disturbances on the thirteenth floor of the Holy Land of the Central Desolate. Major clans responded to the disturbances but they could not find out the reason for it. Could all of this be related?

“Investigate! Find the nine-tailed fox. Regardless of where it came from, it has to pay for wreaking havoc in the capital of the West Desolate.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

……

Qin Yu wore a strange look as he stared at the ‘ball of clearwater’ in his hands. If his senses weren’t wrong, this thing was currently absorbing incense power.

He focused his attention to it and realized that there was a silhouette of a person slowly forming. This person was smiling as he sat down cross-legged.

Despite how blurry the figure was, Qin Yu felt like this man was looking back at him, though he was not sure if he was imagining it.

Thin streaks of incense power were gathering to the man and it made his figure become clearer with each second.

Qin Yu did not know the reason for this phenomenon. If he did not have a half-constructed Divine Nation, he would not have taken note of this.

He slowly frowned as he continued staring at the person visible in the ‘ball of clearwater’. Qin Yu had no idea whether this was a good or bad thing.

When he encountered problems, he could ask Rourou.

However, before he stood up, he heard a cold laughter, “I am the first one you think of when you encounter an issue. Qin Yu, should I praise you for being smart or scold you for being daring?”

Rourou had entered the room, unbeknownst to Qin Yu. She raised a finger and pointed to herself, “I am a mysterious being from space time and my strength is deep and mysterious. My cultivation realm is also strange and wondrous. When I descend to the world, I strike spiritual contracts with living beings to complete deals…”

Qin Yu stared at her, “So, you are praising yourself now?”

She was suddenly cut off and she gritted her teeth and snapped, “Shut up!”

She shot him a glare and her lips quivered. However, she remained silent.

In fact, she was slightly worried. When she possessed this young lady’s body after she descended to the world, it seemed like she was accumulating karma for herself.

However, when she focused herself to sense things, she could not find anything…although great beings could not be fathomed, this was the first time she felt uneasy and ignorant.

What went wrong?

As this thought flashed through her head, Rourou sat down and grabbed the ‘ball of clearwater’ in Qin Yu’s hand. It flew into her palms in a swift motion.

“Although, I get irritated by you, Qin Yu, your luck is quite good. You actually refined this thing with the right opportunity.”

Rourou pressed her fingers together strongly and molded the ‘ball of clearwater’. The incense person in it seemed to have been frightened and he screamed.

“Shut up!”

The screams immediately stopped.

Evidently, the person was terrified of Rourou. Rourou glanced sideways at Qin Yu. Her meaning was obvious – you are not as obedient as this small man.

Qin Yu’s expression was calm and he asked, “What is this?”

Rourou explained, “Incense power is a sort of belief. The Divine Nation you built…mm, you can consider it half-made but it is still a far cry from the real Incense Great Dao. It is understandable that you do not know about this.

“This man is called the Incense Child. It is a spirit born occasionally in the cultivation of Incense Great Dao. This thing can help its master to absorb incense power from the world. It is similar to an entity outside the body of a cultivator and it can speed up the absorption of incense power.”

Although Rourou’s tone was calm, Qin Yu could sense oddities in her words. He asked, “Is it very valuable?”

Rourou’s lips quivered but she eventually nodded. “It can be considered so. Once cultivators start to cultivate Incense Great Dao, they would be hungry for this. Of course, not every Incense Child will be attractive to buyers. You will naturally learn about this in time.”

She looked at Qin Yu and threw aside the ‘ball of clearwater’ casually. “Do you want to consider a deal? If you hand this little guy over, I can consider waiving some of the debt you have accumulated.”

Qin Yu stared at her silently.

Rourou coughed slightly, “Thirty percent.”

Qin Yu continued to remain silent.

Rourou gritted her teeth, “Half. This is the best I can give you. No one will be willing to give you a higher price than me no matter where you go!”