Chapter 94 - 91: Chen Ajiao

Chapter 94: Chapter 91: Chen Ajiao

Daji felt a bone-chilling terror.

That look in its eyes made her feel... loss.

’I’m going to lose something, I’m sure of it.’ It was an unassailable decree issued to her by the White Jade Skull!

’How strange. Why was my first reaction... an imperial edict?’

’Could it be that this White Jade Skull was once an emperor whose name shook the ages?’

’An Emperor capable of suppressing Human Emperor Qi...’

She vaguely remembered that there really had been such a person who came later.

An Emperor of the Xia Kingdom who, with the body of a mere mortal, suppressed all the Celestial Gods and demons!

Daji’s heart pounded with growing panic and fear.

She could feel the undisguised malice the White Jade Skull held for her.

Because that look of pity was the same final pity a farmer shows a pig before slaughtering it for the New Year!

Daji didn’t dare to stay there a moment longer. Clutching the Compass, she hurried out.

Her husband was still waiting for her.

...

「The Great Western Sea.」

A massive, thick octopus tentacle squeezed through a crack in the Triple Roshomon, suddenly swelling to an even greater size as it shot out of the sea toward the sky!

Held fast by the three Gates of Hell, the Sea Coachman glared furiously at Jiang Chaosheng in the sky with its multiple eyes.

The wind from the tentacle whipped Jiang Chaosheng’s trench coat about, messing up his short hair.

Jiang Chaosheng watched the colossal approaching tentacle with a detached expression.

He had no way to resist.

’Anyway... I can’t die.’

’But... this is probably going to hurt a lot.’

"ROAR!!"

When the octopus tentacle was less than a meter from his face, Jiang Chaosheng heard an indignant roar.

The octopus tentacle before him began to rapidly dissolve, transforming into a black slime that rained down from the sky.

It was a bizarre black rain.

The moment the black slime hit the surface of the sea, it was as if it had landed on scalding magma, making a SIZZLE.

Gradually, black smoke began to rise from the surface of the sea.

The Sea Coachman wailed ceaselessly.

Jiang Chaosheng turned his head to look.

The Sea Coachman fought for its life, trying to leave the water’s surface, but it was pinned down by the three Gates of Hell.

Its enormous body billowed with black smoke as it was being dissolved by the seawater.

The very sea it took such pride in had become its most terrible torture and curse.

Jiang Chaosheng knew that Daji had completed her task.

He raised his head.

With the fall of the Sea Coachman, the vast dark cloud cover was breaking apart into smaller rain clouds, scattering in all directions high above the sea.

The corner of Jiang Chaosheng’s eye twitched.

’If I get exposed to the sun, I’ll probably end up just as miserable as the Sea Coachman, won’t I?’

Jiang Chaosheng’s body shot toward the nearest dark cloud.

...

On land, you often hear of a certain scenario.

It’s raining on the left side of the road, while the sky on the right side is clear.

That’s because a rain cloud happens to be hovering over the left side of the road, but it doesn’t extend to cover the right side.

Such a scene is rare, but it’s a common sight over the open sea.

There are countless rain clouds over the sea, so the rain always comes in scattered showers.

Jiang Chaosheng was currently inside one such dark cloud.

His clothes were soaked through, but thanks to the Dragon Pearl, he didn’t feel the cold.

The dark cloud drifted higher and higher, carrying him farther and farther away from the original patch of sea.

"I don’t know where this is drifting. Will Daji be able to find me?"

Jiang Chaosheng murmured as he studied the interior of the dark cloud.

Because he possessed the Dragon Pearl, Jiang Chaosheng could clearly perceive the tiny liquid water droplets and solid ice crystals within the darkness of the cloud.

Gradually, the darkness began to dissipate, and his vision cleared.

Bright sunlight pierced through the clouds, shining down on Jiang Chaosheng’s body.

The moisture in the dark cloud was leaking away, dissipating.

Jiang Chaosheng’s expression grew grim.

These dark clouds had gathered not far above the sea’s surface because of the Sea Coachman.

Now that the Sea Coachman was gone, the clouds formed by its Supernatural Power were also beginning to dissipate.

’If this cloud disappears, the curse will activate.’

’I have to find a way to hold this rain cloud together.’

Jiang Chaosheng slowly closed his eyes.

A peculiar energy spread out from Jiang Chaosheng’s body, weaving through the air like a spider’s web.

This power was called Spiritual Power!

Jiang Chaosheng had learned the Spiritual Concentration Divine Art from Daji.

He had already comprehended a great deal of this Dharma Gate.

Not because he was particularly diligent, but because the man was a monster.

Back in his student days, he could read for pleasure, eat, chat, and exercise, all while simultaneously memorizing vocabulary and textbook passages in his head.

Jiang Chaosheng’s mind never stopped thinking and learning for a single moment.

Sometimes his classmates thought he was daydreaming, but in reality, his mind was simulating things they had never even considered.

While Jiang Chaosheng wouldn’t be considered a genius, his true strength lay in his unwavering commitment to "suffering."

The same logic applied to his Cultivation.

Ever since Daji had imparted the Dharma Gate to him, Jiang Chaosheng had never ceased his study of it.

Now, Jiang Chaosheng could already sense and exert some minor control over his Spiritual Power.

The massive net woven from his Spiritual Power spread out from his body, firmly catching hold of the tiny, dissipating water droplets within the dark cloud.

This was delicate work.

Heaven only knew how many minuscule droplets of water were in this cloud.

He could only act on instinct, sending out countless fine threads of Spiritual Power to control as many of the droplets as he could.

Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes were closed, his brow tightly furrowed.

It was impossible to tell if it was sweat or rainwater trickling down his temples.

Each individual water droplet was minuscule.

But the number of droplets required to form a cloud was unimaginable.

Gradually, the rain cloud dissipated more and more.

Jiang Chaosheng could only try his best to keep the rain cloud from dissipating too quickly.

Just then, he felt a strange movement on his wrist.

The Shadowy Little People stood up on his wrist.

Seeing that it was ten thousand meters up in the sky, it got so scared its two arms began flailing like a windmill.

It finally stabilized itself and clung desperately to Jiang Chaosheng’s arm.

Its small, trembling head glanced down, and it made a great show of swallowing hard.

The Shadowy Little People scrambled up Jiang Chaosheng’s arm to his ear and whispered:

"Those two were rescued.

Their rescuers were a giant bride and a young man with a Pear Blossom Oil Paper Umbrella.

I got the Grand Zen Master’s Prayer Beads, but the Ghost Hair fell into their hands."

Jiang Chaosheng did a quick mental calculation.

He only needed to contain or retrieve six more Taboo Items to break the curse on his body.

The Sea Coachman, the Penalty Fire Flintlock Gun, the Round Table Knight’s Sword, the Soul-Attracting Bell, the Soul-Stirring Suona, and the Grand Zen Master’s Prayer Beads... that was exactly six Taboo Items.

Once all these Taboo Items were returned to Antique Shop Zero, his curse would be lifted.

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"Understood."

Jiang Chaosheng thought those five from the Sea Train were rather foolish.

Those five were likely just small-time members of the Taiping Dao.

Trading a wisp of Ghost Hair for an important clue about the Taiping Dao was well worth it.

It wasn’t hard to deduce that the Taiping Dao possessed numerous Taboo Items, and that some of their members could even wield them perfectly.

Like the person with the Pear Blossom Umbrella that Yang Xiao had mentioned.

Item No. 2-04, the Celestial King’s Soul-Calming Umbrella.

The Shadowy Little People said,

"I’m sorry, sir. I almost finished that young man off. I just didn’t expect that giant bride to be so strong."

Jiang Chaosheng began to explain,

"The Celestial King’s Soul-Calming Umbrella dates back to the time of Emperor Wu of Han.

The Empress, Chen Ajiao, fell from grace due to her childlessness and involvement in witchcraft. She was deposed and forced into seclusion in Chang’an Palace.

After Emperor Wu of Han died, Chen Ajiao hanged herself beneath a pear tree within the palace grounds.

Influenced by Chen Ajiao’s vengeful spirit, the pear tree became sentient.

During the Later Tang period, an ambitious young Umbrella Master heard the story and fashioned the tree into an umbrella.

Though vastly different from the King of Knowledge’s Mixed Element Pearl Umbrella, it is nonetheless an object capable of absorbing yin energy and souls.

You weren’t just facing a Taboo Item, but also a two-thousand-year-old resentful spirit."

The origins of Taboo Items like the Sea Coachman were unknown to the successive Managers of Antique Shop Zero.

But the Managers did know the history of Taboo Items connected to mortals, such as the Gavel and the Celestial King Demon-Suppressing Umbrella.

The Shadowy Little People said,

"Sir, are you trying to console me?"

Jiang Chaosheng didn’t reply.

He, too, was wondering why he had said something that sounded so much like consolation.

The Shadowy Little People suddenly asked,

"Sir, something’s not right with your condition. Are you in trouble?"

Jiang Chaosheng froze.

He looked up at the rapidly dissipating dark cloud.

’I am in trouble.’

’This little guy is quite perceptive.’

’My tone was perfectly calm, I didn’t reveal a thing.’

Jiang Chaosheng said,

"It’s nothing."

The Shadowy Little People grew anxious.

"Sir, I’ll go help you right now! Y-You wait for me! GLUG GLUG..."

Jiang Chaosheng raised an eyebrow slightly.

’What was that drowning sound at the end?’

He sensed something and looked into the distance.

A peerless beauty in a white robe was flying rapidly toward him.

He could see the anxiety on her face, and he could also see the fluorescent light enveloping her body gradually dimming.

Confusion was written in Jiang Chaosheng’s eyes.

’I always thought relationships were simple.’

’My adoptive parents expected me to carry on their family line.’

’I wasn’t obedient, so they abandoned me. That was perfectly normal.’

’That relationship was simple.’

’Yang Xiao is a client of Antique Shop Zero and a member of the Taboo Association.’

’That relationship is also simple.’

’Daji is a Taboo Item from Antique Shop Zero.’

’That relationship is even simpler.’

’But why?’

’Why do I sense such complexity in the way they treat me?’

’These simple relationships have become complicated, and they’re only getting more so.’

’And yet, this complexity feels incredibly pure.’

...

Mr. Dusk: Jiang Chaosheng (Illustration)