Chapter 66: This Venerable One Sees the Heavenly Rift for the First Time

By the second day, nothing unusual had happened.

Chu Xun sent guards to tally the number of straw men in the city to

make sure that it matched the number of people, while the people busied

themselves packing their few possessions. Just one more night and they

would leave, first thing in the morning, to take refuge at Putuo in accordance

with Chu Xun's plan.

Mo Ran sat by the gate of the governor's residence, watching the

people come and go. He sighed. "Chu Xun's plan is watertight. Unless

someone leaked the info, the average ghost wouldn't have the brains to figure

out that only decoy puppets will be left in the city. Someone must have ratted

them out. Shidi, what do you think?"

No response.

"Eh? Shidi?"

Mo Ran turned around. Without him noticing, his little shidi had

wandered off to watch a squadron of riders getting ready, and in his place

was Chu-gongzi's son, sitting with his cheeks in hand.

"Da-gege…"

Mo Ran almost jumped at his sudden appearance. "What is it?"

The little fellow pointed at an old paulownia tree nearby, in which a

kite dangled from a high branch. "Mama gave it to me. It got stuck. Can't

reach," he articulated with some difficulty. "Da-gege help me?"

"No prob, no prob." Mo Ran leapt nimbly to the top of the tree using

qinggong, retrieved the butterfly-shaped kite, and landed steadily back on the

ground, smiling as he returned it. "Here you go. Don't lose it again, okay?"

The little boy nodded.

Mo Ran watched him wandering around alone for a bit. He found

himself thinking that Chu Xun probably didn't have the time to look after his

son. "Where's your mom? It's a bit busy around here, so I'll take you to her."

"Mama? Mama is at the mountains in the back."

"What's she doing in the mountains?" Mo Ran asked, mystified.

"Sleeping," the kid answered in a soft voice, looking at him

guilelessly. "Mama's always sleeping there. Papa takes me to see her when

the flowers bloom in the spring."

"Ah," Mo Ran uttered quietly, at a loss for words.

The boy didn't mind; he was still too young to understand what death

meant. He played happily with the kite in his hands for a bit, then looked up

at Mo Ran and shuffled over. "Gege, thank you," he said in a whisper. "I'll

give you… I have something to give you."

He dug around in his pocket as he spoke and finally produced a small

half-piece of pastry wrapped in a reed leaf. No one in the city had enough to

eat these days, so it was a mystery as to how the little guy had managed to

save a piece of pastry. He broke it in half and handed the smaller piece to

Mo Ran.

"Da-gege, for you… Shh, don't tell anyone else. I don't have any

more."

Mo Ran was about to accept it when the boy suddenly changed his

mind and took the smaller piece back, offering him the bigger half instead.

"It's really yummy. There's sweet bean paste inside."

This small act made Mo Ran's heart all warm and fuzzy. He was used

to poor treatment and didn't quite know how to respond to charity. He

reached out and took the sweet with a mumbled thanks. The boy seemed quite

pleased and grinned brightly, the curve of his dark eyelashes filled with

warmth and kindness.

Mo Ran couldn't bear to eat the flower cake, so he wrapped it up

using a leaf from the paulownia tree and tucked it in his robes. He intended to

talk further with the kid, but in the end, the boy was a little kid with a little

kid's attention span. He had already bounced away into the distance.

Chu Wanning came back around that point only to see Mo Ran standing

there, staring off into space. He raised an eyebrow. "What's up?"

Mo Ran watched the boy disappear and sighed. "I was just thinking,

all these people… How come they all had to die?"

Night descended. Dark clouds covered the skies while occasional

bolts of lightning ripped through the heavens. As the night grew deeper, a

terrible gale howled amidst a torrential downpour.

Rain and its attendant yin energy enhanced the powers of ghosts and

other fiends. Chu Xun gathered the survivors of Lin'an near his residence and

bid them stay inside the Shangqing Barrier at all times.

Due to the rain, many of the areas that could usually be used as places

of respite no longer served as such. Mo Ran kept an eye on Xiaoman, but

when more and more people crowded into the governor's residence to take

shelter from the rain, Xiaoman ducked out of view.

"Damn," Mo Ran muttered.

"I'll go after him," Chu Wanning said immediately. He was small, after

all, and he swiftly dove into the crowd and disappeared. He returned after a

while with an irate expression. "He got away."

"Outside the barrier?"

"Mn."

Mo Ran fell silent, gazing at the downpour outside and the people

bustling to and fro. This was all only an illusion of events that had come to

pass two hundred years ago. But he suddenly felt so wretched.

The people around them had such hope on their faces. They believed

that as soon as dawn broke, Chu Xun would take them to Putuo, away from

this ghost-infested hell. In the pouring rain, guards dressed in white and red

put their all into making the final preparations so that they would be ready to

move when the sun rose. None of them knew how little time they had left.

The night grew later still, and the noise died down as people dozed

off, leaning against one another.

However, Chu Wanning and Mo Ran were wide awake. Their task was

to wait for the ghost king to appear and to kill him. Since Xiaoman had

already left the barrier, this night had to be the turning point.

Mo Ran turned to glance at Chu Wanning. "Why don't you get some

rest? I'll wake you if anything happens."

"I'm not sleepy," said Chu Wanning.

Mo Ran stroked his hair. "Then eat something? We haven't eaten since

coming here."

"I'm…" When Chu Wanning saw the pastry Mo Ran produced, the

words "not hungry" were replaced by a gulp.

Mo Ran handed it over. "Here you go."

Chu Wanning accepted the sweet and broke it in half, giving the larger

half back to Mo Ran and keeping the smaller portion for himself. Mo Ran

stared blankly at him, face unreadable.

Chu Wanning took a bite and uttered a questioning, "Hm?" before

asking, "Is this from Peach Blossom Springs? The flavor is a bit different

from the ones before."

"How so?"

"It tastes of osmanthus flowers."

Mo Ran forced a smile. "Oh? Chu Xun's son gave it to me; it's

probably traditional for Lin'an."

"It is indeed." Chu Wanning was opening his mouth to take another bite

when he froze as if he'd suddenly realized something. All the color drained

from his face. "That's not right!"

Chu Wanning shot to his feet, eyes wide and expression ghastly.

Mo Ran hadn't the slightest idea what the problem was. "What's not

right?"

Chu Wanning didn't answer. Instead he walked into the courtyard and

looked around in the pouring rain before picking up a sharp rock and firmly

cutting into his own arm. Blood gushed out.

Mo Ran grabbed him hurriedly. "Are you crazy?"

Chu Wanning stared at the blood trickling down his arm for a moment

before his head snapped up, eyes intense. "Have you still not caught on?" he

said harshly. "Someone means us harm!"

Blood ran down his arm nonstop, the crimson diluted by the rain. Chu

Wanning's face was pale in the deluge, his dark brows knitted tightly together

and thoroughly drenched by the ceaseless downpour.

Thunder rumbled and lightning split the skies, and for an instant the

harsh light turned night into day. The sudden clap of thunder jolted Mo Ran

into understanding. He subconsciously took a step back. He knew what

wasn't right.

Nothing in an illusion was real, however realistic it might seem. It

should have been impossible for a pastry to have any taste, or for a weapon

to actually cause them injury. In short, it should have been impossible for

anything within the illusion to affect them.

"Someone manifested the illusion," Chu Wanning said quietly.

Manifesting an illusion, also known as "Illusion Reification," was no

easy task. The ones most skilled in this technique were those of the Guyueye

Sect, whose motto was: "Medicine for the people, divine physician for the

heart." The latter half of the saying referred to the fact that some of them

specialized in the art of manifesting illusions. Many people were unable to

accept the passing of a loved one, but through Illusion Reification, the dead

could once more accompany the living.

However, manifesting illusions was extremely difficult, so generally

speaking, only short, individual scenes could be created, such as sharing a

drink or taking a nap together. It would be only one thing at most.

This illusion, on the other hand, was extensive and continuous with a

large variety of events, and moreover it had been constructed by the

feathered tribe. Even Guyueye's own sect leader might not be able to

manifest it all. Mo Ran immediately thought of someone else. Could it be that

fake Gouchen from Jincheng Lake?

Before he could think on it further, a strange sound burst forth from the

skies above. The dozing people jolted awake like startled birds, looking

around with wide eyes before they finally stared up.

For a moment, it was deathly silent. Then screams erupted like an

explosion of water droplets in boiling oil.

The people tried to flee in every direction, only to discover there was

nowhere to go, and screams came from all sides.

There was a fracture in the sky, and an enormous, bloodred ghost eye

stared unnervingly down from directly above. The eye was so close that it

was practically pressed against the barrier. A harsh, garbled voice boomed

forth: "Chu Xun, how very bold of you, a mere mortal daring to deceive this

venerable one."

"The ghost king…" Mo Ran muttered.

There were nine kings of the ghost realm, and some were far stronger

than others. The one before them now had yet to show himself, so there was

no way to tell which one he was. That lone eyeball loomed in the sky,

dripping with blood as it stared at the building below.

"Such arrogance. Absurd! You wish to save them, pathetic mortal? I

might not have wiped out your city before, but since you wish to stand against

me, I'll kill every single one of you! None shall be spared!"

With a shrill shriek, a blinding red light shot from the ghost eye, aimed

directly at the barrier.

Crimson clashed with gold, and for an instant all the other colors of

the world ceased to be. The force of the impact sent debris flying into the

howling gale and relentless rain. The tree branches in the courtyard snapped

one after another. The citizens inside the barrier grew hysterical, wailing as

they huddled together.

The Shangqing Barrier withstood the first hit, but another flash of red

followed immediately after and struck the same spot. The barrier held out,

but a crack appeared.

"How arrogant. Insufferable!"

The red light struck again and again, the impacts thundering and sparks

flying. When the barrier was on the verge of collapse, Chu Wanning's blood

ran cold. Now that the illusion had been manifested, any attack that landed

would be no different from one in the real world. If that attack were to hit

them, both he and Mo Ran might die. Golden light gathered at his fingertips.

This would surely blow his cover, but the situation being what it was, he had

no choice.

He was about to summon Tianwen and get it over with when a

resplendent bolt of light flew across the sky like an arrow and headed

directly for the epicenter of the cracks in the barrier.

The crowd turned to see Chu Xun standing on a tall roof. He cradled a

phoenix harp, and as his fingertips danced across its strings, they sent bolts

of light sweeping forth to gather at the barrier. Each strum was as sharp and

powerful as the rupturing of metal, and they instantly reinforced the

Shangqing Barrier that had nearly failed.

"Gongzi is here!"

"Gongzi!"

The people below exclaimed one after another, some even crying with

joy. Chu Xun held his own against the eye of the ghost king. The pair

exchanged a hundred moves in an instant, and the ghost king was altogether

unable to encroach past the barrier.

The cold voice rang again across the sky, even more menacingly. "Chu

Xun, with your skills, you could have easily escaped by yourself. Why do

you insist on meddling in affairs unrelated to you and making an enemy of the

ghost realm?!"

"Your Majesty wishes harm upon my citizens. How could anything be

less unrelated to me?"

"Ridiculous! We ghosts feed on the souls of the living. There is no

difference between us eating souls and you eating meat! You will understand

soon enough—once you're dead!"

Chu Xun didn't miss a beat, the notes of his harp never pausing. "Then

we'll just have to see if Your Majesty can take this head from my shoulders."

As he spoke, the chords beneath his fingers rose to a crescendo, until a

brilliant light pierced the heavens right into the bloody eye in the sky.

"Aughhh!"

The terrifying scream shook the very ground they stood on.

Fetid blood sprayed from where the eye had been burned by Chu

Xun's spell, and the crimson downpour mixed with his shrill shrieks. In his

anger, the ghost king unleashed a blade of light many times stronger than

those before it, striking out through the sanguine rain. Chu Xun moved to

block, but this attack was unlike the others, and the force of the impact forced

him back several steps. The notes of his harp stuttered.

"Gongzi!"

"Crack! There's a crack! The barrier is going to break!"

"Mama! Mama—"

The crowd panicked; those with families huddled together and sobbed,

while those without cowered in corners and quivered.

Chu Xun gritted his teeth, fire in his eyes, refusing to give up just like

that. While he was locked in stalemate with the ghost king, lights flared to

life on either side of him. He glanced to his periphery to see Mo Ran and Chu

Wanning standing with him, their scarlet and golden light flowing steadily

into his own, once again sealing the barrier.

A terrifying roar came from above. The ghost eye disappeared.

The three of them descended to the ground, and the sky rained rotten

blood for a while longer before finally returning to clear water.

Chu Xun, face pale, bowed to Mo Ran and Chu Wanning. "Many

thanks for your help."

"Don't mention it." Mo Ran waved his hands. "Go get some rest, you

look terrible."

Chu Xun nodded. He had indeed burned through too much of his

reserves, so Mo Ran supported him to the corridor. The people who had

been in disarray only a moment ago saw that Chu-gongzi had repaired the

barrier and saved them, so they gathered in gratitude, offering him water and

draping clothing over his shoulders.

"Chu-gongzi," one said, "you're all drenched! Please go warm

yourself by the fire."

Chu Xun thanked them one by one, but he was too exhausted to move

and so could only turn down that person's invitation. Undaunted, the people

carried over branches and made a bonfire beside him instead.

Things gradually quieted down, save for the crackling of the flames.

Suddenly, someone asked, "Gongzi, we took so many precautions, but

somehow the ghost king still saw through it all… Ai, what should we do?"

"Yeah, yeah…"

"How did they know we were going to leave? Gongzi said these

ghosts couldn't tell the difference between the puppets and real people, so

how did this happen? Could it be…" The man's voice faltered, and he snuck

a glance at Chu Xun. He clearly wanted to say that perhaps Chu Xun had

been wrong. That maybe somehow, somewhere, he'd messed up.

The white-clad guards saw that glance, and one of them swept in to

rebuke the man with furrowed brows. "What are you trying to say?! It's

obviously because someone couldn't keep their trap shut and leaked the plan

to the ghost king!"

"Who would tattle to the ghosts though?" the person mumbled. "It's not

like there's anything to be gained from that…" Then, seeing all the infuriated

glares directed his way, he stopped talking, disgruntled.

A while passed in silence before someone else said, "Gongzi, that

damn ghost definitely won't leave it at that. What should we do?"

Chu Xun, exhausted, didn't open his eyes, but his voice remained

gentle. "We just have to hold out until dawn and then be on our way. They can

do nothing in daylight."

"We have so many people—the elderly, the young, and some injured

too. Can we make it to Putuo Mountain in a single day?"

"Don't worry about that," Chu Xun said softly. "Get some rest. Just

focus on the journey tomorrow and I'll take care of the rest."

Chu-gongzi had always protected his citizens. When he said this,

everyone listened and did as they were told. A little kid came over holding a

piece of sesame candy and offered it to Chu Xun. Chu Xun opened his eyes

slightly and patted his head with a smile. He was about to say something

when a shouting guard ran over in a panic.

"Gongzi! Gongzi, something terrible has happened!"

"What is it?"

"The little gongzi—the little gongzi! Xiaoman—outside the City God

Temple—" The guard was too shocked to finish a sentence. He stammered

some more, then fell to his knees and sobbed miserably.

Chu Xun shot to his feet, what little color that lingered on his face

draining away as he rushed into the rain.