Ch. 113 – Moonlight
“Living people…..living sacrifices…..” Fang Yang murmured.
Although he had basically already guessed that much, hearing it spoken aloud sent a shiver down his spine.
Compared to Fang Yang’s shock at such an unprecedented thing, Cao Zirui reacted much more calmly. Having consumed literature since childhood, he had indeed read of such things as human sacrifice, and his reaction back then had been nearly identical to Fang Yang’s.
But since he was already familiar with the concept, he was able to comfort Fang Yang: “These human sacrifices were generally slaves or prisoners of war, whose status in some ancient civilizations was similar to that of livestock. But things are much better now, and the practice of human sacrifice disappeared long ago.”
“That’s right, it’s all in the past. Western Qiang disappeared too, over a thousand years ago,” Old Uncle Sun chimed in comfortingly.
“I know. It’s just…..just that…..I can’t quite imagine it,” Fang Yang murmured.
Before today, he never could have imagined that such a cruel method of worship could exist in this world.
But after taking a moment to calm down, Fang Yang felt much better. Western Qiang’s Ghost-Refining Array had used living human beings, so it wasn’t so surprising that their sacrificial rites were the same way.
He shook his head, feeling that he had overreacted. How unbefitting of a real man. Cutting off the words of comfort being offered to him by Cao Zirui and Old Uncle Sun, he changed the subject and called out to Feng Ye: “Shixiong, isn’t this…..the location? What should we do now?”
Fang Yang hadn’t known the purpose of their journey to Longqiu at first, but he had been traveling with these people for many days, and had come to understand that they were here in search of the Living Soil. But due to the presence of Old Uncle Sun, he didn’t say this outright.
He successfully diverted everyone’s attention to Feng Ye, and they waited for him to respond.
But Feng Ye continued to stand rooted in place, staring at Nine-Step Cliff with an unfocused gaze, his thoughts unknown.
It was only when Hao Chen reached out from beside him to nudge him in the shoulder that Feng Ye snapped back to reality as if waking from a dream.
After a brief moment of confusion, he covered up his lapse in composure and asked: “What were you saying just now?”
Fang Yang repeated his question.
“Well…..” Feng Ye thought for a moment. This was indeed the location of the Living Soil, but there was still the question of how to obtain it. The power of the Living Soil reached across the entirety of Longqiu, but its true form might be no larger than the palm of a hand. They had narrowed the search down, but it was still very much like fishing for a needle in an ocean. There was no telling where the Living Soil might be hidden. Finding it was bound to take a considerable amount of effort, so they likely wouldn’t be going anywhere soon.
So Feng Ye replied: “We intend to stay out here in the mountains for a while. What about you, Old Uncle Sun?”
Old Uncle Sun quickly waved his hands: “I can’t stay long. My wife will be waiting for me to come home for dinner.”
“Ah, you’re leaving already?” Fang Yang was a little reluctant to see Old Uncle Sun go.
Old Uncle Sun was equally reluctant to part with him, feeling as if he had gained a big, healthy grandson for free. He ruffled Fang Yang’s hair: “It’s getting late, and I’m not as young as you boys anymore, ah. I still have to walk half a day to get back, and the mountain paths are difficult to navigate in the dark. Now that I’ve brought you here, it’s about time I head out.”
He’s right, Fang Yang realized. It was too dangerous for an elderly person to walk these mountain paths at night. Without attempting to delay him any longer, Fang Yang said his farewells: “Be careful on the road, Old Uncle Sun!”
Old Uncle Sun waved to him warmly, and pointed out the way to the group before taking his leave: “This direction leads to our village, though it’s quite far from here. The other direction…..”
He then pointed in the opposite direction from where Feng Ye and his party had entered Longqiu: “Over there is a market town, not far from where we are now. If you want the quickest way out of the mountains, you should take that route.”
“Got it. Thank you, Old Uncle Sun.” Fang Yang thanked him, then personally walked him a distance away before dashing back to rejoin the others.
With no outsiders around, they could now discuss the Living Soil freely.
So upon running back, Fang Yang immediately asked: “Shixiong, how do we find the Living Soil?”
He stared fixedly at Feng Ye with gleaming eyes, certain that since his Useless Shixiong had come here specifically for the Living Soil, he should know where to find it.
However…..Feng Ye really didn’t know.
Just like he couldn’t make it rain, he had no way of knowing everything. He had no idea how to locate the Living Soil, and coming here was just the next step in figuring it out.
But they were at the end of the road, and he hadn’t come up with a solution yet. Telling the honest truth sort of felt like letting Fang Yang down, so he kept his mouth shut.
When the moment of silence stretched, Fang Yang’s expression eventually shifted into one of bafflement.
Cao Zirui looked back and forth between them, and caught a glimpse of the truth in Feng Ye’s silence.
He reached for the small jar at his waist. The original one had shattered, but he fortunately had spares in his storage bag and had used one of them to hold Jianmu.
At that time, Jianmu had nearly fallen into the clutches of that mysterious black snake, and would have been lost had Feng Ye not stepped in to help. This was enough to prove that despite Feng Ye’s unknown identity and the fact that his strength was far greater than that of a junior disciple, no matter why he wanted the Living Soil, he definitely wasn’t after Jianmu.
And since they weren’t enemies…..
Cao Zirui abruptly broke the silence: “I have a way.”
Everyone gave him their attention.
Before he set off, Ji Chengyue had given him numerous instructions, including the method for locating the Living Soil.
Ling Yun’s method for locating it was not recorded in the official records, nor was it known to outsiders. But this didn’t apply to Ji Chengyue.
Regardless of the current situation with Ling Yun, the two of them had once been close enough to have no secrets from each other. Ling Yun had once recounted his search for the Living Soil to Ji Chengyue, who in turn provided that information to Cao Zirui.
Cao Zirui gave them a rough approximation of Ji Chengyue’s words: “The Living Soil looks just like ordinary soil, and the only way to identify it is by its unique vitality.”
“The forests of Longqiu have a higher vitality than other places due to the Living Soil, but there should be an area with vitality that surpasses the rest, where the true essence of the Living Soil lies.”
Cao Zirui arrived at the key point: “The former sect leader tried every possible method when he was searching for the Living Soil, and he finally happened upon an ancient text that mentioned an array capable of detecting vitality. Its scope was limited, and he used it over a dozen times throughout Longqiu before he finally located the Living Soil.”
“Over a dozen times?” Fang Yang exclaimed dramatically. This certainly didn’t sound like a small undertaking. It seemed that locating the Living Soil would take them a very long time indeed.
Cao Zirui saw through him, and shook his head: “He didn’t know its location back then, and could only search Longqiu a little at a time. But it’s different for us. Where we’re standing right now is roughly where the Living Soil is located. We’ll only need to set up the array once to search this plot of land.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Can I help?” Fang Yang immediately rolled up his sleeves in preparation to help Cao Zirui set up the array.
Cao Zirui sighed and explained to the eager Fang Yang: “It’s not the right time. The array uses the essence of the moon rather than spiritual power.”
“Essence of the moon?” Fang Yang asked in confusion. “What’s that?”
“It’s just moonlight,” Feng Ye said concisely.
Fang Yang understood. He turned to Cao Zirui and asked: “Is there anything else we need to prepare?”
Cao Zirui shook his head: “Nothing else.”
Ji Chengyue had prepared all of the materials needed for setting up the array. They had everything they needed except for moonlight.
“Then we’ll just have to wait until dark,” said Feng Ye. “Let’s rest here in the meantime. It’s barely noon, so we should conserve our energy for nighttime.”
“Okay!” Fang Yang exclaimed.
With that said, he took Cao Zirui’s hand and scampered off with him to Nine-Step Cliff, where they craned their necks to peer down.
He didn’t try to ascend the platform again, haunted by what he had heard about it.
But he was still curious to see if there were any traces of bones left at the bottom, so he dragged Cao Zirui along to keep him company. The two of them huddled together at the base of the cliff, whispering back and forth.
Feng Ye looked around and found a thick ancient tree, making his way over to it.
He took a seat with his back against its trunk, closing his eyes to rest for a while.
However, as soon as he sat down, Hao Chen shamelessly plopped down next to him so that their thighs were pressed together.
Feng Ye could only shift over slightly to make room for him.
Hao Chen did not move to follow. He knew that the dragon was deliberately keeping his distance from him right now, and that if he pushed him too far, he might just recall the rejection he hadn’t had time to voice earlier.
So he behaved himself and sat where he was, with no physical contact between them.
Feng Ye closed his eyes again.
Hao Chen gave a light cough.
As soon as Feng Ye’s eyes shut, they opened again, and he turned his head to give Hao Chen a questioning look.
“Fellow Daoist Feng Ye…..what are your thoughts on the Royal City of Western Qiang?”
He had noticed that something was wrong with the dragon from the moment they laid eyes on the broken stone pillar engraved with the serpent god Naga. Feng Ye’s thoughts had seemed to drift, and it was the same when they encountered Nine-Step Cliff earlier.
This dragon must have some connection with Western Qiang, Hao Chen deduced.
Now that all the bystanders were gone, he could finally ask.
“I don’t have any thoughts on it,” Feng Ye replied casually, his gaze shifting toward the nearby Nine-Step Cliff.
“Is that the truth?” Hao Chen asked, no longer wearing his usual frivolous expression. He was asking in earnest.
Feng Ye remained silent.
His lips were pressed into a thin line, as if glued together with the strongest adhesive in the world.
Hao Chen waited patiently for some time, but Feng Ye refused to speak.
He likely wasn’t going to get an answer. Hao Chen heaved an inward sigh, feeling that he still had a long way to go.
Following Feng Ye’s gaze toward Nine-Step Cliff, he suddenly asked: “Nine-Step Cliff…..named because a person can only walk nine steps across it. This naming convention is far too casual. If you could walk ten steps, would it be called Ten-Step Cliff? Everyone’s stride is different. How can short people and tall people take the same-sized steps? Did no one ever manage to take ten steps across Nine-Step Cliff?”
By the end, his voice had taken on a slightly joking tone.
But Feng Ye didn’t laugh, nor did he reply.
Hao Chen had intended to amuse the dragon, but found that he had only amused himself. His smile froze, and he rubbed his nose as he fell silent.
He sat quietly beneath the tree, glancing from time to time at the two boys huddled together, their laughter so loud that it could be heard all the way over here. Then he began to pluck at the grass, counting out even and odd numbers of blades as a way to kill time.
“They did.”
An indeterminable amount of time had passed when Feng Ye suddenly spoke up.
It took so long that Hao Chen had almost forgotten what he’d asked.
He had to pause and think for a moment before he remembered what Feng Ye was responding to.
Did no one ever manage to take ten steps across Nine-Step Cliff?
They did.
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Chapter 112 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 114
