However, they couldn’t see these things with the naked eye; only because they had applied cat eye whites could they perceive them.
Yet those infants didn’t stop moving. Instead, they rolled and crawled on the ground, continuously inching toward the two men.
Watching the infant rushing toward him, Yang Baosan opened his mouth wide, about to scream.
Fortunately, Liu Dashao reacted quickly, hastily igniting a talisman and instructing Yang Baosan to pour the remaining chicken blood onto the Qiankun Formation.
With a loud hiss, it sounded as if concentrated sulfuric acid had been poured onto the infants. They let out a series of howls, thunderous and heart-wrenching.
“What should we do next?” Yang Baosan asked, looking at Liu Dashao.
“Damn it, burn these bastards to death!”
Without further ado, Liu Dashao hurled a fire talisman downward. With a deafening boom, a roaring fire erupted, its red flames wildly flickering like devils. The infants screamed in agony, their cries like venomous snakes hissing, yet even sharper and more piercing.
After quickly dealing with the infants outside, Liu Dashao exhaled heavily, watching Yang Baosan, whose face had turned a sickly green as he stared at the burning infants, too terrified to breathe.
Liu Dashao sighed deeply and said, “Alright, Yang Baosan, sit down and rest for a while. Once daylight comes, these things will naturally vanish under the sunlight. We don’t need to worry about them anymore.”
Only then did Yang Baosan snap out of his trance and set up another banquet to invite Liu Dashao for drinks.
Actually, there wasn’t much to celebrate. Every time these infants came here, they drained one cycle of Yang Baosan’s lifespan. After several such visits, Yang Baosan was probably nearing his end.
Well, maybe it’s better not to tell him this news, lest he become overly anxious, staying indoors all day and disturbing the cosmic order—an outcome I can’t afford to be responsible for.
Besides, this fellow hasn’t done anything particularly good while remaining in the human world.
Within a few hours, dawn finally broke. As light flooded their vision, the cat eye whites evaporated instantly. The courtyard became clean and clear. However, Yang Baosan no longer wished to remain here—he feared that staying longer would eventually lead to his being devoured.
He decided to move out as soon as possible. Though Liu Dashao repeatedly assured him the place was now safe, Yang Baosan, always a cautious man, relocated to the village entrance.
Liu Dashao couldn’t persuade him to stay. Eventually, he simply packed his belongings and left as well. He had a vague feeling that there must be some connection between these infants and those from the cave on Bodhisattva Mountain.
But exactly what that connection was, he couldn’t quite figure out.
“Damn it, how come it took you so many days to come back?” Huang Shitou was the first to spot Liu Dashao’s return, rushing over immediately.
The others who had gone to Bodhisattva Mountain with him also gathered around.
“Mr. Liu, what happened over there? Why don’t you tell us all about it?” Fan Debiao spoke politely.
“Hehe, nothing much really. Let me rest for a while first. Damn, those many days of torment nearly killed me,” Liu Dashao said, walking toward the bed and collapsing onto it. Fan Debiao approached the opposite side, watching the drowsy Liu Dashao with some disappointment.
Huang Shitou and the others also gathered around, looking at the half-asleep figure, each wearing expressions of disappointment.
They had originally hoped to hear thrilling stories from the village during this break. But who would have guessed that the moment this fellow returned, he fell fast asleep. The others shook their heads and lay down on their beds, thinking of their mothers and wives back home, feeling a wave of melancholy. With enough melancholy, they started imagining airplanes, even though none of them had ever seen a real one.
“Time to work, time to work.” When Liu Dashao awoke again, the first words he heard were from Fan Debiao. “Damn, you interrupted my good dream!” Liu Dashao grumbled, reluctantly rising from the bed. He hadn’t expected to sleep for a whole day and night. Now that he was up, he felt a bit dizzy and groggy.
“Master Liu, if you’re not feeling well, you can rest another day,” Fan Debiao offered considerately. After all, Liu Dashao had indeed impressed everyone with his unexpected abilities that day.
“No, I’m fine!” Liu Dashao naturally didn’t want to rest. He knew that with such a delay, not only would today’s work points be completely deducted, but tomorrow’s might also be affected. That meant he would face a long period of criticism.
Without further thought, he got up and went to work on the mountain with Huang Shitou and the others.
Clang clang, clang clang—the never-ending sound of stone-digging echoed from the mountaintop as they worked to carve out a tunnel. A huge boulder blocked the path.
None of them had expected the rock protruding from the ground to be so massive—it even broke a pickaxe, yet the boulder itself remained undamaged.
“What the hell is inside this thing? How come it’s so damn strong that none of us can move it?” Huang Shitou cursed loudly, “What a stubborn rock!”
Hu Beikang mocked, “This big stone is just like your head—equally stubborn.”
Since Liu Dashao was working on the other side of the mountain, he had no idea about this situation. He spent the entire day doing heavy labor, his whole body aching, earning barely any work points, feeling deeply annoyed.
Only when he was preparing to return to the dormitory did he notice the existence of this massive rock. It was as big as a house, embedded into the mountainside. Moreover, this rock was incredibly smooth, seemingly one single, solid piece.
Strange, how could such a thing exist here? Liu Dashao was extremely curious.
“Hey Liu Dashao, what are you doing? Why are you spacing out? Aren’t you going to eat yet?” Hu Beikang straightened his back, helplessly glancing at Liu Dashao before speaking.
“Alright, alright, let’s go together.” Liu Dashao walked over to Hu Beikang’s side.
Despite Hu Beikang’s great strength, he had battled this rock the entire day without making the slightest progress, leaving him extremely frustrated. He didn’t utter a single word the entire way back.
“Hey, what’s going on with that big rock? Why did it block the path like that? Did you notice anything strange about it?” Liu Dashao finally couldn’t contain his curiosity and asked Hu Beikang.
Hu Beikang replied, “Don’t even ask. That cursed rock, it didn’t lie to the left or the right, but right in the middle of the road. That wouldn’t be so bad, but the more we dug, the bigger it seemed to get. At first, it was only as big as a small stool, but later it grew to the size of a whole house. And I believe if we keep digging, it’ll just keep growing. Who knows what kind of thing it really is?” Hu Beikang sighed in frustration, “Oh damn, what a miserable life. Oh, by the way, Liu Dashao, I bet you earned quite a few work points today. I noticed Fan Debiao seems to have taken a liking to you…”
“Go to hell, Hu Beikang! Even if I do earn some points, I’m still a craftsman. If it weren’t for me, would you all have survived that trip to Bodhisattva Mountain? He’s just being grateful—you understand that, right?”
“Hehe, I was just kidding,” Hu Beikang chuckled foolishly before returning to the dormitory.
After getting their meals, the two sat down to eat inside the dorm.
Truth be told, although the living conditions here were a bit harsh, the food was actually quite good compared to other places. During the time he was being criticized, even a small amount of oil residue in a month was considered a luxury. But under Fan Debiao’s management, the food was actually quite decent.
After dinner, Fan Debiao also came over, looking at Liu Dashao and asking, “Master Liu, can you tell us what exactly happened with Ge Shuanwa? Why did he steal that scripture? What’s so special about that book anyway?” Fan Debiao’s eyes were filled with confusion. “When I first met him on the road, he was just a little brat. I never expected him to reach such a level. It was quite unexpected.”
Liu Dashao sighed and said, “It seems Ge Shuanwa had been plotting this for a long time. That book, the ‘Taiping Jing,’ is said to have been created by Zhang Jiao, leader of the Yellow Turban rebels. It’s rumored to contain secrets about immortality. But I suspect that secret is fake—who would believe in immortality anyway? If such immortality were real, how could Zhang Jiao himself have died?” Liu Dashao explained to them.
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