txolops Chapter 107 Don't run away, we're all pigs raised on manhole covers.
Chapter 107 Don't run away, we're all pigs raised on manhole covers.
Chapter 107 Don't run away, we're all pigs raised on manhole covers.
The boundary marker at Zizhu Peak is just one step away.
Yu Liang carried a bundle that looked like a grave mound on his back, grabbed a pig's leg with his left hand, dragged Su Xiu with his right, and his feet rubbed sparks on the mountain path.
"Quick! While those old idiots are still shifting the blame in the main hall!"
Su Xiu clutched the abacus in her arms, her face deathly pale: "This is treason! The Enforcement Hall will hunt us down to the ends of the earth!"
"Show some class! This is called strategic asset transfer!" Yu Liang gritted his teeth, one foot dangling in the air. "If we don't run now, we'll be stuffed into that pile of broken rocks as fertilizer! I came here to cultivate immortality, not to become farmyard manure!"
Pig was dragged until his eyes rolled back, and his four hooves dug two deep furrows in the ground.
It was clearly extremely dissatisfied with this tasteless way of escaping, muttering under its breath as if it were cursing some kind of highly vulgar demon language.
Just as Yu Liang was sprinting forward, preparing for a leap of faith.
An intense, suffocating smell of alcohol suddenly exploded out of nowhere.
There was no fluctuation of spiritual energy.
No oppressive force descended.
A large hand, calloused and with dirt stuck under its fingernails, suddenly emerged from the void.
Like picking up a chick, he precisely gripped the back of Yu Liang's neck.
"Holy crap!"
Yu Liang felt a sudden lightness in his body as he was pulled backward by a brute force.
"Tch, it's hopeless." Qiongqi's voice instantly turned lazy. "This old madman's hand is harder than a pair of pliers. Kid, you're done for this time."
""
The center of gravity is unbalanced.
The huge package landed with a loud crash.
"Splash!"
The cloth was torn.
Qin Mian's priceless elixirs, Liu Bo's demonic artifacts, and countless IOUs covered with names were scattered like snowflakes, covering half of the mountain gate.
Piglet let out a miserable scream, rolled three times on the ground, and sat down on a pile of high-grade spirit stones.
It opened its mouth and swallowed one to calm its nerves.
"Run? Where to run?"
Gu Santong's raspy voice boomed in Yu Liang's ears, carrying a chilling aura.
"The entire Qingxuan Sect is sealed off by a protective mountain formation; not even a fly can escape. Where could you possibly run to?"
Yu Liang shrank his neck.
A smile, more like a grimace, quickly forced onto his face as he stiffly turned his head: "Master—Master? Look how beautiful the sunset is, the afterglow like blood. I'm taking Su Xiu down the mountain to gather inspiration, and by the way—"
Check the market prices for cured pork in the surrounding area.
"A field trip?"
Gu Santong glanced at the pile of stolen goods on the ground and a cold smile appeared on his lips.
"You went so far as to dismantle and take away the roof beams from Zizhu Peak during your field research? Do you think I'm blind or stupid?"
Yu Liang's roguish smile froze.
Not right.
Something's wrong with this old man.
His old eyes, which were usually cloudy, crazy, and only focused on the wine gourd, were now frighteningly clear.
It was a kind of deathly stillness and vicissitude that came from seeing through life and death and wallowing in the mud for many years.
Gu Santong ignored the valuables on the ground.
He grabbed Yu Liang's arm with such force that he almost crushed the bones.
"Su Xiu, take this pig back to the house and lock the door. Don't open the door unless it's someone from heaven knocking on it, not even me."
17
Su Xiu trembled at the chilling aura.
She didn't dare ask any more questions, and dragged Pig Grandpa, who was still frantically stuffing spirit stones into his mouth, and scrambled up the mountain.
"Come in with me."
Gu Santong dragged Yu Liang along as they strode into the dilapidated main hall on Zizhu Peak.
"Bang!"
The palace doors slammed shut, shaking down a layer of accumulated dust.
With a series of flicks of his wrist, Gu Santong sent nine streaks of light flying in all directions.
Nine layers of soundproof barrier instantly rose, completely isolating the entire hall from the outside world, even cutting off the sound of the wind.
The main hall was dimly lit, with only a few flickering candles casting long shadows of the two people, like two menacing ghosts.
Yu Liang rubbed his bruised arm, swallowing back all the curses he had wanted to utter.
He looked at Gu Santong's serious, almost ferocious face, and his heart skipped a few beats for no reason.
The mask of a smiling face can't be worn anymore.
"Old Deng—Master, with this commotion—are you going to divide the inheritance, or are you going to silence me?"
Gu Santong remained silent.
He walked to the center of the main hall, plopped down on the tattered prayer mat, and untied the heavily patinated wine gourd from his waist.
Look up.
Pour it down hard.
Spicy liquor dripped from the corner of his mouth, wetting his tattered Taoist robe, and the smell of alcohol instantly filled the entire hall.
"Yu Liang, you're quick-witted! What do you think the Qingxuan Sect is?"
Yu Liang paused for a moment, his eyes darting around, and tentatively asked, "A nursing home teeming with misers, lunatics, and sadists? Plus a huge, legal pyramid scheme operation?"
"Oh."
Gu Santong shook his head, a bitter self-mockery tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"This is a graveyard. Or rather, a giant manhole cover."
"Manhole cover?"
Yu Liang frowned and subconsciously reached for the rusty sword at his waist.
The sword was burning hot, as hot as a branding iron.
"Hehehe—a manhole cover? That's a brilliant analogy!" Qiongqi laughed wildly in Yu Liang's mind. "This old madman actually saw through this fig leaf. Rare indeed!"
Three thousand years ago, this place wasn't called Qingxuan Sect; it was called "Burial Ruins of the Dao."
The sound of the ancient three-way bell echoed in the main hall, carrying a musty smell of history.
"Deep within these earth's veins lies a monster. It is a product of the fused resentment and remains of powerful beings who perished during the ancient war; it is the 'Source of Delusion.'"
The old man raised his eyelids, and Yu Liang's astonished face was reflected in his cloudy eyes.
We also call it—"the evil of the Way."
"It has no physical form, only endless greed and a thirst for completeness. It constantly yearns to break through the earth's ley lines and devour everything in the world that possesses reason and energy."
Yu Liang felt his throat was a little dry.
The feeling of being targeted by a venomous snake returned, stronger than ever before.
"The so-called Ten Thousand Swords Tomb Trial, and this Stone God—" Yu Liang began with difficulty.
"It's about choosing the lock, and also choosing the food."
Gu Santong stared intently at Yu Liang, his tone as cold as if he were reading a verdict.
"To suppress the evil of the Dao, at least four different paths of ultimate Dao intent are needed, using the physical body as the stake and the Dao principles as the chain to lay a deadlock."
"Those who win receive the inheritance of the Dao, seemingly enjoying boundless glory, but in reality, they become the nodes of this lock." Their souls are permanently connected to the monsters beneath the earth's veins, forever forbidden from leaving the sect.
"If one is away for too long, the principles of the Dao will collapse, and life will be worse than death."
Gu Santong pointed in the direction of Tianjian Peak, his finger trembling slightly, as if he were pointing at a group of pitiful livestock.
"Why do you think Xuanweizi hasn't left his mountain gate for five hundred years?"
"Why do you think Dugu Ao is always showing off? Why does Qin Mian take drugs like crazy? Why does Liu Ruyan seek validation from men?"
"Because they're all in pain!"
"Their nascent souls are being devoured by the evil forces beneath the earth every moment! It's like millions of ants crawling inside their marrow!"
"Dugu Ao must maintain his unbreakable sword heart through extreme self-suggestion; Qin Mian relies on drugs to suppress the corruption of Daoist evil; Liu Ruyan relies on absorbing Yang energy to fill the void in her soul!"
"Each of them is a survivor of the feeding game five hundred years ago, and also a prisoner beneath these ley lines!"
A bunch of pathetic creatures who turned into monsters just to survive!
boom!
Yu Liang felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.
No wonder all the high-ranking members of the Qingxuan Sect are perverts.
Turns out this is a high-pressure mental hospital built on a volcano!
Everyone is being tortured, everyone is going mad.
Qiongqi's voice held a perverse pleasure: "This is the consequence of being a 'lock.' To borrow power that doesn't belong to you, you have to treat yourself as fodder. These people think they're cultivating immortality, but they're actually serving as long-term meal tickets for that 'pathetic demon.' Tsk tsk tsk, they've certainly calculated this mess perfectly."
"As for those who lost—"
Gu Santong paused, a deep fear flashing in his eyes, a shadow etched into his very bones.
"They will be directly sacrificed within the Tomb of Ten Thousand Swords to feed the Dao Fiends. Their fresh flesh and blood, along with their nascent Dao foundations, will quell the Dao Fiends' hunger and secure a hundred years of peace for the sect."
"In the past three thousand years, the Wan Jian Clan has opened its doors thirty times. Including this time, they have only successfully obtained more than four inheritances three times."
.
"This is the truth behind the Qingxuan Sect's three thousand years of existence—cannibalism."
A deathly silence fell over the main hall.
Only the crackling sound of the candle flame seemed to mock this absurd world.
a long time.
Yu Liangcai spoke hoarsely, his voice dry: "Then Master, you—"
Gu Santong remained silent.
He slowly lowered his head, his withered fingers brushing aside his messy gray hair.
A gruesome old wound that ran through the entire top of the head was conspicuously exposed to the air.
The wound didn't look like it had been cut by a knife or axe.
It looked as if someone had forcibly pried off a piece of the skull with the mark attached using their bare hands.
The bloody, mangled memories still seem to pulsate.
"Back then, I was the only one to emerge as a successor of the 'Five Elements Dao'."
Gu Santong grinned, a smile more hideous than a ghost's, exuding a ruthless aura.
"In order not to become that living lock, and not to become a monster like them, I forcibly shattered my own Five Elements Origin and destroyed my Dao foundation."
"I am a deserter."
The old man raised his head, his gaze sharp and fixed on Yu Liang.
"But you are different. Your path is neither within the Five Elements nor within the Three Realms. You are the one who can overturn the well cover."
"Yu Liang, stop running."
"In the pig farm, the fastest pig is often the first one served."
"Unless—you take the butcher's knife away."