Immortality: Grinding Experience Starting as a Paper Craftsman

Chapter 77 Kiln Fire Burns the Sky, Clay Figure Asks the Way

"boom!"

The flames from the Exploding Flame Talisman exploded in the rainy night, like blooming red lotuses, blasting the mud figures that rushed towards them to pieces.

"Walk!"

Gu Yan shouted, and the green vines in his hand danced wildly like serpents, fiercely whipping away the mud dogs that pounced on him.

Xiao Chen's sword energy surged, each strike precisely hitting the vital point between the eyebrows of the clay figurines; Song Hong's throwing knives, like butterflies flitting among flowers, specifically targeted the smaller clay figurines attempting to flank them.

The three worked together seamlessly, like a red-hot dagger, forcefully carving a gap through the dense horde of corpses.

The closer you get to the town center, the higher the temperature becomes.

That heat wasn't just the heat of a fire, but a kind of scorching heat tinged with the smell of blood.

Finally, a huge circular earthen kiln came into view.

The kiln site was ten zhang tall, shaped like a huge, inverted black bowl, standing alone in the very center of the town.

The surrounding air was distorted by the high temperature, and even the falling rain turned into white steam before it touched the black wall, rising and swirling, as if draping the building in a hazy mourning cloak.

Above the kiln opening, four bright red characters are prominently engraved: "By Imperial Order".

Beneath the faded gold plaque hung two long-desiccated corpses.

The corpse, dressed in the official robes of an imperial envoy, swayed in the wind, rotting and stinking.

"By imperial decree, it was fired?"

Gu Yan sneered, and with a sudden flick of the vine in his hand, he smashed the last two clay figurines blocking the kiln entrance. "It seems that the officials of Wei have quite the appetite."

The three of them leaped into the enormous official kiln.

The noise outside was instantly shut out, and the kiln was empty and deathly silent.

Looking around, the walls of the kiln were not made of ordinary bricks and stones, but were densely covered with skulls, each with a ghostly green flame flickering deep in its eye socket, creating a sinister and terrifying scene.

In the very center of the kiln pit, sat a gaunt old man.

He was dressed in tattered coarse linen clothes, barefoot, and was intently fiddling with a turntable in front of him.

On the turntable was a clump of dark red soil.

As the old man's withered fingers moved, the lump of clay gradually took shape, transforming into the lifelike image of an official kneeling and begging for mercy, even capturing the terrified and distorted expression perfectly.

"Have the guests arrived?"

The old man didn't turn his head, his voice hoarse, "Wait a moment, this statue of a corrupt official is just one breath away from being finished."

As he spoke, he picked up a sharp carving knife and plunged it into his own chest without hesitation, taking out a drop of his heart's blood and placing it on the clay figure's brow.

"Buzz!"

The clay figure instantly came to life, letting out a piercing scream, and then began to kowtow repeatedly on the turntable.

"Good tactic."

Gu Yan narrowed his eyes, his gaze sweeping over the surroundings. He recalled what he had heard in the Flowing Cloud Sect's Scripture Pavilion: "Feeding the mud with heart's blood, forging the soul with resentment. Your Heaven-Burning Creation Technique is probably only possessed by the remnants of the Wildfire from back then, isn't it?"

Upon hearing the words "wildfire," the old man paused in his movements and finally slowly turned around.

It was a face half burned away by fire, as hideous as a vengeful ghost.

"I didn't expect that anyone would still remember Liaoyuan."

The old man grinned, revealing a set of yellowed teeth. "That's right, I am the Mud Bodhisattva under Liaoyuan's command."

Xiao Chen pointed his longsword forward and said sternly, "You heretic! You turned thousands of people in Guanyao Town into clay figurines, aren't you afraid of divine retribution?"

"Divine retribution?"

The clay bodhisattva seemed to have heard the biggest joke in the world, and it laughed wildly, tears streaming down its face.

"Sir, look around you, look at the skulls on the kiln walls!"

He pointed to the stark white bones around him, his voice filled with grief and indignation, "These are the people who died from exhaustion, starvation, or even being thrown alive into the kiln as sacrifices, all to make porcelain for the emperor to proclaim his long life!"

"Six months ago, in order to meet the construction deadline, the imperial court forcibly conscripted all able-bodied men in the town, not even sparing eight-year-old children. Anyone who disobeyed was whipped to death."

"Guanyao Town has 365 households and 1,432 people."

The clay Buddha opened the account book, his fingers trembling as he traced its pages. "In the thirty-second year of the Wei dynasty, three thousand shi of grain and five hundred bolts of silk were levied. In the thirty-third year of the Wei dynasty, an additional two thousand taels of silver were levied for river repairs, along with fifty able-bodied men. This year... this year there will be some kind of celebration tax, five taels of silver per household. Those who cannot pay will have to use their children to pay off the debt."

He raised his head, tears of blood streaming from his intact eye, while a strange compassion emanated from his porcelain eye.

"Sirs, look at this town! Where is there any way to survive? The soil has been scraped away three layers deep. This life is worse than being in hell."

The clay bodhisattva sat atop the clay statue of the corrupt official kowtowing, its eyes filled with madness. "Officials force the people to rebel, and the people have no choice but to rebel! But we are just mortals, what do we have to rebel with? To fight the armored soldiers with hoes?"

"So I taught them to shed their flesh and blood, and exchange it for this clay body of bronze and iron! Only by becoming ghosts, by becoming clay bodhisattvas, can we cross the river, can we go to the imperial palace, and ask that dog emperor whether his empire is secure!"

Song Hong's hand holding the throwing knife trembled, and for a moment she was unable to refute it.

Even Xiao Chen's sword tip lowered slightly.

They had been slaying demons and monsters for many years and were used to seeing demons devour people, but rarely had they seen such a tragedy of cannibalism.

Gu Yan listened quietly, his expression remaining largely unchanged, though a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.

"That sounds nice."

Gu Yan suddenly spoke, breaking the heavy silence. His tone was icy, "To fight tyranny, you turn living people into mindless puppets who only know how to kill? How is that any different from the dog emperor you speak of?"

"Are you saving people? You're turning them into your personal army to satisfy your lust for revenge!"

Gu Yan hit the nail on the head, tearing away the fig leaf of the clay idol who claimed to be speaking up for the people.

The clay Buddha was struck where it hurt, and its disfigured face instantly contorted in pain.

"You little brat! What do you know! No destruction, no construction; no madness, no life!"

He slammed his hand on the turntable, and the clay statue of the corrupt official exploded instantly, turning into a cloud of blood mist that merged into the underground formation.

"Since you are also lackeys of the imperial court, then stay and become my new recruits!"

"Boom!"

The entire official kiln shook violently.

Deep within the kiln pit, churning mud-like magma surged forth, and a giant clay sculpture, three zhang tall, slowly rose up.

It was a demon statue with three heads and six arms, each face bearing extreme pain and resentment.

The surface of this demon statue is densely inlaid with countless human faces, those faces are the missing children of the town!

"The Blood Mud of Ten Thousand Spirits... You actually used a child's soul as a catalyst!"

Enraged, Song Hong instantly launched three throwing knives from her hand.

"Ding! Ding! Ding!"

The throwing knife struck the demon statue but left no mark; instead, it was swallowed up by the flowing mud.

"it's useless!"

The Mud Bodhisattva laughed wildly, "This Burning Heaven Demon God is formed from the resentment of the entire town; it is impervious to water and fire, and invulnerable to swords and spears! Even a Foundation Establishment cultivator would have to flee in terror!"

The demon statue roared, and its six enormous mud hands, accompanied by a whistling sound, slammed down on the three of them.

"retreat!"

Xiao Chen shouted and pulled Song Hong backward.

Gu Yan stood still.

He looked at the seemingly invincible demon statue, his eyes filled not with fear, but with extreme excitement.

"Formed from accumulated resentment? That makes things easier."

He took out the City God's seal, which had been dormant for a long time, from his bosom.

That was a pseudo-godhood he created at the City God Temple by using his deceitful talent to gather the incense offerings of the people.

There is nothing more effective in dealing with such evil entities, which are twisted from resentment and the power of incense offerings, than the power of orthodox Shinto.

"Senior Brother Xiao, Senior Sister Song, please hold it off for three more breaths!"

Gu Yan let out a low shout, no longer concealing his strength.

He raised his hands in a mudra, and the pure incense and golden body power within his body erupted with a roar.

"By order of the City God, suppress the evil spirits!"

A dazzling golden light shot into the sky from the seal, transforming into a phantom image of the City God. Although not as large as the demon god statue, it carried an awe-inspiring and inviolable divine might.

When the clay bodhisattva saw that image, his eyes almost popped out of their sockets.

"A religion based on incense and fire?! How could there possibly be true gods in this world?!"

In this world where immortals and demons roam freely, the divine way has long since declined and become nothing more than a rural legend.

But what he saw before him completely overturned his understanding.

"There were no gods in this world originally; they only appeared because many people worshipped them."

Gu Yan looked at him coldly, and his hand seals fell heavily.

"You clay idol, you can't cross the river, let alone see the true Buddha. Today, I, this official, will send you to your death!"