After making up his mind, Ge Xian abruptly stepped out of the peddler caravan and approached Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou, the two county magistrates' generals. He bowed to them, then lowered his voice.
"Your Excellencies, I have something vital to report—something that concerns life and death. Could I speak with you in private?"
Perhaps the two Ghosts had been deeply impressed by the near-sliding tackle Ge Xian had used to deal with the ghost jackal earlier.
Though they seemed somewhat impatient when he said this, they still nodded.
The two Ghosts had only just joined him when the next words out of the Young Peddler's mouth nearly made their faces change and their bodies transform on the spot all over again.
"To be frank, Your Excellencies, although I'm only a mortal, I awakened a talent a few days ago. It lets me sense certain dangers and the extraordinary auras of nonhuman races."
"Right now, I can sense dozens of Water Ghosts and water monsters gathered nearby on the riverbed. I'm afraid they mean us harm. If they take advantage of the villagers gathering and the caravan setting out to launch a surprise attack..."
Ge Xian did not finish speaking.
The two Ghosts were both horrified. There was no need for Ge Xian to say more; they exchanged a glance with the Evil Cultivators of the Guard Team.
After the cultivators gathered around, the ghoul spirit named Zhang Buzu quietly revealed the Dharma Image of his Suffocated Ghost. He gave a sudden "retch" and spat a square bronze mirror carved with the Gu-Eating Spirit God out of his belly.
Then he held up the mirror, channeled ghost qi into it, and shone it toward the riverbed of the Qiantang River.
Ripples spread across the mirror's surface. A blurry image appeared first, then gradually sharpened.
Fifty or sixty "water monsters," each seemingly possessing a different supernatural ability, came into view for the cultivators and Ge Xian alike.
Judging by their forms and postures, they were indeed lying in ambush, brimming with malice as they waited to launch a surprise attack.
The one at their head was the most eye-catching.
Though he still had the shape of a human, he had begun to develop into a water beast. He was hideous and naked, his body gray-green except for his pale belly. He had gills on both sides of his neck, webbing on his hands and feet, and two enormous eyes on his face, scarlet as jade yet filled with cold bloodlust... He was a monstrous half-man, half-frog.
He also gripped a strange long spear. Its tip looked like a spiral horn, glimmering with cold light. It was clearly no ordinary weapon.
Even glimpsed from afar, he made Ge Xian feel deeply uncomfortable.
The two Ghosts, however, sneered in unison.
"So it's that bastard Wei Dashou. That dog was a fisherman who used to scrape by along the Qiantang River. Word was, he was lucky enough to win the affection of a Clam Spirit. She took the form of a human woman and married him, then even removed the [Clam Pearl] she had nurtured inside herself for a hundred years and fed it to him. She spent her own life force and soul to couple with him all night, helping him pass the rejection stage and successfully enter the Dao to cultivate."
"Who could've guessed the bastard had no conscience? Once he entered the Dao, he decided the Clam Spirit was no longer useful. Somehow, he got hold of a volume of evil cultivation techniques. That very night, he killed her, smashed her body, and took it to the Qiantang River to offer as a sacrifice to the [Dragon Palace] beneath the water, hoping to join the Dragon Clan and cultivate their great arts."
"Looking at him now, did he actually succeed?"
"Don't worry, fellow Daoists. He didn't. My family has dealings with the Qiantang Water Tribe, so I happen to know his story. The Qiantang dragons despised his treacherous, vicious nature. But since he had performed the sacrifice according to their rites, they couldn't refuse him and punish him outright. So they gave him a drop of filthy blood from a Fish of Cleansing and a page from the Blackwater Fragment, then drove him to the riverbank to fend for himself."
"From the looks of it, the bastard has some talent for cultivation. He's entered the Dao quite deeply, calls himself the [Green Toad Water Lord], and has gathered a bunch of Water Ghosts and water monsters to rob and devour humans wherever they go."
"Heh, no wonder he doesn't have a trace of dragon form. The Qiantang dragons raised him as an Evil Beast."
"Good. Let's set a trap and see if greed will lure him in. If he falls for it, we can hardly be blamed for finishing him off."
In just a few words, Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou settled on a vicious plan, and the other Evil Cultivators naturally followed their lead.
The two Ghosts seemed to credit Ge Xian for the discovery and deliberately placed him somewhere safe, even telling him to shout for help if he ran into danger.
The Peddler Ge wore a grateful expression, but inwardly he smiled. He did not yet know whether the fisherman Evil Beast called Wei Dashou would fall into the trap, but the two ghoul spirits had already walked right into Ge Xian's.
Ge Xian already knew what the two Ghosts would do with a peddler who showed a little talent.
And the events that followed unfolded just as he expected.
The six hundred villagers remaining in Jiudao Village took a full half hour to pack their belongings. Then they began dragging their feet toward Qiantang County.
Under normal circumstances, the two Ghosts and the other Evil Cultivators would have long since started yelling at them to hurry up.
This time was different. They deliberately let the villagers dawdle, and the two strongest among them went ahead to lead the way. The dozens of Evil Cultivators behind them also spread out.
They left such an obvious "opening," and sure enough, the water monsters and Water Ghosts beneath the river could no longer hold back.
With a thunderous crash, a towering wave rose as if driven by supernatural force. It surged over the riverbank and rushed toward the villagers.
The fisherman Wei Dashou, no longer human, stood atop the wave.
Though he had mutated into a beast, he could still speak. His hoarse voice roared:
"What ghoul spirits and Evil Cultivators dare to be so bold?"
"These villagers are my livestock. You dare try to take them? Then you'll all stay here!"
Before his voice had even faded, shadowy figures leaped from the turbid wave.
They were a motley assortment: giant fish and turtles transformed into spirits, beasts with fish heads and human bodies, and Water Ghosts whose True Forms were nothing but bloated corpses. Each had its own supernatural power, and all surged forward together.
In their panic, the dozens of Evil Cultivators hurried to meet them, but they were on the back foot from the very first exchange.
They also had to divide their attention to protect the villagers, and the situation immediately turned perilous.
Just then, a sudden change occurred.
Two wild bursts of laughter rang out from behind the monsters. Wei Dashou, who called himself the "Green Toad Water Lord," turned his head. His eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, and he tried to curse.
Unfortunately, he did not even get the first word out.
On the riverbank, a Suffocated Ghost and a Starved Ghost opened their enormous mouths at the same time, each swallowing half the towering wave. They severed the monsters' retreat and cut off the source of their supernatural power.
They had pulled the firewood from beneath the cauldron!
What a vicious stratagem.
Water monsters and Water Ghosts could not keep hopping around for long once they were away from water.
In an instant, their weakness was visible to the naked eye, and the tide of battle turned in a blink.
Wei Dashou knew he had fallen into a trap. He tried to leap back into the Qiantang River, but Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou would never allow it. The two Ghosts moved together to intercept him.
They did not bother with fairness, either. They simply ganged up on him two against one.
A near one-sided, brutal slaughter unfolded.
While Ge Xian, who could more or less be considered the "director" of this scene, watched in silence, he carefully analyzed the battle in his mind, especially the strength of its top combatants: Wei Dashou, who had killed his wife to prove the Dao, and the two ghoul spirits, the Suffocated Ghost and the Starved Ghost.
Wei Dashou's fearsome reputation was well-earned. He moved with ferocious brutality and could unleash demonic arts like Water Cannon, Poison Water Arrow, and Frog Croak. That was hardly surprising.
The two Ghosts, however, were another matter. Ge Xian had originally assumed they were merely two ghoul spirits who had been lucky enough to win Lu Hualong's favor and receive Dharma Images.
Now he saw that they wielded "Evil Ghost Dharma Images" to perform Bizarre Martial Arts. Every move and stance was close to the level of a grandmaster, and their might was astonishing. They must have been formidable fighters even before becoming ghosts.
A short while later, Ge Xian reached his final conclusion:
"If it came down to a one-on-one battle, before the supernatural powers of Beat Dog and Dragon Subdue dissipate, I'd rank at least in the top three among the Evil Cultivators of the Guard Team. But I couldn't beat any of those three: the two ghoul spirits who each cultivated a different Dharma Image, or Wei Dashou."
"The Bizarre Martial Art [Eighteen Dragon Subduing Palms], with only Three Palms left, has a grand name but isn't all that powerful. That meager trace of dragon qi would probably only leave a white mark on the two Ghosts' three-meter-tall Evil Ghost bodies. It might have some advantage against Wei Dashou, though, given their difference in species."
"So even among cultivators at the same Dao Entry Realm, there can be a world of difference in strength."
"In a dozen or so hours, the two supernatural powers in my body will dissipate, leaving barely one or two parts in a hundred. Then forget those three—even any random Evil Cultivator could squeeze me to death like a chick... I still haven't tried my Charm and Cultivate talent. I wonder if it works on cultivators?"
"I'm weak. I'm still far too weak."
These thoughts did not leave Ge Xian dejected.
On the contrary, it was his clear understanding of his own situation that made him abandon his earlier plan and come up with a safer one.
After all, this journey had shown him how terrifying the dangers beyond the county were. If he couldn't gather people around him and become a powerful cultivator, then alone, he had no chance of escaping Qiantang safely. Even if fortune somehow smiled on him and he made it out, that would be no help. The whole Jiangzhe Province was under the control of Yelü Yuyan's madwoman of a father.
From the secrets he had glimpsed, Yelü Tianzheng was no decent man either.
Besides, even if Ge Xian somehow escaped Jiangzhe Province against all odds, could he be sure that other regions, other provinces, would be any better?
At the end of a dynasty, there was nowhere to hide.
"Too bad the Rebel Army hasn't arrived yet. If they had, I could've gone and joined them."
"The closest is Zhang Shicheng. He'd be a decent choice. At worst, I can find a chance to join Zhu Hongwu afterward."
"Hmm? If I join him, things should be fine at first, but I'll have to be careful later..."
Ge Xian was still lost in thought as the slaughter came to an end.
Without the water to support him, Wei Dashou and his band of "demon water bandits" were no match for the two Ghosts and the other Evil Cultivators.
Before long, they were wiped out.
Even Wei Dashou, whose ruthless reputation and Cultivation Path were well known, only held on for a dozen or so breaths longer. Then, in a fit of utter humiliation, Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou each ate one of his hands and one of his feet, leaving him a living torso that rolled across the ground.
The battle was over.
But then came a turn of events that even Ge Xian had not anticipated.
He did not know what unspeakably evil thing Wei Dashou had done to Jiudao Village, but when the villagers saw him reduced to a torso, powerless to fight back, the people who had been scrambling in panic to avoid the battle...
Suddenly stopped. They exchanged glances, their breathing grew ragged, and at last, they could no longer hold back. They threw themselves at Wei Dashou on hands and feet.
It happened so quickly that by the time the peddlers and cultivators reacted,
seven or eight villagers had already clambered onto Wei Dashou and begun tearing at his flesh, heedless of everything.
As they gnawed, they wailed:
"My son! Your father has avenged you!"
"My sweet little girl, wait for me. Once I've eaten this beast's flesh, I'll come join you."
"You monster! I'll eat you!"
"Hahaha... Wei Dashou, look at you now! Weren't you one of us from Jiudao Village? Why? Why did you come back to eat your own kin?"
From their wails, it was not hard to piece together what Wei Dashou had done.
Killing his wife to prove the Dao?
That had only been the beginning.
Before he entered the Dao, he seemed to have been an honest, decent fisherman.
After he entered the Dao, his temperament changed drastically.
After killing the "Clam Spirit," he became even more perverted. As his cultivation deepened, he developed all sorts of Vicious Habits. Besides loving to dive into dark reefs and underwater caves, he also enjoyed capsizing boats on the river and eating the people who fell into the water. Later, he gathered Water Ghosts and water monsters to snatch people from shore and devour them. Once he grew more powerful, he became pickier still, eating only tender flesh from young children and infants.
His sins ran deep. Now he had finally met his comeuppance.
The scene seemed reasonable enough, but the two Ghosts and the other Evil Cultivators all changed expression and shouted:
"Quick! Stop those fools!"
"Our lord ordered us not to let these humans be contaminated. Their flesh must remain pure!"
"Hmph, there's still time. Dig the frog meat out of their stomachs!"
As soon as the words left their mouths, they charged in with brutal force, tossing aside the villagers who had been surging forward. They seized the seven or eight who had been the first to eat Wei Dashou's flesh.
Whether man or woman, they paid no heed to the villagers' struggles and wails. They ripped their clothes open, carved their bellies apart, and dug out the clumps of "Wei Dashou's flesh" that had yet to be digested. Then they roughly applied medicine and left the villagers to heal in agony.
The sight cowed everyone present. No one dared move again.
Ge Xian looked over at Wei Dashou. The Green Toad Water Lord was already dead, and not a single piece of him remained whole.
His face bore an expression Ge Xian knew all too well.
Resentment!
Regret!
Ge Xian knew that Wei Dashou had probably not been regretting his misdeeds in his final moments. Like Hong Buyi earlier, he was more likely regretting that he had not been even more ruthless, that he had not cast away his humanity sooner. That was why he had died and lost his Dao.
"Hong Buyi, from the Beggar Sect. He practiced Bizarre Martial Arts and was definitely a cultivator from the Bottom Layer."
"Wei Dashou had a fortuitous encounter and practiced the Dragon Clan Great Law."
"Neither had a shred of humanity. I wonder if they were born that way, or if their flesh and cultivation methods influenced them?"
Ge Xian did not dwell on it for long. He quietly turned to the other side, where the two Ghosts and the other Evil Cultivators were already cleaning up the battlefield and counting the spoils from the fight.
Zhang Buzu and Zhao Wuyou, two of the Demon County Magistrate's most capable subordinates, were also speaking in low voices.
"We thought our brothers had been given a thankless, exhausting job. Now it seems that may not be so. With that Young Peddler's help, we might even exceed our mission. Our master will surely reward us generously."
"Mm. But we mustn't let our master know about the peddler. Otherwise, he'll swallow him and spit him back out as a ghoul spirit. Then the boy will be one of our brothers, come to help us again, and most of the credit will go to him. We need to keep this under wraps."
"That's easy. We'll sweet-talk him and give him a few benefits. He'll do as he's told."
"If he doesn't behave, I'll eat him myself..."
The two Ghosts settled on their plan in the blink of an eye.
Then Zhang Buzu called Ge Xian over. "Peddler, you've earned some credit in this battle. Come pick an item for yourself."
The other peddlers and traveling merchants immediately looked at Ge Xian with envy and jealousy.
Ge Xian put on a delighted expression, but his heart remained calm.
Once he had decided not to brave the wilderness, he had planned to cultivate and develop within Qiantang County instead. That was why he had helped the two Ghosts.
It was a way to protect his own life; without his intervention, that so-called "Green Toad Water Lord Wei Dashou" might well have gotten his way.
It was also a way to obtain benefits without attracting the attention of Lu Hualong and Yelü Yuyan, the Perverted Couple.
The enemy of the brightest lights was the darkest shadow. This was exactly that.
Everything that followed unfolded just as he had expected.
Before you continue