Spirit Ox Tears, Soul-Shaking Golden Bell

Spirit Ox Tears, Soul-Shaking Golden Bell

No matter how chaotic things became at the foot of the mountain, they had nothing to do with Yu Chen, who remained atop Qingfeng Mausoleum.

After all, he was merely a gravekeeper, not yet twenty, too weak to truss a chicken, and a convict household besides. Someone from the Blackwater Gang had died in the south of the city—what could that possibly have to do with him?

Everything continued as usual. He rose early and lit the fire to cook.

Outside the window, wind and snow whirled through the air; inside, warmth filled the room.

After filling his stomach and cleaning up the pots, bowls, and utensils, Yu Chen stood before that old, battered bronze mirror and examined himself.

The forehead of the person in the mirror was faintly crimson, like wisps of smoke that curled around it without dispersing.

—Blood Aura.

That was its name.

Among ordinary folk, it was also called Killing Intent, murderous aura.

In many storybooks, veteran soldiers who had fought their way through blood and storms upon the battlefield could frighten ordinary people with a single glance and send barking dogs fleeing. It was because of this thing.

The more lives one took, the denser one's Blood Aura became.

Yu Chen had killed that great tiger, then the Ji Family's Three Brothers and five Blackwater Gang members in the south of the city. Thus, this so-called Blood Aura had appeared upon his forehead as well.

—Only, he could conceal it all with the Infernal Mask.

He had deliberately released it now only to test one of the benefits he had received from the Scripture of Deliverance after fulfilling Wang Hai's final wish.

[Spirit Ox Tears]

This was the treasure the Scripture of Deliverance had granted Yu Chen after he completed that [Unfinished Matter].

Legend had it that in ancient times, there was a kind of Spirit Ox that could observe good and evil, judge right and wrong, and discern black from white.

If the tears of such a Spirit Ox were dripped into one's eyes, one could distinguish those utterly vicious villains—the more lives they had taken, the denser the Blood Aura above their heads.

Of course, it could not, like the Spirit Ox of legend, accurately distinguish a person's right and wrong, good and evil.

After all, taking many lives did not necessarily make one an evil person.

Take a butcher at a slaughterhouse. After killing enough cattle and sheep, his Blood Aura would likewise soar into the heavens.

And leaving those aside, even when it came to human lives, executioners who followed orders had beheaded plenty of people, crimson clouds filling the skies above their heads.

Yet naturally, that did not mean they were especially vicious or utterly unforgivable.

Then there was Yu Chen. Though he had Blood Aura on his forehead and had killed people, he had always firmly believed himself to be a good man.

But even so, the denser the Blood Aura, the more lives one had taken. That was beyond doubt.

As for the second benefit from Wang Hai's wish, it was an ancient golden bell the size of an eyeball, tied with a red cord, called the [Soul-Shaking Bell].

Its effect was just as its name implied. Once the bell rang, it could leave those who heard it scattered in soul and spirit, dumb as wooden chickens.

The weaker one's mind, the more easily one would be affected by it.

It was quite the winning treasure for catching one's opponent off guard in battle.

—Just imagine it: if two masters were locked in an inseparable, blazing battle, and one of them was suddenly struck by the Soul-Shaking Bell and froze for an instant, the other would surely press the advantage. They might even take the enemy's head outright.

After all, in a fight between masters, a change in a single instant was entirely enough to determine life, death, victory, and defeat.

Yu Chen was deeply satisfied with both rewards.

After putting away the bell, he used the Infernal Mask to conceal his Blood Aura again, pushed open the door, and began sweeping the mausoleum grounds.

Before long, visitors arrived at the quiet Qingfeng Mausoleum.

Yu Chen took one look and saw an acquaintance!

Accompanied by a rough little tune that rose and fell in pitch, the Corpse Mover, who had not come for several days, dragged five charred corpses up the mountain.

Yu Chen did not even need to look closely to know that they were the bodies of the five Blackwater Gang members.

Though they were all entangled with the Blackwater Gang, these five fellows were not as fortunate as the Ji Family's Three Brothers, nor were they relatives of any important figure in the gang.

They had been of some use while alive, but once dead, they were merely corpses. Naturally, no one would pay to send them to Bright Moon Mausoleum. They could only have the Corpse Mover haul them up to Qingfeng Mausoleum, a place called a mausoleum but in truth not much different from a mass grave.

"Gravekeeper! This is a big job today! Come lend a hand!" the Corpse Mover called out with a grin, his booming voice carrying far.

After unloading the cart, the Corpse Mover got busy. He shouldered his shovel and began digging, muttering as he worked.

"You guess what?"

"More people died! Just like last time, they were killed and then burned so badly even their own mothers wouldn't recognize them! I heard they were still kneeling when the bodies were found. Who knows whether it had anything to do with that Head-Taking Ghost."

"But I heard these few were all Blackwater Gang scoundrels. Good that they died! Still, murder is against the natural order! I've heard that if someone kills too many people, after they die, their soul will be tossed into a vat of boiling oil and fried!"

The Corpse Mover seemed to have endless things to say, muttering without pause.

Yu Chen responded now and then as he helped dig the pit. Out of curiosity, he glanced at the Corpse Mover with the mystical eyes granted by Spirit Ox Tears.

It would have been one thing if he had not looked. But once he did, Yu Chen nearly failed to keep a straight face!

Above the forehead of this seemingly honest, simple-minded Corpse Mover, crimson clouds spread across the sky like the vast crown of a great tree, billowing and dense, lush as a canopy!

After obtaining Spirit Ox Tears, Yu Chen had gone down the mountain and looked at many common folk. Most had nothing above their foreheads. At most, there would be a faint red mist like light smoke. Those with something above their heads were either butchers who slaughtered pigs and sheep, or kitchen hands at restaurants who killed fish and chickens.

Those who had truly taken human lives were very few.

The most outrageous one Yu Chen had seen was an executioner who had worked for over a decade. Crimson clouds hovered above his head like a huge umbrella.

But even that was nowhere near as absurd as this Corpse Mover before him!

It was like comparing a witch's trick to a great sorcerer's!

He truly was... someone who slaughtered people like mowing grass!

Yu Chen rolled his eyes.

Without several hundred lives on his hands, could someone produce Blood Aura like that?

What was most absurd was that such a murderous butcher was still grieving for heaven and pitying mankind, saying that murder violated the natural order and would send one to hell!

Who the hell are you trying to fool here?

"I think so too."

Yu Chen coughed and replied, "It's best to leave punishing evildoers to the authorities. Private punishment simply won't do! We common folk should just live our lives peacefully and honestly."

The Corpse Mover raised his head, showing that he deeply agreed.

If someone who did not know their true circumstances heard those words, who would not sigh and praise them as simple, honest citizens?

That said, when Yu Chen had first planned to fulfill the second wish of Wang Hai's Bone-Deep Hatred, he had considered reporting it to the authorities.

But Wang Hai's corpse had been burned beyond recognition, and the criminal investigation methods of this world were nowhere near as advanced as those in Yu Chen's previous life, where a single bone could be used to identify someone. Nor did it possess those Heavenly Eyes called cameras that recorded crimes as they happened.

Let alone evidence, the authorities still did not even know that the first charred corpse had been Wang Hai!

Even if he used the same old trick and entered someone from the authorities' dreams, the constabulary likely would not find enough evidence to convict anyone.

And with the Blackwater Gang behind those fellows, their hands reached high and wide. Even if they were convicted, those pieces of trash might not necessarily lose their heads.

So Yu Chen simply did it himself.

Eliminating harm for the people—nothing shameful about that.

After burying the corpses and filling in the earth, the Corpse Mover headed down the mountain.

With nothing else to do, Yu Chen practiced a set of punches in the house. When night deepened, he too went down the mountain.

There should have been some news by now about the matter he had asked Xie Qing to investigate a few days ago, right?

Brothers, please send recommendation votes and monthly votes!

(End of chapter)