Chapter 08: The Evil Cultivator’s Confusion
By the time Xie Bailu slowly ambled back, Auntie Huang had already prepared the hot water. A bathtub was out of the question; there was only a small wooden basin for her to use.
When Xie Bailu was a child, she had experienced washing her hair and body with just two thermoses of hot water in the winter. The current conditions were already a luxury to her.
Auntie Huang’s daughter’s clothes were a little small, leaving a small section of her wrists exposed, but it was much better than wearing her own clothes, which were on the verge of stinking.
Xie Bailu told Xiao Xing not to peek and comfortably washed herself from head to toe. According to Xiao Xing, cultivators generally didn’t have to worry about cleanliness. With spiritual energy in their bodies, they wouldn’t get dirty. But this rule certainly didn’t apply to an unqualified cultivator like Xie Bailu, who was seriously injured and constantly in a state of depleted spiritual energy. She had also been doused in blood.
As she dried her hair, she contemplated her next move.
While she was bathing, she had wondered what she would do if Ling Song found her and suddenly burst in. Dying naked would be rather unpleasant. Fortunately, it had been quiet outside, which meant Ling Song probably hadn’t found her location yet.
But she hadn’t run far. She suspected he could pinpoint her general location, and with a carpet search, he would eventually find her. The Five-Star Cauldron was still in her hands. Even without the grudge of her using him, he would never let her go.
If this evil array remained inactive, she might be able to use it as a temporary shelter to quickly heal her Dantian. With a healed Dantian, she could store more spiritual energy, which would also reduce the consumption from Xiao Xing.
When Xie Bailu stepped out of the room, Auntie Huang, who was sweeping the courtyard, saw her and smiled. “Xiao Xie, are you hungry? I just cooked a bowl of noodles. If you don’t mind, you can have some.”
Xie Bailu had grown tired of dry rations over the past few days. Hearing this, her face lit up. “Thank you, Auntie Huang! I’m starving. You’re so thoughtful!”
The noodles were plain, but with salty and fragrant pickled vegetables, they tasted delicious. This was Xie Bailu’s first hot meal since transmigrating. She savored every bite. The satisfying feeling of a full stomach seemed to sweep away all the gloom and fatigue of the past few days.
She could keep running for another hundred years!
Not long after she finished eating, a commotion erupted outside. Xie Bailu was instantly brought back to reality and hurried out to see what was happening.
Auntie Huang’s house was near the village entrance. A crowd had gathered not far away, and someone was shouting in terror, “It’s a ghost wall!”
Xie Bailu knew they had finally discovered they couldn’t leave the village.
More and more villagers, hearing the news, gathered at the village entrance. The bolder ones tried to leave, and when they found they couldn’t, their faces turned pale.
This remote village was full of ordinary people. Although they knew of the existence of cultivators, they were too far removed to be keenly aware of anything amiss.
After a while, someone said with a trembling voice, “What should we do? Should we find an immortal master to take a look?”
Someone retorted in fear, “We can’t even get out! How are we supposed to find an immortal master?”
That was the crux of the matter. If they couldn’t get out, they couldn’t ask for help. They could only be trapped here and die.
Xie Bailu didn’t reveal that she was a cultivator. Her cultivation was so weak it was practically non-existent. She couldn’t help at all. It was better to observe from the shadows.
However, the next moment, someone in the crowd suddenly shouted, “I saw a stranger come to our village today! I bet it’s her doing!”
Xie Bailu was speechless. “…” Here comes the undeserved blame!
As a stranger, Xie Bailu was quite conspicuous. The person who spoke spotted her immediately. “She’s here!”
Everyone looked over, and Auntie Huang, who had been standing next to Xie Bailu, subconsciously took two steps back.
Before the situation could escalate to everyone questioning her, Xie Bailu put on the air of an expert. “Instead of blaming me, you should ask yourselves if you’ve offended anyone recently. I am the immortal master you speak of. I came here because I sensed something was amiss.”
She pointed to the village entrance. “That’s not a ghost wall. It’s a type of evil art called a blood sacrifice grand array. The evil cultivator who created this wants to use all of your blood to sacrifice to the array.”
Xie Bailu had studied for many years. Her demeanor was different from that of the ordinary people of this era. Coupled with her calm expression and articulate speech, she actually managed to awe the crowd into silence.
A blood sacrifice grand array! Although they didn’t know what it was, it sounded terrifying. Did it mean he wanted to kill everyone in their village?
Only Auntie Huang, recalling Xie Bailu coming to her house to wash up and eat, seemed hesitant. Does an immortal master… need to eat like a normal person?
But she had her reservations and didn’t dare to speak up.
Someone asked hesitantly, “Are you really an immortal master… Can you solve this?”
Xie Bailu said, “I need to investigate further. This evil array is rather strange. I advise you all to go home and stay there. Don’t come out. I can’t protect all of you by myself.”
Some believed, and some didn’t. A dark-skinned, sturdy man said, “Words are cheap. What proof do you have that you’re an immortal master!”
Xie Bailu couldn’t be bothered with a war of words. She picked up a blade of grass from the ground, infused it with spiritual energy, and threw it at the roof of a nearby house, knocking off a corner of the eaves. Then she said, “If you don’t believe me, fine. Even if the blood sacrifice grand array is activated, I’ll be fine. I couldn’t be bothered to meddle in this, but I have a kind heart and can’t bear to see evil cultivators run rampant and mortals die in vain.”
Xie Bailu’s words were both an explanation and a threat. The crowd stared in shock at the soft blade of grass that had fluttered to the ground. After a long silence, someone asked cautiously, “Are you really willing to save us?”
Xie Bailu said, “Why else would I be here?”
In truth, the crowd still had their doubts. Although Xie Bailu had the air of an expert, her clothes were the same coarse cloth as theirs.
But they had all tried, and the entire village was like it was covered by a large bowl. They couldn’t get out from anywhere. And she could injure someone with a blade of grass. They had to believe her, whether they wanted to or not. What other choice did they have?
Soon, though hesitant, many villagers listened to Xie Bailu and went home, including Auntie Huang, who seemed to have something to say. In the end, only a few sturdy men remained, volunteering to be at her command. One of them, who called himself Da Shi, was the one who had questioned Xie Bailu’s identity earlier.
Xie Bailu thought for a moment and asked, “In the past few days, besides me, have any other outsiders come?”
Da Shi thought for a moment. “I haven’t seen any, but I heard from Old Cripple’s second son that he saw someone on the back mountain the day before yesterday. He looked like he was from the city, but he disappeared in the blink of an eye. He thought he had seen a ghost and almost wet his pants.”
Unfortunately, the back mountain was outside the evil array, so Xie Bailu couldn’t go see. Of course, even if she could, she wouldn’t be able to see anything.
She was just a weak and helpless transmigrator.
Xie Bailu said to the few sturdy men who remained, “Patrol in pairs and find out if there are any other outsiders in the village. Report back here when you’re done.”
The men agreed and dispersed.
When Xie Bailu was alone again, Xiao Xing whispered in awe, “You already know what kind of array this is!”
Xie Bailu was speechless. “Xiao Xing, what kind of expectations do you have for me? I don’t even know the common sense that a cultivator should know. How would I know about these things? I made it all up. I didn’t want to waste time explaining.”
As long as it scared them into not getting in her way of finding a way out, it was fine.
Xiao Xing was speechless. “…” You said it with such certainty, I never thought you were making it up!
After sending the men away, the task of investigating fell to Xiao Xing. After all, Xie Bailu really didn’t know anything.
Xiao Xing carefully explained some common knowledge about evil arrays to Xie Bailu. In this world, evil arrays usually had three purposes: to increase cultivation, to increase lifespan, and to refine magical treasures. The first two could be considered one, as a higher cultivation level also meant a longer lifespan.
Evil arrays were also arrays, and they needed an array eye and array feet. The array eye was always in the center of the array, while the array feet determined the range of the array and were at its edges.
Xiao Xing could only sense that this array had an evil aura, but it didn’t know its specific purpose or the location of the array eye and feet.
Xiao Xing also took the opportunity to educate Xie Bailu on the evil of evil cultivators, telling her to run if she saw one. Evil cultivators committed heinous crimes and were not tolerated by the heavens. They looked different from ordinary cultivators.
Hearing this, Xie Bailu was confused. “I think Ling Song also loves to kill people. Why doesn’t he look particularly different?”
Ling Song was quite mad when he fought, but in terms of appearance and demeanor, he wasn’t much different from an ordinary cultivator.
Xiao Xing said, “How can they be the same? Evil cultivators torture and kill, using human lives for sacrifices. But that madman kills cleanly and doesn’t kill indiscriminately for no reason.”
Xie Bailu thought, The way Teng Anxiu and the others reacted when they found out Ling Song was here didn’t sound as casual as Xiao Xing is making it out to be.
But she knew Xiao Xing probably wasn’t lying. Otherwise, the cultivation world wouldn’t just call Ling Song a madman; they would have hunted him down. His actions were crazy, but he hadn’t crossed the line, so people were just afraid of him.
Just like in the Eye Demon’s domain, he hadn’t actually attacked the rogue cultivators or the Teng family. He even had the patience to ask a question twice.
Why was she so unlucky as to transmigrate into the body of someone he had just killed? If it had been any other body, with her cautious nature, she would never have provoked him in her life.
What was done was done. There was no point in dwelling on it. Xie Bailu continued to wander around with Xiao Xing, but to no avail.
When she met up with the patrolling men, the information she received was that there were no outsiders and nothing unusual.
Xie Bailu put on the air of an expert. “That’s all for today. Tell everyone to stay at home tonight and not come out. I’ll keep watch.”
Da Shi went door to door to inform everyone.
Xie Bailu needed very little sleep. She meditated in an open area at the village entrance, with Xiao Xing keeping watch. She slept in that position for a while, and when she woke up, she tried to heal her Dantian.
She hadn’t had a moment’s rest since transmigrating, making do with this riddled Dantian just to escape. Now that there was nothing she could do, she might as well take the opportunity to heal.
The Dantian was probably injured by Ling Song. Xie Bailu suspected it was a fatal wound, but her transmigration might have had some effect. There were signs of healing; otherwise, she wouldn’t have been able to use the Divine Movement Art under Xiao Xing’s guidance.
After taking a healing pill, Xie Bailu focused on healing. Spiritual energy, carrying the gentle medicinal power, nourished her Dantian over and over again. To outsiders, she seemed to glow in the night, like a Bodhisattva in a temple.
The villagers who had been secretly watching her no longer dared to doubt her immortal master identity and quickly went home and shut their doors.
Xie Bailu healed for the entire night, and the condition of her Dantian improved significantly, but her bottle of low-quality healing pills was almost empty.
Xie Bailu looked at the pitifully few items in her storage bag and sighed with regret. “I should have been bolder back then. Even with Ling Song watching, I should have taken Qian Lang’s storage bag. I even took back the dagger.”
Xiao Xing was confused. “…?”
Xie Bailu hated that she didn’t have the mindset of a cultivator back then. She had killed the person, so why didn’t she take the treasure? She suspected Ling Song wouldn’t have even bothered with Qian Lang’s storage bag. So… who knows which lucky person got that storage bag!
Seeing the storage bag in Xie Bailu’s hand, Xiao Xing finally understood her lament and said with a complicated tone, “You are indeed the poorest master I’ve ever had.”
Xie Bailu glanced at it.
Xiao Xing immediately said, “But also the only child of fortune!”
Xie Bailu was satisfied.
The sky brightened, and figures moved about in the houses, but without Xie Bailu’s permission, no one dared to come out.
Xie Bailu didn’t go to find Auntie Huang. She drank water and ate dry rations on the spot, looked at the sky, and said, “It’s been almost a full day since the array was set up. Why is there no movement at all?”
Of course, she was afraid of death, but this feeling of not knowing when the sword above her head would fall was also unbearable. There was nothing she could do but wait.
Xiao Xing was very certain. “Master, do you understand the concept of a child of fortune even less than I do? You’re in the array, so something or someone must have delayed that evil cultivator!”
Xie Bailu was speechless. “…” You don’t have to be so emotional about it.
She suddenly paused, her expression grave. “It couldn’t be Ling Song, could it?”
Xiao Xing’s high spirits instantly deflated. If it was that madman, that was not good news. Once the evil array was broken, it would be their turn!
The human and the artifact spirit stared at each other. Xie Bailu immediately got up and found a secluded spot to hide, trying to recover her spiritual energy.
If the evil array was broken, she couldn’t hide, but she couldn’t let Ling Song see her at a glance. The moment the evil array was broken and she saw Ling Song, she would run immediately.
At the same time, under a large tree outside the evil array.
Two men in black robes were looking ahead. Both were handsome. One had a colder expression, while the other stood slightly to the side, a cautious look on his face.
The colder-looking man frowned. “Why is there no reaction yet?”
The other man quickly said respectfully, “This disciple is willing to go and investigate.”
The man nodded. “I was hoping these mortals would break down on their own to save some trouble. Now I’ll have to trouble you.”
The disciple had a flattered expression. “It’s just a small matter. This disciple will go now and will not fail the mission!”
The man threw out a pure black token. The disciple quickly caught it with both hands, bowed respectfully again, and then walked toward the village.
As a mid-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator, the disciple was not at all concerned about this trip. It was just a village of mortals. Killing them all would be as easy as cutting vegetables for him.
It was just that the original plan was to use their own panic, helplessness, and despair to activate the grand array. He didn’t expect that after a day and a night, there would still be no reaction. He would have to go in and torture and kill a few of them to hasten the process.