Chapter 461.1: Hong Yings Eyes (1)

Chapter 461.1: Hong Ying's Eyes (1)

Inside the Pocket Dwelling, Li Banfeng was discussing countermeasures with the Tang Saber.

"Second Donkey, do you still remember what happened during your battle with the Green Beggar?"

"I've forgotten most things. I only have some vague memories. I remember that many people died in Beggar Bay... one wave after another, without ever stopping. At the time, I didn't know how to deal with it. Beggar Bay was a place where poor people lived. When it was struck by a natural disaster, it seemed like nothing could be more ordinary, and it seemed like no one could fight it. In the end, the Green Beggar and I fought to the death. My lord, you may not believe me, but to tell the truth, I really didn't back down in that fight."

"I believe you. When faced with a hard fight, it's true you've never backed down."

The Tang Saber continued, "I remember being very weak that day. I was already very weak before we fought, but after the battle began, I grew even weaker. I stole some things from him. After taking them, I used Making Insatiable Demands. I took out his internal organs. I thought I could win, but I truly can't remember what happened after that. I only remember that my saber was still there. My saber kept talking to me, but I don't remember what he said. That's all I remember. The rest of my memories are from when I had already become a saber."

The Tang Saber's memories were very vague, but he revealed quite a few key details. Li Banfeng wanted to string these details together into a coherent chain of clues, but his mind was a mess, and his thoughts were all jumbled up. Their opponent's ability was quite powerful, and it was still affecting Li Banfeng's mind.

It's fine. There's nothing to fear about disorder. We've got a way to sort things out, a very intuitive way.

Li Banfeng wrote down both the Tang Saber's account and the account he had heard from the old man from the orange grove. In the first scene, the Greenwater Beggar killed people in Beggar Bay with a plague. The Greenwater Beggar wore a savage smile as he burst the pustules on his face one by one, causing the people around him to die one after another.

Li Banfeng said to the Film Projector, "Depict the act of him squeezing the pustules in greater detail."

The Film Projector explained, "I'm worried that depicting it in too much detail will make the audience react badly."

"It won't. This scene needs visual impact."

Splat.

A glob of pus splattered across the screen.

The Gramophone shuddered. "Husband dear, do we really have to watch this at home?"

Hong Ying snorted coldly. "A wife's role is to follow her husband's lead. Whatever Darling Qi says we watch, we watch. Is it your place to say anything?"

The Gramophone flew into a rage. "You wretch, are you asking for a beating?!"

Hong Ying brought over a paddle. "Go ahead and hit me!"

The Gramophone let out a chilling laugh. "Ying, come here. Today, I won't hit you. I'll open your eyes and broaden your horizons."

Hong Ying sneered, "If you open my eyes, I'll kill you with Passing Flowers on Horseback!"

The two women continued arguing while the film played.

On the screen, Beggar Bay was littered with corpses, and the local land deity Yuan Shoulü's combat power was severely weakened.

Li Banfeng said to the Tang Saber, "Your method of cultivation was likely the same as Old Mister Yao's. It isn't unidirectional; it's a looped cultivation method that requires you to take care of your territory for you to gain power. I remember this cultivation method... It's probably the one that's referred to as Living Water. The land deity's combat power rises and falls according to the size of their territory's population. The Green Beggar took advantage of this very point, severely weakening your combat power by reducing the population of Beggar Bay."

The Tang Saber thought about it for a long while. "I can't remember clearly, but it is likely more or less as you say, my lord. However, the Yuan Shoulü in this film doesn't look much like me."

The Film Projector replied solemnly, "As long as the artistic concept is conveyed, there's no need to be so pedantic."

The Tang Saber still could not accept it. "My name is Yuan Shoulü[1], but I'm a human. What do you mean by putting an actual donkey in there?"

In the battle scene between the Greenwater Beggar and Yuan Shoulü, a beggar was locked in a fierce battle with a skinny and weak-looking donkey.

The Gramophone laughed so hard that steam filled the entire room.

Hong Ying snorted coldly. "Weren't you saying it was disgusting just a moment ago? Now you're laughing so madly!"

"Ying, come here. Your hair isn't combed properly. Let me fix it for you!"

Hong Ying spat, "You'd be so kind as to help me with my hair? Are you planning to take the chance to hit me again?"

"I really won't hit you. Just come here."

The Gramophone combed Hong Ying's hair. On the screen, the beggar beat the donkey to death.

The Tang Saber was quite dissatisfied. "I fought him fiercely for a long time, and you just glossed over it. Isn't that a little inappropriate?"

The Film Projector ignored the Tang Saber and kept playing the film. The Greenwater Beggar sat beside the donkey's corpse and ate it. He was then shrouded in burst after burst of light, marking his transition to a local land deity.

"Second Donkey, the Greenwater Beggar likely created the Disease Daoist path only after becoming a local land deity. Is that sequence of events accurate?"

The Tang Saber thought hard for a long time. "My lord, this humble general truly cannot recall if that is so."

The Film Projector rewound the film a little. "Director Qi, the Greenwater Beggar was already spreading the plague before he became a local land deity. Perhaps Disease Cultivation had already become a Daoist path at that time."

There was no evidence to determine the exact timeline, so Li Banfeng could only ask the Gramophone, "My darling wifey, can cultivators establish a cultivation path after advancing to the Cloudborne Layer?"

While combing Hong Ying's hair, the Gramophone replied, "There are rumors of such a thing, but I tried and failed. It may have something to do with a cultivator's characteristic abilities."

Hong Ying interjected, "Darling Qi, I tried too, but I didn't succeed either."

The Gramophone sneered. "You spend every day studying the novel Adding Fragrance. What kind of Daoist path could you possibly create? The path of two doors?"

Hong Ying let out a cold snort, but she did not say anything else.

As Li Banfeng watched the scene of the Greenwater Beggar spreading the plague, he sensed that something was off.

"Second Donkey, the Green Beggar spread a plague in your territory, and you just let him do it without doing anything?"

The Tang Saber thought for a long while before answering, "My lord, at the time, I only knew there was a plague. I didn't know who was spreading it. After all, we cannot see what Daoist paths people follow. Moreover, I didn't even know who the Green Beggar was back then. I did actually do quite a lot to try and combat the plague. I obtained a great deal of food and medicinal herbs from the surrounding local land deities, but those medicinal herbs were useless against the plague."

Yuan Shoulü could not tell who the Green Beggar was? That shouldn't have been the case, should it? Li Banfeng thought.

He said, "The old man I met in the orange grove said he had already figured out at the time that the Greenwater Beggar was the one spreading the plague."

The Tang Saber laughed. "I know that old man who grows oranges. His cultivation level had been close to the Cloudborne Layer back then. What he said was indeed correct, but he reversed the order of cause and effect."

"What do you mean?"

"He knew that the Greenwater Beggar had killed me and become the local land deity of Beggar Bay. Afterward, he worked backward and deduced all of the Green Beggar's methods from before he became the Greenwater Beggar. As the years passed, the entire chain of cause and effect became deeply ingrained in that old man's mind, so when he recalls it now, it makes sense that he has everything all figured out. But at the time, he didn't know who was spreading the plague either."

When faced with an epidemic that had tens of thousands of people falling ill, it was impossible to identify the source right away. Was Yellowclay Bridge in the same situation?

Li Banfeng made slight alterations to the account of what they had experienced over the past few days and had the Film Projector turn it into scenes in the film.

The merchants of Yellowclay Bridge encountered all kinds of chaos in their daily operations. Restaurants served the wrong dishes, medicinal trading houses dispensed the wrong medicinal herbs, and accidents frequently occurred at factories and mines, causing merchants to leave.

This chaos had come about very subtly. Combined with the fact that the local land deity at the time was the Star of Misfortune, it was easy for people to attribute it all to bad luck, just as the events of the past few days had quickly made Ma Wu think of Mourning Cultivators.

The Star of Misfortune practiced the Dead Water cultivation method. That meant he took from his territory without giving protection in return. Yellowclay Bridge declined rapidly and soon faced the risk of transforming into Old Land. In order to preserve his standing, the Star of Misfortune went to mount a sneak attack on Medicine King Gully, only to be killed by Old Mister Yao.

The cultivator who had wreaked all this chaos should have taken that opportunity to steal the Star of Misfortune's land deed, forcibly acquire his standing, and advance to the Cloudborne Layer. However, that cultivator had ended up failing to do so because the rickshaw driver had rushed back to Yellowclay Bridge. When the Star of Misfortune went to Medicine King Gully, the rickshaw driver disappeared. It turned out he had returned to Yellowclay Bridge to fight for the Star of Misfortune's land deed.

Judging by the rickshaw driver's current situation, he still had no idea that this ruthless person, capable of wreaking this much havoc, was hiding in Yellowclay Bridge.

Where is this ruthless person? Is he in the Northern Bridge? Regardless, I should go take a look first.

Li Banfeng carried the Tang Saber and left the Pocket Dwelling while the Gramophone continued combing Hong Ying's hair.

"Ying, you haven't applied your rouge properly either. Let me fix it up nicely for you."

Hong Ying was surprisingly obedient. She sat before the Gramophone and waited for her to apply the rouge.

The Gramophone's two styluses suddenly pierced Hong Ying's spearhead, making her shudder in pain.

"What are you doing, you wicked woman?!"

"Don't move. Didn't I just say I was going to open your eyes?"

"Y-you're using the ability Orifice Opener? D-don't lie to me. If you want to kill me, then kill me. Don't use tricks to torment me!"

"I told you not to move, so don't move. Are you asking for a beating?"

Hong Ying felt deeply uneasy, but she tolerated the waves of intense pain in her face. Then she saw a glimmer of light and suddenly felt nervous. Can I really see?

"Ying, try opening your eyes."

Hong Ying had no physical eyes, but her vision had returned. She saw what the interior of the Pocket Dwelling looked like. She was inside a narrow, dimly lit room.

Then Hong Ying saw the mirror she used for grooming herself, and there in the mirror was her reflection. She had a body made of flesh and blood with all four limbs, topped by an enormous spearhead and a full head of hair that draped down to her waist. Her appearance was quite strange, but Hong Ying liked it very much. She thought she was beautiful.

Hong Ying looked at the table, the chairs, and the candle on the candlestick. She had been unable to see since her battle with Zhao Xiaowan, but now, she could finally see again.

She glanced at the Liquor Gourd. "You must be Little Sister Gourd?"

The Liquor Gourd swayed slightly. "It's me. Congratulations, Big Sister."

She then looked at the Illustrated Calendar. "You must be Dream Virtue?"

Dream Virtue bowed politely. "Congratulations, Second Madam."

Hong Ying asked, "Where is that wretch Crimson Lotus?"

The Gramophone answered, "She's in the ninth room."

Hong Ying turned and looked at the Gramophone, taking in the details of her three large horns, two styluses, and steam-spewing body.

A moment later, Hong Ying made strange sounds, the sort a normal person would make through their nose with their mouth closed. "Hmmf~ Mmf, mmff~"

The Gramophone said darkly, "You're stifling your laughter, aren't you, you bitch?! You're making fun of me, aren't you, you bitch?!"

"N-no..." Hong Ying could not hold back her laughter. "Hahahaha!"

The Gramophone flew into a rage. She pulled over a stool, pinned Hong Ying down, pulled down her trousers, and began smacking her peach with a paddle.

Yet, Hong Ying did not cry out once. Even as she was being smacked, she could not hold back her laughter. The more Hong Ying laughed, the angrier the Gramophone became, and the harder she smacked Hong Ying.

After more than a dozen strikes, the Gramophone suddenly stopped. She heard activity coming from the fifth room. The Film Projector was talking to someone there, quite loudly at that. Hong Ying heard them as well.

The Gramophone whispered, "That thing has shown up again."

Hong Ying stood up, rubbed her peach, and pulled up her trousers. "What thing? I'll go take a look."

"Don't be rash. Let's listen for a while first. Every room has one of these things. They've been in this house for who knows how many years. They rarely show themselves, but for some reason, the one in the fifth room is fixated on the Film Projector."

"Who cares how many years she's been here? Let's drag her out first and see what she is. You're the mistress of this household. Are you really going to let her run wild?"

Hong Ying headed straight for the fifth room. When she pushed the door open and looked inside, the Film Projector was playing a fictional film he had made.

Seeing the woman on the wall, Hong Ying immediately swung a fist at her.

The Film Projector hurriedly shouted, "Madam, calm down! This is a film!"

Could Hong Ying not tell that it was a film? She really could not. She had never watched a film in her entire life, and the film had such a high definition that everything on the screen looked real.

When her fist struck, the young woman on the screen was knocked to the ground and cried out in pain.

But if it was a film, why could she hit the young woman? Well, this was one of the Film Projector's abilities. The images he created had physical substance and even possessed a certain degree of combat ability.

Hong Ying raised her fist to strike again, and the young woman repeatedly begged for mercy.

The Film Projector begged along with her, "She's a woman I imagined into existence, not an evil person. Madam, please show mercy!"

"Imagined?" Hong Ying looked at the Film Projector. "What Daoist path do you belong to?"

The Film Projector said, "I am a Film Cultivator born for the sake of art."

"A Shadow Cultivator[2]?" Hong Ying gave a cold laugh, and her imposing aura swept forth. "I've seen Shadow Cultivators before. They don't use abilities like this. What you're using is the ability False Manifestation!"

The Film Projector was baffled. "Madam, I don't understand what you mean. I've never learned an ability called False Manifestation."

Hong Ying drew the short saber from her waist. "You're still playing dumb with me!"

The Gramophone yelled, "You damn wench! Don't make things difficult for one of our own!"

"Xiaowan, this fellow isn't that simple!" Hong Ying was getting serious. "He's using False Manifestation. And seeing that he can sustain it for this long, do you know how high his cultivation level must be?"

Hong Ying swung her blade to strike, but the Film Projector was not skilled at fighting and had no idea how to respond.

Buzz~!

The Pocket Dwelling suddenly shook violently, and Hong Ying lost her footing, nearly falling over.

The Gramophone rushed into the fifth room and dragged Hong Ying out.

"You wretch, I just opened your eyes for you, and you've already gone and caused trouble. You simply haven't been beaten enough. I'll give you twenty smacks later, and you can count them yourself!"

1. Reminder that his name means “skinny donkey”. ☜

2. Films/movies used to be called shadow plays or something along those lines. Hong Ying is from a time when films didn’t exist, so I assume they interpret the same word differently. ☜