Chapter 589: Say That Again
The Butcher, the Mute, and the Blind Man followed behind the divine demon army, pursuing and slaughtering the fleeing forces. Countless ancestral demons led a vast horde of Netherworld monsters in a frantic retreat.
After chasing for thirty or fifty li, the divine demon army halted. The Cripple, carrying the Pharmacist on his back, continued charging forward. Suddenly realizing he was alone with only the two of them, he shuddered several times, turned around, and ran back to the main force, only then feeling relieved.
Granny Si whispered to him, "This is Deafy's limit. We can't go any further. If we keep chasing, we'll be exposed."
The Cripple grumbled, "You should have told me earlier! You nearly got me killed charging ahead!"
The Pharmacist climbed down from his back, his legs still trembling, and complained, "You damned cripple, you almost got me killed in the chaos of the army!"
On the other side, Deafy was still wielding his brush with flying strokes, his face flushed red. Qin Mu sensed something was wrong and immediately stepped forward to grab him, letting out a clear, resonant roar like a dragon's cry: "Grandpa Deafy, retreat! Wake up!"
Deafy stopped his brush, a look of confusion on his face. Suddenly, a sweetness rose in his throat, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
Qin Mu's expression shifted. His ten fingers flew as he tapped rapidly on Deafy's throat and heart-lung area, sealing off his rampaging blood energy. Then he pointed at the center of Deafy's brow. Moving swiftly around him, he executed the Creation Demon Heavenly Art, striking various acupoints on Deafy's body.
Deafy had unleashed his full power this time, injuring his heart and spirit. The heart and spirit consist of the heart and the primordial spirit. The heart is the center of blood energy. His blood energy had gone berserk, causing his blood vessels and heart to fail, leading to the vomiting of blood.
Qin Mu sealed his heart and throat, forcing the blood back. Deafy's primordial spirit had been overconsumed, becoming unstable and on the verge of collapse. So Qin Mu used the Creation Demon Heavenly Art to seal his soul and spirit, preventing them from leaving his body.
This bought time for treatment.
Qin Mu quickly gathered ingredients and refined a pill. After a moment, the pill was ready. He pried open Deafy's mouth, fed it to him, and used various techniques to dissolve the medicine's power.
Granny Si, the Blind Man, and the others returned. The Pharmacist immediately took over, treating Deafy, and said, "Fortunately, Mu'er acted quickly. Deafy's problem isn't serious. He's lost a lot of vitality, but with me here, I guarantee he'll be bouncing around by tonight."
Deafy grunted and said calmly, "I won't be bouncing around. A scholar bouncing around—how improper would that be?"
Everyone relaxed. Granny Si asked, "Deafy, how long can this painting of yours last?"
"As long as the world within the painting isn't shattered, this divine demon army can exist forever."
Deafy sat down as the Pharmacist busied himself with careful treatment, bustling about. Qin Mu stayed close, assisting the Pharmacist. Fox Ling'er held a tray of needles, helping Qin Mu. The three of them exchanged ideas, creating a lively atmosphere.
"However, breaking this painted world isn't too troublesome. The demons were caught off guard and couldn't see through our bluff, so I succeeded."
Deafy's face was covered in silver needles, his eyelids twitching. The Pharmacist stuck another needle at the corner of his eye, and now it stopped twitching, though half his face felt numb.
Deafy's eyes were misaligned—one pupil up, one down—and drool dripped from his mouth. He said, "If I recover my vitality tonight, I'll paint another one overnight to make them even more wary… Pharmacist, I feel like my face isn't my face anymore. I can't find my head…"
"This needle is for acupuncture on your primordial spirit, but it will affect your facial nerves, causing temporary imbalance. Don't worry! Mu'er, you did well sealing his soul and spirit. Look at this spot—how should I needle it?"
The Pharmacist hesitated, pointing to a spot on Deafy's spine, and asked Qin Mu, "I'm not sure if I should needle here…"
Qin Mu examined it closely and laughed, "Pharmacist Grandpa is testing me. If you needle there, it will pass through the Earth Soul and fix on the primordial spirit's perineum. One needle will pierce into the Life and Death Divine Treasury. Netherworld demon energy and demon nature will invade, tainting the perineum and polluting the Earth Soul. It would definitely cause infertility and a drastic change in temperament."
The Pharmacist calmly withdrew the silver needle and nodded slowly, "I was testing you, and you saw through it."
Qin Mu smiled, "I knew you were testing me! Pharmacist Grandpa, this needle should connect the Life and Death Divine Treasury with the Divine Bridge Divine Treasury, allowing Grandpa Deafy's vitality to circulate between the two treasuries. So this needle should go here! It enters from the Divine Bridge Divine Treasury, channeling the Divine Bridge's vitality into the Life and Death Divine Treasury, suppressing the demon nature and energy without harming Grandpa Deafy's reproductive function."
He moved his finger up a bit and looked at the Pharmacist expectantly, "This is the spot Pharmacist Grandpa intended to needle! Right?"
The Pharmacist let out a long "mm-hmm," his face not reddening nor his heart racing, and inserted the silver needle where Qin Mu indicated, thinking to himself, "That kid Mu'er, having built the mathematical model of the Divine Bridge space, understands the Divine Bridge a little better than me…"
Deafy, overhearing their conversation, broke out in a cold sweat, large beads of sweat rolling down.
"What if you needle Grandpa Deafy here?" Fox Ling'er pointed at Deafy's Dantian, excitedly asking.
Qin Mu and the Pharmacist quickly said, "You can't needle there! One mistake and his cultivation will be ruined!"
Deafy's face turned ashen. He squinted at Fox Ling'er, "Ling'er, I even taught you how to read!"
The Pharmacist was still more skilled than Qin Mu. Qin Mu only had a deep understanding of the Divine Bridge Divine Treasury; his grasp of other divine treasuries was inferior to the Pharmacist's, so most of the time he could only watch.
Finally, Deafy's primordial spirit stabilized. The Pharmacist also prepared medicine to restore his vitality.
By nightfall, the distant sounds of demonic wailing echoed, keeping everyone awake all night. Occasionally, drums were beaten, feigning a night attack, but the demons never moved, only harassing Qin Mu and the others to prevent them from resting.
The next day, the demons' reinforcements arrived in droves, with even more troops still coming. Many demon god generals came to the front lines, looking far into the distance toward the Abyss of Wuwang City. Their hearts trembled as they saw a magnificent divine city standing abruptly on what had been the ruins of Wuwang City!
This divine city was a hundred zhang tall, its walls like mountains spanning between heaven and earth. Towers rose high within the city, and on the battlements sat rows of divine cannons. On the high towers within the city, there were as many as a hundred giant eye-shaped Sun-Shooting Divine Cannons!
On the city walls stood countless divine demon soldiers, golden-armored divine beings, majestic and imposing, patrolling back and forth.
Above the city, auspicious clouds drifted and colorful mists swirled—the aura of divine demons manifesting as strange phenomena!
A wave of unease spread through the demon army. The demon god generals looked at each other in dismay. Where there should have been ruins, a city so grand and imposing had suddenly appeared, guarded by so many divine demons!
And the cannons on the walls were terrifyingly dense, enough to blast any approaching demon army to smithereens.
The Sun-Shooting Divine Cannons within the city were shockingly numerous. A hundred such cannons—this wasn't just for war; it was enough to destroy an entire world!
Even the demon gods were terrified, so they held their positions, praying the enemy wouldn't attack.
One demon god spread his wings and whispered, "I'll report this to King Furi Luo first. You hold the line and don't let them break through our camp."
He flew for a long time, met up with Furi Luo, who was leading the main army, and reported the matter.
Furi Luo was astonished, "Such a thing? Don't attack yet. Send some scouts to probe their strength. I'll lead the army there by tonight at the latest."
The demon god acknowledged and flew back, ordering a squad of scouts to investigate.
When the scouts were still thirty li from the city, dozens of cannons fired beams of light, blasting the squad to ashes.
The winged demon god quickly flew back and reported to Furi Luo, "King, I sent scouts, but they were killed by cannon fire thirty li away! The cannons on that city are real!"
Furi Luo's scalp tingled, and he exclaimed, "Where could such a city come from? If Taihuangtian had such a city, they would have wiped out our demon race long ago! Taihuangtian couldn't have it, and neither could Yinkang! That city can't be real!"
The winged demon god bowed his head, not daring to speak.
Furi Luo's face darkened, and he shouted, "Order the front lines: no one retreats! Whoever retreats, I'll cut off their head as a sacrifice to the flag! When my army arrives, we'll flatten them in one wave!"
The winged demon god stammered his agreement and flew off.
By evening, Furi Luo finally arrived with his main army. He went to the front lines and looked at the distant divine city, but couldn't make out the details. His face darkened as he struggled to decide.
If the city was real, a direct assault would cause heavy casualties even among the demon gods. He didn't dare gamble with the future of the demon race.
Inside the city, Qin Mu and the others packed their belongings, preparing to evacuate.
The city was fake, painted by Deafy overnight. Though the entire city was illusory, dozens of cannons on the walls were real, sent overnight by Qin Mu through his primordial spirit meeting with Si Yunxiang, who had arranged their delivery.
It was these dozens of cannons that fooled the demons, making it hard for the demon gods and Furi Luo to distinguish truth from falsehood.
But if Furi Luo decided to attack, even without the main demon force, the Netherworld demon gods and monsters alone would be enough to flatten the city.
So Qin Mu and the others had to slip away now, before Furi Luo launched his assault.
As they walked out of the city gate, heading east toward Li City, the dark night suddenly brightened. A sun rose in the sky, illuminating thousands of li around!
What had been night was now day in an instant!
"Could the National Teacher have created the sun at the wrong time?" Qin Mu and the others wondered.
Then they saw a three-legged divine being, burning with blazing divine fire, walking toward them. As he moved, the sun in the sky moved with him!
"Yang Xingjun, this should be the place where I encountered that young man's shadow in the Great Ruins."
A clear voice rang out. Walking in front of the three-legged, two-winged divine being was a handsome young man. He looked at Qin Mu and the others and smiled, "The person beside him was short, carrying a weapon like a long spear—easy to recognize…"
His gaze fell on the Blind Man, who had just walked out of the city gate, then swept over the others, finally landing on Qin Mu's face. He smiled, "Netherworld Divine Son Qin Mu, Qin Fengqing? You're not bad. I didn't expect to meet you in the Great Ruins back then. I was quite curious at the time, thinking you were strange and extraordinary."
Qin Mu ignored him, his eyes fixed on the right hand of the three-legged, two-winged divine being. The hand was missing. "This is the god who cut off Grandpa Butcher's waist, the guardian of Yinkang's false sky!"
The Butcher took the severed hand from his Taotie bag and said calmly, "God of the sky, you followed the scent of this thing here? You've come to avenge your severed hand? I also want to avenge my severed waist. But your hand is still broken, while my body has fully recovered. I won't take advantage of you."
He tossed the hand bone. It arced through the air and landed on Yang Xingjun's right wrist, automatically connecting to his bones.
Yang Xingjun looked at him, flexing the hand bone, and said softly, "You return my hand bone, showing your integrity. But where are the flesh and skin on my hand bone?"
"The Grand Venerable of the Loulan Golden Palace refined and ate them. He couldn't chew through your chicken bones, so only the claws are left."
The Butcher raised his blade and said calmly, "Shall we fight here?"
Yang Xingjun hesitated, glancing at Qin Mu, then at the young man before him, Qi Gongzi Qi Jiuyi, uncertain.
Qin Mu also looked at Qi Gongzi, curious, "Brother, what did you say just now?"
He apologized, "Say that again. I didn't catch it."