Chen Shi, carrying Black Pot, arrived at the mountain occupied by Great Snake Xuan Shan. It was already the sixth day of the Demon Transformation, but surprisingly, there were still over a thousand villagers on the mountain who had not turned into porcelain.
However, the issue of food, drink, and shelter for these people was severe. It had become extremely difficult to find food in the mountains, and most magical creatures had gone into hiding. In the forest, one could only see magical creatures that had turned into porcelain, with no signs of life to be found. The people protected by Xuan Shan were bound to starve to death sooner or later.
Great Snake Xuan Shan, surviving on air and dew, needed no sustenance, but these people were mere mortals and would starve if they tried to do the same.
Some people, unable to bear the hunger, went down the mountain to find food, but often, before they could even reach the base of the mountain, they had already transformed into porcelain people.
When Chen Shi came down the mountain, he saw many porcelain people; some maintained standing poses while others had fallen and shattered.
There were both men and women among the porcelain people, though most were men who had taken on the responsibility of providing for their families—thus risking their lives to venture out, even though the transformation into porcelain was becoming stronger and going out meant almost certain death.
"Great Snake Xuan Shan can’t solve the food problem either. If these people don’t get food, I’m afraid they’ll start eating each other," Chen Shi thought to himself.
Under the head of Great Snake Xuan Shan, Chen Shi found his grandfather examining a porcelain person.
Excited, Chen Shi rushed over and embraced his grandfather tightly.
His grandfather, smiling warmly, patted his head. Once Chen Shi’s excitement had subsided, his grandfather said, "You’ve done quite well these days, not only becoming independent but also protecting many people."
Chen Shi smiled and said, "Grandpa, I can suppress the Ghost Hand Seal now, and I won’t get sick anymore! You don’t have to worry about me!"
He felt a sense of relief in his heart.
He had once imagined many terrible possibilities—perhaps his grandfather was lost to dementia, perhaps he was eaten by mutant beasts, perhaps he had turned into porcelain, or maybe he had been sold off to a distant place by human traffickers, among other scenarios.
Now that he saw his grandfather again, he finally felt at ease.
Black Pot was considerably more composed, rubbing back and forth by the old man’s legs, looking up expectantly for a pat on the head.
Sure enough, his grandfather patted the dog’s head twice, delighting the creature.
"Grandpa, I’ve thought of a way for us to survive!" Chen Shi said excitedly.
Chen Yindou looked at him in surprise and smiled, "I’ve also made a very peculiar discovery. Would you like to go first, or shall I?"
Chen Shi smiled and said, "Grandpa, you go first."
Chen Yindou squatted down to examine the porcelain person before them. Chen Shi also leaned in close to inspect. This porcelain person was just an ordinary human who had been transformed into porcelain, identical to the other porcelain people outside. Despite observing for a long time, he could not discern anything unusual.
Chen Yindou said, "I’ve been checking to see if it moves."
"Moves?" Chen Shi was taken aback.
"Yes. And I’ve observed the results over these few days."
A smile appeared on Chen Yidou’s pale face as he said, "Indeed, it is moving. Four days ago was the time the first batch of ordinary people turned into porcelain. I brought this porcelain person here and placed it at this spot. After four days, I’ve discovered that one of its hands has moved a distance of four microns."
A micron is the width of a strand of hair, ten times that of a silk thread, and one thousandth of an inch.
That is to say, the hand of the porcelain person had moved the width of four strands of hair in four days.
"Do you know what this means?"
Chen Yindou smiled and said, "It’s still alive."
He straightened up, gazing at the porcelain people at the foot of the mountain and then at the more expansive mountain region. "They’re all still alive! Including these people who have turned to porcelain, the magical creatures, plants, birds, insects, fish, and even the preserved food that has turned into porcelain! They’ve all just transformed into porcelain entities!"
He was quite excited. "Their movement has become immensely slow, so slow that it might take a year to take a step or breathe, months to blink, and ten years to sprout. But, indeed, they are still alive! That’s my discovery!"
Chen Shi, equally exhilarated, said, "They are not dead, which means, if we kill the Evil Bodhisattva, they might return to their original state!"
Chen Yindou smiled and said, "It’s not might, but certain. This is the opportunity True King left for his people."
Chen Shi, puzzled, thought carefully about why his grandfather would say that.
Suddenly, he realized.
"Those who want to rob the True King’s Tomb are not the common people, but the cultivators! These cultivators ventured into the kiln to investigate the whereabouts of the True King’s Tomb, which triggered the Evil Bodhisattva. The Evil Bodhisattva erupted and turned the area within a hundred miles into the Demon Domain. Thus, cultivators within this hundred miles are bound to kneel and die, trying by all means to defeat the Evil Bodhisattva! As long as the Evil Bodhisattva is eliminated within a hundred days, this opportunity can be seized to rescue everyone!"
That was the opportunity!
But it depended on whether you could seize it or not.
If you couldn’t, once a hundred days passed, everything would turn to ashes!
But how could the Evil Bodhisattva be eradicated?
The power of the Evil Bodhisattva was formidable, its Demon Domain spanning a hundred miles, preventing people from escaping and forcing them to turn into porcelain.
The Evil Bodhisattva, with its astonishing fighting capabilities, had battled King Xiao, Granny Sha, Li Jindou, and Jin Hongying—four great masters who were all left severely weakened!
Now, what could possibly eliminate the Evil Bodhisattva?
"Little Ten, what’s your survival strategy?" Chen Yindou asked.
Chen Shi pulled himself out of his reverie and said, "The Demon Domain of the Evil Bodhisattva can only cover the mortal world, not the underworld. So, I intend to use the ’Big Gun’ of the river to reach the River of Oblivion in the underworld. Following that river downstream for a hundred miles, we can move beyond the reach of the Demon Domain. Then, using the ’Big Gun’ again to return to the mortal world, we can escape the Demon Domain."
Chen Yindou shook his head and said, "Now, the ’Big Gun’ in the river is either turned to porcelain or has fled into the underworld or upriver or downriver. I’m afraid we won’t find it there anymore."