Chen Yindou revealed a hint of a smile, "He was always clever, learned everything quickly, and was sensible. When I joined the Independents, I was always busy outside and neglected my home, only returning once a year. But Little Ten always remembered me. Every time I came home, he would come to meet me from afar, calling me ’Grandpa’ and asking to be held. At that time, he was only three or four years old."
Xuan Shan thought for a moment, not quite understanding human emotions, and said, "After his rebirth, he still outshines others; compared to him, other humans seem dull. Are you really ready to let him go, Yindou?"
Chen Yindou shook his head, hands behind his back looking towards the distant mountains, and murmured, "Let go of kinship? No, I can never let go."
Xuan Shan stood behind him and said, "Sometimes, you have no choice but to let go."
Chen Shi took Li Tianqing back to the valley where Mr. Ye and the other students were harmed and buried their bodies to keep them from being dragged away by wild animals.
Chen Shi rubbed grass to make incense sticks, placing them in front of the hastily piled stone tombs, bowed, and whispered, "I hope that in the underworld, you can continue to study well under Mr. Ye and achieve the ranks of Ghost Scholar."
He then turned to follow Li Tianqing, and the two of them walked out of Qianyang Mountain.
This time, the two emerged from the north side of the mountain, not the path they initially took, but they were already accustomed to it.
Qianyang Mountain was so vast that even the most experienced hunters often got lost. But as long as one could walk out of the mountains, it was considered safe.
The mountain path directly faced Shanyin Village; at this moment, the sky was neither dark nor bright. A woman in a long, dark gown stood at the side of the road, holding an infant in her arms, her expression sorrowful, softly calling towards the village, "Is anyone there? Save the child!"
"Save the child, please."
The woman shed tears and choked, "Someone kind-hearted, please take him. I can’t support this child anymore."
"Kind-hearted person!"
A thunderous voice emanated from the forest behind the woman, reminiscent of thunder; the evil creature, seeing no response from the villagers of Shanyin Village, stood up, waving numerous long, snake-like necks, with baby-like heads hanging at the ends, crying in unison, "Save the child!"
The Hundred Infants stared longingly at Shanyin Village, wishing to indulge itself within, but the village’s midwife made it wary.
It hesitated for a moment but eventually turned away.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing stayed hidden until it was far enough away.
Li Tianqing said with trepidation, "Thank goodness the people of Shanyin Village are wise, not fooled by this evil creature, otherwise anyone who came out would have perished."
Chen Shi said, "Nowadays, only cultivators dare come out; ordinary people would have turned into porcelain beings long ago. This creature still thinks it’s like old times and can lure people out to eat them, not realizing it’s become a laughingstock."
The two headed back along the road at the mountain’s foothills, but shortly after they set out, they felt the ground trembling slightly.
"Could it be the Hundred Infants has returned?" Li Tianqing wondered.
"Something’s not right about the sound; let’s hide first," Chen Shi whispered.
The two of them, with Black Pot in tow, crawled into the forest, peering cautiously outward.
The slight ground trembling gradually intensified; the two men and one dog held their breath, not daring to make any sound. The trembling was so severe that Chen Shi even felt his heart quiver in fear.
"This evil creature coming must be incredibly huge!"
As soon as he had this thought, a porcelain pillar appeared in his sight.
He then realized it wasn’t a pillar but a leg.
But this leg was much too stout, as stout as a pillar!
Then, as the ground trembled, an image of the Eight-Armed Mother Guanyin appeared in their sight.
It stood over thirty feet tall, resembling a moving porcelain hill, with eight exceptionally sturdy arms. The porcelain’s surface had shattered pieces, but it was still mostly intact.
Its blue-and-white color was brilliant and extremely eye-catching. Craftsmen from the True King era must have been famous painters, as they had painted exquisite and gorgeous patterns on it, including an Azure Dragon that twisted around its porcelain garment, vividly alive.
As it moved, the friction at the porcelain joints produced a grating "clang clang" sound.
Both men and the dog’s hearts raced, but they forcibly suppressed their fear. The Evil Bodhisattva had actually walked out of the kiln factory and arrived here, on the mountain road ahead of them, close at hand!
At that moment, the Evil Bodhisattva seemed to sense something and bent down, its enormous face appearing in front of the forest where Chen Shi and the others were.
Its face nearly blocked most of Chen Shi’s view. The eyeballs were regular spheres the size of an immortal’s table. They had pupils and sclera, but within these, highly complex talisman patterns were also drawn.
Chen Shi didn’t dare to look closely and couldn’t make out the details of the talismans.
Because at that moment, a porcelain kiln worker was climbing out from the Evil Bodhisattva’s eye socket, repairing the broken areas of its eyes.
That porcelain kiln worker, tall and slim, about ten feet tall with long limbs, was indeed a kiln worker from the kiln factory, and it was unclear why he had burrowed inside the Evil Bodhisattva.
A harsh friction sound arose from where the Evil Bodhisattva’s head and neck joined as it rotated its head, turning another face towards the forest.
It had another pair of porcelain eyes, equally vast, with similarly complex talismans within, but Chen Shi caught a glimpse and recognized the construction of these talismans.
"Heavenly Eye! This is bad!"
A cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The second face of the Evil Bodhisattva had the Heavenly Eye Talisman drawn in its pupils, much more complex than the one Chen Shi had learned from his grandfather, but it was indeed the structural framework of the Heavenly Eye Talisman, though the True King’s craftsmen had stuffed other things inside.
The Heavenly Eye had the power to search the heavens and the earth and to see spiritual bodies and divine beings. Once the talisman on this face of the Evil Bodhisattva was activated, their hiding would become pointless!
As Chen Shi was about to grab Li Tianqing and flee, suddenly the Evil Bodhisattva, as if attracted by some noise, straightened up and looked towards Shanyin Village.
It strode toward Shanyin Village.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing were still in shock, but they saw that wherever the Evil Bodhisattva passed, all living beings turned into porcelain, even the village’s nanny rapidly transformed into a porcelain tree.
After surveying the village, the Evil Bodhisattva, recalling the slight noise by the roadside earlier, strided back to where Chen Shi and the others were hiding. The Heavenly Eye was triggered, scanning the forest. Finding nothing amiss, it finally stood and thunderously departed.
In the distance, Chen Shi, Li Tianqing, and Black Pot stopped, their hearts still pounding.
This Evil Bodhisattva was searching for survivors!
Hiding in the village was no longer safe!
"He plans to capture all living beings in one fell swoop and turn them all into porcelain!"
— update, tonight at eleven! The new book has just been listed, asking for monthly tickets to surge the charts!
Thanks to Alliance Hierarch Xiao Shuslan for the support!