Heaven’s Shadow

It is said that there are many fanatics among the disciples of the Three Realm Divine Cult. They believe that as long as they break through the Realm Barrier and respectfully invite for the descend of a god, they would be able to unite the Three Realms. As such, they committed many bizarre and out-of-place actions. Blood drips from their sinful hand and they have poisoned many civilians. Such actions made people term them as a ‘Demonic Cult’, causing them to meet with obloquy.

Many years ago, this cult is listed as the most dangerous evil cult by the Immortal Alliance and they commanded the world for their deaths. Ever since, they have never been seen on the surface. Instead, they started working in the shadows even to date. It is said that many of their cultists have slipped into innumerable cultivator sects under the Immortal Alliance and perpetrated many insidious and vile actions, causing serious trouble for the orthodox sects.

The discussions of the crowd gradually disperses and no one bothers with the corpse of the dead remnant of the Three Realm Divine Cult. Anyway, someone would clean up after awhile.

Old Ma and Lu Chen stands at the very back of the crowd. They walk slowly back to the village and Old Ma whispers, “How is it?”

Lu Chen’s face is expressionless. Without any change in his intonation, he says, “A bunch of lunatics!”

※※※

Returning back at the village, the clear stream, the green bamboos, the peach blossoms as well as the green hills in the distance, the calm and graceful scenery seems to block out the sight of bloodshed from a moment ago, making people subconsciously perceive the danger to be far away from them.

After walking for quite a distance on the bluestone pavement, Lu Chen suddenly sees a fork in the road up ahead. A light shade of pink fills the branches of a peach blossom tree. A lively and beautiful lady stands below the tree. For an instant, it is hard to tell whether her face or the peach blossom is even more beautiful. The lady is Ding Dang.

As wind blows, a few flower petal falls. Her light robe sways along with it, giving her an ethereal atmosphere, like an immortal who couldn’t be soiled by the dirt of earth.

The villagers walking by notices this view and quite a few men turn their head backwards for multiple times. Lustful expressions even appeared on some young men. Even so, most people choose to hurry past her, there isn’t anyone who approaches her to engage her.

In this instant, Lu Chen speaks seriously to Old Ma, “There is only a few days left before the collection of the tea leaves. I also have to go and reap my harvest. You should return by yourself first.”

Old Ma reprimands him, “Bullshit! Do you think that I am blind?”

Lu Chen chuckles, “Then, do you want to reap the harvest with me?”

Old Ma smiles coldly, “Don’t say that I didn’t warn you. Make sure not to play yourself to death!” After saying his piece, he walks away with big and slow steps with his hands behind his back.

Lu Chen smiles as he looks at Old Ma’s back figure before walking straight towards the peach blossom tree and says, “What happened? I recall you saying that you wanted to laze in bed. To think that you would run out to watch the spectacle?”

Ding Dang rolls her eyes and gazes towards the end of the village and says, “I felt that something was amiss while listening to the racket outside, so I wanted to take a look. However, just as I was walking there, everyone started to walk back. So, what happened outside the village?”

Lu Chen speaks of the incident to her and Ding Dang gasps, a fearful look appearing on her face as she says, “Ah? Isn’t that person a disciple of the Thousand Autumn Doors as well? Didn’t he cultivate the arts of immortals, how could he just die like that?”

Lu Chen bursts into laughter as he pats Ding Dang’s head lightly and chides her, “The words that you said, on what basis would a cultivator who has trained in daoist arts be unable to die?”

“Shoo shoo shoo!” Ding Dang scolds him angrily while smacking away Lu Chen’s claws which were taking advantage of her. Then, a look of expectation and depression appears on her face as she says, “But… Isn’t the reason why we dream about becoming cultivators to walk on the path of an immortal is so that we could live forever and ascend to the heavens to become gods? It is so difficult for him to earn such an opportunity, so he should have cultivated peacefully and live his life honestly. Why are there still so many troublesome things occurring?”

“Tsk, how much have you only seen, for you to be lamenting here.” Lu Chen glances at her and says, “Let me tell you what you missed just now. The dead person outside the village just now suffered seven swords from his front and his back. One sword chopped off his hands, two penetrated his abdomen, one broke his ribcage and three more stuck his face. This caused his blood to splatter around as the distinction between flesh and blood blurs. In the end, what is left is a heap of flesh that could no longer be identified as one of a human’s…”

“Aiya!” Ding Dang’s face pales and she covers her ears with both her hands. Paying no attention to her elegance and grace, she sends a kick towards Lu Chen, “Shut up! Shut up! Shut up… bweh!”

Looking at how she clutches her heart in an attempt to vomit, Lu Chen laughs heartily before holding back his smile and speaks with an unreadable expression on his face, “If you can’t even take this much, how would you survive if an opportunity to enter one of the sects of cultivators presents in front of you?”

“Pui!” Ding Dang gasps for air for a short moment. It was difficult for her to struggle out of that terrifying imagination. She stares angrily at Lu Chen and says, “Rubbish! What kind of place do you think those immortal sects are, how could they be as terrifying as you describe them to be? Besides, you are also a mortal yourself. After talking so much, beware of a passing immortal elder capturing you to punish you for your words.”

Lu Chen shrugs without elaborating anymore on the subject. He smiles and says, “Forget it. A few days later, the Thousand Autumn Sect would be sending down their people to collect Spirit Tea and Spirit Grains. I also need to go to the tea mountains to collect some Spirit Tea to exchange for Spiritual Stones.”

Ding Dang’s eyes sparkle, “How is the harvest recently? How many Spiritual Stones can we trade for?”

Lu Chen looks at her and chuckles, “Look at how agitated you are, how many Spiritual Stones have you collected? How far are you away from a thousand?”

Ding Dang humphs and says, “There is no way I would tell you. Anyway, come and visit me if you have Spiritual Stones. Otherwise, scram.”

Lu Chen smiles, “I say, there are quite a few people working in Clear Stream Village nowadays and most of them are males. As long as you are willing to lower your demands, it shouldn’t be difficult for you to reach a thousand.”

“Damn you! Do you think that I am that casual of a person?” Ding Dang lashes out. However, looking at how Lu Chen nods his head continuously, Ding Dang blushes. She couldn’t resist sending another kick towards him and says furiously, “Smelly man, why are you always provoking my ire? Do you think that I am not aging fast enough?”

Lu Chen avoids and smiles faintly, “Spiritual Stones is an object that we are born without and will depart without. All along, I use them quite casually. However, for those working in this village, most probably intend to save up for a trip to the Thousand Autumn Doors for the Immortal Discerning Mirror. So, most of them lust for you but none are willing to knock on your door?”

Ding Dang humphs, “Why do you speak of it when you know it clearly. Those despicable lads, constantly thinking about how to take advantage of me for free. All along, I have been kicking them out of my room. In the end, those gutless fellows started to gossip about me behind my back.” She pauses for a moment. Unable to contain her curiosity, she questions, “Hey, smelly man. Previously, I didn’t think much about it but now that you have said it, it does seem a little weird. Why does everyone pray so desperately for that single chance but yet you are so nonchalant about it?”

Lu Chen stares at Ding Dang with a smiling face. Ding Dang frowns. She suddenly feels her heart turning cold.