Chapter 1446: Earth God
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Chapter 1444: Earth God
Elder Tian’s corpse…
Generally speaking, Elder Tian’s corpse should have been escorted to the grave by his son, Tian Jizhi, but clearly, Elder Tian hadn’t trusted his son either.
His son had been nothing more than a “decoy” from start to finish.
This Elder Tian seemed like a good man, but his mind was truly cunning…
And methods like “Earth Ghosts Pulling the Coffin”—that wasn’t the legacy of righteous cultivators, was it?
How did Elder Tian know such Dao Arts?
Mo Hua frowned, pondering inwardly:
Tonight, there were seven funeral carriages in total. In the most extreme scenario, all seven carriages were decoys.
But the probability of that should be quite low…
Mo Hua speculated that among these seven carriages, at least one was the real carriage “pulling the coffin” to the grave.
Elder Tian’s corpse was hidden inside one of them.
Which one would it be?
Mo Hua frowned, somewhat uncertain.
In this situation, aside from Tian Jizhi’s carriage, any of the other six could be the one.
But guessing alone was useless, because any clue could be genuine or a false trail laid by Elder Tian.
Should he try calculating?
Mo Hua hesitated for a moment but ultimately suppressed the impulse again.
Only one Straw Dog remained, and Kun Province still harbored that terrifying Rotting Eye, lurking somewhere unknown. He had to be conservative.
“Elder Tian’s mind is so deep… I can’t guess, and calculating won’t work either…”
Mo Hua’s brow furrowed tightly as he pondered for a long time, then suddenly felt a flutter in his heart.
Humans don’t know, but ghosts do.
Separated by the boundary between humans and ghosts, some matters might be secrets to humans, but not to “ghosts.”
Especially these little ghosts pulling the coffin for Elder Tian—they must know some inside information.
But how to question these Earth Ghosts?
Mo Hua himself possessed formidable Power of the Divine Dao. In his lifetime, he had slain countless demons and devoured countless ghosts, but he had rarely dealt with “ghostly beings” in a proper manner.
He had never bothered to learn about evil paths like exorcising or controlling ghosts. Countless demons and monsters—he could just swallow them whole.
But now, when he needed the “technique,” he regretted not having learned it.
He had no idea how to capture ghosts or command divine spirits.
Moreover, customs varied from place to place.
The demons, monsters, and ghosts of Kun Province seemed to differ significantly in ecology from those in other places.
There might also be other, lesser-known Divine Dao intricacies…
After pondering for a moment, Mo Hua suddenly recalled the process of the Feathered Ascension in the black mist using blood to draw an “Imperial Decree” to summon Earth Ghosts.
“What if… I try it too?”
Mo Hua was always a man of action, so he decided to give it a try immediately.
Success or failure didn’t matter much anyway—it was just an attempt.
He didn’t have horse blood from the carriage-pulling horses, so he took out several bottles of demon blood from his storage bag, which he used to mix Spirit Ink.
As for what “command text” the Feathered Ascension in the black mist had written, Mo Hua hadn’t seen it clearly. He only remembered the two characters “Imperial Decree”… but it didn’t matter. He could just add Earth-Element Formation Runes to fill in the gaps.
Once prepared, Mo Hua pointed two fingers together, dipped them in the thick demon blood, and wrote the two characters “Imperial Decree” on the ground in heavy ink.
A few small characters, with the front part ending in ghostly scribbles, writing things like “Big ghost come out,” “Otherwise I’ll eat you”… At the end, he added a few earth-element formation runes to finish it off.
Once the decree was drawn, an imposing aura immediately seeped into the earth.
But after Mo Hua finished drawing, he waited for a long time, yet there was no reaction at all.
“Strange… Did I draw it wrong?”
Mo Hua muttered to himself.
Although he had indeed drawn it carelessly, it shouldn’t be completely useless…
Mo Hua wasn’t ready to give up, so he tried drawing it a few more times in different ways.
Each time he drew it, a majestic Divine Thought would penetrate the ground, but above the surface, there was still no movement at all.
Mo Hua refused to believe it and kept drawing relentlessly.
It wasn’t until Mo Hua drew it for the seventh time that suddenly, a patch of earth bulged, and a head resembling a fern root emerged.
Behind the head was a body woven from vines, hunched over like a little old man.
Mo Hua frowned, sizing up the little old man, and asked, “What are you?”
The little old man clasped his hands and said, “Reporting to the Divine Lord, this humble one is the Earth God of this Earth Realm.”
“Earth God?” Mo Hua was taken aback.
Earth God, like mountain gods and river gods, seemed to be a type of celestial deity, though of a lower rank.
Mo Hua had never seen an Earth God before.
However, he was a bit puzzled. “Wasn’t I summoning little ghosts? How did I summon you?”
The Earth God sighed deeply. “The little ghosts… have long since fled.”
Mo Hua said unhappily, “I called for them, but not only did they not come, they even dared to run away?”
The Earth God replied helplessly, “Divine Lord, your Imperial Decree carries too much authority… These little ghosts were afraid you would eat them, so they had no choice but to flee…”
If you hadn’t kept drawing relentlessly, even he, the Earth God, would never have dared to show himself.
Mo Hua frowned. “Am I that scary?”
The Earth God smiled awkwardly, implying, “Do you even need to ask? You’re not scary to people, but you’re terrifying to ghosts.”
Mo Hua examined the Earth God again.
As soon as the Earth God felt Mo Hua’s gaze, he sensed a certain “ferocious” aura and immediately trembled, hurriedly saying: “This humble deity is a local earth-bound god, protecting living beings, diligent and conscientious, day after day for a hundred years, honest and law-abiding, strictly adhering to the rules, never daring to make the slightest mistake, which is how I attained this humble divine position. I beg the Divine Lord to be merciful and not hold me accountable…”
This Earth God seemed rather fearful.
Mo Hua was somewhat surprised.
I never said I’d eat him, so why is he so scared?
Mo Hua asked, “Where did those four Earth Ghosts run off to?”
The Earth God breathed a sigh of relief and pointed westward. “Fearing the Divine Lord’s authority, they fled in that direction.”
Mo Hua looked westward but couldn’t see anything.
Ghosts beneath the earth, hidden by the soil and unseen by light, would leave no trace.
After thinking for a moment, Mo Hua decided to take the easy way out and said to the Earth God, “Catch an Earth Ghost for me.”
The Earth God looked troubled. “Gods and ghosts follow different paths. This old one has no dealings with these little ghosts and cannot withstand their entanglements.”
Mo Hua didn’t believe him. “You’re the Earth God. Don’t you have any divine powers?”
The Earth God hesitated. “Well…”
Mo Hua then said, “Tell these little ghosts to come obediently, and I’ll spare their lives. Otherwise, next time, I’ll devour them one by one, alive and whole.”
The Earth God trembled once more upon hearing this.
Mo Hua looked at it and said, “Bring me a little ghost, and I won’t trouble you further.”
The Earth God sighed, “…”
Mo Hua said, “Go on, I’ll wait here.”
The Earth God hurriedly replied, “Divine Lord, please wait a moment. This old one will return shortly.”
With that, it rolled over and burrowed back into the earth.
Mo Hua sat cross-legged on the spot, watching the Earth God’s figure. For a moment, he felt somewhat dazed and couldn’t help but think of his old friend “HuángShān Jūn” from the Qianxue Prefecture realm, as well as the River God Little Silver Fish from that small fishing village.
(TN: Huáng(Yellow) Shān(Mountain) Jūn(Lord/Rules). Lord of Yellow Mountain)
He wondered how they were doing now, whether they had encountered any unexpected troubles.
Could HuángShān Jūn fill his belly?
Had Little Silver Fish grown up…
Lost in memories, Mo Hua drifted into a trance. He didn’t know how much time had passed when suddenly the earth bulged, and a fern-root head emerged again—it was the Earth God.
At the same time, the Earth God held an ugly Earth Ghost in its hands.
The Earth God tossed the Earth Ghost in front of Mo Hua and said with a smile, “Reporting to the Divine Lord, I’ve captured one.”
Mo Hua nodded, not questioning how it was captured, and instead asked the Earth Ghost, “Where is the real coffin that you all are pulling?”
“…”
The Earth Ghost’s voice was hoarse and mumbled, and Mo Hua couldn’t understand it at all.
Ghosts and monsters differ. Some ghosts possess high intelligence and can speak human language.
But some ghosts are driven only by bloodthirsty instincts, speaking not in human tongues and even carrying traces of their race and region’s “dialect.”
The Earth God then explained, “It says… there are two groups of Earth Ghosts. The other group pulled it southward.”
Mo Hua said, “Let it lead me there.”
The Earth God said something to the Earth Ghost, and the Earth Ghost struggled frantically as if it had truly seen a ghost, seemingly terrified of being devoured by Mo Hua.
The Earth God’s expression darkened, and it muttered a few threatening words.
The Earth Ghost’s face turned ashen with fear, ultimately resigning itself to its fate.
The Earth God handed a section of Earth Tree Branch to Mo Hua and said, “Divine Lord, this little ghost will guide you underground. Just follow the direction indicated by this branch…”
“When you reach the destination, if you find this little ghost obedient, you may release it.”
“If it misbehaves, feel free to deal with it as you wish…”
Mo Hua nodded.
The Earth God then muttered something to the Earth Ghost, seemingly telling it to go.
The Earth Ghost burrowed into the earth, but around its neck was tied a faint silver Divine Dao Thread, the other end of which was held in Mo Hua’s hand via the branch.
The branch also guided Mo Hua in the direction.
Mo Hua cupped his hands toward the Earth God and said, “Thank you for your trouble.”
The Earth God immediately returned the gesture, hurriedly saying, “Not at all, not at all. It is this old one’s honor to be of service to the Divine Lord.”
Mo Hua nodded. As the matter was urgent, he didn’t linger and said, “Next time I have a moment, I’ll come to thank you properly.”
The Earth God’s heart skipped a beat, and it smiled, “This old one will certainly await the Divine Lord.”
Mo Hua then followed the underground guidance of the Earth Ghost, pursuing Elder Tian’s coffin.
After Mo Hua left, the smile on the Earth God’s face gradually faded, and its brow furrowed tightly. It muttered softly, “Who knows where this Divine Lord came from, to be so fearsome…”
“A powerful dragon crossing the border—the underground of Kun Province is likely to become even more unsettled…”
The Earth God shook its head, turned around, burrowed into the earth, and disappeared.
—
Meanwhile, Mo Hua continued following the Earth Ghost’s guidance, heading south all the way.
Along the way, he passed either deserted villages or empty fields, with scarcely any trace of human presence. After walking for nearly half a day, the Earth Ghost finally stopped.
The branch in Mo Hua’s hand also ceased pointing the way.
Mo Hua looked up and saw a vast stretch of forest ahead.
Kun Province was rich in soil but sparse in mountains, so the forest consisted mostly of low, unimpressive hills, though the terrain was quite complex.
Similarly, because it was a forest, there were no signs of human habitation.
But when Mo Hua released his Divine-Sense, he could detect a concealed carriage moving slowly not far away.
“Found it…”
Mo Hua’s eyes brightened slightly. After a moment’s thought, he crushed the branch in his hand, releasing the Earth God Divine Sense Lock that had bound the little ghost.
Mo Hua was true to his word.
Even if it was just a ghost from the underworld, since it had helped him, he saw no reason to kill it.
Freed from its restraints, the Earth Ghost seemed momentarily stunned, as if it hadn’t expected to survive.
A moment later, it fled frantically, as if it dared not remain within a hundred yards of Mo Hua.
Mo Hua shook his head, puzzled.
Was he really that terrifying?
He thought he was quite approachable.
Putting the thought aside, Mo Hua concealed his form and followed the carriage moving along the mountain path.
As he drew closer, Mo Hua narrowed his eyes and immediately felt a sense of surprise.
The carriage looked very familiar, with an aura of gloomy stillness emanating from it. The Array Formation used inside was also more complex, seemingly layered for safety and secrecy.
This was the second carriage.
The very one Mo Hua had noticed as unusual and wanted to follow earlier but had refrained from doing so because he trusted Feathered Ascension’s judgment.
Mo Hua sighed softly.
After all that trouble, his own “answer” had been correct. That Feathered Ascension was just guessing blindly.
If he had known earlier, he wouldn’t have gone through so much effort and wasted so much time.
It seemed that the judgment of some Feathered Ascension cultivators wasn’t always reliable. In critical moments, it was better to trust oneself…
Mo Hua thought to himself.
He then slowed his pace, following behind the carriage while releasing his Divine-Sense to firmly track its movements.
After a while, the carriage seemed to come to a stop.
The driver and the escort got off, tied the horse to the side, lit a campfire, and began roasting meat and drinking wine.
Mo Hua was taken aback.
What were these two doing? Weren’t they supposed to be delivering a funeral procession? How could they have the leisure to drink?
Just as he was wondering, he heard one of them, a younger Tian family cultivator, ask: “Uncle Ping, isn’t it about time? We’ve pulled this decoy carriage far enough. We should head back…”
Hearing this, Mo Hua’s pupils contracted slightly. Was this carriage also a decoy?
Was this Elder Tian’s scheming so deep?
But then Mo Hua felt something was off, because people could lie, but “ghosts” might not.
The path guided by people could be wrong.
But the path guided by a ghost was more likely to follow “rules” and “contracts.”
Mo Hua’s gaze darkened as he continued watching.
The one called “Uncle Ping” was an elderly man, also a Tian family cultivator, who seemed to be an old-timer in the Tian family. He replied: “Don’t rush. Let’s rest first, have some wine and meat.”
After speaking, the old man took a sip of wine and a bite of meat, then suddenly asked: “Tian Xiu, it’s been nearly eighty years since you came to the Tian Manor, hasn’t it? The master took you in back then?”
The cultivator named Tian Xiu, who possessed a “Golden Core,” took a sip of strong liquor and nodded.
The old man then asked, “When did he… marry that illegitimate child of the Lu Clan?”
Upon hearing this, Tian Xiu was stunned, his pupils suddenly trembling violently. He immediately drew a golden-earth treasure blade and swung it at the old man.
But just as he forcefully channeled his energy, his meridians suddenly became chaotic. He spat out a mouthful of blood and instantly realized something was wrong.
“…”
In the next moment, the old man had already unleashed his formidable cultivation, manipulating silver-thread pear blossom needles that pierced into Tian Xiu’s chest.
The golden needles entered his chest, the silver threads pulling at his flesh, slowly tearing his heart open.
“Let me see how this ungrateful, wolf-hearted dog’s lungs and heart are grown…” the old man’s voice said faintly.
Tian Xiu never expected that the usually amiable “Uncle Ping” would strike with such ruthless ferocity, showing no mercy at all.
He still wanted to struggle, but with poison in his body and the old man’s Magical Treasure being exceptionally profound and ingenious, he was ultimately powerless to turn the tide.
Blood trickling from the corner of his mouth, Tian Xiu said, “Uncle Ping, I was wrong…”
The old man looked at the young man he had treated like his own nephew all these years, slowly tearing his heart open, and said sorrowfully: “Maybe in the next life…”
Blood splattered everywhere as Tian Xiu was brutally torn open at the heart meridian and killed by the old man’s Magical Treasure.
The old man wiped the blood from his face, took a deep breath, and in his desolate gaze, seemed to have aged several more years.
He tossed Tian Xiu’s corpse onto the ground, then turned around and used Tian Xiu’s blood to draw something on the ground. After that, he drove the carriage himself into a nearby mountain hollow.
Mo Hua waited until the old man’s figure had disappeared into the distance before slowly approaching.
Tian Xiu had just died; his body was still bleeding, his chest torn open, his face etched with regret and terror.
Mo Hua glanced at it, shook his head, and then followed the old man’s path, continuing forward until he reached the mountain hollow.
But the mountain hollow was unexpectedly empty.
There was nothing—no carriage, no old man.
Mo Hua was stunned, his brow furrowing tightly.
He surveyed the surroundings for a moment, then looked back at the continuous mountain ranges. After performing a Derivative Algorithm in his Sea of Consciousness for a short while, his heart suddenly jolted:
“This is… such a massive Earth-Ground Formation!”