FVN Chapter 96 Slaying the Evil Pig, Handing Over a New Task
Chapter 96 Slaying the Evil Pig, Handing Over a New Task
Despite the villagers' warm hospitality, Song Quyou remained unmoved, the dim light before his eyes dimming.
The surrounding scenery rippled outwards in layers.
The children scrambling around the bones to eat the marrow, the women picking vegetables, and the men chopping wood all looked different.
Their noses grew longer, their ears grew larger, and their teeth and lips protruded like daggers.
"Young man, now that you're here, don't leave. We've got you good wine and good food."
The plump aunt's voice came from behind, her tone still warm, but now filled with the sticky, drooling sound of her swallowing.
Song Quyou did not turn around; his right hand was already on the hilt of his sword.
The "children" stopped fighting over the bone marrow, wiped their mouths, and turned their heads away in unison.
On each face, the facial features began to melt down, revealing the wet, black hair beneath.
The men chopping wood put down their axes, and the women picking vegetables put down their cleavers.
Everyone slowly walked over.
"Big brother, don't go! Our village has slaughtered a fat pig. Stay and eat some meat with us..."
"Young man, listen to the child, don't leave, come and have a drink with us..."
……
Hearing the plea to stay, Song Quyou remained silent, his eyes growing even brighter. The villagers completely shed their human disguises, and one after another, half-human, half-pig monsters emerged from the black smoke that had shed their human skin.
Their bodies were covered in black fur and sticky, their fangs protruded, and their scarlet eyes were fixed on him.
The plump auntie holding the bone marrow was now a fat and strong female pig, her bulging belly hanging to the ground under her apron, wrinkled like a long, pleated skirt.
"Young man, eat before you go..."
She was still muttering warm words, but drool was already streaming down her face, dripping onto her belly, making it glisten.
These monstrous creatures are getting closer and closer.
Song Quyou drew his sword, a flash of blue light appeared, and with a sweeping motion, the sword energy slashed out like a crescent moon, cutting the three evil boars in the front row in half.
But then a burst of black smoke erupted from the broken end, and the two halves of the body grew back their missing parts, one head becoming two, two heads becoming four, and in the blink of an eye, several more pairs of scarlet eyes appeared at the village entrance.
"Dividing them up will multiply the results, which is quite tricky."
"Kill the demon! Kill the demon!"
The fat woman ran incredibly fast, shouting as she went. When Song Quyou tried to catch up, she was already surrounded by layers of vicious boars.
Song Quyou's eyes were cold as he gripped his longsword tightly, weaving and dodging among the horde of pigs. His azure sword slashed, swept, cut, and parried, each strike decapitating and severing the wicked pigs.
But the severed limbs, once they hit the ground, would transform into new monstrous pigs, multiplying with each kill, but their bodies grew smaller and smaller.
Song Quyou turned around and landed in an open space. Looking at the vicious boar rushing towards him, he made a sword incantation with his left hand, and the flying sword in the box rang out with a clang.
The clear light transformed into a rushing stream, circling him three times and shredding the nearby piglets into black smoke.
The black smoke was about to solidify and regenerate, but the water-like light formed by the flying sword had already seeped into every wisp of smoke, devouring the fragments of the soul core within them one by one.
The evil boars rushed in from all sides, and flying swords fell from the sky, landing on the ground and turning into gushing springs that gushed forth from the earth.
The spring water gushing from the ground was not real water, but rather a misty, clear light formed from the sword energy of the flying sword.
Where the "spring water" flowed, the monstrous pigs melted upon contact, and the black smoke was swallowed up by the water's shimmering light before it could even solidify.
In an instant, most of the swarms of vicious boars at the village entrance disappeared, leaving behind a ground covered in shimmering green fragments.
Seeing the situation was dire, the plump, middle-aged woman-like female pig let out a mournful screech. The remaining evil pigs retreated in unison, and amidst the billowing black smoke, they drew closer to each other. The smaller pigs huddled together, their flesh and bones intertwined, and in the blink of an eye, they coalesced into a giant pig as tall as a two-story building.
The giant boar was covered in black armor as if cast in iron, and its back was crowded with countless pig faces, some old and some young, some male and some female. They all hissed at Song Quyou in the distance, stirring up a foul-smelling wind and flying saliva as they rushed straight towards Song Quyou.
As Song Quyou watched the dark, gloomy wind surge towards him, he suddenly flicked his sleeve. A gust of wind rose up from behind him, blowing the gloomy wind back. Countless spittle flew like rain onto the giant boar, corroding it and producing wisps of green smoke.
Amidst the howling wind, Song Quyou's robes fluttered. He held a blue-green longsword in his right hand, and with a flick of his left hand, the spring water on the ground surged up and, carried by the wind, instantly arrived before the giant boar.
The spring water, like a ribbon, wrapped around the giant boar's four hooves, flowing up its legs and squeaking its iron-like black armor.
The giant boar roared, its hundred pig faces on its back opening their mouths simultaneously, spewing out thick black smoke, attempting to disperse the spring water. However, the sword energy contained within the spring water was sharp and potent, causing the black smoke to crumble upon contact and instead be swallowed by the water's radiance, turning into specks of ash that drifted away.
The dark light in Song Quyou's eyes grew even brighter. With the help of his Netherworld Technique, he had already glimpsed the soul core inside the giant boar's belly.
Hidden deep beneath layers of black armor, enveloped by countless fragments of human souls, it resembles a fist-sized, dark green bead that spins wildly, tearing apart the surrounding souls and escaping to prolong its life.
The dim light faded, and Song Quyou made a hand seal with his left hand.
The remaining spring water on the ground suddenly gathered, condensing into a water rope as thick as a thumb, which circled around the giant boar's belly and stabbed upwards.
The giant boar cried out in pain, letting out a deafening roar. Its massive body staggered backward, its four hooves carving four deep furrows in the mud.
The abdominal armor, struck by the spring water, had cracked open with a gap about a foot long, from which black smoke gushed out like blood.
A flash of dark green light passed through the gap.
This was the moment Song Quyou had been waiting for. He exerted force with his feet, his figure leaping up like a swallow, and the azure longsword in his hand flew out, transforming into a streak of azure light, piercing straight into the rift.
At the same time, he swiftly drew his sword with his left hand, causing the spring water that had been binding the giant boar's four hooves to tighten suddenly, pinning the enormous creature firmly to the spot.
A blue rainbow pierced through the crevice, and the giant boar trembled violently.
A hundred pig faces simultaneously let out mournful screams, their sharp, piercing cries causing the surrounding lanterns to sway wildly and the earthen walls to collapse.
Those faces began to disintegrate one by one, turning into black smoke that peeled off their backs, only to be shredded by the sword energy before they even hit the ground.
The giant boar's enormous body began to collapse from the inside out, becoming shriveled like a deflated pig bladder.
The black armor peeled off layer by layer, and black smoke billowed out, but was completely swallowed up by the clear light of the spring water.
In just a few breaths, the two-story-high giant boar completely collapsed, leaving only a fist-sized dark green soul core in Song Quyou's hand, buzzing and trembling.
The azure longsword returned to its sheath, and a figure rippling with water in mid-air hummed impatiently.
"This one won't do."
Song Quyou concealed the soul core in his sleeve, his tone resolute, "This one must be taken to the underworld to hand over, and then I will feed it to you."
The buzzing stopped abruptly, followed by a low, aggrieved groan. It glanced back at Song Quyou several times, silently picking up the soul cores on the ground, which were the size of grains of sand.
However, although the soul cores on the ground were small, there were a great many of them. The flying sword also devoured them to its heart's content. Its blade shone brightly and grew even larger as it devoured the soul cores. The babbling brook became much thicker and flowed freely through the village.
Without that wicked boar, the intact village around it was torn up like a rag, revealing its true appearance—broken walls and ruins, waist-high weeds, the tall piles of firewood turned into human bones, and the pale yellow flames at the bottom of the big pot turned into a creepy green.
Song Quyou looked around and saw that not a single wicked boar remained in the village, and the broken jade scattered everywhere had been completely eaten by the flying sword.
Not satisfied, the flying sword circled the ground twice more to make sure nothing was missed before slowly returning to its sheath, trailing a plumper trail of watery light, and emitting a humming sound like a burp.
Song Quyou patted the sword case and turned back along the way he came.
Upon returning to Meishan territory, they did not go directly back to the mountain, but continued eastward to Yifang City.
The entrance to the market is hidden between two low hills, with densely packed wooden buildings covering the entire mountain range.
The market town was built against the mountain, with layers of wooden buildings and eaves adorned with pale green lights that cast a dim glow over the entire mountain range.
At the entrance stands a crooked wooden archway with the three characters "Qing Gu Fang" (勤骨坊) written on it. The strokes are hasty, yet they convey a profound meaning. The character "Qing" (勤) in particular is described by those in the neighborhood who understand calligraphy as "one stroke of the Eight Immortals, Guan Yu's sword hooking his foot" (关刀勾足)...
Song Quyou walked up the stone steps, where stalls lined both sides, selling all sorts of strange and wonderful things.
There were vendors selling bone artifacts—hairpins, plates, and even bowls and chopsticks—all made of white, oily bone; there were vendors selling paper clothes, with a gaunt old woman sitting behind her stall, scissors in hand, cutting and selling the clothes on the spot, the paper clothes covered in colorful patterns; and there were vendors selling "the taste of the living world"—a ceramic jar, the lid lifted, releasing the aroma of food, like braised pork…
Song Quyou stepped past the street stalls and turned into a narrow alley along the stone steps. At the end of the alley was an open space and a three-story wooden building. Under the eaves of the wooden building hung a crooked plaque with three faded gold characters that read "Gongcao Si" (meaning "Office of Merit").
This is the office of the Underworld located in Qin Gu Fang, which is in charge of miscellaneous tasks such as issuing rewards and recycling soul cores.
Pushing open the door, the room was cold and dark, with several little devils wiping it until it shone.
Behind the counter sat a tall, thin ghost official, his official robe faded from washing, diligently organizing the account books.
The tall, thin ghost guard in the hall glanced up and, seeing it was Song Quyou, familiarly put down the account book in his hand and pulled out a booklet from the mountain of account books: "Mr. Song has arrived. Are you here to collect the reward again?"
Song Quyou walked to the counter, took out the fist-sized dark green soul core from his sleeve, and placed it on the counter.
The tall, thin ghost guard's pupils suddenly contracted, and he couldn't help but swallow.
"This is incredible! This is incredible! Such a huge soul core! That evil spirit must have devoured a lot of wandering souls..."
The ghost messenger took out a transparent lens from under the counter and examined the dark green soul core closely, looking at the armored, vicious boar reflected inside.
"This is... something that escaped from the Blood Prison?" The ghost messenger put down his glasses.
He opened a thick book, his finger tracing down the list, stopping at a line of vermilion annotations.
"The third fugitive of the Geng character, the Blood Prison Hell Pig, has already devoured five underworld officials and 123 wandering souls from Peach Village. A reward of 20 years' worth of longevity pills is offered."
After reading the line, the tall, thin ghost messenger made a checkmark and clicked his tongue in amazement.
"As expected of someone introduced by Miss Mei, her skills are truly remarkable. She was able to slay a ghost that even the ghost messengers couldn't handle."
He put down the book, turned around and took out an ebony box from the iron cabinet behind him. He pushed open the lid, and inside were neatly stacked amber-colored longevity pills.
The ghost messenger carefully counted twenty, then pushed them towards Song Quyou and continued, "Mr. Song, what do you plan to do with these soul cores? The Underworld will give you fifteen longevity pills."
Song Quyou shook his head and said, "I have other uses for this soul core, so I won't sell it for now."
The ghostly messenger pushed the soul core back and continued, "Mr. Song, you are highly skilled. Would you be interested in taking on a job with a large bounty?"
Song Quyou raised an eyebrow slightly, but did not answer immediately.
Seeing that he remained unmoved, the tall, thin ghost guard pulled out another thin booklet from under the counter. The cover was dark red, and the edges were frayed from being turned over.
He lowered his voice and said, "This bounty has been up for three months, and the reward is this amount."
He held up five fingers, paused, and then added one more.
"Sixty Longevity Pills".
Song Quyou's gaze narrowed slightly. Sixty Longevity Pills were enough for a wandering soul to accumulate over several lifetimes.
"What reward?"
The ghost messenger glanced around; the little ghosts who had been wiping the floor inside the hall had long since disappeared.
He pushed the red booklet in front of Song Quyou, opened one of the pages, and found it covered with tiny, cinnabar-printed characters.
"There is a Corpse Demon Forest north of Qin Gu Fang. Sometime ago, a demonic soul that neither heaven nor earth could take care of entered it and devoured corpses. The underworld originally did not want to deal with this evil spirit, but the wandering souls who went to the Corpse Demon Forest to collect herbs were often bewitched by it, which ruined the business of the wealthy ghosts. So the wealthy ghosts in the market offered some tribute pills and begged the underworld to issue a reward."
Song Quyou raised an eyebrow, squinted at the tall, thin ghost messenger, and said, "The book says that the spirit will flee as long as its name is called. How can it be worth a sixty-year longevity pill as a reward?"
"Mr. Song also said that it was said in the book, and one cannot believe everything said in the book."
When encountering such spirits, one should indeed call them by their real names, but "Demon Soul Devouring Corpse Spirit" is just a general term for this type of monster.
The demon soul that devours corpses is not particularly powerful, but the difficulty lies in not knowing its true name.
However, the places where these kinds of spirits dwell must contain things related to their true names, but the previous people who accepted the bounty were all bewitched, and none of them have returned yet.
Song Quyou hesitated for a moment, but did not speak.
The ghost messenger spoke again, "The bounty only requires Mr. Song to enter the Corpse Demon Forest and find out the true name of the Corpse-Eating Demon Soul. There's no need to kill it. Even if you're bewitched, the Corpse-Eating Demon Soul will release your soul when it's tired of playing with it. After all, they're already dead, and there's no more life force for it to absorb..."
"In that case, I'll take some time to visit the Corpse Demon Forest."
……
After receiving the Longevity Pill, Song Quyou left the Gongcao Division and planned to go to the pharmacy in the market to buy a Guiyuan Ginseng to cultivate the Essence Flower, which was just one step away from completing the Nine Heavens Sword Technique.
After he disappeared from the entrance of the Gongcao Division, Mei Yingxue, dressed in a crimson dress, walked out from the backyard of the Gongcao Division.
Mei Yingxue remained silent, simply gazing quietly in the direction where Song Quyou had disappeared.
When the tall, thin ghost guard saw her come out, he quickly stood up from behind the counter and bowed respectfully: "I have already instructed Mr. Song to accept the reward as you instructed, young lady."
Mei Yingxue nodded slightly, her eyes filled with longing, and murmured, "Song Quyou, Song Quyou, did you truly enter the cycle of reincarnation, or did you feign death to escape?"
……
After leaving the Gongcao Office, descend the stone steps, pass through the bustling crowd of ghosts in the market, and you will come across a pharmacy.
The shop was small, with a string of dried he shou wu (Polygonum multiflorum) hanging under the eaves, its vines curled like ghost claws, swaying gently in the cold wind.
Stepping through the door, a pungent medicinal smell hit me, bitter with a fishy odor, and mixed with a musty smell.
Behind the counter sat a one-eyed old man with a deeply lined face and a cloudy, yellowish eye. He was weighing a pinch of dark red powder with a small copper scale.
"What would you like, sir? We have both herbs from the underworld and medicine from the living world."