Chapter 187
Chapter 187
On the altar, Chen Daji watched the three great totems disappear one after another. When the clouds, fog, and yin thunder finally dispersed, he let out a long sigh of relief.
At last, he could start fooling around again.
“Aw, damn it! I lost so much blood I made myself dizzy…”
He raised both hands, blowing first on his left wrist and then on his right.
“Big Brother, did you bring any Band-Aids? Hurry up and give me a couple!”
“Kekekeke, you little brat! I don’t have any Band-Aids, but how about a rope to hang yourself with?”
As Hemp-clad Grandmother spoke, she swept a hand over his wrists.
Chen Daji felt a wave of coolness. Before his eyes, the wounds scabbed over and disappeared.
“Heh, Grandmother, that move of yours is incredible! Once we open a hospital together, we can specialize in stitching up huge gashes. We’ll make a mountain of money for sure!”
Hemp-clad Grandmother doted on Chen Daji. She stroked his head with a delighted smile.
“You little brat, that is a fine idea! We’ll charge money for the patients we heal and take the lives of the ones we don’t. In less than a hundred years, your grandmother will have built a ghost kingdom of her own. And if we collect any pretty young ladies from respectable families, I’ll save them to be your wives…”
And so Hemp-clad Grandmother and Chen Daji, grandmother and grandson, sat facing each other atop the altar and grinned foolishly, their heads filled with beautiful dreams of their future life together.
Hua Jiunan hurried to Deaf Granny’s side and helped her down from the altar, his heart aching in silence.
After using that shamanic curse, the old woman looked even older. Even her spirits had declined badly.
Deaf Granny saw through his thoughts and comforted him softly.
“It’s all right, eldest grandson. Once we get home, boil some of that hundred-year-old ginseng for your granny. I’ll recover after ten days or half a month.”
An ordinary person might have believed her, but her words only made Hua Jiunan more worried.
Three things determined the length of a person’s mortal life: essence, qi, and spirit.
Even the most precious medicine could only replenish qi.
Everyone knew the saying about conserving one’s essence and building one’s strength. The body’s innate essence had to be slowly nourished from within.
The elderly and chronically ill could not replenish it. Instead, it only dwindled further as time passed.
As for that mysterious spirit, once depleted, it was almost impossible to restore.
This was why ancient wu shamans, despite possessing power that could reach Heaven and penetrate Earth, were physically frail and short-lived.
“Granny, I’m grown up now. I can protect myself. Please don’t use arts that harm your body anymore. I’m worried…”
Deaf Granny gently patted the hand supporting her.
“Silly boy, what are you imagining? Fine, fine, I’ll listen to you. Granny won’t use them anymore! Don’t worry, eldest grandson. I won’t leave before I see you start a family and establish a career. I still want to help you look after your children for a few years…”
Hua Jiunan did not want to dwell on such a painful subject, so he hurriedly changed it.
“Granny, what happened to that evil goddess on Huimu Mountain? Why didn’t the Totem Lords bring her here? Did she escape?”
By then, they had reached the wicker chair. Deaf Granny slowly sat down and enjoyed Hu Fei’er’s massage.
“Yes, she escaped. She fled into the hells of the Netherworld. Dragons do not rest in swamps, nor phoenixes alight in filth. That is why the three ancestors did not continue chasing her.”
Chang Huaiyuan gave a cold laugh.
“That may be for the best! Escaping without authorization is a serious crime. This time, King Biancheng will probably cast that evil goddess straight into Uninterrupted Hell. She will never emerge again!”
Chen Daji had just come over, and his curiosity was immediately piqued.
“E-Elder Chang, aren’t there only Eighteen Levels of Hell? What’s Uninterrupted Hell?”
Hua Jiunan answered him.
“Uninterrupted Hell is recorded in the Buddhist *Lotus Sutra*. Those cast into it are the most wicked people, guilty of the gravest crimes. Once inside, they have no hope of release, ever. They experience nothing but suffering-suffering without respite, embodiment without respite, time without respite, and form without respite.
“The fires there refine the soul, so it is also called Avici Hell. King Pingdeng personally holds Uninterrupted Hell in check.”