Chapter 275
Chapter 275
As we listened to one unfamiliar name after another — names that somehow still sounded vaguely familiar — we were all momentarily stunned.
After a while, Hui Moqiong said quietly, “If I remember correctly, the sects Elder Fang mentioned all belong to Daoism, Buddhism, and other religious traditions in East China, don’t they? None of them are far from Chang City.”
Liu Junyan nodded, seemingly unsurprised. He looked at Elder Fang with admiration. “That’s the power to bring people together. Elder Fang may not have the highest cultivation, but whenever he needs help, one call from him will be met with a hundred responses.”
Then he looked at me and added, “Xiao Jiu is someone with that same power to bring people together.”
My face instantly burned, and I shot him a reproachful glare. Why was he suddenly spouting such wild nonsense?
How could I possibly compare to Elder Fang?
What did I have that could compare to him?
Besides, what power did I have to bring anyone together?
Without Liu Junyan, who would ever have heard of Xiao Jiu from Wufu Town Pawnshop?
He was the one who truly held us all together.
Fang Chuanzong spent a long time making calls. He contacted more than a dozen sects, large and small, and all of them clearly agreed to send people.
Just when we thought that was the end of it, Fang Chuanzong paused to catch his breath. He tugged at the corners of his mouth, plastered a broad smile across his face, and dialed another number.
He had to call three times before someone finally answered.
Fang Chuanzong held the phone in both hands, smiling so obsequiously that he was just short of bowing and scraping. “Eldest Senior Brother, you’re awake? Are you still around East China?”
“Huh? You’re not?”
“Oh, a few of my martial nephews happen to be handling some business in Haishi City? Could you lend them to me for a couple of days?”
“I won’t ask for their help for free. Of course not.”
“The Cold Plum Painting Master left behind? I still have it, absolutely. Since you like it, I’ll personally deliver it to you another day.”
“Yes, yes. All right, I understand…”
After pouring out a whole basketful of pleasantries, Elder Fang’s face looked ready to freeze from smiling. At last, he ended the call.
He raised a hand and flexed the corners of his mouth, then continued making calls.
Next came Second Senior Brother, Third Senior Sister, Fourth Senior Brother…
My curiosity was immediately piqued. Just how many fellow disciples — Senior Brother and Senior Sister alike — did Fang Chuanzong have?
In this short span of time, he had already called no fewer than six of them. The Cold Plum Painting, the Autumn Fragrance Painting, and who knew what else — there was no telling how many paintings he had promised away.
Seeing that Fang Chuanzong had talked himself hoarse, Hui Moqiong casually handed him a cup of water. Fang Chuanzong gulped down several mouthfuls and kept making calls.
Hui Moqiong leaned against the inner wall of the vehicle beside him and openly eavesdropped.
Only toward the end did we learn that Fang Chuanzong was his master’s thirteenth disciple as well as his Closed-door Disciple.
He was the Youngest Junior Brother.
And he still wasn’t done.
Finally, he made another call to the organization.
This call was clearly conducted in code. I couldn’t understand a word, but even I could tell that he was requesting reinforcements.
Once he finally finished and sat down, Hui Moqiong hurriedly poured him more tea.
All the fearless, defiant bluster he had shown earlier had completely vanished.
Fang Chuanzong didn’t notice any of this. He gulped down another two cups of water.
After setting down his cup, he looked at Liu Junyan and said, “Seventh Master Liu, every force I can mobilize nearby will gather in Chang City by seven tonight. What arrangements do you have on your end?”
“I have two trump cards up my sleeve.”
Outside, the rain seemed to intensify again.
The drops pattered against the roof of the vehicle, setting everyone on edge.
Liu Junyan’s answer caught us all off guard. “First, it isn’t the Corpse Fiend who will Undergo a Tribulation tonight. It’s the Three-Eyed Toad on his shoulder. Second, I have a way to draw out the Great Lama lurking behind the scenes.”
Fang Chuanzong asked in surprise, “It’s the Three-Eyed Toad that’s set to Undergo a Tribulation? Seventh Master Liu, are you sure?”
“I’m sure,” Liu Junyan said. “I’ve fought that Three-Eyed Toad twice. This time, we even battled with spells at close range. When I personally removed the Golden Scale it had pressed against its forehead, I saw that its third eye had yet to open.”
Everyone gasped.
“So if that disgusting thing succeeds in its attempt to Undergo a Tribulation tonight, its third eye will open, and it’ll become a true Three-Eyed Golden Toad?” Hui Moqiong asked.
Liu Junyan nodded. “Buddhist texts record that when a thousand-year-old Toad awakens to sentience, a third physical eye grows on its forehead. After it experiences a Lightning Tribulation, that eye opens. If it is blessed with Buddhist affinity, it radiates Buddhist light and becomes a Three-Eyed Golden Toad. If it radiates blood-red light instead, it falls into demonhood and becomes a Flesh Lingzhi. A Flesh Lingzhi is enormous and highly poisonous, with a blood-red demonic seal shaped like the Eight Characters emblazoned across its body. It can charge through an army of thousands as though no one were there to stop it.”
Liu Junyan had explained it very clearly, but after hearing it all at once, I still couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.
“Flesh Lingzhi?” Fang Chuanzong said thoughtfully. “I remember seeing records about Flesh Lingzhi in the Special Affairs Office’s archives. I believe they said it evolved from a thousand-year-old Toad and could be ingested as medicine?”
Liu Junyan said, “Perhaps what we interpret as ingesting it is actually another form of subjugation.”
Now I understood. “So it isn’t actually the Corpse Fiend using the Three-Eyed Toad to cultivate. It’s the Three-Eyed Toad using the Corpse Fiend to aid its own cultivation. Judging by the path they’ve followed all these years, there’s no way they could ever be blessed with Buddhist affinity. Once the Three-Eyed Toad becomes a Flesh Lingzhi, it’ll enter the Corpse Fiend’s body, like a soul returning to life through another’s corpse?”
A Three-Eyed Toad with awakened intelligence controlling a corpse that had nearly become a Hou — what a terrifying existence that would be!
After a brief moment of shock, Fang Chuanzong asked, “Seventh Master Liu, you’re… you’re sure you can take down the Three-Eyed Toad before it can Undergo a Tribulation, right?”
“I should be able to,” Liu Junyan said. “The Three-Eyed Toad has spent so many years cultivating with the Merit of the Golden Scale that it’s already had a taste of the benefits. No matter how intelligent it may be, it’s still only a beast. The moment it senses the Golden Scale again, its instincts will drive it straight toward it.”
No wonder Liu Junyan had called this his first trump card.
It certainly was.
Fang Chuanzong asked, “Then your second trump card…”
“Elder Fang, there’s no need to get to the bottom of everything. You’ll understand when the time comes,” Liu Junyan interrupted.
Fang Chuanzong did not press him further. Instead, he chuckled and said, “I trust you, Seventh Master Liu, and I have absolute confidence in your abilities.”
Then he turned to me. “Whether our opponent is the Three-Eyed Toad or the Corpse Fiend — even if that Great Lama appears — those can all be considered matters of the Realm of the Living. But that place is an Ancient Battlefield, and there’s no telling how many Ghost Soldiers are hidden inside. We may still have to trouble you with matters of the Underworld…”
“Xiao Jiu will not be participating,” Liu Junyan said firmly. “She has just performed Salvation for 81 zombies and needs time to recover. I believe the reinforcements you ultimately called in from the organization include someone skilled in such matters, don’t they, Elder Fang?”
It sounded like a question, but Liu Junyan’s tone made it clear he already knew the answer.
Fang Chuanzong opened his mouth and hesitated for a moment before nodding. “Yes. I invited a Descendant of the Gold-Touching Captains. His ancestors are said to have experience commanding Ghost Soldiers, so perhaps he can help…”