Chapter 35: Cursed Spirit Earthen Jar
As the words fell,
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Two figures—an old and a young—from among the passengers exchanged glances and suddenly darted out.
“Split up and run!”
Taking advantage of the moment before the others could react, they ran in opposite directions.
They were grandfather and grandson.
The grandfather was named Zhou Qian, and the grandson was named Zhou Yin.
When Zhou Qian was chosen by the Historical Long River, he was already fifty years old—a genuine farmer.
In the Diseased Domain, he encountered several Shade of Refugees, which frightened him so badly his legs went weak.
He scrambled and crawled into a cellar and hid there for a few days. But with no food inside, he eventually grew too hungry.
Gritting his teeth, he picked up a hoe and struck down a lone Shade of Refugees, completing the mission.
Though his score was quite low, he still became a History Walker.
He obtained a Historical Relic—Cursed Spirit Earthen Jar.
As long as he offered flesh and blood, he could command the cursed spirit within.
Zhou Qian was afraid of these supernatural things and considered sealing it away, but...
Heaven did not follow human wishes.
Because the farmland he was assigned was of better quality, a village tyrant wanted to forcibly exchange with him. Zhou Qian refused, which led to constant harassment.
Worst of all, the village tyrant used despicable tricks like splashing dog blood to disgust him.
Even when reported to the public security office, the most they did was issue a warning.
The worst thing is a rogue with education.
After multiple failed negotiations, Zhou Qian finally had enough. He went to confront the village tyrant, only to be severely humiliated.
The tyrant even declared he would torment Zhou Qian until he begged on his knees.
But little did he know—when one carries a sharp weapon, murderous thoughts arise.
Zhou Qian, in a moment of cruelty, fed all his chickens, ducks, livestock, and even the old watchdog he had raised for years to the cursed spirit in the jar.
The next day,
He saw the arrogant village tyrant suddenly drop dead in the bathtub.
Because the cursed spirit's ability was extremely covert, not even the coroner found anything wrong—thinking it was just an accident.
In that moment, an inexplicable emotion sprouted in Zhou Qian’s heart.
Human beings were truly fragile.
And then...
He became the new village tyrant.
He began to delve into the supernatural world and used his powers and connections to seize land, exploit villagers, and amass considerable wealth. There were those who opposed him, but they were all eliminated by the cursed spirit. Thus, he became a local overlord.
He married several concubines and had many children.
Later, with the help of the Cursed Spirit Earthen Jar, he survived several Borderland of Desolation Diseased Domains and successfully advanced to the peak of the Spirit Awakening Stage.
Since he was born a farmer, he likened himself to Zhu Yuanzhang and believed he was destined by heaven.
But soon, problems arose.
The cursed spirit’s appetite grew insatiable.
Regular livestock could no longer satisfy it. It began to crave living humans.
Zhou Qian had no choice but to feed it homeless wanderers, yet he knew...
This was not a sustainable solution.
It wasn’t that his conscience caught up to him—but he feared being discovered by the Bureau of Historical Revision and subjected to retribution.
Thus, he developed a plan: to cultivate his descendants, build a family to serve him, have them provide resources, and help him ascend to the Foundation Establishment Stage or even the Law Seed Stage.
Unfortunately... all his sons were useless.
Among the many grandsons, a few were obedient and well-behaved, but only the reckless and lawless Zhou Yin—who nearly ended up in juvenile detention—had any talent.
He spent more than half his fortune just to barely awaken Zhou Yin’s spirituality.
All that remained was to wait for the Historical Long River to summon him, and he would receive his reward.
Today, Zhou Qian had come to the Dharma Assembly to purchase special tools to help his grandson handle his first Diseased Domain.
He just didn’t expect things to go this badly.
‘The one called Fly Boy on Corpse Mountain exerted more pressure than any Mutated Being I’ve ever seen. He’s definitely a great demon wrapped in human skin, or some ancient monster who has reversed aging.’
‘Staying behind means certain death. Fortunately, these people are too scared to move, frozen in place. They can help draw fire.’
Zhou Qian sneered coldly in his heart.
Every man for himself, and the heavens shall destroy those who don't.
“Ahhh! It hurts! Grandpa, save me!”
However, a large swarm of flies quickly surrounded the slightly slower Zhou Yin, pouncing and biting madly. His screams echoed through the forest.
“Grandson!”
Hearing the screams, Zhou Qian turned to look back. His eyes widened with rage, and then...
He pulled out two lower-grade Celestial Movement Talismans, which he had just bought at the Five Madness Dharma Assembly for a hefty price.
Once attached to the legs, they allowed one to travel a thousand li in a day.
Originally, he had bought them for Zhou Yin, to help him get through the Diseased Domain...
‘Forgive me, Yin’er. As long as I live, there is still hope for the Zhou family!’
Zhou Qian's expression twisted viciously, yet deep inside, he felt little anger—instead, a trace of relief.
From the very beginning, when he and his grandson split up, it was under the pretense of preserving the family line. In truth...
Fresh young flesh was always more enticing than an old man like him. It could buy more time.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The Celestial Movement Talismans activated, and his body accelerated sharply.
“I haven’t even said the game has begun. Prey is not allowed to flee.”
Fly Boy’s faint voice drifted over:
“Fly Slash!”
Zhou Qian ignored him and charged ahead with his head down, but suddenly, his body lost balance, and he fell heavily to the ground.
At the same time, searing pain shot through his feet.
“My feet... they’re gone?!”
Looking down, he saw that both feet had been cleanly severed. Blood gushed out, soaking the ground. His whole body trembled in fright.
The fat man exclaimed in shock, “There’s something in the shade over there!”
Everyone looked over and saw that in the place Zhou Qian had passed, beneath the shadow of the trees, a formation of flies hovered in a straight line at low altitude.
Their sharp wings, stained with blood, vibrated rapidly, gleaming with a chilling light.
From a distance, it resembled a taut kite string laid in wait for anything fast-moving to rush into.
Everyone watching felt a chill down their spines. If it had been a little higher, it wouldn’t just be feet...
It would’ve been a decapitation!
Moreover, there were too many flies.
The forest was noisy and chaotic, making it impossible to spot which corner they were hiding in.
There was no defense against them.
This small grove had already become a massive trap.
“Please, let me go. You’ve already eaten my grandson. There are plenty of others you can eat. I’m already very old, not tasty…”
As Zhou Qian felt life slipping away, he sobbed and pleaded.
Fly Boy sighed, “The cries of the weak truly are the most beautiful music in this world.”
As he spoke, he closed his eyes and tilted his head slightly, wearing an expression of delight.
“You want to kill me? Then I’ll take you with me!”
Seeing that his begging was futile, Zhou Qian’s fear turned to viciousness. He pulled a palm-sized ceramic jar from his chest and roared:
“Haven’t you always wanted to eat my flesh? If it means I survive, I’ll give you everything.”
Crack crack crack!
As the words fell, Zhou Qian’s flesh visibly shriveled, turning him into a dried corpse.
The jar opened, releasing a wave of black cursed spirit aura.
Within a few dozen meters, the air temperature plummeted.
From inside emerged a black rusted nail.
In an instant, it shredded many of the flies nearby and howled toward Fly Boy.
If it hit, death was certain!
Zhou Qian laughed maniacally. “Go to hell!”
Yet just as the black nail reached within a few inches of Fly Boy, it was pinched between two fingers.
No matter how it struggled, it could not move.
Zhou Qian’s smile froze on his face as he murmured:
“Impossible…”
“So it was a sorcerer who used to be a carpenter in the old days, who sacrificed himself to create this cursed item in order to take revenge on his employer.”
“After consuming quite a bit of flesh and blood, and successfully devouring its master, it advanced further, approaching the Foundation Establishment Stage.”
“Although I was also injured when I came out of Shaolao Mountain…”
“A strengthened ant is still an ant.”
Fly Boy whispered, and with a slight force of his fingers, crushed the black nail curse, which instantly dissolved into drifting air.
Then, with a casual wave of his hand—
The flies transformed into a long whip that lashed down violently, instantly slicing the earthen jar and Zhou Qian in half.
“Ahhh!”
The cursed spirit within the jar wailed incessantly, before finally dissipating into black smoke.
A one-hit kill!
Throughout the entire process, Fly Boy remained calm, as if he had merely squashed an insect. He turned his gaze to the remaining dozen or so passengers.
That one look alone made everyone feel as if they had fallen into an icy abyss.
A peak Spirit Awakening Stage cultivator who had burned his life to achieve near-Foundation Establishment combat power—killed effortlessly.
A demon of this level—
Even if they all joined forces, they wouldn’t be a match!
Unless…
They placed their final hope on the coachman. As long as reinforcements from the Five Madness Dharma Assembly arrived, they might be saved.
Coachman “Four” kept swatting the flies on his body, his expression grim as he said:
“All the Voice Transmission Talismans were corrupted by these flies through self-detonation. They’re no longer usable.”
“We’re doomed!”
Everyone despaired.
One of the middle-aged men looked grim and asked:
“Then how did that earlier message get out…”
“That was me.”
A voice came from within the woods, and the coachman wearing the “Ten” mask walked out.
The skin on his arms was deathly pale, covered with eerie blue veins—he no longer looked human.
“I’ve already been parasitized. Fly Boy used my body to send out those messages. I didn’t want to…”
He forced out an ugly smile, opened his mouth, and the sound he emitted resembled the collective buzzing of countless flies’ wings, as he struggled to say:
“Don’t resist pointlessly… the entire forest is sealed by fly swarms. There’s no way to escape. Electronic devices have no signal either. Just end yourselves. Otherwise, you’ll only amuse it…”
Before he could finish, the “Ten” coachman was slapped flying by a palm formed of flies, slammed hard against a tree trunk, and vomited a massive amount of insect eggs before falling unconscious.
“Don’t say unnecessary things.”
Fly Boy looked at the despairing crowd and said cheerfully:
“Though I do need to eat you to recover from my injuries, prey that’s too hopeless is too boring to kill. How about this…”
“You kill each other until only one victor remains. I’ll let that one walk away alive!”