Chapter 74: Live as a Hero
Silence fell on the other end of the Thousand-Mile Audio Talisman.
"Is he gone... When?" The voice was hoarse.
"About six days ago."
Chen Shi hesitated. He had been dizzy with grief, losing track of time. "Dad, will you come back to send Grandpa off?"
The voice hesitated. "You are... Little Ten, right? Don't call me Dad. My son Chen Shi died ten years ago. He died having his Divine Embryo cut out; I buried him personally..."
Chen Shi's brain buzzed.
What was going on?
Didn't he die the year before last?
Why did Chen Tang say ten years ago?
Why were there eight extra years? The voice continued: "...My father had already gone mad. He felt he could still save Chen Shi. He dug the corpse out of the grave. He did many crazy things and caused a huge disaster... He disappeared for eight years. Until two years ago when he contacted me, saying he revived Chen Shi... But I knew we could never go back; my son has been dead for eight years."
Listening, Chen Shi could imagine the man shaking his head. "I don't know what he revived. But I know it's not my son, but a ghost he summoned!
"I hate him... hate him for not teaching me powerful skills, hate myself for not protecting this family! If he were home, the incident wouldn't have happened!
"I also hate why he can't let me go... why he keeps torturing me! I hate him for using Chen Shi's corpse to create a monster like you..."
The man seemed to be venting years of grievances.
He paused, then apologized, "Sorry. I will send someone to attend the funeral. You... if you want to enter the city, I'll have them take you. But I won't acknowledge you. You are not my son..."
"No need. Thank you, Chen Tang."
The talisman burned out. Chen Shi's face fell. "No need, thank you..."
He walked out woodenly and sat on the threshold.
Moonlight sprinkled on his shoulders.
Black Pot came to his side. Chen Shi wrapped his arms around the dog's neck and stared into the void.
On the day of burial, many came. A group of foxes kowtowed from a nearby hillside.
A green sheep appeared under a tree, standing like a human, holding incense.
Several strange faces knocked on the coffin, listened, and changed expressions.
Jin Hongying stepped up behind them, grabbed one by the scruff of the neck, and lifted him.
"Official Jin, we are from Xijing, acting on orders." The man said.
"From Xijing?"
Jin Hongying snorted, put him down, and whispered, "Scram!"
The men left, whispering: "The coffin is empty, only clothes. How do we explain? Is he dead or alive?"
"Report truthfully."
Chen Shi overheard.
"Madam, they said there is no corpse. What's going on?"
Madam Sha said, "It's a cenotaph. Old Chen died months ago; he couldn't let go of you, so he stayed. Irradiated by moonlight, he turned into a Corpse Fiend... But he practiced the Water and Fire Purification Method, the path of a Corpse Immortal. This time, he went to the Underworld in the flesh."
Chen Shi was stunned, then ecstatic: "Grandpa is still alive?"
"Dead."
Madam Sha corrected him. "Dead for almost three months. His lifespan was up; he just used the Corpse Immortal's method to appear alive."
"Grandpa is still alive!" Chen Shi insisted.
Madam Sha frowned. The kid was crazy. But she had to explain.
"Little Ten, do you know about Ghost Immortals? Higher than them are Corpse Immortals. A Corpse Immortal is when a person dies but the corpse doesn't rot... enjoying long life but requiring one death. Your Grandpa really died!"
Chen Shi smiled. "I know. But I know he is still alive! Living in the Underworld. We just can't meet."
Madam Sha shook her head. "This child is obsessed."
Chen Shi's mood lifted; he knew Grandpa was alive.
Grandpa left not because he died, but to avoid becoming a Malevolent Spirit.
As long as Grandpa wasn't dead, they would meet again!
"Little Ten, Sister is leaving."
Jin Hongying bid him farewell, bending down. She pinched his cheek. "When you pass the exam to become a Juren, come find Sister in Xijing. I'll arrange for you to enter the Divine Mechanism Battalion! We might even..."
Her shoulder bumped his, laughing softly: "Develop some relationship, oh."
She walked to Li Tianqing, leaving Chen Shi blushing. Then she rubbed against Li Tianqing's shoulder, making him blush too.
"Chen Shi, we are also leaving."
Li Jindou sat in a basket. "In a while, Tianqing should return. He discovered the Treasure Ship; the Li family will send people to check it out."
Li Tianqing produced some old books. "These are the books I promised. When the Li family comes, I won't disturb you."
He added, "The Treasure Ship is too dangerous."
Li Jindou knocked on his head. "Won't you tell them?"
"Grandpa, to survive, we must tell them."
Li Tianqing looked calm. "No matter what we say, they will come, and there will be casualties. We cannot change that."
Li Jindou sighed, saying no more.
Li Tianqing carried him away.
"Little Ten, if there is anything, find me in Gangzi Village."
Madam Sha hesitated. "I still need the Sheep Horn Heavenly Spirit Lamp to find someone..."
"Haven't found them yet?"
"No."
Madam Sha frowned. "Don't know where this child ran off to."
Chen Shi saw them off, but didn't see Xiao Wangsun. "Did he leave already?"
He returned to the empty house, unaccustomed to the solitude.
He went to the yellow clay ridge to see his Godmother. Maybe chatting with Scholar Zhu would help.
He arrived to see Xiao Wangsun standing by the old willow tree, speaking agitatedly to Scholar Zhu.
Chen Shi started forward, but saw Xiao Wangsun hang a cloth bag on the branch where Scholar Zhu hanged himself, turn, and leave.
"Senior Xiao! Xiao Wangsun!"
Chen Shi called out. Xiao Wangsun stopped. His eyes were red, but he smiled. "Little Ten. Master Chen is buried, and I plan to leave. Do you have money? Lend me some."
Chen Shi gave him some silver.
Xiao Wangsun thanked him. "Now I can hire a carriage."
He was unaccustomed to walking.
Chen Shi handed over a scroll. Xiao Wangsun looked at it, stunned. It was the "Water and Fire Purification Method," copied in a child's hand.
"Grandpa asked me to give this to you."
Xiao Wangsun accepted it. "Master Chen wouldn't leave this to me; he'd leave it to Madam Sha. He felt I was young and might do evil. However, thank you, Little Ten."
"Senior Xiao isn't going to the True King's Tomb?"
Xiao Wangsun shook his head. "Too dangerous. Not going. Hehe, facing this world, isn't it just despair? Even if I open the tomb and take the Map of Mountains and Rivers, wouldn't I still hang myself?"
Laughing, he strode away.
"Singing loudly to get drunk... Laughing to the sky I go... Little Ten, meet again!"
He waved without looking back.
Chen Shi watched him disappear, then offered incense.
Scholar Zhu said lazily, "Little Ten, that muddled egg left something on my branch. Giving it to you."
Chen Shi took down the cloth bag and found a square jade seal inside.
"What is this?"
The seal was carved with reversed characters.
He identified the characters, whispering: "Receiving Heaven's Treasure Chapter, Eternally Suppressing the West Wilds."
The seal had a knob shaped like a dragon and tiger.
"What is this?"
"Just a broken seal from a declining family. Take it. You can pawn it if you need money."
Scholar Zhu urged, "Got any more incense? Hurry up!"
Chen Shi put the seal in his sleeve and lit incense.
Scholar Zhu dragged on the smoke and looked at the books. "Confucius's books again? Come, let me explain them."
In Qiaowan Town, Xiao Wangsun hired a carriage. Crossing the stone bridge, the carriage sank heavily, Jin Hongying's cold laugh piercing from outside.
"Old Thief Xiao, hand over the West King Seal, and I'll spare your life!"
Xiao Wangsun sighed, rushed out, and fled.
Jin Hongying chased him. "If you don't hand it over, I'll chase you to the ends of the earth!"
The Underworld.
Crossing the River of Forgetfulness, the Underworld became vast and dim. Chen Yindu had no fear.
Going down in the flesh, his strength was at its peak. He ran rampant.
He went deep, trying to find the secret of the Ghost Hand Mark on Chen Shi's chest.
"Alive, be a hero among men; dead, be a hero among ghosts! Little Ten, Grandpa will conquer a kingdom for you. After you die, come ascend the throne!"