Chapter 48 : Dragon Stone Town
A heavenly deer pulled the eight wheeled bronze ancient carriage like a courageous assault team; they quickly left Violet Firmament Ancient City, and they headed towards the northwest at a speed that caused the road-side leafs to start flying.
The Hidden Dragon War and the Military Strategy Iron Council were drawing near, and the heavenly defying geniuses of the fifth generation would soon show themselves. Once they appeared, they would surely shock the whole world.
If Fei Yun wanted to shine amongst these natural talents and open a new road for himself, then he had to seize this opportunity and to increase his cultivation.
This trip to Jing Huan Mountain was imminent!
Dragon Stone Town was located in a vast wilderness to the northwest, close to Jing Huan Mountain. This was the only small town within a radius of a few hundred miles. Because Jing Huan Mountain had a lot of spirit stones and mineral veins, Dragon Stone Town became the transfer station; thus, this small town was quite well-known at Violet Firmament Ancient City.
Many practitioners knew about the existence of this small town.
When Feng Fei Yun arrived at Dragon Stone Town, the night curtain had already fell. The sound of the wheels rolling on the small street broke the serenity of the small town.
The bronze ancient carriage had just come to a complete stop. A boy wearing a melon hat quickly came to greet them, and he ingratiatingly smiled.
“Esteemed guest wants to visit Jing Huan Mountain? Right now, the sky is dark, and the mountain is very dangerous. If you aren’t going right now, you should go to our White Horse Inn to rest for the night; it would be much safer to go with the party tomorrow.”
The little boy had seen numerous groups that have beautiful men and women like Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue. They seemed to be the younger generation of a clan coming to patrol the mines or to train in Jing Huan Mountain. They could also be some disciples from an immortal sect coming to the mountains to find medicines and magical treasures.
These types of guests were always quite generous because they weren’t short on money.
Feng Fei Yun glanced left and right, and they analyzed the entire small town to each end; this even included the pitch black mountains in the far distance. He felt a cold breeze with a pine tree scent from the mountains, giving others a comfortable feeling.
“Little Brother, why is the night in Dragon Stone Town so desolate with not even an oil lamp light around?”
Feng Fei Yun smelled that something was unusual around here.
It just became night time. Even if the small town didn’t like loud commotions, it still shouldn’t be lacking in lit up oil lamps.
The little boy seemed to be accustomed to such strange matters. He lowered his voice, and he whispered:
“I heard that recently the Yin Gou family had dug up an ominous item from the mines.”
Within Jing Huan Mountain, there were many spirit stone caverns. The clans and immortal sects all have their own mines for extraction in the mountains and share the resources with each other.
Jing Huan Mountain was like an Immortal Spirit Mountain. This used to be the burial ground of many powerful cultivators. The ancestral burial grounds of many grand families of Violet Firmament Ancient City were all situated in this mountain.
The remains of cultivators, because of cultivation, had long become something different from ordinary people. The transformation was great, and this change was usually referred to as “Human Transformation.”
After death, they would be buried in a special place. These locations would give birth to “Earth Transformation.”
When “Human Transformation” and “Earth Transformation” resonated together, the remains buried under the earth would also undergo changes. These changes were quite complex, and the end results were usually different.
For those that came back from the dead were, it was called “Rebirth Transformation.”
For those who became vicious blood corpses, it was called “Corpse Transformation.”
If the surrounding aura condensed and change the atmosphere of an area, it turned into a murderous forbidden ground; this was called “Ominous Transformation.”
*** ***
Anyway, there were many different kind of transformations. Each would frighten the secular world; the Jing Huan Mountain, itself, had underwent an Earth Transformation. When the ancestors of the great families died from old age, they would be buried in these kinds of places; they hoped that they could borrow the power of these lands in order to come back from the dead.
However, many thousand years had passed, and the dead coming back to life lessened in number. On the contrary, the number of vicious evil corpses that appeared were too numerous to count.
Within the eight hundred mile radius of Jing Huan Mountain, there had never been true serenity. Even during the day time, meeting an old man’s corpse playing chess was completely plausible.
“What ominous thing?”
Feng Fei Yun’s curiosity rose.
The topic seemed to be taboo for the boy, so he didn’t want to say many words; however, after Feng Fei Yun threw him a gold coin, his hesitation was long gone.
“In recent days, I heard that the Yin Gou family dug out a basket of bloody mud from their mines, and, within the same day, many people mysteriously died. No one else dared to continue digging until several days later. When a big character from the Yin Gou family came, then the digging started again. As for what they dug out later… this is not known.”
The boy was very careful; there were many things he didn’t dare to say as he was afraid that he would offend an ominous thing.
“Clank!”
Feng Fei Yun once again pulled out a handful of gold coins and stuffed it into the boy’s hand.
The boy was ecstatic; he thought to himself that he had met a gold mine, and he continued:
“I have a distant relative that works as a record keeper for the mines. He said that yesterday, an ancient site was dug out from the mines. It appeared to be a temple hidden in the ground a few thousand years ago. Inside the temple were the bodies of many ancient monks. These corpses underwent Corpse Transformation, and they continuously chanted every night. When the moon appeared in the night time, these monk corpses become strangely crazy; they wail and ferociously roar while they stare at the sky. Some speculated that they were monks who suffered unjustly deaths; thus, the hateful sentiment in their hearts remained even after many thousands of years.”
Hearing such a strange matter, Feng Jian Xue had soon been frightened till her face was blue, and her petite and cute body involuntarily inched closer to Feng Fei Yun.
The dead was the thing Feng Fei Yun was least afraid of, and he said:
“Even so, the corpses of the monks should be trapped in the mine; there is no reason for the townspeople to be afraid, right?”
The boy also became a bit frightened, and he said:
“Before, the grand characters of the Yin Gou family combined their strength to seal the mines, but my cousin uncle said that, before the sealing, three ancient monk corpses escaped outside of it. No one knows where they are at the moment, and they could have even possibly ran to Dragon Stone Town.”
“Howl!”
A howl from a wolf came from the distance; it echoed through the night sky, and it carried along an austere air.
Even though Feng Jian Xue’s cultivation was not ordinary, she was truly timid. She couldn’t help but to grab Feng Fei Yun’s wrist, and she almost buried her head into his shoulder.
Feng Fei Yun stroked his chin, and he said:
“Wasn’t it your distant cousin?”
The boy was a bit dumbfounded, and then he embarrassingly smiled:
“The truth is, both my distant cousin and cousin uncle are both working at the same mine!”
Feng Fei Yun didn’t care whether the stories of this boy were true or if they were only a means of soliciting customers. However, it really was no longer early, and he was not familiar with Jing Huan Mountain. At this time, he would dare to go into the mountain, but Feng Jian Xue definitely wouldn’t be able to.
Then for the time being, he had to spend a night at Dragon Stone Town and hope that Du Shou Gao and the bewitching young man wouldn’t catch up so quickly.
The White Horse Inn was one of the three inns at Dragon Stone Town. Even though it was not palatial, it was still vast and quiet.
After this boy led Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue into the inn, he quickly shut the main door and locked the iron locket on the door as well like he was really afraid that the ancient monk corpses would come in at night.
Even though it was pitch black outside the inn, the inside was illuminated with a bronze oil lamps. The windows were pinned by wooden panels, so the outside couldn’t see any light.
Seeing this, Feng Fei Yun, who was originally skeptical, became more trusting.
There were many guests inside the inn, many of them brought along numerous magical treasures. The majority of them were only at the early Spirit Realm, but the ordinary martial arts experts wouldn’t be able to compare to them.
“Even though Jing Huan Mountain has many weird phenomenons and the danger is extremely high, but there are many rare medicines; with good luck, one could even find ores for crafting. Because of this reason, each year, many cultivators from the four directions will come to the mountains. The majority of these people all spend the night at our White Horse Inn. So, esteemed guests, you can rest assured; our place is definitely not a Black Inn, and your life and properties are all safeguarded.”[1]
The boy respectfully said to Feng Fei Yun while he bowed his head.
“This is not necessarily true; why do I have this feeling that unfriendly gazes are heading over here?”
Feng Fei Yun asked.
When Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue entered the White Horse Inn, they attracted the gazes of everyone inside. Even though a group of beautiful men and women was not rare, but a girl as beautiful as Feng Jian Xue was extremely uncommon. This shook the spirits of the cultivators who lived all year around licking the blood on their blades.
In this small town near the mountains, this was a situation of the far remote mountains distancing itself from the Emperor.[2] Even if anyone commits immoral and unlawful deeds, no one could enforce the laws. Several bearded powerful men didn’t even care to hide the beastly intent in their eyes. They licked their lips, and they were eager to try their luck.
This was like a wolf that had just experienced the winter and suddenly saw a delicious lamb; this kind of alluring temptation couldn’t be suppressed by reason.
Little Girl Feng Jian Xue, at this moment, was pretending to be a timid and pitiful person; she deliberately stuck out her tongue in a cute manner while she cowardly hid behind Feng Fei Yun’s back. It was as if she was really afraid of associating with these vicious men.
Not mentioning the cultivators inside the inn, even Feng Fei Yun was set aflame by her. If he didn’t know her true nature, then he would have viewed her as a pure and innocent lou li, bringing her to a private place to show her the “big golden carp.”[3]
[1] Black Inn is a wuxia term for inns that kills and robs guests
[2] Emperor here symbolizes societal laws
[3] Lou li means white jasmine turnip – basically a cute innocent young girl, borrowed from Loli in Japanese. Big goldfish here is his manly part
Chapter 48 : Dragon Stone Town
A heavenly deer pulled the eight wheeled bronze ancient carriage like a courageous assault team; they quickly left Violet Firmament Ancient City, and they headed towards the northwest at a speed that caused the road-side leafs to start flying.
The Hidden Dragon War and the Military Strategy Iron Council were drawing near, and the heavenly defying geniuses of the fifth generation would soon show themselves. Once they appeared, they would surely shock the whole world.
If Fei Yun wanted to shine amongst these natural talents and open a new road for himself, then he had to seize this opportunity and to increase his cultivation.
This trip to Jing Huan Mountain was imminent!
Dragon Stone Town was located in a vast wilderness to the northwest, close to Jing Huan Mountain. This was the only small town within a radius of a few hundred miles. Because Jing Huan Mountain had a lot of spirit stones and mineral veins, Dragon Stone Town became the transfer station; thus, this small town was quite well-known at Violet Firmament Ancient City.
Many practitioners knew about the existence of this small town.
When Feng Fei Yun arrived at Dragon Stone Town, the night curtain had already fell. The sound of the wheels rolling on the small street broke the serenity of the small town.
The bronze ancient carriage had just come to a complete stop. A boy wearing a melon hat quickly came to greet them, and he ingratiatingly smiled.
“Esteemed guest wants to visit Jing Huan Mountain? Right now, the sky is dark, and the mountain is very dangerous. If you aren’t going right now, you should go to our White Horse Inn to rest for the night; it would be much safer to go with the party tomorrow.”
The little boy had seen numerous groups that have beautiful men and women like Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue. They seemed to be the younger generation of a clan coming to patrol the mines or to train in Jing Huan Mountain. They could also be some disciples from an immortal sect coming to the mountains to find medicines and magical treasures.
These types of guests were always quite generous because they weren’t short on money.
Feng Fei Yun glanced left and right, and they analyzed the entire small town to each end; this even included the pitch black mountains in the far distance. He felt a cold breeze with a pine tree scent from the mountains, giving others a comfortable feeling.
“Little Brother, why is the night in Dragon Stone Town so desolate with not even an oil lamp light around?”
Feng Fei Yun smelled that something was unusual around here.
It just became night time. Even if the small town didn’t like loud commotions, it still shouldn’t be lacking in lit up oil lamps.
The little boy seemed to be accustomed to such strange matters. He lowered his voice, and he whispered:
“I heard that recently the Yin Gou family had dug up an ominous item from the mines.”
Within Jing Huan Mountain, there were many spirit stone caverns. The clans and immortal sects all have their own mines for extraction in the mountains and share the resources with each other.
Jing Huan Mountain was like an Immortal Spirit Mountain. This used to be the burial ground of many powerful cultivators. The ancestral burial grounds of many grand families of Violet Firmament Ancient City were all situated in this mountain.
The remains of cultivators, because of cultivation, had long become something different from ordinary people. The transformation was great, and this change was usually referred to as “Human Transformation.”
After death, they would be buried in a special place. These locations would give birth to “Earth Transformation.”
When “Human Transformation” and “Earth Transformation” resonated together, the remains buried under the earth would also undergo changes. These changes were quite complex, and the end results were usually different.
For those that came back from the dead were, it was called “Rebirth Transformation.”
For those who became vicious blood corpses, it was called “Corpse Transformation.”
If the surrounding aura condensed and change the atmosphere of an area, it turned into a murderous forbidden ground; this was called “Ominous Transformation.”
*** ***
Anyway, there were many different kind of transformations. Each would frighten the secular world; the Jing Huan Mountain, itself, had underwent an Earth Transformation. When the ancestors of the great families died from old age, they would be buried in these kinds of places; they hoped that they could borrow the power of these lands in order to come back from the dead.
However, many thousand years had passed, and the dead coming back to life lessened in number. On the contrary, the number of vicious evil corpses that appeared were too numerous to count.
Within the eight hundred mile radius of Jing Huan Mountain, there had never been true serenity. Even during the day time, meeting an old man’s corpse playing chess was completely plausible.
“What ominous thing?”
Feng Fei Yun’s curiosity rose.
The topic seemed to be taboo for the boy, so he didn’t want to say many words; however, after Feng Fei Yun threw him a gold coin, his hesitation was long gone.
“In recent days, I heard that the Yin Gou family dug out a basket of bloody mud from their mines, and, within the same day, many people mysteriously died. No one else dared to continue digging until several days later. When a big character from the Yin Gou family came, then the digging started again. As for what they dug out later… this is not known.”
The boy was very careful; there were many things he didn’t dare to say as he was afraid that he would offend an ominous thing.
“Clank!”
Feng Fei Yun once again pulled out a handful of gold coins and stuffed it into the boy’s hand.
The boy was ecstatic; he thought to himself that he had met a gold mine, and he continued:
“I have a distant relative that works as a record keeper for the mines. He said that yesterday, an ancient site was dug out from the mines. It appeared to be a temple hidden in the ground a few thousand years ago. Inside the temple were the bodies of many ancient monks. These corpses underwent Corpse Transformation, and they continuously chanted every night. When the moon appeared in the night time, these monk corpses become strangely crazy; they wail and ferociously roar while they stare at the sky. Some speculated that they were monks who suffered unjustly deaths; thus, the hateful sentiment in their hearts remained even after many thousands of years.”
Hearing such a strange matter, Feng Jian Xue had soon been frightened till her face was blue, and her petite and cute body involuntarily inched closer to Feng Fei Yun.
The dead was the thing Feng Fei Yun was least afraid of, and he said:
“Even so, the corpses of the monks should be trapped in the mine; there is no reason for the townspeople to be afraid, right?”
The boy also became a bit frightened, and he said:
“Before, the grand characters of the Yin Gou family combined their strength to seal the mines, but my cousin uncle said that, before the sealing, three ancient monk corpses escaped outside of it. No one knows where they are at the moment, and they could have even possibly ran to Dragon Stone Town.”
“Howl!”
A howl from a wolf came from the distance; it echoed through the night sky, and it carried along an austere air.
Even though Feng Jian Xue’s cultivation was not ordinary, she was truly timid. She couldn’t help but to grab Feng Fei Yun’s wrist, and she almost buried her head into his shoulder.
Feng Fei Yun stroked his chin, and he said:
“Wasn’t it your distant cousin?”
The boy was a bit dumbfounded, and then he embarrassingly smiled:
“The truth is, both my distant cousin and cousin uncle are both working at the same mine!”
Feng Fei Yun didn’t care whether the stories of this boy were true or if they were only a means of soliciting customers. However, it really was no longer early, and he was not familiar with Jing Huan Mountain. At this time, he would dare to go into the mountain, but Feng Jian Xue definitely wouldn’t be able to.
Then for the time being, he had to spend a night at Dragon Stone Town and hope that Du Shou Gao and the bewitching young man wouldn’t catch up so quickly.
The White Horse Inn was one of the three inns at Dragon Stone Town. Even though it was not palatial, it was still vast and quiet.
After this boy led Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue into the inn, he quickly shut the main door and locked the iron locket on the door as well like he was really afraid that the ancient monk corpses would come in at night.
Even though it was pitch black outside the inn, the inside was illuminated with a bronze oil lamps. The windows were pinned by wooden panels, so the outside couldn’t see any light.
Seeing this, Feng Fei Yun, who was originally skeptical, became more trusting.
There were many guests inside the inn, many of them brought along numerous magical treasures. The majority of them were only at the early Spirit Realm, but the ordinary martial arts experts wouldn’t be able to compare to them.
“Even though Jing Huan Mountain has many weird phenomenons and the danger is extremely high, but there are many rare medicines; with good luck, one could even find ores for crafting. Because of this reason, each year, many cultivators from the four directions will come to the mountains. The majority of these people all spend the night at our White Horse Inn. So, esteemed guests, you can rest assured; our place is definitely not a Black Inn, and your life and properties are all safeguarded.”[1]
The boy respectfully said to Feng Fei Yun while he bowed his head.
“This is not necessarily true; why do I have this feeling that unfriendly gazes are heading over here?”
Feng Fei Yun asked.
When Feng Fei Yun and Feng Jian Xue entered the White Horse Inn, they attracted the gazes of everyone inside. Even though a group of beautiful men and women was not rare, but a girl as beautiful as Feng Jian Xue was extremely uncommon. This shook the spirits of the cultivators who lived all year around licking the blood on their blades.
In this small town near the mountains, this was a situation of the far remote mountains distancing itself from the Emperor.[2] Even if anyone commits immoral and unlawful deeds, no one could enforce the laws. Several bearded powerful men didn’t even care to hide the beastly intent in their eyes. They licked their lips, and they were eager to try their luck.
This was like a wolf that had just experienced the winter and suddenly saw a delicious lamb; this kind of alluring temptation couldn’t be suppressed by reason.
Little Girl Feng Jian Xue, at this moment, was pretending to be a timid and pitiful person; she deliberately stuck out her tongue in a cute manner while she cowardly hid behind Feng Fei Yun’s back. It was as if she was really afraid of associating with these vicious men.
Not mentioning the cultivators inside the inn, even Feng Fei Yun was set aflame by her. If he didn’t know her true nature, then he would have viewed her as a pure and innocent lou li, bringing her to a private place to show her the “big golden carp.”[3]
[1] Black Inn is a wuxia term for inns that kills and robs guests
[2] Emperor here symbolizes societal laws
[3] Lou li means white jasmine turnip – basically a cute innocent young girl, borrowed from Loli in Japanese. Big goldfish here is his manly part
