Chapter 106 - 102 Ancient Tattoo Clan

Chapter 106: Chapter 102 Ancient Tattoo ClanPing Shui Prefecture, West Third Alley. Deep in the alley sat a tea house. The interior of the tea house was ancient and simple. In front of a pear wood cabinet, Lord Jiu cradled an ancient thread-bound book, reading while drinking yellow wine. A woman with her hair in a bun and wearing a small jacket walked into the room, holding a turtle shell and taking small steps. The woman’s name was Chen Lanzi. As she entered the room, she bowed to Lord Jiu, "Lord Jiu." Lord Jiu glanced at Chen Lanzi, not very warmly, and said casually, "Lanzi, find a place to sit." "Lord Jiu, my turtle shell caught the whereabouts of the ’Ten Fingers’ and also predicted the truth about the ’Human Turtle.’" "What is the truth?" Lord Jiu wasn’t very interested in Chen Lanzi’s topic; he didn’t even look at her, drinking wine and reading his book absentmindedly, responding casually. "The Ten Fingers were embezzled by Zhou Lingyi, and the Human Turtle was also killed by Zhou Lingyi, my lord. She’s repeatedly breaking the rules, and the God Traveling Department should punish her." *Chen Lanzi had always been at odds with Zhou Lingyi. Having grabbed hold of Zhou Lingyi’s wrongdoing this time, she was determined to pursue it relentlessly.* "What punishment? Lanzi, you haven’t been with the God Traveling Department for just a day. Can the results predicted by the turtle shell be used as evidence? Have your turtle shell predictions never been wrong? Besides, setting aside the Ten Fingers for now, let’s talk about the Human Turtle. Xia Jin already admitted to killing the Human Turtle, the punishment order was issued as well, and you still want to bring it up? Aren’t you tired?" After finishing his cup of yellow wine, Lord Jiu poured another, took a couple of sips, and waved his hand, saying, "Is there anything else? If not, leave, don’t spoil my mood for drinking." "That’s all. I’ve written Zhou Lingyi’s evidence into a document, check it when you have time, my lord." Chen Lanzi was quite unhappy to be brushed off by Lord Jiu. She took out an envelope, placed it on the table, and then left the tea house. Once the tea house returned to silence, Lord Jiu tilted his head to glance towards the door. After confirming no one was there, he opened the envelope and shook his head as he read. "The Ten Fingers were just born; so what if they were embezzled? It’s not like they’re some ten-year-old Alien Ghost. Being a Night Patrol Deity is so tiring, who would do it without some benefits? As for the Human Turtle, it killed Zhou Lingyi’s brother. She wanted revenge out of deep love for her brother; it’s reasonable. Pursuing it relentlessly makes no sense." "Oh, Chen Lanzi herself isn’t exactly clean-handed, always causing trouble for others. Everyone’s colleagues, why create internal strife?" Lord Jiu stuffed the letter back into the envelope, threw it into a drawer, and continued drinking. "Phew!" A sound of a feathered arrow piercing the air was heard, and a golden feathered arrow stuck into the pear wood cabinet. Lord Jiu was not pleased, bending over to pull out the feathered arrow and remarking with a pained expression at the hole it left, "Oh, what a pity, what a pity. Such a fine pear wood cabinet; now it’s useless." He shook a finger at the feathered arrow, scolding, "Old Arrow, you really are a rogue. Can’t you come in and talk instead of shooting arrows and ruining good things?" After venting for a while, Lord Jiu held the arrow, closed his eyes, and sensed the message that Lord Jian had left on it. "Hmm? The Nuo God has appeared?" Lord Jiu opened his eyes, resting his chin on his hand, saying, "Even though this newly emerged Nuo God isn’t fully formed yet, it’s still the hope of Ping Shui Prefecture for the future. Every State has its own God; in just a few years, our Ping Shui Prefecture will also have its own God... er... I mean Heavenly God." With this thought, he retrieved the envelope from the drawer, drew a Daoist Talisman in his palm with wine, then clenched the envelope. The envelope spontaneously combusted into ashes. "Chen Lanzi, good thing I intercepted it for you. Don’t get on Zhou Lingyi’s bad side in the future; her brother is no ordinary being. If he becomes powerful someday and causes you trouble, can you handle it?" Lord Jiu scattered the ashes and took out a mirror, looking at his nose as he said, "I’ve been drinking so much lately, my drinker’s nose is almost showing... But it still isn’t as fast as the tattooed tribes of Mingjiang Prefecture coming out, those Evil Ghosts. As soon as the Nuodai appears, they come out at the scent. Oh, the world is going to be chaotic again, where can one find a leisurely life?" ... Mingjiang Prefecture was a land of mountains and rivers; the Yunluo Mountain Range was the longest and tallest in the prefecture. In a remote and secluded area deep within the mountain range stood a gigantic stone cave. The entrance to the cave was broad. Upon entering, the cave was exceptionally high, with a height of over a hundred meters. Inside the cave had been constructed a massive palace, several tens of meters tall, occupying nearly the entire space of the cave. With green bricks, stone tiles, and wooden eaves, every detail was vivid. However, if a breeze blew in, it could move a lofty thick pillar out of place, creating the sound of iron chains clashing; once the wind ceased, the pillar would return to its normal state. This abnormality existed solely because... this palace wasn’t built with brick, stone, or wood but was formed by patching together pieces of human skin into a palace shape. All the brick, stone, and wooden tile carvings and decorations on the giant pillars were actually patterns tattooed onto human skin. The pieces of human skin were suspended by thin iron chains hung from the top of the stone cave. "Tap, tap, tap." A clear and slow sound of footsteps resonated from outside the cave all the way to the front of the Human Skin Palace deep inside. An old man with a hunched back was walking excitedly in front of the palace, leaning on a cane. His body was covered with copper coin tattoos, thousands of copper coin patterns nearly enveloping his entire skin. When the old man walked, the copper coin tattoos clinked as if alive. "It has appeared! It has appeared! This time it isn’t the Nuodai; it’s the Nuo God! The Hundred-Eyed Priest saw it; he saw it with his tattoos!" The suspended human skins of the cave quivered with excitement, making the entire palace seem to tremble. "Old Ancestor, please descend your Dharma Body, so I may see more clearly and identify who the Nuo God is!" The old man raised his staff, his body shaking, causing the copper coins’ clinking sound to become more urgent, and the sound of the copper coins caused the human skins in the palace to make way like the palace really opened its doors. A young man, with iron hooks passed through both his ankles, hung upside down, was exposed to the old man’s view. This young man was what the old man referred to as the Old Ancestor. On the man’s belly was a tattoo of an "infant." The infant’s head was disproportionately large, and its limbs were too short. The young man opened his eyes, and the infant tattoo began to wail before vanishing from the skin. The next moment, the man’s belly suddenly swelled. As the belly expanded, skin veins bulged prominently. The belly then burst with a loud sound, the infant crawling out of the belly, climbing along the cave walls to the ground before heading toward the old man. In the face of such a bizarre infant, the old man was unafraid. He wore an expression of devotion, kneeling on both knees and tilting his head skyward. The infant dug into the old man’s chest and abdomen with its short limbs, scattering blood and flesh fragments around until it had dug a satisfactory large pit and then burrowed into it. The old man rose again, reverently said, "Thank you, Old Ancestor, for descending your Dharma Body." The palace doors shut, and the old man once more swayed his body, urging the copper coin tattoos to clink loudly. The dispersed blood and skin adhered rapidly to the pit in his chest and abdomen. A few minutes later, the old man’s body restored, his chest and abdomen bulging. "Nuo God, Nuo God." The old man walked out of the cave toward the clan’s gathering place, chanting "Nuo God" as he went. With each chant, he felt the infant’s extremely thin and short fingers drawing within his chest and abdomen. The first few strokes filled him with the Nuo God’s scent, that kind of madness, fierceness, yet divine aura. It was as if he could really smell that scent, a little intoxicated. "Ah, this is the scent of the Nuo God, reminds me so much of it!" "The scent of the Nuo God is too much like its scent." With the Nuo God’s aroma growing stronger, the old man felt he had the guidance he sought. "I’ve visualized the Nuo God. Please, Old Ancestor, let the Dharma Body assist in connecting me," He used the Nuo God’s scent as a starting point and made predictions to connect with the newly emerged Nuo God. The infant began drawing on the old man’s chest again, using his chest and abdomen’s blood and flesh as talisman paper, creating witchcraft spells. The old man’s eyes turned blood-red as he stared intently, first seeing a right hand. "What a beautiful right hand, and the fingers are exquisite, like the work of the Lord of Netherworld Stone, utterly perfect." The old man then saw a young person lying on a recliner, beside whom stood a massive tree; the young person seemed lost in thought. "I see it, I see it. The face of the Nuo God. Handsome, truly reminiscent of it." The old man’s repeated reference to "it" seemed to suggest that this "it" was his lifelong devotion. "I heard, I heard someone speaking next to him. They are calling the Nuo God Zhou Xuan!" "Zhou Xuan! Zhou Xuan is the Nuo God!" Content with what he’d seen, the old man hastened back to the tribe, leaning on his cane. The clan’s settlement was on Green Mist Mountain. The mountain, true to its name, was enshrouded in a pale green mist. Outsiders couldn’t enter the mountain; should they forcefully enter, before long, they would be knocked out by the poisonous mist. On the mountain stood many temples. These temples were built differently from those of Daoism, Buddhism, or witchcraft. The temples of the Ancient Tattoo Clan were built with large stones, without idols, solely consecrating a huge black stone. They called it the "Lord of Netherworld Stone." In the largest Netherworld Stone Temple, hundreds of the Ancient Tattoo Clan were awaiting the High Priest’s return. Upon hearing the sound of clinking copper coins, they excitedly exclaimed, "The High Priest is back!" "High Priest, is there any news of the Nuo God?" "What does he look like, does he resemble it?" The clanspeople gathered around. The High Priest, covered in copper coin tattoos, bowed in the direction of the Netherworld Stone, "Bless the Lord of Netherworld Stone, we found him! We found the Nuo God, he is called Zhou Xuan!" The clanspeople quickly burst into cheers. "Blood Sacrifice, let’s use a Blood Sacrifice to forge a stronger connection with the Nuo God, strong enough to bring him back. We missed our chance a hundred years ago; this time, we must not miss it." The High Priest shook his cane, issuing instructions to the tribe, also expressing his longing for Zhou Xuan... ps: Due to a busy day, only two Chapters today.