Chapter 238 - 178 Totem Tattoo

Words : 2070 Updated : Oct 1st, 2025

Chapter 238: Chapter 178 Totem TattooZhou Lingyi finally understood why the Ancient Tattoo Clan always emerged alongside the Great Nuo, and why they chose to retreat from the world after the Great Nuo perished. Their appearance was solely to pin down the Great Nuo, and they had pinned down four generations of the Great Nuo already. The other disciples of the tangkou were like crops of chives in the field—cut down one batch, and another springs up. For the Great Nuo to emerge requires forty or fifty years, while Zhou Xuan’s generation has taken even longer, spanning nearly a century. If you count the four consecutive generations of Great Nuo, plus the present Zhou Xuan, the timeline stretches across at least three hundred years. This group of malicious ghosts has leveraged the Great Nuo to execute the Ancient Clan’s grand scheme—a plan that spans nearly three hundred years. "Jade Gate Ascension!" Zhou Lingyi fell into deep thought: What exactly is the Jade Gate Ascension? The more she thought, the less sense it made. By the end, she grew angry—how truly useless the previous generations of Great Nuo turned out to be! Four generations gone, and apart from the Great Nuo’s mask returning to the Zhou Family like some badge of privilege, not one of them knew who had pinned them down! If even one generation of Great Nuo had brought back the news of their assailant, the Zhou Family would have had time to counteract, and wouldn’t be so panicked and defenseless now. Zhou Lingyi rose from her reclined chair and went to the kitchen. Yuan Buyu practiced the "Ancestor Witch Dharma Image" every day, and his physical condition had improved significantly. Although he was still prone to sudden naps without warning, he was visibly dozing less frequently. "Elder Yuan, I need to discuss something with you." Yuan Buyu was watching the kitchen workers go about their tasks. When he heard Zhou Lingyi calling him, he immediately knew his treasured apprentice was stirring up something again. He changed his coat and swiftly stepped outside the kitchen. In the corner of the Zhou Family’s dirt arena, Zhou Lingyi relayed the news brought by Li Chengfeng. "Ah?! Your Zhou Family’s Great Nuo are such incompetents? Getting pinned down—that’s inevitable, given the Ancient Tattoo Clan’s collective effort—but how could they not react at all before getting pinned, not send back a single ounce of intelligence?" Yuan Buyu’s thoughts mirrored Zhou Lingyi’s, but the two of them had clearly veered into a logical dead end. When Zhou Lingyi was born, the richness of the Nuo God’s power within her startled even her grandfather. After entering the Old Hall, she skyrocketed on the path of walking the underworld and worshiping the gods. By the age of twenty, she had become the foremost shamaness of Mingjiang Prefecture. As for Yuan Buyu, he wasted ten years in barren incense offerings, but upon a sudden epiphany through Zhou Xuan, he ascended to the realm of "Seven Incense Sticks." Seven incense sticks was already a remarkably high level, and during his journey, there were traps laid by the storytelling deity Bi Fang, though his escape from the traps was closely tied to Zhou Xuan. But if he hadn’t been extraordinarily gifted and pure of heart, no mere connection to Zhou Xuan would have allowed such enlightenment. These two were prodigies on the incense-offering path, far superior to the four generations of Great Nuo by leaps and bounds, Their differences were akin to a top student versus a failing one: what a top student considers an easy bonus question, the failing student finds impossible—a question of life and death. To Yuan Buyu and Zhou Lingyi, relaying information about their assassin before being pinned down should be a bonus question, but to the four Great Nuo generations, it was nothing short of a death sentence. "Jade Gate Ascension! A plan spanning three hundred years... What exactly is the Ancient Tattoo Clan up to? What could possibly warrant such dedication?" Even Yuan Buyu fell into silent contemplation. He couldn’t make sense of it either. An entire clan’s strength, three centuries’ time, and all specifically targeting the Zhou Family’s Great Nuo! Suddenly, Yuan Buyu opened his eyes and said, "Master Zhou, Nuo God seems to be the only Heavenly God that hasn’t fallen. Do you think the Ancient Tattoo Clan’s Jade Gate Ascension might have some intricate connection to the Nuo God?" "I have considered that possibility, but... if their goal was the Nuo God, they wouldn’t have targeted my brother and the four Great Nuo—they should have come for the Zhou Family’s troupe!" Zhou Lingyi pointed to the ground beneath the Ancestor Tree, a cryptic expression overtaking her face. "Ah?! You’re certain of this?" Yuan Buyu instantly grasped Zhou Lingyi’s implication but dared not ask too clearly. Unmentionable, unseeable, untouchable—at least until It fully awakens. "I can’t be entirely certain, but I am slowly sensing Its presence." Zhou Lingyi replied. She often enjoyed reclining beneath the Ancestor Tree with her eyes closed. Aside from "nurturing her spirit," which helped accumulate incense offerings as a shamaness, she was drawn to the overwhelming aura emanating from the tree. Neither the Zhou Family’s previous Great Nuo nor her grandfather seemed to have sensed this hidden force. Why Zhou Lingyi could perceive It was twofold: not only her extraordinary gifts, but also the fact that her tangkou led her down the path of the "shamaness." While "nurturing the spirit," a shamaness was essentially attuning herself to the roaming energies between Heaven and Earth. She felt increasingly strongly about the existence beneath the Ancestor Tree. "In that case, the Ancient Tattoo Clan shouldn’t be targeting the Nuo God—otherwise, their aim would be far too off... What is it about the Great Nuo that makes them so coveted by the Ancient Clan?" Yuan Buyu was at a loss for ideas. Zhou Lingyi naturally couldn’t figure it out either. She wasn’t a Great Nuo and had no idea what distinguished them beyond nurturing the characteristics of the nine tangkou. "My brother doesn’t seem to have mentioned any differences he might have from others." After pondering for a moment, Zhou Lingyi said, "Since we know the Ancient Tattoo Clan intends harm for my brother, aside from speculating about their motives, the priority is understanding how they plan to execute it. I know my brother—he must have verified the information before passing it on, yet due to time constraints, he likely had to summarize it briefly. I’ll send Lord Shu a secret message, asking my brother to provide more details, then we can make further decisions." A secret message was a communication method used by high-ranking members of the tangkou to reach each other. The reason Li Chengfeng had Zhou Lingyi’s secret message contact was because she had once been part of the God Traveling Department in Mingjiang Prefecture. The Bone Elder Association and Mingjiang Prefecture’s God Traveling Department had an extremely close relationship. Zhou Lingyi extended several threads of red silk from her right hand, weaving them into the shape of a book mid-air. She lightly pushed the red book forward, and it gradually vanished. After completing this, she lightly bit her fingertip and wrote a blood talisman in mid-air. The talisman burned and split in two, each half flying off in a different direction. "Who are these blood talismans directed to?" "Lord Jian and Lord Jiu." Zhou Lingyi calmly replied, "I’ve mentioned before, my brother has Daoist guardians. The God Traveling Department of Ping Shui Prefecture is his guardian." "My apprentice is so well-connected?" Yuan Buyu only then realized why Zhou Lingyi was consistently so composed. "Ping Shui Prefecture lacks deities. My brother, favored by the Nuo God, gained the Sukuna Hand power at his second incense stick. If he matures, he might become not only the first deity of Ping Shui Prefecture but also a power beyond deities. He’s worth the God Traveling Department’s protection." "That sets my mind at ease—at least halfway." Yuan Buyu felt more relaxed, letting out a yawn as his sleepiness returned. ... Siblings are deeply connected, just as Zhou Lingyi mentioned. Zhou Xuan hadn’t revealed all the information because of time constraints. The short gap between Zhou Xuan’s two descents took a toll on his mental strength. After severing his connection with Li Chengfeng, he fell into a deep sleep, only awakening by dinnertime, still feeling heavy-headed. He couldn’t even enter the Divine Revelation Secret Realm. "Young Master, why do you seem so out of it?" "Just tired." Zhou Xuan lazily wolfed down a few bites of food before pulling a chair to the doorway, where he sat to rest and recover his energy more quickly. "It’s rare to see you this drained." Yun Ziliang also grabbed a chair and sat beside Zhou Xuan, a teapot resting in one hand and a handful of melon seeds in the other. He alternated between dropping seeds onto the ground and casually tossing them away. Zhou Xuan’s keen ears picked up on the sound and immediately inferred Yun Ziliang was discarding seeds. "Old Yun, can you show some hygiene? You don’t even crack the shells, so why throw melon seeds everywhere?" Yun Ziliang "tasted" food by sensing its flavor. For melon seeds, he’d sniff them before tossing them away. "Eating melon seeds without tossing something doesn’t feel ceremonial." "You’re oddly particular." With his eyes still closed, Zhou Xuan started talking to Yun Ziliang about tattoos: "Old Yun, I deciphered three tattoo designs today." "Again? How’re you so skilled at decoding these? Studying talismanic scripts in the morning, tattoos in the afternoon—it’s no wonder you’re drained. What are the designs?" "A White Tiger Head, a Red Snake, and a Faceless Woman." "The Faceless Woman—was she dressed in red?" "You recognize her?" "Duh. I told you, back when I did dragon seeking, I had a tattoo master companion. I don’t know the mechanics of tattoo-making, but I know their designs and purposes like the back of my hand... By the way, with your current state of fatigue, I advise you not to sit at the doorway chatting!" Yun Ziliang suggested Zhou Xuan move indoors, where the tattoo named "High Monk Moon Gaze" was hung. Sitting near it would rapidly restore physical and mental vitality. "You reminded me." Zhou Xuan and Yun Ziliang relocated to a better spot for conversation. Sure enough, when Zhou Xuan sat in front of "High Monk Moon Gaze," the Buddha energy emanating from the tattoo created a soothing effect, significantly accelerating his recovery. "The Faceless Woman, White Tiger Head, and Red Snake—all are totems, embodying the oldest visage of tattoos." Yun Ziliang elaborated that each tangkou had its own totem, which was regarded as the manifestation of divine or alien entities. "For instance, the Faceless Woman represents the shamaness’s deity, the Queen. When She descended into the human world, She had no face and wore red robes." "What about the White Tiger Head?" Zhou Xuan asked. Surely no deity just looked like a tiger’s head, right? "The manifestation of deities doesn’t solely replicate their appearance upon descending—it can also represent spirit, Dharma images, and more. The White Tiger Head is the totem of the Ba people, who ranged westward to Snow Plain Prefecture and east to Yellow Field Prefecture, surviving by roaming and fishing. Their tribe is linked to the alien ghost Tian Jun, forging passages between the human world and netherworld. Tian Jun’s Dharma image takes the form of a winged white tiger." "The Red Snake is the totem of the Zhu You family, who can transform themselves into spiritual snakes that infiltrate human bodies and hijack their shells for use." Upon hearing about the Zhu You family’s abilities, Zhou Xuan suddenly thought of the snake tumor killer from the Weird Creature Research Institute. "That killer—could they be connected to the Zhu You family?" Zhou Xuan explained the "snake tumor" incident in detail to Yun Ziliang. After a pause, Yun Ziliang commented, "It does bear some resemblance... but the snake differs. The Zhu You family uses Red Snakes, while the snake tumor involved White Snakes. The color is critical—Red Snakes embody spirit, White Snakes embody malice." If the snake tumor wasn’t linked to the Zhu You family, Zhou Xuan dropped the topic and instead asked, "What functions do these three totems serve?" "They harness divine power and enable divination via tattoos." "..." Zhou Xuan.

Chapter 238 - 178 Totem Tattoo

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