Chapter 47 - 47 44 Execution

47: Chapter 44 Execution 47: Chapter 44 Execution Zhou Xuan thought that the flaw in Mr. Dai lay in his physique. For over thirty years, Mr. Dai had been getting thinner every year—indicating that the spectral entity within him was exceedingly gluttonous, with its favorite food being human spiritual essence. *Children have the most abundant spiritual essence.* *Spiritual essence cannot be simply extracted from the human body.* As the spectral entity’s “foot,” after Mr. Dai digested a child’s body, the remaining pure spiritual essence was like a peeled fruit, ready for the spectral entity to indulge. The spectral entity was voracious, and Mr. Dai’s appetite needed to match. If he didn’t eat, the spectral entity would starve. So his food intake had to be extensive. *How could he get thinner by eating so much for so long?* In Zhou Xuan’s view, the era of the Big Belly Monk was when Mr. Dai best fit his “as a foot” persona. “So, Mr. Dai, to be precise, wasn’t the spectral entity’s foot, but a discarded foot.” Yuan Buyu once said that as the spectral entity grew, it might be dissatisfied with its old foot and look for a new one. *This characteristic formed because the spectral entity was too weak when it was just born.* *Being too weak, its primary concern was how to survive, without the protection of a “foot,” it would face unexpected dangers at every moment. It didn’t have the luxury of time to pick its favorite “foot”—naturally using whatever it could catch.* When the spectral entity’s Divine Communication skills gradually matured, it disdainfully abandoned the ineffective Mr. Dai, preferring a new companion, and eventually left him for a new one, like Little Sweetie turning into Madam Niu. Thus, at this moment, there was simply no spectral entity within Mr. Dai. *If that’s the case, what was there to worry about?* The spectral entity wasn’t present, so even if Mr. Dai had a Dao level to rely on, he still had his shadow to protect him. “Search, keep searching!” Zhou Xuan stepped forward to join the group of eight, continuing on the “Search for Dai” path. … After walking through the entire corridor, they were met with a body of flowing water, an artificial lake, also referred to by Yu Chengyuan last time as the “Water Central.” There were secret passages underneath the artificial lake, with street lamps standing around the lake, and garden neon lanterns rising half a meter above the water, spreading colorful lights. A medium-sized black awning boat docked by the shore, simply decorated yet not clumsy. Naturally, playing cards and drinking inside at night would be pleasant. Bright lights reflected on the water, the painted boat gliding—this was the scene. *But Zhou Xuan didn’t find it beautiful, only felt like he was about to collapse from exhaustion.* What were those eight “things”? Six corpses with the ability to move, amounting to nothing at all, and the other two, entranced by the corpse, were slow in movement, so the rowing naturally fell to Zhou Xuan. The boat was large and deep into the water, relying solely on him and a single oar… “Mr. Dai, you old freak, why insist on such a big boat, what’s wrong with a smaller one? Can’t a small one satisfy you?” Zhou Xuan strained mightily, finally rowing the boat to the central pavilion on the lake, a majestic structure with a lotus-shaped roof named “Lotus Pond.” “Finally here!” Zhou Xuan was drenched in sweat, taking off his shirt and twisting it with a splash like a faucet. *Fine,* *If Mr. Dai couldn’t be found, at least it wasn’t a wasted trip.* *Exercising was serious business, too.* The Lotus Pond featured the usual thick and heavy wooden temple doors of a Buddhist Temple, creaking as the old hunter pushed them open and the group surged in. Water, more water! The house inside the Lotus Pond, besides three side rooms, resembled Water Central, with a small artificial lake inside likely connected to the outer larger lake through secret passages. In the center of the small lake stood a colossal Maitreya Buddha statue, its head nearly touching the roof. A stone path linked the Buddha to the lake shore. Without glancing at the side rooms, the eight of them, carrying lamps, stepped onto the stone path, heading for the Great Buddha. Zhou Xuan followed, and with every step, he would hear the wailing cries of ghosts coming from the direction of the Buddha, the shrillness making his very soul itch with unease. As they neared about four or five meters from the Buddha, Zhou Xuan finally heard clearly, The cries were not emanating from the statue but echoing from underneath the Great Buddha. By then, the old hunter had already reached the feet of the Great Buddha, and at an inconspicuous spot on the statue’s hem, he grasped a small copper ring and gave a light pull. A crisp sound of gears turning followed, and soon a long passageway unfolded before Zhou Xuan’s eyes. The entrance to the passageway lay beneath the Great Buddha’s round belly… It was a secret passage. *Zhou Xuan understood a little now. He had been baffled for days about the relationship between the six corpses and Mr. Dai, but now it seemed that whatever dirty deeds Mr. Dai had done, these six corpses surely assisted.* *Otherwise, how would they know so well, even aware of the secret passage mechanisms?* Instinctively, Zhou Xuan took a few steps back, not out of fear, but utterly disdaining to associate with them. What kind of creatures would be Mr. Dai’s helpers? The eight entered the passageway first, and Zhou Xuan hesitated for a moment before following. He hadn’t gone too far down the path when a stench, mixed with the metallic scent of blood, attacked his senses, staggering him. “Goddamn, what a stench!” The smell was one thing, but the passage walls had numerous holes chiseled into them, with incense placed inside. The mingling of the incense and the stench created an even more bizarre aroma. “I’ll have to throw this outfit away when I get back, it’s too filthy.” Zhou Xuan quickened his pace, wishing for swift resolution. He wasn’t internally anxious, but really worried that delaying further might marinate him in the smell so intensely that it wouldn’t wash off. Yet, the deeper he went, the more he felt an eerie chill. At the first corner, a chain dangled from above, suspending a female corpse clad in a Kasaya. Her exposed skin was riddled with tiny holes, similar to pinpricks, yet variably sized as if each had a mind of its own. Such irregular, densely clustered holes on the skin nearly provoked Zhou Xuan’s trypophobia. A bit further along the passage, he encountered a male corpse hanging. Having braced himself psychologically from seeing the female corpse, Zhou Xuan reacted less dramatically this time. And at least this person had died “normally,” having merely their abdomen opened and their Five Organs removed… Zhou Xuan continued, traversing the entire passage. Along the way, he encountered four more bodies. Each had met a different fate. One was burned into a charred husk, one had limbs and torso separated, suspended by several iron chains, and an old couple had giant iron hooks pierce through them, tightly binding them together. “Mr. Dai is too twisted, doing public charity by day, while secretly conducting human experiments in a hidden passage?” Zhou Xuan thought these bodies related to the “Blood Well Human Experiment” and suddenly felt paranoid about his kidneys, hurriedly feeling them—both left and right were there. Thankfully… The end of the passage was marked by a wooden door. Pushing it open revealed a transitional room resembling a typical living room, with calligraphy and paintings on the walls, sofas in the corners, and a doorway in the western wall leading to the next room. The door was open, and the six corpses were gone, evidently moving to the subsequent room. Zhou Xuan didn’t immediately follow but lit a cigarette, needing to take in the sight of wall art to soothe his shocked mind. Exhaling smoke, he studied the wall art, particularly drawn to a piece of calligraphy. It was a funeral oration. Being a fan of calligraphy, Zhou Xuan was quite familiar with funeral orations, given that the majority of calligraphy enthusiasts could not escape the famous “Funeral Oration,” one of the top calligraphy pieces in the world. The writing of a funeral oration followed specific conventions, especially the first few sentences, generally sticking to certain standard forms. Having seen so many, Zhou Xuan tended to overlook those formulaic phrases. Instead, he focused directly on the main body of the oration. The contents of this funeral oration seriously challenged his worldview. The text was as follows: “My wife, Xiang Gui, you endured the punishment of blood draining, the pain unbearable, I empathized deeply and pay my respects to you, Si Ming. My son, Minghua, you suffered the punishment of a hawk consuming your abdomen, tears flowed as I watched the execution, and I bow to you as a father. My daughter, Dai Juan, you suffered the punishment of being burned by fire, forever remembered in your father’s heart. Respected elders, you suffered the punishment of being pierced by hooks, son in tearful gratitude. Rebellious son, Ming Han, you repeatedly defied me, making you suffer the punishment of execution was a father’s leniency, allowing you to atone for your sins with sacrifice!” The second-to-last line of the funeral oration had three vermillion words listed as “Executioner,” followed by hand seals and pen signatures. There were six signatures in total—Zhu Tian, Zhao Dongsheng… Li Shuiqu, among others. Sёarᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. These six names were unfamiliar to Zhou Xuan, but he could easily guess—they were the names of the six corpses! The six corpses, under Mr. Dai’s command, executed the entire Dai Family. As for Mr. Dai’s public claims to have relocated his family to Mingjiang Prefecture, it was clearly just a facade to cover the family’s “evaporation.” “Why, why?” With Zhou Xuan’s moral standards, it’s difficult to comprehend how one could be so cruel and shameless, especially towards their family, unless seen firsthand. Yet, Mr. Dai not only harmed his loved ones but also composed this nauseating funeral oration with a lordly, condescending air, like a monarch bestowing titles. Zhou Xuan scanned to the last line of the funeral oration…