booktalesy Chapter 94 Cause and Effect
Chapter 94 Cause and Effect
Chapter 94 Cause and Effect
"Demon Suppression Division — Corpse Dragon —"
Chen Qian muttered to himself, his brows furrowing deeper and deeper.
While Li Chengyun's words construct a grand backdrop, they contain a fatal logical flaw.
"Master, there is something I don't understand."
Chen Qian raised his head, his eyes full of inquiry: "Since the Demon Suppression Division had the ability to dismember this wicked dragon, and set up such an earth-shattering formation, even going so far as to have the Li family guard it for generations, then why—didn't they just exterminate it in the first place?"
"If you don't cut the weeds at the root, they'll grow back in the spring. Leaving such a menace underground will require countless manpower and resources to suppress, and will even cost your Li family generations of freedom. No matter how you look at it, this is a losing proposition, isn't it?"
The paper figure in the earthen basin fell silent.
A complex emotion flickered in those eyes cut from red paper.
There was mockery, helplessness, and even a deep sense of apprehension.
After a long silence, Li Chengyun finally spoke, his voice like a chilling wind drifting up from the depths of hell: "Kill? Easier said than done."
"Boy, do you think that's some ordinary mountain spirit that you can settle with a single blow?"
He gave a cold laugh, his tone becoming ambiguous: "That thing—has already attained enlightenment."
"Harmony with the Dao?" Chen Qian asked, puzzled.
"In its final, desperate counterattack, it used an extremely resolute secret technique to forcibly merge its essence, energy, spirit, and even destiny with the earth's veins and water veins of these three prefectures!"
Li Chengyun's voice was deep: "The dragon vein is it, and it is the dragon vein."
"To completely destroy it, we must sever the earth's veins within a thousand miles and cut off the flow of the Canglan River. At that time, the earth dragon will rise up, causing a great flood, and the millions of lives in the three prefectures of Linjiang will perish with it!"
"It's using the lives of millions as its shield! The Demon Suppression Division may be ruthless, but it doesn't dare to bear such a huge karmic burden."
"Therefore, it cannot be killed, but only suppressed. It must be trapped underground, its resentment worn away by time, and its power extracted by feng shui, until it is completely withered."
Chen Qian was terrified.
This is no monster at all; it is clearly a ruthless hero who is at his wit's end but still wants to drag everyone else down with him!
But this was not important to Chen Qian; he was only concerned about whether it would affect him.
"I see----"
Chen Qian nodded, temporarily accepting the explanation, and then changed the subject, asking the question that was closely related to his life.
"What about the Li family?"
"You just said that the Li family is cursed and trapped in Black Mountain, needing living bodies to prolong their lives." If that's the case, wouldn't it be safer for them to capture people, take them directly to the Black Mountain dungeon, keep them alive until they're healed, and then kill them?"
"Why go through all that trouble to release them, set a ten-day deadline, and even put on a grand wedding procession with paper sedan chairs? Aren't they afraid their prey will escape? Or perhaps—they have some kind of masochistic fetish?"
"A quirk? Ha, they'd rather just lock him up."
Li Chengyun sneered, the paper effigy's features seemingly contorted with disdain: "I just said, they are prisoners."
""
"What do prisoners crave most? Freedom, the outside world!"
"The oath of guardianship from back then has become a curse and shackles. If their true forms were to step even half a step outside the Black Mountain territory, they would instantly turn into pus. But in the past few decades, they haven't been idle either, having developed an evil technique called the Thread Play."
Li Chengyun looked at Chen Qian as if he were a pitiful doll: "In their eyes, you are not prey, but a boundary marker used for pioneering."
"Boundary marker?" Chen Qian frowned.
"That's right."
Li Chengyun's voice deepened, carrying a hint of mockery towards the ancients: "Back then, the Demon Suppression Division established a rule that the Li family would guard Black Mountain for generations, and for this, they swore an oath in their blood!"
"Then they—" Chen Qian was about to ask about the paper sedan chair.
"Don't rush," Li Chengyun interrupted him. "Rules are rigid, but people are flexible. Those servants tried every possible method to get down the mountain, and in the end, they actually managed to find a fatal loophole in those ironclad oaths."
"One of the family rules in the oath is: If any clansman deserts or abandons his duty to guard the garrison, he shall be executed, no matter how far away, to uphold the family law!"
"Do you understand? If the Li family escapes, they can then legitimately send people out to capture them!"
"That's their only legitimate reason for leaving Montenegro: law enforcement!"
Chen Qian felt a chill run from his feet to his head. He seemed to have guessed something and pointed at himself in disbelief.
"Could it be that—"
"right!"
Li Chengyun smiled grimly: "Although your surname is Chen, once this mark is planted and merges with your soul, becoming tainted by the Li family's spirit, then you—are a member of the Li family!"
"They let you go, not to spare your life, but to let you escape!"
"The farther you run, the farther the Li family traitors" escape. To capture you, this traitor, their paper effigies...
Even the projections of some ancient monsters can legitimately extend to anywhere you are!
"The faster you run, the happier they are. The farther you hide, the wider the area they can come out from!"
"And what about the Taiyi Sect?"
Chen Qian was still unwilling to give up, clinging to a last glimmer of hope: "Since Senior Wang Shouyi gave me the compass and we have a connection through playing chess, if I were to go to him seeking help, or simply hide inside the Taiyi Sect, would the Li family dare to force their way in?"
In his view, a master like Wang Shouyi, who could enter people's dreams, was definitely a master among masters.
"Taiyi Sect?"
Li Chengyun seemed to have heard a joke, and this time he was too lazy to even laugh. He simply uttered a few words: "You overestimate yourself and underestimate the law of cause and effect."
"The Taiyi Sect cultivates in accordance with Heaven and the people, emphasizing the cycle of cause and effect. These charlatans are most afraid of getting involved in major karmic consequences."
"What is the Li family of Black Mountain guarding? It's that wicked creature that wants to transform into a dragon! That involves the fate of the nation, the earth's veins, and divine retribution!"
"Wang Shouyi dared to give you the compass because he was trying to build a good relationship. He casually placed a piece, which was just a minor karmic consequence. He wasn't afraid."
"But if we were to forcibly interfere in the affairs of the Black Mountain Li family and confront the seal left by the Demon Suppression Division just to save an insignificant brat like you, it might even trigger the evil dragon underground to rise up—"
Li Chengyun looked at Chen Qian with pity in his eyes: "If it were you, would you disturb a hornet's nest full of poisonous wasps just to save a roadside ant?"
"Wang Shouyi isn't stupid, and neither is the Taiyi Sect. They would never do such a losing business."
"boom!"
The last glimmer of hope was mercilessly extinguished.
Chen Qian slumped into a chair, his face pale.
There's no way to escape, no way to hide, and no one to save you.
When the day comes, those crazed Li family servants will definitely come down the mountain in person.
That would be a dead end.
Chen Qian looked at the paper figure in front of him, which was now just a head.
He suddenly realized something.
In this game of chess, the only variable, the only one who can rival the Li family of Heishan, is Li Chengyun, who claims to be the "legitimate heir of the Li family"!
He is a member of the Li family, he understands the Li family's laws, and he hates the current Li family!
The enemy of my enemy is my lifeline!
Without any hesitation, and without any scholarly reserve.
Chen Qian suddenly slid off the chair.
"Thump!"
His knees slammed heavily onto the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.
He braced himself with his hands on the ground, his forehead slamming hard against the hard wooden floor with a dull thud.
His movements were swift and decisive, full of a will to survive.
"master!"
Chen Qian raised his head, blood already seeping from his forehead, but his eyes were burning, and his voice was hoarse yet firm: "Save me!"
"As long as I can survive, as long as I can break this deadlock—"
"Whether you want to kill or set fires, or dig up graves."
"From this day forward, my life belongs to your blade!"
"Wherever you point, I'll chop!"