Chapter 287: The First Lamp Awaits You

The Black-Faced’s voice came in overlapping layers, simultaneously emanating from the bottom of the well, the stone walls, and the cracks of every stele.

The character "Life" on the stone heart began to glow.

The light was neither white nor red, but a sickly greenish-blue resembling rotting flesh.

Wherever the greenish light reached, the stone walls of the main cave rapidly sprouted black roots. The roots burrowed into the crevices, catching the falling rocks.

The main cave, which had been collapsing just moments ago, was forcibly stabilized by this power.

Wang Cheng'an gasped for air, looking around.

"Is it propping up the mountain again?"

"It's not propping."

Lu Yuan stared at the stone heart.

The Black-Faced let out a low chuckle.

"If I die, the mountain dies."

"If I awaken, the mountain lives."

"You claim to want to save people, yet you're about to personally destroy the vitality of this entire mountain."

"Lu Yuan, do you truly dare to strike?"

Lu Yuan did not answer.

He looked at the character "Life" on the stone heart and suddenly remembered the broken names that had been sent out from the well wall.

Not all of those names had scattered.

Some had sunk into the earth, some had drifted into the wind, and some were still flowing outward along the mountain's water veins.

People's names were the deity's ledger.

But life force was the mountain's breath.

The Malevolent Deity had mixed the two together, leading everyone to mistakenly believe that severing it meant severing the mountain.

"You've swapped two things."

Lu Yuan said slowly.

"The life force isn't your life force."

"The mountain isn't your mountain."

The Black-Faced fell silent.

Lu Yuan turned to look at Lin Zhaoxuan.

"Zhaoxuan, did those broken names we sent out earlier pass through the water veins?"

Lin Zhaoxuan clutched his shoulder, his face pale.

"Yes."

"Those names traveled along the black water and split apart outside the mountain. The water sank into the forest roots, the names scattered into the wind."

"Did the wind carry out any of the mountain's qi?"

Lin Zhaoxuan closed his eyes and gently twisted the ink-line between his fingers.

"Yes."

"The mountain's qi wasn't entirely intercepted by it."

"Then that proves this stone heart isn't the mountain's heart."

Lu Yuan looked at Song Qinghe.

"Qinghe, can you still light your lamp?"

Song Qinghe looked down at the broken lamp.

The lamp had shattered into three pieces, and the wick was nothing but a charred thread.

"The oil is gone."

"What about the fire?"

Song Qinghe pinched her middle finger with her thumb, then pressed her index and middle fingers together, touching her brow, throat, and chest in sequence.

This was a Daoist hand seal to borrow a person's three fires.

The brow was the Heavenly Fire, the chest was the Human Fire, and below the navel was the Earthly Fire.

She said in a deep voice:

"The Heavenly Fire is still there."

"The Human Fire hasn't been extinguished."

"The Earthly Fire is suppressed by the yin-water; I can only borrow the flame of a decaying incense stick."

Lu Yuan nodded.

"That's enough."

The Black-Faced suddenly opened its mouth wide.

The character "Life" on the stone heart transformed into a beam of greenish light, shooting straight at Song Qinghe.

Lu Yuan swung his blade to block it.

The green light struck the blade. Lu Yuan's arm went numb, and he stumbled back seven steps.

The broken surface of the stone bridge cracked under his feet.

Xu Erxiao raised his hand and formed the "Golden Lock Seal."

He pinched his ring finger with his thumb, crossed his index and middle fingers, and turned his palm outward.

"Golden lock seals the door, the five senses return to the gate. Evil light shall not enter, yin fire shall not encroach!"

A faint golden light flared from his wrist and connected to Lu Yuan's blade handle.

Wang Cheng'an also held the broken abacus frame across his chest.

"Brother Lu, we've got your back!"

As soon as the two steadied themselves, black roots burst out of the stone floor.

One root coiled around Xu Erxiao's ankle. Another pierced through the broken abacus frame, thrusting straight at Wang Cheng'an's abdomen.

Wang Cheng'an twisted sideways in a hurry. The root grazed his clothes and slashed a bloody gash across his waist.

Xu Erxiao pulled out a short sword and slashed three times in rapid succession.

Each time a root was severed, the stump instantly grew two new, slender tendrils.

"I can't cut them all!" Xu Erxiao shouted.

"Don't cut the roots, find the root's eye!" Lu Yuan said.

"Every root has a closed eye on it. The eye moves the root!"

Xu Erxiao looked down.

The black tendril was as thin as a vine, its surface covered in scales. It was impossible to distinguish an eye.

Suddenly, Wang Cheng'an lifted his foot and stomped hard on the root.

"Erxiao, listen to me!"

"What?"

"Every time before it moves, it shrinks half an inch to the left!"

Wang Cheng'an slammed the broken abacus frame onto the ground, using the rebound force to pin the root down.

Xu Erxiao immediately swept his sword blade along the ground.

The blade scraped across the middle of the root, splitting open an eye the size of a grain of rice.

The black root immediately went limp, dissolving into a pool of foul, black water.

Xu Erxiao let out a breath.

"This method works!"

"It's not the method. It's because it has eyes."

Wang Cheng'an pressed his hand over the wound on his waist.

"Anything with eyes will blink sooner or later. We'll find them all eventually."

On the other side, Zhou Heng used a short blade to brace the cracked Death Stele, while Lin Zhaoxuan rewound the ink-line around the Name Stele.

Song Qinghe stood before the Life Stele, her hands guarding the last flicker of fire in her chest.

Lu Yuan turned and walked toward the stone heart.

The Black-Faced seemed to sense his intent. All seven of its eyes turned toward him simultaneously.

"You want to strip away the 'Life' character?"

"Yes."

"You are not qualified."

"Qualification isn't something anyone bestows."

Lu Yuan drove his blade into the rock crevice beside the stone heart and took out the old bone fragment that once belonged to the Iron Abacus.

The bone fragment was already soaked through with black blood, its edges tinged with a dark red.

The Iron Abacus hadn't left him much.

A broken plaque, a shattered mirror, three bone nails, and this piece of old bone stripped from some unknown person.

Before this, Lu Yuan had always thought the bone fragment was meant to be used as a guide.

But now, he suddenly understood.

It wasn't to guide evil.

It was to guide "masterless things."

The Malevolent Deity had no body of its own. The fetal root had no name of its own. The offering lamps had no fire of their own. Even the so-called "Life" character was only borrowed from living people and the mountain.

As long as something was masterless, the Malevolent Deity could occupy it.

By the same token, as long as something was returned to its original owner, the Malevolent Deity could no longer possess it.

Lu Yuan bit his fingertip and smeared the blood onto the bone fragment.

With his left hand, he formed the "Return to Origin Seal."

He pressed his thumb against the base of his little finger, straightened his index and middle fingers, curled his ring finger inward, and turned his palm downward.

With his right hand, he clamped the bone fragment between his sword-finger gesture.

"Bones have their origin, fire has its root."

"Mountain's qi returns to the mountain, blood's qi returns to blood."

"What is not mine shall not be taken by evil."

"What is not born of the spirit shall not be nourished by it."

"Return to the origin, open!"

A faint white light emanated from the bone fragment.

The green light on the stone heart suddenly contracted.

The Black-Faced let out a piercing roar.

"To whom are you returning the 'Life' character?"

"To the living."

Lu Yuan took a step forward, his left foot landing on the Gen position, his right foot on the Kan position.

He didn't strike the stone heart directly. Instead, he pressed the bone fragment against the "Life" character.

The moment the bone touched the stone heart, countless voices erupted from within.

An old man shouting that he was cold.

A child crying that he was hungry.

A woman weeping that she still wanted to go home.

And someone repeating the same sentence over and over:

"I want to live."

These voices weren't just Asheng's.

They were the life-thoughts left behind over many years by all the people who had entered this mountain and begged the Malevolent Deity for survival.

The Malevolent Deity had locked these life-thoughts into the stone heart, making it look like a pulsing, beating heart.

"It's not Asheng's heart," Lu Yuan said.

"These are the life-thoughts left by the offerings."

Asheng stared at the stone heart, his body trembling slightly.

"Then where is my heart?"

Lu Yuan turned to look at him.

"In your own chest."

Asheng looked down.

There, indeed, was a faint, flesh-and-blood heart.

It was very small, very slow, but it hadn't stopped beating.

"I thought it was fake."

"Real things often don't shine."

Lu Yuan turned around and pulled out his blade.

"Asheng, once I strip away the 'Life' character, you have to catch it yourself."

"What if I can't catch it?"

"Then catch it again."

"How many times?"

"Until you recognize it as your own."

The Black-Faced lunged down violently.

This time, it didn't use its hands. It opened its entire chest cavity.

Inside its chest, countless steles spun around, forming a massive millstone that pressed down toward Lu Yuan and Asheng.

Lin Zhaoxuan snapped his ink-line.

"Senior Brother Lu, you can't take that head-on!"

"Lead them back to the well rim!" Lu Yuan shouted.

"You all retreat. I'll break the millstone."

"By yourself?"

"I'm not alone."

Lu Yuan held the broken blade horizontally in front of him, his other hand pressing down on the back of the blade.

Xu Erxiao, Wang Cheng'an, Lin Zhaoxuan, Song Qinghe, and Zhou Heng all stood behind him at the same time.

The shadows of the five people merged into one on the ground.

Song Qinghe suddenly understood.

"It swallows isolated individuals."

"Then don't let it find an isolated individual," Lu Yuan said.

"Six people, only one shadow."

The black millstone had already pressed down to the top of their heads.

Lu Yuan chanted in a low voice:

"Six Ding protect me, Six Jia accompany me."

"Ahead, clear the path; behind, seal the gate."

"Left, Azure Dragon; right, White Tiger; front, Vermilion Bird; back, Black Tortoise."

"People do not leave the shadow, the shadow does not leave the people."

"Take the multitude as the body, take the unity as the fate."

With his right hand, he formed a seal, pressing his thumb over his ring and little fingers, while his index and middle fingers came together. His left hand gripped the blade, the tip pointing at the ground.

This wasn't an orthodox evil-slaying technique.

It was the "shadow-merging method" used by traveling Daoist priests against "soul-splitting ghosts."

The technique wasn't meant to kill the enemy, but to temporarily link everyone's aura, making it impossible for the evil puppet to single out one person for devouring.

The black millstone descended.

The shadows of the six people expanded outward simultaneously.

The millstone collided with the shadows and was halted.

The stone floor of the corridor shattered piece by piece.

Lu Yuan's knees gradually sank.

Xu Erxiao spat out the copper coin and pressed both hands firmly onto Lu Yuan's shoulders.

"Brother Lu, I'm here!"

Wang Cheng'an gritted his teeth and said:

"I'm here too!"

Lin Zhaoxuan raised his hand. The ink-line on his wrist had already cut into his flesh.

"Lin Zhaoxuan is here."

Song Qinghe said in a low voice:

"Song Qinghe is here."

Zhou Heng gripped his short blade.

"Zhou Heng is here."

Each person spoke only one sentence.

The black millstone suddenly stalled.

It could no longer find a single "name" to devour from among the six.

Seizing the opportunity, Lu Yuan raised his blade and slashed upward from below.

"One shadow from merged forms, the evil millstone splits itself!"

The blade light pierced through the millstone.

The black steles shattered one after another.

The massive fetal root in the Malevolent Deity's chest was forced into visibility.

At the center of the fetal root, it was connected to the stone heart.

Lu Yuan reached out, grabbed the bone fragment, and yanked it violently.

"Asheng!"

Asheng didn't hesitate.

He raised both hands and pressed them against the flesh-and-blood heart in his own chest.

"My name is Asheng."

"This is my life."

"It's not its."

As these words fell, the "Life" character on the stone heart detached from the stele's surface.

It didn't fly toward the Malevolent Deity, nor did it fall into Asheng's chest.

The green character writhed violently in mid-air, like a living snake that had been skinned.

Lu Yuan's left hand formed the "Sword Seal," and his right hand formed the "Soul-Seizing Seal."

He pressed his thumb to his middle fingertip, slightly bent his index and middle fingers, and turned his palm inward.

"Character returns to its original meaning, qi returns to its original body."

"Life shall not be made a talisman, fate shall not be made an offering."

"Go!"

The green character transformed into a beam of light and shot into Asheng's chest.

Asheng fell backward.

Song Qinghe stepped forward and caught him.

The black flesh on his face rapidly dried and cracked, peeling off in pieces to reveal pale skin.

The small heart in his chest began to beat powerfully.

Thump.

With each beat, a lamp in the stone chamber was extinguished.

The Malevolent Deity let out a roar, low and almost despairing.

"The 'Life' character remains."

"The mountain will not die."

Lu Yuan looked at it.

"Your mountain is no longer a mountain."

"Then what is it?"

"It's the empty shell you've left behind."

He pulled the broken blade out from where it was wedged in the well rim and pointed the tip at the fetal root.

"Now it's your turn."

The fetal root suddenly retracted.

The Malevolent Deity was trying to escape.

It didn't flee outside the mountain, nor did it continue attacking the group. Instead, it rapidly retreated down the darkness beneath the black well.

The sound of water came from the bottom of the well.

It was different from before. It sounded like countless iron chains being dragged underwater.

Lin Zhaoxuan looked up at the well opening.

"It's trying to burrow into the yin-route."

"The Death Stele is already broken," Zhou Heng said.

"The death route being broken doesn't mean it has no other way," Lu Yuan said. "There are still offering lines outside. It can travel through them."

Wang Cheng'an's face changed.

"So, are we chasing it or not?"

Lu Yuan glanced at Asheng, who was lying in Song Qinghe's arms.

Then he looked at the main cave collapsing around them.

"We can't chase."

Xu Erxiao said anxiously:

"The Malevolent Deity is getting away!"

"It's not running away."

Lu Yuan picked up the cracked "Life" nail from the ground.

"It's returning to the offering lines."

"That's where its real body is."

"If we're any later, the people outside the mountain will grow it a new body."

Deep in the black well, the Malevolent Deity suddenly stopped.

An eye opened in the black mist.

"Lu Yuan."

"You will come down the mountain to find me?"

"Yes."

"The people outside the mountain will not let you touch their god."

"Then first ask them whether they're worshipping a god, or their own lives."

The black mist roiled.

The eye slowly closed.

The Malevolent Deity's final voice came from somewhere distant outside the mountain:

"The first lamp is north of the Birch Forest."

"The second lamp is at the well of the Old Village."

"The third lamp is in the temple of the refugees."

"Lu Yuan, every lamp you extinguish will leave a group of people with no way to live."

Lu Yuan tightened his grip on the "Life" nail.

"You finally told me where the offering lines are."

"Because you can no longer leave this mountain."

"No."

Lu Yuan looked at the Stone Door beginning to collapse.

"It's because you thought I would play by your rules."

He turned around and hoisted Asheng onto his back.

Asheng was too light, like a branch just dug out of the soil.

Xu Erxiao immediately stepped forward to help.

"Brother Lu, let me carry him."

"You guard the left flank."

"But you're injured."

"I'm not dead yet."

Lu Yuan tucked the broken blade back into his waist.

"Let's go."

The group withdrew along the broken end of the stone bridge.

The main cave collapsed inch by inch.

Debris fell from above, black water surged around their feet, and the vague sound of the Malevolent Deity's labored breathing continuously emanated from within the stone walls.

Song Qinghe looked back.

The three root steles had all cracked, but they hadn't completely fallen.

In every crack, thin red lines extended outward toward the mountain.

She said in a low voice:

"It's still there."

"Of course it is."

Lu Yuan didn't look back.

"A Malevolent Deity isn't just a stone."

"Severing one form is only drawing blood."

"To break it, you have to track down the people who feed it, the lamps that light for it, and the roads it travels, one by one."

At the end of the stone steps, the night sky finally appeared.

When the group burst out of the mountain's belly, it was snowing outside.

The wind from beyond the Great Wall whipped snow pellets against their faces. The Birch Forest swayed drunkenly in the darkness.

There were no village lights in the distance.

Only three faint red glows flickered across the valley.

They looked like three eyes waiting to open in the darkness.

Asheng, lying on Lu Yuan's back, suddenly spoke softly:

"Those aren't three lamps."

"What are they?"

"They're three offering altars."

"There are people in front of the altars."

Lu Yuan followed his gaze.

Through the deep curtain of snow, a low chant could indeed be heard.

"Mountain god has a spirit, protect my whole family."

"Mountain god has a spirit, protect my children."

"Mountain god has a spirit, protect me through this calamity."

The voice repeated over and over.

With each repetition, the three red glows brightened by a degree.

Wang Cheng'an tightened his grip on the broken abacus frame.

"Are we going now?"

Lu Yuan looked at the sky.

The east had not yet lightened.

The night beyond the Great Wall would last at least another two hours.

"First, find a place to settle Asheng."

"Then, head north to the Birch Forest."

Lin Zhaoxuan asked:

"Why there first?"

Lu Yuan took out the broken stele carved with the red line from his pocket.

The first red line on the broken stele was growing faintly warm.

"Because the first lamp is closest to here."

"And it's not in a village."

"It's in the mountains."

"Who would be lighting a lamp for the Malevolent Deity in the mountains?" Zhou Heng asked.

Lu Yuan looked up at the north of the Birch Forest.

There, on the snow-covered ground, was a fresh set of footprints.

Only one pair of footprints.

Wearing old cloth shoes.

They had walked from outside the mountain all the way into the forest, but there were none coming back.

Lu Yuan stared at the footprints for a moment.

"It's not someone making an offering."

"It's someone who was called in by it."

He steadied Asheng on his back and led the group toward the Birch Forest.

They had walked less than a hundred feet when a bell toll suddenly rang out from the mountain's belly behind them.

Dong.

The three red glows all extinguished at once.

The set of footprints on the snow slowly turned black before their eyes.

The blackness crawled forward along the footprints, finally congealing into a line of crooked words:

"Lu Yuan, the first lamp awaits you."