Elder Xu
“How are you feeling?”
“Phew…” Elder Xu wiped his forehead and jerked his aching mouth. He patted he chest and replied, “Lucky, lucky. Mistress Wang died when she got to that part the other day.”
“You scared me there,” Mu Yu chided with a smile.
“You sure are incredible, Immortal Master. Thank you again.”
“So, what did Elder Zhao say afterwards?”
“Now that the seal has come undone, you humans…” Elder Xu touched his face to ensure he was still fine and then went on, “You humans are ours! I have cursed all of you. I will come for you and your descendants when you pass on. If any of you mention what happened today, I will come for you and your descendants straight away. Remember that!”
“That’s it? Did he do anything else?”
“Oh, I almost forgot. He also laughed hysterically and then did this. Let me show you. Elder Zhao lost his index finger when he was young, so he has four fingers.” Elder Xu cleared his throat and curled his fingers. He opened his hand toward the sky and elaborated, “He laughed, like, hahahaha…”
“Pffthahaha.” Mu Yu couldn’t resist a laugh at the imitation.
“Hahahaha, we’ve finally arrived at Third Heaven. This place is now ours.”
Mu Yu stopped laughing and asked, “What did you just say?”
“Need me to repeat? Hahahah-”
“No, I meant after the laugh,” Mu Yu corrected, draping on a stern demeanour.
“We’ve finally arrived at Third Heaven. This place is now ours.”
Elder Zhao can’t be from Second Heaven since there are only fiend beasts there. Does that mean he’s from one of the other heavens, then? If the disappearance of the dead at the bottom of the valley is his work, why didn’t he just kill everyone but only take the dead? What is he planning after killing Elder Zhao’s descendants, Mu Yu deliberated. “Mister, please gather all of the villagers so that I can remove the curse.”
“You can just call me Elder Xu.”
Elder Xu went to collect the villagers, while Mu Yu inwardly said, I need to lure him out somehow. If he joins the chaos in this heaven, damn we will need a third hand to handle everything.
“As if he could remove the curse at his young age,” doubted Village Chief Zhang’s widow.
“Yeah, we don’t want to be the next Second Mistress Wang,” added Er Mazi, speaking on behalf of the villagers.
Elder Xu thumped his chest and repeated Elder Zhao’s warning that day to prove that the curse had been lifted.
Mu Yu’s mind was occupied when the villagers gave him their thanks for lifting the curse.
“Immortal Master, please let me know if I can be of any help,” expressed Elder Xu.
“Mm…” Mu Yu swept his gaze over the courteous villagers prior to inquiring, “What did you do with Second Mistress Wang’s body, send it to No-Man’s Cemetery?”
Elder Xu wagged his hands. “You mean Heavenly Cemetery? We would not dare to go there again. It has become an abandoned area ever since the incident. We buried her since we did not want to risk her coming back to life to kill us.”
No-Man’s Cemetery was the name cultivators gave it. The villagers called it Heavenly Cemetery owing to their belief that it was the path to reincarnation. Anyhow, since Second Mistress Wang was buried, Mu Yu had to move on.
“Immortal Master, how about staying at our place for the night?” Elder Xu proposed.
“I will have to apologise for the trouble in advance, then. Also, my name is Mu Yu.”
“Oh, no, it is not troublesome at all. It is my honour to have you as my guest.”
Worried the formation caster would come back to silence the villages, Mu Yu wanted to ensure their safety. He wasn’t convinced the caster was trying to just get back at Elder Zhao’s sons for him.
“You might be able to find out some more from Chen Erzhuang,” stated Elder Xu, pouring Mu Yu a cup of his home-brewed ice wine before fetching a freshly roasted goose from the table.
While Xiaoshuai indulged in the roast goose, Mu Yu had a nip of the slightly sweet rice wine and queried, “Who is Chen Erzhuang?”
Elder Xu looked tense sitting opposite Mu Yu since the latter was an immortal master. Nevertheless, Elder Xu wasn’t actually scared for Mu Yu was quite approachable. Elder Xu had a swig and explained, “He is in the funeral business, so we all go to him for coffins whenever folks in the village die. He was there on the day of Elder Zhao’s resurrection. It is said that he has yin yang eyes, allowing him to communicate with spirits. For some reason, Elder Zhao suspended Chen Erzhuang in the air, yet the former let him go in the day. Speaking of which, I did not see him amongst those you lifted the curse for.”
“Yin yang eyes? He’s not a scam artist, is he?” Xiaoshuai mumbled.
“H-how did the rodent speak?”
“The name is Xiaoshuai! ‘Xiao’ as in ‘small’ and ‘shuai’ as in ‘handsome’! I’d punch your face in if it wasn’t for you feeding me!”
“Don’t worry about him. He’s a bit of a brat,” said Mu Yu, grabbing Xiaoshuai’s tail.
Confirming to himself that Xiaoshuai wasn’t violent, Elder Xu commented, “Immortals’ pets sure are different. My big dog can only bark. Widow Zhang was about to cut his ear off for peeping on her bathing.”
“Obviously. I’m much smarter than your d-, wait! Who are you calling a pet? Don’t compare me to a pet!”
Mu Yu stuffed a piece of meat into Xiaoshuai’s mouth and inquired, “Elder Zhao lifted up Chen Erzhuang, only to put him back down without hurting him?”
“Yes. He did it, like this,” explained Elder Xu, demonstrating a curled hand pose aimed at Xiaoshuai.
Xiaoshuai spat a bone into Elder Xu’s hand.
“I guess I need to pay Chen Erzhuang a visit, then.”
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