Bizarre Individual
“Why would there be rumbling thunder? Divine punishment for immoral conduct while he was alive?” Xiaoshuai chimed in.
“Just eat your food. Please elaborate, Elder Xu.”
“The sound was identical to thunder rumbling behind the clouds. Also, there was a small earthquake. Peculiar sounds are commonplace there. Because of the mysterious nature of Heavenly Cemetery, we have come to believe that is King of Hell opening his doors to receive the dead. For that reason, we treat it as a normal sound.”
“It’s common for rumbling sounds to be audible there?”
“Not exactly ‘common’. It is normal to us as we hear it every time we dump the dead there. It was louder than usual when Elder Zhao was thrown in, however.”
“Does the rumbling only occur if someone dies? Where is the root of the problem?”
“Regardless of where it lies, eat or you won’t have energy for work,” advocated Xiaoshuai, eating as he spoke.
Elder Xu gave all the meat to Xiaoshuai. “None of us dare to approach Heavenly Valley or think about what happened with Elder Zh-”
Thud! Mu Yu rushed to help up Elder Xu, who suddenly fell out of his chair, and asked, “Are you all right, Elder Xu?”
“I… I feel as though… somebody is strangling me around the neck.”
Elder Xu’s face was red, and he struggled to breathe just as he described.
“The sorcery is kicking in,” expounded Xiaoshuai, eating the last piece of meat.
Xiaoshuai jumped onto Elder Xu’s chest to knock on the elder’s chest and listen to his heartbeats after Mu Yu rested the elder on his bed. “Told you it’s impossible to outwit the sorcery.”
“W-will I die?” Elder Xu breathlessly queried, grimacing.
“Not now, no,” answered Xiaoshuai. “You’ll die tomorrow evening.”
Elder Xu breathlessly gasped in horror.
“Quiet, Xiaoshuai. Don’t worry, Elder Xu. I’ll figure something out,” assured Mu Yu, despite sensing Elder Xu’s vitality leaving him.
“Since he looks as though he’s being hung, do you reckon we need to cut the rope around his wooden mannequin’s neck?” the dragon vine guessed.
“That will only reduce his flushes. He’s still going to die tomorrow evening,” replied Xiaoshuai.
“Let’s relieve him of something first, and then we can worry about our next step.”
“Wait, wait,” called Xiaoshuai. “I can relieve him of his suffering. Consider yourself lucky, Old Man. Bear with the pain for a tick.”
Xiaoshuai stabbed one of his claws into Elder Xu’s neck and ejected white energy from the claw to bandage Elder Xu’s throat. Elder Xu sucked in a big breath of air and sat up, panting but not so flush anymore.
“Th-thank you, Immortal Master.”
Xiaoshuai returned to Mu Yu’s shoulder. “You should be thanking me.”
“Thank you, Sir Xiaoshuai.”
“Rest here, Elder Xu. Do not go anywhere until we return.”
Cognisant it wasn’t over yet, Mu Yu bolted to Chen Erzhuang’s store. In spite of every household lighting up lanterns since the dome overhead was dark, Chen Erzhuang didn’t have any lights on. The silver rays of the moon couldn’t reach the store, either, shrouding the store in a freaky ambience.
Upon landing on Chen Erzhuang’s roof, Xiaoshuai poked two holes in Mu Yu’s shirt to see through. The only sound audible around was the wind billowing Mu Yu’s clothing. The wind carried the rancid stench from the red paint to their noses. Mu Yu hopped into the empty courtyard and cast a formation to check for sounds in the surroundings in addition to peering into Chen Erzhuang’s room.
Logic dictated that Mu Yu should’ve heart breathing, at least, if Chen Erzhuang was inside, yet there wasn’t a peep to be heard. Cautiously, Mu Yu gave the door a lot push to find it wasn’t locked. After peeking through the ajar door, he was going to push them open, when a pair of eyes suddenly stared back at him.
“Sugars!” Xiaoshuai screamed, coming face to face with the aggressive eyes.
Mu Yu drew Shadow Splitter Sword and glided back to where the incomplete mannequins were left in the courtyard. Danger permeated in the courtyard, and behind those doors was Elder Zhao, grinning and expressing hostility through his piercing gaze.
“What are you? Why are you hurting innocent people?”
There was no vitality, cultivation or life coming from Elder Zhao.
“Keke. Keke.”
Elder Zhao strolled out and, out of nowhere, thrust a blunt grater at Mu Yu.
Mu Yu effortlessly evaded the sluggish thrust that anyone could’ve evaded. Elder Zhao stumbled into the ground after missing; however, he got straight back up and wobbled back to make another attempt.
“Surely the one we’re looking for isn’t this weak. This is just normal human standard.”
Mu Yu chopped Elder Zhao on the back of the neck to knock the elder out. Maybe it was because Elder Zhao was already dead that he didn’t pass out. Elder Zhao got up a second time and mounted a third attempt.
“This is a waste of time.” Mu Yu made a dash for Chen Erzhuang’s room and cast his gaze up. “Uh… Where are all the wooden mannequins?”
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