Young Master Bai — Chapter 40
Chapter 40: The Secret of Elderly Village (Part 1)
Fresh Mountain God wood is far too stimulating for ordinary people. When burned directly, it can cause an entire city to lose their minds and become imbeciles. But if it is first purified of its evil aura by burning in the Fire of Rebirth and refined into charcoal, it becomes harmless to humans. However, the unique miasma released as it burns slowly deceives the eyes and limbs, making people see only what the Mountain God wants them to see.
Every household in Elderly Village had a charcoal brazier. The Mountain God wood in those braziers burned day and night without ever going out. It wasn’t until the disciples of the Hidden Wisdom Sect extinguished the charcoal fire that the village’s true appearance was revealed to all.
The layout of the houses and roads remained exactly the same. The only difference was the people. Once the lingering scent of the charcoal was scattered by the mountain wind, the villagers who had seemed no different from ordinary folk turned, in the blink of an eye, into cypresses as tall as a person, each trunk bearing an aged human face. Yet they were not only trees — every trunk was entwined with withered vines, and within those vines was bound a human, appearing to be the very same elders from the illusion.
The yellowed vines, like blood vessels, connected the elders to the tree spirits as one. Even now in their true forms, it was impossible to distinguish tree from human. Even the corpse in the coffin used branches and leaves to form hands, pushing feebly against the coffin edge as it tried to climb out — its expression and movements no different from an ordinary old man.
The corpses bound by the vines were in dreadful condition. Some had broken limbs, some had their heads crushed flat, and others were a mangled mess of blood and flesh... Chenzui glanced once and felt he would be haunted by nightmares all night. He quickly covered his eyes and dared not look again. Even Bai Chen remained silent for a long while before calming himself and saying with forced composure, "Living by clinging to corpses... No wonder these tree spirits can move freely despite their limited cultivation."
These cypresses weren’t particularly tall or ancient. A mere few centuries was not nearly enough for so many tree spirits to gain sentience. This was clearly the result of some power injecting the souls of the old people into the cypresses, forcibly turning them into yao. The Hidden Wisdom Sect would never tolerate such theft of human souls. Bu Tiange’s face darkened immediately. "Village Chief Luo, was this all your doing?"
The village monsters had all revealed their true forms, yet the old village chief remained unchanged. That alone showed he was behind it all. Seeing so many corpses bound by tree spirits already made Bu Tiange furious, but Li Wuming pressed down his hand that was about to draw his sword and softly reminded him, "Calm down. These elders look like they died in a landslide. They might not have been killed."
Bai Chen also didn’t feel the village chief seemed like a vicious monster. Just as he was about to speak, they suddenly heard a shriek from Sun Decai. "My— my face!"
They hadn’t planned to bother with the man, but the scream drew their attention — and shocked them. Sun Decai, who had once looked like a refined scholar, now had a terrifying face. His skin looked scorched, red and wrinkled, his features bunched together awkwardly, disturbing to look at from any angle. At night, he would be more frightening than a ghost.
Such a face was unheard of. Chenzui peeked through his fingers and, certain his nightmares would continue, complained with a grimace, "How can someone be this ugly?"
Though the others didn’t voice it as bluntly, the way they all averted their gazes showed they couldn’t bear the sight either. Seeing this, Sun Decai grew frantic. No longer bothering to hide anything, he rushed up and grabbed the old village chief’s sleeve, shouting, "You old yao! What did you do to me?!"
His furious expression only made his face more terrifying. But the old village chief, as if long used to it, replied calmly, "This is your true appearance."
"Impossible!"
"You were born with a hideous face and abandoned by your parents. Ordinary people only avoided and humiliated you. I wanted you to grow up like a normal child, so I used Mountain God wood to conceal your appearance."
Sun Decai had spent twenty-six years as a fair-faced scholar and couldn’t accept such a reality. Even if every word the village chief said was true, it only enraged him further. "Shut up! Don’t act like you’re so noble. You cursed me to have a body cold as ice so I need your charcoal even in summer! You raised me just to make me serve you, to talk to you old folks, to collect relief money for you — using me, always using me!"
A man petty enough to skimp on elderly welfare payments could never understand goodwill. From the start, he had seen all the elders’ concern as manipulation, pretending to be filial just to milk more benefits. Now, at last, he had said what he truly felt.
Words only hurt when you care. The old village chief had remained calm even under threat from the Yao King’s descendant and when Bai Chen exposed his identity. But now, the hand gripping his cane trembled slightly. He had stayed silent when questioned by Bu Tiange, yet now he explained, "Decai, I had no choice. Your peaceful life was only possible with illusion. Without the charcoal fire, this is what you become. As for the relief money, we tree spirits have no use for silver. I only wanted to save it for you, so one day you’d have the means to marry a wife — "
"Lies! Don’t act like some elder. You’re just a yao, and it disgusts me to even look at you!"
Those gentle words only made Sun Decai even more frenzied. His horrific face twisted, and his words grew more shameless. "You just want to use me, don’t you? Fine! I’ll help you do whatever you want! Just make my face go back to how it was! I’ll lure people up the mountain for you, bring you supplies, I won’t tell anyone even if you kill — really, I’ll do anything, as long as you give me back my old face!"
"He’s gone mad. He Yu, restrain this nuisance."
The sudden upheaval had drawn the truth from him, but his words were too vile. Even Bu Tiange couldn’t bear it and ordered his disciple to drag Sun Decai away. He then turned to Bai Chen. "How should we handle this?"
Everything about the Yao King had become a mystery. Now that they had uncovered one of his old retainers, Bai Chen would not let the opportunity slip. Though the current situation was strange, he still made his request. "This matter concerns internal yao affairs. I’d like to speak with Village Chief Luo alone."
"Fine. I still have questions for Sun Decai. You two can talk in the courtyard. But remember — your clan owes the humans an explanation for the elders’ condition."
Bu Tiange was reasonable. He understood that the yao had secrets they couldn’t share with cultivators, and for the sake of the alliance, he gave them space.
"I trust my handling of this matter will satisfy the Heaven's Way Alliance."
Bai Chen was grateful and gestured for the old village chief to follow him into the small courtyard. Just as he was about to speak, he noticed something missing at his side. Turning, he saw that Li Wuming was still standing guard at the gate, sword in hand, showing no intention of entering. Bai Chen, who now felt uneasy when Li Wuming was more than three steps away, immediately complained, "Why aren’t you coming in?"
Li Wuming looked confused. "Didn’t you say it involved yao secrets and needed to be discussed privately?"
True, fewer people knowing about the Yao King’s scandals meant less risk. Li Wuming’s decision to keep a distance was tactful. But in Bai Chen’s eyes, Li Wuming was no outsider. Even if the entire world couldn’t hear these secrets, Li Wuming should.
The Nine-tailed White Fox silently cursed this blockhead, then took the initiative. "There’s nothing here you can’t hear. Come keep me company."
The little fox’s words were quite pleasant to hear. Li Wuming smiled softly and stepped behind him. Even his right hand, which had been restless since its bandages were removed, finally calmed down, as though sated by the sweet words. He had no desire to kill the Nine-tailed White Fox today.
Their interaction didn’t escape the old village chief’s notice. The former retainer of the Yao King showed a trace of curiosity in his eyes, unable to understand why the usually calculating Nine-tailed White Fox would treat a man so tenderly — or why this proud fox only had a single Dao companion. A thousand years ago, the Nine-tailed Fox wouldn’t even leave home without a dozen concubines.
Bai Chen, unaware of these musings, saw the old chief still silent and took the lead. "I heard the White Sword Immortal killed all of the Yao King’s retainers. How did you survive?"
Mountain God Luo hadn’t expected this to be the Nine-tailed Fox’s first question. He glanced discreetly at the Supreme Emperor Sword on Li Wuming’s back and replied truthfully, “That man only killed the generals who had entanglements [sexual] with the Demon King. From the moment I first took human form I have worn this appearance. Even a love-head like the Demon King couldn’t bring himself to stomach it."
The White Sword Immortal had nearly driven the upper yao race to extinction back then. Judging by this, Bai Chen’s ancestor must’ve had quite the number of lovers.
Bai Chen frowned slightly, finally realizing the extent of the Yao King’s promiscuity. But now was not the time to debate ancestral affairs. He pressed on. "You knew they intended to tamper with the charcoal, yet you still distributed it to us last night. You even deliberately erased your footprints to make us suspicious. It was all to get us to question the charcoal, wasn’t it?"
"I know how the Yao King operates. Even if I obeyed his orders and killed you, they would’ve kept using Decai to force me into more crimes. Rather than remain under his thumb, I thought it better to let righteous cultivators save Decai."
Mountain God Luo had lived for ten thousand years and saw through others’ schemes with ease. From the start, he had only pretended to submit to the Yao King’s descendants. But this act would have consequences.
Looking at the elderly man, steady as a mountain, Bai Chen said calmly, "You’ve ruined their plans. That impostor pretending to be me surely won’t let this village go."
The words finally shook Mountain God Luo’s composure. Bai Chen pointed to the Hidden Wisdom Sect disciples waiting outside. "Now that they know you exist, regardless of your intentions, those tree spirits can never blend into human society. This is territory of the Heaven's Way Alliance. They’re responsible for public safety. In the end, they won’t let you stay. At best, you’ll be handed over to some righteous sect for confinement."
Mountain God Luo understood just how terrifying the tree spirits looked, and cultivators weren’t exactly friendly toward yao. If they were captured by humans, the outcome would be grim. His face grew somber.
Seeing that his words had hit home, Bai Chen spoke with measured confidence. "So — neither humans nor the Yao King’s kin will accept you. Right now, your only hope is the Great Snow Mountain. Whether it’ll protect you depends on what you can say to persuade me."
~ Chapter End ~
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