Chapter 21 - The peerlessly talented demon ba she (4): The much-anticipated person has appeared on stage
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Translated by: Niladri
Edited by: celes
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Recap: The demonic sacred artifact Suixin teleported Lu Heng away to protect him from an abrupt heavenly tribulation, after he destroyed Qing Kongzi’s sect and saved Bai Li.
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After Qing Kongzi woke up, he felt it was too late for regrets but pushed down that feeling temporarily. While Lu Heng was taken to an unknown place by the sacred artifact Suixin, that detestable heavenly tribulation unrelentingly followed. The dark clouds in the air began to gather again.
Lu Heng, remembering Bai Li’s unusual condition when he left, searched his robe, and fished out a demon core suffused with pitch-black veins. This was the demon core of an evil demonic cultivator who had destroyed thousands of lives. No wonder the tribulation lighting appeared so suddenly and followed him all the way relentlessly.
Lu Heng rubbed it lightly and ground it into powder. The tribulation cloud had already begun to take shape, and it was impossible to evade. The tribulation clouds grew thicker and thicker, and the cloud layer even started to emit faint threads of purple lightning. Probably angered by Lu Heng’s escape attempt, the first pillar of lightning that came down unexpectedly had a thick girth.
In the 99 lightning tribulation, no one in the demon race had successfully prevailed over all 99 lightning bolts, and Lu Heng’s heart grew bitter. He did not expect that using Suixin to escape from this heavenly tribulation would cause such serious consequences. As the heavenly lightning poured down one after another, Lu Heng started to cut a sorry figure, until the 70th strike, he could not help but turn into his original form.
Amidst the repeated lightning strikes, there appeared a giant blue-green headed black bodied python, and its black scales were entwined with golden silk-like threads, which looked incomparably magnificent. But this magnificent snake with a cool, imposing demeanor presently in a sorry state. The black jewel-like scales on its body were scorched by the lightning and were flaking up with blood oozing out from their crevices.
The tribulation did not stop even for a moment. Lu Heng’s serpentine tail slammed and flung away the lightning bolt that was aiming towards his head. The pitch-black shining tail tip was immediately torn apart and lacerated, turning into a bloody mess.
There were still three bolts left in the tribulation, each more powerful than the other.
For the first one, Lu Heng gritted his teeth and tried to tank it with the sturdy physique of the demon race.
For the second, Lu Heng opened his mouth and spit out the demon core from his stomach. The golden demon core whirled and flew up to the top of Lu Heng’s head. Its brilliance was dazzling as it began to contend with the formidable lightning bolt. After a while, there was a bang, and the whole mountain started to tremble. The thunder bolt disappeared. The radiance of the demon core dimmed down, and upon close inspection, a fine crack could be observed.
The third lightning bolt had yet to strike, and the tribulation cloud did not disperse. Instead, its color became darker and darker. The wind blowing amidst city buildings indicated the storm in the mountains, and the atmosphere was shrouded in gloominess. Lu Heng did not dare to be negligent and concentrated. His vision was focused on the inky-black tribulation cloud from which a lightning bolt as thick as a water tank started to strike down. The power to split open heaven and earth made Lu Heng’s scalp a bit numb. ‘I am done for!’
At this crucial juncture of life and death, Lu Heng could only sacrifice the sacred artifact Suixin, and put all his remaining demonic power into it. The sacred artifact Suixin began erupting with a dazzling radiance and turned into a bull-like monster with an enormous gaping mouth, one that could swallow the tribulation lightning bolt. However, the last of the 99 tribulation lightning bolts would unlikely be easy to deal with. A lightning dragon emerged abruptly from the monster’s body and the two began to circle around and clash. After exchanging some moves, they exploded. Blinding white light covered heaven and earth, and Lu Heng, whose demonic powers were sucked dry, eventually lost consciousness and fell down to the ground, slipping into unconsciousness.
Lu Heng was forced to awaken from the severe pain. When he finally recovered consciousness, he was in a miserable state. He felt that all his bones were broken and reorganized; he could not move a single finger.
I didn’t die? I was sent flying twenty meters by a car running a red light; is it possible to live after that? Lu Heng felt as if his head was going to explode, and his whole person felt extremely uncomfortable. However, it was very satisfying to be able to continue being alive. Lu Heng wanted to raise his hand and knead his temples to ease the feeling of pain.
My hand? Lu Heng looked at the front of the shiny jet-black sharp-pointed tail in front of him and was dumbstruck. He wanted to rub his forehead and then he saw that the tip of the tail was moving gently. The scales on the tip of the pointed tail were bent back, and there were bloodstains in the gaps. It was in a sorry state. The scales had an onyx-like brilliance, with faint golden silky threaded patterns on it, which looked extraordinarily gorgeous. [T/N: Yeah, sure, a bloody, gouged out, smashed up tail is gorgeous *eyeroll*]
However, this didn’t change the fact that this was a snake’s tail! Lu Heng felt that his whole body was about to collapse.
A leaf fell in front of Lu Heng’s eyes. Lu Heng looked at the leaf that looked bigger than his head and discovered another sad fact. He now seemed to have shrunk to the size of a chopstick.
I was hit by a car and turned into a snake.
Lu Heng, whose consciousness was still somewhat hazy, saw a robust, strong, slender hand emerge in front of him, and then he found himself lying in the warmth of that palm. Then his field of view gradually started rising until a ‘gentle like a cool breeze, bright like the moon’ handsome face appeared in front of his eyes.
This man was a monk, and the nine abstention scars at the top of his head clearly pointed out this fact. His eyelashes were long, and his eyes were deep-seated and resembled one flower, one leaf, one world. [T/N: 一花一叶一世界: Buddhism something something. Ain’t no way I’m gonna explain these.]
Shi Kong was inspecting the tiny snake in the hollow of his palm. Even if its whole body had bruises, they could not cover up the pitch-black onyx-like scales. If it were to be released, it would soon be captured by hunters.
Lu Heng observed the monk’s line of sight dropping to his hand and inspecting him for a while. His eyes were light in color, giving off the impression of slight indifference. Later, Lu Heng found himself inside a robe suffused with Buddhist incense scent, and a cold voice rang in his head: “This humble monk is Shi Kong. Until you are healed, you will stay with me.”
Was he being picked up? Lu Heng felt his mind at peace, followed by a strong sense of drowsiness. No longer resisting, Lu Heng fell into a deep slumber.
When Lu Heng woke up, the sky was already dark. There was a meditation room in front of him, and dim candlelight was shaking. Shi Kong was meditating on the bed, and the cold moonlight entered the room through the pane, giving his face a heavy shadow. [T/N: His face was blocking the moonlight]
Beauty can befuddle a man. Lu Heng looked at him, subconsciously trying to get close to the person who was bright like the moon, but all of a sudden, harshly fell to the ground head-first from the table. Seeing the ground getting closer and closer, Lu Heng closed his eyes and tried to deceive himself, consoling his heart by thinking- his tail was already injured; if his head got hurt as well, then symmetry would be restored.
The expected pain did not appear, and Lu Heng felt his head land on something soft. The pleasant voice resounded from above him: “I just applied medicine on you, don’t injure yourself again.”
Lu Heng discovered that the feeling of burning fire on his body had disappeared, and it was replaced by a cool and comfortable sensation. He moved and looked at the tip of his tail and saw that each piece of upturned scale was coated with a light green ointment.
“The ointment diffuses spiritual power, and your body will not be a problem tomorrow.” Shi Kong put the little black snake on the bed and resumed meditation in the cross-legged position. He saw the sparkling eyes of the little black snake motionlessly staring at him. Obviously, this is just a snake, but he would always subconsciously talk to it. This was the first time he has been in such close contact with a living being.
Shi Kong, from birth had a Huigen (1), and everyone said that he would definitely become a Buddha [T/N: Achieve enlightenment]. For as long as he could remember, his brothers and even masters were extremely respectful when they saw him. Shi Kong never felt that there was anything wrong with this. From the moment he opened his eyes, he looked at the world as if looking through a layer of gauze. The thoroughfares of life and death, the joys and sorrows, the vicissitudes of life failed to create the slightest ripple in his heart.
Until meeting this little black snake today, watching it lay dying in the grass; Shi Kong unexpectedly acted of his own volition and put the tiny snake inside his clothes.
Shi Kong has been traveling outside for a long time. When the day was nearing its end, he found a place to meditate and practice. A person who cultivated did not need to eat, and clothes could be cleaned with a dust-cleaning technique. Therefore, even if he slept in the mountains or plains, Shi Kong did not care. Today, he took care of this injured little black snake and searched for a temple to stay in.
Shi Kong gently touched the head of the little black snake with a finger, his touch icy cold: “Tomorrow, I will send you back to the forest.”
Lu Heng’s heart sank; the benefactor wants to abandon me. He instinctively refused to leave Shi Kong, not only because of Shi Kong’s appearance or temperament; just when this monk meditated, Lu Heng felt that there was a feeling of being extremely comfortable around him. Although Lu Heng became a snake inexplicably, he did not adapt to life as a snake, but there was an instinct in his blood telling him, must be around Shi Kong.
However, the wish of a mere snake could not change anything. On the following day, Lu Heng was released to an uninhabited forest.
“Go.” Shi Kong caressed the head of the little black snake again and placed him in the grass beside him.
Lu Heng’s heart started to beat anxiously, he opened his mouth and gently bit on to Shi Kong’s finger, trying to use his eyes to signal his reluctance to leave, but the other person gently pinched his mouth and pried out his finger.
Shi Kong glanced at him, saw that the little black snake was full of vitality after having its injuries healed, and finally turned away without any sign of nostalgia.
Lu Heng decided to secretly follow Shi Kong, hoping to catch up to this seemingly ice-cold indifferent monk. After all, his scales were still very good-looking, and with hard work he could probably become the attendant of the senior monk. However, his lofty ambitions remained unfulfilled, as the figure in front of him was gone. Only the clamorous noise of a mountain bird lingered, ridiculing Lu Heng’s innocence.
This place seems to have immortals? Lu Heng rubbed his eyes hard. Just now, the figure draped in white robes in front of him took only three steps and disappeared from his sight. Is this the legendary ‘shrinking the ground to an inch’? Lu Heng felt that his three views were broken. He was hit in midair, then passed through and became a snake. He completely accepted it. Now I find out that there are immortals in this world?
Lu Heng laid dazedly in the grass for a long while and felt himself growing hungry. What should a snake eat? Frog? Forget it, that’s disgusting. Lu Heng looked up and found a bird’s nest in a treetop. Bird eggs should be ok.
Struggling with hardships and adapting to movement without feet, Lu Heng finally came to the side of the bird’s nest. Looking at the white eggs in the bird’s nest, Lu Heng sadly discovered, he seemed to have no appetite and even had a sense of disgust in his heart.
Lu Heng worked hard and tried to endure the nausea and swallow the bird’s egg, but it did not succeed. When he put the bird’s egg in his mouth, his instinct seemed to warn him that when he swallowed it, something very bad would happen.
Am I going to die a starving snake? Lu Heng hooked his tail to the branch and swayed in the air with his head down, thinking about his life and death. Lu Heng thought that when he was with Shi Kong, he never ate. However, when Shi Kong was in meditation, Lu Heng would have a feeling of warmth, and then the feeling of hunger would disappear.
Considering these key points, in order to save his own life, Lu Heng embarked on a journey to find Shi Kong.
(1)[Direct mtl] The word Huigen comes from the translation of Sanskrit prajn~a^-indriya, Pali pan~n~indriya. One of twenty-two, one of five. To see the truth, called wisdom; wisdom has the ability to break everything and give birth to good law, can achieve all merits, and even enlightenment, so called Huigen. In addition, the founder of the Jade Buddha Temple and the first abbot, Hui Gen. [/direct mtl]
T/N: sorry for the late release guys… I was late because [generic excuse]. I hate monthly translations and will try to be faster… December will be a bit hectic but you can expect 1 or 2 releases at the very least.
If you are reading now, the above doesn't matter anymore Lol.