MOF Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Azure Maple Forest Summons Souls, Ghosts Moan – Nangong Ci Treats Every Disciple…

Xie Yiling pondered for a moment, feeling that this matter should still be decided by Nangong Ci, and he shouldn’t overstep his bounds. So, he asked, “Master, what do you think?”

Nangong Ci’s tone was like white snow collapsing on a high mountain, so indifferent that one couldn’t discern any emotion, yet there was an undeniable pressure, “Truth and falsehood lie between the lips.”

Wen Zilao was already feeling guilty, and this tone frightened him so much that he trembled all over, his face showing anxiety as he hurriedly defended himself, “Every word Wen says is true, without the slightest falsehood…”

“Enough,” Nangong Ci looked at the ruined Ink City, a coldness flickering in his eyes, “You cultivate puppet arts, what exactly is your purpose? Or rather, who exactly is instructing you?”

Wen Zilao was stunned, seemingly puzzled as to why Nangong Ci would ask such a question, “Immortal Lord Fufeng, please be clear, all the puppet-related evils in Ink City are the work of this humble one alone, with absolutely no one instructing me!”

He raised four fingers to swear, his expression so firm that it seemed heaven would strike him down if there was even half a false word, “I, Wen, swear to heaven that I have never done anything to harm anyone’s life! As for cultivating puppet arts, it’s just, it’s just…”

Si Wumian, listening from the side, felt his chest fill with anger, and pressed, “Just what? What other shady things have you done, confess everything!”

“It’s just to,” Wen Zilao looked up at the sky, as if recalling an old friend, and slowly uttered a sentence, “Defy fate.”

Nangong Ci asked sternly, “How do you intend to defy fate?”

If his tone earlier was like white snow on a high mountain, now it was like ice falling from the sky, even Xie Yiling was startled for a moment.

In his memories, Nangong Ci was always gentle as jade and elegant as the wind. But since his rebirth, he had only seen his unapproachable and cold appearance, his entire person having undergone earth-shattering changes.

Why? Xie Yiling vaguely had an unsettling guess in his heart.

However, what surprised him more at the moment was what Wen Zilao said. Xie Yiling’s first reaction was almost to connect it to his own rebirth. Could his rebirth be related to Wen Zilao? Or perhaps, he knew the inside story.

Wen Zilao said firmly, “To bring the eldest son back to the world.”

Xie Yiling opened his eyes and spoke nonsense, “How can the dead be brought back to life?”

Wen Zilao looked at him and shook his head, “The dead cannot indeed be brought back to life. But if the soul has not died, there is still a glimmer of hope.”

“Master,” Xie Yiling blinked his clear eyes and asked Nangong Ci, “This is a heretical path, right?”

Wen Zilao wanted to quibble, but Nangong Ci didn’t want to listen to this person’s nonsense any longer. He glanced at the person on the ground, “Since you can use puppet arts to throw Ink City into turmoil, you should also have the ability to restore it.”

Wen Zilao opened his mouth, but said nothing.

Si Wumian, upon hearing this, immediately said, “Immortal Lord Fufeng is right, what you need to do now is to atone for your sins and bring back all the evil spirits in Ink City.”

Wen Zilao’s body trembled, wanting to get up.

Si Wumian reminded him again, “Don’t even think about playing any tricks in front of Immortal Lord Fufeng.”

Wen Zilao nodded, “I wouldn’t dare, I wouldn’t dare! Even if you gave me a hundred guts, I couldn’t!”

The group temporarily believed him.

Wen Zilao quickly glanced at Nangong Ci, stood up, and with a flick of his hand, a puppet appeared in front of them. The puppet’s entire body was smooth, each joint was loose, and all were controlled by golden threads.

Xie Yiling thought to himself: As expected.

This puppet was almost exactly the same as the one Nangong Ci had crushed earlier. He must have known in advance that Nangong Ci and the others would come, and had intercepted them on the road early on.

But he thought about the woman’s strength and ruled out this possibility.

Rather than interception, it was more like delaying time, or probing the enemy’s situation.

Xie Yiling quietly approached Nangong Ci, “Master, is this the thing you fought with earlier? Hmph, he really has ulterior motives, he’s a bad person!”

The corners of Nangong Ci’s tightly pursed lips curled up slightly, and he gave an “Mm” sound.

Si Wumian turned his head and whispered to Nangong Ningan, “Look, doesn’t that puppet resemble…”

He only said half of his words, but Nangong Ningan understood his meaning and nodded in agreement.

Back then, there was a senior brother in the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion who secretly practiced the ghost path, and used such a puppet, but they never expected it to be puppet arts. Later, that senior brother even betrayed the sect and disappeared.

Wen Zilao moved his fingers quickly, the golden threads intersecting and separating smoothly, and the black evil objects in the sky gradually decreased. By the time no more monsters could be seen in Ink City, Wen Zilao was already pale, covered in sweat.

“Immortal Lord Fufeng,” Si Wumian asked Nangong Ci, “What should be done with this person?”

Nangong Ci retrieved Azurefall, suddenly taking out a platinum rope from somewhere.

With a flash of white light, the rope twisted and turned, tying Wen Zilao up securely.

Nangong Ci’s tone was faint, “The recent unrest in Ink City cannot be separated from this person. To prevent further incidents, let’s take him along.”

“Okay!” Afterwards, Si Wumian looked at Wen Zilao again, “This rope is unique to the immortal sect, and cannot be untied by non-immortal sect people. I advise you to be honest.”

Xie Yiling approached Nangong Ci and whispered, “Master, I don’t think all of this person’s words can be believed.”

Even if he was a mortal, he had the ability to perceive people’s hearts. Just speaking out his guesses shouldn’t arouse suspicion.

“Lies are often half-truths and half-falsehoods, making them the most difficult to discern. This person doesn’t seem to be as capable as Junior Brother Wumian. I don’t believe that no one is instructing him from behind. As for his talk of seeking rebirth, it doesn’t seem like he’s making it up.”

Nangong Ci glanced at him, thinking carefully about the matter of rebirth. He remembered that in the *Record of Strange Contracts* he had read before, there was a kind of resurrection technique called “Myriad Ghosts Guarding the Corpse.”

The record stated: “Myriad Ghosts Guarding the Corpse is when a person uses a spiritual artifact as a guide to summon myriad ghosts to guard and reshape their corpse until it awakens as a person. However, the summoner must have a certain relationship with the ghosts, such as blood ties, a life-and-death friendship, or a master-servant relationship.”

Ink City had already been destroyed, first fulfilling the condition of “myriad ghosts.” As for the spiritual artifact, Nangong Ci’s eyes darkened, thinking of Bian Ling, which originally belonged to the Water-Ink Immortal Estate.

“Master,” Xie Yiling, seeing Nangong Ci deep in thought, guessed that since he had read the *Record of Strange Contracts*, he should have thought of “Myriad Ghosts Guarding the Corpse,” “What are you thinking about?”

Nangong Ci withdrew his thoughts and only said, “Go to Azure Maple Forest.”

Si Wumian and the other disciples looked at each other, wondering why Immortal Lord Fufeng suddenly wanted to go there.

Xie Yiling quietly asked Si Wumian, “Junior Brother, why is Master going to Azure Maple Forest?”

Si Wumian accepted the title of “Junior Brother.” Although he didn’t know what Nangong Ci’s intentions were, he still tried his best to explain, “Mo Tomb is located in Azure Maple Forest. Immortal Lord Fufeng must have discovered something.”

After Wen Zilao’s round of recovery, Ink City finally regained its clear blue sky.

The once prosperous families of tens of thousands of households were now deserted, leaving only the old house remains. They continued to delve deeper along Ink City, directly reaching the Azure Maple Forest.

Outside the Azure Maple Forest, yin winds constantly blew, and mournful weeping echoed continuously. As soon as the group stepped in, they felt a gust of yin energy penetrate their skin and a bitter wind chill their bones.

“Master, we’ve arrived,” Xie Yiling pointed to a black stone tablet not far ahead, with crimson blood characters engraved on it: “Azure Maple Forest.”

Si Wumian raised his hand and tugged at the platinum rope in his hand, escorting Wen Zilao, and followed the disciples into the forest.

Withered leaves covered the ground, and the sound of stepping on them was crisp, like crushed bones. Maple forests were densely distributed all around, with lush foliage, yet giving off a desolate feeling. The forest was dark and gloomy, with only an extremely narrow path faintly visible, not clear at all.

Nangong Ci walked in the forefront, the black puppet he had subdued earlier following closely at his heels. Xie Yiling was behind him, surrounded by the Southern Return disciples, and behind them, Si Wumian pulled Wen Zilao, closely following them.

The further they went, the sparser the dense forest became, and the path widened to the width of two people walking side by side. Among the green leaves of the Mo Forest, faint ghostly lights flickered, full and swollen, as if something was about to break out of the forest.

Nangong Ci suddenly stopped, and Xie Yiling quickly asked, “Master, what’s wrong?” Suddenly, a piece of green light rushed forward, and he was immediately shocked, hurriedly raising his hands to block his head.

Nangong Ci raised his hand and flew his sword, shattering the green light from the middle. In an instant, the object let out a strange cry. The black puppet at his feet swayed, seemingly at a loss with its very weak body.

Xie Yiling recognized it almost instantly, these things were Nether Butterflies.

The things in front of him, like butterflies, had two pairs of black wings, with green ring-shaped patterns on them, and green eyes inside, resembling the eyes of beasts. The three feet also had green light, and wherever they passed, a burst of green powder fell.

The *Record of Strange Contracts* also contained records of them: “Nether Butterflies, of the yin. Two wings, three feet, scattering green light, can eat human flesh. Young butterflies are completely black, non-toxic, can cause hallucinations. Adult butterflies have green patterns on their wings, highly poisonous, can be fatal. The green powder on their bodies can be used in medicine to detoxify. They often gather in yin and humid places, can mimic human voices, their voices are like grievances and complaints, and also like the crying of the dead. They fear fire, fear light, and heat.”

The black puppet was now clinging tightly to Nangong Ci’s leg. Nangong Ci put it into the brocade bag, then pinched a magic seal and placed it in front of his sword.

Azurefall swept out with a sword, and suddenly a great fire appeared, with billowing smoke, and the Nether Butterflies swirled around the flames. Several disciples, seeing the strange objects for the first time, were full of vigilance, but did not retreat. Instead, they took a few steps forward and faced them with Nangong Ci.

“There are actually such evil things in this Azure Maple Forest,” Si Wumian was surprised, looking at the most suspicious Wen Zilao, “Tell me honestly, is this also related to you?”

Wen Zilao shook his head repeatedly, “This humble one has been staying in Ink City and has never been here. Moreover, Wen’s magic is not very skilled, and this Azure Maple Forest is full of spirits and monsters, how dare I intrude into it!”

Xie Yiling deeply felt that the thing in front of him was a bit tricky, but at this time he couldn’t help at all, so he could only shrink to the side like a quail.

There were stones scattered on the ground, Xie Yiling squatted down without making a sound, picked up a few medium-sized ones and pinched them between his fingers, pretending to shoot them out, who knew that a weak spiritual force would gather, attached to the stones, and hit a Nether Butterfly!

With a “pa” sound, the Nether Butterfly lost its breath. Then flames rose around it and turned into a small pile of ashes.

What’s going on? Xie Yiling was stunned, he shouldn’t have spiritual power!

Thinking of this, he quickly stood up and looked around, found that no one had noticed him, and breathed a slight sigh of relief. However, his actions seemed to have annoyed the Nether Butterflies. They gathered into a ball again, their wings vibrating quickly, making a “chachacha” sound, and a large amount of green powder fell to the ground.

Nangong Ci frowned slightly, took two steps forward and blocked Xie Yiling behind him, “Stay away.”

Xie Yiling retreated as he was told, suddenly thinking inappropriately in his heart: Is Nangong Ci so good to every disciple?

Having just returned to the world, he didn’t know if the current Nangong Ci had any other disciples besides him.

In his previous life, he had wanted to join Fufeng Pavilion, but Nangong Ci had no plans to accept disciples. Now he had accepted him, was it an exception, or had he accepted other disciples during his death?

If it was the latter, Xie Yiling frowned and looked at Nangong Ci.

Then he had to work hard.

The white light around Azurefall was enough to make the Nether Butterflies fear it. There were many of these things and their attacks were fierce, so it was not advisable to fight for a long time. Nangong Ci planned to make a quick decision. He drew something on the ground with his sword, then silently chanted a few short spells, and a net-like pattern quickly appeared on the ground.

Xie Yiling recognized that this net was Nangong’s Yun Luo Web.

Nangong Ci pinched a few drops of blood from his fingertips, as if injecting a pulse into the Yun Luo Web, causing it to turn into hundreds of nets floating in the air. The Yun Luo Web gradually shrank, and the Nether Butterflies, once touched, turned into ashes in an instant, and the air was filled with a pungent, fishy smell.

Finally, there were no more obstacles in the way ahead.

Si Wumian asked curiously, “Immortal Lord Fufeng, what are these things?”

“Nether Butterflies,” Nangong Ci used his spiritual power to clean the ashes off Azurefall, “Young butterflies are non-toxic but can cause hallucinations. Adult butterflies are highly poisonous, but the butterfly powder they carry is an antidote.”

Hearing this, Xie Yiling was eager to try, “Master, since that’s the case, why don’t we collect some butterfly powder for later use, in case of poisoning, what do you think?”

Although Nangong Ci didn’t say yes or no, the fact that he handed him a cloth bag indicated that he had probably acquiesced.

Si Wumian touched his chin, secretly thinking that he was indeed a bit inferior to Xie Yiling, who had a flexible mind.

Soon, they set off again. In this Azure Maple Forest, all that grew were Azure Maples. When the scenery in front of them became open and empty, Xie Yiling quickly discovered that there was a pagoda tree almost every five meters. Moving forward, there were only pagoda trees.

He was a little surprised, “Pagoda trees are the ghosts among trees. How can there be so many pagoda trees in this Azure Maple Forest?”

Nangong Ci said, “I don’t know.”

Mo Tomb was full of unmarked graves. These graves had no tombstones or names, only mounds standing one after another, which were buried by the various immortal sects. Because there were so many corpses in the city, they had no choice but to do so. However, looking closely at these mounds, they were not randomly distributed, but all faced the same direction.

Xie Yiling looked in that direction and saw a small mound with a tombstone. This grave was much smaller than the other graves, and more like a child’s grave. He curiously walked closer to see, and the tombstone was clearly written with a carving knife: “Tomb of Mo Nanyi, the Young Master Mo Lian of the Mo Clan.”

Legend has it that Mo Nanyi encountered an old man returning home when he was young. He carried him and walked thousands of miles to send him home. His shoes were worn out by stones, leaving a string of bloody footprints on the road. When passers-by saw this, they admired him. From then on, the good name of Young Master Nanyi was known all over the world.

Xie Yiling stood silently, mourning for a moment, a look of sorrow flashing in his eyes. He turned around and asked, “Master, how exactly was Ink City destroyed?”

Nangong Ci looked at him, “This matter is a long story.” In the midst of his words, suddenly wind arose from all around, fog surged in all directions, and mournful cries suddenly arose, lingering endlessly.

Xie Yiling was startled and subconsciously approached Nangong Ci. This yin wind blew from all directions, and the wronged ghosts cried from the ground. The surrounding pagoda trees swayed, their branches and leaves rustling, and the crying directly hit people’s ears and penetrated their brains.

His face turned pale with pain, and he reached out and forcefully blocked his ears. The other disciples also felt the pain, but after all, they were cultivators, and their bodies were much more adaptable than Xie Yiling’s mortal bones.

Was this the Hundred Ghosts’ Grief?

His thoughts suddenly returned to his previous life. The first time Xie Yiling went down the mountain with Nangong Ci to exorcise evil, they also encountered the Hundred Ghosts’ Grief. The pain at that time was not even a tenth of what it was now. He could endure it, but Nangong Ci still protected him, just like—

As he was thinking, he suddenly felt that familiar cold fragrance again. Nangong Ci raised his hand and touched his forehead, and in an instant, all sounds disappeared, and even the pain disappeared along with it.

—Just like now.