Chen Shi noticed something strange about his grandfather. He had a foul smell and, like the ghostly scholar at the village entrance, seemed to enjoy the scent of incense.
Moreover, Chen Shi hadn't seen his grandfather eat in days. Instead, he caught him secretly devouring candles, one after another, as if they were carrots!
Chen Shi even suspected that the mysteriously dead chickens and ducks might have been secretly bitten and drained of blood by his grandfather.
But to Chen Shi, no matter what his grandfather turned into, he was still his closest family.
"Heiguo, take him to drink the medicine," his grandfather said calmly.
Outside the Chen family courtyard, a big black dog wagged its tail obediently, biting Chen Shi's sleeve and pulling him home.
Behind them, a giant human head floated over.
In the center of the village, an ancient tree moved without wind, and a branch whipped out like a long whip, striking the giant head with a loud smack, sending it flying away.
A strong medicinal smell filled the air as Chen Shi drank a basin of medicine, his belly bulging as he sat in the medicine tub.
This basin of medicine was his dinner.
Underneath the tub was a fire, with the big black dog sitting in front of it. Despite being a dog, it had a kind face. When the fire weakened, it picked up a stick of wood and added it to the fire.
The medicine tub bubbled, and Chen Shi grimaced from the heat, shouting, "Heiguo, stop burning! I'll be cooked if you keep going!"
Heiguo was the name of the big black dog.
As the name suggests, whenever the grandfather and grandson did something wrong, they often blamed it on this dog.
Heiguo was picked up by his grandfather and raised on leftover food. It could understand human speech, was very smart, and had a kind heart. Hearing Chen Shi, it added a few more sticks to the fire.
The black dog blinked, seemingly curious to see if Chen Shi could be cooked.
Chen Shi yelled for a while but eventually stopped.
He seemed to get used to the temperature.
The young boy sat comfortably in the medicine tub, leaning against the edge, and touched the long scar on the back of his head.
He had little memory of the injury on his head.
He couldn't remember much, not his parents, not whether he had gone to school before, or even that someone had once pried open his skull.
When he woke up back then, he only felt a splitting headache, surrounded by darkness and cold. Strange, heavy, ancient voices echoed in the darkness, as if coming from beyond the sky, guiding him.
He followed the voices, walking for an unknown amount of time, until he saw a glimmer of light.
As he stepped into the light, the darkness receded like a tide, and everything gradually brightened.
When he adjusted to the light, he found himself sitting in a large medicine tub, bubbling with steam and a pungent smell. Beside the tub stood a tall, burly old man with white hair, and at his feet was a black dog adding wood to the fire.
Seeing him awake, the old man embraced him excitedly.
Later, Chen Shi learned that this old man was his grandfather, and he had been in a coma for a long time. His grandfather had tirelessly used all kinds of medicinal herbs to treat and sustain him.
Chen Shi remembered nothing from before he was nine, only gaining memories after waking up. So, strictly speaking, he was just a two-year-old child.
"It turns out I was robbed of my Divine Fetus, which is why I'm like this."
Chen Shi recalled overhearing a conversation between a woman in purple and others, thinking to himself, "I'm not naturally a useless person. I can cultivate too. I can be favored by the gods and become a prodigy! The son of Li County Magistrate from Water Buffalo County, Li Xiaoding... what grudge do we have?"
Anger surged in his chest. For the past two years, he had been living with the medicine tub, soaking in it every day. The medicines in the tub often changed, with various unnameable herbs, and even poisonous snakes and scorpions!
Chen Shi only knew he was sick, but he never knew what illness he had.
Now he finally understood that all his suffering over the years stemmed from this, from the noble Li Xiaoding!
"But..."
Chen Shi was puzzled, "The back of my head has healed, so why does Grandpa still make me soak in the medicine tub every day?"
At this moment, the air temperature dropped again, and even the flames under the tub shrank significantly. The fire, once yellow and bright, turned a sickly green.
Grandpa had entered the room.
Chen Shi sneaked a glance and saw his grandfather standing in the shadowy corner, his face unclear, not knowing what he was doing. Yet, Chen Shi always felt his grandfather's gaze on him, sometimes gentle, sometimes filled with killing intent.
He had seen such killing intent in a wounded leopard before.
Back then, he wanted to approach the leopard to bandage its wounds, but the leopard's eyes sent chills down his spine. It was the killing intent of a beast facing the threat of death!
After a while, his grandfather left, the flames grew stronger, and the air temperature gradually rose.
Chen Shi let out a quiet sigh of relief.
The black dog also took a deep breath, considerately adding more wood to the fire, though its mouth trembled, clearly sensing the killing intent from Grandpa.
Both the boy and the dog realized that although Grandpa was still Grandpa, he was no longer the same person as before.
The old Grandpa had a human touch.
The current Grandpa did not.
The medicine in the tub gradually became clear, and Chen Shi felt a strange energy seeping from the medicine, penetrating his skin like tiny bugs, burrowing through his pores, into his flesh, organs, and bones, causing an indescribable discomfort.
Though submerged in water, he felt as if he were in a blazing fire, his entire body, inside and out, continuously burned and refined by the flames!
Despite being accustomed to the pain, Chen Shi couldn't help but tremble slightly.
When the medicine's power was exhausted, and the liquid became as clear as water, Chen Shi finally got out of the tub.
He saw a green claw mark on the left side of his chest, with five fingers spread open, as if an invisible ghost hand was gripping his heart. After the water and fire purification in the tub, the green ghost hand mark faded significantly.
Since he could remember, this green ghost hand mark had been there and had never disappeared.
The green ghost hand mark was peculiar; it would fade after a medicinal bath but become clear again after some time.
Chen Shi changed his clothes and went into the courtyard.
From the next room came his grandfather's voice: "...Ah Tang, when will you come back... I know you're busy, but no matter how busy, you must come home, right... I'm old, and I won't live much longer. Little Shi is still young and needs someone to take care of him. You should take him to the city... I know life in the city isn't easy, but he's your son, whether you acknowledge him or not..."
Chen Shi stood silently in the courtyard, unmoving.
His grandfather was also a cultivator. Chen Shi didn't know his grandfather's cultivation level, only that when he followed him into the mountains, they never encountered danger.
His grandfather was likely in the room, using a Thousand Mile Communication Talisman to contact Chen Shi's father, Chen Tang.
Chen Shi had never seen his father, Chen Tang.
Not even once.
Perhaps he had seen him before being robbed of his Divine Fetus, but since waking up, his father had never returned.
He hadn't seen his mother either.
Not even once.
Chen Shi cleared his mind and silently practiced the Three Lights True Qi Technique. The stars in the sky twinkled, constantly descending to nourish his body and enhance his True Qi.
However, soon the True Qi dissipated again, leaving no trace behind.
He persisted, continuing his cultivation.
Late at night, after finishing his practice, he returned to his room and lay down.
Before long, his grandfather, like a sleepwalker, silently came to Chen Shi's bedside, standing there without moving, his shadow covering Chen Shi's face.
His figure swayed forward and backward, but he remained silent.
That bone-chilling killing intent once again filled the small room.
Silent.
But oppressive.
After an unknown amount of time, suddenly, the window in Chen Shi's room opened on its own with a creaking sound. His grandfather straightened up and flew out through the window.
"Hungry..."
He muttered, his figure suddenly leaping up, disappearing from the courtyard.
Heiguo, the black dog, raised its head alertly, glanced around, then tucked its head back in and continued sleeping.
In the room, Chen Shi on the bed quietly opened his eyes, letting out a silent sigh of relief.
"Grandpa must be sick, not wanting to kill me," he thought to himself.
At that moment, a sharp pain twisted in his chest, causing him to curl up like a cooked shrimp, his skin turning red, and veins bulging!
He bit the blanket tightly, his body trembling, unable to make a sound or breathe, soon drenched in sweat!
Chen Shi's body shook uncontrollably. Looking down, he saw the green ghost claw making a gripping motion on his heart, squeezing tighter and tighter!
His heart tightened; this wasn't the first time it had happened.
Every few days, he experienced similar excruciating pain, often fainting from it, dreaming of countless massive, terrifying black shadows surrounding him, reaching out with scaly black hands.
Previously, whenever the ghost claw acted up, his grandfather would save him, pulling him back from the brink of death. But now, his grandfather wasn't there!
Chen Shi struggled to get up, his legs giving way as he rolled off the bed, too weak from the pain.
He gritted his teeth, forcing himself up, stepping in the Jade Light Star Step, his feet moving in the Big Dipper pattern, his thumbs and pinkies pinched together, right hand inserted in the left, stepping through the small room, chanting the Three Lights True Qi Technique.
"Heavenly Emperor, only the gods are revered. Evil spirits abound, no True God seen, only ghosts disturb humans! Observe the way of heaven, follow the path of heaven, cultivate the righteous True Qi, refine the Sacred Fetus body!"
He activated the technique, and starry light, like fireflies in the night, flew in through the open window, landing on his skin, permeating into his flesh and blood.
With the Three Lights True Qi Technique running, he felt the pain gradually lessening, becoming bearable.
Chen Shi continued to activate the Three Lights True Qi Technique, the pain decreasing, the green fingers of the ghost hand on his heart relaxing, no longer tightly gripping.
"What is the ghost claw on my chest? Why do I have this ghost hand on me?"
After a long time, the pain disappeared, and Chen Shi, still shaken, looked out the window. The moonlight was silver-white, casting shadows in the courtyard.
"The Three Lights True Qi Technique can suppress the pain. If this technique could draw in moonlight and sunlight, refining the Sunlight and Moonlight True Qi, perhaps the ghost claw's grip wouldn't cause pain. Unfortunately, every time I activate it, I can't draw in sunlight or moonlight."
Suddenly, a thought crossed the young boy's mind, bringing many new questions: "The sun is clearly the eyes of the Heavenly True God, and the moon is its vertical eye, so why do we say the sun rises, sets, and the moon waxes and wanes? It's strange. Could it be, could it be..."
A bold idea popped into his head: "Could there be other suns and moons? Is the Three Lights True Qi actually drawing from other moonlight and sunlight?"
He leaned out the window, curiously looking at the moon, bright and mysterious.
That was the vertical eye of the Heavenly True God.
"But if there are such suns and moons, why can't they be seen in the sky?"
Chen Shi lay back in bed, his mind filled with many imaginations.
In the sky, the divine eye, like the moon, watched over all beings.
Above the forest, the inflated human head was struck by a cold light, falling heavily into the mountains.
Soon, a tall figure arrived, devouring the flesh.
"Tasty, tasty, evil is tastier than humans!"
— Thanks to the generous support of the mighty Zhai Cai! Thanks to A League and Zhuo Yao, for the silver alliance support for the new book!
— Tomorrow's update time, around 11 AM!