Chen Shi brought Heiguo to the mountain occupied by the Great Mysterious Mountain Serpent. It was the sixth day since the demonic transformation, yet there were still over a thousand villagers on the mountain who hadn't turned into porcelain.
However, these people's basic needs like food and water were a serious problem. It was already difficult to find food in the mountains, and most spirit beasts had disappeared. The forests were filled with spirit beasts turned into porcelain, devoid of any life. Those sheltered by the Mysterious Mountain were bound to starve eventually.
The Great Mysterious Mountain Serpent could survive on air and dew without needing food or drink, but these people were mere mortals and would starve to death living like that.
Some, driven by hunger, ventured down the mountain to find food, but often turned into porcelain before reaching the bottom.
When Chen Shi arrived at the foot of the mountain, he saw many porcelain people. Some stood upright, while others had fallen and shattered.
These porcelain figures were both men and women, mostly men who took on the responsibility of providing for their families, thus risking their lives. But now, with the porcelain transformation growing stronger, going out meant certain death.
"The Great Mysterious Mountain Serpent can't solve the food problem. If these people don't find food, they might resort to cannibalism," Chen Shi thought to himself.
Under the head of the Great Mysterious Mountain Serpent, Chen Shi found his grandfather, who was examining a porcelain person.
Chen Shi excitedly rushed over and hugged the old man tightly.
The old man chuckled, patted his head, and after Chen Shi calmed down, said, "You've done well these days, not only standing on your own but also protecting many people."
Chen Shi laughed, "Grandpa, I can suppress the ghost hand mark and won't have any more episodes! You don't have to worry about me anymore!"
He felt a sense of relief.
He had imagined many bad scenarios, like his grandfather getting lost due to forgetfulness, being eaten by exotic beasts, turning into porcelain, or being sold off by traffickers. Now, seeing his grandfather again, he was finally at ease.
Heiguo was much calmer, rubbing against the old man's leg, waiting for a pat on the head.
Sure enough, the old man patted Heiguo's head a couple of times, making the dog very happy.
"Grandpa, I thought of a way to survive!" Chen Shi said excitedly.
Chen Yin looked at him in surprise and smiled, "I also made a very peculiar discovery. Do you want to go first, or should I?"
Chen Shi laughed, "Grandpa, you go first."
Chen Yin squatted down to observe the porcelain person in front of him, and Chen Shi joined him. This person was just an ordinary person turned into porcelain, no different from the other porcelain figures outside. After observing for a long time, he couldn't figure anything out.
Chen Yin said, "I've been observing if it moves."
"Moves?" Chen Shi was stunned.
"Yes. And over the past few days, I've found results," Chen Yin said with a smile on his pale face. "It is indeed moving. Four days ago was when the first batch of ordinary people turned into porcelain. I brought this porcelain person here and placed it in this spot. Four days later, I found that one of its hands moved four hairs' width."
A hair's width is ten times that of a silk thread, a thousandth of an inch. In other words, the porcelain person's hand moved the width of a hair in four days.
"Do you know what this means?"
"It's still alive," Chen Yin said with a smile.
He straightened up, looked at the porcelain people at the foot of the mountain, and then at the vast mountain area, saying, "They're all still alive! Including those already turned into porcelain, the spirit beasts, plants, birds, and even the food that's turned into porcelain, they're all still alive! They've just become porcelain life forms!"
"Their movement speed has become incredibly slow, so slow that it might take a year to take a step, a breath could take months, and it might take ten years to sprout. But they're indeed alive! That's my discovery!"
Chen Shi was equally excited, laughing, "They're not dead, which means if we kill the Evil Bodhisattva, they might be able to return to normal!"
Chen Yin smiled, "It's not a possibility; it's a certainty. This is the lifeline the True King left for the people."
Chen Shi was puzzled and thought carefully about why his grandfather said that.
Suddenly, he realized.
"Those trying to steal from the True King's Tomb aren't the people but cultivators! These cultivators entered the kiln factory to investigate the tomb's whereabouts, triggering the Evil Bodhisattva, which turned the area into a demon domain. So, the cultivators within this hundred-mile radius would try everything to eliminate the Evil Bodhisattva! As long as they kill the Evil Bodhisattva within a hundred days, they can seize this lifeline and save everyone!"
"But you have to be able to seize it. If you can't, once a hundred days pass, everything will turn to dust!"
"But how can we eliminate the Evil Bodhisattva?"
The Evil Bodhisattva is incredibly powerful, with the demon domain covering a hundred miles, preventing escape and turning people into porcelain.
The Evil Bodhisattva's combat power is also terrifying. Prince Xiao, Granny Sha, Li Jindou, and Jin Hongying fought it, and the four masters were defeated!
What can be done now to deal with the Evil Bodhisattva?
"Little Shi, what's the way to survive that you mentioned?" Chen Yin asked.
Chen Shi snapped back to reality and said, "The Evil Bodhisattva's demon domain can only cover the Yang Realm, not the Underworld. So, I plan to use the Great Gun Fish of the Virtue River to reach the Underworld's River of Forgetfulness. By going a hundred miles downstream, we can exit the demon domain's range. Then, using the Great Gun Fish, we can return to the Yang Realm and leave the demon domain."
Chen Yin shook his head, "The Great Gun Fish in the Virtue River are either turned into porcelain or have escaped to the Underworld or upstream and downstream. It's unlikely to find one there."
Chen Shi's eyes sparkled, "The water of the Virtue River flows continuously, and the fish move with it. As long as we wait upstream or downstream, we can definitely encounter a Great Gun Fish that accidentally enters the demon domain. So, we still have a chance to escape!"
Chen Yin thought for a moment and said, "One Great Gun Fish is only enough for the two of us to escape, maybe with Heiguo. The three of us can sit in the big fish's mouth, and it can take us through the Yin-Yang Realms to escape the demon domain!"
At that moment, Li Tianqing's voice came, "Little Shi, we're planning to fight the Evil Bodhisattva again and need your help to break the talismans on it!"
Chen Shi got up and followed the voice, seeing Prince Xiao's carriage stopped outside.
"Grandpa, I'll go help them first."
Chen Shi walked outside, then stopped and turned back, "Two days, at most two days. If we can't deal with the Evil Bodhisattva by then, our family will leave the demon domain! As for others... let fate decide!"
Chen Yin nodded with a smile, "Alright, Little Shi, let's agree on that. You go quickly."
Chen Shi hurried to the carriage, jumped on, and it sped away.
This time, Heiguo didn't follow but stayed by Chen Yin's side.
Black-clad Mysterious Mountain came to Chen Yin's side, watching the carriage go away, and said, "Chen Shi has become an outstanding young man. Perhaps he doesn't need your care and can live well on his own."
Chen Yin was quite pleased, smiling, "He's indeed grown a lot, even finding the loophole in the demon domain."
Black-clad Mysterious Mountain said, "He's like a weed, with tenacious vitality. You always worry that he can't live without you, but I think he's trying hard to show you he can live on his own, so you don't have to worry."
Chen Yin was invigorated, "Mysterious Mountain, you should let these people turn into porcelain. You can't delay any longer. Once they're porcelain, they might still live. If you forcefully protect them, they might really starve to death."
Black-clad Mysterious Mountain asked, "Will someone save them after they turn into porcelain?"
"There will be. There definitely will be."
Black-clad Mysterious Mountain gave him a deep look, and suddenly the invisible spiritual power covering the mountain began to dissipate, allowing the Evil Bodhisattva's power to invade.
On the mountain, people were still busy taking care of the elderly and nurturing children. In others' eyes, their speed slowed down, gradually turning into porcelain.
But in their eyes, the world remained unchanged, and they continued to talk and live at a normal pace.
This was the world of porcelain people, a world unknown to outsiders.
The carriage carried Chen Shi straight to Bridge Bay Town, with Prince Xiao and Li Tianqing on board. Upon reaching the town, they turned down a few streets and arrived at the paper mill.
The town was already deserted, with only a few porcelain people standing there and a few evil spirits lurking around. Seeing their carriage, the spirits dared not approach.
The paper mill had diverted a small river, using the water flow to drive a waterwheel, which in turn powered a millstone. The millstone ground soaked, nearly rotten bamboo and plants into powder.
Outside, there was a pool where the bamboo and plants were soaking, already rotten and stinking, long overdue for removal. But the paper mill workers had turned into porcelain beside the water mill, leaving no one to work.
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing brought stacks of paper. Li Tianqing, with his almost supernatural memory and observation skills, drew the talisman patterns from the Evil Bodhisattva onto the paper. Chen Shi filled in the gaps and corrected any mistakes.
The two worked quickly together.
The Evil Bodhisattva had many talisman patterns, some hidden in places like ear holes, navels, and the palms holding weapons, and the insides of fingers.
Despite Li Tianqing's careful observation, he could only draw half or even a corner of these hidden talismans.
At this point, Chen Shi used his knowledge of talismans to complete the missing parts.
A day later, Prince Xiao brought Granny Sha, Jin Hongying, and Li Jindou to the paper mill. The four entered and were deeply shocked.
The paper mill, covering two to three acres, was filled with talismans pasted and hung everywhere, numbering four to five hundred!
Some talismans were simple, while others were very complex.
"I categorized these talismans based on their power and the Evil Bodhisattva's weapons into eight main types."
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing, though tired, remained energetic. They approached the first type of talisman, and Li Tianqing said, "This type is the solar series, corresponding to the sun pearl in the Evil Bodhisattva's hand, represented by talismans like Solar Divine Fire, Nine Yang Thunder Fire, and Six Sun Heavenly Talisman.
Its path starts from the talisman in the left eye of the joyful head, flows down through the heart, along the arm holding the sun pearl, to the palm, activating the Five Suns True Thunder Talisman in the palm and the talismans on the fingers, then activating the sun pearl, forming an attack."
Chen Shi held a thin bamboo stick and said, "This attack combines the power of fifty-two talismans, along with its own immense magic power, making it very powerful. When it raises the sun pearl, you can intercept the True Yang Fire Talisman on its wrist holding the sun pearl, cutting off this chain of talismans, reducing the attack's power to only two or three-tenths."
Prince Xiao, Granny Sha, and others were shocked and incredulous at what they heard.
Could this really be something two kids figured out?
Li Tianqing also held a thin bamboo stick, pointing to a picture of an Eight-Armed, Four-Headed Bodhisattva, and said, "This path has several interception points, located at points like Four White, Futu, Hand Five Li, Hand Three Li, and Hegu. In battle, hitting these points can reduce the Evil Bodhisattva's solar system magic power by nearly half."
The two moved to the next type of talisman, which was the lunar series, corresponding to the angry head's right eye and the arm holding the moon pearl.
They explained the main talismans of the lunar series and how to counteract them, leaving the four deeply shocked.
Jin Hongying whispered, "If I had known this method earlier, I might have taken down the Evil Bodhisattva by myself in the first battle."
Prince Xiao praised, "The young are to be feared."
Chen Shi and Li Tianqing, though just two kids around ten years old, simplified and categorized over four hundred talismans, explaining them and revealing the breaking methods for the eight main types, giving them greater hope.
"We have an eighty percent chance of winning this battle!" Li Jindou laughed.
Prince Xiao walked out and said, "It's time to find the Evil Bodhisattva and end this demonic transformation!"
Granny Sha lifted the Ram-Horn Heaven Spirit Lamp and laughed, "With such a big contribution from these two little ones, we old folks have to give it our all!"
They boarded the carriage, which drove away.
Li Jindou leaned out from the carriage and laughed, "You two little ones, find a safe place to hide and wait for our good news!"
Li Tianqing watched them go and said, "The adults are off to fight, what should we do?"
Chen Shi's eyes sparkled, "Tianqing, do you remember the location of the Zhao family camp? If the adults deal with the Evil Bodhisattva and everyone returns to normal, won't the Zhao family just return to the provincial capital without any punishment?"
Li Tianqing cautiously asked, "You mean..."
Chen Shi smiled, "The Divine Mechanism Battalion's cannons, if left unused, might rust, right?"
Li Tianqing was startled, "Using the Red Barbarian Cannon to bombard the Zhao family camp, won't that be too bold?"
Despite his words, his eyes shone with excitement. Chen Shi rubbed his hands together, "I wonder if the Zhao family's expert at the Golden Core Stage can withstand the Red Barbarian Cannon."