Chapter 8: Mother-in-law's Appearance

Granny once said that if he ever got lost in the Great Ruins and couldn't return to the village before dark, he shouldn't panic.

Qin Mu steadied himself, thinking, "There are many ruins in the Great Ruins, and most of them have miraculous properties. Hiding in a ruin might save my life. Whether a ruin can save you depends on two things: first, whether there are statues similar to those in the village, and second, whether there are many strange beasts. These beasts are spiritual and know where to hide from the darkness…"

There were many ruins in the Great Ruins; Qin Mu had seen the remains of some ancient cities and villages with crumbling walls during his escape, but he hadn't had time to stop and check for statues.

Half of the setting sun had already dipped below the mountains when, suddenly, a maddening silence fell over the world.

Then came a whooshing sound. Qin Mu looked up to see huge birds swooping across the sky, their dark mass obscuring it. The ground trembled, trees toppled, and strange beasts, seemingly from nowhere, burst forth and sprinted wildly.

Qin Mu even heard splashing from a lake and saw several fiery-red fish, tens of feet long, leap out of the water, using their fins as legs to race across the ground!

Qin Mu was bewildered. Fish running on the ground—were they still fish?

"All these strange beasts are running in the same direction! There must be a safe place there to hide from the darkness!"

His spirits lifted, and he dashed forward with the beasts.

The sky grew increasingly dim. In the distance, darkness encroached like a tide—not like night, but like a great flood, sweeping over mountains, valleys, and wilderness, submerging everything. Even though it wasn't Qin Mu's first time witnessing the encroachment of darkness, he was still incredibly shocked.

The darkness advanced ferociously, yet the beast horde was still sprinting towards it. Qin Mu hesitated. The direction they were running was the same direction the darkness was coming from. Was there truly a safe place ahead to escape the encroaching darkness?

If not, wouldn't he die without a burial place?

"Never mind! The darkness is coming too fast. Even if I turn back, it'll be too late. I can't outrun it anyway. I'll just have to run with the beast horde!"

He gritted his teeth and charged forward desperately.

Ten-odd miles downstream from Disabled Elderly Village, the battle between Granny Si and the Five Elders of Lijiang reached its most critical point. Initially, only four of the Lijiang Elders had besieged Granny Si, but they couldn't overcome her. Qi Yanbing, the leader of the Five Elders, who had been observing from a cliff, immediately joined the fray. All five elders then surrounded her, forming the Five Elements Demon Refining Formation.

Unexpectedly, while Granny Si had only barely held on against the four elders, her strength surged as soon as Qi Yanbing joined. The Five Elements Demon Refining Formation, formed by all five elders, couldn't even contain the old woman.

The Five Elders were both shocked and enraged. They realized then that the old woman had deliberately feigned weakness to lure Qi Yanbing into the trap, intending to capture them all and prevent his escape.

Granny Si, tiptoeing on her small feet, flickered back and forth like a phantom. The silver needles and silk threads in her basket seemed to come alive, instantly piercing the Five Elders of Lijiang all over. Threads wove around the five old men, binding their souls and bodies, rendering them motionless.

The little old woman, grinning broadly, stepped forward with her scissors: "It's been a long time since I've refined human skin. I wonder if my skills have gotten rusty…"

She approached Qi Yanbing. Suddenly, Qi Yanbing opened his mouth, and a silver pellet shot out, flying straight towards Granny Si.

The silver pellet expanded upon contact with the wind, and with a whoosh, thousands of sword qi burst forth from it, jingling as they expanded outwards. In an instant, it transformed into a sphere of pure sword light, hundreds of feet in diameter!

Caught off guard, Granny Si quickly retreated, her body suddenly going soft, wriggling up and down in the air like an earthworm, dodging the streaks of sword light. At the same time, her scissors flew from her hand, cutting through the sword light with snips and snaps, like two silver dragons.

Despite her efforts, she was still caught by surprise and struck by a streak of sword light. The light came from behind her, precisely piercing her hunched back, a spot she couldn't see.

The sky full of sword light vanished, and broken swords clattered down from the air, sticking into the ground over several acres.

The silver pellet also dropped to the ground with a thud and stopped moving.

Granny Si landed on the ground, reached back, pulled out the sword, and frowned slightly.

"You still dodged it…"

Qi Yanbing, the leader of the Five Elders, looked desperate, his voice hoarse: "I ambushed you with the sword pellet from such close range, and it contained six thousand eight hundred and forty-two swords, yet you still dodged it! You can't be an unknown figure in the demonic path! There's no old woman like you in the demonic path. Who exactly are you?"

He suddenly noticed Granny Si's back. Where the sword had pierced her hump, there was a wound, but no blood flowed out. Instead, light shone into it, revealing it was apparently hollow.

Qi Yanbing was horrified: "That's not your real appearance. You're wearing someone else's skin…"

"You've damaged my skin."

Granny Si frowned, and the voice that came out was not her usual old woman's voice, but rather very pleasant. Listening to it, one would assume she was a beautiful woman in her prime, not at all like someone with one foot in the grave.

Granny Si pressed her throat, sighed, and muttered, "It's leaking air…"

She took silk thread from her basket and sewed up the sword wound on her back. She cleared her throat, and her voice returned to normal.

Suddenly, Qi Yanbing's face changed dramatically as if he had seen a ghost, and he blurted out, "I've heard your voice! I know who you are! The Cult Master's wife of the Heavenly Devil Cult…"

Granny Si's expression subtly changed. She placed her fingers on the silk threads piercing the five men, and the Five Elders of Lijiang were instantly cut into pieces, their flesh and blood scattered on the ground!

Strangely, the silk threads showed no trace of blood. Instead, they seemed to come alive, coiling themselves up and shrinking into a ball of thread, returning to the basket.

Granny Si snorted, then cackled, "You old cripple, how long have you been here?"

Not far behind her, the Cripple walked with a limp, leaning on his crutch, a wide grin on his face: "Just arrived, just arrived. Sister, I didn't see anything, nor did I hear anything."

Granny Si glanced at him, smiling sweetly: "Seeing is irrelevant, as long as you didn't hear anything. Let's head back to the village."

The Cripple hesitated, then said, "The Heavenly Devil Cult Master, Li Tianxing, was brilliant and mighty his entire life, but he did one foolish thing. In his later years, he fell for the most beautiful demoness of the time, so he deposed his original Cult Master's wife and intended to marry her as the new one. The demonic cult was in uproar. On the night of their wedding, the new Cult Master's wife secretly harmed Li Tianxing, ruining centuries of his cultivation, and stole the cult's treasured demonic scripture. The cult elders and patriarchs emerged from seclusion to pursue her, but she still escaped and has been missing ever since…"

"Such a thing happened?"

Granny Si giggled, "This old woman heard a story in her youth: there was a person who cultivated his legs to the divine level, and his two legs were renowned as 'divine legs.' His speed was unmatched in the world, but he took to stealing, and because he loved to steal, he was known as the 'number one divine thief.' Though he hadn't yet become a god, his title already contained the character for 'god,' which drew divine jealousy. When he went to Yan Kang Nation to steal the Imperial Disc, the number one divine thief, who had never failed, was discovered by the Imperial Advisor. The Imperial Advisor severed one of his divine legs. Yet, he still escaped the Imperial Advisor's pursuit and vanished with the Imperial Disc. The Yan Kang Imperial Advisor is reputed as the foremost person below the gods, but he couldn't keep the divine thief. He must still have that divine leg, waiting for it to be returned to its owner, mustn't he?"

The Cripple's smile widened. He chuckled deferentially, "Granny, we're all cripples from the same village. We once agreed that each of us has our own little secrets, and we wouldn't question each other's origins. From now on, I'm mute and deaf, I'll keep everything under wraps."

Granny Si snorted, then walked towards the village, carrying her basket. "Did Mu'er inform you to come and assist me?"

The Cripple shook his head. "Your fight with those five old fellows was too loud, the fluctuations too strong. We felt it in the village, so the Village Chief sent me to see if you needed help."

Granny Si's expression subtly changed. She urgently asked, "Has Mu'er returned to the village?"

"I didn't see him when I came."

"Oh no!"

The two hurried back to Disabled Elderly Village. Before they even reached it, they saw the sun setting. Darkness rose from the horizon, covering it entirely, surging like a tide, rising higher and higher, engulfing everything in its path as it swept towards them!

Granny Si returned to the village and quickly searched it. Her face paled. "Mu'er hasn't returned?"

The darkness completely enveloped Disabled Elderly Village.

"No need to worry, Granny."

The Village Chief was carried over by the Cripple and the Apothecary. He stopped Granny Si, who was about to carry a stone statue out to search for Qin Mu. "We've taught him everything he needed to know. As long as he's learned it, he should be able to survive in the Great Ruins. It's useless for you to go out now; it's already dark."

Granny Si slumped, knowing the Village Chief was right. If Qin Mu was still alive, he could survive the night without her help. If he was already dead, taking the stone statue to search for him would be useless.

"He still has that jade pendant to protect him…"

Although she thought this, Granny Si knew that the jade pendant on Qin Mu's chest was only meant to protect infants, and its protective range was limited. Qin Mu had grown up; the pendant's light could only shield his chest.

"Mu'er, you must be clever…" Granny Si whispered.