Chapter 47: The Third Person
Translator: Ninetales Editor: Fish Creek
In front of them, a huge dragon circled round and round the majestic palace, with its huge dragon head lying high on top of the great hall, looking straight at them.
This was a dragon's skeleton. The flesh of the huge dragon was gone and only the skeleton was left. Just the teeth alone was much taller than Qin Mu.
Even though the huge dragon had died, its might and extraordinary points were still visible. It must have been an extremely powerful being in its lifetime.
Qin Mu opened his Heaven’s Eyes to take a look and he instantly felt as if the dragon's skeleton had come to life. With its divine glow piercing the heavens, the huge dragon seemed to be snaking around in his eyes. The huge dragon was clearly dead yet its demeanor and mettle made him feel that the huge dragon was still alive!
"Surging River Dragon King, a true dragon…"
Qin Mu looked at the huge dragon and his heart wavered. He thought of the fist skill Old Ma had taught him, the Tempest Of The Nine Dragons of Thunderclap Eight Strikes. The vital qi of Tempest Of The Nine Dragons was split into nine layers of force. The first layer was Rush Of The Raging Dragon, the second layer was Twin Dragon Twist. With every layer of strength, an extra dragon force would appear!
Training his fists since young with Old Ma, he had practiced this move countless of times yet he was always unable to grasp the essence of this skill. With his recent boost in cultivation, he then managed to raise the power of Tempest Of The Nine Dragons, however, when he had fought with Ming Xin, he was still at a disadvantage.
This could be partly due to him not cultivating the Rulai’s Mahayana Scripture from the Great Thunderclap Monastery, but it was still mostly due to the fact that his nine dragon force in his fists only looked like dragons.
Looking like a dragon doesn't mean it's a dragon. The appearance may be there but the might isn’t, therefore it would naturally shatter with a touch.
If the force in his fist was real dragons, even if he didn’t learn Rulai’s Mahayana Scripture, his Tempest Of The Nine Dragons would also be the true teaching!
This was because Tempest Of The Nine Dragons had also imitated the impetus of real dragons controlling the tempest. Amidst the great tempest, the divine dragons slaughtered its enemies. If he could manage to grab this essence, there would be no need for him to learn Rulai’s Mahayana Scripture!
"Tempest of the nine dragons, tempest of the nine dragons…"
Studying the dragon's skeleton, Qin Mu subconsciously walked forward. In his eyes, there was only the dragon's skeleton as he studied the shape of the dragon, the structure of the bones, the dragon’s might, the dragon’s grace, and comprehending the dragon’s aura and spirit.
He sank deeper and deeper into a trance the more he studied the dragon. As he moved forward, he started making strange movements with his arms and his body, subconsciously imitating actions of a real dragon.
This vital qi also unknowingly swam throughout his body like a real dragon, perfecting the bits and pieces with every circulation.
In his Spirit Embryo Divine Treasure, his spirit embryo also imitated his movement, as it inhaled and exhaled the vital qi. Something magical happened. The vital qi it exhaled out didn’t enter Qin Mu’s body and had instead swum around the spirit embryo’s body, transforming into a small dragon. As the vital qi exhaled out increased, the little dragon gradually grew and became as tall as a human while coiling around the spirit embryo.
Hu Ling’er was originally frightened but as time went on, the fear in her heart diminished and she wasn’t as frightened anymore. However as Qin Mu studied the dragon's skeleton, he had totally forgotten about her as well.
After some time, Hu Ling’er tummy started to growl and carefully climbed down from Qin Mu’s back. She tiptoed her way back out of the underwater dragon palace not because she was scared of disturbing Qin Mu, but because she was scared she would alarm the dragon skeleton if she was too loud.
After an hour, the white fox came back from outside holding on to a sack. In the sack, there were all the strange creatures like the dandelion.
Hu Ling’er resisted the fear of the dragon in her heart and walked into the fog, back to where Qin Mu was. She climbed back onto Qin Mu back and sat on his shoulder, stuffing the creatures into his mouth.
As if he wasn’t feeling anything, Qin Mu just ate whatever that entered his mouth.
Hu Ling’er fed him over twenty of those strange creatures before starting to eat them happily herself.
Qin Mu still had no signs of waking up as he continued to move forward freely with his eyes glued to the dragon’s skeleton. Sometimes he even climbed up the dragon’s skeleton and walked around on the huge bones.
Meanwhile, a green dragon coiled around his spirit embryo while letting our electrical sparks, however, Qin Mu was too focus on studying the dragon’s skeleton and didn’t notice.
Two days passed by like this. Qin Mu had eaten, drank, peed, pooped and slept here, and he had already become stinky, yet he still had no signs of waking up.
Hu Ling’er was also very patient and had taken care of Qin Mu all these while. When he was thirsty, she would use tree leaf to scoop water for him. When he was hungry, she would go and catch some of the strange creatures. However, to catch them, she would have to pass by the pool and be careful not to get eaten by the weird fish. Luckily for her, she was pretty smart and had not slipped up.
And of course, when Qin Mu was discharging his bowels, she would still move away.
When the third day came, Hu Ling’er was fetching some water when she suddenly heard Qin Mu’s astonished voice, "Why am I so dirty?"
Hu Ling’er was startled and surprised as she replied him bluntly, "It would be weird if you aren’t dirty after standing here for three days!"
"It’s been three days?"
Qin Mu was startled and cried out, "This is bad! The people in the village would definitely be worried sick for me not returning after three days! Quick, let’s return!"
Suddenly, he stopped his footsteps and said, "If I go back now, I would definitely be scolded and even barred from coming out again. Since I’m already out now, why don’t I take a look around in the dragon palace and see what treasures I can find."
In high spirits, he walked into the underwater dragon palace. Hu Ling’er followed him into the majestic hall however with her tiny guts, she only dared to stay around Qin Mu’s legs and didn’t wander around on her own.
The great hall was also shrouded in the fog which was even denser than outside, thus he couldn’t see far ahead.
"Weird, where did this fog come from?"
Qin Mu was bewildered. This fog isn’t mist and even with his Heaven’s Eyes, he couldn't really see far ahead. The deeper he entered the hall, the denser the fog became and the lesser he could see. Hu Ling’er became even more afraid and bit on Qin Mu’s pants to follow him.
At this moment, he heard a strange voice, which was gentle, serene yet giving off a sorrowful feeling. It was as if someone was singing a sorrowful song in the fog yet it was intelligible.
It was an ancient language which was mysterious and cryptic. It was as ancient as the god and devil language.
As Qin Mu listened to the song, he touched his face and realized he had been tearing unknowingly.
This song made him feel as if there was a woman floating around in the fog while singing out her heartbroken story.
Suddenly, the rings on the khakkhara monk staff started to ring loudly.
"Grandpa Ma said that the khakkhara monk staff had the effect of eliminating impure and wicked thoughts. When the heart wavers, the rings will ring. Every impure and wicked thought will make the rings jingle once. Now that the rings are jingling non-stop, are my impure and wicked thoughts that much?"
Looking downwards, Qin Mu didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. It turned out Hu Ling’er was shaking all over while grabbing tightly on his leg. Her tail was however on the khakkhara staff. It wasn’t Qin Mu’s heart that was in disorder, it was the little fox’s.
"Ling’er, move your tail away." Qin Mu said.
Hu Ling’er moved her tail away and continued to shiver.
Qin Mu frowned. After Hu Ling’er moved her tail away, the khakkhara monk staff was still ringing away loudly.
"Could there be a third person besides me and Hu Ling’er? Could the wicked thoughts be from the third person? Could it be the singing woman?"
The khakkhara monk staff rang more and more violently. It was clear there was a third person here with too much impure and wicked thoughts. By sensing the thoughts, would the khakkhara staff ring non stop!
In the air, the song floated here and there, becoming more and more sorrowful.
Qin Mu looked downwards and felt a chill. In the fog, he could see a bony hand reaching for the khakkhara monk staff and before the hand could touch it, the hand silently retracted back as if it was electrocuted.
Qin Mu propped up the khakkhara staff and looked around, the corners of his eyes twitching from what he saw. In the fog, bony palms started to come towards him in all directions and only retracted back when they met the khakkhara monk staff.
The gentle song in the fog also started to become clearer as if it was beside his ears.
"What exactly is in the fog?"
His scalp turned numbed and Hu Ling’er had already climbed into his pants and onto his back and finally settled around his waist in his shirt. Only her furry head was out as she sneakily checked out her surrounding while shivering.
This sight was simply too scary, making Qin Mu flustered as well. However as the golden rings jingled, it had a calming effect and settled his heart down.
He composed himself. With this amount of hands, they are definitely not from the same person.
"No matter what it is, all shall retreat!"
Qin Mu’s vital qi jolted and surged into the khakkhara staff. Raising the monk staff and giving a heavy slam, a loud clang rang out while the khakkhara staff shone in all directions. At the same time, an image of Buddha appeared behind his back while sitting cross-legged on the air, erupting in Sanskrit.
"So I have heard!"
The Sanskrit voice from the Buddha’s image vibrated out, "Since time without beginning, all beings have been undergoing death and rebirth over and over simply because they have not been aware of the pure understanding which is the essential nature of the everlasting true mind. Instead, the workings of their minds are distorted, and because the workings of their minds are distorted, they are bound to the cycle—, cycle—, cycle—, cycle—"