Chapter 47 The island part 1 (1/2)
Chapter 47
The unmoving sky is as stale as usual and the sound of the sea waves crashing on the sandy shore makes one think of an eternal paradise frozen out of time. This scenery makes the lives of the sluggish people on the island boring and repetitive.
At this time the village seems to be full of life as the villagers are busy assembling themselves towards the village exit. Then not long later a long line of people can be seen holding torches in daylight as they walk along the forested area of the island.
In front of this procession are two square stone cages carried each by two bulky men. As they proceed through a path the people began chanting some words that are almost unrecognizable. It seems like an ancient language used by them to summon a powerful being or creature.
This is the day where Qin Lou and Susu Ling will be offered as a sacrifice to the Mountain God. The whole village is in a festive mood as everyone seems to be excited in the upcoming ritual. Everyone is excited because it's been a while since they had sacrificed someone to the Mountain God. And also they discovered that there are lesser people coming into their island. This made them worry as they are afraid to make the Mountain God angry.
They didn't know where these people with curious clothing come from but every time they appear, Mok Dong, their village protector would always command the village warriors to catch them and do these rituals which help the villagers gain their youth and strength. And because of this, the villagers are really excited.
Meanwhile, a small figure is hiding in a not too far away place as it follows the line of villagers. His eyes had a look of determination in them as his tiny hand grips his crudely made black dagger tightly.
”Shin Jiao said that the two women are important to him. As my parting gift, I would try to at least rescue them. Maybe they would be like Shin Jiao and be my friends too.” Lemy said to himself trying to appease his feeling.
At that time when Shin Jiao was suffering, he didn't want to watch. When he came out of the cave he didn't go back in to see Shin Jiao's death but bore the burden of being saved by him and started to monitor the village in the shadows. He promised to himself to help the two friends of Shin Jiao as a way of repaying him for saving his life.
Although Lemy has been on this island for a long time the villagers don't seem to like him. The truth is that he's been here before them and he didn't bother them. But when Mok Dong appears out of nowhere, he started to convince the villagers to hunt Lemy. This made Lemy leave the village area and move far away to hide. And at that time he found the strange tree with a large amount of energy. And curiously the villagers are afraid of that area even Mok Dong is unable to enter it.
”It won't be long and soon Mok Dong will release his energy to awaken the Mountain God. That's the time I will make my move on him when he is on his weakest state.” Lemy started to plan in his mind what he should do while watching the activity from not too far.
Meanwhile, at this time unknown to Lemy, Shin Jiao didn't die. He is already sitting in a lotus position and had already refined a greenish gem-like object in his dantian. Now besides the 39 spheres and the orb containing them a greenish gem can now be seen in the middle. Shin Jiao can sense that he is now able to identify any poisonous plants in the area, it was as if the greenish gem has an affinity to them.
Poison is a very powerful weapon in the cultivation world, but it comes with a prize. Although cultivating poison is very dangerous many still choose this path. But not all poison cultivators live long as most of them only have short lives. According to the common knowledge, the deadlier the poison skill cultivated the shorter the life span one could have.
But for Shin Jiao this is not true, as he separates the poison from his body and will only act on his will.
”I guess this is what I got with this ordeal. I think my body is now almost poison resistant… Wait a minute… How long did I spend refining that poison?” Shin Jiao began to think and suddenly remember a crucial thing.
”I need to go back to the village.”
Shin Jiao didn't know what happened to his body at that time and didn't have time to inspect anything but when he stood up a whip of a very strong aura has emerged from within his body. Unknown to him because of the constant damage of the poison and his orb repairing his body, it has tampered it for 2 days to the extreme. Making it reach the apex of a nascent soul cultivator's physique and is now entering the strength and vitality of every cultivator's dream, the nascent realm. Every part of his body has now been refined to the limit of a mortal and is now considered as half immortal or a demi-god stage.
But since his aura is still that of a mortal it's still inconspicuous to low-level cultivators. But if a nascent realm or above cultivator could see Shin Jiao, they would immediately notice the small aura that is escaping from his body. But of course it's just his physique, his cultivation level is still at the 39th sphere but Shin Jiao already has the idea of what to do to increase his cultivation. When he is in agony he actually noticed the changes in his dantian and through that, he got an inspiration. But at that time he wasn't able to do anything because of the pain he is feeling.
…
The village is empty and no soul can be seen. Shin Jiao frown upon noticing this, he didn't find Lemy when he got out of the cave and started to search.
”Is this the third day? This means I've been suffering for 2 days. I need to find them now.” Shin Jiao muttered as he quickly scans the stone houses.
Then his eyes went to the only mountain on the island. There he noticed the line of people going up the mountain. Although it's very far, Shin Jiao didn't notice that he is already able to see them clearly without using his goggles. This is due to his anxiety and worries filled the heart. He could not think of anything right now but only the welfare and safety of Qin Lou and Susu Ling. So after seeing the line of people, he quickly dashed towards them.
The head of the procession has already reached the mountain top and Qin Lou and Susu Ling discovered that the mountain is actually a live volcano, although there is no smoke rising from it. But they can hear the boiling and movements of the lava inside it. The heat that's rising from inside the volcano can also be felt from where the two girls stood, making them feel really scared and helpless.
Now on the mouth of the volcano where it is covered with strange grey rocks that seem to radiate with a bizarre and gloomy feeling, stood the villagers. It was as if the grey rocks are filled with trapped souls wailing and crying, trying to find a way to break free from the eternal hell they are in. And the villagers standing on the grey stones are the demons that are punishing them as they stood on the stones which are their souls.
”Senior sister… I'm… I'm scared…” Susu Ling muttered looking at Qin Lou on the other cage.
Qin Lou just stretched forth her white jade hand towards Susu Ling who also did the same. And they both try to find comfort in each other's hand to alleviate the fear in their hearts as they drew closer to the volcano's mouth.
When all the villagers were able to reach the top of the mountain a tall sturdy-looking man with red skin walks out from the crowd. Behind his back is a number of short spears which seem to be crudely made from ores that are commonly seen inside a volcano.
”I… Mok Dong. You… sacrifice… Mountain God!” he said with difficulty.
”Let us go! We didn't do anything for you? We have no enmity, why do this to us? Huhu…” shouted Susu Ling as she wasn't able to hold herself anymore and cried.
”Haha… You die! We live!” shouted Mok Dong which reverberates around.
The villagers also followed suit with the same cry.
”You die! We live!”
”You die! We live!”
Each one shouted these words like a chant of a prayer which slowly filled the air. Then the villagers began to stomp their foot following the chant, and they acted like brainless people while showing the whites of their eyes.