The Night Watcher of Great Jing - Chapter 48

[Temporary Quest: Birth]

[Quest Description: Before he had the chance to be born, he first learned how to cry. He likes your warm body. Will you grant his wish?]

[Note: The difficulty of resolving this quest depends upon the depth of your compassion.]

Shen Yan set Zhao Li on the floor, and she watched the Jingning Guard replace the bluestone bricks.

The bricks also contained powdered mengshi stone and could keep the Mother-and-Child Bane trapped within the hidden chamber.

As Zhao Li studied the system’s new quest, thoughts raced through her mind.

As the note suggested, the problem could be extremely easy or extremely difficult to resolve.

The Mother-and-Child Bane beneath the floor likely consisted of the second Chen son’s wife and child.

Little time had passed, so their baleful energy had not yet grown impossible to handle.

If Zhao Li wanted the simplest solution, she could choose a clear day, tear open the worship hall, and expose the entire hidden chamber beneath it to the sun.

But then the mother and child below…

Zhao Li thought of the system’s description: a child who learned to cry before he ever had the chance to be born.

She sighed.

She would look for a better solution first.

With that decision made, she stormed furiously out of the worship hall.

The captives led by the scar-faced man still lay bound in the courtyard. Dirty rags had been stuffed into their mouths to prevent them from killing themselves.

When Zhao Li approached, they still displayed the same unyielding pride.

Their leader raised his head and sneered at her.

Zhao Li said nothing.

She brought one foot down between his legs.

The fifteen points added to her constitution proved exceptionally useful at that moment.

Her original body had been somewhat weak, but after the increase, her strength now exceeded that of a grown man.

Even when she had first climbed out of the well with trembling legs, she had nearly unmanned Zhao Kaiyang with a kick.

Her force was now far greater.

There was no crime of coerced confession here, nor any Regulations for the Management of Psychic Personnel. Zhao Li had no reason to hold back when beating someone.

Even the hardest bones had vulnerable places.

The scar-faced leader’s eyes bulged. A muffled groan escaped around the rag in his mouth, and he curled into a shrimp on the ground.

The sudden attack made Lu Jianxing and the others’ eyelids twitch.

Afraid that Zhao Li was acting impulsively, Lu Jianxing stepped forward to dissuade her.

Shen Yan, who was wincing inwardly himself, raised a hand and stopped him.

She was merely in a bad mood and beating a few people. What did that matter?

Shen Yan folded his arms and watched.

Zhao Li was exceedingly fair.

She gave every captive one kick, leaving the courtyard full of writhing shrimp.

Even then, one kick apiece did not satisfy her.

Breaking the spirit could hurt more than killing the body. Zhao Li had her own methods for dealing with hardened cultists.

She bent slightly and leaned toward the scar-faced leader.

“You think you are making an offering to your Unborn Venerable Mother. You believe that even if you die, you will return in glory to your heavenly kingdom?”

Zhao Li smiled coldly.

“Stop dreaming. After your death, I will seal your soul inside a soul-sealing jar.”

The scar-faced man’s expression changed. Pain still twisted his face as he raised his head.

He did not understand how a court lackey could recognize such secret arts.

But what truly frightened him was the method she described.

He did not fear death. He even welcomed it.

What he feared was being unable to return to paradise after death.

Watching his face change drastically, Zhao Li smiled.

“I know what you madmen think. You believe torturing children to death and murdering pregnant women are offerings. You believe they deserve to die, while you will return after death to your Unborn Venerable Mother and enjoy eternal bliss.”

“No. You will have no such opportunity. You will suffer every agony while alive. After you die, I will put your soul in a soul-sealing jar filled with cinnabar and sink it to the bottom of the sea.”

“Fire will burn you. Water will drown you. You will pass from scorching heat to freezing cold, living only to die and dying only to live again.”

“Return to the Unborn Venerable Mother? Dream on!”

Now that she knew who these men were, Zhao Li’s threats carried far more force than torture.

The scar-faced leader shouted through his gag and writhed across the ground.

Zhao Li did not need to hear the words to know he was cursing her in the vilest language he possessed.

She did not care.

After venting her fury, her mood improved somewhat.

Her gaze landed on one young man who had reacted with particular agitation.

In a group like this, finding one point of weakness was enough.

Zhao Li glanced at Lu Jianxing. Understanding at once, he dragged the sobbing, snot-covered young man aside.

Sure enough, the young man soon began talking.

They were indeed believers of the White Lotus Sect who occupied the pickling workshop.

They performed clandestine work to support themselves while recruiting new followers.

Three months earlier, the scar-faced Incense Master had arrived from the sect’s northern headquarters.

Only under the leadership of this man, who was familiar with ritual harvesting and mutilation, had they begun working as child snatchers.

One month earlier, the scar-faced man returned with a large quantity of gold and silver. He said a noble patron had hired them to perform an important task.

He used the money to construct the hidden chamber underground.

He also brought the pregnant woman there one month ago.

“We don’t know what the Incense Master actually did!”

The young man was merely a believer recruited from one of the surrounding villages. He had never experienced anything serious and now wept uncontrollably as he frantically tried to distance himself.

“The Incense Master always hid from us when practicing his arts. He never let us know how he dealt with those pregnant women or children.”

Whether the young man believed his own claim or not, Zhao Li certainly did not.

Seated above him, Shen Yan watched coldly.

“Why did you abduct so many children from a single village over such a short time?”

The young man paused and searched his memory.

“I think I heard the Incense Master say that the noble patron’s undertaking required many children.”

“What role does Granny Oil hold in the White Lotus Sect?”

“She-she is a believer. But Granny Oil is very capable and greatly respected.”

Once he finished, the young man began kowtowing.

“Please grant me a clean death.”

He was clearly terrified and struck his head with great force. Blood ran down his dark face.

No one answered.

Lu Jianxing soon dragged him away.

His cries drifted back from the distance.

“The mortal world is a prison. All beings know suffering. Reincarnation never ends, and tribulation never ceases. Unborn Venerable Mother, Home of the True Void.”

“My lords, please grant me a clean death!”

He did not beg to live. He felt no remorse.

He wanted only to die and return to the embrace of the Unborn Venerable Mother.

Zhao Li had encountered such people before, but they still disgusted her.

Depressed, she took out the spun-sugar candy Shen Yan had given her.

Her hands were dirty, so she lowered her head and bit two large clumps directly into her mouth.

The delicate sweetness and fragrant roasted soybean powder spread over her tongue, easing some of the gloom in her heart.

She felt someone watching and looked up.

Shen Yan sat there with his eyes lowered.

Deciding she had imagined it, Zhao Li carefully wrapped the candy and tucked it back inside her robe.

Then Shen Yan spoke.

“Something was wrong among those spirit tablets. One name should never have appeared there.”

As he spoke, he traced a name across the tabletop with one finger.

Song Hongjun.

“The heir to Marquis Ningsu’s Estate.”