Yamafu Military Affairs

Chapter 673: Enlightenment

"What is that? Other sexual characteristics?"

Qin Huai looked at Zhang Xianzhong, who was shrouded in a jumble of colors, with a somewhat surprised and suspicious expression.

He had seen a similar hazy, mixed color before. Not long ago, when those spies and assassins exploded into a cloud of blood mist and were absorbed by the boundless sea of ​​blood, they were also covered with a strange color.

Thinking about it this way, Ti Wuliang's harsh words before leaving were not unfounded. Their plans against Zhang Xianzhong, the King of the Great Western Kingdom, were probably far more extensive than what was outwardly displayed.

As the hazy, mixed colors writhed on the surface of the Asura Giant General's body, giving rise to twisted and terrifying faces, Zhang Xianzhong and the four generals of the Great Western Army who were allies with him, as well as the brave soldiers, were also affected and fell into the demonic corruption one after another. It seemed that they could not suppress the corrosive backlash of the mixed colors.

At the same time, Qin Huai felt a sharp pain in his hand that was holding the purplish-black heart, as if he had been bitten by something. He looked down and found that the large artery extending from the heart had grown sharp mandibles at some point, like a ferocious insect breaking through the scales and biting down hard, tearing his tiger's mouth to shreds.

Immediately afterwards, Qin Huai could feel the blood in his body boiling, and the ten emotions and eight sufferings that formed his thoughts began to show signs of loosening and breaking down.

"Clear your mind and calm your thoughts, don't think about anything! What you're holding in your hand is the 'Corpse Heart' of the Arrowhead. Once bitten, the blood poison will instantly penetrate into your bone marrow, accelerating and amplifying the desires of greed, anger, and ignorance in your heart. If you don't receive timely treatment, you will surely die!"

Having finally escaped the extreme pain, Yu Gongcao, covered in sweat, gritted his teeth and wielded his judge's pen, quickly writing a calming mantra that entered Qin Huai's body, suppressing the purple aura spreading from his tiger's mouth and wrist.

"Ten emotions and eight sufferings?"

Qin Huai was taken aback. He tried to put aside all desires, but his mind involuntarily recalled the explanation of this term in the Killing Department's archives and the attitude of the Fates towards humans.

In the eyes of the God of Destiny, who controls the nature of things, humans living in the mortal world are not merely physical beings, but beings formed by the ten emotions and eight sufferings. The ten emotions are joy, anger, sorrow, greed, hatred, delusion, fear, love, hate, and desire; the eight sufferings are birth, old age, sickness, death, being with those one hates, being separated from those one loves, not getting what one wants, and the burning of the five aggregates.

The nature and characteristics of the gods of destiny arise from these ten emotions and eight sufferings, and grow stronger or weaker depending on people's various behaviors.

In short, it means that people are born from emotions, and the Tao changes because of emotions.

The reason why the Bhadra, which controls pain, is so powerful is largely because in this crazy world, humans naturally experience pain from all sorts of things, which in turn nourishes and strengthens the nature of pain.

According to Yu Gongcao, the Corpse Heart in Qin Huai's possession was bestowed by Cigu, the goddess of the stars Cigu, who controls the three poisons of greed, anger, and ignorance. It has the terrifying power to instantly amplify the three poisons of desire and cause the ten emotions to become unbalanced.

If Qin Huai hadn't knocked him away and captured him, thus thwarting Wei Wuliang's poisonous scheme, and if the Corpse Heart Worm had bitten Zhang Xianzhong, the Great Western King, who was currently fighting against the demonic influence at a crucial juncture, would likely have failed miserably, making a fatal mistake.

'When masters clash, every step is fraught with danger.'

Perhaps due to the effects of the Corpse Heart Blood Poison, Qin Huai, who was controlling the host body with just a thought, felt his body becoming heavier and heavier, and his control over it becoming weaker and weaker, appearing and disappearing as if it were about to break off at any moment.

He took the wine gourd from his waist and poured the spring wine into his mouth, but Qin Huai's condition did not improve at all.

Is it because the three poisons and desires don't count as demonic possession? Or is it because the blood poison is too strong?

Thanks to the suppression and restraint of the Tranquilizing Mantra, Qin Huai still had the leisure to think about the mechanism of the Corpse Heart Worm. However, before long, the ink characters gathered around his arm were disintegrated by the purple blood poison. His deep greed blinded him, and then his heart was filled with anger. He began to feel hatred towards Yu Gongcao, Wei Xiaolian, and others. He fell into a state of reckless folly and drew his sword to charge into the formation to vent his three poisons of desire.

'No, this idea has become too deeply ingrained; I can't accept it.'

After discovering that he could not find an effective way to control the ten emotions and eight sufferings, Qin Huai made a decisive move and shouted to the fisherman who had rushed over, "Fisherman, take me back to the Killing Department!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Qin Huai deliberately suppressed his thoughts and returned his mental focus to the Taotie buried deep beneath the city of Xijing.
-
In the underground hall beneath the Ministry of Justice's office, filled with sickbeds and wooden beds, lay a large, imposing structure.

Wei Xiaolian leaned against the backrest, his left arm, secured by a splint, slung around his neck. His only intact right hand held a medicine bowl, and his eyes were empty and unfocused.

Even after treatment by the imperial physicians and lamas, his complexion was still very poor after the great battle, barely surviving the demonic contamination, as if his serious illness had just been relieved but had not yet begun to improve.

At this moment, five hours had passed since Zhang Xianzhong successfully received the blood. The elite troops dispatched by the Eighth Battalion were still cleaning up the battlefield. The previous night's capture and killing of spies from the Three Kingdoms had turned the rainy night in Xijing City into a bloody mess, and a faint smell of blood still lingered in the air, which the drizzle could not wash away.

In the battle of Yishi, six out of ten of the commanders and generals of the tribe were killed. If it weren't for Wei Xiaolian's quick eyes and hands and his special skills, he would probably have followed in the footsteps of the others and died an unnatural death.

Even so, Wei Xiaolian was still affected by the hazy and mixed colors formed by the complex phenomena, and his emotions were shaken. Despite undergoing treatment, he became extremely numb to the outside world, like a living corpse, without pain, sadness, excitement, or agitation. He was unusually numb and would not experience any emotional fluctuations even when facing other people.

He occasionally had some doubts, such as why Yu Gongcao would take Qin Wu, who was directly bitten by the Corpse Heart Worm, back to the Xijing Killing Department, when Qin Wu was already a corpse.

Click!
The sound of mechanisms turning echoed through the corridor along with footsteps. Qin Huai (Taowu), shrouded in a cloak, walked directly into the underground hall with practiced ease.

"Hey, where are Yu Gongcao and Qin Wu?"

Wei Xiaolian slowly raised his head. He didn't recognize the person in front of him, nor was he curious about why the person knew his surname. He simply raised the medicine bowl in his hand and pointed towards the depths of the hall.

"Thank you for your help. Take good care of your injury."

Qin Huai nodded and walked along the corridor into a room deep in the hall. He found that besides Qin Wu's host body and Yu Gongcao, there was another person inside.

The Lama Sashi who brought strong reinforcements from Tibet.

"You are Qin Wu?"

Squinting, Yu Gongcao scrutinized Qin Huai several times. Having seen countless people, he finally found some similarities in their basic gait and posture, and tentatively asked.

"Qin Wu is here, but I am not him."

Qin Huai shook his head, then quickly tapped the upper, middle, and lower dantian of the host body with his fingers. The three points of thought immediately entered, awakening the body. At the same time, he channeled his true qi through his fingertips, guiding it through the limbs and bones to completely remove the corpse heart and blood poison that had accumulated in the bones, flesh, tendons, and skin, eliminating it completely.

Sa Shi's dark eyes stared intently at Qin Huai's movements until his thoughts controlled the host body to open its eyes, then he suddenly spoke, "Qin Wu is clearly an inanimate object, yet he doesn't have the slightest trace of [death] on him. How did you manage that?" Qin Huai glanced at the composed Yu Gongcao and said with a half-smile, "You want to know? Perhaps you can ask [Daheitian]."

“Master Sa, everyone in this world has secrets. Sometimes, digging too deep can easily lead to your death.”

Perhaps sensing Qin Huai's unfathomable nature, Yu Gongcao quickly interjected, dispelling the tense atmosphere in the room.

"Gong Cao, this is my elder brother. Now that the blood donation ceremony is complete, if there's nothing else, we'll be setting off for Nanming."

Using his thoughts to control the host body Qin Wu, he casually fabricated an identity for the Taotie, and the two got up, about to leave.

"Wait a minute, you have indeed forgotten something."

Although Yu Gongcao had doubts about Qin Huai's origins, Qin Wu's outstanding performance and indelible contributions in the battle against the strange history made him wisely refrain from asking further questions. Instead, he took out a green lotus from his bosom and handed it over: "You deserve the greatest credit for the Emperor's successful blood transfusion and ascension to immortality. This is a lotus seed that the Killing Department promised beforehand. Please accept it."

Looking at the familiar blue lotus seed, Qin Wu nodded, took it in his hand, and before he could find a box to put it in, it transformed into a lifelike blue lotus tattoo, which was branded onto the tiger's mouth of his left hand, covering the ugly scar caused by the bite of the Corpse Heart Worm.

"Also, all the armor and miscellaneous items you had while you were unconscious are here. Take them with you."

Yu Gongcao remained calm and pointed to the large wooden box at the door of the room.

"Thank you very much, Chief Clerk. We'll meet again someday!"

After opening the wooden box and confirming that the wine gourd, the Qingfeng Seven-Star Sword, and the severed finger of Wei Wuliang were all there, Qin Wu nodded, put them away using a storage item, and then left the Killing Department with Qin Huai.

Walking through the desolate and quiet city of Xijing, which had become deserted due to the daytime curfew, Qin Huai suddenly stopped, stretched out his hand, and muttered to himself, "The rain in the Great West has finally stopped, but in Jiangnan at this time of year, the rain will probably only get heavier."

"Isn't heavy rain a good thing? A rainy night with a knife but no umbrella is perfect for murder and disposing of the body."

Qin Wu looked down at Qin Huai, who only reached his chest, and said in a muffled voice, "Next, we're going to Nanming. What should we do?"

“The Southern Ming is different from the Great Western Ming. To openly come under the nose of the remnant emperor is to commit suicide. This time, you will go into hiding and I will use a new identity to target those cunning bureaucrats.”

Qin Huai took out the severed finger he had cut off from Wei Wuliang, his eyes gleaming, and said in a low voice, "This time, let's use Wei Wuliang's flesh and bones to cultivate the host."
-
Yangzhou Prefecture, Jinling City.

The rhythmic chants of boatmen, varying in length, echoed throughout every corner of the dock as the massive cargo barges, like fish swimming, approached their berths and slowly came to a stop.

"Taoist priest, please take care."

At the entrance of the gentry's cabin of this canal boat that travels between Hanyang Prefecture and Southern Zhili, the boat captain, wearing a straw hat, helped to open an oil-paper umbrella and carefully handed it to the tall female Taoist priest wearing a veil.

"It's raining heavily outside, boatman, please wait."

With her cherry lips slightly parted, a heavenly voice emanated from her mouth. Qin Wen, dressed in a Taoist robe, or rather, the host body cultivated by Qin Huai using the severed finger of Wei Wuliang, nodded slightly to the boatman. Holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying a small leather suitcase about three feet square in the other, he walked steadily into the Jiangdong Gate of Jinling's outer city.

As the capital of six dynasties, Nanjing's political status goes without saying. Beyond that, it was also one of the leading port cities of the Southern Ming Dynasty, boasting a thriving shipping industry. The Yiguan Lane, adjacent to the port's Jiangdong Gate, was a melting pot of all sorts of people. Whether it was islanders from Borneo in Southeast Asia, or the Japanese who had a long history of geopolitical friction with Ming Dynasty vassal states and fought numerous wars over the past century, they were all commonplace here. Even occasionally, one could spot foreigners from distant Europe.

The streets were lined with inns, restaurants, brothels, Taoist temples, and Confucius Temples, offering a dazzling array of entertainment options. There was also the Yingyuan Gambling Den, known as the third most prestigious villa in the Southern Ming Dynasty, which was a gambling den that many salt merchants and wealthy people talked about with great relish.

Qin Wen looked around and saw only a faint red, invisible aura mixed with the falling rain, making visibility extremely poor. The lanterns hanging on both sides of the long street had already been lit one by one, dispelling the gloom brought by the rain.

"The ten desires, huh? It seems this capital city is truly a city of extravagance and debauchery."

Despite some unexpected changes that led to Qin Huai's body being transformed into a woman by a twist of fate, it must be said that nurturing the host body with the blood and bones of countless saints does indeed have extraordinary benefits.

Qin Wen's beautiful eyes alone possess a terrifying talent for discerning human emotions by visually identifying the full spectrum of human suffering.

It is no exaggeration to say that any agent who has received intelligence training and has such eyes can almost always extract the information they want from the enemy.

Besides her eyes, Qin Wen also inherited Wei Wuliang's stunning beauty and the serene temperament of a lotus emerging from water. Even among all the women Qin Huai had seen, she would rank among the top three Daoist nuns.

Yes, the strangely shaped Wei Wuliang must have been a great beauty in her youth. Although it is unknown how she turned out that way, her appearance undoubtedly provides great convenience for Qin Huai's current undercover operation.

"Waiter, bring me a superior room."

With light, graceful steps, Qin Wen entered the luxurious portico, which was entirely carved from Yuhua stones. Before he could finish speaking, a quick-witted servant with sharp eyes stepped forward and took the oil-paper umbrella and leather suitcase that had been draining.

"Master, what kind of superior room do you require? A top-tier room of the highest grade costs one tael of silver per day."

The kind-faced accountant looked at Qin Wen, who stood out from the crowd, and his mood, which had been dampened by the continuous rain, improved considerably. He immediately asked with a smile.

"Naturally, the best is the way to go."

Qin Wen took out an elegant purse embroidered with yin and yang fish from the loose sleeve of her robe, took out a gold ingot from it, and slapped it on the counter. The lotus pattern on her fair wrist exuded a unique charm.

Having worked in Yiguan Lane for many years, the old accountant was well-informed and would not be emotionally affected by a single ingot of gold. He merely glanced discreetly at the budding lotus on Qin Huai's wrist, then picked up his brush, wrote it down in the ledger, turned around, and took a pair of keys from the wall.

"Is this your first time traveling in Jinling, Daoist Master? Why don't you find a Taoist temple to stay at? Judging from your demeanor, you don't look like someone from a humble family."

Pushing the keys and gold ingots back to Qin Wen, the old accountant's cloudy eyes gleamed with a sharp light: "The imperial court has long been devoted to Taoism, and the emperor once issued an imperial edict that any Taoist priest who stays at an inn can have their food and lodging waived as long as their ordination certificate is verified, with all expenses reimbursed by the government. I wonder if you have an ordination certificate?"

(End of this chapter)