White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 25 The Formless Crossing of the Spirits: The Myriad Bones Diagram

The mountains are much cooler in summer than at the foot of the mountain, so many wealthy families would go into the mountains to escape the heat during the hottest days.

The area around the temple behind Black Stone Village is even cooler and more refreshing. However, out of reverence for the gods, the villagers dare not enter the temple, but instead seek shade under the large locust tree outside.

Several men sat under a tree, chatting idly about recent events. The cicadas chirped incessantly in the distance, and the sun dappled through the branches of the locust tree, while a gentle breeze rustled the leaves.

Old Ding held a palm-leaf fan in his hand and muttered to Sanwen, "You know, this painter has been living in our village for over a month now, spending all his time in front of the temple. How can he be so idle?"

Hearing this, the man next to him chimed in, "Yeah, I've seen this painter so many times. Do you think he's just here to freeload in our village?"

"What are you thinking about?" Sanwen interrupted their speculation and explained, "Look at the material of that person's clothes, it's worth a lot of money. Do you think they're short of money for food?"

Besides, this was instructed by Lord Wuxiang to paint for the temple; we mustn't speak carelessly."

"Understood, understood." Old Ding dared not speak further upon hearing the name of Lord Wuxiang. He then changed the subject, "Sanwen, I heard you old rascal got assigned a pretty girl, just turned twenty. You're so lucky!"

"Hahaha, Brother Ding is joking." Sanwen's face also showed a smile. Not long ago, the second leader distributed the dozen or so homeless women to the bachelors in the village, which made the villagers so excited that they couldn't sleep for several days.

Although there are still many single men, most of them are already in their thirties or forties, and have given up their positions to younger men.

The older folks in their village are all former soldiers, riddled with injuries and illnesses. Most of them would be lucky to live to fifty.

Living to the ripe old age of seventy or eighty is something only the wealthy and powerful can achieve.

"Next month, the whole village will have a wedding banquet. I'll treat you to a few drinks then!" Sanwen's eyes were full of anticipation. "And that silly boy Erzhu, he married a shrewd girl. He'll definitely be a henpecked husband!"

Upon hearing this, the group burst into laughter, which was carried into the temple by the gentle breeze. The faceless statue high in the temple silently observed the lives of these mortals.

Inside the temple, Ah Liu was sweeping the fallen leaves in the courtyard. Even if there were only a few leaves on the ground, he would still clean them up.

In front of the main hall, Yao Zhengze gazed at the temple in deep thought. He had been in this village for over a month, but he had not yet put pen to paper; he had only been looking at the temple.

He carefully examined the temple, both inside and out, in front and behind, from distant views to close-ups, from the mountaintop to the ground, and the temple amidst the changing winds and rains, day and night, all of which were imprinted in his mind.

Yao Zhengze has finally decided to start painting!

On a quiet summer night deep in the mountains, a painter poured over thirty days and nights of his heart and soul into depicting the Wuxiang Temple, a sacred temple nestled deep within the mountains, on rice paper, thus recording human civilization in its memory.

The ancient and rugged outer walls of the temple were built by the hands of the people of the mountains.

The deep black color on the wall is the color of the earth, mixed with the blood and sweat of the people on this land.

The wide-open temple gates reveal locust trees in the courtyard, and in the dim light of the inner hall, there is a faceless deity with one hand raised in prayer and the other holding a mudra in his right hand.

In front of the temple are villages and settlements, bustling with life.

Behind the temple is a mountain of bones, a hell of skulls.

Yao Zhengze was so engrossed in his painting that he didn't notice a night breeze blowing by and a figure appearing behind him.

Bai Wuxiang arrived in the village silently, appeared in the painter's house, and quietly watched.

He witnessed firsthand the violent changes and shifts in the air above this mortal's head, the white vapor boiling like water, transforming from wisps into clouds.

However, at the same time, Yao Zhengze's internal energy and blood, or rather... lifespan, seemed to have shortened.

However, the ordinary sheet of Xuan paper in front of him underwent a transformation, an indescribable feeling.

Bai Wuxiang thought to himself, "Humans are truly mysterious creatures in this world."

When one is a person, there are many principles of human nature that one does not understand.

Now that I am a demon, I am able to transcend the perspective of a human, but I still cannot see things clearly.

He looked at the stunning temple drawing on the paper and was satisfied. He stretched out his palm, and divine power surged from the Vengeful Spirit Pearl.

"Whoo~"

Bai Wuxiang gently blew a breath, bestowing a divine power upon the painting, ensuring it would not be easily damaged.

As for leaving any bewitching magic spells on it, he thought about it and decided against it.

In fact, what is most captivating in this world is one's own heart!

This painting already possesses the spirit bestowed upon it by Yao Zhengze. Since it was created by him, let's respect the owner of this painting.

*Thump!*

But Yao Zhengze, exhausted after finishing the last stroke, collapsed to the ground.

Bai Wuxiang looked at Yao Zhengze, whose hair had a few strands of silver, sighed softly, and still placed a piece of bone jade in his hand as a reward.

He turned and left the house, but for the first time he didn't leave immediately. Instead, he walked slowly, step by step, through the village.

In the dim night, the entire village was almost dark, and the flat dirt and stone road was devoid of weeds.

The houses in the village are mostly made of earth and wood, without any magnificent palaces or pavilions, only the simplicity of a rural village.

Dressed in white robes, Bai Wuxiang walked through a village where people called themselves gods for the first time.

He could clearly hear the sounds of men who had worked hard all day sleeping soundly in the house, the soft murmurs of young children grinding their teeth, the faint breaths of the elderly, or women who were still awake worrying about their livelihoods and food, as well as lovers whispering sweet nothings to each other, accompanied by the rhythmic creaking of the bed boards.

"It seems that I have forgotten how to be a person."

Bai Wuxiang murmured to himself, "After being trapped in the darkness of the coffin for several years, I am indeed more suited to be a demon."

He walked alone in the darkness until he reached the willow tree at the end of the village. The copper bells tied to the tree jingled and swayed without any wind.

Looking at the copper bell on the willow, he took two steps back and said with a smile, "That's right, no matter what I feel, Bai Wuxiang is ultimately not human."

They can be demons, evil spirits, monsters, or gods, but they can never be human again.

Bai Wuxiang was deeply moved, and his mind became much more open. The memories of being human in his past life and the reality of being a demon in this life no longer conflicted in his heart.

He left the mountain village, and with him, he left the prison in his own heart.

A black raven flew in from the night, landed on his shoulder, and silently stayed there, accompanying him back to the cave of bones beneath the mountain full of skeletons.

Rolling earth energy came from all directions and gathered at the mountain. Eerie laughter echoed in the night, maniacal laughter, shrill laughter, all kinds of laughter reverberating in the wilderness.

These skeletons are all inanimate objects, influenced by Bai Wuxiang's demonic aura and nurtured by the yin energy of the surrounding earth. Even though their souls have been scattered, their strongest obsessions from their lives are still etched into their bones. These eerie, grotesque laughs are the manifestation of their obsessions.

Wisps of grayish-white mist gathered into fog, enveloping Skull Mountain.

Even as the sun rose the next day, the fog over Skull Mountain did not dissipate. The hazy fog obscured the horrifying mountain of white bones, leaving only a mist-shrouded mountain behind the temple.

Bai Wuxiang stopped cultivating and sensed the changes in the surrounding world. This mist had not dissipated for years, and over time it was quite beneficial to the Yin-gathering effect of Skull Mountain.

In this way, he could barely cultivate even during the day.

However, you still need to be careful during certain seasons.

Bai Wuxiang sat upright on the stone platform in the cave, his mind gradually wandering. Although he closed his eyes, everything in the cave appeared in his mind.

With a thought, the scene he sensed gradually expanded, extending to outside the White Bone Cave, where he saw the Black Crow lazily nestled in its den in the locust tree.

And the hazy mist over Skull Mountain.

His mind expanded outwards, and he heard the laughter of a skeleton—a desperate and helpless laugh.

There was also a fully formed humanoid skeleton, crawling around on the pile of bones like a child.

There were also some skulls that emitted soft human whispers, as if someone nearby was talking quietly.

These skeletons are devoid of spirit and intelligence; even if they could move and speak, they still could not be considered living beings.

Their behavior was merely a preservation of their pre-death instincts and obsessions, nourished by the earth's yin energy, enabling them to repeat certain actions indefinitely.

Without Bai Wuxiang's demonic aura and earth yin energy, these bones would still become ordinary skeletons.

Bai Wuxiang carefully experienced this feeling with great curiosity. For cultivators and spirits, the cave dwelling was not just a place.

A cave dwelling can also be called a Taoist temple!

Inside his cave, Bai Wuxiang could clearly feel that whether he was cultivating or using demonic arts, he felt like a fish in water, which was much easier than outside.

He could even perceive the weather, terrain, and other external factors within the cave.

His strength increases by three points within his cave. No wonder monsters and demons stay in one place for so long. If they encounter an enemy they cannot defeat, they can retreat to their cave and perhaps achieve a stalemate and turn danger into safety.

If you encounter an enemy whose strength is far inferior to yours, you will most likely not have a chance to escape back to your cave, and even if you try to fight back, it will be of no use.

That only means your death is imminent! In this situation, all you can do is wait for it.

After surveying his cave dwelling territory, Bai Wuxiang withdrew his attention and returned to his own body.

After more than a month of cultivation, his demonic power had increased significantly, and all thirteen bones in his skull were now filled with demonic power.

According to his normal cultivation method, it would take him a year to accumulate enough demonic power to fill a skull.

Each of the bones in the body and legs takes at least ten months to fill.

His cultivation progress was so rapid because he had refined the death energy obtained from Wulong Village.

I estimate that once I have fully refined them, I will have twenty skulls filled with demonic power.

Then, after patiently cultivating in seclusion in the deep mountains for decades, reaching the initial perfection of the Spirit Building Realm, Bai Wuxiang would consider going down the mountain to take a look.

After all, amidst the births, aging, sickness, and death, joys and sorrows, and partings and reunions at the foot of the mountain, countless deathly energies and resentments would arise.

Chaotic times are not always present.

If the world below the mountain is prosperous and peaceful, then he can only hide in the deep mountains and forests and cannot come out.

In chaotic times, demons and monsters reign supreme; this is no empty saying.

But Bai Wuxiang was an extremely cautious person. Even if he wanted to go down the mountain to cultivate Taoism, he had to have the ability to protect himself first.

Otherwise, going down the mountain would not be cultivating the Tao, but seeking death!

……

In Black Stone Village, Aunt Cao carried a meal: a bowl of thin porridge, a dish of pickled mangosteens, and two cornbread buns.

Such meals are a real luxury for the people in their village during the off-season.

But she had been serving these meals for over a month, all of them to the painter who came from the village.

It's said that he was inspired by Master Wuxiang to paint for the temple. The second-in-command instructed them to take good care of this painter and not to neglect him.

She arrived at the house and was puzzled by the closed door, as this painter was usually an early riser. She knocked on the door and said softly, "Sir, are you up? Breakfast has been brought."

After waiting for a while, she still didn't hear a sound.

So they knocked on the door several more times, but still received no response.

Worried that something had happened to the painter, Aunt Cao pushed open the door and went inside.

Upon entering the house, she saw Yao Zhengze lying unconscious on the ground. Startled, she quickly went over to help him up and checked his breathing. Finding that he was still breathing, she breathed a sigh of relief.

After helping Yao Zhengze to bed, she wanted to call the second-in-command to take a look. When she walked to the window, her eyes inadvertently fell on the painting on the easel.

Aunt Cao was startled at first glance. Even though she was a rough woman who didn't know how to read, the scene in the painting was so lifelike that it was almost identical to the landscape of the Wuxiang Temple!
Whether it was the brick walls outside the temple, the statues inside, the village in front of the temple, or the frightening skeleton behind the temple, she was completely mesmerized, as if she had been drawn into a world of paintings.

A faint trace of human presence was drawn into the painting. Aunt Cao was stunned for a long time before she came to her senses and remembered what she was supposed to do. She hurriedly turned around to invite the second-in-command, but she was still marveling in her mind that this Mr. Yao was truly a master!
Upon hearing the news, You Junzi rushed over and treated Yao Zhengze. He discovered that Yao Zhengze was suffering from severe mental and physical exhaustion and was also deficient in qi and blood. After Yao Zhengze woke up, You Junzi instructed him to rest more.

After waking up, Yao Zhengze got out of bed with a face full of excitement, came to the painting, and said with surprise in his eyes, "I actually painted this lifelike masterpiece!"

You Junzi followed his gaze and his expression became serious. Even though the painting contained no words or human faces, when he stared at the statues in the hall, he felt a strange sense of being spied on by the statues.

"This painting has already possessed a spirit!" You Junzi was filled with doubt and uncertainty. Could this painting be some kind of formless sorcery?
"What does the Second Master think of this painting?" Yao Zhengze asked with a delighted expression.

You Junzi flattered, "Of course it's excellent! Once this painting is passed down through generations, you will certainly be worthy of the title of master!"
I wonder what you intend to do with this painting, sir?

Yao Zhengze couldn't contain his excitement and laughed loudly, "Hahaha, then naturally I will take this map north to the capital and show off the wonders of the 'Formless Crossing the Spirits of Ten Thousand Bones Map'!"

(End of this chapter)