Beyond the Timescape

Chapter 629: Myriad Magics of Daybreak; Erniu’s Big Event (part 1)

In the Bitter Life Mountains, the blood-colored light spread from the horizon, indicating that the red moon was coming. As a result, living beings lost control over the wickedness in their hearts, allowing slaughter and chaos to spread. However, there was one very small city on the edge of the mountains where things had been warm and welcoming from the very beginning. People smiled at each other without any sense of hostility. In fact, everyone seemed friendly.

About half of the citizens were actually subordinates of Li Youfei. Because they knew of the Heir Apparent’s magnanimity, they had stayed behind. The other half of the cultivators came from other locales.

There were some outsiders who stormed into the city full of madness. However, after sensing the kind atmosphere of the place, they rejected wicked thoughts and embraced the beauty.

Looking around at the bustling streets, the Heir Apparent sighed. “The coziness here is a tiny window into what things were like when my father was alive. All species lived in joy and harmony.”

Princess Brightblossom, clad in a white robe, looked at the crowds and nodded. She could tell that the Heir Apparent truly did like this place.

A gleam of reminiscence could be seen in Fifth Sister’s eyes. Compared to being sealed for countless years of time, even just being back and able to see a small corner of the world brought a scrap of warmth to her cold heart.

Meanwhile, the burly Eighth Sib wasn’t able to keep his mouth shut. “You call this place cozy, big brother? Everything down to the blades of grass here is full of your power. They all react according to your moods. Every gust of the breeze. Every dancing blade of grass....”

The Heir Apparent’s expression turned down as he glared in irritation at his Eighth Sib. Princess Brightblossom turned to look at him as well, her gaze cold. Even Fifth Sister was frowning at him. The combined gazes of his three siblings caused the burly Eighth Sib to shiver and inhale sharply. Suddenly looking very ingratiating, he transformed his appearance into that of an old man.

“What a great place! So cozy! I love it!”

Face completely expressionless, the Heir Apparent continued leading them through the city. Princess Brightblossom and Fifth Sister looked away. Eighth Sib breathed a sigh of relief.

Xu Qing, meanwhile, took note of the relationship between these sons and daughters of an Imperial Sovereign.

Princess Brightblossom ranks highest, but the Heir Apparent isn’t far off from her. However, they both defer to Fifth Sister. And then there’s Eighth Sib....

He thought back to what he had seen with divine sense: Eighth Sib being beaten up.

He must rank similarly to Ning Yan.

With that in mind, he hurried forward to be close to Princess Brightblossom and Fifth Sister. As they got close to the Green Spirit Pharmacy, Xu Qing caught sight of Wu Jianwu and Patriarch Inkrule. A new type of poetry soon reached their ears.

“Ten heavens, nine earths, eight winds, seven seas, six daos, five elements, buy before we run out; one coming, two going, three pills, four peaces, five spirits, six classics, no discounts but we’ll still sell out!”

During his time spent outside the Green Spirit Pharmacy recently, Wu Jianwu had been experimenting with many different forms of poetry. His latest creations were doing a good job of drumming up business from the passersby.

Patriarch Inkrule had seemingly accepted his fate. He stood there looking bored to death and spending most of his time trying to come up with a way to escape. Being a patient person, he hadn’t done anything rash, and had instead been observing his surroundings closely. He had already started to notice some things he thought he could use to his advantage, and had been thinking hard about how to make them part of his plan. When he noticed a group of people walking toward the medicine shop, he shivered and plastered a servile look onto his face. Then, he prepared to copy some of Wu Jianwu’s poetry. However....

That was when he realized that there were two old women walking with the Heir Apparent, one dressed in white, the other black. Just looking at the white-robed grandma caused Patriarch Inkrule’s mind to reel.

Another Smoldering God?

He started trembling, his heart full of disbelief. Then his gaze shifted to the second grandma, the one in black. His mind reeled even further.

That’s another Smoldering God!

Then Patriarch Inkrule looked at the last person in the group, who was a burly old man.

And another....

Patriarch Inkrule gulped in a breath and stopped breathing. None of this even seemed real. It was more like a dream. In fact, he actually wouldn’t even dare to dream up something like this. Suddenly feeling weak all over, he dropped to his knees. He was being submissive. More submissive than he ever had been in his entire life. As of now, he wasn’t putting a scrap of thought into how to escape. He now realized that unless the Red Moon Cathedral went all out to save him, or Crimson Mother personally came, there was no way anyone in the Moonrite Region would be able to save him.

Surprised by Patriarch Inkrule’s behavior, Wu Jianwu followed his gaze down the street until he saw Xu Qing, the Heir Apparent, and the others. He was about to wave and call out a greeting when he noticed the two new grandmas, and the additional grandpa. Two grandmas and two grandpas were strolling down the street in his direction. He instinctively rubbed at his eyes, convinced that he was seeing things. But then, he felt like he was being struck by heavenly lightning.

“No way. Don’t tell me... we have another three??” Wu Jianwu was stunned. And though he felt like he must be mistaken, that didn’t stop the waves of shock that rose within him. Standing there with his jaw hanging open, he just watched as Xu Qing and the others neared.

Eighth Sib stopped in front of Wu Jianwu, looked up and down, then grinned. “Nice poetry, little buddy.”

The words hit Wu Jianwu like a lightning bolt, and he suddenly went limp and dropped into a kneeling position. Then he just stared as the group entered the Green Spirit Pharmacy. Still not convinced he was seeing reality, he bit down onto his tongue. As the pain lanced through him, he murmured, “I can’t believe I’m looking at four Smoldering Gods!”

Wu Jianwu would never be able to forget this image for the rest of his life.

The moment Xu Qing stepped into the shop, Ling’er was about to excitedly rush over when she noticed the three newcomers. She stopped in place hesitantly.

“This little Ancient Spirit girl is wonderful.” Princess Brightblossom looked at Ling’er and smiled. She had always admired the Ancient Spirits’ fighting methods, and had even been close friends with an Ancient Spirit. What was more, Ling’er was more than just a stranger to her. After all, back when Xu Qing rescued the princess, Ling’er had been with him.

Slowly walking over to Xu Qing’s side, Ling’er gripped the sides of her garment nervously, looked at Princess Brightblossom, and said, “Nice to meet you, grandmother.”

Princess Brightblossom nodded and smiled warmly. Fifth Sister could already see what kind of relationship Xu Qing and Ling’er had, and it caused her expression to soften a bit. Eighth Sib, who could tell how much his siblings valued Xu Qing, flashed a silly grin.

Meanwhile, the featherless parrot flew over, cursing all the way. “Grandpa, you’re back! The past few days—”

Before the parrot could reach the Heir Apparent, a whump rang out as a huge hand reached out and grabbed him.

It was Eighth Sib.

Looking curiously at the parrot, he said, “Big Brother, don’t you think this thing’s bloodline is familiar?”

The Heir Apparent smiled. “It’s a descendant of that certain individual. Bred by that kid out there.”

“Bred by him?” Eighth Sib looked curiously at Wu Jianwu outside, then pulled the parrot a bit closer to examine.

The parrot shivered, and his eyes shone with terror. He wasn’t even capable of struggling as he looked at the scary old man that was holding him. That old man seemed like a burning oven who could incinerate the parrot with a mere thought.

Ning Yan trembled as he continued to scrub the floor like usual. Similar to Wu Jianwu, he could only look at the Heir Apparent and his siblings with outright disbelief.

They’re all... they’re all Smoldering Gods? Here in this medicine shop?

Li Youfei had long since dropped trembling to his knees.

Compared to all of them, Nethersprite seemed very cool and collected.

Although she was slightly surprised by Princess Brightblossom and the other two, it only took a moment for her to regain her composure. After all, there wasn’t much difference between waiting on one Smoldering God and waiting on four Smoldering Gods. In the end, she was just boiling water. What she cared most about was her revulsion for and hatred of the Captain.

As for the Captain, he looked excited. Making sure to place a look of ingratiating flattery on his face, he rushed out and dropped to his knees.

“Grandpa! You’re back, sir! Thanks to the parrot’s squawking earlier, I guessed that you would be coming back today. This is amazing, sir! Nice to meet you, grandmas, grandpa.” Ducking his head repeatedly, the Captain bowed at the waist and made sure to keep his tone as charming as possible. Inside he was trembling. After all, he had previously predicted that something like this would happen, yet he hadn’t considered that Xu Qing would bring back a total of four Smoldering Gods. Is he feeling suicidal or something...?

Eighth Sib turned his attention away from the parrot. Looking the Captain up and down, he said, “Big Brother, why do you have a god bastard here? And why is this aura so familiar? Years ago, when I still had a bit of consciousness in me, I remember a cultivator with a similar aura coming to the door in which I was sealed. I would bang the door, and in response, he would knock on it. He was very shifty-looking.” Staring fixedly at the Captain, Eighth Sib asked, “Was that you?”

The Captain blinked a few times and was about to respond, but before he could, Fifth Sister spoke in a cold voice.

“Years ago, someone used something like a sacrificial dance to send some divine will into my prison and make some unreasonable demands. I ate him.”

Upon hearing their conversation, Ning Yan inhaled sharply. Outside the shop, Wu Jianwu’s face went blank with astonishment. And Xu Qing eyed the Captain deeply. The Captain’s heart was pounding.

“Erniu, have you been up to the same crazy antics in recent years?” the Heir Apparent said coolly.

The Captain shook his head vigorously. “Grandpa, you yourself have seen how well I’ve been behaving.... This is definitely a misunderstanding!”

The Heir Apparent smiled mysteriously but didn’t dig any further into the topic. Instead, he led his brother and sisters to the spot where he usually sat. As they settled down, Nethersprite hurried over with the kettle, which she used to prepare four cups of tea.

Princess Brightblossom picked up her cup, took a sip, then looked around. She nodded. “This place is nice.”

Fifth Sister looked around the medicine shop, taking in Ning Yan and the others. She also nodded. “How wonderful to be young.”

Eighth Sib took a sip of tea. “As long as you two like it, that’s what counts!”

Everyone in the medicine shop trembled in fear as the day passed.