Wayfarer

Chapter 415: Breeding the Humans

In the city of Wuliu, Xiao Nanfeng followed Yang San into the residential area past the streets. People were crying from within their courtyards. A coffin had been placed prominently in each yard as middle-aged men and women bade their goodbyes to their families, their eyes filled with tears.

Yang San gulped down his saliva, anxious. He didn't have much longer to live himself—but he had just had a chance encounter with a human demon. He fervently hoped that he would be able to learn how to live longer; he treasured this opportunity, and helped Xiao Nanfeng out to the best of his ability.

Yang San led Xiao Nanfeng to his own cottage and carefully inspected their surroundings to ensure that no one was tailing them before he shut the gate.

"Sir, for some reason, the cursed deities are always able to catch human demons. They frequently tell all of us that human demons live by consuming human flesh, so many people in the city would report to the guards if they were aware of your identity. We'll need to be careful," Yang San explained.

Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

Yang San immediately had his family come over and greet Xiao Nanfeng.

"You said that your son was ill, didn't you? Let me have a look at him."

"Please!"

Yang San immediately brought Xiao Nanfeng into his son's room. His son lay in bed, his face waxen, his breath short. He was deeply ill.

"My son's only seven. He's been weak since birth, and frequently suffers from illnesses that incapacitate him. In three years, if I end up dying, I don't know how my family will survive without me," Yang San sighed.

Xiao Nanfeng gave his son a preliminary checkup before feeding him a pill. Instantly, his son's pallor retreated. He opened his eyes as his face turned rosy.

"Father, my head doesn't hurt anymore. I feel so comfortable!" Yang San's son exclaimed as he sat up.

"Quick, bow down and thank Sir Xiao with me!" Yang San immediately bowed with his son in tow.

"I'll need a place to stay for the time being, and I have to trouble you to buy some books on history and geography in town. Consider this payment for your services. Your son will grow tall and strong in the future after ingesting this pill."

"Of course, Sir! Thank you, Sir!"

Yang San cleaned up the cottage and made space for Xiao Nanfeng to stay. He informed his family that they were to turn away all visitors and be gracious hosts to the human demon, then rushed out to buy the books that Xiao Nanfeng had wanted.

Not too long later, there was a pile of books stacked up before Xiao Nanfeng.

Xiao Nanfeng flipped through them briefly to gain a sense of which possessed the information he wanted. He understood roughly what was going on, now.

There were likely plenty of cities like Wuliu within the Netherworld Palace. Such cities were controlled by cursed effigies, and the 'human demons' that they spoke of were likely just ordinary cultivators. The cursed effigies told the people that they could only live till the age of forty-five, that only human demons could survive beyond that, and only by eating humans. As a result, human demons were strictly forbidden and had to be reported if anyone encountered one. To the people of the Netherworld Palace, all this seemed perfectly ordinary.

"Cursed effigies enjoy consuming souls. They're allowing the people to grow in cities in order to nourish their souls before reaping them. Isn't that what's going on? These cursed effigies really are lawless. They're treating humans like nothing but swine!" Xiao Nanfeng seethed.

Just then, as though suddenly noticing something, he rushed out of the cottage and looked up at the sky.

A yellow cloud bloomed. Yellow rain began to fall. Many of the civilians began crying even more loudly.

"It's here. The yellow rain from the heavens—it's time for all those at forty-five to die," Yang San sighed.

Xiao Nanfeng, however, saw a different sight entirely. After infusing spiritual power into his sight, he saw transparent chains dancing through the rain. Hooks at the end of each chain shot into some houses within the city and retreated with weakly shining souls in tow.

The souls of ordinary mortals were so weak that they couldn't be seen with the naked eye.

"A treasure that can detect someone's age? How sinister," Xiao Nanfeng murmured, narrowing his eyes.

Just then, a transparent chain shot straight toward him, the hook on its end sharp and gleaming with light. Xiao Nanfeng frowned and caught the hook in his palm.

"A spiritual treasure?"

Just then, a large number of chains in the rain seemed to have noticed him. They all shot his way.

"You think you can take me on? These cursed effigies really don't know anything. Come at me if you dare!" Xiao Nanfeng cried out.

Just then, within the city lord's manor, a group of horse-headed humanoids sat in a ring within a courtyard, a huge wok of oil before them. The wok was engraved with countless runes that glowed red, arcane and mysterious, clearly an incredible treasure.

The oil in the wok began to sizzle as yellow vapors rose into the air and formed a yellow cloud. The water vapor condensed and fell as yellow rain. Shortly thereafter, a translucent chain emerged from the wok and shot into the city, then quickly returned dragging the soul of a middle-aged woman, who gaped upon realizing that her soul had been taken to the city lord's manor.

It was only about the size of an ordinary person's finger. She saw a group of huge horse-headed humanoids seated around a wok, doing something she couldn't see.

"Cursed deities? I don't want to die. Please save me, cursed deities!" the middle-aged woman shouted anxiously.

She was pulled into the wok, then covered with a gleaming layer of oil. Just as she began to panic earnestly, two pillars sank into the wok and lifted her up.

"Thank you for saving me, cursed deities!" the middle-aged woman cried out gratefully.

The next moment, she realized that something was amiss. Those two 'pillars' around her weren't pillars at all—they were chopsticks!

A horse-headed humanoid placed her in his mouth.

The middle-aged woman, her wits sharpened by fear, shouted, "Don't eat me! My daughter's been blind from birth. If I die, what'll happen to her? Spare me!"

The horse-headed humanoid bit down with a crunch and swallowed her whole.

The next moment, more chains appeared, each accompanied by a soul. The souls were deep-fried and eaten raw by the horse-headed humanoids, who smiled as they chatted.

"It's been a whole year. How I've missed this taste!"

"These souls really do taste good, don't they? It's a pity they're too weak. Those defending the mouth of the abyss have it better, don't they? They can consume the souls of cultivators, whereas all we have are the souls of these mortals."

"There are human demons outside the cities as well. We can find an opportunity to hunt them down and sate our hunger."

"They hide like mice. It won't be easy to find them, and we'll have to rely on luck."

"Don't worry about all that now. Come on, we're having a feast!"

The horse-headed humanoids continued to pull human souls out of the pot and deposit them in their mouths.

As the humans' souls saw what was really going on, they shouted in shock.

"So the reason everyone dies at forty-five is because of the city lord and cursed deities!"

"Demons, you vile demons! You'll suffer for what you've done!"

"Spare me, City Lord!"

"Don't eat me!"

The souls shrieked and yelled, but the horse-headed humanoids ignored them. They continued their feast.

Suddenly, one horse-headed humanoid gaped in surprise. "Look at this. One of the chains is stuck! Ha, it looks like we're going to have a huge feast today!"

"For the soul-stealing chain to be bound so tightly—there has to be a human demon on the other end. Come on, send more chains over. We have to drag his soul back!" one horse-headed humanoid said, laughing.

A huge number of chains shot toward the cottage where Xiao Nanfeng was located.

He raised his hand, allowing the chains to latch tightly onto him.

A horse-headed humanoid rubbed his hands in glee. "Even a hundred chains aren't sufficient. We've truly caught someone incredible. He must boast shocking achievement in terms of spiritual cultivation. Let's continue!"

Even more chains shot toward Xiao Nanfeng, who was getting a little impatient. He shattered the chains with a punch, then followed the chains to their origin. He arrived at the city lord's manor in the blink of an eye, where he saw the horse-headed humanoid frying the people's souls.

"You demons—is this the sort of inhumane act that you get up to while trapped in the abyss? Die!" Xiao Nanfeng shouted.

When the horse-headed humanoid saw that Xiao Nanfeng had no fear of them whatsoever, they grinned.

"An Immortal. He's an Immortal! Quick, grab him!"

"Haha, thank the Yanluo Lords above! He's a great addition to our feast!"

"Catch him! I want to eat him!"

The horse-headed humanoids rushed toward Xiao Nanfeng with glee.

Xiao Nanfeng's eyes flashed as he struck with his divine undying blade, cleaving the foremost horse-headed humanoid in two. The others blanched, finally realizing how dangerous he was. They drew their Immortal weapons and struck at him.

A huge tempest formed above the city lord's manor as Xiao Nanfeng shattered one Immortal relic after another, as well as the horse-headed humanoids' bodies.

Without any hesitation, Xiao Nanfeng sliced through all the chains leading out from the wok. The people immediately regained their freedom. With a wave of his hand, he grabbed the souls within the wok and freed them as well.

"You don't have much time. Your souls will dissipate if they're out of your bodies for too long. Hurry up and get back into your bodies to save your lives!" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

"Thank you, Sir!" countless souls exclaimed gratefully.

They could sense their present weakness acutely. Without any hesitation, they rushed out of the manor. Many turned and looked back at Xiao Nanfeng, hoping to imprint the face of their savior in their memory.

"Damn it, stop him!" the city lord howled.

Many guards all across the manor shot over, all demons. However, they were far weaker than those cursed effigies that guarded the mouth of the abyss, and they were no match for Xiao Nanfeng.

If Xiao Nanfeng weren't afraid of harming the souls of the ordinary people, he would long since have activated his deific domain and frozen the cursed effigies whole.

The cursed effigies weren't particularly strong; they were Human Immortals at best. Xiao Nanfeng wreaked havoc throughout the city.