Mumu was still waiting with the fat monk so Wen Leyang was no longer worried. He wrote a reply on a note with his skewed handwriting for Ah Dan to bring back as a report of their safety. He also requested Mumu to come down and join them. The Seven Maidens Mountain was more desolate than the Nine Peaks Mountain and there was utterly no reception signal on his cellphone at all.
Ah Dan, with his hand pressing on the copper pan, left as ordered…
Bushuo, Buzuo, and the rest of the Qing Miao clansmen were slowly regaining their consciousness. They looked at the fire altar which had broken into pieces and the expressions of the Qing Miao clansmen in the stockade village turned panicked. Right until that very moment before the wicked witch had cast her devilry spell, they had finally understood that Second Mother’s words in the past were right, that their own witchcraft powers were being drained and stripped away along with the black-colored human figures in midair.
Most of the witchcraft power had been extracted out of every Qing Miao clansman so when Chi Liang’s devilry was finally broken, the witchcraft powers were returned back to their bodies. However, the process of extracting and returning was enough to severely wound them. The two brothers Bushuo and Buzuo had lost consciousness from the sudden loud noise, their internal organs had suffered some minor injuries yet they were in a much better condition than the Qing Miao clansmen.
Not long after, the wicked witch Chi Liang suddenly screamed out in pain. She opened her eyes and her charming gaze looked around for a moment before she completely regained her awareness. Her body struggled as she jumped up but she cried out sorrowfully before she fell down again. A layer of fresh blood rapidly seeped out from within her body and stained her clothes scarlet.
The wicked witch’s expression was extremely ashen, there was not an ounce of shine on her face and she looked almost like a corpse.
Wen Buzuo grinned hideously as he roared loudly, “Stop moving! If you move anymore you’ll be cut into ground meat!” He was still hearing an echo of the sharp howl in his ears so he shouted with all his might to hear himself better.
Bound around the wicked witch was the iron silk wire tailor-made by the Death Trademark. The more one struggled the deeper the sharp silk wire would cut into the flesh. All the prisoners in the Death Trademark were fastened with this type of wire lock, by the time they were untied it was normal for their limbs to almost be falling off.
Chi Liang cautiously settled down into a more comfortable sitting position. Her dark brows were slightly furrowed and a dash of sweetness that charmed one to the core penetrated from within her agony. She exhaled lightly and asked Wen Leyang, “Where’s my older sister?”
Wen Buzuo raised his voiced and shouted in rage from the side, “I can’t hear you, speak louder!”
Wen Leyang was shocked for a moment but he soon reacted to the situation. He waved his hand at the nail-like Wen Bushuo, the three-inch nail subsequently walked out with great strides before he threw the wealthy young married woman’s corpse onto the ground with a loud bang. The young married woman had been poisoned by the strong poison within the Faulty Punch. At the same time, the wicked witch Chi Liang had cast her devilry spell which resulted in everyone being knocked out by the loud noise and brightness. No one had the time to pay any attention to her and she was killed by the poison after a while.
Chi Liang took a close look at the corpse then met Wen Leyang’s gaze. There wasn’t an ounce of sorrow or hatred in her eyes. On the contrary, her eyes were filled with pleasure derived from the young married woman’s demise, “Thank you for your trouble.”
The Second Mother’s vital fire had been extinguished during the attack on the Miao stockade village. She was now gravely injured and she could only manage to sit up and speak strenuously, “You can die peacefully or die tragically, make your choice wisely.”
Chi Liang, without hesitation, answered immediately, “I will die peacefully! You can ask me anything you please!” She then paused for a moment before shaking her head lightly, paying special care to the iron silk wires as she said, “I shall tell the story myself and save all of you the trouble of asking!”
The wicked witch was unexpectedly cooperative and that made everyone frown with disbelief.
Chi Liang tilted her head to the side to think before beginning to speak dully, “I’m not Chi Liang.” Upon saying that she suddenly pouted her lips in a peculiar manner and then made all sorts of meaningless expressions. A moment later, she had completely transformed into another person; she was still charming and seductive, still young and attractive, but her entire appearance had changed completely. She was now a completely different person compared to the Chi Liang from the beginning.
Just as everyone opened their eyes wide in surprise, the wicked witch smiled sweetly at the Second Mother, “Chi Liang was an honest little maiden. She seldom spoke and rarely got close to anyone other than her parents on most days. It wasn’t that hard to pretend to be her. Second Mother, was the reason that you chose this little maiden Chi Liang on behalf of the Big Dragon’s Root because you adored her for her lack of social interaction so she could never speak up and be a better wife than you?”
The Second Mother was ashen as she made a frustrated humph, “I’m both his wife and sister as well!”
The wicked witch stuck out her tongue playfully and laughed gently, “I suppose I had been overthinking about the situation then! Please do not be offended, Second Mother.” Her expression was unlike a captive trapped in a life or death situation but was instead like a little maiden having an intimate talk with her good friend.
The old monk grew impatient as he waved his hand and yelled, “Who are you really? If you wish to die with an intact corpse then do speak sensibly soon!”
The wicked witch looked at the old monk with a piteous stare, “I’m from the Mo family and we’re from the Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture.”
“The Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture?” The old monk muttered the word twice before his eyes brightened as he remembered the wicked witch’s origins, “The Mo family of Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture still had surviving supporters of evil in this world?”
The wicked witch appeared slighted as if the old monk’s question had hurt her ego, “Thousands of years ago we were hunted by those on the righteous cultivation path. Our family had almost been exterminated but some of us managed to remain dormant in the world to leave behind some descendants…however,” The wicked witch rolled her eyes as she spoke before she turned joyous again, “There were more than just us from the Mo family who had escaped…” Before she could finish speaking, the sound of a loud ‘smack’ was suddenly heard.
The Second Mother’s hand was as fast as lightning as she slapped hard onto the wicked witch’s face. Following that she staggered and almost fell before Wen Leyang hastily held out his hands to support her. The Second Mother’s face was ghastly pale as she spat, “If you were to give any more unrelated answers to the question, I will burn out one of your eyes!” Upon saying that, she took out a joss stick from Mara the Devil’s shrine and ignited it.
The Qing Miao clansmen had worshipped Mara the Devil and there was a shrine for prayer in almost every house.
The wicked witch’s eyes exuded fear though it was unclear whether it was out of her conscience or she was just pretending, “A few years ago, I entered the Seven Maidens Mountain unintentionally and killed a few of the dwarves in the forest. Soon after that, I discovered their witchcraft power which benefited me…” Between her words, five streaks of bruises in the shape of a palm mark gradually appeared on her delicate face.
The Mo family of Jingpo Autonomous Prefecture was an infamous family within the cultivation world. They were experts in the two unique skills of face changing and power wresting. The power wresting skill could be channeled through the Art of Devilry to seize another’s power. Finally, after thousands of years of misbehavior, they incurred public resentment and were annihilated by the One Word Palace of Lake Luohai of the Five Blessings. Only a few minor characters had managed to escape back then and they were unable to cause any more trouble ever since.
The wicked witch was a descendant of the Mo family, their cultivation base relied solely upon seizing others’ primordial spirit and power. However, their actual powers were fairly ordinary before they stole another’s power. Therefore, they had been careful not to provoke the other highborn families in the cultivation word. To the wicked witch’s surprise, however, she had discovered that the witchcraft powers of the Miao Bujiao’s disciples, though different from the primordial spiritual energy of the other cultivators, could still be useful to her. All of a sudden, the disciples of Miao Bujiao became fertile delicacies in her eyes.
Coincidentally, the First Mother had died of difficult labor at that time. While the Second Mother had made arrangements for the wedding of the Big Dragon’s Root and Chi Liang, the wicked witch exhausted all her abilities and murdered Chi Liang. Then, using a secret skill passed down by the family known as the Art of Face Changing, she transformed herself into Chi Liang. As the real Chi Liang had dwelled in deep seclusion and rarely came out, she was introverted and rarely stayed in touch with others so when the wicked witch transformed into her she was always extra cautious until she was married to the Big Dragon’s Root.
The Art of Power Wresting must be based on a purpose to achieve something so the person whose power was being wrested would be willing to sacrifice everything for the supposed purpose. The wicked witch had introduced the worship of Mara the Devil and with her family members’ help, she gave out the decree that Mara the Devil was descending to intimidate the Qing Miao clansmen more. Everything else that had happened after was almost the same as the Big Dragon’s Root’s investigation, once the Art of Power Wresting was initiated, everyone who had partaken in the sharing of the witchcraft power would place their lives in the wicked witch’s hands. She could put them to death whenever she wanted.
After murdering the Big Dragon’s Root and chasing the Second Mother out of the village, the wicked witch’s victory was at hand so she delayed the launching of the spell in order to await the so-called favorable day of Mara the Devil’s descent. The more earnest the Qing Miao clansmen were in their worship, the stronger the effect of her power wresting would grow. However, she had not expected that Wen Leyang’s group, together with Ji Fei and Shui Jing’s trouble-making, would cause her vital fire to be extinguished and severely wound her. As she wasn’t a person who engaged in the cultivation of witchcraft, her witchcraft powers were stolen from others so once her vital fire was extinguished, the countercharge effect that she would suffer was worse than the rest. If she does not replenish her witchcraft power in time, her cultivation base would become a total waste. So, left without a choice, she made preparations to bring forward the day to launch her devilry spell even if the result would not be as good as the actual day of Mara the Devil’s descent, it was still better than completely abandoning her powers.
Life had not turned out the way she had planned, for Wen Leyang and the rest managed to catch up to her in time.
Upon saying that, the wicked witch blinked her eyes while she swore and vowed, “I’ve not told a single lie at all!”
The Second Mother had heard what she wanted to know and she had managed to correctly guess most of the story. The biggest dilemma in her heart had been the fact that she was afraid that she had picked the wrong bride and caused her dear brother’s death and almost ruined the Miao Bujiao’s two-thousand-year-old cultivation. At last, the knot in her heart was entirely unfastened, the wicked witch was the wicked witch herself while Chi Liang was Chi Liang herself. The disciples of Miao Bujiao had suffered through such hardships yet it was unrelated to the new bride at all. Even if the First Mother was still alive and the Big Dragon’s Root never had cause to remarry, the wicked witch would still have found a way to infiltrate the Miao stockade village.
Wen Leyang tried to be patient. He waited for the wicked witch of the Mo family to finish her side of the story regarding the disciples of the Miao Bujiao, only then he inquired closely, “The Mountain Coffin Devilry spell and the tragic deaths of our Wen family’s seventeen disciples on Mount Emei, was that all her doing as well?” Wen Leyang pointed at the corpse lying on the ground.
The Second Mother nodded in gratitude to Wen Leyang, “There’s still a lot of matters in the Miao stockade village waiting for us to solve, you should continue to interrogate the wicked witch.” Upon saying that, she pulled along little Chi Maojiu and left. She clearly indicated her wish to not to take part in the hatred between the Wen family and the wicked witch.
The wicked witch made a ‘huh’ sound as she heard Wen Leyang’s question. A shade of puzzlement gathered on her beautiful face, “You’re the disciple of the Wen Bucao? My elder sister accidentally killed a dozen Wen family members on Mount Emei, she told me that she had owned up to her mistake by returning you a favor…”
The three-inch nail Wen Bushuo suddenly spoke in a rumbling voice, “The favor to the Wen family one can never return unless one dies!” His Art of Poison cultivation was much stronger than his brother Wen Buzuo’s, his ear canals felt peaceful and quiet now and he could hear quite clearly. Wen Buzuo blushed in desperation as he was still staring with wide-open eyes as he could only watch the movements of the others’ mouths but he could not hear their voices.
Wen Bucao’s cultivation has existed for two thousand years. They clearly distinguished kindness and hatred and while they sought revenge for the smallest grievance, never once had they suffered such a tremendous loss. Nothing could absolve the vengeance they had felt after losing so many fellow disciples. Even if the enemy was the emperor they would still stand on the peak of their mountain as they poisoned the clouds green.
Wen Leyang glanced at the wicked witch briefly, “Tell me what really happened and why you had murdered our family’s disciples.”