Nightmare Apostle

Chapter 793: Chapter 595: Nuodai

"On the night the male infant was born, Yao Ji and Ruan Bo took their positions at the north and south of Qishou Mountain to set up altars and engage in a magic duel. Yao Ji, using a strand of Divine Soul, paid homage to the deities to borrow the Nine Heavens Thunder and stealthily entered the favored concubine’s dream, while Ruan Bo, refusing to be outdone, descended to the Netherworld to consult with ghosts and drew water from the Ru River to sneak into the favored concubine’s dream."

"Both deployed various strategies within the favored concubine’s dream, fighting to an indistinguishable standstill. It was said that on that night, outside the palace, the stars and moon changed abruptly, thunder rumbled incessantly, and strange phenomena emerged in abundance, as if demons had descended upon the world. A Vice Supervisor from the Qintian Observatory on night duty, one of the five officials, was scared to death on the spot." freёwebnovel.com

"Summoned by the news, the Supervisor, Vice Supervisor, and more than a dozen subordinates exhausted all means but failed to salvage the situation. Yao Ji and Ruan Bo were blinded by rage, resorting to anything to secure victory, including Forbidden Techniques. Eventually, their defiance of nature brought down Divine Punishment. Mages meddling with the nation’s fate was already a dire taboo; a bolt of punitive thunder fell, dispelling the bizarre phenomena outside the palace and startling the favored concubine awake from her Ghost Dream. The instigators, Yao Ji and Ruan Bo, suffered backlash on the spot, falling into unconsciousness. Found atop the mountain peak when they awoke, one had lost both his arms, while the other had lost both his legs."

"How could their eyes be blinded and their legs broken just from fighting in the dream?" Zhang Songde asked curiously, furrowing his brows.

Xiang Fengchen ignored him, continuing on his own accord, "Shortly after the favored concubine awoke, she began to suffer unbearable abdominal pains, as the time of birth had arrived. Several midwives, already prepared, were summoned into the tent."

"Was the head first, or the feet?" Chang Chuchu also had his appetite whetted and asked, "Who ultimately won?"

Turning his head, Xiang Fengchen looked at the crowd with an odd expression in his eyes. After a moment, he shook his head and sighed, "No one won. The head and feet came out together."

Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao and the others were stunned. The head and feet together—they couldn’t fathom what kind of position that would be.

"It was a stillborn infant." Xiang Fengchen gestured a horizontal line across his abdomen, "Torn open at the waist, the two halves of the body laid atop each other, with the head and feet emerging simultaneously."

"Dead..." The outcome caught everyone somewhat off guard.

"Dead," Xiang Fengchen confirmed, then turned to look at Zhang Songde, making the latter’s scalp tingle with his gaze, "Now I will answer your earlier question. The stillborn infant had 4 legs and 4 eyes side by side on its face."

Considering the fate of Yao Ji and Ruan Bo, everyone involuntarily shivered. The extra pair of eyes and legs on the dead infant were exactly what the two had lost.

"The ancients took these things seriously, let alone in an emperor’s family. The terrifying sight of the stillborn shocked one of the midwives responsible for the delivery into madness. Upon learning of this, the emperor immediately ordered the news be sealed, and had all the midwives who knew of the incident, as well as the palace maids and eunuchs waiting outside the tent, executed. The favored concubine, deemed a demon, was nailed and killed alongside the stillborn infant beneath the star-gazing platform of the Qintian Observatory. That night, a Vice Supervisor of the Qintian Observatory was also implicated in the affair and was ordered to hang himself."

"After this event, the Grand Master regretted his past actions, as he hadn’t anticipated his two disciples would dare to such extremities. Of course, what he had even less anticipated was that the two already possessed such defying techniques. He knew well that such a matter couldn’t be kept secret forever; the Qintian Observatory wasn’t filled with incompetent people, and it would eventually be traced back to them."

"Knowing he had brought a catastrophic disaster upon the Fangshi lineage, to prevent the Fangshi from being wiped out, the Grand Master used a secret technique to split the Divine Turtle Shell into three parts, keeping one for himself, giving one to Yao Ji, who had lost his sight, and another to Ruan Bo, who had lost his legs. He then expelled his former favorite disciples from the Sect, causing a schism within the Fangshi lineage that resulted in three branches: Fangshi, Fortune Teller, and Magician, and thus the Divine Turtle Shell naturally became the insignia of the Sect Leaders of the three branches."

After a pause, Xiang Fengchen held up the turtle shell in his hands with utmost reverence, "If I’m not mistaken, this piece should be the insignia of the Magician lineage, symbolizing the supreme authority of my Feng Shui Master lineage."

"Do you remember, the ancestor of Earl Mansion was also a Feng Shui Master?" Lou Huixiang suddenly interjected, a fact told to them by Xiang Fengchen—it was said the ancestor had a crescent-shaped callus on his left wrist, known as the Lonely Moon Curse.

Moreover, the ancestor also had three broken fingers. According to Xiang Fengchen, the man’s depth of skill was immeasurable, claiming he could reach the heavens with his abilities.

"That person is the owner of this Divine Turtle Shell, the leader of this generation’s Feng Shui Masters lineage. He’s not any ancestor; we’ve been deceived by the people of Earl Mansion. The one we ’blessed’ for longevity last night is the real ancestor," Xiang Fengchen quickly sorted out the logic.

According to the information Yang Xiao and his party gathered from outside, it was said that the spread of the demonic poem was the work of a group of people, at least 4 or 5. Now, except for one who luckily escaped, the others had all been caught and already suffered death by a thousand cuts. But now it seemed it wasn’t the case, at least this Great Mage whom Xiang Fengchen held in such high esteem was still alive.

"Slave, thief, suffer its harm." Yang Xiao suddenly recalled a line from the demonic poem, thinking that the Magician lineage must also belong to this category.

By now they had confirmed that the people of Earl Mansion were using some kind of Evil Technique to continuously prolong their "ancestor’s" life. The reason why Fushou Manor had a tradition of persecuting Monks, Taoists, Fangshi, and Magicians was probably out of fear that these people would see through their plans.

Just as everyone was contemplating, footsteps were heard at the courtyard gate. Without a word, Xiang Fengchen wrapped up the Divine Turtle Shell and slipped it into his embrace.

Soon, the footsteps entered the courtyard. On seeing the newcomer, Yang Xiao’s tense expression immediately relaxed—it was Nolan Shuo returning.