Journey to the West: Treasure Vase of the Great Dao-Chapter 659 - 326 Xiao Chenxiang_2
His heart had already died along with the capture of his wife; if it hadn't been for the need to raise Chenxiang, he would have long chosen to end his life.
Chenxiang grew up in such an environment, gradually showing signs of his divine origins. As a child of the Human Gods, Chenxiang was born with Divine Power and was formidable in fights, eventually becoming the leader of the children in the village, spending his days leading a group of kids in play.
Children are naturally curious and tend to be rebellious, eagerly doing exactly what adults tell them not to do.
Just like today, they prepared to explore a deep cave, a place the village adults had repeatedly warned them against visiting. It was said that the cave had once been a refuge for villagers to evade robbers. Unfortunately, during one event, someone revealed their secret, leading to everyone being trapped and attacked by the robbers. Unable to breach the refuge, the robbers set fire to the cave, tragically killing everyone inside.
Since then, people had occasionally seen ghostly figures in the cave and, even stranger, each of the robbers died bizarre deaths. Thus, everyone speculated that it was the vengeance of the Lost Souls, and the cave had become a forbidden place.
Yet today, this place, long untouched by human footsteps, echoed once more with the sound of steps.
"Chenxiang, this place is so creepy, let's go back!" a little kid with snot under his nose said fearfully.
Chenxiang was leading the way, holding a torch and looking with interest at everything inside the cave. Hearing the frightened words of the little kid, he smirked disdainfully and said, "Da Niu, you're really a scaredy-cat. What's there to be afraid of? It's just ghosts. If they really appear, I'll show you how I deal with them."
A few more kids followed behind, all trembling in fear as they looked around. Just then, a whining sound reached their ears, freezing them on the spot in terror, and Da Niu's pants began to show a stain— he had been scared into wetting himself by the eerie and terrifying environment.
Chenxiang, leading the group, also sensed something was amiss as the air around them turned bitterly cold, and the whining noise echoed continuously in his ears. At that moment, a feeling of regret came over him.
But by then, there was nothing much he could do. Looking back at his friends, who were paralyzed by fear, he said in a deep voice, "Something's not right; let's head back."
Just then, he suddenly noticed that his friends were wearing expressions of terror, seemingly staring at something behind him. A wave of fear instantly overwhelmed him, and he instinctively turned around.
All he saw was a flicker of light in the pitch darkness of the cave—a green ghostly flame appeared suddenly, quickly followed by the area being enveloped by the grotesque, ferocious ghosts. These were the vengeful spirits of those who had tragically died in this cave, transformed into Ferocious Ghosts by their lingering grudges, though why they were trapped in this cave remained unknown.
The intrusion of Chenxiang and the others had awoken these ghostly entities, and following their instincts, they appeared before the children.
These children, who had never witnessed such a thing, were already crying loudly from the fright. Only Chenxiang managed to remain calm as he observed the ghosts and pondered over a plan. The children were his responsibility and any mishap would make it impossible for his family to remain in the village.
With this thought, Chenxiang instantly rushed in front of the kids, trying to use his body to shield these already terrified children.
Unknown to him, the eyes of the ghostly entities brightened at the sight of Chenxiang; possessing the Divine Bloodline made him an exquisite meal for them. By consuming Chenxiang, their Mana would be greatly enhanced.
At that moment, all the ghosts' eyes shone with a longing glow, and the whining noise around them grew even louder. Suddenly, Chenxiang felt an intense headache, so painful that he involuntarily clutched his head and rolled on the ground in agony.
However, just at that moment, he suddenly smelled a strange odor, and weariness swept over his brain. Chenxiang felt his eyelids becoming incredibly heavy. Despite his best efforts, he could not keep them open and finally succumbed to a deep sleep.
The ghosts in the cave did not know what had happened; they only saw the agonized Xiao Chenxiang suddenly fall into a deep slumber. With their incomplete consciousness, they could not discern the cause of the events and instinctively started to extend their ghostly claws toward him.
"Ah!" A deep sigh echoed in the cave as an old man, hunchbacked and holding a wooden staff, slowly walked in, followed by a tall demon with the head of a crow, dressed in human clothes and a treasured sword hanging from his waist.
"When will these days of wiping his bottom end!" Old Man Huang sighed softly. Heaven knows how many times they had cleaned up after Xiao Chenxiang over the years. This young fellow was simply a disaster magnet, attracting calamities wherever he went, and he had a physique that particularly attracted demons and ghostly entities.
To ensure his safe growth, the two little demons had exerted tremendous effort, causing Old Man Huang to lose much of his hair.
"If it weren't for the Great King's order, I would have strangled this infuriating fellow to death long ago," the crow said resentfully. Since becoming a demon, he had never lived days like these, always anxious in case the little ancestor caused another mess that needed cleaning up.
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"It will be soon. After he grows a bit more, the Great King will make his move, and then we will be free," Old Man Huang sighed again, his sighs in this short period outnumbering those of his entire life combined.
"If it weren't for the treasure inside his body, the Great King would have acted long ago. I don't even know what kind of treasure it is that the Great King cares so much about it. If we could get our hands on it, we'd rise to the heavens instantly," the crow said enviously.
"Stop it, I don't want to die. Don't forget the Great King's methods. Nowadays, he's become more terrifying. If he knew, we'd be dead without a place to bury our bodies, let alone that such treasure is beyond the reach of little guys like us," Old Man Huang whispered.
The crow nodded reluctantly but curiously asked, "I wonder where this treasure comes from that even someone as powerful as the Great King fears it so."
"That's not for us to know, but surely it must be something extraordinary, maybe even beyond what the Great King can handle."
"But what should we do if we really provoke someone we shouldn't? Won't people like us just be easily dealt with?" Concerned about his safety, the crow's mind became exceptionally sharp as he asked urgently.
"Don't worry, I've thought about it for a long time. After this is over, we'll tell the Great King that we're willing to guard the frontier for him. If things look bad, we'll just run. Those high and mighty figures won't keep an eye on us."
Upon hearing this, the crow's eyes showed a glimmer of hope, and he silently gave Old Man Huang a thumbs-up.
Meanwhile, as the two conversed, the group of ferocious ghosts had already surrounded them, viewing the two intruders in their cave as potential thieves of their food.
Driven by the instinct to protect their territory, they immediately directed their hostility towards the two demons.
Watching the approaching ferocious ghosts, a look of disdain crossed Old Man Huang's face as he muttered to himself, "If I were defeated by you, I'd have nowhere to put my old face."
With that, he pointed his wooden staff lightly and suddenly, countless vines grew out of the cave, swiftly stretching toward the ferocious ghosts and binding them tightly in an instant.
Though the ferocious ghosts were but ethereal entities, the vines seemed to contain a peculiar power, capable of trapping their ethereal bodies.
