Chapter 236: Chapter 196 Inscription
The earth was ripped open by jagged, intricately interwoven chasms. The air was permeated with the scent of scorched earth as toppled trees burned with green flames.
Deep underground, in a cavity formed by the explosion, burnt and molten rocks flowed slowly like magma. Trickles of ink-colored fine sand slipped from the rock layers, coalescing and gathering speed. After an unknown amount of time, the sand had accumulated to a certain extent and twisted itself into several strands, reforming into ink silk threads.
I can still control it...
Li Ang silently observed the condition of his Ink Silk Clone. The explosive power of the Bronze Earthenware Vessel was comparable to a natural disaster, blasting a massive cave deep underground. Its seismic waves likely reached as far as Bingzhou.
If it had exploded on the surface, the impact area could have been several times larger—at the very least, the Karmic Fire would have erupted and scattered widely.
The Ink Silk Clone, after experiencing such an explosion, was also significantly damaged. Only about 45 percent of it could still be controlled. Another 25 percent was directly annihilated into untraceable ash, while 30 percent, in the form of fine sand, became embedded and immobile within the rock layers, requiring manual collection.
This is the first time the Ink Silk has suffered irreversible damage. Twenty-five percent... how long will it take for me to accumulate that much again...?
With a pang of regret, Li Ang controlled the Ink Silk Clone to move, rolling it back and forth in the underground cave, attempting to collect any remaining recoverable remnants of ink silk.
This was all precious material, not to be wasted.
Hm? What’s this...?
In the process of recovering the ink silk remnants, Li Ang also discovered some melted, burning metal fragments embedded in the rock layers. These fragments were likely part of the special metals constituting the Bronze Earthenware Vessel, having also survived the explosion.
There was no time for a closer look, as members of the Taiyuan Wang Family and the garrison could arrive at any moment. Li Ang controlled the Ink Silk Clone to gather all the special metal fragments from the cave and surrounding soil. Then he stealthily returned to the surface, retrieved the Bitter Realm Lotus he had hastily buried earlier. Finally, he quietly left along the geological layers, leaving the chaotic scene for the Taiyuan Wang Family and the garrison to handle.
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Some time later, a group of people crossed the mountain range and arrived at the devastated site.
Wearing identical uniforms, masks, and gloves, they held stacks of talismans. They dispersed methodically, chanting incantations and tearing the talismans to summon rain, coordinating with Spells to extinguish the green Karmic Fire ravaging the ground.
Above the raging Karmic Fire, several figures hovered. Six elders and Tributes from the Taiyuan Wang Family, along with two Deputy Commanders from the garrison, hovered above. Some were expressionless, others somber, as they surveyed the devastated mountain landscape below.
"To think it was a Mutated Object dating back to the Shang Dynasty..."
"Fortunately, we discovered it early. If we had allowed it to develop on its own and then explode, the entire Hedong Road might have become a demon-infested wasteland. Dealing with it then would have been an insurmountable task."
"Yes, even now, this mountainous area has been blighted by Karmic Fire, rendering it uninhabitable for at least a hundred years..."
The elders and Tributes of the Taiyuan Wang Family murmured amongst themselves, while the two Deputy Commanders of the garrison listened, occasionally offering their opinions. The Five Families and Seven Hopes wielded immense power in the Yu Country. Their influence permeated all levels, from high court officials to Academic Palace Doctors, such as Wang Wenlun, a National History Doctor at the Academic Palace, and Cui Yixian, a Sword Study Master.
Furthermore, the Five Families and Seven Hopes exercised absolute control over the internal affairs of their native prefectures and counties. They refrained from annexing land or expanding into other prefectures and counties, and the Yu Kingdom’s Imperial Court tacitly permitted their dominion over their respective territories. Consequently, this anomaly was primarily handled by the Wang Family itself, with the garrison providing assistance.
After a brief discussion, they quickly settled on a plan of action. First, they would extinguish the surface Karmic Fire and evacuate the nearby commoners. Second, they would notify the Zen Sect or the Haotian Taoist Sect, requesting them to establish temples to mitigate the Karmic Fire’s latent effects. Lastly, warning signs would be erected on the surrounding mountain paths. An anomaly of this magnitude could leave lingering contamination for decades, perhaps even a century. Until the area is confirmed to be completely free of its influence, it’s best to prevent anyone from entering to avoid further incidents.
"...once the inquiry concludes, the garrison will return Chu Haoman and Wang Linian to you. As for Yu Yong and Yu Shusheng, we will release them as well," the Vice Commander of the Town Patrol Office said.
Chu Haoman and Wang Linian were originally from the Taiyuan Wang Family, while Ji Xingwang and Guan Anyan had backgrounds from the Lu Li Academy. Yu Yong and Yu Shusheng were not important individuals. Considering they were also unwittingly drawn into this by the Taiyuan Wang Family, it’s appropriate to release them.
"As for that Luffy..."
The Deputy Commander pondered for a moment, squinting his eyes.
According to the previous interrogations, it was this ’Luffy’ who deceived Chu Haoman and the others. After they lay down in the Bronze Earthenware Vessel, he immediately ignited the accumulated resentment with Karmic Fire, triggering the explosion.
However, it was also he who took the Bronze Earthenware Vessel deep underground, thereby preventing a potentially far greater catastrophe had the resentments surged into the sky.
He was also the inheritor of the Nine-Headed Snake Demon from an Evil Path Sect, and had now died a hero’s death...
"...let’s provisionally classify his actions as a righteous sacrifice and add him to the List of the Valiant," the Deputy Commander said.
The ’Valiant’ are cultivators and commoners who die heroically fighting Aliens. If their children are left without guardians, they are taken in by the garrison’s Zhongsi Institute.
However, there seemed to be no further information on this ’Luffy’. Perhaps the archives needed to be checked for records on the Nine-Headed Snake Demon. If any inheritors of its lineage still existed, they were most likely to be found in the eastern seas of the Yu Kingdom or Nanzhou.
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Unaware that he had been added to the List of the Valiant, Li Ang controlled his Ink Silk Clone, quietly departed Hedong Road, and returned to his mountain cave east of Chang’an City to assess his gains and losses from this venture.
Calculated by losses, this commission from the Taiyuan Wang Family was undoubtedly a massive deficit.
A full quarter of his Ink Silk Clone had been obliterated into ash by the Bronze Earthenware Vessel’s explosion, and the Mountain Rat Claw, capable of burrowing and tunneling, was also expended.
Most of the Bronze Earthenware Vessel fragments he retrieved from the cavern were melted and scorched beyond recovery, with very little usable Mountain Copper remaining. Only a single piece was relatively intact.
Li Ang stared in surprise at the surviving metal fragment. Is this an inscription?
Inscriptions on bronze ritual vessels dated back to the early Shang Dynasty. Merchants cast these inscriptions to record the purpose of the vessel’s creation and the individuals being commemorated or worshipped. The surface of the Bronze Earthenware Vessel had originally borne numerous oracle bone inscriptions, but this particular fragment was unique. It had survived the violent explosion without obvious damage. Furthermore, its color was slightly lighter and distinctly different from the other inscriptions, almost as if it had been affixed later.
Even the Academic Palace had not fully deciphered the oracle bone script; their understanding was limited to roughly over a thousand common individual characters. They still lacked the ability to interpret some obscure characters or nouns unique to the Yin Shang period, which would require more samples and prolonged research to potentially comprehend.
It looks like a ’gate’ character. Li Ang furrowed his brows, inspecting it for a moment. And the Ink Silk also shows a desire to devour it...
Despite its extreme weakness from the explosion, the Ink Silk Clone still exhibited an intense craving to devour this inscribed fragment.
After a moment’s thought, Li Ang released the restraints on his Ink Silk Clone.
RUSTLE, RUSTLE...
The Ink Silk Clone immediately swelled, enveloping the bronze inscription and rapidly rotating to corrode it.
Once it had completely consumed the inscription, the Ink Silk Clone contracted into a sphere and solidified, becoming motionless.