Tome of Troubled Times

Chapter 490: Blood Moon on the Sacred Mountain

Zhao Changhe had no idea how impressive a feat he had just accomplished.

After releasing the vicious qi, he felt refreshed, though his body was still weakened from his injuries. Nonetheless, his mind was much clearer, and it was no longer in the same miserable state as the night before.

He got up and got dressed, then turned to see Sisi lying there, looking as if she wanted to get up but was too exhausted to move.

Zhao Changhe paused, slightly baffled. They had not actually done anything, so why did she look so delicate, like a maid who had been overexerted herself?

He inspected her curiously and frowned.

Why does it seem like you’re the one injured instead of me... You don’t have any visible wounds, though. You just look like you went through a lot of pain?

What kind of witchcraft is this? Wait... No shit, this really is witchcraft!

Zhao Changhe finally realized why he was not feeling any pain—Sisi had done something to take it upon herself.

He became concerned. “You were in this state, yet you still gave me a massage?”

Sisi smiled. “If it’s what you desire, Master, then I shall oblige.”

“You...”

“If I had not done this, then how would I be able to understand how much suffering you endured on my behalf?”

“...What kind of gu insect is this, and can it be reversed?”

Sisi spoke with a hint of smugness, “It doesn’t actually hurt that much. After all, I’m not truly injured, and I have a few secret techniques to lessen the sensation... You know, when you were touching me earlier, I barely felt a thing. Did you not notice that I barely made any sounds?”

Zhao Changhe was both amused and exasperated. “You really are...”

He could not find any words to describe her.

With a coquettish gaze, Sisi stretched out her arms as if she wanted to be lifted. “Since you’re so worried about me, why don’t you carry me out of bed?”

Knock, knock.

A knock at the door interrupted them as a young girl peeked her head in.

“Saintess, we—uh...”

Seeing her saintess’ clothes torn and disheveled, and seeing her completely worn out, as if she had been ravished all night, the maid was stunned and a bit fearful.

It was her first time, yet she was so... enthusiastic. And she... she’s still acting so coy! She’s the leader of a tribe now! If word gets out, her image will be ruined!

Sisi’s face turned stern. “What are you peeking in here for? Haven’t I taught you to knock before entering?”

The young girl looked at her sheepishly. “We don’t have that rule here...”

“Time to teach you some Xia customs!” Sisi jumped off the bed, marching over to pull the maid closer with a huff. “First, knock before entering. Only come in when I say so. After that, you must greet me and ask if I need water to wash up!”

Zhao Changhe looked at the young maidservant, who seemed ready to protest, and almost burst out laughing.

The dragon-slayer becomes the dragon, it seems.

In truth, the Spirit Tribe’s social hierarchy was even stricter than that of the Xia, though it was less elaborate in its formalities. Zhao Changhe would soon learn this for himself.

After scolding the maid, Sisi dressed herself in fresh clothes and asked, “What’s so urgent that you’re interrupting us this early? Have some sense, will you?”

The maid replied cautiously, “There’s a disturbance on the sacred mountain. Some strange energy is seeping out, and it’s making people uneasy. A few of the imprisoned elders are causing a commotion, saying it’s because we’ve disrespected the ancestral god by killing the sacred beast. They claim that the ancestor’s spirits are enraged and are unleashing their wrath upon us...”

Sisi shivered. “A disturbance on the sacred mountain?”

“Yes... It’s coming from the peak, around Lieque[1].”

Sisi bolted for the door, almost tripping in her haste. “I’ll go check.”

Zhao Changhe grabbed her arm. “Don’t rush. I know what’s happening.”

Sisi turned to him, a complex expression in her eyes.

So, he wasn’t just boasting before... He really knows what’s going on.

Maybe he didn’t even need to conquer me to gain the tribe’s loyalty. He might be able to win over the entire tribe on his own.

Sisi took a deep breath, calming herself down. “Take me and the sacred envoy to see.”

* * *

The term Lieque actually referred to the moon.

The so-called Lieque point of the mountain was the notch on the mountain peak that Zhao Che had seen the sunset through—from a distance, it made the mountain look like the moon with a piece bitten off by a heavenly demon.

Under certain celestial conditions, when the moon moved into just the right spot, it would appear as though the mountain and the moon completed each other.

This phenomenon was a remnant of the collapse of the previous era, and it was commonly believed that part of the mountain had been obliterated during that collapse.

At that time, the Spirit Tribe was nearly wiped out, with many of its people perishing in the disaster. But when a fragment of the moon fell onto the sacred mountain, the area stabilized, allowing the Spirit Tribe to survive and continue to this day, albeit with a limited population.

The mountain where the Ao Pool was located had also been obliterated at that time, though it turned out that it still existed, simply shrouded within a concealed space.

So, what about this mountaintop’s Lieque point?

The Ao Pool hosted the Blood Ao, which—whether it was controlled by someone or not—was still regarded by the Spirit Tribe as a sacred beast, akin to an ancestral god.

If there was also a deity hidden at this Lieque point, could it be the true ancestral spirit that has sustained the Spirit Tribe throughout its existence?

And now, could it be that this spirit was enraged?

When Sisi and Zhao Changhe reached the mountain peak, they could clearly see a blood-red, rippling barrier covering Lieque, and it made out what looked like a crescent blood moon.

This blood moon emanated an overwhelming pressure, with an undercurrent of rage and ferocity, yet strangely pulsing with a sense of vigorous life. It gave off the impression of a giant holding up the sky, and a primeval power, ancient and boundless, could be felt even from afar.

Below the blood moon, people could be seen kneeling down, and this stretched all the way down the mountain. Every space that could hold people was filled with those kneeling in reverence, and as Sisi and Zhao Changhe approached, some shrank back, afraid to meet their gaze.

The elders captured yesterday were not locked away but were brought out under guard—the people still needed the knowledge of those who had long-held tribal secrets to explain the inexplicable anomaly before them.

But, of course, the elders’ interpretation served their own interests, “We’ve warned you before! Disrespecting authority, defying your elders, defiling the Ancestral Spirit’s sacred place, and slaughtering the sacred beast! Isn’t it only natural for the Ancestral Spirit to be furious? Continuing on this path will lead our tribe to extinction!”

“B-but, the Ancestral Spirit wouldn’t let us be wiped out... would it?”

“Who would spare traitors? Just look at the sky!” The great elder pointed to the heavens. “The heavens are about to rain blood upon us. Can you not see?!”

Everyone looked up to see blood-red clouds above, an ominous and oppressive sight. The fearful began to tremble, kneeling and murmuring prayers, “Ancestral Spirit, please have mercy on us...”

Some of the bolder individuals tried to approach the blood moon to try and see what was inside.

But no one could get in. They were all repelled by an immense force. One person attempted to dash through, only to be violently rebuffed with a loud bang, ending up with a bloody head. As the vicious blood qi entered his body, he was torn apart, a gruesome sight to behold.

The Spirit Tribe members, now even more terrified, kneeled and prayed more fervently, hoping for their ancestral spirit’s anger to subside.

Even the Xia people who had not yet withdrawn, camped at the mountain’s base, were murmuring anxiously as they watched. “Could it be that by rebelling, we really angered their ancestral spirit?”

“People say that gods and demons exist, and many powerful figures believe in them. Just look at that blood moon and the sky—it’s no wonder...”

“Yeah, and the Blood Ao was a sacred beast too, right? Its power was terrifying, not any less than the mythical dragons or phoenixes. If it hadn’t gone mad for some reason, Blood Asura would not have stood a chance of breaking through its defenses.”

“So, it’s because we killed the sacred beast that this happened?”

“Maybe we should get out of here... If there’s a reckoning...”

If even the Xia soldiers thought this way, it was no surprise that the Spirit Tribe members did as well. Thankfully, Sisi had just led them to victory and still held some authority. Everyone awaited her arrival to see what she would say.

Standing before the blood moon, Sisi scrutinized it with a mix of awe and uncertainty. She knew something others did not: they really had killed an ancestor, god or spirit or otherwise.

The entity Zhao Changhe expelled from the Blood Ao’s body with the sword pill and talisman, which then had its soul destroyed by Yue Hongling’s sword, was undoubtedly her ancestor. Whether that ancestor was a deity or not... well, anything that had survived since the previous era kind of qualifies as a god.

Could this really be the Ancestral Spirit’s wrath?

This was something she could not reveal. Sisi forced herself to remain calm and coldly addressed the great elder, “Your words are nothing but superstitious nonsense. Do you think anyone here believes you? If the Ancestral Spirit was here to punish us, we would all feel that wrath deeply. But what is this?”

She could not be sure if the presence contained any anger or malice; the aura was complex and unsettling. However, the oppressive pressure was unmistakable, making it feel as though the sky might collapse at any moment.

Sisi herself was unsure, but she had to give confidence to those on her side. Before the great elder could argue, she quickly continued, “Of course, the Ancestral Spirit exists. But it was enraged because a foreign spirit occupied the sacred beast’s body, and it was furious that its descendants were offered up as sacrifices for an outsider! That’s why the Ancestral Spirit sent down the sacred envoy, who taught me how to resolve the problem with the Heavenly Blood Jade. The sacred envoy even personally acted to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of the Ao Pool and expel the foreign spirit occupying the sacred beast! These are the facts; these are unquestionable!”

Sisi could not claim that she herself had received a divine revelation as the saintess. She had to elevate Zhao Changhe’s status as the sacred envoy. He was the one who performed all the miraculous feats, and any further actions would clearly depend on him, not her.

She felt a bit bitter inside, thinking that those young maids utterly had no idea what she was going through.

She had originally intended to struggle for some control, but what was the point of that now? Despite being their saintess, it seemed that she was simply destined to end up as a maidservant... and even the rest of her tribe was destined to be subject to the will of her “master.”

In any case, her speech certainly managed to reassure many people. The resolution of the problem with the Heavenly Blood Jade had benefited everyone—it was undeniable. The revelation of the Ao Pool could not be faked either. A true ancestral spirit would not have concealed it.

However, this did not address the immediate issue.

The great elder shouted, “Look at the blood-red sky, the blood moon pressing down on the mountain! Despite this, you still spew this nonsense! If we don’t burn this adulterous couple, we’ll all be turned to dust when our god’s wrath descends!”

“Old fool, if you won’t drop loot, then shut up.” Zhao Changhe’s cold voice came from the side.

Everyone turned to see Zhao Changhe, who had been standing with his hands behind his back, observing the blood moon. Now he spoke up. “After all I’ve done, you still don’t believe I’m the sacred envoy? You side with traitors, wavering in indecision. Have you truly never considered that if the ancestral spirit really is angry, it might be because of your actions?”

Everyone’s expressions turned somewhat odd.

It was not entirely out of the question, after all.

“To return the blood moon to the sky and clear the heavens, I need only the time of one incense stick. But why should I help you? If the Ancestral Spirit has cursed you, then suffer as you will,” Zhao Changhe finished coldly, flicking his sleeve as he prepared to leave.

Sisi grabbed his sleeve, pleading softly, “Master... please, do it for my sake... I will listen to you.”

The great elder sneered, “Just look at this adulterous couple, clearly bewitched! Anyone who believes him is a fool...”

His words stopped abruptly, caught in his throat.

Zhao Changhe had placed his hand on the blood moon, and faint ripples appeared across its surface.

No one had been able to even approach it, much less enter, yet his hand passed through as if there were no barrier at all.

The great elder’s eyes widened in horror, and he was unable to continue speaking.

Zhao Changhe spoke calmly, “I’ll ask you one last time... Why do you think the Ancestral Spirit is furious?”

Countless Spirit Tribe members lowered their heads to the ground. “Sacred envoy, please forgive us. We were ignorant...”

Indeed, they were ignorant, no matter whom they chose to believe.

Sisi sighed and, in front of everyone, kneeled down gracefully before Zhao Changhe, speaking softly, “Sacred envoy, please quell your anger.”

Zhao Changhe looked at her deeply, then, with a flash, vanished into the blood moon.

Sisi stood up, gazed at the blood moon for a moment, then clenched her teeth and commanded, “Take these elders who spread lies and incite the people, and burn them at once!”

1. Lieque (列缺) is an acupuncture point located proximal to the wrist, in a crevice on the lateral edge of the radius just proximal to the styloid process. The reason for its mention here is stated a few paragraphs after this reference. ☜

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