The King of Curses

Chapter 91 That’s it
"You're back."

An Zhizhen saw him walking towards her and waved to him with a smile.

"elder brother."

Yi Qingyan, who had her back to him, turned around, and when she saw Cen Dongsheng, a smile broke out on her little face, and she looked visibly happy.

There seemed to be nothing unusual in the expressions and behaviors of the two.

Cen Dongsheng walked to the campfire and saw a small pot with hot soup boiling in it.

"I've prepared hot pot." Sister Zhizhen took out the packages of frozen food she brought up the mountain and placed them aside. "You've come just in time. We can eat it soon."

He was silent for a moment, then said:

"This hot pot was just put up there, right?"

"Yes, because I have to wait for you to come back."

An Zhizhen is calm and composed.

"So what were you doing when I wasn't back?"

"Chatting and enjoying the scenery. I just took a walk in the forest with Qingyan."

It sounds just like the truth.

In comparison, the other party involved, Sister Qingyan, was not so calm. Her expression became slightly stiff and she turned her head away, as if she didn't want to watch the conversation between the two people.

"Ugh."

Cen Dongsheng sighed rarely. He took a stool and sat down beside the campfire.

“…Actually, I already felt it when I was in the haunted house.”

He stared into Sister Zhizhen's dark eyes.

"That's the ability of 'Tian Kui Quan Shou', right? I was fighting with a mandrill in the haunted house at the time, and both he and I were affected."

"Eh? Did I disturb your fight?"

An Zhizhen looked apologetic.

"I'm sorry, but my control over my abilities is not that flexible yet."

"..."

Having known Sister Zhizhen for so long, Cen Dongsheng could at least tell when she was joking and when she was serious, unless she was deliberately trying to hide something.

Like now, she really cares about this.

"I'm fine, but the mandrill fell down directly. So, Sister Zhizhen, you actually helped me. You didn't even use your trump card. I killed the other party."

"That's good. If you can get exercise and keep yourself safe, that's the ideal situation."

Sister Zhizhen held her cheek with her hand. The light from the campfire illuminated the woman's flawless face. She stirred the soup pot with a spoon and began to add the hot pot base.

"Speaking of which, the most important thing this time is to find the whereabouts of the 'demon' and complete the special curse for you... Did you gain anything?"

"Yes. The mandrill is indeed a 'demon'. I have defeated it. If nothing unexpected happens, I will be able to complete the curse tonight."

"Great, now it's done."

She clasped her hands together and smiled.

"After you finish dinner, you can start to complete the training. Qingyan and I will be your 'guardians', so just meditate and practice here with peace of mind."

"...Wait a minute, Sister Zhizhen, let's get one thing out of the way. You're not going to just brush it off like that, are you?"

Cen Dongsheng saw that the water in the hot pot had started to boil, so he threw the food placed next to it into the pot one by one.

"Also, I saw with my own eyes the signs of the use of 'Infernal Hell'. Most of the space in the haunted house was split open. So there's no need to hide it from me. I know you two have fought."

"..."

The gentle breeze blew the bonfire, and the firefly-like light swayed slightly in people's pupils, and the atmosphere fell into silence for a moment.

"I told you, my brother won't pretend he didn't see it."

Yi Qingyan said softly. Her eyes swept across An Zhizhen's face, and then she lowered her eyes.

"So, what's going on?"

"Um……"

Sister Zhizhen seemed a little embarrassed, but seeing that Cen Dongsheng was very serious, she finally said:

"Yes, we just had a fight... was it considered a sparring match?"

It would be great if it was really a sparring match, Cen Dongsheng thought. Both "Tian Kui Quan Shou" and "Wu Jian Hell" were used, so they must be serious about it and are actually aiming to kill their opponent.

It's not that he hasn't thought about other possibilities, but he can't ignore the worst one, because Sister Zhizhen did not hide anything from him. She had told him her murderous intentions and her attitude honestly.

"——Dongsheng, I want to kill her. Get rid of her before it's too late, before she gets into big trouble."

The words she said that night still echoed in his ears.

"Excuse me."

Yi Qingyan suddenly stood up. She gave her brother Dongsheng an apologetic look but did not look at An Zhizhen again.

"I'm a little tired, so I'll go back and rest first."

"The pot is almost boiling, don't you want to eat something?"

"No, I'm not hungry."

Seeing her attitude, Cen Dongsheng did not try to stop her and watched the little girl walk back to her tent.

……

After Yi Qingyan left, An Zhizhen smiled and said to him.

"You see, it's hard to deal with children of this age, right?"

"……yes."

Cen Dongsheng started to mix the seasoning bowls and handed one to An Zhizhen.

"I wanted to help you in this matter, but it seems that I can't do it. She only listens to you and doesn't care about other people's opinions."

Sister Zhizhen took it and teased
"I find that you have quite a charismatic personality. I really envy you."

Cen Dongsheng shook his head.

"Maybe it's just luck."

The meatballs in the pot began to float up one by one, and they were cooked.

"...Sister Zhizhen, why did you tell such a meaningless lie just now?"

Cen Dongsheng picked it up with chopsticks, put it in his mouth and took a bite. The hot juice filled his mouth and he asked vaguely.

"The fight couldn't be kept secret from anyone. I just wanted to ask the reason."

"As for the reasons? Actually, they are what you can imagine. She has always disliked me and we have conflicts on certain philosophies. If neither of us gives in, the conflict will intensify."

Sister Zhizhen then picked up a piece of food from the pot with chopsticks and put it in her own bowl.

"What concept?"

"Regarding your haunted house adventure and the battle with the 'demon'. She wants to participate and help you, but I hope you can complete the trial alone according to your own ideas."

"Is it because of me?"

"Yes."

An Zhizhen gently gathered the messy hair around her ears with her hands, lowered her head and took a bite of the meatball with an elegant posture.

When she raised her head, perhaps because of the firelight, her cheeks were flushed, which made her look even more beautiful. "Cen Dongsheng, Cen Dongsheng, you are such a sinful man."

The woman had a smile on her face and spoke in a gentle tone.

He was speechless for a moment.

"As for why I lied, I made this suggestion after obtaining Miss Yi's consent and out of consideration for her... Don't look at Sister Qingyan's expression. She was quite flustered just now, worried that her behavior would make you think she was 'disobedient'."

"..."

Cen Dongsheng didn't say anything else.

He picked up another one, dipped it in the sauce in the bowl, and ate it with hearty mouthfuls.

The taste is not very good, after all, all we brought were frozen food, but eating a hot pot by the campfire, in the night, and in the gentle mountain breeze is a unique experience.

Facing the gurgling hot pot, the two of them tacitly put aside the topic for the time being and chatted casually for a while.

Not long after, Sister Zhizhen put down her chopsticks, leaving only Cen Dongsheng still eating heartily.

She supported her chin with one hand and watched the young man eat his meal.

The previous conflict with Yi Qingyan, which almost led to a fatal battle, seemed like something not worth worrying about to her.

"Dongsheng, do you still remember what I said to you that night?"

Cen Dongsheng's chopsticks paused slightly. He didn't look up and answered in a muffled voice.

"...Of course I remember. In fact, I was just thinking about it."

"Ah, no wonder you looked so ugly just now."

An Zhizhen chuckled.

"But let me explain. In the conflict just now, the one who really wanted to kill people was your sister Qingyan."

"I can guess. But now that things have come to this, you are not going to say that what you said back then was a joke or a scare, right?"

"No, of course not. I always meant it."

...This time I would rather you were lying to me. Cen Dongsheng thought to himself as he chewed another big mouthful of meatball as if to vent his frustration.

"At that time, I thought it was difficult to control the existence of Yi Qingyan. Today, I just confirmed this with my actual actions. But my thoughts have not changed because of this... There are some things that I think you can do, and only you can do it."

An Zhizhen shifted her gaze away from the man's face and looked at the quiet night.

"I believe in you and will always support you."

……

After the woman got up and left, he was the only one left by the campfire.

It was late at night, and Cen Dongsheng's face flickered in the light of the fire. No one knew what he was thinking about.

After a while, the chopsticks in his hand started moving again, intending to finish all the food in the hot pot.

"That's it for now, let's eat first."

*
After packing up his things, Cen Dongsheng returned to his tent.

Although the purpose of their visit has been achieved, they still plan to stay in the mountains for one night.

"Things aren't going well..."

When three people travel together, they may want to get closer to each other.

However, everything happened too fast - whether it was the appearance of the haunted house or the conflict between An Zhizhen and Yi Qingyan.

As soon as he went to fight the mandrill alone, his companions turned against him, and there was nothing they could do to stop him.

...Or should he give up as soon as possible, let the two of them stay close to him, and just watch by himself the rest of the time?

This involves the cause of the conflict between the two people's ideas. On this issue, Cen Dongsheng himself still leans towards Sister Zhizhen.

If a spell master wants to improve himself, it cannot be achieved simply by refining Yin Qi.

"Breaking the rules" is closely related to a person's fate. It is a challenge to one's own limits, and the easiest way to achieve it is to fight.

This is why the vast majority of curse masters are born in battle and die in battle. According to the experience of the previous life, the strength of active frontline combatants increases faster than that of retired or logistics personnel.

Therefore, as long as Cen Dongsheng, a man, still has a little ambition to become stronger, he cannot rely solely on the power of the two girls.

But Qingyan's starting point was to protect herself. Maybe the incident in the haunted house at Xin Middle School left a deep impression on her... Naturally, he couldn't be wrong.

Forget it, I'll talk to Qingyan about this issue when the time comes, she will understand.

Cen Dongsheng quickly collected his thoughts. Although the problem was thorny and difficult to solve, he didn't hold out much hope.

Looking at the bright side, at least the main purpose of this trip has been achieved.

After refining the baboon's Yin Qi in his Dantian, he was able to replenish a portion of the curse in his body.

Completing and mastering the complete special curse is the first major goal that Cen Dongsheng has set for himself. Even with the most optimistic estimate, this process will take more than a year until the second wave arrives.

But if this could be achieved, he would be able to gain power equal to that of the two girls, which might solve some problems...

Of course he knew that this goal would not be easy to achieve, because those two were not ordinary special-class spell-binding masters, but ancestors; while they became stronger, they would not stand still, and their growth rate would only become more incredible.

But even though the road ahead is long, he will always take the first step.

……

He calmed down and focused.

The practice method of a spell-binding master, that is, what needs to be done in meditation, is simple to say, and is more like an instinct that has been honed over and over again.

True Qi is the sublimation of Yang Qi, and Yang Qi is the essence of human breathing; tracing back to the source, by controlling breathing with intention, you can mobilize the circulation of True Qi, subdue this energy in the body, and resonate with heaven and earth.

The whole process can be imagined as a fire burning in the body, concentrating the mind on doing one thing.

On this basis, any use of weaker thoughts and gentle breathing is called "wenhuo", and any use of strong thoughts and rapid breathing is called "wuhuo". Wenhuo has a warming effect, and wuhuo has a mobilizing effect. The two need to be used flexibly and operated alternately during meditation practice.

The mandrill Yin Qi stored in the Dantian is mobilized and merged into the circulation;

At the same time, he visualized the unknown special spell in his mind, and a large number of tadpole characters emerged in his mind and began to turn into chapters.

When the power of the "devil" was absorbed into his body, a large amount of new and wonderful knowledge suddenly emerged from this chapter and poured into his brain...

"I see."

Cen Dongsheng still remembers the scene he saw when he first absorbed the power of the tiger demon:

He first saw a giant tiger as huge as a mountain and with a dark blue body, standing proudly between heaven and earth; then, above this evil tiger, he clearly saw an even larger figure, stepping on its head. It was a black shadow that covered the sky and the sun, with a pair of wings extending from behind, stretching endlessly like the night sky.

This time, his understanding of the visual image became even deeper:
The black shadow that covers the sky and the sun is equivalent to the manifestation of the master of the curse himself; and the object under his feet is the demon of suppression.

As the suppression objects became plural, the appearance of the black shadow became more and more concrete.

In Cen Dongsheng's meditation scenes, countless images of "demons" appear: there are jackals, tigers, leopards, birds, snakes, insects, whales, sharks, turtles, clams, and even different faces of men, women, old and young... The world has everything.

The images of the Demon of Suppression are endless, but as long as you collect three of them, you can deduce a thousand changes according to the principle of "three gives birth to all things".

He suddenly understood.

Perhaps before mastering the true power of this special curse and reviving the black shadow, each generation of holders of this curse may have completely different abilities, depending on the different "magic" attributes they have collected and their own desires.

This... is really amazing, he thought.

Rather than a specific ability, the essence of this spell is more like adaptation, adapting to the characteristics and needs of the holder.

As I was thinking, the meditation images rotating in my mind gradually slowed down and finally stopped on one of the pictures.

It was an "ape".

(End of this chapter)