Ita Era

Chapter 185 Closing the Fire
Sha Bi, rarely having the right to despise Ding Shi, was secretly pleased and said, "Huang You in the form of the Sixth Granny dared not show his face. Then someone instigated the crowd to besiege the Sixth Granny, forcing the Sixth Granny's soul, which is also Huang You's soul, to be attached to the Ghost Mother's portrait. Huang You in the form of the Sixth Granny can only give orders to the Ghost Mother's believers. But Huang You in the form of the Ghost Mother's portrait can command violent ghosts."

Sha Bi continued, "The third form is Huang You in her Taoist nun form. She can control Cui Fu and the violent ghost. The three forms upgrade step by step, with the controlled target becoming stronger and the self becoming weaker. Then you killed Huang You in her Taoist nun form, creating a Cui Fu who had fallen into demonic possession."

Sha Bi said, "I don't blame you. After all, you're not the most hateful person."

Ding Shi asked, "Although I don't think I'm hateful, who is the most hateful person?"

Sha Bi said, "Monk. That's why I don't like ordinary people's thinking, and I never team up with them. In this world, qualities like kindness and sincerity are the easiest to be taken advantage of."

Ding Shi said, "I disagree."

Foolish Bone said, "You have no right to disagree, because you lack that quality. Let me give you an example. Ding Shi, you coveted Cao Ying's beauty, and Cao Ying hated people who abused small animals. Isn't that a good quality? So, Ding Shi, you deliberately abused a kitten in front of Cao Ying, dragging it into an alley. Cao Ying, out of anger and losing her temper, chased after you into the alley, and ended up being..."

Ding Shi said, "You're wrong. Evil can be just as easily manipulated, and the consequences are even more serious." He couldn't help but smile.

Sha Bi didn't understand, but Cao Ying understood perfectly. Ding Shi was mocking her for trying to steal the ledger, only to end up not only losing her innocence but also stealing a fake ledger, and ultimately helping Ding Shi control Yixia Company. He had meticulously planned and exploited her, taking advantage of her every bit of value.

Cao Ying was furious inside, but remained unmoved on the surface, saying, "Kindness does not mean stupidity, and evil does not mean intelligence. You have a preconceived notion that kindness is for simple-minded people. In reality, kindness represents a bottom line. For example, a monk's bottom line is that he cannot stand by and watch someone die, even if it means sacrificing himself."

Ding Shi retorted: "I have no objection to him sacrificing himself. But I made it clear to him that the consequence of his sacrifice is the sacrifice of us. In his view, he cannot stand by and watch us die, but whether his actions will harm us is none of his business and is not within his scope of consideration."

Ding Shi said, "For example, if you and I fall in love, our parents will object and even tell us that if we are together, they will jump off a building together. From a monk's perspective: we should be together. As for the consequences that our love and being together may cause to others, that is none of my business."

Foolish Bone said, "When you put it that way, I'm reminded of an outdated news story. A student fell into the water, and Student A led everyone to form a human bridge to try and pull the student out. But the entire human bridge ended up in the water, and seven students drowned. In your opinion, Cao Ying, was Student A smart?"

Cao Ying replied after a long pause: "If the rescue is successful, A's actions are comparable to Sima Guang smashing the water jar; he is a hero."

Sha Bi said, "So whether someone is a good person or kind should be determined by looking back at the outcome. But in that case, kindness becomes an action, not a quality. If the monk had rescued the person last night, would you still complain about the big boss, Ding Shi? No, you would admire the monk and despise yourself."

Sha Bi said, "That's why I think monks are the most hateful. If a monk fails, a big boss is created; if a monk succeeds, he will have a halo and lead others into the next big pit, continuing to gamble with their lives."

Ding Shi exclaimed in surprise, "Silly Bi, you've impressed me today. You have a very thorough understanding of human nature."

Foolish Dagger: "It's not that I don't understand, I just think it's not important. If you don't like it, just kill it. There's no need to ponder it."

He usually followed this principle; he didn't need to understand the other person because it wasn't important. But today, he really wanted to know why Ding Shi didn't stop the monk.

Thinking this way, he asked the same question: "You knew that the monks would cause trouble if they entered the village, so why didn't you stop them?"

Ding Shi said, "If I stop the monk, the result for the little nun and the Taoist nun will inevitably be that one of them is killed and the other is captured. Do you think the monk will hate me? The answer is definitely yes. He will think that I have corrupted his Buddhist heart. He will think that I am cold-blooded, ruthless, and arbitrary. Haven't I gained another enemy?"

Foolish Bone asked, "Why do you care what others think? Just kill him."

Ding Shi said, "I am different from you. I always respect other people's fate, while you like to change other people's fate." From Peach Blossom Village to this instance, Ding Shi will only offer suggestions based on the degree of friendship and will not interfere with other people's choices.

For example, when facing Sun Qi, whom he didn't know very well, he could set aside his inner curiosity and carry her to see a doctor.

For example, regarding Zhang San, who raped Haitang, while his actions were certainly reprehensible, Haitang was willing to forgive him, so Ding Shi had no grounds to intervene. He wouldn't presume to be righteous and advise Haitang or punish Zhang San. However, because of this, he disliked Zhang San, offered him no advice, and watched him being killed by Gui San Niang.

For example, Cuihua is really good to Ding Shi, and Ding Shi is willing to help her as much as possible.

In the Tianmen Village instance, the monk and his companions are considered relatively close allies. Ding Shi advises the nun and the Taoist nun not to enter the village for side quests, and tries to persuade the monk not to go into the village to his death. However, Ding Shi does not stop them.

Cao Ying looked at Ding Shi and said, "He is a cold-blooded killer, but I think you are even more indifferent than him."

Ding Shi stretched and said, "Time to sleep."

Cao Ying used sign language: Why don't you take this opportunity to kill him?

Foolish Dagger: I don't want to give him an excuse to kill me.

Cao Ying: A killer who has lost her self-confidence.

Silly Dagger: I'm trying to beat him, at least once.

This defeat included slander, setting traps, deception, theft, and so on. Foolish Dagger kept trying, but the results were not optimistic. If even getting close to Ding Shi and using instance resources couldn't defeat him, how could he possibly kill him? He couldn't kill him before the era, and he certainly couldn't kill him after the era; it was a complete one-sided beating.

Stupid Dagger: You want to kill him?

Cao Ying shook her head: Killing him is meaningless to me. I need to defeat him to cross this chasm.

Foolish Dagger: A Chasm?
Cao Ying: They ate, took, and even smashed the pot. Humiliation, absolute humiliation.

Ding Shi didn't peek; he had already drifted off to sleep. Tomorrow would be a tough battle, and he couldn't rely on Xiao Ni and the others, nor could he rely on Sha Bi and Cao Ying.

He had to admit that Sha Bi was right about some things; getting too close to the monks was his biggest mistake in this instance. Only those who share the same principles can work together; compared to that, cooperating with Sha Bi was better. Although Sha Bi was cunning and treacherous, and even plotted against him, they shared a high degree of consensus on issues.

……

Day 7!
The sky above Tianmen Village was shrouded in a black cloud filled with countless will-o'-the-wisps. The village was deathly silent, with burned-out houses visible everywhere.

Cui's father was dressed in the white, ancient-style robes of a monk, with black smoke billowing around him, merging with the dark clouds in the sky. There were also a dozen or so will-o'-the-wisps around him, but these will-o'-the-wisps had their eyes closed.

Sha Bi asked, "What's the purpose of today?" Cao Ying was a blank slate and had no task; her goal was to catch the bus tomorrow, so she didn't come along.

Ding Shi said, "I want to kill Cui's father."

Foolish Dagger said, "Are you looking for death?"

Ding Shi said, "Cui's father, who has become possessed by demons, is no longer afraid of violent ghosts. We can't kill him during the day, so tonight... we can only sleep."

The silly man asked, "Do you have plans tonight?"

Ding Shi nodded: "I made an appointment with Cao Ying to go to our usual spot to have some fun."

Sha Bi said, "Oh, really? It's agreed, I can't help you deal with an old monster like that." Ding Shi asked, "Didn't you have your eye on the will-o'-the-wisp?"

Sha Bi said, "I can't take it out."

Ding Shi said, "Cao Ying can be taken out; she has an inventory of props."

Foolish Dagger was shocked: "Really?"

Ding Shi said, "Although there is no evidence, I am 70% confident."

Silly Bone was extremely annoyed: "I threw away the glass bottle. I'll go back to the camp now and see if I can buy a new one."

"Go on." Ding Shi watched Sha Bi leave, then took out the glass bottle that Sha Bi had thrown away from his pocket. A glass bottle, a glass stopper—he didn't know what the will-o'-the-wisp was for, but it should be useful.

Ding Shi bent down, tiptoed forward, and ran silently until he reached the vicinity of Liu Niang's house.

Peeking ahead, I saw Cui's father about 100 meters away, in the open space in front of Shuanzi's house. Today, Cui's father hadn't set up the Bagua banner; he was holding a celestial compass, calculating the location of the sacred tree. It seemed he had confirmed the sacred tree was nearby and was now making more precise calculations.

Feng Qiniang's house is only 30 meters away from Cui's father's house.

Cui's father is a typical glass cannon, unleashing powerful attacks with every move, yet incredibly fragile. If only he had a sniper rifle...

Ding Shi held a polished spear, about a meter long, in his right hand, with a reverse grip. Don't underestimate wooden tools; Ding Shi dried the spearhead with fire, making it extremely sharp and hard. While not as sophisticated as a modern dagger, it was more than enough.

The difficulty in killing Cui's father lies not in the sturdiness of the weapon, but in whether the sneak attack can succeed.

Ding Shi crossed the path between the two houses, bypassed Qiniang's house, and turned to the left rear side of Cuifu, about 35 meters away.

When Ding Shi approached within 20 meters, a will-o'-the-wisp clinging to the black mist opened its eyes and flew towards Ding Shi. Ding Shi immediately crouched down under the earthen wall, and as the will-o'-the-wisp flew in front of him, he scooped it up with his left hand, put it into a glass bottle, and sealed it with a stopper.

Surprisingly, the glass bottle can actually capture will-o'-the-wisps. I have to say, that idiot does have a brain.

When Ding Shi peeked out, he saw that Cui's father had not noticed anything unusual. He took five steps toward Feng Qiniang's house and continued his deduction.

Ding Shi moved to a position downwind, to the right of Cui Fu.

Ding Shi approached Cui Fu again, but did not awaken the sleeping will-o'-the-wisp. This confirmed Ding Shi's guess: the attack range of the unclaimed will-o'-the-wisp is only 1.5 meters. If he were to awaken a will-o'-the-wisp at a distance of 20 meters from Cui Fu, it could only be because of its scent.

Ding Shi crouched down five meters from Cui's father and hid behind a water vat. He couldn't stab Cui's father in the back like an assassin, because he would be attacked by more than a dozen ghost fires.

Besides stabbing, spears can also be thrown. In the era of cold weapons, spear throwing was a common weapon of destruction.

Ding Shilu glanced at it, took three steps back, squatted down, held the spear in his right hand, sprinted three steps, and threw the spear with all his might.

As a sorcerer, Cui's father had very low alertness. He only turned his head instinctively when he heard the sound and saw a long spear piercing through his abdomen. The enormous kinetic energy pulled Cui's father forward two steps, and the spear was deeply embedded in the earthen wall.

At first glance, it looked as if Cui's father was pinned to the earthen wall by a spear.

Cui's father gripped the spear in his left hand, and the entire spear was engulfed in black flames. In just a few breaths, the spear turned to ashes. Two holes, one in front and one behind, appeared in the pierced abdomen, and Ding Shi could even see the stomach.

Blood splattered everywhere, but in less than three seconds, the black mist sealed the two holes.

Cui's father put the Heavenly Secrets Disc into his lining and looked at Ding Shi: "You're courting death." He struck out with his palm, and a wisp of black smoke pierced through the water vat, chasing straight for Ding Shi. Ding Shi lunged to the side, and the black smoke swept past him, hitting a tree by the roadside. The entire tree was burned to ashes in less than five seconds.

Cui's father pointed two fingers of his left hand at Ding Shi, and more than a dozen ghost fires around him launched an attack on Ding Shi on their own.

Ding Shi was least afraid of will-o'-the-wisps. He held the bottle in his right hand and grabbed a will-o'-the-wisp with his left hand, stuffing it into the bottle. In no time, more than a dozen will-o'-the-wisps were gone, leaving Cui's father somewhat stunned.

Enraged, Cui's father waved his hand, and countless ghostly flames on the black clouds fell like meteors, flying towards Ding Shi.

A brain is a good thing, but Cui's father didn't have one. Perhaps it was a side effect of being resurrected, or perhaps it was something Huang You did when he was resurrected. Knowing full well that the ghost fire couldn't harm Ding Shi, he still used it to burn him.

The will-o'-the-wisps were numerous, covering the sky. Ding Shi drew most of his primal force to protect himself, confident that it could insulate him from the black flames. Sure enough, the will-o'-the-wisps clung to Ding Shi's body but did not ignite. Ding Shi then stuffed the will-o'-the-wisps one by one into the bottle.

These will-o'-the-wisps appear to have a physical form, but they are as light as a feather and take up very little space; a glass bottle can never be filled completely.

Of course, Ding Shi also had to save his own life. Cui's father chased after Ding Shi on foot, and when he got close, he unleashed a palm strike filled with black smoke.

The two chased each other through the village, and in less than ten minutes, Ding Shi collected all the will-o'-the-wisps into a glass bottle.

At this moment, Ding Shi was hiding under Liu Niang's bed. His primal force was almost depleted, he was sweating profusely, and felt extremely unwell. Furthermore, his primal force was recovering very slowly. This is a characteristic of pure primal force: with 10% remaining, the recovery rate is 10%. With 90% remaining, the recovery rate is 90%.

Having lost track of Ding Shi, Cui's father only looked around and didn't search everywhere. After standing there for a while, he seemed to have lost his previous memory. He returned to the place where he was attacked, took out the Heavenly Secrets Disc, and started calculating again, as if nothing had happened.

The difference is that now, black smoke is constantly billowing from his wounds. However, compared to when he was chasing Ding earlier, when black smoke was spewing from his wounds, Cui's father doesn't seem to care about the current rate at which his demonic energy is being lost.

An hour later, Cui's father was only 10 meters away from Feng Qiniang's house when he smelled the aroma of rice. Turning his head, he saw a pot of cured pork rice on the wall about 10 meters away. There was a lot of cured pork, steamed together with rice, and it was topped with a plate of bright green stir-fried vegetables. There was even a pair of chopsticks in the pot.

Do you still need to eat if you've become a demon? Of course you still need to eat; as long as you're human, you must eat.

Ding Shi added a generous amount of arsenic to this dish, naming it: Arsenic-infused Cured Meat Rice.

Cui's father walked over, picked up a piece of rice, took a bite, savored it for a while, and then finished eating.

Ding Shi was shocked. Was it really that potent? Was the arsenic expired, or had he bought counterfeit medicine?

Before Ding Shi could come up with a new plan, Cui's father had already located Feng Qiniang's house.

With a flick of his wrist, Cui Fu, his robes billowing and his body enveloped in black mist, walked toward Feng Qiniang's house. With a casual wave of his hand, black smoke, like ocean waves, struck the exterior of the wall, causing the entire outer wall of Feng Qiniang's house to collapse with a deafening roar.

In the courtyard, an elderly couple sitting on a stone stool both looked at Cui's father.

(End of this chapter)