White Bone Demon Trail

Chapter 58 Red Embroidered Shoes

This autumn was an uneventful season in the mountains, and nothing major happened in the villages, big and small.

The addition of several newborn children to Black Stone Village brought some joy to the village.

Because the wasteland was cleared last year and this spring, the harvest of grains and cereals was more plentiful than in previous years, and the lives of the mountain people were finally a little more comfortable.

Now that the old scholar Du, who taught at the temple, no longer had to worry about food, he began to teach the children earnestly.

The eldest of the eight boys was named Qian, and the remaining seven were arranged in order of age to form the eight trigrams.

Du Xiucai took pity on these children who were visually impaired and took good care of them, even going so far as to create Braille.

This means carving on the wall with a knife, using the uneven texture to replace the strokes of ink.

Ah Liu was originally firmly against it, after all, carving on the walls of the temple would be too disrespectful to Lord Wuxiang.

But Old Scholar Du had never believed in ghosts or gods. Relying on his old bones being weak and Ah Liu not daring to touch him, he spent several months carving a thousand characters on the stone wall outside the temple.

Seeing that Lord Wuxiang didn't react, Ah Liu stopped trying to stop him.

As winter approached, when You Junzi came to the temple to inquire whether a winter sacrifice was needed, he looked up and saw a moving scene.

The walls of the temple were covered with thousands of characters, each one carved by the hunched old scholar, neat and beautiful.

Children who cannot see the world gently touch the stone wall with their fingers, feeling the inheritance with their hearts.

You Junzi didn't know what Wuxiang's intention was, but when these children, who should have been abandoned by the world long ago, and who were defective children that even kind people couldn't accept and raise, were able to survive deep in the mountains under the protection of demons, reciting books and poems in their awkward voices, no one would deny that there was a temple at the foot of Skull Mountain.

The wisdom of the formless has completely transcended the realm of demons. You Junzi had never seen one before, and none of the hundreds of demons recorded in the You family's demon-catching chronicles had ever been like this.

Bai Wuxiang, who was in the cave, was focused on his cultivation and did not have much need for the power of the gods, so he refused the villagers' sacrifices.

Because Bai Wuxiang discovered that when he used divine power many times, he could subtly hear that the faith contained desires, the thoughts and desires of believers, their heartfelt appeals, their greed. These human traits seemed to make the faith and divine power not truly pure and clean.

He doesn't have the time to listen to each believer's wish and then kindly go to the trouble of fulfilling it.

The White-Faced God never actively seeks to expand the faith, nor does he actively demand that believers gain divine power through sacrifices and offerings. With each sacrifice, the cries of the believers within his own heart only grow louder.

As time goes on, when more and more believers find their prayers to God in vain, God's power may turn against them.

Of course, the believers of Black Stone Village are not quite the same as those outside the village. Bai Wuxiang is merely the guardian deity of Black Stone Village, and the contract they form is limited to protecting the village from destruction and massacre by mountain spirits and monsters.

As for the faith of Black Stone Village, Bai Wuxiang guessed that it might be due to the fame that the Wuxiang Diagram had gained.

Compared to the first year when I arrived at Black Stone Village, the second year was much more peaceful.

Nothing major happened in the mountain stronghold, and no great demons caused trouble in Yunze Mountain every year. In the long run, those crises and dangers were only a very small possibility.

The demonic power within Bai Wuxiang's body was gradually solidifying, and the foundation that had been somewhat unstable due to its rapid growth had become stable.

His own cultivation was also close to the middle stage of the Spirit Building Realm, and his demonic power filled the sixty-eight white bones.

The reason for his rapid progress was due to the fact that he had absorbed a lot of death energy before, as well as the benefits he received from the destruction of Wulong Village.

In the blink of an eye, it has been three years since Bai Wuxiang settled down. The pristine mountains, with their clear, cold air, are far cleaner and purer than the human world below.

Bai Wuxiang sometimes climbed to the top of the mountain and found that the energy flow in the human world was somewhat chaotic.

Some spirits in the mountains couldn't resist taking the opportunity to come down from the mountain, wanting to obtain blood and food from the human world to increase their strength.

Yunze Mountain is sparsely populated, with only about twenty villages, each protected by a village god. Monsters dare not venture into villages protected by village gods to obtain food.

So, they risked going down the mountain.

Blood offerings are readily available in the human world below the mountain, but people also face life-or-death threats.

With the emergence of demons, demon hunters have found their place in the world.

Some demons and monsters enjoyed the delicious blood feast, while others became the merits and rewards for the demon hunters.

Outside Zhangyang County, most of the people who had sought refuge in Heishizhai last winter remained on the mountain, but thirty or forty people, unable to leave their homeland, chose to return to the village to live.

In addition, they inevitably had contact with their relatives in Black Stone Village, so You Junzi simply sent reliable and clever people to be stationed in Xiaohui Village, which could be considered an outpost of Black Stone Village.

To protect their safety, You Junzi specially gave him some self-defense items, as well as two pieces of Wuxiang Bone Jade.

The area outside Zhangyang County is haunted by the lingering aura of a dragon, which has attracted many demons. The area inside the county is relatively safe, but the countryside outside is home to many man-eating demons.

The reputation of the God of No Form also spread because of some people who came to Xiaohui Village to seek refuge.

As a result, many people in the villages began to enshrine the image of the formless deity in their homes, seeking protection.

On the mountain road, a man carrying a bag was hurrying back to Black Stone Village. Yuan Erniu was carrying the cloth he had traded down the mountain and some other rare items that his family had acquired. He was rushing back to the village.

The village has more people than before, and with the nearby rival Wulong Village gone and the village now linked by marriage with Baihua Village, there is no danger around the village anymore.

As a result, the village no longer forbade villagers from going out as before, and many villagers would take advantage of the opportunity to go down the mountain to Meixian to exchange for some things.

As Yuan Erniu watched the sky darken, he grew anxious. If he didn't make it back to the village by nightfall, it would be dangerous to spend the night in the wilderness.

He walked for most of the hour, and after hurrying through a forest, he had to stop and rest for a while.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Yuan Erniu glanced around and noticed a splash of red not far away.

He glanced at it curiously and saw that it was a pair of red embroidered shoes with double happiness motifs. The material looked to be of very high quality, and it was also embroidered with mandarin duck patterns.

Yuan Erniu was overcome with greed. He had never seen such beautiful embroidery and shoes before. He thought of his wife who had always lived a hard life with him and had never even worn a nice piece of clothing.

He looked around and found no one in sight. He thought to himself that perhaps some merchant had accidentally lost it while walking along the mountain path.

He happily picked up the red embroidered shoes and put them in his backpack. Then he no longer felt tired, his sore feet no longer hurt, and his legs, which he used to be unable to lift, had strength again. He quickly walked out of the woods and hurried home.

When he got home, he found that his wife was not there, so he took out the pair of red embroidered shoes and placed them on the table.

When his wife returned from the fields and saw the red embroidered shoes on the table, she couldn't help but stare at them, asking, "Erniu, where did these embroidered shoes come from? They must have been expensive!"

"Hehe, I found these shoes on the mountain road. They look pretty good, why don't you try them on?" Yuan Erniu said with a simple smile. "Found them? How could anyone lose such valuable embroidered shoes? And in this desolate mountain area, who would leave them behind?" His wife, Cui Tao, wiped the mud off her arm and said curiously.

"Perhaps it was lost by a caravan crossing the mountains," Yuan Erniu explained. "Anyway, it's in the middle of nowhere, so no one would bother looking for it. I noticed you didn't have any nice clothes, so I thought I'd bring it back for you."

"That's possible." Cui Tao looked at her husband, who was grinning foolishly, and couldn't help but feel happy inside. "You've got a good eye, haven't you?"

"Try it on and see if it looks good," Yuan Erniu urged with a smile.

"I just came back from the fields, and my feet are covered in mud. I'll wash them tonight before wearing them, so they don't get dirty again." Her eyes were glued to the embroidered shoes. Growing up in a farming family, she had never seen such beautiful embroidered shoes before; they were probably only for young ladies from wealthy families.

"Cuitao, I've come to return the grain to you." Granny Liu, carrying a bag of rice, walked to the door and smiled as she glanced into the house. "Erniu has also come back from the mountain."

“Oh, yes.” Cui Tao smiled and stepped forward, saying, “Grandma, what are you doing? It’s just half a jin of rice. We’re all from the same village. There’s no need to return it.”

Grandma Liu shook her head and said, "How can we not pay it back? Everyone has their own difficulties. You two don't have children yet, you're both young and strong."

Now that the grain has been distributed, I definitely need to repay what I borrowed from you. Just keep it.

She placed the rice bag on the only old wooden table in the room, her eyes gleaming with a red light. She glanced at it curiously and said, "These embroidered shoes are really beautiful..."

"Oh, Erniu picked it up on the mountain path. He thought the pattern was nice, so he brought it back." Cui Tao didn't bother to hide anything in the mountains. She didn't steal or rob unclaimed items and wasn't afraid of anything.

Granny Liu glanced at it a couple of times, finding something strange about it, and then casually remarked, "Such a bright red thing, and its origin is unknown..."

"If you want to keep Cui Tao, take her out in the sun to dry."

"Why are you drying it? It feels quite dry to me." Cui Tao reached out and touched the embroidered fabric again. It was smooth and soft, much better than the coarse cloth clothes she was wearing.

"That's not what I meant," Granny Liu said anyway. "There's no such thing as a free lunch. The embroidered face looks strange to me, so it's always better to be cautious."

Upon hearing this, Cui Tao's expression immediately changed. Knowing that Granny Liu was old and knowledgeable, she asked, "Grandma, you're saying this thing... isn't clean?"

"I just think it's a bit strange. It doesn't look modern; it looks like an old thing. Logically speaking, if it falls into the mountains, it should be covered in dust and mud." Granny Liu advised, "It's better not to keep it indoors."

“What’s unclean about it?” Yuan Erniu stood up and looked around. “Grandma, you’re just overthinking it.”

After saying this, he saw Granny Liu off and closed the door, saying, "Everyone wants something this rare, so how could it be unclean?"

Cui Tao thought for a moment, "But Granny Liu said it's not very clean. I think it looks nice, but it's not something people from the mountains and muddy fields would wear. Maybe we should just throw it away?"

"What's there to lose? What's there to be afraid of with just a pair of shoes?" Yuan Erniu said unhappily, "Besides, we have Lord Wuxiang guarding our village, where would we find anything unclean?"
Try these shoes on tonight and see if they fit.

Cui Tao hesitated for a moment, but was persuaded by her husband to keep the embroidered shoes.

At night, every household in the village turned off their lights and went to bed early.

Yuan Erniu helped his wife put on embroidered shoes, then carried her feet to the bed. Looking at his wife's feet in the embroidered shoes, he couldn't help but toss and turn with her for most of the night.

After they finished, the couple fell into a deep sleep.

In the dead of night, Yuan Erniu was awakened by the urge to urinate. He rubbed his eyes and got out of bed. His eyes caught sight of the pair of red embroidered shoes on the ground, and he couldn't help but take a second look.

He only glanced at it a couple of times before leaving the house. After relieving himself, he came back and pushed the door open to return.

The moonlight in the mountains was bright, and it shone through the cracks in the door, illuminating many of the rooms.

Just as Yuan Erniu was about to close the door, he suddenly noticed someone sitting by the bed.

He stared at it and discovered that the pair of red embroidered shoes were being worn by someone else—his own wife was sitting on the edge of the bed wearing the embroidered shoes.

"Cuitao, why did you wake up without making a sound? You startled me."

Yuan Erniu closed the door and walked back to the bedside. As soon as he entered, he found that Cui Tao's eyes were not open, her hands were clasped together in front of her, her back was straight, and she was sitting stiffly on the edge of the bed.

"Cui Tao! Cui Tao!"

He felt a little scared and reached out to push her, but to his surprise, Cui Tao fell down and lay motionless on the bed as soon as he touched her.

Yuan Erniu hurriedly reached out to touch it, but the touch felt as cold as touching an ice cube, and Cui Tao did not react at all.

This scene terrified him so much that he shakily lit the oil lamp, raising it to illuminate the room. In the dim light, Cui Tao's face was as pale as a dead person, and she wasn't even breathing.

"Cuitao! Cuitao! Don't scare me! Don't scare me!" Yuan Erniu anxiously checked Cuitao's breath, but there was no response.

He was so frightened that he trembled and quickly turned around and ran out to call the neighbors.

He woke up several families in the neighborhood, and when they heard that Cui Tao was dead, they all came to Yuan Erniu's house.

But as soon as he entered the door, he saw Cui Tao sitting perfectly fine on the edge of the bed. He was stunned and asked, "Er Niu, what are you doing? Why did you call so many people over in the middle of the night?"

“Cuitao! You…” Yuan Erniu was stunned when he saw his wife looking perfectly fine, with none of the paleness she had just shown.

"Erniu, are you deliberately playing a trick on everyone?"

"Yeah, are you still dreaming or not fully awake?"

"Isn't Cui Tao perfectly fine? What nonsense are you talking about?"

"Sigh. Alright, alright, I'm going back to sleep. I have to get back to work tomorrow."

So the neighbors complained a bit and went home.

After everyone had left, Yuan Erniu looked at the perfectly healthy Cui Tao and couldn't help but think that he was still half asleep. So he closed the door, complained to Cui Tao a couple of times, and then fell asleep again.

However, just as he was about to lie down, he closed his eyes and tried to hug Cui Tao, only to find that he had reached for nothing.

He reached out again, but still couldn't find it. So he opened his eyes and saw that Cui Tao was sitting on the edge of the bed again, with her back to him and her back straight.

Enraged, Yuan Erniu shoved her, "Cuitao, what are you trying to do?"

However, as soon as he finished speaking, he was horrified to find that Cui Tao's head suddenly fell to the ground.

(End of this chapter)