I'm Already the Richest Man, Why Did My System Just Arrive?

Chapter 210: Chapter 146: Tragedy

Zheng Xiu finally understood.

He understood why the Cotton Shedding had appeared here, and why this place hadn’t formed a Dark Curtain and enveloped itself into a Ghostly Realm.

The conditions for a Ghostly Realm’s formation were obvious: the dead. A certain number of dead would cause a place to draw infinitely close to the Darkness, forming a borderland between the Common World and the Darkness, which was known as a Ghostly Realm.

And when a large number of Human Souls with "direction" moved toward the Darkness in a short period, they would break through the barrier between the two realms, opening an entrance to the Darkness.

Although many had died in the Celestial Burial Forest, it was a remote area. Most of the people given celestial burials here were locals, so their numbers never reached the required scale.

So, naturally, there was no Ghostly Realm.

But with people dying here from time to time, the small number of Human Souls opened up countless, almost negligible "small Passages."

These small Passages were as fine as pinholes. Zheng Xiu couldn’t even sense any Filthy Qi. Normally, they shouldn’t have had any effect on the Common World.

However, within the Darkness lived a type of insect called the "Cotton Shedding." Its silk could pass through these "pinhole Passages." Through these minuscule channels, the Cotton Shedding was able to once again draw nutrients from Humans to reproduce and grow here.

The various clues converged in Zheng Xiu’s mind, and he gradually sorted out his thoughts.

The only thing he didn’t understand was why this Cotton Shedding appeared once every hundred years, and why, only twenty years after its last appearance, it had another chance to return to the Common World.

"So that’s how it is."

Zheng Xiu then recalled the "Purification Ceremony" in Jingtang Town. The pregnant women and the human-like mushroom burned to death in the ceremony... according to local custom, their bodies would also be brought here for a "celestial burial." And it was this very act that stabilized these tiny "pinhole Passages," which in turn helped the Cotton Shedding flourish.

Ruchen stood obediently to the side, heeding Zheng Xiu’s words, "Don’t come over." He curiously made a few complex hand gestures, their meaning unclear, and asked aloud, "Brother Zheng, is there... something up ahead?"

Ruchen was a little scared.

"Yeah, there’s a little something."

Zheng Xiu’s gaze fell once more upon the suspended cocoon.

The facial features plastered on the cocoon’s wall showed a human-like flicker of emotion.

It looked as if it were crying.

And as if it were begging for mercy.

’Just a monster.’

Zheng Xiu raised an eyebrow. With a flick of his wrist and a crisp crackle of bones, a long black saber appeared in his hand.

"Broken Moon."

Zheng Xiu swung his saber, severing the strands of Cotton Silk one by one.

With each severed strand, the dark shadow inside the cocoon convulsed. Gradually, the insect’s writhing weakened.

Ruchen saw Zheng Xiu swinging his saber at empty air and vaguely understood.

He sat cross-legged on the ground, pressed his palms together, and remained silent.

After all the Cotton Silk was cut, the Cotton Shedding was on its last breath. Zheng Xiu stepped forward. He executed the only one-strike Sword Technique in the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes, its Derivation flashing across the cocoon.

A straight line of blade light, like a fine thread, slid gently over the cocoon.

Zheng Xiu had already turned away. He held the Broken Moon Saber horizontally before him, sheathing it slowly, inch by inch.

CLICK.

SHHHIIING!

The sound of the saber being sheathed and the sound of the cocoon bursting rang out at the same time.

"Divine Speed."

The Broken Moon Saber vanished into smoke.

Under the "variable" brought by the [Surprise Cage], all of Zheng Xiu’s techniques were simultaneously born from the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes. Zheng Xiu’s foundation lay with the Treasure King, and he was in the process of evolving the Treasure King’s original creation, the Coiling Dragon Eighteen Slashes, into techniques that were truly his own.

Closing his eyes, Zheng Xiu observed a few seconds of silence for Treasure King Cangyun, who had passed away twenty years ago. He recited silently in his heart.

’Thank you, Treasure King... Cangyun!’

Hearing the sounds, Ruchen opened his eyes and stared, dumbfounded. Beyond the clearing, all the trees had been sliced apart at the same height, the cuts as smooth as mirrors.

Zheng Xiu had sliced through more than half the forest with a single strike.

"Brother Zheng... you think we’ll get beaten up when we go back to town?"

A stunned Ruchen asked foolishly.

’You just destroyed their Celestial Burial Forest!’

"Probably not."

Even Zheng Xiu didn’t sound too certain.

Ruchen asked, "So... we solved it just like that?"

Zheng Xiu glanced back at the ravaged forest. He activated his [Spiritual Vision] again. The "spores" in the sky were rapidly withering, losing their luster. They fell into the forest and dissipated into dry ash.

All the threads from the Cotton Shedding had been severed, and the minuscule Passages to the Darkness had closed at the same time.

After confirming, Zheng Xiu nodded. "It should be solved. But there’s one more thing. We have to warn them not to hold any more celestial burials for a while, or else there’s a chance the entrance to the Darkness could open again. Or maybe... they could find a different place."

Hearing this, a brilliant smile spread across Ruchen’s face.

The two of them headed back happily.

Ruchen felt like he had done a good deed, and he was in high spirits.

Zheng Xiu walked for a while with his eyes closed, taking a short nap as he went.

This was a new Skill he had unintentionally unlocked—sleepwalking.

「Back in Jingtang Town.」

Zheng Xiu, who had been drowsily "sleepwalking," suddenly snapped his eyes open.

Wails and sobs echoed from the town.

The streets were still empty. In the clearing where the "Purification Ceremony" had been held, eight bodies were laid out in neat rows.

The bodies were covered with white cloths. Judging by the swell of their chests and abdomens, they seemed to be the pregnant women of Jingtang Town.

Zheng Xiu’s heart sank.

The brilliant smile on Ruchen’s face froze.

"What’s going on? Didn’t we take care of the Cotton Shedding?" Ruchen panicked. A pall of gloom hung over the scene ahead. Hearing the townspeople’s cries, Ruchen tugged at Zheng Xiu’s sleeve, at a complete loss. With a mournful look, he asked his question.

Zheng Xiu’s face was grim. He pushed through the crowd to get a closer look.

The townsfolk he pushed aside were filled with grief and indignation and were about to start cursing. But when they looked up and saw it was the ferocious Mighty Man who had been kicking and punching his way through town not long ago, they were so scared their assholes clenched, and they fell silent.

Zheng Xiu lifted the white cloth from one of the bodies. The pregnant woman’s eyes were bulging, and mold spots on her skin were flaking off into fine powder. She had clearly been dead for some time.

All the pregnant women had died in the exact same way.

The townspeople formed a circle, their expressions complex.

Anger, fear, resentment, grief.

Everyone looked at the Mighty Man with this same complicated gaze.

As Zheng Xiu stared at the eight bodies in silence, Ruchen stepped forward and explained loudly, "Brother Zheng got rid of the Cotton Shedding for you! The Cotton Shedding is dead!"

"Bullshit!" a man with bloodshot eyes shouted, pointing at Zheng Xiu. "He’s the one who killed my wife!"

"If it weren’t for him sticking his nose in it with his ’Purification Ceremony,’ they wouldn’t have died so horribly!"

"Murderer!"

"Bastard!"

"Son of a bitch!"

"Get out of Jingtang!"

"Outsiders, get out of Jingtang!"

Having death on their side gave them courage. The emotions of the crowd surrounding the bodies in the clearing surged.

Ruchen got flustered, his face flushing red as he shot back, "You’re the ones full of shit! Weren’t you going to burn them alive?! How is it our fault they died? Bullshit, bullshit, bullshit, bullshit! You’re the ones talking bullshit!"

The curses from the crowd grew louder.

The noise shook the heavens.

Someone grew bold and threw a ceramic bowl at the Mighty Man.

CRACK! The bowl smashed against the unmoving Mighty Man’s head. The bowl shattered, but the Mighty Man’s head was completely unharmed.

Someone shouted a reminder, and the townspeople had a sudden realization. Having discovered a new way to vent their anger, they began frantically hurling hard objects at the Mighty Man.

"Stop it! What does this have to do with us?! We were trying to save them! What does this have to do with us?!"

The situation had spiraled beyond Ruchen’s expectations. He desperately tried to explain to the people of Jingtang Town.

Ruchen’s face grew more and more twisted, the veins on his forehead bulging. Suddenly, his fingers curled into a claw, making a cracking sound. His pupils contracted abruptly like a wild beast’s as he raised his claw toward one of the men who had been cursing the loudest—his wife was lying not far from Ruchen.

"Thinking of killing someone? Go on, kill us all if you have the guts!"

"Yeah, yeah, go on and do it if you dare!"

Ruchen suddenly let out a sinister cackle. "You asked for it yourselves! I’ve never heard such a ridiculous request! Fine then, I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!"

With that, Ruchen’s figure shot forward like a bolt of lightning.

THUD!

But Zheng Xiu was faster. He smashed a fist into the back of Ruchen’s head.

Ruchen’s eyes rolled back, and he fell face-first to the ground.

Zheng Xiu knew Ruchen had a Ghostly Realm on his head, making it incredibly sturdy, so he had used fifty percent of his strength in that punch. The sound of his fist hitting Ruchen’s head was like striking a bronze bell—deafening.

When Ruchen hit the ground, his face smashed down so hard that the paving stones cracked, leaving a "face-crater."

The furious townspeople were instantly struck dumb, and they all sucked in a sharp breath of cold air.

It was as if a bucket of ice water had been dumped over their heads, jolting them awake.

The Monk was an honest man, easy to bully. But the Mighty Man was not. Look at him—when he got angry, he’d even go for the kill against his own companion.

After the Mighty Man "rang the bell," the crowd surrounding him and the Monk fell deathly silent. The standoff lasted for a long moment.

Just then.

A commotion erupted from another street. A man holding a sickle ran toward them, his face contorted with Anger, shouting as he ran.

"Everyone, come quick! The human-like mushroom from Cuihua’s family is still alive! The human-like mushroom from Cuihua’s family is still fucking alive!"