Chapter 785: Chuchu (II)

Seeing that the little creature was willing to sell itself for food, Liu Xiaoyu suddenly asked, "Then what should its name be?"

Lin Bei answered, "You see how it's just black and white....Why don't we call it Huahua[1]?"

"What kind of weird logic is that?" Shang Ziliang scoffed. "Look at it—it’s round and plump. If we’re talking about harmony and completeness[2], why not call it Feiyun?"[3]?"

The group shouted, "Your logic is even weirder!"

In the end, it was Di Nufeng who made the final decision. "This generation of disciples of the Silver Sword Peak all have the word 'Chu' in their names. This little one should be no exception. Since she’s a girl and quite adorable, let’s call her Chuchu."

Chu Liang immediately praised, "What a great name!"

Di Nufeng happily ruffled the iron-eating beast’s head. "Let’s see if she can cultivate with me in the future... If she can, then from now on, Chuchu will be Silver Sword Peak’s eldest senior sister!"

Chu Liang had just started to chuckle when he realized something was off. "Heh... Wait, what? Then what about me?"

Di Nufeng waved her hand dismissively and said, "You will be her second junior brother."[4]

Hearing this, Chu Liang felt so speechless.

While everyone on Silver Sword Peak gathered and watched, the potential eldest senior disciple of Silver Sword Peak, Chuchu, continued sitting there leisurely chewing on spirit bamboo. For some reason, no one seemed to tire of staring at her, even after an entire day. It was as if this creature had some inexplicable charm.

Chu Liang had to scold and chase away people to finally get them to go back to work at Red Cotton Peak. He had to leave too and attend to matters at Red Cotton Peak.

However, when he returned after finishing his tasks, he was stunned. Not only had Lin Bei and the others come back, but they had also brought even more people with them. There were people he knew, like Xu Ziyang, Xu Ziqing, Ling Ao, and many others he didn’t recognize. The crowd around Chuchu had grown so large that the once open space was now packed, surrounded by lines and lines of curious onlookers.

Even Wang Xuanling had caught wind of the commotion and made his way over. The moment he spotted Chu Liang, he spoke in a solemn tone. "I heard you intend to keep a iron-eating beast at Silver Sword Peak. Utter nonsense! How can you let a vicious beast roam freely? You must impose strict restrictions to keep it under control."

Chu Liang gestured toward the crowd and said, "Senior Uncle Wang, why don’t you take a look for yourself?"

Wang Xuanling looked confused and skeptical. Still, he cast a glance over. The moment he saw the iron-eating beast, his gaze remained fixed on the creature for a long time. Gradually, his expression softened.

After a while, Chu Liang leaned in and asked, "Senior Uncle Wang, does it look vicious to you?"

"Heh." Wang Xuanling chuckled, turning back to Chu Liang with a look of amusement. "It's smiling at me."

After observing for a while, Wang Xuanling was no longer concerned. He had to admit that this creature was quite different from what the legends had described. In fact, he even asked if there were more and whether Jade Sword Peak could have one as well.

Chu Liang decided to wait for Chuchu to recover before making a trip to its original habitat. If more iron-eating beasts were there, he might as well bring them back.

He had to leave for Red Cotton Peak again, and when he returned, the crowd had grown even larger. At this rate, it seemed like half of the Mount Shu Sect’s disciples had caught wind of the news. They gathered around, eager for a glimpse. If not for their ability to use divine sense, most wouldn’t even be able to see past the lines of spectators.

Amidst the crowd, Chu Liang spotted a familiar figure and called out in surprise, "Brother Du? What brings you here?"

Standing among the spectators was a tall man with a rather dark complexion. It was indeed Du Wuhen.

Du Wuhen turned toward him and greeted, "Young Hero Chu!"

"I came to see you," he continued. "Little Second Brother sent me to deliver an urgent message."

"What is it?" Chu Liang asked at once.

The Hall of Construction had only just begun operations a few days ago. If something had already gone wrong at the Mountain-Suppressing Rock mine, it would be nerve-wracking.

"Recently, Starhold Island sent nearly all its forces to reclaim the quarrying archipelago. The moment they landed, they tried to kill everyone on sight..." Du Wuhen recounted.

"Ah?" Chu Liang frowned. "Were there heavy losses?"

Du Wuhen shook his head and answered, "No losses at all. Little Second Brother... purified them all."

"Purified?"

After hearing the explanation, Chu Liang finally grasped the situation. The bad news was that Starhold Island's forces had intended to kill everyone on sight. The good news was that the first person they encountered had been none other than Grand Ancestor Fuyou.

Eventually, Grand Ancestor Fuyou had enough and took action. However, he didn’t kill them. Instead, he chose a far more subtle approach.

Grand Ancestor Fuyou implanted a mayfly parasite into each of the members from Starhold Island, effectively taking control of them. This was a secret technique that only the Grand Ancestor Fuyou could perform and it allowed him to manipulate entire groups of living beings at will.

It was precisely this divine ability that made Grand Ancestor Wuchao so wary of him. In the past, Grand Ancestor Fuyou had nearly controlled every sea demon with this very method and almost became the actual ruler of the South Sea.

Compared to controlling all the demons of the South Sea, taking control of Starhold Island’s entire force was nothing more than child's play.

...

When Chu Liang arrived at the quarrying archipelago, he finally saw what Du Wuhen meant by "purifying."

The once-quiet island was now swarming with over a few hundred cultivators, all of whom were at a considerable level of cultivation. Yet, at this moment, they were all holding simple tools, going in and out of the mining tunnels dug by the Mountain-Drilling Beast, each emerging with heavy ores strapped to their backs.

Well, isn’t that great? Oldie Brodie had actually made Starhold Island's entire force into miners. This is no doubt a full-on labor reform.

Grand Ancestor Fuyou first greeted with a bow, "Young Hero Chu."

He then said, "These people were too bloodthirsty, so I had no choice but to use such methods. I only hope this serves as a lesson, so they won’t take lives so easily in the future."

As Chu Liang moved closer to observe the miners, he noticed their vacant stares and lifeless expressions. He frowned and asked, "Have they lost their consciousness?"

"They still have it," Grand Ancestor Fuyou answered with a nod. "I merely planted a Mayfly Seed in their spiritual platform, suppressing their original spirit sense. At first, the Mayfly Seed causes some dullness, but as it grows, they will gradually regain their intelligence and even integrate parts of their memories with the Mayfly Seed's. Of course, to restore their original self, I need only withdraw the seed."

Hearing this, Chu Liang couldn’t help but feel a chill run down his spine.

This divine ability is horrifying! It was no wonder that Grand Ancestor Wuchao wanted to kill him so badly.

With this power, Grand Ancestor Fuyao could control countless living beings for a period of time, making them do whatever he wanted. If there were no other eighth-realm cultivators that could stop him, it was hard to imagine what he could do.

It wasn’t a bad thing to make these cultivators of Starhold Island mine for a while. However, the Starhold Island was ultimately backed by the Penglai Supreme Sect. If too much time passed, the Penglai Supreme Sect would undoubtedly notice something was wrong, which would only invite trouble.

After some thought, Chu Liang pointed at the massive, conspicuous mound of flesh and said, "Esteemed Senior, please make that person normal again."

Grand Ancestor Fuyou waved his hand lightly, and the massive mound of flesh, also known as Hong Jufeng, slowly walked toward him.

Then, with a simple tap of his index finger, a sharp whoosh sounded as a tiny red flicker of light shot out from Hong Jufeng’s nostril and returned to Grand Ancestor Fuyou’s sleeve.

Hong Jufeng froze for a moment, his eyes looking dull. In the next instant, light flickered in his eyes again and he staggered back in shock and screamed, "Ahhhhhhhh!"

Then, he stared at the people in front of him and blurted out, "Chu Liang?"

"It is I, Young Master Hong," Chu Liang said with a smile. "I personally invited Esteemed Senior Fuyou to oversee the quarrying archipelago. He was supposed to remain here in closed-door cultivation, but you all just had to come and disturb him..."

Hong Jufeng quickly composed himself and said, "If we had known this was Mount Shu’s territory, we wouldn’t have come. So this was all just a misunderstanding. Now, have this esteemed senior undo the spell he cast on all the other disciples of Starhold Island and let us go. We’ll just pretend none of this ever happened."

He looked at Chu Liang, only to find that he was still smiling silently.

At that moment, Hong Jufeng’s face fell. His knees gave out, and with a trembling voice, he pleaded, "Isn’t it enough if I beg you?"

He was genuinely terrified. Who would’ve thought that Chu Liang could so casually leave an eighth-realm Eminent One here to watch over an island? Who would dare go against him now?

Did Chu Liang want the Starhold Island members to stay there and be miners forever?

But what Hong Jufeng didn’t expect was that the moment he dropped to his knees, Grand Ancestor Fuyou immediately knelt down as well. "I wouldn’t dare to make you beg! I wouldn’t dare!"

Seeing the old man kneeling, Chu Liang naturally couldn’t just stand around. He hurriedly knelt down too and said hastily, "What are you all doing? Let’s all get up and talk this through properly!"

Watching from a distance, Du Wuhen felt a sudden unease. A thought flashed through his mind,

Is my little second brother trying to find me another sworn father again?

After some back-and-forth, Chu Liang finally managed to get the two on their feet.

He turned to Hong Jufeng and said, "Young Master Hong, I’ve heard about what happened to your father, and I offer my deepest condolences. Though our relationship hasn’t exactly been friendly in the past, I know that wasn’t something you had any control over, so I’ve never held it against you. However, you really should not have taken your anger out on the quarrying archipelago. We should all strive to be civil and courteous, don’t you think?"

"Young Hero Chu, I truly understand my mistake now! Please, I beg you, let us go!" Hong Jufeng broke down, sobbing uncontrollably.

Everyone here was just too damn weird. Each one was more polite than the last—their tone grew increasingly courteous, and their verbal punches kept hitting harder.

Compared to them, Di Nufeng was much easier to handle. At least that was just physical torment. This was pure psychological torture.

"If apologies were enough, what would we need Grand Ancestor Fuyou for?" Chu Liang said gently. "Even if no one got hurt, you still wrecked a huge part of the island’s nature, didn’t you? The mountains and forests took a hit, the animals are shaken, and even the fish are so scared they stopped laying eggs. The damage... it’s beyond measure.

"Since you’re truly remorseful, I have a reconciliation plan that benefits us both. Care to think it over?"

Hearing that Chu Liang had finally gotten to the point, Hong Jufeng’s eyes lit up. He asked, "What’s the plan?"

Chu Liang took a slow, deliberate breath and spoke two words, "An acquisition."

1. This is the character 花花 which means flower but can also mean patches of different colors ☜

2. The word 圆 implies harmony and completeness ☜

3. Feiyun means "Flying Cloud." The phrase Shang Ziliang used, 团团圆圆 (Tuan Tuan and Yuan Yuan), refers to well-known pandas, and Feiyun is also the name of another panda. Refer to Link. ☜

4. “Second” refers to his place among the peak’s disciples. ☜