Ma Xiaoniu was both amused and exasperated. He waved his hand, signaling the three guys to come to his side.
After a while, apart from the Azure Dragon slowly swimming over, the Black Tortoise still stood there with its head held high and its eyes glazed over, while the White Tiger was still staring at the naked chicken, drooling even more.
Ma Xiaoniu's face darkened. What the hell? Were these the Four Divine Beasts or Four Idiots? He teleported onto the turtle's shell and slapped its head. Xuanwu shuddered, turning to look at Ma Xiaoniu with a bewildered expression. Ma Xiaoniu pointed to the shore: "Let's gather on the shore!"
Then, he teleported to the side of the white tiger and stepped on its paw. The white tiger shuddered and finally withdrew its tongue. It turned its head to look at Ma Xiaoniu, whose face was as black as ink, and then suddenly stuck out its tongue and licked it again.
Ma Xiaoniu froze, his head and face covered in drool.
"Pfft!" Ma Xiaoniu wiped his face, spat, and then gritted his teeth as he glared at the White Tiger. The White Tiger shivered, then suddenly jumped out like a husky, quickly ran to the Azure Dragon's side, and drooped its head, whimpering.
Damn it, if I don't show my power, you'll think I'm... Pfft! That's disgusting!
He washed himself thoroughly by the lake, but Ma Xiaoniu could still smell a strong stench of saliva. Suppressing his nausea, Ma Xiaoniu walked to the middle of the four divine beasts, stuffed the pills into their mouths with a dark face, and then sat cross-legged on the ground.
After consuming the elixir, the four divine beasts were thrown into chaos once more. After a long commotion, the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, and Black Tortoise underwent significant changes. The Azure Dragon's waist became even thicker, its scales almost completely shed, revealing its tender pink skin. Its eyes became much more lively, occasionally even displaying a hint of human-like expression. The White Tiger had completely transformed into a fleshy tiger, its fur gone, leaving only a smooth, naked body, its small penis swaying rhythmically. The Black Tortoise fared the worst; its thick tortoise shell had fallen off, leaving it lying naked and grotesquely ugly. But their most significant change was in their eyes, which had become much more lively. They were now staring intently at Ma Xiaoniu, as if they were just meeting him for the first time.
Ma Xiaoniu finally felt a sense of relief. Although the medicine wasn't as strong as he had imagined, it was still quite good. He nodded and said to Baihu, "Baihu, go and prop up the jujube tree and plant it in that big pit. Then Zhuque will be in charge of digging the soil into the pit, Qinglong will be in charge of compacting the soil! Xuanwu will be in charge of watering it. Hurry up, quick!"
After a long while, there was still no movement. The four divine beasts remained standing there dumbfounded, staring at Ma Xiaoniu. Ma Xiaoniu's face darkened, and he sighed. He had no choice but to demonstrate it himself. Only then did the four divine beasts show expressions of understanding. They then each performed their duties and quickly planted the jujube tree. The Azure Dragon circled the jujube tree again and again, and the soil was compacted at a visible speed. The Black Tortoise ran to the lake to draw up enough water, then carried it to the jujube tree and spat it out. Because of its large size, it could carry a considerable amount of water at a time.
Looking at the planted jujube tree, Ma Xiaoniu finally broke into a big smile. After all, it was the jujube tree that had grown up with him. Ma Xiaoniu had lost his family long ago, and this jujube tree was like family to him. Suddenly, Ma Xiaoniu slapped his forehead. If he could create pills that could enhance the intelligence of the Four Divine Beasts, then he should be able to create water that could imbue the jujube tree with sentience too! After all, he was a supreme god within the Chaos Pearl; what couldn't he do?
Without hesitation, Ma Xiaoniu ran into the Chaos Pearl and conjured a large vat within the bronze palace. With a thought, the vat instantly filled with water, a deep blue-green color that appeared to be sprinkled with silver stars. A faint fragrance wafted through the air, invigorating the senses. Satisfied, Ma Xiaoniu moved the vat to the jujube tree in Divine Beast Valley and instructed the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise to draw water and water the tree. Within minutes or two, the watering was complete. The jujube tree's previously wilted leaves had become translucent, like jade, and the entire tree shimmered with faint silver stars. The tree was vibrant and full of life, seemingly imbued with a spiritual quality.
Looking at his watch, it was already one o'clock in the afternoon, and his stomach was growling with hunger. He ordered White Tiger to hunt in the mountains. While he was at it, Ma Xiaoniu wandered around the forest again, gathering some firewood. Because of the four divine beasts' earlier commotion, part of the forest was crooked and looked like a messy chicken coop. Ma Xiaoniu frowned and thought for a while, then his eyes lit up. Although the original forest was lush, the vegetation was too mixed and didn't look good. Why not have the four divine beasts pull it all up and pile it up for firewood, and then carefully plan it out, planting peach trees, apricot trees, and bamboo groves? Wouldn't that look much better?
When they reached the lakeside, the white tiger had already returned from its hunt, with a total of ten mountain goats of varying sizes. It was unclear where these goats had come from, but they were so unlucky that the white tiger had wiped out their entire kennels.
The firewood was piled up, the rack was set up, and the goat was skinned and cleaned. The meat was then roasted, and as cumin and salt were sprinkled on, a rich aroma of meat filled the air. The four mythical beasts lay obediently nearby, their eight large eyes staring at the sizzling meat on the fire, their mouths watering.
Ma Xiaoniu was speechless. Creating the Four Divine Beasts was clearly a mistake; now he'd become a full-time cook! He definitely needed to continue improving their intelligence and then teach them how to barbecue. Hehe…
After more than two hours, all ten goats were finally roasted. Apart from the ones that the four mythical beasts had eaten, all that was left for Ma Xiaoniu was a hind leg. But for such big goats, one hind leg was enough, though it was incredibly tiring.
After eating the roast meat, he ordered the four divine beasts to uproot all the trees in the valley. This task was completed quite quickly. The four divine beasts were huge, and with just one roll, a whole row of trees would fall over. Then, each of them used their own methods to grab and push the trees. In just one hour, the valley became clean and tidy. All the trees were piled up on the south side of the lake near the mountain wall. That place was sunny, and with the sun's intense heat, they would turn into firewood in a few days.
After the trees were uprooted, only large and small pits remained, which looked quite unsightly. So Ma Xiaoniu instructed the Four Divine Beasts to level the land and finish everything. He checked the time; it was already around four o'clock. He told the Four Divine Beasts to wait in the valley, and then Ma Xiaoniu teleported to LY City, near Shenxianjia. He first found a secluded alley to hide himself. Ma Xiaoniu was now incredibly famous. Since learning his demon identity, various television stations had given him comprehensive, in-depth coverage, digging up all the information about Ma Xiaoniu and his ancestors up to eighteen generations back. It's no exaggeration to say that viewers across the country knew more about Ma Xiaoniu than Ma Xiaoniu himself did. After all, Ma Xiaoniu didn't even know who his eighteenth-generation ancestor was…
After putting on a mask and a black wide-brimmed hat, Ma Xiaoniu checked himself again with his phone and, finding nothing unusual, hailed a taxi to the local flower and tree market. The market was quite far away, taking more than half an hour for the taxi to reach the LY City Flower and Tree Market.
It was almost 5 PM, and the flower and tree market was nearing its end. Most vendors were preparing to close up shop and go home to their wives. With no other option, Ma Xiaoniu sped up, quickly circling the market. Luckily, he found a shop with a relatively complete selection of flowers and trees. He immediately ordered two thousand peach trees, two thousand apricot trees, and two thousand bamboo stalks. The shopkeeper was stunned. While business was booming, they simply didn't have that many peach, apricot, and bamboo trees! After the shopkeeper explained the situation, Ma Xiaoniu doubled the original price. The shopkeeper immediately patted his chest proudly and found enough stalks within an hour, loading them onto his truck. Exhausted, he still sent his "god of wealth" away with a fawning smile.
After reaching a deserted area on the outskirts of LY City, Ma Xiaoniu instructed the drivers to unload the saplings. The drivers looked around; there wasn't a house for miles around—it was the middle of nowhere! They were completely bewildered, but since the person in charge had spoken, they had no choice but to unload them. Half an hour later, all the saplings were unloaded, forming a mountain of saplings. Then the drivers sped away. Once the vehicles were out of sight, Ma Xiaoniu quickly circled the sapling mountain and stored it within his Chaos Pearl.
He wiped the sweat from his brow. Although everything went smoothly, it was still incredibly tiring! He teleported back to the Divine Beast Valley and checked his watch. It was already 7 p.m. At this time, the sky had completely darkened, but it wasn't completely black yet, and he could still see the general outlines of the surrounding scenery.
Ma Xiaoniu lit a fire, and the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird came running over excitedly, but the Azure Dragon and Black Tortoise were nowhere to be seen. It seemed they would have to wait until the next day to plant the tree! They made some simple roasted meat, and after the White Tiger and Vermilion Bird ate, they went to lie down and rest. Ma Xiaoniu had nothing to do, and since he had to go ghost hunting after midnight, he simply went to the cave to rest first.
Half-asleep, Ma Xiaoniu suddenly woke up, grabbed his phone to check the time—it was already past 11:40 PM, very close to midnight, time to go! He got up, quickly packed his things, slung the backpack containing the Soul-Destroying Whip over his shoulder, put on a black wide-brimmed hat, and then teleported to Huanglian Village. (Recently, there has been a serious issue with encoding changes, which motivates us to update faster. Please exit reading mode if you'd like. Thank you.)
Chapter 54
It was already past midnight, and the entire village was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face. In the deathly silence, even the slightest movement seemed amplified many times over. Ma Xiaoniu squinted at his surroundings; the houses and trees were now heavy shadows, baring their fangs and claws, like ghosts. Ma Xiaoniu shivered, a sense of fear creeping into his heart. What if the Soul-Destroying Whip didn't work? Wait, what was he afraid of? Even if the Soul-Destroying Whip failed, he could still run away! Or perhaps he could simply drag the ghost into the Chaos Pearl? At that point, a mere ghost would be nothing.
He took out his phone to check Lu Renfa's coordinates, then turned on navigation. Following the navigation, Ma Xiaoniu slowly walked forward, then turned left and right, and finally arrived at a house in the corner of the village.
In the dim light, Ma Xiaoniu couldn't see clearly, only that the courtyard in front of him was about forty or fifty meters long and twenty or thirty meters wide—a very large courtyard. The gate was tightly closed, and from a distance, he couldn't make out its color. Ma Xiaoniu checked the time on his phone; it was already past fifty. In a few more minutes, the ghost should appear. With a thought, Ma Xiaoniu teleported inside the wall.
By the dim light, several trees could be seen in the courtyard. In the darkness, even their silhouettes were indistinct. Under a tree in the corner of the courtyard, a dark shape could be vaguely made out; judging from its general shape, it seemed to be the well platform. Ma Xiaoniu stepped closer to the wall, feeling a pang of regret. Damn, it was terrifying!
Time ticked by, and soon it was past midnight. Ma Xiaoniu rubbed his eyes. He saw faint smoke rising from the previously dark well platform, and as the smoke rose, the entire courtyard suddenly grew colder. The insects that had been chirping occasionally in the grass in the corner now fell silent, as if afraid of disturbing something. Ma Xiaoniu carefully drew out the Soul-Destroying Whip. In the chill of the surroundings, the Soul-Destroying Whip felt unusually warm; holding it in his hand seemed to dispel much of the coldness.
In a daze, a phantom white figure suddenly appeared on the dark well platform. The figure swayed gently in the breeze, seemingly about to be blown away at any moment. Almost the instant the figure appeared, a faint, mournful song reached Ma Xiaoniu's ears. The song was so sorrowful and plaintive that it brought tears to his eyes. Ma Xiaoniu frowned slightly, squinting as he carefully examined the figure. He then realized that the white figure had somehow sat down, its blurred face seemingly turned towards him.
She's looking at herself!
Ma Xiaoniu broke out in a cold sweat. To be honest, he was really scared! Even with the Soul-Destroying Whip in his hand and the Chaos Pearl to bolster his courage, Ma Xiaoniu still felt a slight tremor throughout his body. After all, this was the first time he had ever seen a ghost!
Ma Xiaoniu squinted at the white figure. The figure was blurry, but its features seemed quite delicate. Wait, delicate? No! That's not right! Ma Xiaoniu suddenly realized that the white figure he was seeing with his naked eye was probably not the ghost's true appearance!
The ability to see ghosts has been activated!
A faint blue light emanated from Ma Xiaoniu's eyes. The handsome white figure that had been there was gone, replaced by a skeleton dressed in white! Pieces of rotting flesh hung from the skeleton's face, and its two eyes were empty, their sockets flashing red light.
Ma Xiaoniu trembled even more violently. Damn it, this was a life-threatening situation! But now that he was here, wouldn't it be a disgrace to the devil to just leave like this? And it didn't seem like something a chivalrous person would do, did it?
Gritting his teeth, Ma Xiaoniu suppressed his fear and walked step by step toward the white-robed ghost, holding the Soul-Destroying Whip in his hand. As he got closer, the cold feeling became more and more obvious. Ma Xiaoniu could even feel a chilling aura drilling into his body. However, thanks to the Soul-Destroying Whip, the chilling aura did not penetrate his body. Instead, it was blocked by a warm feeling.
As they drew closer, the white-clad ghost's face finally came into clear view. A stark white skull, rotting flesh, and two long white sleeves that almost dragged on the ground, stained with streaks of blood that seemed to be still flowing, dripping from top to bottom onto the ground.
The white-clad ghost's red eyes stared straight at Ma Xiaoniu. It was clearly just a skeleton, with only a hole in its mouth, yet there was a faint singing voice lingering around it.
Ma Xiaoniu finally arrived, his fear almost unbearable. He forced himself to speak, his voice trembling, "Why are you, a ghost, disturbing mortals!"
The enchanting song suddenly changed into a chilling chuckle. The white-clad ghost suddenly floated forward, arriving within two meters in the blink of an eye. Ma Xiaoniu was shocked and lashed out with his Soul-Destroying Whip. With a loud crack, the Soul-Destroying Whip struck the seemingly illusory white-clad ghost. A golden light flashed, and the white-clad ghost screamed and fell four or five meters away.
Ma Xiaoniu gasped for breath, forcibly suppressing his wildly beating heart, and raised the Soul-Destroying Whip in his hand, walking step by step towards the ghost. The white-clad ghost looked at Ma Xiaoniu with extreme fear. As Ma Xiaoniu approached and raised that strange whip again, the white-clad ghost fell to the ground in terror, and the low laughter that had been lingering around its ears turned into bursts of sobs.
"Gods, have mercy! I had no intention of disturbing mortals. It's just that I was murdered by a villain in my previous life, and my body was thrown into a well. So I have nowhere to go, which is why I often appear by the well. But I have never harmed anyone. Please, Gods, see the truth!"
Ma Xiaoniu frowned, his face darkening as he looked at the white-clad ghost. "How do I know if what you're saying is true or false? It's better to just whip it to death!" With that, he raised the whip again and lashed it out. Strangely enough, Ma Xiaoniu's whip wasn't particularly fast, yet it always managed to strike the ghost accurately. The whip seemed to be born to subdue ghosts, perfectly matching the function Ma Xiaoniu had given it.
With a loud "crack!", golden light burst forth, and the white-clad ghost screamed as it tumbled back four or five meters, its body becoming even more ethereal, its face almost unrecognizable. Suddenly, the white-clad ghost floated up from the ground, turned, and ran towards the well. Ma Xiaoniu, who was not far from the well, was not about to let it run into the well. He lashed out with his whip, striking the ghost.
The whip lashed out like a venomous dragon's tail, striking the ghost fiercely. A golden light flashed, and the ghost was sent flying again. This time, it couldn't get up for a long time, and its body became even more illusory, leaving only a blurry outline, with nothingness in the middle.
"Waaah~" A faint sobbing sound rang out. Ma Xiaoniu didn't continue whipping the ghost. Actually, he didn't disbelieve what the ghost had said, but he didn't know what special abilities the ghost possessed, and if he fell for a trick, he'd be doomed. Now, the ghost seemed to be fading away, so it probably wouldn't try any more tricks, right?