After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 47

In Shuigu Town.

Yun Ling groggily awoke, feeling her body heavy and weak, her breathing obstructed and labored, as if she were drowning in a quagmire. It felt as though thick, soft mud weighed down even her eyelids, making it exhausting just to open her eyes.

Had she caught a chill? But last night hadn’t been cold at all…

At this thought, Yun Ling suddenly paused, feeling hazy images flash through her mind—something like a dream she’d had last night, but she couldn’t recall any of it.

Yun Ling’s mind was muddled, her thoughts turning sluggishly. She’d developed a fever, which startled everyone in the household. Fortunately, they had both a physician and medicine at home. After Yun Ling drank her medicine, she lay in bed, drifting in and out of consciousness, about to fall into dreams.

“Yun Ling!”

Yun Ling opened her eyes in confusion to see Ding Qin standing beside the bed.

Today wasn’t originally when Ding Qin was supposed to come to Shuigu Town, but since High God Li Chi had spoken, she guessed something had happened with Yun Ling.

Still, seeing Yun Ling gave her quite a shock.

Yun Ling’s spirit and soul were unsettled, as if frightened, and her body was stained with considerably cold and gloomy ghostly qi.

Though this ghostly qi had no intention to harm, ghost qi belonged to yin—merely being contaminated by it would cause harm to the living. If it were just ordinary, minor ghost qi, one could simply bask in the sun, and after a few days at most, it would naturally dissipate. But this ghost qi was thick and frigid. Even though it was now broad daylight, it still lingered without dispersing. It was precisely due to its influence that Yun Ling had suddenly developed a fever.

Yun Ling looked at Ding Qin groggily. After drinking her medicine, she had originally begun to recover from the fever, but just now it had flared up again.

The Yun family was anxious and had already prepared to go to the Jiang Family Medical Hall to fetch a physician. They happened to run into Ding Qin halfway there. Yun Ling’s fever wasn’t caused by catching cold—even if they fetched a better physician, ordinary medicine wouldn’t bring it down. If it couldn’t be resolved promptly, there might even be danger to her life.

“Close your eyes,” Ding Qin said softly.

Yun Ling closed her eyes. She was burning with fever, dizzy and exhausted, her whole body hot and aching, her eyes dry and uncomfortable from the high temperature.

Ding Qin’s hands covered her eyes, cool and soft. A gentle power flowed into her body like trickling water, moistening her dry eyes, washing away the burning heat from her body, filling her aching limbs with strength, restoring clarity to her dizzy mind—like a beam of light penetrating a sunken pool, dissolving the shadows that entangled her.

The heat on Yun Ling’s body gradually subsided, though she was indeed still ill and wouldn’t immediately recover just because the gloomy qi had been expelled.

After Ding Qin settled her spirit, her muddled mind also cleared considerably.

“Where did you go? How did you get contaminated with such severe ghost qi?” Ding Qin asked.

Shuigu Town was bustling with human vitality and had an earth god presiding over it. Even if gloom bred in corners, it shouldn’t produce such severe ghost qi.

Yun Ling shook her head in confusion. She hadn’t gone anywhere recently. Yesterday she’d been fine—how had one night changed everything?

One night… With her thoughts somewhat clearer, Yun Ling began trying hard to recall the previous night.

“I think I had another dream…” Yun Ling murmured. But she couldn’t remember any of it—only traces of fear and unease that continued to linger in her heart.

Ding Qin frowned. Yun Ling still wore the earth god’s protective talisman, and the room remained shrouded in the earth god’s thick and stable divine power protection. If such powerful gloomy ghostly entities had approached, how could the earth god’s talisman show no change?

She reached under Yun Ling’s pillow to retrieve the earth god’s talisman. It emanated a thick and stable aura—this was the earth god’s power.

But Ding Qin vaguely felt something was wrong with the energy field on this talisman. The earth god’s energy field should be harmoniously solid, yet she felt this field was somewhat shaken?

She activated her spiritual vision, and the energy field formed by the talisman manifested before her eyes. Divine power containing the earth’s essence formed a complete protective barrier, harmonious and solid everywhere, with no gaps or leaks. But in Ding Qin’s eyes, this protection seemed somewhat uneven?

She found what felt like the weakest point and touched it with her finger.

The seemingly flawless protection instantly deflated.

Ding Qin’s expression changed. She unwrapped the red cloth package and took out the talisman paper inside. After seeing it clearly, her pupils couldn’t help but contract.

In the corner of the talisman paper was a pitch-black hole the size of a needle point.

During the time Ding Qin had been examining it, the earth god talisman’s power had already started operating again to support itself. Before long, it would likely return to its original state. Without careful inspection, one couldn’t discover at all that this talisman had been tampered with.

Who had employed such mysterious and hidden methods? And why would they target Yun Ling?

With such covert methods, might they have also hidden certain techniques on Yun Ling’s body?

Ding Qin carefully examined Yun Ling again, her gaze pausing on her forehead. “Don’t move,” she said.

Yun Ling obediently lay there. Ding Qin’s fingertips wrapped with divine power carefully pressed against Yun Ling’s forehead.

She had re-examined everything and discovered that a hidden technique had been applied to Yun Ling’s body. Previously obscured by that gloomy ghost qi, it was almost impossible to detect. Only now did it reveal slight traces.

This seemed to be a memory-sealing technique with no other harm. Ding Qin carefully undid it.

Yun Ling stiffened, her expression gradually becoming terrified.

“Last night… last night…” She gripped Ding Qin’s hand tightly. “A monster wanted to eat me! It was right beside the bed! Before, it was at the foot of the bed, but yesterday it came to the head! It was going to bite me!”

Ding Qin’s expression grew serious. She both comforted Yun Ling and guided her to slowly explain both dreams clearly.

“…You said that black beast’s claw was pressing on your shoulder?” Ding Qin asked.

She looked at the side of Yun Ling’s neck. There were two parallel fine scratches, widely spaced and not long, appearing dark red, as if carelessly grazed by something sharp—like a sharp beast’s claw.

Yun Ling instinctively covered her neck. Upon touching those two scabbed-over fine marks, her expression grew even more terrified.

The first time it was at the foot of the bed; the second time it had reached the head. That terrifying black beast’s gaze was violent, its huge mouth filled with jagged, cold teeth. This time it had already placed its sharp claws on her throat. Next time, would it bite off her head?

Ding Qin removed a wooden talisman from herself and tied it on Yun Ling. “This is a protective talisman the High God gave me. Don’t be afraid—wearing it, nothing will happen to you. I’ll stay here with you these next couple days.”

Yun Ling pitifully held Ding Qin’s hand and nodded.

At night, two young women squeezed into one bed. Yun Ling’s fever had completely subsided. This illness had not arisen naturally in the first place—it came quickly and left quickly.

But Yun Ling couldn’t quite fall asleep. The night was dim and lightless, the air growing cool—all of this made her unable to stop associating it with the previous two dreams. The dreams were always filled with dim nights, the air always cold and heavy.

Ding Qin squeezed her hand. “Don’t be afraid. I’m here with you.”

Yun Ling responded softly. After a while, still unable to sleep, she said quietly to Ding Qin, “Could you talk with me?”

Ding Qin nodded. “What would you like to chat about?”

Yun Ling thought for a moment and asked, “What is life like for you in the mountains?”

Ding Qin made a sound of acknowledgment and slowly said, “Very simple, nothing particularly worth mentioning. I rise before dawn to cultivate, listen to the High God’s teachings alongside the mountain monkey troops, and together with Wen Qianzi… Wen Qianzi is a small mouse with purple-gray fur who has already awakened his spiritual intelligence. Though he still can’t speak very well, he already recognizes many characters. I study with him under Mister Li. The rest of the time I carry water, grow vegetables, and such. Jin Yan occasionally takes me to wander the mountain forests—he’s a dove demon, a bit of a chatterbox, but very kind…”

Ding Qin spoke slowly, and Yun Ling gradually grew drowsy. Her eyelids slowly drooped as she murmured, “It sounds wonderful. I also…”

Her mumbling gradually faded, and Ding Qin also slowly stopped talking. Yun Ling had fallen asleep.

Ding Qin kept her eyes open, looking around the room. Spiritual light in her eyes hidden and unexpressed, she surveyed the qi throughout the entire Yun household.

There was nothing wrong. The talisman given by the High God stably protected this place.

Ding Qin slowly closed her eyes. Her fingers lingered for a long time on another sword talisman Li Chi had given her, but in the end she returned it to the hidden pouch inside her wrist and instead formed a sword seal herself.

She didn’t know what entity had targeted Yun Ling, but that ghost qi was frigid and deeply gloomy—just residual contact after exposure had caused Yun Ling to develop a high fever. It must be a great ghost with deep accumulated power. It had the means to breach the earth god’s talisman without being detected, could make contact with Yun Ling, yet hadn’t actually harmed her.

Though Yun Ling thought both times she’d seen that black giant dog in dreams, Ding Qin suspected the second time wasn’t in a dream. That ghostly entity must have come here in its true form, which was why Yun Ling had been contaminated with such deep gloomy qi.

Though Yun Ling had developed a high fever because of it, that gloomy qi had indeed only superficially clung to her body, not intentionally cast as a technique to harm her. It was only because this ghost qi was too deeply gloomy and heavy that she couldn’t withstand it.

This ghostly entity had entered dreams to see Yun Ling the first time, but manifested physically the second time. Was it because with the earth god’s talisman present, it could no longer directly enter dreams?

High God Li Chi had said that though the karmic threads on Yun Ling’s body had dangerous points, they weren’t viciously insoluble.

She had given Yun Ling the protective talisman from Li Chi, so the ghostly entity couldn’t directly enter dreams again. If it was truly persistent, would it come again tonight?

Ding Qin closed her eyes to cultivate, her divine consciousness alert, quietly waiting.

…..

In Shuigu Town, in the back alley outside the Yun family residence.

A massive black dog hid in shadow, pitch-black eyes staring at the Yun household.

A clear and pure divine aura shrouded it. Though not as stable and solid as the earth god’s divine power, it was even more forbidding to approach, as if it were the sun high above, gently casting down soft radiance from afar. But if one dared approach, that soft light would become a severe warning—those who didn’t know the height of heaven would ultimately be burned to nothing.

When facing the earth god’s talisman, he had still dared to employ methods to breach it. But now, he didn’t even dare approach.

The black dog stared fixedly at the Yun household. The unwillingness in his eyes gradually transformed into resentment, bit by bit becoming tinged with terrifying savage ferocity.

The second time.

He had waited three hundred years, searched for five hundred years, only to receive avoidance and fear.

Mu Chao, are you truly as they said?

The black dog bared his teeth slightly, his hunting posture revealing killing intent. Yet those resentful and fierce eyes seemed to recall something, hesitating and wavering.

He finally took one deep look at the Yun household before turning to disappear into shadow.

It was just a protective talisman. Once he found a way to deal with that talisman, he would return.

He absolutely had to ask in person…

The black ghostly dog quietly left Shuigu Town, silently racing all the way into the depths of the Daqing Mountain range, arriving at the base of a cliff.

This cliff was quite unusual—the mountain cliff jutting into the air was shaped like a snake’s wide-open mouth, even with two hanging stone stalactites like a snake’s cold poisonous fangs.

Below Shekou Cliff was a dark, deep pool. The pool water was clear, but because it was too deep, it appeared black. Above the pool water lingered a frigid qi that never dispersed year-round.

Because of this aura, almost no vegetation grew on the entire Shekou Cliff and around the pool. Only a few special plants could grow here.

The black dog carefully examined the deep pool below the cliff, plucked a black flower shaped like a hanging bell from a tree whose canopy was like an inverted golden bell and whose leaves were deep green like ink, then cautiously approached the pool.

That divine aura protecting the Yun household was too terrifying. With just his own power, he couldn’t break through it. He needed to find some other method. If he was careful, he shouldn’t be discovered…

…..

The night passed peacefully.

No gloomy ghostly entities came, nor did Ding Qin sense anything untoward approaching. Had it failed to appear because it feared the High God’s talisman?

Ding Qin quietly rose, her finger tracing lightly in the air, withdrawing her arrangements in the spiritual essence.

After Yun Ling wore the earth god’s talisman last time, she’d also been safe for several days. This time, having switched to High God Li Chi ‘s talisman, who knew how many days of peace there would be?

During this period, High God Li Chi’s power had recovered somewhat, his aura becoming increasingly lofty and ethereal, even benefiting half the mountain forest.

But even having reached this level, High God Li Chi was still in a severely wounded and weakened state. The radiant sun she had vaguely sensed still had a dark, hollow shadow in its center.

Only after this did Ding Qin increasingly realize just how formidable a deity she had come to follow. The Li Chi who was originally uninjured and whole—just how powerful would he be? Would he be beyond reach, something one could only look up to?

How had such a Li Chi ended up severely injured and weakened, able only to avoid the world in this remote mountain forest wilderness dwelling? High God Li Chi had never spoken of what had caused his injuries.

Or was it because she was too weak? Ding Qin pressed her lips together. Even if the High God told her, what use would it be? If whatever had endangered the High God appeared, what could she do?

Ding Qin pushed open the window. The eastern horizon revealed the first pale white light of dawn, and a gentle yang vitality arose between heaven and earth.

She half-opened her eyes, borrowing this strand of harmonious yang qi to cultivate. The gentleness at sunrise was fleeting. The mortal world was clamorous, its qi far less pure and clear than when beside the High God in the mountain forest.

Ding Qin reopened her eyes, pulling her thoughts back.

High God Li Chi had originally given her three wooden talismans—one containing sword intent, two for protection. She’d given Yun Ling one to replace the earth god’s protective talisman that had already been destroyed.

High God Li Chi was loftily unfathomable, but when creating this wooden protective talisman, he hadn’t yet recovered to his current level. Judging by the ghost qi remaining on Yun Ling’s body, that ghostly entity in the form of a black dog was probably no weaker than the earth god. The reason it had been blocked by the earth god’s talisman before was likely only because it didn’t want to alarm others.

Therefore, Ding Qin had no certainty in her heart about how long High God Li Chi’s talisman could block that ghostly entity.

While pondering this, there was movement from the bed—Yun Ling had awakened.

“I had another dream,” she said.