After Transmigrating into an Evil God - Chapter 48

“I dreamed of that big black dog again,” Yun Ling said.

Ding Qin’s heart tightened. She hadn’t seen any ghostly creatures arrive last night, nor had she seen anything trying to enter Yun Ling’s dreams. Could it be that the ghost had already become powerful enough to evade her perception and spiritual sight?

“What did you dream about?” Ding Qin asked.

Yun Ling saw that she had misunderstood and explained, “It was different from the previous dreams. In the dream it was no longer nighttime, and we weren’t here either. That big dog looked very much like the one I dreamed of before, but it wasn’t as large—it was smaller by a size…”

It was a very imposing, very majestic large dog with a sleek form and glossy fur, and a pair of eyes full of spirit.

Although its size wasn’t as enormous and terrifying as what she’d seen in dreams a few days ago, it was still very large, far more formidable than the large dogs people usually see, almost as big as a tiger.

Those eyes were sharp as lightning. Its keen claws could easily gouge deep scratches across tree stumps, and when it opened its mouth to bark, it revealed a mouthful of snow-white, sharp teeth.

It was still frightening. When a carnivorous predator displays the ability to easily take a person’s life, how can people not be afraid?

But in the dream, Yun Ling wasn’t afraid.

She dreamed of sunlight and grassland. Perhaps because the environment was too bright and cheerful, when the giant hound looked at her, she didn’t feel fear either. Instead, she felt joy.

They frolicked on the grassland. When the giant hound placed its paw on his arm, it carefully retracted its sharp claws, leaving only its soft pads.

When he mounted his horse, this giant hound would run alongside him. They wove through the forest, drawing their bows to shoot arrows and hunting freely…

A somewhat conflicted expression suddenly appeared on Yun Ling’s face.

“What’s wrong?” Ding Qin asked.

Yun Ling paused for a moment, then said with difficulty, “In the dream, I was a man. I could easily draw a great bow, and my archery was very good. But that day we didn’t encounter any game, so the giant hound burrowed into the woods, and before long it came back with a rabbit in its mouth…”

Because they worshipped the Medicine Divine Lady, the Yun family never ate rabbit meat, let alone hunted rabbits.

“It’s just a dream,” Ding Qin comforted her. “Don’t worry about it.”

Yun Ling nodded and slowly said, “After that there wasn’t much else. In the dream we… seemed to have a very good, very close relationship.”

This was a dream that Yun Ling herself had dreamed, not one guided by someone else. She could tell the difference.

But if she was so afraid of that black hound, why would she get along with it so easily and comfortably in the dream?

“I’m wondering…” Yun Ling said in a daze, “whether that black hound found me for some reason?”

“Do you want to see it again?” Ding Qin asked.

Yun Ling instinctively recalled the dream from the night before and couldn’t help but shiver. Clutching the quilt, she curled up and said, “Let’s… let’s wait a bit longer!”

Although in this dream she had somehow gotten along very happily with the giant hound, who knew if her brain had just randomly produced this dream? Dreams had always been chaotic and nonsensical.

But that black giant hound she’d seen before, which was even larger than a tiger, had truly hurt her. Setting aside the yin energy that had caused her persistent high fever, just the scratch on her neck was enough to frighten her.

This time it had only scratched a bit of skin on the side of her neck—what if next time it moved to her throat and pressed down?

Moreover, she still remembered the giant hound’s eyes. The way it looked at her was fierce and resentful, as if it could bite down at any moment! That didn’t look like there was any warmth left. She wasn’t about to risk her life because of a dream of uncertain truth!

Ding Qin nodded.

All those who had died without entering the cycle of reincarnation and transformed into ghostly creatures harbored deep obsessions—whether born of resentment or deluded attachments. Ghosts were often extreme in temperament, and if one touched upon what they were fixated on, it wasn’t uncommon for them to lose rationality and become impossible to communicate with.

Whatever entanglement existed between Yun Ling and that black giant hound, hastily making contact before everything was clear would be unwise.

Ding Qin planned to stay at the Yun family home for several more days and return after this matter was resolved. There was nothing in the mountain forest that required her attention, so returning later wouldn’t matter. As for the vegetables she’d planted… the monkeys would help water them.

Her thoughts wandered aimlessly for a while before she gathered them back together. Ding Qin took a deep breath. She was still nervous.

If the black hound ghost couldn’t be reasoned with, she might need to fight it. But before this, she’d only had two experiences using divine arts in combat. In the poison pool cavern, the tree spirit hadn’t resisted at all. With the Wei clan, neither of them had intended to harm the other.

But this time, High God Li Chi had said there was danger in the karmic thread connected to Yun Ling. Her power was still too weak. Although she had spiritual sight, she still couldn’t see karmic threads.

Ding Qin worried: if she didn’t do well enough, what would become of this situation?

If it were High God Li Chi, what would he do?

……

In the Daqing Mountain range, at Li Manor.

The mountain wind drifted leisurely through the halls and chambers, turning the pages of books. Li Chi reclined on a couch, his slender fingers pressing down on the pages stirred by the wind.

He had already finished reading all of the Li clan’s book collection. Most had been returned to the later generation of the Li family, but this copy of Examination of Mountain and Wilderness Oddities had remained in his possession.

In terms of material, this book was nothing special. It had only been imbued with simple magical techniques to preserve it over time. In terms of value, there were no hidden compartments or treasure map riddles, nor did it contain any rare cultivation methods—it merely recorded strange tales and unusual events.

When Li Chi first read this book, he hadn’t found anything particularly special about it. He’d only kept it because he was drawn to the line about the Divine Court.

But as his understanding of this world deepened, he came to realize just how rare the strange tales recorded in this Examination of Mountain and Wilderness Oddities truly were.

The unusual events recorded in the book ranged from common people to cultivators, encompassing everything. Many were secret matters. If these strange tales were all real events, how had Qianhao Sanren learned of them? And what was his identity?

Although Li Chi had no way to verify the truth of all the stories, based on what he now knew and cross-referencing with historical accounts in other books, every verifiable story in Examination of Mountain and Wilderness Oddities was true.

And that line about the Divine Court…

Though the Divine Court was established, in this world there is no real difference between immortals and demons and ghosts.

There might be some deeper hidden meaning in this, but he had no way of knowing it yet.

Li Chi slowly turned the pages, his gaze resting on one particular page.

Eight hundred years ago, in the land of Sui, there was “General Mu Chao, who could bear the weight of a thousand jun, exceptionally brave and martial. He was always accompanied by a black hound of enormous size, which people of the time considered demonic.”

Li Chi raised his head, his gaze distant, falling upon Shuigu Town. His finger gently flicked through the empty air.

……

Shuigu Town.

A karmic thread on Yun Ling’s body, one that stretched all the way deep into the Daqing Mountain range, trembled slightly.

This karmic thread seemed neither fully gathered nor dispersed. Its form had solidified, but its color remained undetermined, constantly alternating between an ominous black-red and a gentle blue-white.

In the unseen realm, a clear and cold power descended upon it, ethereally enveloping this strand of karma, preventing the black-red color from coalescing.

Yun Ling was completely unaware of this.

A day passed peacefully, but when night came, Yun Ling couldn’t help but feel anxious again. Would she dream again tonight? What would she dream of?

Would that pitch-black giant hound come looking for her again?

A soft hand quietly reached over and held hers. Yun Ling’s heart warmed. She smiled at Ding Qin, who was several years younger than herself, closed her eyes, and slowly drifted into sleep.

Sinking, sinking.

Mortals don’t cultivate their divine consciousness, so they often forget old matters. At birth, at death, they remain in confused ignorance.

But those things they think they’ve forgotten, those things seemingly washed away by reincarnation, have always left marks deep in their divine consciousness.

After a great fire, smoke stains remain. When fine rain enters the earth, the mud absorbs moisture. When a living being has lived through a lifetime, even if the previous body has died and been reborn, how could there be no trace?

Yun Ling’s consciousness descended hazily. A floating karmic thread guided her, all the way down to a certain mark deep in her divine consciousness.

……

The sound of water gurgled. Beneath him were sharp, uncomfortable rocks and cold water. He smelled blood. His body was heavy and painful, unable to summon any strength.

Something was dragging him, struggling to move him toward the shore.

The stones scraped painfully against him, but the water would kill him. He tried desperately to move, but his body wouldn’t respond.

Something warm rubbed against his face again and again. After a long while, he finally recovered some awareness and strength, barely managing to lift his eyelids.

A furry, dripping wet enormous head hovered above his own. A dark red tongue licked his face over and over.

Those pitch-black eyes weren’t cold like a beast’s pupils, but instead showed human-like anxiety and worry.

His body still hurt, but seeing this giant hound, he felt somehow reassured.

The giant hound was soaking wet, its imposing coat of fur plastered pathetically to its body. It had dragged him from the water.

He instinctively raised his hand, wanting to stroke the giant hound’s head.

The giant hound made a low sound in its throat, slowly lowered its head, and nuzzled his hand. He couldn’t help but want to smile, but that black head suddenly closed its eyelids and, as if finally at ease, lost its strength.

Its massive body collapsed with a crash.

“…Little General!”

Yun Ling’s mind exploded. He suddenly remembered why he was here.

Shouts searching the mountain, the clash of weapons. Fragmented scenes flashed through his mind like a zoetrope.

This was within the borders of the Sui kingdom. He was here to suppress bandits.

But there was a traitor in the army—not necessarily a traitor working for the mountain bandits, possibly a traitor from the court. In this world, it wasn’t uncommon for aristocratic families and nobility to maintain private forces disguised as bandits, plundering the surrounding areas to enrich themselves. From these bandits’ actions, he had already discovered corresponding clues.

Regardless of which side the traitor belonged to, the result was already clear. He was isolated and trapped, surrounded and attacked, with no one at his side except Little General.

However, even though his martial skills were exceptional and Little General was fierce and formidable, being surrounded by dozens of people without reinforcements made escape nearly impossible.

He had fallen into a deep pool and been knocked unconscious. If Little General hadn’t dragged him out, he would have drowned.

But Little General was injured too. That blood… some was his, some was Little General’s!

Ignoring his own pain, he reached out to embrace the black giant hound, feeling for its wounded, bleeding areas. After assessing the injuries, he gritted his teeth and tore fabric from his clothes to bandage it.

Little General… with such serious wounds, how had it managed to drag him from the water?

Don’t die…

“Don’t die…” he murmured pleadingly.

But the powerful giant hound’s breathing still gradually weakened…

Yun Ling opened her eyes. The dim dawn light fell on her face, making her eyes blur with moisture. The pain from the dream had vanished upon waking, but the sorrow in her chest was unbearably oppressive.

“Ding Qin…” her voice was hoarse, “I remembered it.”

“Its name was Little General…”

Eight hundred years ago, in the Sui kingdom, there was a general always accompanied by a black giant hound, which he playfully called Little General. The hound’s form was enormous, and people of the time considered it demonic…

When Mu Chao met Little General, it was already very large—not just in size, but in strength too. One claw could break thick firewood. But no matter how powerful its claws were, they couldn’t break through iron nets.

That was when the black hound was at its most wretched. People feared it. How could a dog be so large? How could it be so terrifying? It could break arm-thick firewood with one claw—couldn’t it also break a person’s arm with one claw? Its teeth were fearsome and jagged, made for tearing flesh!

How could people not be afraid? Fearing everything that could harm one’s life was an instinct inherited from ancient times, written into blood and bone. Humans were like this, birds and beasts were like this—all living creatures were the same.

But humans were ultimately different from birds, beasts, insects, and snakes.

When birds, beasts, insects, and snakes encountered natural predators, they would hide out of fear.

Humans might have been the same at first, but before long, they learned another method—a more direct, more effective, more peaceful and worry-free method.

If a tiger eats people, kill the tiger. With no tigers in the world, there’s no need to fear tigers anymore. If poisonous plants harm lives, burn the poisonous plants. The fertile soil left behind is perfect for planting good crops.

This giant hound was too demonic. Its claws were more powerful than a tiger’s, its teeth sharper than daggers. It could easily break a person’s bones and bite through a person’s throat. The fierce air in those beast eyes could directly frighten young children to tears.

People looked at it with fear, but they still found a way to capture it, to trap it with iron nets. Then no matter how much those sharp claws struggled, no matter how much that terrifying head roared, it could no longer harm anyone.

But that still wasn’t enough.

It was just too big, too frightening. The more it struggled, the more people feared it.

The more they feared… the more they wanted to kill it!

The giant hound tore savagely at the iron net, a fierce roar erupting from its throat, its pair of pitch-black eyes violent and terrifying.

People held up iron rakes and hoes, but their steps were hesitant and trembling. Their eyes showed both fear and anger. Murderous intent gradually rose, and their scattered, hesitant steps finally became firm. They swung the weapons in their hands forcefully at the giant hound trapped in the iron net!

The giant hound struggled and dodged, but confined by the iron net, it could no longer be agile. No matter how hard it tried to evade, it only looked clumsy. When so many clubs and hoes came at it, some were bound to land.

It gave a threatening low growl, but people were no longer afraid.

Beasts had their natural fur, claws, and fangs. People also had their own weapons and armor. Even tigers retreated into mountain forests—how much more so a giant hound?

A beast trapped in a snare would always die.

That was when Mu Chao saw the black hound.

“You saved it?” Ding Qin asked.

Yun Ling nodded. Mu Chao had bought the black hound from the people. He took it in and protected it. Later he had tried to release the black hound back into the mountain forest, but the black hound refused to leave.

“Did it die in that bandit suppression battle later?” Ding Qin asked again.

Yun Ling paused, then shook her head. “I don’t remember, but I have a feeling it didn’t.”

She hadn’t dreamed an entire lifetime, only recalled some fragmentary pieces.

Ding Qin asked again, “Then do you… remember how you and it died in your previous life?”

Yun Ling shook her head. For other matters, she still had vague impressions, but for this matter, she couldn’t remember at all, as if separated by a thick curtain that revealed not even the slightest trace.

Yun Ling stared blankly, trying hard to remember.

Ding Qin slowly frowned and murmured, “But if your relationship was so good, why would it transform into a ghost and come looking for you?”