The Demon Lord of All Forms

Chapter 3 Things

Ripples appeared on the stone pillars at the mountain peak, as if someone had thrown a pebble into a calm lake, with concentric circles of ripples spreading across the hard rock surface.

With a crack, a fissure appeared in the rock wall on the west side of the stone pillar, the crack spreading out to both sides to reveal a dark passage. The edges of the opening were jagged, as if something had gnawed through the stone from the inside.

Holding a knife in one hand and a torch in the other, Zhang Hu stepped inside without hesitation.

The cave walls were slippery, with water vapor condensing into fine droplets that flowed down the rock surface. The stones underfoot were worn smooth, not like they were naturally formed, but rather like they had been worn down by something over the years.

pat!pat!

The sound of dripping water came from deep within, unhurried and gentle.

Zhang Hu walked for a long time, so long that he realized something strange. The stone pillars outside were no more than five feet wide, but he had already walked at least five hundred steps forward. The passage not only showed no sign of ending, but was getting wider and wider. This was illogical, but Zhang Hu didn't care and just kept walking. It was better if it was illogical.

I stepped on something, and it shattered with a crack.

Zhang Hu lowered the torch and saw a broken piece of white bone, a human tibia, which was yellowed and brittle, with an uneven fracture surface, as if it had been bitten off by something.

Zhang Hu kicked the skeleton aside and continued forward.

The passage suddenly came to an end, and Zhang Hu found himself standing in a huge stone cave.

The cave ceiling was so high that torches couldn't reach it, and the surrounding rock walls were covered with honeycomb-like holes. The air was cold and dry, a stark contrast to the damp passage outside.

In the center of the cave, there is a stone lotus.

The petals are layered and distinct, each one carved with lifelike detail. The carving technique is both ancient and sharp. On the stone lotus, a skeleton sits cross-legged.

The skeleton was wearing a long blue robe. The fabric was brittle, but the color was still incredibly bright. A swirling pattern was embroidered on the hem, and the silver-gray silk thread glittered in the torchlight.

The skeleton was in a very upright posture, with its back straight, its hands folded on its knees, and its skull slightly lowered, as if looking at its no-longer-existing hands.

Before the skeleton, on the lotus platform of the stone lotus, there were three things.

A piece of white jade, about the size of a palm, with its surface covered in fine cracks.

A bell, bronze in color, about the size of a thumb.

A small yellow cloth bag, about the size of a palm, tied with a red string at the top.

Zhang Hu climbed onto the stone lotus with nimble movements. His long knife was tucked into his waistband, and he used one hand to support himself on the lotus petal as he flipped himself up.

Zhang Hu first picked up the bell.

The copper bell felt slightly cool to the touch, its surface so smooth it didn't seem like an antique. He shook it casually, and the tinkling sound bounced back and forth in the stone cave, crisp yet somewhat jarring. Zhang Hu tucked it into his pocket.

He picked up the yellow cloth bag again, untied the red rope, opened the bag and looked inside. It was empty, there was nothing inside. Zhang Hu put the bag into his pocket.

Finally, I picked up the white jade.

The surface of the jade was icy cold, as if it had just been pulled out of ice water. The moment Zhang Hu's fingers touched the white jade, the cracks suddenly lit up, as if something inside had blinked.

Then everything went black before Zhang Hu's eyes. All the light in front of him was sucked away by something, and he couldn't even see the torchlight. At the same time, a voice exploded directly in Zhang Hu's mind, like a thunderbolt striking into the depths of his consciousness.

"Finally...it's here..."

The voice was rough and hoarse, carrying an uncontrollable ecstasy.

Zhang Hu felt something crawling up his arm. It wasn't insects or water, but a heavy, cold presence, like an invisible hand spreading upwards along his veins and nerves.

Wherever this hand passes, his body becomes someone else's territory.

Zhang Hu could clearly feel that his right hand was still holding the white jade, but that hand was no longer under his control, then his right arm, and then his right shoulder.

"Boy," the voice rang out again, this time closer, as if someone were speaking right next to his eardrum, "give me your body!"

Zhang Hu tried to shout, but he only opened his mouth and couldn't make a sound.

Something is laughing.

Zhang Hu could feel something laughing, laughing in his veins, his bones, and his muscles. The tremors spread throughout his body, making Zhang Hu feel like a sparrow being held in someone's hand.

"This body... young, strong, and though its foundation is mixed, it's better than nothing." The thing muttered to itself as it ravaged Zhang Hu's body, its tone as if evaluating something it had just acquired: "After all these years, finally... finally..."

The rough sound stopped; it had penetrated deep into Zhang Hu's consciousness.

This was not the blank space he had expected, nor was it what an ordinary person should look like. Deep within Zhang Hu's consciousness, there was a road, a dark and mysterious road with no end in sight.

One end of the road connects to Zhang Hu, and the other end connects to something vast, cold, and unlike a human soul, but rather like a sea—dark and deep. To this sea, Zhang Hu is merely a grain of sand, dampened by the tide and washed ashore.

"What...what is this?"

The rough voice changed tone. The ecstasy vanished, replaced by a sense of dread about the unknown.

It wanted to retreat, loosening its grip on the half of its body that it had already occupied, trying to escape from the dark path, but it was too late. At the other end of the path, the silent deep sea opened its eyes.

Su Qinghe opened his eyes in the jade-brick hall of Lin'an City. He had just been closing his eyes to sense all the sensations transmitted back by his one hundred and thirty avatars: the cold of the mountain wind, the dampness of the mist, the dryness of the stone cave, and the ice of the white jade. Then that thing came. Like a snake, it slithered into his courtyard, biting the arm of one of his avatars, wanting to possess the entire avatar.

Su Qinghe tilted his head. How long had it been since he had felt this way? This thing was not his incarnation, nor any of the souls he had devoured. It was an "other," a real, independent "other" that would feel fear towards him.

This feels so good.

Su Qinghe's lips slowly curved into a smile, and at the same time, in the stone cave of Qingming Mountain, Zhang Hu's lips also curved into the same smile.

Zhang Hu sensed pairs of eyes looking at him—ten pairs, a hundred pairs, a thousand pairs, ten thousand pairs, and finally a hundred thousand pairs. The entire city of Lin'an, the entire countryside, every man, woman, old man, and child turned their heads at the same moment, looking at him with the same eyes and the same smile.

A sharp, mournful cry exploded deep within Zhang Hu's consciousness.

"No...no...you are...what are you...?"

The whimpering was swallowed, the foreign feeling gradually disappeared, Zhang Hu picked up the torch that had fallen to the ground, straightened up, squinted his eyes, and licked his lips.

"It's a bit hard."

Inside the palace in Lin'an City, Su Qinghe stood up, a satisfied smile on his face.

"Hopefully the next one will be a bit softer."