Chapter 8: The Mother-in-Law's Skin

"Baba once said, if you lose your way in the Great Ruins and cannot return to the village before dark, do not panic."

Qin Mu steeled his heart, thinking to himself, "The Great Ruins are filled with ancient sites, many of which hold divine and wondrous secrets. Seeking refuge in these ruins might offer a chance at survival. Whether a ruin can truly shelter you depends on two things: first, if it contains statues similar to those in our village; and second, if there are a multitude of strange beasts within. These beasts, being spiritually aware, instinctively know where to seek safety from the encroaching darkness..."

The Great Ruins were indeed riddled with such sites. Just moments ago, while fleeing, Qin Mu had glimpsed scattered city walls and the remnants of villages, their broken walls and crumbling structures speaking of immense age, yet he had lacked the time to stop and ascertain the presence of statues.

The setting sun had already dipped halfway below the horizon. Suddenly, an unnerving silence descended upon heaven and earth, so profound it could drive one to madness.

Then came a rush of sound. Qin Mu looked up, witnessing a torrent of colossal birds hurtling through the mid-air, a black mass that blotted out the sky. Following this, the earth itself trembled, trees toppled, and strange beasts of all kinds erupted from unseen burrows, their legs pumping furiously.

Qin Mu even saw ripples on a distant lake as several short, stout red fish, each several *zhang* long, actually leaped out of the water, using their fins as legs to scurry across the ground!

A flicker of confusion crossed Qin Mu's face. Fish running on land? Were these even fish anymore?

"These strange beasts are all running in the same direction! There must be a place there where they can evade the darkness!"

His spirit surged, and he joined the frantic charge, following the surging tide of beasts.

The sky grew progressively dimmer. In the distance, darkness encroached like a rising tide, not the gentle fading of night, but a great flood that overwhelmed mountains, valleys, and the wilderness, submerging everything in its path. Even though Qin Mu had witnessed the arrival of the darkness before, he was still struck by an overwhelming sense of awe.

The darkness advanced with terrifying speed, yet the herd of beasts continued their headlong rush towards it. Qin Mu hesitated for a moment. The direction they were heading was the very direction from which the darkness was coming. Could there truly be a safe haven there?

If not, wouldn't he be rushing towards a certain death, leaving no corpse to be found?

"Never mind! The darkness is coming too fast. Even if I turn back, it's too late. I can't possibly outrun it. My only option is to follow the beasts!"

He gritted his teeth and plunged forward with desperate speed.

Outside Cripple Old Village, more than ten *li* downstream of the river, Si Baba's battle with the Five Elders of Li River had reached its most critical juncture. Initially, only four Elders had been besieging Si Baba, but after a prolonged and unsuccessful assault, Qi Yanbing, the leader of the Five Elders who had been observing from the cliff face, immediately joined the fray. With all five Elders now attacking, they unleashed the Five Elements Refining Demon Array.

To their astonishment, Si Baba, who had only just managed to hold her own against the four Elders, found her strength surging with Qi Yanbing's entry into the battle. The Five Elders' Five Elements Refining Demon Array, meant to ensnare even the most formidable foes, could not contain this seemingly frail old woman.

Shock and anger twisted the Five Elders' faces. Only then did they realize that this old woman had been deliberately feigning weakness, baiting Qi Yanbing into their trap to prevent his escape, aiming to capture them all in one fell swoop.

Si Baba, with her tiny feet, flitted back and forth like a ghost. The silver needles and silk threads in her basket moved as if alive, instantly inflicting wounds upon the Five Elders of Li River. In moments, a multitude of silk threads had pierced through these five elders, binding their souls and bodies, leaving them utterly immobilized.

The wizened old woman's face was creased with smiles as she stepped forward, scissors in hand. "Baba hasn't refined human skin in a long time. I wonder if my skills have grown rusty..."

She approached Qi Yanbing. Suddenly, he opened his mouth, and a silver pill shot forth, aimed directly at Si Baba.

The silver pill swelled upon contact with the wind. With a whoosh, it erupted into ten thousand strands of sword qi, expanding outwards with a *zheng zheng* sound. In an instant, it transformed into a sphere of pure sword light, a hundred *zhang* in diameter!

Si Baba was caught off guard and retreated in haste. Her body suddenly softened, moving through the air like an earthworm, dodging each incoming strand of sword light. At the same time, the scissors in her hand flew out, like two silver flood dragons, their blades clashing with a *ka cha ka cha* sound, severing the incoming sword lights one by one.

Despite her swift reflexes, she was still pierced by a single strand of sword light. It came from her back; she was hunched over, and there were places her sight could not reach. This sword light struck her precisely on her hunchback.

The sky full of sword lights vanished, and broken swords rained down from the air, falling with a *ding ding dang dang* sound, embedding themselves in the ground across an area of several *mu*.

The silver pill also landed with a *pa da* sound and remained motionless.

Si Baba also landed on the ground. Reaching behind her, she drew out the sword shard and frowned slightly.

"You still managed to evade me..."

Despair flickered in the eyes of Qi Yanbing, the leader of the Five Elders. His voice was hoarse. "I attacked you at such close range with my sword pill, containing six thousand eight hundred and forty-two swords, yet you still dodged it! You are certainly not some unknown figure in the demonic path! There is no old woman of your appearance recorded in the demonic path. Who exactly are you?"

He suddenly noticed Si Baba's back. Where the hunchback had been struck, a wound had appeared, but no blood flowed out. Instead, light shone inwards, revealing an obvious emptiness within.

Qi Yanbing's hair stood on end involuntarily. "This is not your true form! You are wearing someone else's skin..."

"You damaged my skin sack."

Si Baba frowned. The voice that issued forth was not the usual voice of an old woman; instead, it was incredibly pleasant. To simply hear this voice would lead one to believe she was a beautiful woman in the prime of her life, completely unlike her current appearance, with one foot already in the grave.

Si Baba pressed her throat and sighed, muttering, "Leaked air..."

From her basket, she took out silk thread to sew the sword wound on her back. She cleared her throat, and her voice returned to its usual timbre.

Suddenly, Qi Yanbing's face paled drastically, as if he had seen a ghost. He cried out, "I have heard your voice! I know who you are! The Heavenly Demon Cult's Cult Leader's Husb—"

Si Baba's expression shifted slightly. Her fingers tightened on the silk threads piercing the five individuals. The Five Elders of Li River were instantly sliced into pieces by the threads, their flesh and blood scattered across the ground!

Strangely, the silk threads remained unstained by blood. Instead, they wound themselves up as if alive, shrinking into a ball of thread and returning to the basket.

Si Baba gave a hum and giggled, "Dead Cripple, how long have you been here?"

Not far behind her, the Cripple leaned on his crutches and limped forward, his face wreathed in smiles. "Just arrived, just arrived. Sister, I didn't see anything, nor did I hear anything."

Si Baba glanced at him, her eyes narrowed in a smile. "It doesn't matter if you saw, as long as you didn't hear. Let's go back to the village."

The Cripple hesitated for a moment and said, "The Heavenly Demon Cult Leader Li Tianxing was wise and formidable throughout his life, yet he committed one foolish act. In his later years, he became infatuated with the most beautiful witch of that era. He thus deposed his original Cult Leader's wife, intending to marry her as the new Cult Leader's wife, causing an uproar within the demon cult. On the night of the wedding, in the bridal chamber, the new Cult Leader's wife assassinated Li Tianxing, destroying centuries of his cultivation, and seized the demon cult's treasured scripture. The elders and ancestors of the demon cult all emerged from seclusion to pursue and kill her, but she still managed to escape and has been missing ever since..."

"Is that so?"

Si Baba chuckled lightly. "This old woman heard in her early years that there was a man who cultivated his two legs to the divine level, his legs were known as 'god legs'. That person's speed was unmatched in the world, but he didn't learn good things; he learned to steal, and loved to steal things, and was thus called the world's first divine thief. Although he had not yet become a god, his title already contained the character 'god', thus incurring the jealousy of the gods. When he went to Yan Kang Country to steal the Emperor's Disk, the world's first divine thief who never failed was discovered by the National Teacher, who chopped off one of his god legs. But he also escaped the National Teacher's pursuit, taking the Emperor's Disk with him, and vanished without a trace. Yan Kang's National Teacher was known as the greatest below the gods, yet he could not keep the divine thief. He should still be guarding that god leg of the divine thief, waiting for its original owner to return, right?"

The Cripple's smile widened even further. He said with a placating smile, "Baba, we are all disabled folks from the same village. We once said that each of us has our own little secrets and shouldn't inquire about each other's origins. From now on, I am mute and deaf, my mouth guarded like a bottle."

Si Baba gave a hum and walked towards the village with her basket, saying, "Did Mu child notify you, asking you to come meet me?"

The Cripple shook his head. "The sound of your battle with these five old fellows was too loud, the fluctuations too strong. We in the village all felt it, so the village chief asked me to come see if you needed help."

Si Baba's face changed slightly, and she said urgently, "Has Mu child returned to the village?"

"I didn't see him when I came."

"Bad!"

The two hurried back to Cripple Old Village. Before they even reached the village, they saw the sun set, and darkness rose from the horizon, covering the sky, surging like a tide, rising higher and higher, swallowing everything in its path as it attacked towards them!

Si Baba returned to the village and quickly searched it, her face turning pale involuntarily. "Mu child hasn't come back?"

Darkness completely submerged Cripple Old Village.

"Baba, there's no need to worry."

The village chief, carried over by the Cripple and the pharmacist, advised Si Baba, who was about to carry the statue out to find Qin Mu. He said, "We have taught him everything we could. As long as he has learned, he should be able to survive in the Great Ruins. There's no point in going out now; it's already dark."

Si Baba was dejected, knowing the village chief's words were not wrong. Darkness had submerged the Great Ruins. If Qin Mu was still alive, he would survive the night without her help. If he was already dead, her carrying the statue to find him would be futile.

"He still has that piece of jade pendant to protect him..."

Although she thought this, Si Baba knew that the jade pendant on Qin Mu's chest was only meant to protect infants, and its protective range was limited. Qin Mu had grown up, and the light of the jade pendant could only protect his chest.

"Mu child, you must be clever..." Si Baba murmured in a low voice.