Chapter 959
The Snake Demon at the Golden Core Stage
Chu Yang nodded, and was about to say something when suddenly the ground beneath his feet trembled slightly.
It wasn't the violent tremors of an earthquake, but an extremely slight, almost imperceptible pulsation. It felt like something had turned over underground.
Immediately afterwards, a small crack appeared on the muddy ground in front of them.
The crack widened rapidly—not by exploding, but as if the soil itself were separating, silently splitting into a fissure about two feet long.
A scent of earth wafted out from the cracks.
Then—a dusty gray square cap peeked out from the gap.
Beneath the square cap was a wrinkled little face.
His face was small, only about the size of an adult's fist, and his skin was rough and cracked, like a piece of dried tree bark. His two eyes were extremely small but very bright, like black beans set in deep-set eye sockets, shimmering with a faint yellowish-brown light.
Below the small face was an equally small body—about two feet tall, dressed in a grayish-brown homespun robe, with a straw rope tied around its waist, and holding a small wooden cane only as thick as a chopstick.
It is a local deity.
To be precise, it was a local deity who looked extremely weak.
When the Earth God emerged from the crack in the ground, he swayed unsteadily, like a lamp about to go out trembling in the wind. His homespun robe was covered in dust and mud, and his small wooden cane trembled slightly as he leaned on the ground, clearly struggling even to stand.
After he came out of the ground, the crack closed up on its own, restoring the smooth, muddy ground as if nothing had happened.
The old farmer squatting on the edge of the field saw the Earth God emerge from the ground, his mouth opened, but he said nothing. His expression didn't seem like he was seeing this for the first time, but rather like he was used to it—he just sighed, put his pipe back in his mouth, and continued to squat and stare blankly at the field.
After the Earth God stood firm, his small, black bean-like eyes quickly scanned the people behind Chu Yang.
The moment his gaze fell upon Sun Wukong, he visibly trembled.
Then his knees bent.
"The...Great Sage?"
He knelt down with a thud and kowtowed three times. His square cap tilted to one side, revealing a bald head underneath, the skin on his head as rough and cracked as his face.
"This humble Earth God of Jujube Blossom Valley pays respects to the Great Sage Equal to Heaven! Pays respects to the Tang Sanzang Master!"
Sun Wukong raised an eyebrow, crossed his arms, and looked down at the little deity who was only knee-high to him.
"Get up and speak. What are you kneeling for? I, Old Sun, am not going to eat you."
The Earth God got up from the ground, looked up at Sun Wukong's face, and suddenly a layer of tears welled up in his small eyes.
"Great Sage... Great Sage, you've finally arrived..."
His voice was hoarse and weak, as if his throat was filled with sand, but he couldn't suppress the feeling of relief.
"This humble god has been waiting...waiting for so long..."
Sun Wukong was somewhat confused.
"Wait for me? How did you know I, Old Sun, was going to pass by here?"
"This humble god did not know that the Great Sage was coming. But this humble god knew—sooner or later someone would come."
He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, took a deep breath, and seemed to be trying to calm himself down.
“Great Sage, I have a favor to ask. A major problem has arisen in Jujube Blossom Valley—my territory. I cannot resolve it alone, and I have been suffering for over half a year…”
Chu Yang squatted down to the side, aligning his gaze with the land.
"Grandpa, don't rush, speak slowly. What's the problem?"
The Earth God turned his head to look at him, blinking his small eyes a few times.
"Who is this benefactor...?"
"My name is Chu Yang. I'm traveling west with Master Tang."
The Earth God looked at Pigsy again—Pigsy had just scratched his nose and let out a loud sneeze—and then looked at Tang Sanzang on horseback.
He seemed to be hesitating about where to begin.
Chu Yang asked, "Could it be related to the evil energy in this valley?"
The Earth God's body trembled again.
"You noticed it too, benefactor?"
"I sensed it as soon as I entered the valley. A thin layer of cold, malevolent energy permeated the air, and the soil and river water were polluted. The source of this malevolent energy should be underground at the northern end of the basin."
The Earth God's lips trembled a few times.
"What you say... is entirely correct. The evil energy does indeed come from the north. That mountain to the north is called Black Pine Ridge, and beneath the ridge lies a ley line—a channel for spiritual energy flowing through the land—this ley line is the lifeblood of Jujube Blossom Valley. The fertile fields and sweet, clear rivers in the valley are all nourished by the spiritual energy transported by this ley line."
His voice grew deeper and deeper as he spoke.
"But since last winter, the spiritual energy in the earth's veins has gone wrong. The originally gentle and pure earth energy has become cold and turbid, not only failing to nourish all things but also draining life force from the places it flows through. The crops in the fields withered, the fish in the rivers died, and even the trees on the mountains were dying one by one."
"As the local earth god, my duty is to protect this land and its people. If there's a problem with the earth's veins, I naturally have to investigate. Last December, I followed the veins northwards, tracing their source all the way to the foot of Black Pine Ridge—"
He stopped there. The wrinkles on his face were furrowed, like a piece of cloth that had been clenched and then loosened.
"And then what?" Chu Yang asked softly.
"The little god saw something."
The Earth God's voice was kept extremely low, as if afraid of being overheard.
"At the foot of Black Pine Ridge lies a natural grotto. Inside the grotto... there is a snake coiled up."
"snake?"
"This is no ordinary snake. It's a snake demon that has cultivated for at least three or four hundred years. Its entire body is jet black, as thick as a bucket, and about five or six zhang long. It's coiled in the very center of the cave, its body wrapped around a node of the earth's veins, constantly devouring the spiritual energy within."
"The cold, turbid evil energy in the earth's veins is the waste gas it releases after absorbing spiritual energy. Just like a person excretes after eating—it consumes spiritual energy and excretes evil energy. That evil energy flows along the earth's veins into the soil and water sources of the entire Jujube Blossom Valley."
Chu Yang remained silent for a few moments after listening.
"What level of cultivation would a snake demon that's three or four hundred years old likely possess?"
The Earth God pondered for a moment: "This humble deity estimates it's at least in the late Foundation Establishment stage, perhaps even on the verge of the Golden Core stage. Its cultivation shouldn't be this high—a snake demon that's three or four hundred years old is normally only at the mid-Foundation Establishment stage. But by coiling up at the earth's vein nodes and directly absorbing spiritual energy, it's like drinking directly from a spring, causing its cultivation to increase several times faster than normal."
Did it spot you when you went to investigate?
The Earth God's face darkened further. "It discovered it. It spat a mouthful of poisonous mist at me. Although I am an Earth God, my rank is too low, and my cultivation is far inferior to that beast's. That mouthful of poisonous mist almost killed me."
He lifted the hem of his robe, revealing his left calf.
There was a large patch of dark purple marks on that short leg, stretching from the knee to the ankle. The skin looked as if it had been soaked in ink, with fine cracks on the surface, and you could vaguely see the grayish-green liquid seeping out from under the cracks.
Snake venom.
"After I escaped, this leg never healed." He lowered his robe and gave a bitter laugh. "My cultivation was already low, and the poison only made things worse. Now I can barely maintain my physical form, let alone fight that beast."
Tang Sanzang listened for a long time on horseback before finally speaking, "Lord Earth God, have you reported this to your superiors? There should be someone in Heaven or Hell who handles such matters."
The Earth God's expression became complicated.
"What the Master says is true. After I was poisoned last December, the first thing I did was write a memorial and submit it to the Heavenly Court. But the procedures in Heaven... the Master is unaware of them..."
He sighed.
"For a minor deity like this, the petition first goes to the village city god, then to the county city god, then to the prefectural city god, and finally to the judge of the underworld. The judge reviews it and then reports it to the Heavenly Court... This whole process takes anywhere from three to five months to a year and a half."
"The little god's memorial was submitted last December, and it still hasn't been approved."
Sun Wukong sneered from the side.
"The Heavenly Court's efficiency has been like this for five hundred years."
The Earth God didn't dare to respond to that, but continued, "I've thought about asking the nearby mountain gods or other great immortals for help, but I'm the only Earth God within a hundred miles of this area. The nearest mountain god is on Azure Dragon Peak, three hundred miles away, and my injured leg simply can't travel that far."
"So all I can do is stand here and do nothing. I can only watch helplessly as that beast devours the earth's spiritual energy day by day, as the evil energy spreads, and as the people in the valley suffer more and more... There's nothing I can do..."
At this point, his voice finally broke down, becoming noticeably choked with emotion.
“It’s not that I’m afraid of death. I’ve been the land god of Jujube Blossom Valley for three hundred years. I’ve watched every tree, every inch of field, and every ditch grow. But… I simply don’t have the ability…”
Chu Yang stood up.
He glanced at Sun Wukong.
Sun Wukong was gently tapping his shoulder with the end of his golden cudgel, his expression indifferent and unconcerned—but Chu Yang, having known him for so long, knew that this precisely meant he had taken the matter to heart.
When Sun Wukong doesn't care, he'll act silly and playful; when he really cares, he'll put on a serious face and pretend not to care.
Chu Yang glanced at Tang Seng again.
Tang Sanzang frowned, his gaze fixed on the Earth God's leg, which was afflicted by snake venom, his lips moving slightly as if he were silently reciting something.
Finally, he glanced at Pigsy.
For once, Pigsy didn't crack any jokes. Instead, he leaned against his rake and listened silently, his expression somewhat somber. Although he was lazy, gluttonous, and afraid of death, he had once been Marshal Tianpeng and possessed an innate empathy for the predicament of "evil spirits appearing in one's jurisdiction but being powerless to resolve the situation."
“Land God.” Chu Yang’s voice wasn’t loud, but it was clear. “I have a few questions.”
The Earth God raised his head and looked at him.
"First, besides coiling around the leyline nodes and devouring spiritual energy, has that snake demon directly harmed the people in the valley?"
“Yes.” The Earth God nodded. “It occasionally comes out to forage at night. It doesn’t eat people—at least not yet—but it does eat livestock. Several families in the valley have had their cattle and sheep mysteriously disappear, only to find a thick, serpentine trail outside their cattle sheds and sheepfolds in the morning. Another time, Widow Zhang’s watchdog barked a few times in the middle of the night and then fell silent; the next day, only a puddle of sticky drool and a few dog hairs were found in the yard.”
Chu Yang's eyes narrowed slightly.
"Secondly, you said it's located at a ley line node. What does that node look like? How large is it?"
"The grotto isn't large, about three or four zhang square and a little over one zhang high. It's coiled in the very center of the grotto, its body looping several times, filling most of the grotto. There's only one narrow natural crevice for entering and exiting the grotto, just wide enough for one person to squeeze in sideways."
"Third—and most importantly—does that snake have any special abilities besides spitting venomous mist?"
The Earth God thought about it carefully for a while.
"I only had a brief encounter with it. Besides the poisonous mist, I noticed its scales were exceptionally thick and hard—I threw an earth-遁术 (earth-遁术, a technique involving throwing hardened mud) at it, and the mud shattered upon contact with its scales, leaving not even a white mark."
"And—its eyes."
The Earth God shuddered.
"That beast had vertical pupils, golden in color, terrifyingly bright in the darkness. I stared at it for a moment... just a moment... and my whole body stiffened, as if someone had grabbed my neck; I couldn't move my limbs. If I hadn't reacted quickly and burrowed underground before it spewed its poisonous mist, I would have perished there."
The snake's unique ability to paralyze with its gaze. Chu Yang made this a mental note.
He turned around and faced Tang Sanzang.
"Master."
Tang Sanzang looked at him.
"This disciple wishes to intervene in this matter."
Tang Sanzang did not answer immediately. He looked down at the kneeling local earth god, then looked up at the withered yellow fields and grayish-white river in the distance.
"Chu Yang—a snake demon in the late Foundation Establishment stage, or even possibly the Golden Core stage. Are you confident in your abilities?"
Chu Yang smiled slightly.
"Of course, I cannot be confident on my own. But I have the Great Sage Equal to Heaven and Marshal Tianpeng by my side."
He looked at Sun Wukong.
"Brother Monkey, what do you mean?"
Sun Wukong twirled the golden cudgel in his hand and chuckled.
"Late Foundation Establishment stage? Even if it's on the verge of reaching the Golden Core stage, it's still as fragile as paper in front of me, Old Sun. However—"
He changed the subject, his eyes fixed on Chu Yang.
"You don't just want me, Old Sun, to beat that snake demon to death with one blow, do you? Knowing your personality, you definitely have other ideas."
Chu Yang smiled.
As expected, nothing can be hidden from this monkey.
"Brother Monkey is right. Killing it with a single blow is certainly the simplest solution, but it doesn't solve the root problem. The snake demon has been entrenched at the ley line node for over half a year, releasing a large amount of evil energy. Even if we eliminate the snake demon, the evil energy that has already seeped into the soil and water won't dissipate automatically; we'll still have to find a way to clean it up."
"Furthermore, the leyline nodes may have been damaged after being occupied by the snake demon for a long time. If the nodes are not repaired, the spiritual energy circulation of the leylines will not return to normal, and the land and water resources of Jujube Blossom Valley will continue to deteriorate."
The Earth God below nodded repeatedly as he listened. (End of Chapter)