Quinn Shepherd wondered to himself, "Why isn't Granny Sue's back hunched anymore? She looks so excited she's rolling around in bed..."
The next morning, Quinn got up and found Granny Sue was not in the room, but breakfast had already been set out on the table.
After washing up and eating, the youth went downstairs and found Granny Sue and Grandpa Blind. The two had already readied the ox cart and loaded it with all the oil, salt, sauces, silks, and cloth they'd bought.
One thing that puzzled Quinn was that Grandpa Blind was hitching three oxen to the front of the cart, with another three big castrated bulls trailing behind.
When the six big bulls saw Quinn, terror flashed in their eyes and they trembled all over.
"Granny, didn't we sell our six oxen already?" Quinn asked.
Granny Sue yawned and replied offhandedly, "I just couldn't sleep last night, so I went out and bought six oxen."
Quinn was skeptical, and saw the six big bulls shaking their heads over and over, as if trying to say something but could only moo helplessly.
The ox cart rolled out of the city. It was still early morning, but there were already a few carts and carriages on the road. Country folk who'd come to the city to buy supplies were hurrying back to their villages, hoping to make it home before dark.
Quinn drove the cart to the wharf. The river surged, swift and wild, and many villagers were already on the bank burning incense to summon Riverbear Beasts as ferries. On the shore, each big-nosed Riverbear Beast enjoyed the villagers' offerings, puffing out huge smoke rings. Some had already ferried villagers home and were heading back.
Just as Quinn Shepherd was thinking this, a severed head suddenly dropped from the blood-red clouds above, plunging into the river.
A chill ran down Quinn's spine. In that instant, as the head splashed into the river, he saw the face clearly—it was the yellow‑faced woman from the City Lord’s Manor, whom he’d met only once before!
Quinn looked up, wondering what was happening inside that cloud.
The blood rain came and went in a flash. Soon the downpour stopped, and the river, which had seemed dyed red just moments ago, ran clear again as if it had all been a hallucination.
Quinn washed the blood off himself and waited for a long time, but Granny Sue still hadn’t appeared. Grandpa Blind remained composed as ever, not the least bit concerned.
At that moment, Quinn suddenly felt a terrifying surge coming from downstream—a world-shaking, bone-chilling force. Even the Riverbear Beast beneath them grew restless, speeding upstream in panic.
Grandpa Blind’s ears twitched. He shouted, “Quinn, hold on tight! Don’t fall off!”
Quinn hurried to steady himself, planting his feet as if rooting into the Riverbear Beast’s back. Then he heard a strange howling roar behind him. He turned—and was stunned by what he saw.
The river behind them was surging upward, rising higher and higher. The water was actually reversing course, flowing upstream from the lower reaches!
By now, the downstream river was more than ten zhang higher than the banks. Towering white waves crashed, sweeping toward them with terrifying force!
The waves drew closer and closer, spray bursting out to the sides and flooding the forests along the banks. The roaring torrent grew from a howling wind to a thunderous boom, like hundreds of lightning bolts exploding in a mountain valley!
Quinn’s hair stood on end. As the excess spray subsided, the waves formed into a colossal hand—so wide it spanned the river—driving upstream to crush everything in its path!
Grandpa Blind stayed perfectly calm, as if he hadn’t noticed the terrifying scene unfolding behind them.
The giant hand of river water closed in, only a hundred or so zhang behind them. Suddenly, the hand collapsed—the water roared and scattered, and the surging waves lifted the Riverbear Beast ten zhang into the air before dropping it back down.
Quinn barely recovered from the shock, grabbing hold of the cart atop the beast’s back to keep from falling into the river.
Grandpa Blind tapped the beast’s head with his bamboo cane; the Riverbear Beast immediately turned and began swimming downstream. “Quinn, we’re heading back to Dragoncrest City.”
Thirty li downstream, Felix Fu, the Lord of Dragoncrest City, descended from the sky, landing on the river’s surface. He strode forward a few steps, his face dark, scanning the area. “Which senior brother broke my spell?”
“Not senior brother—senior sister.”
Granny Sue, carrying her little basket, tiptoed across the river, her wrinkled face creased in a smile. “City Lord, do you not fear harming all those Great Ruins villagers by committing evil on the river? If your blow had landed, every village along a hundred li of river would have died at your hands. That’s a heavy sin.”
“You’re the old woman who follows that abandoned Ruins brat?”
Felix Fu said coldly, “So you’re the one who taught him those Battle Skill techniques and let him kill my son? That’s a blood debt I can’t ignore. Stand in my way, and you die!”
Granny Sue sighed, pulling a ball of thread from her basket and murmuring, “City Lord, this is the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra you’ve long coveted. Too bad—this will be your last time seeing it. You’ll still live, but sealed inside your own skin. I’ll wear your skin, take charge of Dragoncrest City, and go meet the Everpeace Imperial Preceptor in your place…”
Felix Fu’s pupils narrowed. The ball of thread in Granny Sue’s hand spun rapidly, filaments shooting out and weaving a net across the river. Felix Fu was caught inside.
“Last night, when your son died, it gave me the chance to ambush you. You were already badly injured. If you’d stayed put and focused on healing, you might have escaped today.”
Granny Sue smiled. “But you were too greedy, chasing after me to seize the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra. That sealed your fate today.”
“You think you can kill me? Dream on! How many years have you cultivated?”
Felix Fu’s body shook as violent yuanqi erupted, forming an eight-armed, eight-headed heavenly god phantom behind him. The weapons in its hands were almost solidified from pure energy!
As the Lord of Dragoncrest City, Felix Fu naturally had extraordinary means!
“The Eight‑Aspect Heavenly God Art is certainly impressive, but that’s all—it’s far from the true realm of gods!”
Granny Sue chuckled. Suddenly, her old woman’s skin shed away, revealing a radiant young woman—the peerless beauty from the City Lord’s Manor!
She dashed forward, and at the same time, filaments from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra shot out. Felix Fu roared, meeting the attack head‑on, but saw the beautiful Cult Mistress’s palm coming for him. He sneered, “Si Youyou, you’re only a hundred years old—how could your power rival mine?”
Boom—
Their palms collided, and 'Granny Sue' was blasted high into the air.
“Trying to escape?”
Felix Fu leapt into the air as well, but suddenly felt something was off. “Why do I feel so light…?”
He looked down and saw a skinless, bloody figure standing on the river’s surface.
He glanced at himself and screamed—he had become nothing but a sheet of human skin, while the bloody figure below was his own flayed body!
In the instant their palms clashed, filaments from the Grand Fostering Heavenly Demon Sutra drilled into his body, sealing his three souls and seven spirits, and peeled off his skin.
‘Granny Sue’ was blasted into the air, but in fact she had leapt deliberately. She yanked the filaments hard, cleanly pulling Felix Fu’s skin off in one swift motion!
“Felix Fu, you’re nothing special.”
She grabbed the sheet of human skin and draped it over herself with a swish. Her appearance and mannerisms became identical to Felix Fu.
Below, Felix Fu’s skinless corpse sank into the river and was swept away by the current.
She landed on the river’s surface just as Quinn and Grandpa Blind’s Riverbear Beast arrived.
“Lord of Dragoncrest City?” Quinn’s scalp tingled. The Lesser Preceptor’s Sword at his waist rang out, ready to strike at any moment.
“Quinn, it’s me—Granny Sue.”
Felix Fu’s mouth spoke in Granny Sue’s voice, then switched back to Felix Fu’s, perfectly imitated. “The Everpeace army should be arriving soon, right? When will the village elders come?”
Grandpa Blind tilted his head. “They’ve probably already entered the city. The Everpeace Imperial Preceptor comes with overwhelming force. Granny Sue, if you’re impersonating Felix Fu, you can’t slip up—not even once. Otherwise, the Preceptor could kill you with a single move. Can you mimic Felix Fu’s Eight‑Aspect Heavenly God Art?”
(End of chapter)