"Sigh... Fine!" Shawn Young, seeing that he’d already gotten himself into this mess, simply threw caution to the wind. He raised the Celestial Severance Blade and began hacking fiercely at Orochi’s corpse...
He swung the Celestial Severance Blade again and again, slashing dozens of times in a frenzy. Orochi’s massive body was chopped into pieces under the blade’s sharp, heavy edge. Its seven long tentacles were severed and sent flying, filling the air with a stench of rotting wood.
When Shawn Young finally slashed open Orochi’s belly with his last strike, a human corpse suddenly tumbled out. Although the clothes on the body were tattered, he could still make out the signature round-collared robe of an Onmyoji. Strangely, a peachwood sword with a blackish sheen was stuck in the corpse’s forehead, and the Dragon-Elephant Talisman that Annabelle Hung had shot into Orochi was now imprinted on the corpse’s brow.
In the corpse’s hands was a round bead, about the size of an egg, glowing faintly with a bluish-green light. It shimmered with a unique aura, looking incredibly mysterious.
Shawn Young jumped in surprise and quickly stopped what he was doing. He called out to Annabelle Hung outside, "Uh, Senior Hung, there’s actually a person in Orochi’s belly! Looks like he’s an Onmyoji!"
"Oh? Something like that could happen?" Annabelle Hung hurried over with big strides to take a closer look.
Annabelle Hung poked the corpse with her toe, flipped its face over, and then bent down to pull open its chest. There, tattooed on the chest, was a strange human figure holding a torch aloft to the sky.
"Uh... Now I get it! This guy is the famous Japanese Onmyoji, Yoshiaki Kiyokawa! He practiced the ancient Mirror Guardian Order’s earth and mirror magic. See, the deity tattooed on his chest is the chief god they worship. In the Mirror Guardian Order, only the sect leader is allowed to bear this tattoo! I was wondering how Orochi, sealed by ancient Onmyoji in another realm for a thousand years, got summoned—turns out Yoshiaki Kiyokawa sacrificed his own body to bring it out! Too bad for him, he didn’t get far before we snatched it away! Hahaha..." Annabelle Hung explained excitedly.
"Oh... So what’s that bead he’s holding?" Shawn Young stared at the bluish-green glowing bead, feeling a powerful attraction to it.
"Haha... Kid, that’s Orochi’s inner core! This ancient demon god spent tens of thousands of years cultivating it. If you can make full use of it, you’ll be rolling in fortune! The benefits are beyond words..." Annabelle Hung said excitedly, stepping forward to take the inner core from Orochi, and casually peeling the Dragon-Elephant Talisman off Yoshiaki Kiyokawa’s forehead.
Gurgle... gurgle... At that moment, Orochi’s corpse started bubbling with green foam and slowly dissolved into wisps of bluish smoke, drifting up toward the sky. Even Yoshiaki Kiyokawa’s corpse was dissolving the same way.
Annabelle Hung quickly pulled Shawn Young aside and said, "Whoa... Orochi is actually dissolving by Qi! Looks like it’s been cultivating for at least ten thousand years!"
"What’s Qi dissolution?" Shawn Young asked curiously.
"It’s a Taoist thing. There are several ways a corpse can decompose: being eaten, rotting naturally, dying by the sword, and the rarest—Qi dissolution. Being eaten means the body gets devoured by animals, natural rot is just decay, dying by the sword is getting killed in battle. But Qi dissolution only happens to those who’ve cultivated for thousands of years and formed an inner core. If the core is taken, the body turns to vapor and vanishes, because most of its essence is locked in the core. Once the core leaves, the body loses its anchor and disappears... At least, that’s what the ancient books say. Even I’ve never seen it before—today’s a real eye-opener! Heh heh..." Annabelle Hung marveled.
As they spoke, both Orochi and Yoshiaki Kiyokawa’s corpses had already turned into puddles of green bubbles. Even the slimy green blood on the ground transformed into wisps of bluish smoke, slowly rising and dispersing into the sky. In less than ten minutes, the ancient demon god Orochi and the legendary Japanese Onmyoji Yoshiaki Kiyokawa had become nothing but dust in history...
Annabelle Hung gazed thoughtfully at the fading smoke in the sky and sighed, "Ah... In this world, everything has its beginning and end. Even the fiercest ancient demon god can’t escape the cycle of fate. It seems destiny is set in the unseen."
Shawn Young didn’t quite get what she was sighing about. He was more interested in Orochi’s inner core, so he asked Annabelle Hung, "Uh... Senior Hung, what do you plan to do with Orochi’s inner core?"
"Heh, you’ve got your eye on it, haven’t you, kid? Too bad, it’s not that simple. Orochi’s inner core is a demon god’s core—you can’t just swallow it outright. To unlock its power, you need the Divine Solution to dissolve it first. Only then can you absorb it. For ordinary folks, taking this core could make them half-immortal and forever young. For us cultivators, the benefits are even greater—not only would our powers skyrocket, but we could also..." Annabelle Hung stopped mid-sentence, teasing Shawn Young.
"Hmm... That complicated? What exactly is the Divine Solution? And what other magical effects does the inner core have for cultivators?" Shawn Young’s curiosity was thoroughly piqued.
"Hahaha... Getting impatient, are you? Here’s the deal—the Divine Solution is extremely hard to get. It’s only found in the Imperial Dragon Vein, but I happen to know that Emperor Noah Archer’s tomb in the Manchu Dragon Vein should have some. So, I’m planning to head out there and search for it. For now, I’ll keep Orochi’s inner core with me, since I’m the only one who knows how to merge and harness these two mystical treasures. If a cultivator absorbs the inner core, legend says they can transcend the mortal world and join the ranks of the immortals!" Annabelle Hung said with a laugh.
"Huh?! Join the ranks of the immortals? That’s insane! Wouldn’t that put me on the same level as Heavenly Master Zachary?" Shawn Young exclaimed in disbelief.
"Exactly. Your Taoist skills are already top-notch, and if you take this inner core, you really could reach the level of Heavenly Master Zachary from the old days! Heh, it all depends on your luck, kid. Remember, when we get back, you’re coming with me to the Imperial Dragon Vein to get the Divine Solution. That’s the only way to achieve the Great Dao..." Annabelle Hung said sternly.
"Oh, looks like after we get back, I’ll be following Senior Hung into the Imperial Dragon Vein as well," Shawn Young said, feeling a bit emotional.
"That’s right. Over three hundred years ago, when the Eight Banners of the Manchu invaded, they looted countless treasures across the Central Plains, including the Divine Solution. Legend has it, all those treasures are hidden in the Imperial Dragon Vein. Duke William Deer got his hands on the treasure map recorded in The Forty-Two Sutras, and secretly made a pact with the Brotherhood of Heaven and Earth and the Mountainbreaker Enforcers—if disaster strikes, the Mountainbreaker Enforcers and his descendants would work together to transfer the treasures out of the Imperial Dragon Vein. The key rule is that these treasures must never fall into foreign hands. Even if exposed, they must end up with the people of China. That’s the rule the Mountainbreaker Enforcers have to follow!" Annabelle Hung continued, looking serious.
Just then, Tang Lei rushed over and said, "We need to get out of here, quick! I just got word—after all the commotion, most of the cops in Kanagawa are heading this way. Even the Japanese Self-Defense Forces have sent a rapid response unit. The Yamaguchi Syndicate’s support team is already at the outskirts of Kanagawa. My guys are fighting them now. The news of the Inagawa Syndicate’s destruction is about to spread, so before they surround us, we’ve got to break out!"
"Oh? The Yamaguchi Syndicate got here first? Heh, they move faster than the army and the cops?" Shawn Young found it hard to believe.
"The Yamaguchi Syndicate is Japan’s biggest gang—they’re no joke. With the government’s secret backing, their elite strike teams are as well-trained and equipped as the Self-Defense Forces, maybe better. Whenever something major happens in Japan, the Yamaguchi Syndicate is usually the first on the scene..." Tang Lei explained.
"Yeah, that’s how it is in Japan—the gangs react faster than the police or the army. Sigh... Enough talk, let’s get out of Kanagawa Prefecture first." Annabelle Hung said, pulling out a simple wooden box from her black coat, putting Orochi’s inner core inside, and hiding it close to her chest. She hefted the Kingbreaker Warhammer in her left hand, took the Celestial Severance Blade from Tang Lei with her right, and strode out confidently.
Everyone outside was already ready to go. Annabelle Hung put the Kingbreaker Warhammer and Celestial Severance Blade into the Sandalwood Case, closed the lid, slung it over her back, and smiled at everyone. "Heh, I don’t like riding in cars, so I’ll head out first. If fate allows, see you all in the jianghu!"
Then Annabelle Hung winked at Shawn Young and said, "Heh, the little girl from the Campbell Family is hoping to see you soon!"
With that, Annabelle Hung waved to everyone, drew a strange sign in the air with her right hand, and muttered an incantation. Suddenly, a two-meter-wide black halo appeared in midair. She leapt into it, and with a "whoosh," both she and the halo vanished without a trace.
(End of chapter)