Qin Mu was surprised—Butcher had returned as well. That meant the Village Chief and the others must know about Aiden Starr’s defeat and heavy injuries, and that the crisis was over. But then why had Grandpa Mark left Great Thunderclap Temple to come here with the rest instead of staying behind?
"Village Chief, about Aiden Starr—"
The Village Chief shook his head and said, "Aiden Starr is a small matter. We called you back for something much bigger. Can you contact the Heavenly Demon Patriarch?"
Qin Mu’s heart stirred. He asked, "Has something major happened? The Patriarch left with the guardian elders to travel the world, saying that when he dies, the elders will bring his ashes back. Village Chief, what is it exactly? Just now, Saintess Serena and I saw something strange while traveling—a mountain split open and a stone statue emerged. Is it about that?"
Serena Yunxiang nodded urgently. "That stone statue was terrifying—it looked like it was growing straight out of the mountain, surging upward!"
"It’s not just one statue."
Grandpa Mark radiated an aura of wisdom, his words smooth and rounded. "There are around a hundred stone statues appearing all over the world, plus many strange treasures. All these things appeared suddenly—they’re not native to our world. Even beneath Sumeru Mountain, a statue tried to break through but crashed into the sacred peak and was suppressed."
Qin Mu’s expression turned odd.
The Mute Smith’s face was grave. His ten fingers danced rapidly, forming a series of strange and intricate hand signs.
"These stone statues are omens—the sign that gods and demons are about to descend."
Deaf watched his hands and said, "Gods and demons from other worlds have a hard time crossing the world barrier. First, they have to petrify themselves into powerless stone statues—only then can the statues be sent here, while their Primordial Spirits and powers remain behind. To restore flesh and blood, they need blood sacrifices to summon their Primordial Spirits from their own worlds, and only then do the statues revive. Those treasures we saw on the road—those are Celestial Phenomenon Weapons, made to trigger calamities and slaughter commoners. Their blood and flesh will be used to worship and awaken the statues... Don't look at me, that's all from Mute Smith."
Everyone turned to look at Mute Smith. Even the Village Chief couldn’t help but say, "Mute, how do you know all this? Even I didn’t know, but you seem to have everything figured out."
Mute Smith grinned and made a few gestures. Deaf said, "There he goes, playing dumb again. I didn’t catch any of that."
"This is too horrifying. If you ask me, forget about summoning the Patriarch—let’s just head straight back to the Great Ruins!"
Granny Sue said, "With so many stone statues popping up in Everpeace, once they come alive they’ll be gods—who could resist? Grandpa Mark, forget about being the World-Honored One; whoever wants that job can have it. I’m done with this mountain estate too. Let’s pack up and go back to the Great Ruins!"
Butcher shook his head. "Granny, running away isn’t right. If we hide in the Great Ruins, aren’t we just turtles shrinking our heads? A real man should stand tall and fight with all he’s got!"
Granny Sue glared at him and sneered, "Stay and wait for death, you mean? Like you, chopped in half and still clinging to life?"
Butcher’s face flushed red. He snapped, "I won’t stoop to bickering with you, woman!"
Village Chief coughed and said, "Granny, the Human Emperor has to take responsibility..."
"Take responsibility?"
Granny Sue was so furious she laughed. "You think you can take responsibility? You couldn’t even manage yourself, but you shoved Qin into the fire pit! If you had the guts, you’d shoulder it yourself! Now look at you, chopped down like a stick, hiding in the Great Ruins playing dead every day, and you still have the nerve to talk about responsibility!"
Village Chief bristled. "You, you—"
"You what?"
Granny Sue snarled, "There are over a hundred stone statues. If you’re so tough, go level them all! Otherwise, just crawl back to the Great Ruins and play dead!"
Deaf coughed. "Granny, that’s going a bit far..."
Granny Sue barked, "What’s it to you? I raised Qin with my own hands, and you were always scowling and smacking his palms. If you didn’t write so well and teach him his letters, I’d have beaten you to death ages ago!"
Deaf blew up, stammering, "Books can’t be read without a good beating... You—you’re twisting my words! Only petty men and women—"
Granny Sue threw a cowhide over his head, turning Deaf into a mooing bull.
Apothecary quickly chimed in, "Granny, I think—"
"Out!"
Granny Sue said coldly, "Go back to your room and wait on all your women!"
"You got it!" Apothecary replied cheerfully and walked off.
Mute Smith tapped his tobacco pipe and made a few gestures. "Ah, ah..."
"Quiet! You rascal—full of bad ideas!"
Mute Smith hung his head, looking utterly aggrieved, and fell silent. Crippled Joe opened his mouth to speak, but when Granny Sue glared at him, he shivered and forced a laugh. "Why so fierce? We can talk this out, right? Haha, talk it out... Grandpa Mark, Grandpa Mark, say something! I’ll do whatever Grandpa Mark says—if he wants to go back to the village, I’ll go; if he wants to fight, I’ll fight!"
Granny Sue shot Grandpa Mark a look. "If you won’t go back to the Great Ruins, I’ll head to your Great Thunderclap Temple and see how many monks are left standing!"
Grandpa Mark didn’t say a word.
"Grandpa Blind, say something," Village Chief said, turning to him.
Grandpa Blind said, "If Qin wants to stay, we stay. If he wants to go back to the Great Ruins, then we all go back."
Granny Sue fixed him with a cold stare. Grandpa Blind closed his eyes and said, "Granny, if you try to take Qin away, none of them can stop you, but I can. I tried to take him away myself once, so I know his resolve. We’re old. If Village Chief doesn’t fix his Divine Bridge Treasury, he probably won’t see next year’s New Year. Why force a break now? Better to hear what Qin has to say."
Granny Sue’s heart softened. She looked at Qin Mu and spoke gently, "You’ve grown up now. The village scoundrels taught you to be just like them—don’t follow their bad habits. Come home with me. If you like any girl, just marry her, and I’ll wait to hold a grandchild..."
Qin Mu glanced around in confusion, then lowered his head.
Serena Yunxiang stood beside him, just as bewildered—she had no idea what was happening. Still, she thought, 'My aunt really is impressive, scolding these godlike elders into submission. If only I could be that commanding one day...'
After a moment, Qin Mu lifted his head and asked, "These stone statues are just like the ones in the Great Ruins—they’re all petrified gods and demons. Did they suddenly appear because Lynn Ling and I created Primordial Spirit Guidance and stirred up changes in the Dao? Are these statues here to destroy Everpeace? Is all this my fault? Are they here to kill me?"
Village Chief said, "It might not be you. More likely, it was Emperor Evan’s cannon that killed Lord Yu of High Heaven. By now, High Heaven has probably reported Evan’s feat to their masters. The reforms led by the Imperial Preceptor and Emperor Evan were bound to provoke retaliation—this just happened sooner than expected."
Butcher said, "This calamity isn’t about you—it’s about reform. First Emperor Evan’s cannon caught High Heaven’s attention, then you and Princess Lynn created Primordial Spirit Guidance and caused subtle changes in the Dao."
"So I still played a part in this."
After thinking for a moment, Qin Mu said to Granny Sue, "I’m not going back. I have a lot of friends here—Wes Young, Wayne Shen, Cindy Mu, Claire Yue—and I don’t want to hear in a few years that they’ve died. Didn’t you all teach me that if you make a mess, you clean it up yourself?"
Granny Sue was taken aback. "Butcher taught you loyalty, and you really took it to heart? What good is loyalty? Can it save your life?"
Qin Mu shook his head. "No. But it lets me sleep at night."
Granny Sue sighed. "Sleep at night, huh? I wonder if you’ll still feel at peace when Everpeace is burning. You’ve grown up and have your own ideas. Fine, I won’t force you. Go ahead and summon the Patriarch."
Qin Mu blinked. "Why call the Patriarch back?"
"Us old bones talked it over. High Heaven’s gods want to trigger disasters with those treasures that burst out of the earth, using the deaths from those disasters as sacrifices to revive the stone statues."
Village Chief said, "So after our discussion, we decided to intercept High Heaven’s gods and stop them from succeeding."
Qin Mu was puzzled. "If these are petrified gods and demons, why not just smash the statues?"
"Once gods and demons turn to stone, those statues are unbelievably tough—almost impossible to break."
Grandpa Blind said, "In the Great Ruins, have you ever seen a shattered statue?"
Qin Mu thought for a moment. It was true—he’d traveled the Great Ruins many times and rarely saw broken statues. The only exception was the time he saw a bunch of decapitated Dragon King statues in the East Sea.
That time, the Sea-Guarding Heavenly King statue rode his Dragon-Qilin by night to quell the East Sea, using the Azure Dragon Crescent Blade to behead the rebellious dragon king statues.
"Could we move the statues into the Great Ruins?"
Qin Mu said, "If we put these statues together with the ones in the Great Ruins, we won’t have to worry about them causing trouble."
Crippled Joe laughed. "Carrying a statue is like carrying a god—who could haul a god for tens of thousands of miles into the Great Ruins? And it’s not just one or two, but over a hundred!"
Qin Mu frowned. Statues really were terrifyingly heavy. Even Grandpa Mark, the strongest in the village, would need to rest after carrying one for a few hundred feet—and he was the best in Oldridge at brute strength!
"Serena, does the Heavenly Demon Cult have any way to contact the Patriarch or the guardian elders?" Qin Mu asked.
Serena Yunxiang replied quickly, "My Sykes family has Heart-Viewing Mirrors—a pair of mirrors. If you meditate on the other person’s name and face, you can link up and see and hear each other. The Patriarch and the guardian elders each have a mirror for easy contact. I’ll go ask Grandmother Sykes to activate the mirror and reach the Patriarch!"
Qin Mu was astonished. "The cult has Heart-Viewing Mirrors?"
Serena shot him a glare. "You’ve been Cult Master for two years—how many times have you visited Sacred Descent Mountain? Have you ever dropped by the Sykes, Jade, or Teacher families? If you weren’t doing a decent job, I’d have rebelled already!"
Qin Mu laughed. "You couldn’t—you don’t have what it takes."
Serena fumed and went to contact Grandmother Sykes. She wished she could be as commanding as Granny Sue, but this brat never gave her the chance.
"Butcher, the sun, moon, stars, and star river in the sky are all fake."
Qin Mu walked over to Butcher and asked, "Butcher, you must know a lot of secrets, right?"
Butcher drew his pig-butcher knife and sharpened it with another blade. "To talk about that, I have to start with my ultimate technique—the Cross-Boundless Prelude and the One-Line Heaven Slash. Back when I was the grandmaster of the Battle Skill School, I was obsessed with creating a supreme art that no one before me had ever achieved. I was wild with confidence, thought I was invincible, that I could break any divine art under heaven with a single slash. But I hadn’t fought the heavens yet—so I resolved to split open the sky with my blade, leap beyond the firmament, and battle Heaven itself..."