Split Zone No.13

I stared at Nie Zun, ignoring the pain in my palm. “Even if you don’t love me anymore, is there a need for you to try this hard at snatching what’s mine?”

Nie Zun spoke calmly, but he did not let go of Piercer. “This item will only bring misfortune to you. It’s not entirely bad if you give it away.”

Just when I was about to argue, I heard an eerie scratching sound.

Looking around, I realized those faceless creatures had us surrounded. They looked like chimeras crawling on the stone walls as their long hair covered their white faces.

“What are these?” Gaoqin Jiuye frowned.

Distracted by those creatures, I lost my focus on Piercer for a moment, leading to Nie Zun being able to win our tug-of-war. I looked at him angrily, but he was keeping an eye on those faceless creatures on the wall.

Those creatures had also gotten Cang Ming’s attention, who was about to engage me in a fight just one minute ago.

The faceless creatures were the ones producing those scratching sounds as they crawled slowly. There were many more of them here, and they seemed to be moving with purpose this time.

Though I’ve been in the Split Zone long enough to forget how fear felt like, it was still natural for humans to be afraid of the unknown. The fact that these creatures suddenly appeared made me feel a little uncomfortable.

As I was lost in my own thoughts, two of the creatures started to combine with each other. Both of them seemed to straighten up as their hands, faces and hair wrapped around each other.

It was eerie.

What happened next was even weirder. The two creatures melted into each other and turned into something new.

This new creature was standing in a weird position. He had beady eyes and he looked unshaven as he stood on one leg with his arms outstretched on both sides.

“Big gold rooster...”

Big gold rooster stared at me. “Why do you have to be so annoying all the time? Big gold rooster sounds horrible.”

I flashed a smiled at him, not realizing that there was something amiss. “You didn’t say anything when I called you that previously. Oh yes, why are you here now? Didn’t you say that you’re afraid to go to the glacier?”

Cunning light flashed in big gold rooster’s eyes. “The situation is different now. My precious daughters smelt something delicious, and there’s no way I can deny them of a good meal as a father, can I?”

What? My precious daughters? As a father?

I stared at him open-mouthed while he casually petted one of those faceless creatures near him.

“These things are your precious daughters?” I asked while pointing at those faceless creatures on the wall.

Big gold rooster ignored me this time as he turned to Nie Zun. “I couldn’t tell earlier, and I didn’t expect you to be the demon cultivating vessel. Since I helped out earlier, shouldn’t you show your gratitude by filling the stomachs of my precious daughters too?”

What?

Nie Zun, however, did not seem to be as surprised as I was. He looked as if he had already anticipated something like this to happen. “Sadly, I’m not as delicious as you think I am.”

Big gold rooster cackled. “A vessel personally picked by the Ghost King. Even though you’re still not complete, the MF of my precious daughters would still increase ten-fold by eating you. I’ll then never have to be scared of stepping into this glacial land anymore.”

Nie Zun was a vessel chosen by Huai Du? So... the real purpose of this demon cave was to cultivate demons?

Cang Ming spoke suddenly. “Have you been going around with your eyes closed recently, golden rooster? Did you not see me? Or are you pretending not to have seen me?”

A look of surprise appeared on big gold rooster’s face as he turned to Cang Ming. It didn’t look like an act.

What happened next was a total eye-opener for me.

Big gold rooster’s head dropped to the ground immediately upon seeing Cang Ming.

It looked just like an apple falling from a tree, and I could hear the thud when it hit the ground. Big gold rooster was now balancing on only his head while his legs were still in that one-legged position in the air. He sounded a little different now. “This servant was blind not to have seen Lord Cang Ming.”

Cang Ming seemed to be extremely satisfied with this display. “That’s more like it. But, why are you here?”

Big gold rooster answered quickly, “To answer Lord Cang Ming’s question, my precious daughters sensed an external presence on this glacial land. I came over to take a look immediately since protecting the land is my duty.”

I almost choked at his nonsense.

Capturing intruders? You were the one who actually helped Nie Zun and I get here in the first place, so why are you acting all responsible now? Are you afraid of Cang Ming?

But listening to what he said, he seemed to be indirectly working for Huai Du, since he’s Cang Ming’s subordinate.

Cang Ming lost his smile and spoke threateningly, “You know I don’t like it when others lie. I’m not deaf nor am I blind. Didn’t you come here for him?” He pointed at Nie Zun.

Big gold rooster’s back was facing us, and I thought he wasn’t able to see Cang Ming, but he responded immediately. “Yes, I did. As expected of Lord Cang Ming, nothing can escape your eyes. Please forgive me. I did come here in search of the demon cultivating vessel, but I have no intention of betraying the Gate of Ghost. I didn’t know that this individual was someone you had your eyes on.”

I looked at those faceless creatures which were now motionless on the wall. I suddenly realized that these ‘precious daughters’ of his might actually just be an extension of himself.

Though they had no eyes, they definitely had the ability to sense what was happening around them. Did he actually send them to surveil us earlier?

Cang Ming smirked. “Aren’t you daring? This is a body of consciousness personally picked by the Ghost King.”

Upon hearing this, big gold rooster jumped back onto his feet to face us. His hands were clasped together as if he was begging for sympathy, but those beady eyes and that face of his made him look absolutely disgusting.

Big gold rooster begged, “Lord Cang Ming, please allow big gold rooster to assist in completing Lord Ghost King’s mission!” He clapped his palms together right after saying this.

With that clap, sharp claws appeared on the hands of those faceless creatures. They sank their claws deep into the stone walls, as if they were embedding themselves there.

At the same time, all of them opened those huge mouths they had.

I’ve seen their rows of tiny teeth once, but the only way to describe the current scene was that they literally had bloody, huge mouths.

All of them were stuck onto the walls with a huge mouth on their faces. I could smell the rotten blood from them, and they looked like gigantic rafflesias.

Big gold rooster obviously took pride in this show of his precious daughters’ abilities as he said, “Lord, no need to be afraid of these intruders. My precious daughters will be able to take them on easily.”

I laughed to myself. That wasn’t very intelligent of big gold rooster if he was trying to get Cang Ming on his side.

As expected, Cang Ming’s expression turned dark. “Are you joking? Who would I be afraid of going up against? Who in the Gate of Ghost would even dare say that I’m afraid of anything?”

Big gold rooster was stunned for a moment as he realized he might have angered Cang Ming. But he continued quickly, “Lord Cang Ming, what I meant was that there’s no need for you to waste more time here if you have the help of my precious daughters. Everyone here is simply a waste of time anyway.”

Cang Ming squinted at him. “Do you know what I’m planning?”

Big gold rooster looked stumped at this. He stuttered, “You, you, you, aren’t you here to look for the demon cultivating vessel? This servant is aware that it has been many years since an almost-perfect vessel like this appeared in the Gate of Ghost. Although my lord rarely meddles in such worldly affairs, I’m of the opinion that my lord might have taken an interest in this particular body of consciousness this time.”

They were referring to Nie Zun, but I felt a little upset at how they were talking about him.

Nie Zun wasn’t some object. Who gave you people in the Gate of Ghost the right to toy with him like this? And why are so many of you trying to take him for yourselves?

Cang Ming laughed. “That old fogey Huai Du did get me to look for the demon cultivating vessel, but do you really think that I’d appear here if I had nothing else to gain from this?”