Chapter 76 – h.e.l.lo, I am Called Erlang Shen

In the depths of night, everything was silent as Ji Fengyan finally finished after a great deal of effort. Wiping away the beads of sweat from her forehead, she looked at the large and majestic figure standing in front of her, lips curled in a satisfied smile.

Standing in front of Ji Fengyan was a large man around eight feet tall. However, his body was covered in wood grains, his mouth formed from only a single line, and those eyes of his were dark without light.

As long as one wasn"t an idiot it would have been very easy to tell that the handsome man standing there was essentially a human figure carved from wood. The difference between this human figure and other human figures was that this man"s forehead had a vertical pupil on it, looking quite bizarre.

That tall human figure just stood in place without moving. Rubbing her chin, Ji Fengyan looked at the wound on her finger which had already scabbed over and frowned.

After looking around and making sure that n.o.body was in the area, she took her carving knife and gently slashed open her wrist.

As blood oozed out, Ji Fengyan quickly stretched out her b.l.o.o.d.y hand and placed it in the little hole carved out on the man"s chest.

Drop after drop of blood dripped out, sinking into the place where that human figure"s heart should have been. Gradually, that figure"s darkened eyes began to shine with a bright light.

Ji Fengyan"s face became slightly pale. Seeing that everything was just about ready, she retrieved her hand and once again covered up the hole on that human figure"s chest. Nimbly wrapping up the wound on her wrist with a bandage, Ji Fengyan quickly popped a Blood Replenishment Pill into her mouth.

"Old fellow, this Young Master hasn"t broken the rules that you laid down. Using my own blood doesn"t count," Ji Fengyan whispered. When she once again raised her gaze, they clashed with a pair of bright and deep eyes. As her lips twitched into a smile, that human figure instantly knelt down, the armour on his body that Ji Fengyan got from an unknown location making a clanging sound with his movement.

"I greet my master," a hoa.r.s.e and stiff voice reverberated out from the human figure. However, his mouth didn"t move at all and the voice just naturally came out.

She grinned as she looked at the human figure in front of her, examining it for a rather lengthy period of time. "Still okay. Thankfully this Ji City has enough spiritual energy to the point where even rotten wood also has quite a bit of spirit energy. This body of yours should probably be usable for the time."

It was unknown whether she was speaking to herself or to that human figure.

The human figure didn"t move or speak at all as it continued to kneel.

Ji Fengyan"s eyes continued a slither of a deep smile. As her haze landed on that vertical pupil on that human figure"s forehead, she grinned. "In the future, you"ll be called Yang Jian. Understood?"

"Yes." The human figure, Yang Jian, said.

Ji Fengyan"s smile became even more radiant.

Yang Jian. t.i.tled Pure Monarch Erlang, also called Erlang Shen. With an additional pupil on his forehead, he was capable of overpowering all demons, devils, ghosts, and monsters. Wielding the Triple-Bladed Double-Edged Lance and mounted on the divine hound, Howling Heaven, he was one of the most famous amongst the divine immortals.

If this was the twenty-fourth century, then it was very likely that almost everybody would have known what this name signified.

However in this world, there was no divine immortal existence like Yang Jian. Therefore, Ji Fengyan could completely play with his name as much as she wanted to.

"I have Yang Jian now and still require the Triple-Bladed Double-Edged Lance. Even better would be to find a Howling Heaven Hound." Ji Fengyan swept her gaze over the firewood room. The Triple-Bladed Double-Edged Lance wasn"t difficult; all she had to do was draw a blueprint and find a blacksmith to forge it, but the Howling Heaven Hound…

Translator’s Note
Yang Jian(杨戬) or Erlang Shen(二郎神), as he is commonly referred to, is a rather famous warrior deity in Chinese mythology. While I won’t go into to much details about it as there are several interpretations of the legends surrounding him, most of which can be researched online if anyone is interested, there are a few things I need to say about my translations of him, his mount, and his weapon.

Honestly, in my opinion, Erlang Shen sounds pretty awkward since its more like a t.i.tle than a name, but because that’s how he’s usually called in popular culture, I’ll stick with it.

About the Howling Heaven Hound(哮天犬) though, I’ve seen it translated as the Howling Celestial Dog, the Heavenly Roar Dog, etc. In the end, all of it doesn’t really quite fit in my opinion. Although they aren’t wrong, the implications of it just seems off to me. The Howling Celestial Dog one sounded as if it was a “celestial dog howling”, while the Heavenly Roar Dog sounded as if it was a “dog that had supernatural powers of causing the heavens to roar”; it seems pretty G.o.dly and all, but it just doesn’t match with that fierce and ferocious impression that Yang Jian’s mount gives. Therefore, after thinking about it, I chose Howling Heaven Hound as in its a “dog trying to howl or roar in defiance at the heavens”, and used “hound” instead of “dog” since it sounds a lot more ferocious.

As for the Triple-Bladed Double-Edged Lance, that’s a little bit simpler but also rather weird. Ye Bei used 三尖两刃刀 in the raws, however that would literally translate to Triple-Pointed Double-Edged Blade, which would sound like a pretty exotic weapon if it could actually be made at all in a combat-efficient state. Instead, in both the novel and the other research sources I used, Yang Jian’s weapon is described as a hybrid between a trident and a spear, so I’m using “lance” rather than “blade” in the translation. I also chose lance instead of spear because lances sound heavier than spears and are often a.s.sociated with mounted combat.

Chapter 77 – You"ll Be the Howling Heaven Hound!

Ji Fengyan really wasn"t that good at carving animals. What"s more, all of the usable wood had already been used to build Yang Jian. If she wanted to carve a Howling Heaven Hound…

Tomorrow, Ji Fengyan planned on bringing Yang Jian to the mountains outside of Ji City to chop two logs of wood to bring back!

As she was thinking about which location that she went to today had the most suitable wood, the door to the firewood room was suddenly pushed open.

Unconsciously turning her head around, Ji Fengyan saw young friend Liu Huo who had disappeared for more then half the day standing in front of the door, his hands carrying a large sack.

That sack was still wriggling…

"Hey, the little kid who ran away from home finally knows to come back?" Ji Fengyan grinned as she ridiculed Liu Huo.

Liu Huo ignored Ji Fengyan"s sarcasm, his gaze directly looking towards Yang Jian who was kneeling in front of her. Lightly furrowing his brows, his expression was a bit weird as he saw Yang Jian just kneeling there without movement.

Perceiving Liu Huo"s gaze, Ji Fengyan smiled.

"Don"t be nervous. This is Yang Jian who"ll be a part of our family in the future," she said, patting Yang Jian"s shoulder.

Liu Huo twisted his lips.

Did she think that he couldn"t tell that this "Yang Jian" was a wooden carving?

Towards Ji Fengyan"s bizarre behaviour, Liu Huo could only choose to ignore it. He placed the large sack that he brought back in front of her.

"For you."

"For me?" Ji Fengyan slightly raised her brows. Seeing Liu Huo"s expressionless face, she opened that sack on one hand and laughed on the other. "Little Liu Huo, did you go out to prepare a present for me today? I really am moved…"

Before she could finish speaking, that sack had already been opened by her. Immediately, a dark figure leapt out.

With a swish sound, it immediately dashed to a corner in the firewood room.

Ji Fengyan was astonished as she looked at that black creature standing alertly in the corner.

It was a half-grown dog-like creature with l.u.s.trous black fur, those blue eyes seeming entrancingly radiant. At this moment, its vertical pupils were full of alertness and nervousness, the fur on its back standing on edge.

"That mount of yours can"t be use, this…" Liu Huo looked at Ji Fengyan and had just began to speak.

"Howling Heaven!" She shouted.

"What?" Liu Huo became confused.

"Ahaha, it"s you! You"ll be the Howling Heaven Hound!" Ji Fengyan"s eyes gleamed as she stared at that dog-like creature who had its fur puffed up. Without any hesitation, she directly gave it the Howling Heaven Hound name.

"Wait a second, it isn"t a dog…" Liu Huo furrowed his brows. Just as he was preparing to explain, he suddenly… fell into a warm embrace.

Ji Fengyan hugged Liu Huo. Due to the fact that both of their heights were similar, the scene of both of them hugging really was quite delicate.

"Liu Huo, I really am too thankful towards you"

That little black puppy really satisfied the impression that she had towards the Howling Heaven Hound. Now, she completely had no need to go out and chop wood to carve one!

It simply couldn"t be better!

Liu Huo felt a buzzing sound in his head as he was suddenly hugged by Ji Fengyan, the words that he had wanted to say a moment ago immediately forgotten. Stunned for quite a while, Liu Huo finally came back to reality. Clearly a bit fl.u.s.tered, he pushed her away as a suspicious redness appeared on his perfect little face.

Not waiting for Ji Fengyan to say anything, Liu Huo quickly turned around and fled out of her sight without leaving a single trace, abandoning Ji Fengyan and the "Howling Heaven Hound" to stare at each other in the firewood room.

Chapter 78 – Dark Night Devil Wolf

Ji Fengyan couldn"t resist from laughing out loud as she watched Liu Huo flee in panic.

Fine, she had to admit that she really was a bit too evil, but Liu Huo"s reaction was just too interesting. She really couldn"t resist at that time.

Turning her thoughts back, Ji Fengyan looked over at the "Howling Heaven Hound" who had curled up into the corner and puffed up its fur. Smiling cheerfully as she walked over, she plucked out a dark red medicinal pill from the Spatial Soul Jade that released an intoxicating scent. When the originally anxious Howling Heaven Hound smelled it, those blue eyes slightly shone as it unconsciously wanted to step forward but once retreated in alert.

"Don"t be afraid, I won"t hurt you. If you"re obedient, I guarantee that you"ll be treated much better then you were in the wild," Ji Fengyan patiently cajoled.

The Howling Heaven Hound vigilantly watched her. When its eyes drifted to that medicinal pill, it was unable to hide its yearning…

What happened that night, n.o.body knows. However, early the next morning when Ling He walked over to the firewood room from the back courtyard, he was completely dumbfounded. The tall and majestic Yang Jian stood outside the firewood room, a half-size dog-like creature lying next to him. It really did scare Ling He by quite a bit.

It was only after Ling He took a careful look did he finally realize that the unmoving Yang Jian was a human figure carved from wood. Instead, it was the creature lying next to Yang Jian that attracted his attention.

"Isn"t that a…"

"Big Brother He." As Ling He noticed something, Ji Fengyan"s voice suddenly rang out from behind. When he turned to take a look, he saw Ji Fengyan holding a rather timid Bai Ze as she walked into the courtyard.

"My lady, what is this?" Ling He was a bit confused as he looked at JI Fengyan.

She smiled. "This is Yang Jian and that black dog next to him is called Howling Heaven Hound."

Ling He was speechless.

He didn"t know what insane ideas his young lady was coming up with again, but as for that Howling Heaven Hound… Please, that was clearly a dark night devil wolf"s young, okay?!

The dark night devil wolf was a type of extremely ferocious magic beast. Having exceptional combat capabilities, once they were excited by the scent of blood and entered battle, they would never stop or rest, completely unrelenting in their pursuit. Quite a few life exterminators wanted to catch a dark night devil wolf to use as their mount, but unfortunately the dark night devil wolves were few in numbers to the extent where even the Imperial Family had little contact with them. Only on the black market would one or two occasionally appear and the price of each and every one were all valued at a sky-high price. Most of the time though, there was a price but no market. Coupled with the dark night devil wolf"s extremely ferocious nature, very few people could control them, even if one was lucky enough to start raising a dark night devil wolf from youth. Their savage nature meant that they would very rarely listen to their master"s orders, to the point where there have even been cases of them killing their own masters.

Therefore, at this time there still hadn"t been even one life exterminator that was capable of using a dark night devil wold as a mount.

The appearance of this dark night devil wolf had already caused Ling He enough astonishment, but what made him speechless was that their young lady actually called this dark night devil wolf"s young a… black dog.

Ling He secretly wiped away a bit of sweat.

Just as he was preparing to have a nice chat with her about the rarity of a dark night devil wolf as well as the problems with raising it, Ji Fengyan suddenly squatted down and beckoned with her hands towards the dark night devil wolf lying on the ground.

Soon after…

The devil wolf"s young that was supposed to be uncontrollably ferocious unexpectedly…

Wagged its tail as it dashed over to Ji Fengyan"s side, completely without any of its rumoured domineering aura. Instead, it had a strong hint of trying to act cute as it rubbed itself against her hands.

Chapter 79 – Slowly Get Used to It

Ling He"s mouth gaped open. If it wasn"t for the fact that a dark night devil wolf"s characteristics were so obvious, he really would have doubted if he truly did see things wrong.

The Howling Heaven Hound tried to act cute in front of Ji Fengyan, those blue vertical pupils staring at Bai Ze nestled in her arms. Unable to help itself, its bright red tongue licked its sharp teeth.

Bai Ze felt a dangerous presence and unconsciously shuddered. Its small body tried to tunnel into Ji Fengyan"s arms with all its might, those large damp eyes looking as if they were going to cry.

"You can"t eat it, it isn"t food." Ji Fengyan slapped the Howling Heaven Hound with a moderate amount of force.

The Howling Heaven Hound resentfully mewled.

It also couldn"t be blamed for hungering after Bai Ze. As Ji Fengyan wanted to raise Bai Ze into an immortal deer, she had been constantly feeding Bai Ze medicinal pills over this period of time and normally also hugged Bai Ze too when sleeping. Although at this time Bai Ze still hasn"t casted off its mortal body, but the scent that it released couldn"t be more attractive to magical beasts.

It simply looked as if it was good to eat!

Seeing the devil wolf acting so obediently in front of Ji Fengyan like a little puppy, Ling He felt that perhaps he really did see things wrongly.

A dark night devil wolf wouldn"t be so shameless!

"My lady, since the mineral veins have already been found, when are we going to mine them?" Ling He softly coughed, deciding to ignore the abnormality.

"You don"t need to worry about this. Yang Jian and the Howling Heaven Hound will take care of it," Ji Fengyan said, pointing her chin towards the human figure off to the side.

The stiff and motionless Yang Jian suddenly knelt down, the unexpected movement startling Ling He to point where he directly leapt up.

"I obey," Yang Jian said hoa.r.s.ely.

Ling He was completely stunned. It took until Yang Jian carried a large basket and left his line of sight with the Howling Heaven Hound before he could finally come back to his senses.

"M-m-my lady, that human figure…" Why was it able to move and speak?

Was it a ghost?!

"Calm down," she said earnestly, patting Ling He"s shoulder. "You need to slowly get used to these type of things from now on."

From now on? Ling He was completely dis...o...b..bulated. Was she saying that there would be more similar situations in the future?

He felt that it was very likely… that he wouldn"t be able to get used to it for quite a long time.

"Everything should be fine now. Big Brother He, if you don"t have anything to do then you should continue cultivating. I"ll be taking little Bai Ze out for a walk to help it digest its food," she said cheerfully, hugging Bai Ze as she left.

Ling He"s expression was very conflicted. He couldn"t understand why his young lady called siting down and meditating "cultivating", and he also couldn"t understand how holding Bai Ze would help it digest its food.

Towards that Yang Jian and the Howling Heaven Hound, Ling He was also completely dis...o...b..bulated.

Fortunately, no matter how dis...o...b..bulated Ling He was, he could still be considered well off.

Instead, the Lei family father and son duo who had been taught a lessen yesterday by Ji Fengyan were shrouded in a completely gloomy atmosphere at this moment.

Due to the fact that the injuries on Lei Min"s posterior were rather serious, he could only lie on the bed and recover inside the City Lord"s Residence. When Lei Xu came back at night yesterday, he had called several doctors over for treatment, helping Lei Min regain consciousness. Unfortunately, the grievousness of Lei Min"s injuries far exceeded Lei Xu"s expectations. Based on those doctors" words, Lei Min would need at least three to five months of time to recover.

Once Lei Xu received this news, his eyes were dyed red in fury. At this moment, he was standing at Lei Min"s bedside, watching his only son"s tragic appearance.

Chapter 80 – Lei Family Father and Son Duo

"Father, you must definitely get revenge for your son! That Ji Fengyan is simply a lunatic!" Lei Min hoa.r.s.ely cursed with gritted teeth, lying on the bed. He had never suffered such embarra.s.sment before in his lifetime. Being held to the ground and caned, how could he take such a humiliation?

"Lunatic?" Lei Xu narrowed his eyes, his tone cold. "Did you really think that Ji Fengyan is a lunatic? Min"er, both of us were wrong, completely wrong. Ji Fengyan is far from being the ignorant person that we thought her to be. She is very clear about her own circ.u.mstance and also very clear about what to do to deal with all of it."

"Father! She has already injured me to such an extent and you"re actually speaking up for her?" Lei Min looked in disbelief at his own father.

"Min"er, I"m not speaking up for her, instead I"m reminding you. This time we lowered our guard. Before, I had always thought that the reason we were able to control Ji Fengyan inside Ji City was because she was a simple child, but in reality what she did was coincidentally the most intelligent choice. Had she gotten into a conflict with us in Ji City, then just based on those guards of hers, she would have been far from being our opponent in terms of military might. However, once we had left Ji City, then the situation would be completely reversed," he said.

Lei Min was slightly stunned. Although his heart harboured hatred, he wasn"t an idiot. He was able to understand Lei Xu"s words.

"You don"t need to worry. Since I now understand what type of person she is, then I naturally have a method to deal with her. Even if she knows the locations of those mineral veins, so what? Right now, she is in Ji City"s domain and in here I am able to deal with her as I please." Lei Xu"s eyes flashed with a cold malicious light.

"Father is thinking of-" Lei Min was a bit shocked in his heart.

Lei Xu smiled. "You"re Ji Fengyan"s fiancé, that cannot be doubted. Since you"ve suffered an injury now, then Ji Fengyan ought to be taking care of you."

"However, that dead girl is extremely cunning. How would she be willing to come and serve me?" Lei Min asked with furrowed brows.

"You still can"t see it? Before, no matter what we did, Ji Fengyan had always had a calm and collected att.i.tude, but this time when she took action it was because those guards of hers had almost been hurt. If I"m not mistaken, then that girl should probably care a lot about those people that her father left behind. AlthoughI have no way to kill her because of that decree of appointment, the people around her aren"t protected by it. No matter what I want to do to them, isn"t it all at my whim?" He said, shaking his head.

Lei Min"s eyes slightly shone.

Lei Xu comforted him. "This affair doesn"t need to be rushed, you just need to recover well. What I need to do still requires the permission of the Eldest Princess. If she agrees, then things will be much easier."

"However, isn"t the Eldest Princess currently concerned about the situation of why the Grandmaster isn"t seeing anyone? Would she… even be willing to help us?" Lei Min asked in concern.

"I don"t need her to come out and help us, I only need her tacit consent that"s all. Furthermore… If this Ji City truly does end up in Ji Fengyan"s hands, then it"s likely that the Eldest Princess… also won"t be happy, right?" Lei Xu chuckled, having a well thought out plan.

"Min"er, you just need to watch. In just a few days, I"ll have that dead girl Ji Fengyan docilely come over and personally serve you and all your needs."

Lei Min naturally didn"t say anything else about it.

"Then your child will wait for that day to come."

The corners of Lei Xu"s lips curled up in a sinister smile. "Just patiently wait, there"ll be a good show to watch."