Chapter 30: Gong Yang’s “Inheritance”

“Hiss, that bastard Gong Yang, smiling on the surface but vicious when he strikes. From what he just said, this Western Zhou Hair Jiangshi seemed to have been his colleague? And for that, he even betrayed the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring?”

Mo Lin looked at his own body, now almost bare with hardly any snake scales left, and felt like crying without tears.

Even if I took away your Black Jiangshi, you didn’t have to pluck off all my scales.

I’m not a fish.

Although Mo Lin’s scales were not as precious as the reverse scales of a true dragon, they were still tough enough to resist attacks from Ding Fan, Xu Han, and even the Black Jiangshi’s mouth-coins.

Every time Gong Yang plucked a scale, to Mo Lin it was no less than suffering through a torture rack.

Heaven knew how he managed to endure without fleeing just now.

“No matter what, at least Gong Yang is finally dead.”

In truth, although Mo Lin could not win against Gong Yang and the Hair Jiangshi together, with his familiarity of the mountains and his agility, escaping wouldn’t have been a problem.

The reason he risked everything to plot Gong Yang’s death was entirely because he was unwilling to give up the Dragon Cave, this feng shui treasure land.

Man dies for wealth, snake dies for food.

If he retreated this time, the Dragon Cave would surely fall back into Gong Yang’s hands, and Mo Lin was unwilling to hand over this place that could make him stronger.

Since that was the case, he could only take the risk to try and kill Gong Yang.

Though his appearance was frightening, Mo Lin actually believed he had some chance.

After all, Gong Yang had spent his life’s essence blood on the Hair Jiangshi, leaving him lacking in cultivation of the Dharma Body.

If Mo Lin used his Demonic Power to drive the mouth-coins in a sneak attack, he had an eighty percent chance of killing Gong Yang in one strike.

Even if Gong Yang blocked it, Mo Lin still had the ability to flee.

But if that happened, he truly would be nothing more than a beaten cur.

Fortunately, the outcome was good.

Not only had he gotten rid of Gong Yang, removing a hidden threat concerning the Dragon Cave, he had also obtained everything Gong Yang possessed—including the Western Zhou Hair Jiangshi.

After losing Gong Yang’s command, the Western Zhou Hair Jiangshi simply froze in place, unlike the Black Jiangshi earlier.

Perhaps Gong Yang had erased their consciousness during refinement.

Since they had no reaction, Mo Lin didn’t bother with them for now.

He prepared to swallow Gong Yang’s corpse whole, to at least somewhat restore his now scale-less body.

But just as Mo Lin was about to bite down on Gong Yang, he suddenly remembered something.

And because of that, he actually spat Gong Yang, who was already half in his stomach, back out.

“For now, I’ll let you ‘live’ a while longer.”

Mo Lin put Gong Yang aside, then opened his bag:

“Now, let me see if Gong Yang’s bag has anything good, like Ding Fan and Xu Han’s treasures—no, not pillows, I mean books like ‘The Classic of the Green Satchel’ and ‘The Classic of Stirring the Dragon.’”

Unlike Ding Fan and Xu Han, who had strong backgrounds, Gong Yang was the kind who lived rootless by the Western Sea.

A man like him would surely carry all his valuables with him.

Thus Mo Lin guessed that Gong Yang’s treasures would not be any fewer than Ding Fan and Xu Han’s.

After shaking out everything from Gong Yang’s cloth bag, Mo Lin sorted through them, discarding useless gold, silver, and coins, as well as some incomprehensible items.

Finally, he picked out a bottle of pills, a wooden plaque, a black banner, and a manual.

The pills were healing medicine, especially effective for external injuries.

Mo Lin immediately poured the entire bottle into his belly, feeling the pills take swift effect inside.

The wooden plaque bore the words “Official Rank: Fifth Grade.”

Mo Lin immediately realized this must have been Gong Yang’s rank before he betrayed the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, with the plaque serving as proof of identity.

When he stopped Xu Han and Hong Wen at the mountain, he had seen Xu Han leave such an item to Hong Wen.

As for why he hadn’t seen one in Ding Fan’s bag, perhaps Ding Fan had forgotten it, or maybe he felt Xu Han’s plaque was enough.

But this old fox Gong Yang—having already betrayed the Bureau—still kept this plaque? Did he really miss his old master?

Or did he use it to disguise his identity?

Mo Lin tried channeling Demonic Power into the plaque, but nothing happened.

Did it require Daoist magic? Or was it just a mundane item, useless with either Demonic Power or Daoist magic?

Didn’t this plaque have any way of verifying identity?

What if someone killed and looted a Bureau member, then impersonated one with the plaque?

Mo Lin had overlooked one thing.

The Bureau of Heaven Monitoring, as an official institution of the Great Qian Dynasty, had the main duty of observing the stars and patrolling on Heaven’s behalf.

Only, what they patrolled was not local officials but the wild demons in the mountains.

Their privileges applied only when hunting demons.

In that case, why would anyone impersonate them with a plaque, risking offense against the Bureau?

If someone really was foolish enough to kill a Bureau member, naturally other Taoists of the Bureau would bring them to justice.

Defectors like Gong Yang were still rare.

Thus, the wooden plaque was more of a convenient proof of identity, saving unnecessary words.

Mo Lin tucked the plaque away—it might come in handy later—then looked at the third item: the black banner.

This was a genuine magical tool.

Over three feet long, with a wide center panel, narrower side strips, fringed with five-finger-shaped black tassels at the bottom, and serrated black tassels beneath the central panel.

The moment Mo Lin infused it with Demonic Power, he was shocked, cold sweat breaking out on his snake back.

This black banner was called the Soul-Respecting Banner.

Its function was to control ghosts, collect souls, detach spirits, gather qi, refine souls, and summon demons—its power was immense.

Mo Lin had been wondering how Gong Yang had erased the consciousness of the Western Zhou Hair Jiangshi.

Now it was clear: it must have been thanks to this banner.

Moreover, Mo Lin could sense within it several powerful souls, no weaker than Ding Fan and Xu Han, along with hundreds of ordinary spirits, all ready to be summoned for battle.

Though they could not harm the flesh, they could influence the enemy’s spirit.

Gong Yang had underestimated Mo Lin.

Even if he hadn’t anticipated Mo Lin’s mouth-coins, if he had been more cautious and used this banner, Mo Lin would have been utterly defeated.

Even his eighty percent chance of a sneak attack would have dropped to thirty percent.

“Phew~ Anyway, Gong Yang is already dead, and the Soul-Respecting Banner has lost its former master. Now its master is a snake demon named Mo Lin.”

Mo Lin happily stowed away the Soul-Respecting Banner.

Lastly, he opened the manual.

It was the Dharma Body cultivation method into which Gong Yang had poured ten years of effort, killing colleagues and betraying the Bureau of Heaven Monitoring for its sake—

The Great Yin Indestructible Bone.

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