The battle ended very suddenly. "Ugly Face" Liqie didn't have time to count the number of corpses of the Kuru soldiers. The entire battlefield was bombarded beyond recognition. Even the flatbed truck filled with skulls was blown into pieces. The seven coachmen and the dried heads were It turned into a pile of red minced meat that could not be distinguished from each other. The entire village and town disappeared without a trace. Fortunately, the elephant car was parked far away on the road and was not affected. The edge of the dragon-shaped power could not be affected. The head of Sanmantuo He emerged from the grass. The coachman was in shock and murmured Buddhist chants. It was a clone of Zha who saw the opportunity and dragged him out of the small village and hid in the grass. He avoided the disaster of being destroyed physically and mentally.
A figure gradually condensed in the air. Asai bent down and pulled out the "Taotie". He returned the sword to its sheath with a clang, and walked towards Yona with a smile. "Hey, brother Yona, although I didn't let me fight to the fullest. But. It was a pleasant time.”
The astrologer looked at the Easterner with fear. He felt that the man with braids and a bright smile in front of him became very strange. "Asai. Then, what is going on?"
Before the Easterners had time to answer, "Ugly Face" Liche walked up to them with Zuta and Star Picker. "Get in the car. We will rush to Quvishti day and night. Killing Tanava has caused us big trouble. .Soon other demon gods will gather here." The great swordsman nodded to Venerable Gaowuzhe who was chanting sutras and motioned for him to take Yona into the car.
The group of people returned to the carriage one after another. The giant elephant lowered its head and looked depressed. It must have been frightened by the devastating blow just now. Yu Sanmantuo tried his best to comfort him for a long time before he reluctantly took a step. The wheels slowly cracked from the scorch. It was crushed on the black soil. Jonah looked out of the window and was horrified to find that the body parts of Tanava were changing shape. One after another, spherical objects were bulging in the pile of minced meat.
"Half of the Ksitigarbha Sutra cannot save all the resentful spirits. May they eat all their flesh and blood and not harm others." Venerable Gaowuzha closed his eyelids and let out an indistinct sigh.
Pale hands and faces emerged one after another. Countless resentful spirits howled miserably and began to open their mouths to gnaw at Tanava's corpse. Yona quickly turned back, not daring to look at this nightmare scene again.
Zuta still looked like he was sitting upright with his big horse and golden sword, paying no attention to anyone. The Star Reacher turned his dexterous eyes and secretly glanced at Asai. When he met the Oriental's eyes, he quickly moved away. However, Asai seemed to be in a mood. Very good. He stretched out his hand and tugged on Jonah's sleeve: "Hey, brother Jonah, I'm not just a freeloader now. I've put in a little effort for you, right?"
The 17-year-old boy retracted his arm like an electric shock. He leaned against the side of the carriage: "Yes, yes... you are very powerful..."
The Oriental was stunned. He showed his white teeth and smiled and said: "I understand. You blame me for hiding the secret, right? Don't worry. Since I have summoned my true form in front of you, it means that I regard you as a partner who can confide in you. You I will tell you whatever you ask."
"...True body." Yona clicked the word.
"It's a long story." Asai moved his buttocks and assumed a tirade posture. "In our family, which is so ancient that the family tree is three inches thick and the cemetery is so huge, boys and girls in the clan will be born in childhood. After a ritual, you gain a very strange ability. This ritual consumes a lot of resources and takes many years to prepare. Therefore, it is only held for descendants of the clan. Children of collateral lines do not receive this kind of treatment... You You guessed it. I am the child of an insignificant branch of the collateral branch. The family will use another method to provide opportunities for the descendants of the collateral branch. If the child's mother agrees, they will open the 'Ten Thousand Bones Pit' when the child is forty-nine days old. '.Do you know what the Ten Thousand Bones Pit is?"
The astrologer shook his head in confusion.
"Of course you don't know." The Easterner smiled and patted his companion on the shoulder. "That is a very deep, very large cave. It was dug in the deep mountain where the ancestral grave is located. It was closed with an iron door and hung with copper. The lock is secure. The forty-nine-day-old collateral offspring will be brought here by the clan elders. The copper lock and iron door are opened and thrown into the cave. The iron door and copper lock are closed. Three days later, the cave is opened and the child is taken out. Since it's called the 'Ten Thousand Bones Pit', what's inside is of course not cabbage and sweet potatoes, but bones. The bones of children. The bones of children who died less than forty-nine days old. Families collected the bones of these young children from all over the place and threw them into it. 'The Pit of Ten Thousand Bones'. In addition to the children of collateral lines who died in it without completing the ritual, over the years, there must be more than 10,000 children's corpses in it."
Although Asai told this story with a smile, Jonah felt a cold shudder. A cold picture appeared in front of his eyes. A crying child was thrown into a cave filled with bones. The sunlight was shut off above his head. The darkness was illuminated only by dots of phosphorus fire. What his fat little hands touched were the deep-set eye sockets of the skull. He did not expect that the optimistic and lively Asai had experienced such an experience. He didn't know what to say for a while.
"Then, these children will have three endings. First, those who are very unlucky will die inside due to cold, hunger, or insect bites; second, those who are averagely lucky will return safely in three days. From now on. Become a waste with no status in the family. You will never be able to enter the main house where the ancestors' tablets are enshrined. You will live on meager offerings. Even the slaves will despise these incompetent masters. Thirdly, you will be lucky. .You will get a strange ability in the 'Pit of Ten Thousand Bones'. This ability varies from person to person. No one knows what form the ability will take and how powerful it will be... In the words of you people from the West Continent. .This is called the mutation of the ability of the bloodline heir. Just like that old man named Tu Shiwa who played with fire." The Oriental told the cruel past with a relaxed expression. Even the Venerable Gaowuzhe of Gujing Bubo opened his eyes slightly. He opened his eyelids and glanced at Asai with cloudy eyes.
"This, this is so cruel..." Jonah felt sad at first, and then angry. "Why do you do this to your children? Forty-nine days. They don't know anything at all."
The Easterner shook his head: "No, no. You don't understand. This is not cruelty, but the kindness of the family. In a country where war is ongoing, only strength is the foundation of a family. The Eastern Continent also has countries and races. But The word family has a lofty status. Family first, then country, then the world. Everyone needs to play a role in the family. This kind of family status is what every descendant with an ancient surname pursues throughout his life. Bloodline is the most important factor. The descendants of the lineage have strong innate advantages. And the 'pit of ten thousand bones' gives the descendants of the collateral line a slim hope. Even if they die in a pile of bones, it is better than living a humble life all their lives. Much more."
The astrologer is very unfamiliar with this social form. His concept of "family" is limited to the surname inherited from his ancestors. In his full name, D. Jonah II. D is the abbreviation of the family surname. "II" Refers to the fact that he and his father share the same name. "Jonah" is the abbreviation of "Joshua". "Is it merciful? But they don't give babies the right to choose. Maybe many children don't want to compete for position at all. They just want to live peacefully. After a lifetime." He thought for a while and said.
Asai was stunned for a moment. "You are right. But this is how the family has been passed down for thousands of years. Children from the collateral line can also get ahead. This is the greatest hope in life... In short, this is how I obtained the strangeness." Ability. To put it briefly, I met a child who had just died in the 'Pit of Ten Thousand Bones'. Unconsciously, something sleeping in my blood was activated. I reached some kind of exchange contract with this child. From now on, we will never be together again. It can't be separated either. I call my ability 'Armor Body'."
"Are you talking about the warrior wearing rusty armor?" The image of a warrior covered in bandages and with tattered armor immediately appeared in front of Jonah's eyes.
"No, no, no." The Easterner shook his finger. "'A body' refers to this body." He pointed to the tip of his nose and blinked: "This body."
Jonah was confused: "What did you say? Aren't you sitting next to me alive?"
Asai grinned: "Correct answer. I am sitting next to you alive. But the body sitting next to you does not belong to me. It belongs to the child who died in the 'Cit of Ten Thousand Bones' many years ago."
As soon as these words came out, the eyes of Venerable Gaowuzhe, Zuta, Star Reacher and Yona all focused on Asai's face. Chills rose from the back again. Yona rubbed his eyes. He couldn't believe this. The guy with elastic skin, panting, able to eat and drink, is the corpse of a child who died young. He forced a smile: "Asai, you really know how to joke..."
"Who are you kidding?" The Orientalist frowned and frowned: "What good will it do me to lie to you? Bloodline ability cannot be explained clearly. In short, the me you see now is borrowing the body of an unknown child. When I walk in the world, this body will grow and breathe. I eat, drink, and breathe the same as ordinary people. And my symbiotic friend has amazing talents. He can easily learn good swordsmanship. Thanks to this body. Most of It and this 'taotie' are enough for the occasion."
Yona's throat made a hard gurgling sound. "You, you mean the one that emerged from the soil, that..."
"That gray-faced man is the real me, yes." Asai nodded and admitted. "My body has been stored in another world. I sleep most of the time... Of course, there are also times when I practice. Every lazy person is diligent. Well, I couldn't tell whether I was alive or dead. Anyway, when I walked around with this body, my body could still walk around in that world. But that world didn't. It's so wonderful. When I was young, I encountered dangers all day long and suffered a lot of injuries. When I grew up, my whole body was still in tatters and couldn't be healed. I just made do with it. By the way, that black sword is called ' 'Yai Can' is the only weapon I have found that can be taken to another world. It is one of the nine famous swords in the East along with 'Taotie'. It ranks seventh. He is a petty, quick-tempered, and very irritable guy."
The carriage was silent. No one knew how to face such a strange truth.
"Well, because I walk around with someone else's body, it's like wearing armor, so it's called 'Armor Body'. My summoning technique can't actually be called a summoning technique. It just calls me from a distant place. By the way, 'Taotie' can communicate between the two worlds, saving a lot of effort in breaking the boundaries of space. Since that world is a little crueler than this world, my strength in that world is a little higher than most people in this world. ...So, do you understand?" He said something very difficult to pronounce. The Orientalist stuck out his tongue, looking a little embarrassed.
Still no one spoke.
This silence lasted for several hours, until the car slowly stopped. Samantha shouted excitedly: "Quvish mentioned it."
Only then did Jonah say something with difficulty: "...Asai, can I poke you in the face?"