Chapter 104: Midnight Song

“Patel… he was a legend, belonging to my era, or rather, to my era and Sharma’s era. He was a shining star in the Indian spiritualist world, and his light even surpassed mine in the circle. However, not many people knew him in the folk world. You know, because of the caste system, as a lowest-class Dalit, even if his light was dazzling, the spiritualist circle here would have to cover up his existence.” At this point, Uncle Johnny’s eyes filled with a look of nostalgia, distant and yet with an indelible pain.

So, he couldn’t help but take out a bottle of wine, take a big sip, and continue, “There is no place where there is absolute fairness, and in the face of the powerful caste system, it is even more impossible for the country of India to be fair. This is a fact that I must admit to Patel, no matter how much time has passed.”

It seems that there is another extremely complicated past event. I want to hear what Uncle Johnny has to say, but he simply summarizes it in a very simple sentence: “What we are facing this time… is, should be called an enemy, that is, Patel! Li and I sealed it together back then, that is, Patel’s corpse!”

“It sounds like he’s very powerful.” I didn’t mean to sound condescending, it was from the bottom of my heart.

At this point, the boat had already turned around the sharp turns and arrived at a stretch of water behind the mountain. This stretch of water was very long, and with the fog swirling around, it felt as if the straight water surface had no end. On one side was still a steep cliff, and on the other side was a continuous low mountain range…

The water was still rushing, and the feeling of cold was even more intense. In this hot summer, as soon as I turned into this stretch of water, goose bumps appeared on my neck.

“A little cold, right? Go get some clothes.” Johnny didn’t answer my question directly, but said something irrelevant, a light concern.

I rubbed my neck and said, “It’s okay, Uncle Johnny, tell me more about Patel.”

“There’s not much to say. After all, he’s no longer the living Patel, but a corpse. But because the Kunlun relic is related to him, I don’t know what kind of mutation has occurred! If you insist, I can only tell you that Li once said that the living Patel is more terrifying than the dead Patel. After all, a beating, ambitious human heart is the most unpredictable thing. And Patel’s most powerful ability is to communicate and use it, understand? Communicating with and using the creatures of a certain race is like fishing in the water! This is a god-given talent, and this is why Patel was once the brightest star. Watching the fish’s amazing reactions, I thought, even if he became a corpse, this ability would still be there. It’s too scary to think about.” Johnny paused here, and then continued, “Chengyi, you must pay attention to this. In the end, we may have to face a surging underwater biota.

Retain the ability even after death? This is really incomprehensible! Could it be another powerful version of the old village chief? I couldn’t help but think of another thing, that is, the eagle we met on our escape route. It’s just that compared to the terrifying power of a group, it’s not an exaggeration to call Patel the genius among the geniuses in the world of cultivators.

“Chengyi, there is one more thing I must tell you.” While I was thinking, Johnny suddenly spoke in a heavy tone.

“Huh?” I turned my head and vowed that it was the first time I had seen Johnny look so serious and solemn.

“Chengyi, I have lived a long life. According to the rules of the cultivator world, those who can wrestle with time and break through the laws of biology are all top-level cultivators. But I’m not…” At this point, Johnny suddenly laughed at himself, then took out a flask, took a sip, and continued, “What I mean is that I am also very talented, but this talent is not enough to support me to the level of a top cultivator. I have lived for so long because Li used a secret technique to transfer my life span. I was injured. In that tragic battle, I was seriously injured when I sealed Patel at the end. This injury almost eliminated all possibilities of my climbing up.

“Uncle Johnny, what are you trying to say? Actually, I don’t care if you are a very powerful person. This does not affect the fact that you are my elder and I should respect you.” I don’t understand why Johnny is telling me about his past so seriously.

“No, that’s not the point! The point is that Li used the ultimate technique to transfer longevity to me, and I had to accept it, even if I didn’t want to. What I’m trying to say is that, Chengyi, I’ve been injured ever since, and although I’ve lived for so long, I’m just an ordinary person, except for that last move I’ve always kept.” Johnny tried to organize his words and explain the meaning of what he said to me, even though I didn’t quite understand.

“Uncle Johnny, I never thought you would have to settle this matter.” I said this very seriously. Even if I didn’t quite understand the point, I knew it in my heart.

“I’m sorry I can’t help, but I will not hold back on the last blow that Li and I spent so much effort to preserve… I’ve lived too long, long enough to put aside my descendants and look at things with a detached mind. The only thing I can’t forget is what I have to do and the shocking wound to my soul. Or, your arrival has saved me, and I will do my best.” After saying this, Uncle Johnny walked away, went down the deck, and walked into the cabin. It looked like he wanted to rest for a while.

But I was still thinking about what Uncle Johnny had said. There were too many secrets buried in it, and at the same time, I suddenly solved a long-standing question in my heart. After all, I had been with Uncle Johnny for so long, and I really didn’t feel his ability as a cultivator. It turned out that there was a hidden past.

After all, it is a separate tributary, so even if we sail at a much faster speed than before, we can’t reach the end all at once.

We entered the tributary in the afternoon and have been sailing for a few hours. Finally, after the glow of dusk faded, the night quietly came.

Before dinner, Johnny took out a strange magic weapon, which was actually somewhat like a spirit-summoning banner, but in fact had huge differences. It was erected on the deck.

“This is the magic tool that Li left behind. It can precisely locate the most specific location of the being we are looking for, so that there will be no deviation at all! At the same time, it will also provide a little peace for us in dangerous situations,” said Johnny as he inserted the “spirit-summoning banner”.

“Provide peace?” Cheng Qingge looked carefully at the complex and repeated patterns on the ‘spirit-summoning flag’ and couldn’t help but have a little doubt when he heard this.

“Yes, it provides peace. Li once said that the heavens are merciful, and even in the most desperate situations, there is always a way out. Of course, this does not refer to personal fate, but to the entire universe! In other words, even in the most dangerous places, there is always a little peace and a place of life. Patel’s sealed place must be full of danger, but at the same time, there is also a relatively safe place where we can catch our breath. This magic weapon can accurately find such a place.” While speaking, Johnny explained how to use the “Spirit-Summoning Banner.”

It’s actually not complicated. To put it simply, when you chant the incantation to activate it, it will give the person holding the flag a feeling. This feeling is mysterious and cannot be described in words, but the information conveyed is accurate and can be understood at once.

Johnny couldn’t use any means, so naturally the “Spirit Summoning Fan” was passed to me to sense. The moment I chanted the incantation and held it, I had a clear feeling that we were very close to the seal there.

I could also sense the dangers along the way. The purple energy that dotted the river surface was constantly moving. Were they fierce underwater creatures?

However, on this night, I still found a safe place through the spirit banner. It was a backwater area near a low mountain range. The waves there were so peaceful, and it was like a paradise in this dangerous place. I was not surprised at all that there would be such a place.

Just as there is a timeless boundary stone standing in the Lake of a Thousand Demons, this is the vitality left by the benevolence of heaven, which no force can oppose!

We stopped the ship there, rested for the night, and at dawn the next day, the Penglai should be able to reach the final seal smoothly. This is actually reassuring, after all, cultivators are also human, and no one wants to deal with the existence of terror in the dark of night, because the brightness of the blue sky and white day always brings hope.

The Penglai was quietly anchored on the water, just like many days in the past. There were slight fluctuations, but no evil creatures came to harass us, and there was no feeling of coldness.

I was discussing the events of the day with Uncle Johnny, and as we faced this evil, we wondered if we could use the demon spirit to deal with it easily. After all, the situation was critical, and we didn’t think of using the demon spirit. In the event of an emergency, there was no time to summon the demon spirit on the bumpy deck.

But even so, Uncle Johnny still gave me a negative answer: “It’s like the giant catfish in the deep pool. You used your roar to only shake off the soul power that controlled it, but you didn’t kill it. You just made it temporarily stunned, and I had time to kill the catfish. But you have to know that the fish itself is not dead, and living things don’t have souls, they have spirits! This is protected by the laws of nature. After all, the spirits of thousands of creatures form a powerful species soul. Destroying the spirits is like destroying a species! Therefore, spiritual magic generally does not work on animals. That’s it. They don’t have separate souls like humans… So, I think that when you released the evil spirits, at most, you restrained the spiritual power attached to them, but it had no effect on them, and it didn’t solve the crisis. So you can forget about this shortcut. Understand?

“But, that overwhelming evil, Uncle Johnny, how should I deal with it?” I had a headache.

“Everything will be fine in the end, but you must never release the demon spirit lightly. Have you not noticed that you are facing those monsters today? Patel’s terrible control can be shared and can also be instantly hit and affect you. When you release the demon spirit, you are directly confronting Patel, not a single monster. Do you think your demon spirit is stronger than Patel?” Johnny said seriously.

Is that true? I definitely don’t think my stupid tiger can stand against the existence of Kunlun alone… But I wanted to say something. In the quiet night, on the flowing river, a song suddenly came, a heartbreaking song.