A Clash of Gods - Chapter 27

Chapter 27 Burning the Scroll Painting
In the light of fire, Yang Ning saw clearly that it was a broken ancestral temple. It seemed that a lot of people lived around here in the past, but then somehow it fell into disuse.

The statue enshrined in the ancestral temple had fallen down from the altar, and broke into several pieces. It was covered with thick dust and cobwebs, so he couldn’t figure out which god it was.

But the altar was quite high, and was actually above Yang Ning’s chest. It was built with stones. Yang Ning thought it must have taken people tremendous efforts to build the ancestral temple that year.

There was no pot or bowl. Yang Ning had searched for a moment before finding an incense burner in the ruins which was used for offering sacrifices. It was dirty, so Yang Ning washed it with the rain outside carefully. Although it was not completely clean, he could only make do with it. He collected half a burner of rainwater, took it back, and put it over the fire to boil it.

He took Xiao Guang’s clothes and dried them beside the fire. He thought he had done everything possible for the guy. If Xiao Guang hadn’t met him, the best person in the world, his life would have been at stake.

Suddenly, he thought of the horse outside. He was very anxious just now, so he chose to hold Xiao Guang into the house first. But after so much hassle for half a day, he even forgot that the horse had not been tethered.

He ran out in a hurry, and then his heart sank. Sure enough, the horse had disappeared. He searched around the ancestral temple, but found no trace of the horse. He was very annoyed and scolded him for being so careless. He wanted to retrieve the horse, but he had no idea where to go in this rainy night. Full of irritation, he returned to the ancestral temple. Seeing Xiao Guang lying quietly, he thought to himself that he wouldn’t have lost his horse if he hadn’t saved him. He’d like to pull Xiao Guang up and beat him hard.

When the water in the incense burner was hot, Yang Ning moved the burner away and let it cool for a while. He tested the temperature of the water and found it was lukewarm. Then he supported Xiao Guang up and brought the water close to his mouth. Xiao Guang’s eyes were half open, but he opened his mouth and took a few sips of water. Then he shook his head gently, so Yang Ning let him lie down and tore a piece of cloth from Xiao Guang’s wet clothes. He poured the remaining hot water from the incense burner on the cloth and applied it immediately to Xiao Guang’s forehead.

The sound of wind and rain outside the house was much lower. Yang Ning didn’t know what time it was now. He felt a little tired and was about to lie down by the fire for a rest. Suddenly, he felt a tingle in his heart, and then his heart beat rapidly and the meridians in the chest seemed to jitter and twitch.

Yang Ning put his hand to his chest. The tingle was stronger now and weaker then with the convulsions of the meridians. Yang Ning’s forehead broke into a cold sweat, and he was horrified, “Can it be the wound?”

The God of Wood hurt Yang Ning’s meridians with Withering Wood Hand, and Yang Ning had been caught by its seizure only once. However, he hadn’t felt any discomfort since then.

When the God of Wood died after his internal power had been sucked up by Yang Ning, Yang Ning once worried that the problem of his wound was unsolvable. However, in these two days, the meridians in his body hadn’t changed a little, so Yang Ning almost forgot that he was injured.

At this moment, he again felt great pain in his meridians and heart, so Yang Ning immediately thought of the God of Wood.

This time the pain was obviously much keener than that of the first time. Yang Ning was tortured half dead, his head dizzy and his body aching and limp. He rolled on the ground, hoping to ease the pain.

With labored breath, Yang Ning found his vision blurred and his mind a blank.

When he woke up again, he found himself lying on the ground. It was quiet all around. He sat up, and found that the bonfire beside him was much dimmed. Only then did he know that he had fainted because of the pain. The wood in the fire was almost burned out.

Yang Ning raised his hand and touched his chest, only to find the tingling pain had disappeared.

He took a few pieces of dead wood and threw it in the fire. At this time, he also found that his wet clothes had been almost dried by the fire for a long time.

Suddenly, he heard the whisper from Xiao Guang, “Sir, go… Go…”

Yang Ning looked over and saw Xiao Guang curled up in the hay. His face was no longer pale like before and seemed to be rosier. Yang Ning moved there to remove the cloth from his forehead and felt his temperature. His temperature had dropped a lot, but still burnt his hand.

“Sir, you don’t have to…worry about me…” Xiao Guang’s body trembled slightly, and he intermittently uttering, “You…you go first…”

Yang Ning thought that this guy was really loyal and was even concerned about others in his sleep.

He felt that the “Sir” out of Xiao Guang’s mouth was probably the elder in brown robe. Xiao Guang called him “Sir”. This confused Yang Ning and he wondered what the relationship was between them.

He heard a scream “Ah” and found that Xiao Guang actually sat up. In the firelight, Xiao Guang’s face was white and bathed in sweat, and his eyes were full of horror.

Yang Ning knew that he was awakened by a nightmare, so he sat by the fire and stared at Xiao Guang without speaking.

When Xiao Guang woke up, he first saw the bonfire in front of him, and then raised his hands to wipe off the cold sweat on his face. His eyelids drooped and he looked confused, with a blurred voice, “Where…where am I?” As soon as he finished speaking, he lay down again. He had closed his eyes before Yang Ning could speak.

Although the wind and rain outside died away, the rain still kept pattering.

Yang Ning leaned against the stone altar behind him, reached out his hand into his bosom, and took out the Skills of Six Directions. Having fiddled around those things for a long time, he found that several parts of the scroll painting were damaged, but anyway it was quite good.

After all, all the way down, he fell into the pool, rode in the wind and rain, and even had a fight with Xiao Guang. And most parts of the scroll painting were still intact, so its material quality was indeed not bad.

He skimmed it again from beginning to end, and kept the red lines of eleven meridians in mind.

The God of Wood died inexplicably that day, but Yang Ning did not think much about it. But now recalling what had happened, he vaguely knew that the death of the God of Wood should have a lot to do with the Skills of Six Directions.

The God of Wood had excellent kung fu, and compared with him, Yang Ning was like a sheep to a tiger. But in the end, the tiger was killed by the sheep. It seemed strange, but there must be a reason, and the only possible reason was the Skills of Six Directions.

He remembered that when the God of Wood infused his internal power into his body, he was helpless and had to move the power to his Danzhong acupoint bellow his navel along the red line of his shoulder. This was probably the source of the death of the God of Wood. That is to say, at that time, he had already used the Skills of Six Directions.

He still remembered that the God of Wood suspected that the Skills of Six Directions was fake when he got mad and later claimed to have spent two years to get the scroll painting.

From the later clues, Yang Ning guessed that this scroll painting was probably from the Five Poisons Palace. The God of Wood might get the Skills of Six Directions by foul play, and then was hunted by people from the Five Poisons Palace.

However, after the God of Wood had practiced the Skills of Six Directions, his heath condition seemed to have changed.

Yang Ning wondered that since the God of Wood had practiced the Skills of Six Directions, how could he not know the secrets of the Skills of Six Directions and easily die from it.

Yang Ning just remembered the flow of the red lines of meridians in the scroll painting. But how could he easily use the Skills of Six Directions when he was in danger? Was it possible that when he randomly led the internal power along the meridian to his Danzhong acupoint below his navel, he fortunately found the initial approach to the Skills of Six Directions?

He had many questions in his heart, but it was difficult to find the answers in a short time. He also knew that the scroll painting of the Skills of Six Directions was probably a scourge.

The name of the Five Poisons Palace sounded evil. Since they had hunted the God of Wood to find the Skills of Six Directions at all costs, they would not give up easily. If he still kept the scroll painting, he could not be sure that it would not be coveted by others. Now that he had already remembered all the directions of the meridians, there was no need to keep this nuisance.

When he raised his hand and was about to throw the scroll painting into the fire, he thought that the God of Wood had tried to take the scroll painting back from him at all costs. Normally, the God of Wood must know the directions of the meridians in the scroll painting, but he still wanted to retrieve it. Was it because there were secrets hidden in this scroll painting?

Yang Ning couldn’t help but carefully check it again and again. However, he still couldn’t find a catch in it. He thought to himself that the God of Wood needed to find the solution in it because he went mad for practicing the skills. But Yang Ning didn’t practice the Skills of Six Directions, so he thought he naturally would not get mad.

Instead, if he continued to bring the scroll painting with him, he might find out how to practice the skill. And if he really practiced it, he might also get crazy like the God of Wood.

Since it was the cause of the disaster, he’d better destroy it as early as possible and nip it in the bud.

He was a free and easy person, so he just threw the scroll painting into the fire. Soon, the whole scroll painting turned to ashes in the flames.

Once the scroll painting was burned, Yang Ning felt relaxed all over. He thought only the God of Wood knew that the scroll painting was in his hands, but the only insider was now dead. In addition, the scroll painting was burnt which was no longer in his hands, so no one else would know that he had contacted with the Sills of Six Directions.

He closed his eyes with his back against the stone altar and slept for a while. When he opened his eyes again, he found that it was light already. He looked at Xiao Guang, and found that his face was much rosier, obviously having a peaceful sleep.

Yang Ning got up, walked to the door, and stretched himself. Not far away was the lush bamboo grove. The wind and rain had stopped. After the rain, there was a blanket of mist floating over the bamboo grove, cloudy and hazy, like the dimly discernible fairyland. It was stunning. The fragrance of the bamboos mixed with the smell of the earth after the rain, came to his nose with the wind and was quite refreshing.

Yang Ning was in a good mood. But he immediately thought of the loss of the horse. When he thought that he could only walk to the capital, he was frustrated. He returned to the ancestral temple, and found that the fire was extinguished. Yang Ning crouched beside Xiao Guang, whispering, “Xiao Guang, I can only do these things for you. I think I am good enough. I have other things to do and can’t stay here anymore. You have to rely on yourself anyway.” With a sigh, he said to himself, “I originally planned to charge this guy for service fee, but now it seems impossible.”

When he stood up and was about to leave, he heard Xiao Guang’s weak voice, “Where are you going?” Xiao Guang had already woken up.

Yang Ning was stunned, looked down, and immediately smiled, “You have woken up? I thought you couldn’t survive.”

“If I died, wouldn’t your efforts be in vain?” Xiao Guang was feeble and his eyes were slightly opened, “Did you save me?”

“Rubbish.” Yang Ning rolled his eyes. “Xiao Guang, you must express heartfelt thanks to me. If it weren’t for me, you would die. Since we have known each other, you just need to give me hundreds of pieces of silver. If you don’t have cash, you can replace it by jewelry. Are you fine with this? You won’t tell me that you have nothing, will you? If that is the case, we can’t be friends anymore.”