Day and night tour

Chapter 403 The Past of the Earth Child

Zhou Xuan's words were like a thunderbolt, striking the chief, Di Tong, so that he sat up straight and felt a tingling sensation on his scalp.

"Sir, what did you just say? I didn't quite catch it."

"That's what Di Tong said in a hurry."

He wasn't really unaware of what Zhou Xuan had said; he simply wanted to hear again if Zhou Xuan could cure his "earthly child's horoscope."

"I said, if I could cure your deformity, what price are you willing to pay?"

"Any price is fine."

This time, Di Tong heard everything clearly, and his gaze towards Zhou Xuan was filled with seven or eight parts respect.

"you sure?"

Zhou Xuan raised an eyebrow and asked.

"Oh dear, sir, you have no idea how much trouble this Earth Child appearance has caused me."

Di Tong got up, went to a cabinet not far away, took out a photo frame from it, handed it to Zhou Xuan, and said, "Master, take a look at the person in this picture."

Zhou Xuan took the photo frame. The photo inside was of a young man wearing a black trench coat, with his hair slicked back, sharp eyes, and striking features.

In short, this young man fits Zhou Xuan's stereotype of a "big boss of a prefecture," and is completely different from the earth child in front of him, who is like a mountain of flesh—they are not even on the same level.

"Is this you?" Zhou Xuan asked Di Tong, still somewhat uncertain.

"Who says it isn't?"

The Earth Child said, "Before I was given the Earth Child's mark, I already had this handsome appearance, just like Pan An, which captivated countless young women in Jingchuan..."

"Ku, ku, ku".

Mr. Bai Liu, who had been quietly accompanying the guests, couldn't help but burst out laughing when he heard the words "Pan An" during a break.

"Are you laughing at your mother?!" Di Tong immediately flew into a rage, glaring at him.

Zhou Xuan, standing beside him, seemed to be infected by Mr. Bai Liu's laughter and couldn't help but chuckle.

The Earth Child's anger quickly subsided, and he said with a smile, "Being able to make Master happy is one of the few uses of my Earth Child form."

Mr. Bai Liu: "..."

People are different. If he laughs, he gets his family insulted, but if the master laughs, the child has to apologize.
"Is all that fat on you, weighing several hundred pounds, also due to your natal chart?"

Zhou Xuan stopped laughing and asked.

"That's not."

Di Tong patted his chest, and the layers of fat rippled and swayed like waves.

After the "fat wave" subsided, he continued, "Those hands inside my body are insatiable creatures. They eat dozens of kilograms of food every day, all while I'm feeding them."
They want to eat everything—food, snacks, even trendy coffee. If I don't give them food, they won't obey me and will try to take advantage of me in any situation.

Di Tong sighed and said, "Master, as you know, I am a person of status and I pay great attention to my image. With hundreds of hands on my body, how dare I wander around?"
So, all I can do is manage their food and drink. Let them eat as much as they want, as long as they don't cause trouble and ruin my image.

Between "a fat man weighing hundreds of pounds" and "a monster covered in baby arms," ​​Di Tong decisively chose the former.

"But taking care of their food and water is particularly troublesome for me."

The earth child, revealing his hunger again, said, "They eat and drink all they want, but they won't let me eat or drink. They think that this body of mine belongs to them, and the right to fatten myself up... also belongs to them. Even the taste of the food belongs to them."

They are a bunch of petty freaks!

Therefore, I cannot appreciate the deliciousness of food, and I feel hungry and thirsty almost every so often.

"The punishment of starvation".

Zhou Xuan nodded and said.

Tasting food is an inherent human right—whether it's the pleasure of swallowing or the joy that delicious food brings, it makes people feel happy at that moment.

This kind of happiness, naturally, is something that Di Tong missed out on.

In addition to not being able to eat or drink, the children also had to constantly experience tortures such as "hunger" and "thirst".

Hunger and thirst are no less unbearable than being cut with a dull knife.

Feeling neither happiness nor torture, the two intertwined, this is why the Earth Child was so distressed by the "Earth Child Appearance". It was only when he heard that Zhou Xuan could cure this deformity that his soul trembled.

"In order to obtain the Nine Incense Sticks, I made a deal with the Earth God. I thought I had made a profit, but I never expected that I would fall for the Earth God's trick."

"Not only do I have to offer all the incense I receive from my daily practice, but I also have to endure gaining hundreds of pounds of fat. The problem is—not a single pound of that fat was gained by my own eating."

When Di Tong got to this point, he sighed repeatedly.

Upon hearing this, Zhou Xuan recalled the second-in-command, Li Zougui, whom he had ambushed and killed. That Zougui, who was eight sticks long, was also a big fat man, as fat as a ball.

He asked, "Did your second-in-command also rely on his 'earthly destiny' to reach the Eight-Incense Burner stage?"

"Yes Yes."

When the second-in-command, Di Tong, the leader, is mentioned, he shows more anger and hatred than any deep fighting friendship.

With a wicked look on his face, he said, "That idiot always ignores my words. They go in through his left ear, get blanched in his brain, and then come out through his right ear!"
I told him that the line of nine incense sticks represents a deity on earth; if you cross that line, you are a mortal. He didn't believe me.

I told him not to make a deal with the land; you're greedy for the offerings it provides, but it's greedy for you as a person. He still wouldn't believe me.

Behind my back, he secretly made a deal with Di Zi, who planted the 'Earthly Child's Image' in his body. However, he was only at the Eight Incense Sticks stage, and Di Zi yearned for him to reach the Nine Incense Sticks stage…

"So, the 'Earth Child Appearance' that Di Zi planted in Li Zougui didn't have any major side effects?"

Zhou Xuan had already understood somewhat and interjected.

"Master is truly a prophet," Di Tong said, giving a thumbs up. "Not only did Di Zi not demand any extra offerings from Li Zougui, but the hands hidden inside his body are also extremely obedient. They take care of his food and drink every day, but they won't let Li Zougui suffer the torture of hunger and thirst."

Just like you said, the land didn't have too many side effects on him, which is why Li the Ghost keeps giving me attitude.
Phrases like, "Boss, you offended the Earth God, that's why you're being punished," or "Boss, you need to reflect on why you're being subjected to the torture of hunger and thirst," are common.

I'm so tired of hearing it every day. I really want to find a chance to kill him, but he made a deal with Di Zi, so he's one of Di Zi's men. I really don't dare to touch him casually.

“But you still found an opportunity,” Zhou Xuan said.

The child was stunned and hurriedly asked Zhou Xuan what the deeper meaning was in his words.

Zhou Xuan's gaze, as cold as a knife, swept across Di Tong's face. His gaze was so intense that Di Tong felt a chill run down his spine and lowered his head, not daring to say anything more.

"Boss, I was just saying that many strange things happened today. For example, Li the Ghost Hunter is dead. Why didn't you come out to help?"
Moreover, after Li Zougui died, I walked around Jingchuan Prefecture, but none of Mr. Ye's men came to arrest me.

This doesn't seem like Mr. Ye's domineering style at all. Now that I hear you mention Li the Ghost Walker, I understand.

Zhou Xuan dipped his right hand in wine and wrote the character "knife" on the table, saying, "Boss, you borrowed my knife to kill Li Zougui. Looking at your fat body weighing hundreds of pounds, I didn't expect you to be so meticulous."

“Master, Master, I only had a rough idea at the time. That Li the scoundrel came to me and asked me to send someone to capture you and bring you back to the main hall so that I could extort money from Mingjiang Prefecture.”

Di Tong felt that Zhou Xuan was too clever, and this young master's thoughts were particularly strange. As their conversation deepened, he could always deduce the cause and effect of a certain event from just a few words.
And they can always guess pretty accurately.

Therefore, Di Tong dared not hide any longer and made up his mind to tell the whole story about his affair with Li Zougui.

What kind of extortion are you trying to get?

Zhou Xuan asked again.

“We know how important the eldest master is to Mingjiang, and Mingjiang has things that our Jingchuan Prefecture doesn’t have, such as the ancient tree and the golden bell.”

"You're eyeing the Ancient Tree Golden Bell?" Zhou Xuan frowned. He realized that Mr. Ye's gang was really bold.

"No, no, we just hope that the ancient tree and golden bell of Mingjiang Prefecture can expand their coverage to encompass our main hall. The world is in chaos, and even Mr. Ye dares not be careless. If the golden bell is there to protect us, we will be much safer."

Di Tong added, "That's what Li the Ghost Neighbor discussed with me, but I thought, you're a powerful figure in Mingjiang Prefecture, how could you be captured so easily? At the time, I thought—"

—If things succeed, then our Master Ye's establishment will have the protection of the Golden Bell; if things fail, then Li the Ghost will most likely be killed, and we'll finally get rid of this thorn in my side that annoys me every day.

"It benefits me both ways."

"Good! Good! Good!"

Zhou Xuan said "good" three times in a row, but Di Tong couldn't sense his specific emotions from the word "good," nor could he guess his intentions.

Humans always have a fear of the unknown, and even masters with nine sticks of incense are no exception.

He immediately felt a sense of insecurity, and this feeling intensified as Zhou Xuan suddenly stood up.

Immediately, Zhou Xuan quietly put on the Dao Ancestor mask, his piercing gaze fixed on Di Tong.

This time, the gaze was even more terrifying. Di Tong couldn't even muster the courage to look directly at it; even with his head down, he could feel that scorching gaze.
The intense pressure emanating from his gaze made him feel as if he had returned to his childhood.

Zhou Xuan, wearing the Dao Ancestor's mask, also entered the Earth Child's River of Fate through the "River of Fate" ability of the Dunjia Incense, and witnessed a very important event from the Earth Child's childhood.

……

During Di Tong's childhood, his father was a gambler and his mother ran an incense and candle factory. His parents were always arguing because of gambling.

One day, the young boy crawled under the bed to steal some pastries from the bamboo basket his father had left there. Just then, he heard a noise coming from inside the house.
Then, through the gap between the bed and the floor, he saw two pairs of legs moving around in the room, and then he heard his parents arguing.

The father, blinded by greed, mortgaged the factory. Seeing her hard work ruined, the mother humiliated her husband in various ways.

In an instant, both of them had tears in their eyes. Then, Di Tong saw his mother fall down into a pool of blood, a pair of scissors piercing her chest.

The father squatted down, pulled out the scissors, and continued to make the cuts, deciding to go all the way.

As the mother lay dying, she saw the Earth Child hiding under the bed. She did not struggle excessively, but gently shook her head at the Earth Child, signaling him to hide.

A gambler father who killed his wife is capable of anything when he's blinded by rage.

Di Tong immediately bit his wrist, desperately trying not to make a sound, tears streaming down his face.

One cut... two cuts... five cuts... nineteen cuts...

The mother's chest was stabbed until it was a bloody mess. Finally, the father stopped, threw down the scissors, and walked away.

The child hid under the bed, too afraid to come out. He waited, waiting for the long hours to pass, until his mother's body grew cold, and his father showed no sign of returning.
He crawled out from under the bed and knelt before his mother, weeping.

"Why are you crying?" His father's voice came from outside the window. Di Tong was startled and turned around abruptly, only to find his father leaning against the window, looking at him with a strange gaze.

"what!"

The child screamed in fright and sat down on the ground with a thud. But soon, he saw that his father's face had one bloody hole after another, a total of nineteen, and there were also some scratches on his face for no reason.

A few moments later, the father's face disappeared, and the child thought it was a hallucination of his father.

That night, Di Tong's father came home, pretending to be panicked, saying that a thief must have broken into the house and killed his mother.

Upon learning the truth, the child felt only that his father's appearance was ridiculous and disgusting.

In the months that followed, Di Tong's life was peaceful, yet not entirely peaceful.

Nothing happened between him and his father, but he always felt that his father was watching him from behind, staring at him with that burning gaze.

Whether he was in the toilet or going to town to play with his friends, his father's eyes seemed to always be watching him from behind.

It put him under immense psychological pressure, it made him feel uneasy, it made him feel like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown.
Finally, one day, he met a fortune teller, who immediately grabbed his clothes upon seeing him.

"Sir, I don't do fortune telling."

"Little one, do you always feel like there's an eye watching you?"

"you……"

"Some people have beautiful eyes, some people have ugly eyes, and some people's eyes can kill..."

"Sir, what should I do?"

"If you don't want those eyes staring at you, it's simple... just gouge those eyes out."

The thought of gouging out those eyes, a thought the child had never entertained before, took root in his mind and spread like wildfire.

Finally, on that morning, he sat down at his desk by the window again. The weather was rather cool, so he didn't close the window.

He rested his chin on his hand, pondering the desire to "gouge out those eyes," and as he thought about it, he felt his father's gaze upon him again.

He suddenly looked up and saw his father standing by the window, reeking of alcohol and with glazed eyes, clearly having gambled all night before returning home.

"Damn it! What's your dad doing? Hoping he'll find you a stepmother?"

His father's casual remark reminded Di Tong of his mother's gentle shake of her head before she died.

Overwhelmed with sorrow, the child began to sob.
"What are you crying for?"

The father was getting impatient, his eyes fixed on the child, looking down at him with an air of superiority.

"If you don't want to be stared at, poke your eyes out..."

The desire that had been hidden in his heart for several days finally erupted. Di Tong slowly opened the drawer, took out a pair of scissors, and then silently stabbed out.

puff!
Blood blossomed as the child suddenly climbed onto the desk, grabbed his father's ear with one hand, and repeatedly pulled out and plunged the scissors back in, just as his father had done to his mother.
The father winced in pain and tried to break free. Although he had been drinking and gambling all night and was exhausted, and because his eye had been pierced by the first cut, he had no strength left.
But he was an adult, and the other was a child. Instinctively, he reached for the Earth Child, but unexpectedly grabbed a soft, squishy hand. He looked at his uninjured left eye—

—That hand was very familiar. He turned his head sharply and saw his wife, who had been dead for a long time, standing straight in front of him with blood streaming from her eyes!

"You...you...ouch."

The father, instinctively terrified by the appearance of his wife's "ghost," was momentarily stunned when the sharp scissors in the child's hand stung his face like a scorpion's tail.

One of the stabs went right past his left eye and into his temple, rendering him unable to defend himself.

The Earth Child then unleashed a barrage of stabs, each one more powerful than the last, like a storm of blows. With each strike, he counted the blows in his mind.

When the father collapsed, he had been stabbed nineteen times.

The father stabbed the mother to death with nineteen knife wounds.

As Di Tong stared at his father's body lying on the ground, he remembered seeing his father's face outside the window not long after his mother's death, which he had initially thought was a hallucination.

He now realizes that what he saw was "the image of his father's death."

At this critical moment, the soul of the mother who saved the child dissipated into a wisp of black smoke and flew into a tortoise shell not far away.

A fortune teller emerged; he was the same man who had taught the boy to be "eye-catching." He walked forward with a smile, shaking his tortoise shell, and said...
"Little brat, if it weren't for my illusion, you wouldn't have been able to kill your father. However... you're quite something. Those eyes of yours can 'see the dead and know death.' If you're properly trained, you'll become a great master in your own right."
"You have potential, come with me."

The fortune teller came from Dunjia. He took Di Tong to the capital, but by a twist of fate, Di Tong was chosen by Di Zi and joined the "Night Master's" guild.

This incident happened a long time ago.
But for many years afterward, the child would often fantasize that there was a pair of eyes watching him from behind. Whenever he had this hallucination, he would become extremely irritable and filled with murderous intent.
And at this very moment, Zhou Xuan's unfathomable eyes were just like those eyes at that very moment—sharp, terrifying to behold, and extremely oppressive.

"Go poke out that eye, go poke out that eye."

The aura emanating from the Earth Child was surging continuously. He wanted to suddenly raise his head and gouge out Zhou Xuan's eyes!
Just as he was about to make his move, Zhou Xuan said unsteadily, "Boss, you are shrewd, resourceful, and ambitious. Very good. I like doing business with people like you."

"..." The child was inexplicably perceived as having "killing intent" by Zhou Xuan's gaze, but Zhou Xuan's timely praise made the killing subside somewhat.

You said...I...am fine?

"of course."

Zhou Xuan's gaze was sincere. At the same time, he removed the Dao Ancestor's mask and held a tiny doll in his hand.
He hung his hands at his sides, and I said, "Boss, overall, you're a ruthless person, but you're also a pitiful one. You hate being looked at with such a menacing gaze..."

"You've also learned the art of escape?" Di Tong understood Zhou Xuan's methods.

Zhou Xuan did not respond to this topic, but continued on his own: "Your father deserves to die, your mother deserves to live. Now, let's talk about the main topic of the deal. My bargaining chip has now been increased."

The Earth Child's anger had completely subsided, and he quickly sat down, eager to hear the details of Zhou Xuan's deal.

"Two bargaining chips. The first is that I will cure your horoscope and restore your handsome appearance."

"Secondly, your mother has been dead for many years. The dead are reincarnated. I can help you find your mother's reincarnation. You can spend time with her, say goodbye to her... With the comfort of having your mother by your side, your strange condition of always imagining that someone is watching you has a very high chance of disappearing."

Zhou Xuan laid out the two bargaining chips in the open, and added, "As for the price you pay for exchanging my chips, it's very simple—join me in killing Bi Fang."

Di Tong frowned upon hearing this and asked, "Master, is the Bifang you mentioned a deity from heaven?"

“That’s right,” Zhou Xuan replied decisively.

"Then how can I believe that you can cure my horoscope and help me find my mother's reincarnation?"

Zhou Xuan first said with his hands behind his back, "As for curing your horoscope, I have the Heavenly Book of Will. You can make a wish in the Heavenly Book, and the Heavenly Book will help you fulfill it."

"I can repair the ancient tree and the golden bell with the Heavenly Book, and I can rebuild Mingjiang Prefecture after the disaster with the Heavenly Book. But is restoring you to your normal appearance more difficult than repairing the golden bell and Mingjiang Prefecture?"

Upon hearing this, Di Tong was immediately delighted and eagerly awaited Zhou Xuan's next words.

Zhou Xuan opened his right hand, and there was a rag doll in his hand.

This doll was formed from the seven emotions. When Zhou Xuan was wandering in the long river of the Earth Child's fate, he casually picked out the Earth Child's warm feelings for its mother and condensed them into this doll.

"As for finding your mother's reincarnation, here, this doll is for you."

Zhou Xuan handed the doll to Di Tong.

The child picked up the doll with some skepticism.

As soon as the child got his hands on the doll, he heard his mother calling in his ear, "My child, it's getting cold, you need to wear more clothes."

"Child, it's getting dark, don't go out to play, just stay at home."

Di Tong found these motherly nagging words irritating, and his eyes involuntarily welled up with tears. After listening to them several times, he put the doll into his pocket and said solemnly, "So, Master, you have already inherited the law of the Nuo God—destiny."

The laws of the Nuo gods are called the laws of fate.

Birth, death, and reincarnation are all part of the cycle of fate. Zhou Xuan has mastered the laws of fate, which gives him the ability to help Di Tong find his mother's reincarnation.

"So, do you trust me now?" Zhou Xuan asked.

"Trustworthy".

"How about we team up to kill Bifang?"

"No..."

"No way?" Zhou Xuan raised an eyebrow and questioned.

"We'll fight to the death, Bifang. We're going to kill him." Di Tong immediately agreed.

The Nine Incense Sticks of the Mortal Realm are not so afraid of the gods. After all, ascending to heaven and slaying the old gods was a ruthless thing done by the Nine Incense Sticks of the Mortal Realm.

With the addition of the Mother of a Hundred Ghosts in the Zhouxuan Mystic Realm, that would be an even greater reliance.

If all else fails, release the Mother of a Hundred Demons.

The Earth Child's fighting spirit was very strong, and he asked again, "By the way, Master, where is Bifang?"

"Don't rush to ask Bifang, we need to get our equipment ready first."

Zhou Xuan turned his head and asked Mr. Bai Liu, "Where is your dream fish?"

"In the fish tank."

"Where's the fish tank?" Zhou Xuan asked again.

“At the Yunmo Theater,” Mr. Bai Liu said.

"Send someone to fetch the fish tank. I want to test your Dream Fish first," Zhou Xuan said.

Upon hearing that someone needed to be sent, Di Tong went to call his steward to go to the Yunmo Theater and bring Meng Yu'er over.

"Dream Fish is an extraordinary creature among humans; why bother the chief to send someone to invite it?"

Mr. Bai Liu immediately called out to Di Tong, and at the same time, the gavel slid out from his sleeve. He lightly flicked his finger and set the gavel on.

"Snapped!"

After a crisp sound, Zhou Xuan saw a faint, dreamlike aura, like a river, stretch out in front of Bai Liu...

P.S.: My buddies, I was a bit tired from writing the update tonight and thought I'd take a nap, but I overslept. I'm so sorry, I won't make that mistake again. Mwah!

(End of this chapter)