The old things I repaired have become fine

Chapter 675 Three Hundred Soul-Suppressing Figurines, Suppressing the Corpse Forest?
Shen Le finally carried his bundle and, swaying slightly, headed down to Jiangnan.

There was nothing we could do; they gave us too much.

Five portions of the finest metals for forging swords, ten portions of various rare medicinal herbs and herbs, an official position, a title of immortal, a Taoist temple, and several mountain peaks bestowed by imperial decree.

Although these are just a few mountains surrounding the Immortal Sect, the difference between being granted these places by the emperor and simply occupying them because they are in remote and sparsely populated areas is still quite significant...

Shen Le also received a long-sought-after hardware elite, a certificate of appointment, gold, jewels, and jade, among other things. As for the ashes used to burn the soul-suppressing terracotta warrior:
"Don't tell anyone. It's said that these are the remains of the Duke of Chu..."

"Who?"

"...Yang Su."

"...Okay." Shen Le shrugged, reluctantly indicating that this candidate was acceptable.

Yang Su was, after all, a famous minister who helped found the Sui Dynasty at the beginning of its reign. His prestige in the early years of Emperor Yang of Sui was probably similar to that of Grand Tutor Wen, who served King Zhou of Shang, and Duke Dan of Zhou, who served King Cheng of Zhou.

As for his character, temperament, whether he was suitable for burning the soul-suppressing terracotta warriors, and whether digging people up and burning them to ashes would shake Emperor Yang of Sui's popularity, Shen Le said, "Emperor Yang of Sui himself didn't care, so why should I care?"

I swayed and rocked on horseback the whole way, lamenting that I couldn't take a boat directly there, and constantly reminding myself that "the Grand Canal is not yet finished. Yes, it was built by the current Emperor Yang of Sui, but he hadn't even started building it yet."

If only he could travel by boat, he could practice his swordsmanship along the way. Now, he'll have to use the precious time before bed to quickly practice after settling in for the night…

So, I leisurely made my way from Chang'an through Tongguan, across the Yellow River at Fenglingdu, then out of Xiangyang, across the Yangtze River via Hankou, and southwards along the Yangtze. The journey itself was actually quite pleasant.

The ground is quite calm!

There are no demons or monsters here!
The lives of ordinary people are still acceptable; at least, they are much better than what he saw in Longyou...

This relaxed mood only suddenly sank after we crossed Ma'anshan and arrived near Jiankang.

Zhongshan Mountain is like a dragon coiled, and Shitou Mountain is like a tiger crouching. Even though the dragon vein has been severed and the small, isolated country has been destroyed, it still possesses its own unique grandeur.

However, when Shen Le focused his inner energy and looked up, he saw a dark cloud rising from the mountains and spreading outwards, almost obscuring the entire city!
How could this be? How could this happen? In my memory, Yang Guang's campaign against Chen was not particularly fierce, nor was it a famous historical battle, and not many people died!

He continued to circulate his immortal cultivation technique, using his golden aura to protect his entire body, and walked further in. Before he had gone half a mile, his mount neighed and struggled, refusing to take another step forward, almost throwing him off its back;
We dismounted and walked for another half mile, and the surroundings became darker and colder.

What should have been a flat, fertile field, with rows of green chives and the fragrance of rice blossoms, was instead deserted, with not even grass growing.

As far as the eye could see, even the most vibrant weeds grew sparsely, and the soil was a mixture of scorched black and deep black.

It wasn't the vibrant, fertile black soil of the Great Northern Wilderness, but rather the kind of land that looked like it had been scorched by fire, and could crack open at any moment, from which zombies could crawl out...

"The charnel ground..."

Shen Le murmured softly. He raised his hand and activated a spell to exorcise evil and cleanse impurities. The shimmering white aura quietly expanded, but as soon as it reached a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) around him, he felt immense resistance.

There was a very heavy, very dark force in the soil and air, counteracting his magic and hindering his progress.

It may not be particularly powerful, but its range is extremely wide, and its foundation is deeply hidden. As the spell swept through, it seemed to evoke a chorus of screams, cries, and wails, filled with resentment—

Shen Le frowned and sent another message, confirming that even if he exhausted all his magic power, it would be a drop in the ocean for this land. He sighed, withdrew his magic, and slowly moved forward.

The further we walked, the darker and colder it became. We entered the nearest grove of trees, and the scenery suddenly changed:

As soon as he entered the forest, the chill immediately became biting. Shen Le withdrew the aura that warded off evil and impurities, tightly protecting himself, before he felt the surroundings warm up a little, and the frost on his shoes and hat brim disappeared.

Looking around, a tower made of human bones stood in the northeast, its dark skull openings staring menacingly at him.

At the top of the tower, a particularly large crow perched, pecking at something as if no one else was around.

Turning my gaze to look more closely, I saw countless crows perched on the ground beside the tower, on the treetops, and among the branches, dragging their entrails and pecking at flesh and blood, occasionally glaring greedily at me with their bloodshot eyes…

Shen Le felt a chill run down his spine. He tried to calm himself and walked in step by step, identifying the remaining traces in the forest as he went.

Some of the armor was not completely rusted, and it was clearly the remains of soldiers—it was unclear whether they were soldiers from the Southern Chen Dynasty, the Sui Dynasty, or the remains left behind by previous dynastic changes and wars.
Some of the remaining fabric strands were so worn that their original shape and color were no longer visible, yet they were clearly wrapped around a young child's body;

There was also a bright gold hairpin, gleaming at the edge of the crow's nest, with a butterfly swaying lightly at its tip, as if it were about to take off on the wind at any moment...

“The charnel ground…”

Shen Le sighed deeply. No wonder Senior Brother Lou Yun had spoken to him; what he saw at that moment was a vivid embodiment of the phrase "human tragedy."

Looking at the bleak, desolate land around him, and noticing that some of the bones still bore fresh flesh and blood, Shen Le, based on his experience fighting monsters in the Kunlun Mountains, knew that this flesh and blood meant only one thing:

This charnel ground is alive!

It is still expanding outwards and devouring living creatures from the outside world. Perhaps, those crows will even drag a person in every now and then!

If this thing isn't sealed off, and it spreads throughout Jiangnan, Jiankang City will at least become a dead city, right?
Suppressing the irritation in her chest, Shen Le turned and walked back. She hadn't taken more than a few steps when a long, sharp whistle came from behind her, like a song, like a cry, like resentment, like anger.

The whistling sound was melodious and lingering, and before the echoes had faded, rustling sounds began to fill the surrounding area:

Crows flapped their wings and flew up in all directions, gathering into black clouds that hovered overhead.
Ironclad braced itself against the ground, wobbled as it got up, bent over, and moved toward Shen Le;
Those clean, white bones, or withered bones still swaying with rotting flesh, struggled to scrape against the weeds and fallen leaves on the ground, piecing themselves together piece by piece, climbing upwards inch by inch...

If this were a genuine ancient person, they would have already collapsed to the ground, trembling with fear, unable to move an inch except to crawl out on all fours.

Even though Shen Le had endured countless horror movies and games in modern times, his stomach was still churning. He struggled to calm himself and pushed the exorcising spell out even further.

He looked around, then turned and left: This godforsaken place absolutely has to be sealed off!

Forget about past principles, rejections, and not wanting to do it anymore; he can't dwell on those things now. He needs to hurry back and find a place to fire a kiln!

He gathered his strength and quickened his pace, a silvery-white light enveloping him, casting a three-foot shadow through the charnel ground. Before he had gone more than two zhang, a shadow flashed past in his peripheral vision, and he instinctively turned to look:

A square city of white bones rose slowly from the depths of the cold forest. The walls of the city were supported by interlocking long bones, and a ring of skulls stood atop the walls, their dark eyes staring outwards.

In the center of the city, two pristine white skeletons, devoid of any flesh or blood, rose simultaneously. First, they embraced each other, then turned back to back, and then all four arms were raised at the same time, making a gesture, and they began to dance.

Even though they were some distance away, even though the two skeletons seemed to be out of sight, even though Shen Le only glanced at them, he still felt a jolt in his heart.

My pace slowed slightly, and I couldn't help but feel a slight urge to turn back and walk towards that city of bones.

What am I doing!
What am I thinking!
How could these skeletons possibly deceive me!

The moment he half-turned, Shen Le suddenly bit his tongue, a sharp pain shooting straight to his head, instantly erasing all the alluring flavors. He turned away and ran headlong into the distance.
go!
go!
Something big is coming out!
With my current skill level, I can't handle this thing. If I really charge in, I'll probably have to start over!

He took off running, faster and faster. Just as dawn was in sight, darkness suddenly descended ahead as countless crows swooped down, obscuring his entire view!
Shen Le gritted his teeth and swung his sword. Throughout the journey from Chang'an, he had been practicing breathing exercises, refining the essence of the five metals into his sword, gradually transforming it into a flying sword. So far, he had only completed a small portion of the process.

Even in this short span of time, as he unleashed his sword techniques, a three-inch sword beam, silvery and gleaming, shot out from the tip of his sword.

The crows that swooped down died as soon as they brushed past each other, or perished side by side. A single slash of the sword tore flesh apart, and a twist sent feathers flying everywhere.

He walked forward with his sword, then suddenly advanced another two zhang. The stench of blood around him grew stronger and stronger. He took a breath, and feather fragments pierced his nostrils, causing him to sneeze!
This is troublesome—if only we had gas masks, or even just a towel to cover our mouths and noses—where would we find a towel in such a hurry?!

Shen Le's mind raced, and he reached back to tear at the front of his shirt. Suddenly, a long howl echoed from ahead, and a fierce sword light pierced through, instantly tearing through the thicket of flesh and blood, clearing a path before Shen Le:
"Let's go! Let's go!"

Taking advantage of the situation, Shen Le drew his sword and dashed away. He had only run about two zhang (approximately 6.6 meters) when suddenly his vision brightened; the sunlight poured down endlessly, and a person with a sword was running towards him, looking concerned.
"Ah Lu! Are you alright?"

Shen Le nodded, panting. The person who rushed over to help was also one of his senior brothers, whom he had met a few times in the mountains and who had taught him a bit of swordsmanship.

At this moment, the senior brother's sword tip gleamed, extending half a zhang (approximately 3.3 meters) forward, demonstrating a skill far superior to Shen Le's.

The sword light was rather dull and grayish. Upon closer inspection, there were three or five black spots on the blade, some as small as sesame seeds and others as large as the rim of a cup. It was unclear whether they were blackened by the aura of corpses or corroded by flesh and blood...

"I'm fine." Shen Le reached out to support him, and with her last bit of strength, dragged her senior brother as they ran. The two ran shoulder to shoulder for about seventy or eighty feet before stopping and turning back.

"It's all over here... Sigh, A-Yun sent a message asking you to burn three hundred Soul-Suppressing Figurines to suppress the Corpse Forest. Are you ready?"

"three hundred?!"

Shen Le's mind went blank again. Three hundred seats! How long would it take to burn them all?

I previously fired forty-nine soul-suppressing figurines, starting from the hand-kiln process, which took several years!

The kilns over there are twenty or thirty years old; who knows if they're still there, or even usable anymore. If I go back again and have to start building the kilns all over again, how long will it take me to finish firing them?

"We really need this much, otherwise we won't be able to suppress the vengeful spirits inside." The senior brother nodded earnestly. Shen Le gazed at the dark clouds billowing above the charnel ground, recalling what she had seen in the forest, and gritted her teeth:
"I'll do it as soon as possible!"

"Alright! Come with me to the Taoist temple first. We have plenty of manpower and money. All you have to do is direct the firing of the kiln; you don't need to worry about anything else!"

The Taoist temple was bustling with people. Half of the fellow disciples that Shen Le had met in the mountains had arrived: it was clear that the charnel ground was indeed a troublesome matter, requiring so much manpower.

Where there are disciples of immortal sects, there are government officials coming to provide support, wealthy households coming to curry favor, and even when Shen Le wanted a usable porcelain kiln, someone immediately agreed:
"Yes! Everything you need! Immortal, please follow me! We have porcelain clay and glazes, all sourced from the north. I guarantee it will be exactly the same as firing your own kiln back home!"

Shen Le: "..."

Well, fine... If it were modern times, the requirements wouldn't be so high. High-precision instruments and accurate component analysis would be enough to offset all variables.

But this was ancient times, without any instruments, everything was done by hand. He really wished that even the bricks for building the kiln had been fired in the mountains in the north and brought over.

Changes in the acidity or alkalinity of refractory bricks can also affect the atmosphere inside the kiln!

This is how you test-fire a batch of the simplest white porcelain, and then test-fire a batch of translucent white porcelain, to practice and get familiar with the characteristics of this kiln.

For the third firing, Shen Le personally shaped the clay and prepared the glaze, firing 12 Soul-Suppressing Figurines:

Very good, two were successful, ten were unsuccessful. At this success rate, he'll probably need to fire 150 kilns—it will take three to five years—to meet all the demand…

Since things have come to this, let's get back to work. The third kiln firing yielded 30 pieces, with 10 successful.
The fourth firing yielded 49 pieces, a success of half.
The fifth kiln...

Working from autumn to winter, the skilled workers who could be gathered were all pushed to their limits, exhausting the most productive season for the entire kiln.

Even though Shen Le was a cultivator, he was exhausted and lost a lot of weight. Finally, all three hundred Soul-Suppressing Figurines were completed.

The disciples of the immortal sect mobilized in large numbers to transport all the soul-suppressing terracotta warriors to the edge of the Corpse Forest and buried them one by one according to the pre-determined locations.

When one-third of the charnel was buried, a chilling wind howled through the charnel ground, and black crows swarmed out, pecking and clawing fiercely from all directions.
When two-thirds of the trees were buried, all the trees in the forest were shaking violently, and there was a sound of rushing and trampling.

The circle formed by the Soul-Suppressing Figurines finally closed, and a clear, bright light rose into the air, swirling back down into the dark forest.

Below, a city of bones rose from the ground, facing the light, while a group of skeletal monsters rushed out of the forest, heading straight for the porcelain figurines buried deep in the ground!

"kill--!"

(End of this chapter)