The Terror of the Heavens Begins with Gu

Chapter 125: Healing Festering Wounds with Witchcraft, Generating Mutant Snake Scales
The next day, Wong Kam-sing did not go to work. Instead, he went to the police station to ask for leave on the grounds that he was not feeling well and went home.

He first took his wife to the hospital for a check-up and got some tonics prescribed. Then, he rushed off to buy the necessary materials for Li Zhen.

In addition, he also needed to deal with the body and help Detective Li investigate Chen Xiong.

Detective Li only cares about killing, and the Ghost Child who can dispose of the corpses isn't interested in them, so in the end, Huang Jinshen has to be the one to dispose of the corpses.

Regardless of how the "sorcerer" entered the country, he died by running into a wall, which was suicide, so disposing of his body wouldn't be too troublesome.

By nine o'clock in the morning, Li Zhen had obtained the materials he needed.

He set up an altar in the gloomy room and placed the demon statue on it.

Taking out the materials prepared by Huang Jinshen, Li Zhen decided to try the simplest treatment method, which would require the least amount of effort.

After adjusting his state, Li Zhen scraped a little powder off the demon and added it to the water in the cup, along with fresh flower petals used as offerings.

Li Zhen placed the mixture in front of the altar, stirring it with his fingers while chanting eerie incantations.

About five minutes later, blue smoke began to rise from the cup.

Li Zhen picked up the cup and poured the liquid inside onto the wound on his right arm, little by little.

With a hissing sound, it was as if a corrosive liquid had been poured onto the wound, and wisps of blue smoke rose from the wound.

Having not experienced physical pain for a long time, Li Zhen once again felt the pain coming from his own body.

It was as if his body was pleading for help, and the cruel feeling of his body being corroded made Li Zhen feel a sense of resistance.

However, Li Zhen suppressed this strange emotion and poured all the liquid onto his wound.

Li Zhen put down the cup and observed the changes in the wound.

After being washed by those liquids, the corrosive wounds on his arms all turned a pale white color.

The rotting flesh inside the wound writhed slightly, as if some monster's mouth had grown onto his arm.

Li Zhen could feel the resentment and a peculiar aura emanating from his arm.

This aura was somewhat similar to that of a ghost, but Li Zhen knew it wasn't a ghost.

Seeing that the wound was getting worse, Li Zhen was not worried.

The first method he used was simply to introduce the power of the evil spirits to expel the power of the curse, in order to observe how strong the curse was.

It now seems that the curse cast by that sorcerer before his death was far beyond Li Zhen's imagination; even the aura of evil could not dispel it.

Then we'll have to use even harsher methods to directly treat this festering wound.

The solution is actually not difficult.

Since the wound cannot be healed, I will cast a spell on myself to forcibly remove that aura and allow my wound to heal.

Li Zhen took out a cobra about the size of two fingers from the bag and used a specially made small glass bottle to extract all the venom from the snake.

After removing three scales from the pattern on the snake's back, Li Zhen placed the still-struggling dead snake on the altar.

He nailed the snake's head to the altar with iron nails, and then used a sharp knife to completely cut open the snake's belly.

First, remove the snake's gall bladder and put it into a glass bottle.

The remaining internal organs were hung on the demon statue by Li Zhen.

Strands of blood seeped into the demon statue, making it even more eerie.

I took some bodily fluid from the vampire.

I rolled the candles in the corpse fluid, so that the tips of all three candles were covered with the fluid.

The candle was lit, and the flame flickered continuously.

A strange, pungent odor filled the room.

Li Zhen then cut the still-writhing snake into three pieces.

After he poured the remaining bodily fluids onto the broken snake, the three sections of the snake's body, which had stopped writhing, began to struggle again.

Finally, Li Zhen added some of his own blood and some plant leaves to the cup containing the snake venom.

He crushed the snake gall inside, chanting incantations as he picked up the cup and circled it continuously over the black smoke in the candlelight.

Dense bubbles gradually appeared inside the cup.

Seeing this, Li Zhen timely added two of the three scales and some prepared bone powder into the cup.

More and more bubbles rose from the cup, gradually reaching the rim.

Li Zhen placed the cup on the altar, covered it with his left palm facing down, and his incantation became even more indistinct.

The demon statue on the altar trembled.

The first three sections of the snake's body instantly stiffened, and the skin shriveled up at a speed visible to the naked eye.

Li Zhen stopped chanting the incantation, opened his left hand, and looked into the cup.

The bubbles inside had disappeared, turning into a murky, dark green liquid.

Picking up the cup, Li Zhen poured the liquid onto his festering wound.

An immediate reaction occurred on the wound.

The pale wound began to writhe wildly, faintly emitting a strange, teeth-grinding sound.

Tiny, grotesque faces emerged from the wound, struggling incessantly.

Really useful!

Li Zhen poured all the remaining liquid onto his wounds, then used a candle to evenly spread the liquid over all the wounds, including his neck, leaving no spot untouched.

The excruciating pain seemed to emanate from his very soul, causing Li Zhen to break out in a cold sweat.

Large amounts of corrosive pus oozed from the wounds, quickly engulfing the grotesque faces.

A lot of pus dripped down Li Zhen's arm and onto the ground, which looked very gruesome.

The strange cries from the wound quickly disappeared.

Li Zhen clearly felt that the writhing of flesh in his wound had stopped.

He had just breathed a sigh of relief when he felt an intense itch on his arm, as if his flesh was regenerating.

This feeling was even more unbearable than the previous excruciating pain.

Even Li Zhen was tormented to the point of clenching his teeth.

After an unknown amount of time, the intense itching gradually subsided, and Li Zhen felt a wave of dizziness.

He looked down at his right arm.

The corrosive pus had congealed, turning into a dark green shell that stuck to his skin.

And those wounds seem to have grown new flesh.

Between the solidified pus, increasingly clear snake-scale-like patterns can be faintly seen.

Li Zhen carefully peeled off the hardened, dry "shell" from her skin.

As those rigid "shells" were torn off, Li Zhen could clearly see the bright red, thread-like flesh sticking between his own flesh and that thing.

He wasn't mistaken; new flesh was growing inside the original festering wound.

However, the flesh and blood are growing slowly, and the wounds still look like quite large pits.

The newly grown flesh was a mixture of bright red and dark black.

Outside the wound, the snake-scale-like patterns spread rapidly, gradually covering Li Zhen's right arm and becoming increasingly clear.

It only stopped when it reached the edges of those festering wounds.

You can observe that the flesh next to the ulcerated wound is slowly growing towards the center.

Strangely, this growth begins with black lines spreading out first, and then the flesh slowly grows along the direction of the black lines.

The black lines represent a malevolent witchcraft that is slowly eroding the curse within the wound.

At this rate, these ulcerated wounds should heal in another week.

This witchcraft is quite effective...

Li Zhen breathed a sigh of relief.

This sorcery called "Snake Transformation" is the second method that Li Zhen selected.

Fortunately, it worked; otherwise, he would have had to resort to methods that would have come at a greater cost.

Of course, this kind of witchcraft is not specifically used to remove curses.

Just like the "corpse curse" used by Li Zhen, removing the curse is actually just a side effect of this witchcraft.

According to the little book left by Tirapa, once this witchcraft is used on someone, it can cause their flesh to grow, and then a large number of snake scales to grow on the surface of the flesh, eventually transforming them into a snake-like monster.

Generally speaking, this kind of witchcraft requires something from the other person as a medium, but it is naturally more effective to perform it directly on a person.

These are two of the few witchcraft techniques that Li Zhen knows that can directly heal festering wounds, and they are exactly the opposite of the injuries caused by the curse he suffered.

Li Zhen looked at his right arm and, as expected, saw further changes on his skin.

Some of the thickened armor protruded from the scaly patterns, making those patterns look like real snake scales.

In just a few breaths, apart from the wounds, Li Zhen's arm was covered with armor-like snake scales.

The scales were still growing, and if left unchecked, Li Zhen's hand would definitely turn into a bloated lump of flesh covered in snake scales.

Li Zhen placed the last scale on the altar.

Pick up a candle and drip the liquid wax onto the scale.

After the scales were completely covered by wax, Li Zhen pressed down on them and chanted an incantation. The snake-scale-like growths on his arm stopped growing.

Li Zhen withdrew his arm and examined the scales on his skin.

His arm was now slightly larger than before, and from his fingers to his neck, it was covered with a layer of black snake scales, except for the wounds.

Each snake scale seemed to be wriggling, which looked a bit eerie.

Under the influence of this witchcraft and his own regenerative abilities, the wound on his arm healed faster than he had imagined.

He had thought it might take a week for the wound to heal, but now it seems three or four days should be enough.

Finally, a problem was solved...

Li Zhen clenched his five fingers inward.

The texture is a bit strange, but it doesn't affect his grip.

Watching my body gradually deteriorate caused me a lot of psychological stress.

Now that the problem has finally been solved, Li Zhen is naturally happy.

Although there were some costs involved, Li Zhen believed it was worth it.

Moreover, the snake scales also brought Li Zhen an advantage.

Li Zhen took out a sharp nail and pricked his hand, only to find that the nail could not pierce the layer of overgrown snake scales.

It can be considered a special form of defense...

The changes on his arms were merely superficial skin growths and did not alter his "zombified" nature.

In addition to "corpse curse," Li Zhen now possesses another strange and unusual form of witchcraft.

Li Zhen didn't feel awkward at all.

The body is nothing but a shell.

Once you reach a certain level of cultivation, you will be reborn with a new body.

The most important thing now is to survive and go far enough on one's own path of cultivation.

Otherwise, even if one retains a perfect body, it will eventually become nothing more than a skeleton.

Ultimately, Li Zhen was afraid of death.

In order to live a little longer, he didn't mind what changes his body might undergo, nor did he mind becoming more bizarre.

However, looking at his arm, Li Zhen still had some doubts.

This witchcraft is clearly a good way to cure the curse on his body, but why didn't Tirapa just say that this method was the right one, instead of telling him to figure it out himself?

Was it that Tilapa was unsure if this method would work on him, or that Tilapa did not consider it acceptable to directly use witchcraft on himself?

Li Zhen didn't see any trace of witchcraft on Tilapa, which suggests that Tilapa may not have encountered the same problems as him, or if he did, he didn't solve them using his approach.

However, Tirapa was already dead, and Detective Li had no way of knowing why.

Everyone has a different mindset and a different understanding of the witchcraft they learn. Even if it is witchcraft inherited from Tirapa, Li Zhen does not believe that his understanding of witchcraft is exactly the same as Tirapa's.

Without dwelling on the matter, Li Zhen examined his body and found that the backlash from the witchcraft he had suffered was even more severe.

Half of his body had lost its luster and become wrinkled, even the snake-scale-like growths that had grown out had developed dry, wrinkled lines.

Li Zhen took a mirror and looked at his face, noticing the dry, mud-like wrinkles on his forehead.

For Li Zhen, this backlash was acceptable.

However, if things continue like this and the body cannot recover its vitality, even with Li Zhen's body's regenerative abilities, using witchcraft a few more times will have serious consequences.

Li Zhen originally thought that by visualizing the evil spirit and incorporating it into the "Five Elements Evil Spirit Visualization Method," the backlash would be weakened.

Now it seems that this is not the case at all.

Or perhaps it has actually weakened somewhat, but he just hasn't realized it?
We must find an opportunity to use evil magic as soon as possible to restore the lost vitality...

Li Zhen closed his eyes, sensing the will of Damasul within his body.

While visualizing this evil god, it erupted once and then fell silent. Li Zhen only sensed a slight reaction from it when he used witchcraft.

Just then, Li Zhen suddenly felt his liver sink, and a little bit of life force emerged from his liver and quickly spread throughout his body.

Opening his eyes, Li Zhen looked at his skin and found that his dry skin had not worsened and seemed to have been somewhat relieved.

Is this the effect of the "Five Elements Evil Spirit Sublimation Method"?
Why didn't he experience this reaction when he used witchcraft to fight that Tantric master and was attacked by the backlash?

Furthermore, he visualized the first two demons, but there seemed to be no further feedback afterward.

Li Zhen looked thoughtfully at the snake corpse on the altar, which had turned into skin and bones.

He could sense that this mysterious and unpredictable demon, Damasul, was extremely thirsty for life.

While contemplating this demon, he guessed that it must be related to the demon's weakened state.

Li Zhen now discovers that his primordial spirit is still growing stronger, but the structure between the three major demons forming in his body is somewhat different from what is recorded in the scroll. The reason is that the Damasul Record he visualizes later is too weak.

This allowed Li Zhen to easily overcome the most important hurdle during his visualization practice, but it also made the subsequent changes less than satisfactory.

If we continue to feed it with life force or sacrifice, allowing more of its will to descend upon it, will the already formed three great demons be able to achieve the kind of balance described in the scroll?

The first volume of the legal text doesn't explain many things clearly...

After returning to the original world, I must obtain the second volume of that magic scroll as soon as possible...

Before we knew it, it was noon.

Suddenly, a knocking sound came from the door, and Li Zhen, who was meditating and communicating with the evil spirit, opened his eyes.

He pulled his collar up to cover his neck, then tucked his hands into his sleeves before getting up to open the door.

Standing outside the door, Wong Kam-sing felt a chill run down his spine as the cold wind blowing from inside the room blew in.

Looking up and seeing Li Zhen's face, he frowned and said, "What's wrong? Your face... looks like you've aged a lot?"

"I am fine."

Li Zhen didn't say much, but instead asked, "How did things go?"

Huang Jinshen glanced into Li Zhen's room and smelled a faint scent of blood, roughly guessing what Li Zhen was doing.

He looked away and said, "I've already taken care of the body. That's a minor issue. The plane ticket is for tomorrow night, and I should arrive in Southeast Asia by dawn."

"As for the Chen Xiong you're looking for, there is such a person. He's the brother of that boxer surnamed Chen. He's involved in a gang and is also good at boxing, but I haven't been able to find him."

Li Zhen was a little surprised: "He's not in Hong Kong Island?"

“I don’t know,” Huang Jinshen said. “According to my investigation, Chen Xiong had a conflict with a group of mainlanders a few days ago over territory, which resulted in a death. After that, Chen Xiong disappeared without a trace.”

“This case is not under our jurisdiction; I just heard about it myself.”

According to the original storyline, Chen Xiong may have already gone to Southeast Asia to find the Thai boxing champion.

The purpose of finding this person was simply to confirm the stage of the plot. Since he couldn't find him, Detective Li didn't force the issue.

"If we can't find it, so be it. It won't affect our affairs," Li Zhen said.

Wong Kam-sing nodded and said, "I've already bought the plane tickets, there's one more thing..."

Seeing his hesitation, Li Zhen smiled and said, "Is there anything you can't say?"

“No, not exactly.” Wong Kam-sing chuckled. “When I went to the police station to pick something up, a colleague told me that someone was looking for me. I called the number that person had left, and they told me that they were looking for me.”

"Looking for me?" Li Zhen was a little surprised.

He's only been here for a day, why would anyone be looking for him?
A thought suddenly struck him, and he remembered the young woman from the tea restaurant.

"Is it a woman?" Detective Li asked.

Wong Kam-sing nodded and said, "It's a woman. She asked me to pass on a message to you: if you have time, go and check out the tea restaurant across from the police station."

After saying that, he asked, "Is it someone you know?"

“We’re not exactly acquaintances, I just ate someone else’s dessert while waiting for you.” The image of that woman appeared in Li Zhen’s mind.

The other person was a smart man; seeing him sitting there for so long, he must have guessed that the person he was waiting for was at the police station.

Later, when he went out, the other party may have seen Wong Kam-sing and others.

In the end, he used some unknown means to confirm that the person he was waiting for was Wong Kam-sing.

This is indeed the cause and effect he left behind.

He wouldn't have bothered with that woman if she hadn't discovered something inside the potted plant.

However, now that he has discovered it, he should pay the price for the water he drank and the dessert he ate.

More importantly, Detective Li was somewhat interested in that method.

When are you going to that tea restaurant?

"No rush, let's go in the evening."

"I'll drive you there then."

"You just took leave, aren't you worried about running into your colleagues if you go there again?"

"It's already evening, what are you worried about? If I go with you, won't it disturb your date?"

"You're overthinking it. How can I go on a date like this? I need more snakes, different kinds of snakes, the more the better."

"Okay, I'll contact a snake seller for you right away."

(End of this chapter)