Chapter 5: Sending It Flying with One Punch

Why had the aberration found Chen Yi?

Because Chen Yi could see it.

To see was to perceive, and to recognize was to be contaminated.

Or perhaps it should be said that those who could see aberrant entities were themselves susceptible to spiritual energy. They were “bottles” capable of absorbing spiritual energy.

aberrant entities had no reason. They strengthened themselves by instinct, seeking out and breaking the “bottles” that could benefit them. Since it had set its sights on Chen Yi, it would definitely come looking for him.

Now that spiritual energy had only just revived, the only “bottle” this aberration could currently choose was Chen Yi.

Moreover, Chen Yi had entered Qi Refining during the day and had actively absorbed spiritual energy. When the aberration drifted over in a muddled daze, following the scent, it sensed Chen Yi’s spiritual-energy light from far away, as radiant as a sun in the dark.

It was practically drooling.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—it floated straight over.

At this moment, had there been someone on the road, and had that person also been a spiritually sensitive talent, they would have seen the human-head balloon floating down the middle of the village street.

The balloon was about the size of five ordinary human heads. It was oval-shaped, and on the front was a strangely pale human face. There were no eyeballs in its sockets, only dark, hollow pits. The corners of its mouth curved upward, splitting all the way to the backs of its ears.

It had no body, only a head.

It moved without wind, floating about two meters above the ground, drifting with an indescribable speed and uncanny precision toward one household in the village.

The wall surrounding the courtyard could not stop it at all. It merely floated a little higher and flew over the wall.

The mirrors and red strings exerted no pressure on it whatsoever. But closed doors and windows, which in human cognition were facilities that could protect people and offer safety, were naturally resistant to monsters that likewise came from human imagination.

It pressed itself against the window and looked in.

It looked through the crack in the door.

Its deathly pale eyes peered through the gap in the curtains at the delicious food inside. Its face, pressed against the glass and distorted out of shape, had a bloody gaping mouth from which saliva dripped greedily.

“Drip…”

“Drip…”

A foul stench spread through the air, seeping in from under the door and enveloping the people inside.

The children’s little brows furrowed, as if they were trapped in a nightmare.

Chen Yi, however, was extremely clearheaded.

This was contamination.

The spiritual energy twisted by the aberration had turned into a poison of thought more terrifying than a nightmare, one that could make people hallucinate in broad daylight. Those with weak wills might even be frightened to death in their dreams.

Even for someone like Chen Yi, who had already stepped over the threshold of cultivation, entered Qi Refining, and preliminarily gained the ability to circulate spiritual energy, faint double images appeared in the world before his eyes.

He could vaguely see the doors and windows of his home gradually being wrapped in rotten flesh. That rotten flesh seemed alive, its rustling granulation tissue moving quickly yet slowly, soon turning the doors and windows into walls of meat.

The meat walls split open, revealing mouths that spat out soft, limp tongues.

Babbling whispers rose from near and far, like countless men, women, old people, and children crying, screaming, and cursing in chaotic disorder, forming the noisiest sound in the world.

The granulation tissue began to spread. From the edge of the door, it flowed toward Chen Yi’s feet like rotten mud.

Rural houses were simple. They did not have the so-called multiple bedrooms and living rooms of city apartments. Once you entered the door, you were in the bedroom. The living room might be downstairs. So the edge of the bed where Chen Yi sat was only about three meters from the front door.

In the blink of an eye, the rotten flesh had grown more than a meter toward the bed.

“Pop!”

An eyeball suddenly grew out of the rotten flesh. The bloodshot eyeball had no eyelid. It rolled around once, as if examining the environment inside the room.

Then its pupil suddenly fixed in place, landing on Chen Yi’s face as he sat by the bed.

It had seen him.

“Pop! Pop! Pop!”

More eyeballs grew, jumping out from the split rotten flesh. They were like one bulging, diseased eye after another, densely packed into a sheet, and the moment they appeared, they stared straight at Chen Yi.

This scene was simply the most disgusting and terrifying image in the human mind.

In other words, this was so-called contamination.

But in reality?

Chen Yi blinked.

He did not do it deliberately, but the spiritual energy from his entry into Qi Refining moistened his eyes as they opened and closed.

And so the double image before him vanished.

There were no eyes, no countless mouths, and of course no granulation tissue or babbling whispers.

Everything was silent.

It was all imagination.

It was spiritual energy tainted by a gloomy, twisted mutation, interfering with the human magnetic field.

Only that foul stench and the aberration lingering outside the door truly existed.

Or rather, even the foul stench did not exist.

It was merely Chen Yi’s interpretation after coming into contact with twisted spiritual energy.

In the book, aberrant entities that drove people mad with fear, left the Night Watchmen helpless, and caused countless deaths and injuries could, in the eyes of cultivators with orthodox inheritances and cultivation methods, be seen through at a glance, down to their essence and core.

Chen Yi pressed a hand against his wildly pounding heart and relaxed.

In the book, the descriptions of aberrant entities were mostly all kinds of disgusting, terrifying atmosphere and irresistible infection.

Since he could completely ignore this contamination, dealing with the fellow outside should not be that difficult either.

He no longer hesitated or hid.

Chen Yi glanced at the two little ones behind him.

He had cultivated, so he would not be affected by the contamination. But the two children were still ordinary people. At this moment, they were already deep in nightmare, their little faces full of fear, making his heart ache.

In this brief span of time, sweat had already run down their foreheads.

As he was thinking, the aberration outside seemed to have reached its limit.

It was no longer lying against the crack in the door and peering in. It wanted to squeeze inside.

Its enormous balloon-like head squeezed into the crack in the door, forcing in a strand of flesh, while the rest remained outside, warped and deformed.

The door made a creaking sound.

Drool dripped from the distorted corners of its mouth. It vanished and vaporized halfway through the air, but the stench became even stronger, like completely rotten meat mixed with filth from a latrine. Just smelling it made one want to vomit.

This aberration was very strong. It squeezed the door until it creaked and groaned, and from inside the room, Chen Yi could already see a strand of its scarlet flesh.

Chen Yi gripped the peachwood sword in his hand and stood up, veins bulging on the back of his hand.

Even though he had confidence, when it came time to truly face it, Chen Yi was still very afraid.

“Woof, woof, woof!”

At that moment, Da Huang suddenly began barking.

Chen Yi jolted in fright.

It turned out that the aberration had lingered here for too long. It was frantically trying to eat Chen Yi, causing its contamination to spread rapidly, even across the entire courtyard.

Da Huang sensed a great terror. It sprang to its feet, and instinct drove it to bark wildly at the house of its little master and little little masters.

At the same time, Chen Jiankang and Xiang Lan, sleeping in the room next door, were awakened from deep sleep by the barking.

Rural people saved electricity. Sometimes they did not turn on the lights when getting up at night, and the two of them simply opened the door and walked out.

They did not notice at all that inside their room, strands of pale, blistered rotten flesh hung from the floor, the walls, and the door.

“Why does it stink so much in here?” Xiang Lan complained to Chen Jiankang. At the same time, she pulled the door open with a swish and shouted, “Da Huang, keep barking and I’ll beat you!”

Chen Yi looked at the door that was about to collapse.

The door was knocked open by a narrow crack, and he met a deathly pale eye. Within it was endless malice, as well as chaos and madness.

“Ah!!!”

Outside the door came his mother’s scream.

Chen Yi did not dare wait any longer. Gritting his teeth, he angrily twisted the door open and came face-to-face with this aberration at close range.

It really was terrifying.

That twisted, savage, deathly pale face challenged human courage from every angle. There was also a rotting stench he had never smelled before. When it came right up to his face in the dark night, in that instant, Chen Yi had the illusion that his soul had left his body.

But something supported him. It made him clench his teeth and swing the peachwood sword in his hand.

“Whoosh—”

The sword sliced through the air, stirring up the sound of wind.

He had clearly struck it, but Chen Yi’s sword swung through empty air.

So the peachwood sword really was useless?

It seemed that to deal with aberrant entities, ordinary peach branches were indeed no good.

Chen Yi’s expression did not change because of this.

He had confidence.

To deal with magic, one also needed magic.

He had enough confidence to contend with this aberration. The extra things he had prepared were only precautions.

“Hee hee hee!”

With food delivering itself to its door, a smile appeared on the human-head balloon’s face, seeming both like crying and laughing, and it opened its dark, bloody maw.

Under the moon, the aberration’s face was illuminated in every detail. Its swollen face, protruding eyes, and sharp yet yellowed teeth were accompanied not only by a stench, but also by the charred smell of meat burned black by fire.

Excitedly, it wanted to swallow Chen Yi in one bite.

Chen Yi’s hand, swung toward it, was like fast food serving itself up.

Hee hee hee…

So tasty… so fragrant…

Hee hee hee…

I’m going to eat you…

There was no sound, but the contamination had already attacked.

Just as this aberration opened its mouth wide and prepared to swallow Chen Yi in one bite, its expression suddenly changed.

The human-head balloon, which could not be touched by the peachwood sword, had a distinct feeling of contact when it met Chen Yi’s fist.

The instant Chen Yi felt his hand make contact, his heart settled. His foot drove the twist of his waist, and he abruptly exerted force.

The strength of his entire body burst out in a punch!

“Pff!”

It was like punching a balloon. With an expression so horrified it seemed to go wooden, the aberration was punched on the nose by Chen Yi. Then it shot toward the sky with a whoosh, flying into the air and vanishing into the darkness.

After sending the aberration flying with one punch, Chen Yi, like a javelin thrower in a sports competition, hopped forward on one leg two more steps before finally stopping.

Mm.

That had been a little satisfying.

Sure enough, for him, who had a cultivation manual, dealing with an early-stage aberration was exactly as he had thought. They were not on the same level.

Recalling the exhilarating feeling of sending an aberration flying with one punch, Chen Yi steadied himself, turned around, and silently looked at Chen Jiankang, who was holding his unconscious wife with a dumbstruck expression.

Chen Yi said solemnly, “Do you still believe in science?”

Chen Jiankang: “…”

Although that aberration had been sent flying by Chen Yi, Chen Yi just knew it was not dead.

This probably had something to do with the fact that the aberration was in the form of a balloon. As long as Chen Yi had not burst it on the spot, at most it had flown away. Perhaps it had not even suffered much damage.

Chen Yi was afraid the aberration would come back tonight, so he had Chen Jiankang carry Xiang Lan into his room. Then Chen Yi moved over a little stool and sat in the doorway, sitting boldly and protectively as he guarded the family behind him.

Chen Jiankang had been very silent since earlier. He pinched the philtrum of his old wife and woke her up. When she awakened in terror and wanted to scream, he covered her mouth again and gestured toward the children sleeping not far away.

He soothed her. “Our youngest chased it away. Don’t be afraid. He’s here.”

After saying this, Chen Jiankang felt as if his whole person had aged. Then, when he and his old wife looked together at the back of their son guarding the doorway, for the first time, he felt that his son had grown up and become an indomitable man.

“Was what I just saw… really that thing?” Xiang Lan trembled. Tears were still in her eyes as she asked quietly.

Chen Yi was sensing whether there were any aberrant entities nearby. Distracted, he nodded. “Mm.”

“How could this happen? Wasn’t this… All these years, science, oh my!”

Xiang Lan’s words came out jumbled. She slapped her thigh and did not even know what she wanted to say.

Thinking back to the scene she had seen when she went out earlier, that terrifying thing, a huge round head floating in the air, even twisting its face into a mad smile at her, still made her heart pound with lingering fear and left her mind muddled.

Chen Yi intended to pull his parents in as disciples. That way, he would only need to find one more person to complete the mission.

On top of that, once the world slowly became chaotic, those who learned the truth early would always have an advantage over those who learned it late. So he told them a version that was seventy percent true and thirty percent false. “A few years ago, yes, you really did have to believe in science. But the times have changed now. People outside are saying that spiritual energy has revived. Humans have gained special abilities, demons and ghosts have appeared, and there are also systematic cultivation methods to deal with these aberrant entities. I came back this time to tell you that Du Yuan and I are divorced, and I’ve joined a sect. I also want you to study systematically. At the very least, if you encounter something like this, you’ll have the ability to protect yourselves.”

“Ah!? You’re divorced?” His mother’s focus was indeed different. In Chen Yi’s long speech, what she paid attention to was the part she cared about more.

Chen Jiankang, meanwhile, proved himself worthy of being the village chief. He immediately said, “What cultivation method? And you even want to introduce it to your family to cultivate? Don’t tell me you’ve run into a pyramid scheme. When something like this happens, of course you call the police! Wouldn’t it be better to hand it over to the police?”

Chen Yi: “…”

In the midst of everything, he took a moment to look back at his dear daddy and mommy. Then he discovered that he was somehow not surprised by this answer.

The older people were, the more they had their own convictions, and the harder they were to persuade, even if they had seen an aberration with their own eyes.

Da Huang barked madly at the air for quite a while before finally dying down. It came to Chen Yi’s side and lay down.

Chen Yi rubbed its head, lowered his eyes, and thought for a moment. “Tomorrow morning, come with me somewhere. We’ll discuss what to do next after that.”

To keep them from trying to interfere with him with their own ideas again, Chen Yi immediately added, “That thing is still alive. I can sense its existence. It’s drifting outside the village right now. Who knows when it might come back in?”

The couple immediately shut their mouths. Sure enough, they no longer dared disturb Chen Yi.

This night was very difficult.

Chen Yi had not lied.

That aberration was indeed drifting outside the village, circling round and round. It was clearly wary of Chen Yi, yet unwilling to leave, so it could only circle like this.

After the aberration lingered for a long time, Chen Yi could faintly smell a trace of rot in the air. The sensation was awful. Added to his fatigue and drowsiness, his expression grew uglier and uglier, and he had already begun thinking about how to finish that thing off.

It was not until four thirty in the morning, when the rooster at the head of the village crowed, that the aberration’s aura finally scattered from Chen Yi’s senses.

“It’s gone.”

At this moment, Chen Yi’s shoulders relaxed.

He unclenched his fists, supported himself against the doorframe, and stood up, moving his stiff body. To his parents behind him, who had been sitting dryly by the bed with their eyes wide open the entire time, he said, “You should sleep. I’ll watch a little longer. Once day breaks, it won’t dare come out again.”

Xiang Lan wanted to say something but stopped. She wanted to cook a bowl of noodles for her son, who had kept watch all night, but she really did not dare leave the room. So she lightly rested against the pillow and closed her eyes to rest.

In her daze, she heard her husband ask their son, “You said people outside all know about some kind of revival. I often go down the mountain for meetings lately, so how come I haven’t heard of it? If this were real, they’d definitely tell us. Failing that, some security units should at least show some movement, right? That thing last night appeared too suddenly. It looked kind of like a balloon. Could someone have been pulling a prank? Was it really the weird, ghostly thing you said, or…”

“Jiankang.” Xiang Lan spoke with her eyes closed. “Our son kept watch all night and is tired. Stop nagging him. Whether it’s real or not, did you not see him sitting at the door all night? Can we talk about this after everyone calms down?”

Chen Jiankang still listened to his wife very well and no longer spoke. But he also did not sleep. He simply sat there, propped against the headboard, for a long time.

His expression gradually worsened.

As soon as dawn broke, he hurriedly rushed into the toilet.

Rural toilets were all dry latrines, built in the back courtyard. The waste could be fermented into fertilizer and used on their own fields.

The old man had spoken words of doubt, but in his heart he was also guilty and afraid. How would he dare go to the toilet in the dark?

When Chen Jiankang finally came back after relieving himself, his face was full of bitterness. What were they supposed to do? In the future, would he have to call his son to accompany him whenever he went to the toilet?

Returning to the courtyard, he saw his son crouching at the doorway brushing his teeth, and his wife inside the room folding the bedding. Chen Jiankang hemmed and hawed before saying, “You said once day breaks, you’re taking us somewhere. When are we setting off?”

Chen Yi turned his head, his mouth full of white foam, and smiled crookedly.

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