Chapter 62: The Curse

“Dead.

“All dead.”

Amid endless smoke, he saw the burning pyre once again.

On the execution stake, a charred corpse was bound, towering high like banners before a charge. In the blurred background, the voices of all the people of Ye Province echoed from that time.

“Demon spawn!”

“Burn him!”

Just like before, it was a scene that had appeared in his dreams countless times.

Another person stood beneath the pyre. That person wore a net of red and blue beads on his head and a deep blue robe with intricate embroidery on the sleeves. He looked up at the corpse atop the stake.

Even as the Royal General who had saved the world, the man suddenly felt immense fear. Yet, he still walked toward that person until the person turned around and reached out a hand to him.

“Ye Feng,” the man’s voice was calm and indifferent. “So this is what you, along with the army and the people you love so dearly, have repaid me with.”

Blackened, charred, covered in curses… It wasn’t the other person’s hand. It was his own!

…

The Royal General awoke from his nightmare to the sound of steady rain outside the window.

He was alone, without children or family, and had never liked people getting too close. The only one who came in upon hearing the commotion was his maid.

The maid asked, “My Lord, how are you feeling? Is it your old injury acting up again?”

The Royal General took a steady breath. “Call Physician Wu.”

The maid sent a servant to fetch him. When she returned, she spoke casually, trying to comfort the old man, “Ever since Physician Wu started treating you, your condition has improved quite a bit.”

There were too many topics that couldn’t be discussed with the childless, solitary man and too many that shouldn’t be. Talking about Physician Wu was the safest subject.

As expected, the Royal General responded, “His medical skills are indeed excellent.”

The maid continued, “And not just that. Physician Wu opened a clinic in the city, teaching other doctors how to treat patients. Everyone is very grateful to him.”

The Royal General’s furrowed brow relaxed slightly, but soon, he clutched his arm, veins bulging on his forehead.

The pain had begun. Every time it struck, the agony in his arm was unbearable, driving him nearly mad.

Even though she had seen it many times before, the maid instinctively stepped back, fear creeping into her heart.

Finally, the sound of wind chimes rang from the doorway.

“Physician Wu!”

A faint medicinal fragrance drifted through the room like a lifeline.

The maid watched as the slender physician knelt before the Royal General, moving with precision and composure. He supported the old man onto the bed, took out medicine, fed it to him, and pressed key acupuncture points.

Under his practiced hands, the Royal General gradually calmed down.

The maid sighed in relief. “Thank you, Physician Wu. It’s a good thing you arrived so quickly today.”

“I expected his condition to worsen with the rain, so I set out early this morning,” Physician Wu replied flatly.

He was always so diligent and meticulous, arriving at just the right time. Even after leaving the hall, the maid spoke to the panting servant beside her, “We really owe Physician Wu. When my younger brother was sick, it was his medicine that saved him.”

“Yes,” the servant agreed. “The general’s condition has worsened over the past two years, but thanks to Physician Wu, he can at least find relief. Without him, I don’t know what we’d do.”

That was true.

The general’s pain had been worsening. But when had it started?

The maid thought about it.

It seemed to have begun a few years ago… right when Physician Wu first arrived in Ye Province.

***

The Deputy City Lord said, “That’s the general situation. Immortal Master Ning, you must save us! I swear, I haven’t lied about any of it!”

He had been talking all morning, his throat growing dry, while Ning Mingmei remained perfectly composed, still sipping tea.

Ning Mingmei spoke to the system, [Just as I thought, another clichéd ‘betrayed companion’ story.]

The history of Ye Province went like this:

Four hundred years ago, those who fought alongside Ye Feng against the demon race included not only the five deputy generals who grew up with him.

There was one more person.

In fact, compared to those five, that person’s contributions in the earliest battles were even more extraordinary. But his name had been erased from Ye Province’s history.

That name was…

“Wu Yun.”

He was the last witch priest of the Li tribe.

Four hundred years ago, the young Ye Feng defended the townspeople, pursued by demons, and fought back with his blade. To draw the demons away from the elderly and weak, he wielded his sword and fought alone from the town’s edge into the deep mountains and forests.

At that time, Ye Feng was just a young man with a passionate heart, full of determination to protect the townspeople, but lacking the strength to match. As his sword blade snapped, the demons closed in step by step.

It didn’t matter if he died but behind him lay the rest of the town.

He was human, wielding a sword. His enemies were demons, armed with sinister power, sharp claws, and bloodthirsty fangs.

So what if his sword was broken? He had no power, no claws, but he had teeth!

Even if he had to throw himself at the demons and tear out their throats with his own teeth, he would never let them reach the town!

Ye Feng knew there was no way back. He let out a battle cry and lunged forward, ready to bite the demons. That was when he suddenly heard a faint sound.

Twang!

It was the sound of a bowstring.

A sharp instinct made him dodge. A white-feathered arrow whizzed past him, its arrowhead coated in a strange, eerie substance.

The arrow struck the demon’s body. The once-arrogant creature let out a howl and collapsed to the ground.

Ye Feng spun around to see a figure emerge from the forest.

The person wore a teal cloak, with a stark white inner robe that almost gleamed. He didn’t even glance at Ye Feng, nor did he hesitate. He simply nocked another arrow and loosed it at the second demon.

The second creature fell as well. Ye Feng didn’t hesitate either. He pulled out his broken sword and finished them off.

When he turned back, the archer had already turned to leave, bow slung across his back.

Ye Feng had never met anyone like him before. He hurried forward to block his path.

To his surprise, the archer was a boy around his own age.

His eyes were strikingly unusual, the same shade of teal as his robes. He looked at Ye Feng but said nothing.

Ye Feng asked, “Did you not see that I was standing there? If I hadn’t heard the bowstring, your arrow would have shot me dead.”

“Is that a problem?” the boy replied.

What a strange answer. His face was calm and indifferent, yet his eyes held a pure, unworldly innocence.

Ye Feng suddenly realized that the boy genuinely did not understand why that would be a problem. For a moment, Ye Feng was speechless.

The boy simply waited. After a while, seeing that Ye Feng had nothing more to say, he pushed aside the underbrush and continued deeper into the forest.

“What’s your name?” Ye Feng followed after him.

“Wu Yun,” the boy answered without looking back.

“Wu Yun? Like the dark clouds before a storm?” Ye Feng asked.

“No. ‘Wu’ as in ‘witch priest.’” |27|

As they walked, they arrived at a valley. Ye Feng looked down to see a village covered in eerie symbols, unlike anything he had ever seen before.

“What is this place?” he asked.

“My home,” the boy said. “Li Village.”

Thus began the first meeting between the future Royal General and the witch priest of the Li tribe.

The Deputy City Lord knew the story because his ancestor had once heard that Ye Feng had nearly died trying to protect the town. In response, three boys and one girl had rushed into the mountains, each carrying three machetes, fueled by youthful bravado. They had tracked the battle, determined to slay the demons and bring Ye Feng back.

Those four later became four of Ye Feng’s five deputy generals. They had witnessed the moment Ye Feng met the witch priest.

Later, the fifth youth returned from the imperial capital, completing the group of five. The demon concubine’s treachery plunged the kingdom into war and the demon race invaded. The young Ye Feng and his five companions swore a blood oath to defend Ye Town to the death.

“The Li tribe had lived in the mountains for generations, untouched by worldly affairs. But somehow, Ye Feng convinced the witch priest to join them. It was only later that they discovered…

“That boy was not just any witch priest.

“He was the only great witch priest of the Li tribe, the most talented one in centuries.”

Practicing witchcraft was an act of defiance against fate for those without spiritual roots and those who did often lived short lives. Even though Wu Yun was a genius, he was frail, never growing as strong as the other six, who gradually became powerful warriors.

But he possessed witchcraft and through it, he could alter the weather, perform rituals to save lives, soothe the spirits of fallen warriors, and heal the wounded.

Wu Yun had a bone xun. Whenever he played it, even the most gravely injured and suffering soldiers would feel a sense of peace and relief from deep within. |28|

Wu Yun was not fond of talking, yet Ye Feng liked sitting beside him. During those times, they rarely spoke. They would simply sit together on a hillside covered in small flowers. Occasionally, Ye Feng would ask if the flowers had medicinal properties and whether they should gather them for medicine.

The young witch priest, playing his xun, would always shake his head. “Let life remain where it belongs.”

Was it because witchcraft exacted a price on the life and soul of the witch priest? Was that why Wu Yun said such things?

In times of war, there was no room for blooming flowers and chirping birds. The grass seen today might be reduced to ashes by fire tomorrow. Among Ye Feng’s five deputy generals, not all were fully satisfied with Wu Yun.

The one most dissatisfied was the last to join their ranks. His grievance was that Wu Yun refused to use witchcraft to curse their enemies.

Wu Yun never liked explaining himself.

The deputy general had questioned him multiple times but received no answer. So, he said to the others, “He’s just unwilling to pay the price for using curses in battle.

“The price of witchcraft is the soul. I know that using curses comes at a cost. But tell me, which of the five of us isn’t risking our lives? Old Hu lost an arm, Little Tian nearly died, and our fallen brothers are too many to count. Why should Wu Yun be any different?

“He clearly has the power to use curses, but he refuses. Back in Baichuan, if he had acted sooner, Old Jiang and the others wouldn’t have died.

“I looked into it. The price for killing with a curse isn’t as high as they say. He just doesn’t want to do it.”

Rumors about Wu Yun spread through the army. Still, Wu Yun continued treating wounds and remained silent.

The ancestor of the Deputy City Lord once asked him why.

The Deputy City Lord explained, “Of course, my great-great-grandfather’s tone wasn’t exactly polite… but even so… haha.”

He wiped his sweat, knowing he was at a loss for words.

Wu Yun’s response was simple and indifferent, “Saying anything wouldn’t change a thing.”

The Deputy City Lord continued, “To be honest, my great-great-grandfather just wanted an explanation. If Wu Yun had given one, wouldn’t everyone have understood? If he had simply said, ‘The price of using curses is too great. Besides what’s written in books, there are consequences you don’t know about…’ If he had described the cost in detail, we wouldn’t have given him such a hard time.”

Feeling that he was making a reasonable point, the Deputy City Lord was about to continue when Ning Mingmei tapped his teacup.

“He was right,” Ning Mingmei said. “Because when you asked him, you didn’t truly want to know why he refused to use curses.

“The real reason you asked was that you wanted him to use them, no matter what price he had to pay.”

The Deputy City Lord hesitated. “But…”

“Work for pay. A young witch priest, fresh out of training, was sent straight to a battlefield hospital, working non-stop like a machine, and not even getting paid. Do you think overwork doesn’t take a toll? The job description said one thing, but once he was in, they expected him to do everything, even things beyond his role.

“Before joining, they said, ‘Just be a doctor.’ After joining, they expected him to master everything from strategic planning to killing with precision. And if he couldn’t do it? Then they questioned his morals and accused him of lacking professional ethics.”

Ning Mingmei turned to the system. [Compared to this, I’ve been quite kind to Wen Siheng! At least I pay my people every month and I never assign them work beyond their abilities.]

The system remained silent.

Ning Mingmei smirked. [But this does give me an idea. It seems like working two jobs is the norm here. Maybe it’s time to find my students some extra side jobs. Purely for their personal development, of course. After all, well-rounded skills are a must for the new generation!]

The system: […You’re so heartless.]

On the other side, the Deputy City Lord continued, “If things had ended there, it wouldn’t have been so bad. After all, Ye Feng never said anything. But later, when the enchanting foxes allied with the demon race and the two forces invaded Ye Town, we fought against them.

“During those battles, military intelligence was leaked…”

Beyond the ravages of war, Ye Town had several key mines in its upstream regions. During the war, the imperial court sent people to mine ore and forge weapons, which were then transported across the country.

Though those mines have long since been depleted and the imperial officials have left, at that time, Ye Town was an undeniable strategic stronghold in the war.

Thus, it became a target of the demon race.

Half of the army perished there, along with their families and countless civilians.

It was a bloody battle. Afterward, the sky rained crimson droplets and the land was filled with the cries of the wounded and grieving.

In their hands, they held not only the bones of their loved ones, with nowhere to lay them to rest, but also their anger, with nowhere to be unleashed.

Everyone wanted to know, who had leaked the intelligence?

The Deputy City Lord said, “Later, we found traces of enchanting fox’s power within Wu Yun’s spells… He betrayed us. He was a traitor! And there was a time when an enchanting fox’s blade was about to strike him, yet it suddenly shifted away… If that’s not collusion, then what is? Who knows what he would have done next? He was a witch priest and his methods were so mysterious. If he decided to secretly curse us, who could withstand it? And everyone said that he refused to act back then because he was betting on both sides, wavering between loyalties…”

Ning Mingmei asked, “And so?”

The Deputy City Lord fell silent.

And so, they killed him.

From then on, no more white-feathered arrows were loosed from the forests and no longer did a young man frown at Ye Feng with those sparrow-blue eyes.

There was only the towering pyre, the high execution stake, and the burning body atop it.

And Ye Feng, rushing back to the camp on horseback, seeing nothing but charred remains. As he approached, the wind blew the corpse into ashes.

And then, the torrential rain finally fell.

The rain poured down like a judgment from the heavens and with the traitor executed, the tide of battle miraculously turned. The army marched out of Ye Town, crushing their enemies with unstoppable force.

It was as if the heavens had given a sign.

We can vanquish the rebels without witchcraft!

There was one more episode, a minor one, regarding the Li tribe, who, upon hearing of the witch priest’s death, was enraged and vowed revenge.

When Ye Feng learned of Wu Yun’s death, he originally planned to cover up the truth. He intended to tell the Li tribe that Wu Yun had been struck by a stray arrow during battle and had died tragically.

Half of Ye Town’s people had perished and the civilians would never forgive the Li tribe. But the Li tribe could still live deep in the mountains. That was his promise.

But then, the same deputy general discovered the Li tribe’s rebellion. Before the situation could spiral out of control, he led his troops and wiped them out entirely.

Li Village had always been an isolated settlement, cut off from the world. Without the witch priest, how could the remaining villagers stand against the deputy general’s well-equipped army?

After that, history unfolded as everyone knew it. The war ended in victory, the army returned triumphantly, and the small town of Ye was rebuilt, given a new name, Ye Province.

The five deputy generals and the general each received grand estates in Ye Province. Because of their camaraderie, their mansions were all built in the city’s easternmost district, closest to the river.

Everyone had their rewards, including the Deputy City Lord’s great-great-grandfather. He was tasked with cleaning out the witch priest’s former residence. In that room, he found something.

A bone token.

Having fought fiends and monsters for years, the great-great-grandfather instantly recognized the demonic aura on it. It solidified his belief in Wu Yun’s betrayal.

But the token looked valuable, like a key to some hidden treasure. In a moment of weakness, the great-great-grandfather kept it for himself.

It was the very same token the Deputy City Lord had just given him.

“This matter, if I’m being honest, weighs on our conscience,” the Deputy City Lord said. “But ever since then, strange occurrences have plagued Ye Province. People have been falling ill with bizarre diseases, especially our families, the descendants of the five generals. Our symptoms are even worse. Some have died. The Hu family, which has passed down a single heir for five generations, finally had a grandson, but the child was born deformed. The Liu family has no descendants left. The Jiang family talked about moving away a few years ago, but now they’ve vanished without a trace. As for the Tian family, only a few members remain. The situation has worsened over the years, and we simply can’t endure it anymore.”

It had reached a critical point, so they had no choice but to seek help.

The Deputy City Lord continued, “And the symptoms are truly strange. We’ve sought out every kind of doctor, but they all say the same thing; that it must be a curse. I know our ancestors wronged the Li tribe, but should the entire city suffer for it? We pleaded with the City Lord to invite masters from a great sect to help us, but he always refused. I suspect he didn’t want our disgrace to be exposed.

“Then, a few years ago, the last member of the Liu family died. The City Lord forbade us from seeing the body, but I heard that all his teeth had fallen out, yet there was no identifiable cause! Only then did the City Lord finally agree to let us seek aid from the Supreme Clarity Sect.

“And yet, now that you’ve arrived, he has changed his mind again. The City Lord has lived for over four hundred years, but without elixirs, even if we temper our physical bodies, we can only live a hundred, maybe two hundred years at most.” The Deputy City Lord grimaced. “So I must make this shameless request, Immortal Master. The Qin family cannot end with my generation! What happened four hundred years ago is long past. Why must this curse persist even now?”

As he spoke, he clutched his shoulder as if in unbearable pain.

Just like the strange afflictions plaguing the people in the streets.

Ning Mingmei said, [Oh? I think I get it now.]

The system: ?

What did Ning Mingmei understand?

[Curses,] Ning Mingmei said. [But these people had it coming. And they’re trying to bargain, so…]

The system: [You’re not going to take the job?]

Ning Mingmei: [They need to pay more.]

He took a sip of tea and said, “Deputy City Lord, your case is very complicated. I know that the Qin family’s legacy is incredibly valuable, far more than 7.5 million. But to be honest, this job…

“This job…

“This job…”