CHAPTER 358: CHAPTER 236: QIANQIU AND TEN THOUSAND YEARS BIRD

"Did you see those two birds on the roof?"

Staring at the two strange birds on the eaves, Sun Yan asked the town folks of Zhu Family Town beside him.

"Birds? Where are the birds?" Zhu Honggao scratched his head in confusion, his face full of bewilderment.

Sun Yan immediately understood that it seemed these two birds could only be seen by himself. Zhu Honggao and these people, with their ordinary eyes, couldn’t recognize these unusual creatures.

Just as Zhu Dagui had his incident, these two strange birds appeared, making it hard not to believe there was some connection.

Sun Yan directly reached out, and the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade appeared out of thin air in his hand, ready for magical combat.

The likeness of the two birds in front of him inexplicably reminded him of Ge Hong’s "Master Baopu" from the Western Jin era, describing ’Thousand-Year Bird, Ten Thousand Years Bird, both with human faces and bird bodies, as long-lived as their names suggest’.

In the silk paintings unearthed from Mawangdui Tomb No. 1, there were representations of two divine beasts with human faces and bird bodies.

In 1957, in Deng County, Xuezhuang Village, while locals were developing water conservancy, they unearthed a brick kiln, with a coffin in the middle.

When archaeologists arrived, they found a Southern Dynasties tomb made from ninety thousand bricks with murals, although looted and empty, the exquisite mural bricks remained intact, later called Deng County Colored Portrait Brick Tomb, sensational worldwide.

Among these brick portraits, there was one colored picture with two strange birds, one with a human head and bird body, with the words ’Millennium’ beside its bird foot, while the other foot had the words ’Ten Thousand Years’.

The Southern Dynasties mural brick of Millennium, Ten Thousand Years left archaeologists baffled, unable to decipher the meaning of this colored brick portrait.

Later, a scholar proficient in literature and history said he had read Ge Hong’s "Master Baopu" from the Wei and Jin era, which contained an entry that wrote: Millennium Bird, Ten Thousand Years Bird, both with human faces and bird bodies, as long-lived as their names suggest.

It referred to saying there once were two divine birds named Millennium and Ten Thousand Years in the world, representing longevity, and the Deng County colored mural brick just depicted their prototype.

Ge Hong believed that humans possess the True Qi, which never ceases to exist, merely transforms into another form, like changing from a horse into a chicken, then a chicken into a human.

Humans would also ascend to become immortals by various means, so what would they use to fly to heaven? Wings, the only conceivable method.

Thousand-Year Bird, Ten Thousand Years Bird was Ge Hong’s fantasy of achieving divinity and becoming an Immortal. Since ancient times, those who became Immortals were often bizarre, and the Thousand-Year Bird might have been a successful instance of achieving immortality in the long history.

Existences with human heads and bird bodies have been recorded in tales since the pre-Qin era. It is said that far away in Kunlun, the Queen Mother of the West is the mother of the Ten Thousand Immortals, with two divine birds serving as her attendants and pets.

This divine bird image is often seen in the Northern Dynasties murals, also named ’Millennium’ and ’Ten Thousand Years’.

Sun Yan always thought Millennium and Ten Thousand Years were just ancient humans’ fantasy about longevity, never expecting to witness them himself, genuinely shocking him.

These two strange birds appearing in Zhu Family Town must have a reason.

"Look at him, he actually has a magical treasure, truly a person cultivating." The Millennium Bird laughed as it spoke.

The Ten Thousand Years Bird lowered its head, a strange cold light in its eyes: "Then he must not be spared, lest he ruins the master’s grand plan. Kill him."

As soon as the words were spoken, the Millennium and Ten Thousand Years birds spread their wings and soared, circling in the air.

Sun Yan felt a momentary daze. The two strange birds suddenly disappeared, replaced by a gigantic white eye pupil.

The pupil split into two, cold and indifferent, staring at Sun Yan.

The next moment, his whole body was covered with numerous feathers, enveloping him entirely.

Instantly, a suffocating feeling filled Sun Yan’s body.

"Sun, Mr. Sun!" Seeing Sun Yan’s body grow black feathers, Zhu Honggao’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Could it be Mr. Sun has also been possessed?

Bang!

Sun Yan’s body trembled, and the feathers on him shattered instantly, revealing his body.

"Mere illusion technique." Sun Yan coldly shouted, a golden line suddenly appeared at the center of his brow, revealing a golden pupil.

As the Celestial Eye Golden Light shot out, the colossal eye in the air showed signs of collapse instantly, and directly shattered, transforming back into the Millennium and Ten Thousand Years birds.

Sun Yan leaped up, slashing his Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade at the Millennium Bird.

"Dodge!" The Ten Thousand Years Bird hurriedly shouted.

The Millennium Bird fled in a panic, its eyes filled with hatred as it stared at Sun Yan, letting out a piercing lament, turning the entire night sky blood red.

Red raindrops fell from the sky, landing on the bodies of those from Zhu Family Town, all grimacing in pain, rushing to find shelter from the rain.

"So hot, so hot, boiling water is falling from the sky!"

Raindrops fell on Sun Yan, instantly sizzling his skin, but Sun Yan, holding a spear in one hand and a finger forming a seal with the other, said: "Avoid Rain!"

All the rain avoided him, not daring to fall on Sun Yan.

Seeing their methods failing one after another, the Millennium and Ten Thousand Years birds panicked.

How could an ordinary person cultivating have such powerful magical combat ability?

"Who exactly are you?"

"None of your business."

Mo Lihai Dharma appeared behind Sun Yan, stepping forward and capturing the Millennium Bird in its palm. No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t escape his grip.

Just as Sun Yan was about to deal with the other Ten Thousand Years Bird, the strange bird decisively transformed, disappearing on the spot, leaving only a few feathers fluttering down.

"I advise you to let me go. Disrupting the master’s grand plan, when the master returns, you’ll face eternal damnation." The Millennium Bird shouted sharply at Sun Yan.

"Who is this master you speak of, and what does he want to do in Zhu Family Town?" Sun Yan stepped forward and asked.

But the Millennium Bird showed no fear, arrogantly laughing: "The master’s name is not for you to know. Even if you are a cultivator, so what? Offending the master? Your life will end."

"The Millennium and Ten Thousand Years birds are said to be divine attendants around the Queen Mother of the West, transmitting the Queen Mother’s messages to many immortals. Is the master you speak of, the Queen Mother of the West?"

Sun Yan put away the Three-Pointed Double-Edged Blade and stared at the Millennium Bird as he spoke slowly.

"Hehehe..." The Millennium Bird laughed strangely twice, then closed its eyes and spoke no more. Instantly, its body began transforming into a dry, wrinkled bird corpse.

Sun Yan could sense life energy within the bird corpse, clearly indicating the Millennium Bird was not dead, just protecting itself in this manner.

"Queen Mother of the West." Sun Yan murmured to himself, never expecting such a small Zhu Family Town could be linked to mythical existences.

Jumping off the roof, looking at Zhu Dagui, whose body surface had started growing fluff, Sun Yan felt empathetic and injected a strand of Eight-Nine Mysterious Skill’s True Qi into him.

Hoping to delay this poor man’s transformation, maybe giving him one last chance at life.

But if he becomes like those hanging ghouls in the old grain warehouse before then, there will be truly no hope of recovery.

"Mr. Sun, what’s going on here?" Zhu Honggao quickly ran over to ask.

"It seems your town has been targeted by someone. The break point now is to find that Western missionary and force him to reveal answers from his mouth, or else, even if I can help you kill the hanged people, it won’t solve anything. The opponent’s target is your entire Zhu Family Town."

Sun Yan looked at the Millennium Bird held by Mo Lihai Dharma, his expression serious. With this thing in his hand, he’s not afraid of the hidden truth not revealing itself.

The presence of this bait is his only trump card at the moment.

"The whole Zhu Family Town..." Zhu Honggao shuddered in disbelief.

Who on earth did Zhu Family Town offend?