The Eternal Sin-Chapter 49: Curse King Han Jin

Sunken Moon Valley lay beneath a sky the color of tarnished iron. The wind moved through the barren slopes like a low sigh. At the center of the valley, a dried riverbed stretched crooked and wide, its cracked mud resembling the scales of a dead dragon.

Three hours remained before the entrance to the Black Market would open.

Jiang Chen stood like a silent monolith at the edge of the riverbed, his figure concealed beneath layers of dark obscuring clouds.

His cold gaze drifted across the gathering crowd.

Dozens of cultivators were scattered about the riverbed. Some wore concealment talismans similar to his own. Others hid behind carved masks of spirit wood and cold iron. Several stood wrapped in black robes from head to toe. There were also demonic cultivators who showed their faces openly, their expressions arrogant and unconcerned.

To them, infamy was a cloak more protective than any other concealment. The blood on their hands was a badge of merit.

Jiang Chen’s eyes lingered briefly on a few familiar faces. Having lived within a righteous sect, he had seen portraits and heard rumors.

For now, his focus remained anchored on one person more than the others.

Blood Sword Gu Tianhao stood alone near the center of the riverbed.

No one dared approach within dozens of meters of him. He exuded the suffocating pressure of a Fourteenth Layer Qi Condensation cultivator.

His features were rosy and full of vitality, as if he drank blood instead of water. He was of short stature, possessing thin, willow like arms that did not fit his bloody reputation. He wore robes of deep crimson lined with black, the hem patterned like flowing blood. A rusty old sword scabbard hung at his waist, but what confused people was the lack of a blade within it.

Rumors about him were numerous and always vile. It was said he kidnapped pregnant women to cultivate demonic arts. There was also a rumor that he had once set his eyes upon his own brother’s wife. But such gossip did not interest Jiang Chen.

What interested him was his strength. Gu Tianhao had once killed a Fifteenth Layer Qi Condensation expert while he himself had only been at the Eighth Layer. That feat had also taken place within righteous sect territory. He had slain his opponent and escaped under siege.

’To leap across seven layers and kill. That is no ordinary talent. His sword arts... I wonder how I would fare against them,’ Jiang Chen mused in his heart.

As if sensing his gaze, Gu Tianhao slowly turned his head. His eyes were cold and permanently red tinged. His gaze felt like a literal blade, sharp and vicious, attempting to peel away the layers of Jiang Chen’s obscuring mist.

Jiang Chen did not avert his gaze.

The two looked at each other across the cracked riverbed. For a brief instant, it felt as if two blades had crossed in silence. Then both withdrew their eyes without a word, returning their focus to the cracked mud of the riverbed.

’Not now,’ Jiang Chen thought. ’This is not the place.’

He understood his position clearly.

Though he possessed methods beyond his realm, he was only at the Eighth Layer of Qi Condensation. More importantly, he was only one person. There were many present here, some at the Tenth, Thirteenth, and even Fifteenth Layers. Cultivation realm was not the final measure of strength, yet it was still a measure nonetheless.

Furthermore, the cultivators here were people with black hearts and scruples as thin as cicada wings. Any display of weakness would invite their greed. Not to mention, there were those who hid even deeper in the slopes and trees beyond the riverbed. Some were cautious, while others waited for an opportunity. When two people fight, it is the third party that usually wins.

’Two more hours.’ Jiang Chen folded his hands behind his back.

Sunken Moon Valley had denser Yin energies, so the wind was awfully cold.

Suddenly, loud cackling laughter burst from the trees at the edge of the valley. Branches snapped and leaves scattered. A bald and muscular man strode out from the shadows. He was a mountain of flesh, nearly eight feet tall. His upper body was bare, glistening with sweat despite the cold. He wore garish pink pants, and a golden leaf shaped ring dangled from his left ear. In his hand, he held a white skull filled with red wine.

He tilted his head back and drank deeply. Wine dribbled down his chin. At the same time, a fierce aura flared outward.

The aura of a Fifteenth Layer Qi Condensation cultivator was like a wildfire, chaotic and oppressive.

The crowd’s collective breath hitched. A few unconsciously stepped back.

"Curse King Han Jin..." someone muttered under their breath.

The bald man grinned widely. His teeth were stained red. Curse King Han Jin was infamous throughout Evergreen Peak Province. It was said that the number of righteous cultivators who had died beneath his curses was no fewer than three hundred.

Jiang Chen felt the pressure wash over him. Beneath the obscuring mist, his expression turned solemn.

Then he looked toward Blood Sword Gu Tianhao.

For a heartbeat, Gu Tianhao’s eyes gleamed with excitement, like a child finding a new toy to break. Then just as quickly, the excitement cooled into a mask of indifference.

’Strange...’ Jiang Chen muttered in his mind. ’When a tiger meets another tiger, even if they do not fight, their spirits should clash. Gu Tianhao’s reaction... it is as if he is looking at a sheep.’

At that moment, Han Jin’s eyes glowed with a ghostly green light. His gaze swept across the crowd, disregarding the layers of concealment.

’Oh, there’s an Eighth Layer sheep here,’ Han Jin thought, a secret relief blooming in his chest. Outwardly, he laughed loudly and flicked his wrist. The skull filled with wine flew in an arc and landed before Jiang Chen’s feet, splashing liquor across the cracked earth.

Han Jin roared uncaringly, "Haha. It seems my hand slipped. You there, little cloud. Fetch it for me. Crawl and bring it to your king."

Dozens of gazes turned.

’He chooses me because my cultivation is the lowest. Using me to establish dominance?’ Jiang Chen lowered his eyes to the skull at his feet.

He stepped forward.

Several onlookers sighed, thinking he would bow and comply. In a situation like this, survival often meant swallowing humiliation. There was no shame in it. Bowing your head today to live another day was a very practical choice.

However, Jiang Chen lifted his foot and crushed the skull into white powder.

A collective gasp rippled through the valley.

Han Jin’s cackling laughter cut off.

Then his eyes bulged.

This situation... he had not calculated it.

’Damn it! What the fuck is wrong with youngsters these days? An eighth-layer brat should be pissing himself under my pressure. But instead of a cowering rabbit, I provoked a prideful tiger. Ah, I really feel like slapping myself stupid. No matter... the arrow’s already nocked, there’s no pulling back now. If I retreat now, everyone will realize I am a fraud,’ Han Jin, or rather the one impersonating Han Jin, lamented inwardly.

He was actually a vagabond cultivator who had chanced upon a high tier Illusion Art and a fragment of Han Jin’s discarded aura bead. He had intended to use the fearsome reputation of the demonic path tyrant to bully a Blood Token out of a weakling and slip into the black market.

But now, he was trapped.

If he showed weakness, the illusion would shatter under the scrutiny of the other demonic figures. Everyone would know he was just a pig playing tiger.

He absolutely could not allow that.

In this situation, he could only depend on his luck and kill Jiang Chen. As the fake Han Jin took a step forward, a deep unease abruptly rose in his chest. It was like an icy needle pricking his heart.

’This feeling...’

That was the very instinct that had kept him alive as a low level swindler to this day. He reassessed Jiang Chen more closely.

’Only at the Eighth Layer, yet absolutely no fear toward me? Either this person can fight across realms or knows that I am not the real Han Jin. Or... is he bluffing bravery?’

The impostor suddenly remembered that he had seen the skull turn to dust without a flicker of spiritual essence. The skull he had thrown was no ordinary bone. It had been tempered with spiritual energy until it was harder than iron. Yet the youth had crushed it with pure, terrifying physical strength.

Suddenly the feeling in his heart got stronger, it told him that if he attacked, he might die before the first blow landed.

The fake Han Jin’s thoughts turned sharp. He had to pivot. He now had to be the ’eccentric’ rather than the ’tyrant’.

He immediately threw his head back and again laughed, so hard that tears pricked the corners of his eyes. "Oh man. A mere Eighth Layer junior has such guts to stand before me, the Curse King."

He wiped his eyes, his tone shifting to one of hearty, magnanimous appreciation. "Excellent. I, Han Jin, detest nothing more than spineless cowards who crawl at the first sight of death. You have the spine of a dragon, boy. You remind me of myself when I was young, arrogant and unyielding against the heavens."

He began to clap his massive hands together, the sound like thunderclaps. "Good. Boy, I sincerely admire your courage. I shall let this matter go. You are not a bad seed. If you wish to follow me, I shall allow it. But someone like you probably would not bow. Haha. So be it. This is fate!"

He pulled a wooden plaque from his belt, carved the words "Curse King" into it with a fingernail, and tossed it toward Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen did not bother to catch it.

The plaque fell into the dirt.

The fake Han Jin’s smile stiffened, but he pretended not to notice. He pointed instead at a Ninth Layer cultivator nearby who was trembling. "You! Hand over your Blood Token, or I shall refine your soul into a candle!"

Before the threatened cultivator could plead, wild laughter rang out again.

The fake Han Jin felt his heart skip a beat. Because this laughter came from Jiang Chen.

"Are you done acting?" Jiang Chen sneered as his figure moved.

In the next instant, he stood before the bald man.

Han Jin’s pupils contracted to pinpricks. He could not see the movement at all.

A fist descended.

Golden light burst forth like thunder breaking through clouds. It carried the power to collapse buildings and kill demons.

The blow struck the impostor’s chest with a thunderous crack.

The man’s body was launched backward unceremoniously, his seven foot frame snapping through ten massive trees as if they were dry twigs. Only coming to a halt after hitting a massive gray boulder like a broken heap of flesh, his chest caved in so deeply that his spine protruded from his back. His heart and lungs had burst from the sheer shock of the blow.

His body slid to the ground and did not rise again.

The silence that followed was absolute. Even the wind seemed to hold its breath.

Jiang Chen withdrew his fist and flicked away a trace of blood.

He calmly glanced around.

"What are you all gawking at? There is fresh meat on the table. Do none of you have an appetite?"

The spell broke.

A dead man has no rights.

Greed ignited in many eyes. It was greed more potent than fear. A dozen figures surged toward the corpse of the fake Han Jin, desperate to scavenge whatever spirit stones or treasures the man had accumulated. They tore at the body like crows, fighting among themselves in a chaotic scramble.

Other cultivators remained still.

Their attention did not rest on the dead. It was firmly fixed on Jiang Chen.

Jiang Chen ignored them, walking back to his spot. The space around him widened instantly, none looking directly at him.

To the observers, it was no longer important whether the person killed was real or fake. What mattered was that when Jiang Chen moved previously, it was as if a section of the world had simply folded to his speed.

One moment Jiang Chen was standing by the powdered skull, the next he was a blurred streak of darkness within Han Jin’s personal space. Such a terrifying person... 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

Must not provoke!