The Prideful - Part Four is the ninth chapter of Mo Dao Zu Shi.
Synopsis []
In the Temple of the Heavenly Maiden, Lan Sizhui examines the Heavenly Maiden. The statue is natural stone formation that resembles a dancing woman, which has long been worshipped by the residents of Fojiao Town. Lan Jingyi attempts to use the Compass of Ill Winds, still to no avail.
Jin Ling enters the temple, dismissing the statue as a simple stone. He challenges the goddess to prove its power by sending the soul-stealing creature before him right now.
Lan Sizhui examines the statue further, and feels he has seen the smiling face somewhere before. Suddenly, another cultivator falls down, his soul stolen.
Wei Wuxian bursts into the cave, using all the items from his Qiankun Bag to illuminate the cave. He shouts for everyone to leave, and just then, the Heavenly Maiden's pose changes.
The statue advances upon the cultivators. Although Wei Wuxian continues to warn them, most cultivators refuse to leave. One by one, their souls are stolen, and the survivors finally flee.
In the chaos, Wei Wuxian finds Lan Sizhui and Lan Jingyi to request that they signal for Lan Wangji. They reply that they used up their signals in Mo Village, and apparently forgot to restock.
Lan Sizhui asks "Master Mo" how he identified the Heavenly Maiden as the culprit. Wei Wuxian explains that if the soul-stealing entity merely wanted to steal souls, there would be no ghosts on the mountain. This entity clearly preferred living souls.
Most likely, years of prayers and devotion had resulted in the statue gaining its own godhood. The first man to lose his soul likely became trapped in the temple during a storm, during which he prayed to become rich. Thus the Maiden caused a landslide, unveiling treasure the bodies had been buried with. A-Yan later visited the temple to pray for her future husband to love her and be faithful to her his whole life, which the Heavenly Maiden granted by killing him shortly after their wedding. Blacksmith Zheng's prayer for his daughter's soul to be restored resulted in the loss of his own soul, and ever since, A-Yan has imitated the Heavenly Maiden's smile and pose.
In the temple, Jin Ling's wish to see the soul-stealing entity was echoed by many other cultivators in the temple, hence why the first cultivator lost his soul.
The donkey suddenly rushes in another direction. Wei Wuxian sees the Heavenly Maiden devour a living body, having now developed an appetite for flesh and blood in addition to souls.
Jin Ling attempts to shoot arrows into the Heavenly Maiden, recklessly determined to defeat it. To save his life, Wei Wuxian hastily constructs a bamboo flute and uses its awful-sounding music to summon any powerful nearby creature.
A chained Fierce Corpse emerges – none other than Wen Ning, the Yiling Patriarch's infamous Ghost General, who was supposedly burned to ash long ago.[1]
Characters []
in order of appearance:
- Lan Sizhui
- Lan Jingyi
- Jin Ling
- Wei Wuxian
- Little Apple
- Lan Wangji (mentioned)
- A-Yan (mentioned)
- Jiang Cheng (mentioned)
- Wen Ning
Events []
- Night-Hunt on Dafan Mountain
Locations[]
Creatures[]
- Heavenly Maiden
- Ghost (mentioned)
- Fierce Corpse
Cultivation Abilities[]
Cultivation Tools []
Author's Note[]
Mo Xiang Tong Xiu's end-of-chapter note reads:[2]
Accidentally summoned a former subordinate.
Next chapter, the gong will kidnap someone and bring him back home.