Where Immortals Once Walked

When the Han River flooded, Tu Zhongli’s bandit gang just happened to be out on the water, drifting in boats to evade the authorities’ pursuit. Their luck was truly rotten to the bone. A single surge of floodwater swept them straight downstream and dumped them into the Demon Nest Swamp.

The moment He Lingchuan heard it, he could not help thinking it sounded awfully familiar. The difference was that these poor bastards had capsized several boats and lost more than half their men.

And the survivors did not get any luckier afterward, because the current carried Tu Zhongli and the rest into Mountain Monarch Bo’s territory.

Just like before, the giant snake had wanted to swallow these heaven-sent morsels whole. However, Tu Zhongli begged for his life and swore he would serve the giant snake like a dog and a horse in exchange for mercy.

The Demon Nest Swamp had not seen human footsteps in ages, except for the one merchant caravan that regularly traded with Zhu Erniang. Mountain Monarch Bo immediately saw how useful a bandit gang could be.

It forced chronic poison down all of them and ordered them to leave the swamp first, raid Lord Gan’s caravan, and bring the whole thing back, sending several snake monsters along as support.

Lord Gan’s trading firm was enormous in the local area. More importantly, his trade with the Demon Nest Swamp was the very foundation of his wealth, and it was a source of pride that the Gan Family loved to flaunt. Most, if not all, of the locals had heard of them.

Once the bandits were out of the swamp, they fell back into their old trade. With little effort, they found the caravan’s departure date and route. Using Mountain Monarch Bo’s toxins for an ambush, they killed Lord Gan on the spot, along with the martial guards traveling with him. Then, they hijacked the entire caravan and forced it back into the Demon Nest Swamp.

Tu Zhongli, with one smooth lie, became Lord Gan’s supposed nephew and used wine jars to smuggle his men into the Demon Nest. Mountain Monarch Bo then talked the hot-headed simpleton King Si Wen into joining in. With two greater monsters holding Zhu Erniang down, the bandits would move in and steal the giant spider’s molted shell.

It was an intricate, tightly wound plan.

The only problem was He Lingchuan—this unexpected variable who barged in and churned the water into mud.

He cleared his throat twice, then, under the red spider’s watchful gaze, snapped at Old Six in a harsh voice, “The shell is still missing. Who took it?”

Old Six’s face went blank. “W-we don’t know either!”

When it became clear no more useful answers could be squeezed out of him, the red spider gave a command.

The spider swarm surged in and tore Old Six apart, eating him right where he lay.

His screams made Steward Zhao and the others nearby go weak in the knees.

He Lingchuan rubbed his nose and took a discreet step back.

The spiders were still hungry, but they did not eat the merchants. Instead, they drove them into the ruins and placed them under tight guard.

Zhu Erniang’s main body had gone off to hunt down the giant python. The red spider had no choice but to leave He Lingchuan’s shoulder and hop down, busily issuing orders and mobilizing troops. The captives watched as one column after another of spiders streamed toward Mountain Monarch Bo’s territory. The black swarms moved in rolling tides, their formations so dense that it looked like entire mountains were moving.

The scale alone clearly showed that the fighting over there must be vicious enough to require the entire nest to pour out in full support.

He Lingchuan had no interest in joining that kind of fun.

While rummaging through the bandits’ belongings, he spoke quietly to Dong Rui, who had sidled up, “I’ve got a piece of good news and a piece of bad news. Which do you want first?”

“The good news.”

“We can leave, and the chances of success are high.” With the red spider now absent, they could finally speak in low voices. “We should thank Mountain Monarch Bo for creating such a perfect opening.”

Dong Rui’s eyes narrowed. “What were you doing in the display chamber? Why did Zhu Erniang only realize the molt was missing after she came out? I heard her angry screech. This has something to do with the bad news, doesn’t it?”

“Her molt was probably stolen anyway.”

Dong Rui stared hard at him. “Was it you?”

“And how could I possibly have done that?” He Lingchuan spread his hands. “You and the red spider were with me the whole time, weren’t you?”

That’s true...

Still, despite acknowledging that to be the truth, Dong Rui felt in his bones that it had to be connected to this guy.

He could not explain it. It was pure instinct.

He Lingchuan met his suspicion head-on and simply concluded, “Either way, if Zhu Erniang comes back without her molt, she’s going to explode, and you and I are going to suffer for it.”

“So where’s this opening you keep talking about?” Dong Rui had gotten a decent sense of Zhu Erniang’s temperament by now. If what He Lingchuan said was true, they would be scapegoats by default.

“We have one chance to flip the board, to turn the tables and seize the initiative.” He Lingchuan lowered his voice. “Only one, and it depends on your monster puppet.”

“...My monster puppet?”

“After the bandits’ infiltration, the underground palace defenses are going to tighten. Your monster puppet isn’t still in your workroom, is it?” He Lingchuan knew that Dong Rui relied on that puppet to fight, and, more than that, to feel safe. In calm times, it did not matter. But in chaos like this, Dong Rui would keep it as close as possible.

Besides, He Lingchuan had heard the bell ring multiple times. He was sure that Dong Rui had not been shaking it just for fun.

Dong Rui’s spine went cold. He had been deliberately careful with his little redeployments, yet the other party had still noticed. “Where do you want it?”

“Just inside the underground palace entrance. You need to make it obey my commands.”

“And then?”

“Then you get to watch.” He Lingchuan patted his shoulder, looking almost sincerely earnest. “From here on, it’s my show. If it works, we leave. If it fails, I’m the only one who’ll be unlucky.”

What a pretty lie. Anyone who believes that deserves what they get. Fuck, do I have any other choice, though? Dong Rui’s mouth twisted. “Just speak clearly. If I’m going to die, I’d like to die understanding why.” If the plan failed, there was no way that the Spider Queen’s rage would stop at He Lingchuan.

“I can’t explain it to you. We’ll have to adapt on the fly.” He Lingchuan pointed toward Mountain Monarch Bo’s territory. “At this point, even if we do nothing, Zhu Erniang won’t spare us. You’ve got five seconds. Five, four, three—”

It was not fair at all, but He Lingchuan did not care.

He was the one holding the reins.

Dong Rui looked at him for a long moment, knowing that He Lingchuan feared he would sabotage things and therefore refused to reveal the full plan. Back when this man had been his enemy, he had been a constant headache, but seen from another angle, it meant He Lingchuan really did have ability.

Dong Rui only hoped the brat would perform properly this time, and give Zhu Erniang a taste of the same fury and helplessness she inspired in others.

“If your plan succeeds, you really will take me out with you?”

“Of course, I can even swear an oath,” said He Lingchuan. “You can also run to the Spider Queen and report me, say that I plan to deal with her. But before she gets the medicine she wants, she won’t let you leave either.”

In other words, Dong Rui did not have a real choice.

He weighed it, then exhaled. “Fine, then swear.”

Only after He Lingchuan swore a solemn oath did Dong Rui finally turn and stroll toward the sinkhole, giving the golden bell a casual shake as he went.

That was his decision.

A while later, he returned and said, “It’s ready.”

* * *

By late morning, the captives who had spent the entire night terrified and sleepless finally saw Zhu Erniang’s massive body emerge from the forest, a great swarm of spiders swarming around her like attendants.

The moment she returned, she demanded, “Where is He Lingchuan? Where is Dong Rui?”

Dong Rui kept silent, hiding among the ruins. He Lingchuan, meanwhile, poked his head out from the canopy of a great tree growing from the sinkhole’s cliffside.

“Here.” The tree’s roots clung to the mountain wall and somehow still grew lush and thick. When He Lingchuan tucked himself deeper into the foliage, he vanished entirely. “Congratulations on your triumphant return, Zhu Erniang.”

Zhu Erniang’s battle strength was higher than Mountain Monarch Bo’s. If the snake had won, Zhu Erniang would have been dead, and the victor would have been back long ago. Since several hours had passed, it was likely that Zhu Erniang had fought to the very end, leaving nothing alive.

He Lingchuan asked, “How is Mountain Monarch Bo?”

“Dead.” Fatigue seeped through Zhu Erniang’s voice. “The bandits are all dead too.”

She had not had time to hunt down each bandit personally, but the little spiders could do that for her.

She was covered in wounds. Her thick body was punched through with multiple bloody holes, some still oozing black blood. Little spiders crawled over her, constantly sucking out snake venom and tending the wounds. She also seemed to have lost three legs, and she was now unable to properly brace herself on the ground, moving with painful difficulty.

She had wiped out Mountain Monarch Bo for good, but she had paid dearly for it.

“What’s strange is that Mountain Monarch Bo denied stealing my molted shell until the moment it died.” Two more of her eyes were gone. The ones that remained were now all fixed on He Lingchuan in the tree. “I searched its territory and every magical artifact it had. I found nothing. Tell me, where could my shell be?”

The old principle applied, when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.[1]

Her shell could not have vanished on its own, and the only living human who had entered the display chamber and could have performed any tricks right under her gaze was this one man.

By the time she spoke the last few words, the cold killing intent was impossible to hide.

“You couldn’t have exterminated every single snake monster,” He Lingchuan offered, thinking along with her. “Could Mountain Monarch Bo’s descendants have taken it? Maybe they want to rebuild their strength and return someday for revenge.”

“You know what I think?” Zhu Erniang said slowly—and then, without warning, lowered her head toward him and spat a blast of white silk.

The web splashed into the air and spread like an umbrella, at least ten square meters wide. It slapped across half the tree’s crown. Anything living that got stuck in it would almost certainly never escape.

It was blindingly fast, and it came with no sign at all.

However, He Lingchuan had been on guard. He slipped behind the trunk a heartbeat earlier. The canopy was dense enough that the web did not fully wrap the entire tree.

“He Lingchuan!” Zhu Erniang roared. “Give me back my molt!”

The moment she raged, spiders swarmed in from all directions.

This was the moment the saber finally came out.

The canopy was already half-coated in webbing. He Lingchuan appeared from the other side, fired a corded sleeve arrow into a rock crevice on the opposite wall of the sinkhole, and swung across in a clean arc.

By the time the spiders redirected and lunged for him, he had already climbed up to the sinkhole’s rim. He spun, plunged into the dense forest, and left Zhu Erniang with only one sentence, “I truly don’t have it, whether you believe me or not!”

“Chase him!” Zhu Erniang’s fury echoed through every spider’s mind. “Alive! I want him to beg for his life yet hardly keep it and want for death but never be granted it!”

The spider army immediately surged into pursuit.

Zhu Erniang was badly wounded and moved more slowly, trailing behind. But by scent alone, she sent out silent signals, and every spider in her territory began closing in from all directions. Against a carpet search by a spider army, where could He Lingchuan run? How far could he possibly get?

Zhu Erniang was confident. Once she caught him, she would drain him dry in one long pull.

With rage propping her up, even the pain of her injuries felt more bearable.

A quarter hour passed in the blink of an eye.

Then half an hour, and then three quarters of an hour...

Ahead lay a steep slope. Zhu Erniang looked at it and felt exhausted just imagining the climb. She sprawled down to rest.

She should have had a powerful healing ability, but for some reason, the bloody holes in her body were still leaking. And the moment she lay down, she felt crushing heaviness press over her entire frame, so oppressive it made breathing difficult.

In this state, she could only remain where she was, waiting for her descendants to return from every direction with news.

1. I’ve taken the quote as stated by Sherlock Holmes, as written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Chinese version is a bit different, though it’s got the same idea. ☜