Where Immortals Once Walked

Zhu Erniang said gloomily, “Every time I pass this place, I could sense their presence. But now, they’re gone.”

“Impressive.” He Lingchuan asked, “Are you going to take them back?”

Zhu Erniang did not answer.

Just as He Lingchuan climbed out of the sinkhole, the small and large spiders around him surged forward with a rush, hissing furiously in his direction.

He was their ancestor’s wanted criminal. After the battle, they had to search day and night without rest. They were practically dying of exhaustion.

He Lingchuan did not understand spider language, so he had no idea they were cursing him viciously.

The moment the swarm looked ready to strike, Zhu Erniang’s massive body rose out of the sinkhole as well, and she gave a command, “All of you, back off. Do not harm him!”

The spiders looked at one another, baffled.

When had the ancestor ever been this gentle to a human?

Wait, this human had climbed out of the sinkhole together with the ancestor... Had they shaken hands and made peace?

Several of the smarter spider guards immediately looked at He Lingchuan with new reverence.

Who among them did not know of their ancestor’s capricious, unpredictable, and impossible-to-read temper? This human had toyed with the entire burrow spider swarm and still walked away alive. That meant he was truly something.

At that moment, standing beside the ruins, He Lingchuan whistled a signal—four long, three short, then three long again.

The swamp remained silent, and nothing happened for a good while.

He Lingchuan did not rush. Hands clasped behind his back, he waited calmly in place, occasionally chatting with Zhu Erniang as if they were old acquaintances.

The humans, still confined within the ruins and hearing the commotion, also craned their necks to look. Their eyes were full of awe.

They did not know what had happened, but watching this young man stroll leisurely through an angry spider swarm, trading words with Zhu Erniang as if conversing on equal terms, still shook them to the core.

That was the local tyrant of the Demon Nest Swamp, a giant man-eating monster everyone spoke of with dread.

Was it really something you could talk to as an equal?

After a long time, Dong Rui finally appeared from a distance, strolling over slowly, soaked to the skin.

He had been observing He Lingchuan from where he was hiding. Only when he saw the young man’s relaxed posture and easy laughter, and saw that there were no signs of coercion, did he dare to come out.

Even the nearby spider guards seemed surprised. No one knew where he had been hiding.

Clearly, he still had a few tricks up his sleeve.

He Lingchuan greeted him with a beaming smile. “Zhu Erniang is broad-minded and magnanimous. She’s allowing us to leave the swamp.”

Just like that?

There’s no earth-shattering battle, no massive expenditure of blood and sweat, no brush with death? We can simply walk out?

Dong Rui did not quite believe it. However, He Lingchuan stood with his back confidently turned to Zhu Erniang, and the ancient greater monster showed no hint of attacking.

What about all that talk earlier of making him beg for his life and be unable to die even if he wanted to die? Did this giant spider just forget her own threats in the blink of an eye?

Regardless, facts spoke louder than words. In the end, Dong Rui relaxed.

For some reason, Dong Rui could also sense a deep resentment radiating from Zhu Erniang.

This was a feeling that he knew all too well.

Dong Rui glanced instinctively at He Lingchuan.

All of it is thanks to him.

This young man looked easygoing, all smiles and casual charm, but if you ever underestimate him, you’ll end up vomiting blood until your throat’s raw, and you wouldn’t even have the strength to cry about it.

His poison, his ruthlessness, and his careful calculating mind, all of that’s hidden beneath that harmless face of his.

Sigh. Zhu Erniang and I really are fellow sufferers under the same sky.

Before Dong Rui could even speak, the merchant caravan in the ruins reacted first. Steward Zhao and the others rushed out and repeatedly bowed toward Zhu Erniang. “Great Spider Immortal, please show mercy and let us go as well!”

“We’re just common folk! How would we dare harbor ill intent toward you? We were forced by the bandits!”

Faced with their desperate pleading, Zhu Erniang ignored them and instead asked He Lingchuan, “Well? What do you think?”

“Me?” He Lingchuan pointed at his own nose. “What am I supposed to think?”

“Are you going to save these people or not?” Zhu Erniang sneered. “They colluded with bandits to steal my treasures. I ought to eat them!”

Steward Zhao instantly switched course, dropping to his knees in front of He Lingchuan. “Young Master, please save me!”

The others followed at once, kneeling together. “Please, Young Master, spare our lives!”

He Lingchuan’s mouth twitched. “If I tell you to release them, you’ll really release them?” Zhu Erniang was trying to use the merchants to squeeze him. “Fine, then release them. Heaven values life.”

Zhu Erniang smiled. “I’ve just got one small condition.”

She paced a couple of steps toward the crowd, adding pressure with every slow, heavy movement of her monstrous body.

“I’m not listening.” Dong Rui cut in bluntly. “We’re leaving.” Anyone could guess Zhu Erniang’s condition would probably involve him. He had no desire to be traded for strangers’ lives.

“Do you remember what you proposed more than ten days ago?” Zhu Erniang asked He Lingchuan. “You said you’d go to Beijia and retrieve what was taken from me!”

“I...” That was then. Back then, he had been talking out of desperation just to stay alive. What did he gain by going to Beijia now?

Besides, in the display chamber earlier, the divine bone amulet had stopped heating up. It was obvious that after eating one molted shell, it was sated and no longer interested in the remaining ones. He Lingchuan figured it likely would not have much appetite for the burrow spider molt taken in Beijia either.

“I think that proposal sounds quite good now,” Zhu Erniang said coolly. “I can’t go to Beijia, but you can.”

The pact was already set, so she could not trap the two of them even if she wanted to. Knowing that, she felt that she might as well turn it into a trade. Cast a net, and maybe a fish bites. If it worked, great; if not, she would lose nothing but time. She had already been squatting here for over a hundred years. What was a few more years, or a wider net?

He Lingchuan frowned. “I’m from Yuan. Beijia is at war with Yuan. It’s not easy for me to go.”

Steward Zhao heard this and immediately jumped in. “Young Master He, just agree! Our business has always extended into Beijia! We can guarantee your smooth entry and exit!”

Zhu Erniang suddenly leaned close and murmured into He Lingchuan’s ear, “I’ve learned that the molted shell was hidden within Mount Xu, previously known as Mount Shou’an, and the old site of the Grand Return Sect. It’s now within Beijia’s capital.”

The moment she finished speaking, He Lingchuan felt heat pulsing in his chest.

The divine bone amulet reacted.

Which words had it heard to get this excited?

“Mount Xu? The Grand Return Sect?” he repeated softly, only he and Zhu Erniang could hear, yet the divine bone amulet on his chest grew even hotter.

“Hiss—” Anyone else would think he was frightened. Only he knew his chest was probably being scorched red.

So this thing has been silently listening in on me this whole time!

If the divine bone amulet was practically screaming go, go, go, then he—

Then he still could not accept the job that easily.

He Lingchuan fell into thought. “You can’t even get into Beijia’s capital. If I go, won’t I just be delivering myself on a plate?”

Yes, Mount Xu was Mount Shou’an, the mountain gate of the Grand Return Sect, one of the Six Sects of Kaiyuan in the Ancient Era.

It was also the origin of the old turtle monster’s divination art.

Even if everything had changed, the divination lineage could still be passed down. Perfected Dongli had improved his sect’s divine technique, and there was no guarantee that other descendants of the Grand Return Sect could not do the same.

At the very least, during the Middle Era, the Grand Return Sect still had immortals sitting in residence.

And that ominous fate hanging over his head was a dark cloud that would eventually affect his state of mind and hinder cultivation if he did not deal with it. Besides, the karmic threads he had divined with the turtle monster and Wen Daolun before had basically already played out.

In other words, those omens had already been used up.

Maybe it was time to seek a new sign.

I guess I can go there and probe my karma...

Most importantly, the divine bone amulet had clearly expressed its desire to go. If he refused, it would probably be even more clingy than a girlfriend.

This thing could easily scorch his chest. He could not throw it away, and it was absurdly possessive.

“I’ve been on Beijia’s wanted list for over a century.” Zhu Erniang had already revealed the star map pattern on her belly. Her appearance was far too recognizable. “The moment I cross into Beijia territory, I’m easy to identify, but you’re different. You’re just a seventeen or eighteen-year-old boy. You’re ordinary to the point of invisibility. If the Gan Family supports you fully, you can act in secret.”

Steward Zhao nodded so hard his head was about to fall off. “Yes, yes, it would be a piece of cake.”

He Lingchuan glanced at him. “Lord Gan is dead. Who’s in charge now?”

“There’s still the Old Madame!” Steward Zhao said instantly. “Our Old Madame is terrifyingly capable! She runs everything inside and out. She’ll absolutely support Young Master He with everything she has.”

Dong Rui had been listening. Since it did not sound like he would have to take personal risks, he had no objection.

He was turning things over in his mind when Zhu Erniang suddenly addressed him, “I still require your medicines, or your modifications. If you can accomplish it, I will gift you another secret treasure.” She lowered her voice and spoke a few words to Dong Rui.

Dong Rui’s face showed surprise, then clear temptation.

He had no loyalty to Beijia. Not long ago, he had even been a wanted criminal in the northern monster state. If rare materials from State Preceptor Shuang Ye could tempt him, then Zhu Erniang’s hidden treasures certainly could as well.

An old monster who had lived for thousands of years—of course, she had a bottomless stash. Enough to give and still keep giving.

“Poison dragon saliva is still indispensable,” Dong Rui said seriously. “And even if the modification succeeds, the process will be extremely painful.”

Zhu Erniang did not care.

At her age and cultivation level, every forced molt was agony on the level of being flayed and having marrow pulled out, yet she had endured it anyway.

To live, and to live well, you must pay a price.

“Then it’s settled.” Having secured Dong Rui, Zhu Erniang turned her full persuasion on He Lingchuan. “I can grant you a portion of a divine technique, something that can save your life, a true trump card.”

He Lingchuan’s resistance finally loosened. “Even if I find your... treasure, it’s probably huge. How am I supposed to bring it back to you?”

His mind was already racing.

This trip to Mount Xu would be for himself, for the divine bone amulet and, incidentally, for Zhu Erniang as well.

However, Zhu Erniang did not know that, so she still had to pay up.

And since the caravan was present, Zhu Erniang did not explicitly name the “molted shell.” She no longer trusted these humans.

“When the time comes, just blow this with all your strength.” She actually spat something out and gave it to him. “You don’t need to worry about anything else.”

“Don’t worry about anything else? That easy?” He Lingchuan washed off the spider saliva in the swamp first, then examined the new item.

It was shaped like an egg, a goose-egg shape, but it was nearly twice as large. The rounded body had eight holes, and the top seemed to have a mouthpiece.

Is it... an instrument?

“How do I blow it?” He Lingchuan turned it in his hands. “Do I need to play an actual tune for it to work?”

“This xun[1] can be blown however you like in normal times, and nothing will happen, but when you find the treasure, you must uncover the last hole on the back and blow with that exposed.”

This is a xun?

He Lingchuan flipped it over and finally saw it clearly. It was a nine-hole instrument. At the moment, however, the last hole had been sealed shut, hidden from view.

1. The xun is a globular, vessel flute from China. It is one of the oldest musical instruments in China and has been in use for approximately 7,000 years. The xun was initially made of stone, baked clay, or bone, and later of clay or ceramic; sometimes the instrument is made with bamboo. When it comes to playing the xun, you typically just blow over an open hole on the piece. ☜