Monster
When Yan Jue had read *Illustrations of the Hundred Beasts* before, she had come across a kind of insect that lived in streams, called a shooting-work insect.
On the surface, it looked to have extremely low cultivation, but in truth it hid vicious tricks.
It couldn’t cause intruders any real physical harm, but it would spit water to attack their shadows.
Yes—the shadow.
If an intruder’s shadow was struck in sequence by water droplets from this demonic insect, following a certain divinatory pattern, the stream water mixed with the insects’ saliva would form a small soul-snaring array around the intruder.
It would leave the victim dizzy as if cursed, unable to see.
And once they fell to the ground, the insects would use their sharp teeth to tear them open.
Now, looking at the two sisters sprawled on the ground, Yan Jue once again felt the wonder of this world.
There was no time to think. She quickly summoned the glazed bottle from her Qiankun bag; in the sunlight, it burst with a dazzling green glow, and the stopper was instantly blown off!
Dozens of ghostfire fireflies gushed out, beating their wings as they flew in wild, seemingly random patterns through the sky.
Yan Jue silently recited a mental incantation. With a casual sweep of her left hand, the ghostfire fireflies seemed to understand her intention at once and arranged themselves overhead into the most basic Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation.
Faint currents of electricity crackled through the air.
Lightning from the Big Dipper Seven Stars Formation struck down from above. Countless waves splashed up from the water’s surface; one could see thin silver snakes of lightning skimming across the stream. A few black shooting-work insects near Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan let out shrill, miserable cries, and within seconds their bellies had flipped upward.
Dead.
Du Ying stared blankly for a long moment, then hurried over to help Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan up. Only after she had carried them several zhang away from the stream and sat them down did she finally relax.
Du Ying: “Damn! Yan Jue, how are you this capable? You said there was danger, and there really was danger in that stream.”
“Where did you get so many ghostfire fireflies? Wait, I remember you asked me about ghostfire fireflies last time, didn’t you? Don’t tell me you caught them back then already?”
“……”
A stick of incense later—that is, after Yan Jue gave Du Ying a brief explanation of the shooting-work insect she had seen in the Library Pavilion—Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan finally shook off their brief dizziness.
Ji Guiyan opened her eyes and saw Yan Jue sitting in the shade of a tree in an old blue-gray Daoist robe with narrow sleeves and tied leggings, idly fiddling with the Qiankun bag in her hands.
In the sunlight, the girl’s jet-black hair was loosely pinned up with a plain hairpin, the rest falling over her shoulders and shoulder blades. Her lips were red, her teeth white; around her neck gleamed a bright gold collar. Her eyes were as dark as ink, clear and bright.
Ji Guiyan was somehow stunned by the sight. A sharp pain throbbed at her temples, and she hurriedly held her forehead. “What happened to us… I remember we were going into the stream to pick Spirit Stones just now. The… the Spirit Stones?”
Du Ying quickly went over to steady her. “Senior Sister, be careful. You two were trapped too deeply in the soul-snaring array. You’d better rest where you are for another cup of tea before you stand up.”
That was what Yan Jue had told her to say just now.
Lin Xi also opened her eyes, pressing a hand to her forehead, her brows faintly furrowed.
By now, Yan Jue had completely figured out how deep these two senior sisters actually were.
As one of the six great immortal sects, the Five Dragons Sect naturally had excellent cultivation resources.
Because of that, many inner disciples could reach the Late Illumination Stage without ever going down the mountain to train.
For most disciples, their understanding of the dangers of the cultivation world came only from books.
For example, this Senior Sister Lin Xi from the Jingang Sect, despite her high cultivation, was in fact only sixteen or seventeen.
Disciples like Qi Xianqing, who had gone down the mountain repeatedly to train even before reaching the Late Illumination Stage, were truly rare.
“……”
After resting briefly, Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan stood up and continued on their way.
Lin Xi looked at Du Ying, seeming as if she wanted to speak but hesitated. “Junior Sister Du.”
Du Ying blinked. “Mm-hmm, Senior Sister? What is it?”
Lin Xi: “Thank you for saving us just now, Junior Sister Du.”
Du Ying: “This…”
She looked helplessly at Yan Jue. She knew very well that the one who had saved them just now was Yan Jue, but Yan Jue didn’t want her to say so.
She felt guilty for taking credit for that favor.
Du Ying laughed awkwardly. “Haha, it’s nothing. We’ll have to trouble Senior Sister to look after us along the way.”
Lin Xi was embarrassed. “Although I’ve already reached great completion of the Late Illumination Stage, I only broke through recently, so my spiritual energy is still unstable. Besides, I haven’t often gone down the mountain…”
Ji Guiyan: “I only recently broke through into the Illumination realm. This is only my second beginner mission. Thank you, Senior Sister Du.”
The suddenly promoted Du Ying: “……”
“What was that thing just now? So fierce. I only felt my vision go black once I got into the stream.”
“Thankfully, Junior Sister Du helped us, or we really would have drowned in that stream today.”
The two of them thanked Du Ying profusely, and neither gave Yan Jue another glance.
Everyone knew she was only a tiny cultivator at the Foundation Establishment Realm. If she hadn’t been attacked by the black insects, it might simply have been because she wasn’t greedy and had no interest in the Spirit Stones in the stream.
Since she hadn’t gone near the stream, of course she was fine.
For someone like that, not causing trouble was already a blessing.
Time was short, so the group quickened their pace.
Emptiness Mountain was perilous, and the mission deadline was only one day. There was no doubt they couldn’t stay here overnight; they had to gather all the lingzhi before dark.
The ancient trees in the forest blocked out the sky, and damp mist hung everywhere.
The light was dim.
Yan Jue was keeping an eye out for Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi when she suddenly heard Ji Guiyan shout nearby, “Look over there!”
Yan Jue followed her gaze and saw that in the crack between two rocks ahead, a tiny lingzhi was actually growing there.
The cap was uneven, faintly shaped like a house!
A rare mid-grade lingzhi!
Ji Guiyan happily ran over, drew the dagger from her bosom, cut off the mid-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, and placed it in the small bamboo basket used to collect lingzhi.
There were already more than ten middle- and lower-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi in the basket. If nothing unexpected happened, they would definitely find the twenty required by the mission before nightfall.
Yan Jue couldn’t help sighing inwardly. This mission seemed much easier than the last one. Maybe the reason the last mission had felt so difficult was that she had been with Qi Xianqing. Qi Xianqing’s protagonist halo was just too powerful, and it had dragged the mission difficulty up with it.
As she was thinking, she suddenly saw Lin Xi glance at her lightly.
Yan Jue politely lifted the corners of her mouth.
Lin Xi said coolly, “In this mission, you’re the one who’s contributed the least.”
“If you’re still like this when the mission ends, I’ll deduct your score.”
“……”
Yan Jue met her gaze and really couldn’t help rolling her eyes.
Yan Jue wasn’t the sort of person who liked to cause trouble, but she wasn’t easygoing either. She shot back, sharply enough to sting: “At least I didn’t cause trouble for the team and nearly die by falling into the stream.”
That sentence made Lin Xi furious.
Why did Chu Fu like a woman like this?
Because she was sharp-tongued and clever?
Lin Xi had to admit she couldn’t outtalk her.
Looking at Yan Jue, her disgust only deepened.
They were already on a trial down the mountain, which was difficult enough as it was, yet there were always some people in the group trying to get something for nothing, doing nothing and still expecting the results.
She truly hated that kind of person.
If not for Junior Sister Du having saved her life just now, she would have wanted to drive Yan Jue out of the team on the spot!
As Lin Xi was thinking, she suddenly heard Ji Guiyan cry out ahead, “Senior Sister, look!”
Lin Xi raised a brow and followed Ji Guiyan’s gaze. In the grass ahead, she saw a patch of white that had appeared at some point.
It was actually… a very cute rabbit!
A girl of this age couldn’t refuse a cute little rabbit at all.
The rabbit in the middle of the grass was pure white, and faint silver-blue markings could be seen on its forehead. Its gentle apricot-colored eyes looked steadily over, and its triangular nose twitched slightly.
This forest was already rich in spiritual energy, so demonic beasts naturally gathered here. No one knew whether this cute little rabbit was some kind of spirit beast.
Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan had the same thought: they wanted to catch the rabbit and take it back as a spirit pet.
Ji Guiyan frowned. “It looks injured!”
Only then did Yan Jue notice that one of the rabbit’s hind legs was bright red, blood marks faintly visible. It lay on the ground, seemingly unable to move.
Ji Guiyan: “Who has healing medicine?”
Lin Xi: “I do.”
She took a bottle of healing medicine from her Qiankun bag and handed it to Ji Guiyan.
Ji Guiyan leaped lightly and landed steadily in front of the little rabbit. The rabbit’s eyes suddenly widened. Seeing her approach, it seemed frightened and tried to shrink back.
Ji Guiyan: “Don’t be afraid. I’m here to save you.”
She took hold of the rabbit’s hind leg, quickly smeared the pale green healing medicine over the wound, then gathered the little rabbit into her arms.
The rabbit narrowed its eyes and rubbed its fluffy head against Ji Guiyan’s body.
Ji Guiyan turned back. “Senior Sister, let’s go.”
Yan Jue looked at the scene, her gaze falling on the snow-white little spirit rabbit in Ji Guiyan’s arms, and suddenly frowned.
They were already at the outer edge of the forest, close to the middle zone.
This forest was full of spiritual energy, and the middle zone was especially packed with demonic beasts.
A harmless little white rabbit like this would at most wander around the outer edge; by rights, it shouldn’t have run into the dangerous middle zone.
Lin Xi sighed helplessly. “You really are something. The moment you see a cute little animal, you want to keep it. Don’t you think about how we still have to gather Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi later? Where are you going to hold it?”
Ji Guiyan stuck out her tongue. “I’ll just hold it. Anyway, I’ve basically finished my mission today. I’ve already picked seven plants, so let someone else do the rest.”
Before she could finish speaking, she suddenly let out a shrill scream. The little white rabbit in her arms was startled; its hind leg kicked hard, and it immediately broke free from her embrace, darting away at lightning speed.
Ji Guiyan stared, then looked up in disbelief.
A giant serpent was hanging from the tree branch above her head at some point, its snake head only a sheet of paper’s distance from her.
It smiled as it opened its mouth, and its forked tongue touched her face.
The giant serpent’s scales were a dull yellow, hanging from the branch. Its body was the same color as the vines on the forest trees, which was why the group hadn’t noticed it just now.
And this giant serpent actually had a pale human face.
It held its head high, a pair of golden vertical pupils staring greedily at her, while a blood-red forked tongue trembled out from those colorless lips.
The air was thick with the smell of blood, and on Ji Guiyan’s arm, blood had already soaked through her sleeve! Two hideous bloody punctures were gradually widening.
Ji Guiyan’s eyes flew wide open. “Ah!!”
The piercing scream echoed through the forest canopy. Half-hanging in the air, the serpent suddenly lunged from the branch. The skin of its face split open all at once, revealing a ghastly blood-filled maw as it went straight for Ji Guiyan’s throat!
“Boom——”
A deafening explosion rang out all around. A sleeve arrow shot out in an instant; infused with the force of flames, it came with overwhelming momentum, bursting in midair into fireworks two zhang high. In the blink of an eye, it blasted the serpent’s head off!
The smell of blood grew even stronger, and scarlet blood splattered all over Ji Guiyan!
A shining sleeve arrow was deeply embedded in the tree behind them.
Ji Guiyan clapped a hand over her mouth uncontrollably, her arm trembling slightly.
Lin Xi turned sharply. There she saw Yan Jue and Du Ying standing side by side behind her, their expressions extremely strange.
Lin Xi asked sharply, “Who fired the sleeve arrow!”
After a few breaths, Du Ying weakly raised her hand. “I did…”
The serpent, whose whole body was the color of dead leaves, had its head blasted several zhang away. The remaining half of its body hung from the branch like a broken rope, and from the shattered head, a faint black haze seemed to rise.
A trace of suspicion flashed through Lin Xi’s eyes. She nodded at Du Ying and asked, “Junior Sister is a member of Kongqing Prefecture and well read. May I ask what kind of snake this is?”
All around them were dried-out vines; this snake seemed extremely good at camouflage, blending in with them perfectly.
Du Ying pulled at the stiff corners of her mouth. “This is a dead-silk snake. As its name suggests, it usually hangs motionless on the trunks of trees in the forest with the richest spiritual energy, just like a withered vine. But the moment prey comes close, it seizes the chance to ambush them.”
Lin Xi frowned. “Dead-silk snake?”
She summoned a small booklet into her right hand, and with her fingertip she lightly traced the air; writing rippled open across the page.
Yan Jue: “……”
She’s actually taking notes. This senior sister is rather humble and eager to learn.
Du Ying continued, “Also, the dead-silk snake… has highly toxic venom…”
Before she could finish, a dead silence fell over the surroundings.
Ji Guiyan suddenly cried out, “Senior Sister Lin! Senior Sister Lin!”
Lin Xi frowned slightly.
On Ji Guiyan’s arm, around the two bloody, skull-like punctures left by the snake bite, a layer of black had somehow spread. Fine cracks had also appeared on her skin, looking especially eerie around the wound.
That blackness was gradually spreading, already covering the entire arm, and it seemed to be slowly crawling upward!
She had been poisoned!
Ji Guiyan gritted her teeth and trembled. “Senior Sister… I can’t lift my hand anymore!”
Lin Xi quickly rummaged through her Qiankun bag. Since they were traveling deep in the mountains and woods, she had brought a full supply of medicines, and soon took out a bottle of antidote pills. “This is Five-Voices Powder. Take three pills quickly.”
Ji Guiyan let her poisoned left arm hang down, and with her right hand she swiftly tipped three pills from the bottle, tilted her neck back to swallow them, then sat cross-legged to circulate her energy and regulate her breath.
About a cup of tea later, not only had the poison on her arm failed to retreat, it seemed to be growing even fiercer!
The ghastly black markings kept spreading upward along her arm.
Ji Guiyan’s face turned green. Her body went limp and she collapsed onto the ground.
Perhaps because it had smelled the blood on her body, many green caterpillars suddenly emerged from the ground. Ji Guiyan no longer even had the strength to scream; her face went white in an instant.
Emptiness Mountain was called Emptiness Mountain because it was so remote that it was utterly devoid of people.
And yet this forest was full of dangers everywhere!
Lin Xi stepped forward, conjuring a golden protective barrier to keep those green caterpillars—whatever they were—out. Then she suddenly looked up at Du Ying. “Junior Sister Du, since you know this snake’s origin, do you know how to cure its poison?”
This was truly outside Du Ying’s knowledge.
She smiled awkwardly, then glanced at Yan Jue behind her from the corner of her eye.
Yan Jue raised a hand into a fist and quietly mouthed to Du Ying, “It should be…”
Lin Xi was already a Late Illumination Stage cultivator, and her hearing was exceptionally sharp. She had long since heard Yan Jue whispering behind her, and in an instant she nearly exploded. “Fellow Daoist Yan Jue!”
Yan Jue: “Huh? What is it?”
Lin Xi glared at her. “That sleeve arrow just now—was it fired by you?”
The air then fell into a deathly silence.
Lin Xi: “If you’re only at the Foundation Establishment Realm, there’s no way you could control a sleeve arrow with such great power.”
Yan Jue laughed. “To tell the truth, I had this sleeve arrow refined by a friend, and it really does have that kind of power.”
Lin Xi couldn’t argue with her and could only look at her darkly. “May I ask how this poison can be cured? Please.”
At the mention of detoxification, Yan Jue glanced at the poison on Ji Guiyan’s arm, which was rapidly worsening, and her expression turned slightly stern.
For the past two months she had been practically living in the Library Pavilion, so she had some understanding of dead-silk snakes.
Dead-silk snakes were among the most poisonous snakes in the world. If one was accidentally bitten, the only thing to do was wait for the black poison to spread throughout the body; once that happened, the poisoned person would become a subordinate of the snake demon.
But it wasn’t without a cure.
Because… the snake had already been killed by her.
Ji Guiyan lay on the ground, her face deathly pale.
She had heard her master talk about poison before; although she had never experienced it herself, she could already feel the world before her eyes gradually going dark. Knowing that this poison was no small matter, she couldn’t help but start crying.
Yan Jue stepped forward. “Actually, curing this poison is very simple.”
Ji Guiyan: “You’re talking nonsense! I can see for myself how vicious this poison is; how could it be simple!”
Yan Jue: “To cure poison, you can only fight poison with poison.” She drew the large iron sword standard issue for outer disciples of the Watercloud Sect from behind her back, hooked the snake corpse out of the tree, and threw it to the ground.
“Dead-silk snake venom is formidable, but its flesh has a strong ability to absorb poison. If Senior Sister wants to cure the poison, you have to swallow the dead-silk snake flesh raw.”
Yan Jue said this very seriously. Since she had already been exposed, she was too lazy to keep pretending.
These two senior sisters were not bad people either; they were just poor fools blinded by the male lead’s protagonist halo.
That little rabbit just now was probably only bait planted there by the snake demon, which had already developed some intelligence.
After absorbing spiritual energy, the snake was naturally a little smarter than the ones outside.
The little rabbit was so cute. If Yan Jue hadn’t read the relevant books, she might have gone up to pet it too.
It wasn’t their fault.
Yan Jue planted the sword in the ground, then cut the snake corpse on the floor into three sections. She handed one section over and wrapped another in paper to put into her Qiankun bag.
In a cultivation world this dangerous, of course the more materials one could collect, the better.
As for this snake meat… turning it into pills when she got back should also have a decent effect.
Yan Jue suddenly noticed something and paused slightly.
Damn. Her Qiankun bag had already been squeezed to its limit; it couldn’t fit anything else.
As a cannon fodder, she naturally couldn’t use anything too good, and even her Qiankun bag was the most basic type; its capacity was at most equivalent to a sack…
Before, she hadn’t had many belongings, so she hadn’t noticed at all. But now it was awkward.
Yan Jue hesitated only for a moment before taking the iron sword out of her Qiankun bag and tying it to her back, so she could barely manage to stuff in the snake meat.
……
The bloody snake meat lay on the ground, and the smell of blood hung thick in the air.
Ji Guiyan looked at Yan Jue with a green face. “Just now we treated you like that… you’re not trying to trick us, are you?”
Yan Jue shrugged. She wasn’t the sort of person who held grudges. Although these two senior sisters really hadn’t treated her well, she was still not so petty as to want to see them die.
It was just that…
With the scene so chaotic, Yan Jue couldn’t help imagining whether something like this would have happened if Qi Xianqing were here.
Sure enough, when going down the mountain to train, one had to choose the right senior brother or sister.
The black mist on Ji Guiyan’s skin had already spread to her shoulders. If it reached her brain, even the immortals wouldn’t be able to save her. So Ji Guiyan could only reluctantly believe Yan Jue, forcing down her nausea and slowly eating the snake meat before beginning to regulate her breath in meditation.
If she found out Yan Jue had lied to her… Ji Guiyan had to clench her fists hard just to keep from vomiting.
After the Heart-Calming Mantra circulated through one full cycle, the black marks on Ji Guiyan’s arm actually began to fade little by little.
She looked at her restored fair hand, unable to quite believe it.
Lin Xi looked at Yan Jue as well, her expression somewhat strange.
Lin Xi: “Fellow Daoist Yan, you…”
“I often go to the Library Pavilion,” Yan Jue said. “I’ve read related books.” Then she added, “There are still two hours before dark, so please hurry, Senior Sister.”
During the next hour, Lin Xi and Ji Guiyan no longer dared to be distracted by strange things around them. Whenever they spotted a Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi with a distinctive cap, they would immediately squat down and cut it off with a dagger.
Yan Jue searched the surroundings with full concentration. Near a large tree, she saw a very pretty Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi shaped like a house; the little house on the cap was at least two stories high, and it was quite rare.
Yan Jue crouched down, cut the root of the lingzhi with her dagger, tossed it into the bamboo basket, and glanced at the basket on the way.
After roughly three hours of work, the bamboo basket was basically full of Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi.
There were quite a few with caps shaped like carriages and horses, and many shaped like houses as well.
But the rare top-grade lingzhi, the legendary supreme Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi said to be able to raise the dead and regrow flesh over bones, had not appeared.
It was nearly dusk, and everyone was gradually growing tired.
At some point, the group had already left the forest and was walking along the mountain path.
Lin Xi had the highest cultivation among them, so she carried the heavy basket full of Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi.
If nothing unexpected happened, the mission was complete.
Because ordinary Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi generally grew on the outer edge of Emptiness Mountain, the mission difficulty was not very high.
After assessment, the Administrative Hall had judged that this was a one-day round trip, which was very reasonable.
The sun was setting, its light draping over the lush forest.
The group had left the forest and slowly made their way down the mountain road. After walking for a stretch, Lin Xi only felt the lingzhi in her hand growing heavier and heavier, and fine sweat began to appear on her forehead, so she set the basket on the ground to rest.
The scenery around them was beautiful; Emptiness Mountain had a wildness that Five Dragons Mountain lacked.
Suddenly, Lin Xi saw something and froze slightly.
Ji Guiyan asked, “Senior Sister, what is it?”
Lin Xi paused, then raised a hand and pointed toward the opposite cliff. “Look over there.”
Yan Jue followed Lin Xi’s gaze and couldn’t help freezing.
Far away on the cliff face, a Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi was quietly blooming.
The dark red sunset spilled over it, turning it a brilliant gold.
On the lingzhi’s cap, the pattern looked like flames, or perhaps a phoenix.
Ji Guiyan froze, then spoke so excitedly she could barely get the words out. “It’s… it’s actually a supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi.”
“Senior Sister! Can you fly over there on your sword to get it?” Ji Guiyan had only just asked when she suddenly realized she might have asked something rather unreasonable.
Emptiness Mountain was a cultivation ground set aside by the six great immortal sects. To prevent the resources there from being endlessly harvested by cultivators, the six sects had laid down extremely strict prohibitions throughout the mountain.
Once a cultivator entered Emptiness Mountain, they could not fly on a sword.
Ji Guiyan pursed her lips. “Does anyone here know lightness skill?”
Lightness skill was part of martial cultivation techniques, belonging to body cultivators.
Because most disciples of the Five Dragons Mountain were sword cultivators and could fly on swords after reaching the Illumination realm, there were very few who specialized in lightness skill.
Lin Xi shook her head.
That supreme-grade divine lingzhi bloomed on the cliff; for a cultivator, it was undoubtedly a tremendous temptation.
But beneath that cliff was a bottomless abyss. If they rushed over recklessly just for one supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, it would be far too dangerous.
Yan Jue frowned as she stared at it for a long while, roughly estimating the distance between the cliff walls; her pupils shrank slightly.
The Five Dragons light-step footwork Qi Xianqing had taught her was… was…
Deep in Emptiness Mountain, one could faintly hear the murmur of running water.
Yan Jue’s ears twitched slightly, and she suddenly heard the faintest sound of footsteps scraping against the ground.
Ji Guiyan: “What a pity. If we could get that supreme-grade Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi, it would count as a bonus; who knows how many extra rewards we could get from this mission.”
Lin Xi: “It’s too dangerous. Better not be greedy—”
The two were still talking when Yan Jue abruptly turned her head and saw something covered all over in long bristles crouching behind them at some point.
As if sensing her gaze, the monster hugged the bamboo basket and turned its head.
Yan Jue’s pupils abruptly contracted. That bristly mass was just like the giant serpent from before; it had a human face!
The bamboo basket was empty. The twenty Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi they had finally managed to collect were nowhere to be seen.
The monster looked at Yan Jue, and that eerily human pale face slowly twisted. It licked the corner of its mouth smeared with Thousand-Crest Divine Lingzhi juice, revealing a satisfied smile.