Where Immortals Once Walked

Days of heavy rain had left the outskirts of Lingxu City damp and humid, making it easier for the snail toad to traverse.

Their next stop: Bluestone Town in Lingxu City’s southern outskirts. That was where they had set out from tonight, and He Lingchuan had not even checked out of his room yet.

While they traveled underground, He Lingchuan took the mirror from his chest and shone it over all three of them.

“What are you doing?”

“Checking whether any tracking-type divine techniques have been planted on us.” He Lingchuan examined them very carefully. “Our opponents tonight were all far from ordinary, and they have all sorts of methods. It’s better to be cautious.”

He checked three full times. The two men, one spider, and even the bat monster puppet were all clean.

Only then did He Lingchuan let out a breath. He sat down, took out the xun, and said to Zhu Erniang, “How can you keep going for so long?”

Zhu Erniang tucked all eight legs beneath her body and crouched there comfortably. “What do you mean?”

“Last time in Demon Nest Swamp, you wore a smaller molt and fought King Si Wen and Mountain Monarch Bo for a total of six hours. After returning to the spider nest, you immediately shed the molt. From that, it’s clear that you can’t wear your molts for that long.” He Lingchuan kept sizing up her body. “This immortal molt of yours should be an even greater burden for you, right? Why aren’t you in a hurry to take it off after wearing it for this long?”

Last time, Zhu Erniang had been in such a rush to shed her molt that He Lingchuan had found an opening to exploit. Why was she fine now?

“Take it off in front of you?” Several of Zhu Erniang’s eyes turned toward him at once, her voice eerie. “Do you think I would make the same mistake twice?”

She was at her weakest when shedding her molt. Last time, He Lingchuan had tricked her. This time, she would not make the same mistake again.

She was not targeting He Lingchuan specifically. She simply did not want to give anyone a chance!

He Lingchuan could not help but touch his nose. He pointed at the sky and swore, “I absolutely have no such intention. Lady Two, you’ve wronged me! We’re teammates in the same boat now. If I hurt you, wouldn’t I be hurting myself?”

Zhu Erniang gave a rough little laugh and did not believe a word of it. “Look, didn’t I carry out your commission seriously and complete it perfectly?”

Zhu Erniang gave him a sidelong glance. “What are you trying to say?” She did not think this boy looked like he was about to turn hostile immediately.

“I’m just curious—” He Lingchuan stroked his chin and looked at her. “Are you really Zhu Erniang?”

Dong Rui immediately turned his head. “What did you say? She isn’t Zhu Erniang?” Is there a second spider monster this fierce under heaven? Moreover, she could wear the immortal molt and fight in it... Aside from Zhu Erniang, who else could wear this thing?

He Lingchuan shook the xun in his hand. “Even if Zhu Erniang hid a portion of her soul in here, is controlling an immortal molt so freely something an incomplete soul can do?”

Body and soul had to match. That was one of the basic principles of cultivation in the mortal realm.

One of the most important reasons the heavenly gods could not remain in the mortal realm for long was that human skin-sacks were too fragile and could not match the souls of such strength.

But conversely, a weak soul also could not drive an immortal body.

Furthermore, when Zhu Erniang had assigned him the task in Demon Nest Swamp, she had been very clear about one point: if He Lingchuan could find her immortal molt, what came next would very likely be a life-and-death battle. If she could not unleash the molt’s power, even only a portion of it, then this trip would have been better left unmade.

So no matter how one looked at it, the matter was very strange.

Zhu Erniang yawned. “You’re rather sharp. Fine, I’m not Zhu Erniang.”

She admitted it so calmly that Dong Rui could not help but shiver. He patted the snail toad, signaling it to be on guard. “Who are you?”

If her answer were the least bit wrong, the snail toad would throw her out.

“Isn’t the answer obvious?” Zhu Erniang raised a front claw and pointed at the object in He Lingchuan’s hand.

He Lingchuan did not seem very surprised either. “Zhu Daniang.” Well, the xun is called Zhu Daniang’s Eye Socket, after all.

Zhu Erniang had also named the venom-fang dagger she gave him “Zhu Erniang’s Kiss.” Based on her naming habits, this xun should be Zhu Daniang’s relic.

“Yes.” Zhu Erniang—no, now she should be called Zhu Daniang—said faintly, “I perished in the Ancient Era; Second Sister let me lodge inside her body so that I could be nourished by flesh and blood and avoid disappearing. But I usually sleep and only wake when she summons me.”

Lodge inside her? Two souls in one body? He Lingchuan gave her a thumbs-up. “You sisters really know how to play. Something like that’s actually possible?”

“After I perished, Second Sister ate my body so that it wouldn’t go to waste.” Zhu Daniang spoke of this as though it were perfectly natural. “I paid compensation, and she let me stay. Besides, the two of us came from the same egg. When our cultivation reached its later stages, our minds could sense each other, and we were almost one body.” She paused before adding, “But after undergoing several molts, one after another, she grew weaker and weaker, and is nearly unable to support my soul and spirit anymore, so I had to come out and take this risk with you.”

If Zhu Erniang still had strength to spare, she could nourish her elder sister’s soul and spirit. But once she could barely protect herself, Zhu Daniang would either have to find her own way out or be devoured by her younger sister.

The world of spider monsters was simply that realistic.

“How long can you wear this immortal molt?” That was He Lingchuan’s main concern. “Don’t tell me you’ll have to take it off by tomorrow morning. The snail toad can’t carry something this large!”

Once the immortal molt had no owner, it would automatically return to its original size, which was a giant spider more than thirteen meters tall.

This kind of single-piece aberrant creature could not be stored inside the mud palace.

He Lingchuan’s storage ring did not have that much space either.

If they were still within Beijia’s borders, transporting the immortal husk would be a major problem.

Zhu Daniang smiled. “Don’t worry. We thought of that long ago. If I enter dormancy, I can remain inside the immortal husk for at least half a month or so.”

He Lingchuan relaxed. “That’s good.”

He did not ask how Zhu Daniang could maintain it. That concerned a core secret, and the other party would definitely not reveal it.

Though he had retrieved the immortal molt for the spider monsters and completed the mission beautifully, the two sides had, in the end, still been facing off only a few months ago. Their relationship was not so good that they could tell each other everything.

Of course, they now had a common goal: escaping Beijia smoothly.

Before long, the snail toad reached Bluestone Town and surfaced in a remote, empty place.

They had just returned to the inn when the large parrot Uncle Ling immediately flew in through the window, flapped its wings, and said,

“Well done. I flew up into the sky twice just now and saw the fireworks to the north!”

By “fireworks,” it meant the volcanic eruptions on Tianshu Peak.

Its voice was full of delight.

“Master says that since you accomplished this matter, from now on, you are a reliable comrade-in-arms of ours.” The parrot handed over a note and an iron thumb ring. “There are many people you can make use of. Their addresses and passwords or passphrases are written on the note, while the ring is the token.”

He Lingchuan accepted them and said, “What if I hadn’t accomplished it?”

The parrot cackled twice. “If you hadn’t, then you hadn’t. In the past several hundred years, who ever has?”

“Old Fang is very thoughtful. He knows exactly what I need most right now.” He Lingchuan read the note several times, memorized it, then ignited a wisp of true fire and burned it to ash.

He understood clearly in his heart that if the Mount Xu Plan had not succeeded, what the parrot took out might not necessarily have been a note and a thumb ring.

“Lingxu City is in complete chaos. Is Old Fang alright?”

The parrot shook its head. “No need to worry. He made preparations long ago.”

He Lingchuan had seen Fang Canran’s ability to hide in plain sight. Since Fang Canran was confident, He Lingchuan did not need to worry on his behalf.

After this incident, He Lingchuan could truly appreciate Fang Canran’s ruthlessness and hatred, his bone-deep hatred for Lingxu City. He Lingchuan then asked, “Is he still going to stay in Lingxu City?”

The parrot did not answer. Instead, it simply said, “Until we meet again,” then flapped its wings and flew off.

Making contact with He Lingchuan right now was very likely the most dangerous task in all of Lingxu City. It was naturally unwilling to linger around him for even a moment longer.

The chaos in Lingxu City had not yet had time to spread here. He Lingchuan and Dong Rui checked out normally, led the cliff ram, brought along the little squirrel Little Qiao, then went to a remote place and released the snail toad before plunging into the earth.

This little creature knew far too many of his secrets. He Lingchuan had “consulted” Little Qiao’s opinion, and the squirrel had expressed willingness to take a long-term, stable job under him. Naturally, the pay would be generous.

They did not even intend to spend the night in Bluestone Town. At present, the urgent priority was to get as far away from Lingxu City as possible.

After traveling several dozen kilometers west, the snail toad reported to Dong Rui that it was tired.

For the sake of He Lingchuan’s Mount Xu Plan, it had been busy for the past two days.

This big fellow could appear and vanish like a ghost on rainy days, but it disliked long journeys.

Dong Rui immediately felt distressed and demanded a break. Even if it were a horse, it would still need water and grass after traveling for a while.

Only then did everyone return to the surface. They saw nothing but wasteland and wild ridges all around. It was dark, and there were no signs of human activity. Only the mountain wind swept over the slopes, accompanied by the cawing of crows.

As it happened, this was the ideal resting place for them right now.

They found a cave with several large trees outside it, covering the entrance tightly. That way, even if birds flew overhead, they would not necessarily see what was happening inside.

The two men lit a campfire, boiled a little water, and ate some dry rations.

After a thrilling night, a few mouthfuls of hot water and a few pieces of beef jerky in the stomach made a person feel alive again.

Dong Rui let out a long breath, leaned against the cave wall, and wiped his forehead. “Before this, I never knew hot water could taste so good!”

“What a weakling!” Zhu Daniang sneered. “You only walked around outside Mount Xu. You didn’t even go in.”

Murder, arson, and instigating fights—those had all been done by her and He Lingchuan.

At most, he had been a driver, operating an unconventional mount.

“Going against Lingxu City isn’t a blessing everyone can handle.” Dong Rui knew his task had not been heavy, but the psychological pressure this work had brought was immense.

The most outrageous thing he had ever done was merely capturing the child of a high official of Lingxu City and turning the child into a monster puppet.

But this man and spider before him? They had directly dug up the heavenly gods’ roots in the mortal realm and offended Lingxu City to death.

When it came to causing trouble, he really was not even worthy of carrying He Lingchuan’s shoes.

He glared at He Lingchuan. “What treasure did you steal from the Heavenly Palace?”

“How can taking back my own thing count as stealing?” He Lingchuan glanced at Zhu Daniang. “Just like how they took back their own immortal molt.”

“How old are you? What could the Heavenly Palace have stolen from you?”

He Lingchuan smiled without answering.

Dong Rui knew that when he put on that dead expression, he did not intend to explain. He immediately snorted, found a dry corner, spread out a mattress, and lay down.

He urgently needed sleep.

He Lingchuan, however, took out three oval stone eggs and handed them to him. “These are for you.”