As the evening progressed, the mood at the shore became increasingly bleak. Cheng Qian pulled his clothes tighter. He glanced at Han Yuan, who shivered with cold because of only wearing an outer robe, and felt that the other boy deserved it.

The moment that thought came to Cheng Qian, Yan Zhengming had already shared the same sentiment out loud.

Yan Zhengming folded his arms in front of his chest, staring at Han Yuan with a severe expression. He had already thrown his sumptuous sword away and planned to kick it into the pond as soon as their master returned safely—that was a sword which had not only poked a toad, but had also killed mice.

Yan Zhengming said coldly, “It hasn’t even been a month since your initiation, yet you dared to go to the valley. Seems you’re going to crumble the Fuyao Mountain to dust in the future? You might as well be roasted and eaten by those mice!”

Hearing this reproach, Han Yuan, who had been beaten black and blue, slightly changed his countenance and was about to scowl. However, upon properly reflecting, his embitterment instantly died out as he remembered that his senior brothers had taken such risk to save him. He hung his head listlessly, preparing for the coming rebuke.

Unexpectedly, Li Yun cut in when first senior brother was just about to reprimand Han Yuan from head to toe. He said softly, “First Senior Brother, it’s my fault. I’m the one who made little junior brother intrude into the back mountain. I didn’t know it was connected to the Demon Valley.”

His words stunned everyone.

Although Han Yuan was kind of a stupid person who was always wheeling and dealing, he wasn’t actually senseless. He did hate Li Yun upon getting captured and nearly eaten by the mice spirits, but this hatred died away when he saw Li Yun come to his rescue bare-handed.

Now that Li Yun candidly acknowledged his mistake, the last bit of grudge in Han Yuan’s heart passed away like a breath of wind.

The little beggar bent his head shyly. “Not at all. No one forced me to go there. Besides, senior brothers saved me.”

“No… In fact, I didn’t.” Li Yun seemed to have gotten set off; those words that had once been difficult for him to bring up now poured out like water rushing out of a floodgate. “I was terribly scared when I discovered what laid in the valley, and if it weren’t for first senior brother and third junior brother I would have already attempted to retreat…”

Hearing that, Cheng Qian somehow found Li Yun sort of cute. Though they were all disorderly and exhausted, never before had they felt so calm, nor shared such a harmonious atmosphere. Cheng Qian smiled. “Who wouldn’t have? I also felt freaked out.”

“I didn’t see you freaked out at all,” Yan Zhengming humphed. “Especially when you climbed up the bear’s body and touched it eighteen times¹.”

Cheng Qian was perplexed; he didn’t quite catch that last sentence, so he explained muddle-headedly, “I didn’t touch it that many times.² I just wanted its fang for self-defense. Second Senior Brother was more courageous; he didn’t even have any weapons with him.”

Hearing junior brother respond to the wrong point, Yan Zhengming suddenly realized that he seemingly had said something improper—he gave away his vulgar recreation. A layer of light red rose in his cheeks immediately.

Li Yun froze momentarily, then quickly dropped his head as though concealing something. Obviously, he wasn’t any more refined.

Han Yuan was much franker compared to his “sanctimonious” senior brothers. He was already splitting his sides with laughter, making the little Heavenly Monster murmur in her sleep.

Only “innocent” little Cheng Qian displayed a baffled face.

Yan Zhengming was shamed into anger. He picked up a stone to throw at Han Yuan. Han Yuan covered his head and dodged, then distracted Yan Zhengming by pointing at the Heavenly Monster. “I have something serious to say! Senior Brother, mercy! Here’s a female monster, are we going to adopt her?”

“It depends on master. In any case, monsters in the Demon Valley won’t accept her,” Li Yun said.

Everyone went silent at his words.

No one wanted her.

This sentence prickled Cheng Qian’s heart. He glanced at the Heavenly Monster, who had fallen fast asleep again after a few murmurs, and involuntarily felt compassionate because of their shared suffering.

Yan Zhengming said, “It’s most likely that she’ll stay with us. Master loves to carry things back with him. However, I think we’d better come up with a name for her before master returns. Otherwise…”

He pointedly looked sidelong at Han Yuan, whose eyelids twitched at the thought of his unlucky name.

Yan Zhengming sneered, “If master names her Han Shouzhi(sucking fingers), I’m afraid she’d want to die when she grows up.”

They started discussing all of the most elegant and common names for a girl.

Eventually, Yan Zhengming made the final decision. “Since we took her out of the pond, I think ‘Tan(pond)’ is good. And combined with master’s surname, the full name will be Han Tan.”

Han Yuan added: “Not bad, and we’ve got a pet name for her, ‘Puddle’.”

Yan Zhengming: “…”

He didn’t even bother beating Han Yuan this time because it would only detract from his own elegance.

A long time passed, and because he’d been so sleepy and tired, Cheng Qian had unconsciously dozed off on top of a rock while listening to the sound of his martial brothers’ relaxed chatting. When the dew began to form and dawn was to break, he was nudged awake.

Cheng Qian gave a start. Rubbing his eyes, he saw Muchun Zhenren staring at them, his face shadowed with melancholy. The decency he had shown while fighting Zipeng was nowhere to be seen now.

Muchun was confused. How did his disciples enter the valley as four people, and after passing a day, come out as five?

After running his eyes over his early-riser first apprentice, his yawning second apprentice, his blankly-staring third apprentice, and finally the fourth apprentice who looked down to avoid eye contact, he sighed, “Do you know why I look like Zipeng Zhenren’s father when I am actually three hundred years younger than her?”

Before they replied Muchun continued, looking straight at Han Yuan. “Because she didn’t have any apprentice.”

Han Yuan’s chin almost dropped to the ground.

“Master, what did you say to that old hen?” Yan Zhengming interrupted as if he hadn’t sensed the hint of criticism in master’s words. “Did she scratch you?”

Muchun Zhenren rolled his eyes heavenward. “I naturally talked sense into her—Zhengming, cultivators should be cautious, pay attention to their words and deeds, and try to win people over through virtue. Why are you always verbally abusing your seniors?”

“She almost scratched me! Someday I’m going to pull out all of her feathers and make a duster out of them to clean the Mission Hall!”

Muchun: “…”

Finishing that, Yan Zhengming felt much more comfortable, and just then thought of the business.

“By the way, Master,” he said to Muchun very casually, “We’ve picked up an apprentice for you!”

Muchun Zhenren looked at the chubby Heavenly Monster, and then looked into the boundless sky, helplessly sighing, “My little apprentices, let your master live a few years longer!”

Their master helplessly accepted the new apprentice, and Han Tan became their little junior sister.

In countless folk tales, the “little junior sister” of a sect was someone who would inspire fancy in people’s minds. They were peerless beauties with snow-white skin, or little dolls who smiled like blooming flowers… But presumably, no one would like to hear the tales of those fairies at their diaper-stage.

At the start, Muchun Zhenren intended to arrange Yan Zhengming’s maids to look after her by turns. But things didn’t turn out as he hoped. The Heavenly Monster cried so hard that three rooms crashed down in less than one day and a half.

Her cry could even make Zipeng Zhenren’s abode collapse, let alone such houses built with bricks and tiles.

Muchun Zhenren had no choice but to transfer little Puddle to a cave at the mountainside, which was said to be an ancestor’s retreat and could withstand the thunders from the highest of the heavens.

But in this way, Yan Zhengming’s pretty maids were dissatisfied.

The most work they had ever done in the Land of the Tender was just combing, burning incense, and pruning. How could they withstand the torment of such a little imp? Besides, the old senior must have been an ascetic, as there was nothing but stones in the cave. The bed was a large hard rock, and the chair was a small hard rock… Was this really a place for humans to stay?

These tearful maids ran back to the sect leader and announced that they would rather die than go there.

In a fit of rage, Muchun Zhenren ordered his apprentices to take turns to babysit their powerful junior sister —after all, who were the ones that had caused this blunder and brought her back?

The apprentices took the punishment, taking turns to bring disaster to… no, take care of little Puddle.

Han Yuan who was, needless to say, a reckless beggar, had wrapped her in diapers and changed this gifted junior sister into a dusty quasi-beggar within just one day.

And because this gluttonous fourth senior brother had eaten most of her porridge, when the master had gone over to see her in the evening, he had been shocked by the scene of the hungry girl almost about to chomp down on a big fat worm.

Even Cheng Qian, who seemed to be more reliable, had turned out to be the very opposite. When it came to his turn, he just took his homework with him to the cave, and after finishing it, found some notes left behind by the predecessor. Although he couldn’t understand most of them, he still studied them all night. When Cheng Qian was absorbed in something, even tribulation thunder couldn’t distract him. So, he had completely forgotten about the existence of his little junior sister. By the time he realized it, his little junior sister had fallen asleep with dried porridge and tear stains covering her face.

The worst was Yan Zhengming. He came to the cave with a dozen Taoist children as if he was about to take vengeance, and ordered them around while not taking a single half-step into the cave himself. Every time the hapless baby finished defecating or urinating, her first senior brother would show a look of great loathing and keep a distance of at least eight Zhang away from her, ordering the Taoist children to keep washing her several times and to perfume her so heavily that a passing-by bee had fainted from the excessive scent.

The most outrageous was Li Yun. Li Yun thought his little junior sister was pitiful because she couldn’t walk steadily with her short legs, so he dribbled a few droplets of the Toad Liquid on her body, tied a rope around her neck, and then took his toad junior sister on a walk around the mountain…

After all of this, Muchun Zhenren dared not to hand Puddle over to any of his apprentices. She also is a life, after all.

That was how he ended up getting someone to weave him a basket for carrying the Heavenly Monster on his back, and tormenting her every day with those strange scriptures.

It had been a whole day and night since Han Yuan had gotten to eat or drink anything. One could imagine how hungry he was right now. Upon seeing that the egg that was nearly two Chi¹ high, he couldn’t help but swallow and ask eagerly, “W-what is this?”

“No idea.” Yan Zhengming took half a step back as he darted a warning glance at Han Yuan. “Don’t touch it! Things in the Demon Valley cannot be touched rashly. Wipe off your saliva. Come on, let’s go. Master must be anxious.”

Indeed, it was getting dark and perils lurked everywhere in the Demon Valley. Without Lord Beiming escorting them on the way back, the road would only become more dangerous.

Nobody dared to delay, and everyone set off along the way they came. Even the noisiest Han Yuan became mute.

Men of the world valued brotherhood loyalty the most. He’d forever remember the debt he owed his senior brothers.

Seeing they were leaving, the egg didn’t give up. It evaded all those obstacles on the way and chased after them insistently.

Li Yun looked back and shouted, surprise and suspicion in his voice, “Just which monster’s egg is this? Why is it running after us?”

Cheng Qian, who carried the bear spirit’s fang, coldly said, “Maybe it wants to be a boiled egg.”

The egg seemed to understand human language, or perhaps it merely felt the malice from Cheng Qian’s words, as it trembled and hung back for a moment. At last, it slowly turned around, gingerly avoided Cheng Qian, rolled to Yan Zhengming’s feet, and stopped there pathetically.

Yan Zhengming briefly paused and then bypassed it heartlessly. But after a few steps, he couldn’t help looking back. Somehow, he saw an aura of deep disappointment and pitifulness emitting from its bare eggshell.

Therefore, young master Yan ended up stopping once more. After a few moments of indecision, he pointed at Han Yuan and said, “You… Hmm, go pick it up.”

“Ah? Didn’t you tell me not to touch it?” Han Yuan raised his eyebrows and stared in surprise.

Li Yun also didn’t understand, asking, “First Senior Brother, why?”

How should he answer the question?

Yan Zhengming frowned. He couldn’t really say he found that egg pitiable, could he?

Then he had a brainwave and came up with an excuse. He loftily said, “Didn’t Zipeng Zhenren ask us to take the thing on the Celestial Platform back to her? It’s said that demonic cultivators cannot enter that place, so I assume she herself doesn’t know what lies there. We can use this to fool her.”

Having traveled all this way, Li Yun and Cheng Qian were both physically and mentally exhausted, and had forgotten about the deal with Zipeng Zhenren. They both agreed to follow this advice after being reminded.

But at the same time, they felt that their devil-may-care first senior brother was abnormally meticulous this time.

Strangely enough, their journey on the way back had seemed safer than when they’d gone in even without Lord Beiming’s escort. They’d kept their guard up the entire time, yet only met several small lower level monsters rushing by. After many false alarms, they made it back to Zipeng Zhenren’s abode safely.

The giant bird was still lying prone there, though the image hanging over its head had disappeared. They were at a temporary loss about whether she was asleep or dead.

Yan Zhengming turned around to signal his junior brothers to be quiet and walked forward cautiously to reconnoiter—selfishly, he hoped Zipeng Zhenren was dead so that she wouldn’t give them trouble… but he knew that was almost impossible.

All of a sudden, he heard a crack from behind. All of them flinched at the sound. Their eyes roved around and fell on Han Yuan…and the egg in his arms. They saw cracks emerging on the eggshell from the top downwards.

Finally, at the center of the cracks, a piece of eggshell came off. Han Yuan goggled. The thing sticking out of the egg wasn’t a beak, but a hand.

A baby’s hand.

Han Yuan hurriedly placed the egg on the ground, and all four boys gaped at the sight of a baby crawling out of an egg.

It was like a chubby meatball and looked not at all different from a normal human baby at first glance, except that it already had the appearance of a one-year-old mortal infant with two unobtrusive birthmarks on its back.

Han Yuan reached with his muddy hand and poked the egg-born baby. Then he moved his gaze to the part which he shouldn’t be looking at, and made an ill-timed judgment. “It – it’s a girl.”

The little baby fell flat on her face from Han Yuan’s poke. She tried to move her limbs, only to find she wasn’t as mobile as she had been in the egg. Feeling a little upset, she let out a loud bawl.

And made the entire place wobble.

Han Yuan, who was the closest to her, plunked down on the ground and screamed, “What the heck is it?”

“Heavenly Monster,” a weak voice answered him.

Zipeng Zhenren had woken up when they weren’t paying attention. She hung over the giant bird’s head, as vague as a haze, her outline just faintly visible in her ghostly state.

It seemed that she had no extra strength to mind others, and only contemplated the little girl on the ground with mixed emotions. At length, she sighed and said softly, “It is the result of the union between the Monster Queen and a mortal, and should have been executed right after its birth. Soaking herself in human blood, the Queen hacked her way into the Celestial Platform despite the pain of being sliced into pieces and struck by lightning. She died after placing the child there. As it is born with half-human blood, the Celestial Platform’s restriction didn’t apply to it. For a hundred years this egg has not moved, and everyone thought it was stillborn. No one could have dreamed that one day, the calamity of the monster species would descend upon her…”

Han Yuan had been befuddled by her narration, but he accurately seized on the point of it all and exclaimed, “What? The Monster King had been cheated on?”

“You… shut up…!” Yan Zhengming hissed faintly.

Cheng Qian had listened and understood—they had taken out the “THING” from Celestial Platform by accident.

That explained why the Monster King couldn’t get rid of this child even when he had descended and lost his powers—because demonic cultivators were unable to ascend the Celestial Platform.

But…who had taken her out of the Celestial Platform?

Lord Beiming?

“Bring her over; let me have a look,” Zipeng ordered.

Yan Zhengming was immediately alarmed. “What do you want to do with her?”

But after that, he seemed to realize his tone was too blunt and hurried to add even more bluntly, “Senior, this little hen was just born.”

When the wimpish baby cried, Yan Zhengming just hurried away in distaste. But disliking her was one thing, to give her to Zipeng was another—as she described it, this infant was a living green hat² on the Monster King’s head. Zipeng Zhenren was the Monster King’s servant, so who knew what she would do to this kid?

Whatever background the little thing had, she only pipped moments ago and hadn’t yet done anything good or bad.

So how could others decide her life and death freely when there was nothing to judge?

Zipeng Zhenren didn’t expect that she would be disobeyed; her sickly image became more and more distinct as she turned to Yan Zhengming furiously. “How dare—”

But she was interrupted by the baby girl who had been frightened by the outburst. The baby choked up for a second, and after taking a deep breath she shrieked at the top of her lungs, “Waaah—”

Her bawling was extraordinarily potent. A quake stronger than the one before struck the cave again. Rocks came falling down from above. It looked like Zipeng Zhenren’s abode was about to collapse from the baby’s crying!

Yan Zhengming: “Get moving!”

“What about her?” Han Yuan looked in bewilderment at the wailing baby girl.

Li Yun jumped to dodge a falling stone which just narrowly missed his foot, and said in a panic, “Carry, carry her! She doesn’t even have teeth; you won’t be bitten!”

Han Yuan snatched her up, holding the baby in a strange way. Probably because it was less comfortable to be in his hands than to lie on the ground, the baby’s howl grew even sharper.

In the chaos of flying sand and falling rocks, Han Yuan tripped on the lower hem of his robe; the robe belonged to Li Yun, who was older and taller than him, so the lower hem had been dragging on the ground.

Fortunately, Cheng Qian was sharp-eyed and had quick hands. He grabbed the baby’s leg before she was crushed by Han Yuan, and lifted her upside down like a radish.

The Heavenly Monster was indeed a born jinx. The poor baby almost got herself killed as soon as she was born.

Zipeng Zhenren’s raging voice boomed, “No one’s leaving!”

While speaking, her image dispersed and the giant bird that was originally paralyzed on the ground stood up. It lifted up a foot to stomp them.

Cheng Qian instinctively wanted to resist with the help of his fang. But it was so heavy that there was no way he could use such an unwieldy weapon with one hand while carrying a little girl with the other.

Cheng Qian started to regret abandoning his wooden sword. He didn’t even have enough time to adjust this awkward one-handed hold on the baby’s leg before he was forced to fall back.

The giant bird’s foot was so enormous that it completely filled up Cheng Qian’s sight. There wasn’t any way that he could dodge it, and Li Yun had already run out of his magic water.

Cheng Qian thought he could even feel the talon landing on his head. His scalp constricted, and he felt that his life had already ended.

Nonetheless, the expected agony didn’t come. Cheng Qian looked up, only to see Zipeng Zhenren’s giant talon being held up by a wooden sword.

The wooden sword was less than two Cun wide, exactly what they normally used for practice. The hand holding it was very bony, and all around the wrist were protruding veins.

“Master!”

Cheng Qian had never felt Muchun Zhenren’s pinched figure so stalwart.

Muchun looked at him and smiled. His eyes roved over his disheveled but still alive-and-kicking apprentices, and he muttered in his familiar voice, “You… go first. I’ll be back soon.”

With that, he turned his wrist and deftly pushed Zipeng Zhenren’s claw to the other side, causing it to hit the wall with a loud rumbling sound, shaking the cave more violently.

Cheng Qian hesitated. He was unwilling to go, but Li Yun pushed him and said, “Don’t you believe that master will defeat that old hen? Come on, let’s go.”

This time, even first senior brother didn’t contradict him. Four and a half people ran out of Zipeng Zhenren’s abode, heading back along the steps to leave the way they came. By the time they exited the pond, night had already fallen and the moon had climbed up to the sky.

Cheng Qian loosened the hand he’d used to cover the baby’s mouth and nose while in the water. He laid her aside and breathed a sigh of relief, ending the mutual torture for both him and the whining Heavenly Monster.

None of the four mentioned going back. At this moment, the clean freak forgot about his dirty clothes, and the hungry kid forgot about his hunger. They sat in a huddle by the pond, waiting for Muchun Zhenren’s return.

Acting with one accord, the three mice avoided Cheng Qian who was covered in blood. Then two of them charged towards Yan Zhengming, and the the other ran to the front of Li Yun.

Li Yun was just like a passerby. He searched all over his body only to find that he had spent the whole day being upset and even forgot to bring any weapon with him… although it wouldn’t necessarily be helpful even if he had brought one.

In a flurry, Li Yun plucked the colorful feather off his collar and used it as a weapon against the mouse spirit.

Since Zipeng Zhenren was an almighty being among monsters, even her feather had an out of the ordinary deterrent force. The mouse obviously cringed upon seeing it, moving around Li Yun with its shifty eyes goggled, weighing up whether he was bluffing or a real threat.

Li Yun was scared by the mouse’s movement and, unfortunately, got a cramp in his thigh. But he knew there was no room to display the slightest amount of timidity, so he had to put up with it, which happened to make him appear more threatening.

Thankfully, Cheng Qian soon came to his aid with his fang.

It didn’t take much effort for Cheng Qian to recover from killing. He thought that it would be a shocking and paralyzing feeling, yet it turned out that he didn’t feel like that at all.

When he held the bloody sharp tooth, Cheng Qian was extremely calm, as if he had only cut a cabbage just now. His impassive face made him look like a life-claiming ghost.

Cheng Qian quickly noticed that this mouse spirit dreaded him, not the other way around. As he advanced, the mouse backed, even if its teeth were bared to intimidate him.

While the enemy’s confidence decreased, Cheng Qian’s increased. He even got bolder instead of recoiling. Realising its intimidation didn’t work, the mouse confirmed that its opponent was not a guy to mess with and turned tail hurriedly.

Every being in the universe had intelligence and it was no easy task to cultivate. It had finally evolved into a spirit after much trouble, wouldn’t it cherish its life?

Seeing that their fellow fled, the other two mice followed suit for precaution, even though they didn’t figure out what happened.

This small handful of mice spirits scurried away helter-skelter.

Li Yun sank down on the ground. He finally earned himself a break to have the leg cramps go.

Nevertheless, just as they started to breathe after defeating the first wave of enemies, a strange sound came from behind into Yan Zhengming’s ears. Cheng Qian seemed to notice something and cried from a distance, “DANGER!”

With a flash, Yan Zhengming flung himself forward and exerted the first move of the second form, “Cycle”.¹

He swung his sword fiercely, which hit some sharp weapon with a clash. And therewith sounded a gritty howl.

Yan Zhengming retreated awkwardly pinching the hilt of his sword. He spun to see a huge lynx nimbly landing several steps away from him and turning into a semi-humanoid form –  that monster was hefty and had almost changed to a human shape, except the claws. It grinned weirdly, scarlet tongue licking its lips.

No wonder the mice spirits ran away so fast. While the mice hunted, the lynx was lurking behind!

Young master Yan was just a nice plump mouthful of soft flesh in the lynx’s eyes. It scraped its toe tips against the ground, and in the next moment lunged for Yan Zhengming at a lightning speed. Its trenchant claws were nearly invulnerable. Not even fur was hurt when it clashed with the sword.

The lynx pressed its claw and the sword was pushed down by the brute force.

Yan Zhengming tripped on something and teetered down, which was to the lynx’s great delight. It immediately changed back to its beast form and pressed its claw on him with its mouth wide open.

Li Yun and Cheng Qian were standing far away, and the fight between Yan Zhengming and the lynx happened so suddenly that it was impossible to go aid him in time.

Li Yun reached into his bosom and before he clearly saw what he fished out, he pitched it at the lynx spirit recklessly.

Cheng Qian caught sight of his move from the corner of his eyes and shouted, “Second Senior Brother, don’t…”

But it was too late. The porcelain bottle had hit the lynx’s head accurately. The whole bottle of water came spilling over its body and turned the lynx with shiny fur into a large lumpy toad.

For a second, even the lynx itself was dumbfounded.

The lynx was astonished and incensed. It wanted to roar, only to let out a lazy croak. The lynx couldn’t help sticking out its slender tongue, which made it freak out and forget how to stick it back.

The tongue hung in front of the toad’s chest and skimmed young master Yan’s soft neck. Despite having just narrowly escaped death, young master Yan went mad there and then and let out an inhuman bellow, “Li Yun, you piss me off!”

Forthwith, he kicked the huge toad over as though he suddenly gained infinite strength, and riddled the lynx spirit frantically like a raging shrewish woman.

Apparently, the lynx in a toad’s shape no longer had steely claws. Before it learned to jump with toad’s legs, it was stabbed through by Yan Zhengming’s embittered sword. After thrashing about hysterically, the lynx got back to its original appearance and died. It lay there still, eyes wide open.

But the perpetrator, young master Yan himself looked like he wished to be dead instead. Yan Zhengming couldn’t stop thinking about that lick and several times, he put the sword around his neck with the intention of committing suicide.

Cheng Qian and Li Yun helped “Beggar’s Han Yuan” up and shattered the dried mud off his body, exposing his mud-mottled nude with an awful stench. Cheng Qian looked him up and down and turned to embarrassedly report his find to first senior brother.

“First Senior Brother, aren’t you curious about whether little junior brother hasn’t changed clothes or bathed since the day he played with the toad?” Said Cheng Qian. “I know it now. He didn’t bathe.”

Yan Zhengming: “…”

He put away his sword, face void of emotion, thinking that Han Yuan was the one supposed to kill himself.

Han Yuan sobbed with tears of joy, “Senior Brothers… Xiao-Qian…”

He attempted to give them a reunion hug, sadly none of his senior brothers would like to get close to a beggar covered with smelly mud in his birthday suit, and all dispersed.

As Yan Zhengming tried hard to forget about his sullied neck, he spluttered and pointed at Han Yuan, “If you don’t want to return to be expelled, copy those scriptures for a lifetime!”

Han Yuan dared not answer back and only kept his eyes roving, seeking to find an ally. At last, his look for help rested on Cheng Qian.

However, Cheng Qian didn’t answer his look. He wiped the blood off his face with his only sleeve left. Feeling thirsty and hungry, he was too tired to put an act, so he said out of his natural character, “Junior Brother, before cultivating, you’d better enhance your brain.”

Han Yuan stared at his “temperate, kind, courteous, restrained, and magnanimous” little senior brother in astonishment. In one day, he suffered both a physical and mental major injury. Ultimately it was Li Yun who helped him out. Shaking the tablet, he suggested, “Senior Brother, I think we should go to the Celestial Platform first.”

Yan Zhengming humphed and took the initiative to move. After some consideration, Li Yun took his outer robe off and gave it to Han Yuan, lest disciples of Fuyao sect earned themselves a reputation as exhibitionists in the Demon Valley.

The Celestial Platform wasn’t very far from the Mirror Valley. Soon enough, a strong bloody smell drifted over along the wind. A pall of black fog billowed from the tablet in Li Yun’s hand, outlining an amorphous humanoid figure which was a real blast from the past for Cheng Qian.

He had dreamed of this person!

Han Yuan was scared out of his wits and screeched, “Oh, fuck! What is this?”

No reply was given. The mysterious shadow levitated upright in midair with a solemn atmosphere. Despite his hazy face, Cheng Qian felt awe-inspiring calmness in him as if he was prepared to sacrifice himself.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Senior, you… are you Lord Beiming?”

“Beiming?” He chuckled and said softly, “Who deserves the title of Beiming? That’s merely an arrogant title given by some short-sighted people.”

Cheng Qian turned his words over in mind and reached their implied meaning – that was an acknowledgement.

But wasn’t “Lord Beiming” a legendary archdevil? How come he housed in a tablet?

Did he house in the tablet or actually embed himself in master’s charm?

Could it be that master’s charm summons neither water nor lightning, but summons the archdevil?

Was there… such a charm in the world?

Cheng Qian felt utterly clueless about what was happening. He only now realized that his knowledge of the cultivation world was so little, that he couldn’t even give a simple guess at what were all those incredible things.

Thanks to Lord Beiming’s escort, monsters either couldn’t see them or fled at the their mere sight – it’s possible to assume that the thrilling scene where they battled the mice and lynx spirits, was probably regarded by this almighty being as “a scuffle between kids and mice”, so he didn’t intend to help.

Maybe that mouse spirit which made Li Yun’s leg cramp with terror was, in this senior’s eyes, no different from a real mouse.

The Celestial Platform was a sacrificial altar located on the bottom of Demon Valley, rising up incongruously.

The platform was bare and empty, as monsters cannot come close, while its surroundings had become hell.

As they had witnessed this scene in the Mirror Valley and hence were mentally prepared, only Han Yuan was flabbergasted.

It was not until then, that Han Yuan realised what place he had intruded into, and what risk his senior brothers took to rescue him. The reason why he was still alive and kicking was simply that those monsters were tied up in fighting against each other and had no time to care about him.

Abruptly, the tablet fissured in Li Yun’s hand. After some light glittered along the strokes of charms, it returned to stillness. Then Lord Beiming suddenly detached himself from the shackles of the tablet, and the black mist veiling him cleared up, revealing a lanky man dressed in a jet black robe fluttering in the wind like the feathers of a raven. His pale hands were hanging out, and an archaic ring could be dimly seen on his finger.

Only his face was still hidden behind the black mist, merely exposing Lord Beiming’s jaw, which was as pale as his hands.

Cheng Qian somehow felt an indefinable sense of kinship, but before he could have a better view of him, a burning light glared across his body, and in the next moment, he turned into a cloud of black mist and whooshed toward the platform getting out of sight, leaving a gentle “go back as soon as possible”.

Cheng Qian suddenly developed a strange feeling – he was not coming back.

“I know it!” Exclaimed Li Yun, the master of all erratic tricks, “I know it! The golden light on his body is an invisible charm!”

Yan Zhengming looked spellbound by the scene. He murmured, “Running water, curling smoke and fleeting cloud can all make invisible charms. But… can it also be carved on a human’s body?”

“That’s definitely not a human.” Said Li Yun decisively. “It’s a soul. I’ve read from an anecdote, that there was once a demonic almighty being who was a grandmaster at charms. He was able to carve invisible charms on people’s three spiritual souls and seven corporeal souls². He had left invisible charms on many people’s souls so that life after life, they would never get rid of his control. I bet Lord Beiming has such means too…”

“Li Yun!” Yan Zhengming was finally revived. Noticing Han Yuan and Cheng Qian were breathlessly listening to his talk about demonic cultivators, he immediately cried him down. “Shut up! – Let’s go.”

The whole Celestial Platform was shrouded in a black fog that insulated the spot of massacre from its surroundings. Standing on the hilltop beside it, they were totally oblivious to the bloody smell and battle cry from inside.

Out of the blue, a cluster of flames illuminated a corner of the fog-veiled Celestial Platform, whereupon it spread sideways at an incredible speed.

Yan Zhengming felt a twinge in his heart and shouted out, “Close your eyes!”

Everyone followed his order subconsciously. But the strong light seemed to bake their eyes through the eyelids and it looked like the entire world was dragged into a sea of fire.

For ages, the blazing light didn’t die down. Only the black fog surrounding the Celestial Platform seemed indestructible, not evanescing a bit.

Cheng Qian was the first to tentatively open his eyes. He was still dazzled and could barely see a thing only after a couple of blinks.

He saw an egg in front of them… slowly rolling towards them.

 

Just then, the snake moved. It crawled sinuously towards them.

Its long tail swept those ancient trees, cutting through the small forest. Wherever it went, was followed by a trail of destruction. Trees which were so thick that one could barely get their arms around, were all toppled down.

With one hand squeezing Cheng Qian’s shoulder, the other lifting his sword, and his arm holding Li Yun who could scarcely stand, Yan Zhengming thought wearily, “What the fuck should I do?”

While his feet was still feeling like jelly, his head had already cooled down. He knew they stood no chance in escaping right now. But at the very thought that they would be torn into shreds and die in the beast’s mouth, he felt a spasm of dizziness.

In a flash, this lousy imagination made him determine to leave life and death out of consideration. Miraculously, his hand holding the sword stopped quaking. He resolved that no matter what happened, he was going to fight to death with it. At least he should slice two scales off, and when he was drained, he would kill himself – better than suffering the torment of the filthy smell from its mouth before closing his eyes.

At the border of life and death, those sword moves that he failed to integrate for the past few years were now swelling like tides in his mind, linking together in such a magical way that the snake seemed to decelerate significantly in his eyes.

Yan Zhengming twisted his wrist and aimed firmly at the huge snake’s eye.

The first stab, he must not miss it.

The snake monster was getting closer and closer. For a second, Yan Zhengming stopped breathing –

… But then, the snake passed them by.

The swinging serpent’s tail narrowly missed Cheng Qian’s ankle by less than the length of a palm, and it just went straight into another direction emitting a terrible rustling sound, as if it didn’t see them.

The three boys kept their postures unchanged for a good while until someone’s abnormal heartbeats broke the silence. They just had a brush with death.

Yan Zhengming withdrew himself from the highly-focused state and only then slowly hung down his sword. For a while, he felt as if his limbs weighted hundreds of Jin¹ and he could barely support himself. His back was soaked in cold sweats that were coursing all the way down his spine to his waist.

Staring at his sword, Yan Zhengming was amazed that he gained an insight in that emergency.

If Muchun Zhenren knew about this, he would definitely sigh that he didn’t teach young master Yan according to his characteristics. If he had placed a lumpy toad on the desk while he practiced charms, which would lick young master Yan’s hand every time he got distracted, his cultivation level would have probably improved in leaps and bounds.

At this time, the tablet spoke again, with a very breezy attitude. “I’ve told you, with me, you don’t have to fear such small monsters.”

Its voice rang a bell with Cheng Qian. He took a puzzled look at the tablet in his hand, but failed to recall where he had heard it.

He thrusted the tablet into first senior brother’s hand, who hadn’t come back to earth yet. Then he carried his nonaggressive wooden sword and walked to the front of the bear’s body.

Yan Zhengming hadn’t dried off yet and began to sweat again when he saw this bold cub climbing up the bear’s body with both hands and feet. He hissed, “What are you doing? Get down!”

Cheng Qian waved his hand at him without even looking back, and then reached his target successfully – a “sword” hanging on the bear’s waist, made of some beast’s sharp fang. That tooth was a good two Chi long, with a hole in the end so it would be convenient to hold. Its tip was as sharp as a knife and was glinting with dim light, perhaps with venom on it.

The tooth was so large that the short Cheng Qian was holding it as if it was a behemoth. The chillily shining blade reflected his serious face, and there was still ominous blood of its former owner on it.

Under Yan Zhengming’s and Li Yun’s astonished gaze, Cheng Qian abandoned his wooden sword for the new one with an impassive expression.

He jumped down from that corpse and tried wielding it with both hands, but felt it was too long and heavy, not very convenient. He stabbed forward with a total lack of inhibition, and poof! Its tip stuck into the thick fur freely without any obstruction as if he was cutting vegetables.

Only then was Cheng Qian satisfied – in spite of its unwieldiness, it was incisive enough.

Li Yun muttered, “Third Junior Brother… what breed of guy is he?”

Yan Zhengming laughed dryly, no knowing what to reply.

Although the serpent, which had turned a blind eye to them just now, proved that the tablet did have some effects, Cheng Qian didn’t want pin their safety entirely on that thing.

Only when he was holding this heavy tooth would he have a sense of real security.

One monster died, and the other left. There was no danger around for the time being. When Li Yun dripped “magic water” on that useless stone, naturally the toad became alive and kicking again, and continued to guide them forward happily.

Along the way, Yan Zhengming tried to talk to that tablet several times. But it suddenly became dumb and wouldn’t answer any of his questions.

Until the toad led them to the top of a hill.

With only one peep down from the top of the hill, the toad was aghast. Then it played the same old trick and overturned itself on the ground, pretending to be dead again.

Li Yun caught up. At a simple glance, he understood why.

He instinctively turned to run and bumped into Cheng Qian, almost causing them to roll down the hill together.

Cheng Qian’s small back badly hit a rock, the fang almost fell out of his hand. He was knocked dizzy by Li Yun and said suppressing the howl of pain, “Second Senior Brother, if you want to go with your toad, don’t pull me along!”

Li Yun collared Cheng Qian, lips shaking so heavily that he couldn’t speak. Cheng Qian only then realised something was wrong. Looking up at Yan Zhengming’s equally frozen figure, he inquired, “What’s wrong?”

Standing where the toad died in the line of its duty, Yan Zhengming felt that the whole world was upside down – in the valley down the hill, there were hundreds of thousands of monsters fighting heatedly: flying birds and running beasts, human-headed and beast-bodied monsters, blood dying the ground, flesh flying up and down – it was like a slaughterhouse. In contrast, the huge bear and long snake just now… were really only two small monsters.

Eventually, the tablet uttered, “Don’t look. If that was real, the sound and the bloody smell would have already spread to the other side of the mountain. Is it possible that you didn’t notice it until you climbed up here?”

His words slapped those silly boys out of their shock. After a more careful look, they found there were some blurs in the scene in the valley.

Li Yun breathed a sigh of relief and asked almost eagerly, “Senior, are they all false?”

“This valley is called Mirror Valley, it reflects the scene of somewhere else. Of course they are all real, although it is not happening here.” The tablet chuckled.

He sounded very nonchalant, as if he had seen plenty of bloodshed and death, which set the lads on their guard.

They winked at one another without uttering a sound, while the tablet seemed to not notice their nervousness and continued, “Pass through the valley and over that mountain ahead, you will see the Celestial Platform. The scene in the Mirror Valley takes place somewhere near it. You only have to send me there, then you can go find your little junior brother.”

“We are here for that little underbite, not to commit suicide together – what the hell are you?” Said Yan Zhengming dryly.

At that, a cloud of white smoke rose from the tablet, and when it cleared, an image of their long-necked and small-headed master showed up, so vivid that it looked like Muchun Zhenren himself was here.

But seeing his acquainted weasel master, Yan Zhengming didn’t show a kinder look. Instead, he threw the tablet on the ground, pointed his sword at it, and barked, “How dare you masquerade as my master!”

Being scolded like that, “master” didn’t get angry but smiled, eyes crinkling. Then by a sudden metamorphosis, it changed to a nebulous black shadow, taking the shape of a mushroom.

“I will not be your master then – but I was carved by your master himself.” That “mushroom” said gently. “Xiao-Zhengming, even if you do not trust me, don’t you trust your master?”

Seeing Yan Zhengming hesitating, the “mushroom” resumed, “Besides, Xiao-Yun’s toad has led you here, which means Xiao-Yuan is right in front. So we’re going the same way, right?”

Yan Zhengming looked down to see the direction to which the toad was heading before it died, and thought, “Since we’re already here, it’s too ridiculous if we back down now, and what if Han Yuan is really in the front?”

Out of absolute trust in his master, Yan Zhengming put his sword down together with the doubt in his mind. He stooped to pick up the tablet and said impatiently, “You lead the way.”

The tablet led them all the way down to the Mirror Valley. Even though they were well aware that it was only mirages around them, it was still a torment to travel under the claws and teeth of those monsters, which made this path seem awfully long. Cheng Qian thought that after this experience, those ghost stories about “haunted deserted villages at night” and “heart-gouging ghosts” couldn’t horrify him any more.

Cheng Qian couldn’t resist asking, “What on earth is going on here?”

“The Heavenly Monster is coming into the world. Its descension robbed the Monster King of his powers. Demonic cultivators don’t value allegiance, once the Monster King gets weak, they will seize the chance to rebel and usurp the throne.” Answered the tablet unhurriedly.

“What humiliation!” Cheng Qian thought.

But then, thinking of the rude Zipeng Zhenren and the snake monster that silently killed a bear to take its core, he felt that demonic cultivators deserved to be called beasts. They were all unreasonable and did not follow moral principles. Looking at it this way, it seemed excusable that they rebelled disloyally.

“Since it’s an institution for demonic cultivators, why are you going to the Celestial Platform? To watch the fighting scene?” Asked Yan Zhengming.

This time, the “mushroom” in the tablet adopted a stern countenance. “It’s already inauspicious for the Heavenly Monster to see blood at its birth, if this slaughter is not quelled, I’m afraid the Heavenly Monster will be born to be bloodthirsty and bring disaster to Fuyao Mountain. I have to stop that before the disaster is sealed.”

Feeling foggy, Yan Zhengming pursued, “What do you mean?”

But the tablet just shuffled away the subject as if it didn’t hear his question. “There’s movement under the bridge in front. The guy you’re looking for should be there.”

In the depths of Mirror Valley, there was a low-lying land full of silt. It could be a river before. Even though the river had run dry, a bridge with a sculpture of a beast head was preserved.

There were several piers and openings under the bridge. Cheng Qian spotted a few shriveled ugly monsters. They had pointy chins, beards on both cheeks and a long tail – apparently, they were a gang of mice spirits.

Their attention was drawn from the tablet evading the subject. A mouse spirit was sneaking around on lookout, and the rest was buzzing around in the bridge opening. The thing they were surrounding was their junior brother Han Yuan!

Han Yuan looked like a muddy monkey and was thrashing violently. Two big mice pinned him on the ground and another was daubing mud on his body. Beside them, a bonfire had been ignited – they were going to make Han Yuan into a “beggar’s human²”!

The course of nature goes round! The little beggar had stolen and eaten so many poultry, and now he was going to be toasted in mud. That was his karma!

As the tablet didn’t hide the three martial brothers’ figures this time, Han Yuan and those mice spirits all spotted them.

Han Yuan almost burst into excited tears, he howled desperately with relief, “Help! Senior Brothers – Help! – Let go of me! You fucking mice! I’m warning you: my senior brothers can blow clouds and puff fogs, control thunders and lightnings… just wait to be scorched by the lightning, you vile mice!”

His senior brothers that were said to be able to control thunders and lightnings were speechless.

Seeing the mud on Han Yuan’s body, Yan Zhengming showed a revolted expression as if he had a toothache. “I think we may as well have him roasted.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the mouse on lookout pounced at him. Having encountered the battle between a snake and a bear, and the rebellion of thousands of monsters, he could hardly be terrified by such a wretched mouse which wasn’t as tall as him. Yan Zhengming thrusted the tablet into Li Yun’s bosom and whipped up with his sword.

The mouse spirit jumped to scratch and Yan Zhengming swung his sword horizontally to resist. The mouse’s nails raked the big gem on the sword, but the gem remained intact and its nails broke!

That mouse let out a blood-curdling scream. Then it ragingly opened its mouth and snapped at Yan Zhengming’s sword. With a sweep of his arm, Yan Zhengming elbowed the mouse at its nose. It gave a choked cry and toppled sidewards to the front of Cheng Qian, who had been waiting there beforehand.

By now, Cheng Qian was only relatively practiced in the opening move, so he was already in position, staring at the situation concentratedly. The big mouse was seeing stars by Yan Zhengming’s knock and stumbled under Cheng Qian’s sword at such an angle that it looked like it delivered itself there.

Cheng Qian instinctively gripped the fang with both hands and there went his opening move –

The heroic mouse was sent to Nirvana.(The mouse was killed.)

Not expecting that he would kill it with one shot, Cheng Qian went blank for a moment. On the other hand, seeing that this matter couldn’t easily reach an end, the other three mice had abandoned Han Yuan and rushed at them separately.

They were going to launch a death fight upon those that spoiled their dinner.

Cheng Qian was new to the cultivation world, and Yan Zhengming was useless. Therefore, they exchanged doubtful glances, not knowing who Lord Beiming was.

Then, Li Yun who finally got out of his stupor spoke.

His voice was as low as the buzz of a mosquito. “Lord Beiming is not a person… According to legend, Beiming is a deep and boundlessly dark sea. So a master of demonic magic is often compared to ‘Beiming’. With time, it became a honorable title that every demonic cultivator fights for – Senior Zipeng, this charm was carved by my master – there’s still sawdust on it – not by some Lord Beiming.”

“What is a master of demonic magic?” Asked Cheng Qian quietly.

“The best among demonic cultivators… the archdevil?” Answered Yan Zhengming unsurely.

From what he has seen so far, Cheng Qian didn’t deem his master as an “archdevil”. But on second thought, he felt it might be true… from the perspective of a hen.

“Bullshit!” Exclaimed Zipeng Zhenren angrily.

Then she turned to Cheng Qian. Pointing at him, the hazy image in the air said rudely, “Boy, come here.”

Cheng Qian was just going to speak when Yan Zhengming stopped him.

Yan Zhengming shook his head at him, advanced, and said to Zipeng, “Senior, my junior brother is still new here. He hasn’t even memorized the sect rules yet. I’m afraid he may offend you. If you need anything, you come for me.”

Yan Zhengming might be tall, but his body was still the one of a thin and weak teenager. Observing him from behind, Cheng Qian pursed his lips, and for the first time, felt that first senior brother was not a good-for-nothing as he had imagined.

“I want him! None of your business!” Zipeng fulminated.

Yan Zhengming frowned. Cheng Qian whispered to him in a haste, “Senior Brother, it’s okay.”

With that, he walked forward against the strong ominous aura from the monster and heard Zipeng Zhenren order, “Pick that talisman up.”

Cheng Qian stopped and picked it up. The instant he touched the tablet, he felt the tyrannical power in it. There was seemingly a fierce beast jailed inside. But that beast probably recognized Cheng Qian, as it gradually tamed and the blaze faded. The tablet in his hand reverted to a peaceful state.

For a second, while Cheng Qian was holding the tablet, the fear of facing the bossy monster miraculously waned a lot and a thought popped into his head: “When can I have such dominating power that allows me to fly between the heaven and the earth, go anywhere as I wish, instead of jittering before an old monster?”

Contemplating the charm, Zipeng’s expression changed several times. After a while, her tone eased up a little. “You came looking for your junior brother? Let’s make a deal. I will give back the guy that strayed in here, if you bring me something I want. There’s a Celestial Platform in the Demon Valley. Monsters are not allowed to enter as it has restrictive spells, but humans can. The thing I want is there.”

Her claim didn’t hold water. The eight-hundred-year-old monster had apparently taken the three lads as little birds that were easily fooled.

But she failed, because these three were not birds, they were human beings. They thought the same, “Bah, nonsense.”

After winking and frowning at one another, Yan Zhengming made the final decision – get into the Demon Valley first.

Regarding how to deal with her when they came back… young master Yan didn’t think much of it. Considering the old hen’s situation, it was likely she would kick the bucket soon.

They bundled off. Yan Zhengming even plucked a feather from Zipeng Zhenren’s abode with his nimble fingers upon leaving.

Once outside the cave, they were surrounded by water again, it was very shallow this time though. They swam across to the shore quickly and arrived at their neighborhood – Demon Valley.

Landing on the ground, Yan Zhengming pinned that chicken feather on Li Yun’s chest and said, “In ancient times, there was a story where a fox assumed the majesty of the tiger; today we have an asshole assuming the majesty of an old hen. Look how fainthearted you are, you may as well wear that to boost your courage – think hard how to find that poor underbite, we have to get back before sunset!”

A twinge of fear went through Li Yun. He asked Yan Zhengming anxiously, “First Senior Brother, does the Demon Valley have any other taboos related to when it gets dark?”

“I mean I have to go back to have a bath, my feet are stuck to my shoes by the mud. You idiot!” Yan Zhengming snarled.

Cheng Qian: “…”

He could tell that first senior brother wasn’t joking. His malevolent face looked as if he was really going to chop his feet off – were it not because one could only have a sole pair of feet in his whole life, presumably he would have done do that without blinking an eye.

Li Yun knew a variety of little tricks. Under the pressure from his first senior brother, he pondered for a bit while nibbling his finger. Luckily, he didn’t let first senior brother down and came up with an idea.

He produced a small bottle from his bosom, which Cheng Qian found familiar.

“Isn’t this the feet-washing water of the toads?” Cheng Qian blurted.

Holding his masterpiece and broken heart, Li Yun gave him a complaining look. “Junior Brother, this is magic water, Toad Liquid.”

He dropped three drops on a small stone and turned it into a frisky toad. Whether because first senior brother was afraid of that or simply because it revolted him, his expression was even worse than when his sword was knocked off by Zipeng Zhenren. He stared at it with awful abhorrence.

Cheng Qian kind of saw how his senior brothers fell foul of each other.

“Go find Han Yuan.” Ordered Li Yun.

The toad croaked and hopped forward.

Li Yun signalled them to keep up and explained, “To tell you the truth, Toad Liquid is a mixture of toads’ urine and Five Deadly Venoms¹. Several drops are enough to turn a small object like a leaf, a piece of paper, or a stone, into a toad. Little junior brother played for a long time the other day, with one that was changed from a leaf. His body and clothes should have picked up the same smell, so it should be able to find him.”

Yan Zhengming freaked out. “Do you mean he hasn’t changed clothes, or you mean he hasn’t bathed since a few days ago? Is he still a fucking human?”

Hearing the formula of Toad Liquid, Cheng Qian felt sick. “Second Senior Brother, you don’t need to detail that.”

The toads piss had limited effect. That little toad hopped only for two or three Zhang before it turned back to a stone. Li Yun had to use the liquid again. He sighed, “This can only last for a short while as it’s not a real charm, but something that is only for fun. I only have this bottle left. I’m afraid we will have to be careful with its expenditure to find little junior brother.”

When Li Yun said that, he was looking at the bouncing toad with a tender and almost wistful expression. Cheng Qian shivered, he felt that second junior brother might not be an ordinary person.

The toad took a break after every jump. At this speed, it guided them through the increasingly luxuriant forest. But abruptly, the vivacious toad fell on his back with its limbs twitching.

Yan Zhengming picked up a three-Chi-long stick from the ground, covered his nose with his sleeve, and poked the toad from a distance. Then he wondered, “Did he finally die due to being ashamed of his very existence?”

With an appalled croak, the toad turned back to a stone. And even after Li Yun dripped “magic water” on it, it wouldn’t come alive.

Li Yun scratched his head in embarrassment. “Umm…”

“Hush!” A look of vigilance flashed across Yan Zhengming’s face.

He lurched to his feet, dropped the stick, and drew out his sword towards the dense forest beside him.

Bodeful rustlings sounded from the forest, followed by a roar which brought a human-headed but beast-bodied monstrous bear to the presence of the three.

That monster was much taller than two adults with a big bull head. You could see its iron teeth when it opened its mouth, and smell a filthy bloody odor effusing from it at a distance of several Li. A shake of its fist accompanied his appearance, which casted a big tree away.

Yan Zhengming pushed Li Yun and shouted, “What are you about here? Run!”

Li Yun froze, he couldn’t move a step. At this critical moment, the tablet in Cheng Qian’s bosom became warm. They simultaneously heard a man’s voice.

“Don’t move.” That man said very calmly.

“Who?” Yan Zhengming swung around.

“Don’t be scared, come over here.” That voice sounded again.

This time, they all heard it. The voice came from Cheng Qian’s direction, but they couldn’t see the speaker. Then something seemed to strike Cheng Qian as he lowered his sight on the tablet slowly.

“S… speaking charms?” Li Yun goggled.

The charm seemed to be amused by him. It said comfortably, with a softer tone, “It’s nothing but two or three small monsters. They won’t hurt you, trust me.”

However, he had hardly finished his words when that mountainous bear spirit dashed towards them. Wherever the “small monster” passed, it shook the ground. No wonder that timid toad played possum!

The three two-legged lads were absolutely not as fast as the big beast. It was already too late for them to run now. However, it never rains but pours. Another shrill roar sounded somewhere near.

The next scene they saw was that a colorful snake twined its tail around the bear’s waist, and the mountainous bear was tossed upward into the sky precipitously, then bashed onto the ground, creating a deep hole in the earth. Those ancient trees and flowers around all met with disaster, flattened and ravaged.

It happened so fast that first senior brother was even deprived of time to mind the mud splashed on his white clothes.

Two small monsters? No matter how rare a speaking talisman was, the three lads all felt that he just said it too easily because it was not his own business.

Indeed, the tablet wouldn’t die!

Later, the snake monster revealed its complete appearance. The upper part of its face was human’s, while the under part was covered with scales and was rattling abuzz. As it moved, an even stronger bloody wind gusted. It wriggled through the ravaged forest so fast that only ghostly images were left. Cheng Qian could only hear the hissing noise of its scales against the ground, but couldn’t see where its head was –

Until it bit into the bear’s neck. The steaming blood spouted three Zhang to the air, forming a blood fountain.

With mortal terror on its face which almost evolved to a human’s, the bear spirit came crashing down in a minute. Its huge body rolled and twitched desperately on the ground, moribund. While the snake coiled around it tightly and rolled about with it.

In death throes and mournful cries, the bear died.

Cheng Qian looked right into its leaden unfocused eyes, feeling like his chest was jammed with ice cubes.

The snake loosened its tie around the bear and retreated. Cheng Qian thought it was going to check whether its prey was seriously dead. But the snake suddenly bolted into the bear spirit’s body. Its head impaled the body’s abdomen like a sharp blade. Then it spurted out with a beast core in its mouth and extended its upper body which was one and a half Zhang long.

Li Yun vomited. He could hardly believe that he’d been a neighbor with such creatures for more than a year, and he had made several attempts to explore here in the first and fifteenth night.

Yan Zhengming felt the blood in his heart pumping frantically into every corner of his body, which set him in a daze. His feet seemed to lose strength. If his sword wasn’t supporting him, he would have collapsed on the dirt.

Facing the bloody ground, with his heart pounding, Cheng Qian fixed his eyes on the dead bear and the munching snake. Once again, an inexpressible feeling welled up in his heart.

If he had such absolute strength, would he also… have the power of life and death over other beings?