Chapter 349: Can

The stone niche was about seven feet long.

The diagonal span was no more than a zhang and a bit.

Gu Xianniang had stretched herself to a full zhang, yet still fell short of the rope.

Gu Xianniang could not bear the defeat; for one final try, she pulled her body as thin and long as she could.

For decades, a living soul had finally entered this stone niche.

After starving so long, who wouldn’t want to feast on something delicious?

But this time, the rope suddenly shot out, stretching all the way from the stone niche to the outer stone cave!

Gu Xianniang measured again and was terrified: No, she couldn’t eat this one.

If I swallow him, my belly will burst.

It withdrew from Xu’s dream, seething with resentment: How could this man get away with tasting such sweetness?

Fortunately, there were two others.

Gu Xianniang was deciding between the two—whom should she eat first?

Demons make no choices; demons take them all.

So it entered the dreams of both men simultaneously…

Suddenly, it sensed movement.

The rope had extended into the cave and was prodding Dafu’s neck.

Dafu woke up, grumpy from a poor sleep.

He lifted his head, his dull, goose-like eyes filled with irritation.

Huh? Is there something in the cave?

Dafu leapt to his feet, spreading his wings—when Gu Xianniang zipped past him in a flash.

Dafu was furious, convinced the thing had woken him, and chased after it.

He crashed headfirst into the boulder blocking the cave entrance.

The bump on his head grew larger.

Dafu let out several angry caws, then helplessly returned to lie down again.

He brushed his wings over his head—it hurt.

Then he inhaled the thin “sleep qi” inside the cave and drifted back into drowsy slumber.

…

Just before dawn, Xu Yuan woke first.

He touched his head and realized something was wrong.

Gao Guanzi hadn’t woken him.

Both of them were still sleeping soundly.

Xu Yuan glanced at the beast-tendon rope beneath him and seemed to understand.

“Hmph. Let them keep sleeping.”

Master Xu was annoyed.

He’d trusted these two mountain runners and followed them to this Divine Niang Niche.

They’d described Gu Xianniang’s every detail with such confidence, as if they’d made perfect preparations… and this was the result?

Xu Yuan sat up against the stone wall, quietly waiting for the two men as daylight approached.

…

In the darkness, the mountain wind near Pig-Cry Rock grew stronger.

The pig-like screams grew frequent.

But since it was night, all manner of eerie cries and roars echoed through the mountains, making these sounds seem less out of place.

Suddenly, a heavy black wind blew in from afar.

It swirled beneath Pig-Cry Rock and took the shape of a crow-headed, human-bodied shadow.

It wore a vast cloak of jet-black feathers.

It bore some resemblance to Bai Lao.

But its entire cloak was woven entirely from crow feathers.

Bai Lao’s was made of various hawk and falcon feathers.

Its eye sockets were hollow, burning with two dim red sparks of blood-fire.

After landing, it turned its crow head left and right, then began to move.

Its gait was bizarre, swaying unsteadily.

For it did not walk on feet, but on a pair of bird talons.

Bird talons were not built for walking.

Yet its speed was swift, its movements agile.

It ran and leapt like a creature half-flight, trailing black wind, occasionally gliding through the air.

It swiftly snatched up a series of small beasts from around it.

They were the same beasts the four men had released during the day, all carrying afflictions.

The beasts were frenzied; their pain had erased all sense of reverence.

It plucked feather after feather from its black cloak and stuck them into the beasts’ bodies.

The beasts instantly froze, silent and motionless.

Its hands hidden beneath the cloak were also bird talons.

They were ill-suited for certain tasks.

It studied the beast; the blood-fire in its hollow eye sockets flickered slightly, as if in disdain.

Then its crow beak opened and inhaled—

All the afflictions on the beasts were drawn into its mouth.

Each beast was instantly restored to health.

It clicked its beak, seemingly dissatisfied with the “taste.”

“Pah!” It spat it all out.

The afflictions it had swallowed turned into a thick glob of phlegm that landed on the ground.

The ground where it fell turned a sickly dark yellow.

Then it glanced casually among the beasts and selected one wild rabbit, exhaling a puff of purple-black qi from its mouth.

The rabbit, just healed, immediately began to rot and fester, sinking into a far more terrifying affliction.

Satisfied, it twisted its body and with a whoosh, transformed back into a heavy black wind, soaring into the sky and vanishing.

Not long after it left, a tree root emerged from the ground.

Then, rapidly growing tendrils wove into a net, covering the dark yellow soil and dragging it underground.

The soil and roots vanished.

…

Dawn gradually broke; light seeped through the stone cracks, growing brighter.

Gao Guanzi and Bai Lao woke simultaneously, jolting upright.

Bai Lao instinctively drew his hatchet from his waist.

Gao Guanzi’s ears flared wide, an arrow already in hand.

He was an archer.

Bai Lao could use a bow too, but his skill fell short of Gao Guanzi’s.

“Awake?”

A voice, laced with mockery, came from beside them.

They turned to see Master Xu seated against the stone wall, Dafu curled beside him as he gently stroked its feathers.

Both men’s faces flushed crimson.

They stammered, unable to speak.

They knew Gu Xianniang had come last night.

After all, they’d both had those blissful dreams.

But they were still alive—meaning someone had saved them.

Who else but Master Xu?

Two mountain runners, in the Ghost Witch Mountains, had been spared by another’s intervention!

If this got out, they’d lose all face.

Most ashamed was Bai Lao—he’d been on first watch, yet slept until dawn.

He hadn’t even woken Gao Guanzi.

If disaster had struck, his responsibility would be greatest.

Master Xu watched them and waved a hand: “Enough. Nothing bad happened.”

“Ashamed,” both muttered, bowing low to apologize to Master Xu.

Xu Yuan said: “Say no more. Let’s go up.”

Gao Guanzi quickly dismantled the boulder blocking the cave entrance.

Outside, ropes left over from yesterday hung drifting in the air.

These ropes were specially made by Bai Laoyan and rarely twisted unpredictably in the mountains.

But Gao Guanzi twitched his ears and snorted coldly: “Something’s lying in wait for us above.”

Bai Laoyan, eager to atone, bit his axe in his mouth and climbed up: “I’ll go—cut it to pieces!”

Xu Yuan waved his hand: “No need for such recklessness.”

Master Xu stepped onto his fire wheel and ascended—but saw no evil spirit at all.

When Xu Yuan burst out of the cave mouth, the evil spirit fled with good sense…

Bai Laoyan felt even more ashamed.

If I’d gone up myself, there’d have been a bloody fight.

“Eat something, then head to Pig Scream Rock,” Xu Yuan said.

…

The four men from yesterday arrived early at the base of Pig Scream Rock; the small beasts still had black feathers embedded in them, unable to move.

They carefully placed the small beasts into bamboo cages.

Especially that wild rabbit.

Yet even without touching the rabbit, all four discovered a spreading rot beginning at their hands, with signs of pus forming!

The four were terrified: “Quick, go back—ask Master for help!”

Not long after they left, Xu Yuan and the other two arrived at the base of Pig Scream Rock.

Bai Laoyan and Gao Guanzi stood at one spot.

With their experience, they said: “These tracks… it looks like something was dragged straight underground by tree roots or similar.”

Xu Yuan pondered: “Ghostwhisker Tree? Is there a way to track it?”

“Watch me!” Gao Guanzi perked up, crouched down, and pressed one ear tightly against the ground.

(End of Chapter)