Chapter 166: Pan Si Da Xian

As they spoke, Zhou Shuo, Feiyan Nü, and Ying Nü Xia had already followed that youth, facing the passageway they ran to a stone wall of the Pan Si Cave; the youth, extremely familiar with the terrain, pressed his hand on the copper latch on the wall, and the stone wall instantly rose, revealing an outward opening.

"Water Curtain Cave, how is this possible?" the youth exclaimed, rushing out of the opening; in an instant he turned his head and looked up at the stone wall above the entrance, seeing three seal characters that were unmistakably 'Water Curtain Cave'.

"How is this possible?" Compared to the youth, Feiyan Nü and Ying Nü Xia were the most shocked, for they saw that all around was a desolate mountain ridge valley; the fragrant gardens and clear waters of Flower Fruit Mountain had completely vanished, and even if they had exited through other openings of the Water Curtain Cave, it would not have come to this.

"This shouldn't be!" Ying Nü Xia and Feiyan Nü exchanged a glance, then both leapt up, their agile bodies stepping on the surrounding cliffs, preparing to go high to scout in all directions.

"Hey, hey brother, hello, I'm called Zhi Zun Bao, may I ask your name?" the youth looked at the two women who had each rushed up the rocks, blinked, lifted his gaze to the blazing sun above, glanced at the long box he held, then finally turned and walked toward Zhou Shuo, nodding and laughing.

"I'm Zhou Shuo." Zhou Shuo looked at the utterly mismatched fellow, nodded, and gave his name.

"Um, may I ask you a question? Is this place the Water Curtain Cave?" Zhi Zun Bao covered his mouth, his expression an exaggerated mix of sadness and joy, pointing uncertainly at the characters on the Water Curtain Cave.

"I too have just come from the otherworld; you should ask a native about this." Zhou Shuo shrugged, admitting he truly didn't know, for the location shifts with people and time.

"A native?" Zhi Zun Bao tilted his head slightly.

"Well, it's basically aboriginal; you can understand it as indigenous people." Zhou Shuo gestured to illustrate.

"Oh, I get it now." Zhi Zun Bao made an exaggerated show of sudden realization, but his expression was only slightly overdone; Zhou Shuo saw no such exaggeration in him, as if it were natural.

"You understand, so why are you still staring at me?" Zhou Shuo looked at the fellow feigning realization, pointed ahead to the valley path, and saw, amid the pattering sounds, a beautiful woman in white robes gazing into the distance, leading a black donkey as she walked in.

"Well, uh..." Zhi Zun Bao followed Zhou Shuo's gaze, looking at the woman who had come in from the valley path, and involuntarily lifted his head slightly, thinking, "This must be the native, right!"

As Zhi Zun Bao stepped forward to question the so‑called native, Ying Nü Xia and Feiyan Nü, who had leapt onto the high ridges on either side to observe, also jumped down from the cliffs and landed lightly before Zhou Shuo.

"We're no longer on Flower Fruit Mountain." Ying Nü Xia's face showed a hint of change; this was a completely unfamiliar environment.

"It certainly doesn't look like it!" Zhou Shuo rolled his eyes, noting that the seashore's peach‑garden waters had turned into this barren mountain; of course this was no longer the Water Curtain Cave of Flower Fruit Mountain.

"But where are we, and what should we do?" Feiyan Nü said anxiously; she and Ying Nü Xia had been sent by their master to Flower Fruit Mountain to persuade Sun Wukong, yet now they had fallen into this strange environment—let alone failing the mission, even returning home might become impossible.

"Take it easy, don't panic." Zhou Shuo looked at the anxious girl, patted her delicate shoulder, but before she could speak, the woman who had been chatting with Zhi Zun Bao called out.

"Hey, you."

"Hi." Zhou Shuo smiled and waved at the woman leading the donkey, but instead of getting a reply, she pointed the hilt of the sword in its scabbard at the three of them.

"Are you three the masters of this place?" the woman pointed with her sword hilt at them; Zhou Shuo noticed that between her fingers were small rings tied with countless tiny bells.

"No." Zhou Shuo shifted his gaze from the woman's hand‑bells and naturally shook his head.

"Fine then, listen up: from today on this place will be renamed the Coiled Silk Cave; this mountain and everything on it will be mine, including you and him—any objections?" The woman laughed brightly, waving her hand to change the three characters 'Water Curtain Cave' on the rock grotto to 'Coiled Silk Cave', then went on to say something that made faces turn pale.

"Yes." Zhou Shuo widened his eyes, realizing that even he was included.

"If so, we'll keep it for now; furthermore, I want to tell you that from today on I am called Pan Si Da Xian—if anyone bullies you, report my name, understand?" The woman raised her delicate brows, fixing her gaze on the objecting Zhou Shuo, then glanced at Feiyan Nü and Ying Nü Xia beside him.

"Pan Si Da Xian." At the woman's words, Ying Nü Xia and Feiyan Nü stared at each other in disbelief, for they were not unfamiliar with that name; among the three great realms of humans, immortals, and demons, the founder of the Pan Si Cave, famed equally with the demon realm and the netherworld, was none other than Pan Si Da Xian.

"You seem to have heard this name before—does someone share my name?" The woman accurately caught Ying Nü Xia and Feiyan Nü's shock, but then shook her head.

"Forget it, whatever; anyway I'm using this name first. Now I'll stamp each of you, starting with you." The woman looked at Zhou Shuo, flashed a hint of a charming smile, and suddenly jabbed her sword hilt at his chest.

With a bang, the rock exploded outward, smoke and dust cleared, leaving three black dots on the stone; Zhou Shuo stared at the black dots on the rock, his eyebrows jumping as he turned to the woman, wondering, "Is this for real?"

"Hey, not bad skill!" the woman said, watching Zhou Shuo instantly dodge her technique; her brows lifted slightly, showing great surprise.

"What do you want?" Ying Nü Xia exclaimed as the woman suddenly moved to attack; she drew her twin short swords from her waist, her brows knitting in disbelief, thinking, "Is this woman a madwoman?"

"I didn't mean to do anything; since he won't obey, I'll start with you two." The woman smiled enchantingly, and in an instant her sword hilt flicked twice, ringing with two clangs; both Ying Nü Xia's twin short swords and Feiyan Nü's exquisite arc blade she drew from her person were knocked from their hands, the four weapons falling to the ground, their edges marked with three black dots, marring their overall beauty.

"Step back, I'll take her on." Zhou Shuo said, seeing the woman showed no sign of stopping, and he grinned.

"Fine, I've been waiting for you to say that; though I'm unreasonable by nature, if you have the skill come at me, otherwise you'll all be mine today." The woman looked at Zhou Shuo speaking, broke into a charming smile, gripped the hilt of her sheathed long sword, and thrust it at him from a distance.

"Too overbearing." Zhou Shuo looked at the sheathed sword lunging at him, caught it with his right hand, and while the opponent prepared to pull the blade free, he shoved the sheath back.

"I like it." The woman felt the sheath pushing back against the blade, flashed a willful smile, tried to twist her wrist to shake off the sheath, but Zhou Shuo, with one hand bracing the sheath to release the force, simultaneously turned and lowered his body, his left hand hooking onto her wrist along the sheath.

"Those who are overbearing shouldn't wield a sword." Zhou Shuo locked his left hand around her wrist, gripped the sheath with his right, twisted it hard, wrested the sheathed long sword from her, and then casually tossed it to Ying Nü Xia.