Chapter 138: An... Immortal's Cave Abode

Wu Shaoyi’s breathing was still faint and ragged. “Are you a state soldier, or one of Lu’s scum?”

He Lingchuan rubbed a smear of grime from his temple. “State soldier.”

“No armor on you. Not a common footman, then?”

“Not quite.” He Lingchuan was impressed. The man was already half-dead, yet his eyes were still sharp as a hawk. “I’m just someone who was tagging along.”

He Lingchuan then turned the questioning around, “Why do you call such a monster the crocodile god?”

“It hails from the northern monster state, once fighting under the Divine Master’s banner.” Wu Shaoyi rasped, “In every river or lake battle it led, victory was almost completely assured. The army revered it as the Crocodile God[1], often throwing cattle and sheep into the water as a sacrifice. Save for the Divine Master, it never parleyed with mortals. Anyone who offended it, whether they be enemy or ally, would be bitten to death.”

So even though Wu Shaoyi knew the monster had intelligence, he had never imagined it could be addressed directly. Experience and habit had blinded him, and it had nearly cost him his life.

He Lingchuan fell into thought as he worked through everything he knew. The south was laced with rivers and marshes, and the Righteous Army that had risen in Buxin frequently raided water strongholds and port cities. “So it was Hong Xiangqian’s spirit pet.”

“No, it was not the Divine Master’s spirit pet,” Wu Shaoyi corrected slowly. “The Divine Master once did it a great kindness, and it fought in repayment. They were not master and servant. After the Divine Master died, no one ever saw the Crocodile God again. We all assumed it had returned north. Who would have thought it would now be working with Lu Yao?”

A long sigh escaped him. If not for the giant crocodile’s ambush, Lu Yao’s head would already be dangling from his belt instead of him lying here awaiting death.

He Lingchuan glanced toward the giant crocodile resting nearby and suddenly understood the fish tide that had surged toward shore the previous night. The crocodile clan was nothing like the peaceful water turtle. When the great crocodile went hunting, its oppressive aura alone sent entire shoals into a blind panic, fleeing in all directions. The fish tide had, in fact, been a herald of its approach.

At that time, the crocodile had been swimming straight toward shore, straight toward a handful of unwitting soldiers bathing by the shore. They had nearly become its next meal, until Lu Yao himself dove in to “dissuade” this crocodile king.

And the giant fish he had claimed as spoils? Likely creatures stunned by the crocodile’s pressure, or knocked senseless in the chaos.

“By the way, when I was retreating with my fellow soldiers earlier, Lu Yao used some kind of magical artifact against us. My shield and horse both shattered beneath it. I tumbled off the cliff, and the thing even pursued me down!” He Lingchuan shuddered at the memory. “If we go out, will I be ambushed by that thing again?”

“Did you not get a clear look at what it was?”

“It was too fast to see clearly. All I saw was a white blur. Maybe... it was an arrow?” He Lingchuan was still unsure as to what the white blur had been.

“It must have been the Ghost-Eye Bow,” Wu Shaoyi muttered. “The Divine Master’s treasured weapon. So Lu Yao holds it now.”

“What does it do?”

“The Ghost-Eye Bow looses arrows that chase their prey on their own. If they miss once, they will strike again, up to two more times. One arrow, three strikes.”

“Only three in total?” He Lingchuan felt a measure of relief. “You’re certain?”

“As you said, your shield shattered, your horse slain, and one more arrow shot at you beneath the cliff. That makes three. So, you should be safe now.”

Still, He Lingchuan’s mind turned over another matter. When he had cut into the giant turtle earlier, he had noticed the divine bone amulet at his chest flickering red. At first, he thought it was simply foretelling the treasure within the carcass.

Yet even after stripping the turtle inside and out, the divine bone still glowed.

Strange. Does this mean that there’s still something hidden within the turtle’s body that I’d missed?

They were on the verge of leaving, but his unease gnawed at him. He circled back to the turtle’s remains, looking it over closely.

The amulet’s red glow waxed and waned, brightening and dimming as he moved, as if responding to his position.

Wu Shaoyi stirred faintly, his voice hoarse as he asked, “What are you doing?”

“Wait, something isn’t right.” If the divine bone amulet’s glow brightened or dimmed depending on distance, then with the giant turtle lying right before him, the light should not be fluctuating at all.

Could there be something else hidden nearby?

Holding the candle aloft, He Lingchuan searched the cavern thoroughly. At last, not far from the turtle’s claw, half-hidden in a hollow of the rock wall, he spotted a gray clam shell no larger than a coconut. In such dim light, anyone with less sharp eyes would never have noticed it.

Leftovers from the Water Spirit’s meals? But that doesn’t make sense. With the turtle’s massive jaws, such a clam should have been gulped down in a single crunch.

He reached out to pry it open, but he failed. The shell was as tough as iron.

The giant crocodile, still lounging nearby, suddenly rumbled, “What are you doing?”

“There seems to be something here,” He Lingchuan replied. The divine bone necklace glowing red meant there was treasure afoot, and he was not about to let it slip away.

The crocodile flicked its tail, sending ripples crashing against the stone. “Behind the dead turtle lies a cave abode.”

The two men froze. “What?”

“It claimed a cave abode. Why else make its lair in this cramped, lightless hole? I lingered outside for half a day before catching it when it came out.”

“A cave abode? The kind said to belong only to immortals? Are you sure?”

“Didn’t you see it yourself when you came in here?”

That news was more shocking than the giant turtle or even the Crocodile God’s presence. Heart pounding with curiosity, He Lingchuan walked behind the massive carcass and laid a hand on the rock wall.

He had heard more than a hundred tales of immortals in his life, all saying they possessed powers to shake heaven and earth. Surely an immortal’s cave abode would be extraordinary. He had to witness it with his own eyes.

𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

The wall was rough and solid. He tapped, and the sound that entered his ears clearly signified that the wall was hollow.

Is this how I open the cave abode? I honestly have no idea.

The crocodile monster offered a hint, “There’s a shell in the corner. Kick it.”

Ah. So that gray clam wasn’t meant to be pried, but kicked? Who would have guessed?

He gave it a kick. The clam shell gaped open, and at once ripples spread across the stone face like water. A gap appeared, light spilling through.

The crocodile monster said with its eyes still closed. “Go on in. It’s safe,” Clearly, it had gone in before.

Reassured, He Lingchuan stepped through.

Inside was like a secluded courtyard at the back of a mountain. The sky above was a dull gray, neither bright nor dark.

The rocks bore the marks of ages of water erosion, suggesting it had once been a pool, but now not a drop remained. The earth was cracked and barren, all plants long withered; only a few brittle grass stalks clung to the ground, unrecognizable in form.

The courtyard itself was still mostly intact, though its design was unlike anything He Lingchuan had seen before. Once it must have been luxurious, even elegant. There were traces of gilt that still gleamed faintly beneath the eaves, but the walls were peeling badly.

The sandy earth bore drag marks, and a fence lay half-collapsed. Judging from the size, either the turtle or the crocodile had done the damage.

He Lingchuan stepped into the small courtyard. The door stood open, and the rooms were still furnished, though some pieces had been knocked over. Scrolls and books littered the floor, and on the meditation mat in the main hall sat a human skeleton, long since desiccated.

He Lingchuan picked up a book at random. The script on the cover was incomprehensible to him. The instant his fingertip touched it, the book disintegrated into dust.

Just like that?

So this was an immortal’s cave abode? Where’s the immortal qi, the celestial radiance?

Here, all he found was decay. Dust choked his nose and throat; he stifled a sneeze, afraid even his breath might scatter what remained of the brittle scrolls.

Reading was hopeless. Instead, he crouched before the skeleton on the mat for a closer look.

1. Changing capitalization here from the revelation that it’s an actual title. ☜