"Shouldn't I... have tested you?"
Li Ling bore none of the frigid, ruthless chill she had shown when slaughtering Earth Wolf King's Army soldiers back in Immortal Burial Town. She added, "To join the Cangling Tribe, one must have a clean identity and upright character. Stop being mad, okay? You have so many dharma artifacts on you, and I didn't lay a finger on them, did I? If I had struck while feigning unconsciousness earlier, you wouldn't have had much of a guard up, would you?
"So, toward friends who have braved life and death together, my character is actually quite decent.
"By the way, why did you save me just now and drag me ashore? Could it be that you like me?"
Li Weiyi said nothing and quickened his pace.
He constantly sensed something amiss with Li Ling—an indescribable familiarity—but her cultivation was too high for him to probe, so he only wanted to keep his distance.
"Don't run off, you haven't answered me yet! The Mist Domain of Departed Spirits can only be safely traversed if led by someone bearing the Limin bloodline. Going deeper on your own is extremely dangerous," Li Ling said.
Li Weiyi had heard Zhao Zhizhuo mention this, but he had an imperative reason to return to the Blood Sea; no matter how dangerous, he had to go.
If he didn't return, everyone on the Bronze Ship would have no choice but to wait for death.
Li Ling jogged to catch up to him. "I'll be honest with you. After I was hit by the stone monkey flying needle, barging into that abandoned house where you were hiding was indeed meant to drag you down with me. But my analysis in Immortal Burial Town wasn't wrong either, was it? In that situation, united we lived, divided we died."
"It doesn't matter anymore!"
Li Weiyi deliberately exposed his back to her, testing whether she truly had no interest in his dharma artifacts.
She launched no sneak attack, leaving Li Weiyi deeply perplexed, entirely unable to fathom her motive for pursuing him.
Barefoot, her jade-like feet stepping over loose gravel and briars, Li Ling kept close to Li Weiyi's right side. "You must understand that anyone caught in such dire straits in Immortal Burial Town would have made the same choice. What's more, back then I merely took you for a little rogue who deceived my brother with wicked intentions.
"Now it's different. You're actually pretty decent.
"Why don't we be friends? I'll look out for you in the Cangling Tribe from now on. If we ever run into a situation like that again, I'll let you go first and stay behind to cover our rear."
Li Weiyi halted and stared at her.
Li Ling blinked her lively eyes, her lashes fluttering, and said, "You dragged me ashore, and you even helped the Cangling Tribe before... Your character is beyond reproach. With your current five-spring cultivation, I can help you secure a respectable position in Jiuli City, find you a remarkably beautiful wife—I have a cousin who will turn sixteen in eight days; you can come with me to her coming-of-age ceremony to see if you hit it off. Entering the Cangli Clan Academy is fine too, though getting into Jiuli Dao Academy would be a bit difficult!"
"Eldest Miss Li, stop following me. I've felt your good intentions. I still prefer your aloof, frigid demeanor; why don't you switch back?"
Li Weiyi genuinely could not tell how much of what she said was true or false. He secretly resolved that once he retrieved his senior brother and the others, he would never go to the Cangling Tribe. Remembering the cold glare Li Ling had given him from the rooftops and how effortlessly she had cut down enemies like chopping melons and vegetables, the version of her before him felt profoundly unreal.
As for Gao Huan...
He was a Pure Immortal Physique; the Cangling Tribe surely wouldn't mistreat him.
Li Ling said, "Are you heading to Blood Sea Coffin Dock? Your companions are over there? Could all those dharma artifacts of yours have come from opening blind coffins?"
*Whoosh!*
Li Weiyi mobilized his dharmic power and shot forward at full speed.
"Impatient already?"
Blue mist and light traces swirled across Li Ling's bare feet as she gave chase at even greater speed.
One chasing and the other fleeing, they sprinted dozens of li.
Li Weiyi slowed down, noticing that their surroundings had grown increasingly abnormal. Many motionless humanoid figures had appeared within the forest, standing quietly in the mist, their heads turned to stare at him.
They carried no trace of life. Some stood along the riverbank, others amid the bushes.
It was utterly chilling, sending a cold shiver down Li Weiyi's spine.
"Stop wandering aimlessly. Any farther, and even I might not be able to bring you back."
Li Ling reached out and grabbed him.
Li Weiyi was puzzled. "When you go to the Blood Sea to salvage coffins, don't you just follow the Sui River out?"
Seeing that Li Weiyi was finally willing to speak calmly to her after hitting a wall, Li Ling could not help but smile. "How could it be that simple? Though the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits is only two hundred li across, it's one of the few restricted zones in the entire Lingxiao Realm of the Living. The space inside is chaotic and constantly shifting.
"Following the Sui River won't lead to the Blood Sea; it will only take you to the far more dangerous Nether Realm of the Dead.
"In the Jiuli Clan, only the disciples of the nine high priests—no more than a hundred Nether Lamp Wayfinders in total—can find the path through the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits."
"You're one of them?" Li Weiyi asked.
"Mm-hmm!"
Li Ling nodded proudly. "Every year, many people lose their way in the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits and the Nether Realm of the Dead. Just yesterday, we ran into two female wanderers, and one was even a Pure Immortal Physique."
"What did they look like?" Li Weiyi pressed urgently.
Li Ling replied, "The Pure Immortal Physique is naturally celestial in beauty, but like Gao Huan, she showed no sign of cultivation. As for the other, she was dressed entirely in red, with a bone wind chime tied at her waist."
"Where are they?" Li Weiyi asked.
Watching Li Weiyi's expression intently, Li Ling laughed. "I guessed it! Those two enchantresses who captivated my brother out of his wits are in league with you. One test, and it came right out! You must have acquired some extraordinary treasure, right? Otherwise, why would two people undergo the metamorphosis into a Pure Immortal Physique in a row?"
Li Weiyi had a flash of realization, somewhat understanding her purpose in chasing after him. Probing, he said, "You aren't a Pure Immortal Physique, are you? I can sense that although your skin is flawless and has an immortal carapace, you are fundamentally different from the young clan leader and Gao Huan, though I can't quite put my finger on the difference."
Stung by Li Weiyi's words, Li Ling hesitated for a long while before speaking bitterly: "I can only be considered a Semi-Immortal Physique; I failed to complete the full metamorphosis. The fundamental difference between a Semi-Immortal Physique and a Pure Immortal Physique lies in the bones—possessing mere flesh without immortal bones."
Li Weiyi thought that if she drank Golden Crow blood, she would most likely transform into a Pure Immortal Physique.
But did she truly view him as a friend forged through life and death?
Before seeing through her true nature, Li Weiyi could not bring himself to treat her as a friend.
Li Ling said with utmost sincerity, "Let me guide you to the Blood Sea's edge. Without my help, you won't make it there! See these departed spirits? They are merely the weakest kind, with virtually no aggression. But if you encounter a blood-colored ferocious soul, or a fiendish demon like the Thousand-Headed Dragon Vine, your chances of survival will be slim to none."
"What are your conditions?" Li Weiyi asked.
Li Ling replied, "No conditions. I only ask that you hold no more resentment in your heart... Think of it as settling what I owed you in Immortal Burial Town."
Li Weiyi remained half-convinced, half-skeptical. "Fine! If you guide me to the Blood Sea, all grievances between us are settled—I, Xie Jin, keep my word. Which way?"
Li Ling suddenly sat down on a moss-covered rock, clutching the wound on her lower abdomen. "My injuries are too severe; I don't think I can walk."
***
Carrying Li Ling on his back, Li Weiyi advanced through the mist domain.
Her frame was slender, yet remarkably heavy, and furthermore...
"You weren't hit by a stone monkey flying needle at all!" Li Weiyi felt no rigidity in her body whatsoever—only softness and elasticity, both against his hands and against his back.
Holding a nether lamp in one hand and draping the other around Li Weiyi's neck, Li Ling spoke in a crisp, melodious voice laced with lazy contentment: "I was hit! But I carried secret medicine. Once I took it, the stone poison was cured."
"Does a single word of truth ever leave your mouth?" Li Weiyi muttered.
Li Ling replied, "Master said that when a girl is out in the world alone, she has to learn to protect herself. Speak only seven-tenths of the truth to anyone, and invest only three-tenths of your heart."
The Nether Lamp Wayfinder truly possessed genuine skill. The route was exceedingly winding, sometimes requiring lengthy detours. Yet from start to finish, they encountered no danger. Just as Li Weiyi was nearly losing all sense of direction, the faint sound of ocean waves reached his ears.
Quickening his pace, he soon emerged from the foggy woods, and his field of vision widened at once.
Reaching the shore, a bloody, decaying stench assaulted his senses.
Upon the blood-colored ocean floated densely clustered coffins, large and small, piled like mountains.
Paper money, empty coffins, and broken bones littered the shore everywhere. Farther out, gloomy mist stretched unbroken; no horizon between sea and sky could be seen, nor could the Bronze Ship.
Several dozen zhang to the right stood an ancient, dilapidated ferry dock, where a bluestone paifang arch carved with dragons still towered high. A long, straight stone plankway extended from the dock into the deep sea, vanishing into the mist.
Li Weiyi set Li Ling down, a surge of fierce joy rising in his chest. He was finally about to see his senior brother and the others again. His senior brother was practically the only family he had left in this world.
Yet at the same time, an urgent desire to grow stronger arose within him. Otherwise, after bringing the expedition members off the ship, how would everyone survive? If they went to the Cangling Tribe, he felt he would be completely under Li Ling's thumb—a stifling, subordinate existence under another's roof.
If he possessed the strength of seven springs now, or had even breached the Fengfu and Zutian acupoints, not only would Li Ling be powerless against him, but the elders of the Cangling Tribe would likely rush to recruit him as a valued talent, treating him just as they treated Gao Huan.
*Whoosh!*
Li Weiyi dashed toward the dock, mounted the plankway, and raced toward the deep sea at top speed.
"Xie Jin, are you... trying to get killed?"
She hastily lowered her voice, not daring to speak aloud, and halted immediately upon reaching the edge of the dock.
Every time she and her clansmen came to the Blood Sea to salvage coffins, they had to scatter paper money, light incense candles, and offer sacrifices—not a single ritual could be skipped. Most importantly, one must never shout or make loud noises, much less step onto the plankway or venture deep into the Blood Sea.
The clan elders had warned that the otherworld coffins drifting to Blood Sea Coffin Dock were either sinister and bizarre or extraordinary; the vast majority were abnormal.
A single misstep could disturb entities they could never afford to provoke.
She had heard far too many tales regarding Blood Sea Coffin Dock. Watching Li Weiyi vanish into the mist, she did not dare pursue him, asking instead, "Senior, should we give chase?"
*Whoosh!*
Li Ling's back grew scorching hot, blood mist swirling out as a skeleton of nearly jade-like bone stepped out from within her.
Chanhai Guanwu's long hair fluttered in the wind. A bit of flesh and blood had already grown over her bones. Looking out over the eerie, murky sea of coffins, she sighed. "Forget it."
Li Ling's blood Qi had drained severely, leaving her face pale and looking rather weak. "This junior is quite puzzled. Back when you were on his back, with such a prime opportunity, why didn't Senior strike?"
"Because I hesitated."
Chanhai Guanwu could not explain too much to her.
By forcibly taking Li Weiyi's blood and soul to complete the marrying yang ritual, she would have had the chance to hold the dominant position in their relationship going forward—just as if Li Weiyi had married into her family.
That was the outcome she most desired to see!
Yet doing so carried a grave risk: should Li Weiyi's cultivation ever surpass hers in the future, the backlash would be dreadful.
On the other hand, lowering herself to beg Li Weiyi to part with a large amount of his blood and soul to complete the marrying yang ritual was a hurdle her pride could never overcome.
The so-called "marrying yang" was a bloodline energy unique to that ancient clan, allowing the deceased to live a second life and retread the path of cultivation by marrying back into the world of the living.
The price to be paid was becoming the wife—or husband—of that ancient clan's descendant.
Before the ritual was completed, the deceased's will held sway.
Thus, Chanhai Guanwu could choose to forcibly complete the marrying yang ritual, whereas Li Weiyi could not. In that grave aboard the Bronze Ship, she had acted by force, infusing a wisp of her soul intent into Li Weiyi's glabella. But when the ritual was only half-finished, Li Weiyi broke free and fled.
By the same logic, when descendants of the ancient clan sought a dao-protecting wife or dao-protecting husband during infancy, it could only be decided by the will of that dao-protecting spouse.
Yet once the ritual was finished, the descendant of the ancient clan possessed the stronger say.
For instance, if the descendant died, the one who married yang would perish as well. But if the one who married yang perished, the descendant was barely affected.
Furthermore, the one who married yang had to stay within a certain distance of the descendant, an allowable separation that would only increase as their cultivation levels rose.
To reverse life and death naturally came at no small price.
Chanhai Guanwu harbored the ambition to reverse life and death and scale the pinnacle of cultivation once more. Yet to be subject to Li Weiyi ran entirely counter to her pride and ambition.
"Perhaps I can try becoming friends first to see if he is truly trustworthy. When the time is ripe, we can speak heart to heart. Being husband and wife in name, but close friends or allies in reality—wouldn't that be a better way to aid each other?" Chanhai Guanwu considered a compromise.
Up to now, Li Weiyi had left a fairly good impression on her.
In Li Weiyi's eyes, she had already been branded a white-boned demon. With that prejudice entrenched, getting along amicably would be nearly impossible. She needed a new identity, which was one reason she had chosen Li Ling as her vessel.
As for Qi Shanshan, Chanhai Guanwu had left behind a wisp of soul intent that unlocked her faculty of speech; she shouldn't reveal any flaws.
*Tap! Tap! Tap...*
Rapid footsteps suddenly echoed from the woods.
Moments later, three figures emerged at the edge of the Blood Sea, with Yan Qingqing at the lead. Relying on her unrivaled sense of smell, she had tracked the path Li Weiyi and Li Ling took all the way here.
Shi Jiuzhai had issued a strict order, leaving them with no choice. No matter how dangerous the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits was, they had to brave it.
Chapter 39