Divergent Accounts

"Even with gifts and methods as blessed as ours among burrow spiders, with every molt I still face the threat of the mystery of the womb," Second Madame Zhu said faintly. "I have molted several times and already lost much of my past memory. Who knows if the next molt will run right into the mystery of the womb, wiping thousands of years of memories away into nothing." Madame Zhu comforted her sister, "How could you be that unlucky? You're molting, which is different from ordinary body seizure." Yet He Lingchuan understood that this was really just a matter of odds. If Second Madame Zhu kept molting, sooner or later she would likely run headlong into the mystery of the womb. If the overall environment never improved, few demon immortals would be spared. Dong Rui chimed in as well. "Now that Emperor's Flowing Dew will fall more frequently and spiritual energy conditions improve, you won't need to molt anymore. Speaking of which, what does this have to do with the Bright Lantern Cup?" "Legend has it that Perfected Chaoyun once claimed an elixir concocted from the Bright Lantern Cup could unravel the mystery of the womb, allowing cultivators to retain their complete memories during body seizure," Second Madame Zhu said with mild irony. "Who wouldn't want to carry their memories through body seizure and reincarnation? On top of that, Perfected Chaoyun was highly respected with an impeccable reputation, so everyone believed it. You can imagine how many people flocked after the Bright Lantern Cup back then. In the end, though, that recipe was proven false." "Useless?" "Mm. It did nothing against the mystery of the womb. The cultivators who brewed the medicine according to the recipe and swallowed it still failed." Second Madame Zhu had always been seeking ways to preserve her memories, so she knew this piece of history well. "Of course, the Bright Lantern Cup is still a fine medicinal ingredient, but it wasn't what we were desperately seeking." Madame Zhu added, "In antiquity, Bright Lantern Grass was already a rare medicinal herb. Once that rumor spread, more and more people dug it up, pushing it closer to extinction. Later, as heaven-and-earth spiritual energy dwindled, spirit herbs like Bright Lantern Grass grew even more scarce. Before today, I hadn't heard that name in seven or eight centuries." While Dong Rui listened merely as if to a bizarre anecdote, He Lingchuan immediately sensed something amiss. "Wait. With the knowledge and discernment of ancient immortals, how could they fall for such a rumor?" Immortals weren't ignorant village folk; would they buy into baseless rumors at the drop of a hat? What was more, quite a few immortals had believed that using the Bright Lantern Cup in medicine could break the mystery of the womb. Even Second Madame Zhu had paid close attention to it. Madame Zhu gave a dry chuckle. "The information Fang Canran gave you is incomplete. Perhaps he doesn't even know himself that the Bright Lantern Cup isn't the fruit of Bright Lantern Grass." Fang Canran was only responsible for relaying missions; when it came to judging specific facts, he was certainly not as well informed as those who had lived through it. Dong Rui listened with relish. "Oh? Then what is it?" "It's light," Madame Zhu explained to the two ill-informed mortals. "Bright Lantern Grass grows on the highest peaks of snow-capped mountains, clinging to east-facing cliffs. At its altitude, there is no rain, snow, frost, or dew, and every day it absorbs the first wisp of purple qi just before the morning sun crests the horizon. "After absorbing this for thirty-six years, the Bright Lantern Grass will bloom, exhaling the radiance nurtured over all those years. That sphere of radiance is called the 'Bright Lantern Cup.' It contains the essence of sunlight, yet none of the domineering fierceness of True Solar Fire." Second Madame Zhu continued, "Aside from its raw use, the Bright Lantern Cup can also be forged into magic artifacts. The most famous of them is called the 'Heart Lamp.'" He Lingchuan murmured in surprise, "That sounds familiar." He pondered for a few breaths. "Oh, the Heavenly Palace's Everlasting Lamp has a similar claim—it protects the minds of lamp wardens and believers so external evils cannot take hold." "That doesn't count as a damn Heart Lamp!" Second Madame Zhu sneered dismissively. "A Heart Lamp forged from a Bright Lantern Cup keeps a person's consciousness clear and their mind unshakable, shielding them from inner demons! It truly serves as a bright lantern guiding one through the miasma of delusions. In the old days, our cultivation involved major and minor bottlenecks; when breaking through, one might face the harassment of inner demons. As long as one was protected by this Heart Lamp, and wasn't completely incompetent, one could mostly pass through safe and sound—though truth be told, anyone who reached the stage where inner demons could torment them wasn't weak to begin with." Dong Rui gave a thumbs-up. "Good stuff! Definitely worth busting heads over!" It was easy to defeat bandits in the mountains, but hard to defeat bandits in the heart. He Lingchuan had once resolved to vanquish his own inner demons and had cleaved them several times, only for the things to burrow deeper and deeper. Even now, he didn't know if he had rooted them out completely. People with willpower as steadfast as his were exceedingly rare; other cultivators were even more helpless against inner demons. With a Heart Lamp to assist them, passing that hurdle would be far easier. "However, a person can only ever use one Heart Lamp in their lifetime; using more has no effect. So when to use it requires careful thought," Madame Zhu added. "Mm, precisely because the Bright Lantern Cup has such a protective effect on the mind and soul, when Perfected Chaoyun's rumor first began circulating, people were half-believing and half-doubting. Even a good friend of mine who specialized in alchemy studied it for years and said it wasn't impossible." He Lingchuan nodded, but his thoughts turned inward: What did General Red need the Bright Lantern Cup for? In the Panlong World, she had two great responsibilities: dealing with Beijia, and guarding against Mitian. Zhong Shengguang had explicitly said the Bright Lantern Cup was prepared to deal with Mitian. So how exactly was it supposed to be used? General Red certainly couldn't tell him in person, because she was Mitian's own eyes and ears. As for Zhong Shengguang, he didn't seem inclined to say either. Dong Rui cut in, "Anyway, the tribute is lost. Wang Xingyi wants to commission us to retrieve it." "Julu Port lies beyond Mou Kingdom's reach, and Mou Kingdom's escort unit transported the Bright Lantern Cup in secret without fanfare, yet someone made off with it anyway," He Lingchuan said with a chuckle. "Presumably Fang Canran knows I handled cases in Beijia, which is why he wants me to crack another case." "Are there any useful leads at the moment?" "The escort unit is still investigating leads at Julu Port. They suspect the royal house of Bo Kingdom is behind it and are gathering evidence." Dong Rui said in surprise, "Suspecting the host nation of stealing it? That's quite a serious accusation." Julu Port belonged to Bo Kingdom. "If we head over right away, we can question them for the freshest accounts," He Lingchuan said, leafing through the letter. "National Preceptor Wang hopes we can help track down the tribute's whereabouts. If it proves difficult to reclaim, we hand the leads over to Mou Kingdom and let them take action." Mou Kingdom wouldn't swallow this insult. Dong Rui shook his head. "A whole month ago? Ha! It's a seaport connected in every direction! If you ask me, the Bright Lantern Cup was shipped away long ago. There'll be no catching up with it." "If this job were easy, National Preceptor Wang wouldn't have assigned it to me specifically," He Lingchuan said, seeing through the situation completely. "Let's go take a look first. This is only the first task anyway; there are several others on the Shanjin Plain." "I'll go with you," Madame Zhu volunteered. "The Yangshan Archipelago has been so peaceful for the past six months that I'm practically growing spores. And I'm sick of eating fish and pork..." "..." "..." "Pork?" He Lingchuan caught the discrepancy. "Where did you get pork?" Second Madame Zhu's brood could catch fish, so eating fish was routine for the Spider Queen sisters. But pork...?