Every One of Them Is Second Mother

At that order, the Baling soldiers raised their sabers, spears, swords, and halberds in unison, thrusting them all toward General Red. Even a man made of iron would have been turned into a hornet's nest. Yet just as the first spear tip reached him, General Red's silhouette abruptly vanished. Without warning, leaving not even an afterimage of movement, he was simply gone. The thrusts, slashes, and chops that followed struck nothing but empty air. All that remained in his place was a cicada slough no larger than a pinky finger, drifting upward into the sky on the heavy wind. The technique of Sacrifice the Plum to Preserve the Peach. The very first time General Red stepped into the stables, he had secretly planted a cicada slough, completely unnoticed by anyone. Had He Lingchuan witnessed this, he surely would have smiled knowingly. Having swapped places with the ghost shadow cicada slough, General Red naturally reappeared inside the stables. Shao Yingyang swept his gaze around, his blood running cold in an instant: another shadow had appeared in the courier station's stables, swinging a saber down to chop at the bronze talisman on the ground. Too startled to think, he bit his tongue, pointed toward the stables, and roared, "Suppress!" A bolt of silvery-white lightning materialized in midair, plummeting toward General Red's crown with the momentum of ten thousand boulders. The lightning illuminated more than half of Weicheng. Its might was clearly staggering; after all, thunder and lightning were the orthodox magic of heaven and earth, naturally capable of shattering all manner of evil and demons. Yet General Red merely extended the index and middle fingers of his left hand and pinched upward above his head, as if it had all been calculated beforehand. The ferocious bolt of lightning was actually caught between his fingers! Effortless. Crackling and popping, it struggled violently like a living viper, yet it could not escape General Red's grip. The long saber in his right hand was not idle either, fluidly carving a "Z" across the bronze talisman. The stroke was swift and nimble, yet the groove was deep, nearly gouging clean through the metal. With that, the green glow vanished, and the formation instantly stopped functioning. The wandering Three Corpse Worms had originally scattered in fear of the thunder, but the moment General Red crushed the lightning serpent and broke the bronze talisman, they became energized as though injected with chicken blood. They launched even fiercer assaults against the nearest targets, seeming enraged by their earlier humiliation. Hundreds of Three Corpse Worms invading hosts made for a scene too sinister and eerie to put into words. Anyone present to witness it with their own eyes would never forget it for the rest of their days. The Baling soldiers who had been brawling with Xiao Maoliang and his men froze. Their pupils gradually lost focus, and their facial muscles twisted. Then they turned around, howling as they swung their weapons at their comrades behind them. The battle swung overwhelmingly to one side in an instant, and the Baling army collapsed across the board. In this era, the people of Baling had yet to discover a more effective means of dealing with Three Corpse Worms. General Red's plan was accomplished at last, despite many twists and turns along the way. With the enemy suddenly turning on their own, Xiao Maoliang and his men breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly pushed the city gate wide open once again. The thunderous pounding of hooves finally arrived outside the walls. The Gale Army had arrived, coordinating from inside and out. Summoning the lightning serpent had already taken a tremendous toll. Seeing it subdued in a single move, Shao Yingyang spat out two mouthfuls of blood on the spot. His vitality drained immediately, his face sunken, yet his eyes remained fixed on General Red in a death stare. "Impossible... Even a divine emissary couldn't catch lesser heavenly thunder..." One of his men grabbed hold of him and shouted, "General, the gate is breached! We cannot linger in Weicheng!" The gates of Weicheng stood wide open, and the Gale Army surged inside like a tidal wave. Although this ambush force consisted of only four hundred riders, and more than a thousand Baling garrison troops remained in Weicheng, most of the latter had been overcome by Three Corpse Worms, leaving them with practically no fighting strength. Even the men around Shao Yingyang had to pull out magical artifacts and ignite talismans to keep their own minds unclouded. For the Baling forces in control of Weicheng, the situation was lost. Shao Yingyang glanced around, and no matter how unwilling, he could only order a retreat through the north gate. Mounting his horse, he glared toward the stables, gritting his teeth. "Three feet above every head dwell the gods. Mitian, you will not escape..." He had intended to throw down a parting threat before fleeing, but out of nowhere, a spear came shooting out from the courier station, swift as thunder, wrapped in crackling electricity, of peerless majesty. Shao Yingyang had no time to dodge. Just as he was about to be skewered like meat on a spit, a massive black silhouette suddenly crashed into his path, blocking him directly. It was the colossal stone golem. With a resounding crash, the stone golem's chest was punched straight through, and its enormous frame disintegrated with a boom amidst the flashing lightning. General Red had returned the lightning in full. Its momentum unbroken, the spear drove straight through Shao Yingyang's throat, drawing out a spray of crimson blood. The stone golem's shield had failed to alter his final end. Without even uttering a cry, Shao Yingyang tumbled from his mount. The might of a single spear cast had reached such a height. Only then did everyone realize that what General Red had hurled was no spear at all, but a pitchfork from the stables, its tines broken off. He had simply grabbed whatever was at hand and convenient. "Too much nonsense." The remaining Baling soldiers were scared out of their wits, their will to fight completely broken. Scooping up Shao Yingyang's corpse, they beat a hasty retreat toward the north. Now it was the Gale Army's turn to pursue relentlessly. Yet Weicheng was filled with alleys and houses, countless obstacles hindering the efficiency of the Gale Army's pursuit. Moreover, the bronze talisman formation still running atop the north gate allowed many Baling soldiers to regain their senses. In the end, over a hundred riders dashed out through Weicheng's north gate, fleeing east. Inside Weicheng, Xiao Maoliang asked General Red for instructions on whether to pursue. The latter merely said, "Enough. The ringleader is eliminated; do not chase the remnants." He had brought only four hundred riders to seize the city, so his troops were limited; for now, they needed only to consolidate their gains. Besides, forty thousand Baling troops were still roaming the plains, liable to double back at any moment. "Hold Weicheng well, and the Panlong Wasteland will naturally help us repel the Baling army." Xiao Maoliang acknowledged the order and went off to arrange defense duties. Taking Weicheng had not required a frontal assault, so the city itself remained intact; even the main gate bore only a few extra arrows. Furthermore, the walls and gates had been newly reinforced by the Baling troops with several defensive works installed. The Gale Army also found plenty of defense supplies in nearby storehouses, along with surprisingly ample grain and salt. Clearly, after taking Weicheng, Hua Mucuo had intended to build it into a bridgehead and develop it thoroughly to extend his reach into the Panlong Wasteland later. Who could have known that Shao Yingyang's arrival and meddling would return Weicheng to enemy hands? Once Hua Mucuo learned of this, he would likely vomit blood in rage. General Red walked over to the stone golem. Stones large and small littered the ground, among which a fist-sized rock was actually still trembling. General Red sliced it in two with his saber. Hidden inside was a red crystal carved with intricate incantations on its surface. A line of gold lacquer was inlaid upon the crystal—a sealing charm. Looking closer, something like wisps of smoke seemed to be swimming inside the crystal. General Red scraped away the gold lacquer with the tip of his saber, then squeezed firmly. The crystal cracked open down the middle. That wisp of smoke swam out, actually condensing into the phantom image of a bear before General Red. "So it used a bear soul to drive the golem." General Red waved his hand. "You are free. Go." The moment he lifted his hand, the wisp of smoke drifted back four feet in fright, then bowed to him twice before dissipating on the spot. Iron, stone, and the like had no life. For golems made of such materials to move and fight, they had to be driven by the souls of living creatures. The stronger the creature in life, the more solid the soul, and the greater the golem's power. The core of this stone golem was the soul of a violent bear, three hundred years old in life. After being slain, it had remained trapped inside the golem, driven by its killers. A golem's core could be reused repeatedly; had General Red not unsealed it, it never would have found release. Only then did General Red look down at his left hand. His palm was nearly punched through, charred and blackened. Nothing remained but red and black; aside from the back of his hand, not a patch of sound flesh was left, and the white bone at the base of his fingers was visible. Catching heavenly thunder with bare flesh without paying a price was practically impossible in this world. Shao Yingyang had indeed possessed some genuine skill. A sharp-eyed guard noticed. "General, you are hurt! Should we..." Should they find someone to tend the wound? General Red clenched his fist. "No need." *** He Lingchuan could hardly be called slow, but running to the front of the tunnel, he found his route sealed tight by dense spiderwebs! Looking back, the spider was already only a few yards away. Despite its bulging belly, it moved with astonishing speed. The spider even spoke: "Little thing, where do you think you're running?" He Lingchuan swallowed hard. "Zhu Erniang?" "Who else did you think?" It didn't just look like Zhu Erniang—it was Zhu Erniang! This monster had returned to its nest without a sound, spun a web across his retreat one step ahead, and only then went into the cavern to corner him. High martial prowess was one thing, but its mind was more meticulous than a human's. "You're the one who set the fire?" Zhu Erniang had received reports from its spider brood, and upon rushing back to find raging flames inside its lair, it was truly beside itself with fury. Though it had used divine abilities to extinguish the blaze, at least a third of the aphid ranch cultivated over many years had been destroyed. With autumn and winter approaching, its spider army would likely face a food shortage. "Only this one cavern," He Lingchuan said honestly. "The fires in the other caverns were set by the Baling people." "The damage they caused isn't one ten-thousandth of yours!" Zhu Erniang gave an angry laugh. "I will personally dissolve your muscle, sinew, and bone, turning you into a water bladder. When my children eat you, you will definitely still be conscious!" Zhu Erniang paced forward slowly. Behind it, countless spiders emerged across the ground, the rock walls, and the ceiling. Rustling sounds filled the entire cavern, making one's hair stand on end. Doom was inescapable. He Lingchuan cupped his hands. "Since I can't fly away anyway, could you clear up my confusion before I die?" This kid was already in its grasp, with no hope of survival. Seeing his exceptionally earnest attitude, Zhu Erniang halted. "Ask." It had seen plenty of people unafraid of death, and eaten plenty too, but someone who could calmly ask questions before dying was rare. It was a little curious. Zhu Erniang's offspring in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest were endless; even it didn't know how many burrow spiders were here. But those foolish things had limited intellect; the moment they saw it, they prostrated themselves on the ground, daring not speak to it. Alas, not a single one could hold a conversation. It happened to be a Second Mother who liked chatting. He Lingchuan pointed at the rock wall. "What's the deal with those seven nesting-doll spider demons? Are they your ancestors?" This place looked like an exhibition hall. Did spider demons have a tradition of collecting the remains of their predecessors? The question made Zhu Erniang hesitate noticeably before answering, "Yes, and no." It stepped beside the largest of the colossal spiders, the difference in size immediately apparent. "The seven sloughs here are all my former bodies!" This answer shook He Lingchuan to his core. "What did you say? All seven are you?" "Ignorant human, did you think I was some nameless roadside monster?" Zhu Erniang said proudly. "In the ancient era, I roamed the Panlong Wasteland in this body—back when it was called the Panlong Wilderness! This was my cave dwelling, Qixia Dwelling!" He Lingchuan finally learned what was carved on the large stone stele outside the cave. "Then the later sloughs?" To He Lingchuan's understanding, "sloughs" were discarded skins, empty shells. "Later, the spiritual energy of heaven and earth declined rapidly, no longer sufficient to sustain my original form's activity, just as a great whale cannot live in shallow water," Zhu Erniang said helplessly. "I had no choice but to abandon my original form and molt into a new self." He Lingchuan was visibly moved. Was this great demon saying that its original body had been far more powerful in ancient times, but unable to adapt to the drastic environmental shift, it had actively abandoned it to move into progressively weaker bodies? Its choice of words was interesting too: "molt." For such a great demon, wasn't that effectively degeneration? He Lingchuan asked tentatively, "So it's equivalent to relinquishing your cultivation to preserve your own consciousness?" This was likely an innate racial trait; humans probably couldn't do it. The old turtle demon's art of "weapon liberation" was somewhat similar. One could only marvel at the wondrous workings of nature. "Indeed. Across those long years, I compressed my cultivation seven successive times before finding my present way of survival." Zhu Erniang let out a long sigh. "All the spores here emitting light and heat derive from the power lingering in those sloughs." In a deep subterranean environment like this, without fluorescent spores, no moss carpets could grow, meaning no cows could be kept—no, no giant aphid swarms could be raised. In other words, it had sustained the entire swarm single-handedly. Who could understand the hardship of its struggle to survive over these thousands of years? It had to live well itself, and feed a family too. "Answers finished. Where would you like me to bite first?" It walked toward He Lingchuan, growing impatient. "I have two final questions!" He Lingchuan seized the moment. "Was the ancient era the age of immortals? Why did spiritual energy decline so drastically?" Regarding the decline of spiritual energy, historical debates were intensely fierce, truly exemplifying a hundred schools of thought with no consensus. The more later generations read, the more confused they became. Zhu Erniang tapped the ground once. "Yes." It tapped the ground again to answer the second question: "I don't remember clearly. In the process of shedding these seven skins, I lost many crucial memories." Cutting cultivation and secretly pursuing longevity went against the heavens to begin with; how could there be no price to pay? Of course, most importantly, its patience had run out, and it couldn't be bothered to answer further. The chat had gone on long enough; this cat-and-mouse game had to end. That was right: it was a Second Mother who lacked patience. "Of the ancient era, I remember only scattered fragments and scenes, and none of them have anything to do with you!" With its tall build and long legs, it covered the distance to He Lingchuan in a few strides, opening its mouthparts to reveal razor-sharp venom fangs. Looking up from He Lingchuan's angle, the pair of venom fangs gleamed black and glossy, as large as curved pitchforks, saliva dripping from their surface. To describe prey injected by those fangs as "begging for life unable to live, begging for death unable to die" would be an understatement. "You're right, it has nothing to do with me," He Lingchuan chuckled bitterly, drawing his long saber with a clang. This ant of a human still wanted to resist? Come on, then; it loved seeing prey struggle, as it made them taste even better later. Zhu Erniang smiled contemptuously, only to see him reverse his grip and slit his own throat, neat and decisive! "..." A real man should die a clean death. Saves the torment. *** Something flew in from the horizon, circling Weicheng twice. General Red held up a fluorescent spore and shook it twice before the creature confirmed his position and flew down to land on his shoulder. It was the sparrowhawk returning. "Panlong City's reinforcements have reached the perimeter of the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, coordinating with General Nan Ke from outside and within to resist Hua Mucuo together." The sparrowhawk was exhausted; it had flown hard and fast, its wings never resting the entire night. "On my way back, I also spotted Commandant Sun's force; they are leading the Baling troops in circles across the wasteland." That Gale Army detachment's task was to draw off the Baling army's main force, allowing General Red the opportunity to seize the city. Opening its beak, panting to cool off, it added, "General Nan Ke was at a disadvantage against Zhu Erniang in the Ghost Needle Stone Forest. He had no choice but to burn its lair to divert its attention, which allowed him to lead the army safely out of the stone forest." Then, it recounted the entire sequence of events. General Red fed it water with his own hands and smoothed its feathers—his hand had already healed—letting the sparrowhawk rest for a quarter of an hour before instructing, "Go find Commandant Sun and tell him to return to Weicheng. From now on, we switch from offense to defense." Dawn had broken, and the battle was about to enter its second half. The sparrowhawk took the order, fluttered its wings, and flew away. General Red cast a glance toward the Ghost Needle Stone Forest, lost in thought.