Zhu Erniang murmured softly, "Every time I pass through here, I can sense their aura. But now, none of them are left."
"Impressive," He Lingchuan said. "Do you plan to take them back?"
Zhu Erniang said nothing.
The moment He Lingchuan climbed out of the sinkhole, spiders large and small swarmed forward in a rush, hissing furiously at him.
This bastard was a fugitive wanted by their Ancestress. After fighting a whole war, they had been forced to search day and night for him—they were worked to death!
He Lingchuan didn't speak spider, so he had no idea how vile their curses were.
Seeing the spiders on the verge of attacking, Zhu Erniang's massive form emerged from the sinkhole. She commanded, "All of you, stand down! Do not harm him!"
The spiders looked at each other in confusion, unable to fathom what had happened. Never before had the Ancestress been so mild-mannered toward a human.
Yet this human had climbed out of the sinkhole alongside their Ancestress. Had they made peace?
A few more intelligent spider guardians immediately gazed at He Lingchuan with a hint of awe.
Who didn't know how capricious and unpredictable their Ancestress's temper was? For this human to toy with the entire burrow spider swarm and emerge unscathed, he had to be extraordinary!
Standing beside the ruins, He Lingchuan blew several whistles: four long, three short, then three long again.
The jungle remained deathly silent; nothing happened.
In no hurry, He Lingchuan clasped his hands behind his back and waited where he was, occasionally chatting with Zhu Erniang.
Hearing the whistles, the humans stranded in the ruins poked their heads out to look, their eyes filled with awe.
Though they did not know what had transpired, seeing this youth stroll leisurely amidst the enraged swarm of spiders and chat laughingly with Zhu Erniang shook them to the core.
She was an overlord of the Demon Nest Swamp, a man-eating monster whose mere mention struck terror into their hearts.
Was she someone anyone could converse with as an equal?
After a long time, Dong Rui finally ambled over from the distance, soaking wet from head to toe.
He had watched He Lingchuan from the shadows. Only after seeing him completely relaxed and talking with ease—showing no sign of being coerced—did he dare step out.
The nearby spider guardians were also rather surprised, having had no idea where he had been hiding earlier.
It was clear the man still had a trick or two up his sleeve.
He Lingchuan beamed at him. "Zhu Erniang is generous and magnanimous; she has permitted us to leave the swamp."
Just like that?
Without an earth-shattering battle, without bleeding, sweating, or walking the knife's edge between life and death, they could simply leave?
Dong Rui was skeptical, yet He Lingchuan comfortably turned his back to Zhu Erniang, and the primeval monster showed not the slightest sign of making a move.
What happened to her vicious vow to make He Lingchuan beg for death? Had the giant spider forgotten it in the blink of an eye?
Facts spoke louder than words, and Dong Rui finally relaxed.
For some reason, Dong Rui could also sense a deep grievance emanating from Zhu Erniang.
He knew that grievance all too well. Dong Rui instinctively glanced at He Lingchuan; it was all thanks to this kid.
He looked like a grinning, easygoing fellow, but if you dared underestimate him, you'd end up coughing up pints of blood and unable to shed even a tear.
His viciousness, cunning, and meticulous calculation were all hidden behind that harmless facade.
Alas, Zhu Erniang and I are truly fellow sufferers in this wretched world.
Before he could speak, the caravan in the ruins reacted first. Manager Zhao and the others rushed out, bowing repeatedly toward Zhu Erniang. "We beg Great Immortal Spider to show mercy and let us leave as well!"
"We are mere humble folk, how could we dare harbor ill intentions toward Great Immortal Spider? It was all coerced by those mountain bandits!"
Facing their bitter pleas, Zhu Erniang ignored them completely and instead asked He Lingchuan, "What do you think?"
"Me?" He Lingchuan pointed to his own nose. "What should I think?"
"These people—will you save them or not?" Zhu Erniang sneered. "Colluding with bandits to steal my treasures! I ought to eat them all!"
Manager Zhao trimmed his sails quickly, dropping to his knees before He Lingchuan to plead, "Young Master, save us!"
The rest knelt with him. "Young Master, spare our lives!"
"If I tell you to release them, you'll release them?" He Lingchuan's mouth twitched. Did Zhu Erniang want to use these merchants to gain leverage over him? "Then let them go. Heaven cherishes all living things."
Zhu Erniang smiled. "I have just one small request."
She slowly paced two steps toward the crowd, intensifying the oppressive dread weighing on them.
"Don't listen," Dong Rui said bluntly. "Let's go." He knew without asking that the spider demon's request most likely concerned him. He had no wish for He Lingchuan to trade him away for these people's lives.
"Do you remember your proposal from over a dozen days ago?" Zhu Erniang asked He Lingchuan. "You said you were willing to go to Beijia to retrieve my things!"
"I..." That was then. Back then, he had talked out of his ass just to survive. Why on earth would he want to go to Beijia now?
Earlier in the exhibition chamber, the divine bone necklace had already cooled down. Clearly, after devouring one spider molt, it had grown sick of them and had no interest in the rest. He Lingchuan figured it probably had little appetite for the burrow spider molt intercepted in the Beijia Kingdom either.
"Now I think that proposal sounds quite good!" Zhu Erniang said. "I cannot go to Beijia, but you two can."
With the covenant established, she could not hold them captive anyway, so she might as well strike a deal. Knock the branch whether there are dates or not—what if it worked? She had bided her time here for over a hundred years; what difference did it make to cast a wider net and wait a few more years?
He Lingchuan frowned. "I am a citizen of Yuan. Beijia is currently at war with Yuan; it won't be easy for me to go."
Hearing this, Manager Zhao chimed in hurriedly, "Young Master He, feel free to agree! My clan's business reaches all the way to Beijia's capital. I guarantee you safe passage in and out!"
Zhu Erniang suddenly leaned closer and whispered into He Lingchuan's ear, "I heard that the shed molt is hidden within Mount Xu—the former site of the Dahuan Sect, which now lies within the territory of Beijia's capital."
The moment her words fell, He Lingchuan felt a series of warm pulses against his chest.
The divine bone necklace had reacted.
Which words had made it so excited?
"Mount Xu? Dahuan Sect?" he muttered under his breath. Even though only he and Zhu Erniang could hear him, the divine bone necklace grew even hotter.
*Hss—* Everyone thought he was shuddering in fear, but only he knew his chest was probably being scalded red.
As expected, this thing had been silently spying on and eavesdropping on his daily life!
If even the divine bone necklace was frantically shouting that it wanted to go, then he—
Still, he couldn't take the job so easily.
He Lingchuan mused, "Even you can't enter Beijia's capital. Wouldn't I just be walking into the slaughterhouse?"
That was right: Mount Xu was Mount Shou'an, where the Dahuan Sect—one of the Six Kaiyuan Sects in ancient times—had had its mountain gate.
It was also the birthplace of the old turtle demon's divination arts.
Though the world had moved on and people had changed, divination had been passed down through their lineage. If Master Dongli could improve his sect's divine techniques, other disciples of the Dahuan Sect might well have done the same.
At least during the Middle Antiquity, the Dahuan Sect still had immortals presiding over it.
Mhm. The ominous fate hanging over him had always been a dark cloud in his heart. If he didn't clear it away, sooner or later it would poison his state of mind and hinder his cultivation. Furthermore, the karmic threads divined from the turtle demon and Wen Daolun had basically all come to pass.
In other words, they were used up.
Should he look for new omens?
Going there to investigate cause and effect wouldn't be a bad idea.
Most importantly, the divine bone necklace had clearly expressed its desire to go. If he refused, it would probably throw a bigger tantrum than a needy girlfriend.
This thing could easily scorch his chest to a crisp, couldn't be thrown away, and was thoroughly clingy.
"I have been wanted on Beijia's Earth Ranking for over a hundred years. As soon as I step into Beijia territory, I'm easily recognized." Zhu Erniang revealed the constellation pattern on her abdomen; her appearance was far too recognizable, impossible not to draw attention. "You are different. You are merely a youth of seventeen or eighteen, looking as ordinary as can be. If the Gan family aids you with all their might, you can operate in secret."
Manager Zhao nodded like a pecking chicken. "We can, we certainly can! It's a piece of cake!"
He Lingchuan glanced at him. "Master Gan is gone. Who is calling the shots in your family?"
"There is still the Old Matriarch!" Manager Zhao said at once. "Our Old Matriarch is exceedingly capable, managing everything inside and out. She will definitely do everything in her power to help Young Master He."
Dong Rui listened from the side for a good while. Realizing he didn't have to take any risks himself, he naturally raised no objection.
As thoughts swirled through his mind, Zhu Erniang suddenly said to him, "I still require your potions or bodily modification. If you can accomplish this, I have other secret treasures to offer you." With that, she whispered a few words to Dong Rui.
Surprise surfaced on Dong Rui's face, visibly swayed. He had zero loyalty to Beijia; not long ago, he had even been a wanted criminal in the northern demon kingdom. If he could be moved by the rare materials offered by National Preceptor Shuangye, he could naturally be moved by Zhu Erniang's secret treasures.
An old monster who had lived for thousands of years truly had plenty of trump cards and hidden treasures tucked away—an inexhaustible hoard.
"Toxic dragon saliva is still indispensable," Dong Rui said solemnly. "And even if the modification succeeds, the process will be excruciatingly painful."
Zhu Erniang didn't care.
At her age and cultivation, the agony of every forced molt was no less severe than being flayed and having her marrow sucked out, yet she had endured it every time.
To survive and thrive, a price must always be paid.
"Then it is settled." Having handled Dong Rui, Zhu Erniang turned her full efforts to persuading He Lingchuan. "I can bestow upon you a touch of divine technique—one that can save your life or serve as a trump card."
He Lingchuan's tone softened. "Even if I find your rem... your treasure, it must be quite large. How am I supposed to bring it back to you?"
His mind spun rapidly.
Going to Mount Xu this time was for his own sake and for the divine bone necklace's sake; doing Zhu Erniang a favor along the way was merely incidental.
Yet Zhu Erniang didn't know that, so she still had to offer some benefits.
Zhu Erniang had refrained from speaking explicitly because she was wary of the caravan present. After all, she no longer trusted these humans.
"When the time comes, simply blow hard into this," Zhu Erniang said, unexpectedly spitting an object out from her mouth into his hands. "You don't need to worry about anything else."
"I don't need to worry about anything else? That convenient?" He Lingchuan first washed off the spider saliva in the swamp water before scrutinizing the newly acquired object.
The object was shaped like a goose egg, but two sizes larger. There were eight finger holes around its rounded body, and what seemed to be a blowhole at the top. Was this a musical instrument?
"How do I blow it?" He Lingchuan fiddled with the little thing. "Does it only work if I play a tune?"
"With this xun, you can blow it however you like on ordinary days; nothing unusual will occur," Zhu Erniang said flatly. "However, once you discover the treasure, uncover the final hole on the back and blow."
So this is a xun? He Lingchuan flipped it over and looked at the back, only to realize that it was a nine-holed instrument—the final hole had simply been sealed off separately.
Chapter 344