Emperor's Flowing Dew Paste

Right then, the wind shifted. He shook a bamboo cylinder in his hand, unleashing billowing plumes of yellow smoke. This was Willow's specialized toxic smoke, highly effective at driving away insects, birds, and even humans. He Lingchuan had obtained the recipe long ago and had easily concocted several batches over the past few days. His mixture certainly lacked the purity of hers, but as long as it retained seventy percent of its original potency—enough to paralyze and incapacitate en masse—that was plenty. As the smoke spread, swathes of birds and bats went limp across the web, struggling to move yet unable to budge. Such speed and efficiency far outstripped flinging bamboo chopsticks. He Lingchuan and the three shanxiao picked them off one by one and tossed them away. Another two hours passed, and the first bucket of Emperor's Flowing Dew was finally full. Delighted, He Lingchuan poured it into a container inside his storage ring, emptying the bucket before setting it back in place to catch more. Past midnight, the volume of Emperor's Flowing Dew visibly intensified, with some droplets even carrying faint, wispy threads of crimson. Whenever He Lingchuan grew fatigued, a single lick was enough to reinvigorate him completely. Thinking of Senior Tianshengzi of the Tianyan Sect and his deductions, he realized the mirror hadn't made a peep for quite a while. Glancing down, he saw that the cracks across its surface had almost entirely vanished; only one last hairline fracture remained before it was as smooth as new. Even a broken mirror could be made whole again—a testament to the efficacy of Emperor's Flowing Dew. "I want it!" the mirror cried out from the depths of its soul. "I want more!" He Lingchuan couldn't be bothered with its theatrics. In fact, busy as he had been until now, he noticed that the attacking birds and beasts were thinning out. Likely, only so many nested in this area to begin with, while ordinary wild beasts couldn't climb up and could only howl at the net from below. Over the course of the night, He Lingchuan had actually fought off seventeen or eighteen avian demons. Goaded into madness by the Emperor's Flowing Dew, their attacks lacked any coordination or discipline, making them all the easier to bring down. The eastern sky began to pale with the dawn, and the fall of Emperor's Flowing Dew visibly dwindled. The commotion in the mountain forests had mostly quieted down as well. After raising hell all night, everyone was thoroughly exhausted. This wild, frantic, and bountiful night was finally coming to an end. He Lingchuan stretched luxuriously. "Time to pack up!" The mirror asked in astonishment, "The Emperor's Flowing Dew hasn't even stopped, and you're pulling in the net already?" The spiritual rain hadn't stopped; it had merely weakened. This kid had struck it rich tonight—did he really dare turn his nose up at the leftovers? The total yield from the fall six months ago might not even equal what would fall over the next half hour. He Lingchuan remained calm. "If we don't leave now, I'm afraid we won't be able to leave later." Practitioners and demons alike had spent the entire night gathering Emperor's Flowing Dew. Anyone who could resist swallowing it on the spot intended to take it back to refine it. Once the spiritual rain ceased, there would be no shortage of bandits with bloodshot, greedy eyes. After all, toiling all night to harvest it was never as convenient as snatching it ready-made from someone else. He Lingchuan was clearheaded: the demons he had dealt with tonight were mere small fry; no great demons had shown up. That was likely because the powerful demons were also busy harvesting the spiritual rain on their own turf, temporarily lacking the time to venture out and plunder. Once the spiritual rain ended, however, all bets were off. The heart-protecting mirror conceded, "In the past, the morning after an outbreak of Emperor's Flowing Dew was always the prelude to a bloodbath." He Lingchuan grunted in agreement and ordered the shanxiao and eyeball spiders to spring into action, quickly reeling in the net. A sugarcane isn't sweet at both ends. He had reaped a rich harvest tonight, so he shouldn't be obsessed with squeezing out every last drop. Those who think they can pocket every last copper before leaving often end up losing their burial money. It would be best to slip away immediately, of course, but countless beads of Emperor's Flowing Dew still clung to the silk web. He needed to stow it into his storage ring before the sun rose; otherwise, it would all go to waste. He Lingchuan didn't notice his own growth. In the past, he wouldn't have thought this way. Being able to resist all manner of temptations—even a boon coveted by all living beings like the Emperor's Flowing Dew—was proof of a steadfast Dao heart. Only by knowing when to take and when to yield, when to advance and when to retreat, could a person live a long life. The net was only half-retrieved when an object suddenly plummeted from high above, landing upon the cloud brocade and shaking the silk web with a shudder. He Lingchuan looked up. To his shock, it was an entire natural lump of Emperor's Flowing Dew paste, as large as an infant's fist! Having kept vigil all night, he hadn't seen anything remotely this massive. Overjoyed, he stepped forward to grab it. Yet immediately above, a chaotic rush of whistling wind tore through the air. The competition had arrived right behind it. Having fought on the web all night, He Lingchuan was well-versed in the terrain. Grabbing a nearby shanxiao, he flung it upward. Without even lifting his head, he lunged for the lump of paste like a ravenous tiger pouncing on its prey. With the green rabbit jade pendant obtained from Tu Zhongli, his Returning Swallow footwork was a cut faster than before, amplified further by the elasticity of the web. To the enemies in the sky, only an afterimage flickered past before the paste was snatched away. They squawked in fury. Glancing back in the midst of the chaos, He Lingchuan saw a large flock of white-fronted crows. These crows had a white spot dead center on their foreheads, resembling a third eye. Three or four among them were noticeably two sizes larger than their peers—clearly demons. As they dove, the shanxiao intercepted them, forcing them to wheel around before diving again toward He Lingchuan. Their outstretched talons ended in curved hooks over an inch long, wicked enough to disembowel a man. Sharp-eyed, He Lingchuan noticed bloodstains on the tips of several crow demons' talons, wondering what they had clawed earlier. Yet these creatures were predatory by nature, and the sight of Emperor's Flowing Dew drove them into a reckless frenzy. Two aimed directly for He Lingchuan's eyes. "These damn pests," He Lingchuan chuckled mirthlessly. With a backhand slash of his blade, he sheared three crows down. Even the farthest, still four feet away, was cleaved in two midair, splashing blood onto the silk web. "Bah." It sullied the dew on the web, meaning extra effort would be required to extract it later. The death of their flockmates did not deter the crows. In the blink of an eye, four or five more swarmed him. They even understood division of labor: some pecked at his face, while others snapped at his fingers, attempting to pry off his ring. These creatures were clever. The wind was in his favor. He Lingchuan casually retrieved a jug of strong liquor, took a large mouthful, aimed a fire striker at the flock, and spat—*fwhoosh!* A torrent of raging fire burst forth! Six or seven crows caught fire in an instant, fluttering frantically in terror. He Lingchuan calmly cut them down. Amid a flurry of severed feathers, the flock was whittled down until only four or five remained. Only then did they come to their senses and scramble to gain altitude. One of them actually spoke human speech: "You dare steal our prize and slaughter our kin?! Just you wait—we'll flay your sinews and devour your flesh!" He Lingchuan raised his hand and flicked a bamboo chopstick. The demon dodged frantically and led the survivors skyward, cawing shrilly as they flew away. So even demons knew to throw out parting threats before running? He Lingchuan shook his head. Still, their arrival confirmed his judgment: this was no place to linger. His newly acquired prize brought an unexpected thrill. It was the first time He Lingchuan had seen Emperor's Flowing Dew in solid form. It resembled jelly, quivering when shaken, but was opaque and uneven in color, a pale yellow threaded through with wisps of dark crimson, like streaks of blood. It emitted an exotic fragrance several times richer than normal Emperor's Flowing Dew. He Lingchuan didn't even dare sniff it too closely, afraid he might lose his senses and swallow it whole. Not willing to test his willpower, he promptly tucked it away into his storage ring. ... In a valley ten li away, a dozen or so people stood guard. The trees had all been felled, creating a wide clearing carpeted with fan palm fronds. These fronds looked like folding fans magnified seven or eight times. Spread across the open ground, they caught the falling Emperor's Flowing Dew, and collecting and bottling it was simple: folding the fronds naturally funneled the dew straight into jars. The group stood vigil around the clearing. Their leader was a youth clad in black, perched casually in a tree with one leg outstretched and the other dangling, looking thoroughly at ease. In half an hour at most, the shower of Emperor's Flowing Dew should stop, shouldn't it? He had just stretched when several crows flew overhead, cawing loudly as they soared: "There's still a massive pool of Emperor's Flowing Dew at Three Hearts Lake!" "A giant lump of Emperor's Flowing Dew paste appeared at Three Hearts Lake!" The crew paused mid-action, but the crows didn't linger, screaming as they sped into the distance. Watching their retreating forms, the youth in black remarked, "Looks like those damn things hit a wall at Three Hearts Lake." Otherwise, why wouldn't the crows keep it to themselves instead of broadcasting it far and wide? Naturally, he also noticed that two of them bore scorched feathers, as though roasted over a fire. "Young Master, should we head to Three Hearts Lake?" "What's the rush?" The youth in black glanced eastward. "With those crows shrieking so loud, we're definitely not the only ones who heard. Let others test the waters first." In truth, they weren't particularly close to Three Hearts Lake. Even if they rushed over now, someone else might beat them to the punch. It was better to gather every last drop of Emperor's Flowing Dew right here in peace, then head over to join the fray and see if they could scavenge some scraps. Reassured, the men went back to guarding the clearing. ... Three li east of Three Hearts Lake, two fierce tigers lay sprawled across a boulder, licking dew from their coats, when crows cried overhead. Their ears twitched. Exchanging a glance, the tigers stood, leapt down from the rock, and vanished into the jungle in a flash. As the crows flew farther and farther, more and more humans and demons caught wind of the news. ... As He Lingchuan was rolling up the great net, the heart-protecting mirror suddenly spoke: "There's a crow perched on a treetop to the west, staring at you the entire time." He glanced in that direction. Sure enough, fifteen zhang away on an old pine sat a white-fronted crow. It didn't make a sound, motionless as a statue, its gaze locked straight onto him. A lookout. The moment he made a move to draw his bow, the creature darted into the canopy. "These things hold a nasty grudge. They won't let this go." He Lingchuan recalled the flock of crows that had slaughtered a village and devoured people while the Auxiliary Army was marching north to Xiazhou. If he wanted to return safely to Fufeng City, he had to find a way to shake them off. The moment they finished packing away the cloud brocade net, a shanxiao shrieked nearby. High-pitched and ghostly, the sound was chilling even in broad daylight. He Lingchuan's heart tightened. The shanxiao stationed on the perimeter was sounding the alarm, meaning something was approaching rapidly! Leaping from branch to branch down the tall tree, he hit the ground and mounted his horse to head back. But the crow in the pine tree flapped its wings and took flight, screaming at the top of its lungs as it flew: "Over here! Caw! The Emperor's Flowing Dew is over here!" Its voice was raspy and loud, carrying over an immense distance. He Lingchuan longed to shoot it down with an arrow. Yet the creature was exceptionally sly, circling dozens of zhang in the air and always staying behind the treetops, making it nearly impossible to bring down.