Just like nesting dolls.
Yet Zhu Erniang possessed only one true self. How could she command five other molts to move in unison?
Wait, something was off. He clearly remembered that Zhu Erniang had only four molts left back in the Demon Nest. Where had this fifth one come from?
Nursing that doubt, he took another look at Zhu Erniang and suddenly realized that compared to how she had looked back at the Demon Nest, she had... shrunk.
She was a full size smaller.
Before He Lingchuan could ask, Zhu Erniang charged right over!
Her objective, without a doubt, was Zhu Daniang.
He Lingchuan and Dong Rui instinctively stepped aside. Zhu Daniang expanded back to her original size, planting her two front chelae firmly on the ground. "Stop."
The impact made the earth shudder violently, and Zhu Erniang duly ground to a halt before her.
The immortal molt was larger than any of the other molted husks; even Zhu Erniang had to look up at it.
"I risked mortal danger to bring your immortal molt back to you," Zhu Daniang said slowly. "You must honor your promise as well."
Listening from the side, Dong Rui assumed she was referring to the ordeal of fighting the celestial god at Mount Xu. In truth, Zhu Daniang had been running tremendous risks ever since her soul separated from her sister to be sealed temporarily within the ancient xun.
Whether He Lingchuan would actually go to Beijia, when he would reach Lingxu City, and whether he could ultimately find the immortal molt and play the ancient xun—every step had been fraught with uncertainty.
Back when he had just left the Demon Nest, even He Lingchuan himself hadn't known the answers to those questions. How could Zhu Daniang?
For an ancient demon immortal like her, "uncertainty" was the greatest risk of all.
Yet she had still accepted Zhu Erniang's terms and gone with He Lingchuan, even though the chances of success had been slim to none.
Conversely, high risk demanded high reward. Now, she was claiming her due.
The world of demon immortals was pragmatic to the core.
Zhu Erniang turned and waved a foreleg toward the smallest molt. "This is the shell I just shed. It is yours."
He Lingchuan understood at once. No wonder Zhu Erniang looked smaller; she had recently molted again, saving her freshest husk for her elder sister.
Zhu Daniang grumbled, "It's so small!"
"A smaller one suits your purposes better."
That made sense. Given the current spiritual energy environment, Zhu Erniang's older molts were difficult enough to control as it was.
Zhu Daniang fell silent. She watched as her sister barked, "Scatter!"
A slit instantly split open across the forehead of this molt, and with a rushing hiss, countless burrow spiders surged out from inside!
The spectacle was like a pot of boiling water frothing over, except the froth consisted of Zhu Erniang's offspring.
Hardened though He Lingchuan and Dong Rui were, and having witnessed the eruption at Mount Xu, seeing this still made their scalps prickle, prompting both of them to take a couple of steps back.
He Lingchuan finally understood how the molts could move.
Zhu Erniang had packed her brood into the empty husks, using some unknown method to coordinate their movements in perfect unison.
While such a method baffled human logic, it actually killed two birds with one stone: it enabled her to haul the molts while simultaneously moving her brood, sparing her from having endless swarms of spiders scuttling over hill and dale wherever she went.
Her offspring numbered in the tens of thousands. If they migrated en masse, it would be an alarming spectacle, sure to raise alarms across any territory on a long journey.
Evidently, the other molts operated on the same principle. He Lingchuan had been wondering just moments ago where all of her brood had vanished.
When Zhu Erniang moved from the Panlong Wasteland to Beijia, and later from Beijia to the Demon Nest, had she relied on this very technique for every major migration?
Otherwise, transporting those colossal hulks would have been a nightmare.
Once the burrow spiders had completely cleared out of the smallest molt, Zhu Erniang rolled a remarkably large white cocoon from beneath her belly. Nearly half the height of a man, she carefully eased it into the hollow husk.
He Lingchuan noticed that the cocoon squirmed and pulsated the entire time, as if something inside were growing—or trying to break free.
"Now begins the restoration of flesh and blood. It will take at least seventy days, and at most ninety, to complete." Zhu Erniang stepped over and gently bumped heads with Zhu Daniang. "Come back. Your divine soul must be exhausted."
The words had barely left her mouth when a wisp of white smoke drifted out from Zhu Daniang's eyes and mouth, floating waveringly into Zhu Erniang's maw.
The two sisters had lived together ever since antiquity, sharing a single physical shell. Returning home was second nature to Zhu Daniang.
It appeared Zhu Erniang was true to her word, never going back on a promise, which was why Zhu Daniang had handed over the immortal molt without hesitation. Just as her younger sister had said, she had driven the immortal molt through more than twenty days of relentless travel. Though she had rested in dormancy along the way, her divine soul was thoroughly drained and desperately required a prolonged, deep convalescence.
Three months might be just what she needed.
He Lingchuan pointed at the molt and asked, "This is regenerating flesh and blood?"
"Indeed. This is a secret art unique to our kin, capable of transforming a specialized egg sac into flesh, blood, and internal organs to gradually fill the entire molt." Zhu Erniang gestured toward the immortal molt. "Unlike the forced generation of flesh we used to escape Mount Xu, this leaves no lasting harm."
When He Lingchuan blew the ancient xun, the crisis had been dire, and Zhu Daniang had forcibly stimulated the dormant spider eggs left in the immortal molt to generate flesh and fill it out. Yet that makeshift measure could not last; once the time limit expired, the flesh, blood, and nerves would wither away.
What Zhu Erniang was doing now was sound and enduring.
"Elder Sister helped me recover my immortal molt, so according to our agreement, I must give her one of mine. In three months, the flesh, nerves, and organs within this molt will have fully grown, turning it into a normal living body of flesh and blood. She will face no hindrances in using it and can continue her cultivation."
Dong Rui couldn't help asking, "If that's the case, why didn't you give her one before?"
Zhu Erniang scoffed, not bothering to dignify him with an answer.
Evidently, there were secrets between the sisters that outsiders were not privy to.
He Lingchuan had previously urged Zhu Daniang to travel with him once their mission was complete.
The benefits of having a veteran from antiquity at his side went without saying.
He had expected persuading her to be an uphill battle, thinking old relics were bound to be obstinate. To his surprise, Zhu Daniang had agreed without hesitation, explaining that she had nowhere else to go anyway. Once she possessed a body of her own, living with her sister would become awkward—after all, one mountain could not harbor two tigers, and one nest could not hold two patriarchs.
Nor would Zhu Erniang tolerate sharing control of the burrow. Thus, Zhu Daniang's departure had been a foregone conclusion.
Only Zhu Daniang would lay out the whole story so bluntly, without hiding a thing from him.
Zhu Daniang would only be able to leave with them once the molt's flesh and blood were fully reconstructed over the next three months.
"Come on, let's go tidy up a house." He Lingchuan stretched his arms and said to Dong Rui, "While Zhu Erniang reconstructs the molt, it's the perfect time for us to visit another place. Mmm, didn't you once say you know Xunyang Sandbar like the back of your hand—that it was like your own kitchen?"
"Naturally. Though my home doesn't have a kitchen." Dong Rui raised no objection, merely dragging his heavy feet toward the deserted village.
Guiding the snail-toad on such a long journey had drained him mentally and physically, stripping away enough weight to leave him visibly gaunt. Right now, no one needed rest more than he did.
Chapter 720