With the mission accomplished, he could barely keep his eyes open.
Zhu Erniang spoke up at just the right moment. "The little ones have finished cleaning the two middle houses. Take your pick."
She had arrived several days ago anyway and had nothing else to do.
He Lingchuan promptly bowed to her. "Erniang, you really are my dearest Erniang!"
Tonight, the starry sky was like a painting.
He Lingchuan said to Dong Rui, "Tell me about Xunyang Sandbar."
"Head northwest past Mount Rong, go another thirty li, and you're there. For many years, it's been a lawless border zone beyond the reach of any authority. Merchants trade in strange, eccentric curiosities there, completely tax-free. I've been there many times."
"I heard there are quite a few temples there too?"
"Like I said, no authority governs it."
"Which authorities?"
"Mount Rong doesn't govern it, Baling doesn't govern it, and neither does the Yuan Kingdom," Dong Rui explained. "Xunyang Sandbar isn't large, and its borders are constantly shifting. Anyone trying to rule it would just be doing a thankless job."
"Sounds promising." He Lingchuan smiled. "Once you're rested up, we'll set off."
Most of the houses in the abandoned village were more than half-buried under years of accumulated snow, their doors impossible to push open. Only two houses stood out prominently because the snow on their doors, windows, and roofs had all been cleared away.
Dong Rui eagerly chose one of the rooms. Sure enough, the interior had already been tidied clean, and the heated kang bed was covered with a thick layer of dry straw.
He first unslung the backpack containing the demon puppets and set it down carefully, then pulled out his bedding and thick cloak, collapsing onto the kang—
Fast asleep within three seconds.
Watching him snore away, He Lingchuan shook his head, drew an axe, and went out to chop firewood.
The winter trees were actually very dry. He easily gathered a large bundle and carried it into Dong Rui's room first.
Amid the man's earth-shattering snores, He Lingchuan built a hearth fire, and the room soon became as warm as spring.
Only then did He Lingchuan take the snail-toad out of his backpack and place it on a bench by the fire. This creature loved warmth and moisture and detested the cold. The bat demon puppet descended from the sky as well, scratching at the door to let itself in.
He originally intended to return to his own room to boil water, but seeing the burrow spiders scurrying back and forth without entering the village, he grew curious.
Following them to take a look, he discovered a massive cave behind the village. It was roughly fifty feet high and of indeterminate depth, but with no wind blowing from within, it was likely a dead-end cave with no other exits.
This was the true base of the burrow spiders. Zhu Erniang had already hidden several molted husks here and sealed the entrance with thick cobwebs, leaving only a single passageway for coming and going.
Every molt was towering and huge; human houses simply could not accommodate them.
Besides, having gone to such lengths to reclaim her immortal molt, she had to keep it under her own watchful eye to feel at ease.
The burrow spiders were quite friendly to He Lingchuan and guided him into the cave. Only then did he realize there was an art to the webs blocking the entrance: they were divided into several layers inside and out, with gaps in between each layer to block the wind while allowing ventilation. If external enemies attacked, the spiders needed only a little weaving to seal the tunnel shut.
The cavern ran deep. There had originally been fissures leading underground, but the spiders had plugged them with rocks and padded them with webs, creating an enclosed space. Whatever methods Zhu Erniang had used, the temperature inside the cave was far higher than the freezing world outside. He Lingchuan was therefore not surprised to see a thick mycelial mat lining the cave floor.
Along with aphid cattle upon the mycelial mat.
"Why are these aphid cattle so thin?" Compared to the aphid cattle he had seen in the Demon Nest, these had shrunk by at least two sizes and were now sprawling across the mycelial mat, gorging themselves.
Zhu Erniang walked over from behind. "After leaving the Demon Nest Swamp, they had few chances to feed. It's a wonder they survived at all."
These aphid cattle were the burrow spiders' food source and had had no opportunity to properly fatten up along the journey.
"I've already heard about what you did at Mount Xu."
It seemed the spider sisters had held an in-depth exchange.
He Lingchuan asked shamelessly, "I braved endless perils to bring your immortal molt back. Surely I deserve some reward?"
In truth, his rewards had been paid in advance; he had essentially collected them before even setting out.
Zhu Erniang cast an eye at him with who knew which of her eyes. "You stole one of my molts before. I won't hold that against you—consider it your reward."
He Lingchuan smiled awkwardly.
Back when Lord Boshan and King Siwen jointly assaulted the spider nest, He Lingchuan had seized the opportunity to steal a spider molt and feed it to the divine bone necklace.
Zhu Erniang was bound to figure out who the real thief was afterward. Denying it would be pointless and would only sow discord.
Zhu Erniang continued, "However, the immortal molt holds great significance for me. I can give you a little something extra."
He Lingchuan chuckled. Working for Zhu Erniang was always worthwhile.
"Wait for some time, then."
He Lingchuan certainly had that much patience. "Right, where do you plan to go from here on out?"
The Demon Nest Swamp was no longer viable. Where would Zhu Erniang and her massive family settle down?
Zhu Erniang had long thought through this question. "I intend to set sail from Baisha Bay and head to the Mou Kingdom!"
"The Mou Kingdom?" He Lingchuan was moved. "That's quite a long journey."
Presently, they were west of Beijia, while the Mou Kingdom lay to the east of Beijia. For this relocation, Zhu Erniang would have to travel by ship and bypass an entire vast empire.
"Beijia's reach does not extend there." Zhu Erniang knew full well that Lingxu City would never let them off, so she had to leave Beijia's sphere of influence. "I recall there are vast lands in the eastern parts of the Mou Kingdom, with several great canyons very suitable for me to build a nest."
If she wanted to leave, indeed no one could stop her. He Lingchuan sighed softly. "Then I'm afraid we may never meet again."
"That would be for the best."
He Lingchuan wasn't sure if she was joking. Rubbing his nose, he asked, "By the way, have you ever heard the name Nailuotian?"
Zhu Erniang pondered carefully for a good while.
"No."
If even an ancient demon immortal didn't recognize this celestial god, just what kind of remarkable figure could he be?
Just then, a burrow spider crawled past from the depths of the cave, and He Lingchuan felt something odd about it.
In his eyes, the creature's form appeared abnormally blurred, as though separated from him by a sheet of frosted glass.
"Eh, what's that?" He pointed it out to Zhu Erniang. "An anomaly has slipped in among your offspring."
Yet Zhu Erniang's plump body didn't stir in the slightest, as if she knew the thing posed no threat.
"That's the mirage demon. It dislikes outsiders and doesn't want to come out to see you," Zhu Erniang said lazily. "The Demon Nest Swamp is no longer habitable, so it decided to come with me."
If Beijia decided to launch a punitive expedition against Zhu Erniang, the demons living in the Demon Nest might well get caught in the crossfire.
"That's the mirage demon?" He Lingchuan was surprised. "I thought the mirage demon's true form would be a giant clamshell spouting water."
A major reason the Demon Nest Swamp was so mysteriously unfathomable was that the mirage demon resided there, shrouding the swamp in layers of dense fog to cut it off from the world, causing humans and beasts who entered to lose their way and perish.
He Lingchuan hadn't expected Zhu Erniang to be able to convince the mirage demon to leave with her.
"I haven't seen its true form either." Zhu Erniang suddenly sensed something amiss. "Wait, how could you see anything unusual about it?"
Chapter 721