Chapter 8

Before she finished, the Serpent-Vine King let out a piercing hiss.

It was the desperate cry of something determined to live, terrified of dying.

It plunged underground again.

Soon, it crawled back up and disgorged a great heap of objects.

With its snout, it nudged the pile toward us, then retreated into the crack, lowering its enormous head until only its eyes remained visible.

Its eagerness to please couldn’t have been clearer.

Holding me, Yin Hai walked over slowly.

As we approached, those eyes exerted an ever greater pressure. They were as large as blood-red moons.

Yet this immense monster trembled all over when she came near.

Had it possessed eyelids, I suspected it would have squeezed them shut in terror.

She examined the pile.

Cultivators’ magical artifacts.

Where they came from was obvious.

She kicked them apart.

“See if anything’s useful.” She studied my face. “Preferably something that improves your cultivation, widens your meridians, and lets you hold more energy.”

I inspected them carefully.

“They’re all good things. But none of the treasures you mean.”

She raised an eyebrow. “Then it really is useless.”

Rain suddenly fell.

How could it rain in the secret realm?

I looked up in bewilderment and discovered it wasn’t rain. The Serpent-Vine King was crying in terror.

Poor thing.

I sighed. “It isn’t completely useless. There are plenty of things I can use.”

“What?”

She pressed for specifics.

I struggled for an answer. “Those storage pouches must have some good pills.”

“Really?”

She picked one up and opened it.

The king held its breath and couldn’t help craning its huge head closer.

The pouch was indeed full of pills.

“Look,” I explained. “There are plenty that restore spirit energy, with very few impurities. Every one is at least fifth grade. They must come from a master alchemist. Good stuff. Let’s take them.”

Without speaking, Yin Hai tipped out a pill and popped it into my mouth.

I swallowed. The little stream of energy in my meridians became the Yellow River in flood.

She held me close and drank a deeply satisfying meal.

When she finished, she glanced at the pouch, tied it, and tucked it away.

“Not bad. I’ll take it.”

The Serpent-Vine King looked at me with tearful gratitude.

It ventured to extend small vines, carrying all the remaining pouches before me.

I examined them one at a time.

“This has protective artifacts. I can use them.”

“More pills. But they aren’t as good as the last ones. Too many impurities. I can’t use them.”

“This is… nothing but clothes? Magical robes? No, ordinary pretty clothes. Don’t need them. What a lunatic.”

“And this… more pills! Wait. Something’s wrong.”

I inspected them carefully, then stumbled over my words.

“These… aren’t good. We don’t want them.”

Yin Hai noticed.

“What kind? Why aren’t they good?”

“They aren’t respectable pills. I can’t use them.”

“Really?” She stared at the pouch. “What’s disreputable about them? Why can’t you use them?”

“They don’t restore energy, widen meridians, or improve cultivation.”

“But their grade looks no worse than the last pouch.”

“A master alchemist made them, but… they’re useless.”

“Why would a master make useless pills? And why would anyone carry them?”

Holding the pouch, she gave me an ambiguous smile.

“Tell me what they are, or I’ll feed you one.”

My face flushed with anger.

“If you ruin me, who’s going to cook your meals?”

“Pills this good won’t ruin you.”

“Yin Hai, they really aren’t anything good. Throw them away.”

She pinched my cheeks.

“Mo Jinghong, tell the truth. What are these pills that have you stammering and hiding things? If you won’t tell me, I’ll feed you one and see what it does.”

I gritted my teeth.

I knew she meant it.

I had to answer.

“They’re aphrodisiacs.”

“What?”

“Something that makes people… desire someone.”

“Oh.”

She immediately lost interest and tossed the pouch aside.

I let out a long breath of relief.

17

The Serpent-Vine King finally kept its old life.

It thanked us profusely and saw us off, then sank deep underground, never daring to surface again.

We followed the route Yin Hai had taken.

The farther we walked, the more horrified I became.

A deep furrow cut through the ground, as though an enormous plow had torn it open. Wherever it passed, every plant was gone.

Slowly, I turned toward her.

“Yin Hai, what on earth are you?”

What kind of spirit beast could rampage undefeated through the Lingtai Secret Realm?

The high-level beasts here were so numerous that you could hardly move without encountering one: a small beast every three steps, a large one every five, a thousand-year beast every ten.

Now there wasn’t a single one.

Had she eaten them all?

I stared in shock.

She glanced at me calmly.

“What? Don’t recognize me anymore?”

“You… you definitely aren’t an ordinary mongrel.”

“Did I ever say I was?”

“Then what are you?”

She pressed her lips together.

“I can’t tell you yet.”

“Why?”

“I might frighten you to death.”

“I’m already terrified!”

“Such a coward, and you call yourself a cultivator.”

“Stop mocking me! Do you understand how frightening what you’ve done is?”

I seized her robe, then suddenly remembered something.

“Wait. If you ate all those high-level beasts, where are their treasures? Don’t tell me you swallowed those too! Spit them out!”

I shook her by the robe.

She caught my hands.

“Talk properly. Stop grabbing me.”

“Where are the treasures?”

She gave me a helpless glance.

Then she turned her hand, and a branch appeared.

“An Emperor’s Daughter Mulberry branch!”

I shouted.

She pushed it into my hands, then produced another plant.

“Undying Grass!”

She gave me that too and brought out the next treasure.

“Purple-Thunder Jade Marrow!”

I supported her hand, not daring to touch the gem flickering with lightning in her palm.

She opened my storage pouch and casually threw it in.

“The things in my pouch are lower grade! That jade will burn them all to ash!”

“Why keep such low-grade things? They take up space.”

I had no answer.

One after another, she brought out more than a dozen treasures.