Chapter 168: The Demonic Qilin’s Lair: Heavenly White Pond
The closer they got to Changbai Mountain, the more evident the barbarian army’s brutality became.
Many villages had been razed, their inhabitants slaughtered, often not even rebels but innocent civilians, victims of the barbarian soldiers’ desire for “meritorious service.”
Some villages were burned to the ground, corpses hidden beneath the ashes. Others were deserted, ghost towns, their inhabitants’ bodies dumped in mass graves.
Mass graves were everywhere, one for every village.
Long ago, Changbai Mountain had been called Mount Taiyi, named after the Daoist immortal Taiyi Zhenren, who was said to have cultivated here.
Although the rebellion had been crushed, and Fu Shiyuan had escaped with his remaining forces, the barbarian army still maintained a heavy presence in the surrounding towns and villages, checkpoints everywhere.
However, Shi Hao, Du Yuejiao, Hou Bomin, and Xiang Gu, being sixth and seventh-rank martial artists, could easily travel through the mountains, avoiding the checkpoints.
Although this region had been the center of Fu Shiyuan’s rebellion, the main fighting had occurred around Mount Wugong and the nearby towns, not the main peak of Changbai Mountain itself.
They reached the foot of Changbai Mountain and looked up at the towering peak, its summit piercing the clouds, its grandeur and imposing presence evident even from below.
“Is there really an Azure Sky Vermilion Fruit here?” Du Yuejiao asked skeptically.
Changbai Mountain was a well-known and frequently visited location. If such a valuable ingredient existed here, it would have been discovered long ago.
Her skepticism was understandable.
Xiang Gu nodded emphatically, “Yes! It’s there!”
Shi Hao asked, “What do we need to prepare?”
Xiang Gu tilted her head, thinking, then whispered, “Something to… ward off ghosts?”
Shi Hao, Du Yuejiao, and Hou Bomin stared at her.
Du Yuejiao shivered, “Are you serious?” Xiang Gu nodded, her expression serious.
Shi Hao looked up at the mountain, “Perhaps… we should reconsider.” He thought gathering a hundred jin of Vermilion Fruit sounded safer.
Du Yuejiao whispered, “Yes,” agreeing with him.
As they turned to leave, Xiang Gu suddenly lunged forward and hugged Shi Hao’s leg, “No! Don’t go!”
Shi Hao dragged her along for a few steps, then stopped, exasperated, “What’s up there, Miss Xiang Gu?”
Xiang Gu whispered, “Nothing much… just… ghosts.”
Just ghosts? That’s “nothing much”?
Du Yuejiao, seeing her clinging to Shi Hao’s leg, frowned.
She had never liked Xiang Gu, finding her dirty and unkempt.
And now, she was hugging Brother Shi’s leg.
She couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you so insistent on us going with you?”
Xiang Gu, her voice small and pleading, said, “There’s Soul Severing Dew there… I need it for my next breakthrough.”
Du Yuejiao, puzzled, asked, “Is there such a thing? I’ve never heard of it.” She looked at Hou Bomin.
Hou Bomin chuckled, “The world is vast and full of wonders. Some unorthodox sects use strange ingredients. It’s not that unusual.”
Shi Hao sighed, “Fine, let’s go.” After all, Xiang Gu had helped them greatly in the Ba Mountains.
If not for her timely intervention, killing Zhao Xuanding, they wouldn’t have won so easily.
Xiang Gu continued clinging to his leg, “Yes, yes.”
Du Yuejiao bit her lip… Are you still hugging him?
Having made their decision, they began ascending the mountain.
On the other side of Changbai Mountain, halfway up the slope, barbarian soldiers were unloading corpses from several carts.
Over a hundred bodies, neatly arranged, lay on the ground.
They were all civilians from the surrounding villages, no elderly people among them, but several children.
Most had been killed by swords or spears, their faces frozen in expressions of terror. A woman clutched a child in her arms, her body covered in wounds.
Even in death, they couldn’t be separated.
A spear pierced both mother and child.
The men from the surrounding villages had either been killed or conscripted, leaving mostly women and children.
A young man in his twenties, dressed in a brocade robe, stood nearby.
His forehead was narrow, his chin pointed, his eyebrows thick, his features clearly not Han Chinese.
His build was muscular, his arms thick, suggesting he practiced some form of external martial arts.
An old man with long white hair, tied back in a ponytail, stood beside him.
The soldiers, after unloading the bodies, retreated.
The young man in the brocade robe waved his hand, and four burly men carried a large cauldron and placed it among the corpses.
Although only about as tall as a man, the cauldron was incredibly wide. The four men, clearly also practitioners of external martial arts, struggled under its weight.
They set the cauldron down. Eight rivets secured the lid.
They carefully removed the rivets and then quickly backed away.
The lid flew off with a bang, propelled by a powerful force, flipping over in mid-air before crashing to the ground.
The young man, the old man, and the soldiers, having retreated to a safe distance, stared at the cauldron’s opening.
The young man and the old man remained calm, but the soldiers, despite their experience in battle, looked uneasy, even afraid.
Something emerged from within the cauldron.
A deafening roar echoed through the mountains, birds taking flight, animals fleeing in terror.
“What was that?” Du Yuejiao asked, her voice trembling.
Hou Bomin, listening intently, said, “It sounded like… a human scream, and also like a beast’s roar.”
The sound seemed to come from the other side of the mountain, the earth itself trembling.
They paused, and then the sound faded away.
Shi Hao said, “Perhaps it was just an animal, its roar echoing through the mountains. Or maybe the wind blowing through a cave.” He couldn’t be certain.
He added, “Let’s be careful.”
Changbai Mountain was tall, and they didn’t reach Heavenly White Pond, halfway up the mountain, until evening.
“Tomorrow… let’s continue tomorrow,” Xiang Gu whispered, “It’s… better during the day.”
Du Yuejiao couldn’t help but ask, “What do you mean, ‘better’?”
Xiang Gu nodded emphatically, as if trying to reassure herself, “Just… better.”
Du Yuejiao muttered, “That’s not very helpful.”
Shi Hao smiled, “We’ll continue tomorrow. Be careful when we reach the summit.”
Hou Bomin, holding his pipe, chuckled, “Of course we’ll be careful. The question is, what should we be careful of?”
No one answered.
Not knowing what to expect was the most unsettling part.
The moon, a thin crescent, hung in the sky.
Although they had traveled day and night since leaving the Ba Mountains, it had still taken them four days to reach Changbai Mountain.
It was now the fifth day of the eighth month, ten days until the Mid-Autumn Festival.
The faint moonlight cast a dim glow over Heavenly White Pond, its usually reflective surface now dull and grey.
Clouds obscured the stars. Even from their vantage point on the mountainside, they could barely see them.
They built a fire, ate some dried rations, and then took turns keeping watch.
During the first half of the night, while Hou Bomin kept watch, Shi Hao and Du Yuejiao slept, huddled together in a small, sheltered space formed by several large rocks.
Shi Hao examined his cultivation. Since reaching the sixth rank, his Three Origins Flowing Pearl Technique and Nine Yin Demonic Primordial Technique had both improved.
At this rate, he would reach the peak of the sixth rank in just over a month.
For ordinary cultivators, this was incredibly fast.
Even Yuejiao and Xiaoyan’s cultivation speed had increased significantly.
The night wind howled through the mountains, but the rocks sheltered them from its bite, their bodies close together, sharing warmth.
Shi Hao held Yuejiao close, her waist slender, her skin smooth as silk.
She lay nestled between his legs, her arms around his neck, her head resting on his chest.
In this small, enclosed space, her sweet fragrance filled the air, a subtle, intoxicating scent.
In the latter half of the night, Shi Hao carefully moved away from Yuejiao, about to get up.
Despite his gentle movements, she woke up, rubbing her eyes, “What is it?”
Shi Hao whispered, “It’s my turn to keep watch.”
Du Yuejiao sat up, “I’ll come with you.”
They went outside. The bonfire crackled by the lake, its flames dancing in the wind. Shi Hao relieved Hou Bomin, and he and Du Yuejiao sat by the fire.
The mist had thickened, obscuring the lake. The crescent moon, its light faint and cold, was reflected in the still water, creating a beautiful, ethereal image.
They chatted quietly by the fire. After a while, a rustling sound came from behind a nearby rock.
They turned and saw Xiang Gu emerging from her makeshift shelter.
Despite having slept for half the night, she still looked tired, her eyes half-closed, as she stumbled towards the lake, carrying her bag of bottles and jars.
She took out a blue bottle, opened it, and a small insect with golden wings emerged, buzzing.
The moonlight seemed to be drawn towards it, its body glowing faintly.
After a while, Xiang Gu whistled, and the insect flew back into the bottle.
She put away her bottles and jars and then began to undress.
Shi Hao’s eyes widened, but Du Yuejiao, quicker to react, covered his eyes with her hand the moment Xiang Gu’s skirt slipped down.
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