Chapter 66: Disciple and Wife
Forty mortal years passed like flowing water, enough time for a newborn to reach middle age, but not enough for a cultivator to emerge from seclusion.
A rumor circulated through the Radiant Realm: the Wanhun Cauldron, sealed away by Demon Lord Qingji a thousand years ago, was stirring, its seal weakening.
The various sects were concerned, puzzled by its presence in the Radiant Realm and fearing the chaos it might unleash.
The rumor, initially confined to the sects, spread like wildfire, becoming common knowledge.
Inns and teahouses frequented by cultivators buzzed with speculation.
“Isn’t the Wanhun Cauldron a demonic artifact from the Demonic Realm?”
“It was sealed away. How do you know about it?”
“Did you overhear something?”
“Everyone’s talking about it. Why would I lie? Haven’t you noticed the increased activity from the Heavenly Heart Sect? They’re investigating.”
“I thought they were searching for missing disciples.”
“Missing disciples? Where?”
A chorus of surprised gasps.
“Shadow City? There’s no Shadow City around here.” A man kneading dough at a street stall wiped the sweat from his brow, turning to his wife. “Have you ever heard of a Shadow City?”
His wife, pausing her work, frowned in thought, then shook her head. “No. Never.”
The man, frustrated, insisted, “But it’s…”
Before his wife could dismiss him, a woman in a pink dress intervened, her voice gentle. “If you haven’t heard of it, we won’t bother you any further. We’ll ask elsewhere.”
Smiling politely, Er Lan pulled Xiao Haoran away. This was Heavenly Heart Sect territory. Best not to offend the locals.
“Another dead end? Another wrong turn?” Xiao Haoran grumbled, his frustration growing with each failed inquiry.
His extended stay in Four Borders City, while beneficial for his cultivation, had atrophied his social skills.
Er Lan was accustomed to such behavior. In the Demonic Realm, cultivators often secluded themselves for centuries, their minds focused solely on cultivation.
Despite her growing impatience, she couldn’t deny his exceptional luck. Rare treasures seemed to appear wherever he went. His impulsive nature was a small price to pay for such fortune.
“If the map says it’s nearby, it must be here. Perhaps Shadow City requires a… trigger. It might not be a physical city.”
Xiao Haoran, his hand resting on the divine blade at his waist, consulted the Heavenly Book within his mind. “Impossible. Shadow City is a city, not a secret realm.”
Er Lan, reminding herself of his valuable contribution to her cultivation, forced a smile. “Perhaps I’m mistaken. Let’s keep searching.”
They continued their journey, Er Lan doing most of the talking, Xiao Haoran mostly disagreeing.
An elderly woman, basking in the sun by the roadside, spoke, her voice raspy. “Shadow City… That name sounds familiar. Not a good place. Why are you looking for it?”
They stopped, turning towards her.
Outside a ruined city, a figure stood before an earthen mound covered in vines, her gaze fixed on the reeds swaying gently in the breeze.
The reeds, tall and dense, surrounded the mound like a natural curtain, their movements creating an unsettling atmosphere.
Tao Ning, after a moment of contemplation, drew Poheng, slicing through the vines, revealing a weathered stone.
The Shadow City boundary marker, eroded by time and the elements, was barely recognizable, its inscription partially obscured, its shape distorted.
She stepped past the marker, walking down a narrow path.
As she disappeared into the city, the newly revealed marker was enveloped in a swirling mist, its surface turning a sickly grey.
520 shivered. 【Why are we here?】
Tao Ning’s voice was firm. “To slay demons and exorcise ghosts.”
520: 【I don’t understand.】
Tao Ning reached the city gates. Her journey had been surprisingly uneventful, no demonic beasts or vengeful spirits blocking her path.
She pushed against the decaying gates, the wood groaning in protest. The protective formation shattered under the force of her lightning spiritual energy, the sound like snapping wood echoing through the silent city.
The gates swung open, revealing the desolate landscape within, its silence amplifying the eerie creaking of the ancient hinges.
There was no latch, no barrier. Just… emptiness.
A gust of wind whipped through the city, stirring Tao Ning’s hair, the white feathers on her headband fluttering in the breeze.
“To slay demons and exorcise ghosts. And if the opportunity arises, kill someone and take their stuff.”
She walked down the main street, her hand never leaving her sword, her eyes scanning her surroundings.
Shadow City had once been a small, isolated settlement nestled at the foot of a mountain, neither prosperous nor impoverished, its inhabitants self-sufficient and wary of outsiders.
Their isolation stemmed from their geography: the impassable mountains behind them and the wide, treacherous river before their gates.
Shadow City, or perhaps, Ghost City.
Centuries ago, a rogue cultivator had arrived, seeking to harvest resentment and malice to fuel his spirit weapon. He had turned the city’s inhabitants into mindless puppets, forcing them to slaughter each other.
Deemed insufficient, he had sent his changgui – familiars created from the souls of his victims – to lure outsiders into the city. The disappearances of several cultivators had eventually led to the discovery of the source: Shadow City.
The city’s inhabitants, isolated and self-sufficient, had no contact with the outside world, their lives revolving around the cultivation of gu – venomous insects and other creatures used for both healing and harm.
The cultivators who came seeking answers had assumed it was a minor issue, only to discover a city infested with gu and their puppet-like victims.
One had barely escaped, his warning reaching the nearby sects, who had sent their forces to eradicate the threat.
Shadow City became a ghost city.
After walking for a while, Tao Ning felt a chill, turning sharply.
A loud bang echoed through the city as the gates slammed shut, like a monster’s jaws snapping closed.
She was alone, trapped within the city’s walls.
A rustling sound came from the buildings lining the street, like the skittering of countless insects, the sound amplified by the unnatural silence, making her skin crawl.
She looked towards the source of the sound, then scanned her surroundings, sensing… eyes… watching her from the shadows, their gazes unwavering.
Even 520 shivered. 【What was that?】
Tao Ning: “Scan the area?”
520: 【Did you check with your spiritual sense?】
Tao Ning, continuing her walk, replied, “…Yes. Quite a sight.”
520, morbidly curious, asked, 【Can you… elaborate?】
Tao Ning shook her head, using Poheng’s faint glow to illuminate her path. “Difficult to describe. Best seen in person.”
520, sensing danger, quickly suppressed its curiosity. 【I’ll pass.】
Tao Ning chuckled. “Just a swarm of black bugs. Crawling everywhere. Nothing interesting.”
As she walked deeper into the city, a grey mist began to coalesce, unable to approach her directly, swirling around her like a shroud.
While the rogue cultivator had been eliminated, the lingering resentment of the city’s victims remained, making it uninhabitable. The city gates had been sealed by a powerful formation.
But recently, the seal had been broken, the resentment intensifying.
Tao Ning raised her sleeve to cover her nose and mouth, not from the suffocating mist, but from the realization that it wasn’t mist, but a swarm of tiny, hair-thin, white insects.
A single insect was barely visible, but their combined mass created the illusion of a grey fog.
The jade token at her waist, bearing the character “Frost,” repelled them, a surprising but welcome discovery.
Then she realized – birds were natural predators of insects. The token, imbued with Cen Dianshuang’s aura, was a natural deterrent.
Where is that bird when I need it?
520, unable to bear the sight, shrieked, 【What are those?!】
Tao Ning: “Thousand-Thread Gu. Hair-thin insects that enter through the respiratory system, devouring the host’s brain within fifteen minutes, turning them into puppets controlled by the mother Gu.”
520 fell silent, either stunned into speechlessness or simply resigned to the horrors it was witnessing.
A dark shape emerged from the mist, running towards them, waving something frantically.
520, its voice strained, asked, 【And what is that?】
As a system, it avoided horror movies. Its previous hosts had all been matchmakers, never facing such… unpleasantness.
The figure threw something, and with a whoosh, a burst of flames erupted, incinerating a large section of the mist.
The brief flash of light illuminated the main street.
Tao Ning stopped, watching.
The figure had used a high-grade Fire Talisman. He had no other weapons. Probably a Talisman Cultivator.
And it revealed another weakness of the Gu insects: they were vulnerable to fire.
The figure, seizing the opportunity, turned to flee, then stopped, seeing another person standing nearby.
A living person. “Another victim of that cursed map? You should leave… Wait! Please, help me! I’m a Talisman Cultivator from the Heavenly Heart Sect!”
The incinerated Thousand-Thread Gu were reforming, drawn by the scent of living flesh, their mass coalescing into a suffocating grey cloud.
Seeing Tao Ning standing alone, seemingly unharmed, he assumed she was a powerful cultivator, pleading for her assistance.
Tao Ning: “A Heavenly Heart Sect Talisman Cultivator?”
The cultivator, pulling at his robes, confirmed, “Yes! I’m the last disciple of True Person Chang Xiang. If you save me, my master will reward you handsomely!”
The sharp clang of metal against metal, and Poheng, glowing faintly, sliced through the air, its lightning spiritual energy, a bane of evil creatures, decimating the swarm.
The cultivator, relieved, assuming his plea had been answered, rushed towards Tao Ning, hiding behind her. “Are you a rogue cultivator?”
Tao Ning: “No.”
Seeing the token at her waist, he gasped. “You’re from the Hanshan Sect? What are you doing in Shadow City?”
Tao Ning, focused on controlling her sword, replied casually, “Training mission. Slaying demons and exorcising ghosts.”
The cultivator: “I see.”
He slowly straightened up behind Tao Ning. The city’s perpetual twilight, shrouded in mist, obscured his face. If Tao Ning had turned, she would have seen its unnatural pallor.
“Are you… here to rescue someone?” His cheek twitched as he reached out towards Tao Ning.
His seemingly normal hand suddenly withered, the skin turning grey, a small lump bulging beneath the surface, about to burst and fly towards Tao Ning.
Then, he felt himself flying backwards, landing heavily on the ground.
He had been hit by something heavy, something… rectangular. Like the zither Tao Ning carried.
Coughing up blood, he clutched his chest, his voice filled with confusion. “Why did you hit me with a zither?”
Tao Ning, cradling Jianshu, looked down at him. “You stole my sword. You didn’t expect me to have a zither, did you?”
“…”
Realizing he had been discovered, he didn’t bother asking how. He lunged at Tao Ning.
“Poheng.” A flash of light, and the flying sword pierced his dantian, pinning him to the wall.
After consuming their host’s brain, Thousand-Thread Gu would seek out the most nutrient-rich part of the body: the cultivator’s dantian.
They treated it like a breeding ground, the strongest Gu becoming the mother, producing countless offspring.
This cultivator was already a puppet, controlled by the mother Gu.
He died without a struggle, his last breath releasing a swarm of immature Gu eggs.
【My eyes! My electronic eyes!】 520 shrieked, its voice filled with horror.
Sometimes, 520 truly wanted to quit. It had never experienced such… unpleasantness… in its long career.
Tao Ning, recalling Poheng, walked towards a nearby house, the sounds of a struggle echoing from within.
She had heard the commotion earlier, but had been delayed by the Gu-controlled cultivator.
A massive black spider clung to the roof, its legs tapping impatiently as it toyed with a group of young cultivators trapped in the courtyard below.
It wasn’t ready to kill them yet. Draining their spiritual energy before wrapping them in silk and consuming them alive was far more entertaining.
A young man, deflecting an attack with his sword, swallowed a handful of replenishing pills, his voice filled with despair. “Gu insects, walking corpses, and now a giant spider! Do they want us to live?!”
A young woman, equally distraught, cried, “Who said it was safe because there were no small bugs? A giant spider is obviously safe!”
“I didn’t say that!”
“It doesn’t matter who said it! What matters is whether we survive this!”
The spider raised its massive, hairy pincer, its shadow falling over the young woman, whose spiritual energy was completely depleted.
She couldn’t defend herself. This was the end.
A strong hand pulled her back, and a powerful Explosive Talisman flew from her hand, striking the spider’s pincer, severing it with a sickening crack. The spider shrieked, retreating.
The ruined courtyard, already in disrepair, suffered further damage from the spider’s thrashing limbs, making it even more difficult for the other cultivators to defend themselves.
The young woman, her heart pounding, thanked her rescuer. “Thank you, Senior Sister Pang! Be careful!”
Senior Sister Pang turned sharply, her eyes widening as she saw the spider’s remaining pincer descending towards her.
The relentless beast had targeted her, its attacks focused solely on her, forcing her back against a wall.
She tried to stand, but her injured meridians flared, and she coughed up blood.
“Senior Sister Pang!” The young woman cried, trying to reach her, but the spider’s massive legs blocked her path. Her sword strikes barely scratched its thick armor.
The scent of blood drew the Thousand-Thread Gu, their swarm thickening, making it even more difficult for the cultivators to defend themselves.
Trapped between a mid-Golden Core spider demon and a swarm of venomous insects, their situation seemed hopeless.
Senior Sister Pang, her back against the wall, closed her eyes, bracing for the inevitable.
But the expected pain didn’t come. A gust of wind, a high-pitched shriek, then a heavy thud.
Something had died, but not her.
The sound of collapsing debris, the ruined house crumbling under the weight of something heavy, dust filling the air.
She opened her eyes to see a slender figure standing before her, two white feathers dangling from her headband.
“Senior Sister! Are you alright?” The young woman rushed over, helping her up.
Tao Ning, glancing at them, recalled Poheng, then looked at the small group of young cultivators. “Are you all from the Heavenly Heart Sect?”
Senior Sister Pang, staring at Tao Ning’s profile, gasped. “My savior?”
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