Chapter 123: Borrowing the Treasure, the Ritual of the Banner

After returning from Liuxiang Peak, Old Ape did not go to the underworld magistrate in the Jihang Mountains. Instead, he prepared to summon two or three friends from his cave, don his armor, sharpen his weapons, and return to reclaim his lost face.

He could indeed seek out the underworld officials, but only after he had pacified the situation himself, then summoned those ghost officers and generals to clean up the aftermath with a casual, dismissive air. Only in this way would his reputation as the Great General guarding the cave remain untarnished.

Old Ape had many friends in his cave, but to be honest, he could not be certain how many of them had the courage to face the old hermit Fa Nian. Old Ape sighed inwardly, thinking, "It seems I shall have to bleed a little; I must take out those fine peaches of mine."

"Young Mistress Zhang!"

Outside the cave by the pavilion, Old Ape bumped into the young girl Linggu. He knew her surname was Zhang and saw that she looked flustered, as if she had urgent business to attend to. Seeing that she had no desire to speak with him, Old Ape merely warned her not to go to Liuxiang Peak.

Under a waterfall outside the building, Linggu crossed the stone bridge and saw a figure sitting in the pavilion exactly as promised. Remembering her brother's instructions, she did not approach the man, but shouted from before the bridge, "As we agreed, please lend me the 'Benevolent Passage Shuttle'."

The man in the pavilion was sitting with one leg tucked under him, slumped in a disorderly fashion; this was Wei Wulan. Ever since his reverse cultivation progressed, the mutations in his physical body seemed unstoppable, already exceeding seventy percent. Had it not been for his practice of the "Heavenly Toad Legs," which excelled at creating illusions to mask his demonic nature, and his habit of avoiding the master and not walking about the cave, he would have been expelled from the peak long ago.

Seeing Linggu full of vigilance and keeping her distance, he attempted to draw her closer with his powers. But the moment he moved, Linggu turned and retreated toward the Huoxu Cave, scaring him into stopping immediately. Seeing her reaction, he knew Jintong must have warned her. Wei Wulan did not need to guess what Jintong had told her; it was likely that the moment he showed any malice, she was to report him to the local master. He did not doubt Jintong’s ruthlessness, especially toward him, a man whose demonic heart had been replaced and who could be possessed by evil at any moment.

He handed over the Benevolent Passage Shuttle, instructing her, "This shuttle gives you only three uses. Once those are spent, it will fly back to my hand on its own."

"Why only three?" Linggu held the small, spindle-shaped shuttle, pleading, "Couldn't you give me a few more?"

"The shuttle is for saving your life, not for sightseeing. If you can't escape after three uses, then a few more won't make a difference." Wei Wulan’s tone shifted as he added, "If you were to take me along with you, then naturally you could use it as many times as you pleased."

"Forget it, then."

Watching Linggu decisively head down the peak, Wei Wulan murmured to himself, "How curious! You, who have only just entered the second stage of Qi Refining, how is it that you seem more mysterious than me, a late-stage Qi Refiner?"

Linggu carried the shuttle, checked the Enchanting Maiden's Wonderful Music Banner in her storage pouch, and headed straight for Liuxiang Peak. Although she had only just solidified her essence and opened some twenty acupoints along her Ren and Du meridians, her speed was far beyond that of a mortal martial artist; she traversed the steep cliffs and mountain streams as if they were flat ground. With the "Armor-Horse Talisman" applied to her legs, she reached Liuxiang Peak in less than half an hour. In the clouds above, she occasionally saw the long trails left by immortals or spirits in flight, which caused her to pause and watch for a moment.

The sun was scorching, and thin sweat had already formed beneath the stray hairs on her forehead. Linggu did not linger and continued her journey across the peak, searching for the cave where the Demon Crane resided.

***

A long time passed, and Linggu grew slightly panicked; she seemed to have lost her way.

Three or five days later, in the octagonal glazed pavilion, Ji Ming and the Clever Rat sat opposite each other, separated only by the "Three-Insect Rejuvenation Grass." The Clever Rat was restless, while Ji Ming remained composed. The Liuding Fire burned upon the crown of the crane’s head; it was truly burning his own lifespan as fuel, though Ji Ming was not stingy with this body's lifespan. He only feared that if it lasted too long, damage to his primordial spirit would be inevitable.

The Clever Rat guarded the spot daily. Ji Ming could neither drive him away nor chase him off, and the rat was unwilling to risk a mutual destruction that would cost him all the treasures he coveted. The Three-Insect Rejuvenation Grass was right before them, and the Taoist Qiuqiu’s Mountain-Shaking Bell hung in the pavilion, yet the Clever Rat only stared at the items on Ji Ming’s person—a clear case of bullying the weak and fearing the strong.

However, counting the days, Linggu should have arrived by now. Ji Ming had previously instructed her to bring the Enchanting Maiden's Wonderful Music Banner, intending to offer it to the Liuxiang Crane and use the hidden tricks within the banner to bewilder the crane, allowing him to steal the medicinal power of the spirit grass. This way, he could use the grass's energy to manifest a human form without damaging its roots, thus avoiding the wrath of that Taoist Qiuqiu. After all, he still needed to return to Huoxu Cave to see if he could refine his body into a Taoist vessel; if he offended that Taoist, he would have no peace. He knew that if he always sought to take every opportunity and treasure without leaving any room, he would end up with nothing. This was a rough, idealized plan, and Ji Ming knew it would have to change with the times, but he had not expected the complication of the old hermit Fa Nian.

"Someone is coming!"

The Clever Rat’s greatest worry had come to pass. He twitched his nose and asked suspiciously, "There is actually a scent of perfume."

"They're here!" Ji Ming thought.

Footsteps approached, and a young maiden in a white gauze shirt, a goose-yellow skirt, and a shawl draped over her arms stumbled in, looking travel-worn. Seeing the girl, the Clever Rat was quite surprised; her attire did not look like that of a common mortal woman from below the mountain. He hurriedly raised his hands in greeting, "Which immortal's guest has come here?"

The girl walked through the dried, blood-stained mud, suppressing her fear, and returned the greeting. "I am a young servant under the second disciple of Huoxu Cave. I have come on my brother's orders to offer a gift and apologize."

"A gift?" The Clever Rat lifted his hem and stepped down from the pavilion, asking, "Since it is an apology, why has it taken you so long to deliver it, little girl?" He had heard of the Liuxiang Crane’s misfortune; that thieving boy was truly hateful—was it not just a few insults that caused him to lose face? Mountain spirits and wild monsters were called to be slaughtered every day, and had he ever complained?

"This thieving world!" the Clever Rat cursed inwardly.

Linggu looked at the crane demon in the pavilion wearing a red robe and smiled bitterly. "I truly lacked experience in traveling and wandered this peak for several days before finding this cave." Linggu tapped the pouch at her waist, and a banner fell into her hand. "Who is the Liuxiang Crane?"

***

Just as Linggu asked, the rat-eyed man standing before her spoke, "Let me inspect it."

The crane boy already possessed the Flying Fire Ruler, a spark of Liuding Fire, and secret techniques passed down by an old hermit. If he let him obtain this banner, he would surely be at a disadvantage. He had risked his life guarding this place, waiting for the boy to be burned into nothingness by the Liuding Fire so he could seize the ruler and the fire. Or, at the very least, if the boy were burned into a state of delirium, he would have the chance to slaughter him.

Seeing the man forcibly demand the banner, Linggu wanted to withdraw it, but she was no match for the rat spirit and the banner was snatched away.

"A fine banner, a fine banner." Upon unfolding the banner and seeing the naked Yin-Zha demoness on it, the rat spirit’s eyes shone with greed, and he secretly praised his own decisiveness.

At this moment, Ji Ming stood up from the pavilion and said to Linggu, "Mother is already dead. You may go back and tell your brother that the old grievances are settled."

Hearing the words of the crane demon in the pavilion, Linggu nodded hesitantly. Remembering her brother's instructions, she retreated outside the cave, held the Benevolent Passage Shuttle in her hand, and waited quietly nearby.

Inside the cave, the Clever Rat, holding the banner, seemed to grow bolder and tore off his mask of false kindness. "Boy," the Clever Rat said, caring nothing for dignity, "I had a deep friendship with your mother. You shouldn't have any objections to me accepting a gift of apology on her behalf, should you?"

"I dare not."

"I dare not."

Ji Ming waved his hand and laughed, "Why don't you also take the spirit grass in the pavilion? This is a three-hundred-year-old spirit herb; just by sniffing it a few times, your cultivation will surely improve."

The Clever Rat scanned the spirit grass greedily, shaking his head. "That Taoist Qiuqiu is a madman; I won't provoke him."

"Uncle is just too worried about appearances." Ji Ming made a move to pull the spirit grass out, making the Clever Rat tremble.

"You..."

He was too terrified to speak, gasping, "Do you know that Taoist Qiuqiu is a high-ranking master of the Dragon-Tiger sect? That is a title only held by those in the late stage of Foundation Establishment."

"So, if we pull it, we have brought disaster upon ourselves." Ji Ming withdrew his hand, deliberately provoking him.

Seeing the boy mocking him, the Clever Rat was so angry that he shook the banner in his hands violently. The demoness on the banner writhed, and a bewitching power seeped out, flowing directly into the Clever Rat.

"It’s falling! It’s falling!"