Chapter 148: Falling Silver, the Enchanted Maze Descends
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Beneath the night sky, bright moon and sparse stars, a few wisps of thin clouds hung slantwise. In this cool starlit air, a slender, two to three zhang-long flood dragon soared through the sky, dragging behind it a fleshy lotus platform shaped like a budding flower.
On the dragon’s neck sat a small figure astride, pinching one by one the blood-tumor beads, jaws snapping as he chanted a sutra.
“Hum, Hesong, Liedelai, Adibadelai, Han.”
After muttering for a while, he felt the night breeze brushing his face, then looked down. Below sprawled endless mountain ranges, ancient towering trees, and no sign of human presence.
The flood dragon beneath seemed to sense Ji Ming’s mood and spoke: “Master Chan, soon we will leave the mountain range and reach the ancient Huayin Path, where you can see the ‘Fallen Silver Lake’ within the Tianqing region.”
“Fallen Silver Lake.”
Ji Ming murmured the name, then glanced at the young flood dragon beneath him. The little dragon’s round scales had fully regenerated, shining all over, and its eye sockets were nearly restored to sight.
One must admit, even among flood dragons, such regenerative power was unmatched by any cultivator. Master Suluo’s physical form could withstand a thunder spear strike from this young flood dragon, but if his organs were taken, they could never simply grow back.
“In legend, the Tianqing region was named after this Fallen Silver Lake. It relates to a great calamity in the Tianzhou realm.”
“That’s right.” The young flood dragon spoke knowingly, sighing, “That catastrophe fundamentally shaped the eternal pattern of the southern heavens.”
A trace of recollection flickered in his eyes. “I remember, two or three hundred years ago in my childhood, I often saw my father. He would tell us offspring old tales and say they were treasures of our true aquatic immortals.”
“Go on.”
Since the journey was dull anyway, Ji Ming urged the young dragon to continue.
“In the first dynasty of civilization’s dawn, the ‘Tianzhou,’ the heavens directly governed the world, and it was the most rampant of the Old Yellow Heaven faction’s reigns. They unleashed natural disasters, spread plagues, stirred floods, and shifted the earth’s crust, causing the sun and moon to dim, mountains and rivers to tremble, all in an effort to shake the legitimacy of the heavens.
One such calamity struck several provinces in the southern heavens. At that time, the Thirty-Six Directions were newly divided. One day, the sky tilted southwest, the heavenly river reversed its flow, flooding two-thirds of Zhuxiong Province and splitting the famous Nan Du Pan River, one of the four great rivers, into two.
From then on, the names Fallen Silver Lake and Tianqing region emerged, and the Nan Du had two water lords jointly governing it, leaving the position of the southern river water god vacant to this day.”
“Your father then?”
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The young flood dragon shook his head proudly. “My father is the River Lord of Nan Pan River, known among the four rivers’ aquatic immortals as ‘Old Dragon Jiang.’”
Ji Ming recalled the Golden Ape, who seemed to be a son of that same River Lord, once boasting that he was born in the Thousand Sons Cave.
“You were born in the Thousand Sons Cave as well?”
The young flood dragon’s temper flared. “I’m different! Look at my horns, my scales, my claws—I’m not like those mixed-blood brats from the Thousand Sons Cave!”
Ji Ming’s eyes darkened. A round light flickered, drawing forth much of the young dragon’s vital energy. The young flood dragon instantly wilted, no longer daring to shout loudly.
As dawn broke faintly, Ji Ming hastily ordered the young flood dragon down, for his yin body could not endure the sunlight.
He poured the young dragon’s vital essence into a poisonous seed pouch to feed the many-handed child inside. Then Ji Ming turned his gaze to two figures weaving through the forest in pursuit.
“Great Virtue Elder, please accept me as your disciple.”
The gourd cultivator Wu Liang exerted himself, edging ahead of the one-legged mountain ape woman to kneel before Ji Ming. “This humble one seeks the path but finds no door. I beg Master Chan’s mercy to deliver me from this sea of suffering.”
“The Dharma must not be lightly passed on,” Ji Ming said.
Wu Liang bowed earnestly. “Master Chan surely tests my sincerity. I shall hunt blood food to nourish your yin body.”
Ji Ming smiled inwardly; this fellow knew how to handle things. For the long journey ahead, having an attendant would ease the burden. He did not stop Wu Liang.
At that moment, the one-legged mountain ape approached, transforming into a woman’s form, and bowed respectfully. “Master Chan, any orders?”
“You are clever,” Ji Ming praised, causing the mountain ape woman to shiver.
“Master Chan, rest assured. Though you were reborn borrowing my yin fetus ghost, my nine sons’ yin demon arts cannot restrain or harm you.”
Ji Ming casually fabricated, “I am heading into the Tianqing region to find my senior brother, the venerable monk Kong Le.”
“That depraved monk of the southern heavens!”
“Indeed.” Ji Ming continued with his made-up story, “Suluo was once an old friend of mine. After I severely wounded him, he may come after me despite his injuries.
Though I fear him not, the human world’s laws are strict. If he summons yin officials or Taoist enforcers, I cannot defeat him. I must seek shelter with my senior brother.
The next day, once my transformation is complete and I return to human form through soul returning to the body, I will settle our old scores.”
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The mountain ape woman glanced at the lotus-shaped fleshy bud platform and thought, “No wonder the old ghost brought that young Taoist along all this way—plotting to borrow a body to return to life. Truly cunning.”
She was about to express her loyalty when the old ghost added, “My senior brother dwells on the southern shore of Fallen Silver Lake, in a hidden treasure temple called Lingyin Monastery.”
Hearing the old ghost reveal the entire itinerary, the mountain ape woman felt inexplicably tense. “I wish to follow Master Chan to Lingyin Monastery for secret cultivation.”
“No!”
Ji Ming waved his hand and produced a banner. “My senior brother cultivates the Way of Joy, indifferent to flesh or vegetarian food, lately fond of the strange and bizarre. If you go with us, he will surely demand a price, and your cultivation will suffer greatly.
This banner is a practice piece from my senior brother. Today I gift it to you, to clear the karmic debt of borrowing your yin fetus ghost for rebirth.”
“Ah!”
The mountain ape woman was startled—Ji Ming’s sudden change was so abrupt she thought he had been possessed.
No, even if possessed, he would not do such a thing unless mad. She was momentarily at a loss how to respond.
Seeing her hesitation, Ji Ming’s voice turned cold, commanding, “Take this banner and return to your Red Stone Cave!”
Ji Ming’s purpose was simple: to prevent Master Suluo’s pursuit.
Though Suluo was severely injured by Ji Ming’s hidden yin water thunder pill and trapped by a nightmare spell, there was no guarantee he wouldn’t risk ambush despite his wounds.
Though the chance was slim, Ji Ming used the mountain ape woman as a decoy—a precautionary measure.
Continuing their journey, Ji Ming contemplated how to maximize the use of this Qingxiang ghost yin body.
Should he pry open this yin nether magic bone skull directly, or delve deeper into the yin body’s secrets to uncover the traces of the Yellow Chew’s legacy?
After careful thought, he chose the latter.
He slipped his small hand into the large belly, feeling around, and pulled out a bulging, bag-like stomach sac, praising, “What a remarkable Dao organ!”