Chapter 41: The Method, The Pretender

“Has the centipede spirit not yet been fully cultivated?” the old priestess asked in surprise.

Yu Xiao’s face showed a hint of embarrassment. He squeezed the iron-backed centipede hidden in his sleeve and replied, “This creature is highly intelligent. Ordinary blood rituals seem unlikely to succeed.”

“Indeed!” The old priestess nodded in deep agreement. She herself had spent immense effort raising and refining her own iron-backed centipede. Had she not nurtured it from birth, watching over it every day and fostering its affection, gaining its aid to cultivate secret arts, there would be no such figure today as the Jade-blooded Priestess.

“Exotic breeds are born with profound instincts and keen senses for profit and danger—that is their nature. If not raised from infancy, it becomes nearly impossible to refine them later on.”

“Master, you must have a way,” Yu Xiao said, trying to curry favor as he cupped his hands. “Back then, when you asked me to foster it temporarily, then pass it to my junior sister, you must have had a plan in mind.”

“Hmph! So you do understand why I had you foster it—handing over a silver-ringed snake and giving a few days’ instruction before sending your junior sister away. Perhaps it’s best if you take charge from now on.” With that, the priestess picked up her basket and swept out of the room.

Hidden in her sleeve, Ji Ming listened and sneered inwardly. Yu Xiao still harbored hopes, but now it was far too late.

Yu Xiao called after the priestess, “This creature is extremely sensitive to scents, making it impossible to secretly deliver poisoned blood. There truly is nothing more I can do.”

“The solution is not with me,” the priestess called back from a distance, leaving those words behind.

“Junior sister!” Yu Xiao’s heart leapt with joy, and he hurried back into the apothecary.

“Keep dreaming,” Ji Ming thought to himself. Crawling swiftly within Yu Xiao’s sleeve, he aimed for the nape of the neck and plunged his venomous barb lightly into the skin.

“You should sleep for a while. I’ll tend to matters here in your stead.”

As Yu Xiao rushed toward his junior sister’s quarters, he suddenly felt a sharp pain at his neck. Instinctively, he wiped the spot and saw a trace of blood on his fingers.

“No... Impossible. It has never been enlightened, has heard not a word of reason, knows nothing of the sages or their teachings—how could it act with such cunning?”

The mild toxin sent his senses reeling, and he collapsed backward.

With a tearing sound, two rows of centipede legs burst through the fabric of his back, landing firmly on the ground and lifting Yu Xiao’s body up.

Hisses filled the air. Sensing its master under attack, the two-headed zhi snake slithered from the poison pouch at Yu Xiao’s waist. But just as its head emerged, two large hands grabbed it with crushing force.

“What strength!” The snake writhed furiously, its twin tails nearly winding around an arm—had they succeeded, the constriction would surely have snapped it.

From Ji Ming’s mandibles, a jade bead the size of a peanut shot forth, striking the zhi snake’s body. Within a few breaths, the bead burrowed in like a coal of fire, rolling through flesh and blood until it reached the tiny heart, where it lodged itself firmly.

The two-headed snake went limp at once.

This was Ji Ming’s first time using the Bone-Threaded Heart Pearl; though only crudely refined, its lethal power was already apparent.

“What a treasure!”

Clicking his centipede legs on the floor tiles, Ji Ming hoisted up Yu Xiao’s body, grabbed the snake’s corpse, and strode confidently into a side room, tearing down a large Taoist robe from within.

After devouring the zhi snake, he began to disguise himself.

“Senior brother, you—”

Two disciples, busy moving and sealing away the sect’s scriptures, stared in bewilderment as Yu Xiao entered. He now wore a broad-brimmed bamboo hat and an oversized black robe that trailed along the ground, making him appear as if he were walking on his knees.

“Ahem...” Ji Ming clung to Yu Xiao’s back, his centipede legs locked tightly around the body. Inside the huge robe, Yu Xiao’s limbs were firmly bound; the hands and feet protruding from the sleeves were Ji Ming’s own transformed appendages.

The disciples felt a chill deep in their bones at the sight.

“I accidentally swallowed a Five-Immortal Pill and broke its wax coating, letting the poison seep into my body and injure my throat and flesh. So as not to alarm you, I’ve donned this robe for cover,” “Yu Xiao” said, pressing a hand to his mouth and speaking with a hoarse voice.

One disciple managed a strained smile. “Brother, you are truly diligent. Perhaps you should first meditate and draw the poison to your palms—we can manage things here.”

“No! The safekeeping of the scriptures takes precedence. Lead on,” Ji Ming interrupted briskly.

“Brother, you—”

Imitating Yu Xiao’s usual tone, Ji Ming snapped, “One more word, and you’ll be cleaning the Five-Immortal seed garden. They’re short of hands for tending the venomous breeds.”

“Go!”

“Yes, brother...” the disciples replied hastily.

Twisting and turning through the compound, they finally reached a small tower.

“We spent our earliest days of study here,” one of the disciples remarked with nostalgia at the entrance.

His companion scratched his head. “Back then, we didn’t dare use the ‘Scorpion-Heart Rites’ talisman diagrams. We just holed up here every day, practicing from copies of master’s and the elders’ commentary books.”

“We all did the same!” The two shared a knowing smile at their shared memories—until the cold aura from “Senior Brother Yu Xiao” behind them grew ever more oppressive.

They fell silent and hurried inside, Ji Ming following with a cold snort. Under such urgent circumstances and looming danger, they still found time to reminisce—he could not decide whether to admire their resilience or lament their lack of promise.

Inside, one disciple opened a secret passage while the other went upstairs to collect the important scriptures.

Ji Ming lingered in the shadows, head bowed under the bamboo hat, watching like a harsh overseer, making the two disciples work all the faster.

He made no move to rummage through the scriptures, instead casting an appraising eye around the tower. With the Jade-blooded Priestess away at the duel, here in this humble apothecary, who could possibly withstand his Bone-Threaded Heart Pearl?

“Madam Zhang!” The name surfaced in his mind. If anyone were a threat to him, it would be her. Favored by the priestess, she might well have received some protective treasure before the priestess departed. He would need to be wary.

“Senior brother, it’s ready.”

Three large chests were hauled to the entrance of the secret passage. One disciple pointed them out.

“The first chest contains the venom scriptures, alchemy manuals, research notes on poisons, and the account books for the apothecary’s operations. The second chest holds texts on cultivation and energy refinement, as well as works on ritual regulations, chants, and hymns. The third chest contains the secret scrolls of the Rainbow Cloud Venom Hand technique, annotated booklets, miscellaneous journals, and various scattered writings not part of any system.”

“Excellent! Excellent! Excellent!” Ji Ming exclaimed three times, then remembered something. “What about the weekly talisman diagrams and the Scorpion-Heart Rite?”

The two disciples exchanged nervous glances. “Brother, don’t you remember? Only one copy of the minor talisman diagrams was ever issued to the sect.”

They looked at “Yu Xiao,” tension thickening the air.

“Ha!” “Yu Xiao” laughed hoarsely behind his sleeve. “See how forgetful I am! Isn’t the minor talisman diagram kept by Sister Zhang?”

The tension eased at once, and the two disciples laughed in exaggerated relief. “For a moment, we thought you’d been possessed, brother!”

“One chest each—move, quickly!” “Yu Xiao” ordered.

Each disciple hefted a chest and headed into the secret passage. Ji Ming, centipede legs still locked around Yu Xiao’s body, grabbed the last chest with both hands and heaved—“It’s heavy!”

Yu Xiao’s body, plus the chest, weighed well over two hundred pounds. Ji Ming admitted he had underestimated the combined weight, and his shapeshifted limbs were beginning to strain.

To make matters worse, the two disciples ahead chatted endlessly, tossing comments back at him as they walked.

“Damn!” Ji Ming’s heart skipped as his grip faltered.

Ahead, one disciple, lost in conversation, suddenly felt a heavy weight crash down on him from behind, pinning him to the chest.

Hot, heavy breath brushed the back of his neck.

“No, wait!” The disciple, swallowing his fear, croaked, “Brother Yu, I... I’m really not into that sort of thing!”