The Great Terror

Shang Zhongtian lowered his voice. "I crept along the cold, dry tunnel. Fist-sized night-luminescent pearls lined both sides, and who knew how many years they'd been shining? Their faint blue light barely revealed my silhouette; I couldn't even make out my own features. I kept feeling someone was watching me, making every hair on my body stand on end, but whenever I turned around, I found nothing. At the time, I thought it was just my imagination."

"I followed the lights through the winding passage and came to the main tomb at its very heart."

"The scale of the main tomb was enough to leave me dumbfounded. For a moment, I even forgot I was in a dark, terrifying tomb."

Shang Zhongtian closed his eyes and paused, as if recalling every little detail of what he'd seen back then. Only after he'd finished reminiscing did he slowly continue. "I'd never seen a tomb on such a massive scale. The ceiling soared like the dome of the heavens. Beneath it, terracotta soldiers clutching sharp bronze spears stood as loyal guardians of their master. The dazzling array of burial goods was arranged according to the Eight Trigrams, in secret accord with the order of the Heavenly Dao."

"The ancient corpse had been dead for centuries, yet the terrifying fluctuations emanating through its coffin still made my heart tremble. It was as if that Nascent Soul old monster hadn't died at all, but was merely asleep and could awaken at any moment."

"Indecision wasn't in my nature. I acted at once and made off with half the burial goods. Just as I was about to leave, footsteps sounded in the distance. They echoed through the empty tomb chamber, making my blood run cold."

"Next, I encountered a terrifying situation unlike anything I'd ever come across in all my years in the business."

At that, Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye leaned forward without even realizing it, eager to hear what happened next.

Shang Zhongtian's expression turned agonized, and even his voice trembled. "I ran into the descendants of that Nascent Soul Realm cultivator, there to pay their respects to their ancestor!"

"What?" Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye had heard him clearly; they just hadn't processed it yet.

"Those people brought offerings and magic treasures to pay their respects to their ancestor, praying for their Lineage to endure, for generation after generation of prodigies, and for their children to pass the imperial examinations. On their way to pay their respects, they spotted me stealing from the tomb, so they swarmed me and seized me. It was terrifying. Even now, thinking back on it makes cold sweat bead on my forehead."

"...I think their reaction was pretty normal," Lu Yang said honestly. The family hadn't hacked him to death on the spot—that alone showed admirable restraint.

"So that's the great terror you were talking about?" Tao Yaoye asked.

Shang Zhongtian scratched his head, unable to understand their reaction. "Yeah. I was robbing a tomb and ran into the tomb owner's descendants. Could anything be more terrifying?"

"What happened after that?"

"Then they beat me up, knocking my cultivation from the peak of Qi Refining down to the middle stage of Qi Refining. They threw me in jail, and the authorities made me pay back everything I'd stolen before locking me up for another ten years. After I got out, I decided to wash my hands of it all and turn over a new leaf. I wouldn't touch any of that business again."

"Tell the truth."

"I was too embarrassed to face my fellow tomb robbers."

"..."

Shang Zhongtian was so sincere that neither of them knew what to say.

After Shang Zhongtian had personally laid Steward Zhang's skinless corpse to rest, he invited Lu Yang and Tao Yaoye to stay the night before leaving. Tao Yaoye declined.

If not for luring the Painted-Skin Ghost into attacking, Tao Yaoye never would have chosen to stay overnight. Traveling at night posed no difficulty for two Foundation Establishment Realm cultivators.

Before leaving, Lu Yang sought out Shang Yuan again and patted the parrot on the head.

If the people of Taiping Township hadn't mistaken the parrot for a demon beast, they wouldn't have had the chance to come to the Shang household and deal with the Painted-Skin Ghost.

"This parrot's not bad. It might really be a demon beast. Make sure you raise it well."

Shang Yuan was startled and hurriedly asked why.

"In its early stages, a demon beast's strength can be hard to distinguish from a wild animal's. I can't tell them apart either."

"But Little Green left your home without flying far away. Instead, it kept flying around Taiping Township. It even knew your family was in danger and stayed away from your house. Maybe it was a coincidence, or maybe it's a sign that it's gaining intelligence. There's no way to know for sure."

Lu Yang smiled and said nothing more.

Shang Zhongtian felt he hadn't been a good enough host. The two of them had saved the lives of all twelve members of the Shang family, and the only thing he had to offer was the story of his retirement.

"This is a book of notes I wrote on tomb robbing. If you don't mind, you might as well take it. It could come in handy someday." Shang Zhongtian took a blue, thread-bound book from his robes and offered it to them.

Lu Yang accepted it politely, and then the two of them waved goodbye.

On the way back, Lu Yang asked, "Do you want this book of tomb-robbing notes?"

Tao Yaoye shook her head. She didn't rob tombs, so what would she want it for?

Lu Yang didn't think it was much use either, but he still put it away.

"Why didn't you tell me in advance when you put poison in my room?" Tao Yaoye still couldn't let it go.

Fortunately, as someone with the Ascension Immortal Body, she had exceptional resistance to all poisons. Otherwise, wouldn't she have ended up with athlete's foot like Steward Zhang?

Did it make any sense for a beautiful girl to have athlete's foot?

Lu Yang shrugged. Naturally, he'd only used poison after confirming it wouldn't harm Tao Yaoye. "I did tell you."

"When?"

"Over dinner. With my eyes."

"So you weren't just unable to reach the dishes and asking me to pass you the plate?"

"I'm not that shallow."

The two returned to Ask Dao Sect without a hitch. As luck would have it, Meng Jingzhou had just finished a mission and was complaining to the senior brother who'd issued it.

"Junior Brother Meng Jingzhou, this mission should've been pretty simple. How'd you end up getting reported by the fox demon for having a bad attitude and refusing to cooperate?" The senior brother was puzzled. All he'd had to do was provide a dual-cultivation manual. What sort of attitude problem could there be?

"Senior Brother, you should investigate that fox demon. There's definitely something wrong with her. I went over there just to provide a dual-cultivation technique, and she actually demanded to inspect the merchandise. She wanted to practice the dual-cultivation technique with me to see if it was real."

Meng Jingzhou said furiously, "If I weren't bound by my pure yang body, I'd have practiced it with her!"

It was hard to tell whether he was angry about being bound by his pure yang body and missing out on a romantic encounter, or angry because the fox demon had underestimated his devotion to the Dao.

Lu Yang saw that the senior brother who'd issued the mission looked just as helpless, so he stepped forward to smooth things over. "Senior Brother, the two of us completed the mission to deal with a demon beast."

Lu Yang explained in detail how the people of Taiping Township had mistaken a talking parrot for a demon beast, and how he and Tao Yaoye had let their cover slip to lure the Painted-Skin Ghost into attacking before defeating it.

When he finished, Lu Yang handed the senior brother the Painted-Skin Ghost's ashes.

"You did an excellent job for your very first mission. Well done." The senior brother regarded Lu Yang with new respect. When he'd issued the mission, he'd thought it would be simple; he hadn't expected there to be more to it.

He was even more impressed when he heard how Lu Yang had used poison tailored to the target to end the fight quickly. Without the poison, subduing the Painted-Skin Ghost would have taken quite a bit of effort, and it might even have escaped.

Most importantly, this junior brother carried poison that could give people athlete's foot. At that thought, the senior brother quietly moved a little farther away.

"You two exceeded the requirements of the mission. Your original contribution points are quadrupled. You'll receive one hundred and twenty points. Junior Sister Tao Yaoye, you played a supporting role in this mission, so you'll receive ninety points."

Tao Yaoye had no objections. Lu Yang had played a crucial role in this mission; she'd just been the bait.