Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs

Volume 1: Carrying Wine and Singing Long Songs, Chapter 7: Corpse Demon

While leisurely gathering herbs over the past few days, Bai Qiuran had also been using his Spiritual Sense to monitor the movements of that Yao Mo. If it went out to harm people again, Bai Qiuran decided he would track it down and finish it off before it could claim any more victims.

Standing within Mang Mountain, his Spiritual Sense spread out in all directions like a carpet, allowing him to easily locate the medicinal herbs he needed amidst the vast expanse of the mountain.

"Hmm, this is the final ingredient."

On a steep cliff, Bai Qiuran plucked a strange herb shaped like a human heart from the rock face, placed it into his Storage Bag, and then gracefully descended to the ground.

"With this, the materials for the Foundation Establishment Pill are complete. Now I must find the ingredients for the Longevity Pill."

Mang Mountain spanned several hundred li in radius and was quite vast. According to the results of his Spiritual Sense scan, the Yao Mo was hiding about a hundred li away.

He recalled the young man he had shared wine and conversation with along the way. Back at the roadside tavern, when Tang Wei mentioned the Yao Mo in Mang Mountain, Bai Qiuran had already vaguely sensed his intentions.

That Young Master seemed to harbor great hostility toward Cultivators, yet he possessed an inexplicable sense of responsibility for the suffering of the people in the Shangxuan Kingdom. He would not ask Cultivators for help, but he also would not stand by while civilians were ravaged by the Yao Mo.

Bai Qiuran had thought he would eliminate the Yao Mo before Tang Wei could act, but he had not expected this sheltered Young Master to have such unexpected charisma and initiative.

He had only parted ways with him for a few days, and the man had already managed to gather a group of martial artists and lead them into the mountain to slay the demon.

"Tsk, it's truly annoying. Why is it that others can live for three thousand years, transcend the Five Elements, and live in eternal, carefree bliss, while I have to be hounded by the Soul Reaping Emissary every year? The world is truly unfair."

Although he had not achieved Foundation Establishment, possessed no True Essence, could not form a Nascent Soul, and could not project his soul, three thousand years of constant tempering had made Bai Qiuran's Spiritual Sense incredibly powerful.

Without needing to project his soul, his Spiritual Sense had reached a level where he could use his will to manifest physical attacks, making him even more terrifying than the average Immortal.

He had thought about Xue Ling's deadpan face, and his previously good mood turned somewhat gloomy.

While he spoke, for the sake of his dream of Foundation Establishment, the Longevity Pill still had to be refined. Although the Underworld could do nothing to him, they were, after all, an important realm that maintained the normal order of the heavens and earth; he had to show them some respect. Moreover, his mentor, Daoist Qingming, was still in the Immortal Realm. It would be bad if Bai Qiuran's reckless behavior affected his mentor's future in the Immortal Realm.

Before leaving, Bai Qiuran decided to stop by the Yao Mo's lair to slaughter it, preventing it from continuing to harm the common people. It just so happened that the area was thick with Yin energy, and there were a few herbs needed for the Longevity Pill there as well, so he might as well collect them.

When Bai Qiuran first caught sight of it with his Spiritual Sense, the Yao Mo appeared to have just finished a hunt and was on its way back to its lair. However, for the past few days, it had remained in its den, digesting its previous prey, and had not gone out to attack anyone. This was completely different from the greedy, gluttonous beast with seemingly endless desire described in the rumors.

Bai Qiuran felt there might be more to this than met the eye, but he was not in a hurry. Once he killed the Yao Mo, he could inquire in nearby villages and towns about any attacks during this period, and the truth would be revealed.

This was also a possibility. Although Bai Qiuran had been monitoring the Yao Mo with his Spiritual Sense, after discovering it, he had retracted the coverage from the entire mountain to save effort, leaving only a single strand locked onto the creature.

And just a moment ago, in order to travel at full speed, Bai Qiuran had briefly retracted his Spiritual Sense entirely.

"Someone has entered? And a battle has broken out?"

He discovered that the situation seemed unusual, so Bai Qiuran stopped in his tracks to observe for a moment.

This was a sparse forest where the vegetation had been eroded by resentment, leaving most of it withered. The few plants that remained were ghostly and eerie, appearing very dark and mysterious.

Not far ahead of the Withered Leaf Forest stood a bare, craggy mountain peak. Beneath the peak lay the lair of the Yao Mo—a deep, slanting cave leading directly underground.

As he moved, Bai Qiuran glanced at several mangled corpses in the Withered Leaf Forest.

He noticed that there were traces of battle on the trunks of the trees in this forest; some had even been hacked in half.

At the entrance of the cave, many white bones were piled up, but as Bai Qiuran moved rapidly, he caught a glimpse of what appeared to be fresh blood at the entrance.

Bai Qiuran quickened his pace, arriving from outside the Withered Leaf Forest into the cave in an instant. Inside the cavern, which spanned several hundred square meters, Bai Qiuran saw two disheveled Corpse Demons with broken bodies, faintly wreathed in black mist, closing in on the only survivor in the cave. Their target was none other than Tang Wei, just as Bai Qiuran had suspected.

There were still people alive, but judging by the sounds, they were in a precarious situation. Bai Qiuran felt a faint sense of worry.

Drawing upon a breath of True Qi that was even purer than True Essence, Bai Qiuran stopped dawdling. His figure transformed into a Mirage Shadow, covering the distance of over a hundred li in an instant, arriving near the Yao Mo's lair.

Inside the cave, violent sounds of metal clashing rang out. Hearing this, Bai Qiuran accelerated, flying rapidly into the depths of the cave.

The place where the Yao Mo hid was heavy with resentment and the scent of blood. It clearly carried many such auras itself, and it was undoubtedly true that it had eaten many people. However, its frequency of feeding did not seem as high as the rumors had suggested.

Perhaps within these few days, people from outside had gathered martial artists, entered Mang Mountain from another direction, and located the Yao Mo. Then, in the brief moment when Bai Qiuran had retracted his Spiritual Sense, they had engaged the creature in battle.

If they had won, there would have been no need for Bai Qiuran to come here.

There was only one way: gather martial artists to come and crusade against this Yao Mo.

If it went out to harm people again, Bai Qiuran decided he would track it down and finish it off before it could claim any more victims.