Tang San: I Beg Senior Bamboo God to Free Me from This Living Hell
"What should I do, Grandpa?" Tang San asked hurriedly.
Feng Yan gazed steadily toward a certain direction within the Star Dou Great Forest. After a moment's thought, he said, "Xiao San, head southeast."
Tang San froze. "Southeast?"
"Exactly."
Feng Yan stroked his beard. "The founding patriarch left behind one final verse... 'Deep in the southeast, where Lone Bamboo grows, if a god lends aid...'"
"Deep in the southeast, where Lone Bamboo grows? If a god lends aid?" Tang San murmured, but he couldn't make heads or tails of it.
Tang San was about to ask more when Feng Yan's figure began to shake violently, like a pebble had been tossed into a still lake.
"Grandpa!"
"My time is up..." Feng Yan's voice turned somewhat ethereal. "Xiao San, I've always had faith in you... You are the future of my Tang Sect. You must make the Tang Sect flourish in this world..."
Before he could finish, Feng Yan's figure turned into blue specks of light and vanished on the spot.
"Grandpa Tang Lan!!!"
Tang San stared blankly at the spot where Feng Yan had disappeared. His eight spider legs dropped to their knees, and he slammed his spider head against the ground...
Only after kowtowing three times did he draw a deep breath and slowly rise.
"I will remember the Tang Sect's kindness for the rest of my life! From this moment on, in life, I am a member of the Tang Sect; in death... I will still be a ghost of the Tang Sect!"
With that, Tang San forced himself to steady his emotions, then strode off on eight spider legs toward the southeast.
All along the way, his speed never let up. Even when Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts occasionally fought nearby, they fled in panic the moment they sensed his aura.
Tang San paid them no mind. He had been heading southeast for who knew how long, and all he knew was that he was now in an ancient forest of towering trees that blotted out the sky.
After a long while...
The scenery ahead suddenly changed. The ancient trees grew sparse, replaced by clusters of lush green bamboo groves.
Thick fog filled the bamboo forest, stretching beyond sight.
"This fog... is strange." Tang San stood at the edge of the grove, warily surveying the bamboo forest shrouded in mist.
The fog wasn't pure white. Sunlight revealed a faint golden hue within it.
After a moment's thought, Tang San finally stepped into the bamboo forest.
Deep within the bamboo forest, in a bamboo hut.
Feng Yan set down the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo he'd been idly toying with and smiled faintly. "Little Scumbag, you sure got here fast. Time to put on another act."
As soon as the words left his mouth, Feng Yan's form flashed. When he appeared again, he looked completely different.
His face was still young and handsome, and his long, sky-blue hair fell down his back. He'd changed into a green robe, with several pieces of Lone Bamboo added as ornaments on his back.
"From now on, my identity as the River God is changing to the Bamboo God."
Feng Yan coughed and adjusted his voice. "Well... I've changed clothes, so I can clear away this fog now!"
With that, he snapped his fingers...
As soon as Tang San entered the bamboo forest, everything around him seemed to turn eerie. When the wind occasionally stirred the bamboo leaves, they let out sounds like ghosts wailing and wolves howling.
Though wary, Tang San didn't stop walking. He continued making a careful note of the surrounding landmarks, as he always did...
But the path seemed to have no end. He had been walking for a quarter of an hour and still hadn't made it out.
"Could this be a ghost's wall?"
Tang San's heart sank. In his previous life, his senior brothers at the Tang Sect had told him about ghost walls.
Unless one truly encountered a supernatural creature, most ghost walls were set up by people to make others walk around in circles.
But speaking of supernatural creatures... wasn't he himself a hundred-thousand-year-old spider spirit now?
Just as Tang San closed his eyes and prepared to use a Tang Sect method to break the ghost wall, the fog began to thin until it vanished completely.
Sensing something amiss, he opened his eyes and realized the fog had cleared at some point. An open space lay directly ahead.
The clearing was not large, roughly twenty zhang across, and square. In its center stood a simple bamboo hut.
The hut was built of Lone Bamboo and looked extremely crude, as if it had only just been finished.
A green stone stood in front of the hut, with these words carved on its face: "Lone Bamboo stands in the southeast; one stalk vaults a thousand mountains."
Tang San's gaze fell upon the green stone, and he read the inscription one character at a time:
"Lone Bamboo stands in the southeast; one stalk vaults a thousand mountains..."
He repeated it silently twice, still unable to understand its meaning. He only felt that these ten characters seemed to hold a realm beyond words.
After a moment of silence, Tang San walked toward the bamboo hut. He stopped outside and called out loudly:
"This junior is Tang San. I have come on the orders of the Tang Sect's founding patriarch. I humbly request an audience with the master of this place!"
No one answered.
Tang San waited a moment, then said, "This junior is Tang San. I humbly request an audience with Senior!"
There was still only silence.
He frowned and was about to call out a third time when the bamboo hut's door suddenly creaked open a crack.
A lazy voice came from inside. "Who is it? It's the crack of dawn. Don't disturb my beauty sleep."
The voice sounded quite young, yet carried a profoundly nonchalant air.
Tang San quickly composed himself and spoke respectfully. "This junior is Tang San. I have come on the founding patriarch's orders. I humbly request an audience with Senior."
"Tang San?"
There was a moment of silence inside. Then came a rustle of movement, and someone pushed open the bamboo door from within and stepped outside, dressed in a green robe.
It was Feng Yan, in his completely changed appearance.
"So you're Tang San?"
Feng Yan looked Tang San up and down, his gaze sweeping from the eight spider legs to the tiny hollow between his head and thorax. The smile at the corner of his mouth deepened.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. So you're a female."
Tang San's face darkened instantly—though, since he had a spider's face now, it was hard to tell.
"Senior, this junior is a man."
"Oh?"
Feng Yan fought back a laugh. "Then explain what that little hole is."
Tang San took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to hang this man up and whip him tens of thousands of times, too.
"This junior's circumstances are rather strange... My soul was reborn into this spider's body."
"I see." Feng Yan pretended to nod, then straightened up and clasped his hands behind his back. He circled Tang San, clicking his tongue in amazement as he went.
"Two souls in one body. Interesting. The female spider's soul is still there, right?"
Tang San said gravely, "It is! And it could wake up at any moment and reclaim control of the body."
"So you came looking for me because of that?"
Tang San replied sincerely, "The Tang Sect's founding patriarch said, 'Deep in the southeast, where Lone Bamboo grows, if a god lends aid.'"
Then he added, "This junior followed the direction and found this place, just as expected. I humbly beseech Senior to help me."
Feng Yan didn't answer. Instead, he stretched and let out a long yawn.
"Fine. If you managed to find your way here, you must have some ability."
Tang San was delighted. "Senior is willing to help?"
"Don't celebrate too soon." Feng Yan turned and went back into the bamboo hut. A moment later, he came out carrying a bamboo chair and sat down in front of the hut.
Then he took a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo from his back and toyed with it, speaking at an unhurried pace:
"This seat is the Bamboo God. I've lived in seclusion here for many years and have long since stopped concerning myself with worldly affairs. If you want me to help, you'll have to show some sincerity."
Tang San hurriedly said, "May I ask what Senior needs...? I only beg Senior Bamboo God to save me from this living hell."