Tang San: May Senior Bamboo God Help Me Escape This Sea of Suffering

"Old Ancestor, what should Tang San do?" Tang San asked hurriedly.

Feng Yan gazed straight toward a certain direction within the Star Dou Great Forest, and after a moment of contemplation, said, "Tang San, you must head toward the southeast."

Tang San was startled: "The southeast?"

"Correct."

Feng Yan stroked his beard and said, "The Grandmaster left behind a final prophecy... Deep in the southeast lies the Lone Bamboo, as if aided by a god..."

"Deep in the southeast lies the Lone Bamboo? As if aided by a god?" Tang San muttered, unable to make sense of it.

Just as Tang San was about to ask more, he saw Feng Yan's figure begin to shake violently, as if a pebble had been dropped into a calm lake.

"Old Ancestor!"

"My time has come..." Feng Yan's voice became somewhat ethereal. "Tang San, I trust you above all else... You are the future of our Tang Sect. You must ensure the Tang Sect in this world..."

Before he could finish, Feng Yan's figure turned into blue specks of light and dissipated on the spot.

"Old Ancestor Tang Lan!!!"

Tang San stared blankly in the direction where Feng Yan had vanished. His eight spider legs knelt instantly, and the spider head before him knocked heavily against the ground...

He kowtowed three times in succession before taking a deep breath and slowly standing up.

"The grace of the Tang Sect is something I will keep in my heart for a lifetime! From this moment on, I, Tang San, am a person of the Tang Sect in life, and in death... I shall be a ghost of the Tang Sect!"

Having said this, Tang San forcibly calmed his emotions, moved his eight spider legs, and headed rapidly toward the southeast.

Along the way, his speed did not diminish in the slightest. Even when he occasionally encountered ten-thousand-year soul beasts fighting, they would flee in a panic the moment they sensed his aura.

Tang San paid them no mind. He had been traveling southeast for an unknown amount of time, knowing only that he was currently in a forest of ancient trees that blotted out the sky.

A long time passed.

The scenery ahead suddenly changed; the ancient trees gradually thinned, replaced by clusters of verdant bamboo.

Thick fog rose within the bamboo forest, stretching as far as the eye could see.

"This fog... is strange." Tang San stood at the edge of the bamboo forest, his eyes vigilantly scanning the area shrouded in the thick mist.

The mist was not pure white; under the sunlight, it revealed a hint of golden aura.

After a moment of hesitation, Tang San finally stepped into the bamboo forest.

Deep in the bamboo forest, inside a bamboo hut.

Feng Yan set down the Ten-Year Lone Bamboo he had been toying with and smiled slightly: "Little Scumbag, you've come quite fast. Time to prepare for the act again."

As he spoke, Feng Yan's figure flashed, and when he appeared again, he had changed completely.

His face remained young and handsome, with long sky-blue hair draped behind him. His attire had also changed into a set of green robes, with several stalks of Lone Bamboo added to his back as ornaments.

"From now on, my identity as the River God is changed to the Bamboo God."

Feng Yan coughed, adjusting his voice: "Hmm... the clothes are changed, so let's clear this fog!"

With a snap of his fingers...

As soon as Tang San entered the bamboo forest, the surroundings seemed to become eerie. Occasionally, the wind would blow through the bamboo leaves, emitting sounds like ghosts crying and wolves howling.

While remaining vigilant, Tang San did not stop his pace, still striving to memorize the directions of his surroundings—this had always been his habit...

Yet, this path seemed endless. He had been walking for a quarter of an hour and still hadn't made it out.

"Could it be a ghost-wall?"

Tang San's heart sank. In his past life at the Tang Sect, he had heard his seniors speak of ghost-walls.

Unless one truly encountered a spirit or monster, most ghost-walls were man-made traps designed to keep people walking in circles.

But speaking of spirits and monsters... wasn't he a hundred-thousand-year spider spirit himself?

Just as Tang San closed his eyes, intending to use a Tang Sect technique to break the ghost-wall, the fog gradually thinned until it dissipated completely.

Sensing something was wrong, he opened his eyes and realized that the fog had vanished, and before him lay a clearing.

The clearing was not large, about twenty-odd zhang, and square in shape. In the center of the clearing stood a simple bamboo hut.

The hut was constructed from Lone Bamboo, very crude, as if it had just been finished.

In front of the hut stood a bluestone, with the following engraved on its face: The Lone Bamboo stands in the southeast, one stalk leaps over a thousand mountains.

Tang San's gaze fell upon the bluestone, and he read the inscription word by word:

"The Lone Bamboo stands in the southeast, one stalk leaps over a thousand mountains..."

He recited it twice, still unable to grasp the meaning, feeling only that these ten characters seemed to hide an indescribable artistic conception.

After a moment of silence, Tang San walked toward the bamboo hut. He stopped in front of the door and called out loudly:

"Junior Tang San, acting under the orders of the Tang Sect Grandmaster, has come to request an audience with the master of this place!"

No one answered.

Tang San waited for a moment, then spoke again: "Junior Tang San, I request an audience with you, Senior!"

Silence remained.

He frowned, and just as he prepared to speak for a third time, the door of the bamboo hut suddenly creaked open a crack.

A languid voice drifted from within: "Who is it? Disturbing someone's dreams so early in the morning."

The voice sounded quite young, yet it carried a tone of utter indifference.

Tang San quickly straightened his spider body and said respectfully: "Junior Tang San, acting under the orders of my Grandmaster, has come to request an audience with you, Senior."

"Tang San?"

The room fell silent for a moment, followed by a series of rustling sounds. Then, the bamboo door was pushed open from the inside, and a figure in green robes stepped out.

This person was none other than Feng Yan, having undergone a major transformation.

"Tang San, is it?"

Feng Yan looked Tang San up and down, his gaze sweeping from the eight spider legs all the way to the small, recessed hole between the cephalothorax and the abdomen, the smile at the corners of his mouth deepening.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, and a female one at that."

Tang San's expression turned black instantly—though, given he was currently a spider, it was hard to tell.

"Senior, this Junior is a man."

"Oh?"

Feng Yan suppressed his laughter and said: "Then explain, what is the deal with that little hole?"

Tang San took a deep breath, forcing down the urge to hang this person up and lash him with tens of thousands of whips.

"This Junior's circumstances are quite bizarre... my soul has been reincarnated into this spider body."

"I see." Feng Yan feigned a nod, then straightened up, walking around Tang San with his hands behind his back, clicking his tongue in wonder as he circled.

"Two souls in one body, that's interesting. The female spider's soul is still there, right?"

Tang San said in a deep voice: "It is! And it could awaken at any moment to seize control of the body."

"So you came to find me because of this?"

Tang San said sincerely: "The Grandmaster of the Tang Sect once said, 'Deep in the southeast lies the Lone Bamboo, where one may find divine aid.'"

He then added: "This Junior followed the direction and indeed found this place. I implore you, Senior, to lend your aid."

Feng Yan did not answer, instead stretching his back and letting out a long yawn.

"Fine. Since you were able to find this place, it shows you do have some skill."

Tang San felt a surge of joy: "Is Senior willing to help?"

"Don't get happy too soon." Feng Yan turned and walked back into the bamboo hut, returning a moment later with a bamboo chair, which he set down in front of the house.

He then took a Ten-Year Lone Bamboo from behind his back to toy with, saying slowly:

"This Seat is known as the Bamboo God. I have lived in seclusion here for many years and have long since ceased to concern myself with worldly affairs. If you want me to act, you must show some sincerity."

Tang San hurriedly said: "I do not know what you require, Senior... I only pray that the Bamboo God will be willing to save me from this sea of suffering."