Immortal Grass in the Valley

I couldn't help muttering, "I understand what gu means, but how should we explain the words 'earth egg'? What exactly was the great gu master trying to tell us?"

Xiao Yudao thought for a long time, then shook her head and said, "This is the first time I've heard of an earth egg. Could it be an egg made of soil?"

"Not an egg made of soil, but an egg that grows out of the soil," Ma Erlei said, rejecting Xiao Yudao's idea.

The three of us argued for quite a while, but in the end, we still couldn't figure out what "earth egg" meant. Unfortunately, the red paper men had already run far away, and the great gu master's soul was gone too.

We ate some dry rations, then found a water source and filled a flask. The sun rose from the east, and the whole mountain was shrouded in sunlight as the temperature began to climb. With the sharpened bamboo stakes and the torches we had made on our backs, the three of us headed toward Chiyou Valley together.

Although it was daytime, my heart was still uneasy. After the Blood Infant chased into Chiyou Valley, it hadn't returned. There were also the paper men that had fled into the valley, and the great gu master's soul.

All kinds of mysteries lingered in my mind, making our task of catching the Black Flower Herb even harder.

Xiao Yudao said, "I have red thread here. If we find the Black Flower Herb, we'll stretch the red thread out and surround it from three sides, then use the thread to tangle it up. Only then will we succeed."

Ma Erlei nodded and said, "We'll find the Black Flower Herb as soon as possible, then find the great gu master, and then catch those paper men."

After we entered Chiyou Valley, the rocks grew stranger and stranger. Large numbers of poisonous insects began to appear in the forest. Deadly poisonous widow spiders hung from the trees, and five-step snakes lurked beneath the stones.

Under a rock, Xiao Yudao picked a kind of leaf and told us to rub it hard. After rubbing out its juice, we smeared it on our bodies. The leaves gave off a choking smell that could smoke the poisonous insects away.

After walking for about half an hour, my eyes lit up. Beneath a large rock, I found a scrap of paper. It seemed the eight paper men had run deeper into the valley, which was also the direction we were heading.

Xiao Yudao's gaze swept around, searching for traces of the Black Flower Herb. After walking for more than ten minutes, Xiao Yudao suddenly raised her right hand and said softly, "I smell the fragrance of the Black Flower Herb. It should be nearby. From now on, everyone be extra careful. Let's pull out the red thread!"

Xiao Yudao carefully took out a ball of red thread. She walked in the middle, while Ma Erlei and I took the left and rear. Once the red thread was unwound, it was more than ten meters long. We walked forward for a while, then finally crouched down behind a rock.

Xiao Yudao pointed. More than ten meters away, in the shade beneath a large rock, a flower stalk appeared before our eyes, its entire body deep black. The black was extremely pure, especially striking, like a type of orchid grass.

I recognized it almost at a glance. This was the Black Flower Herb, completely different from any other plant in the mountains. My heart thumped hard as I did my best to control my breathing. Xiao Yudao waved her right hand, and Ma Erlei nimbly pressed himself close to the ground and slowly slipped forward.

After Ma Erlei was in position, Xiao Yudao waved her left hand. I also bent at the waist and quietly circled around. The three of us formed a semicircle, the red thread pulled taut in our hands.

Xiao Yudao lightly flipped over the rock, and the three of us advanced at the same time. The entire process made almost no sound.

Ten meters, nine meters, eight meters... The distance to the Black Flower Herb grew shorter and shorter.

With a crack, there came only a faint, brittle snap. Ma Erlei's expression changed; he had stepped on and broken a dead branch beneath his foot. The three of us halted at the same time.

A few meters away, the leaves of the Black Flower Herb suddenly swayed.

Xiao Yudao shouted decisively, "Surround it! Don't let it run!" The three of us rushed forward at the same time, the red thread in our hands pressed tightly against the ground. The Black Flower Herb's leaves shook even more violently.

With a whoosh, just as we closed in around it, the Black Flower Herb's body flickered. Hugging the crack beside the large rock, it slipped past my hand. It had slid away close to the ground.

Its speed was beyond my expectations. In that hair's-breadth moment, my body sprang forward, and I pounced fiercely. I had thought I'd caught the Black Flower Herb, but when I raised my head and looked, the Black Flower Herb had already slipped into the woods.

Xiao Yudao shouted, "Chase it!"

I braced both hands on the ground, then chased after the black shadow. Xiao Yudao ran while reeling in the red thread. Ma Erlei was much faster; he passed me and chased after it tightly.

A clamor rang through the whole valley. Birds in the forest startled into flight, and the venomous snakes on the branches were frightened too, sliding down from the trees and burrowing into snake holes.

Xiao Yudao shouted, "Once the Black Flower Herb is frightened, it will hide. If we try to find it again, it'll be hard. No matter what, we have to catch up!"

Ma Erlei chased at the very front, while Xiao Yudao and I followed behind. Several gray wild rabbits darted out, thinking some fierce beast was after them, and began running forward too.

In an instant, the originally quiet Chiyou Valley became lively. As I ran all the way down, I had no idea how many centipedes I'd trampled to death, or how many sunning beetles I'd kicked flying.

A few scraps of white paper occasionally appeared on the tree branches. Before we knew it, we had already entered the depths of Chiyou Valley. Ma Erlei stood on a rock, looking around in every direction. Xiao Yudao and I caught up.

"I lost it. The moment it jumped onto this rock, there was no trace of it left. This Black Flower Herb really has become a spirit. I kept chasing it, but in the blink of an eye, it was gone." Ma Erlei sounded somewhat dejected.

"The Black Flower Herb is a spiritual medicinal herb to begin with. It's not that easy to catch. If Big Black were here, we'd already have it by now," Xiao Yudao said with a sigh.

With the black dog's intelligence and sharp senses, it definitely could have caught up to the Black Flower Herb. Unfortunately, the black village dog had been kicked to death by the Golden Silkworm Deity.

I asked, "Then what do we do now? Can we still find the Black Flower Herb? Where does it usually hide? Could it be in a cave, or in a crack between rocks?"

Xiao Yudao looked around and sighed. "Right now, it could be hiding in any crack between the rocks, or it might have already escaped Chiyou Valley. It knows someone is trying to catch it, so it has even withdrawn the fragrance it gives off."

Xiao Yudao was terribly downcast. Without the Black Flower Herb, the thirteen medicinal herbs would be missing one ingredient, and whether the Golden Silkworm poison could be cured would become an unknown. I said to Xiao Yudao, "If Heaven really wants to cut me off, then there's nothing I can do about it. Don't worry. I'm not that easy to kill."

Xiao Yudao jumped onto the rock and shouted loudly, "Black Flower Herb, please come out and meet us. I only need a few of your leaves. I won't dig you up. If you don't come out, Da Xiao will die. I'm begging you..." Her eyes were red, tears swirling in their rims.

Ma Erlei shouted along with her, "Black Flower immortal herb, please, honored elder, grant us a few leaves. We really don't mean any harm. We're all kind people."

Their anxious voices echoed through the forest, but not a shadow of the Black Flower Herb appeared anywhere around us.

I knew very well in my heart that a plant couldn't understand human shouting, but Xiao Yudao and Ma Erlei's anxious feelings moved me deeply.

"Brother Kunlun, I'm sorry... If I'd run a little faster, I could've caught up to the Black Flower Herb." Ma Erlei sat on the rock and said dejectedly, his head drooping. "I thought that with my running ability, catching the Black Flower Herb would be as easy as reaching into a bag and taking it..."

I smiled and said, "It ran away from my hand. How can I blame you?" I glanced again at Xiao Yudao, whose eyes were red, and said, "You shouldn't cry either. I won't die."

"Who's crying? What does whether you die or not have to do with me?" Xiao Yudao turned her head aside.

She was clearly so anxious she was about to cry, yet she still said something like that. Girls really were strange, I thought to myself.

I looked ahead and said, "We ran all the way in, passing through the poisonous insects in the dense forest, and now we've reached the middle of Chiyou Valley. There's only a short stretch left! Why don't we go a little farther inside? Maybe the Black Flower Herb is in there!"

Xiao Yudao turned her head back. Other than her red eyes, her face had already sunk into a cold expression. She said icily, "We won't turn back until we reach the cliff. Since we've come in, we'll walk all the way to the end. I will catch the Black Flower Herb!" Xiao Yudao clenched her fists.

The three of us set out again. When we had been running earlier, we had only been chasing the Black Flower Herb and hadn't paid attention to the scenery inside Chiyou Valley. Now, walking slowly, we discovered that the view within Chiyou Valley was beautiful, but also very strange.

Poisonous insects coexisted with all kinds of fresh flowers. The air was filled with the fragrance of blossoms, but beside any given flower, a poisonous insect might suddenly drill out without warning.

I also discovered a few rare medicinal herbs, like Green Beauty and Thin Gentleman.

"No wonder the great Gu master came here to gather herbs," I said sincerely. "Chiyou Valley has a unique environment, wrapped between two mountains, with a suitable temperature in the middle. It's perfect for rare medicinal herbs to grow, and also for all kinds of poisonous insects to multiply. Coming here to collect insects or herbs is both very worthwhile."

Ma Erlei looked somewhat puzzled and said, "Chiyou Valley may have all kinds of poisonous insects, but with the great Gu master's strength, how could he have died here? What kind of secret is this Chiyou Valley hiding?"

The farther in we went, the denser the woods became. No one had entered this place for many years, and there was no longer any obvious path. Ma Erlei carried a firewood machete, hacking and chopping all the way, cutting open a road.

"Let's search across," I said, looking around. "There were paper men running through the valley. I believe there must be a route for them to run on. Just now I could still see scraps of paper, but now there aren't any."

We changed direction and walked sideways for a stretch. Sure enough, we really did discover a narrow little path. The road was not wide, but with a paper man's frame, it was just enough for it to run quickly.

On the branches and brambles stretching out beside the path, scraps of paper kept appearing. Farther ahead, there was even a green-faced paper man collapsed on the ground. Its body was already tattered, several places had been clawed open, and its head was tilted crookedly to one side.

I hurried forward and carefully examined the green paper man, discovering that it was no different from an ordinary paper man. First, bamboo strips and iron wire had been bound into the shape of a person, then white paper had been pasted over it, and the facial features drawn on.

I tore the paper man open and found that its interior was wrapped with layer upon layer of black thread, ultimately connecting to the position of the heart in its chest. At the heart's position was a black cloth pouch, with a yellow talisman wrapped around it. On the talisman were red patterns, a kind of pattern I had never seen before.

"Xiaodao, your father used talismans to drive corpses. What do you think this talisman is for?" I asked Xiao Yudao.

"This is a Soul-Suppressing Talisman!" Xiao Yudao's face went a little pale.