"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss—"
Zheng Ziheng said, "It says it doesn't know what the Cloud Radiance Sect is, but our cultivation seems decent. If we swear a heavenly oath, it'll believe us and give us this snakegrass."
A Heavenly Oath was a contract with the Heavenly Dao, sworn upon a cultivator's soul.
If the Heavenly Oath was not fulfilled within its allotted time, the heavens would send down eighty-one bolts of Tribulation Lightning, striking until the cultivator was dead and their cultivation extinguished.
That was why people in the cultivation world never challenged someone to swear by saying, "Do you dare swear to heaven that if you do such and such, your whole family will die and never be reincarnated?"
Instead, they said, "Swear a Heavenly Oath if you've got the guts. Let's see if the Tribulation Lightning strikes you dead."
Shen Leyan could not make decisions on behalf of the Cloud Radiance Sect, so he looked questioningly at Zheng Ziheng.
Zheng Ziheng promised, "No problem. I can swear a heavenly oath right now."
He used a strand of Spiritual Power to cut his fingertip, drew out a few drops of blood essence, and traced an intricate pattern in midair with them.
Shen Leyan faintly sensed a vast, desolate pressure rippling out from the pattern. When it struck his dantian, he felt as though oceans had become fields and the stars had shifted in a single instant, leaving him briefly dazed.
By the time he steadied his mind, he heard only Zheng Ziheng's warm, low voice spreading slowly through the air. "...upon my soul, I swear this oath, with the Heavenly Dao as my witness."
The long snake was equally straightforward. Once the Heavenly Oath took effect, it immediately dragged its battered body over and handed him the sprig of Jadeblood Snakegrass wrapped in its tail.
"Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss..."
"It says this Jadeblood Snakegrass probably needs another twenty-four hours to mature. This patch of ground is the best place for it to absorb the essence of heaven and earth, so it suggests we wait another day before taking it away."
Shen Leyan nodded and tentatively reached out a finger to poke the snake's head. "Thanks, Brother Snake!"
He then gave Zheng Ziheng a meaningful look. Understanding at once, Zheng Ziheng took out a bottle of healing medicine and handed it to the snake.
The snake swallowed it in one gulp, and the wounds that had cut down to the bone began healing at a visible speed.
Only then did Shen Leyan notice how sore his limbs were. He had probably walked too far that day and depleted too much Spiritual Power by repeatedly using the Azure Shadow Profound Art.
He sat down against the snake and shared his thoughts on fighting. "Brother Snake, next time you realize you can't win, just run. Getting hurt this badly must be painful."
A trace of resentment flickered through the snake's eyes.
"Hiss, hiss..."
Zheng Ziheng said, "...It says it realized long ago that it couldn't win and was trying to escape the whole time. The problem was that the Jiangxue Sword kept chasing it, so it couldn't get away."
"Where's Sect Master Lu?" Shen Leyan asked, unsure whether to laugh or cry.
"Master went to wipe down the Jiangxue Sword. Its Sword Spirit doesn't much like having the smell of blood on it after a fight."
Night fell, and the downpour stopped.
The three people and the snake sat around the fire for warmth, sharing the remaining half of the Giant Eagle's meat.
Shen Leyan held meat skewered on a twig in one hand and stretched the other toward the fire, its glow bathing him in warmth.
I wonder what Qingli's doing at the Cloud Radiance Sect now, how business is at the Restaurant, and whether Senior Brother Chen Jing finished his mission and made it back to the sect...
He should have finished by now, right? Maybe he's already stopped by my place several times, hoping I'd treat him to a drink.
More than a month had passed since they left the Cloud Radiance Sect. Shen Leyan could not help missing those back home.
The youth leaned against the snake's tail, slightly lost in thought. In the flickering firelight, his picturesque features looked all the more porcelain-pale, his peach-blossom eyes dark as though a drop of ink had dissolved within them.
"Junior Brother? Junior Brother?"
Shen Leyan came back to himself. "Senior Brother Zheng?"
"Missing Qingli and the others? Would you like to write them a letter?"
He perked up. "A letter? Can it reach the Cloud Radiance Sect right away?"
"Of course. An Image Transmission Technique will do. But the southwestern region is rather far from the Cloud Radiance Sect, so it can't transmit much text. Remember to keep it brief."
"I understand—sorry for the trouble, Senior Brother Zheng. Please send it to Qingli and ask whether anything has happened at the Restaurant lately, whether Senior Brother Chen Jing has returned from his mission, and whether he was injured."
A paper crane bearing the message flapped its wings and vanished into the air.
Shen Leyan propped his chin on his hand and waited for Qingli's reply.
The Image Transmission Technique was much like modern email or text messaging: messages arrived in real time. Once Qingli had asked after Senior Brother Chen Jing, she should reply soon.
After about an hour, a paper crane imbued with Qingli's Spiritual Power finally arrived.
Shen Leyan unfolded the crane perched on the back of his hand. There were only a few words written on it.
"Business is booming at the Restaurant. I'm eating well and sleeping soundly, and everything is fine. But I asked about Chen Jing, and the other Inner Sect disciples said he and the people who went on the mission with him still haven't returned. Perhaps they were delayed on the road."
He quickly finished reading the few lines.
For some reason, his right eyelid twitched rapidly several times when he read the news about Chen Jing. An inexplicable heaviness settled in his chest, as though something were lodged there, making it difficult to breathe.
"Senior Brother Zheng, do you know where Chen Jing went for his mission, and what exactly he was supposed to do?"
"I do remember Chen Jing... The sect's instructors said that although he had only just joined the Inner Sect, he worked very hard at his cultivation. The Cloud Radiance Sect gives Qi Refining Stage disciples fairly simple missions, with hardly any danger."
"The mission he accepted should have been to help treat infertility among the villagers of a certain village."
Infertility?
Shen Leyan was taken aback. "Isn't... isn't that a physician's job? Our sect can treat infertility too?"
"There's something you don't know, Junior Brother," Zheng Ziheng explained patiently. "Some demons like to eat fetuses before they're fully formed. In places plagued by such demons, pregnant women usually miscarry. Even when they're lucky enough to give birth to healthy children, the demonic energy leaves the children weak, and they die young.
"Though these Demons like eating dead fetuses, their cultivation isn't high. Even you should be able to beat them. In theory, Junior Brother Chen Jing and the others shouldn't have run into any danger..."
Shen Leyan nodded thoughtfully and murmured.
"If even I could beat them... Senior Brother Chen Jing should be fine with several Inner Sect disciples accompanying him."
Perhaps he was overthinking it. This was Senior Brother Chen Jing's first mission since joining the Inner Sect, so it was perfectly normal for him to spend a few extra days sightseeing after finishing it.
Still, to be safe, he asked Senior Brother Zheng to use the Image Transmission Technique again and have Qingli ask around the Inner Sect about where Chen Jing had gone for his mission.
If they happened to pass nearby on their return journey, he could look for him.
Qingli was highly efficient.
"I found out. Chen Jing and the others went to a little village called Glory Ancestors Village in the southwestern region, east of the southwestern jungle. I can't explain its exact location in just a few words. If you want to find him, you can ask the locals where Glory Ancestors Village is."
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