Filth Mountain

When the party reached the foot of Filth Mountain, several Monster underlings dressed like stewards drove the mortals, strung together with hemp rope, into an enclosed valley.

The valley was steep on all four sides, with only a narrow opening for entry and exit. Driven inside like cattle and sheep into a pen, the mortals huddled tightly together, not even daring to cry aloud.

Li Fuchan reined in his horse and looked over. The enclosed valley was already densely packed with crouching people, at least two or three thousand of them. All were offerings sent by the various households for this occasion, and every face was numb.

Once the mortals had been dealt with, a lesser monster came down from Filth Mountain to convey a message, inviting the Household Heads up the mountain for the gathering.

Fei Cai straightened his robes and headgear and was about to lead the Fei Household's people up when a wolf demon suddenly emerged from a bend in the mountain path. It planted itself brazenly in the middle of the road, blocking the way completely.

The wolf demon was powerfully built, with a human body and a wolf's head, its whole body covered in coarse, stiff gray-and-white fur. Its eerie green eyes rolled about in its wolfish face, and strands of foul-smelling drool hung from the corners of its grinning mouth. It was a chilling sight.

Chuckling, it extended a furry claw and waved it at the Household Head at the front. "The usual rules, the usual rules. You Household Heads are all regular guests. Surely I don't need to tell you what to bring?"

The Household Heads clearly knew the wolf demon's habits already. Though their expressions soured, they dared not protest. They could only step forward one by one, taking the spirit stones and Pills they had prepared from their sleeves and stuffing them into its claw.

Even after accepting the gifts, the wolf demon insisted on weighing them in front of their donors, clicking its tongue. "The Wang Household's looking a bit shabby this year. Just these few stones? Did you drop some along the way? Or did mice empty out your storeroom?"

The Household Head surnamed Wang turned alternately livid and pale at its words. His lips trembled a few times, but in the end he did not dare retort. He merely lowered his head and hurried past.

The wolf demon laughed behind him, then moved on to harass the next man.

When the Fei Household's turn came, Fei Cai already had his gift prepared. He approached with it held in both hands, about to offer a few polite words.

Yet the wolf demon did not even look at what he was holding. Its eerie green eyes passed over Fei Cai and fixed on the tall, slender figure standing at the rear of the Fei Household's party, clad in black and cradling a long sword.

"Household Head Fei." The wolf demon's voice suddenly grew more serious, and most of the joking expression vanished from its face. Its muzzle parted slightly, revealing a row of stark white fangs.

"This one looks unfamiliar. He isn't one of your Fei Household's people, is he?"

Fei Cai's heart gave a jolt. Assuming the wolf demon merely wanted an excuse to extort more gifts, he hurriedly put on an apologetic smile. "You have a keen eye, General. This is a guest retainer our household recently engaged. We haven't yet had time to register him with the mountain. The oversight was mine. Please forgive me, General."

As he spoke, he took another two spirit stones from his sleeve and tried to push them into the wolf demon's claw along with the rest.

The wolf demon withdrew its claw, walked straight around Fei Cai, and approached Li Fuchan. Raising its wolf's head, it sized him up. Its eerie green eyes lingered on the Enchanted Sword in Li Fuchan's arms, then swept several times over his narrow eyes, calm as still water.

Li Fuchan's expression remained Immovable, but inwardly he had already drawn his conclusions.

This wolf demon had not even completed its transformation. It had piled up its aperture opening level by devouring blood qi. Yet it had not stopped Fei Cai like this out of greed for a few spirit stones.

It had clearly sensed something.

He could not help thinking, What a wary beast. Much shrewder than that fool Hua Hong.

After staring at Li Fuchan for a long while, the wolf demon suddenly grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "Household Head Fei, this guest retainer of yours..."

It drew out the words, narrowing its wolfish eyes. "Why does he look like something more than an ordinary rogue cultivator to me?"

Li Fuchan gave it a big red envelope, stuffing a little thunder into it.

The wolf demon fell peacefully asleep.

Fei Cai, meanwhile, stood beside Li Fuchan with a respectful expression, but the fingers hidden in his sleeve had quietly clenched.

He feared Li Fuchan would lose his patience right at the mountain gate and clash with the wolf demon. If their true capabilities were exposed now, every move they had planned afterward would come to nothing.

Li Fuchan took in his reaction.

His luck had indeed improved considerably since coming to the Southern Border, but not to the point where every wish came true.

He wanted to change his Dao Lineage, and the formula for "Wandering Gold" came knocking at his door; he lacked a Spirit Object, and the Fei Household said one was being held captive on the mountain.

How could there be so many perfectly timed coincidences in this world?

Fei Cai had only asked him to lend his backing. Naturally, the more ostentatious such backing was, the better. He should have been eager for every monster on the mountain to see that the Fei Household had a thunderbolt behind it.

Yet Fei Cai had asked him to conceal his sword, suppress his aura, and hold his position for now. His reason sounded reasonable enough.

He said he feared Li Fuchan would be unable to conceal his thunder aura and would clash with the monsters too early, ruining their greater undertaking instead.

Li Fuchan always judged others by himself. I don't care whether you're plotting against me. I'll simply assume you are.

It was no great secret that "Li Thunder" would suffer a loss of Dao Attainment if it encountered evil and did not kill it.

If the Fei Household wanted to use him, it hardly needed to expend much thought. All it had to do was send him up Filth Mountain. The demonic aura covering the mountain would be the finest lightning rod, making it difficult for him not to act. Still, with Fei Cai's depth of cunning, he had probably realized Li Fuchan possessed a means of suppressing it. Otherwise, a Thunder Cultivator who dared come to the Southern Border to slay demons would drop dead within days.

If Fei Cai truly had no other schemes whatsoever, he would hardly deserve the title of head of the Fei Household.

Besides, Li Fuchan had always felt there was something strange about Fei Cai.

His aura did not resemble a human's, yet he was plainly human.

He set aside his suspicions and turned his gaze forward again.

The entrance to the Demon Cave lay behind a massive boulder halfway up the mountain. From afar, it seemed no more than an ordinary crack in the rock. Only upon approaching did they discover another world within.

Fist-sized luminous pearls were embedded in the stone walls on both sides of the passage. Their gentle glow lit the entire corridor as brightly as day.

Beneath their feet lay slabs of green jade, polished smooth as mirrors. They reflected the pearl-light overhead, making it seem as though they walked upon a river of stars.

The farther they went, the more spacious their surroundings became. When they finally stepped into the depths of the Cave Abode, the scene opened brilliantly before them.

There was not the slightest trace of a Demon Cave left.

Great expanses of richly patterned felt carpet covered the floor, while pale blue gauze curtains hung over all four walls, concealing every jagged stone surface.

Dozens of glass lamps hung from the vaulted ceiling. Their light was bright without being harsh, bathing the chamber in flowing radiance and color.

A group of women in splendid dresses moved among them, some carrying gold and silver drinking vessels, others bearing seasonal fruit. Their sleeves fluttered, and their pendants chimed.

Another seven or eight women who looked like musicians sat to one side, playing flutes and zithers. Their decadent music wound through lingering, tender melodies.

A broad space had been left clear in the middle of the cave. Several dancers draped in thin gauze danced gracefully to the music, their waists so supple they scarcely seemed mortal.

Yet in Li Fuchan's eyes, all of this presented a different scene.

The Golden Light between his brows flickered faintly. When he looked at the women again, he saw a barely perceptible gray thread tied around each of their ankles. The other ends disappeared into the darkness overhead, attached to something he could not see.

Ghostly Retainer Art, Li Fuchan realized.

This cave full of lavish splendor had likely been conjured by some tiger demon using the Ghostly Retainer Art.

The women were no illusions, however, but actual living people. They had merely been reduced to ghostly retainers, neither living nor dead, trapped for life in this Demon Cave to serve the monsters. They were even more pitiable than the mortals awaiting slaughter in the enclosed valley.

Just then, a lesser demon approached with a smile and guided the Household Heads to their seats on the right.

A row of stone tables had been arranged on the right, already set with wine and fruit. The Household Heads took their places in order. Their expressions varied, but all were terribly restrained, not even daring to touch much of the wine on their tables.

Even after sitting down, Fei Cai did not forget to glance back at Li Fuchan. His gaze held a measure of earnest appeal, as though saying, Bear with it for now.

Li Fuchan ignored him, simply standing behind Fei Cai with his sword in his arms, unobtrusively studying the opposite side.

The left side of the Cave Abode held the seats of Filth Mountain's demons.

That row of stone tables stood somewhat higher than those on the right, with broad surfaces. Instead of wine and fruit, they bore basin after basin of steaming, bone-in meat. The reek of blood mingled with the rich smell of fat, enough to make one retch.

Several more Monsters arrived in succession. Some had bear heads and human bodies, some had winding snake tails, and a few had transformed so completely that they looked no different from cultivators.

They squatted or sat with uncouth postures, forming a stark contrast to the Household Heads sitting stiffly upright opposite them.

On one side were immortal cultivators in broad robes and flowing sleeves, impeccably dressed; on the other were Monsters that ate flesh raw and drank blood, their fangs exposed. Yet here they were in the same Cave Abode, amid dazzling lights and flowing wine, cups passing back and forth while songs and dances celebrated peace.

Evil Spirit.

Evil Spirit.

Evil Spirit.

Evil Spirit.

Evil Spirit.

Evil Spirit.

"Li Thunder" trembled.

As Li Fuchan took it all in, the "Lightning-Struck Wood" within the Outer Scenery of his sea of qi quivered faintly, only for him to suppress it again.

There will be a time to kill the demons.

Another cup of tea's worth of time passed. Most of the Monsters on the left had arrived, and the meat bones on their tables were piled high.

As though driven by something, the ghostly retainer women playing music suddenly raised its pitch. The languid melodies of before transformed into a stirring tune of welcome.

Flute notes pierced the air, and drumbeats rolled like thunder, making even the glass lamps overhead tremble faintly.

At that moment, a long, drawn-out announcement came from outside the cave: "The king arrives!"

Before its echoes had faded, the gauze curtains at the entrance stirred without a breeze, slowly parting to either side.

A slender young man stepped in at an unhurried pace. He stood over nine feet tall, wore a purple-and-gold crown, and was dressed in a bright red brocade robe embroidered with intricate cloud patterns in gold thread. As he moved, gold and red shone against one another, dazzling to behold.

He had even dusted himself with a fine layer of cosmetic powder, applied in just the right measure, giving off a subtle fragrance.

As the fragrance spread, the Household Heads felt dizzy, cold sweat streaming down their backs. Instinctively, they rose one after another to bow.

The Monsters on the left had already risen from behind their tables, each lowering its head and bending at the waist. Even the most arrogant among them concealed their fangs, not daring to breathe loudly.

Behind Fei Cai, however, Li Fuchan remained standing with his sword in his arms.

His eyes narrowed slightly, and the Golden Light between his brows gave a faint, hidden flicker.

Evil Spirit!!

What a grand entrance. It falls short of the Lord of Zongshedu Mountain. If I suppress it with thunderlight, I might still stand a chance in battle.