Pei Ye hoisted him onto his back and checked his bearings. "Where are we?"
"Head west, toward Fenghuai County. As fast as you can. There's no telling when the Torchworld Cult will catch up."
"Fenghuai doesn't really have the strength to deal with this either."
"Once my companions discover I'm missing, they'll report it to the Immortal Platform. The Divine Capital should send substantial reinforcements."
"They came into the mountains to look for you." Blue markings spread across his skin as Pei Ye raced west, his feet flying.
"What?" Zhu Gaoyang frowned, then sighed helplessly. "Little Zhi."
"But they didn't delay sending word. When will help arrive?"
"That depends on a lot of things, including how far away the nearest Crane Inspector is. But frankly, an ordinary Crane Inspector wouldn't be enough to pin this situation down either. If they have to send someone from the Divine Capital, probably two or three days."
"Two or three days... what are we supposed to hold out with?"
"Me." Zhu Gaoyang gave a feeble laugh.
Those words sounded rather heroic, but the man saying them lay limp on Pei Ye's back, unable to move so much as a finger.
"All right." Feeling the body on his back, soft as though it had no bones, Pei Ye refrained from undercutting him.
"Besides, we actually have another ally."
"Who?"
"Do you know why we came here this time?"
"Shang Lang said an Immortal Hunter had descended into the world."
"Ah, so you've met. That's how Shang Lang's mouth works." Zhu Gaoyang smiled. "A lot of people misunderstand what an Immortal Hunter's descent means. They see that sometimes it's Bian or Qilin, and sometimes Taotie or Xiangliu, and assume a divine beast's arrival is like tossing a coin: either an Immortal Hunter or a Demon Calamity."
"Isn't it?"
"No. In fact, whenever divine beasts enter the world, an Immortal Hunter and a Demon Calamity always appear as a pair."
Pei Ye felt Little Chi in his belly begin listening intently.
"The Immortal Platform reached that conclusion through investigations several decades ago. Though we don't know why, the two divine beasts always display opposition and conflict in every respect. That conflict even rises to the level of concepts. If one is an auspicious beast, the other must be a beast of calamity. If one commands water, the other must be able to control fire. If one is good, the other is evil. If one is calm, the other is frenzied..."
"...So that's how it works." Pei Ye was deeply shaken, but soon noticed something wrong. "It doesn't seem entirely symmetrical, though. That Qiongqi can control both water and fire."
"Yes. That's what makes this Immortal Hunter's descent unusual." Zhu Gaoyang sighed. "This Qiongqi has grown far too quickly, and its numerous, bizarre abilities aren't something a normal Demon Calamity could possess. It has a quality that no previous Demon Calamity ever had, and that quality is very likely the core of the Torchworld Cult's scheme."
"Wouldn't that be... this seed in my belly?"
"From what we know so far, that's almost certainly it."
"So Qiongqi carried this seed from the moment it was born?"
"Perhaps."
It had carried it from birth, as though it were an intimately bound companion, yet could spit it out at any time to parasitize someone else. Just what was this thing?
A strange feeling arose in Pei Ye, as though Qiongqi, that dreaded evil beast whose very name made people tremble, were merely a delivery tool-as though the purpose of its birth had been to bring this seed into the human world.
Chapter 50: Seeking Aid
Once that thought emerged, Pei Ye's mind couldn't help turning toward Black Chi-what about them? Had they carried something too?
"Does an Immortal Hunter have memories when it's born?" Pei Ye asked Zhu Gaoyang.
Zhu Gaoyang paused. "What do you mean? They do know how to form a contract from birth, and how to use their abilities."
"No, I mean... that sort of thing." Pei Ye frowned as he tried to describe it. "Knowing what exists in the human world, even having read storybooks, and being able to use stories from them as examples..."
Zhu Gaoyang fell silent. Only after a long while did he say, "I don't understand what you're talking about. First of all, Immortal Hunters can't speak at all."
"...?!"
"They're simply more spiritually perceptive. Aside from a few innate gifts engraved in their bloodline, they're no different from newborn babies. They have to grow up, absorbing what they see and hear among humans, before they can possibly learn to use human language."
Pei Ye was speechless, but understanding dawned on him too.
So the purpose of Black Chi's descent was to bring that speaking soul into the human world?
The conflict between Immortal Hunters and Demon Calamities was already an affair of a rather lofty order, requiring someone like Zhu Gaoyang to take action. Yet now it turned out they were merely stepping stones for certain powers to exploit?
"In any case, we have an Immortal Hunter to help us," Zhu Gaoyang said, bringing the conversation back. "Frost Chill is Qiongqi's own ability, so this Immortal Hunter should be able to command fire. I remember that this route passes a Rat-Shaped Deep Pool. It should be living there."
"No, they're behind us," Pei Ye said. "Chasing after us."
"What?" Zhu Gaoyang froze, failing to understand.
He looked at Pei Ye's profile, while Pei Ye simply kept his head down and pressed on. Only after a long while did it dawn on him.
"Oh... you brat, that quickly..."
For the first time, Pei Ye heard disappointment in the voice of this man who had entered the enemy camp alone. He couldn't help asking, "Do you really want an Immortal Hunter?"
"Who doesn't?" Zhu Gaoyang said. "But yes, I want one especially badly."
"Oh." Pei Ye said nothing more.
After a stretch of silence, the man on his back kept twisting one way, then the other.
Pei Ye couldn't help asking, "What are you doing?"
"Would you... consider letting me have them? I could recommend you to the Dragon Lord Dongting Sword Lineage. Frankly, at your stage, an Immortal Hunter won't improve you very much, whereas a sect could let you advance a thousand miles in a single day."
That was indeed the truth. A contract with an Immortal Hunter meant sharing one life, each sharing in the other's gains, the closest of companions who would never betray one another.
But an Immortal Hunter possessed no peerless martial arts and was no renowned martial teacher. For an untrained mountain-village boy, the benefits an Immortal Hunter offered were too distant and lofty.
What would help the boy most at this point was, of course, a sect-especially an illustrious immortal sanctuary like [Dragon Lord Dongting]. Compared with it, the Greater and Lesser Cloud Mountains were a finger beside a thigh.
"That... we'd still have to ask what they think," Pei Ye said.
"Of course. Ask."
Pei Ye was about to open his mouth when a calm voice came from his belly.
"I think that would work."
"?"
"This one may not be a Bright Moon, but he does qualify as an Everlasting Lamp."
"..."
"Well? What's... their attitude?" Zhu Gaoyang watched Pei Ye's suddenly silent face and asked with anxious anticipation.
"They said no," Pei Ye said without batting an eyelid. "They dislike your..."
Pei Ye turned his head to study that face, still flawless despite its weakness. His flawless character, flawless talent, flawless background flashed through Pei Ye's mind... finally, he withdrew his gaze and said, "Your hair is too long."
"?"
After that, no matter how earnestly Zhu Gaoyang pleaded, Pei Ye simply ignored him. Gradually, the voice behind him faded. Pei Ye turned to look: he had fallen asleep.
In the deep forest late at night, only Pei Ye remained, running quietly on his own.
Zhu Gaoyang did not wake until daylight shone brightly.
But the manner of his awakening left him dazed.
A violent fall buried him in dead leaves.
Zhu Gaoyang pulled his head free and cast a questioning look at Pei Ye, who was likewise sitting on the ground with dead leaves all over his head.
How do you manage to fall over just running?
But Pei Ye's expression was grave. "It's interfering with me."
"What?"
"The seed. I can feel that it's further along in hatching. Just now, I tried to jump across, but it tugged at my leg."
Zhu Gaoyang looked up. The two cliff edges overhead were about thirty feet apart. They had fallen from there.
"It was involuntary." Pei Ye's voice carried a chill. "Like a baby moving in the womb. But a single unconscious movement like that can control my body."
Zhu Gaoyang drew a deep breath. "Either we go even faster, or I try killing you. The two of us die here together, and leave it to Heaven whose hands this thing falls into next."
Pei Ye rolled his eyes and hoisted him onto his back again. "Then let's just move faster."
After climbing back onto the cliff and setting off west again, Zhu Gaoyang said quietly, "If it really becomes necessary, I'll try killing you."
"...Mm."
Pei Ye was silent for a while, then suddenly asked, "Have you ever heard of the 'Dantian Seed Immortal Method'?"
He distinctly felt Zhu Gaoyang's body suddenly straighten behind him. "How do you know about that?"
Pei Ye did not answer. "Do you think it could be a method for controlling this thing?"
Zhu Gaoyang fell silent for a while, then asked, "Do you know what it is?"
Pei Ye shook his head honestly. "I've only heard the name."
"It's a legendary arcane art, a peerless scripture. Its true name should be 'Endowed Fortune.' Its precise effects aren't clear, but it is indeed an extraordinary technique related to the dantian seed."
"Do you think this technique is what the Torchworld Cult uses to control this seed?"
Zhu Gaoyang was silent for a while. "I don't think so. Though this extraordinary scripture is mysterious, traces of its practitioners can still be found throughout history, and none of them had any connection to the Torchworld Cult."
Pei Ye countered, "It might not have been created specifically to control this seed, but perhaps it happens to be able to."
"Of course, that's possible too. But I still have no leads. Here in the depths of the mountains, where could we go to find it?"
Pei Ye fell silent.
"The Immortal Platform told me it might have ended up somewhere near Xin Cang Mountain, and instructed me to watch for it," Zhu Gaoyang sighed. "Those instructions were only spoken, never committed to paper. Shang Lang kept probing the whole way, and I never breathed a word. How did you find out?"
"A few days ago in Fenghuai, someone asked me about this martial art."
"Who?"
"A woman named Ming Qitian."
"..."
"Hey? Asleep again?"
"No. Named-named what?"
Before you continue