First Watch

As the morning mist froze into curtains of ice on the cliffs of Green Vine Ravine, three figures approached through the surging vapor of the underground river.

The blue-robed cultivator he had seen last night stood before the stone house, silver-thread cloud patterns embroidered on his cuffs. He looked to be in his forties, with an old scar about an inch long across his cheekbone. His aura, at the Fifth Layer of Qi Refining, was deep and still as a pool.

He held an azure jade Formation Plate in his left hand, his fingertips rubbing a damaged section of its formation patterns.

"I am Chen Moyang. I know a little about formations and have been stationed in Green Vine Ravine for two years."

"I am Liu Fengchun," an old man leaning on a Snake-Head Staff suddenly said.

His withered fingers tapped the emerald snake eyes set into the staff's head. "Sixth-level Qi Refining. I've squandered five years of my life in this godforsaken place."

His crane-feather cloak was covered in medicinal powders of various colors, stirring up a choking, bitter smell as he walked.

The last man leaned against a stalactite. Though he looked barely past thirty, he carried an air of twilight.

A black iron mask covered half his face, and the exposed right eye had a snake's slit pupil. "Call me Yin Jiu." His hoarse voice sounded like sandpaper scraping iron. "Fifth Layer of Qi Refining. I specialize in controlling insects."

The blue-robed cultivator coughed lightly, and the Formation Plate suddenly glowed azure.

An image of the entire Green Vine Ravine appeared within a screen of light, with twelve red dots distributed along the underground river. "We rotate watch duties every three days. The marked points must be inspected during the hours of the Dragon, Horse, and Dog.

"If you need to leave on business, discuss it with us beforehand. At least three people must remain on watch here.

He flicked his fingers, sending several streaks of azure light into everyone's waist tokens. "If you encounter a group of more than twenty Ink-Scaled Snakes, activate the reinforcement-request restriction immediately."

Liu Fengchun suddenly sneered. "Last month, that fool Chen Jianghe insisted on chasing the snake king into the underground river..." His Snake-Head Staff struck the ground heavily, and its emerald snake eyes suddenly shone with an eerie light. "You youngsters remember this: after the hour of the Dog, keep away from the three underground river mouths to the north."

Lu Zhao looked at the missing fifth red dot in the light screen. "The records said there were five people stationed here?"

The lantern beneath the eaves suddenly swung without any wind, and Chen Moyang's counting rods gave a piercing ring.

Soft footsteps sounded behind them, and the earth parted on its own to form a path. A gray-robed old man approached with a stooped back, cradling an Ink Orchid with curled leaves. Its roots writhed like living creatures.

"This is Elder Zhou, a Spirit Plant Master of the Zhou Household." The blue-robed cultivator's tone unconsciously grew more respectful. "He has cultivated Bone-Eroding Orchids in Green Vine Ravine for thirteen years."

He pointed toward the main medicinal field. "No one but Elder Zhou may enter that place without permission."

Zhou Qixing's clouded eyes swept over them. His twiglike fingers suddenly pointed at Lu Zhao. "You smell of azure-grain wood.

The Ink Orchid in his arms suddenly unfurled its leaves, exposing blood-thread patterns within. "Come to the small medicinal plot in the southeastern corner after the hour of the Dog." With that, he shuffled away into the mist.

The midday sun cleaved through the ravine's dense fog as Lu Zhao climbed over the slippery stalactites toward higher ground. Green Vine Ravine resembled a honeycomb sliced open, with hundreds upon thousands of underground waterways cutting crisscrossing gullies through the ink-black rock strata.

The main medicinal field lay in a hollow in the northern cliff, its twelve mu of spirit farmland enclosed beneath a pale azure dome of light.

He could see the scene inside through the formation: silver threadworms roamed the black soil, while seven Bone-Eroding Orchids rooted themselves in demonic beast skeletons, their leaves breathing scarlet mist in and out.

To the west, clusters of stone houses lined a tributary of the underground river, with all manner of demonic beast materials drying behind them.

Yin Jiu's residence stood out the most-several shed snakeskins were wrapped in the spiderwebs hanging beneath its eaves, and crimson centipedes occasionally crawled out through gaps in the window lattice.

Strangest of all was the limestone cavern beneath the southern cliff. As Lu Zhao bent to enter its mouth, the Rat Puppet in his robes suddenly trembled violently.

Fluorescent moss covered the cavern walls, illuminating the bone fragments strewn across the ground. The underground river formed a whirlpool here, with half a demonic beast skeleton submerged below.

When he returned to the cliff and circled behind the waterfall, he finally discovered the formation's nexus.

The spirit stones embedded in the nexus had already lost their luster. Dark green liquid seeped from the cracks, giving off an aura similar to that of the Bone-Eroding Orchids.

At dusk, Lu Zhao found the small medicinal plot Zhou Qixing had mentioned in the southeastern corner.

An Azure-Grain Wood tree grew there, with a considerable amount of dark red blood among its tangled roots.

Zhou Qixing walked over just then.

"This Azure-Grain Wood counts as my private property."

"The scent of azure-grain wood is strong on you. It's obvious you handle it often."

"Well? Do you need any? If you want a lot, I can lower the price."

During their conversation, Lu Zhao learned that Zhou Qixing was a First-Tier Middle-Grade Spirit Plant Master.

Zhou Qixing also learned that Lu Zhao was a Puppet Master.

In the end, Lu Zhao settled on a price of one spirit stone for three jin with Zhou Qixing, considerably cheaper than the black market.

For several days in a row, Lu Zhao continued familiarizing himself with his surroundings.

Only after an encounter with Liu Fengchun did he gain some understanding of this place's true dangers. That day, when he encountered Liu Fengchun at an underground river mouth, the old man was dissecting an Ink-Scaled Snake's corpse. His Snake-Head Staff stood wedged in a crack in the rock, its emerald snake eyes reflecting an eerie light.

Seeing that old Liu Fengchun seemed to be in quite a good mood, he asked about this place.

Liu Fengchun pointed at the Ink-Scaled Snake and began explaining:

"This snake's deadliest venom isn't in its fangs, but in the venom sac at the third segment of its spine." Liu Fengchun used a jade knife to lift out an ink-black venom sac the size of a pigeon egg. "That fool Chen Jianghe took a blast of the snake king's venomous mist right to the crown of his head."

Lu Zhao watched the old man drip venom onto a poison-testing herb. Its leaves instantly turned to black ash. "They mostly attack on the nights of the new and full moons, hiding their movements in the rising waters of the underground river.

Liu Fengchun suddenly pulled open his robe, exposing a savage bite scar over his heart. "Five years ago, twenty-three Ink-Scaled Snakes trapped me at the northern cliff..."

His Snake-Head Staff suddenly pointed toward the waterfall. "The real danger isn't the snakes. It's what lies beneath that half a demonic beast carcass."

The old man narrowed his eyes, the wrinkles on his face like knife cuts. "The Zhou Household has kept sending people to stand guard all these years. Do you really think it's for these few Bone-Eroding Orchids?"

As he spoke, a transmission talisman from Yin Jiu suddenly came streaking through the air. Liu Fengchun glanced at its flames and sneered. "Another one who doesn't know whether he'll live or die.

"I must thank you for telling me so much, fellow Daoist."

Lu Zhao replied.

"No matter. Just forging a friendly connection. In a few months, you'll know everything about this place yourself."

As the midnight dew soaked the formation flags, Lu Zhao was on his first watch that day, and he finally stepped into the main medicinal field.

The instant his jade token resonated with the formation, he saw that the light dome concealed another world within-a snake corpse was buried beneath every Bone-Eroding Orchid, its roots thrust deep into the body.

Zhou Qixing's stooped figure suddenly appeared nearby, the roots of the Ink Orchid in his arms piercing into a corpse.

"Use your azure-grain wood puppet to touch the soil in the southwestern corner." The old man's voice sounded like rusted iron scraping together. "Watch the reflections on the leaves."

The instant the Rat Puppet's claw tips touched the soil, the Bone-Eroding Orchids all shuddered.

Blood-vessel-like formation patterns surfaced on the undersides of their leaves. As the formation's power fed back through the Rat Puppet, he was startled to discover that the circulation of the "Little Spirit Rain Art" within him had suddenly quickened by thirty percent.

"This is..." Lu Zhao's pupils contracted slightly.

"What the Zhou Household wants isn't the Bone-Eroding Orchids." Zhou Qixing's twiglike fingers stroked the Ink Orchid. "It's natural formation patterns."