Bloodline

As Chu Xisheng and Lu Luanli headed out of the city together, Chu Yunyun had already arrived at the entrance to the Sitong Escort Agency.

As usual, she went to report to Deputy Escort Chief Lin.

Only after they registered would the agency assign escorts like them to a convoy.

But when Chu Yunyun found Deputy Escort Chief Lin, the burly man with a face as red as a dark jujube looked troubled.

After a moment's thought, he called Chu Yunyun aside behind the agency's gate, then handed her two medicine bottles and a money pouch.

"This pouch contains the wages the agency held back for you and your brother-twelve taels of demon silver in all. Count it. The bottles contain Yanghe Powder. I noticed you often use this medicine. But starting tomorrow, neither you nor your brother needs to come back."

Chu Yunyun froze briefly, then cupped her hands toward the burly, dark-red-faced man opposite her, her eyes questioning. "May I ask, Escort Chief Lin, have my brother and I done something wrong?"

"You've both been excellent."

Deputy Escort Chief Lin shook his head, a hint of apology in his voice. "There's no need to speak of your abilities, young Miss Chu. You use your Spell Arts superbly, and now that you've cultivated a spirit seed, you must have reached another level. I think highly of Xisheng, too. Though he's a little young and still ill, his swift saber is exceptional. He's cautious and thorough, far better than that bunch of greenhorns outside."

"But you and your brother seem to have offended the Long Household in the inner city? They sent word that they don't want you working at the agency anymore. You should know that in our line of business, harmony brings wealth."

The moment Chu Yunyun heard "the Long Household in the inner city," she understood what had happened.

Chu Xisheng had slashed Long Sheng's wrist that day, and the very next day, the Long Household had hired people to break his arms and legs in the Library Tower.

-This Long Household was far too overbearing!

A fierce gleam appeared in her eyes, then she simply took the money pouch from him.

As soon as it landed in her hand, Chu Yunyun sensed something amiss. The silver inside was heavier than it should have been-there ought to be around fifteen taels.

She could not help raising her hands in gratitude. "You're a man of honor, Escort Chief Lin!"

"Don't mention it!" Deputy Escort Chief Lin returned her salute. "Our agency has treated you poorly today. Please accept this small gift and forgive us, young Miss Chu!"

Chu Yunyun merely shook her head slightly. When she and her brother first arrived in Xiushui City, the Sitong Escort Agency had given them a way to put food on the table.

Even while being forced to dismiss them, the agency had added to their wages and given them two bottles of medicine worth three taels of fine silver. There truly was nothing dishonorable about that.

At this point, Deputy Escort Chief Lin spoke again, looking hesitant. "By the way, where is young Master Chu? You two should be especially careful these next few days. It would be best to leave Xiushui Commandery. From the way the Long Household's people spoke, they don't seem willing to let this rest.

"The Long Household's eldest young master, Long Heng, recently returned to Xiushui from Capital City. He's notorious for being domineering and ruthless. On his third day back, he wiped out the Iron Banner Gang's branch in Firebone Cavern. They say over sixty gang members died, and many herb gatherers were caught up in it and killed as well."

Chu Yunyun's heart tightened at once. Firebone Cavern was precisely where Chu Xisheng was going today.

"Thank you for the warning, Escort Chief Lin."

After thanking Deputy Escort Chief Lin, she turned and ran out of the agency, rushing toward the eastern side of the city.

Now she could not even spare a thought for concealing herself. Her steps seemed slow but were swift, like smoke and mist.

Chu Yunyun only hoped that when she reached him, Chu Xisheng would still be safe and sound-

The eastern gate of Xiushui Commandery teemed with people, bustling and noisy.

Beneath the gateway, crowds and all kinds of livestock passed back and forth. Their body odors mingled with the stench of sweat, assaulting the nose.

Chu Xisheng made a circuit of the carriage companies near the gate and soon found a carriage bound for Firebone Cavern.

There happened to be two seats left. The driver asked for a hundred copper coins, which Chu Xisheng bargained down to sixty.

Over a dozen young and middle-aged men sat inside, and the smell defied description.

Lu Luanli covered her nose as she entered, then took out a silk handkerchief and spread it over her seat.

Once seated, Lu Luanli frowned.

She discovered that all the passengers inside were staring fixedly at her.

Looking alone would have been one thing, but their gazes were wrong, too. Like ravenous wolves, their eyes held not only lechery but also desire itching to act.

Just as Lu Luanli's gaze darkened slightly and she pinched the talisman in her right sleeve, she heard a metallic ring.

It was Chu Xisheng's Hundred-Forged Light Steel Saber, suddenly flashing into a streak of white light.

Before anyone could react, the saber's gleam had already returned to its sheath.

Only then did the pipe clenched in a burly middle-aged man's mouth fall.

In that instant, Chu Xisheng had cut the copper-sheathed pipe in two.

The burly middle-aged man had originally been the most brazen of them, his gaze roving constantly between Lu Luanli's breasts and buttocks.

Now, however, he remained shaken, fear lingering in his heart. Only after a long while did he regain his composure and stare at Chu Xisheng with wide eyes. "That's a fast saber, brother. But how have I offended you?"

Chu Xisheng laughed despite himself and pointed at his own eyes. "Those peepers of yours offended me."

He sat down boldly beside Lu Luanli, his hand resting on his saber as he swept his gaze over everyone in the carriage. "She's a woman of my family. You all know the rules of the martial world. Mind your eyes. You can look, but don't let them wander."

In an instant, everyone averted their gaze, not daring to meet Chu Xisheng's eyes.

The burly middle-aged man's face turned cold, his gaze flickering uncertainly. But when his eyes fell on the saber beneath Chu Xisheng's hand, he could not help feeling a measure of apprehension.

In the end, he snorted coldly and turned to the window as well, grumbling discontentedly, "Young masters and ladies like you could just hire your own carriage. Why squeeze in with poor folk like us? You crowd in here, then won't even let us look."

The middle-aged man's complaints were quiet, so Chu Xisheng simply pretended not to hear.

Lu Luanli smiled slightly and released the talisman she had been pinching.

She shifted closer, pressing tightly against Chu Xisheng and using his body to block the other passengers' view.

Perhaps sensing something amiss, the driver lifted the curtain and glanced inside. Seeing nothing unusual, he said coldly, "This carriage belongs to the Fulong Carriage Company. Our proprietor is Lord Zhang, Registrar Zhang of the Commandery Office! Don't cause trouble. Ruin our business, and not one of you will get off lightly."

After issuing his warning, he drove the carriage away from the city gate.

Chu Xisheng also turned his gaze toward the window, a complicated look in his eyes.

Once the carriage passed through the gate, houses built of earthen walls and piled thatch lined both sides of the road. Then an endless expanse of rice paddies unfolded beyond the window, dotted with villages of varying sizes.

It was like a painting of an ancient waterside region south of the Yangtze, slowly unfurling before his eyes.

Chu Xisheng had seen it countless times while escorting convoys. At first, he had found it novel, feeling that the air, untouched by industrial pollution, was extraordinarily fresh.

But now, he increasingly missed the world he had come from.

The carriage continued east along the road. After some seventy li, the scenery outside began to change again.

What had been a southern waterside landscape became a northwestern desert. Not only did the temperature rise drastically, growing hotter, but the ground also became a barren Gobi wasteland where not a blade of grass grew.

This was Firebone Cavern. The land for five li around was all like this.

In the distance, a bustling town could also be seen atop a hill ahead.

This was not only a source of Yangyang Grass but also the most renowned source of spirit medicine within a hundred li of Xiushui Commandery.

Many herb gatherers made their living here, and the various powers of Xiushui Commandery gathered here as well.

The carriage let everyone off a li from the town. Chu Xisheng could only shoulder his pack and walk uphill with Lu Luanli.

As they walked, Chu Xisheng asked, "Junior Sister Lu, what spell are you going to practice in Firebone Cavern? Where do you need to go, and how long will it take? Let me make this clear beforehand: I'll be visiting a lot of places in there and spending three to five days. Once I've gathered all the herbs, I'll leave. Speaking of which, just what sort of Spell Arts do you practice in Firebone Cavern?"

"I'm going to practice the Fire-Spirit Shamanic God Incantation. You probably haven't heard of it."

Lu Luanli walked behind Chu Xisheng and answered casually, "My Spell Arts only require me to be inside Firebone Cavern to practice. They don't need any particular environment. So wherever you go, I'll go."

Chu Xisheng immediately turned his head and looked at Lu Luanli suspiciously.

He suspected this girl was making things up just to follow him.

He could not help touching his face. Had I really become this charming after being reborn?

Lu Luanli's pretty face reddened slightly. She did indeed want an excuse to follow Chu Xisheng, but she absolutely could not say so.

She gave a soft huff. "It's a Divine Curse. Do you know how Firebone Cavern came to be?"

"No." Chu Xisheng shook his head, uninterested.

All he knew was that the Yangyang Grass he wanted was in there.

"Firebone Cavern formed from the remains of a giant god of High Antiquity, one of the same race as our ancestor Pangu."

As Lu Luanli explained, she looked toward the hillside with a strange expression in her eyes. "This giant god originally served the fire god Yanrong and followed him in his campaign against Heaven. In the end, he was defeated and killed on the banks of the Xiushui River. After his death, his remains gradually transformed into Firebone Cavern."

"A giant god of High Antiquity is buried inside Firebone Cavern?" Chu Xisheng was somewhat surprised. This was the first time he had heard that this was how Firebone Cavern had come to be.

The giant gods of High Antiquity were the Innate Gods of this world's distant past. They were said to possess power comparable to third-grade martial cultivators from birth, and were also the common ancestors of this world's humans, demon gods, giant spirits, and giant shamans.

"Of course. Otherwise, why could Yangyang Grass serve as the main ingredient in the Origin-Nourishing Art's secret medicine? Yangyang Grass grows from the power left behind in the giant god's remains and can help people undo the seals within their bloodlines.

"The Nine Grades and Eighteen Stages of martial cultivators' Origin Power require eighteen levels of secret medicines in all. Ultimately, they serve to break the shackles within our bloodlines step by step and undo the seals the ancient gods placed upon them."

Lu Luanli explained with every appearance of seriousness, "The Fire-Spirit Shamanic God Incantation I'm going to practice is meant to draw forth a wisp of this giant god's lingering spirit, so I can use it in the future."

At that moment, however, her voice faltered slightly.

The two had already reached the front of the town, but Lu Luanli saw over seventy wooden stakes planted starkly along the street at its entrance.

There was one every six paces, each with a corpse hanging from it. All had been dead for some time, their skin pale, bluish, and ashen, flies circling them. Dark brown bloodstains covered the stakes.

As Chu Xisheng looked at the stakes, bewildered and confused, his heart sank as well.