A great wave surged upward like a giant python, smashing viciously against the sheer cliff and swallowing the Yan Household disciples upon it in an instant.
Yan Laojiu watched from above, his eyes nearly splitting with fury, urgently shouting for them to hurry while reaching out to save them.
The upheaval happened in a flash. In mere moments, more than ten people had been swept into the river by the waves, yet not one resurfaced.
Among these Yan Household disciples were skilled martial artists and capable swimmers, but once they fell into the water, they vanished swiftly, like iron and stone sinking into the depths.
Their fate was easy to imagine.
After that surge, the Nether Passage River gradually settled down, still rushing onward, as though its earlier rampage had been nothing more than a passing whim.
Yan Laojiu's face was livid. He had not seen clearly earlier; in the faint moonlight, he had only glimpsed a massive dark shape swimming through the river before it flashed away, impossible to catch sight of again.
But clearly, waves that shot more than ten zhang into the air would have been downright supernatural without a monster controlling them.
Probably only that thousand-year-old snake demon could have managed it.
Then again, "a thousand years" was only a loose description. No one could say for certain how many years it had actually lived.
Without question, however, it was a great demon.
And great demons acted entirely according to their whims, their temperaments impossible to fathom.
Yan Laojiu felt a stifling pressure lodged in his chest, almost making him vomit blood.
A head count revealed seventeen losses, an enormous number, and all of them capable hands carefully selected from the great stronghold.
In the blink of an eye, they had all met their deaths in the river, perhaps already reduced to food for the snake demon.
This snake demon probably hibernated too, and perhaps it had just woken up.
Had their work on the cliff disturbed its sleep, then, provoking its violent temper?
At this thought, Yan Laojiu felt a sense of absurdity, his heart dripping blood.
Yet he had to accept that this was possible.
The other possibility had to do with that immortal opportunity.
In other words, the snake demon had sensed the approaching fortuitous opportunity and emerged.
If that were true, they were in serious trouble.
With such a snake demon entrenched below, how could they lay out their formation? How could they deploy their corpses? How could they have any peace?
The snake demon would not even need to attack in earnest. Merely spitting up at them now and then would be enough to make them suffer.
Moreover, this concerned an immortal opportunity, directly affecting the Dao Path of his great-uncle's Lifebound Corpse and the future of the entire Yan Household Great Stronghold.
There was no room for failure.
But where was this immortal opportunity?
And what exactly was it?
His mind full of questions, Yan Laojiu looked around, utterly bewildered and without a single lead.
"The river roars, the sheer cliff rises a thousand feet; high mountains, rising moon, receding waters, emerging corpse."
This was the twelve-character verse personally inscribed by that expert. The first two lines were easy to understand, describing the surroundings of Corpse-Nurturing Cliff. The key lay in the last two, especially the final line: "Receding waters, emerging corpse!"
An idea flashed through Yan Laojiu's mind. Could it have something to do with that White Zombie that escaped?
Initially, his great-uncle had believed that "corpse" referred to the site's suitability for nurturing corpses, using Corpse-Nurturing Cliff's advantageous location to nurture a true Corpse King.
Naturally, that should have fallen to his great-uncle's Lifebound Corpse.
Yet without their noticing, events had veered off course, and something unexpected had happened.
The greatest unexpected development was clearly that White Zombie.
When something that should have been impossible happened anyway, it warranted suspicion.
Although, no matter how he looked at it, he could see no connection between the immortal opportunity and that White Zombie.
For a time, countless thoughts tangled in Yan Laojiu's mind, leaving his heart in knots.
He decided to descend the mountain immediately and report to his great-uncle.
Meanwhile, Chen Jin had left the riverbank and instinctively headed for higher ground.
After walking some distance, he heard startled cries and screams drifting on the wind.
He abruptly turned, focusing his gaze on the distance.
But he was too far away to see what had happened over by the cliff.
Still, he could deduce that anyone on that high cliff at this hour had to belong to the Yan Household Great Stronghold.
In other words, his enemies.
Misfortune for his enemies was cause for celebration.
Chen Jin thought that if he were still on the riverbank now, he would probably see his enemies' corpses floating downstream.
It was merely a thought.
He had no interest in turning back to join the commotion. If he provoked the snake demon, he would find it hard to escape disaster himself.
So he continued onward without looking back.
He did not know the way and had no fixed destination. He simply followed the prompting of his heart and kept walking forward.
It had been just the same when he first came ashore at Savage Ford: he firmly believed that somewhere ahead, there would always be a way out that belonged to him.
He walked like this from night until dawn, until the eastern horizon turned fish-belly white, with a great fire burning within it.
Chen Jin stopped and looked around, discovering that he had arrived at a secluded valley.
Ancient trees towered into the sky within the valley, miasma filled the air, and fallen leaves had turned to mud.
This was a pristine region rarely visited by humans, perfectly suited to his current need to live apart from others.
Satisfied, Chen Jin stepped into the valley, weaving through it as though strolling through a courtyard.
After a while, he selected an ancient tree, looked up, then wrapped both arms around its trunk and laboriously clambered up.
Corpse monsters could climb trees too.
Before long, he reached the thick canopy and discovered an enormous nest built among the branches, more than a zhang across and quite a magnificent sight.
The nest was woven mainly from dead vines, branches, and the like, and looked rather sturdy.
Delighted at the sight, Chen Jin quickly climbed toward it.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
An enormous triangular snake head suddenly darted out of the nest, its forked tongue flickering as it poised to bite.
Chen Jin reacted swiftly and dodged. His eyes narrowed, and without even drawing his sword, he opened his mouth and spat out a mouthful of Yin Baleful Corpse Qi that had accumulated inside him.
Sure enough, the brightly patterned venomous snake recoiled in alarm at the scent of the Qi, turned, and fled. It vanished into the mountain forest in an instant, probably never daring to show itself again.
With a leap, Chen Jin landed lightly inside the enormous nest. He found it quite spacious, with a flat bottom perfectly suited for sitting in meditation.
The nest must have been built by some kind of crow, then abandoned for an unknown reason and occupied by that venomous snake.
Of course, it now had a new resident again.
Chen Jin could not help thinking of Venerable Fire Crow, who had looked so imposing, only to be shot down by a single arrow and reduced to ashes.
The archer had clearly cultivated a unique Method Formula, and the bow and arrows in their hands were no ordinary weapons either.
So, could this nest have been built by Venerable Fire Crow's crows?
Forget it. It was all in the past. There was no need to dig down to the roots.
Chen Jin cast these stray thoughts aside and began tidying up the nest. It was not that he was a clean freak; he simply liked cleanliness out of habit.
The cleaning took nearly two hours before he finally had things more or less in order.
Then he came out, opened his mouth, and sprayed Corpse Qi around the surrounding area.
There was nothing more to it than marking his territory, declaring that this place already had an owner and that snakes, insects, rats, and ants should stay away.
Once he had finished, he settled contentedly into the nest and tilted his head toward the sky, seeing the sun shining through the gaps in the swaying foliage.
It felt wonderful.
From now on, this would be his new home.