Only then did Old Man Sun's legs give out, and he slumped onto a moss-covered rock, gasping for breath.
Although Lin He carried a huge sack containing six Fanged Spotted Rabbits, his freakish physique after his second body tempering meant he had not even broken a sweat.
He tossed the sack onto the ground and glanced at the badly swollen left side of Old Man Sun's face.
That was where he had swung his arm in a full arc and slapped the old man to wake him from the illusion.
"Elder Sun, sorry about that. It was an emergency, and I used a little too much force." Lin He gave a dry cough and rubbed his nose.
Old Man Sun rubbed his burning cheek. Rather than getting angry, he looked at Lin He with lingering fear in his eyes. "Young fellow from the Lin Household, you saved this old man's life! If not for that slap, I reckon I would've met my end in that damned place..."
At this, a flicker of terror crossed the old man's cloudy eyes. "It was downright sinister! All I could think about was killing people. Even you looked like an evil ghost coming to claim my life. There's definitely something terrifying in that place!"
"We absolutely can't go back there." Still shaken, Lin He nodded. Even now, recalling the feeling of standing amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood made his scalp prickle.
By the time the two returned to Emerald Mountain Village, dusk had fallen.
The village was even noisier than the previous night. Hunters with out-of-town accents were cursing everywhere. Clearly, most of those who had entered the mountains today had returned empty-handed, and their tempers were running hot.
Standing outside the crumbling courtyard wall of Old Man Sun's home, Lin He lowered his voice and urged, "Elder Sun, Green Mountain is a riot of demons right now, and that damned place beyond the mountain is even more sinister."
"It's too dangerous for you to stay in the village alone. Why not come to town with me and lie low? I'll get you a room at the Drunken Immortal Pavilion."
Old Man Sun shook his head and waved stubbornly. "A golden nest or a silver nest is no match for your own straw nest. A decrepit old man like me would feel uncomfortable all over in town."
"Don't worry. I've hunted my whole life. I may not have any other talents, but I still have an instinct for avoiding trouble. I'll shut my doors and see no one for the next few days. What are they going to do, tear my house down?"
Seeing how firmly the old man had made up his mind, Lin He stopped insisting. He hoisted the sack back onto his shoulder, reminded him a few times to stay safe, then strode toward town through the night.
To Lin He now, the sack weighing over a hundred jin felt like nothing more than a bundle of cotton on his shoulder.
His feet flew, and he reached town in less than an hour. Taking the familiar route through the Drunken Immortal Pavilion's back entrance, he found Shopkeeper Wu and delivered his haul.
At the sight of the six lively Fanged Spotted Rabbits, Shopkeeper Wu's eyes nearly popped out of his head, gleaming green.
Without another word, he readily produced six low-grade spirit stones and another six taels of loose silver. He even grabbed Lin He's hand and insisted they "chop off a chicken's head and become sworn brothers."
Lin He fobbed him off with a few casual remarks, tucked away the weighty spirit stones, and headed straight for the Heaven-grade guest room.
As he pushed open the door, a pleasant scent of sandalwood greeted him.
Su Qiuran sat in the battered wheelchair, reading a local gazetteer she had obtained from somewhere by candlelight.
Beside her, Goudan lay on the rug gnawing a piece of roast goose. At the sound, he immediately ran over with a series of quacks, frantically rubbing his fluffy head against Lin He's calf.
"You're back?" Su Qiuran put down the book and looked up at Lin He.
When she saw his bedraggled state, covered in mud, water, and bits of grass, her lovely brows knitted slightly. "How did you end up such a mess? Were you wrestling a black bear?"
Without a word, Lin He walked to the table and, as though pouring out beans, laid six crystal-clear low-grade spirit stones across its surface with a series of clacks. Then he flopped into the cushioned grand armchair.
"Holy shit..." Su Qiuran could not help swearing, her eyes instantly lighting up at the six spirit stones.
She wheeled herself over, picked up a spirit stone, and stroked it over and over. "Six in one day? Did you clean out a whole rabbit warren?"
"Clean out my ass. I nearly lost my life." Lin He picked up the cold tea on the table and took a long gulp. Only then did his throat feel a little better.
Still shaken, he recounted his experiences in the mountains that day, from the out-of-town hunters digging three feet into the ground, to the rocky slope deep in the mountains, then the strangely distorted terrain and gray mist on the outskirts of the Immortals' Mass Grave, and the harrowing moment when Old Man Sun had fallen under its influence and aimed his bow at him.
"You have no idea. That place was like the set of a horror movie. Human bones all over the ground, corpses wearing glowing Daoist robes, and so much blood it was practically a river." Lin He rubbed the goosebumps on his arms. "If I hadn't reacted fast and slapped the old man awake, you'd be a widow today."
The excitement on Su Qiuran's face gradually faded, replaced by an extremely grave expression.
She lightly tapped her knuckles against the wheelchair's armrest and pondered for a long while.
"Influencing people's minds over a wide area, even changing the surrounding terrain..." Su Qiuran drew a deep breath and declared decisively, "That definitely isn't a mortal method. It's a formation, or some extremely powerful cultivator's restriction!"
She raised her head and fixed Lin He with an intense gaze. "Lin He, we can't keep doing this."
"The Li Household put up such a huge bounty and stirred up a storm throughout the town. Now even cultivator ruins from decades ago are showing unusual activity. What does that tell us?
"It tells us these waters have already been muddied! The mortals entering the mountains are just the first wave. Those cultivation lineages and rogue cultivators will soon catch the scent and rush over."
Su Qiuran paused, her tone turning utterly serious. "This is no longer a game two mortals like us can meddle in. Once cultivators enter the fray, little shrimps like us will end up reduced to ash by a casual Fireball Technique."
Listening to his wife's clear, orderly analysis, Lin He finally let his taut nerves relax completely.
He let out a long, stale breath, and his flippant, roguish grin returned.
"Wise as ever, my wife! Just what I'd expect from my chief strategic planner." Lin He gave her a thumbs-up. "Actually, I was thinking the same thing. Going into the mountains every day, constantly on edge-I've had more than enough. We've got ten low-grade spirit stones now, plus that loose silver. It's enough to carry out the next step of our plan."
"That's more like it." Su Qiuran nodded in satisfaction. "We'll turtle up in this room for a while and stay put. Once this storm blows over, we can decide what to do next."
With the burden lifted from his heart, Lin He felt light all over.
He asked a waiter to bring several buckets of hot water, enjoyed a thorough bath, and changed into a clean, dry silk sleeping robe.
By the time he emerged from behind the screen, drying his hair, it was late at night.
Only one red candle as thick as a baby's arm remained lit in the room, its dim yellow glow falling over Su Qiuran.
She had already washed and changed into a rather thin white ruqun, her cloudlike long hair spilling over her shoulders.
Nourished by the essence of the moon, her once pale, sickly cheeks now held a hint of healthy color. Her naturally alluring peach-blossom eyes looked especially captivating in the candlelight.
As Lin He stared, his Adam's apple involuntarily bobbed.
Over the past few days, staying alive and making money had occupied both their minds. They had not even enjoyed a decent night's sleep.
Now that the crisis had temporarily passed and their purse was full, as the saying went, once fed and warm, lust came calling...
He draped the towel over the back of a chair and shuffled over in his shoes.
"What are you doing?" Su Qiuran shrank back warily. Seeing Lin He look at her like a starving wolf eyeing a roast goose, she felt an inexplicable flutter of panic.
"My dear wife..." Drawing out the words, Lin He shamelessly crouched beside the wheelchair, one hand settling with perfect ease around Su Qiuran's slender waist.
"Look, it's been a while since we transmigrated here. Before, circumstances didn't allow it. We couldn't even get enough to eat. Now we have money and leisure, and on such a lovely night, shouldn't we get down to some proper business?"
Su Qiuran flushed to the tips of her ears. Like a startled fawn, she pried Lin He's hand away. "Proper business, my foot! Lin He, let go of me! Goudan's right there watching!"
"Quack?" Goudan, who had been gnawing a bed leg, raised his duck head in bewilderment.
Quick as a flash, Lin He hooked a foot around Goudan's backside and swept him straight out the door, then reached back and locked it with a click.
"Now no one's watching." Lin He turned back, his smile growing brighter, with a deliberately wicked, domineering air. "My dear wife, your husband's second body tempering with the essence of the sun was a resounding success. My flesh is now impervious to blades and spears, my Qi and Blood like a dragon's. Don't you want to... personally test your husband's current strength?"
"You... you're shameless! Who wants to test that thing of yours!" Su Qiuran's face reddened almost to the point of bleeding. She pressed both hands against Lin He's solid chest, trying to push him away.
But her meager strength barely tickled him. Rather than retreating, Lin He took the opportunity to catch her soft, boneless little hands. With a little effort, he lifted her out of the wheelchair.
"Ah! Put me down!" Su Qiuran cried out, instinctively wrapping her arms around Lin He's neck.
"No." Holding her, Lin He walked steadily toward the large alcove bed. He lowered his head and gently bit her scarlet earlobe, his voice husky. "Wife, tonight, even if the Heavenly King himself comes, he'll have to wait until I've finished demonstrating my strength."
Su Qiuran made two token struggles. Feeling the astonishing heat radiating from the man's chest and his strong heartbeat, she finally bit her lower lip and buried her burning face in the crook of his neck, cursing in a voice as faint as a mosquito's buzz, "Pervert..."
The red candle flickered, and the bed curtains slowly fell, veiling the room's intimate beauty.