A Demon
About a hundred li west of Luzhou stood a mountain called Jinping. Two peaks rose close together, resembling the ends of a painting scroll, and so Jinping Mountain got its name.
After all the excitement at the Jiang Household the day before, Director Ma's subordinates hurried over early in the morning to sign the contract. They were followed by a steady stream of "friends and relatives" coming to congratulate the Jiang Household.
Jiang Wangxuan did not want to show his face outside, so he came to Jinping Mountain to try his luck.
A century ago, Jinping Mountain still had a small town that had grown out of the original village at its foot. Over the past hundred years, after Qinghuan vigorously promoted urbanization, the town's residents had gradually moved to Luzhou.
Villages, towns, and smaller county seats had all been sucked into nearby modern cities. Those great cities, each with a population in the millions, were scattered across the land from north to south.
Looking down from Xuantian, they resembled walled fortresses. Humanity had "hunkered down like turtles" in the cities, returning the wilderness to heaven and earth. Spiritual vitality flourished, and birds and beasts returned.
A scenic area had been developed at the foot of Jinping Mountain, where visitors could rest and find lodging. Of course, the prices were steep, and the people who came were all wealthy. Even the bottled mineral water was said to have been drawn from a clear spring in the mountains.
Jiang Wangxuan narrowed his eyes at the peaks. He reckoned they were less than a thousand meters high, around seven or eight hundred meters. Jinping Mountain was still a big mountain.
Peaks of that height were uncommon in the watery countryside south of the river. Jiang Wangxuan avoided the scenic area's designated hiking routes, casually chose an "animal trail" through the mountain, and went up alone.
Jinping Mountain was tall and densely wooded. The "animal trail" leading in from its foot vanished among the wild grass and scattered rocks after no more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea.
Jiang Wangxuan moved through the mountain like a ghost, dancing freely through it like a gust of wind. The higher he went, the more ancient the trees became.
Lingzhi mushrooms were even growing on an old oak so thick it would have taken several people joining arms to encircle it. Jiang Wangxuan casually picked one and hefted it in his palm. It was heavy, probably half a jin.
He could not help thinking that Jinping Mountain was a treasure land, though it was a pity this spot was so precarious that ordinary mountain visitors could not reach it.
At this height, he could smell a strange thread of sweet, fishy air, like rotting leaves steeped together with some kind of nectar. Looking up, he saw a pale blue-green mist shrouding the mountainside ahead. It looked like a sheer veil, yet it held together without dispersing, flowing slowly among the treetops. Wherever the mist passed, the edges of the leaves took on an unnatural purplish black.
Miasma.
This miasma did not seem to have formed naturally in the mountain.
Mountain spirits and tree phantoms, those spirits and monsters that had succeeded in cultivating in the mountains, would occupy a Spirit Vein. As they breathed in and out the Spiritual Qi of heaven and earth, they expelled the turbid Qi from their bodies into the forests, where it became miasmic mist.
Ordinary mountain miasma dispersed when the blazing sun came out, but the miasma exhaled by spirits and monsters could linger for years. It moved according to their will, growing thick or thin, gathering or dispersing at a single thought.
Jiang Wangxuan's gaze passed through layer upon layer of trees and settled deep within the pale blue-green ridge.
Someone was fighting with Techniques there. Jinping Mountain was interesting!
Jiang Wangxuan immediately activated the Cavern Spring Talismanic Words Bracelet, transformed into a cloud of rain, and drifted toward the depths of the ridge.
He had only drawn a little closer when he saw an explosive burst of orange-red fire burn a patch of miasma to nothing, revealing the shadow of a spider in the forest.
The spider demon clung to an old poplar, its mouthparts hissing as gray-green silk formed a giant web that pounced on the Daoist in the air.
The Daoist paid it no heed. He slapped the fire gourd at his waist, and cooking radiance true essence gushed forth, releasing a stream of Foundation Establishment spirit fire.
Hearth Radiance Kindling Fire.
The orange-red kindling fire melted the web into vapor, then transformed into a giant fiery red net that pounced on the spider demon in the tree. Terrified, the spider demon spewed multicolored miasmic mist from its whole body, trying to escape the net of fire.
But the spider demon's tail was still solidly grazed by the Hearth Radiance Kindling Fire. Unexpectedly, however, the steaming tail spewed out a thick gray mist laden with dense Blood Qi.
In just three breaths, a stream of Foundation Establishment Realm spirit fire had been polluted by the bizarre gray mist and lost its power, and the one that had done it was only a Qi Refining Stage demon.
That was witchcraft!
The demon was about to run. Seeing this, Jiang Wangxuan hesitated no longer and floated into the fight.
At first, worried that the cultivator fighting the spider demon might misjudge his intentions, Jiang Wangxuan merely stopped in a corner of the sky and released a trace of clear water Qi to show that he meant no harm.
As it happened, the burly man trading blows with the spider demon was an acquaintance of his: Fang Lin, whom he had met by chance on the high-speed train. He had not expected this hearth-fire cultivator of extraordinary background to come searching for ancient sites all the way out here.
The spider demon had only just escaped the deadly threat of the Hearth Radiance Kindling Fire when a shower of spirit rain descended without warning. The blue-green clear rain easily dissolved its protective miasma, and the clear water drifting through the air then became six chains that bound its entire body.
Fang Lin naturally recognized his good brother who had just been watching the fight from the sidelines: Brother Jiang. Fang Lin was all too familiar with that rich, powerful clear water Qi. He had seen it just a few days ago!
He seized the opening and formed a hand seal!
An orange-red greatsword abruptly appeared above the spider demon's head. Its eyes filled with despair. The clear water that had suddenly joined the fight had pinned it fast outside the cave, which was so close at hand.
The fire sword crashed down, cleaving the spider demon in two at the waist. Scarlet-green fluid burst everywhere, and a phantom spider the size of a baby tried to slip back into the cave amid the chaos.
That was its demon spirit and also its true spirit. Rather than die outside, perhaps it could return to the cave, where the spider mother would show great mercy and spare its life, then "plant and nurture" it in a spider fetus once more?
Unfortunately, the spider spirit had abandoned the body with which it could still have fought desperately to the death without hesitation. Before it had flown two paces, a pool of water engulfed it like an affliction clinging to the bone, and a water prison appeared, floating in the air.
The spider spirit gazed in despair at the little world of the pond made from clear water, then gave up struggling. So be it. I'm still useful to them!
I still have a chance!
Fang Lin looked with satisfaction at his good brother's handiwork. He put away his Law Artifact and laughed. "Brother Jiang, a few days apart have felt like three autumns! You and I really are fated to meet!"
Ah! This damned social terrorist. Jiang Wangxuan was wondering whether there was still a way to run when Fang Lin cut off his retreat.
"Brother Jiang, your use of that Technique was so perfectly natural. I can only admit I'm no match for you!"
Jiang Wangxuan was at a loss. This man really had no sense of boundaries. "I didn't expect you to be such a gallant man, Brother Fang, eliminating demons here."
Fang Lin slapped his forehead. "Who knew? I originally came looking for the Cicada Immortal's ruins. How was I supposed to know Jinping Mountain had practically become the spider demons' back garden?"
"The Cicada Immortal's ruins?" Jiang Wangxuan frowned and asked, "Was there really a Cicada Immortal?"
Fang Lin smiled meaningfully. "It seems that although you're from Luzhou, Brother Jiang, you know nothing about the Cicada Immortal."
Seeing him like this, Jiang Wangxuan recalled the supreme Dao secret he had casually mentioned on the high-speed train. He definitely wanted to show off again. "Let's put the Cicada Immortal aside for now and see what to do with this spider spirit first."
Unexpectedly, Fang Lin shook his head. "No need to look. It'll definitely be cursed to death!"
A flash of murderous intent abruptly appeared inside the water prison. Dense Blood Qi dyed the little pond red, and the spider spirit vanished without a trace.
Jiang Wangxuan's face darkened terribly. Someone had stolen his kill. The Qi signature of that Law Technique unmistakably belonged to the witchcraft passed down from Cangwu Mountain Ravine Grotto in the south: the Blood Slaughter Incantation.
"Over the past two days, I've killed four Qi Refining Stage spider demons on Jinping Mountain. Without exception, they were all cursed to death by this Blood Slaughter Incantation in the end. I couldn't interrogate a scrap of information out of them. Today's spider demon was deliberately lying in wait for me with the others, and it was the strongest one too."
Fang Lin picked up the fire gourd at his waist, and the fragrance of wine spread through the bloody place where the spider corpse lay. "It had a companion acting as bait. I killed it right at the start, not far from here."
"Why didn't you notify the people in Luzhou?"
Fang Lin swallowed a mouthful of strong liquor and savored it for a moment before replying, "It wasn't easy finding a clue to the Cicada Immortal here on Jinping Mountain. If these brainless spider demons ruined my fortuitous opportunity, wouldn't I have suffered a huge loss?"
Jiang Wangxuan understood at once. Fang Lin wanted the prize all to himself.
"This Blood Slaughter Incantation is no simple thing. It should only have been passed down within Cangwu Mountain Ravine Grotto. Could these spiders have been raised by someone?"
"Normally, being raised by someone would be the most likely explanation. But from what I've observed over the past few days, the medium used to cast the Blood Slaughter Incantation is the bloodline through which it kills!"
Fang Lin gave his assessment with a solemn expression. "I suspect there's also a powerful mother spider in this mountain. She's the mastermind controlling the spiders across the entire mountain."
At some point, miasmic mist had risen over the ridge again. The spider corpse on the ground, not yet cold, was rapidly rotting in the mist.
Jiang Wangxuan and Fang Lin flew away. Jinping Mountain had nurtured these demons, so naturally it was their home ground. This was no place to stay long; they would return to the foot of the mountain before deciding what to do.
At the scenic area at the mountain's foot, Jiang Wangxuan frowned as he watched cable car after cable car carry tourists toward the peak.
From here, the two peaks close together really did look like the ends of a painting scroll.
"You can rest easy for now. The spiders in the mountain aren't stupid. They don't dare attack the tourists. How much of Jinping Mountain do the tourists actually cover? The spider demons adapted long ago."
"Doesn't that sound harmonious?" Fang Lin joked.
"Judging by the level of today's spider demon, it had at least twenty or thirty years of cultivation. That really is harmonious. But Brother Fang, where does the Blood Qi needed for the Blood Slaughter Incantation come from? The animals and beasts in the mountain aren't enough to make up that Blood Qi."
Jiang Wangxuan went straight to the heart of the problem, then came to a very troubling conjecture. "You're right not to notify Luzhou for now. Even if we notify Wancheng about this, we mustn't notify Luzhou."
Fang Lin blinked. "Brother Jiang, did you know that when you first rode a cloud over to stand by, I thought I was probably going to meet my end here today? I'd even worked out how to write my last words!"
"Brother Fang, were you really so pessimistic?"
"It wasn't pessimism exactly. Jixia has always had an unspoken rule: matters involving demons aren't under local jurisdiction!"
Fang Lin sighed. "Behind that rule are countless lessons paid for in blood and tears. Once you're tainted by something like Blood Qi, it follows you for several lifetimes! Using demons as black gloves is already considered a very moral way of doing things."