With a single sentence from Song Shenshi, those who had raised their weapons grew even more tense.
They didn’t truly want to make a move against her; rather, they had heard her cultivation realm had fallen and, having accepted bribes, gathered this motley crew of “shrimp soldiers and crab generals.”
But how could they know that to a cultivator, these people who could be crushed at will were utterly inconsequential? It was only that Song Shenshi cared for her reputation…
The crowd usually described her as having the face of a hibiscus and the heart of a Bodhisattva, her eyes always as gentle as autumn ripples. But now, her expression held a chill that froze the heart.
“If you truly wish to kill me, feel free to strike.”
With a casual glance from those warm peach-blossom eyes, the hands of many holding weapons began to tremble.
Her aura seemed entirely innate, requiring no surge of spiritual energy or suppression of rank; she simply looked down from the clouds, smiling at the bustling swarm of ants.
“If you have no such intent, then treat my junior sister’s words as a mere joke.”
The blades drew no blood. The courage these commoners had found through greed collapsed effortlessly.
Lu Xiangyu’s clenched fist did not swing out. She frowned, looking thoroughly displeased.
“What would be the harm in giving them a beating?” Lu Xiangyu shouted indignantly as the crowd dispersed. “They were so disrespectful to you, Senior Sister!”
“…” Song Shenshi merely covered her mouth with a light laugh, casting a glance back.
Under the vibrant red lanterns of the wine shop, Lu Xiangyu’s face suddenly flushed hot.
This petty instigation was as transparent as the farce that had just unfolded, yet she wasn’t quite sure when Song Shenshi’s temperament had become so mild.
The moonlight was dim. Along the street, lanterns were lit here and there. Most business had concluded for the day, and stray dogs were scavenging leftovers from the ground.
An unease spread along the dusky clouds, soon enveloping the village.
“Jia! Jia!”
The irregular sound of donkey hooves echoed from the end of the mountain road. Under the moon, a young man dressed as a peasant whipped two scarred old donkeys, trailing a heavy, man-sized cage behind them.
The cage was tightly covered with a black cloth, making it impossible for outsiders to see what was inside.
The youth arrived on the street. Everyone was familiar with him; he was Sun Qing from out of town. Because he was the second child in his family, everyone called him Sun Er.
“Sun Er, what good stuff did you bring this time?”
“Arriving so late, I’m afraid you won’t be able to sell your wares!”
The youth shushed them, saying mysteriously, “Keep it down. Listen.”
The two men leaned their ears toward the cage.
However, they smelled only an unbearable stench or the deep, distant chirping of cicadas in the night. There was no sound at all.
“What are you playing at? Uncover it and let us see!” the bystander urged.
“Ai! You can’t look. You only get to see it after you buy it!” Sun Er hurried to stop him, then patted the cage.
A single “cluck” was heard, followed by a succession of “cluck, cluck, cluck-cluck” from inside the cage.
“These chickens are no good. They sound like they’re dying; don’t tell me they’re plague-ridden.”
Hearing that it was just chickens, the people who had gathered out of curiosity began to lose interest.
“These aren’t ordinary local chickens. They were given to me by a hidden immortal! He found the eggs at the foot of Mount Penglai and told me to give them ice spring water to drink every day. And they don’t eat grain—they eat Snow Lotus Beads I plucked from the faces of cliffs!”
“If a mortal eats these, they’ll be strengthened; if a cultivator eats them, their cultivation will soar instantly. I wouldn’t even sell these to people like you!”
One man was moved to angry laughter by his nonsense. “I think you were swindled by some ‘immortal’ and now you’re trying to swindle us.”
“Don’t talk nonsense,” Sun Er’s eyes widened. “These are authentic, precious Mount Penglai chickens. One string of coins for three birds, first come first served!”
“Pah!” The man’s face turned beet-red at the merchant’s greed. “Mount Penglai chickens? Do you even know where Penglai is?”
With that, he reached out to yank off the black cloth covering the cage. This time, no matter how Sun Er tried, he couldn’t stop him.
Sun Er panicked. Just then, a voice transmission carrying clear spiritual power pressed down from above.
“Get away from there!”
The man’s hand froze. Before he could react, a thick, fishy wind swept through the street, lifting Sun Er and the others nearest to the cage and flinging them all toward the distance.
Song Shenshi stood upon the eaves, Lu Xiangyu beside her with her hand on her sword hilt, eyes fixed intently on the cage.
Cluck, cluck, cluck-cluck-cluck…
The black cloth fluttered in the air as if held up by invisible giant hands, only to slide down moments later.
The crowing of the chickens grew louder.
Startled, the chickens inside the cage flew up, then paced around their territory in a jerky fashion. The inside of the cage was pitch black and reeked horribly. A red string hung in a corner with a cluster of tokens, swaying with a rhythmic jingle.
“AHHHHH—”
No one knew who screamed first, but soon panic-stricken clamor erupted from both sides of the street. Even the culprit who had brought the cage, Sun Er, turned and fled in terror.
Song Shenshi ignored him. Lu Xiangyu’s gaze circled the cage, fine beads of sweat rolling down her forehead.
Inside the cage, besides the chickens, there were one, two… seven, eight, nine blurred human heads!
The foul smell of the chickens layered over the scent of decay, weaving together into a terrifying, gruesome net.
The nine heads were piled like a small mountain. The chickens circled them, then attempted to peck at the dark, hollow eye sockets. Some snatched up milky-white maggots, while others tore off mouthfuls of rotting flesh.
The nine Haiqian Sect disciple tokens were strung together with a piece of crimson cloth in the corner of the cage. At the very least, their heads had been sent back.
Lu Xiangyu felt a wave of nausea… If she truly were a junior sister newly entered the sect, seeing such a scene would probably ensure she never dared to descend the mountain again.
Soon, Elder Lou arrived with his disciples, and the man named Sun Qing was captured and taken away.
Sun Qing was terrified. He did not admit to bringing the heads, claiming he didn’t even recognize who they were. Realizing his life was on the line, he pleaded desperately for mercy.
Song Shenshi and Lu Xiangyu happened to be active in the Outer Sect Village and were the first to arrive. At that time, they had only detected an unusual scent of blood and a faint trace of demonic energy, which vanished almost instantly.
When the cage was brought in, the Mountain-Guarding Array hadn’t reacted at all. Mortals, corpses, and local chickens were common sights in the Outer Sect Village, and Sun Qing’s reaction didn’t seem faked.
However, those heads belonged to the fellow disciples who had followed Yu Ming to Qitian Town to exorcise demons.
The demons had silenced, killed, and devoured them, leaving not even a bone behind—only to pack their heads and disciple tokens into a chicken cage and send them back.
“This is a supreme humiliation!”
Elder Yu seemed to have aged ten years overnight. He had not achieved Celestial Forging; his cultivation was only at the late stage of Wisdom Opening, and he maintained his health through medicinal pills. Now that his only son had met a tragic end, Elder Yu had instantly withered into a terrifying, wizened old man.
Inside the Discussion Hall of the main peak, the high-ranking members of the Haiqian Sect were summoned once again. This time, Lu Xiangyu sat beside Song Shenshi, waiting for the interrogation.
Halfway through, the mortal Sun Qing was dragged in. He had already undergone severe torture in the dungeons; he wore a tattered prison uniform stained red and white, his mind dull and sluggish, kept alive only by medicinal pellets.
Elder Yu pointed at Sun Qing and said, “Sect Leader, my son Yu Ming died a tragic death, and the demons’ whereabouts are unknown. Since we can’t get anything out of him regardless of the method, I demand to perform a Soul Search on this man!”
As soon as he spoke, several formation-cultivator disciples under Yu Ji’s command stepped forward. They had come prepared with a Soul-Searching Array.
Before Sect Leader Bai Muli could speak from the head seat, Xiao Yu stood up in opposition.
Xiao Yu maintained his usual stern and majestic demeanor. He gave a cursory salute to the Sect Leader and then turned to accuse Yu Ji.
“Elder Yu, sect rules state we must not use heavy hands against mortals. Why are you defying the sect rules in front of all the disciples?”
“He is in league with demons!”
Elder Yu’s old face turned bright red with rage, looking like a red bean sprouting white hairs.
“Sect Leader! Our sect was founded on the mission of slaying demons and protecting the path. Every disciple of Hongluan Peak, including my son Yu Ming, held this as their lifelong conviction.”
“I ask you, Elder Xiao, among the thousands of tombstones in the back mountain of your Bishui Peak, which one does not belong to a hero who fought demons to the death? This man colluded with demons and has committed a grave sin. Are we to continue letting demons roam free and slaughter the living creatures of this world?!”
“…”
This Elder Yu certainly knew how to talk.
Listening to this, Lu Xiangyu’s initial tension eased into a sense of amusement.
Despite the righteous and moving rhetoric, Yu Ji’s motive was nothing more than personal vengeance. As a demonic spy, she found watching this drama quite delightful.
However, Lu Xiangyu was also curious—what was her Senior Sister thinking? Would Song Shenshi hand her over, or was she just waiting for the right moment to kill her?
Lu Xiangyu suddenly felt a wave of feigned weakness. She quietly wrapped her arms around Song Shenshi’s waist, leaning against her back like she was boneless.
“…” Song Shenshi squeezed her hand.
“Senior Sister, I’m scared,” Lu Xiangyu whispered.
With no one else to object, Sun Qing could not escape his fate.
For a cultivator, a Soul-Searching Array would destroy their foundation and cause them to vanish into smoke; for a mortal, the agony of soul-searching was unimaginable.
No matter how hoarsely Sun Qing screamed, the elders and disciples in the Discussion Hall remained silent.
The soul was scattered… A mortal’s soul is as fragile as silk, dissipating in the Soul-Searching Array in the blink of an eye. The array flickered with the last remaining memories of the man.
Sun Qing came from a nameless village at the foot of the distant Moon-Gazing Mountain. The village was secluded deep in the mountains. Sun Qing had walked out of the mountains to the town to make a living. Later, hearing that immortal sects slew demons and protected mortals, he developed a longing for the Haiqian Sect. Having been taken in by kind people in the Outer Sect Village during his time of hardship, he had learned to start a small business.
Those chickens were just raised by a peasant woman at the foot of the mountain. Hearing that Sun Qing was from the Haiqian Sect, she sold them to him at a low price. That night, Sun Qing packed the chickens into the cage, covered it with a black cloth, and brought it up the mountain.
In his memories, there was indeed nothing strange, as if the heads had appeared out of thin air.
“Are they going to search the souls of the chickens next?” Lu Xiangyu couldn’t help but want to laugh.
Silence filled the hall as the Soul-Searching Array continued to operate. Before long, the soul that should have dissipated began to be pulled back together by the array’s power, exposing another side of Sun Qing that even he didn’t know.
Sun Qing had driven the cart through the night, but it wasn’t true that he hadn’t rested as he believed. Instead, he had accidentally fallen asleep mid-journey. Subsequently, the sleeping Sun Qing stepped down from the cart. On the mountain path ahead, a black box appeared abruptly. Inside the box were the nine rotting, maggot-infested heads.
“When was he controlled?” Even the demonic cultivator Lu Xiangyu was secretly amazed. Sun Qing’s body was clearly very clean, with no traces of being manipulated by demonic energy!
The problem, it seemed, lay within that Moon-Gazing Mountain.