"The Stabbing Crow's aura has gone silent... and that Du Xian Sect disciple at transformation-stage ninth rank has vanished too. This bodes ill."
In a hidden valley deep in the forest, several shadows crouched in a thicket, conferring through sound-projection. One cursed: "More likely he took the payment, killed a man, and absconded! Hmph! Men of that stripe can't be trusted!"
"Is the Trapped-Dragon Array ready?"
"It is set. It can hold even that True Immortal of the Du Xian Sect."
"Good. The situation has changed, but there should be no great difficulty," the ringleader said. "Write to the Fourth Young Master. Arrange a group to waylay him, to draw that True Immortal away. We will seize the two disciples ourselves, then lure the Immortal after us. This bears on restoring our kingdom. The Sixth Princess is our finest chance. We must have her under control this time, and let the Fourth Young Master have his heart's desire as well."
A few shadows chuckled. The ringleader clenched a fist, and the others scattered.
Half a day later, black-clad figures burst upon Yuan Qing and Youqin Xuanya. Without hesitation Yuan Qing crushed his message talisman.
Immortal Jiu Jiu, seated above Wang Qi and Liu Yan'er, felt a jolt through her spirit and wheeled southwest. Yuwen Ling, a man who never left her side, moved close behind her. The moment Jiu Jiu flew off, over a dozen streams of qi erupted below. Two immortals struck by surprise, knocking Wang Qi and Liu Yan'er senseless and carrying them away.
Half an hour later Jiu Jiu came hurrying back—but Yuwen Ling had stayed to shadow the pair in hidden protection. By now Jiu Jiu smelled something off, but she had rushed too fast. By the time she found Liu Yan'er and Wang Qi, she was inside some great array. White mist lay thick all around; she probed with her immortal sense, yet found only blankness.
Clutching the two under her arms, Jiu Jiu flew madly within the trap. Never strong in formation-craft, she realized she was only circling the same ground.
"Well, at least that big strapping general went to guard Yuan Qing and Xuanya," she breathed easier, and tried to quiet her heart. But Li Changshou's parting words rang in her ears:
『Uncle-Master Jiu, anyone who comes of murky origin is always suspect. Do not trust him lightly.』
That Yuwen Ling... could he be...? Two beads of cold sweat stood on Jiu Jiu's brow. Each link in this chain had been forged beforehand. She must have been walking into the trap from the start!
What of that fellow Li Changshou? He was the weakest. Could he already be dead? These men were plainly after Xuanya and Yuan Qing. Why had she never noticed!
Jiu Jiu cursed: "Come out and duel me three hundred rounds if you dare! What manner of cultivator hides behind these ghostly tricks!"
Yet within the array there was only the buzz of poisonous insects and a few equally lost venomous beasts. Not the faintest response. Jiu Jiu hurled the two senseless bodies down and stamped about in a fury, until the cords of her hempen robe strained hard. "This array business is a thorn in my side!"
...
『Immortal-Resolution Grass... this thing is truly hard to come by.』
On the twelfth day after entering the Northern Jambu Continent, Li Changshou pressed on northwest for another sixteen hundred li and, "right on schedule," reached the region on his map. The area stretched some three hundred li around—hills, marsh, the tail of a mountain range—thrusting deeper into the Northern Jambu Continent, where the venomous beasts were far fiercer than on the fringes.
Li Changshou kept himself on twelve-fold guard, eyes peeled for the "poison grass" he sought. Six days of searching turned up a trove of toxic herbs and spirit medicines, but his "chief quarry" showed not the faintest trace.
That afternoon a "poison rain" came on; even the rain falling from the sky was pure venom. He bored a hole in the nearest cliff and slipped inside, probing the walls with his spiritual sense as he waited for the rain to pass.
『Immortal-Resolution Grass—why must we play hide-and-seek? Why not meet face to face and be done with it?』 He yawned and settled cross-legged, adjusting his state to its peak. He had learned from an old manuscript that this region was home to the grass; coming here was the cheapest way to obtain it. If it could not be found, he would try that town on his way back. Even if it cost every spirit stone he had scrimped and saved—nay, hoodwinked and wheedled—over a century, he would deem it money well spent for a single stalk.
The storm showed no sign of leaving. It was a rare chance to unstring his taut nerves. He carried a pouch of Red-Sun Poison Dragon Saliva that warded off the poison beasts, but in a danger spot he could hardly tell himself, "No need to worry." Uncle-Master Jiu ought to be safe enough.
Then he recalled the cultivator he'd killed nine days past, drew out that soul-capturing bead, and meant to look at its memories again—but the remnant soul within had long scattered. Never mind. In the end, it was none of his affair. These conspirators had plotted with care, and with that do-gooder Yuan Qing as their man within, on Uncle-Master Jiu's wits... she would soon be sweet-talked right into the array. She had high cultivation and a winsome temper, but was too hasty; once the wine was up she stopped at nothing.
It was a shame about that Youqin Xuanya, toiling so long in the sect yet unable to outrun the mortal struggle for the throne. And the childhood companion who had fussed over her was himself the most calculating of knaves. Li Changshou had never counted himself a hero, nor felt any duty to rescue princesses. This heavy karma—he would dodge it if he could; if not, he must not be dragged in...
Rumble— Thunder rolled overhead. Li Changshou tallied his resources. Pills and talismans were plentiful; the Red-Sun Poison Dragon Saliva would hold another nine days, enough to finish the region and withdraw at leisure.
"Immortal-Resolution Grass—your old pal here is getting testy."
Crash! The rock wall shuddered. He spread his spiritual sense and saw a vortex forming in the clouds, lightning flickering within, as if something were trying to "squeeze" its way out. He cast up a quick divination. Heaven and earth were shifting!
He flung a barrier around himself, burst from the cave, and dropped toward the ground, readying the Soaring Dragon, Parting Clouds Step.
But he had barely begun to descend when a thunderclap split the sky. A fiery-red figure tore out of the vortex and slammed into the earth like a falling bolt—landing by sheer chance three zhang before his intended footing, splattering mud on every side.
Li Changshou darted backward, three paper dolls in his palm! Then he saw the figure wrapped in a pale red barrier of light, and his brow knit tight.
The figure in fiery red was none other than—Youqin Xuanya, badly hurt. A gash on her left shoulder cut to the bone, blood mingling with poisoned rain slipping down her arm. The great sword in her right hand had lost its scabbard, spider-web cracks lacing its blade. She carried at least a dozen wounds, though all kept clear of her vitals.
In the same instant he made her out, Xuanya spotted a figure in the rain-curtain. She spat a mouthful of blood, a fierce resolve kindling in her eyes. Leaning on her sword she pulled herself upright—and thought the silhouette oddly familiar...
Li Changshou frowned. His spiritual sense had spread wide, and no pursuers approached. Given the commotion, she must have used some life-saving treasure to teleport here by a heaven-and-earth art. And of all places—here. To stand idle while a fellow disciple died, were she to survive and lodge a complaint, would be trouble enough. But Li had no wish to be drawn into this quarrel.
"Ah, the rain is so heavy I can't see a thing before my eyes. Nothing at all." He muttered, calmly turned his back to the cliff face, and set to forming a rapid Earth Escape mudra.
Waiting for some foolhardy mountain-mover to come along! Urgently!
"Se—Senior Brother Changshou?"
Xuanya stared, a little blankly, at the retreating figure in the rain. She coughed up blood, then called urgently: "Hurry, go! Leave me. Your cultivation is too low, they outnumber—us..." The words never finished. Her eyes shut, weak and helpless. Her qi scattered, her wounds all rushed out at once, and she toppled into the mud, sword and all.
A bolt of lightning split the leaden clouds, the rain swelling louder.
"Very well. For the sake of your having some conscience, I'll carry you partway through the Earth Escape."
As for what came after—he truly could not manage it. That was for Heaven to decide...