“Wu Jianwu?” Xu Qing said, as he squatted at the top of a tree. His eyes glittered.
Wu Jianwu had provoked Xu Qing out of nowhere out on the Forbidden Sea. Later, he had seemed absolutely terrified of Xu Qing, and didn’t seem threatening at all. In fact, when Xu Qing killed Wu Jianwu’s attendant, Wu Jianwu took the initiative to pay the fine. [1] 𝚘𝚟𝚕．ｔ
After thinking about it, Xu Qing decided there was no need to go see Wu Jianwu. Instead, he would go directly to the Supreme Vastness daoist temple.
Except then he asked, “What’s he doing?”
The shadow stretched out into a number of different shapes. Apparently, the scene visible to it through its shadow eye was too complicated to convey easily, so finally it split itself apart into a handful of different images. There were about a dozen of them, and they all depicted beasts of some sort. Each beast was different, but they all had one thing in common: they had swollen bellies. Then the shadow created an image of Wu Jianwu, sitting next to one of the beasts and rubbing its belly.
Xu Qing hadn’t been particularly curious about what Wu Jianwu was up to, but upon seeing these images, he was completely taken aback.
Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior gasped and said, “What’s this all about? What’s the idiot doing? And what’s going on with those beasts’ bellies. Are they pregnant?” The patriarch’s soul body shivered, and his expression was one of complete incredulity. “Milord, should we go take a closer look? I have the feeling that… the idiot is up to something big!!”
Xu Qing thought about it. He wasn’t an inherently curious person, but the images were so bizarre that he couldn’t resist the urge to see with his own eyes.
“Lead the way.”
The shadow excitedly pointed in the direction to go. Xu Qing followed immediately, and they disappeared into the jungle.
Before long, Xu Qing found himself looking at a mountain. It was actually part of one of the branches of the Mountains of Truth that stretched into Forbidden by the Phoenix.
Xu Qing studied it, then sped up the mountain and over it to the other side. There, hidden amidst lush plants and vegetation, was a crevice.
It was only about three meters from top to bottom, and was naturally formed. Based on its location, it wasn’t easy to spot. In fact, without the shadow leading the way, Xu Qing would never have found it.
As he stood in front of the crevice, an odd expression appeared on his face. The fact that this place was so well-hidden went to show how careful Wu Jianwu had been in selecting it. After considering the matter further, Xu Qing cautiously entered the crevice, still following the lead of his shadow. The crevice led deeper into the mountain than he’d expected. As he got further in, the air turned more humid, making it seem like it led to a river inside the mountain. The path split numerous times, making the entire thing like a huge labyrinth. Without his shadow, Xu Qing would have had a very hard time finding his way.
Before long he reached the end of the path. Astonishingly, it overlooked a huge cavern. Hanging from the ceiling just inside was a bat, which was the creature that the shadow had been viewing the area through.
As Xu Qing neared, he looked down into the cavern at an incomparably bizarre scene.
There were over twenty beasts in the cavern. They included wolves, tigers, and other strange creatures, and all of them had been sealed in place. They lay there with their bellies swollen as if they were pregnant.
A pond had been hewn out in the cave, within which was some sort of liquid that let off a strong medicinal liquid aroma.
Wu Jianwu, his face battered and bruised, squatted next to the pond, filling a stone bowl with liquid. Then he walked over to a huge bear with a swollen belly, who he started to feed the liquid to. The bear looked furious, and seemed to want to struggle free. But it was sealed in place and couldn’t fight back. It couldn’t even get to its feet.
Wu Jianwu’s expression was one of tender kindness as he fed the bear and simultaneously rubbed its belly.
“It’s normal to have a bit of a reaction,” he said softly. “Just hold on a bit longer. The rest of my life depends on you. The little ones will be born soon. Once the littles ones are out, I’ll be a force to reckon with. Then I’ll make sure Master Shengyun knows what a real chosen is like! Who is the greatest chosen of all time? Only the great and amazing Wu Jianwu!”
The way Wu Jianwu was grinding his teeth seemed to scare the bear, and it started to struggle even harder to get free. Wu Jianwu patted it softly.
.
“Be good now,” he said, making sure to keep his voice soothing. “Don’t wriggle around. It’s not good for the little ones! Those little ones need to be born without a hitch. If you serve me well, I’ll take good care of you.”
Seeing all of this, Xu Qing’s eyes widened.
Off to the side, Patriarch Golden Vajra Warrior was suddenly struck with inspiration, and took out a jade slip to record what was happening. Perhaps because he was so astonished by what he was seeing, he made a noise.
That, in turn, caused Wu Jianwu to realize someone else was present, and he spun around, a vicious look on his face.
“Heaven and earth are my bedside; I’m on to you, don’t think you can hide!”?Even as the words left his mouth, he saw Xu Qing standing there with a look of shock on his face. “Xu Qing?”
Wu Jianwu was absolutely shaken, and couldn’t fathom how Xu Qing had found him despite all the effort he had put into finding a good hiding spot. Looking down at the animals with the swollen bellies, and then at the expression on Xu Qing’s face, he gasped.
“You don’t understand, Xu Qing.”
“Sorry to disturb you,” Xu Qing said. Looking deeply at Wu Jianwu, he turned and walked away. There was no question in his mind that Wu Jianwu was off in the head.
Seeing that reaction, Wu Jianwu was suddenly so nervous and scared that, completely forgetting to speak in poetry, he ran after Xu Qing, shouting, “Xu Qing, it’s not what you think!”
Wu Jianwu felt both anxious and humiliated. Ever since he got that bottle from the wish box, he had been depressed for a long time. But he had never been able to make himself throw it away. [2]
After doing a lot of research, he had pieced together enough clues to determine the identity of the almighty being that had put that bottle in the wish box. It was a nonhuman cultivator who was a follower of Ancient Emperor Dark Serenity.
When the First Peak suffered defeat at the hands of Master Shengyun, Wu Jianwu had sworn an oath that he would teach Master Shengyun a lesson. Therefore, he had come to Forbidden by the Phoenix in the hopes of reestablishing a bloodline from a previous epoch. The reason he didn’t want to do it in the sect was because he needed to maintain face. And of course, he was worried that people in the sect would get the wrong idea about what was going on. He also had to guard against spying. Therefore, he had come to this secret location, a place where he could never possibly have expected Xu Qing to find him.
If Xu Qing went back to the sect and spread rumors about what he’d seen, Wu Jianwu knew his reputation would be destroyed. He could just imagine everyone in the sect staring at him. The thought caused his scalp to tingle so hard it felt like it would explode.
Seeing that he couldn’t catch up to Xu Qing, he called, “I’ll pay money, Xu Qing! Don’t tell anyone about this!”
“Everyone has their own way of living,” Xu Qing called back. “It’s fine.”
“It’s really not like that!!” Wu Jianwu’s face was nearly purple as he screamed, “I’ll give you 300,000 spirit stones! Xu Qing!!”
Xu Qing had just stepped out of the crevice and onto the mountain when he heard that. He stopped in place.
A moment later, Wu Jianwu rushed out of the crevice and shoved a pile of spirit notes in Xu Qing’s direction.
“Take them, Xu Qing. You have to take them. Otherwise I can never rest at ease. It’s really not what you think. I… I… I….”
Xu Qing took the spirit notes and nodded earnestly. “I didn’t see anything.”
Yet Wu Jianwu still seemed worried. “What are you doing in Forbidden by the Phoenix, Xu Qing? If you need any help, just say the word.”
“Looking for poisonous substances.”
Hearing that, Wu Jianwu blurted, “Poisonous substances? Hey, I know this area like the back of my hand. I can help!”
“That won’t be necessary.” Xu Qing turned to leave.
“Don’t go, Xu Qing! Just wait here for a minute. This mountain has a place with exactly the kind of poison you’re looking for. I’ll go harvest it for you!!” With that, he rushed back into the crevice.
He really was going to harvest some poison for Xu Qing. Without doing that, he wouldn’t be able to rest at ease. In fact, he didn’t even wait for a response from Xu Qing. In his rush, he didn’t notice that an eye was now attached to his shadow, and was watching his every move.
Xu Qing looked down at his shadow, which quickly created an image for him to look at. It depicted Wu Jianwu frantically rushing back to the cavern. Then it revealed Wu Jianwu diving into the pond there and swimming down into its depths to a tunnel. Into the tunnel he went, and then he popped out in a large open area. There was a huge lake there. However, the way the shadow depicted the lake, it looked like a human face. And the way the liquid moved, it seemed viscous.
After reaching the lake, Wu Jianwu dug something out, put it in a stone bowl, and then turned around. The images portrayed by the shadow weren’t very comprehensive, so Xu Qing wasn’t quite sure what to make of them. Eventually, Wu Jianwu returned.
“Is this the kind of thing you’re looking for, Xu Qing?” Wu Jianwu handed him the stone bowl.
Xu Qing looked at it, and his eyes narrowed. Inside of the bowl was something that looked frozen. It seemed liquid, yet not liquid. It was blue, and crystalline, and emitted a fragrant aroma.
“Immortal ice?” he murmured.
He had read about immortal ice in the medicinal codex from Grandmaster Bai. It wasn’t a poison medicine, but rather, a very rare substance usually used as a catalyst. Based on the description written by Grandmaster Bai, Xu Qing was certain that immortal ice was somehow connected to the ‘immortal energy’ mentioned in many ancient records.
“There’s a strange lake beneath this mountain,” Wu Jianwu explained. “There’s a lot of this stuff in it. I took some of it away, but it usually melts within an hour or two. There doesn’t seem to be any way to preserve it, so I could never bring it back to the sect. It’s harmless to humans, but one time when I gave it to a beast, the thing rotted away and died instantly. That’s why I was thinking it’s probably some kind of poison.”
“Take me to this lake,” Xu Qing said.
Wu Jianwu immediately led the way. Right now, he would agree to anything that Xu Qing asked for. Normally speaking, he wouldn’t ever tell people details of this secret area he’d found, but now he wasn’t hesitating at all. Before long, the two of them reached the lake.
1. The first encounter with Wu Jianwu began in👈
2. Wish box reference:👈