Chapter 60: The Carefree Lao Bai (3)
“It cannot leave the Boundless Secular World for too long. The eggs will be under its belly, so if we don’t take it now, then when will we take it?” Lao Bai reminded him starkly.
Miao Yi was slightly worried, “Are you sure it’ll be alright?”
“Go!” Lao Bai shouted, his tone bore no doubt.
Miao Yi became speechless, then gritted his teeth—he was relying completely on his faith in Lao Bai, and so braved forwards on Charcoal.
Underneath the horrifying belly of the Hell Mantis, there was enough room for him to ride his horse through.
However, Charcoal was apparently scared stiff by the Hell Mantis’ large body; it would not budge an inch.
Under Lao Bai’s urging, Miao Yi had no choice. He had to jump off the horse, and run on his own.
After charging below the Hell Mantis’ belly, Miao Yi looked up, and sure enough, he could see clusters of black eggs the size of quail eggs, forming layer upon layer along its abdomen.
Miao Yi immediately used his arts to float up, and quickly grabbed a bunch of the black eggs from the membrane.
He wanted to grab more, but Lao Bai rebuked him, “Do not be too greedy, you will risk angering it. Get the immortal herb on its limbs, it may be of use to you.”
Miao Yi turned his head to see, and found that one of the Hell Mantis’ barbed limbs indeed had a shining Glorious Star immortal herb hanging from it. He quickly flew to grab it, tucking it away, before hastily running out from under the Hell Mantis’ belly.
When he finally reached Charcoal, who was still shaky, Lao Bai’s lips trembled slightly as he turned the mirror in his hand; the light that was reflected onto the Hell Mantis’ green eyes instantly disappeared.
Immediately, the Hell Mantis spread out its wings and stirred up a gust of wind, its giant body moving as fast as a black streak of lightning. It flashed into the red mist and disappeared, leaving only the swirling of the red mist, as though it really was afraid of leaving the Boundless Secular World for too long.
Having slowly recovered from his state of anxiety, Miao Yi gently patted his chest, heaving a sigh of relief. Still feeling a bit shaken up, he said, “And I thought the ones I saw before were big, never would I have thought there was still one much bigger. Even before approaching it, I felt as though I was entering an icy cave. It had such a strong Yin energy, but where do you think the beast comes from?”
“It is a demonic beast belonging to the netherworld. Normally, it would not appear in the world of the living, but the mist of the Boundless Secular World helps them keep back the Yang energy. Hence, they are able to survive here, but are not able to leave it for too long.”
Miao Yi was stunned, he lifted up the mucous membrane in his hand, and roughly counted, finding at least a hundred of those black slippery eggs. “Then will these eggs survive if they leave it long enough?”
“Without birth, how can there be death? Without dying, then what is living? Life and death are just two sides of the same coin, it is also an opportunity for them. Right now they are still in incubation, so there is still a chance for them to turn to Yang. So long as we handle them well enough, when the time comes that they are reborn from the shell, they will be able to see the light of day.”
Miao Yi found such a strange method completely fascinating, and he tried asking, “Can you teach me, so that I may try my hand as well?”
Lao Bai glanced at the bug eggs in his hands and said, “I was just trying it out on the spur of the moment. I won’t be able to use too many, plus I can’t even cultivate as well, so it may be more difficult if I were to attempt it. How about I make it easier for you—you keep a hundred for them, then give the rest to me.”
“Then this immortal herb…” Miao Yi held out the Glorious Star immortal herb, dazzling on his palm.
He did not notice it at first, but upon closer inspection, Miao Yi was astounded. He realized that the immortal herb in his hands was almost one chi long, and even had nine white-reddish fruits. They were all crystal clear, and significantly larger than the Glorious Star immortal herbs he had seen before.
Lao Bai smiled and said, “There is more use to you than there is to me, so you keep it.”
“You are considerate as always. I’ve just survived a brutal fight to the death with two White Lotus Third Grade cultivators, and as a result I have some internal injuries. I expect it’ll take around one to two months to recover, so this is just what I need right now. Your immortal herb is a very timely gift.”
Miao Yi chuckled, and without another word, he brought his nose close and inhaled, a wisp of starlight entered his nostrils from the Glorious Star immortal herb.
As the starlight reached his lungs, his internal injuries instantly felt more comfortable. Miao Yi exhaled in surprise, “Truly good stuff!”
Afterwards he kept the Glorious Star immortal herb away, and counted the number of eggs, he took out ten or so to give to Lao Bai, and held the remaining one hundred as he asked, “Now tell me, what do we do.”
Under the starry night, the two of them chatted for a long time, and Miao Yi held his chin as he constantly asked for details.
After getting all that he needed to know, the sky had already begun to brighten up, and the sun had started to reveal itself.
It was the work of fate that they met today, so it was natural to leave when it was due. At the same time, Lao Bai casually swept his sleeves and was about to bid him farewell.
“You really will not follow me? I am about to become the Cave Master of East Arrival Cave. When that happens, East Arrival City will be my territory, and you can eat and play to your heart’s content! If you see a girl that you fancy, just say the word, and this Cave Master will be your matchmaker. No one will dare disrespect me, so you can rest assured you will have the beauty in your embrace.”
Miao Yi still tried his best to make him stay.
Lao Bai gently chuckled and pulled his horse to turn, and with a kick on the horse’s belly, his silhouette began drifting further and further away.
“Lao Bai, come visit me in East Arrival City when you’re free!”
Miao Yi shouted towards that whitish-green silhouette, but Lao Bai did not turn his head. Without lingering, he silently departed.
“He is simply too carefree, no wonder he is still single at such an old age.”
Miao Yi clicked his tongue, but in his eyes, he could not help but have a little admiration for Lao Bai’s carefree attitude. Lao Bai seemed to be more free than even the deities—he just followed his heart to wherever it led him. He was no god, in fact, he was better than one. A normal girl would definitely not be suitable for him.
Turning his head to look at the barren, old city, Miao Yi’s gaze turned cold. He saddled Charcoal and like an arrow that left the bow, shot straight for Changfeng City.
He did not ride his Dragon Steed straight into the city, that would raise too much of a commotion; instead, he hid inside the nearby forest. He lodged his spear into the ground, and after instructing Charcoal to keep guard, he himself alighted off Charcoal, making his way to Changfeng City.
He did not go through the city gates; if unfamiliar people were to suddenly enter the city, the city guards would surely conduct an inspection and the like. Since he planned to do bad deeds and was afraid of leaving behind a trail, he just leapt over the city walls.
After finally reaching here, he was anxious to see how much had changed since he left this place he used to call home ten years ago. When he came to a building that used to have the sign of the butcher stall, he discovered that the entire place was no longer the way it was before.
It was still a familiar atmosphere, but his home had turned into a silk shop; the store employee was opening the doors and getting ready for business.
Turning to look at Old Li’s tofu shop on the other side, he realised that it was gone, and in its place was a noodle shop. There was a young couple busily working; they seemed to be younger than Miao Yi, but apparently didn’t have much of an age difference between the two of them.
Even though cultivators will not say they can retain their youth, but delaying the aging process is still not an issue.
Seeing that Miao Yi had stopped and glanced at their direction, the boss of the noodle shop quickly came out of his shop and reached out his hand in an inviting manner, “Customer, the noodles that this noodle shop serves is a local delicacy and can be said to be the best in Changfeng City, would you care to try some?”
There was not much to be done by just standing around in a crowded street; he had to gather information first. Miao Yi nodded with a smile and headed inside. The lady boss quickly came over with a white towel and wiped a chair, inviting him to sit.
“What would the customer like to order?”
“Bring out some of your signature dishes for me to try.”
“Please wait a moment.”
With the couple working together, in a short while a steamy and fragrant bowl of yellow broth noodles was served, as they politely told Miao Yi to enjoy his meal.
Miao Yi had a few bites, and realized the taste was pretty ordinary. He asked in a seemingly casual way, “Boss, I came here a long time ago in the past, and I remembered this used to be a tofu shop, right?”
“Customer, are you referring to Old Li’s tofu shop?”
“I believe so.”
“Sigh! That is a thing of the past, now Old Li no longer sells tofu, he is the Head Guard around these parts.”
Miao Yi was shocked, “How did a tofu seller become the Head Guard?”
The young boss chuckled, “Head Guard Li had a very beautiful daughter, who was wedded to the City Lord, so naturally he himself became the Head Guard.”