Chapter 14
DECEMBER 29, 2021 TRRAVENLEAVE A COMMENT
Walking carefully along the way, Xu Ziqing could be said to be wrought by fear and trepidation. He had only been cultivating for less than a year, and his cultivation base was only the first layer of Qi Refinement. That Spotted Demon Snake had cultivated for a hundred years. Even if he had a talisman at hand, he was still very wary.
Xu Ziqing could not be blamed for his anxiety. He died early at the age of eighteen in his previous life and was trapped in a hospital ward for most of it. Only thirteen years had passed in this life, and he had been living in a small village that was like paradise. His disposition could only be regarded as a youth by nature. Even granted that because of his age, he seemed a bit more steady than his peers, he was not much better.
The demon snake was a fierce creature he had never seen before, how could he not be afraid? Then the two cultivators he met afterward, who did not seem much older than him, killed the demon snake as easily as turning their hand over! From this point of view, the fierce demon snake to him was quite ordinary in the eyes of average experts.
While thinking about it, he couldn’t help but smile bitterly. As expected, his actual strength was weak. In the secret realm, even that demon snake would be easily dealt with. He didn’t know how many more ferocious and terrifying monsters he would encounter.
He let out a sigh. Being separated from Steward He, it was useless to think about it more. It was better to just walk slowly and avoid other people.
Hence, Xu Ziqing just tried to find a place where the woods were sparse and the grass was not deep to test his way forward. He held a red talisman tightly in his hand which had the effect of restraining the effectiveness of spiritual energy, only it was just that the duration was too short, and could only last for two hours. He hadn’t met with great trouble yet, so he would guard against things first. If he encountered any life-threatening catastrophe, he could immediately use it and escape with his small life.
After hiding this way for a while, Xu Ziqing encountered new troubles.
Being a mere Qi Refinement cultivator was not enough to reach inedia. After walking for so long, even if he was lucky enough to not meet a demon beast again, he was hungry.
After pressing his already painful lower abdomen, Xu Ziqing gave a wry smile and prepared to find something to eat.
Fortunately, there was plenty of spiritual energy in the secret realm, allowing many plants to grow. Although not all of them were spiritual, all the fruits were full and bright in color. Xu Ziqing only needed to make sure there was no danger around him, then he could pick some and help himself.
Just ahead there was a cluster of plants, dotted with many thumb-sized strips of fruit. Xu Ziqing walked over briskly and first tested them with a quick burst of spiritual power. Seeing that there was indeed nothing unusual, he approached slowly.
When he arrived at the edge of the cluster, he waited for a moment before carefully rolling a fruit down with spiritual power and breaking it underfoot. At once there was a faint fruity fragrance, the smell being quite familiar to him.
Xu Ziqing carefully thought back until he had a realization. He diligently inspected the leaves and roots of the plant, and only then remembered that it was recorded in the [Book of Spiritual Herbs]. It was unexpectedly a Shanhu Plant.
According to the records, the Shanhu Plant was just a type of common spiritual herb that contained very little spiritual energy. If it was found in the secular world, it could be regarded as a good medicine that could quickly stop bleeding, but in the eyes of cultivators, it was quite useless. It was included in the [Book of Spiritual Herbs] because it contained spiritual energy, but there was no extra information.
But for Xu Ziqing at that moment, the Shanhu Plant was still useful. The fruits it produced were sweet and non-toxic. They were not as good as some spiritual fruits that could increase cultivation, but they could be used to satisfy hunger.
Since there was no danger, Xu Ziqing immediately began to pick all the fruits and stuff them into the pockets of his clothes. Then he sat on the ground and ate them extremely quickly. Because of the urgency of time and the need to guard against the surroundings, Xu Ziqing just rubbed the skin of the fruit with his hands and stuffed it into his mouth. There was little dirt in the secret realm anyway, so it didn’t matter.
It didn’t take long for the fruit to be eaten up, and his hungry stomach to feel a bit fuller. Xu Ziqing clapped his hands, stood up, and continued to walk ahead.
According to the statement before entering, the secret realm would be open for a total of three days. During these three days, the cultivators had to get as many profits as possible, and when the time came, the secret realm would eject all people and then seal itself.
This was beneficial to Xu Ziqing. With his meager strength, it would be difficult to be safe and wait with the rest of the people! But if he found a way to hide in the secret realm for a few days and wait for the secret realm to close, it would be much easier.
With this in mind, Xu Ziqing considered finding a cave to hide in, but there were countless pitfalls hidden within this secret realm. He also didn’t know where the demon beasts lived. There were bound to be quite a few lurking in the deep mountains and blue waters, so it was still necessary to be cautious.
If he thought about it, he could do it. Xu Ziqing simply considered it like it was a solo hiking trip and started to try and look for a mountain that wasn’t very precipitous to head to right away. On the way, he also spotted more fruits that could satiate his hunger so he naturally picked as many as he could and wrapped them up with the durable leaves he found, but he really dared not delay in the least bit.
It’s just that matters couldn’t always be just as one wishes. When Xu Ziqing climbed to the peak to find a cave, he encountered a tiger rabbit the size of a small calf!
The tiger rabbit had the shape of a ‘王’ on its forehead, covered in tiger stripes over its whole body, with sharp teeth lining its mouth. Although its body was stout and strong, it also had the agility of a hare. It seemed to be a man-eating beast, and as it saw Xu Ziqing coming up the mountain, it pounced toward him, regarding him as prey.
Xu Ziqing didn’t expect that rabbits in the secret realm were so dreadful. When he dodged in a panic, his sleeves and trouser legs were torn by the claws of the tiger rabbit, almost slicing his skin. In desperation, he had to shoot out a red talisman which was none other than an explosive talisman.
He saw the red talisman float into mid-air, and in the next moment, a crimson red flame burst forth and directly hit the tiger rabbit! The rabbit was startled and immediately jumped up, but still made contact with the mass of flame overhead. The flame burst open suddenly and, ‘boom!’ there was an explosion!
The tiger rabbit howled incessantly and immediately churned about on the ground, but the flame did not go out. In a blink of an eye, it was already burned into a crisp and completely dead!
Xu Ziqing didn’t expect that the explosive flame talisman would be so powerful and almost couldn’t bear it. However, here, it was you die and I live. No matter how terrible the tiger rabbit’s death was, he had no other choice in this way.
With a sigh of relief, he didn’t want to use the corpse of the tiger rabbit for food, so he just held on to another talisman as he did before and quickly climbed up the mountain.
After meeting the tiger rabbit, he had good luck next and didn’t run into any more danger. Xu Ziqing wandered on the mountainside for a while but did not find a cave, making him feel a little discouraged. Seeing that it was getting late, one would inevitably be a little anxious. Xu Ziqing thought for a while and then climbed higher.
After searching carefully for about half an hour, he finally found a cave entrance on the stone cliff about three feet high on the right. It was only about one person tall and wide, and it could only fit someone who was thin and small. Xu Ziqing was already very happy. He was only thirteen years old now and was short in stature, so he found a stepping stone, grabbed the hole with his hand, and propped himself up to drill into the hole.
After entering the cave, Xu Ziqing felt that the surroundings were blurred, making it difficult to distinguish things in the cave clearly. And because it was in the shade of the mountain, the light was even dimmer. He didn’t think much about it and touched the wall of the cave with his hand, which was a little damp, and then touched the ground, where there were some traces of soil.
This made Xu Ziqing a little uneasy. The cave in the mountain would be okay if it had no owner, but if there were demon beasts living in it… But, considering that the hole was small and it was getting dark outside, where he was afraid it would be even more dangerous, he had to take a risk.
After some consideration, Xu Ziqing stood up and walked step by step to the depths of the cave, supporting himself on the cave wall. Fortunately, there was no fishy smell in the cave. Naturally, if there were no large beasts living there, and there was no smell of blood, there shouldn’t be any demon beasts bringing their meals into the cave.
The cave does not seem to be wide from the outside, but it was quite deep. Xu Ziqing walked forward for a full 50 or 60 meters before reaching the end. There were no forks in the cave. There was only one way in the cave which wasn’t straight and instead had several bends, but it really was safe. Xu Ziqing gave a faint smile and set his mind at ease while sitting down cross-legged to meditate.
He was still a little uneasy at first but gradually calmed down. After all, he was also a person who was able to adapt to many circumstances and had a peaceful temperament. Although he dared not try to conquer his acupoints here, he could take the opportunity to absorb more spiritual energy, which wasn’t a problem.
From night to dawn, it was still and silent.
The light outside lit up, and some brightness penetrated into the cave. Xu Ziqing opened his eyes, a green light flickering in them, being an indication of the movement of his wood spiritual power.
After eighteen weeks of spiritual power flowing through his body, the acupuncture points that had not yet been opened seemed to soften a little. Although it was still too early to get through, there was a glimmer of light.
When the green light finally converged, revealing Xu Ziqing’s pair of gentle and clear eyes, he looked around and was somewhat surprised. It turned out that there was a pile of dark objects on the left side of his body that he couldn’t see clearly the night before. Now in the extremely dim light, he could see a little outline.
He was a young man after all, and went over with some curiosity, reaching out to touch it. But after thinking about it, he stopped in the split moment his hand was about to meet it.
He didn’t know if it was poisonous…
There was a thump in his heart. He didn’t dare to touch it, but he did dare to look at it. Xu Ziqing simply squatted down and looked, only to find that there were scales reflecting in the black light.
After looking closely, he found that this pile of things actually took the shape of a long strip, and the scales were connected to a hide as if they had fallen off, which gave him a guess.
It was probably… a snake shed.
He became speechless with fright. It was such a long snakeskin, and the snake scales were half the size of a fist. This snake was presumably enormous in size. So much so that he couldn’t even say that it was merely just a demon beast!
Then this cave… was it possible that it was a snake cave?!
Xu Ziqing was terrified. He remembered that the cave was narrow and the corridors were crooked, which immediately confirmed the conjectures in his mind. He instantly stood up in a panic and went to get out of the cave.
Maybe he had good luck. The demon snake did not return last night, but who knew when it would suddenly appear? He really dared not delay for a moment, he must not continue to stay in this cave.
The farther he went out, the more traces there were. When Xu Ziqing came in, he leaned against the right side to hold the rock wall, so he didn’t see it. It turned out that on the ground on the left, there were many dry bones scattered on the ground. It looked like it happened ages ago, so it was no wonder that there was no fishy stench in the air.
On the ground, the traces of a snake crawling were winding, and some scales were scattered in the corners. Xu Ziqing walked more and more urgently, and then he trotted up and rushed straight out of the cave!
However, at that moment, there was an abrupt strong fishy smell. At the same time, the sand and gravel sprayed out, and a mighty wind suddenly blew from the sky.