14: Chapter 14 Trading

The Ruined Temple was dark.

Su Qing leaned against the wall, eyes closed, breathing shallowly.

The wound on her arm was still oozing blood, and a large patch of the white cloth strip was stained red.

She did not speak again, looking as if she had fallen asleep, but Lu Chen knew she was not—her fingers were moving slightly, tapping the ground one by one, as if counting.

Lu Chen sat on the pile of hay opposite her, holding the last remaining Spirit Stone out of the five.

The Spirit Stone had already been mostly absorbed; its surface was grey and dim, and its light was very weak.

In a few more hours, it would crumble into a pinch of powder.

He was thinking about what Su Qing had just said.

"Are you going to take it while you are alive, or after you are dead?"

A Cultivator above Qi Refining Level 5 could use Divine Sense to forcibly read the bone fragment.

It did not need his translation; it did not need him to be alive.

He was just a container—a carrier for the bone fragment.

Once all the characters on the bone fragment were revealed, he could be discarded.

Just like a used-up Spirit Stone.

Crumble into powder, and gone with the wind.

"To what extent can you help me?" Lu Chen asked.

Su Qing opened her eyes.

"I can recommend you to join the Danding Sect," she said, "as an Alchemy Disciple."

"The Danding Sect does not accept those with a Grey Spirit Root, but the bone fragment you are carrying is more valuable than any Spiritual Root."

"The Sect Head will make an exception."

"And after entering the Danding Sect?"

"You continue to Cultivate, and continue to let the bone fragment reveal its characters."

"Copy the revealed content and give it to the School."

"The School will protect you, give you resources, and give you a place to Cultivate."

"What is the cost?"

"The cost is—" Su Qing paused, "All the content on the bone fragment belongs to the Danding Sect."

"You cannot pass it to any other power privately."

"If discovered, a kill order will be issued."

Lu Chen thought for a moment.

"Sounds good."

"It is good," Su Qing said, "but there is one problem."

"What problem?"

"The Danding Sect is not united internally."

"Some want to protect you, some want to kill you to take the bone fragment."

"After you go in, whether you can survive depends on yourself."

Lu Chen looked at her.

"Which side are you on?"

Su Qing did not answer immediately.

She looked down at the wound on her arm, pressed her finger against the cloth strip, and blood seeped out from the gap in the cloth, congealing into a red bead on her fingertip.

"I want to live," she said, "There are people in the Danding Sect who do not want me to live."

"I need you to do me a favor in exchange for me helping you enter the Danding Sect."

"What favor?"

"For every line of text you understand on the bone fragment, tell me first."

"A day earlier than telling the School."

Lu Chen stared at her for a few seconds.

"You want to get the secret before the School does."

"Correct," Su Qing said, "I am not doing this for myself."

"I am doing this to—prevent certain people from getting it."

"Who are these certain people?"

"The Elders of the Danding Sect," Su Qing said, "They want to use the forgetfulness pill to control Cultivators."

"Whoever takes the forgetfulness pill will never achieve a Breakthrough and will never threaten their position."

"They do not want longevity; they want to sit at the top forever."

Lu Chen was silent for a while.

"So you are looking for me to cooperate."

"Yes."

"Why should I trust you?"

"You do not have to trust me," Su Qing said, "But you have no other choice."

"Qin Wu can give you Spirit Stones and Medicinal Pills, but he cannot protect you."

"People from the Ten Thousand Sword Sect are looking for you, and people from the Hehuan Sect are also on their way."

"You are alone, at Qi Refining Stage 2, and you cannot even walk out of Qingniu Ridge."

Lu Chen did not refute.

What she said was the truth.

He could not even walk out of Qingniu Ridge.

It was not that he could not walk out; it was that even if he walked out, he would not know where to go.

To him, this world was full of unknowns.

He did not know which power could be trusted, which place was safe, or which road he could take.

Su Qing had at least given him a path.

"Fine," Lu Chen said, "I will cooperate with you, but I have conditions."

"Speak."

"First, I must enter the Danding Sect, obtain the Disciple status, and then I will give you the first line of text."

"This is a transaction between you and me, not charity."

"You give the item first, and then I will deliver the goods."

The corners of Su Qing's mouth twitched, as if she were smiling, or perhaps enduring pain.

"Fine."

"Second, my Cultivation resources must be provided by the Danding Sect."

"Spirit Stones, Medicinal Pills, and Cultivation Technique must be provided according to the standard of official Disciples, without deduction."

"That is acceptable."

"Third—" Lu Chen looked at her, "If one day I discover you are lying to me, the cooperation is terminated."

"I will not retaliate against you, but you will not get a single word from the bone fragment."

Su Qing looked at him, a certain unnameable thing in her eyes.

"Are you always like this?"

"Like what?"

"Treating all relationships as transactions."

Lu Chen thought for two seconds.

"Otherwise?"

Su Qing did not ask again.

She closed her eyes, leaned against the wall, and her breathing slowly steadied.

Her fingers stopped tapping the ground, as if she had truly fallen asleep.

Lu Chen sat opposite her, absorbing the last Spirit Stone, the powder leaking from between his fingers, falling to the ground and mixing with the dust.

The Spiritual Qi in his Dantian was forty percent full.

He was still sixty percent away from Qi Refining Level 3.

He closed his eyes and began Qi Channeling.

No matter what happened tomorrow, he would finish today's path today.

The seventeenth day.

Su Qing's wound was more than half healed.

The medicine from the Danding Sect was indeed effective.

After the white powder was sprinkled on, the wound scabbed over the next day, and the scab fell off on the third day, revealing new pink flesh.

"It is time to go back." Su Qing stood up and moved her arm, "I have been out for too long, and people will be suspicious."

"Should I go with you?"

"No," Su Qing said, "You stay here for now."

"I will go back to make arrangements, and in half a month, someone will come to pick you up."

"Who is coming?"

"An external affairs Disciple of the Danding Sect."

"He will bring you a jade tablet, and you will use the jade tablet to enter the mountain gate."

"How do I know he is real?"

Su Qing took a piece of jade from her bosom and threw it to him.

It was very small, the size of a fingernail, pale green, with a single character engraved on it—[Qing].

"This is my token."

"The person who comes to pick you up will state my name and hold a piece of jade exactly like mine."

"Once you verify it, go with him."

Lu Chen tucked the jade into his bosom.

"Half a month."

"Half a month," Su Qing said, "If anyone comes looking for you during this time—the Ten Thousand Sword Sect, the Hehuan Sect, or anyone else—do not resist, run."

"Run into the mountains."

"There is something under this mountain, and they dare not go in."

"Under the mountain?"

"Did Qin Wu not tell you?" Su Qing walked to the temple door and looked back at him, "This mountain is an ancient battlefield."

"The things buried underneath are things even a Soul Transformation Cultivator would not want to touch."

"The bone fragment you are carrying was dug up from underneath."

Lu Chen's hand subconsciously touched his chest.

"Did Wang Qishan go down?"

"He went down, but did not come back," Su Qing said, "His corpse was carried up by Mo Wen."

"The person was already dead, but his fingers were moving on their own, writing on the ground."

"Before Wang Qishan died, he carved the final secret onto his own bone, cut off his hand, and left it in The Cave."

Lu Chen remembered that finger bone.

[Repay].

"So the secret on the bone fragment is about the thing under the mountain?"

"Correct," Su Qing said, "Before Wang Qishan died, he said—'The answer is underneath'."

"But he died before he could say what the answer was."

She turned and walked into the sunlight.

"Half a month. Do not die."

Then she left.

Just like last time, very quickly, disappearing into the forest in a few steps.

Lu Chen stood at the temple door, watching the direction she disappeared.

The sunlight was blinding; he squinted his eyes and stood there for a long time.

Then he turned back into the temple, sat down, closed his eyes, and began Qi Channeling.

Half a month.

Fourteen days.

He was waiting.

But waiting did not mean doing nothing.

The nineteenth day.

Lu Chen went to the top of the mountain once.

It was not to find Qin Wu, but to see if the "Inverted Tower" structure drawn on that map could be seen from the mountaintop.

The mountaintop was the same as before.

Open ground, blue stone slabs, and the grass in the stone crevices had grown a bit taller.

He stood in the middle of the open ground, took the map Qin Wu had given him from his bosom, and compared it.

The map depicted the structure under the mountain—layer by layer, like an Inverted Tower built upside down.

The top layer corresponded to the position of the mountaintop.

The bottom layer was drawn halfway before it broke off, marked with a red line as "Unknown".

"Where is the entrance?"

It was not marked on the map.

Lu Chen squatted down and tapped the blue stone slab with his hand.

The sound was solid, not like it was empty.

"Not on the mountaintop."

He stood up and looked down the mountain.

The Cave was halfway up the mountain.

Qin Wu had said that he had gone down.

Where did he go down from? The Cave? Or somewhere else?

Lu Chen decided to go to The Cave to take a look.

The Cave was still the same.

The characters on The Cave wall were all there, and the newly written line— "The third day, Mo Wen died. Died of the cost." —was still there, the strokes unchanged.

Lu Chen walked to the bottom of The Cave, squatted down, and looked at the groove.

The stone was still plugged there, and the finger bone was still inside.

He did not move it.

But he was thinking about a question—Wang Qishan hid the bone fragment in a hidden layer and hid the finger bone deep in the groove.

Both things were in The Cave.

Could The Cave be the entrance?

Lu Chen stood up and looked carefully at The Cave wall.

The stone was blue-black, with moss growing on it.

He touched it all over with his hand.

It was cold.

But when he touched the innermost part of The Cave wall, his fingers felt something a bit different—there was a stone that was warmer than the rest.

It was a very subtle difference.

If he had not pressed his hand against the stone for a long time, he would not have felt it at all.

Lu Chen pressed his hand against that stone and pushed hard.

The stone did not move.

He took out his firewood knife and tapped it with the back of the blade.

The sound was wrong—it was not solid; it was empty.

Just like when he discovered the hidden layer for the bone fragment earlier.

"Another hidden layer?"

He tried to insert the back of the knife into the stone crevice to pry it open.

He could not pry it.

The stone seemed to grow with the whole wall, with no gap to insert into.

Lu Chen tried three times and could not pry it open.

He stopped and thought.

Then he took the bone fragment from his clothes and pressed it against the stone.

The stone moved.

It was not pried open; it moved on its own.

It was as if the bone fragment was a key, inserted into a keyhole, and the lock opened.

The stone retracted half an inch, then slid aside, revealing an entrance.

The entrance was not big, only enough for one person to squeeze in sideways.

A gust of wind blew out from The Cave.

It was not ordinary wind; it was cold, the same chill as the bone fragment.

It emerged from The Cave, blowing on his face, as if something was breathing.

Lu Chen stood at the entrance and looked inside.

Darkness.

He could not see anything.

But he could feel it—The Cave was very deep.

The wind blew up from a very deep place, carrying an indescribable smell, like rotten wood, and also like aged blood.

"The entrance is here."

He hesitated for three seconds.

Then he squeezed in sideways.