50: Chapter 50 The Cave of Ten Thousand Desires

The next morning, the iron door of the spirit hall was already open.

The Fake Sect Leader stood at the doorway, with the six Elders lined up in a row behind him—they were the same six. The order of their replacement was the same, the distance between them was the same, and the expressions on their faces were the same.

I didn't look closely yesterday—but today, looking closer, I noticed two of the Elders were wearing their robes exactly the same way—even the creases where their cuffs were rolled up were in the exact same position.

Replication. The shell had only learned one way to wear them, so it made everyone wear them that way.

"One hour," the Fake Sect Leader said. He didn't ramble today—it seemed that yesterday's remark about "the water in the well can breathe" had caused him to spend the entire night trying to confirm Lu Chen's trump cards. The result, clearly, was that he hadn't confirmed anything.

"Go in—the third chamber is to the left at the fork. Don't go past the third chamber—there is a downward staircase past the third chamber. The staircase leads nowhere. Those who went down have never returned."

"Has anyone gone down?"

"Over the past seven hundred years, a dozen or so have gone down. None of them came out." The Fake Sect Leader's throat moved—as if simulating the emotion of "unease." It was a decent simulation. "Take your notes. One hour."

The passage behind the iron door was very narrow. Every ten steps, a moonstone was embedded on both sides of the stone wall—not ordinary moonstones. Each one was wrapped in a layer of transparent shell. It was exactly the same as the shell wrapped around the consciousness of those Elders.

Lu Chen walked down. The stone steps had been trodden upon for seven hundred years—a groove had been worn into the center. The surface of the groove was very smooth—not from grinding, but from being licked by something.

The walls on both sides of the stone steps were covered with spiritual patterns—not the spiritual patterns of the Hehuan Sect. They were older. So old that ninety percent of the patterns had blurred. The remaining ten percent were still faintly glowing—not with white light, but with transparent light. The light shone on the wall—not to illuminate it, but to make the wall appear as if it didn't exist.

He arrived at the first level.

The stone wall overhead had been manually chiseled higher—a thirty-foot-high dome. The dome was covered in shells. Not black shells. Not transparent shells. These shells were white—almost transparent—but this transparent white was not empty. It was entrapment.

There was something inside every shell. Not a spiritual body. Not a Soul. It was a memory fragment—someone's action, a sentence, a sliver of feeling—wrapped by the shell and sealed within the dome.

The people trapped by the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires over the past seven hundred years—their fragments were here. Like insects in amber.

"You are watching," a voice came from the depths of the passage. It was not the voice of the Fake Sect Leader—it was another. Older. More withered. "The Grey Spirit Root has come—the little things in the shells can't sleep."

The person who walked out of the shadows was not one of the six Elders. It was not the Fake Sect Leader. It was—a woman.

She was in her sixties, wearing a grey cloth robe. Her hair was completely white—not the white of old age, but the white of a withered Spiritual Root. Her eyes were very bright—Qi Refining Stage nine. Not a shell—a human. A real human. There were still human patterns on her Spiritual Root.

"Who are you?"

"The gatekeeper of the Hehuan Sect," the woman said. "The guardian of this cave's door—for seventy-three years. Not guarding the outside, but guarding the inside—to stop the things in the well from extending their tentacles. My name is Granny Ruan—the last Elder by the Sect Master's side who hasn't been replaced yet."

"The Fake Sect Leader hasn't discovered you?"

"He cannot discover me. I live inside the cave—the shells cannot go too deep into the cave. The thing sealed in the well is a kind of Shell Mother—the Sub-shells it produces have a range limit. Within thirty zhang of the well—it can replace people at will. Between thirty and one hundred zhang—it can only perceive. Beyond one hundred zhang—the Shell Mother's power cannot reach. The deepest level of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires is only twenty-five zhang from the well—that is the Shell Mother's lair. The first level is fifty zhang away—the Sub-shells cannot enter."

"Why doesn't the Fake Sect Leader Seal the entrance to the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires?"

"He dares not Seal it—if the entrance is sealed, the power in the well will come out from elsewhere. The Cave of Ten Thousand Desires is a cage for the Shell Mother—the entrance is the cage door. When the door is locked, the Shell Mother is in the cage—squeezing out through the cracks in the cage. When the door is open—the Shell Mother cannot move. Because the cracks in the cage are the entrance—as soon as people from the outside come in, air rushes in. The shells rely on Death Qi. Living Qi is poison."

Lu Chen understood. Shen Xi, the eldest sister, the third brother—all three were Grey Spirit Root Cultivators. Three years ago, the Sect Master took them into the deepest level of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires—the Spiritual Qi of Grey Spirit Roots is Living Qi. Living Qi flooded into the deepest level—the Shell Mother was suppressed by the Living Qi. At that time, the Sect Master's daughter's Soul was dissipating—the Sect Master wanted the Shell Mother to help Seal his daughter's Soul. But the Grey Spirit Root Cultivators brought in too much Living Qi—the Shell Mother seized the opportunity to retaliate. It didn't Seal the daughter—it swallowed the Sect Master.

"The Shell Mother swallowed the Sect Master—and then produced a Sub-shell. The Sub-shell burrowed into the Sect Master's body," Granny Ruan said. "The Shell Mother cannot replicate the Soul—it only replicates memories and the body. The Sub-shell put on the Sect Master's outer shell—and returned to the spirit hall. From then on, the Hehuan Sect was replaced day by day."

"Can the people who were replaced—ever come back?"

Granny Ruan did not answer. She turned her head to look at those transparent white shells on the dome—the memory fragments sealed within the shells. Sunlight shimmered in the water. An old man sat in a courtyard sharpening a knife. A girl clutched a white rabbit while chasing. A youth flew for the first time—falling after flying less than half a foot—scraping his knees.

"They are here. Not coming back—but being remembered."

The third chamber. A three-tiered bookshelf. The first and second tiers were full of bamboo slips—old ones. The Hehuan Sect's seven-hundred-year research records—not the originals. The true originals had long been burned in a fire seven hundred years ago. The third tier was parchment—the characters were burned on with Spiritual Qi. This was what Shen Xi had copied three years ago—copied word by word from the archive room in the deepest level.

Conditions for the continuous growth of Grey Spirit Roots in the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires.

Lu Chen opened the first page. Shen Xi's handwriting—very dense. Every character was burned with Spiritual Qi—not ink. Not charcoal. It was Shen Xi's own Dantian Spiritual Qi.

"First rule. When a Grey Spirit Root enters within thirty zhang of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires—its Spiritual Qi devouring ability increases threefold. Second rule. During continuous Cultivation, a small amount of Inverted Tower stone must be infused every three hours—to maintain sensory control and prevent it from going out of control. Third rule—"

Page after page. All data. All records. Conclusions that the Hehuan Sect had spent two hundred years verifying. Grey Spirit Roots and the Shell Mother were the same type of thing—Grey Spirit Roots stripped emotions from people, while the Shell Mother stripped consciousness from people. Stripping emotions and stripping consciousness—were essentially two directions of the same power.

Li Xuanyi entered the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires three hundred years ago. Not to Seal the Shell Mother—but to study Grey Spirit Roots. He discovered that the Sub-shells produced by the Shell Mother could resist emotional stripping. If the Sub-shell could be transplanted into a Grey Spirit Root Cultivator's body—the Grey Spirit Root would not Cultivate away their own emotions. The price was—becoming a host for the shell.

Li Xuanyi tried. He failed. The shell exploded inside their bodies—destroying the Dantian of three Grey Spirit Root Cultivators. Li Xuanyi abandoned this path—turning instead to study the reversal of the ten finger bones. But he did not destroy the Shell Mother. He sealed the Shell Mother at the bottom of the well—leaving another choice for future generations.

Lu Chen flipped to the last page of the notes. He stopped.

The corner of the page had been torn off. The tear was neat—not from teeth. It was burned through with Spiritual Qi. The torn-off page—should have contained the conditions for the Shell Mother's movement. Or the method to Seal it. Who tore it? The Fake Sect Leader—no. The Fake Sect Leader would not tear the notes. He needed to study the notes to break the Seal. The one who tore the notes was the one who did not want the Seal to be sealed again.

The Shell Mother. The Shell Mother tore the last page—because it knew that page contained how to Seal it.

The notes closed. Lu Chen turned around—there was a very new booklet on the bookshelf. It was not Shen Xi's. The parchment was very new—no more than three years old. The handwriting was neat—it was the Sect Master's pen. Not the Fake Sect Leader. It was the real Sect Master—the one swallowed by the Shell Mother.

The first page of the booklet.

"Year 177. The Shell Mother has expanded three shells this year—replacing Old Wu from the Law Enforcement Hall, Liu Sanchuan from the Pill Room, and an Outer Sect Disciple. Recorded. Not a sign of weakness. It is verification. The Shell Mother's shells are aging. The rate of replacement is accelerating. Last year, one was replaced. This year, three have been replaced in three months. The lifespan of the Sub-shells is uncertain—it might be shorter than a human's. Or it might just be that the Shell Mother is anxious. She wants more. She wants to swallow the entire Hehuan Sect. Before she finishes swallowing—we must find a third way."

Lu Chen flipped through the booklet. Every replaced person, the date, the name, their position in the Sect. Three years. Thirty-two people. From Outer Sect Disciple to Law Enforcement Elder—it filled an entire page.

Only two characters remained on the last page.

"Jiali."

March 15th. Three months later.

What the Shell Mother was going to do that day—the Sect Master didn't finish writing. He only wrote "Jiali." It was not a word of the Hehuan Sect. It was not a word of a Cultivator. It was—a word of a Mortal. Jiali. A surname—Jiali. A place name. Or—a person's name.

Lu Chen tucked the notes and the booklet into his robes. He stood up—behind the bookshelf was the passage leading down. Stone steps. Thirty zhang down—was the deepest level. It was that well. It was the Shell Mother. It was the possible location of the second and third finger bones. It was the place the Fake Sect Leader said "those who went down never returned."

There was no time left. One hour was almost up.

He turned and walked out. He arrived at the first level—the white shells on the dome were still glowing. The little girl chasing the rabbit in the shell was still running. She was forever chasing that rabbit—always one step behind. One step—was the distance between inside the shell and outside the shell.

Granny Ruan stood at the entrance of the passage. "Did you get it?"

"I got it. The notes are missing a page—the Shell Mother tore it."

"The Shell Mother will tear anything that can be torn. The method to Seal her was also in there—it would be strange if it hadn't torn it." Granny Ruan paused. "The Fake Sect Leader said one hour—he is not limiting you. He is limiting himself."

"What do you mean?"

"One hour. The cycle of the Shell Mother producing a Sub-shell—from incubation to maturity—is exactly one hour. He let you enter the cave for one hour because he calculated it. If he doesn't open the door for you within this one hour—the newly produced Sub-shell will be able to intercept you in the cave. It is not him letting you go. It is whether the Shell Mother lets you go."

Lu Chen looked toward the direction of the exit. The iron door was still open—but the six Elders outside the spirit hall were no longer at the doorway. Not retreating—they had changed their positions. The six shells had split into two lines—standing in the shape of a pocket.

The pit had already been dug. Once the door closed—they would push him in.

The Fake Sect Leader did not believe he came to retrieve the notes. The Fake Sect Leader did not care about the notes at all—he just needed a person. A Grey Spirit Root Cultivator—to walk into the deepest level of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires—and pour Living Qi in.

It was not capturing a person. It was feeding the Shell Mother.

"Go out through the back door." Granny Ruan pressed down on Lu Chen's shoulder. Her fingers were very dry—like old tree bark. "There is a back door in the cave—it only leads to the back mountain. It was dug seven hundred years ago by the people at the bottom of the well—Li Xuanyi dug it for you. He said—leave a path of survival for me."

Li Xuanyi. A Disciple three hundred years later—every step trodden on a path designed three hundred years ago.

It was not a coincidence. It was him calculating for a lifetime.