51: Chapter 51 The Man in the Cave

Granny Ruan pushed open the third shelf of the bookcase in the third room.

It wasn't pushing aside a book—it was pushing aside the entire bookcase.

The bookcase slid to the right along hidden tracks on the floor—revealing a narrow hole.

There were steps on the walls of the hole—not stone steps.

They were burned directly into the rock using Spiritual Qi.

After seven hundred years of burning—extremely faint golden patterns still remained on the surface of the steps.

Li Xuanyi's Spiritual Patterns.

"He burned them from the bottom up—it took him three months."

Granny Ruan held the moonstone in her hand high.

"She said, 'Someone will always need this path.' It has been seventy-three years—you are the first to use it."

The steps were very narrow.

A person could go down by turning sideways.

There were no Sub-shells on either side of the stone walls—it wasn't that the Sub-shells couldn't enter.

It was fear.

When the Shell Mother's Sub-shells touched Li Xuanyi's Spiritual Patterns—it was like bugs touching fire.

They walked down about two hundred steps.

The stone steps turned a corner—and began to go upward.

Half an hour later, a thin stone slab appeared overhead.

Pushing it open—the back mountain medicine garden.

Wisteria. A hidden channel. Qin Wu stood beside the entrance to the cellar.

He Xiaowan was crouching by the channel—she stood up upon hearing the commotion.

She was about twenty years old. Qi Refining Level 5.

Her face was very ordinary—the kind of ordinary that you wouldn't look at twice if you passed her on the street.

Her eyes were also ordinary eyes—but when she looked at you, she didn't blink or dodge.

This lack of evasion was honed by three years of living in the cellar—it wasn't because she was brave, but because there was nothing left to fear.

"You came out of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires."

He Xiaowan's voice was very flat.

"The Fake Sect Leader didn't stop you?"

"He tried to stop me—but he didn't succeed."

Lu Chen placed the notes and the booklet on the wooden table in the cellar.

The cellar wasn't large—about ten feet square.

There were six shelves on the wall—the shelves were full of medicine.

These were not medicines for Cultivating.

They were medicines for treating injuries.

Hemostatic, fever-reducing and detoxifying, pregnancy-calming—none of them had anything to do with increasing one's cultivation.

"Three years—the things you planted in the back mountain medicine garden were not Spirit Medicine?"

"All the Spirit Medicine was moved to the front mountain by the Fake Sect Leader."

He Xiaowan turned up the oil lamp on the table.

"The back mountain is planted with medicine to treat the old Disciples."

"Those who were replaced by the shells—their bodies get injured when the shells break."

"Some have skin injuries, some have Dantian injuries. I save them—and then I hide them. I've hidden three."

A slight sound of footsteps came from the other side of the hidden channel.

An old Disciple at Level 4 Qi Refining was supporting another at Qi Refining Level 5—their leg had been broken.

It wasn't from a fight. It was the Shell Mother probing.

The Shell Mother was searching the back mountain—once every three days.

It didn't go deep—but every time it pushed forward by ten feet.

Three months ago—the Shell Mother was twenty feet away from the medicine garden. Now—ten feet.

"March 15th."

He Xiaowan opened a self-made calendar.

She marked a line for every day that passed—she had marked it neatly for three years.

"The Seal loosens once every three months. The next time is March 15th."

"That night, the Sub-shells can leave the bottom of the well up to a maximum of one hundred and fifty feet."

"The shells outside the spirit hall—all of them can move. The medicine garden—will also be within range."

"If someone enters the bottom layer that day—carrying three finger bones to resonate simultaneously—"

"The Seal can be reinforced—at least for another ten years."

He Xiaowan looked at Lu Chen.

"But three finger bones—you only have two. The sixth and the seventh."

"The third key is in the Eldest Sister's hand. The Eldest Sister—is sealed in that stone coffin at the bottom layer."

The air in the cellar was very stuffy.

The bitter smell of herbs and the dampness mixed together—choking the nose.

"She isn't dead?"

"She isn't dead. Three years ago, the Shell Mother swallowed the Sect Master—the Eldest Sister and the Third Brother confronted the Shell Mother at the bottom layer."

"The Third Brother ran out—now his whereabouts are unknown."

"The Eldest Sister didn't run. She used her Grey Spirit Root to block the crack in the well mouth—the Shell Mother couldn't get out."

"The price was that she couldn't get out either. The Shell Mother's tentacles sealed the stone coffin—from the outside. The Eldest Sister is alive inside."

"She hasn't eaten or drunk for three years—relying on the self-cannibalization ability of her Grey Spirit Root to hold on."

Grey Spirit Root self-cannibalization.

A Grey Spirit Root Cultivator can channel Spiritual Qi from the Dantian back into their organs in a desperate situation—to sustain life.

The price is that each instance of self-cannibalization dissolves a portion of their spiritual power Foundation.

Three years—the Eldest Sister's cultivation regressed from Qi Refining Level 8 to Qi Refining Level 3.

If she holds on for another three months—her Dantian will be empty.

"What about the Third Brother? He ran out—where is he?"

"I don't know. The Third Brother was seriously injured when he ran out of the bottom layer—his soul was bitten by the Shell Mother."

"The Eldest Sister transferred her spiritual power to him for a year—only then did he survive."

"He was normal when he left the valley—later he became delirious."

He Xiaowan turned the calendar to the last page.

"But last month—someone saw his shadow outside the Thousand Miasma Valley."

"It wasn't him in person. It was a shadow—he had been there. He only stood at the entrance of the Thousand Miasma Valley for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, then left."

"Before he left, he carved a character on the ground."

"What character?"

"Wait."

Lu Chen's fingers pressed on the sixth finger bone.

The Third Brother was waiting—waiting for a Grey Spirit Root Cultivator like him.

Standing outside the valley for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea—it wasn't that he didn't dare to enter.

It was because he knew he was about to forget.

Coming in would just be a burden. So he carved the character 'Wait'—and left.

"The Eldest Sister's stone coffin—where is it at the bottom layer of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires?"

"Directly below the well."

He Xiaowan said.

Her voice finally had some fluctuation—not fear.

It was something suppressed for three years that couldn't be held back.

"The Shell Mother in the well has roots—the roots are driven downwards. It has been driven for seven hundred years."

"The Eldest Sister is blocking the deepest part of the roots—twisting the Shell Mother's roots with her Grey-line Meridians."

"She is buying time for the outside world. Three years—she is trapped there—every moment is painful."

"The Shell Mother's roots are inserted into her Dantian. It's not devouring—it's consumption. Draining her spiritual power. Draining her senses. Draining her memories."

Qin Wu's fingers gripped the hilt of his sword.

"Can the Shell Mother eat Grey Spirit Root?"

"Not eat—it's symbiosis."

"The Shell Mother drains spiritual power from the Grey Spirit Root Cultivator—the spiritual power enters the Shell Mother, and the Shell Mother produces more Sub-shells."

"At the same time, the Shell Mother gives the host an illusion—you are not dying. You are becoming stronger. Your body is fusing with the power of the shell."

"The Eldest Sister said she believed it at first—almost letting the Shell Mother enter her Sea of Consciousness."

"Later, she felt the last words Li Xuanyi carved on the inner wall of the stone coffin."

"What last words?"

"'Whatever you believe, do not believe it. It is not your power—it is its. Everything it gives—you will always have to pay back with interest.'"

Li Xuanyi. He met the Eldest Sister three hundred years ago.

He knew there would be such a day.

Someone is waiting for death in a stone coffin—they need someone to tell her 'do not believe it.'

He carved these words on the inner wall of the stone coffin—calculating that three hundred years later, the Shell Mother would be deceptive.

Calculating that the person who was deceived would lie in the same stone coffin.

"March 15th." Lu Chen stood up. "Eleven days. What can I prepare?"

"The resonance of the three finger bones needs to be coordinated with the Spiritual Patterns of the Seal."

He Xiaowan pulled out an old bamboo slip from the shelf.

"There is a Spiritual Pattern wall on the right side of the entrance to the bottom layer of the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires—it is the Seal designed by Li Xuanyi."

"Press the three finger bones on the wall—and simultaneously circulate your Grey-line Meridians. The resonance will reactivate the Seal—locking the Shell Mother's well mouth again. Then—the Eldest Sister pulls out the stone coffin."

"How long will it take?"

"The resonance lasts about the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn. Within that time—all of the Shell Mother's Sub-shells will go berserk."

"Everyone who has been replaced by the shells—including the Fake Sect Leader—will come to the bottom layer. Can you hold them off for the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn?"

Lu Chen did not answer.

He counted. The Fake Sect Leader is at Qi Refining Level 9.

Six replaced Elders—the lowest at Qi Refining Level 6, the highest at Qi Refining Level 8.

Plus other Sub-shells that might be in the Cave of Ten Thousand Desires—at least a dozen experts in the Qi Refining stage.

Three people: him, Qin Wu, He Xiaowan.

Qi Refining Level 6—suppressed Qi Refining Level 6. The Wind Listening Technique prevents him from breaking through.

It's not a question of whether he can hold them off. It's a question of whether he can guard the entrance to the bottom layer within the time it takes for a stick of incense to burn.

"There are still eleven days." Lu Chen said. "I can do a few things. First—find a place to break through. A place not monitored by the Wind Listening Technique. Second—contact Han Yuan."

"Han Yuan?"

"He doesn't have to come—but he needs to know the notes are in my hands. Jian Wushuang—Han Yuan's two-hundred-year plan. I still have a deal with him that isn't finished."

"And third?"

"Third—find the Third Brother. He carved a 'Wait' character outside the Thousand Miasma Valley. He is waiting. I don't know who he is waiting for. But he has wounds on his body bitten by the Shell Mother."

"If Shen Xi's Soul Returning Powder can stabilize memories—it might also be effective for the Third Brother. Eleven days—is enough for a round trip."

"You are already very tired." Qin Wu said. It wasn't persuasion—it was a statement.

The white lines on his wrists showed two grey marks under the light. Faint. But a bit wider than yesterday.

"Your sense of touch—"

"Is still there." Lu Chen moved his fingers.

His fingertips felt the roughness of the tabletop—not using the Grey-line Meridians. It was a natural sensation. His sense of touch was returning. Little by little.

It's just that on the white lines on his wrists—the grey marks were also increasing little by little.

He didn't know what this represented. The white lines were bonds. The grey lines were consumption.

The grey marks were spreading—was the consumption increasing? Or were the bonds turning into something else?

The night was deep. A slight rustling sound came from far away outside the medicine garden—not the wind. Not shells. It was small animals.

But after it became quiet—another sound could be heard. Very light. Like an exhale. Like an inhale. Coming up from underground.

The well was breathing.

The Shell Mother was panting—every exhale was one step closer to March 15th.