Chapter 68 - The Ten Thousand Ghost Abyss
Edited by NZRose
The days after that were very peaceful, Ling Xiao was recuperating from morning to night, Cang Min was practicing swords from morning to night, and Lin Shu was practicing the zither from morning to night. Five or six days were fleeting.
“I say, Junior Brother Lin,” Cang Min leaned on the table and looked at him with a hopeless face. “How can you still eat?”
In front of Lin Shu, a small bowl of spiritual rice from the Immortal Village Inn was being eaten slowly.
Cang Min continued, “Look, the cat doesn’t even eat anymore.”
The cat turned a blind eye to the dish of rice in front of it—— Obviously, it did eat a little more two days ago.
Immortal Village Inn only serves rice, so don’t even think about the rest of the meals. After eating rice for six days in a row, the cat and people are tired of it.
Ling Xiao smiled and looked at Lin Shu, “It’s good to eat more, and you can improve your health.”
Lin Shu: “….”
He doesn’t feel much about this. The sect master’s rules, to take light diet as the main principle; the tasteless, the better. When he was young, he even lasted by eating just rice far longer than this.
On the seventh day, the after-effects of Ling Xiao’s “Nirvana and Life” finally recovered, his cultivation level was restored, and he was ready to set off.
At this time, the disciples on the Huandang Mountain had also come down one after another, looking for places to go, some went out to practice their martial skills and some went back to the Academy to study.
They reported to Daoist Master Feng Lei and registered their destination. Just as they were about to leave, the cat suddenly jumped out of Lin Shu’s arms and “meowed” towards the direction of Huandang Mountain.
Lin Shu watched in amazement as the Immortal Floating Palace on the top of Huandang Mountain floated up, gradually becoming smaller in the sky, and then a rainbow light drew across the cat’s neck.
The cat turned around and crawled back into Lin Shu’s arms. Now it has a small collar around its neck, and there was a crystal clear white jade bell on the collar. The quality of the jade was exactly the same as that of the floating palace.
So the fairyland was taken in here? And was carried by the cat?
Rich cat, rich cat.
Leaving the boundary of the Immortal World and pa.s.sing the boundary monument of “Mortals Goes No Farther”, Cang Min said, “I want to eat!”
Lin Shu can’t help but laugh.
Ling Xiao said: “…Okay.”
Cang Min then flew over to look for traces of mortal towns, and only returned after a long time. He danced with excitement and said that there was a town and tea stand somewhere.
When they arrived at a place called “Pingchun Mansion”, Cang Min suddenly plunged into the largest restaurant and asked for the largest table.
Ling Xiao: “What do you want to do?”
Cang Min: “Eat.”
Lin Shu: “I think this table is too big.”
Cang Min: “Not very.”
Lin Shu calmly watched the changes.
Four waiters came over to serve one dish after another, and the big table where a dozen people should have sat was filled.
Lin Shu picked the best of the meat dishes and piled a plate full of them in front of the cat.
When he turned around, his cousin also picked up a lot of food for himself.
The waiter came back again with some wine. Ling Xiao and Cang Min each poured a full gla.s.s.
When it was Lin Shu’s turn, his cousin pondered for a long time, finally, he picked up the wine pot and poured a little in Lin Shu’s cup——barely past the bottom of the cup, Lin Shu felt that it could be counted by drops.
Then, Cang Min started his performance.
Lin Shu watched as the dishes on the table decreased at a speed visible to the naked eye, and the empty plates on one side piled up rapidly.
The waiter who was serving them was already dumbfounded as if he couldn’t believe that such a delicate and charming young man had such a big appet.i.te. Fortunately, this was a private room on the third floor. Otherwise, someone might pay money to reward this wonderful performance.
Lin Shu thought that the bulk of dishes Cang Min had eaten was as large as that of a person.
Elder Martial Brother Cang, do you have a folding s.p.a.ce in your stomach?
It was not until he was full of food and drink that he finished the dishes on the whole table. Cang Min leaned on the back of his chair contentedly and said, “This is the internal skill of my family. ‘The whale drinks and swallows the sea’. Refining the foods and drinks into Qi and strengthening the body.”
——It turns out to be an exercise method, which can be explained.
Ling Xiao suddenly remembered something, and said, “No one in your family has practiced whale drinking and swallowing the sea for hundreds of years.”
“Although the practice of this method has been completed and the time consumed to eat was carefree,” Cang Min grinned, “but the threshold is too high, and it often takes inhuman perseverance to get started.”
When he said this, he smiled a little shyly. “Speaking of which, thanks to Big Miss Ling I was able to practice ‘whale drinking and swallowing the sea’…I was a little bit of a fool before, no matter how much I practice, I can only be at the middle or lower level, and I have been ridiculed by my peers. One day, I was reprimanded by Daoist Masters for always being unable to comprehend sword moves, so I cried by myself at the back of the mountain. Just as the Big Miss was pa.s.sing by, she heard that I was crying too badly. She asked me what I was crying about. I said that my apt.i.tude was dull and I was incompetent, and I had no face to stay in the academy again.”
Lin Shu raised his ears when he heard about the Big Miss.
Cang Min continued: “The Big Miss said that talent and qualification were all nonsense. It’s ridiculous that you are so sad. I’m not convinced. I say that you have one in ten thousand talents, and you can achieve good results at will. The Big Miss said…”
He stopped for a moment and then continued: “Big Miss said, even if she is like me, her cultivation level will not be lower than now. After that, she didn’t pay attention to me and left. Later, I got to know other Elder Martial Sisters in Phoenix Mountain Villa. They told me that since she was a child, she used to wield knives 30,000 times a day, and her whole palm was worn out, not to mention learning mental skills and reciting secret scripts. For two years, she only slept for one or two hours a day. She had to break through her mental state before she could rest a little longer. I thought the Big Miss was right. No matter how dull my apt.i.tude was, if one can achieve that one stage, one will surpa.s.s ordinary people. I’ve made up my mind to learn the internal skill of “whale drinking and swallowing the sea”. After cultivating in Huandang Mountain a few days ago, I gained some insight, and finally, I joined the sect.”
——It turns out that there was another reason why Cang Min was a martial idiot known to everyone in the school.
Cang Min again said, “This matter was just a careless affair for the Big Miss, but I was very grateful, and I only hated myself for hurting my life in the past years and waking up too late.”
Lin Shu: “Big Miss is a good person.”
Cang Min: “That’s right.”
Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows, “Why do you say that?”
Lin Shu thought for a while, “I was trapped in the ghost village with many people, and it was the Big Miss who rescued me.”
Ling Xiao smiled, “Why didn’t you care that she was going to peel your skin off?”
Lin Shu: “…..”
After thinking for a while, he said, “The Big Miss just has a sharp mouth.”
Ling Xiao: “Uh-huh?”
Lin Shu said in his heart, The Big Miss definitely has a sharp mouth but was actually a very good person. Back in the Ghost City, the Big Miss was in a bad mood and had an extremely hot temper. When she heard that the villagers were trapped, she left with the sentence, “They can go to h.e.l.l for all I care”. But in fact, she went to Ning’an Prefecture and handled all the procedures for the resettlement of the villagers. She was really a good person.
But his cousin actually knew that the Big Miss was going to peel his skin off at the beginning. It seems that the two of them were very close brothers and sisters, and they must have talked a lot.
At this time, Cang Min agreed, “I feel the same way.”
Ling Xiao refilled himself with wine and took a sip and said to Cang Min, “There were many reasons for her to practice the exercises like that, and there were countless medicinal pills to revive her life. You must remember not to work too hard, otherwise, you will damage your foundation.”
“No harm,” Cang Min raised his eyebrows. “I picked the Pill of Life and Creation in Tianzi Library, which I think it will hold up.”
Ling Xiao: “Hmm.”
After chatting for a while, they continued northward and left the shelter of the Immortal sect near Huandang Mountain. The official roads were in disrepair and the town was dilapidated, which was much more desolate than before. On the way, they actually pa.s.sed through five or six abandoned empty cities. The pavilions were still there, but there were no traces of humans, which made people a little scared.
After a few hundred miles, there was no one left. After pa.s.sing the “Mortals Goes No Farther” boundary monument, a dark mountain range appeared in front of them. Continuously, the ghost energy was very heavy, there were thousands of ghosts howling and crying. When the mountain road completely disappeared, there was a trail to “Ten Thousand Ghost Abyss” in front of them. In order to save their spiritual power, they did not fly with imperial Qi, but walked into the mountain.
According to the map, if you climb over the mountain, and then jump on a cliff, you can see the fissure in the ground. Follow the crevice all the way down, and you can go deeper into the ghost’s abyss. The demon ghost king undertakes tens of thousands of ma.s.ses in the “Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss”, which was a hundred times more dangerous than the outskirts of the ghost city where Lin Shu was trapped.
On the way, they finally determined the purpose of the expedition.
Cang Min wanted to hone his martial arts and had no interest in the treasures in the Abyss.
As a temporary owner, his cousin will provide purely martial arts support. He said that if there was any valuable treasure, he could also consider taking it.
Lin Shu asked for a lot of things, such as the white bone flower promised to the girl. Also, the Yin snake blood, black dragon bones, dark poison potion, and other things that were needed to refine the “Extinction Needle”. It was estimated that they will have to stay in Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss for some time to find them.
The three men went deep into the mountain, followed the guidance of the map and road signs. When they were about to walk to the cliff, Lin Shu felt a warmth on his shoulder and sensed a strong demonic miasma and ghost mist. He put the cat on his shoulder, picked up the ice stringed zither, and pressed several strings to dispel the demonic energy in front of him.
All of a sudden, his cousin covered him with a snow-white fox fur to keep warm.
The fox fur was light and soft. He couldn’t make a move with his hands holding the zither, so Ling Xiao went around in front of him again and fastened his collar.
Lin Shu looked up and saw his cousin staring at him with the same look as someone looking at a hamster.
Cang Min ignored them and kept observing the situation in front of him, and suddenly said, “There are people ahead.”
As they approached, they saw two young men dressed as woodcutters with yellow faces looking towards the bottom of the cliff.
Seeing them coming, the two thumped and knelt down, “Immortals, help us!”
Cang Min inquired about the situation. They said that their mother was seriously ill. After listening to Mr. You Fang’s saying that the Ten Thousand Ghosts Abyss had a miraculous medicine to save her life, the three brothers came all the way here. Now the eldest brother went down the cliff vine and said he would explore the situation first, but there was no reply for two days and nights. The remaining two of them can neither go down nor stay. They were very anxious.
Ling Xiao raised his eyebrows and said, “How can you be so daring to come here?”
The two cried out, saying that it was Mr. You Fang’s unclear words. They didn’t know that this ghost place was dangerous and they only asked the immortal leader for help.
They cried so badly, and Cang Min couldn’t bear to listen, saying that after they went down, he would see if there is any sign of their elder brother.
These two people were so grateful that they would knock their heads apart.
Resolving the matter, the three of them were ready to go down the cliff.
It was okay to simply just fly down, but the brothers said that the elder brother was trapped on the cliff somewhere, so the three chose to climb down the vine that the elder brother climbed.
Cang Min went down first. Ling Xiao crossed Lin Shu’s two arms with his left hand and held him in front of his chest, hugged him and hung him on his body in a posture of a stranger holding a cat, and then grabbed the vine with one hand and went down.
On the edge of suffocation, Lin Shu looked at Ling Xiao in despair.
It didn’t matter if he looked up, he saw the two brothers looking down. The angle was not good, it seemed that their faces were very scary.
However, the next moment, Lin Shu knew that this was not an illusion!
The two men raised up their axe for chopping wood aloft and slashed down towards the vine!
Cang Min: “Aaaaaaargh!”
The cat also screamed: “Meow!”
Ling Xiao let go of the vine with his left hand, slapped it towards the rock wall, and rose into the air with the turbulent true energy, and said coldly, “As expected!”
Did he expected it earlier?
Lin Shu began to reflect whether his brain circuit was simpler compared to Ling Xiao.
They broke away from the broken vines, but in the next moment, the whole rock wall was suddenly covered with a layer of sticky black, all the vines on the cliff turned into living tentacles and rolled towards them!
In the roaring wind, Lin Shu heard the two brothers above laughing and said, “Kill three more!”
————–
TL’s Mini Theatre:
Rose: *hospitalized due to sweetness overload*
Rich Cat: Meow! *revives Rosey*
Zaki: That fox fur and tight hug made me faint *fans self*
Rich Cat: *snubs zaki*
Zaki: –_–