Into The Sea

The misty morning fog enveloped the serene canyon of Langya Mountain, pierced by the crisp chirping of birds from the verdant, rustling branches.

Suddenly, a clap of thunder broke the stillness, startling flocks of bluebirds into the clear sky. A man in gray robes tumbled down the hillside, shielding his head to dodge the flying shards of stone. He rolled to a stop, his face now marked with several bleeding cuts. He glanced around in panic, and upon spotting a towering maple tree not far away, his eyes lit up. Stumbling, he rushed toward it.

The howls of wolves grew ever closer behind him, the thick, putrid breath seemingly hot on his neck. Tong Chu scrambled up the tree, his hands trembling as he cast a spell to conjure a ball of water, splashing it over himself in hopes of masking his scent. Just then, a rustling sound emerged from the dense foliage before him, and a head suddenly popped out from the leaves.

Tong Chu jolted in fright and was about to scream when the person smiled and pressed a finger to her lips, then leaped down gracefully.

“Miss! Below there’s a demon…” Tong Chu cried out in alarm, but before he could finish the word “beast,” the woman had landed on the ground. She shook her left wrist lightly, and the silver bracelet coiled around it melted into hundreds of sharp silver threads as thin as needles, while a silver sword materialized in her palm.

The threads shot out, encircling around the charging black wolf, piercing its body from all directions like sharp blades and pinning it mid-air. It howled miserably; its limbs immobilized. Tiny beads of blood oozed from its wounds, quickly soaking its fur. She strolled over, giving a graceful twist of her sword, and the massive wolf’s head rolled to the ground without a single drop of blood touching her robes.

As the silver threads retracted, the wolf’s lifeless body crashed to the ground. She sidestepped the crimson pool, approached the still-warm demon wolf, and with a flick of her sword, sent a beam of golden light flying toward Tong Chu. Flustered, he caught it, discovering it was the wolf’s demon core.

Standing beneath the tree with her sword, dressed in black, she said gently, “You can come down now. The demon beast is dead.”

Just as Tong Chu was about to respond, a youthful voice sounded beside him, “Understood, Master.”

He jumped in surprise, turning to find another girl emerging beside him, appearing no older than thirteen. Tong Chu watched in a daze as she hopped down. After a moment, he glanced bewilderedly into the dense foliage, half-expecting more people to be hidden within.

The woman tilted her head with a faint smile. “Are you planning to stay up there forever, fellow cultivator?”

“Ah? N-No, not at all.” Tong Chu snapped back to reality, swallowed hard, and clumsily climbed down the tree. Holding up the demon core, he said, “You killed it, so this belongs to you.”

“I don’t need it; you keep it.” She sheathed her sword, the silver threads flowing back onto her wrist like liquid metal, reforming into a simple yet elegant silver bracelet.

Of course, Tong Chu thought, someone who could so easily behead a demon beast wouldn’t need its core.

Feeling a bit awkward, Tong Chu pocketed the core and cautiously struck up a conversation. “May I ask your name, fellow cultivator? What brings you to this remote place?”

“My surname is Lan. I’m taking my disciple to the Taixu Secret Realm near Jinzhou. We just happened to be passing through.”

“You’re going to the Taixu Secret Realm?” Tong Chu’s eyes widened with excitement. “I’m going there too! With skills like yours, miss, you must be a disciple of one of the three great immortal sects.”

“I’m not,” Lan Wu shook her head. “I’m just from a small sect.”

“So am I!”

“I could tell,” Lan Wu continued to smile warmly but added. “If a demon beast like that had you running for your life, are you sure you want to go to the Taixu Secret Realm?”

Tong Chu flushed with embarrassment, wanting to argue that a demon beast on the verge of taking human form could be considered equivalent to a cultivator in the Golden Core stage. Clearly, it was far more unusual for someone so young as this girl to possess such profound cultivation.

After a moment, he admitted grudgingly, “I… just want to see it for myself.”

Lan Wu hummed softly, seemingly agreeing with his sentiment.

Tong Chu glanced at the black wolf’s corpse on the ground, hesitating before suggesting, “Since we’re both heading to Jinzhou, why not travel together? It would be good to look out for each other on the way.”

Lan Wu agreed readily.

Surprised by her straightforwardness, Tong Chu couldn’t help but ask why.

As the three of them walked, they continued their conversation.

“I’ve always been terrible with directions,” Lan Wu explained. “I can’t tell east from west, and it’s my disciple’s first time traveling with me, so I can’t rely on her either. Having someone along makes it easier.”

“Then how did you manage to travel before?”

“Before…” Lan Wu’s eyes softened with distant melancholy. “Someone used to accompany me.” Her voice was as soft as a sigh. “But that was a long time ago.”

Translation note:
For the sake of immersion, I will be using this translation of the days of the week.

月曜日 – Monday – Moonday
火曜日 – Tuesday – Fireday
水曜日 – Wednesday – Waterday
木曜日 – Thursday – Woodday
金曜日 – Friday – Metalday
土曜日 – Saturday – Stoneday
日曜日 – Sunday – Lightday

This is a smut novel. All chapters with sex scenes will have this at the top of the page:
Sexual Content Warning.