Into The Sea

In the dead of night, the barriers surrounding the courtyard suddenly rippled with a faint disturbance.

Ji Lingyue opened her eyes, and seeing that Lan Wu was sleeping soundly, she quietly slipped out of bed. She crossed the pavilions and ponds, and with a soft creak, pushed open the door.

The falling snow was silent, and no one was outside.

She frowned. Just as she was about to close the door, something slid in at her feet.

It was a small, thin black snake.

The snake appeared young, with no discernible spiritual energy. Its tiny body was almost swallowed by the snow as it slithered across the ground. If Ji Lingyue hadn’t had such sharp eyesight, she might not have even noticed it.

She closed the door and used her demonic energy to lift the little snake into the air. “Whose spirit beast are you?” she demanded.

The snake, dangling by its tail, struggled to lift its round head, flicking its tongue in displeasure.

Ji Lingyue threatened, swinging it by its tail. “Hmm?”

With that swing, the black snake suddenly shuddered. Its body, once as thin as a chopstick, instantly swelled to the thickness of a wrist. Ji Lingyue was forced to let go. As it landed in the snow, several demonic black spikes emerged around it, poised and ready, aimed at the increasingly large snake.

The giant snake swayed, its terrifying head almost level with Ji Lingyue’s face. It opened its maw, and under the woman’s watchful gaze, let out a long, dry heave.

Ji Lingyue: “…”

Was it really that nauseating just from being swung around?

But soon, she realized that there was something wrong with the snake. It had been gagging for a while, without throwing up anything. It seemed to be choking, its tail beating against the ground.

She hesitated for a moment, then took a step closer, peering into its mouth.

There was indeed something stuck deep in its throat.

Ji Lingyue was surprised. She looked up at the snake’s golden eyes. “You want me to take it out?”

The black snake nodded repeatedly.

Ji Lingyue couldn’t help but show a look of disgust. “You should find someone else to help you.”

The black snake: “!”

It shook its head furiously, writhing its body closer to Ji Lingyue’s hand. Its dark, serpentine face even showed a hint of barely detectable distress. After a moment of silence, Ji Lingyue clasped her hands behind her back and said, “Fine, wait here. I’ll find someone else to help you.”’

After a short while, Lan Wu, having been dragged out of bed, stared blankly at the giant snake. “You’re saying… you want me to pull something out of its throat?”

Ji Lingyue nodded.

Lan Wu peered into the snake’s mouth at the slimy liquid, speechless. “Why don’t you do it?”

“My hands are clumsy, I’m afraid I’ll hurt it.”

Lan Wu pouted. “Since when have you been so gentle?”

Despite her words, seeing the snake’s discomfort, she stepped forward and carefully manipulated a few green vines to probe into its throat. Soon, a mucus-covered bundle fell into the snow. Lan Wu withdrew her slimy vines with a disgusted “Ew,” shaking her head. “These two are ruined.”

The black snake hissed, its body shrinking back to its original chopstick size. It turned and slithered away.

“Hey, aren’t you going to take your thing?” Lan Wu was taken aback, watching it disappear through the crack under the door. She looked at Ji Lingyue suspiciously. “So, it’s just giving this to us?”

Ji Lingyue seemed to have figured something out. “Open the oil paper wrapping.”

Lan Wu hummed, using the contaminated vines to untie the knot. She opened the oiled paper, revealing a bronze mirror and a red pill.

Both items looked clean. Lan Wu picked up the pill and sniffed it, her expression changing. “Wait, this… smells of merfolk blood.”

“Merfolk blood?” Ji Lingyue frowned, picking up the mirror and examining it. “This also has spiritual energy.” As soon as she finished speaking, the yellowed mirror surface glowed softly, and a voice came from within. “It seems the delivery was successful.”

Ji Lingyue was startled. She looked down at the mirror, and another face appeared. “Chu Jiao?”

Chu Jiao stood in a dimly lit room, nodding. “It’s me.”

Although they had expected Chu Jiao to respond after receiving the jade token, they hadn’t expected her to be so quick. Lan Wu quickly pulled Ji Lingyue back into the room, closing the door tightly. “It’s the middle of the night. What’s going on, Miss Chu?”

“Because it’s the best way to avoid prying eyes,” Chu Jiao said calmly. “I’ll be direct. I know you want to find evidence of the Chu family’s evil deeds. I can help you.”

“Why?”

Chu Jiao blinked, lowering her voice. “Perhaps… because I feel it’s not worth it.”

She didn’t elaborate on why it wasn’t worth it. Instead, she asked, “Miss Lan, you should have received the pill, right? Does it seem familiar?”

Lan Wu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “This pill smells of merfolk blood.”

Chu Jiao hummed. “This pill is called the Blood Condensing Pill. It’s a secret medicine of the Chu family, and there are very few of them. Even my mother could only get one per year.”

Lan Wu’s lips tightened, “Does Penglai… still have merfolk imprisoned?”

“Of course not.” Chu Jiao said. “That’s why I suspect this medicine… is actually made with blood taken from the old family head.”

“You mean Chu Chen?”

Chu Jiao raised her eyebrows, surprised. “Miss Lan knows more than I expected. Yes, the former family head is Chu Chen. I first saw him ten years ago and learned that he was still alive. And it was also ten years ago that the Blood Condensing Pills started appearing from Chu Jiangchi’s hands.”

Lan Wu quickly asked, “Where is Chu Chen now?”

“I don’t know. Chu Chen is elusive. That meeting ten years ago was the only time I’ve seen him. Moreover, Chu Jiangchi ordered all of us who knew to keep it a secret, not a single word to be revealed.”

Ji Lingyue suddenly asked, “And you just obeyed like that?”

“Of course not. At first, I didn’t want to get involved in any of this.” Chu Jiao said softly, “It was my mother. My mother… she had a fanatical worship of Chu Chen. To prove her loyalty, she even planted a sub-Gu worm in herself and gave the mother Gu to Chu Chen. But she didn’t realize that this would become their means of threatening me. No… maybe she did know, she just didn’t care.”

Ji Lingyue silently watched her for a moment before sighing and turning her head away.

Lan Wu brought the conversation back on track. “But how do you plan to help us? Can you find Chu Chen?”

Chu Jiao answered, “I planted a Gu worm on Chu Ji.”

Lan Wu was taken aback. “Chu Ji?”

“That’s right. He had a big argument with Chu Jiangchi today and, in his anger, drove away all the people Chu Jiangchi usually sends to protect him. When I went to visit him, I secretly swapped the three remaining Blood Condensing Pills in his box. Each one has a Gu planted in it.”

Chu Jiao smiled. “Chu Jiangchi only has one son, and he loves him dearly. Guess who he’ll choose, Chu Chen or Chu Ji?”

Before Lan Wu could speak, Ji Lingyue frowned. “An argument? What were they arguing about?”

“Chu Jiangchi wants Chu Ji to return to Penglai, but Chu Ji refuses.”

“At a time like this, he wants Chu Ji to go back to Penglai?” Ji Lingyue recalled the group of demons they had encountered in the desert. “I heard a beast tamer say that the demons are getting closer. It seems they are planning something. Do you happen to know anything about it?”

Chu Jiao nodded. “Of course. The demons are quietly closing in on Shiling City. And I’ve already taken control of Qing Zibai’s cousin and some others. They are the cultivators on duty at the barrier checkpoints. When the time is right, we will work with the demons from the inside, and Shiling City will fall.”

Lan Wu said softly, “Just like Wangliang City?”

Chu Jiao blinked. “Just like Wangliang City.”

The two women stared at each other silently across the mirror. Lan Wu pursed her lips. “You said you’re coordinating with the demons. Does that mean there’s a demon secretly working with you?”

Chu Jiao admitted, “Yes. As for who that demon is, I’m sorry, but I don’t know.”

“Then what is the Chu family’s goal in all this?”

“I’m sorry, I don’t know that either. I’ve only been carrying out the tasks Chu Jiangchi assigned me. As for their ultimate goal, I have no idea.”

After a moment of silence, Lan Wu sighed. “Alright, it’s enough that you’ve told us this much.”

“Is that so?” Chu Jiao lowered her gaze, her fingers unconsciously brushing against the table. After a while, she said, “The reason I told you all this is also for my own sake. After all, I can’t kill Chu Jiangchi and Chu Chen on my own.”

“You want to kill them?”

Chu Jiao nodded. “Chu Jiangchi values you highly. Or perhaps it’s Chu Chen who values you. That’s why, when he found out you had come to Shiling City, he was in such a hurry to have you killed. He was so desperate that he didn’t even bother to investigate your background before sending the Chu family’s elite to eliminate you. My mother… died because of this.”

Lan Wu stiffened slightly, biting her lip.

“But I don’t hate you,” Chu Jiao said calmly.

“Everything my mother did she did willingly. She was beautiful, foolish, arrogant, and reckless. She sacrificed so much for the Chu family, and I gave everything for her. And in the end, it was all for nothing.”

She smiled faintly. “My mother revered Chu Chen so much. Now that she’s dead, Chu Chen should join her.”