This was the first time Gu Xianwang had encountered someone who knew about both the Witch Clan and the Forbidden Witch Bone. After some deep thought, a shock ran through her like a bolt of lightning, leaving her trembling from head to toe. Yet she also realized that this hard-sought piece of the puzzle had arrived far too coincidentally—far too bizarrely. There were so many suspicious points that she didn’t even know which one to ask about first.
Xiao Sanxiao glanced at her and shook his head. “If you two gals had brought this notebook a bit sooner, things might’ve turned out different for me… Ah, it’s all fate. Truth be told, this old timer ain’t got many days left. Back in the day, I sure wouldn’t have spilled all this to you. You two wouldn’t have a clue how deep the waters run here.”
“That Gu worm on you ain’t somethin’ your average Joe recognizes. Even if you scour Yunnan or Hunan high and low, you’d be lucky to find one or two who could. This here’s special—you must’ve felt it yourself by now.” As he spoke, his eyes settled on Ye Chan’s fingers. He pursed his lips and went on, “Right now, your nails just got them clear vertical stripes. Give it a few more days, and those stripes’ll turn red. Once all ten fingers and ten toes are lined with red ones like that, well… that’s when it’ll be time.”
Ye Chan was starting to buy it now. She swallowed hard. “…T-time for what?”
Xiao Sanxiao smacked his lips and peered closely at her fingers, bending them this way and that. “Can’t say for sure. Could be three, five years. Could be eight, nine months. Don’t bother askin’ me how to fix it—I don’t know. Best advice I got for ya is to eat what you crave, drink what you fancy. Don’t waste your breath on that Long Family or Witch Clan nonsense. Might buy you a few extra years that way. Chasin’ ’em down? You’ll drop dead quicker. Ain’t worth it. Truly ain’t.”
Yang Baibai had called him a stinking old coot earlier, and sure enough, now that Gu Xianwang had steadied herself, she caught a whiff of that faint, rotten-fish stench wafting off him. The two of them were bone-tired; in this brief respite, they could scarcely process the avalanche of information. Frowning, she said, “We’re not asking for a cure, but at least tell us this: if no one else recognizes the Gu worm, how do you? And if you figure your days are numbered and wanna steer clear of this mess, why’d you agree to meet Long Li? Why risk your neck to save us now?”
Xiao Sanxiao lifted his bushy white brows and shot her a look. “Hmph, what’s with all the questions, little miss? Savin’ you two? That’s for rackin’ up some good karma. When you’re doddering on death’s door, you don’t wanna end up in hell’s wok. Saw ya in a fix, so I lent a hand. That Long gal? Seein’ her was my own business.”
“Bottom line, I’m tellin’ ya: quit huntin’ for that map. But like they say, you can’t talk sense to a damn fool bent on dyin’. Your feet, your path—I can’t stop ya, and I won’t try.”
With that, it was clear he was done talking. Gu Xianwang’s heart lurched. She understood: the one he really wanted to find was Long Li alone. Saving them had just been a side favor. He’d laid it out; believing him was their call. After all, they had nothing he wanted.
This old faker had roamed the jianghu as a charlatan for years. Yang Baibai had fixated on tracking down the Long Family Ancient Village, blind to the fact that the God Stick right in front of him was packed with the real deal. He knew about the Forbidden Witch Bone and the God Eye, and he could read Witch Clan script at a glance. Ye Zhen hadn’t picked wrong—he was the folk expert Ye Chan’s mentor had praised. The man didn’t have that academy polish. His age seemed close to her master’s, meaning he’d likely lived through the Long Family Ancient Village incident back then. Hell, he might’ve chased leads on it single-handedly ever since.
She’d dropped Long Li’s name on purpose just now, but he’d barely blinked—proof Long Li had probably already let slip she was Long Family. But why? Long Li had hidden her tracks for years, even disguising herself at Flower Fairs. Why tip her hand to him? Just to make sure he kept the Heavenly Book’s secrets under wraps?
But put herself in Xiao Sanxiao’s shoes: if she knew her time was up, why fear some Long Family name? It didn’t add up—a flat contradiction.
It was too hard. Maneuvering against people like this, with such lopsided information? Near impossible.
Gu Xianwang gave a bitter smile and lowered her head. She scooped some stagnant water from the stone crevice with her palm and pressed it to her face, letting the coolness seep into her skin to ease her anxiety a little. After a moment, she looked up and said, “You’re right, sir. Everyone has their own fate. The young ones aren’t guaranteed to outlive us, and having just a few days left isn’t anything unusual. In this world, not everyone pursuing the Long Family is after fame or fortune. Some people have no choice in the matter. Fate is absurd to begin with, and humans are fickle creatures like that—as long as there’s even a sliver of possibility, we’ll always gamble on it one more time.”
She smiled, cupped her hands in respect, and said, “I’m grateful for your assistance, sir. I apologize for all my earlier offenses.”
“Everyone in this cave today is someone I care about. I can ignore outsiders, but I can’t ignore them. The path ahead is full of danger, so I won’t drag you into it. This man is one of the surviving thugs from Golden Hook Town, but his gunshot wound is severe right now. If you’re still in the mood for good deeds, sir, you might consider dropping him at the nearest clinic. That would count as some positive karma.”
Her repeated use of “sir” left Xiao Sanxiao at a loss for words. A flush crept into the wrinkles of his old face. He glanced away, coughed lightly, and looked around awkwardly. Ye Chan caught his expression and understood immediately—this old fellow buckled under flattery; he was clearly starving for praise!
She hurriedly tugged at his sleeve, her big eyes shining with utter sincerity. “Old sir, it was my failure to recognize Mount Tai earlier. I overlooked a living treasure like you and even dismissed you as a God Stick. That just shows how shallow and ignorant I am. As the saying goes, ‘Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure.’ Us young ones have been schemed against and bullied by all sorts of jianghu folk along the way. You saw firsthand how we barely escaped with our lives just now.”
“And you say you don’t have many days left—well, neither do I. You were the one who spotted the gu worm in me with your own eyes. They say the words of those facing death are true and kind. Our mindsets are exactly the same right now. But you know the saying: some deaths are lighter than a goose feather, others heavier than Mount Tai. Sure, slacking off with food, drink, and idle pleasures might be fun, but like you, those with real ambition carry the world in their hearts—even if no one else understands—”
Her flattery was spiraling out of control when Xiao Sanxiao snorted and waved her off. “Enough, enough. I’m not half as great as you’re making me out to be. I’ve got two things to tell you two. First off, that girl took off after hearing a nursery rhyme that’s been going around this village. No idea what about it set her off, but it’s in some dialect I couldn’t quite make out—not like any inland tongue. It’s the kind of thing they sing here at night to hush the kids. Sneak up to a wall and listen close, and you’ll hear it yourselves. Second, that girl—she ain’t real Long Family.”
Gu Xianwang froze but didn’t dare contradict him at a time like this. She played along. “Not real Long Family? Have you—have you seen the real Long Family members?”
“Hmph.” Xiao Sanxiao snorted faintly. He stood and stomped his numb legs. His gaze pierced into the depths of the dark forest, his eyes even deeper than the night itself. After a long pause, he murmured, “Close enough. Believe me if you want—pretend I’ve laid eyes on ’em.”
“I believe you,” Gu Xianwang said, her voice tinged with excitement. “This means a lot to her. If she’s not one of those so-called Long Family members, that’s the best news possible.”
Xiao Sanxiao shot her a sidelong glance. “You girl… you sure set great store by your bonds. But even if she ain’t Long Family, her true identity’s liable to be a whole lot more tangled up than that.”
“Won’t keep it from you two—I do have words left unsaid to her, questions I need answered before I kick the bucket.” He scratched at his bald scalp and rasped, “They say if you’re sending Buddha off, see him all the way to the West. I got a rough idea where she’ll slip into that Yin-Yang Acupoint. If you young’uns ain’t scared of dyin’, this old codger can lead you there.”
Ye Chan sprang to her feet. “For real? We believe you, of course! You saved our lives—how could we not trust a respected elder like you? I—”
“Stop.” Xiao Sanxiao cut her off. “Shut your trap and follow. Hustle.”
He gave Ye Chan a look, clearly not expecting someone to start clowning around the moment they learned their days were numbered. Her nerve was something else—no wonder she got along with that girl. He rummaged nearby and plucked a couple of unidentified wild herbs. He rubbed the leaves between his fingers and stuffed them into Clinic Brother’s wound. Then he hoisted the man over his shoulder like a yoke and set off at a brisk pace.
To say Gu Xianwang trusted him completely would be utter nonsense. But compared to the risks staring her in the face, she was more eager to seize this hard-won source of information. She had no time right now to sit down and pry every scrap of intelligence they needed out of Xiao Sanxiao bit by bit. Her only choice was to gamble, staking it all on the reason Long Li had chosen him tonight.
~~~
After the group had circled a long way around, the landscape suddenly opened up. Only then did Gu Xianwang realize this was the exact spot where they had clashed with the Mountain Demon Pack earlier. From the direction, the pack’s nest and the ancient tomb lay to the northwest, roughly a mile and a half away in a straight line. But the terrain between—a vast expanse of jagged rocky ridges—would be a nightmare to traverse. Without a guide, she and Ye Chan fumbling on their own might take a day or two just to stumble back onto this mountain path.
It was only here that Gu Xianwang and Ye Chan truly eased some of their suspicions.
Xiao Sanxiao had stayed silent the whole way, hoisting the hundred-odd pounds of dead weight that was Little Bro on his back alone. At this spot, he shrugged the man off under a tree and stretched his legs. “I’ve dropped the guy here. Those monkeys nabbed you right in this area before. Those Golden Hook Town folks will probably swing back at dawn to clean up the battlefield. Whether he lives or dies is up to his own damn luck. Your packs—I remember ’em being nearby. The beasts wouldn’t know what to do with anything but food and drink; they’d snatch all that for sure. If you want ’em, go hunt now. Wait a spell and it’ll be light out, then we head for Longevity Eye Lake.”
The two large equipment packs didn’t require much searching. Ye Chan still remembered exactly where the Mountain Demons had rifled through and dumped them, stringing the gear up in inconspicuous branches. It seemed the Golden Hook Town villagers had deliberately trained the creatures to handle loot this way, ensuring maximum safety. Even if officials ventured into the woods for an investigation, nothing would lead back to them.
The women checked the packs and confirmed only food and water were missing. Luckily, the documents and books in Gu Xianwang’s pack were all intact. According to Xiao Sanxiao, most of Golden Hook Town’s people had trailed that coffin procession deeper into the mountains. He couldn’t pinpoint their location, but it felt like they were pushing into the heart of the primal forest. And their destination, Longevity Eye Lake, was none other than this area’s Thunder Sundial.
As the first rays of dawn crept over the eastern horizon and the night-long deluge finally ceased, the trio pressed swiftly into the mountains, taking care to brush away their tracks in the grass behind them. They’d left the man here and reclaimed the packs; when Golden Hook Town’s people returned, they’d spot right away that the two women had slipped the Mountain Demons’ grasp. With no time to change out of their damp clothes, the women could only pepper Xiao Sanxiao with questions as they went.
Ye Chan might not shine in many areas, but when it came to working a conversation, she was unmatched. She flattered Xiao Sanxiao smooth as silk the whole way, coaxing out what she should and shouldn’t have asked. “Master, so what’s a Thunder Sundial, really?”
Xiao Sanxiao shot her a glance. “You two gals got nothin’ but raw muscle to your names. The jianghu’s chock-full of secrets, and here you are, pokin’ around the Long Family’s marked acupoint without a clue. Don’t know if that makes you gutsy or just sick of livin’.”
“Earlier I mentioned this is the Yin-Yang Acupoint. Bet you two don’t know what that’s about either. Aw, hell, lemme break it down simple. An ‘acupoint’ is like an earthen chamber. A tomb claimin’ one means settlin’ into prime real estate on the land. ‘Treat the dead as the livin’,’ they say. Alive, you pick a feng shui mansion to boost your inborn luck and tap the earth’s qi where you dwell. Might’ve been headed for captain; give it a nudge, and you climb higher. For the dead, a good spot juices up your bloodline’s fortune. Folks’ birth charts ain’t equal—can’t overhaul ’em much. But take the good, ditch the rot, like the sayin’ goes. Same for fate: sidestep the rough patches, borrow the qi to smooth the road.”
“There are all sorts of acupoints in this world, just like medicines tailored to different symptoms. There are auspicious ones, and naturally, ominous ones too. Overdo the medicine, and you kill the patient—same principle here. The Child-Mother Acupoint and the Yin-Yang Acupoint are prime examples of these deadly acupoints. They’re called deadly because if you mess them up, it’s not just a stumble; it kills droves of people, even swallows the fortune of an entire clan.
The Child-Mother Acupoint lives up to its name: the mother protects the child, so it’s a paired formation. Ordinary folk with some cultivation can only see it as an auspicious site. Bury someone there, and it’ll take at least a hundred or eighty years before problems show—too late by then. The real trick is using an old Child-Mother Acupoint that’s turned deadly after centuries as the mother site. There’ll definitely be a connected child site nearby. Bury the person in that one, and you’re borrowing centuries of fortune swallowed by the mother acupoint. That’s seeking wealth and rank amid great peril.”
“And the Yin-Yang Acupoint? That’s a once-in-a-millennium find. Forget recognizing it—even ancient books barely mention it. This thing’s deadlier than the Child-Mother; though called an acupoint, it’s no earthly chamber but a heavenly formation. It’s not for burials but for suppressing souls. As the old saying goes, when you hate someone that much, you want to pin their soul too, dooming them to eternal unrest. That’s what the Yin-Yang Acupoint does. Because it’s so vicious and against the natural order, the feng shui lineage stamped it out thousands of years ago.”
“The Thunder Sundial, meanwhile, is a unique phenomenon in Qilin Land. Whether you’re dealing with a Yin-Yang Acupoint or a Child-Mother Acupoint, to pinpoint it, you first find the Thunder Sundial. If there’s a spot that always draws lightning during storms, that’s likely the key to the acupoint. Such lightning is called a Thunder Sundial.”
Hold on—Child-Mother Acupoint, Qilin Land. These terms sounded so familiar.
Gu Xianwang pondered as she listened, and suddenly her heart skipped a beat. Yang Baibai and Long Li had both mentioned these terms earlier, which meant they had already figured out the layout of this place.
If Xiao Sanxiao was telling the truth, and this wasn’t a Child-Mother Acupoint but the far more vicious Yin-Yang Acupoint, then where were those two right now?
And what about Master and the others?
