Chapter 22: No Fierce Tigers in the Mountains (Part 1): A New Bite Mark on the Collarbone Part 4

There were no words to describe Mu Qian Tan’s mood at that moment. Three days without results, and it turned out it had been on her head the whole time—and it really was something the Female Protagonist had grabbed at random!

She held the snake and pinched the bridge of her nose in silence for a long while. When the chicks in the tree hollow finally tired of cheeping and rested, she recovered, let out a long breath, and said, “Since we’ve found it, let’s go. Time to deliver the message.”

Shang Shan was dumbfounded again. “Huh? Just like that? Didn’t we promise to help them break the array?”

Mu Qian Tan pressed two fingers to the back of her neck, preparing to summon White Pupil. “Did I promise? I only said I’d consider it. Besides, we found this snake ourselves—it has nothing to do with them.”

Shang Shan spun in place, hands spread wide. “But the Weasel and Old Mother Hen have already gone to help us search. There’s that gorilla outside—it’s so dangerous, but they’re willing to go out. How can we just leave?”

“And, and,” Shang Shan squatted down and stroked the clutch of chicks. “What about them? With the Old Mother Hen gone, what if they get eaten?”

Mu Qian Tan said, “What does that have to do with you?”

Shang Shan said, “I just promised to watch the house for the Old Mother Hen!”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Why should I delay our journey because of your casual promise to someone else?”

Shang Shan argued, “It won’t take long. We’ve already found the little snake, right? Next, we just go up the mountain, find the array core, and destroy it!”

“That’s why I say you have no brains,” Mu Qian Tan said coldly. “A wave of the sleeve that killed more than half the animals on the mountain—a magic array that lasts this long without fading. That’s how terrifying its spiritual power reserves are. Can you gauge that immortal’s strength? Can you guarantee we’ll successfully destroy it?”

Shang Shan fell silent. She truly hadn’t considered that.

A moment later, she said, “Whether we succeed or not, we have to try. We can’t just back down right away.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “This is backing down? Use that empty head of yours and think—this is called not borrowing trouble. Be careful you don’t bring disaster on yourself.”

Shang Shan had no retort. After a quiet moment, she suddenly turned, scrambled up the tree, spread her arms wide, hugged the trunk tight, and shouted, “You go if you want—I won’t! I’ll wait for the Weasel to come back and have her take me to the array core!”

Mu Qian Tan let out a scornful chuckle and turned her head away, her fingertips combing through stray hairs.

As she pondered what excuse to use to lure her down, she heard the girl say, “If we just leave like this, wouldn’t that be seeing death and not saving? Can you really watch them die? Does that mean the rumor is true?”

The second item in the three infamous rumors was about seeing kin die without helping in Copper Mound Town. If she ignored family, let alone animals that hadn’t even formed human shapes.

All emotions vanished in an instant. Mu Qian Tan lowered her hand and looked up at the tree. “Qin He told you?”

Shang Shan said, “I was curious and asked her myself.”

“Heh…” Her thumb rubbed her fingertip. Mu Qian Tan said, “Now you’re ignoring the sect master and choosing to believe me?”

“I’ll listen!” Shang Shan hugged the trunk tighter. “But I’ll also watch! I can see everything you do!”

“Oh.” Mu Qian Tan glanced back at a pile of fallen leaves somewhere, lightly tapped her toe on the ground, retreated a few steps, then beckoned to the girl in the tree once she stood firm. “No more chit-chat. Cultivators settle things with strength—the victor decides. We can do that too. Come down and fight me. If you win, we’ll do it your way.”

Shang Shan shrank back. “I can’t beat you.”

Mu Qian Tan set aside her rusted sword and Solitary Goose. “This time, as you say—bare hands only. I won’t use spiritual power.”

Shang Shan was tempted. She started to loosen her grip but hugged tighter. “But you love to lie!”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Not this time. Besides, if I wanted to use spiritual power, I could do it now and yank you down from the tree. Why bother negotiating?”

That made sense. Shang Shan figured it out. “Alright!”

She slid nimbly down the tree, rolled up her sleeves, and got into a ready stance. She’d always thought pure hand-to-hand would let her win against this woman. Now she could finally test it!

She assumed an attacking pose, stared at the woman, yelled “Here I come!”, and lunged forward, aiming to knock her down with one punch. But as she got closer, the ground suddenly softened beneath her feet. She plummeted down, experienced a moment of weightlessness, then crashed hard to the bottom, dizzy and seeing stars.

The flat ground that had been covered in leaves now had a six-foot-wide pit. Mu Qian Tan walked to the edge and looked down at the disheveled girl at the bottom. “See? No lie—I didn’t use spiritual power.”

While setting traps earlier, she had discovered some large pit traps left by past hunters. They usually just had a mat inside, no other lethal weapons, and the walls were smooth—hard to climb out of.

This kind of trap was quite suitable as a minor punishment and wouldn’t truly endanger her life, so she had kept an eye out for one. Just now, she had noticed this one and deliberately lured Shang Shan over, never expecting it would be so easy to trick her.

Shang Shan sat at the bottom of the pit, her hair and clothes covered in fallen leaves and bits of straw. It took her a good while to react, and she flew into a rage, her face twisting in fury. “You’re going too far! You’re really going too far!”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Mm.”

Shang Shan jumped up and down, trying several times to climb out but failing. She bellowed in rage, “You bastard! You tricked me again! Bastard, bastard! One day, I’ll teach you a lesson! Remember this!”

“Idiot,” Mu Qian Tan gazed at her. “Since you want to stay here so badly, fine. I won’t deliver the letter anymore. I’ll just keep you company here. Whenever you admit your mistake to me, I’ll let you out.”

Shang Shan said, “What exactly did I do wrong?”

“Who knows?” Mu Qian Tan chuckled lightly. “The mistake of not listening and making me unhappy, I suppose.”

With that, she turned lightly and picked up the rusty sword and Solitary Goose, heading to the chicken coop to rest.

At first, Shang Shan kept cursing and trying to escape the pit. But after half a day, she finally gave up. Mu Qian Tan felt relaxed as she ate the fruit she had gathered earlier in the day, drank some water, and gently kneaded the soft bodies of the chicks with her fingers. By evening, the Weasel and Old Mother Hen still showed no sign of returning.

As the sky began to darken, Mu Qian Tan brushed the dust off her knees and stood up. She checked the remaining traps. Only one had caught an animal—a mountain chicken. Though it was a demon, it hadn’t cultivated any spirituality and could only cluck weakly. It was already on the verge of death from starvation.

She grabbed the mountain chicken and returned. With quick efficiency, she killed it, plucked it, and set it over the fire to roast. The rich aroma instantly spread everywhere. Once the roast chicken was done, Mu Qian Tan deliberately brought it to the edge of the pit and asked, “Not going to apologize?”

Shang Shan sat on the ground, her stomach gurgling loudly, but she stubbornly turned her head away. “No. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

Mu Qian Tan said, “Oh, what a pity. Guess I’ll have to eat the whole chicken myself.”

Shang Shan’s throat moved as she huffed.

“Oh, right,” Mu Qian Tan looked at the roast chicken and suddenly said, “This chicken I roasted? It’s that Old Mother Hen from earlier.”

With a whoosh, Shang Shan shot upright, her eyes widening. An icy shock and chill filled her face. She stared blankly for a long time before asking, “Really?”

It was the first time Mu Qian Tan had seen such clear cold fury on her face—quite novel. “Yeah.”

“You!” Bloodshot veins crept into Shang Shan’s eyes, her voice trembling. “She already had some spirituality! She even protected her own chicks! You’re too vicious! You don’t deserve to be human!”

Mu Qian Tan said airily, “Between the two of us, who isn’t human is still up in the air.”

With that, she turned back to the fire and began tearing into the roast chicken, her movements slow and deliberate. Li Biyuan said sweatily, “I’m really scared of you…”

Smashing sounds kept coming from the pit nonstop. Mu Qian Tan said indifferently, “What’s the big deal?”

Li Biyuan said, “Aren’t you worried the Female Protagonist will tear you apart one day?”

Mu Qian Tan scoffed. “She’d have to have the ability for that.”

She didn’t have much of an appetite to begin with, and her stomach was already padded with fruit. After just a few bites of roast chicken, she couldn’t eat any more. But since she had successfully gotten the upper hand on the Female Protagonist, she was in a great mood and magnanimously wrapped up the remaining roast chicken in some dry rations paper, planning to reward it to Shang Shan once she apologized.

As she thought this, the smashing sounds from the pit grew louder. Mu Qian Tan figured she wouldn’t back down for a while. Seeing that it was late, she picked up her weapons and returned to the chicken coop to rest.

As she sat there, she leaned against the tree trunk and began to doze off. While drifting in and out of a dream, she suddenly sensed danger approaching. She snapped her eyes open and saw a black figure lunging at her face.

Startled, she kicked out, sending the shadow flying and rolling several times. Only then did she see it was Shang Shan.

Mu Qian Tan narrowed her eyes and quickly looked toward the pit. A large hole had been dug in the wall. Shang Shan had actually clawed away the dirt with her bare hands, piled it under her feet, and climbed out.

“…” She turned back. The girl sprawled on the ground had hands covered in mud, her nails black and even bloodied. The eyes hidden behind her hair strands gleamed with a sharp chill colder than moonlight.

In the next instant, Shang Shan charged again. Mu Qian Tan hooked Solitary Goose with her toe, flipped it into her hand, swiftly drew the bowstring, and shot an Ice Arrow. It struck Shang Shan’s elbow squarely, instantly freezing that arm—but her momentum didn’t slow. She rolled upon landing and closed the distance in a flash.

Mu Qian Tan wanted to draw the bow again, but at such close range, it would definitely injure her—possibly fatally.

She wasn’t at the point of killing the Female Protagonist in a place like this, so she drew her dagger instead, hoping to threaten her to stay back. But Shang Shan crouched low, gathered her strength, and leaped, biting the tip of the dagger. With a backward yank, a crisp cracking sound rang out—the dagger snapped right off.

At this point, Mu Qian Tan still had a chance to escape. But staring at the broken dagger tip, she couldn’t snap out of her shock for a long time. Right then, a cold glint flashed, and excruciating pain stabbed through her collarbone.

“Urk.”

The world spun. With a thud, she was tackled to the ground, Solitary Goose and the dagger rolling from her hands.

Shang Shan hugged her tightly, legs hooked around her waist, arms locked around her back. Her face buried in Mu Qian Tan’s neck, teeth clamping down mercilessly. Amid the intense pain, she felt hot blood rapidly draining from the torn skin, the sensation of teeth grinding against bone sending shivers down her spine.

The spiritual power she had just gathered scattered from the pain. Mu Qian Tan’s face paled as she pushed at her shoulders. “You…”

Just then, Old Mother Hen emerged from the bushes. Seeing the two sprawled on the ground in the night, she exclaimed in surprise, “Oh my! Why are you two queens fighting?!”