Chapter 31: The Female Immortal in the Mist (Part 1): You Have to Take Responsibility for Me! Part 1

Miao Cunfu was already scared silent, only clasping his hands together above his forehead to beg for mercy. Mu Qian Tan ignored him and didn’t even glance at Heaven-Flipping Mirror’s corpse. She walked straight to Shang Shan’s side, bent down, grabbed the girl’s collar, and dragged her up along with the iron cage.

As soon as her feet touched the ground, she collapsed again from exhaustion. Shang Shan hugged the iron cage tightly and dazedly looked up. Seeing who it was, she chuckled. “Master.”

“Mm.” Mu Qian Tan put away Solitary Goose. She noticed a slight tremor in the stones at her feet, yanked Shang Shan’s collar again, and retreated two steps.

The collar tightened around her neck, and Shang Shan coughed twice. “I can’t breathe….”

Just as she was dragged away from the spot, a black shadow shot up from the cliff below, bringing a foul wind, then smashed heavily back down. Mud and water rained down. Shang Shan jumped in fright and leaned back against Mu Qian Tan’s leg. “What is that?”

Her gaze fixed. It turned out to be a massive, sturdy black frog. Its big mouth was tightly pursed, clamping two blood-drenched legs between its lips, and beside them was a hand at an odd angle—it was Dao Liangduan, who had fallen earlier.

The black frog’s lips wriggled as it tilted its head back and opened its mouth. Both chunks of corpse tumbled into the depths of its mouth and were swallowed by it.

Mu Qian Tan lightly lifted her knee to push the person away. “Get up.”

Shang Shan supported herself with the iron cage and stood. Her whole body was already soaked through, and the raindrops hitting her face gradually grew smaller. Dawn light scattered the dark clouds, casting sunlight. The demon sea that had flowed through the forest for half the night had stopped, and all the frogs glared angrily up at Flying Dragon Cliff.

Seeing this scene, Miao Cunfu fainted.

As the sun grew stronger, the stronghold bandits had been freed from their bindings. They had been forced to watch the entire fight without suffering any harm, but they had also lost the will to resist and chose to surrender.

Down at the base of the cliff, villagers who had heard the news gathered at the edge of the forest, cheering and applauding the few who had taken down the mountain bandits. The stronghold bandits came down one by one, allowed themselves to be tied up, and were escorted to jail by the officers to await trial.

Li Cheng was among the group, silent. Someone among the villagers said, “Isn’t that Big Brother Cheng from the neighboring village? He’s actually here too.”

“He’s a good man, but he went down the wrong path… Who knows what those mountain bandits promised him.”

“What else could it be? Definitely some life-saving medicine. The doctor said his daughter’s illness is incurable and told him to give up. After so many years, how could he?”

Shang Shan heard their conversation and blinked, looking toward Li Cheng as he was led away.

Miao Cunfu confessed the locations of their finances, including the treasure vault. The officers bustled about for a good while, searching the three men’s rooms and hauling out two large chests of gold and silver. They lowered them down the mountain on long ropes, took custody, and transported them to the village.

This money would be used to repair all the damaged buildings and tools in the village, with the rest stored as grain to get through this winter.

The people captured and brought to the stronghold were also released, and the villagers reunited with their long-lost loved ones, all teary-eyed.

Several officers carried Cuihua down as well. The Big Green Frog hugged its own tongue and hind leg, lying half-dead. The villagers, unaware of how the village had nearly been destroyed, let out gasps of surprise. They wanted to get closer to look but were afraid, so they only observed from afar, saying there was a Frog Village on the mountain—they had thought it was a legend, but it was real.

The iron cage was opened, and Frog Princess jumped into Tan Que’s arms. A soft, long tongue swept across her chin.

Tan Que giggled nonstop, then hurriedly hugged the princess and rushed to Cuihua’s side. Lingdang carefully examined the wounds, then extended her right front paw and scratched at them.

Tan Que’s hair nearly stood on end. Overjoyed, she rubbed her cheek against Lingdang’s smooth skin. “That’s great! It can still be cured!”

Shang Shan also breathed a sigh of relief. “Good as long as it can be cured. Looks like the demon is still more capable than me. If it were my leg broken, there’d be no way to heal it.”

Heaven-Flipping Mirror’s corpse was lowered via the gold and silver path, covered with white cloth on a pile of grass. The officers and villagers gathered around, somewhat troubled.

Even if they didn’t believe in gods, ordinary folk always held some reverence for great immortals. How could bandits who harmed people deserve a proper burial? But if they didn’t handle the immortal’s remains properly and he turned into a ghost to haunt them, what then?

New Year’s Money jumped onto the young man’s shoulder. Jiang Yuanqi said “excuse me” and squeezed to the corpse’s side. He lifted the white cloth with one hand and groped inside with the other. Soon, he pulled out a somewhat shattered Eight Trigrams Mirror.

He dropped the cloth and said, “People first, immortals second. Handle immortals the same way you handle people.”

The villagers agreed. “Alright.”

Seeing they didn’t need him here, Jiang Yuanqi tossed the Eight Trigrams Mirror as he walked toward Shang Shan and smiled. “Want this thing?”

Shang Shan shook her head. “No, it’s someone else’s.”

Jiang Yuanqi said, “But he’s already dead.”

Shang Shan said, “Still not mine.”

Jiang Yuanqi said, “Among immortals, it’s always whoever has the skill takes the treasure. Though this mirror isn’t that great, it can still be used a few times. Really don’t want it?”

Shang Shan said, “No.”

“Alright.” Jiang Yuanqi flipped the mirror over. The back had Red Satin as the base, with seven golden dots that connected to form the Big Dipper Seven Stars in the sky. He said, “If you don’t want it, fine. This thing is just a replica anyway.”

Shang Shan perked up a bit. “A replica?”

He held the mirror up to the sky and examined the fine cracks along the edge. “Yeah, it’s an imitation. The real one is a whole zhang tall, also called the Heaven-Flipping Mirror. Gilded and brilliant, a top-grade magic tool—impossible for a jianghu ‘great immortal’ like this to have it. He probably heard the stories of Big Dipper Seven Stars Palace and named his after it just to scrape by.”

That name caught Shang Shan’s attention. She repeated, “Big Dipper Seven Stars Palace? What’s that?”

Jiang Yuanqi grinned. “Can’t explain it in a few words. Ask your good master to tell you when you’re free.”

Shang Shan turned and asked, “Master, that Big Dipper…”

Mu Qian Tan said, “I don’t know.”

“Oh.”

Jiang Yuanqi lightly stroked New Year’s Money’s chin with his fingertip and tucked the small mirror into his robes. “My memory’s pretty good. Seems like that day in the forest was our first meeting, yet the immortal recognized me and knew the whereabouts of my long-missing family. I thought the immortal knew everything.”

He was still circling back to pry into that matter. Mu Qian Tan grew annoyed and shot him a glance. “I won’t reveal anything to you, and don’t beat around the bush. Handle your own affairs yourself.”

Jiang Yuanqi’s lip twitched ever so slightly. He paused before saying, “The immortal is right….” His smile didn’t change, but his eyes held little warmth.

Mu Qian Tan added, “Don’t assume one-sidedly. How do you know the family you’re looking for wants to see you?”

The words struck at his heart. Jiang Yuanqi said nothing more, fell silent for a moment, then cupped his hands. “Thank you for the immortal’s guidance.”

At this time, Tan Rong had settled all the hostages and walked over. With the greatest threat to the village eliminated, her face showed clear relief and gratitude. She gripped three money pouches and raw corn. “Thank you, immortals and heroes, for your hard work in wiping out Flying Dragon Stronghold. This is your reward.”

She had prepared three heavy money pouches—one for Shang Shan, one for Jiang Yuanqi, and she weighed the third in her palm, hesitating to hand it out.

The reason was simple: the immortal standing in the back looked so aloof, her face screaming “keep away,” her demeanor distant and coldly pale. Plus the prior incident with the frozen corn soup, she was hard to approach.

After hesitating, Tan Rong handed it to Shang Shan. “This is for that immortal.”

After presenting the money pouch, she also gave them the corn, explaining it was a local custom. When the village thanked people, they always gave two plump ears of raw corn, symbolizing abundance and golden fields.

Shang Shan hugged four ears of corn, which pressed against her chest wound and made her draw a sharp breath. Afraid Tan Rong would notice, she held it back, pursed her lips, and nodded to show she’d heard.

While they talked, the frogs on the mountain began heading home, making quite a stir. It drew the villagers’ attention, who exclaimed in admiration and said they’d have to visit the mountain more afterward to pay respects to the frog gods who broke the bandits, praying for good fortune.

Accustomed to treating mountain spirits as gods, the common folk always did this. Tan Rong said, “Frogs are very gentle creatures and know to repay kindness. You helped them today—wherever you go after this, frogs will help you.”

Shang Shan said, “Wow, that’s amazing! Then I want to raise a frog at home so I don’t have to ride the immortal crane all the time to cross the Narrow Sea.”

She half-turned her little face, glanced at Mu Qian Tan, lifted her chin, and pouted, as if lodging a complaint.

The Narrow Sea encircled Azure Palace at its center. Compared to the true great seas, it was far smaller, but trying to row or swim out would still exhaust one half to death. For now, they could only enter and exit via White Pupil.

This brain-damaged dragon Shang Shan couldn’t stay idle. She found the mountain too quiet and lonely and always wanted to go out to play with others—mainly Qin He. But Mu Qian Tan disliked traveling, so she refused every time. It had probably built up some resentment in her, and she was holding onto it.

Receiving the accusation, Mu Qian Tan responded flatly, “You’re too dirty.”

Last night, she had rolled around plenty in the prison mud and puddles. That beggar outfit fit her beggar status even better now, with patches hardened solid. Her hair was a tangled mess like seaweed, her little face caked in mud, only her eyes still bright.

Her overall look reminded Mu Qian Tan of a chocolate bun from her childhood, dusted thick with cocoa powder—called a dirty bun. Now it was a dirty dragon.

Shang Shan scrunched up her little face. She didn’t need to look down to know she was indeed pretty dirty, so she drooped dejectedly. Seeing this, Tan Rong said enthusiastically, “I’ll have someone prepare hot water right away. Immortal, go wash up, have a meal, and rest.”

She had planned to leave directly, but seeing her like this, Mu Qian Tan didn’t really want her on White Crane’s back. She nodded lightly in agreement.

Tan Rong led them to a spacious courtyard and sent people to heat water and prepare the freshest ingredients for a big meal. Mu Qian Tan said, “No need to go to such trouble. Two small dishes and a bowl of rice will do. We’ll eat and leave.”

How could one eat casually in the countryside? Tan Rong wanted to warmly persuade her, but seeing that face more ethereal than a statue of Guanyin yet too coldly aloof, she couldn’t say a word. She just nodded vigorously. “Alright, just as the immortal says.”

They entered the room and sat at the table to rest.

Before long, two sturdy men carried in hot water and filled a full tub behind the screen. They handed over soap pods, clean towels, served two plates of small dishes and a bowl of rice, then closed the door and left.

Shang Shan’s stomach was rumbling like thunder. She wanted to eat first then bathe, but Mu Qian Tan elegantly kicked her off under the table. “Wash first. You’re affecting my appetite.”

“Ow!” Her butt hurt from the fall. Shang Shan cried, “I’m hungry too! I haven’t eaten in forever—a whole day!”