“What are you shouting for? Haven't I arrived?”
A raspy female voice, sounding like withered wood, rang out. Before long, a woman appeared, her face masked and her entire body wrapped in black cloth.
“One Eyed Immortal, your temperament hasn't changed at all. So impatient, you can't even wait a single moment. Are you in that much of a hurry to be reincarnated?”
As soon as the woman appeared, the large scorpion on the ground that had been devouring hair worms stopped.
The insect crawled up the woman's robes and onto her shoulder, flicking its tail at the scruffy beggar.
The scorpion's exoskeleton was a glossy, oily black, its joints exquisitely formed with a faint hint of azure. The cold glint on its stinger made it clear that a single sting would be a truly agonizing experience.
“Poisonous old hag,” One Eyed Immortal cursed under his breath. Seeing the venomous creature raise its tail high, he jumped in alarm and gritted his teeth. “Tell that treasure of yours to settle down. We’ve both taken the bounty, so for now, we’re on the same side. Let's not start an internal feud before we've even killed the target.”
“She's just a little girl who entered the path a few months ago. How powerful could she possibly be?”
Huaguzi stroked the large scorpion on her shoulder, her eyes moving behind the black cloth. “Even if she’s a natural genius with an immortal teaching her in her dreams, it’s impossible for her to have achieved Qi Condensation and broken through to mid-stage Qi Refinement in just half a year.”
Huaguzi’s eyes shifted under her mask. “Let’s get this straight. I don’t need the bounty money, but I get seventy percent of whatever items that girl is carrying.”
“You poisonous hag, your math is certainly favorable to yourself. Everyone says the girl stepped onto the immortal path after a sudden epiphany from an immortal in her dreams. The things she carries must be extraordinary.”
One Eyed Immortal gave a harsh, cackling laugh.
“You talk a big game, but if you were truly confident, you wouldn't have agreed to take this bounty alongside a beggar like me. You might be good with poisons, but your cultivation is lower than mine. By my reckoning, I’ll be doing most of the work, so I should get seventy percent.”
“That girl is part of the Demon Suppression Division, after all. If we fail to kill her, it will lead to disaster. The bounty specified that she might have companions who must be eliminated as well. I only invited you for support. If you're unwilling, I can take her head and claim the reward alone.”
Huaguzi let out a cold sneer.
“Besides, without me, how would you find her trail? Forty-sixty split. If you still won't agree, then we part ways here and each rely on our own skills.”
“That’s easy enough. I heard the girl’s family is right here. Her parents are both alive, and she has a younger brother and sister. They run a pork shop at the entrance of Lingbai Alley.”
Although One Eyed Immortal felt her words made sense, he still wanted to fight for more.
“If we seize her family, I don’t believe for a second she won't show her face.”
Huaguzi felt a surge of fury, somewhat regretting that she had sought out such a brainless fool for assistance.
“Are you an idiot? We took the bounty from Mandarin Duck Tower in secret to take this girl out privately.
If she dies, we make it look like she perished along with a demon. The Demon Suppression Division won't have any evidence, and who would know we were the ones who killed her? If you go and kidnap her parents and kin—setting aside the rule against attacking mortals—the Demon Suppression Division would never let you live. Even other demon suppressors would hunt you down relentlessly and execute you publicly, if only to protect their own families and deter others!”
Who didn't have parents, wives, children, or relatives?
If they actually did such a thing, they might as well stop thinking about the great path of cultivation; they’d be better off just waiting to die and reincarnate.
“Then what do you suggest! I’ve asked around. That girl has been gone for over a month. In this vast world, who knows where she went?”
One Eyed Immortal said impatiently, “The bounty only gave us three months, and we haven't even found a shadow of her yet.”
“Is that so hard?”
Huaguzi smiled triumphantly. She took a finger-thick bamboo tube from her collar, opened it, and poured out a curled-up centipede.
The insect was plump and oily black, with vibrant, concentric patterns around its head.
The centipede crawled onto the ground, its antennae probing here and there. It led the two of them on a winding path before finally stopping in front of the mother vat and going still.
Huaguzi crouched down, pinched a bit of the withered hair worms, and sniffed. Suddenly, her eyes lit up.
“These are Yin wine worms raised with yin energy! I didn't expect to encounter them here. Lift this vat so I can take a better look.”
Though reluctant, One Eyed Immortal dropped into a horse stance. With a low grunt of exertion, he hoisted the vat.
Huaguzi inspected it closely for a long time before a smile finally touched her lips.
“So that’s how it is... I see.
The servants present that day all said the house was haunted. The young master and the manager went to find Nan Zhi to exorcise the ghost, but when they returned, they mysteriously fell into a drunken stupor. When they woke up, they found Wang Fugui hanged, the female ghost gone, and the manager and young master missing as well.
This wine vat was filled with Yin wine worms raised on human remains. Perhaps as time passed, the wine worms gained sentience and killed Wang Fugui. Nan Zhi must have recognized the Yin wine worms as treasures and secretly took them for herself. Fearing that Young Master Wang and the manager would report her, she killed them both and then used the excuse of ghost-hunting to flee with the treasure.”
“Treasure?”
One Eyed Immortal was confused. He stared blankly at the dried hair worms on the ground. “How is a bug raised on bones and wine a treasure?”
“Hmph, this is why you are ignorant.”
Huaguzi scooped the centipede into her palm and said nonchalantly:
“To obtain these Yin wine worms, one must first go to a land of extreme cold to catch a pair of male and female wine worms. Then, one is selected and placed inside the skull of a chaste woman to be fed on her brains.
Once the wine worm has sucked the brains dry and its color turns from white to red, it is placed in wine to be raised. Every first and fifteenth of the lunar month, rootless water and earth energy water must be added to the vat. It must be exposed to the moon to absorb the yin energy of heaven and earth. Only after forty-nine years like this can true Yin wine worms be obtained.
The wine brewed with such wine worms startles even ghosts and gods. Even a vengeful ghost would fall into a drunken stupor after just one sip. If a cultivator drinks it, their cultivation speed would increase by leaps and bounds.”
With that, Huaguzi stroked the centipede in her hand. Sure enough, the insect bobbed its head and pointed in a certain direction.
“South? It’s almost the middle of the seventh month. Could that brat be planning to trade the Yin wine worms for treasures when the Gates of Hell open?
A clever plan, but she's still young. She couldn't hide the treasure once she got it.”
Huaguzi shook her head.
“A pity. The wine worms were taken out before they reached the right age. Now, they can only turn plain water into fine wine.”
Hearing this, One Eyed Immortal slapped his thigh.
“What a waste! A waste! That Nan family brat is truly hateful, ruining such a fine treasure!”
“The method for raising Yin wine worms isn't something just anyone knows. Even I have only seen it mentioned occasionally in ancient books. How could a mortal like Wang Fugui know this method?”
Huaguzi shook her head, her expression beneath the veil turning solemn.
“There must be a master behind this. For all we know, these Yin wine worms were being raised by the very person who put out the bounty on the girl.
Cultivation isn't easy for us rogue cultivators. Once we finish this job, we should get away as quickly as possible to avoid getting tangled in big trouble.”
One Eyed Immortal nodded, feeling a lingering sense of dread as well.
Rate on N.U.
