The two of them were newcomers to Daihai, and White-Brow Child lived in an exceptionally remote place, so Shui Wuchen casually picked up a twig and drew a map on the ground.
Though Shui Wuchen had lived in her little residence for many years, the whole of Daihai remained perfectly clear in her mind. Before long she had marked out the main roads and towns, mountains and rivers, then tapped the end of the twig into a barren mountain.
“White-Brow Child lives on this Ghost-Wailing Mountain. He grows many bizarre flowers and plants. Once you arrive, I imagine you’ll recognize the place at a glance.”
Jiufang Ziming stared in amazement. Qian Xuelang and Ren Yijue paid the inexperienced youngster no mind. They took their leave of Shui Wuchen and set out.
They flew high above the clouds. White clouds gathered around them, mountains and rivers coiled below like patterns on a tray, and towns dotted the landscape like pieces on a chessboard. It all matched Shui Wuchen’s drawing exactly.
Miss Wuchen is not only kindhearted but remarkably clever. When we first met her, even the Jade Beauty took the trouble to be tactful. Though he was hardly warm and affectionate toward her, he has certainly been thoughtful and considerate…
Ren Yijue could not resist looking at Qian Xuelang’s face. “The Jade Beauty seems to treat Miss Wuchen rather differently.”
Qian Xuelang frowned. He remembered Shui Wuchen’s teasing expression the night before and thought, You both think I treat the other one better. Is this what it means for the human heart never to be satisfied? However much people receive, they always envy what someone else has a little more.
Ren Yijue’s injuries had healed considerably over the past few days, but such a long journey still required Qian Xuelang’s help. Ren therefore exerted little effort, while Qian had to carry him in flight and watch the terrain at the same time.
Not wishing to engage, Qian replied offhandedly, “Would you like to be falsely accused for sixty-one years too?”
Ren Yijue was struck speechless.
With Ren Yijue no longer chattering in his ear, Qian Xuelang could finally concentrate on travelling. Half a day later, after looking around to orient themselves, they found Ghost-Wailing Mountain and descended slowly.
Ghost-Wailing Mountain truly was a desolate wilderness on the edge of nowhere. There were few trees, let alone people, and its barren slopes barely supported a blade of grass. A faint shroud of black mist hung over the place, making it look thoroughly ominous.
Qian Xuelang was about to proceed when he recalled Ren Yijue’s earlier complaint and Shui Wuchen’s advice from the night before. After a moment’s hesitation, he asked, “How is your body? Can you bear it?”
The vast black mist ahead meant little to Qian Xuelang, but for the injured Ren Yijue it might not be so easy to endure.
Thinking more carefully, the two of them had been on the move almost without a pause since leaving the mountain. Except for the time Ren had been suppressed by the Demon-Slaying Sword inside the case, he had never shown weakness. Even when he had offered himself as bait to rescue the Cui disciples, he had not wavered in the slightest.
Ren Yijue was pleasantly startled by this concern. “I’m fine. I’m touched that the Jade Beauty is worried about me, but a little demonic mist and foul vapour like this won’t trouble me.”
Qian Xuelang watched his expression and thought, Of course. Wuchen is extraordinarily perceptive. She has always been forgiving and understanding toward me, saying nothing beyond a few jokes. She must have been afraid I would hurt Ren Yijue’s feelings, so she made a point of telling me to respond to him more.
But Qian was accustomed to keeping his feelings distant. Having expressed concern once, he considered the matter settled.
Since White-Brow Child cultivated sinister techniques, the place where the black mist was thickest must be his residence. All they needed to do was follow the densest fog after arriving on the mountain.
They sped along for some time, and the fog grew thicker and thicker. It tried to envelop them both, but the moment it touched Qian Xuelang it recoiled as though burned. Instead, it quietly crept onto the hem of Ren Yijue’s robe.
Ren Yijue gradually felt his steps grow heavy. “I truly am a tiger fallen onto level ground, bullied by dogs. Even trifles like this dare to provoke me now.”
He formed a hand seal and pointed toward the water jade at his waist. Azure light suddenly surged from it, releasing a flood of pure spiritual energy. Wherever the surrounding black mist touched that energy, it churned like boiling water and retreated.
Having driven the mist back, Ren Yijue said, “What vicious fog. It starts hunting the moment it encounters a living person. Anyone slightly less capable would have fallen into its trap on the spot. White-Brow Child’s residence must be close.”
“Mm,” Qian Xuelang answered, and they continued.
After another dozen or so steps, they glimpsed a slim, slender figure in the mist, wearing an oddly shaped floral crown.
People praised a woman’s fingers as slender as scallions and her waist as supple as a willow. This figure, however, really did have limbs as fine as willow branches. Beneath the strange crown half a small, pointed face showed, swaying and dancing wildly in the mist. It was as light as a celestial dancer, frenzied yet alluring. For all its strangeness, it remained captivating enough to stir the heart.
Both men stopped.
Strangely, the figure neither approached nor retreated. It simply danced frantically in the mist. Before long a woman’s laughter drifted from within, gentle and intimate, echoing beside their ears.
Qian Xuelang took two steps forward, shielding Ren Yijue behind him as he approached the figure. The mist drew back before him. Then their vision blurred, and an enormous bloody maw suddenly lunged at them out of the haze.
A foul, cloying fragrance poured from it, enough to make a person dizzy. Even someone who avoided the trap would likely be dazed for an instant, long enough for it to tear away a mouthful of flesh.
Ren Yijue was behind him and had time only to shout, “Watch out!”
Qian Xuelang regarded it coldly and drew his saber. Before Ren’s warning had faded, a terrible shriek rang out as the great mouth was split straight down the middle in a single stroke.
The mist dispersed and the sound died away. Only then did they see that the thing before them was an enormous beauty flower.
Such flowers resembled shy young women wearing floral crowns and were also called bashful flowers. Most were only the size of a palm. This one, however, had a blossom as large as a person, with an even greater body. The part that had opened to bite them was its calyx, the same part that formed the crown on its head.
The enormous beauty flower had been cut down by Honglu and withered away in moments.
From its severed stem and leaves came a mass of flesh, including limbs and organs it had not finished digesting. It was almost as though they had killed a living person rather than a flower.
“I see.” Ren Yijue crouched to examine it. “White-Brow Child uses the black mist to cloud an intruder’s mind, then sends this beauty flower to lure them in. Once they’re entranced, the flower gets a meal.”
The beauty flower had been fed on living flesh. Who knew how many creatures it had killed to grow so large?
Ren Yijue stood and brushed the dirt from his hands, smiling faintly. “Good thing the Jiufang youngsters didn’t come along. They might have lost their tempers and rushed straight in to kill him.”
Qian Xuelang flicked the blood and flesh from his saber, wiped the blade carefully with a handkerchief, and only then sheathed it. “Something isn’t right here,” he said evenly.
“If the Jade Beauty says something isn’t right, then it must be wrong in a most extraordinary way.” Ren Yijue could not resist a quip. “What exactly is wrong?”
“The flower is dead. No one has come out.”
Ren Yijue’s smile stiffened and his face changed at once. “Let’s go!”
They raced farther in. Many other strange flowers and plants sensed the presence of living people and lunged at them, only to be cut down one after another by Qian Xuelang. From their severed stems spilled blood, flesh, bones, and the remains of their victims.
As the plants twisted and fell, several human skulls rolled free, more than a dozen in all. The most recent still had scraps of flesh clinging to it, a dreadful sight that filled the heart with sorrow.
“I’ve always heard of people eating plants,” Ren Yijue remarked. “Today I finally get to see plants eating people.”
His tone was light, but privately he thought, No wonder White-Brow Child hid in such a remote mountain. He must fear his victims’ avengers. Unfortunately, we need something from him, so our hands are tied for now. Once we get the information, would the Jade Beauty let me kill White-Brow Child? Even if he refuses out of consideration for the fellow’s help, I can sneak back and kill him myself. Of course, if White-Brow Child is far stronger than I am, that may prove impossible.
“Medicinal ingredients grown this way are hardly likely to produce wholesome pills,” Qian Xuelang said coolly.
As the flowers and plants wilted, the black mist gradually thinned. After exchanging only a few words, they came upon two or three houses among the vegetation. Moss spread beside the doors, and dead climbing vines twisted across the walls in layers, looking like so many hangman’s ropes.
This had to be White-Brow Child’s residence.
Qian Xuelang had cut down countless plants along the way, destroying untold years of White-Brow Child’s effort. Even a corpse might have leapt from its coffin in anger. Yet White-Brow Child had not stirred at all. Such silence could scarcely be explained by good manners.
As they drew near, a grating chewing sound came from inside, setting their teeth on edge. Ren Yijue took a step back. “There may be a trap in there. Be careful, Jade Beauty.”
Qian Xuelang made no reply. He tossed Honglu lightly and sent it straight toward the door.
Honglu’s power was tremendous. With a crash, the door shattered into fragments before the saber itself even touched it, struck merely by the force of its blade.
Qian Xuelang went in first. Inside stood a red flower half as tall as a person. Rows of gleaming teeth protruded from its bloom, more like two ranks of sharp daggers than human or animal teeth, and it was chewing on a small body.
Blood dripped from the red flower, but the smell of blood had been so strong all along their route that neither man had noticed anything unusual.
At first Qian Xuelang thought it was a child. He reached out and forcibly twisted the flower off its stem, removing the flower head together with half the remains. Only then did he notice two severed hands lying on the floor. Deep wrinkles covered them. The victim must have been an elderly person whose body was the size of a child’s.
He suddenly understood: either White-Brow Child had captured this person, or this was White-Brow Child himself.
“So he was a dwarf,” Ren Yijue said from behind him. “Old in years but small in body. No wonder they called him White-Brow Child.”
“This flower cannot have been feeding for long,” Qian Xuelang said. “We lost time outside.”
Ren Yijue had indeed considered killing White-Brow Child, but a death at this particular moment was clearly not an act of public service. It was the work of someone covering his tracks. “What timing. Now our lead is gone. Let’s search the place and see whether White-Brow Child left behind any last words or something of the sort.”
“Mm.”
They surveyed the house. White-Brow Child’s home had looked gloomy from outside, but the interior was darker still. Strange vines covered the beams and pillars, giving off an ominous green glow. They were the only source of light; there were no lamps or candles.
Apart from the plants, medicine cabinets filled every available space. Several dozen medicine bottles lay overturned on the floor. There had plainly been a fight, though not much of one. White-Brow Child had scarcely managed to resist, perhaps only stumbling against a cabinet.
The mastermind must have fed White-Brow Child’s body to the monstrous flower to dispose of the evidence. Had the two arrived a little later, it might have devoured him completely.
Beyond that, however, there was nothing that particularly stood out.
Qian Xuelang searched the house briefly without success. “The plants outside were undisturbed. White-Brow Child must have let the visitor in himself. They really did know each other.”
Ren Yijue suddenly crouched and yanked open the belt around the remaining half of the body.