“What's all the racket? Haven't I arrived?”
A woman's voice, raspy like dry, dead wood, rang out. Moments later, a woman wrapped entirely in black cloth with her face veiled appeared in the courtyard.
“One Eyed Immortal, your temper hasn't changed a bit. So impatient that you can't even wait for a single moment. Are you in such a hurry to be reincarnated?”
The moment this woman appeared, the large scorpion on the ground that was devouring the hair worms came to a halt.
The creature crawled up her robes onto her shoulder, flicking its tail toward the scruffy beggar.
The scorpion's shell was glossy black, its intricate joints tinged with a faint shade of teal, and the barbed stinger on its tail gleamed with cold malice, making it clear that a single sting from it would be excruciating.
“Old hag,” One Eyed Immortal cursed under his breath. Seeing the venomous beast raise its tail high, he flinched in alarm before spitting out spitefully,
“Tell that precious beast of yours to behave! We've both taken the bounty, so for now, we're on the same side. Don't go starting infighting among ourselves before we've even killed the target.”
“She's just a little girl who stepped onto the path of cultivation a few months ago. How formidable could she possibly be? Even if she were a prodigy blessed by the heavens with an immortal instructing her in dreams, it would still be impossible for her to complete Qi Condensation and break through to mid-stage Qi Refinement within half a year.”
Huaguzi stroked the large scorpion on her shoulder, her eyes shifting beneath the black veil:
“First, let's get one thing straight. I don't care about the bounty money for this job, but whatever is on that girl, I get seventy percent.”
“You calculate well, old hag,” One Eyed Immortal cackled with a rasping laugh. “Everyone says that girl received guidance from an immortal in her dreams before suddenly achieving enlightenment and embarking on the immortal path. Whatever she carries is bound to be extraordinary.
“You talk tough, but if you were truly confident, you wouldn't have agreed to take this bounty board together with a beggar like me. You may be skilled in poisons, but your cultivation rank is lower than mine. By all accounts, I'll be doing the heavy lifting, so I should get the seventy percent.”
“That girl is a member of the Demon Suppression Division, after all. If we fail to kill her, it will bring endless trouble down the line. The bounty explicitly stated that she might have companions with her, and they must all be eliminated together. I only asked you along for backup. 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 even track her down? Sixty-forty. If you still refuse, then we part ways right here and rely on our own abilities.”
“That's easy enough! I heard her family lives right here—parents still around, along with a younger brother and sister, running a butcher shop at the entrance of Lingbai Alley.”
Although One Eyed Immortal found her reasoning sound, he still wanted to push for more:
“If we grab her family, I refuse to believe she won't show her face.”
Huaguzi felt anger surging inside her, deeply regretting having sought out such a brainless fool for assistance:
“Are you a complete idiot? We secretly took the bounty from Mandarin Duck Tower to eliminate that girl in private. Once she's dead, if we frame it as her perishing alongside a demon beast, the Demon Suppression Division won't have any evidence, and who would ever know it was us? If you go and kidnap her family, leaving aside the rule against acting against mortals, the Demon Suppression Division won't let you live. Even other demon suppressors, if only to set an example and protect their own families, will spare no effort in hunting you down and executing you publicly!”
—Who didn't have parents, wives, children, or relatives?
If they actually did something like that, they could kiss their immortal path goodbye; waiting to die and be reincarnated would be faster.
“Then what do you propose?! I've inquired already—that girl left over a month ago. In this vast world, who knows where she went?”
One Eyed Immortal said impatiently:
“The bounty gave us a time limit of three months, yet right now we can't even find a shadow of her.”
“Is that so hard?”
Huaguzi gave a smug laugh. Reaching into her collar, she pulled out a finger-thick bamboo tube, opened it, and tipped out a centipede curled into a ball.
The creature was plump and pitch-black all over, save for its head, which bore vivid, concentric patterns.
Crawling onto the ground, the insect extended its antennae to probe in every direction, leading the two along with frequent stops until it finally halted before the mother vat and went still.
Huaguzi squatted down, pinched a bit of the withered hair worms, and sniffed it. Her eyes suddenly lit up:
“This is a wine worm raised on Yin energy! I never expected to encounter one here. Lift this vat, let me take a closer look.”
Though reluctant, One Eyed Immortal sank into a horse stance, grunted with exertion, and lifted the heavy vat up.
Huaguzi examined it carefully for a long while before a smirk finally formed on her face:
“So that's how it is... I understand now. The servants present that day all claimed there was a ghost in the house. The young master and the steward went to find Nan Zhi to catch the ghost, but when they returned, they inexplicably passed out drunk. When they woke up, Wang Fugui was found hanged, the female ghost had vanished without a trace, and even the young master and steward were nowhere to be found. What this wine vat contained was a Yin Wine Worm raised on dead human bones. Perhaps as time passed, the wine worm developed intelligence and killed Wang Fugui. Nan Zhi must have recognized the Yin Wine Worm as a treasure and secretly claimed it for herself. Fearing exposure from Young Master Wang and the steward, she eliminated them both before using ghost-hunting as a pretext to flee with the treasure.”
“A treasure?”
One Eyed Immortal asked in confusion, staring blankly at the dried hair worms on the ground. “A bug raised on corpse bones and wine—how is that a treasure?”
“Hmph, that only goes to show how ignorant you are.”
Huaguzi scooped the centipede into her palm and said nonchalantly:
“To obtain a Yin Wine Worm, one must first travel to a land of extreme cold to capture a male and female pair of wine worms. Then, select one and insert it into the skull of a maiden whose virginity remains intact, feeding it on her brain marrow. Once the wine worm sucks the marrow dry and its color turns from white to red, it is placed into wine to be raised. On every first and fifteenth of the lunar month, rootless water and earth energy water are added into the vat while exposing it to moonlight, absorbing the world's Yin energy. Only after forty-nine years does a true Yin Wine Worm emerge. A wine worm raised this way produces wine that astounds gods and ghosts alike. Even vengeful ghosts and malicious spirits would pass out dead drunk after taking a single sip. And if a cultivator drinks it, their cultivation progress will 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 direction.
“South? Seeing as the mid-July Ghost Festival is right around the corner, could that girl be planning to trade the Yin Wine Worm for treasures when the Gates of Hell open? A fine calculation, but she's still too green—unable to keep a low profile after obtaining a treasure.”
Huaguzi shook her head:
“What a pity. The wine worm was removed before it reached full maturity. Now, it can do no more than turn plain water into fine wine.”
Hearing this, One Eyed Immortal slapped his thigh:
“What a terrible shame! What a waste! That little Nan girl is truly hateful, ruining such a magnificent treasure!”
“This method of raising a Yin Wine Worm isn't something just anyone knows. Even I only read about it by chance in an ancient text. How could a mere mortal like Wang Fugui know such a technique?”
Huaguzi shook her head, her expression beneath the veil turning grave:
“There must be a powerful master giving advice from behind the scenes. If my guess is right, this Yin Wine Worm might very well have been raised by the person who issued the bounty on that girl. It's not easy for rogue cultivators like us to cultivate. Once we finish this job, we had better extricate ourselves as fast as possible to avoid getting tangled in serious trouble.”
One Eyed Immortal nodded, feeling lingering fear as well.
Rate on N.U.
