Chapter 65: The Mountain Vine Demon

The direction Tan Bajhang pointed was toward a well-known place deep in Wulong Mountain: the Sky Pit Drum. The so-called Sky Pit Drum was a massive sinkhole about half a li across and over twenty zhang deep. Looking down from the peak of Jade Maiden Mountain, it resembled a giant drum buried in the earth; except the "drumhead" had been torn open. Liu Xiaolou had been there before. Aside from the unusual terrain, there was nothing especially strange about it. The pit was filled with shrubs and trees just like any other place, and swarming with bats and venomous insects. Mosquitoes, in particular, were everywhere. It wasn’t a place anyone would want to live, which is why no one from Wulong Mountain had ever tried to settle there. But now, the Sky Pit Drum looked nothing like it had before. A massive vine had burst from the bottom of the pit, towering several stories high, looming like a small mountain. Thick tendrils whipped and writhed in all directions, thrashing like claws. At the top of the vine was something that looked like a monstrous head, with a twisted, snarling face. You could just make out its savage eyes and a gaping mouth full of sharp teeth. It wasn’t just a mountain; it was a demon. Liu Xiaolou stood frozen, wide-eyed, jaw slack, just like Tan Bajhang. Since when did Wulong Mountain grow such a giant demon? Liu Xiaolou had heard stories about demons before, but he’d never seen one with his own eyes. And nothing this big. His jaw just about hit the ground. More than a dozen Mountain Gods had surrounded the Sky Pit Drum. Some were tall, some short, some massive, some small; each with a different form. Looking closer, Liu Xiaolou saw that within the thrashing vines, one Mountain God stood out. He was nearly thirty feet tall, wearing a golden crown of flames and a jade-inlaid purple-gold belt around his waist. In his hands was a phoenix-winged, gold-inlaid halberd. He was locked in fierce battle with the vine demon. This Mountain God was barely a tenth the size of the vine demon, but he moved with incredible speed, darting, twisting, and leaping with effortless agility. Even though the vine demon’s long tendrils wove a dense, web-like net around him, they couldn’t so much as graze his robes. In fact, whenever he swung his phoenix-winged, gold-inlaid halberd, it unleashed bursts of flame that scorched the vines black and sent up clouds of smoke. But the size difference was just too great, and the vine demon was highly resistant to fire. For every burning tendril that fell away, another quickly sprouted in its place. The web of vines grew thicker, the attacks more precise, and little by little, the Mountain God was being overwhelmed. He was soon teetering on the edge of danger. Tan Bajhang, watching from above, was growing more anxious by the minute. He snapped angrily, “What the hell are those Qingyu Sect people doing? Just sitting around watching the show? With a demon this size, who cares about rules anymore? Why not rush it all at once? This is demon-slaying we’re talking about!” Liu Xiaolou felt the same. Wulong Mountain was his home too, and all he wanted now was for Qingyu Sect to destroy that demon before it made going home impossible. As for that whole “three sects vs. one sect” business; they could settle that after the demon was dead. From their vantage point on Jade Maiden Peak, they had a clear view of everything. Qingyu Sect’s top cultivators were all gathered around the Sky Pit Drum. They’d stationed a few people at Half-Mu Gorge to the northwest, and others on Guzhang Mountain to the southeast, forming a loose perimeter. A few were also posted at Ghostdream Cliff, but none of these were the main force. Almost all their focus was locked on the battle at the pit, and they didn’t seem the least bit concerned about the three sects approaching from outside the mountain. After watching for a while, Liu Xiaolou suddenly seemed to catch on. “Qingyu Sect,” He murmured, “they're using this to temper their disciples?” Tan Bajhang had noticed it too. “That’s how they temper their disciples? Qingyu Sect really does live up to its name…” Just then, Liu Xiaolou pointed toward Ghostdream Cliff. “Brother Tan, look!” Atop the cliff, a Mountain God clad in golden armor was climbing up the rock face. His figure, over ten feet tall, made him impossible to miss. Tucked under one arm was a person. When the golden-armored Mountain God reached a stone cave at the top, he set the person down. A Qingyu Sect cultivator standing guard stepped forward, grabbed the man roughly, and dragged him toward the cave. The captive had clearly had his meridians sealed. He was too weak to resist. Just before he was shoved inside, he turned his head, scanning the surrounding peaks, clearly hoping someone would come to his rescue. But he didn’t get to look for long; one of the guards gave his butt a hard kick, sending him flying through the cave entrance and out of sight. As the golden light around the Mountain God faded, he transformed into a boy, about fifteen or sixteen years old. A guard handed him a cowhide wine flask, which he raised and took a long swig from. “You’ve worked hard, young master,” the guard said respectfully. The boy waved it off. “Not really. The guy was just stubborn and rebellious. Even after I revealed my manifest, he still resisted. Took me quite a bit to subdue him.” The guard chuckled. “These wild cultivators are always trouble. You should’ve just killed him. Why bother dragging him back? What good is he?” The boy shook his head. “Didn’t get much out of him. He claimed he wanted to earn some merit and pointed out a tunnel he said the enemy might use. But with all the rats running around Wulong Mountain, we’ve already found ten hideouts just like that. Nothing special. Still, we don’t know where he came from. We’ll question him more later.” Turning to leave, the boy added, “I’m going to patrol the mountain again, just in case those other sects send more people to interfere with Senior Brother Jing’s training. Oh, and some scoundrel was heading to Jade Maiden Peak for a rendezvous. Who here knows that place? The wretch wasn’t exactly... forthcoming with details..." “Hold on, young master,” replied the guard. “I’ll head inside and find a local rogue cultivator who knows the area. Maybe he can help.” Ghostdream Cliff was sparsely wooded, offering little cover. From the top of Jade Maiden Peak, Tan Bajhang could see everything clearly. His expression darkened. “Brother Tigerhead…” Liu Xiaolou sighed with regret. “He was a good man. How did he end up getting caught?” Tan Bajhang’s eyes were rimmed with red. “Brother Tigerhead was a true man of honor. I only knew him for a month, but he was bold, generous, and full of fire. He wandered the world as a rogue cultivator, but carried himself with the pride and spirit of someone from a great clan. You couldn’t help but respect him.” Liu Xiaolou was filled with guilt. “This is my fault. I shouldn’t have agreed to split up during the scouting. He didn’t know the terrain. Of course he got caught.” Tan Bajhang spoke with sorrow in his voice. “Now that war’s about to break out, anyone caught scouting the mountain will be seen as a spy. Brother Tigerhead was full of courage and loyalty; he’d never talk. I’m afraid... he won’t survive this.” Liu Xiaolou broke three small branches and planted them in the ground. “Brother Tan, we knew him. Let’s pay our respects.” The two of them bowed three times to the branches. Their mission into the mountains had been a success. They’d gathered valuable information, and now it was time to head back and claim their reward. But just as they were about to descend, something in the Sky Pit Drum suddenly changed. The Mountain God locked in combat with the vine demon erupted in a brilliant violet light. So bright that even from the peak of Jade Maiden Mountain, Liu Xiaolou and Tan Bajhang had to shield their eyes. With the sudden burst of violet light, a deep rumble like muffled thunder rolled through the mountains, shaking the peaks. The massive vine demon exploded in the blinding light—its flaming tendrils and branches blasted apart and shot out in every direction. The sound was so deafening it made Liu Xiaolou and Tan Bajhang’s eardrums ache. In an instant, both of them went completely deaf, staring at each other in shock. Tan Bajhang was shouting something, his face twisted with panic. But Liu Xiaolou couldn’t hear a word. He shouted back at the top of his lungs, “RUN. NOW!” But even his own voice was lost to him. Still, it didn’t take sound to understand the danger. The shattered, burning remains of the vine demon were raining down like fire-laced shrapnel. Staying put was not an option. With flames strong enough to shatter the demon vines, who knows what kind of damage they'd do if they touched them! A chunk of flame came streaking toward the sky above Jade Maiden Peak and exploded again with a thunderous blast. Liu Xiaolou and Tan Bajhang bolted, tumbling and scrambling down the mountain in a full-blown panic, yelling incoherently; one of them screaming “Jump!” the other just shouting “Ahhh!” As Liu Xiaolou ran, he suddenly felt a searing heat in his throat; something had forced its way into his stomach. When the two of them finally tumbled down into a secluded hollow near the base of the mountain, Tan Bajhang doubled over and vomited violently. A wad of bloody phlegm splattered onto the ground. And in it was a seed, squirming and twitching in the blood like a living thing. The seed struggled for a moment, then dissolved into foam on the wind. Tan Bajhang gasped, breathing hard. “That... was close!” Liu Xiaolou, still beside him, was frantic. “Brother Tan... why can’t I spit mine out?!”