Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 260 - Reunion (1)

The soil-eating demon had vanished at the water pool.

But at this moment, aside from a discarded bamboo hat, there was nothing, and there were no signs of a struggle in the surroundings.

Xiao Shuang walked over and took the bamboo hat from Zanxing’s hand: “Your Highness.”

“There are no signs of a fight, and the sounds from the communication talisman were also strange. It shouldn’t be someone from the sect. Gui Yansheng wouldn’t hide and reveal himself, and this place is peculiar,” Zanxing said, “Everyone should be extra cautious.”

Records about Yue Mountain are indeed very scarce. This map was personally drawn by Bu Jiang based on memories from decades ago. But given that several decades have passed, memories might have deviations. Moreover, mountains and forests cannot remain unchanged. Just because Bu Jiang didn’t encounter danger back then didn’t mean Yue Mountain was safe now.

Xiao Shuang walked to the edge of the pool and looked at the water, which was very clear, reflecting his shadow.

Zanxing glanced at the water and suddenly felt a chill in her heart. She quickly swung her staff down into the water: “Be careful!”

Before she finished speaking, the calm water of the pool was suddenly disturbed, and a viscous, oil-green claw reached out from it. The claw tried to grab Xiao Shuang but was blocked by Zanxing’s Wuyou staff, which was then grasped by the claw.

Everything happened very quickly. A tremendous pulling force came from the other end of the staff. Zanxing couldn’t avoid it and was dragged into the water with a splash.

Mimi screamed loudly and was the first to leap into the water as a Silver Moon Lion.

“Your Highness!” Xiao Shuang leaped into action, and the other demons quickly followed, jumping into the water one after another. The water was not deep, only reaching up to the waist, and it was also clear. They should have been able to find Zanxing quickly. However, despite the demons’ search, Zanxing and the creature seemed to have vanished into thin air, and they couldn’t find them anywhere.

Half an hour passed, and even though they had searched every stone at the bottom of the pool, there was still no sign of Zanxing. Mimi shook off the water droplets from its body and anxiously yelled at Xiao Shuang. Although Mimi was Zanxing’s spirit beast, Zanxing had not formed a blood contract with it to ensure its freedom. After all, once a blood contract was made, if the master died, the spirit beast would inevitably perish as well. Therefore, Mimi couldn’t sense Zanxing’s location.

“Lord Xiao Shuang,” the demon who had good relations with Earth-Eater looked at Xiao Shuang pitifully, “What should we do now?”

The usually gentle and refined scholar in the blue robe now had a cold, menacing look on his face, as if he wanted to devour the demon. He coldly said, “If anything happens to Her Highness, you’ll be the first to pay for it.”

The demon cowered, not daring to speak. He looked at the still calm water surface and prayed softly, “Gods and Buddhas, please ensure His Highness is safe and sound…”

*

The water was heavy and dark, with countless soft water plants tangled around like a woman’s fingers or ghostly long hair, wrapping around tightly.

These water plants seemed alive, layering and intertwining. Some were spread out, while others were curled up. Among the curled-up plants were bodies entwined like spider silk. Some corpses were nothing but dry bones, while others were fresh and unrotted. The most frightening were those halfway decayed, giving the water a dense, grave-like appearance filled with the dead.

Zanxing was also entangled in the water plants.

When Xiao Shuang was standing by the pool, Zanxing had glanced into the water and noticed something was wrong with just that one look. Earlier, when she stood in front of the pool, the water reflected her shadow. Later, when Xiao Shuang stood in front of the pool, the water reflected his shadow too. However, Zanxing’s shadow had disappeared.

It was not a shadow but a monster disguised as a shadow! The monster did not attack Zanxing initially, perhaps due to her Heavenly Demon bloodline or the presence of Mimi at her feet. But when Xiao Shuang appeared, the monster turned to attack him, only for Zanxing to block it with the Wuyou staff.

This thing should only be one, so it couldn’t disguise two shadows underwater simultaneously. The pool’s water seemed to have something strange about it. The clear water earlier was now murky and smelled of decay, indicating something was very wrong.

After the monster dragged Zanxing into the water, it disappeared, and countless water plants began to wrap around her. Zanxing used her demonic energy to burn away the water plants covering her eyes, and the scene before her transformed completely.

This place… seemed to be the monster’s lair.

The monster didn’t immediately devour its captives but instead took them all back to the bottom of the water, binding them with water plants. It was unclear whether it was to preserve them or to delay its enjoyment. Ordinary people who fell into the water either drowned quickly or suffocated due to the entangling water plants. If Zanxing hadn’t used the water-repelling bead given to her by the Water Lord, she would have found it much more difficult to manage.

The water around Zanxing naturally parted, creating a dry space for her underwater. She activated her energy, and the surrounding water plants were burned away by her demonic power. She emerged from the tangled water plants.

The pool water seemed to have some power that restrained her energy. Without a water-repelling bead, even skilled cultivators would be suppressed once they fell into the water, and with the dense water plants, their situation would be dire. Zanxing guessed that the Earth-Eater was also captured here. Since she was initially searching for the demon, she didn’t want to waste any time and began to search for its whereabouts among the mass of corpses.

Thanks to the demons of Heishi City, she was no longer afraid of the dead or ghosts. The demons had a much broader range of terrifying aesthetics, and her courage had grown. Zanxing quickly found the Earth-Eater entangled in the water plants.

The demon’s leg was half crushed, but as demons were different from humans, he hadn’t completely lost its life force and there was still some residual energy in his chest. Zanxing was about to take him away when her gaze suddenly fixed on something.

Beside the Earth-Eater, the water plants were entwined around a human body, with its head exposed. It looked very familiar, if she wasn’t mistaken, it should be someone from the Xiang Ling Sect.

Earlier, when they were in Li’er Country, Zanxing and her group had entered a secret realm with disciples from the Xiang Ling Sect. She remembered this particular cultivator, who seemed to be a senior sister of Pu Tao and had once given her food. This person was also likely dragged down by the monster and still had a faint trace of life. Without hesitation, Zanxing grabbed both of them and made her way to the surface.

With a splash, the water surface broke open.

Zanxing emerged from the water.

She placed the Earth-Eater and the Xiang Ling Sect disciple on the ground and was stunned when she looked up. Before her lay a vast sea of flowers, intoxicatingly fragrant. There were no mountain walls or Buddhist statues, no lush green forests, no pools—only a small water pond.

This was not the place she was in before.

What was going on? Where was Mimi? Xiao Shuang? The demons?

Zanxing took out the communication talisman, intending to ask Xiao Shuang where he was when she suddenly heard a voice behind her: “Who’s there!”

Zanxing turned around to see a group of people in cultivator robes. The leader gasped and shouted to those behind him, “Demons! Demons are here!”