Chapter 43
Chapter 43: Concealment-Illusion Talisman
After being chased for three days and three nights, Jiang Li Sheng was beyond tired. Her bones felt hollow. Her eyes burned. If she sat down for too long, she might fall asleep and never stand again.
She sank to the ground anyway, panting, and pointed at the spinning, swearing beast. “Senior Brother Chen—how long can your talisman hold that bastard?”
Chen Liu An watched Shan Gao struggle. The binding force wobbled as the beast’s rear end whipped it around like a toy. “Normally an hour,” he said, not sounding confident. “But that thing is too fierce. I don’t know if it’ll shake free sooner.”
Then he frowned. “You said it’s Shan Gao?”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded. “Look at it. Doesn’t it match the Shan Gao described in the monster compendium?”
Chen Liu An coughed, embarrassed. “I didn’t study the monster compendium that closely. Before coming, I only read the records our sect seniors left about demon beasts they met in the Qi Shan Secret Realm. I don’t remember anything like this.”
Jiang Li Sheng sighed. “Shan Gao comes from Bitter Mountain. But we entered the Qi Shan Secret Realm—shouldn’t we have fallen near Da Gui Mountain?” She spread her hands. “When I first met it, I was confused too. If I remember correctly, Bitter Mountain is over a thousand li from Da Gui Mountain. How did we end up here?”
Chen Liu An’s eyes widened. “Then what is going on?”
“I don’t know.” Jiang Li Sheng blew out a tired breath. “I’ve been trapped in this dead forest for three days. It chased me for three days. You saw my sword-flying speed—it’s not slow, right? And still, I couldn’t escape.”
Chen Liu An nodded grimly. “Same. I fell in here too. Three days. I haven’t even seen a mouse. Thank goodness I ran into you, Junior Sister Jiang. Otherwise I’d have started chopping trees.”
Jiang Li Sheng stared at the endless dead trunks. “Chopping… all of these?”
“I don’t know how long it would take,” Chen Liu An admitted. “But doing nothing wasn’t an option.”
They both looked at the dead forest, and the dead forest looked back with the same unhelpful silence it always offered.
Jiang Li Sheng sighed again. “So what do we do?”
“First priority is killing that bastard,” Chen Liu An said, eyes on Shan Gao. “Junior Sister Jiang—does the monster compendium mention its weakness? How to kill it?”
“It does,” Jiang Li Sheng said, sounding like she hated the answer. “In ancient times, Di Ku was traveling and met one. It cursed nonstop. Di Ku’s dog Pan Hu bit it to death.”
Chen Liu An stared. “That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“So we need an ancient dog.”
“Seems like it.”
Chen Liu An grimaced. “Even if we had one, it’d probably eat us too.”
Jiang Li Sheng nodded solemnly. “Probably.”
Shan Gao, as if insulted, roared, “Son of a bitch! Let me out! I’ll eat you! I’ll tear you apart!”
Chen Liu An’s temper finally snapped. “Bastard. One day I’m going to kill you.”
“I’ll eat you! I’ll tear you apart!”
“I’ll skin you and toss you in an oil pot!”
“Useless trash! Let me out and I’ll rip you—”
Jiang Li Sheng coughed and cut in, voice raspy. “Senior Brother Chen. Let’s go. Don’t argue with a beast.”
Chen Liu An looked faintly ashamed, like he’d just noticed he was rolling in mud. “Right. Yes. Go—go-go-go.”
They stepped onto their swords and shot away.
Shan Gao thrashed. Flames burst from its fur in furious waves. Its curses boomed like thunder, but it could only watch them flee.
After a moment, Chen Liu An called over the wind, “Junior Sister Jiang—where are we even going? Are we heading the right way?”
“East!” Jiang Li Sheng shouted. “If this really is Bitter Mountain, we have to go east to reach Da Gui Mountain!”
“Understood!” Chen Liu An shouted back. “I’m following you!”
They flew fast—fast enough that, for the first time in days, Jiang Li Sheng tasted hope.
Then Chen Liu An’s back prickled with heat.
A hot wind slammed into him.
His stomach dropped. He whipped around.
“Junior Sister Jiang!” he shouted, voice sharp with panic. “That bastard is chasing us!”
Jiang Li Sheng glanced back and went pale. “Senior Brother Chen—its speed doubled. It—it… it advanced!”
“Run!” Chen Liu An roared.
“I can’t go any faster!”
“I have gale talismans!”
He slapped one onto her sword hilt.
Her speed doubled instantly.
He slapped another onto his own sword.
His speed doubled too.
Jiang Li Sheng’s eyes stung with sudden gratitude. “Senior Brother Chen—how long do those last?”
“An hour!”
“How many do you have?”
“Two!”
Jiang Li Sheng: “…”
Chen Liu An grit his teeth. “I have other talismans, but none of them can kill it. At best they buy us time, and not much.”
He squinted at the blazing shape behind them. “That thing looks like a pig, but it tracks like a hound. We’ve gone this far—how did it find us?”
“It has an incredibly sharp sense of smell,” Jiang Li Sheng said, voice tight. Three days of being hunted had taught her that lesson the hard way.
She made a decision.
“Senior Brother Chen,” she called, “come close to me!”
Chen Liu An immediately steered nearer.
Jiang Li Sheng pulled out a talisman and slapped it onto him, then slapped a second onto herself. Two talismans—gone in a blink. She winced like she’d torn off her own flesh.
“That bastard is smart,” she said through clenched teeth. “From now on, don’t talk. Follow me.”
Then she abruptly veered north.
Chen Liu An didn’t question it. He simply followed.
A moment later, he saw it—Shan Gao didn’t follow their turn. It kept roaring and cursing as it charged east, chasing the direction it thought they’d gone.
Chen Liu An opened his mouth in shock, then clamped it shut, remembering her warning.
They flew north.
Then Jiang Li Sheng turned west, cutting away from Shan Gao’s path like a knife.
They flew until the hour was up and the gale talismans failed, their speed dropping back to normal.
Only then did Jiang Li Sheng finally speak. “You can talk now.”
Chen Liu An almost choked on the words he’d been holding. “Junior Sister Jiang—what talisman was that? That bastard didn’t notice us at all. It kept chasing east like an idiot. I’ve never seen anything like it!”
“It’s a type of invisibility talisman,” Jiang Li Sheng said, breath still rough. “But with an illusion woven into it. It’s called a concealment-illusion talisman.”
Chen Liu An stared at her like she’d just pulled the moon out of her sleeve. “That talisman is incredible. Where did you buy it?”
Jiang Li Sheng’s exhaustion lifted just enough for pride to shine through. “I drew it.”
Chen Liu An stopped in mid-flight. “What?!”