Chapter 51
Chapter 51: Relief
Shan Gao cried like the world had ended, shoulders heaving as if it had lost everything it ever loved.
Jiang Li Sheng stared at it, still furious—then found her anger catching on the edge of its misery. She pouted, voice rough. “Enough. Stop crying. Crying won’t fix anything. Think.”
“Think what?” Shan Gao wiped its tears with one paw, then spat out another insult anyway. “How does someone even fail an inheritance? You’re unbelievably stupid.”
Jiang Li Sheng choked, too tired to even curse back properly.
“And my wound,” Shan Gao added, sniffling. “What kind of crap are you cultivating? It hurts like hell and won’t heal. You have to treat it.”
Jiang Li Sheng glared. “I can’t move. My spiritual power is completely dried up, and you want me to treat you? Dream on.”
Shan Gao immediately resumed wailing. “Why am I so unlucky…”
The sound made Jiang Li Sheng’s head throb. She looked at Wei Qing Lan instead, eyes pleading without the strength to say much.
Wei Qing Lan didn’t spare Shan Gao a shred of sympathy. His gaze stayed on Jiang Li Sheng. “Very sleepy?”
“Mm.”
“Then sleep.”
His voice was calm, steady in the aftermath of ruin. “Chen Liu An still hasn’t woken. Sleep for a while. As for your spiritual abode, I’ll think of a way.”
Jiang Li Sheng made a small sound of agreement. The moment Wei Qing Lan eased his support, she toppled back onto the stone bed and fell asleep as if someone had cut her strings.
Shan Gao stared at her, disbelief mixing with grievance. “That dog thing… she’s unbelievable. She enters my master’s cave dwelling and sleeps instead of receiving the inheritance. I couldn’t stand it, so I woke her up. Who knew she’d wreck Bitter Mountain like this—and she still has the nerve to sleep…”
Wei Qing Lan lifted his eyes.
Shan Gao clamped its mouth shut instantly, shrinking into itself and scuttling to a corner without another word.
Wei Qing Lan reached out and gently nudged Jiang Li Sheng farther into the bed. The stone bed was wide; she was slender, taking up little space. He sat down at the edge without fuss and began meditating to recover his spent spiritual power.
The cave dwelling settled into silence. Outside, Bitter Mountain was silent too—ruin without even the courtesy of wind.
Shan Gao watched them for a while, looking wronged. One slept. One meditated. No one spared it even a glance. Exhaustion finally dragged it down. It closed its eyes, and before long, it started snoring.
Chen Liu An woke to the sound.
His eyes snapped open, and for a moment he didn’t know where he was. He stared at the scorched landscape outside—ash-colored earth, broken stone, silence too vast to feel real. Memory returned in sharp fragments: the storm like knives, his body tearing, the sensation of falling into an abyss.
He touched his chest, stunned.
He hadn’t died.
Thank the heavens.
Then pain arrived in full. He tried to move and winced. His robes were shredded. Exposed skin was covered in fine, scattered scars.
He dragged himself upright, pulled a fresh set of clothes from his storage ring, and changed with shaking hands. Then he followed the snoring into the cave dwelling.
The sound came from that foul-mouthed dog thing. Farther in, a man sat cross-legged on the stone bed—someone Chen Liu An recognized at once.
Wei Qing Lan.
Chen Liu An froze, shock widening his eyes.
Wei Qing Lan opened his eyes and looked at him calmly. “Senior Brother Chen is awake?”
Chen Liu An found his voice. “Wei… Kun Lun Sect’s Junior Brother Wei? You—why are you here?”
Wei Qing Lan answered evenly. “My sect’s Martial Grand-Uncle Qi divined that the omens in this area were unusual, so I came to investigate. I didn’t expect to run into Junior Sister Jiang and Senior Brother Chen—and I arrived just as you fell into danger.”
Chen Liu An’s breath hitched. “So you saved me.”
Wei Qing Lan nodded once.
Chen Liu An immediately cupped his hands, gratitude spilling out with urgency. “Thank you, Junior Brother Wei. Otherwise I’d be finished. No wonder I woke up still whole.” He swallowed, face pale with lingering fear. “You saw it—terrifying. Even my high-grade artifacts were useless. They shattered into pieces.”
Wei Qing Lan inclined his head. “It was terrifying.”
“Yes,” Chen Liu An said hoarsely. “Thank you for arriving in time. And Junior Sister Jiang…”
Only then did he notice Jiang Li Sheng sleeping on the inner side of the bed. He hurried two steps closer. “Is Junior Sister Jiang alright?”
“Not really,” Wei Qing Lan said. “When I arrived, she was down too—spiritual power completely drained. She’s weak all over and can’t even lift a finger, but her life isn’t in danger.”
Chen Liu An sucked in a sharp breath. “What in the world happened?”
Wei Qing Lan didn’t answer. His expression made it clear he didn’t have one.
Chen Liu An tried to piece together his own part. “After Shan Gao used the heart-devouring oath to open the Grand Array, I was yanked away by a huge force and thrown into a treasure vault. There were countless treasures, but I couldn’t just take them—each time I grabbed one, it turned to ash. Later I realized I had to use my sect’s drawing-in technique to obtain them.”
He took out what he’d managed to secure and laid it on the stone table—more than ten items. Then he pushed them toward Wei Qing Lan. “Junior Brother Wei, you saved my life. I have nothing else to repay you with. Take these.”
Wei Qing Lan smiled faintly. “Senior Brother Chen should keep them.”
“I can’t,” Chen Liu An said at once. “You saved me. If I don’t offer you thanks, my heart won’t be at peace.”
Wei Qing Lan’s gaze swept the items. He picked one up. “An alchemy furnace. Then I’ll take this. That’s enough.”
Chen Liu An immediately pushed a few more over. “Half and half. Junior Brother Wei, my life is worth far more than these. If you won’t take everything, then we split them evenly. You have to accept it.” His expression was stubborn, earnest to the bone. “Even if I gave you all of it, it would still feel like too little. If you ever need me, I’ll go through fire and water without hesitation.”
Wei Qing Lan’s faint smile didn’t change. “Senior Brother Chen is overstating it.”
“Not at all,” Chen Liu An insisted, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. “You’re strong, so you might never need me—but the items, you must take.”
Wei Qing Lan paused, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll accept them. It was only a small effort. Senior Brother Chen doesn’t need to keep it in mind.”
He put the items away into his storage ring.
Only then did Chen Liu An exhale, finally easing. He stored his own half back into his storage ring and couldn’t help sounding regretful. “There were so many treasures. I was too slow and only got these. The rest are probably gone now—there’s no way to retrieve them.”
He glanced toward Jiang Li Sheng and abruptly felt foolish for complaining. He lowered his voice. “Junior Sister Jiang looks worse off than me. Her spiritual power is drained… there’s a way to recover, right?”
Wei Qing Lan nodded. “There should be.”
Chen Liu An’s shoulders loosened slightly. “Then we’re lucky,” he murmured. “All of us. We’re alive.”
A beat later, confusion returned, sharp as a thorn. “Junior Brother Wei, I don’t know why Junior Sister Jiang and I fell from the entrance of the Qi Shan Secret Realm into Bitter Mountain. Do you know why? Have you seen anyone else?”
Wei Qing Lan shook his head. “I don’t know. Besides you two, I haven’t seen anyone else here.”
Chen Liu An sighed, long and weary. “Ah… why are we two so unlucky?”