Chapter 62

Wei Shizhe and Chen Suzhen had a pleasant conversation, and before they knew it, more than an hour had passed. It wasn’t until Cao Jinren came over to invite them for breakfast that they stopped talking.

He had prepared dry rations, roasted meat, and tea. The dry rations were the usual hard flour cakes, which had been softened over the fire, emitting a fragrant aroma of grains. The tea was not made with the best tea leaves but with a slightly lower grade. Wei Shizhe couldn’t tell the difference and ate and drank without much thought, while Chen Suzhen gave Cao Jinren a half-smiling, half-serious look, making him feel a bit uneasy.

Duan Wenhuan hurried over, slightly out of breath, with a fine sweat on his forehead, clearly agitated. He was practicing his sword skills secretly to the side. Wei Shizhe and Chen Suzhen ignored him, which eased his embarrassment.

They waited until midday for Wei Rongniang to return. She flew back with a serious expression and an unusually stern tone, warning the four of them not to mention last night’s events again, as if they had never known. Everyone obediently agreed, but they all secretly speculated about the reason.

Wei Rongniang seemed to remember something and asked about Tian Changshou’s body. Wei Shizhe said he had buried the body properly, and the area burned by the "Fire Snake Talisman" had been covered with soil, leaving no trace. Wei Rongniang nodded but still felt uneasy, so she asked him to go back to the burial site to ensure everything was in order.

She couldn’t wait to cross the mountain, so she grabbed Wei Shizhe’s waistband and took off on her sword, arriving at the forest where Hu An had tortured Tian Changshou in no time.

Wei Shizhe was held like a baby in Wei Rongniang’s hand, the waistband tightening his skin, and the sharp wind stung his face, making it hard to open his eyes. The feeling of being at someone else’s mercy made him feel suffocated. He even worried that if the waistband wasn’t strong enough and broke halfway, he might fall to the ground like a stone, landing in a daze.

Fortunately, that didn’t happen.

Flying on a sword looked graceful but was far from comfortable. They spiraled, dove, and the ground rushed up to meet them, making the world spin. When they finally landed, Wei Shizhe swayed but quickly steadied himself, his head still slightly dizzy.

Looking around, the place where he had buried Tian Changshou was now just a large pit, with the body nowhere to be found. Wei Rongniang’s face turned grim. Hu An’s actions were significant, and she had only been worried about Wei Shizhe’s cleanup. She hadn’t expected this to happen.

Could wild animals have dragged the body away?

The ground beneath their feet trembled slightly, and the soil bubbled like boiling oil. A dark, thick vine, as thick as an arm, suddenly shot up, its surface devoid of leaves but covered in sharp thorns. It carried a faint, bloody smell and quickly moved toward Wei Rongniang.

The Falling Star Sword responded to her thoughts, its light flashing as it severed the vine into two pieces. The foul-smelling sap splattered everywhere, and the severed vine let out a mournful cry before retreating into the ground, leaving a section behind.

Just as Wei Rongniang was about to step forward, she sensed something and used the Falling Star Sword to pin the vine to the ground. As expected, the severed half of the vine still had some spirit. When the sword pierced it, it writhed like a gecko’s tail, clearly waiting for her to get closer before attacking.

Wei Shizhe thought, "Could it be a vine that has become a spirit? I’ve never heard of such a creature in Kunlun Mountain!"

Wei Rongniang used a sword gesture to split the vine in two. The vine immediately lost its vitality and began to decay and disintegrate at a visible rate, turning into a pile of black ash.

Wei Rongniang retracted her flying sword but felt something was wrong. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the sword was contaminated by the vine’s sap, which spread like mold, damaging the sword’s spiritual energy. The Falling Star Sword was crafted by her senior brother Xun Ye, and she was deeply distressed. She quickly infused it with water qi to cleanse the sword, but the damage to the sword’s quality was irreversible.

A greedy, low growl echoed from underground, and the vines began to move through the soil, emerging from the ground in a frenzy, stretching and writhing. Wei Shizhe felt a chill. It was a bad year, and he had encountered a legendary "tentacle monster." If he were dragged underground unprepared, no matter how strong he was, he wouldn’t be able to break free, and his flesh and blood would be drained, leaving only a brittle skeleton.

To deal with such vine-like creatures, metal flying swords were the most effective, and fire spells could also cause damage. However, Wei Shizhe’s affinity was with earth, which was counteracted by the vines. His iron staff was a blunt weapon and not effective against the vines. He cautiously retreated behind Wei Rongniang and asked, "What kind of creature is this?"

"It’s a corpse-eating vine demon from the Taiyi Sect. Its main body is underground, and the sap in the vines can contaminate flying swords, making it very difficult to deal with." Wei Rongniang lifted Wei Shizhe and flew into the air, keeping a distance.

The vines writhed for a moment, then gradually stabilized. The soil and rocks parted, and a humanoid monster rose from the ground, identical to Tian Changshou, with dozens of vines extending from its chest, abdomen, and back, its face expressionless as it stared at Wei Rongniang.

"That’s the main body of the corpse-eating vine demon, which has parasitized Tian Changshou’s body. If left to wreak havoc in the mountains, it would cause great harm." Wei Rongniang hesitated for a moment and said, "Shizhe, can you hold it off for a while? I’ll be right back."

Wei Shizhe agreed to do his best.

Wei Rongniang set him down far away and flew off. Wei Shizhe drew his iron staff from his sword bag and cautiously approached a few steps. The corpse-eating vine demon, like a fly drawn to blood, swung its vines and charged forward.