Chapter 1963: Blood Sacrifice
The thought of the Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders being involved in this incident hadn’t even crossed Zu An’s mind back then, so he hadn’t suspected the survivors he had met then. The formation he had left behind was a powerful means against outside enemies, but it wouldn’t protect them from an internal threat.
Zu An immediately grabbed Ji Dengtu and rushed back to where Ji Xiaoxi and the others were. He asked, “Who’s the one possessed by a Heart-Devouring Demon Spider? Or are all of them possessed?”
“I don’t know who either. I only overheard their conversation while they were chasing after me,” Ji Dengtu replied grimly.
“They were chasing you?” Zu An asked. He suddenly recalled how the constables appeared to be combing the area when he first met them.
“That’s right. I was worried about Xiaoxi when she didn’t show up on our agreed date, so I came to Copper Gong Mountain to look for her. However, I bumped into these monsters instead. I was planning to save those constables, but I was no match for those monsters,” Ji Dengtu said. His heart swelled with fear when he recalled his encounter with the monsters.
“It’s incredible you survived an encounter with those monsters,” Zu An remarked.
Those Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders were by no means weak. Their strength was at least on par with a human grandmaster, and their unorthodox means made them particularly difficult to deal with. Even a grandmaster could easily get killed by them in a moment of carelessness.
Ji Dengtu raised his head proudly and said, “I was the second senior of the academy, after all.”
“I wouldn’t have known from your usual lustful demeanor.” Zu An scoffed.
Ji Dengtu scowled and said, “Return my Teacher Bai page. My heart was bleeding when I tore away the page, but I did it anyway to warn you.”
Zu An returned the page to him with a snort. “I knew you were nearby when I saw that piece of paper, but you could have done so in a more direct manner. What if I didn’t catch your signal?”
“Those monsters have enigmatic means, and you were hanging out with them. How was I to know whether you'd become one of their lackeys? You should be glad I was smart enough to bring out something only the two of us know about to discern your true identity!” Ji Dengtu retorted. He gently blew on the page before carefully taking out a book and putting it back in its place.
“The Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders are indeed tricky to deal with. They can control corpses and make it look as if they were alive,” Zu An replied grimly.
“That should be impossible from a medical standpoint. Even with the help of their abilities, it should be impossible for them to access their host’s full memories. At most, they should only be able to tap into the more recent or vivid memories, such as their name and identity,” Ji Dengtu said.
Zu An nodded. As a divine physician, Ji Dengtu’s words were credible. That was good news, or else the Heart-Devouring Demon Spiders could hide in a person’s body forever without anyone noticing. That would have made them terrifying enemies, as no one would know who to trust.
It was then that the two of them arrived at where Zu An had left Ji Xiaoxi and the others. Zu An’s eyes narrowed, as he noticed his formation had been destroyed. Judging from the snapped branches in the vicinity, the rising smoke, and the collapsed pile of firewood, it was evident that there had been a fight here not too long ago.
“Where’s Xiaoxi?” Ji Dengtu anxiously asked.
Instead of answering that question, Zu An rushed elsewhere, where a person was lying amid a puddle of blood. His expression darkened when he saw that person’s appearance.
“Hm? Why does this person look so familiar?” Ji Dengtu asked with a frown.
“His name is Sun Hai. I reached Xiaoxi in time thanks to him risking his life to protect her,” Zu An replied.
“I remember him now. He’s a wandering cultivator. He was fatally wounded when he visited me many years ago, but I was going through a tough time and couldn’t be bothered to treat him. Xiaoxi secretly snuck him some medicine to treat his injuries, and that saved his life,” Ji Dengtu said with a deep sigh. He felt bad that someone who had saved his daughter had landed in such a plight.
Zu An squatted down and inspected Sun Hai’s body, saying, “Someone pierced his heart from behind. It’s as you said. There’s a Heart-Devouring Demon Spider host in the group.” He also took the chance to infuse his ki into Sun Hai’s body to confirm that he wasn’t possessed by a Heart-Devouring Demon Spider.
Ji Dengtu panicked. He wondered, “Even he's dead, so where in the world is Xiaoxi?”
Zu An closed his eyes and spread his divine sense around. He soon noticed something and traveled three hundred meters southward. Without any hesitation, he reached out and grabbed something from the trees.
Just then, two swords lunged out. A frightened female voice cried, “Monster, I’ll bring you down with me!”
Zu An sent the two swords flying with a flick of his finger.
Only then did the other person get a proper look at him and cry in relief, “Sir libationer!”
Zu An had refrained from harming them because he knew they were the academy’s students, Chang Tian and Mei Rou. He asked, “Why are there only the two of you here? Where are the others?”
Ji Dengtu belatedly arrived at the scene, crying out, “Xiaoxi! Where’s Xiaoxi?”
The eyes of the two students reddened. They said, “A spider monster was impersonating Lu Bei all along. Big brother Sun is dead, Yao Fang is severely injured, and the monster took Miss Ji with it.”
“What?!” Ji Dengtu nearly fainted. He couldn’t believe his precious daughter had been kidnapped by the monster.
“Lu Bei?” Zu An repeated. He suddenly remembered how that man had tried to dissuade him when he proposed bringing them out of the mountain. However, he wasn’t going to blindly trust the two students’ words on the matter. He said, “Let me check your injuries. Meanwhile, I want you to fill me in on the situation.” He casually placed his hands on their shoulders and channeled his ki into them to check their bodies. He didn’t find any traces of the Heart-Devouring Demon Spider in them.
“We felt safe in sir libationer’s formation, and we hardly got the chance to rest for the last few days out of fear of the monsters, so fatigue swiftly struck,” Chang Tian explained. “We didn’t dare to go to sleep at once, as we knew that danger was lurking in the vicinity, so we let the ladies sleep first while the rest of us guarded an area each.”
Zu An nodded. It’s good to hear they aren’t flowers in a greenhouse. They know how to keep their guard up.
“Lu Bei suggested being placed in the same team as Sun Hai so he could take care of him. We figured that was the best arrangement too, as Lu Bei was the strongest one among us. Meanwhile, I took the rear,” Chang Tian said, roughly describing their positions.
Mei Rou added, “I was together with Yao Fang and Miss Ji. Despite her young age, Miss Ji is a strong woman. I noticed her keeping her eyes open even though we agreed to sleep together. In the end, I succumbed to my drowsiness and fell asleep.
“Not too long after, I awoke to a scream. By then, big brother Sun had already collapsed in a puddle of blood, and Chang Tian was severely injured. Miss Ji was protecting him from Lu Bei.” Mei Rou trembled as she recalled the situation, continuing, “We had no idea what was going on. Yao Fang was the closest to Lu Bei, so she stepped forward to question him. However, he incapacitated her with a single blow.”
Chang Tian nodded and said, “While I was on sentry duty, I heard a weird noise, so I headed over to check on it. By the time I arrived, Sun Hai had already been backstabbed by Lu Bei. I was trying to figure out what was going on when Lu Bei ambushed me too.”
Zu An nodded. That Lu Bei is a sly one. He was smart to have first subdued the veteran Sun Hai. The students might be outstanding cultivators, but they're lacking real-world experience. Chang Tian noticed that something was up, but he neglected to keep his guard up. That allowed Lu Bei to subdue so many people in a single move.
“How did you survive then?” Ji Dengtu coldly questioned them. Everyone was a suspect when his daughter’s survival was at stake. There was no way the two of them could have been a match for the monster.
“It was thanks to Miss Ji. She suddenly emanated a golden glow, which clashed with Lu Bei as if it were a flying sword. It was also then that she explained to us that Lu Bei was being controlled by a monster,” Mei Rou replied.
“A flying sword?” Ji Dengtu asked. He didn’t remember his daughter carrying anything of that sort.
“I gave it to her,” Zu An replied. It’s lucky I gave her the Flying Sword Talisman out of worry.
Ji Dengtu was conflicted. He had always wanted to keep his daughter away from Zu An, thinking that he harbored bad intentions, but right now, he found himself fervently praying that Zu An had given her more defensive tools.
“However, Lu… I mean, the monster was simply too powerful. Miss Ji’s flying sword couldn’t fend him off.” Fear flashed through Chang Tian’s eyes as he said, “Fortunately, the monster suddenly stiffened up, as if it was listening to some distant sound. Then, it spewed a huge pile of spiderwebs and took Yao Fang and Miss Ji away with it.”
The Heart-Devouring Demon Spider must have sensed the death of its comrades. That explains how the two of them survived, Zu An thought.
“Where did it escape to?” Ji Dengtu anxiously asked.
The two students shook their heads and said, “Its movements were too unpredictable. We only saw it leaping among a couple of trees before suddenly disappearing in the white fog.”
“You couldn’t even catch the direction of its escape? You must have been busy escaping then!” Ji Dengtu roared.
The eyes of the two students reddened in indignation, but they didn’t retort.
Zu An stepped in and said, “Earlier, you also saw how fast the Heart-Devouring Demon Spider moved. It’s to be expected for the students to be unable to track its movements. Don’t worry, I have a grasp of where Xiaoxi is.”
“How do you know?” Ji Dengtu asked; he was both alarmed and overjoyed to hear that.
“I placed a tracking talisman on Xiaoxi," Zu An said.
He had learned from his earlier struggle in finding Ji Xiaoxi in this huge mountain, so he'd left a tracking talisman on her. There was a section about them in the Baopu Sutra, and he had made a couple of them over the last few days. While questioning Chang Hai and Mei Rou, he had also been trying to sense the tracking talisman. He left the two students with a formation each and told them to wait in place before making his way to Shadowmoon Lake with Ji Dengtu. Shadowmoon Lake had been his initial destination, and he hadn’t expected that he would still have to head there in the end.
“Those monsters are cruel. I fear that Xiaoxi…” Ji Dengtu trailed off as his eyes turned red. The lustful old man, despite his usual nonchalance, was so afraid that his voice was quivering.
Zu An consoled him, saying, “Don’t worry. I gave Xiaoxi a few protection talismans. She should be safe for the time being.”
Ji Dengtu was relieved to hear that. He remarked, “You actually had such foresight. If we do save Xiaoxi this time around, I’ll allow you to…” His voice suddenly trailed off.
“You’ll allow me to what?” Zu An asked.
“I’ll allow you to become friends, but you mustn’t go any further than that!” Ji Dengtu warned.
Zu An was speechless.
Meanwhile, there was a huge crack reminiscent of an eye in the sky above Shadowmoon Lake. A purple fog flowed out from the crack.
Lu Bei prostated humbly on the ground and said, “This lowly one has prepared the tributes for the blood sacrifice. Milord, I beseech you to descend and deal with the terrifying human!”
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