Chapter Thirty: The Abyss

“Cough, cough...”

The air was thick with dust, and even Shen Chang’an could not help but cough. In his haste to rush down just now, he hadn’t been able to adjust his direction in time and ended up sliding down, accidentally inhaling a mouthful of dust and smoke.

He climbed to his feet and glanced around. The other three were nearby; none of them had fallen too far away. Shen Chang’an let out a faint sigh of relief, but when he looked up, he was instantly stunned.

Right before his eyes twisted and writhed a creature that matched exactly the illustrations he’d seen in the ancient bestiary written on beast hide. It was an amalgamation—a grotesque fusion—of snake, insect, rat, and ant. The way these monsters were joined together was unspeakably bizarre: their bodies stuck to one another, flesh and blood intertwined, each part merging into the next in a hideously unnatural way.

A snake’s tail ended in a rat’s head. Perched atop that rodent’s skull was a poisonous spider, its left hand sprouting the legs of a centipede, its right hand bearing the stinger of a scorpion. And this was only one corner of the monster; its massive body was a seething mass of countless twisted, crawling abominations. At a single glance, Shen Chang’an felt his scalp go numb—the horror of it defied all imagination.

“You’ve... finally come...”

A harsh, grating voice issued from Yuan. Across its body, strange eyeballs rolled, dozens of them fixing their gaze on Shen Chang’an and sending a chill crawling over his skin.

“You... you know who we are?” Shen Chang’an asked in confusion.

“Heh... heh...” Yuan’s voice oozed slowly, sickeningly. Its sound wasn’t produced by a mouth, but squeezed out through the writhing of its body, slippery and nauseating, making Shen Chang’an want to retch.

“You... are clever... Guess... Let me... give you... a hint... Treasure... merchant...”

A sudden chill ran through Shen Chang’an. When he’d first entered the city, he’d claimed to be a jewelry merchant, here in Fang City to trade in precious gems. But only the city gate guard and Zheng Xin knew this.

Zheng Xin could not possibly be working for Yuan. That left the gate guard—a likely candidate. But all the guard knew was that Shen Chang’an was a merchant; they’d never met again afterward. It made no sense for Yuan to target him just for being a jeweler.

In fact, there was an even more reasonable explanation than the guard.

Ants!

Shen Chang’an had only considered that the summer estate was under surveillance by ants, but now he realized it went much further. The whole of Fang City was likely under their watchful observation. These tiny creatures had their own intricate methods of transmitting information. If they were the eyes and ears monitoring all of Fang City, then everything in the city had always been within Yuan’s grasp.

Which meant...

Shen Chang’an turned to Li Qingqing and spoke quickly, “Li Qingqing, where did your White Lotus sect tempt Fang Siyi?”

Li Qingqing, unaware of the implications behind “treasure merchant” and not having worked out the answer as Shen Chang’an had, was thoroughly puzzled. But she knew he wouldn’t ask something irrelevant at such a critical moment, so she answered immediately, “Fang Siyi rarely leaves Fang City. Naturally, we acted within the city.”

“This is bad...”

Shen Chang’an’s face changed. “Li Qingqing, this is a disaster. Every move in Fang City has been under this monster’s surveillance. Our actions and secrets have already been exposed. It must have been the one to seal the tunnel just now!”

“How can that be?” Li Qingqing blurted out in disbelief.

At that moment, Yuan spoke. “Hmph, White Lotus... Even shortly after you set up in Fang City, you were already plotting to steal my power. Unfortunately for you, your abilities are sorely lacking!”

“Hah, all bluster. If Fang City really was under your surveillance, why haven’t you killed us outright?” Li Qingqing retorted.

Yuan’s expression grew cold and silent. “Why not? Because my true body is trapped here, unable to act. If I had to rely only on my avatars, no matter how many there were, you’d have no trouble escaping.”

A heavy silence followed. If Yuan spoke the truth, they had walked straight into his trap like fools.

“Wait, avatars? You mean...?” Shen Chang’an’s eyes widened, his heart skipping a beat.

“Oh, you’re wondering if the rat you sent to Fang Sicheng’s house was me? Heh, you guessed right—that was me. What do you think? Did it enrage you, make you furious enough to come racing here to kill me?”

Shen Chang’an’s face turned ashen. He never would have guessed that the rat he encountered earlier was deliberately released by Yuan.

“What about the mother and child?” Shen Chang’an demanded coldly.

Yuan’s massive body writhed, sending up a wave of sickening noise before the sound clarified: “Please... don’t kill my son!”

“Please, spare my child... I beg you!”

“Let him go, please, let him go...”

“Mother!”

Snippet after snippet of dialogue rang out. Yuan’s uncanny voice could perfectly mimic other people. The imitation was so flawless that none of its own slimy, disgusting undertones remained; instead, it sounded eerily human.

“Well? How was my performance?” Yuan asked calmly, reverting to its revolting voice as it addressed Shen Chang’an.

“Monster!”

Shen Chang’an’s heart was about to burst. His eyes brimmed with murderous intent, a killing urge rising from the depths of his soul—he would destroy this abomination at any cost!

“Heh heh heh... Daoist Lingxiao, you’re mistaken. I am not the beast—you are. I am human; it is you who are the beasts.”

As Yuan finished speaking, Shen Chang’an was no longer listening. He sprang forward like a cannonball, alloy staff gripped tight, using every ounce of strength as he leapt to attack.

Bang!

A massive snake’s tail lashed out. In midair, Shen Chang’an had no way to dodge and was struck hard, sent hurtling into the stone wall of the cavern.

“Ugh!”

A mouthful of blood spurted from his lips. His face paled—he had been badly hurt.

“Daoist Shen!”

Wang Yue cried out in alarm, drew his sword, and pulled a bagua disk from his robes, charging at Yuan.

Nearby, Li Qingqing realized things had gone awry, but with no retreat, she had no choice but to draw her own weapon and join Wang Yue in the assault.