allonlinenovel Chapter 530
Chapter 530
"Take this." Dongfang Wan'er turned and handed the fox fur coat to Lin Yan, her fingertips brushing across his neck, leaving a fluorescent curse mark. "Use your blood to activate the jade pendant and guard the array's core. I... need to fulfill the Holy Maiden's mission."
Lin Yan tried to stop her, but saw her already stepping onto the silver light rising into the sky, her hair moving without wind, transforming into thousands of white fox phantoms. The howls of wolves outside the cave suddenly turned into orderly low moans, as if accompanying the upcoming ceremony. The stone base slowly rose, revealing a stone platform engraved with runes. Dongfang Wan'er stood in the center, holding up the demon core in her hands, resonating with the fragment within her body.
At that moment, the phosphorescence in the cave turned completely silvery-white, illuminating the murals on the stone walls that had never been seen before—scenes of successive holy maidens and regents joining forces to seal demons, each generation's face strikingly similar to the two of them. Lin Yan gripped his sword tightly, suddenly understanding why he always felt a familiar tacit understanding when fighting alongside Dongfang Wan'er.
The moment the two demon cores merged into one, a crack appeared in the cave ceiling, and moonlight poured down like a waterfall. Dongfang Wan'er opened her eyes, her pupils returning to normal. In her hand, she no longer held a demon core, but a crystal-clear fox-shaped jade pendant. The white fox phantom leaned down and kissed it, transforming into a stream of light that merged into the jade pendant. From the depths of the cave came the rumble of ice melting, and the water of the underground river suddenly became crystal clear, reflecting the rising sun outside the cave.
"We...successfully?" Lin Yan took the jade pendant she offered, its touch as warm and smooth as spring water. Dongfang Wan'er nodded, but then saw the phosphorescence on the distant cave wall begin to condense into characters—an ancient prophecy written in demon blood: "When the two stars unite, demons vanquish; the netherworld opens; the light of heaven appears."
As the two stepped out of the cave, the morning light pierced through the thin mist in the mountains. Lin Yan looked back at the cave entrance and saw that the previously eerie phosphorescence had transformed into fireflies, dancing gracefully in the morning breeze. Dongfang Wan'er reached out and caught a firefly; it turned into a dewdrop in her palm, refracting a rainbow of colors.
“It seems a new story is just beginning,” she said, fastening the jade pendant to Lin Yan’s waist. “Next time, perhaps we should search for the ruins of the White Fox Shrine and see what secrets it holds.”
Lin Yan gazed at the light shining in her eyes and suddenly recalled the murals he had seen in the cave—a thousand years ago, the regent and the saintess had stood side by side in the morning light, their eyes reflecting the same hope. He reached out and brushed the pebbles from her hair, his brow slightly raised: "Wherever you go, I'll be with you. But... how about I take you out for a hot meal first? I know a tavern down the mountain whose braised beef is absolutely divine."
Dongfang Wan'er chuckled at his sudden suggestion, the morning light falling on the corners of her eyes, sparkling like shattered diamonds. In the distance, the cries of mountain birds echoed, and the verdant forest stretched its branches in the sunlight, as if the recent danger had been nothing more than a fleeting dream. But they knew that the real adventure had only just begun—bound by a thousand-year-old bond and the warmth of each other's palms.
A late spring mountain breeze, carrying the scent of pine needles, brushed past their shoulders, causing Lin Yan's blue robe to flutter in the wind. His fingers unconsciously caressed the jade pendant at his waist, his gaze still fixed on the stone path leading down the mountain. His tongue repeatedly savored the flavor he had described in the mountaintop pavilion—the tender, mushy texture of the braised beef, infused with the spiciness of star anise and cinnamon, and the rich, satisfying release of oil when he bit into the tendon. Beside him, Dongfang Wan'er lowered her eyes, fiddling with the silver-embroidered lotus blossoms on her sleeve. Hearing him mention the dish of beef for the twenty-seventh time, she finally couldn't help but chuckle softly: "If Young Master Lin keeps going like this, this mountain path will probably turn into a 'Fried Gluten Alley'."
As they rounded the third bend, dusk had already woven a gray net through the pine forest. The eaves, where wine flags should have been fluttering, were now silently draped with broken wood; two vermilion doors lay askew in the weeds, the plaque bearing the inscription "Drunken Immortal Abode" on the doorframe cracked in two, and half a dried grapevine still hung beside the character for "drunken." Lin Yan's boots crunched over shards of porcelain, the crisp sound mingling with the lingering fragrance of spilled wine jars. Under the eight-immortal table at the far east end, the innkeeper's maroon jacket was soaked in a dark brown liquid of vinegar and soy sauce, his braids spread like seaweed on the bluestone slabs.
"Watch out for nails." Dongfang Wan'er's fingertips brushed against the talisman in her sleeve, suddenly catching a faint, sweet, fishy smell. The odor mingled with the overturned pickle jar and spilled yellow wine, like blood clots on a frostbitten wound in winter, chillingly cold. Lin Yan was already kneeling beside the shopkeeper, his fingertips pressing against the old man's wrist pulse, when he glimpsed a pale blue handprint on the back of the old man's neck—a bruise with five distinct knuckles, and lingering vermilion on the fingertips, as if scratched by some scaly creature.
"Master Lingxu's seal..." Dongfang Wan'er suddenly spoke, and with a flick of her sleeves, three yellow talismans were affixed to the beams and pillars. A muffled thud came from the pickling jar against the west wall; the lid jumped up three inches, revealing a churning black liquid inside. Floating on the surface of the liquid were not ordinary vegetables, but dozens of charred animal hairs. A loud crash came from the kitchen as a wooden frame collapsed, the clanging mixed with the rattling of chains dragging on the floor, as if some enormous creature was treading on the rubble.
The first thing to break through the bamboo curtain was a wolf's head, half a person's height, its amber pupils gleaming eerily in the twilight, half a piece of smoked meat still hanging from its chain. When it opened its mouth, Lin Yan saw that its canine teeth were still stained with undried blood, and its gums were a strange bluish-purple—the same evil poison gas he had seen outside the fox den three days ago. The moment the wolf demon's forepaws crushed the wine jar, golden light bloomed in Dongfang Wan'er's palm, and three talismans transformed into streams of fire that wrapped around its hind legs. But then the chain suddenly snapped, sweeping towards her face with a foul stench.
"Watch out!" Lin Yan's sword tassel grazed the wolf demon's nose, the cold iron blade tracing a silver arc in the moonlight. He remembered his master saying that every demon that cultivates to form a physical form leaves a weakness, and this beast's tail tip still had some lingering fur, the location of its inner core. As the wolf demon swung its head towards the pillar, he seized the opportunity to close in, his sword tip grazing the beast's side, but he heard a crisp metallic clang—the beast's fur was covered with scale-like hard objects, likely indicating that it had already cultivated an outer core.
Dongfang Wan'er bit her fingertip, a drop of blood dripping onto the talisman in her palm. Suddenly, she smelled an even stronger demonic aura emanating from the roof. Looking up, she saw, in the moonlight filtering through the cracks in the tiles, a copper bell tied to the other end of the iron chain around the wolf demon's neck. The bell's surface was engraved with the totem of the White Fox Shrine ruins. The wolf demon suddenly let out a piercing owl-like howl, its front paws slamming towards Lin Yan's face. But the instant the sword touched the blade, a flash of human-like resentment flickered in its eyes—that look was all too familiar, like someone she'd seen somewhere before.
Broken tiles rustled down at his feet. Lin Yan suddenly remembered that when he passed the mountain god temple that morning, the divination sticks on the altar had inexplicably overturned, and the slip he drew read, "After adversity comes fortune; beware of hidden arrows." At this moment, his sword clashed with the wolf's fangs. He could see a few strands of white hair fluttering in the black mist churning from the wolf demon's throat—human hair. As Dongfang Wan'er's talisman exploded on the wolf demon's back, he finally saw the small characters engraved at the end of the iron chain: "Year of Wuzi, White Fox Shrine sealed."
The sounds of battle startled birds roosting in the treetops; a flock of crows fluttered past the torn window paper, shattering the moonlight into fragments. Under the double attack, the wolf demon gradually retreated, and as it overturned the last table, a weakness suddenly appeared on its lower back—a three-inch-long old wound, the shape of which was exactly the same as the claw mark of the tiger demon it had defeated outside town three months prior. In the instant Lin Yan and Dongfang Wan'er locked eyes, they simultaneously recalled the records in the county annals: twenty years ago, the White Fox Shrine burned down, and besides the abbot, his three guardian beasts also disappeared.
"Be careful, it might self-destruct its inner core!" Dongfang Wan'er's warning was torn apart by the howling wind. The wolf demon suddenly curled into a ball, and the black mist around its body transformed into a tangible poisonous fog. Lin Yan instinctively swung his sword to cleave through the wall of energy, only to see specks of golden light rising from the poisonous fog—incantations leaking from the copper bell around the wolf demon's neck. With a clang, the copper bell fell to the ground and split in two, revealing a tattered page rolled up inside—the "Body Borrowing and Soul Returning" technique recorded in the secret scrolls of the White Fox Shrine.
As the morning mist crept over the mountaintop, the innkeeper awoke to the aroma of ginger soup, gazing blankly at the mess on the ground. Lin Yan clutched half a copper bell, his fingertips tracing the character "Xuan" engraved on its inner side—a generational name for Taoist disciples. Dongfang Wan'er affixed a talisman to a pillar in the tavern, suddenly noticing a half-fox-shaped jade pendant embedded in a crack in the wall, perfectly matching the other half she had found in the fox den. In the distance, the ruins of the White Fox Shrine were faintly visible through the mountain mist, the characters "Hu Shan" (Protect the Mountain) on the broken stone pillars twisted into eerie shapes by vines.
As they packed their sword sheaths, Dongfang Wan'er suddenly spoke, "Don't you think that wolf demon's last look at you..." Before she could finish, a mountain breeze carried the delicate sound of bells, as if from a distant, deep forest. Lin Yan gazed at the brightening sky, recalling the reflection of his sword in the wolf demon's eyes as it fell—not the pupils of a wild beast, but human eyes, carrying three parts resentment and seven parts sorrow, strikingly similar to the scholar he had met at the teahouse last month, the one seeking medicine for his sister.
The mountain path meandered like a ribbon in the morning light. As the two walked side by side, Lin Yan suddenly felt something in his pocket. Pulling it out, he found it was a Taoist hairpin engraved with the characters "Xuanqing," its tip carved with half a withered pear blossom. Dongfang Wan'er's fingertips traced the patterns on the hairpin's end, suddenly recalling the record of the missing Taoist in the county annals: "The True Man Xuanqing was skilled in controlling beasts; his three demons all possessed intelligence..." Where the mountain mist dissipated, on the broken walls of the White Fox Shrine ruins, new vines climbed along the strokes of the character "Feng," casting spiderweb-like shadows in the morning sun.
Was this sudden battle a mere accidental calamity, or a carefully orchestrated scheme? What past entanglements lie between the Taoist priest and the three demons? As they turned to gaze at the ruins of Drunken Immortal Abode, morning dew dripped from the broken tiles, splashing into tiny puddles on the bluestone slabs, reflecting the drifting clouds in the sky—a scene strikingly similar to the human-like tear that flashed in the wolf demon's eyes before its death. Further away, the White Fox Shrine stood silently in the mountain mist, awaiting the re-enactment of a secret destined to be revealed on a similarly late spring evening.