Heaven’s Shadow

Su Qingjun returned to her cave dwelling on the Flying Goose Platform at Ziyun Peak in the afternoon. By then, Yi Xin had already left, and Lu Chen had moved his belongings into the thatched hut and made some simple arrangements before heading to the spiritual field outside to begin his work.

The spiritual field was about two acres in size, spacious enough. The seven eagle fruit trees were transplanted here with plenty of space between them, allowing these precious spiritual materials to receive ample spiritual energy and nutrients.

Lu Chen carefully examined each of the eagle fruit trees, selected a few that seemed most likely to bear fruit first, and began to cultivate them. After some time, he sat on the nearby ridge to rest and looked at the thatched hut on the other side with a wry smile, muttering to himself, “Living in a thatched hut again, after finally getting into a brick house, and now back to a thatched hut. It seems like I’m going backwards.”

“What do you mean by ‘going backwards’?” a clear and pleasant voice came from behind him. Lu Chen turned around and saw Su Qingjun standing on the ridge not far away, looking at him.

Lu Chen laughed, stood up, and said, “I was just joking. It’s nothing.”

Su Qingjun, however, did not smile. Instead, she looked at Lu Chen seriously and said, “Lu Chen, the eagle fruit is very important for my cultivation. I don’t want any mistakes.”

Lu Chen was taken aback, not expecting Su Qingjun to care so much about this matter. He immediately adopted a serious expression and said, “Senior Sister Su, please rest assured. I’ve worked hard to obtain this opportunity, so I will do my utmost to handle it with care. There will be no negligence.”

Su Qingjun nodded and said, “That’s good to hear.” She then seemed to remember something and hesitated for a moment before continuing, “Also, if you do this job well, I will reward you generously, and it will definitely be much better than the usual practices at Liuxiang Garden. Rest assured, I won’t let you go backwards.”

Lu Chen’s face showed an unusual hint of embarrassment, and he smiled wryly, “Thank you then.”

Su Qingjun nodded to him and turned to head toward her cave dwelling.

At that moment, Lu Chen suddenly called out to her, “Senior Sister Su, you are aware of the nature of the eagle fruit. I will take good care of it and call you as soon as it ripens. However, since we need to ensure the job is done well, I must confirm with you in person: during this period, you must not leave the cave dwelling at random.”

Su Qingjun nodded, “Of course. I came down the mountain early recently to handle some miscellaneous matters. For the next twenty days or so, I will stay in the cave dwelling for focused cultivation. You can be assured of that.”

Lu Chen grinned, “Good.”

Su Qingjun glanced at him, her expression indifferent, and then walked away toward the cave dwelling. Lu Chen sat back down on the ridge, looked at the spiritual field before him, and then up at the clear blue sky. Seeing the pristine blue sky with white clouds, he couldn’t help but feel a bit sentimental and quietly laughed to himself, “I guess this… counts as farming my way to prominence?”

※※※

Where there is day, there is night; where there is light, there is darkness.

While Lu Chen was standing under the bright, clear sky, feeling a touch of sentimentality on the picturesque Flying Goose Platform, another place in Kunlun Mountain, walking along a mountain path, He Yi felt a coldness even in the daylight, sensing a darkness ahead of him.

Kunlun Mountain was vast, with most areas being bright and open, reflecting the righteous and imposing aura of the Kunlun Sect. However, such a grand cultivation sect could not be entirely as it appeared on the surface. At least in He Yi’s view, the mountain he was heading toward, a place hidden in the shadow of a peak, was dark and cold.

Even though it was daytime and the sun was high, the feeling here remained unchanged.

The nameless mountain had no name for many years; it seemed no one wanted to bother naming this desolate place, so over time, “Nameless Mountain” became its official title.

Nameless Mountain was a small mountain hidden in the Kunlun Mountain range, surrounded by tall peaks that blocked most of the light. The small mountain was dark, icy, and solitary, never favored by people. In the shadowy corner of Nameless Mountain stood a house resembling a ancestral hall.

“Martyrs’ Tomb.”

He Yi read the characters on the plaque hanging on the door of the house, which looked very dim even in the daytime.

A tomb is a graveyard for the dead, but not all Kunlun Sect cultivators are buried here after their passing. True Immortals, Golden Core cultivators, and those with profound cultivation like Foundation Establishment practitioners are buried in beautiful cemeteries where they enjoy incense offerings from later generations. These cemeteries are lively during festivals, a world apart from the Martyrs’ Tomb.

This dark and cold place houses lonely souls and ghosts who couldn’t make it to the grand Kunlun cemeteries.

He Changsheng’s corpse was placed here.

Of course, ideally, if a proper investigation were to be conducted, the body should not have been moved. However, even though the Kunlun Sect possesses formidable techniques, it cannot keep a corpse in a populated area for an extended period. Moreover, since He Changsheng had lived a life of obscurity and died quietly, he could not be placed in the Kunlun Cemetery. Thus, the body had to be placed in the Martyrs’ Tomb.

The Martyrs’ Tomb’s gate was painted black, making it appear particularly heavy and somewhat eerie against the shadowy mountain backdrop. He Yi stood outside, letting out a breath.

It was his first time here, and generally, Kunlun Sect disciples rarely visited this place.

He approached and knocked twice on the Martyrs’ Tomb’s door. The low, echoing sound spread out, but there was no response from behind the door.

Frowning, He Yi knocked again, louder this time. The sudden noise in the eerie silence felt jarring, causing a shiver.

After a moment, footsteps could be heard approaching from behind the door, which then creaked open.

A thin, elderly face appeared through the gap in the door. It was difficult to determine the man’s exact age, but what stood out was the look in his eyes. Those eyes were nearly devoid of any sparkle, filled instead with numbness and dazedness, as if reaching the end of life’s road, about to burn out.

“What is it?” The cold, numb gaze settled on He Yi’s face. The eerie atmosphere and darkness made He Yi shiver involuntarily.

But as a seasoned cultivator with outstanding talent, He Yi quickly composed himself and presented a hand token from his robe.

“I am He Yi, under the orders of the Sect Master, here to inspect the body of He Changsheng, which was sent here the day before.”

The caretaker did not reach out to take the token but glanced downward and then at He Yi. After a moment of silence, he rasped, “Come in.”

Seeing the caretaker step aside, He Yi hesitated for a moment before stepping into the Martyrs’ Tomb. As he crossed the threshold, he felt an immediate darkening, as if the sky had suddenly turned darker.

Most of the buildings in the Martyrs’ Tomb were painted black. Along one wall of the courtyard were rows of coffins, and on the other side were several rooms. Some of these rooms were completely dark, while others had flickering candlelight that cast a faint glow.

As if sensing He Yi’s confusion, the caretaker slowly walked past him and said in a low voice, “The rooms with candlelight are for the recently deceased. The path to the underworld is long and dark; some light is needed to find the way.”

He Yi’s expression changed slightly, and he suddenly asked, “What about the dark rooms?”

The caretaker turned slowly and looked at him with eyes that seemed to be clouded and numb. “Those are for the long-dead, whose souls have long departed.”

He Yi stared at the caretaker, his pupils slightly contracting.

※※※

Before today, He Yi had known of the Martyrs’ Tomb but had never visited it, and thus was unaware of its eerie and ghostly nature and the strange caretaker. If it weren’t for the fact that he was indeed in Kunlun Mountain and the Martyrs’ Tomb was part of Kunlun Sect’s domain, He Yi might have thought the caretaker was some kind of evil spirit.

He even felt that the caretaker was more eerie than the most malevolent demonic cultists he had ever seen.

However, since the Kunlun Sect could tolerate this person guarding the Martyrs’ Tomb, he was likely not a demonic entity. Perhaps the intense yin energy in this place had made him peculiar over time. With this in mind, He Yi felt some sympathy for the caretaker. Nevertheless, being a person of strong resolve, he nodded to the caretaker and asked, “Where is He Changsheng’s body?”

The caretaker raised his hand and pointed toward a corner of the courtyard.

He Yi observed the caretaker’s actions, which were slow and unusually stiff, making it hard to discern whether he was more like a person or a ghost. He couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with your hand?”

The caretaker remained silent for a moment before responding, “It’s fake.”

He Yi was startled and took a closer look, discovering that despite the hand’s appearance, it was actually carved from wood.

This revelation made He Yi feel somewhat awkward. Taking a deep breath, he slightly bowed and said, “I apologize.”

The caretaker’s expression shifted slightly, appearing somewhat surprised. After studying He Yi for a moment, the rigid look in his eyes seemed to soften a bit. Then he spoke again, “In that room over there.”

He Yi followed the caretaker’s direction and saw a dark room at the end of the courtyard, with a few flickering candles inside. He nodded and said, “Thank you for your guidance.”

With that, he walked toward the room. However, just a few steps away, he suddenly heard the caretaker’s voice call out from behind him, “Hey, do you want to know how that person died?”

He Yi’s body jolted, and he turned around abruptly, his eyes shining brightly.