Chapter 65: Old Flames

I was sitting on the boat’s planks, cursing my fate in silence, watching Mengya and Grimface Zhang locked in a bloody battle atop the deck, bravely fighting off a horde of spiders. With a long sigh, I thought to myself: perhaps this time, my end has truly come. I would be torn to pieces by these mountain spiders, my remains finally becoming fertilizer for this desolate ravine. What a lamentable fate, to have lived my life only to end as mere nourishment for these hills—misery, distilled to its purest form.

As I awaited my final judgment atop the planks, something heavy thudded behind me with a resounding “bang!” The boat rocked violently, startling me half to death. Was it some monstrous spider? The thought made me whirl around, only to see—not some giant arachnid—but an old acquaintance: the one in the Black Cloak.

At the sight of her, I felt as though I’d glimpsed a living Bodhisattva, a life-saving straw. Overcome with gratitude, I nearly threw myself at her feet. “You’re finally here,” I said, my voice thick with relief.

She looked at me with undisguised contempt. “So, you just sit here while those two risk their lives? A grown man, spectating from safety while the others fight?”

Her mocking words stung, and I could only force a wry smile. “Come now, must you mock me? You know my skills are barely passable.”

She snorted haughtily, a hint of a smile on her lips. “I’m here to reminisce, not to rescue anyone.”

So she was going to play coy. I could only plaster on a sycophantic grin. “Please, can’t you spare me just this once? Reminiscence or not, you can’t watch your old flame become fertilizer, can you?”

With a disdainful spit, she called me shameless, then fished a few cloth pouches from her robes, each filled with some sort of powder.

“Third Master Zhang!” she cried. Grimface Zhang turned at the call, just in time to see her toss him one of the pouches. He leapt to catch it mid-air, landed, and with a deft kick sent an attacking spider flying.

“What is this?” he asked, glancing back.

She gave no answer—only smiled and flung a handful of the yellow powder at the stone-patterned spider before her.

The instant the powder settled on the spider, it let out a heart-wrenching wail and began writhing on the ground in agony. The effect spread like a contagion. Every spider before us began to roll and screech, tormented by an unseen force.

“So that’s it,” Grimface Zhang grunted. He scooped up a handful of the yellow powder, tossing it into the air. The powder billowed out like a golden mist, filling the ravine. In moments, spiders began to rain down from the walls like a meteor shower—some splashing into the water, others thudding onto the boat, nearly capsizing our raft in the process.

Silently, I cursed Grimface Zhang and his ancestors; trouble followed him everywhere. They were all skilled fighters, nimble as cats, while my reflexes were so slow that if I failed to dodge, one of those stone spiders would have split my skull open.

“Get down!” Black Cloak yanked me down onto the planks. “What, you want to be brained by a falling spider?”

I was deeply grateful. She had saved me so many times already—without her, who knew how many times I’d have died by now?

“Thank you,” I said, mustering a genuine smile.

She returned a faint smile. “No need for thanks. I couldn’t just stand by while you died, old flame or not.”

A cold “hmph!” from Mengya shattered the moment. I realized I’d entirely forgotten about her presence, and offered her an awkward, sheepish grin, scratching my head.

Black Cloak, too, seemed momentarily taken aback at Mengya’s presence. The two exchanged glances—like old acquaintances, yet neither spoke. Black Cloak even made a show of tucking my arm in closer, prompting me to withdraw it, embarrassed.

Grimface Zhang looked on with a face full of scorn and ridicule, a mischievous smirk playing at his lips. “Ah, love’s debts are never easily repaid, are they?”

I cursed him again, silently. If not for him, he’d be the one turned to fertilizer, yet he still had the gall to mock me—a sanctimonious rogue if ever there was one.

So we lay flat on the planks for half an hour. The spiders, poisoned or dead, vanished from the ravine. I wiped the cold sweat from my brow, glanced around, and saw the others and one surviving boatman already standing. I rolled over and got to my feet, turning to Grimface Zhang. “Uncle, what do we do now?”

He understood perfectly well that destroying the spiders did not mean the path through the ravine was clear. Lighting a cigarette, he gazed into the distance, lost in thought. The sight of him smoking made me nervous—what new trouble would he stir up now?

He took a few puffs, stubbed it out, and waved to the boatman. “Let’s go!”

The boatman answered and set the oar in motion. But half a minute later, we realized something was terribly wrong.

I stared, wide-eyed, at the stone walls. “We… we haven’t moved at all!”

The boat hadn’t shifted an inch. Only then did I realize: the spiders had created an illusion, like camouflage, tricking those in the ravine into believing they were making progress. The ever-shifting scene led us in circles, trapping us in a maze.

Grimface Zhang said nothing but glanced at Black Cloak, who smiled. “No need to play dumb, Third Master Zhang. All this trouble—you just wanted to lure me out, didn’t you?”

He showed no embarrassment at having his ploy uncovered, only snorted. “Seems I underestimated you.”

She chuckled. “Likewise. I never thought you would use Qiu Tong as a wager, betting I’d come to help.” She flicked her cloak. “I’m not your cousin’s elder sister, Third Master Zhang.”

“Are you looking for death?” Grimface Zhang exploded at the mention of his kinswoman. “Who are you, and how do you know about that?”

“No need to be so impatient, Third Master. You’ll see her soon enough. But right now, our priority is escaping this ravine and reaching Azure Dragon Lake, don’t you think?”

Grimface Zhang’s bloodshot eyes blazed with suppressed fury. He nodded, drew his long saber, and stabbed it into the water below.

The blade had barely pierced the surface when a piercing, inhuman shriek rose from the depths—a cry like a young woman’s wail. I shuddered at the sound, glancing back at the water. Blood blossomed scarlet on the surface as a dark shadow shot through the water, arrowing for the mouth of the ravine.

Grimface Zhang’s face darkened, his expression as grim as a death god. “Trying to escape?” With a flick, he hurled his saber like a javelin. It arced through the air, twisting unnaturally, and struck the shadow dead-on, pinning it to the stone wall.

He lifted a boot and drew two small knives from its sheath, sending them whistling through the air to strike the creature.

I stared in shock. The creature, impaled through the abdomen by the saber and pinned by two knives in the chest and head, looked for all the world like an unclothed woman, her skin strangely pale with a faint blue tinge. Otherwise, she seemed entirely human—her features delicate, almost stirring the heart.

“Uncle, did you kill the wrong thing?” I asked, hesitantly.

He cast me a withering glance. “What, haven’t had your fill of romantic entanglements? Now you want to take this demoness to wife as well?”

“Uh…” I muttered, cursing silently. “But she looks human…”

“Have you ever met a person who could stay underwater for hours?”

“Then what in the world is it?”

He ignored me entirely, offering no answer.

“Have you heard of the Greek sirens?” Black Cloak asked.

I nodded. Sirens—creatures from Greek myth, famed for their beauty and enchanting songs, luring sailors to their doom. Their islands were littered with the bones of men. In the earliest legends, sirens were hideous sea monsters, so terrifying that they kept humans from the coasts. But when they found themselves without prey, over time, they evolved into beautiful women. Temples to the sea gods or oceanic goddesses in Greece sometimes depicted this transformation.