Wu Xuan: "….?"
After entering the house, he only remembered drinking a glass of water. When he opened his eyes again, everything had changed. He was underground, trapped in a stone dungeon.
His clothes had been changed into neat, red groomed robes. His sword was missing. The cub was nowhere to be seen.
He ran to the iron door and tried breaking it open with all his strength. It didn't move. Only a dull echo responded, like the dungeon itself was mocking him.
"What the hell happened…?"
"Sit down already. You're being noisy as hell." A voice came from the darkness. Wu Xuan turned sharply, his body tense.
In one corner, someone was crouched against the wall. Like him, the person was dressed in groomed red robes. Their face was hidden in shadow, but their short hair was oddly tri colored, faded at the tips, like old blood or ash.
"Who the hell are you to order me around?" Wu Xuan said, his eyes narrowing.
The figure looked up slowly. Even in the dim light, the face looked strangely familiar.
"Wait a minute…" Wu Xuan stepped closer. "Murong Meng?"
"Tsk." The other man clicked his tongue sharply and glared at him. "Don't call me that name. I'm Meng Zhi. Not Murong Meng."
"Oh, got it. Murong Meng." Wu Xuan rolled his eyes.
Meng Zhi clearly wanted to punch him, but held back. "Your hair is so ridiculous, Murong Meng," Wu Xuan muttered, sinking down into the opposite corner of the cell.
Meng Zhi raised an eyebrow. "Is that a compliment?"
"That's an insult. You don't even understand that?"
Meng Zhi: "…"
"Forget it," Meng Zhi muttered, standing up and walking to the iron bars. "Arguing with you pisses me off more." He slammed his fist into the iron door. It made a heavy thud, but nothing else happened."That damn devil woman… Damn it!"
Wu Xuan frowned. He mumbled to himself, "Ziying didn't lie."Thank the heavens he tied the silver crescent-shaped hair jewel to the cub. His own silver necklace was still on him, too. Since it wasn't glowing or rattling, that meant the cub was safe, somewhere. At least, he hoped.
He needed to stay calm.
"Oi," Meng Zhi turned to him again. "Do you know how to beat that woman?"
"What woman?"
Meng Zhi stared. "…I'm talking about that old lady, idiot."
Wu Xuan's eyes lit up. "Ah. Tell me a bit more."
Meng Zhi crossed his arms. "I'm not in the sect anymore. Who the hell are you to order me around?"
"Fine. Stay quiet." Wu Xuan said, leaning back like he didn't care. Meng Zhi stared at him, then finally gave in.
"That woman's not human. She's a goddess. Have you ever heard about the goddess of marriage and her twisted faces?"
Wu Xuan nodded. He had read about it once. The goddess of marriage had many faces, each showing a different emotion, love, joy, heartbreak, rage. A being of balance, they said. But some stories… spoke of madness.
"This one," Meng Zhi said quietly, "is madness."
He sat down again. "There were others here before. They… they went out with her. They didn't come back."
"They died," Wu Xuan said coldly. "If she's madness, she must be feeding on their soul essence. But she probably has rules. Conditions."
Meng Zhi nodded. "Yeah. She completes the marriage rites first. Then she eats them. Body, spirit, all gone."
"She's completely insane."
Wu Xuan snorted. "Ah, to think that, even such a crazy woman would keep you to the end, that means you look like a shit."
Meng Zhi's eye twitched. "Shut. Up."
Wu Xuan chuckled. Then his face grew serious.
"…But weren't the goddess's personalities sealed? At least, that's what the records say."
Meng Zhi didn't answer for a long time. He stared at the torch-lit wall. "Yeah. That's what I thought too. But something's wrong."
The silence in the dungeon felt heavier.
"But...I think this one's different," Wu Xuan said.
Meng Zhi looked up.
"This is just a hunch, but... I think she follows spider rituals… not marriage rites."
The torches flickered.
They both fell silent as they heard footsteps.
The footsteps grew louder, echoing through the stone hallway. They were soft but deliberate heels clicking slowly against the cold floor.
Wu Xuan tensed. He thought it was her, the old lady.
But when the figure stopped in front of their cell, his eyes widened.
"Sha Na Mi…?"
The maid in the red servant's robe surprised and raised a finger to her lips. Her sharp eyes darted left and right, scanning the corridor.
Wu Xuan's mouth moved without thinking. "What are you doing here? You're Shensheng's main disciple, why the hell are you acting like a maid?"
"Shut up, Xuan," Na Mi hissed. "What the hell are you doing here?"
"Long story." Wu Xuan stood, trying to keep his voice low.
Na Mi stepped closer to the bars, her eyes flickering nervously. "After the Lotus War, I was sent here to investigate a case. Something strange was happening in this region."
Her face was pale in the swaying torchlight. The flames danced along the walls, casting strange shapes, long and twisted.
Wu Xuan leaned forward. "What's that old lady?"
Na Mi's voice dropped. "She's not human. Not even a proper demon. She's a local deity."
"A local goddess?" Wu Xuan repeated, brows furrowing.
Na Mi gave a small nod. "That's the best way to describe her. But I don't know much. What I do know is, she's completely insane."
Wu Xuan opened his mouth, "Is she the marriage-"
"No," Na Mi cut him off. "I thought so at first too. But she's not. She's more like… a spider."
Wu Xuan's expression darkened. "I had that feeling too."
He chuckled bitterly. "Lingyu said Zi Feng is bad. He needs to be taught about deities from scratch."
"…Zi Feng?" Na Mi blinked. Then her face went pale. She took a quick step back from the cell.
"What about Zi Feng?" A honey-sweet voice floated down the corridor.
"Oh dear. You're not dating my groomsman, are you?" the voice asked Na Mi.
A tall young woman appeared at the end of the hall.
Her beauty was otherworldly, so perfect it was disturbing. Her long sleeves dragged slightly behind her, and her steps were slow, deliberate, elegant.
A heavy perfume filled the air, sweet and suffocating. Meng Zhi wrinkled his nose.
"I was just saying," Wu Xuan said quickly, trying to divert her gaze away from Na Mi. "A beauty like you deserves a god like Zi Feng."
Meng Zhi groaned. "Beauty, my foot."
The woman came closer, heels tapping softly. She stopped just outside their cell.
"You think so too?" she smiled sweetly.
Her face was flawless, but her eyes were too wide. Her smile didn't blink.
"Ah, Zi Feng…" she sighed, dreamily. "I want to marry him. Then break his heart. Slowly. In the worst way possible. And once he's broken enough, I'll eat him."
Her smile never changed.
Wu Xuan and Meng Zhi stared at her in silence. Sha Na Mi, frozen behind her, didn't move an inch.
"She's insane," Wu Xuan thought.
"She's beyond insane," Meng Zhi thought.
"You love him or hate him?" Meng Zhi asked sharply, disgust written all over his face.
"I hate him," she replied in the same soft, innocent voice. "Someone like him should've never rejected me. That was his mistake."
"You killed the villagers, didn't you?" Wu Xuan asked, his voice firm now.
The woman tilted her head. Her smile widened slightly.
"They prayed to me for a good marriage. So, I gave them one. The honor of marrying me."
"You twisted devil!" Meng Zhi snapped. "The Rose Festival is coming, and people want to find love. You used that, didn't you? You took advantage of their desperation!"
"Now, now, Young Master Meng," she said sweetly. "Don't get angry. If I were to tell you how much I hate you, I might torture you right here."
She clasped her hands behind her back, her eyes dancing with amusement. The torches flickered unnaturally behind her, casting eight shadows instead of one.
"Damn you," Meng Zhi shouted. "My father won't let you go easily!"
"Your father?" she blinked. "Oh, Lord Hu Ze? Mmm… I doubt it, young master."
Meng Zhi's rage exploded. His mouth moved, but no sound came.
Wu Xuan stepped forward. "What did you do to those young men?"
"I gave them a service," she said brightly. "And in return, they pay. Isn't that fair, my dear?"
Wu Xuan's eyes narrowed. He was trying to remember. Ziying… he had said something. Something important about the old woman.
"Well, please rest, my love, our wedding is tomorrow." The voice was sweet, dripping with charm. She glanced at Wu Xuan before slowly walking away, her steps graceful, elegant. "And honey," she said to Na Mi, turning back with a smile. "Take good care of them."
Wu Xuan watched her go, his eyes narrowing. Na Mi let out a long, relieved sigh, waiting until she was completely out of sight.
"Did she just say Lord Hu Ze?" Na Mi looked at Meng Zhi, confused.
"Demon King Hu Ze," Wu Xuan said, leaning against the iron bars. "Woah, Murong Meng, you were hiding well."
Sha Na Mi froze, eyes widening. "Murong Meng? Traitor?"
Wu Xuan nodded. "Murong Meng. Traitor."
"Cut the crap!" Meng Zhi snorted, his tone sharp. Despite being the son of the Demon King, Meng Zhi still tried to appear like the good guy. "Think of a way out of here," he added, walking to the corner of the room.
Just then, as she remembered something, Na Mi waved at Wu Xuan and hurried away, disappearing down the corridor.
What the heck was that?!
"W-Wait, Na Mi!" Wu Xuan called after her, but it was too late.
Frustrated, Wu Xuan slammed his fist against the wrought-iron door. "What the hell did Ziying say? Why don't I remember anything? Something ancient...?"
"Ancient?" Meng Zhi's voice sounded eager. He rubbed his head as though trying to recall something. "Dad told me about it one day."
Wu Xuan glanced at him, not expecting much. In his mind, Meng Zhi was far from important. "Just right!" Meng Zhi suddenly shouted, his voice filled with excitement. His breathing was fast, hope flickering in his eyes.
"She is not a local goddess," Meng Zhi continued, looking directly at Wu Xuan. "Ancient Poison Sword…"
Wu Xuan felt a spark of recognition. That was exactly what Han Ziying had said.
But there was still something Wu Xuan couldn't piece together. "What about her?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
"She was a mountain goddess from the past, Jun Jiu… she was a purple spider," Meng Zhi explained, now seeming completely different, more serious, more knowledgeable.
"I've only heard of the Four Mountain Gods," Wu Xuan muttered, interested.
"That's only fair. I'm surprised a fool like you knows that much," Meng Zhi sneered, but there was no real malice in his tone.
"Thank you for understanding, Mr. Ugly," Wu Xuan shot back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"What did you say?!" Meng Zhi burst out in anger, but then, to his own surprise, he slapped the ground in frustration and calmed himself down. "Forget it," he muttered. "Initially, there were five of them. Jun Jiu was the first Mountain God. Her history is even older than Sang Lian's."
"Sang Lian, the former Demon King?" Wu Xuan asked, intrigued.
Meng Zhi nodded. "She once proposed to the Wind Lord, Zi Feng."
"But he rejected her," Wu Xuan said, realizing the depth of Jun Jiu's bitterness.
"Yes, she saw it as an insult," Meng Zhi continued, his voice darkening. "She lived with that hatred for years, killing countless youths in her wake. It wasn't until Mountain God Yuji came along that she lost her position."
"No wonder," Wu Xuan murmured. "I heard the First Mountain God was Yuji..."
Meng Zhi shook his head. "After losing her position, she became obsessed. And as you can see, purple spiders follow a bizarre mating ritual, the female eats the male after she gets pregnant. They're extremely poisonous."
"Ancient Poison Sword?" Wu Xuan asked, piecing it together.
"Yeah. She got that name after her battle with Sang Lian. Back then, Sang Lian was just a regular Water Celestial Demon. Even with my father's help, they struggled to defeat her," Meng Zhi said, his tone laced with regret.
Wu Xuan caught the undercurrent of sadness in Meng Zhi's voice whenever he mentioned his father, but he didn't press it.
"After Sang Lian's passing, Jun Jiu resurfaced. The old woman who killed young men became infamous during Lord Cheng Xin the fourth mountain god's reign. Damn, I can't believe I forgot about her." He slapped his head in frustration.
"Okay, I've heard of it. Mountain Lord Yuji sealed her away after that," Wu Xuan said, completing the thought. Meng Zhi nodded.
"She challenged Cheng Xin. Lord Xin didn't want to accept her challenge, so she tried to kill him instead."
"I see," Wu Xuan said with a sarcastic smile, his voice dripping with bitterness.
"The kindest mountain god, Lord Xin. He died because of that kindness." His words carried the weight of contempt, clearly denouncing Cheng Xin's unwavering compassion.
Wu Xuan believed that such blind kindness had been the root of Cheng Xin's downfall. In the end, even Yuji, the strongest of the Mountain Gods, couldn't protect his sworn brother from the inevitable.
Wu Xuan's gaze turned cold as he stared at Meng Zhi. The truth was too sharp, too cruel. The killer of Lord Xin, the one responsible for that tragic death, was none other than Meng Zhi's most admired father.
Demon King Hu Ze!