Volume Two: The Catalogue of Weapons Chapter 107: After the Mantis Catches the Cicada

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Everyone living within the territory of Golden Silver Island had seen the departing White Marsh leave behind a radiance known as the Shaking Light. They set aside their work, gathered in an open space, and offered devout prayers according to ancient custom. To Liu Xiaoyi, the sight was profoundly stirring.

How many ages must have passed for such fervent faith to take root? Only after that beam of light vanished from view did the people come back to themselves. They turned toward Liu Xiaoyi with eyes full of worship.

Had Qian Jin not been quick enough to pull him away, Liu Xiaoyi would have been trapped among the surging crowd for the entire day. Everyone wanted to know how he had rescued White Marsh from the cavern. Although their guardian deity had departed for another place, the land around Golden Silver Island had been transformed as well. It was no longer a perilous region surrounded on every side by sheer cliffs, but a vast and fertile grassland.

The vigorous life brought by White Marsh would continue to influence this place for at least several centuries. Golden Silver Island, once unable to sustain itself, now possessed ten thousand acres of rich farmland.

Farming offered a kind of pleasure that gold and silver could never provide. Since the island had no shortage of either, the clansmen found greater enjoyment in working the fields. For the moment, they had no concern for anything else. They ran out onto the newly formed soil, cheering, leaping, and tumbling about in delight.

Seeing all this, Liu Xiaoyi felt deeply gratified. But when he glanced around, he realized that the two girls who had accompanied him were nowhere nearby.

“Where did Meng Qiaoqiao and Shangguan go?” he asked.

Li Jue had been using the Golden Light Spell to probe the cavern ever since they arrived, only to discover that an inexplicable formation had sealed it off and prevented him from peering inside. The more mysterious it was, the more his curiosity grew, and he had paid no attention to the two women’s movements.

Only after Liu Xiaoyi asked did he come to his senses. He looked around but found no trace of them. Cai Wu and Ma Shan were equally unaware of their whereabouts. Neither knew the slightest thing about Taoist arts; they had remained near the carriage, chatting with the drivers.

“They’ve probably gone to the Ring Mountain Mine,” Qian Jin replied. “I heard some of the clansmen say that two foreign girls had gone there to play. Why don’t I take you to have a look? If Golden Silver Island has any true specialty, the Ring Mountain Mine is it. No one knows why, but the gold and silver here are endlessly replenished. Everyone says it is the work of the mountain god.”

The sheer quantity of gold and silver on Golden Silver Island was astonishing. It was all used to construct buildings, something that would have been unthinkable anywhere else. Thirty ounces of silver could be exchanged for three hundred pounds of grain—enough to feed an entire household through the winter. If the common people learned of this place, they would surely rise up and attack it en masse.

Yet the Ring Mountains were exceedingly strange. No matter how people dug from the outside, all they ever found was hard black stone. Deeper within, even iron picks broke against it, and eventually the outsiders had no choice but to give up.

There had never been a shortage of those seeking riches, and research into the Ring Mountains had never ceased. Their peculiar terrain made it impossible for anyone, regardless of cultivation, to cross over the summit. Strange demonic winds howled there, easily sweeping people into the ravines. Every year, countless people died attempting to cross the mountains in search of mineral veins.

But from the side of Golden Silver Island, the scene was entirely different. To the clansmen of the Qian and Hua families, the Ring Mountains were the cradle that had nurtured them. The weather was mild, the climate pleasant, and most of their livestock were kept there. Whenever they had leisure, many clansmen preferred to stay in the mountains, planting flowers and other greenery.

Not long after arriving in the area, Shangguan Baozi had made a new discovery. That was why she had brought Meng Qiaoqiao here, following the local clansmen along the way.

“Was it really all right for us to leave without waiting for Liu Xiaoyi?” Meng Qiaoqiao asked. The farther they followed the mountain path, the gloomier it became. Sunlight scarcely reached them, and she began to feel uneasy.

Shangguan Baozi pulled her by the hand and skipped ahead. She had not even noticed that they were already some distance from Golden Silver Island.

“Don’t let that fellow’s handsome face fool you. When he gets down to business, he’s as stiff and dull as an old man. Imagine how boring it would be to travel with him. He can attend to his affairs while we enjoy ourselves.”

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“But it’s so dark here. Why don’t we stay a little while, then go back? I’m rather frightened.”

“We’re both cultivators. How can you say you’re afraid? Do you know why Golden Silver Island is so wealthy? If the Iron Dynasty possessed this much gold and silver, it would have risen to greatness long ago instead of remaining confined to one corner of the world, unwilling to expand outward.”

As they continued forward, Shangguan Baozi took another Ghost Fox mask from her robes and handed it to Meng Qiaoqiao.

“Put this on. Once we walk farther in, you’ll see something interesting.”

She had many spare masks of this kind. The masks worn by the spirit-binding masters in the Weapon Mound not only concealed one’s aura but also possessed many wondrous abilities. Meng Qiaoqiao put hers on, though she understood little of its purpose, and the entire world before her suddenly became clear.

The shadowy path turned bright and transparent. Within the rocky passage ahead, glimmering points of golden light drifted outward. Shangguan Baozi held a compass in her hand, its face engraved with the intricate directions of the Eight Trigrams. The needle pointed toward the depths of the mine.

The arts cultivated by spirit-binding masters allowed them to sense the weapons listed in the Weapon Register. Shangguan Baozi had come here because she had detected unusual movement from a weapon. That was why she had brought an assistant with her. Once they entered the mine, the sensation grew even stronger.

“There’s definitely a weapon from the Weapon Register at the end of this mine. Otherwise, how could there be a vein that produces ore without end?” Shangguan Baozi took out an illustrated catalog and searched through it carefully. Before long, she reached a conclusion. “The thing hidden here should be the Treasure Bowl. Only it possesses the power to turn decay into wonder and produce all this gold and silver.”

On the left side of the cavern, everything gleamed with golden light. On the right lay great masses of natural silver. Unworked gold and silver were soft to the touch, seeming almost to ripple with liquid beneath the fingers. No matter how much the two families mined from these veins, they continued to produce without end. In time, the clansmen had lost interest in them.

Unless some major event occurred, workers rarely entered the mine. The wealth outside was already more than they could use, and no one wished to reach into the mountain god’s domain and ask for more.

Near the entrance stood a golden statue resembling White Marsh. It had been carved from the gold found here and depicted the mountain god in White Marsh’s likeness. Placed anywhere else, it would have been priceless, but here no one paid it the slightest attention.

Through her divine mask, Meng Qiaoqiao could see two different colors of light in the mine. A slender line seemed to extend inward along the passage, and that was precisely what Shangguan Baozi had come seeking.

“Can weapons from the Weapon Register really hide themselves? And where does the Treasure Bowl rank?” Meng Qiaoqiao had always been curious about such things and asked question after question along the way. This was the first time she had seen a weapon conceal itself. The threads of magical power vanished into the ore, making it obvious that the Treasure Bowl was hidden somewhere within.

“Three hundred and sixty-fourth. If it weren’t capable of creating wealth, it wouldn’t even qualify for the Weapon Register. Set up a trapping formation here and wait for my signal. I’ll lure the Treasure Bowl out.”

With that, Shangguan Baozi lowered her head and charged into the pile of ore. She knew earth-traversing magic and could move freely through the solid stone. The Treasure Bowl was indeed hidden at the very center of the rock. Apparently aware that someone had come to seize it, the jeweled vessel shook its plump body and wriggled deeper inside.

Several ropes suddenly caught around it from behind and began hauling it backward. The pull itself was harmless enough, but it thoroughly enraged the Treasure Bowl. The surrounding ore began to writhe and surge, attempting to crush Shangguan Baozi to death. Yet no matter how tightly the stone compressed, her slender figure remained utterly unmoved.

“Come here!”

Clutching the ropes with all her strength, Shangguan Baozi pulled. Against the art of earth-traversing, the Treasure Bowl was still one move short. She dragged it forcibly out of the rock.

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Meng Qiaoqiao had already completed the formation outside. Seeing the Treasure Bowl emerge, she hurriedly formed hand seals and gathered her power.

Once the vessel’s body was entirely exposed to the air, it sensed the dense magical force surrounding it and sprayed countless copper coins from within itself. They shot toward the two girls like a storm of darts.

At that moment, Shangguan Baozi drew out a ruler and struck the Treasure Bowl with all her might.

“Now! Seal it!”

The ruler transformed into a streak of light. With a shake of its head, the Treasure Bowl drew it inside. Its power was to transform anything placed within it into gold and silver treasures, which it could then spit back out. But the ruler was an object outside the Five Elements. No matter how ingeniously the vessel wielded its power, it could not transform it.

While its attention was diverted, Meng Qiaoqiao’s sealing formation activated. Hundreds of talismans gathered before the Treasure Bowl and sealed it tightly from every direction.

“Tsk, tsk. A mere little Ghost Fox thinks she can seize a weapon? How presumptuous!”

Just as the two girls began to relax, the entire mineral vein was blasted apart from above. The tremendous impact scattered the talismans, and the Treasure Bowl shot through the opening.

Shangguan Baozi’s expression turned cold. She immediately flashed outside, where she saw the Treasure Bowl wrapped in supple threads held by a black-clad figure wearing a Mountain Deer mask. No matter how violently it struggled, it could not break free.

The moment Shangguan Baozi saw that mask, her heart sank. She knew that members of the Weapon Mound must be nearby, but she had not expected them to arrive so quickly.

The spirit-binding masters were divided into ranks, distinguished by the patterns on their masks. The Mountain Deer mask represented a level above the Ghost Fox. Shangguan Baozi was no match for him.

“Still a child, and already daring to come out here? Go home and eat your fill for another two years!” the man roared with laughter. The Treasure Bowl was one of the few weapons in the Weapon Register with almost no offensive power, making it relatively easy to subdue.

“Bah! I found it first. Give it to me!”

“Be a good girl and go home. Combat isn’t suited to you!”

The Mountain Deer pulled the threads taut with both hands, drawing the Treasure Bowl close. He took out a talisman and slapped it onto the vessel, preventing it from gathering magical power and struggling any further.

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