Chapter Nine: The Escape

As night deepened, Fire Qilin gazed at the bead hanging on his chest, missing his mother, and could not stop tears from flowing. At the same time, his thoughts drifted to Little Azure, recalling how she used to play and frolic with him as a child. Though Little Azure was a green snake, he had never regarded her as a mere pet; to him, she was just like a childhood companion from the village.

Until only a few days ago, he had never been apart from Little Azure for so long. The pain in his heart was as sharp as when he first parted from his mother. Perhaps it was simply a habit—having grown so accustomed to Little Azure’s presence, he now found himself waiting by his bedside for her silhouette each night, unable to sleep in her absence.

But at that moment, an unusual sound echoed from the corridor outside. At first, he thought it was Little Azure, but listening carefully, he realized the footsteps were neither hers nor familiar. These steps were cautious, slow, and tentative—much like when he and Little Azure used to steal peaches from his fourth uncle’s house in the dead of night.

A thief? Someone trying to steal from him? Could it be that his exchange of inner cores during the day had stirred up greedy intentions?

The village elder had warned him: never flaunt your wealth when you’re away from home, lest you invite trouble and disaster upon yourself. Little did he expect these words to be validated so quickly.

From now on, he would need to be even more vigilant; otherwise, he might not even know how he died in this foreign place. He didn’t want to die so young—he still had to learn the ways of immortality with Little Azure and change his family’s fate.

This was one reason he had ventured out into the world. The other was to discover what had become of his father. He would search to the ends of the earth if need be, just to catch a glimpse of the man, even from afar; that alone would satisfy him.

Suddenly, the door creaked open. Fire Qilin feigned sleep, determined to see who coveted his treasures.

As the breathing drew near and a hand reached for his waist, Fire Qilin’s own hand shot out, gripping the would-be thief. The person behind him, startled, bolted at once, not daring to linger a second longer in this place of trouble.

Never had these two thieves imagined that Fire Qilin was only pretending to sleep, lying in wait for them to fall into his snare.

“Spare me, young master, spare me!” pleaded the innkeeper.

“Innkeeper?” Fire Qilin asked.

“Yes, yes, it’s me,” the man stammered. “I was forced. Young Master Xuan San made me do this.”

“Who is Young Master Xuan San?”

The innkeeper, wincing in pain from Fire Qilin’s grip, hoped that the youth would let him go so he could explain. Xuan San, the third son of the city lord, was originally named Xuan Dong. Because he was the third son, he became known as Young Master Xuan San.

Word of the inner core exchange had spread like wildfire throughout the city, and Young Master Xuan San was no exception. Greed piqued, he set his sights on Fire Qilin’s prize. To avoid arousing suspicion and to protect the family’s reputation, he instructed the innkeeper to sneak in and steal the item under cover of night.

With Xuan San backing him, the innkeeper had little fear for his own life and agreed to go along, enlisting his assistant for courage. Neither expected Fire Qilin to be so vigilant, still awake at such a late hour.

After hearing the explanation, Fire Qilin did not make things difficult for the innkeeper. On the contrary, he gave the man a few first- and third-grade inner cores and instructed him on exactly what to say, promising to keep him out of harm’s way.

Thus, Fire Qilin passed the night without further incident. The next morning, at the third quarter of the hour of Si, the group of hunters arrived at Xuanlin City with Little Azure in tow, precipitating another conflict.

On that day, Xuanlin City appeared as usual, its gates wide open, though fewer people passed through than normal. A crowd had gathered at the entrance—these were the city lord’s men, stationed to protect a certain individual.

That individual was none other than the third son of the Xuan family, outwardly aloof but inwardly consumed by greed. As on this occasion, he wished to inspect the hunters’ catch; if the creature was rare and valuable, he would seize it for himself and silence the hunters to keep the matter quiet.

He was well aware of this particular hunt, which had been organized for his younger brother’s ceremonial cleansing.

The city lord’s fourth son had just turned five, the age for such a rite. Thus, the city lord had dispatched a hunting party to capture wild beasts for refining medicinal pills. A skilled alchemist resided at the manor—hired at great expense for the boy’s fifth birthday. If not for his duties entertaining the alchemist and guests, the city lord would have hunted himself, far more efficiently than the hunting party.

“Master, the hunting party has returned,” reported a guard.

Soon, the party appeared at the city gates, the very group that had captured Little Azure. As they drew near, Young Master Xuan San summoned them to display their prize.

But in the instant the hunter produced the spatial pouch, someone sprang from the shadows, snatched the bag, and fled toward the forest.

It was Fire Qilin. As he ran, he opened the pouch and released Little Azure, who, in her snake form, immediately slithered into his arms for safety.

Seeing the hunters hot on his heels, Fire Qilin had no intention of abandoning the spatial pouch; he considered it fair compensation for the trouble they’d caused by kidnapping Little Azure. He fastened it at his waist and began his escape.

However, he was quickly overtaken—the hunters knew the art of earth movement, a skill that cost them little energy, and they were determined not to let Fire Qilin succeed.

They hadn’t expected the youth to be so persistent, lying in wait to ambush them at Xuanlin City. Had Fire Qilin known any real skills, perhaps the hunters would have found themselves outmatched.

As the chase continued, Fire Qilin’s eyes landed on a wasp nest perched high in a nearby tree. An idea struck him. With a gust of energy, he sent the nest tumbling, unleashing a swarm of wasps upon both himself and his pursuers.

Without hesitation, he leapt into a deep pool below. The hunters, seeing this, abandoned the chase, using their escape techniques to protect themselves from the swarming wasps.

When all outside fell quiet, the hunters dissolved their earthen shields and fled, leaving Fire Qilin and Little Azure to their fate. Not only had they lost the beast, but also the valuable spatial pouch and its contents—a bitter loss indeed.

The pool into which Fire Qilin and Little Azure had plunged was no ordinary pool. It had existed for a thousand years and was so cold it could freeze any being below the Cave Heaven level to death within moments. Even for those at the Origin Meridian stage, like Fire Qilin and Little Azure, their survival was uncertain beyond a quarter of an hour.

“So…cold…” Fire Qilin murmured.

Though they had escaped their pursuers, the peril of the pool was far greater—they might well perish here.

His vision blurred as he drifted downward, his body coated in frost and curling inward from the cold. If not for his fire spirit root, which offered some resistance, he would not have lasted even this long.

As he sank further, a waterlogged corpse, seemingly drifting from nowhere, miraculously came to his rescue.

The corpse, covered in moss, was perfectly intact—no missing limbs or wounds. What was strange was that it seemed impervious to the deadly chill of the pool, providing shelter for Fire Qilin and Little Azure.

Gradually, the corpse floated downstream, carrying them to a cavern at the far end, where it finally came to rest.

Under Little Azure’s care, Fire Qilin awoke, though he had been unconscious for an entire day and his stomach now growled with hunger.

Once recovered, the two of them leapt to the shore of the cavern, dragging the corpse with them. Gratefully, they bowed in thanks.

“Thank you, elder, for saving my life,” Fire Qilin said. “I will see to your proper burial.”

With that, he prepared to move forward with Little Azure, hauling the corpse along. But before they had gone far, his stomach protested again, demanding attention.

So be it—first, he would eat, and then see to the elder’s burial. Surely the elder would not begrudge him this small delay.

Fortunately, Fire Qilin still had a few cakes left in his own spatial pouch. After sharing them with Little Azure, they set about their task.

Not far ahead, they found a place to lay the elder to rest.

Anyone else in their situation might have searched the corpse for valuables, hoping for some unexpected treasure. But Fire Qilin simply ignored such thoughts, treating the corpse as a friend and giving it a proper burial.

Afterward, the two continued deeper into the cave, searching for an exit.