Chapter Forty-Nine: Mandrake

Fang You and Bai Ling entered the burial chamber, with An Wu close behind them.

Suddenly, the ghostly blue flames of the Evernight Candles on both sides of the chamber were ignited by the warmth brought in by their presence, flooding the entire space with brilliant candlelight.

“What is that?” Fang You asked, noticing at the end of the long chamber a neat arrangement of vividly colored flowers. These blossoms appeared ominous and unsettling, filling him with a deep sense of unease.

“We should hurry ahead! The tomb’s master, Cao Aman, must be just up ahead!” Bai Ling said, drawing out her ultraviolet lamp, prepared for any traps or mechanisms they might encounter.

Ultraviolet light could reveal traces and marks invisible to the naked eye—an essential tool for any modern tomb raider.

An Wu, tense and alert after the deaths of all his men and the passing of Daoists Qiu Ruji and Fang Zhong, drew his pistol and scanned their surroundings. His nerves were strung as tight as wire.

As Fang You reached the entrance of the chamber, Bai Ling suddenly called out in alarm, “Wait!”

But it was too late. Under the ultraviolet light, swarms of tiny purple insects began crawling out from the strange flowers ahead.

One of the insects leapt onto Fang You and bit down hard.

He quickly brushed them from his body.

“That’s Datura from the Western Regions!” Bai Ling exclaimed, fishing out a bottle of fire oil. As the insects continued to pour forth, she lit the bottle and hurled it onto the flowers.

With a sizzle and a crackle, the flames consumed the flowers, and countless insect corpses exploded in the heat.

“Damn, I’ve been poisoned!” Fang You cried, collapsing weakly to the ground as the world spun around him.

“Hurry, let’s go!”

In his dazed state, Fang You could feel Bai Ling and An Wu dragging him away, moving him toward some unknown destination.

He felt as though his entire body had grown weightless, floating in confusion.

In this trance, he seemed to witness an extraordinary scene:

A demon, radiating immense power, stood proudly in midair, shrouded in a storm of dark energy. Below him, rivers of blood flowed.

“Surrender now!” The demon was surrounded by countless celestial soldiers and generals, who sought to apprehend him.

Yet the demon, brimming with power, regarded them with utter disdain.

“The gods granted me a title only because they feared my mighty power of death. Now that I wish to leave the Celestial Realm, who among you can stop me?”

With a casual wave of his right hand, a surge of overwhelming force swept out, hurling the celestial soldiers and generals thousands of miles away.

“Hahaha!” the demon boasted. “Who dares challenge me?”

Suddenly, behind the demon appeared a godly general, fierce and imposing, wielding a double-headed trident, a divine eye on his forehead, and accompanied by a celestial hound.

“I am Erlang Zhenjun of Guankou, Yang Jian. We both hold divine rank—come back to the Celestial Realm and atone for your crimes,” he declared.

“Atone? Hahaha!” The demon laughed. “What crime have I committed? Is being strong a crime?”

“If you refuse to repent, then enough talk—face my blade!” Yang Jian lunged with his trident.

The demon met the attack with his own formidable strength, and the two clashed furiously in the heavens.

Suddenly, a golden staff flashed through the air, striking the demon by surprise.

“I once caused chaos in the heavens five centuries ago. I never thought I’d see another like myself. Alas, now that I am a Buddha, I can only fight you as a peer. If I were still a demon king on earth, I’d call you brother!” said the Monkey King, Sun Wukong.

The demon’s attention snapped to the newcomer—a monkey-faced, sharp-eyed figure in golden armor and a phoenix crown, his staff returning to his hand with a flick of his finger.

“You know Old Sun—clearly you’re no ordinary foe!” Sun Wukong spun his staff, his demon power stirring the wind and clouds.

“A former demon king, now serving the gods, standing by as celestial generals and soldiers slaughter their own kind, all for the title ‘Great Sage Equal to Heaven’—how laughable, how tragic!”

“No more words! Old Sun just wants another good fight—try my staff!”

With Sun Wukong attacking from the left and Yang Jian from the right, staff and blade struck in tandem.

Yet even so, the powerful demon was undaunted, his hands releasing waves of deadly energy as he battled the god and the demon king.

At that moment, a clear, ethereal voice resounded from the sky, growing closer:

“Namo Amitabha—lay down your blade, and you shall become a Buddha!”

A monk, robed in resplendent golden silks and haloed with radiant light, walked through the air toward them.

“Golden Cicada!” Yang Jian called out respectfully.

“Master!” Sun Wukong greeted him warmly.

But the demon only laughed, “What a display! Gods, Buddhas, and demon kings all coming for me. It seems I won’t escape the Celestial Realm today.”

“If there is goodness in your heart, I can guide you—help you become a Buddha in spirit,” said Golden Cicada.

“Guide me? Hahaha! Even if you can cleanse my heart, can you wash the blood from my hands?”

“What’s the point of all this talk? Take Old Sun’s staff!”

A massive golden staff came crashing down. At that moment, Fang You felt a jolt of terror in his heart. “Ah—!”

With a cry, Fang You awoke from his dream.

“You’re awake, little Daoist?” Bai Ling was at his side, tearing open a packet of medicine, the scent bitter and strong.

His mouth was full of that same bitterness—he must have been given the antidote by Bai Ling while unconscious, dissolved in water.

“Thank you,” Fang You said kindly.

Bai Ling turned away, a bit embarrassed. “Too many people have died already. I don’t want to lose anyone else. Now let’s figure out how to open this black iron door.”

“Miss Bai had no container, so she used her own mouth to hold the medicine, added water, and fed it to you bit by bit,” An Wu remarked, having witnessed the entire thing.

Hearing this, Fang You looked at Bai Ling again. She glanced at him, then at An Wu, as if she’d guessed what he was thinking. She feigned indifference and said, “Out in the world, Daoists shouldn’t fear a little contact. We help each other, especially since you’re not without skill—you might actually be useful.”

“Indeed, you are right, my friend,” Fang You replied, noticing Bai Ling’s flushed cheeks. She was clearly trying to act unconcerned, but how could such an intimate gesture leave one completely unmoved?

Still, Fang You pretended to know nothing, turning his attention to their surroundings.

“Let’s continue unlocking the mysteries of this tomb.”