Chapter 79 (Patreon)

What if someone were to rip out your spine, but it took them days to pull the last vertebrae from your body?

Chen Haoran didn’t bother counting how many days they spent walking within the snake skeleton. Any number would be ridiculous and he couldn’t find it within himself to care about measuring it after crossing through the Snake’s Mouth. The Machu River, while similarly absurd in size for what it was, at least wasn’t larger than the oceans back on Earth. The Snake’s Mouth had no such comparison. What could? The giant skeleton could swallow the largest blue whale of Earth in a single bite and have room for more.

Instead he took the time to acclimate himself to Zumulu. Stepping into the Snake’s Mouth had been like entering a new world of heat and humid air that he almost assumed Zumulu was a secret realm like the Spa Cavern. The jungles around them were a veritable chorus of noise from birds, insects, apes, and some sounds so strange that he couldn’t imagine what creature could make them.

Chen Haoran was thankful he was wearing silk even as he sweated through them. While qi could help regulate temperature it didn’t let him completely ignore it. Even supernatural powers couldn’t overcome the ridiculous heat multiplier that was humidity it seemed. Thankfully under the immense shade of the skeleton they didn’t have the sun beating down on them. A fact he was most thankful while he marveled at its size.

“I know that beasts tend to get bigger the higher cultivation they have,” Chen Haoran said. “But what kind of realm reaches this size?”

“Who knows,” Xie Jin said. “It was a mystery even before the Age of Chaos. What realm it reached. What killed it. Why here. The debate is as old as civilization in the south.”

“I’m surprised they’re still here honestly. Even if they’re just bones they still belonged to a higher realm. There’s no way they didn’t have value.” Lan Fen had introduced the concept to him and the White Tyrant had provided the clearest example of it back in the Spa Caverns when he killed Patriarch Lan. Even if the owner of the skeleton didn’t reach as high as the White Tyrant it’s bone would have remembered its power. He didn’t think cultivators were they type to let cultural value get in the way of their pursuit of power.

“The Empire thought the same.” Xie Jin shrugged. “Even though if that was true my people would have picked the skeletons clean long ago. Maybe they once held echos of their power but time has robbed them of even that now. They’re durable enough to weather the passing of the ages but if you try to introduce qi to them or use them in any refining they crumble. Beyond the decorative they’re useless. Not that the Empire believed our bone-carvers when they said that.”

Chen Haoran hesitated but considering they were finally in Zumulu he felt it right to ask. “I don’t mean to pry if it’s personal but I’m curious. You don’t seem to like the Empire very much but you were trying to join the Palace School. I just don’t understand.”

“I am a cultivator. My dislike of the Empire doesn’t change the fact that they’re the best way for someone like me to advance. At least I tried to become an official with my own skills than use my Gu.”

“People do that?”

“The Empire recruits shamans to serve in various departments. They can’t raise Gu they way we can so they try to employ us instead. It’s just another thing the Empire failed to exploit in Zumulu.”

“They invaded for the Gu and bones?”

“They attacked for plenty of things.” Xie Jin puffed out his chest with pride. “Zumulu doesn’t offer its treasures easily to those it didn’t raise. That’s why they don’t like us. They can’t exploit the south the same way they do everywhere else.”

Chen Haoran raised an eyebrow. “How am I supposed to get those treasures then? You gonna make me an honorary Zumulian or something?”

“I’ll ignore that absolute butchering of a name.” Xie Jin pressed his thumb into his chest. “As for the treasures don’t fear, your Brother Jin is here.” He pointed forward where the snake skeleton finally narrowed into a tail. Houses and buildings of dark red jungle wood formed around the tail that bustled with people.

“We’ll start in Snake’s End.”

——————

Snake’s Mouth and Snake’s End. Two very inspired names. Chen Haoran couldn’t fault them too much however. Clearsprings City and White Ridge weren’t that much better in that regard. It was just easier to name places after their environment although this world definitely had more fantastical locations willing to lend their names. It made him wonder if the Imperial Capital of Last Light was also named for some bizzare geographical feature.

In any case Snake’s End was far less inspiring than the Snake’s Mouth. Formed long ago as a place where merchants rested before continuing their journey to the larger urban centers, it was much like the town where he and Xie Jin chartered Old Jiang’s ferry. Snake’s End had seen far better days however. It’s buildings were aged and it wasn’t hard to find abandoned homes and ruins. According to Xie Jin it had been the first place the Empire burned down after they marched their army through the skeleton and after conquering the region and constructing a new road there was no hope for the town to return to its former glory.

What they saw no was a place to take care of the needs of the small amount of trade that passed into the western half of Zumulu.

Needless to say, Chen Haoran wasn’t impressed. He made sure Xie Jin knew it too as they checked in to a particularly run down inn.

At least he’d finally been able to take a bath.

“We’ll start here huh?” He asked, casting Xie Jin an unamused look while they ate. Their table was laden with cheap alcohol and local delicacies, particularly a dish of glass noodles and ground pork tastefully named ‘Ants Climbing A Tree.’ Chen Haoran steeled himself and took a bite. It seemed southern cuisine favored spiciness. It was too bad that even changing to a new body didn’t help him handle spicy food any better.

The boastful bonehead at least looked abashed. “Well… maybe not here.”

“I’ll remind you I’m in need of a city. Particularly one larger than Clearsprings.”

“No worries Brother Chen, I’ll bring you to the biggest and bestest. We’ll rest here for a day and be on our way to Daqing.”

Phelps once again had his own chair to their side and ate with surprising manners for an animal which Chen Haoran measured by how he didn’t spill anything off his plate. He made sure to include plenty of Waterlight Spirit Moss to make up for the terror poor Phelps had to endure while they traveled through the Snake’s Mouth. Phelps hadn’t let go of him until they exited the skeleton.

“Believe me Brother Chen, you’ll love the south.”

He could hear the earnestness in Xie Jin’s voice. Could see the confidence in his face that Chen Haoran would love his home just as much as he did.

“I don’t like spicy food.”

The confidence died. The voice full of earnestness wavered. Xie Jin looked at him with a mixture of horror and worry. “Maybe this was a mistake.”

Chen Haoran was about to answer when a man entered the inn and drew his attention. He and Xie Jin had been the strongest cultivators in the inn so when another Eighth-Layer entered he couldn’t help but look over. Bone ornaments marked him as a native and he was dressed in a simple cotton robe dyed a colorful green with a rough jaguars pelt wrapped around his shoulders. An interesting visual sight to Chen Haoran but typical in the south and he quickly ignored the man as he sat down to eat…

At least until a Ninth-Layer cultivator followed in after him. This one caught both his and Xie Jin’s attention. Spotless white silk robe, shiny well-groomed hair, confident posture, a single vermillion scabbard at his waste. The man that entered was much younger than the Eighth-Layer. Around his and Xie Jin’s age if he had to guess.

The young man scanned the inn, his eyes briefly looking over them before settling on the pelt-wearing Eighth-Layer. Watching the man beeline to his table Chen Haoran sighed and turned back to eating. Xie Jin refilled his cup and shook his head. There was a spike of qi and the sound of a shattering table as the two cultivators began to fight. For what he didn’t know, nor did he care. There was no reason for him to get involved or drag Xie Jin with him.

“We gotta stop eating in inns-” Chen Haoran’s words died in his mouth when the body of the Eighth-Layer crashed through their table like a bullet, slamming into Phelps and shooting through the wall.

“Phelps!”