Chapter 140 — Letting the Tiger Return to the Mountain

"What wretch dares make trouble in the Canglang Water Palace? Taste this old ape's trident!" Several figures came flying over on shield-light, and at their head was that water ape, whirling his water trident and howling, oo-oo-ah-ah—quite a display of ferocity, with more than a touch of comedy about it.

The fighting here had been fierce, and the Three Sages of Tian Shui and several of Xuanwu Cong's disciples had of course sensed it—those at cultivation closed their exercises, those refining pills put out their fires, and all came hurrying over. But they were too late. Xuan Yuan struck with extreme speed, and the exchange between the several of them was swift as well. Contests of Daoist arts are decided in the blink of an eye; when a long while passes with no victor, it means the two are evenly matched and neither can overcome the other—then only the depth of true essence is compared. Cultivators have long breath to begin with; they might compare for months without issue. Unless it were a deep and deadly hatred, who would do such a thing?

"You monkey, mind your manners! This is the Canglang Water Palace—who would dare come here to stir up trouble!" It was Ancestor Hong Zheng scolding the water ape. A dozen or so of them came surging up together, and at the sight of Xuanwu Cong's tattered Daoist robes they all drew a sharp breath. Even a fool would know what had happened. Fortunately, the Canglang Water Palace was a meteorite mother-stone; even such fierce fighting could not mar it in the least, and its hardness was simply staggering.

"What a pretty doll! Friend Zhou, this is not right of you—such a pretty little doll, how could you bear to tie it up with a rope? Look how pitifully the doll cries...! Eh? This rope has such immense spiritual power—what a mighty treasure! No—could this be...?" The water ape's eye fell at once on the Heavenly Ghost Zhou Xuan had bound. He seemed used to Ancestor Hong Zheng's scolding and paid it no mind, but let out another queer cry: "I think I have heard of this treasure... such a mighty rope—could it be... the Bind-Immortal Cord! Yes, that's it, the Bind-Immortal Cord!"

This water ape had roamed far and wide in his early years and had read many Daoist books cataloguing treasures; he had actually recognized the rope's origin.

Hearing the water ape call out the name, all the demons gathered round, Ancestor Hong Zheng included, drew a sharp breath. Though these folk had vaguely guessed the rope's origin, none had dared speak it aloud; now that the water ape had said it, their suspicions were confirmed. Such ancient treasures were what cultivators dreamed of—ordinarily seen only in dreams—and now here they were before their very eyes. How could they not be stirred?

Though these demons wore looks of envy, not a trace of greed showed on any of them, and Zhou Xuan was much relieved. Keep wealth hidden—that was his principle. Zhou Xuan had been careless, letting such a treasure be seen, and he regretted it deeply. But he had been reading faces all this while, and he knew these demon cultivators were all of the honest, upright sort with no wicked designs—it was he who had been measuring a gentleman's heart by a petty man's yardstick.

Ancestor Hong Zheng was steady by nature and at once asked for a clear account of what had happened. When he learned that what Zhou Xuan had bound was the Nine-Child Mother Heavenly Ghost, his face turned very grim, and he fell into brooding silence.

The water ape circled the Heavenly Ghost, which wailed without cease, peering at it with great curiosity, plainly fascinated—then suddenly cried out: "Eldest Brother, this is bad! We cannot withstand such demonic creatures as this, and we have no treasure like Friend Zhou's Bind-Immortal Cord. If that man comes to seize our cave dwelling, what are we to do?"

Hearing the water ape's worry, Xuanwu Cong was about to speak and comfort him, then thought better of it; the words came to his lips and he swallowed them back.

Zhou Xuan and Yun Xiuzi, seeing this, exchanged a glance and found it most amusing; they knew well enough what Xuanwu Cong had meant to say—no more than that their cave dwelling was beneath such a person's notice, that he would never come to seize it, so there was no need to worry, and so forth.

Kindly meant though it was, such words were better left unsaid.