Heaven’s Shadow

Chapter 123: Stashing the Stolen Goods in a Tree Hollow

Lu Chen saw Su Qingjun at the entrance of the herb garden that day. She was wearing a green dress with a long sword on her back, looking young and beautiful like a blooming flower in the deep mountains, drawing everyone’s eyes to her.

Even after the disaster, as people busily went about their tasks, many young male disciples couldn’t help but steal glances at her as she stood beside Lin Sheng. Every miscellaneous servant disciple who hurried over to report their losses wished they could stay a little longer in front of her, just to be a bit closer to her.

But at a time when everyone had something to do and was busy, Su Qingjun stood quietly alone, neither speaking nor working, which seemed strange. Yet, it seemed perfectly natural to everyone passing by, and no one questioned it. Perhaps no one wanted to make a fuss, or maybe most people felt that a young and beautiful woman naturally had special privileges.

When it was Lu Chen’s turn, he walked up to Lin Sheng, softly reported his name and the location of his spiritual field. Su Qingjun, standing aside, looked over at Lu Chen for the first time.

Lin Sheng glanced at the scroll in his hand, nodded, and asked, “You were growing Red Amber Ginseng there. How is it?”

“It’s gone,” Lu Chen replied honestly.

“Gone?” Lin Sheng frowned, and Su Qingjun’s face also darkened.

“Yes, it’s gone,” Lu Chen repeated. “When I went to check, the spiritual field was undamaged, but the Red Amber Ginseng had disappeared, leaving only a dug-up pit.”

Lu Chen paused, seeming to ponder for a moment, then added, “There were some unclear wild animal footprints in the field. Maybe the beasts sneaked in after the earthquake damaged the surrounding high walls and defensive formations and dug it up.”

Lin Sheng snorted, looking displeased. He took up a brush and made a stroke on the scroll, which Lu Chen saw clearly, erasing the entry for Red Amber Ginseng.

Lu Chen understood the meaning of this action, but he also noticed that there were already five or six similar marks on the scroll. He couldn’t help but blurt out, “So many have been stolen?”

Lin Sheng hesitated, perhaps remembering the vast difference in status between himself and this insignificant servant disciple, and decided it wasn’t worth explaining. He just waved his hand and said, “Go help with repairing the high wall. Make sure it’s done before dark.”

Lu Chen agreed, turned to leave, but stopped and glanced at Su Qingjun as he passed by her.

He shrugged, spread his hands, and showed a helpless smile.

Though Su Qingjun seemed unhappy, she didn’t direct her anger at Lu Chen. She merely nodded at him without speaking, then turned and walked away after a moment of silence.

Lu Chen watched her graceful figure as she walked away, shook his head, and then went to the high wall at the edge of the herb garden to help with repairs. As he picked up bricks, he muttered to himself, “Being young and pretty sure has its perks; no need to carry bricks.”

※※※

After dark, everyone went home, like birds returning to their nests. The power of discipline was evident in the Kunlun Sect, a renowned establishment for five thousand years. Even a sudden earthquake couldn’t alter the ancient rules passed down through the ages.

A shadowy figure crept out of the night, limping but moving swiftly. It ran to Lu Chen’s house, sniffed at the door, found light inside but no one opening the door, and then moved to the back of the house. Sure enough, the little dog hole was still there, as everyone had been too busy to repair it.

The shadow was delighted and squeezed through the hole.

But before it could relax, it felt a sudden rush of wind around it, and then darkness enveloped it as a sack-like object covered its head and body. It was lifted off the ground, and a voice cursed, “Daring to come back, today I’ll make dog stew!”

“Woof, woof, woof…” The sack echoed with a series of mournful barks. The black dog inside seemed very angry and upset.

Unmoved, Lu Chen laughed as he threw the sack on the ground and stomped on it twice, saying, “You’re getting bold, learning to steal now.”

The sack writhed and rolled, and after a long while, Ah Tu managed to struggle out of it. The black dog barked happily, shook itself vigorously, sending a cloud of dust into the air.

“Hey, hey, hey,” Lu Chen waved at the dust, annoyed. “Stop shaking. Where have you been? You’re covered in dirt.”

Ah Tu barked again.

Lu Chen looked at it, suddenly smiled, bent down swiftly, grabbed Ah Tu by the neck, and lifted it. The dog struggled and barked, showing its sharp teeth to intimidate, but Lu Chen said, “Show your teeth again, and I’ll stew you for dinner.”

Ah Tu immediately shut its mouth tightly, with no gap visible, let alone its sharp teeth.

Lu Chen snorted, sat on the bed, holding the dog’s head, stared into its eyes, and said, “Tell me, how much did you steal from the herb garden?”

Ah Tu shook its head vigorously, looking resolute and righteous!

“Where did I put the stew pot?”

“Woof!”

Ah Tu immediately jumped off the bed, wagged its tail at Lu Chen, and pointed with its paw under the table.

“Mm?” Lu Chen looked at the black dog suspiciously, walked over, and pushed the table aside. Upon closer inspection, he indeed found a patch of dirt beneath the table that looked different from the surrounding area.

Lu Chen glanced at Ah Tu, who was squatting next to him, tongue out and tail wagging, its eyes sparkling.

After thinking for a moment, Lu Chen flipped his hand, and a black short sword appeared. Without worrying about the sword getting dirty, he directly stabbed it into the ground. Dirt flew, and soon, he had dug a small pit. In the soil, he found a flower stem with a dark yellow flower.

As soon as he took out this strange dark yellow flower, an unusual smell spread out, a scent that was difficult to describe, neither fragrant nor foul.

Lu Chen stared at it for a moment, then snorted, “A ‘Youquan Sunflower,’ you have a good eye. It won’t kill you!” He then glared at Ah Tu and asked, “Is there more?”

Ah Tu shook its head like a rattle.

“My pot…”

“Woof!” Ah Tu stretched out a paw and pointed under the bed.

“…”

※※※

After a busy period of clattering noises, small pits were everywhere in the little house. Finally, on the table, there were six kinds of spiritual herbs lying quietly under the dim candlelight.

“Sit!” Lu Chen, sitting by the table, sternly ordered Ah Tu, who obediently ran over and squatted by his feet, rubbing its head against Lu Chen’s leg.

Lu Chen remained unmoved, his expression cold. He pointed at Ah Tu and said, “Do you know what you’ve done today?”

“Woof…” Ah Tu’s ears perked up, its head tilted in confusion.

“Embezzlement, stealing public property!” Lu Chen looked at the black dog with disdain. “I didn’t expect you to be such a shameless dog.”

“Woof…” Ah Tu barked again.

Lu Chen snorted, his expression softening slightly, and he lowered his voice, “Listen, this is Kunlun Mountain. If anyone finds out you stole spiritual herbs, it will be a dead end for you. I won’t be able to save you. Do you understand?”

Ah Tu shrank its head.

“Don’t do it again!” Lu Chen frowned, his eyes stern.

Ah Tu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and gently rubbed its head against Lu Chen’s knee.

Lu Chen turned his gaze to the valuable spiritual herbs on the table, most of them at least two-striped, with even a three-striped rare herb among them. He frowned and muttered, “What to do with these herbs…”

Ah Tu leaped towards the door, half-standing to fiddle with the latch, seemingly intending to turn in the stolen goods. At the same time, it heard Lu Chen’s latter half of the sentence:

“…It’s not safe to hide them in this house.”

Ah Tu froze, then nonchalantly returned to Lu Chen, wagging its tail, its eyes gleaming with an understanding that seemed to say, “Great minds think alike!”

Lu Chen pondered for a while, muttering to himself, “I should store them there. If someone finds these herbs here, it’ll be trouble.”

Having decided, he grabbed the sack from the ground, swept all the herbs from the table into it, and Ah Tu followed him, putting its front paws on the table and watching eagerly. Lu Chen glanced at it and asked, “You want to go too?”

“Woof!”

“Alright, come here.” Lu Chen beckoned.

Ah Tu happily jumped onto Lu Chen, who smiled, grabbed the sack, and pressed his hand to his chest. In that instant, the world spun, and light and shadows blurred. Moments later, they found themselves in the mysterious and ancient tree hollow.

Lu Chen stood up, emptied the sack of herbs, and identified each one. Most he set aside after a glance, but he paused when he reached the last one, a spiritual herb as thick as a baby’s arm, white and tender, shaped like a lotus root.

“Black Mud Lotus…” Lu Chen muttered, shaking his head. “This thing can’t live without water. It’ll wither and lose its spiritual energy quickly.” He glanced at Ah Tu and said irritably, “The pond where this was growing wasn’t shallow. How did you even dig this up?”

Ignoring Ah Tu’s reaction, Lu Chen thought for a moment, hesitated, but ultimately took the Black Mud Lotus to the water pool at the center of the tree hollow.

As the Black Mud Lotus silently sank into the water, ripples spread, distorting Lu Chen’s reflection. Deep in the water, the black flame flickered slightly.

Moments later, the Black Mud Lotus settled near the black flame at the bottom of the pool.

The ripples gradually subsided, and peace returned.