Immortality Starts With Generosity

Chen Haoran had tried to use the bare minimum he thought he needed to reach the top of the tree. As it turned out, he still underestimated how much power his advancement brought. His leap brought him high into the air and almost through the canopy entirely. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and grabbed a branch before he flew too high and swung himself onto the tree.

At the very top was an open space, enough for two people to sit in. The branches and leaves grew up and away from this space, covering it from view from both above and below save for one side that opened up directly facing the center of the Basin and its impaling mountain.

Bao Si took her time in climbing after him, giving Chen Haoran enough time to bury his face in his hands and cringe. ‘Earn his arms.’ Did he really say that? Why? There wasn’t enough water in Zumulu to drown him as badly as he wanted to right now.

Chen Haoran schooled his face back into indifferent calm when Bao Si finally arrived, Phelps floating them both to the top. She alighted onto the tree and took Phelps in hand off her back, giving him a few chin scratches as she did. Phelps squealed and allowed it before shrugging her off and floating to Chen Haoran, settling on his back as was his proper place.

“You’ve tamed quite the beast,” Bao Si said. “I’ve never seen its like before. Where did you find him?”

Something about her had changed in the time it took for her to climb the tree. There was something different about her features. Something predatory. Chen Haoran felt like a slab of meat being stared at.

“It was a bit of an adventure. What did you want to show me up here?”

Bao Si pointed toward the mountain and its impaled skeleton. “That, of course. Sit. This tree has the best view of the sunset.”

They shuffled around a bit. Two people and a sloth made for crowded company up here. Eventually, Chen Haoran settled Phelps into his lap and sat side by side with Bao Si to watch the evening light fade. A cool breeze brushed across his face. The humidity of the Basin lost some of its strength as high up as they were.

“What is it you want from me?” he finally asked.

“Simple curiosity, really,” Bao Si said. She was flush against his side, and he could feel every small movement she made as she made herself comfortable. “We found the Gu you fought. It still hadn’t recovered from the injuries you gave it. Given their powerful vitality, it’s rare for them to suffer such lasting injuries. It was a first for me.”

Was that it? If so, then Chen Haoran was relieved. This, at least, was easy to deal with. He wasn’t surprised to hear the Gu was still injured. Compared to what the White Tyrant could do, it was child’s play. “It’s because of my Harmonization. It’s a bit special.”

Bao Si’s interest was piqued. “It must be quite the technique if the Harmonization alone is so powerful.”

To be perfectly honest, Chen Haoran didn’t know if the Canyon Carving Sword even was a technique anymore. It certainly had never been the same since the White Tyrant’s image basically infected it. If he didn’t know any better, he would have considered them two different techniques.

“You can see it for yourself,” he said. “I just need a place to practice it. I don’t think people will be too happy if I start cutting down trees.”

“That’s no issue. Just go to the lake. Plenty of the tribes’ cultivators practice their more destructive techniques there.”

“Right the…. lake. I don’t suppose you know anything about that giant skeleton.”

“As much as anyone else does about Zumulu’s bones. Some theorize there was once an ancient battle here and that these skeletons fell during it. The Screaming Giant is considered as the obvious evidence.”

Screaming Giant. What an appropriate name.

Bao Si seemed to read his thoughts and chuckled. “To answer your actual question, every bone on that skeleton matches a human one. The only difference is in scale.”

“Somehow, that’s even scarier than the Snake’s Mouth,” he said.

If it looked human, did it think like a human? Something that big with a fully sapient mind was disquieting. Whatever killed something like that, even more so.

“Jin took you through the Snake’s Mouth, did he? Why am I not surprised? That’s so like him.” Bao Si quietly laughed under her breath, faint as it was though it sounded clear as day to his ears. However, this was less due to his enhanced senses and more to just how close she was to him. “The Screaming Giant isn’t the only one of its kind. There are other bones across Zumulu identified as human. The Screaming Giant is the most complete skeleton, however.”

The sun began its descent over the horizon, and the jungle canopy was bathed red and gold. Bao Si curled up to his side and rested her knee on his thigh. Chen Haoran locked eyes with her. Bao Si’s black eyes were the type to draw one in. If he were poetic, he’d say they were limpid pools. Chen Haoran wasn’t a good poet. Her eyes were attractive, the same way an abyss was. He placed a hand on her knee…

…and pushed it off.

“What do you want now?” he asked.contemporary romance

Bao Si huffed indignantly, but a small smile played across her face. “I’d like to hear how Jin met you.”

“I bought him a meal.”

She waited for him to continue and puffed her cheeks when he didn’t. She grabbed his sleeve. “I need details Chen Haoran.”

“I’ve answered your questions. Answer mine now.”

Bao Si poked his shoulder. “I’ve answered your questions too.”

“A host should be gracious.”

She rolled her eyes. “Ask away then.”

“What, specifically, is a Gu capable of?”

“Oh?” Bao Si looked surprised before morphing into a cat-like grin. “Jin didn’t tell you. He probably spent more time talking about famous cultivators and battles and perhaps a dash of hating the Empire to keep things interesting.

Chen Haoran grimaced. She’d hit the nail on the head.

“That’s normal for him,” Bao Si continued. “However, he might act at the end of the day he hates Zu—”

“Stop.”

Bao Si blinked.

Chen Haoran gave her a flat look. “I didn’t ask you that.”

“Are you not curious?” Bao Si asked. It was the most genuine he’d heard her be all day.

“Whatever his business is, I’ll hear it from Xie Jin. Not you.”

Bao Si’s eyebrows rose before she suddenly sighed. “If there’s anything I envy about Jin, it would be his luck. He’s so lucky it’s absurd. It’s a good thing I’m amazing. If I were any less myself, I would feel bad.”

“So about Gu—”

She slapped his shoulder. “I’m getting there.” She paused to collect her thoughts. “You’ve been in Zumulu for some time now. Have you seen the insects?”

“No, he conveniently didn’t see any bugs in a place full of them.” Chen Haoran tamped down his urge to say something sarcastic. It was obvious Bao Si was talking about a specific kind.

He nodded. “Some of them have the same amorphous qi that Gu do. I killed a giant beetle like that when I was with Xie Jin.” Among the others, he had seen while on his to the Basin.

“We call those insects Hell Bugs. They are completely unique to Zumulu and the reason why we have Gu while other, stronger, insect environments do not.”

Hell. It wasn’t the first time he’d heard that word come up. “Do they have anything to do with the Tenth Green Hell?” he asked.

Bao Si smiled indulgently as if Chen Haoran scored well on a test and was due a reward. “Correct. The Tenth Green Hell is the source of the energies that mutate insects into Hell Bugs and the place all Gu return to after their contract is dissolved.”

“Dare I ask what hells One through Nine are?”

Bao Si shrugged. “That’s a question for the monks. In the south, though, we have a saying: There are nine hells, and the Green Hell is the tenth. It’s the most forbidden zone of Zumulu and filled with poisonous fog and wild Gu. The monsters that have crawled out from that place have made for themselves a bloody page of destruction in Zumulu’s history. Only the strongest and most experienced warriors and shamans enter the Green Hell, and only the lucky come back out alive. Even the Sunset Emperor was forced out when he tried exploring it, and he lost a whole detachment of his Royal Guard doing so. It was the only loss he ever suffered in Zumulu.”

The Sunset Emperor. It was a name he’d read about in his history books back in Clearsprings—the Founder of the Empire and, to date, its greatest ruler. The man who singlehandedly conquered the entire continent and painted it his color. From the tone of his books, the following rulers only managed what the Sunset Emperor built and could never add to it. It was surprising to read something so critical of the highest authority in a land that didn’t seem to brook any disrespect but given that it was comparing them to their exalted ancestor, maybe that sort of rhetoric was given a pass. The Sunset Emperor ruled for a hundred years, then abdicated the throne to his son and vanished one day. It wasn’t said what happened to him, but considering that Xie Jin’s grandfather was over 400 years old and still kicking, the Sunset Emperor should be alive too.

Chen Haoran paused. Xie Jin’s grandfather was 400 years old. Obviously, this was the result of his Crystal Transformation Realm cultivation. The act of cultivating was a comprehensive improvement of a person; of course, the lifespan would be included. Chen Haoran had just never given it much thought, however. It was just one of those details that fell to the side while he focused on the strength of the realms. But if a Crystal Transformation Realm could live for at least a hundred years….

Chen Haoran looked down at his hand and flexed his fingers. “How long does a Liquid Meridian Realm live for?”

Bao Si stopped and looked at him in disbelief. “Are you serious?”

“Pretend that I am.”

“I thought you wanted to know about Gu.”

“I can learn more than one thing at once.”

“Well, I can’t teach more than one thing at once.” Bao Si placed the back of her hand on her forehead and mimed fainting, leaning heavily into Chen Haoran as she did. “Not unless you can do something for me. I’ve been talking a lot. I deserve a reward.”

Chen Haoran sighed. “What do you want?”

Bao Si’s eyes slowly fell down his body and below his belt. His heart did not skip a beat as she did. It was just the Yellow Dragon that passed too close to it while it cycled. Phelps blearily looked up from atop his lap and sleepily burbled at Bao Si before curling up

“I’d like a place to rest my tired head as well,” she said. “Surely I’ve earned your lap if not your arms.”

It was his lap. Chen Haoran would have breathed relief if Bao Si wouldn’t have immediately noticed it and no doubt teased him more for it.

“No,” came his instant response.

“Please?” Bao Si tilted her head down and batted her eyes at him.

“Phelps is trying to sleep. Don’t disturb him.”

“Is there no more room in your heart for one more?”

“No. I can just ask Xie Jin.”

Bao Si clicked her tongue. “You’re no fun. It’s 200 years, barring any accidents.”

The number hit him like a truck. Double a human lifespan. Even if he didn’t reach the maximum, he’d still be living well beyond even the oldest human back on Earth.

“To finish answering your question,” Bao Si said, stirring him from his thoughts. “A Gu can be considered a living cultivation technique. Their miasma is their most used weapon, but many cultivators have died for thinking it’s their only one.”

Chen Haoran scratched his chest where there was once burned skin. “The Gu I fought stole the armor off my body and dropped a horde of insects on my head.”

“Gu are the embodiment of greed.” Bao Si curled a strand of her hair around her finger as she spoke. “Their special qi is used to power arcane and hard-to-resist abilities. They can steal the clothes off your back with a thought, the weapons out of your hands, even your cultivation if you allow yourself to be overwhelmed. Their miasma is one of the most poisonous substances in Zumulu and can be used in every way poison can be used. They can enslave and seduce people. Turn them into evil spirits and control them. Sense wealth and draw it toward their owner. Their vitality makes them incredibly difficult to kill by anything short of total annihilation. Their qi makes them harder to detect. And, of course, they can command other insects.”

Chen Haoran’s heart fell more and more as Bao Si listed one power after another. More than ever now, he was beginning to regret coming to Zumulu. How the hell did he survive fighting one? Knowing what he did now, he couldn’t believe he actually won that fight.

“A Gu is versatile, but it’s not all-powerful,” Bao Si said. She yawned and stretched her back, a motion that did very interesting things to her front, particularly with her being as close as she was to him. “Their means of direct at are weak, and the majority of their abilities require preparation to be used effectively. You can consider a Gu to be another type of poison; they both share the same limitations. On top of that, while their vitality is strong, doing enough damage to them will have them exact a greater price from their shaman in return. In addition, every Gu is vulnerable to fire, boiling water, and lightning, as well as just being overwhelmed by power in general. Even a Gu is helpless in the face of someone who can destroy them in one blow.” Bao Si waved a hand over herself. “And, as always, the shaman is the weak link. If you kill the shaman, then while the Gu will still be a problem, it will act far more instinctually and lack the same deadly precision they do while controlled.”

It was still a lot to take in. Even if he could beat a Gu in a direct fight, there was no telling what would happen to him if he was caught unawares. He was lucky the shaman he fought had been so crudely forward with his Gu. That fight could have gone so much more differently if he hadn’t been. Chen Haoran pushed those thoughts away and distracted himself by watching the sun disappear from view. Bao Si, in the meantime, twisted so that her legs lay across his shins. Her dress rode up a bit while she moved and exposed the centipede tail on her knee once more.

“Hey,” Chen Haoran said, resolutely ignoring her antics. “Everything you said is about normal, Gu. What makes a Black Bone Shaman so special?”

Bao Si laughed.“Isn’t that obvious?” A slow, superior smile grew on her face, and Chen Haoran was struck by just how much it looked like the one Xie Jin so often sported. “We’re the best.”

Pride was universal to a Black Bone Shaman, it seemed.

“Do you have any more questions to ask?” The last light of the sun covered Bao Si’s face in a golden glow. Only her eyes remained dark.

“Just one.” The most important one.

“How do friends become official?”

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