Chapter 960
The Inconspicuous Crack
“You’re right, benefactor! That’s exactly what I was worried about! Even if we drive that beast away, the earth’s veins are already damaged, and it won’t heal in a day or two…”
Chu Yang squatted down and looked at the Earth God.
"Land God, can you repair the earth's vein nodes?"
The Earth God hesitated for a moment.
"If the evil energy is completely cleared away and the snake venom contamination is dealt with... Although my cultivation is not high, I am, after all, a local earth god appointed by the Heavenly Court, and have a natural connection with the earth's veins. Repairing the nodes... I can give it a try. But the prerequisite is—that evil energy and snake venom must be cleared away first."
Chu Yang nodded and stood up.
"Then we'll proceed in three steps. First, enter the cave and subdue or exorcise the snake demon. Wukong will be the main force in this step. Second, cleanse the evil energy and snake venom from the earth's veins. We'll need to figure out a way to do this. Third, repair the earth's vein nodes. The Earth God will be in charge of this step."
He looked at Sun Wukong.
"Brother Monkey, was the first step okay?"
"Nonsense. It's just a broken snake."
"But there are a few things to be careful about. First, the cave is quite small, so you won't be able to use your golden cudgel effectively inside. Second, the snake demon's scales are very hard; a direct hit might not be very effective, you'll have to find its weak point. Third, its vertical pupils have a paralyzing effect, so you can't make eye contact with it."
Sun Wukong scoffed.
"You think my Fiery Eyes are just for show? Those little tricks of itss are useless against me. As for the Golden Cudgel being unable to be used—"
He shrank the golden cudgel in his hand, turning it from a twelve-foot-long stick into a three-foot-long short stick.
"What weapon can't I, Old Sun, use? If the big ones don't work, I'll use the small ones."
Chu Yang smiled.
"I have a preliminary idea for the second step, cleansing the evil spirits. But I need to see it in person before I can confirm it. We'll discuss it after we defeat the snake demon."
Pigsy finally couldn't help but speak up.
"Then... what should I, Old Pig, do?"
Chu Yang looked at him.
"Bajie, I need you to do something very important."
Pigsy's pig eyes narrowed alertly.
How important is it?
"Before we enter the cave, I need you to widen the crack at the entrance with a rake. The local earth god said the crack is only wide enough for one person to squeeze in sideways—that's too narrow. If a fight breaks out and we need to retreat, it'll be troublesome if we can't get out. Widen the crack to at least four feet to ensure we can come and go freely."
Pigsy breathed a sigh of relief.
He's good at chiseling stones.
"Leave it to me, Old Pig."
Chu Yang turned around and looked at Tang Sanzang.
"Master, this matter may take a day. Please wait for us in the village in the valley, and while you're at it, see if you can do anything to help the villagers."
Tang Sanzang nodded.
"This humble monk will be waiting for you in the village. You... must be careful in all things."
Chu Yang stretched out his hand to the Earth God.
"Lord Earth God, please lead the way."
The Earth God paused for a moment, then looked up at Chu Yang.
The dense wrinkles on his small face seemed to have loosened up a bit—not that he had become younger, but rather that the long-standing tension, anxiety, and helplessness were gradually fading away.
"Benefactor...are you truly willing to help?"
Chu Yang squatted down to be at eye level with him.
"Earth God, you have guarded this valley for three hundred years. Three hundred years. Every tree, every inch of field here, grew under your watchful eye, as you yourself said. You were injured, poisoned, your petitions were rejected, and you couldn't find any help within a hundred miles, yet you still stayed here, you didn't leave."
His voice was calm.
"For your kind intentions, I'm definitely going to help you with this."
The Earth God's lips trembled.
Then he bent down and performed a deep bow with utmost respect.
It wasn't kneeling, but bowing and clasping hands—a gesture of respect from a subordinate to a benefactor, not a superior.
"Your kindness is immeasurable, and I will forever remember it."
He straightened up, leaned on his small wooden cane, and pointed north.
"Please follow me, everyone. Black Pine Ridge is about three miles from here. I will come down from underground to guide you."
After saying that, he stomped his foot, and his body sank silently into the soil beneath his feet, like a drop of water melting into the sand.
A faint, northward-moving bulge appeared on the ground—a trace left by the Earth God as he traveled underground, like an invisible mole burrowing under the soil.
Chu Yang waved to Sun Wukong and Zhu Bajie.
"Walk."
The three of them walked briskly along the moving ground mound towards Black Pine Ridge to the north.
Tang Sanzang watched them depart from his horse.
Sunlight fell on his robe, and the light flickered slightly—as if in response to something—before returning to stillness.
He clasped his hands together and whispered a sentence.
"Amitabha Buddha. May you all be safe and well."
Then he turned his horse around and headed south towards the village.
……
The three-mile journey from the paddy field ridge to Black Pine Ridge was quick.
The terrain gradually rises, the flat valley becomes a gentle slope, and the vegetation on the slope is sparser than that at the bottom of the valley. The lush bushes that should have been there are now clumps of withered branches and fallen leaves, as if they have been scorched by fire, leaving only grayish-brown skeletons.
The further north he went, the heavier the oppressive chill in the air became. When he reached the last half mile, Chu Yang could even see his breath condense into a thin white mist in front of him—in the middle of summer, for his breath to turn into mist was definitely not normal.
Black Pine Ridge came into view.
The mountain's name is quite fitting—it was densely covered with black pine trees from its foot to its summit. But now most of these pine trees are dead, their needles all gone, leaving only bare black trunks and branches, like giant black bones stuck into the mountainside.
The surviving pine trees weren't in much better shape. Their needles had turned from bright green to grayish-green, with curled and yellowed edges, like those of a seriously ill old man.
At the foot of the mountain, the Earth God emerged from the ground.
His square cap was covered in fresh mud, and his expression was even more tense than before—the closer he got to the snake demon's lair, the more nervous he became.
“It’s up there.” He leaned on his small wooden cane and pointed to a spot on the north side of the mountain. “About a hundred paces up from here, there’s a collapsed rock, and the entrance to the cave is underneath it. The crevice is hidden by fallen rocks; you won’t find it unless you look carefully.”
Chu Yang nodded.
"Brother Monkey, go up and check the situation first. Don't disturb it, figure out the layout inside the cave first." Sun Wukong's figure disappeared in a flash—he used the simplest shrinking earth technique, and in a few flashes, he was halfway up the mountain.
After about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, he returned silently.
"Found it. The crevice is hidden behind a huge boulder. It's really narrow; I, Old Sun, could barely squeeze in sideways. The cave inside is pretty much as the local earth god described—about three or four zhang square, not very big."
"Where's the snake?"
"It's there. Coiled in the very center, motionless. Like it's... hibernating. Completely still, even its breathing is extremely slow. Its body is wrapped around a protruding stone pillar—that pillar should be the ley line node, its surface showing traces of spiritual energy flow, but it's currently shrouded in evil energy, making it difficult to see clearly."
Chu Yang organized this information in his mind.
"It's dormant? Does that mean—we can make our move while it's dormant?"
"Possibly. But I, Old Sun, am unsure how deep its hibernation is. Snake-like monsters hibernate differently from humans; even in their deepest hibernation, they maintain a certain level of environmental awareness. The slightest disturbance will awaken them."
Chu Yang thought for a moment.
"Then that's settled—Bajie, go widen the crack in the rock first. Make as little noise as possible while you're chiseling, use finesse, not brute force. Monkey, cover for you. Once the crack is done, Monkey, go straight in and finish quickly."
"What if the snake demon had been awakened while Pigsy was chiseling at the crack in the rock?"
"Then the monkey will block the crevice in the rock, preventing it from escaping. The crevice is the only entrance and exit—as long as you guard the crevice, it can't get out. Then you can figure out a way to deal with it inside the cave."
Sun Wukong grinned.
"You really don't waste a single inch of your brain. Fine, we'll do it your way. You idiot—"
Pigsy had already hoisted the rake onto his shoulder.
"I know, we need to chisel into the rock. Let's go."
The three of them climbed up the hillside towards the middle of the mountain.
The Earth God remained at the foot of the mountain, his injured leg unable to support him as he climbed. Before parting, he took out a thumb-sized, earthen-yellow bead from his pocket and handed it to Chu Yang.
"Benefactor, this is the only 'Earth-Nourishing Bead' I have left. It contains a small wisp of pure earth elemental energy. After the snake demon is eliminated, bury this bead near a ley line node, and the earth elemental energy will automatically seep into the node to aid in its repair."
Chu Yang took the bead; it was warm to the touch, with a simple warmth like that of soil dried in the sun.
Thank you.
The Earth God looked up as the three figures disappeared among the withered branches of the black pine forest.
He stood at the foot of the mountain, leaning on a small wooden cane. His small, gray-brown figure was so tiny against the backdrop of the massive mountain that it was almost invisible.
But he stood very straight.
For the first time in three hundred years, he felt that perhaps the fate of this valley was about to change.
The slopes of Black Pine Ridge are steeper than they appear.
Dead pine roots burrowed out of the soil, blocking the road haphazardly like stiff, gray hands. A thick layer of dry pine needles covered the ground, crunching softly underfoot. The soil beneath the needles was hard and slippery, with an unnatural damp chill, like stepping on an ice block just pulled from a cellar.
The higher you go, the stronger the chilling feeling becomes.
When he reached the halfway point of the mountain, Chu Yang noticed a layer of fine goosebumps on the back of his hands. He subconsciously activated the Taiyi Nourishing Qi Technique, circulating a wisp of spiritual energy through his body twice before suppressing the chill.
“It’s just ahead.” Sun Wukong lowered his voice and pointed to a huge grayish-white rock to the right.
The rock was more than two people tall, half embedded in the mountainside and half exposed, like a giant tooth squeezed out of the mountain's belly. The surface of the rock was covered with withered vines and moss, and a pool of grayish-green stagnant water accumulated in a corner, emitting a putrid stench.
At the base of the rock, on the side closest to the mountain, there is an inconspicuous crack.
The crack was very narrow, only about a foot wide, and looked as if it had been cleaved into the rock face by a giant axe. The inside of the crack was pure darkness, not a single ray of light could penetrate it.
But something else was seeping out from the crack.
An aura.
Cold, damp, and murky, it was like opening an ancient tomb that had been sealed for a long time. Chu Yang leaned closer and took a sniff, and his stomach immediately churned—the smell wasn't just plain stench, but a complex stench mixed with snake slough, rotting flesh, and moldy soil, clinging to his nostrils and refusing to dissipate.
Pigsy also came over and took a sniff, his pig face scrunched up.
"Ugh—what's that smell—it's even stronger than my old pig's stinky feet—"
"Shh." Chu Yang pressed down on his shoulder. "Keep your voice down."
The three retreated to behind a withered pine tree about three zhang away from the crack, squatted down and discussed in hushed tones.
“Bajie, there are a few key points to keep in mind when you’re chiseling,” Chu Yang said in a very low voice. “First, don’t use a rake. Rakes have too many teeth, and they make too much noise hitting the stone. Use your copper hammer, chiseling one strike at a time, pausing for two or three breaths between each strike to let the sound dissipate before striking again.”
Pigsy nodded.
"Second, don't chisel from the very center of the crack. Start from the edge and widen it little by little. If you chisel from the very center, the loose stones will easily fall into the crack, creating an echo when they hit the bottom, and making it easier to disturb the thing."
"Third—stop chiseling when it's four feet wide. It doesn't need to be too wide, just enough for us to get in and out. Chiseling too wide would just waste time."
Pigsy took the copper hammer off his waist and weighed it in his palm.
"Don't worry. I've done manual labor my whole life, I know my limits."
He stood up, crouched down, and walked toward the crack.
When he reached the crevice, he paused, pressed his ear against the rock face, and listened for a few breaths. Then he raised the bronze hammer in his left hand and aimed at a rock protrusion on the left edge of the crevice.
The first hammer blow fell.
嗒。
The sound wasn't loud—Pigsy controlled it well, not swinging it around wildly, but using a skillful force similar to chiseling stone, concentrating the power on a single point on the hammerhead. The power-enhancing runes on the bronze hammer glowed slightly, and a fist-sized piece of rock was chiseled off, silently landing in Pigsy's other hand.
He gently placed the pebbles at his feet and waited for three breaths.
The forest was eerily quiet. There was no wind, no birdsong, not even the insects chirped. This silence was abnormal in itself—small creatures would instinctively stay away from places where powerful demons lurked nearby.
Three breaths later, there was no movement from the depths of the crack.
Pigsy raised the hammer a second time.
嗒。
Another rock was chiseled off.
嗒。
The third piece.
And so, hammer blow after hammer blow, with three breaths between each blow, Pigsy, like a patient stonemason, slowly gnawed away at the rock at the edge of the crack.
Chu Yang silently counted from the side.
Twenty blows. The crack expanded from one foot wide to one and a half feet.
Forty hammer blows. Two feet.
Sixty hammer blows. Three feet. Starting from this width, Chu Yang could barely squeeze in, turning sideways.
Sweat beaded on Pigsy's forehead. Not from exhaustion—for him, this was a piece of cake—but from tension. With each strike of the hammer, his heart pounded, fearing a roar would erupt from the depths of the crevice at any moment.
Eighty hammer blows. Three and a half feet long. (End of Chapter)