Wayfarer

Chapter 143: The Riddle of the Red Rope

From Marquis Wu and his subordinates' bodies, Xiao Nanfeng found four rather high-quality swords, five lengths of red rope, and Marquis Wu's storage bangle.

"I participated too. I should get a share of what's in this bangle!" the serpent exclaimed.

Xiao Nanfeng ignored the serpent. He took the five lengths of red rope and walked up to Blue Lantern. "Elder, what's with this red rope?"

Blue Lantern inspected the red rope carefully for some time before frowning. "This is... a cursed effigy's spiritual avatar?"

"That's right. When the copper avatars left Marquis Wu and his subordinates' bodies, I clearly saw that they each held a length of red rope in their hands." Xiao Nanfeng nodded.

"It looks like you can join them together. Try it," Blue Lantern suggested, handing the rope back to him.

Xiao Nanfeng looked at their frayed ends, then joined them all in a chain. They wound together instantly.

"Oh? They really can be joined together—and I have a length of red rope here, too!"

Xiao Nanfeng retrieved the red rope that the old eunuch had used, then combined it with the other five pieces. As all six pieces joined together, they glowed with red light.

"This is the complete form of the cursed spiritual avatar," Blue Lantern asserted.

"Marquis Wu split his red rope into six pieces?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"That has to be the case. Marquis Wu and his subordinates defended against the copper avatars' possession with that rope, and they were astute enough to have feigned being unconscious ever since. And..." Blue Lantern frowned.

"And what?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"It's been three thousand years since I left the hidden realm. Has the outside world changed to such an extent?" Blue Lantern sounded mystified.

"Ah?" Xiao Nanfeng didn't quite understand.

"Three thousand years ago, any cultivator catching the eye of a cursed effigy would be the the start of a catastrophe. All cultivators of my time feared cursed effigies, but what's going on now? Marquis Wu and his Spiritsong subordinates even dared cut a cursed effigy into pieces—and as for you, well, you're even more extreme." Blue Lantern shook his head in bewilderment.

Xiao Nanfeng grimaced. "You must be joking, Elder. The world at large fears cursed effigies; I'm an unfortunate exception."

Blue Lantern was silent for long moments before nodding. "Quite so. Marquis Wu is far more wary of playing with fire than you are. This red rope isn't a cursed king, only a regular cursed effigy."

"How can you tell, Elder?" Xiao Nanfeng glanced at the red rope dubiously.

"If it were a cursed king, the red rope would be far stronger. That said, this is no ordinary cursed effigy either," Blue Lantern announced seriously.

"Could you elaborate, Elder?"

"As you saw, cursed kings can take on various forms, but ordinary cursed effigies tend to appear as skeletons."

"So what's special about this red rope?"

"A cursed king can give its subordinates cursed spiritual power of a special form, such as the divine undying king's dragon-quelling spikes. Consuming these spikes transforms an ordinary skeleton into a copper skeleton."

"In that case, this red rope's king granted its subordinates a special form of spiritual power that transformed them into red ropes?"

"That's right. I suspect this is only one of many such red ropes that exist," Blue Lantern explained.

"What does this prove?" Xiao Nanfeng asked curiously.

"Cursed kings tend to hoard their spiritual power jealously. Only under one condition do they tend to distribute it to their subordinates en masse."

"What condition?"

"When a cursed king is intending to return to the mortal world and contend for the realm."

"Elder, you mean that there are many such red ropes beyond the hidden realm, which are securing power and territory for their king?"

"That's right. Marquis Wu might have been one of the targets, but he managed to divide it into six pieces and use its power to his own ends, instead. Of course, it's also possible that the red rope formed some sort of pact with Marquis Wu. I wouldn't know the details."

Xiao Nanfeng beheld the red rope as he contemplated this new information.

"Elder, many cursed effigies have attached themselves to Nanfeng. Is there a way to remove them?" Yu'er asked urgently.

"Elder, you have tremendous knowledge and experience. You must be able to help, surely?" the Lady Arclight immediately added.

"Elder, you once told me that you could help me remove these cursed effigies if I were to wish it on a dragon-quelling spike. I don't have any such spikes any longer, but would you accept some replacement instead?" Xiao Nanfeng glanced at Blue Lantern hopefully.

Blue Lantern gave him a pained smile. "An ordinary cursed effigy that hasn't possessed you, I could remove—but I can't do anything about cursed kings."

The two women fretted, but the serpent was laughing in schadenfreude.

"Is it that difficult to deal with cursed kings?" Xiao Nanfeng asked.

"If I could do so, would I have been trapped in this realm as slave to a cursed king for three whole millennia?" Blue Lantern sighed.

Xiao Nanfeng frowned. "How can I defend against them, then?"

"You'll be able to suppress them if your spiritual power is stronger than theirs," Blue Lantern replied.

"That might be possible—but how strong are they, Elder? Can you give me an idea? How strong was the copper man?"

"We faced the copper man at the nadir of its strength, which was what ultimately gave Emperor Wei a fighting chance. The copper avatars that it produced were all at late-stage Lunar Deluge. The copper man was originally at Yin Body, but after being forced to self-destruct, its cultivation temporarily dropped to late-stage Lunar Deluge as well. That was when your skeletal cursed king took it down," Blue Lantern recalled.

"Late-stage Lunar Deluge?"

Xiao Nanfeng recalled that the four cursed kings attached to him had had a hard time dealing with the copper avatars at first—they too had been around late-stage Lunar Deluge in strength.

"Be careful. Now that they've regained consciousness, as it were, they'll be able to recover quickly as long as they have sufficient spiritual power and cursed spiritual power," Blue Lantern warned.

Xiao Nanfeng recalled Madam Rouge mentioning that the cursed kings had yet to finish digesting the copper avatars they had consumed. Once they did so, they might very well ascend to Yin Body.

He was at early-stage Lunar Deluge; if the cursed kings were to reach Yin Body, they would be one full realm above him. It wasn't an insurmountable difference.

"Thank you for your guidance, Elder," Xiao Nanfeng replied gratefully.

"It's no secret."

"Elder, you're heavily wounded at the moment. Would you like to join us as you recuperate?" Xiao Nanfeng offered.

"Very well." Blue Lantern accepted the invitation graciously. He seemed to have more to say to Xiao Nanfeng, but didn't want to do so with so many people around.

"Senior Sister, Elder, shall we return as well? I've rescued the remaining Taiqing disciples, though they're still heavily wounded. Would you have a look at them?"

The two women nodded, though they were still frowning.

"There's no need to worry so much," Xiao Nanfeng consoled them. "I simply have to grow stronger than the cursed effigies."

"It's hardly so easy to advance your cultivation," the Lady Arclight replied, frowning in worry.

"When we return, let me ask my mother to see if she has any ideas," Yu'er suggested, refusing to give up.

"Please don't spread word of this information. I'm worried that others will take advantage of it to target me if they find out," Xiao Nanfeng warned.

"Don't worry, I won't mention your name." Yu'er nodded seriously, as did the Lady Arclight.

"Croak, Warble, let's have a feast of roast meat. I'll supply the manpower, but you'll have to provide the food, alright?"

"I've been waiting for you to say that!" Croak croaked happily.

Warble nodded, already starting to drool.

"Serpent, why are you staring at me?" Xiao Nanfeng frowned.

"What treasures are in Marquis Wu's bangle? Aren't you going to split it? I deserve a share," the serpent announced in a thick-skinned fashion.

Xiao Nanfeng: ...