Eternal Life: Talent Grows with Age-Chapter 103 - 96: Insect Repellent Ointment

A drinker sneered.

"A checkpoint every ten miles, a sentry every twenty—hell, even army strongholds weren’t this strict."

"And you really think it’s to track rebel movements, protect the townsfolk? Please. They just want the news first so they can make a quick getaway."

······

The drinkers kept complaining, their tongues loosened by wine, but no matter how pissed they got, none of it could change these facts.

This was also why Lu Chang’sheng had kept clawing his way up all this time.

"Lotus Monk? Black Temple?"

His brows knit. Those folks were bad news—total psychos considered part of the Demon Dao over in Nanming Prefecture. Ruthless as damn hell, way worse than the ear-chopping freaks.

Two more days went by, and then another four people showed up.

All women. The two leading ladies were already showing their age.

One was dressed like a Daoist nun, named Cai Daoren. Behind her waddled a plump woman with a plain face, holding two swords in her hands.

Practicing Sword Technique, huh. That’s unusual.

Lu Chang’sheng thought to himself.

Hong Yuan, Guan Hongxiu, and the other three had all come out of Jixia Academy—normally, their Martial Arts would be pretty similar.

Divine Power Stake, Five Treasures True Skill, and Hundred Battles Spear Art—any one of those could max out your battle capabilities.

The other was a woman in white, Kong Yuzhen. Her clothes were simple, not flashy, but she carried herself like nobility, clearly used to high places. Trailing her was a woman in her thirties, lugging a beautifully carved wooden box more than three meters long.

At that length, it was almost certainly a spear.

A spear, thirteen feet—longer means stronger.

Staring at that fancy carved box, then glancing at his own spear wrapped in black cloth back in his room, Lu Chang’sheng started getting ideas.

This box is nice. Gotta get me one of those.

······

That evening, under Teacher Hong Yuan’s lead, Lu Chang’sheng got another round of introductions.

Kong Yuzhen and Cai Daoren’s party had trekked a long way to get here, so they clearly weren’t in great shape. They rested another day or so, and when dawn finally broke, everyone set out toward the distant mountains.

They were all Martial Artists—even on rough trails, they moved like lightning.

In no time, they’d covered dozens of miles into the Great King Mountain.

A few days passed.

The group reached a spot halfway up the mountain.

Panting, Yu Hai suddenly spotted a granny standing silently on a rock ahead, and his heart jumped.

"There’s a ghost!"

Lu Chang’sheng got startled by him, too. He followed Yu Hai’s pointing finger, but saw nothing—just empty space and rocks, no one there.

"No, I swear I saw her, standing right on that rock!"

Yu Hai’s face was pale. Only when he noticed the four seniors ahead showing zero reaction did he realize he’d probably made a mistake.

"Ghost? You talking about me?"

A voice rang out.

Everyone turned—and now, there was the old woman standing on the rock again.

Only this time, she didn’t vanish.

"Yeah, yeah, that’s right—"

Yu Hai nodded frantically, missing the fact that Guan Hongxiu’s face behind him looked annoyed.

"Help me out with something tonight," Guan Hongxiu said coolly.

Yu Hai snapped his mouth shut; he knew he’d put his foot in it.

Soon, the old woman on the stone let her True Qi swell as she leapt from rock to rock, agile like a wild mountain monkey—nothing like an elderly lady.

True Qi Realm Martial Artist!

"Oh! That’s Elder Gu!" Yu Hai slapped himself across the face.

After she walked off, he turned to Lu Chang’sheng, face scrunched up: "Elder Gu’s way older than our teachers. Back when our teachers were just students at Jixia, she was already a True Qi Realm Martial Artist. Ugh, out here in these wild mountains, with her popping up like that, anyone’d be scared half to death. Not my fault I couldn’t tell, right?"

"Ahem, ahem!"

A coughing fit started up again.

Yu Hai reflexively raised his hand, reconsidered, and decided not to slap himself this time.

"I’m beginning to feel stupid... If I’m destined to get hit, why do the work myself?"

Lu Chang’sheng laughed, "Old bro Yu Hai’s just reminding himself, don’t make the same mistake next time!"

"Slap, slap!"

Yu Hai promptly gave himself two more smacks.

"Right, good point. Thanks for the reminder."

Lu Chang’sheng, seeing Yu Hai’s grateful face, quietly stepped back to get a little distance.

Hang out with good folks, you get better; bad ones rub off on you too.

He didn’t want to catch whatever Yu Hai had.

······

Midway up the mountain was a manmade clearing—several wooden houses scattered there.

Elder Gu lived here. Besides her, there was a middle-aged man, her junior. According to Hong Yuan, this guy was from the previous generation of Seekers of Immortality, eighty-something years old already.

"This is Ancient Mountain, my junior," Elder Gu said with a kindly smile, her eyes crinkling, turning to Lu Chang’sheng and the others.

Ancient Mountain greeted the group, then turned away to pour tea.

They settled here for a reason, naturally.

Not far away, tucked inside a mountain valley, lay the whole reason they’d come. Elder Gu camped here to keep watch over the Vermilion Fruit, so nobody else could sneak in and swindle them.

"Last night, something stirred in the valley. I snuck in and caught the sweet scent of Vermilion Fruit—by my guess, it’ll be fully ripe within two, three days."

"But that demon ape has been getting nastier every year. You five want to take it head-on—not a chance. You’ll have to lure it out."

"After you do, the kids can handle harvesting the fruit."

Lu Chang’sheng and his crew stayed quiet.

They didn’t know the area like the elders did, so they just listened.

Soon, a plan was laid out.

Hong Yuan, Daoist Ruyi, Kong Yuzhen, and the other council members would figure out how to draw the demon ape out of the valley; the rest of them would sneak in and pick the Vermilion Fruit.

Elder Gu wasn’t planning on fighting herself—she was too old and weak, with little strength left now.

The monkey horde was pretty big, but most were no tougher than a strong grown man. Any Martial Artist with Great Success in Pile Skill could handle three or five at a time. Plus, they all trained in top-tier Pile Skill, Divine Power Stake, and they had Xu Zhuqing, a True Qi Realm Martial Artist, for backup. As long as they were careful, there was nothing to worry about safety-wise.

Two more days passed, and the valley’s scent grew even stronger. Lu Chang’sheng and his group headed out early toward the valley.

The valley was thick with bushes—monkeys had no problem swinging through the trees, but these guys sucked at Lightweight Technique, so bushwhacking it was.

"Here’s some Insect Repellent Ointment. Rub it on and every bug will steer clear."

Yu Hai fished out a jar of black goo, twisted off the lid, and a reek blasted up his nose.

"Ugh! Gross!" Kong Yuzhen’s apprentice, Kong Fei, couldn’t help but take a step back.

All of them were from the Martial Artist Institute—even the women hadn’t seen wartime, but they weren’t afraid of a little mud.

Still, Yu Hai’s ointment was rank—enough to make anyone gag.

Yu Hai looked pleased anyway. Smelled nasty, sure, but it worked amazingly well.

He smeared it on, walked a few steps, and the bugs flitting nearby scattered like mice spooked by a cat.

"See? Works great! Alright, everyone, give it a try, see for yourselves!"

He held up the jar, totally unaware of how off his wording was.

"It really is good—we use it all the time up here,"

Ancient Mountain chimed in.

A True Qi Realm Martial Artist could use their Qi to ward off bugs, but it ate up too much energy. If something went wrong, and they ran out of Qi, it’d get dangerous fast.

Saying that, he took the jar.

The three women frowned deeply, glancing at Lu Chang’sheng.

Lu Chang’sheng frowned too. "Old bro Yu Hai, what kinds of bugs does your ointment stop?"

"About fifty-nine, plus nine types of venomous snakes. Why you asking? Listen, let the pros handle this! Just stick close and enjoy the ride." Yu Hai boasted.

Lu Chang’sheng shook his head, unwrapped his bundle, and revealed a pile of gear.

Everyone’s brows jumped—they couldn’t help but think it was a bit much.

Most eye-catching was the suit of armor.

Lu Chang’sheng quickly geared up.

"Junior Brother Lu, not everything’s fit for forest travel. That armor’s alright for blocking monkeys, sure. But if something small squirms inside, good luck getting it out."

Ancient Mountain gave some advice.

After all, the mountain was crawling with poisonous bugs. Insect Repellent Ointment was good, but it didn’t stop everything. For the ones that slipped through, you needed quick hands and skill to shoo them off before things got ugly.