ATEG Chapter 134.1

Bai Qingya couldn’t help but be startled. If those words were true, then what was going on with this middle-aged man?

In that very instant, though Bai Qingya’s attention was on the verge of turning toward this person, the greater part of his focus was still fixed on Li Quan—and his mind, having long borne the strain of the dim mist, was now shaken by those startling words, its former calm clarity disrupted.

In that hairline gap of a moment, the cowering middle-aged man suddenly straightened and flung out his arm, scattering from his hand a net as hazy as drifting mist. From being curled in his palm to unfurling and sweeping down over Bai Qingya, it took no more than that brief instant.

Bai Qingya was caught completely off guard, the net dropping squarely over his head.

His divine consciousness was still active, and though he was standing with his back to the middle-aged man, the fire of his heart-flame surged up violently, engulfing his entire body in fire. The net fell upon the flames and was blocked by them, failing to touch Bai Qingya—yet it was not set alight either. It simply closed in around the fire, trapping both Bai Qingya and the flames together within it.

Without even turning his head, the middle-aged man leapt toward the denser mist at the roadside, holding the net-rope in hand, and made to drag both net and person along with him as he fled.

Whatever material this net had been forged from was unknown, but once Bai Qingya was wrapped inside it, the greater part of his cultivation was suppressed, and for a moment he could not break free. He was yanked into a stumbling lurch, nearly toppling headlong into the mist.

Li Quan swept his sleeve, and suddenly wind arose, parting the mist and fixing the cultivator in the guise of a middle-aged man in place. The middle-aged man was halted at the roadside, one leg still raised, frozen in the posture of hauling the net and fleeing. His eyeballs trembled rapidly, yet he could not move at all.

Bai Qingya let out a breath of relief, and while disentangling the net, he thanked Li Quan.

Li Quan accepted his thanks with ease, and with a lift of his finger, drew the middle-aged man back to the center of the road.

Even having revealed his cultivation, the middle-aged man still appeared to be an ordinary person—not a trace of spiritual power was detectable on him. Bai Qingya was inwardly astonished, and also puzzled. This middle-aged man did not seem to intend to kill him; he had only used the net to capture him and take him away. But what did he want with him?

“Are you wondering why he appears to be nothing more than an ordinary person?” Li Quan asked with a smile.

Bai Qingya nodded. “He has already performed a technique, yet there isn’t a single ripple of spiritual power on him. I have never seen such an art of concealment.”

“It is not an art of concealment.” Li Quan shook his head, but offered no explanation, instead saying, “Since fellow cultivator is also heading to the Yellow Springs Inn, why not travel together?”

Bai Qingya nodded his agreement. Though he had questions, it was Li Quan who had caught the man, and he would not demand answers by force.

They set off again in the direction they had been heading—yet the road no longer felt as strangely desolate as before. Li Quan walked beside him, while the captured middle-aged man was made to hover ahead of them like a puppet, still frozen in his ridiculous posture of hauling the net and fleeing, forced to lead the way.

The atmosphere on this eerie road had suddenly become a great deal less frightening.

The middle-aged man’s eyes—the only part of him that could still move—were fixed in a rigid glare. Li Quan paid him no heed whatsoever, and continued chatting with Bai Qingya in an easy, pleasant manner.

“Has fellow cultivator Li Quan been to the Yellow Springs Inn before?” Bai Qingya asked. Otherwise, how would he have known that only cultivators afflicted by the Five Declines of Heaven and Man could enter?

Li Quan shook his head, and as though he had guessed the reason for the question, said, “The information about the Yellow Springs Inn naturally came from those who returned from within it.”

“People have come back out of the Yellow Springs Inn?” Bai Qingya’s expression turned serious. If others could walk out, then Bi Dongdi might also have a chance of getting out.

He asked urgently, “How did they get out? Were there any changes to them?”

“I have not personally seen those people.” Li Quan looked at him, his voice gentle and clear.

Only then did Bai Qingya come to his senses. Information about the Yellow Springs Inn circulated within only a very small circle; Li Quan had likely only received a few scattered pieces of it—much like the fragments Bai Qingya himself had learned from Mingdeng Platform.

The eerie road was still shrouded in dim mist, but with someone scouting ahead, the sense of unease eased considerably, and they soon passed the tea stall at the roadside they had noticed earlier. As they continued forward, Bai Qingya noticed that the middle-aged man’s graying hair was gradually turning black, the wrinkles on his face were slowly fading, and spiritual power fluctuations were beginning to emanate from his body.

“This is…” Bai Qingya couldn’t help but be taken aback.

Li Quan said unhurriedly, “He appears to be nothing but an ordinary person because that is what he truly should look like right now.”

Bai Qingya suddenly understood. “It is the work of his decline tribulation…”

The third and fourth of the Five Declines of Heaven and Man progressed almost simultaneously—spiritual power waned, unable to nourish the flesh, and the body then began to decay. This man looked like an ordinary person because he truly should have withered to that state under the Five Declines. But his decline had formed only an outer shell, while inwardly he still retained the state of a cultivator untouched by the tribulation. He must have already been inside the Yellow Springs Inn before, which was how he had been able to maintain that undeclined state. When traveling along this dim-mist eerie road back toward the mortal world, the decline tribulation that should have returned to afflict him had instead formed only a deceptive outward appearance.

But why had this man disguised himself as an ordinary person at the tea stall to deceive him?

Though this disguise was nearly impossible to see through, anyone who had visited the Yellow Springs Inn even once would understand immediately what was going on. A trick like this could only work on someone making their first visit to the Yellow Springs Inn who had not heard the information that had circulated outside. Why would he do this?

The middle-aged man’s eyes moved frantically, trying to signal something.

“Do you want to confess?” Li Quan asked.

The middle-aged man blinked.

Li Quan tapped a finger, releasing the middle-aged man’s throat and tongue. “Speak.”

“Let me go, and I’ll tell you everything. You two are going to the Yellow Springs Inn for the first time—it’s not a place to trifle with. I’ve already been in the inn for…” The middle-aged man began rattling off his conditions at great speed.

Li Quan tapped again, and with a click, the man fell silent once more.

“Drag you into the Yellow Springs Inn and we’ll find out what we need to know.” Li Quan smiled, and paid him no further attention.

Bai Qingya felt some unease. He believed the middle-aged man when he said the Yellow Springs Inn was not a place to trifle with. To say nothing of its power to suspend the Five Declines, his close friend Bi Dongdi was likewise a great demon of profound cultivation—his foundation deep and unshakeable, a divine spirit beast by birth. Though Bi Dongdi was not a member of Mingdeng Sect and had not learned the Bright Lantern method that could illuminate through dim mist, he possessed the ability to see through darkness with his rhinoceros horn, which was no less than the innate divine abilities of some extraordinary spirit beasts. In a place like this, at the boundary of yin and yang, he should have been even better equipped to move freely than Bai Qingya.

Yet Bi Dongdi had gone and never returned, his life or death unknown. They were still only walking the road that led to the Yellow Springs Inn, and already Bai Qingya had encountered many strange things he had never heard of. What would it be like inside that inn?

Bai Qingya very much wished to ask the middle-aged man about the situation inside the Yellow Springs Inn, but seeing that Li Quan seemed to have his own ideas, he held back and waited.

As they drew ever closer to the Yellow Springs Inn, the middle-aged man’s eyes grew increasingly agitated and urgent, even betraying a fear he could not conceal.

Li Quan came to a stop, and asked unhurriedly, “Ready to talk?”

The middle-aged man blinked furiously.

Li Quan released his throat and tongue.

“I can tell you everything—so long as you promise me one thing. Just one thing. Promise me, otherwise I won’t say a word.” The middle-aged man pleaded and threatened in the same breath.

“Let’s hear it,” said Li Quan.

The middle-aged man took a deep breath. “Once we reach the Yellow Springs Inn—don’t use me as lodging fees.”

“Lodging fees? You were trying to capture me earlier to use as lodging fees?” Bai Qingya asked.

The middle-aged man shut his mouth and said nothing, continuing to fix them with that beseeching yet stubborn stare.

It was entirely normal for an inn to collect payment from its guests. Such establishments traded in their rooms and meals, and so received money as payment. The Yellow Springs Inn traded in the suspension of the Five Declines—but what would it collect as payment?

Bai Qingya lowered his eyes and looked at the man. His lashes, white as snow, rested against his dark, deep pupils, and his voice was ethereal and cold. “I can agree not to do so—but first I want an answer in exchange.”

The middle-aged man hesitated a moment, then said, “Ask. As long as I know the answer.”

“Have you seen someone like this?” Bai Qingya formed an image and aura of Bi Dongdi.

The middle-aged man shook his head. “I have not seen him.”

He was not lying. This being the case, it could at least be confirmed that Bi Dongdi had not gone missing because this man had seized him to use as lodging fees.

“I know people there. I can help you look for him,” the middle-aged man added, watching Bai Qingya closely. “You’re not going there to check in, are you?”

“I am not going there to check in,” Bai Qingya replied, but he remained unmoved, and stepped back half a pace. “Which means I also have no need of lodging fees—but I am not here alone.”

The middle-aged man’s gaze shifted to Li Quan. Only his mouth and eyes could move at present, which made for a somewhat ridiculous appearance—but he had no mental energy to spare for noticing that. Compared to Bai Qingya, this Li Quan who had appeared from behind was a far greater source of pressure. He had not even known what was happening when he was completely immobilized—spiritual power, divine consciousness, everything, as though an insect trapped in amber, utterly unable to move.

“I can promise you that,” Li Quan said with a smile.

The middle-aged man stared at him for a moment, then said, “I hope you both keep your word.”

Li Quan released the restraints on his body. Though his spiritual power and divine consciousness still could not move, he was at last freed from the ridiculous posture he’d been holding.

The middle-aged man loosened his limbs and said, “There are many secrets in the Yellow Springs Inn, but the most important are a few rules.”

The first rule: to stay at the inn, one must pay lodging fees.

Within the Yellow Springs Inn, there were four grades of rooms. The lowest grade could shield against the first of the Five Declines—filth clinging to the body. The third grade could shield against that as well as the second—spontaneous generation of impurity. The second grade could shield against the first three declines including physical decay. The highest grade could shield against all four declines up to and including the weakening of spiritual power.

The lodging fee required was determined by the grade of room. The higher the grade, the more costly the fee.

For the third and fourth grades of rooms, payment could be made with rare and precious things of the mortal world. The first and second grades, however, required something particular in payment.

“What sort of thing?” Bai Qingya frowned. “Do they want cultivators?”

“No,” the middle-aged man shook his head. “They require entry into the Underworld.”

“Entry into the Underworld…” In an instant, Bai Qingya connected this to what he had already heard. “They don’t require the guest themselves to enter the Underworld—so you wanted me to enter it in your place, is that right? You’ve already been inside once. What did they have you do in the Underworld?”

The middle-aged man was silent for a moment. He tacitly confirmed the first part of the question, and only answered the latter: “They did not have me do anything.”

“Let me ask a different question.” Bai Qingya fixed him with a steady gaze. “What did you experience while you were in the Underworld?”

“I cannot say.” The middle-aged man shook his head. “Every cultivator who has gone in cannot speak of it.”

Fear showed in his eyes, and that alone gave Bai Qingya a partial answer. He pressed no further, and let the middle-aged man continue.

The second rule of the Yellow Springs Inn: nothing within the inn may be damaged.

“This rule is not absolute—if one can afford to compensate for the damage, there will be no trouble. But if one cannot compensate…” the middle-aged man said. “I have never seen those people again.”

He was somewhat vague about this rule compared to the previous one, withholding some of the details—but that was of little consequence. As long as the key points were clear, it was enough; the specifics would become apparent once they arrived at the Yellow Springs Inn. Bai Qingya did not press him on this, and turned his attention to the remaining rules.

“The third rule…”

“The third rule: upon entering the inn, one forsakes one’s own path.”

“What did you say!” Bai Qingya’s eyes flew open as he demanded sharply.

“Is there something wrong with that?” the middle-aged man asked mildly.

“If you’ve already decided to come to a place like this to evade the Five Declines, haven’t you already harbored the thought of defying the natural course of the Dao? If you’ve chosen to hide from the tribulation in order to survive, haven’t you already placed the desire to live above the pursuit of the Dao? In the midst of this great calamity, when the Five Declines have descended in disorder, isn’t the workings of the Dao already thrown into chaos? Given all that, what does it matter to part with this thing that has already become useless? The weakening of the Dao-heart doesn’t cause death, after all.”

Bai Qingya looked at him coldly, the light of his heart-flame bright and clear as water.

The middle-aged man suddenly realized—this one hadn’t come to check in.

He abruptly closed his mouth, and shifted to talking about other matters concerning the Yellow Springs Inn.

“Those are the three most important rules of the inn. Beyond these, there are a few other things worth noting.”

“The ground floor of the inn is a great hall. The cultivators staying there have carved out a small area and turned it into a trading post—if you want information, that’s the best place to get it.” The middle-aged man spoke slowly, his gaze settling on Bai Qingya.

He was saying this for Bai Qingya’s benefit; he already knew that Bai Qingya had come in search of someone.

Though Bai Qingya was listening, other worries were arising in his mind. The Five Declines of Heaven and Man were the path of birth and death for cultivators who had yet to transcend the cycle of reincarnation. Without sufficient Dao-heart, one could not transcend life and death. If the Five Declines began, the fifth—the instability of the Dao-heart—would accelerate the progression of the preceding four. It was human nature for cultivators to cling to life and fear death; their ultimate goal was precisely to escape the cycle of life and death. So wanting to avoid a tribulation for a time was nothing to reproach. But to cast away the Dao-heart and yet still be able to live on without dying from the Five Declines—that meant the world would give rise to a group of beings who possessed power but were without moral nature.

The Dao could not restrain them. Not even the cycle of life and death could restrain them. Who, then, could restrain them?

The Yellow Springs Inn!

“Continue,” said Li Quan, his voice calm.

The middle-aged man gave an inward start, withdrew his gaze, and continued obediently. “After entering the Yellow Springs Inn, one can still leave. Only, once you leave, the inn will naturally no longer shield you from the tribulation. If you wish to avoid the tribulation while still being able to move about outside, you need to create a substitute puppet figure and leave it at the inn to occupy your room in your stead. That way, when you leave the inn, you will show the appearance of one who has already declined—but in truth, you will be unaffected.” He paused.

“There is more than one road leading to the Yellow Springs Inn, and there is more than one Yellow Springs Inn. I don’t know how many such inns exist in the world, nor what conditions prevail in the others—but everyone within this particular inn is not to be trifled with. Each inn is connected to many different roads.”

“I have never seen the inn’s proprietor. The qi of the bookkeeper and the attendant is very strange. Someone once tried to probe them—and was never seen again…”