The Wandering Immortal

Chapter 115 Infiltration
Qinghe took the demon core from the jade box and put the giant crab into her magic treasure space. This big guy was enough for the little golden eagle to eat for a year.

Jiang Yuan rose into the air and once again sent out his divine thoughts, "You merfolk, do you still want to come here to die?"

A mermaid replied with a divine thought, "Immortal, please calm your anger. We were coerced before. We are extremely grateful to you for killing General Crab!"

Jiang Yuan was somewhat surprised to see a mermaid leap onto the ice and slowly float over.

As they got closer, Jiang Yuan could see that the female merman looked to be only in her early twenties, extremely beautiful, and probably had a cultivation level of six, making her possibly the strongest among the group of mermen.

Merfolk cannot speak, they can only communicate through divine thought. The general idea is that they, this group of merfolk, have been enslaved by the Crab General for hundreds of years and are only considered menial servants in his cave.

The Crab General is extremely cruel. It is common for him to beat and scold the merfolk. He also often plays some perverse games, such as choosing three little merfolk to escape and having his three sons hunt them down.

A few days ago, the youngest son of the Crab General chased after the little mermaid and didn't return, so he led all the mermaids out to search for him.

Previously, General Crab did not know that Jiang Yuan had killed his youngest son. He only saw Jiang Yuan and Qing He on the reef, having the merman use seductive music to hypnotize them so that he could kill them.

Jiang Yuan hadn't expected this to be the case; it seemed there were several powerful demons in the Crab General's cave.

Jiang Yuan told the merman leader that he had released a young merman three days ago and even healed her wounds. Since it wasn't easy to explain clearly, he used a recording talisman to display the scene.

Seeing Qinghe heal the little mermaid and then release her into the sea, the mermaid leader was deeply moved and turned to sing a few lines of song to the mermaids in the sea behind him.

Dozens of merfolk dived underwater, probably to look for the little merfolk who had escaped.

The mermaid leader said that the Crab General's cave is more than a thousand miles to the southeast, and there is a female crab and two sons, none of whom can transform into human form and are only at the seventh level.

After the Crab General died, the soul restriction on the merfolk was lifted, but the remaining three crabs were also very ferocious, and the merfolk would be hunted down before they could escape far.

The implication was that they hoped Jiang Yuan would destroy the Crab General's lair so that the merfolk could gain true freedom.

Jiang Yuan was curious. It wasn't easy for a sea monster to become a great monster, so how come the Crab General's family were all great monsters? So he asked the merman leader if there was anything special about their cave.
The mermaid leader was unaware of this, only saying that there was a restricted area inside the cave, which neither the mermaids nor other lesser demons were allowed to enter, except for the Crab General's family.

Jiang Yuan got excited. If it was a spiritual vein, that would be better than anything else.

If a mermaid leads the way, sneaking in to observe will make it not too difficult to take down three level seven crabs, since we've already killed the level eight ones.

The merman leader only brought one male and one female attendant, leaving the other mermen to wait on this reef.

Qinghe then discovered that the male merman was incredibly ugly, with a dark, fish-like face covered in scales, creating a stark contrast to the beauty of the female merman.

The mermaids swam very fast underwater, and Jiang Yuan released a small underwater boat to follow them. In half a day, they arrived near the Crab General's cave.

This island is indeed quite large; from the water's surface, it looks very much like the mainland. There are small hills on the island, about two or three miles high.

The merfolk leader pointed out that the cave was a natural haven, a place where wind and energy could gather.

Jiang Yuan instructed the merfolk to wait at a distance. Since the Crab General had been killed, the crabs in the cave probably already knew about it and would definitely take some precautions.

Just in case, Jiang Yuan let Qinghe enter the magic treasure space, while he quietly swam to the entrance of the cave.

This cave was half underwater and half above water. Jiang Yuan's Weak Water Technique was stronger underwater, so he continued to move underwater. Sure enough, a restriction was set up in front of the cave entrance, and the three level-seven crabs probably already knew that Crab General was gone.

Forcibly breaking the restriction is not advisable; it would frighten those crabs and cause trouble if they started causing damage within the spiritual vein.

Jiang Yuan could only wait patiently at the gate, as little demons would always come out to spy on him.

Sure enough, half an hour later, a shrimp-headed demon opened the cave's protective barrier, and the moment it stepped out, Jiang Yuan slipped in from the bottom of the water.

Many lesser demons were busy inside the cave, including sea turtles, seahorses, and sea snakes.

Jiang Yuan's concealment technique was something a level seven demon wouldn't be able to detect. After entering, he went straight to the depths of the cave, naturally wanting to see what was inside the forbidden area.

This cave is very large, and most of the interior space is filled with water. There are even some pavilions, towers, and winding corridors inside. It doesn't look like a crab cave at all.

After walking about five miles in, Jiang Yuan saw the so-called forbidden area, which was actually the cave dwelling of human cultivators. The stone gate had an ancient style.

This cave dwelling also had its own restrictions, but Jiang Yuan still waited at the door as usual, knowing that the people inside would eventually have to come out.

Jiang Yuan wouldn't make a move until he fully understood the situation inside the cave. There might be some great opportunity inside, and the three giant crabs were nothing compared to that.

After waiting for a full hour, two large crabs broke through the barrier and emerged from the cave. They were probably the two sons of the Crab General. Jiang Yuan ignored them and went straight into the cave.

The crab seemed to sense something and looked back, thinking it was just his imagination.

As Jiang Yuan entered the inner cave, he became even more certain that this was indeed a human cave, albeit somewhat dilapidated. The giant crab certainly wouldn't maintain those potted plants and shimmering objects, including bookshelves and weapon racks, which were all askew and some were already rotten.

What's most infuriating is that the female crab actually dug a hole in the middle of the hall and lay down inside to doze off.

The bookshelf next to them suddenly collapsed. The mother crab became alert and raised her claws to check. Jiang Yuan's twelve sword pellets shot out, releasing icy energy only after hitting the crab's mouth. The mother crab didn't even have time to struggle before she was frozen into an ice crab.

Jiang Yuan patted the magic weapon at his waist, and Qinghe escaped, hiding behind a pillar. Jiang Yuan then retrieved the sword pellet and stood on another pillar.

Sure enough, the Crab General's two sons rushed in from outside the cave, completely unaware of the ambush.

Jiang Yuan used the same method to kill one with a sword pellet, while Qing He used a small patch of dense forest thorns to trap another.

The one that is still alive must be the second crab in the family. It is waving its large pincers, trying to break free from the thorns, but the more it struggles, the tighter they become.

A ten-foot-long wooden thorn, its tip gleaming with golden light, sprouted from Qinghe's hand and pierced directly into the giant crab's mouth. This golden thorn was naturally a reward for opening the metal-elemental acupoints; the thorn could be infused with metal-elemental spiritual power, making its attack even more powerful.

Qinghe did not kill the crab. Jiang Yuan said he would leave one alive. The wooden spike was infused with a large amount of paralyzing toxin, and the crab soon became unable to move.

Jiang Yuan applied two soul-locking talismans to the giant crab before beginning the soul search. Sure enough, he was right; this cave was originally the residence of human cultivators.

Crab General was the original owner's spirit pet. After the owner's death, the restrictions on his soul were lifted, and he became the owner of the cave.

What surprised Jiang Yuan the most was that the true secret of the cave was not the spiritual vein, but a secret realm that spanned two thousand miles, at least a blessed land.

　Please vote for me with a monthly pass!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)