The scouts quickly dispatched several men to notify Cheng Xu.
Li Daoxuan turned to the remaining scouts and said calmly, "Wait for me at the foot of the mountain."
With that, he walked alone toward Lingwu Cave.
The entrance of Lingwu Cave hung halfway up a steep cliff face. In later times, there would be platforms, carved stone steps, even a cable car to bring visitors up effortlessly. But this was the Ming Dynasty. There were no such conveniences. Only a sheer wall of stone stood before them, angled sharply upward. The only indication that it could be climbed at all was the series of worn footprints etched into the rock, marks left behind by Gu Tianxing's men as they went up and down day after day.
Even so, it was a difficult climb. Anyone without skill would slip and fall.
Inside the cave, Gu Tianxing and his subordinates stared in disbelief as Li Daoxuan walked straight to the base of the cliff and looked up.
"He… he wants to come up?" one man whispered in panic. "He found us! Is he coming to capture us?"
"Should we throw rocks at him?" another asked, already half reaching for one.
The entire group began to panic.
"Don't throw anything!" Gu Tianxing hissed. "He's alone. That doesn't look like someone here to fight. Let's just watch first."
So they watched.
Li Daoxuan stepped up to the rock face and extended his hand toward a narrow crack in the stone. The crevice was barely wide enough for fingers, yet when he pushed his hand in, there was a dull cracking sound. Small fragments of rock fell away as though the cliff itself had yielded to him, widening the gap.
Gu Tianxing's eyes went wide.
His subordinates were equally stunned.
Then Li Daoxuan began to climb.
He moved with steady rhythm, hands and feet alternating as he dug into the stone itself. Each time his fingers found a crack, the rock seemed to crumble just enough to grant him purchase. It was not climbing. It looked as though he were carving steps into the cliff as he ascended.
In a short time, he reached the cave entrance.
Gu Tianxing felt his scalp go numb.
"What kind of strange technique is that?" he muttered.
"Boss… he's coming up," a subordinate said in a trembling voice. "What do we do?"
"Retreat. Retreat!" Gu Tianxing ordered at once. "Let's hide deeper inside the cave."
They quickly withdrew into the darkness. The interior of Lingwu Cave was pitch black. Once they moved away from the entrance, they could not even see their own hands. Gu Tianxing struck a piece of tinder, producing a faint red glow. In that dim light, he scurried deeper inside and hid behind a large, oddly shaped rock.
No sooner had they concealed themselves than Li Daoxuan stepped into the cave.
He immediately noticed fresh muddy footprints on the ground. Clearly, many people had rushed inside in a hurry. Yet no one spoke. The silence was thick, almost tangible. Their fear hung in the air.
Seeing how timid they were, Li Daoxuan decided that if they were already frightened, he might as well draw them out completely.
He sat down casually at the cave entrance and chuckled softly. "You people hiding in here… do you know the name of the cave you're in? Let me tell you."
His voice carried deep into the cavern, echoing from wall to wall, reaching even the refugees hiding in the farthest corners.
"This cave is called Lingwu Cave," he continued. "And rumor has it…"
He paused.
Making up a ghost story on the spot was not easy. Storytelling required talent, and he was a designer, not a novelist. Still, he had to improvise.
"A very, very long time ago," he began again, "a monster lived in this cave. His name was the Lich King. He commanded a terrifying army known as the Scourge. With it, he intended to conquer the entire world."
The refugees exchanged nervous glances in the dark.
"But before his army could march far from these mountains, he encountered a divine immortal named Thott. Thott defeated him. Yet the Lich King could never truly die. So Thott sealed him in the deepest part of this cave. That is how Lingwu Cave earned its name."
A chill ran through the refugees.
"The Lich King's lesser monsters were also sealed here," Li Daoxuan continued smoothly. "For example, one of them is imprisoned inside a stalactite."
A refugee who was hiding beside a stalactite stiffened instantly. In the darkness, the rock felt damp and cold under his hands. Suddenly its shape seemed grotesque, almost alive. His legs gave out, and he collapsed onto the ground with a dull thud.
"And another," Li Daoxuan went on, "is trapped above a dripping rock."
What was a dripping rock? One refugee did not know. But water had been steadily dripping from the ceiling above him. He had ignored it before. Now, every drop sounded sinister.
"Drip. Drop."
He slowly tilted his head upward. The darkness above seemed endless.
"The liquid falling from the dripping rock," Li Daoxuan said in an even tone, "is not water at all. It is the monster's saliva."
"Aaaah!"
Someone screamed and bolted toward the entrance.
Once one person ran, others followed instinctively. But in complete darkness, with thousands of people packed together, chaos would only lead to people being trampled.
"Stop! Nobody move!"
Li Daoxuan's voice thundered through the cavern like a clap of thunder. The cave walls vibrated with the force of it.
The refugees froze where they stood.
"Light the fires," he commanded. "With fire burning, the Lich King will not dare move."
His words carried an inexplicable authority. People obeyed almost without thinking. Flint struck. Sparks caught. One fire ignited, then another. Soon, flickering light spread across the cavern.
Lingwu Cave gradually brightened.
Now Li Daoxuan could clearly see the inside. The main chamber was enormous, like the hollowed belly of a mountain. Stalactites of various shapes hung from above. Several smaller passageways branched off into darkness. Fires flickered across the vast space.
And the number of people stunned him.
He had thought there were perhaps a thousand. Instead, there were five thousand refugees crowded inside. If lined up in rows, they would fill at least two high school sports fields.
Gu Tianxing stood at the very front, looking small and nervous.
"You… who are you?" he asked shakily. "What kind of story was that? Please don't scare us like this. This cave is the only place left for us to live. If you frighten us away from here, where else can we go? How are we supposed to survive?"
Li Daoxuan smiled faintly.
"I came to help you," he said. "Pack your things and come with me. I will take you to a good place. A place suitable for living. A place where you can eat your fill."
Gu Tianxing looked confused and wary. "Why should we trust you?"
Li Daoxuan raised a brow. "You do not believe me? Then let me show you something."
With a sharp snapping sound, he detached his own head from his body and held it in his hands.
"Aaaahhhhhh!"
All five thousand refugees screamed in terror.
Li Daoxuan calmly placed his head back onto his neck.
"If you believe me," he said evenly, "then I am a Heavenly Immortal who has come to save you. If you do not…"
He snapped his head off again and held it in front of him, grinning.
That was the final blow.
The five thousand refugees collapsed to their knees as one. Hoes clattered to the ground. No one dared resist. No one even dared breathe too loudly.
"Heavenly Immortal, save us!"