Quinn Shepherd respectfully said, "Don't worry, senior. I've trained since childhood—my kidneys are strong, my essence is abundant, and my eyesight is excellent. I can see clearly even in the dark."
The shadowy figure on the wall flickered but made no further move, instead continuing to demonstrate the mysteries of yuanqi circulation.
The third of the Great Freedom Seals was the Great Wisdom Seal, whose circulation method was much more complex. The qi routes in the shadow grew faster and faster—even with his Divine Firmament Heaven Eye open, Quinn couldn't fully track the flow, making him itch to step into the side hall.
Quinn hesitated for a moment, putting one foot inside the hall while keeping the other outside. Only then could he barely catch the yuanqi circulation route.
He strained to memorize it, but soon the shadow on the wall finished demonstrating the Great Wisdom Seal. Quinn tried to activate it; though he managed to perform the seal, he still felt something was missing.
He hadn't managed to memorize the full circulation route of the Great Wisdom Seal.
"This is the fourth of the Great Freedom Seals, and also the strongest. The power of the previous three seals all merges into this one."
The shadow on the wall grew weaker, shrinking smaller and its voice fading lower. "But this seal is even more complicated, and I'm afraid you won't be able to see it clearly."
"Don't worry, senior."
Quinn flashed a guileless smile. "I've got strong kidneys, plenty of essence, and sharp eyes since I was a kid. I can just barely make it out."
The shadow on the wall fell silent, its voice thinning to a whisper as it sighed, "But I can't hold out any longer. Come inside—the four corners of the hall each have a bronze spike nailed into the floor. Pull out those four spikes. They're driven into my back; once you remove them, I can finally take a breath, and then I can teach you the complete seal."
Its voice grew gentle: "You haven't mastered the Great Wisdom Seal yet, have you? It's complicated, but extremely powerful. Without learning it fully, you can't unleash its strength. And the strongest seal is the fourth—Great Freedom Heavenly-Demon Seal! If you pull out the spikes..."
"Senior, I think I'll pass."
Quinn shook his head, pulling his left foot out of the hall. "It's too much trouble. I'm not that smart—I'll probably never learn it."
The shadow on the wall trembled, coaxing softly, "I can teach you a second time—just pull out the spikes..."
Quinn looked even more troubled, shaking his head. "You said you'd only teach it once, senior. If you teach me a second time, wouldn't that mean breaking your word? I'd feel even more guilty. I'm so slow-witted, I'd just let you down."
"No, you're very clever."
The shadow's voice grew softer, as if a kindly elder were gently teaching a junior. "You picked up the Demon-God Might Seal and Heavenly Demon Freedom Seal after seeing them just once. Even the Great Wisdom Seal, you learned most of it at a glance. Your talent is exceptional—if you saw it again, you'd surely master the Great Wisdom Seal. I admire your cleverness; for you, I can break my word and teach it a second time..."
The voice suddenly stopped, then turned cold and chilling: "You were just tricking me for my techniques?"
Quinn looked baffled. "Why would you say that, senior?"
"You tried to swindle me out of my techniques!"
The shadow on the wall suddenly erupted in fury, swelling until it filled the entire side hall. Its monstrous, savage face twisted as it roared, "You dare cheat me out of my arts! Little brat, I taught you out of kindness, and you tricked me!"
Quinn remained outside the hall, unfazed by the demonic shadow's rage. He shook his head and said, "You're joking, senior. Weren't you just trying to trick me into coming in and setting you free?"
The side hall's doors gaped open, its windows like eyes and its mouth agape, eerie and menacing. From within, a chilling voice asked, "You knew?"
"We aren't even the same kind," Quinn replied, putting on Crippled Joe's signature honest grin. "First you tried to con me into thinking we're kin, then you used the Great Freedom Seals to lure me closer—your whole plan boils down to two things."
He grinned even more foolishly, just like Crippled Joe: "First, you wanted me to enter the hall, inch closer to the wall, so you could grab me and force me to pull out those bronze spikes in the four corners. Second, you tried to tempt me with the complete Great Freedom Seal technique, hoping I'd pull the spikes myself. If I did, you wouldn't just 'take a breath'—you'd break free, and I'd end up like that dumb deer, swallowed whole. But..."
His grin grew even more guileless. "I'm no dumb deer. I just played along and managed to con two and a half seals out of you."
The entire side hall shook. From the doorway came a thunderous, earth-shaking roar: "You little bastard, I'm going to kill you! When I break out, I'll wring your neck myself!"
The cowherd from Oldridge Village just curled his lip, turned to leave, and shook his head. "Those little tricks? Crippled Joe played them on me a thousand times, conned me since I was a kid—he even swindled all the candy Granny Sue bought me. You think you can fool me..."
"I'll kill your Crippled Joe!" the shadow on the wall bellowed.
Quinn turned around, very seriously: "Don't mess with him. He'd swindle you till your underwear's inside-out."
Suddenly, the shadow on the wall went quiet—eerily quiet. In a soft, strange voice, it said, "You said we're not kin? Heh, little bastard, you're too naive. How could we not be the same kind... Hehehe, young little devil..."
A chill ran down Quinn's spine. He suddenly remembered the god-sound from beyond the heavens during his wall-breaking, how he'd used demonic language to resist it, and now, what the shadow on the wall was saying—all of it made him uneasy.
He quickly shook his head, forcing all those chaotic thoughts out of his mind, and turned to leave.
"Hehehe, you and I are the same—exactly the same..." The shadow's voice echoed behind him, weird and sinister.
Quinn frowned and walked out of Calamity-Seal Palace.
The Demon Ape hurried over, glancing nervously at the side hall. Seeing the shadow shrink back inside, it finally relaxed and said solemnly to Quinn, "Trust? Ghost!"
Quinn nodded, deeply agreeing. "The Great Ruins is just too dangerous. Honest folks like us—if we don't learn to be cunning, we'll get swindled clean and eaten down to the last scrap."
The Demon Ape shot him a look, curled its lip, and said, "Trust, ghost."
Quinn blushed, protesting, "I'm no con artist—I just learned to be clever after getting tricked so many times as a kid. But you probably can't stay here much longer. Calamity-Seal Palace is falling apart, and if it collapses, that old demon will get out and take it out on you."
The Demon Ape shook its head, gazing silently at the wild deer and cattle in the valley.
In the Great Ruins, anywhere fit for survival is either claimed by people or by other beasts. If the Demon Ape tried to move all these animals, it probably wouldn't find a new home before darkness fell—and that would mean certain death.
Quinn was out of ideas too; Oldridge Village was far too small to fit so many animals.
"Little one, come here."
The Demon Ape walked ahead, Quinn following behind, and soon led him to the foot of a cliff. The ape pointed at a handprint on the rock face, its eyes full of expectation.
The handprint on the cliff was made by the Demon Ape itself. Its palm was enormous, leaving a deep impression in the rock.
This handprint marked the Demon Ape as the lord of this land. Any other beast that saw it would know this was the ape's territory and would avoid it.
If another beast wanted to claim the territory, it would come to challenge. If the Demon Ape lost, the new lord would erase the old handprint and leave its own.
"You, imprint," the Demon Ape said expectantly.
Quinn was puzzled, not understanding what it meant.
The Demon Ape grabbed his hand, pressed it beside its own handprint, and said, "Imprint."
Quinn understood, touched by the gesture. He slapped his hand next to the ape's print, leaving his own mark on the cliff.
The Demon Ape smiled, pointed at the valley and rumbled, "Mine, yours."
Quinn's feeling of being moved turned into hearty laughter, and the Demon Ape laughed along with him.
Just then, a voice suddenly called out from midair, "Master, there's someone below."
Quinn quickly looked up and saw a paper boat flying overhead, about six or seven zhang long. Its deck was spacious, with several men and women in green robes standing aboard.
Then he saw even stranger things—a flock of paper cranes escorting another paper boat, their wings flapping as they flew. On the cranes stood several odd middle-aged men and women, each carrying a longsword.
There was only one person on the second paper boat, which carried some cargo Quinn couldn't make out.
The paper boat paused, still floating in the air. An old man sitting aboard said, "Qianqiu, ask about the way."
"Yes."
A young man on one of the paper cranes looked down and asked, "Hey, boy, do you know the way to Oldridge Village?"
Quinn was puzzled but pointed out the direction to Oldridge Village.
The young man was very polite, bowed in thanks, and then a gold ingot fell from the paper crane. The cranes escorted the boat and flew away.
Quinn picked up the gold ingot, puzzled. "What are these people doing going to our village? Are they traveling merchants passing through? But merchants usually go to Dragoncrest City, don't they?"