Chapter 1: The White Crane Immortal
Layers of heavy, suffocating dark clouds permeated the sky above the turbulent sea. Rain poured in torrents, gales howled, and thunder exploded, each boom sounding like a clarion call for the end of the world.
The bottomless ocean seemed to hide an enraged colossus, churning and roaring beneath the surface.
The sky was dim and lightless, the seawater black as an abyss. In this boundless darkness, only the jagged streaks of lightning brought moments of blinding illumination, revealing faces filled with terror aboard a fishing boat.
“The Sea God is angry!”
“I told you! We shouldn’t have gone out today!”
Yu Laosan gripped the rudder, veins bulging on his hands as he put every ounce of strength in his body into the effort.
“You bunch of idiots! Dog shit! You waste of space with brains full of manure!”
Suddenly, a dagger pressed against his neck. Lightning flashed, reflecting a cold white glare off the blade. A sinister voice came from behind Yu Laosan: “You want to die?”
Adrenaline rushed to Yu Laosanâs head, and he roared at the top of his lungs, “Kill me then! Aim right for the neck! If you don’t stab, youâre a grandson! Iâm about to become fish food anyway, do you think I care about dying a few moments earlier?”
They had originally planned to catch one last batch of fish before the storm hit. They didn’t expect that just as the boat was nearing the shore, they would run into these menâwho clearly weren’t good peopleâforcing them at knifepoint to sail out to sea.
It was either sail out, or die right then and there.
Between a near-certain death and immediate death, the fishermen naturally chose the former.
Yu Laosan had calculated the time to their destination; if they drove fast enough, they might have made it before the storm arrived.
After the boat entered the sea, Yu Laosan prayed silently the entire way: Faster, just a little faster!
But they were still too slow.
Years of experience at sea told him that in this situation, death was certain.
“My Lord, don’t kill him! Only Yu Laosan can find the direction in this storm! Please, spare him this once!” an old fisherman hurriedly pleaded.
Then he shouted at Yu Laosan, “Yu Laosan, don’t be stubborn! Your mother is still waiting for you to come home! The White Crane Immortal will protect us!”
A massive wave slammed into them. The hull shook violently, bucking like a wild horse trying to throw off its rider.
Everyone on board clung tightly to whatever was nearest to secure themselves. Once the tremors settled slightly, Liu Huansi, who had just been threatening Yu Laosan with the dagger, heard someone speaking.
Following the sound, he saw a fisherman curled up in the corner, arms wrapped deathly tight around a mast, chanting a single phrase over and over: “White Crane Immortal protect us, White Crane Immortal protect us…”
“White Crane Immortal protect us!”
“White Crane Immortal protect us! Immortal protect us!”
Liu Huansi looked around and realized all the fishermen were repeating this phrase. It seemed to be some kind of devout faith, or perhaps just self-comfort in a desperate situation.
“White Crane Immortal protect us.”
Yu Laosan offered two sincere prayers. Seeming to find some spiritual anchor, his panic subsided significantly, and his hands steadied on the rudder.
Watching this scene, Liu Huansi frowned. He turned his head to look at a figure wearing a black gauze bamboo hat.
While the others were wretchedly clinging to fixed objects, the man beneath the bamboo hat stood on the heaving vessel as steady as Mount Tai, as if nails grew from his feet to anchor him to the deck boards.
The fishermen’s words seemed to pique his interest. Beneath the black gauze, lips of a striking red moved slightly: “White Crane Immortal?”
The sound of wood snapping reached their ears, and everyoneâs expression changed.
In the chaos, no one knew who shouted the fatal news.
“The boat is breaking!”
Furious waves charged toward an island. The vegetation along the shore was snapped and washed away by the giant swells, and even heavy boulders were swept into the boundless deep sea.
The edge of the coast during a storm was a place of extreme danger.
Yet, in such a scene, a figure stood at the very edge of the rocky cliffs closest to the sea.
Long hair fluttered, and robes snapped loudly, dancing wildly in the wind.
[Click, click. Host, turn your body a bit to the right, lift your chin slightly, wave your arm. Yes! Just like that.]
[Click, click.]
Yun Wuxiang struck the pose according to the instructions. Hearing the shutter sound, he asked: [How is it?]
[Handsome as hell, Host!] System 3339 praised its host without holding back.
[Here comes the wave. Hold that pose, don’t move.]
A wave several meters high, carrying unstoppable momentum, crashed toward him.
Amidst the gloom and torrential rain, a talisman flew from Yun Wuxiangâs fingertips. It hit the giant wave like a fired bullet, then, defying the laws of gravity, froze in mid-air.
An invisible barrier seemed to form around the talisman. The wave smashed against the barrier, water spraying everywhere, yet not a single drop touched Yun Wuxiangâs clothes.
Another series of shutter sounds rang out. In the photos, the person looked like a descended deityâexpression serene, unmoved by the chaosâsurrounded by fluid, suspended water droplets.
3339 let out another burst of exclamations.
[This one looks great! Let’s change the angle. What a shot! Totally blockbuster material! Huh? Why is there a black dot on the sea? Is my lens dirty?]
[I can’t wipe it off… Oh, it’s not a black dot. It looks like a boat?]
3339 zoomed in and saw a medium-sized fishing boat teetering precariously under the battering waves, the hull sinking lower and lower.
[Host, there’s a boat sinking out there.]
[Why would anyone go out to sea in this weather?]
Yun Wuxiang looked up, scanning the countless layers of heavy dark clouds overhead, the sound of thunder ringing in his ears.
The System’s weather forecast indicated that a Category 12 super typhoon would pass through today. The sky had been dark as ink for days; even someone who knew nothing about the weather could see the prelude to a storm.
Yun Wuxiang thought he was being outrageous enough by relying on his cultivation to run out and take photos during a typhoon. He didn’t expect there to be people even more reckless, daring to sail in this weather.
Were they planning a collective suicide?
Yun Wuxiang waved his hand, his sleeves fluttering, and called out softly, “Dange.”
An ethereal cry arrived on the wind. The sound of flapping wings drew near as a flock of celestial red-crowned cranes flew in, circling around Yun Wuxiang. The largest red-crowned crane landed in front of him and called out again.
Under the curtain of rain, these cranes moved as usual, their feathers completely dry, untouched by the water.
Yun Wuxiang spoke to the crane, “Dange, the people in the seaâIâll trouble you all to help.”
The red-crowned crane nodded with human-like intelligence, flapped its wings, and flew into the rain. It weaved through the surging waves, flying above the boat just as it was about to be swallowed by the sea. Tapping the water’s surface lightly with its toes, it lifted the figures from the water one by one.
The white cranes arrived at a small island and flew into a cave, dropping the people from their claws.
Then, they lifted their claws and slapped the faces of the people on the ground.
Smack!
“Aaaah!” Yu Laosan bolted upright with a shiver, nearly colliding with a sharp beak, causing him to jerk backward violently.
The large white bird took two steps back, looking quite disgusted.
Yu Laosan covered his face. After the panic subsided, he saw the bird clearly: red crown, white feathers, black tail, legs slender and long, with talismans wrapped around its ankles. Its form was agile and elegant, brimming with immortal energy.
Yu Laosan murmured, “White Crane.”
“I’m alive… I’m still alive!”
“Aaaah!”
“My fish! Such a big fish!”
“Forget your fish, Yu Laosan lost his whole boat.”
The other fishermen woke up one after another, their discussions rising and falling in waves.
The white cranes collectively took two steps back, distancing themselves from the crazy crowd. Some even lifted their wings to cover their ears.
“Yu Laosan! Those guys are here too!” A fisherman spotted the henchmen of the black bamboo hat man.
Hearing this, Yu Laosan looked in the direction the fisherman pointed. He saw a figure dressed in navy blue clothes and pants, wrapped up tightly from head to toe. Hanging from his wide belt were strings of colorful stones, corked bamboo tubes, small jade gourds, and other odds and ends Yu Laosan couldn’t name.
The exposed skin of his hands was deathly paleâa color that clearly didn’t belong to a local.
Yu Laosan slapped his thigh. “It really is those bastards!”
Liu Huansi, who was wringing water out of his hair, looked at Yu Laosan. His gaze was like that of a venomous snake disturbed and ready to strike.
Yu Laosan was so scared his fingers trembled. He scooted his body behind a white crane before muttering softly, “What are you staring at? Just because your eyes are big?”
The white crane turned its long, graceful neck to look at him. Yu Laosan smiled, “Thank you, Lord White Crane, for saving my life.”
The white crane nodded with reserved elegance.
Yu Laosanâs eyes went wide. He grabbed the fisherman next to him, “Did that white crane just nod?”
Fisherman: “Yes. Yu Laosan, have these cranes become spirits?”
“With rain that heavy outside, their feathers aren’t wet at all. Only demons who know magic can do that, right?”
The white crane behind the fisherman stared at him eerily.
Yu Laosan slapped the back of the fisherman’s head. “What spirits? Only wild demons are called that. These are Divine Birds, our saviors! This is called being spiritual, itâs a sign of auspiciousness.”
The fisherman rubbed his head and grinned foolishly. “Right, it’s auspiciousness.”
The white crane lifted its head in satisfaction.
The largest crane, Dange, walked up to Yu Laosan and lifted its claw, from which a wooden tablet hung.
Yu Laosan looked at the crane’s action and pointed to the tablet. “This… for me?”
Dange nodded slightly. The large bird, taller than a human, was dignified and elegant, giving Yu Laosan the genuine feeling of witnessing a divine manifestation. His expression and demeanor became much more respectful, and he removed the wooden tablet with great care.
Holding the tablet in his hand, Yu Laosan looked closely, his expression turning solemn.
The fishermen crowded around, speaking all at once. “There are words on the wood.”
“What do these words mean?”
“I don’t know, I can’t read.”
“Yu Laosan, can you read it?”
“Stop pushing, move back a bit.” Yu Laosan pushed away the heads crowding him and read haltingly, “Wind and rain… self something life… no…”
“The storm is merciless; cherish your own lives. I will not save the same life twice. Those who do not repent deserve to die.”
The speaker’s voice was soft and raspy, carrying a peculiar chill, like a snake slithering over dew-covered bamboo. The voice wasn’t loud, yet it made hearts skip a beat and scalps tingle.
The lively discussion of Yu Laosan’s group vanished instantly. They looked at the person who had read the sentence aloud, their eyes filled with wariness.
Liu Huansi extended his hand. “Give me the tablet.”
Yu Laosan shielded the tablet. “Why should I?”
A fisherman whispered a reminder, “Yu Laosan, we can’t beat him.”
It was as if a bucket of ice water had been poured over Yu Laosanâs head. His brain, previously occupied by anger, instantly cleared.
There were about ten fishermen here, and only three on the other side. They had the numbers, sure, but any one of the opponents could flatten them all.
Why were they so sure? Because they had already experienced it once. Otherwise, how could they have been stupid enough to sail into deep sea during a storm to court death? They had been forced.
Dange let out a cry and walked between the two groups, turning its back to Yu Laosan in a clear gesture of protection.
“We don’t intend to fight. We just want to ask, where is my Young Master? Did you see him when you were saving people?” Liu Huansi asked Dange.
Yu Laosan felt that the tone used with the white crane was much more polite than the one used with him.
In this guy’s eyes, he wasn’t even worth as much as a bird.
He glanced at the large bird in front of him. Fine, he admitted he couldn’t compare to this bird… or any bird in this cave.
Leaving aside the size, those sharp claws, and that beak… just looking at those dry feathers proved they weren’t ordinary birds!
Not to mention, these were the Immortal’s birds. Who dared to offend them?
Yu Laosan and his group were reverent because of the life-saving grace; Liu Huansi, however, was wary of the mysterious White Crane Immortal whose background was unknown.
Dange let out a call, and the other white cranes responded. After a round of calls, Dange shook its head, cried twice to the other cranes, then turned and walked toward the cave entrance, flying back into the rain.
A fisherman beside Yu Laosan guessed, “The Divine Crane didn’t fish up the guy in the bamboo hat?”
“Probably not.”
“It’s been so long, he must have drowned by now.”
Yu Laosan clapped his hands in applause. “That is truly wonderful! The Heavens have eyes!”
Liu Huansiâs narrow eyes squinted. He reached to his waist, but the moment he drew his dagger, a sharp pain shot through the back of his hand.
The white crane that had just pecked him tilted its head and looked at him, its eyes holding a trace of disdain, as if asking why it had to dirty its beak pecking such filth.
Yu Laosan and the fishermen laughed loudly.
Liu Huansi exchanged a look with the white crane, then looked at his reddened hand. “They are speaking ill of my Young Master. Can I not even administer a slight punishment?”
The white crane tilted its head, looked Liu Huansi up and down, and then snatched the dagger from his hand with its beak.
Liu Huansi looked at his empty hand, tried to interpret the crane’s intent, and asked, “No killing, but can we use fists?”
The white crane nodded.
The smiles on Yu Laosanâs face gradually disappeared. The fishermen also shut their mouths.
Smiles don’t disappear; they just transfer to someone else’s face.
The corners of Liu Huansiâs mouth curled into an arc. As he looked at Yu Laosan, he rotated his wrist. His two companions behind him mirrored the action.
Yu Laosan: “Um, brave warrior, hero, great master… let’s talk this out! Don’t! Lord Divine Crane, help!”
The white cranes leisurely preened their feathers. Two mischievous ones even mingled in the chaos to cause trouble, pecking here and biting there.
For a time, the entire cave was incredibly lively.
On the surface of the sea, Dange worked diligently, braving the heavy rain. It circled the sea multiple times amidst the lightning and thunder, but it never saw a person floating up, nor a corpse.
Did he sink?
Or was he eaten by fish?
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