Chapter 146: Dragon?
The man took off his cloak and looked sideways at Kong Hou. “Young girl, you really don"t know how to speak.”
“Apologies, apologies.” Kong Hou smiled obediently and said apologetically, “Uncle who sells salted fish, why are you here?”
“I catch fish and sell fish. If I do not stay near the sea, where will I go?” Uncle Salted Fish put his cloak on his belt and stepped forward, the cloak banging around his knees. He looked out of the corner of his eye at Huan Zhong and Kong Hou. “Tell me, why are you here?”
“We heard that the Unforeseeable Sea has legends of dragons, so we came to take a look.” Kong Hou looked brightly at Uncle Salted Fish. “Uncle, you frequently catch fish on the sea—have you seen a dragon?”
“Dragon?” Salted Fish sneered. “No.”
“Why are you standing at the gates for? If you want to enter, enter; do not block the path.” The guard impatiently scolded. “Our hall master is a Core Formation forebear. If you delay any longer, careful that our forebear will take care of you.”
“Core Formation… forebear?” Kong Hou looked sarcastically at the vicious guard. “When did a mere Core Formation become so shameless they make people call them forebear?”
The guard erupted in anger. He thought that Kong Hou"s words were the biggest insult to the hall master, and he pulled out his sword. “I think you want to die.”
The people in the surroundings saw this and fled in fear. Those that were less brave even knelt down.
Kong Hou originally had a playful att.i.tude, but when she saw how frightened the ordinary people were, she guessed that the local cultivation sect must have bullied the ordinary people greatly. Otherwise, people would not react like this.
She thought of the people of Harmonious City. They dared to call greetings, and never retreated when they watched cultivators. Finding an ideal place to spectate was an instinct of all Harmonious City people.
What was the use in a cultivator who treated ordinary people inhumanely because they had cultivation?!
Kong Hou went to kick the guard without even thinking. The guard felt that he was. .h.i.t by a big hammer. He flew through the air and smashed into the cultivators who had come over due to the noise.
The two cultivators with Energy Refinement cultivation could not withstand a kick from a Mind Dividing cultivator. The two of them lay unconscious on the ground.
“Mi-Miss.” An old person with white hair and a wrinkled face walked over, his back hunched. “Flee quickly. The hall master of Gold Dragon Hall is vicious and l.u.s.ty. You are so handsome. If he finds you, what will happen?” After saything this, she saw people from Gold Dragon Hall running over. She quickly covered her face and ran away, afraid to stay.
“When cats are away, the mice will play.” Kong Hou rolled up her sleeves and propped a hand on her hip. “Who cares if he"s a gold dragon or silver dragon? This sister has a good thing happening soon and should not see blood. I can only beat them half to death and tie them up for the ten major sects.”
Uncle Salted Fish glanced at Kong Hou"s exposed white and tender arms, and the two men behind her who stepped back to give her more s.p.a.ce. He sat down against the wall and took out a carrot to chew on.
Huan Zhong glanced at him and moved five steps sideways. This position would be able to stop Uncle Salted Fish from suddenly attacking Kong Hou. His steps were casual, as though he was just walking by.
Lin Hu noticed Huan Zhong"s movement. He couldn"t resist but look at the man by the wall. This man"s footsteps were strong, but he looked like a healthy ordinary person and not a cultivator. But normal cultivators would not be so calm, even if they were unafraid, when they saw cultivators fight. He did not fear being affected by spells or spirit energy, as though this had nothing to do with him.
He appeared ordinary but was actually strange in all respects.
The people of Gold Dragon Hall hurried to the city gates and saw their fellow lying on the ground. They shouted angrily, “Who is so rude to harm a disciple of Gold Dragon Hall?”
Gold Dragon Hall had been here for over a hundred years. No other cultivators came to this town, and they were used to living high above the others and forgot that there were many powerful cultivators in other places that could destroy Gold Dragon Hall with a flip of their hand.
“As a cultivator, you should protect your people, and not bully them.” Kong Hou looked at the proud Gold Dragon Hall cultivators. “The disciples of the ten sects are stronger than you, and so are their sects, but they are gentler in their conduct.”
The cultivators from Gold Dragon Hall heard Kong Hou"s words and laughed out loud. “Young Miss, you try to frighten us with the ten major sects? The ten major sects are all in places with rich lands and spirit energy. How would they know of a poor place like this? There is no use in scaring us with the ten major sects. We have cultivated hard for many years for satin and brocade, beauty and delicious food. These ordinary people are born low. Their fates are bad to have become our servants. Blame them for being unable to cultivate. The law of the world is the strong eat the weak. Little Beauty, rather than sympathize with these lowly ordinary people, if you follow me, I will make sure you will always have your beauty. Your little boy toy is pretty, but in a decade or two, he will be an old man…”
“You are wrong—even in two decades, he will be a good-looking old man. Not like you wastrels. Even if you live centuries, you have never looked good.” Kong Hou took off her hairpin. It turned into the Water Frost Sword. She lifted her chin. “But you said something correct just now. The strong eat the weak.”
What was the result of a group of Energy Refinement cultivators facing a Mind Dividing cultivator?
These cultivators wore brocade but it was ordinary clothing without any defensive abilities. Kong Hou beat them into the ground with three blows. She kicked the ugly cultivator who called Huan Zhong a boy toy. “Is bullying the weak fun?”
The ugly cultivator spat blood and shook his head.
Kong Hou t.i.tled her face slightly and smiled sweetly. “I feel it is pretty fun.”
She turned to look at Huan Zhong. “Huan Zhong, let"s go kick in a door. I have never done something like that before. Come with me.”
“All right.” Huan Zhong nodded and went to Kong Hou"s side to hold her hand.
Lin Hu: “…”
What was the fun in doing something like that? He turned to look at the people squeezed in by the gates to watch. Then he looked towards the wall. The man eating the carrot had disappeared.
Looking at Huan Zhong and Kong Hou who were holding hands, he sighed. They were not going to kick down doors. They were going hand-in-hand to have fun.
He took out a restraining talisman and tied these Gold Dragon Hall disciples together. The fearful people saw this scene and their terror did not disappear. They did not know who defeated Gold Dragon Hall"s people. Where they as bad as Gold Dragon Hall or even worse?
Gold Dragon Hall was easy to find because the tall and wealthy building was eye-catching among the group of short buildings. This sect might have great reverence towards dragons. Their walls were carved with dragons, the pillars were carved with coiled dragons, and even their red gates were carved with two dragons.
Kong Hou was dazed by the overwhelming dragon patterns. She turned to ask Lin Hu, “Elder Lin, you are knowledgeable. How to be more intimidating when kicking in doors? One kick to the gates?”
Lin Hu took a deep breath. “Miss Kong Hou, I am not familiar with kicking in doors.” As he finished, he heard a “boom” and the gates of Gold Dragon Hall fell down. Lin Hu looked over and saw Master slowly putting away Dragon Roar Sword. He said lightly to Miss Kong Hou, “Your foot will be in pain from kicking.”
Lin Hu felt he was suffocating as he looked at the scene.
“Elder Lin?” Kong Hou walked in and saw Lin Hu in a daze behind her. “It is fun to kick doors in. Come as well.”
Seeing Kong Hou"s expression of “fun should be shared,” Lin Hu turned to silently stare at Huan Zhong. He didn"t know—between Master and Miss Kong Hou, who led the other astray?
He wiped his face and followed with a stiff expression.
As a cultivation sect, Gold Dragon Hall was so small it couldn"t count even as the local bully, but it had some defensive formations on its gates. When Huan Zhong cut them down, numerous disciples hurried over.
The disciples saw three people in brocade clothing walk in, their gate cut neatly in half, and their defensive formations all but gone. They swallowed and took several steps back.
Among the disciples, an old person dressed in low-ranking magic robes walked out and said with a bow, “Where do Honored People come from? Do you have any advice for this humble sect?”
“We come to bully the weak.” Kong Hou pulled out Water Frost Sword and raised her chin.
The old person changed expression and held his lifebond talisman in his hand. “Miss is joking. We are both cultivators—why threaten us?”
“You cultivators are also people just like the ordinary people outside. Why bully them?” Kong Hou glanced at this old person. He had full Base Building cultivation. The other disciples all had weak presence, and were only in Energy Refinement Stage.
Ha, not even one worth a fight.
“So Celestial has come for the people of the city.” The old man had just called her “miss” and now switched to “celestial.” He was more perceptive than the disciples. He could not see Kong Hou"s cultivation, but he recognized that her sword was divine. That sword was more valuable than their entire sect. He didn"t know whose disciples these were, but he hoped these masters and miss were naive enough he could conceal the matter.
“How can the words of these wicked people be trusted?” the old man said. “In the winter, they want us to help them go out to the sea; in the summer, they want us to help them dry fish. If they are in any way displeased, they will throw a tantrum and say we cultivators bully them. This place is thin in spirit energy. If our sect had not been here for a thousand years, we would have moved away a long time ago. They say that wicked people live in poor mountains and evil waters. Celestial, you cannot believe the one-sided words of the wicked people.”
“You mean that I have misunderstood?” Kong Hou turned to look at Huan Zhong. Huan Zhong moved a finger and the talking old man flew in front of them. Huan Zhong put his hand on top of this person"s head and quickly went through his memories. Then he threw the old man away in disgust.
The old man fainted without a sound.
“The death of those that do evil and have clever lying tongues will not make up for his crimes.” Huan Zhong wiped his hands, his eyes cold. “Have your hall master come out.”
Seeing the elder not worth a blow in front of the trio, the other disciples could not even stand up in their fear. Usually, they committed evil deeds and bullied countless people. In front of death, they had no composure.
“Visitors are guests, but you three are most likely unwelcome guests.” An old voice came from all directions. “The Gold Dragon Hall ancestors had the bloodline of the gold dragons. Even if we are not good now, we will not tolerate being insulted by some young brats. Will you three oppose this old man?”
As he spoke, the person who was speaking appeared. This person had white and yellow hair. He wore a brocade robe embroidered with gold dragons. He wore a nine dragons pearl coronet that flashed with light. If people did not know, they would think he was an emperor of the mortal world. Behind him was a short and fat man in black robes. This man had a bald head that shone and gave off fiendish energy.
But his fiendish energy disappeared the moment he saw Huan Zhong. He took several steps back and moved to escape. But when he took a step, Dragon Roar Sword flew in front of him. The cold sword energy pointed at his forehead and gave him a piercing pain.
“Transcendent, Transcendent.” The black-robed man pulled his foot back and bowed repeatedly to Huan Zhong. “Many years no see, Transcendent is as glorious as before…”
Huan Zhong frowned. “Shut up.”
The black-robed man immediately stopped speaking. He held his plump belly and curled up into a ball.
“Elder Lin, who is this?” Kong Hou was surprised why this person was so afraid upon seeing Huan Zhong.
“Do you remember the White Sage who came to get revenge for his apprentice in the past?” Lin Hu crossed his arms. “He is White Sage"s brother, Black Sage.”
“You two really do not have any commonalities.” Kong Hou laughed. “Didn"t this black sage previously call to lead the evil cultivators to attack the cultivation world and get revenge for White Sage?” No wonder this small Gold Dragon Hall dared to treat ordinary people inhumanely and had such an arrogant att.i.tude. There was an evil cultivator hiding in their sect.
“If the words of evil cultivators can be trusted, the world would have long been at peace.” Lin Hu sneered. “These evil cultivators do not care about feelings, only self- interest. Just a dead brother. Even if their parents are killed, it would not be worth them fighting with their life. He shouts about getting revenge but hides in a place like this. He just fears that Master will come kill him after killing White Sage.”
“His fraternal feelings are ice, and will melt with the sun.” Kong Hou shook her head and sighed. Seeing the Black Sage not dare to breathe under Huan Zhong"s sword, she said with slight disdain, “Just this bit of courage and he wants to overthrow the cultivation world. What gave him his confidence?”
Lin Hu looked silently at Kong Hou and didn"t speak.
Miss Kong Hou did not know when Master had pursued the evil cultivators in the past and killed them, the entire mountain had been dyed in the blood of the evil cultivators. From then on, Master"s fame among the evil cultivators rose and he became someone many evil cultivators didn"t dare provoke.
There was no need to mention past events. Also, in Miss Kong Hou"s mind, Master was perfect all over. If he talked about this vicious past, the next person Master would torture might be him.
The Gold Dragon Hall master hadn"t thought the powerful and mysterious elder would be more obedient than a dog when he saw Huan Zhong. He suddenly had a plan and looked towards Kong Hou. This female cultivator"s steps were shaky and her cultivation looked low. If he managed to capture this female cultivator, he might be able to save his life.
With this idea in mind, the master of Gold Dragon Hall acted. As a Core Formation cultivator, he had some good talismans which he threw out towards Kong Hou.
But the moment the talismans touched the other"s clothes, they seemed to lose their wings and fall down.
What was this? What happened?
The master of Gold Dragon Hall thought that something was wrong with the talismans due to how long they had remained unused. He gritted his teeth and threw out his remaining talismans. But those talismans fell down powerlessly just like the previous talismans.
“Aiya, are these third-cla.s.s talismans?” Kong Hou kicked the talismans, turned and said to Lin Hu, “I"ve been in the cultivation world for so many years and haven"t ever used third-cla.s.s talismans.” She crushed the talismans on the ground with her foot and blinked innocently at the Gold Dragon Hall master. “My apologies. I wear the finest of magic robes. These low level talismans are useless against me.”
The master of Gold Dragon Hall felt a blade cutting into his heart. Looking at the crushed talismans, he suppressed his anger and sorrow. He said with a pale face, “Who are you?”
“As a cultivation sect, you secretly hide evil cultivators. Is Gold Dragon Hall an evil cultivator sect or an orthodox sect?” Kong Hou"s expression grew stern. She stared at the master of Gold Dragon Hall. “As a disciple of the ten major sects, I can only give you to my sect.”
“Ten major sects?!” The master of Gold Dragon Hall looked in shock at Kong Hou. He didn"t believe disciples of the ten major sects would come to a poor place like this. Was something wrong with the heads of these major sect disciples that they did not go to those spirit mountains and lakes and came to this place?”
“Spirit Master Zhong Xi, Spirit Master Zhong Xi, I am just staying here; I did not kill anyone, really.” Black Sage"s face was white as he hugged his head with his arms. “Cultivation is not easy—please spare me.”
Huan Zhong ignored him, and used a restraining rope to tie him up into a ball of fat meat.
Spirit Master Zhong, Zhong Xi? This white-robed man with the sword was Spirit Master Zhong Xi?
Even in this remote place, he had heard of Spirit Master Zhong Xi. The master of Gold Dragon hall collapsed to the ground. He was just a bully in this remote corner. How did he encounter Spirit Master Zhong Xi? The heavens wanted his Gold Dragon Hall to die.
Kong Hou kicked the collapsed master of Gold Dragon Hall. “You said that Gold Dragon Hall has the blood of the gold dragon. Is it true?”
“Please, please, Celestial, spare me.” The master of Gold Dragon Hall sobbed. “This humble sect is a small one and doesn"t have any gold dragon blood. The ancestor feared the sect would not have fame when founding the sect, and put some drops of carp blood into a bottle, calling it dragon blood. In truth, carp blood is half dragon blood. If it jumps over the dragon gate, wouldn"t it become a dragon?”
“Shut up—do not speak such illogical reasoning to me.” Kong Hou sealed the meridians of the Gold Dragon Hall master and said to Huan Zhong, “Let"s stay here tonight and leave after people come for these criminal cultivators.”
“Miss Kong Hou, do not worry. I have already messaged the sect. The Radiance Sect disciples near the Unforeseeable Sea will arrive tomorrow,” Lin Hu said. “It will be good to see inside the city. I don"t know how badly they have ruined the people here.”
Kong Hou looked with dislike at the master of Gold Dragon Hall. A long time later, she sighed. “If you live to bully the weak, what is the difference in living a century or a millennium?”
The people of Gold Dragon Hall would not understand her words and people who did understand would not do something like this.
They tied up all the people of Gold Dragon Hall that did great crimes. These people blamed each other and exposed each other. There were not many innocent people in the end.
Kong Hou felt a headache listening to the people curse at each other. She put them in Lin Hu"s care and turned to pull Huan Zhong out of Gold Dragon Hall.
The gates of Gold Dragon Hall were destroyed, and their usually arrogant disciples did not come out to scold. The braver local people watched from their hiding places, feeling both pleased and worried. They were pleased that these evils were eliminated and worried the people who got rid of Gold Dragon Hall would be worse than the cultivators of Gold Dragon Hall.
Kong Hou walked on the streets. She saw many people in the city with bitter expressions. When they saw her and Huan Zhong in their grand clothing, they were so afraid they moved away and didn"t even dare to look up. The evening was slightly cold, but the children running on the streets were in rags. They picked up fallen vegetable leaves from the ground, their feet bare, and Kong Hou even saw two children fighting over a leaf.
The richly ornamented Gold Dragon Hall and the people on the streets seemed to be two different worlds.
“Let"s return.” Huan Zhong saw her brow furrow deeper. He stopped and said, “It"s almost dark.”
“En.” Kong Hou nodded. She looked at the people with their stooped backs, and let Huan Zhong take her hand to return to Gold Dragon Hall.
Next morning, just as the sun rose, the disciples of Radiance Sect arrived. Worried that these disciples would not be strong enough and the Black Sage would flee, Huan Zhong destroyed his spirit platform before giving him to the disciples.
“Leave two people to take care of local affairs and try to have people live normal days as soon as possible. The other disciples will take these people back to the sect.” Huan Zhong said, “I will not go with you. Be careful when travelling.”
“Yes.” The disciples bowed respectfully and then bowed to Kong Hou. “Zhong Xi Shishu, Kong Hou Shishu, Elder Lin, please take care.”
These disciples received meeting gifts from Kong Hou.
Kong Hou had no doubt in the abilities of Radiance Sect disciples. Looking at the dawning sun, her mood became better. She walked out the gates of Gold Dragon Hall with a smile.
As she walked out the city gates and prepared to summon her flying sword, she saw Uncle Salted Fish who was helping other people dry their fish. Her thoughts shifted, and she ran towards him.
“Uncle.”
Uncle Salted Fish"s eyes were half-lidded as though he was still asleep. He wore yesterday"s clothes but his cloak from yesterday was missing. Hearing Kong Hou call him, he said without turning around, “Young Girl, I"m not selling salted dried fish today.”
“I am not buying salted fish today.” Kong Hou bent down to pick up the smelly half-dead fish. She copied Uncle Salted Fish and positioned them properly. “Uncle frequently goes out to sea?”
Uncle Salted Fish watched as Kong Hou"s white hands became covered in salt. His eyes opened slightly. “Yes.”
“Then may I invite Uncle to go out to sea with us?” The sea was endless and filled with dangers. Even powerful cultivators had to be careful. It would be more convenient to have the company of someone who frequently went to sea.
Uncle Salted Fish stopped moving the fish. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Kong Hou without any sleepiness. “You want to find dragons?”
Translator Ramblings: Is this the second or third time Huan Zhong got mistaken as Kong Hou"s boytoy? Maybe he has a face for it?