Chapter 77 - Choice
“I…”
Fu Li looked up at the man bathed in streetlight. He stood tall and handsome, possessing a steadiness that many yao in the yao world fell short of.
Zhuang Qing crouched in front of him. “You’re squatting here in the night to count ants?”
“What ants can there be at night?” Fu Li hugged his knees tightly. “What are you doing here?”
“I should be asking you that,” Zhuang Qing stood up, hauling Fu Li up from the ground. “We’re outside my house.”
The lights in the villa shone brightly, its radiance penetrating the windows and illuminating the area outside the house. Fu Li stuck his hands into the pockets of his pants. His shoulders shrank back in the autumn wind as he smiled, “I was just walking around randomly.”
“You were walking around randomly and then reached my place?” Zhuang Qing felt around his body. “Wait here for me.”
Fu Li watched Zhuang Qing swiftly return to his house before very quickly coming back out. In a blink of an eye, he was back in front of him. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll send you back.” Zhuang Qing emphasized, “Remember not to run about recklessly.” Then, he ran back to the garage to start the car. Fu Li watched Zhuang Qing from behind as he hurried along. Suddenly feeling that this scene before him was a bit funny, he couldn’t help letting out a laugh.
Zhuang Qing stopped the car in front of Fu Li, opening the window. “Get on.”
Fu Li obediently got into the car and buckled his seatbelt. He told Zhuang Qing abruptly, “Thank you.”
“I didn’t see you being so polite in the past,” Zhuang Qing drove out of the neighborhood. As he was turning out of the gate, he saw an elderly couple opposite crossing the road. Stopping the car, he lowered the brightness of the car’s headlights. Only when the elderly couple had completely left the road did he proceed.
Streetlight would occasionally shine on Zhuang Qing’s face through the motley of tree leaves. Fu Li suddenly realized that the yao seated beside him was not an underaged dragon, but a steady man that propped up the entire domain in which the cultivation world survived. He should not evaluate the current situation with the standards of the yao world thousands of years back.
Many of the things he had taken to be true was nothing more than him being stuck in his old ways, not having walked out of Reflecting Mist Mountain.
The world changed as time went by. That was all.
The elements changed in a split second. Heaven and Earth’s spiritual qi surged forth, converged into an enormous whirlpool of spiritual qi, and barreled towards Zhuang Qing’s car.
Noticing the abnormalities in the skies and earth, Zhuang Qing glanced at Fu Li, who had already entered a meditative state beside him. With a pull of the seatbelt and a smack of the steering wheel, the car was driven into a tiny, secluded alley, where it came to a stop.
A gale swept up the dead leaves on the ground. Zhuang Qing took off his blazer, pulled open the car door, and walked out. Countless yao beasts appeared in the darkness, a strange light flashing in their eyes. Zhuang Qing looked at the various animals surrounding the alley. His natal sword appeared in his hands.
“I, Zhuang Qing, stand here today. Who dares to step forward?” He narrowed his eyes halfway, his icy, severe gaze sweeping around his surroundings. In a flash, a great half of the yao beasts left.
A leopard yao stood on a wall. Its three tails were curled up slightly, and its upper body leaned forward. It didn’t seem resigned to leaving. Spiritual qi was thin in the yao world, so yao cultivators in the midst of a breakthrough were the world’s greatest spiritual qi vessels. If one ate a ‘spiritual qi vessel’, they would gain immeasurable cultivation. Yao cultivators who kept within their bounds wouldn’t dare to have such thoughts, but to evil yao, it was a temptation they had no way of rejecting.
Swish. Silver light flashed, and Zhuang Qing flew back to his original position. The leopard yao who had attempted to advance had already lost two out of three of its tails. Blood flowed unceasingly.
“The next time a yao attempts to advance, they won’t just have a broken tail but a severed head,” Zhuang Qing flicked the edge of his sword lightly and a drop of blood flowed along the edge of the sword, landing on the ground.
“Meow!” A cat hissed harshly and the majority of the surrounding yao left discreetly, leaving three yao concealed in a dark corner.
“Come out, all of you,” Zhuang stared at the dark corner. “Since you three have already decided to do something that goes against the management bureau’s regulations, why bother to hide?”
“Dragon Lord Zhuang has much courage and insight. Your swordplay has reached perfection,” A man with an all-white beard walked out of the alley’s depths. Zhuang Qing had seen this yao before. This man had sat at the same table as them not too long ago at the birthday banquet arranged for Zhao Xiu, the sect leader of Qing Xiao Sect.
This yao cultivator’s original form was a hyena, and he had a cultivation of nearly 3500 years. In the cultivation world, he would already be considered an elder with more experience and knowledge. Although it was unclear whether his character was good or bad, he hadn’t harmed anyone before.
It seemed it was untrue that he hadn’t harmed people. He was merely adept at disguise. When the benefits were not significant enough, he concealed his true nature very well.
The two yao who appeared with the hyena were also honored guests who had appeared on the day of the birthday banquet. Perhaps only these old yaoguai with profound cultivation would dare to remain when Zhuang Qing had set up protective magic..
“Dragon Lord Zhuang Qing, I respect the nation’s fate that you bear, as well as your talent at cultivation. But we are determined to have this spiritual meat tonight. You had better quickly make way for us, otherwise we might injure you by mistake,” The hyena’s avaricious gaze landed on the car behind Zhuang Qing.
“The management bureau’s regulations clearly stipulate that no harming of other yao is to take place. As people of virtue and prestige in the cultivation world, are you going to violate the management bureau’s regulations?” Zhuang Qing took a few steps forward without hesitation, obstructing the hyena’s greedy eyes.
“Ignorant child!” The hyena had long grown accustomed to receiving the respect of the younger generation and had long bore dissatisfaction towards Zhuang Qing, this cold, young yao. However, he hadn’t dared to express his feelings as he had misgivings about the other party’s ident.i.ty. Now that he was anxious to eat Fu Li’s flesh and Zhuang Qing was being meddlesome, how could he possibly endure it?
“Scram.”
Zhuang Qing smiled coldly. He didn’t bicker with the hyena either, and directly called on Heaven and Earth’s blessings. Converging it on his sword, he attacked the three yao.
No matter how high the cultivation of the hyena and the other yao cultivators, they would still feel fear when faced with the Fate. The three yao cut sorry figures as they dodged. The hyena cursed, “Zhuang Qing, child, if you’re so capable, don’t borrow the Fate and have a fair fight with me.”
“I’m using what originally belongs to me and also taking on three people with one of me, how is it unfair?” With a slash of his sword, severe sword intent attacked the hyena directly in the face. The hyena dodged miserably, though more than half of his ear was cut off. Fresh blood dyed half his face red.
“Do you still want to continue?” Zhuang Qing gripped the sword with his left hand, his expression cold. “I’ll give you two choices. One, fall under my sword tonight. Two, leave this place right now and turn yourself in at the management bureau; this matter will be settled according to the rules.”
The hyena wiped the blood on his face as he stared, unresigned, at the converging spiritual qi of Heaven and Earth. To be able to incite such large fluctuations in spiritual qi, there had to be a very powerful yao cultivator in the car who encountered a sudden breakthrough in mindset. If this yao cultivator advanced in its cultivation and knew of their actions tonight, would they let them off?
But if they persisted in making things difficult for Zhuang Qing, how certain could they be that they would be able to s.n.a.t.c.h the spiritual meat from Zhuang Qing’s hands? In the current situation, there was no difference from being trapped in an impossible situation with no way out. Death lay on one end, and a short life lay on the other. Why not go all out then?
“Less of that nonsense. Let me witness your true abilities tonight then.”
Stepping through dense fog, Fu Li raised his s.h.a.ggy claws. He saw the Wei River dyed red from fresh blood, corpses floating on top of the river.
Tiger, goat, pig, ox, ape…
A few azure dragons were wantonly devouring their bodies, enjoying the merry feast.
Rage, killing intent, and hatred congregated at his chest. Fu Li wanted to rip these azure dragons to shreds. He itched to break their necks with a single bite, sc.r.a.pe the flesh from their bones, ingest their flesh, and inhale their blood.
“No living thing in this world can distance themselves from resentment, hatred, sentimentality, greed, love, and regret.”
“As long as one is alive, they will naturally not be able to distance themselves from these.”
“Little Li is right. But you must remember, if you want to become an extraordinary great yao, you must not be influenced by the seven emotions and six desires. Only by calming your heart and reflecting will you be able to brush aside the fog and see the truth.”
Fu Li came to a halt. Step after step, he retreated from the b.l.o.o.d.y Wei River.
The corpses floating on top of the water gazed at him with open eyes. Every pair of eyes was asking him why he didn’t avenge them, why he didn’t kill the azure dragons, why he allowed their remains to be swallowed by the azure dragons.
The stink of blood drifted from the surface of the river and into his nose. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. When he next opened his eyes, the Wei River before him had already disappeared. What appeared before him was Reflecting Mist Mountain, the Reflecting Mist Mountain that hadn’t been destroyed.
“Little Li,” Little Sparrow landed on his shoulder. “Didn’t you want to watch the Hundred Birds Worshipping the Fenghuang? I called all the birds in the mountain and woods over.”
Only then did Fu Li realize that the surrounding trees were filled with all sorts of birds. These birds all had bright-colored feathers and clear, bright eyes. Their gazes were on both Little Sparrow and him.
Chirp. Little Sparrow flapped its wings, speaking to Fu Li as it flew into the sky, “Watch closely.”
Countless birds soared into the sky, following behind Little Sparrow. They sang at the top of their voices, their beautiful feathers radiating a dazzling glow beneath the sun. When the Fenghuang launched into dance, the world lost color.
Fu Li lay in the underbrush as he silently watched Little Sparrow dance and chirp to its heart’s content. Nostalgia was palpable in his eyes.
“Little Li,” King Ganglie came over with a jade bowl of spiritual porridge that gave off a very strong smell. “Don’t only care about playing, don’t you need to eat too?”
Seeing the bowl of steaming spiritual rice congee in front of him, Fu Li changed into his human form and accepted the bowl.
“King,” Fu Li held the jade bowl, the corners of his eyes reddening. “Did I ever praise Little Sparrow’s dance for being very beautiful?”
King Ganglie looked at him blankly.
“I miss all of you,” He blinked, the rims of his eyes reddening slightly. “Thank you.”
The Reflecting Mist Mountain beside him, the Hundred Birds Worshipping the Fenghuang, and the simple and honest King Ganglie gradually turned blurry. Fu Li placed the jade bowl on the ground. Transforming into a white rabbit, he lay back down at his original spot and watched the surrounding scenery turn into darkness in a daze.
Bang.
The spiritual rice congee in the jade bowl shook lightly, as if it was putting all its might into preserving the entirety of the illusion.
“King Ganglie can’t make such delicious congee,” Fu Li’s eyes widened all of a sudden. A red line appeared between his brows. Looking up at the sky, he let out a long roar.
Roar!
Kacha.
The jade bowl broke apart, vanishing into the boundless darkness. Endless spiritual qi gushed into Fu Li’s body. Dense clouds churned in the sky. The clouds of tribulation were imminent.
Lightning flashed. Thunder rolled. Torrential rain came pouring down. The rainwater washed away all the fresh blood on Zhuang Qing’s sword. Wiping the rainwater on his face, he turned and walked to the side of the car. Glancing at the clouds of tribulation in the sky, he pulled open the car door and wrapped his arms around Fu Li. Shrinking great distances to an inch, he arrived at the sea that stretched as far as the eye could see.
When yao cultivators advanced in their cultivation, they would definitely experience the lightning of tribulation. This was a form of tempering for the body and soul; no one could help.
Zhuang Qing placed Fu Li on the surface of the sea and then changed into a golden dragon, setting up protective magic for Fu Li.
The first bolt.
The second bolt.
The third bolt.
…
The ninth bolt.
Roar! A deafening b.e.s.t.i.a.l cry came from the bottom of the sea.
Endless spiritual qi descended from the sky, encompa.s.sing the entire sea and earth. The fishes swimming in the sea leaped out of the water in joy, accepting the gift bestowed on them by the Heavens.
Zhuang Qing transformed into his human form and made his way to Fu Li.
Lying on the surface of the sea was a white rabbit approximately thirty to forty centimeters long with a tuft of red fur between its brows. It had four sharp claws and its eyes glittered like gold. Baleful qi was spilling out.
Their gazes met. In the other party’s golden pupils, Zhuang Qing saw several red strands of light. He was silent for a moment before picking the rabbit up and placing it in the crook of his arm. “After struggling for so long, your body just became a bit bigger?”
He stroked the rabbit’s fur gently. A drop of dragon blood seeped out of his forefinger and entered the rabbit’s body. The baleful qi instantly vanished without a trace.
Suddenly, a torrential current surged from the bottom of the sea, as if something was about to break out of the water.
Zhuang Qing’s expression changed. Carrying Fu Li, who hadn’t yet regained his strength, he flew into the sky. In this short instant, an enormous strange beast erupted from the sea. This strange beast had a very odd appearance – its tusks grew upwards and it was incomparably ugly.
It let out a long roar, causing the entire surface of the sea to sway. The seawaves roiled as if the water in the sea was being propelled by him onto dry land.
“Taowu?” Zhuang Qing’s expression changed drastically. “Why would it be sealed in the sea?”
In the legends, the Taowu had perished at Sanwei Mountain during a fight with several other fiends. Why did it appear at this time?
Observing the airflow above the sea and the continuous convergence of seawater from the surroundings, Zhuang Qing’s expression turned heavier and heavier. If things continued in this way, an immense tsunami would definitely break out at the coast. Even if they were to do an emergency evacuation now, there was no guarantee that everyone at the coast would escape in time.
The bodies of ancient great yao alone were so formidable that they could cause strange phenomena in the world.
At the coast, Gong Fu looked down at the seawater beating against his feet. There was a grave expression on his face.
“There exists a beast in the East Sea that is formed from the spiritual qi of all living things in the world. Its body is made of five-colored divine stone, and it becomes yao through heavenly chance. Its body is as small as a pika. If it consumes spiritual creatures, it will become an auspicious creature, but if it consumes dragons, it will become a fiend.” Gong Fu reached out, feeling the spiritual qi that descended from the Heavens. His complexion was not good.
“That is the Hou.”
“What did you say?” The Kunpeng, who had followed him over, snorted. “This spiritual qi feels so good, it’s so rich. Who knows who the person who succeeded in their tribulation is? Heaven and Earth actually gave so much back to this person.”
Gong Fu asked, “If you met a child who might become a good person in the future and save many people, but could also become a bad person that destroys the world, would you choose to spare his life or kill him?”
“Let’s not use creatures like children as an a.n.a.logy, okay?” The Kunpeng ma.s.saged his arms, feeling like his entire body had turned numb. “Since 4200 years ago, children have been my greatest fear.”
“Then let’s change it to a young person,” Gong Fu placed his arms behind his back. “What would your choice be?”
Ilyz: FL can finally be known by something other than ‘white rabbit with dog-like nose’ ><