“I don’t have this leisure. I shall take my leave, captain Gu!” Soaring Dragon Elder was about to fly away on his sword.
Gu Yanying’s stature flashed. She blocked his front, her smile already gone. “Soaring Dragon Elder, you’re already at such an advanced age, why do you insist on plotting against a cat. This cat is the only source of comfort for lady concubine Serenity after her child pa.s.sed away. Does the Hidden Sword Palace truly want to wage war with the Dark Shade Sect?”
“Our Hidden Sword Palace has always followed our goal of defending righteousness by wiping out demons from generation to generation. Demons and ghosts, each and every one of them has to be put to death!”
Soaring Dragon Elder spoke resolutely. This time he precisely needed to kill that cat monster and crush that d.a.m.n woman’s will. Moreover, there should be a large amount of spirit pills on that cat monster, perhaps even magic devices. It was a huge fortune he wouldn’t let go of no matter what.
He’d asked for a divination at the Heavenly Fate Elder’s place before he’d departed. The divination diagrams had shown this journey would inevitably end in victory, and he could even settle a grudge while he was at it. Hence he was confident he would almost certainly succeed.
In the end the lord governor would come out to mediate, and the Dark Shade Sect would certainly not have the resolve to start a war with the Hidden Sword Palace. How could two human sects go to war for the sake of a cat monster.
Gu Yanying’s expression immediately changed. Golden light flashed within her eyes as she said with a cold smile, “Since the Hidden Sword Palace is so outstanding, why don’t you go to the Ink Sea and slaughter dragons, kill the first monster king of the Verdant province? You’ve always been a bunch who bully the weak and fear the strong.”
Soaring Sword Elder said, “Our palace master has his own plans about this matter.” Man and sword merged as one as soon as his voice fell, then they drew a long beam of rainbow that streaked through the vast sky fast as lightning.
The golden light inside Gu Yanying’s eyes went out. She hesitated a moment but finally didn’t do anything. She sighed gently. The sword arts of the Hidden Sword Palace pursued the pinnacle of the dao of the sword, and their killing power was already exceedingly outstanding even without borrowing from any external item. They were far from being a match ordinary golden core cultivators could rival.
She had no desire to exchange blows with him either unless as a last resort. Now she could only find that cat before he did. She could only hope her Six Lines Divination could be a little more effective, and that that Mo Yu guy could be of some help as well.
She would know with the fastest speed if any of the monsters inside the Boundless Mountains saw that cat. Then she would be one flight ahead of Soaring Dragon Elder. There should be no problem.
Li Qingshan opened his eyes an unknown amount of time later. The cave was a patch of darkness; there was no trace of gorgeous carpets or delicate incense burners. It was entirely empty, as if none of what he’d gone through during the day had been real.
The gurgling splashes of the waterfall were so close they seemed within reach, deafening the ears. It let through moist vapor and dazzling light, but it seemed peculiarly tranquil at the same time.
He called out to Little An and walked outside the cave, pa.s.sing through the screen of water hammering down from the waterfall. A bright round moon hung in the sky. Halfmoon was sitting on a great boulder and looking up at the moonlit night, her whole body bathed in a layer of moonlight. The crescent moon on her forehead was sometimes bright and sometimes dark. She suddenly turned her eyes back and smiled. “Big Black you’re awake, time to head off!”
Li Qingshan blinked then nodded. Her stature suddenly appeared on top of Li Qingshan’s head immediately after. Her afterimage still stayed where she originally had been, not dissipating even after a long time.
“This is?” This was definitely not something that could be done with mere speed.
“Shadow Blink you idiot!”
The voice came from the top of his head, but Li Qingshan couldn’t see the reflection of her shadow when he looked at the water. “What’s this now?”
“Moon Concealment you idiot!”
Li Qingshan suddenly understood. No wonder she’d run so far despite the surrounding chases and blockades. Blink and Concealment, just how many people would be able to follow closely behind her just because of those two techniques? “Can’t you just conceal yourself and go north on your own?”
“I’ll be found once I use monster qi. Or else why would I take you with me. Are you going or not?” Halfmoon was losing patience.
Li Qingshan leaped out of the deep waters. He chose his direction and advanced toward the north.
The Boundless Mountain Ranges were like a huge dragon spanning a territory ten thousand miles across from southwest to northeast. Deep mountains and secret forests, harsh precipices and dangerous cliffs; it was a region forbidden to man.
Li Qingshan had watched these mountain ranges for a decade, but it was still the first time he’d gone so deep inside. Dense vegetation, ancient trees stretching up filling the eye as far as it could see, treetops reaching high and tightly covering the sky. Moonlight fell down, only because it was winter and the tree leaves had withered. Everything seemed increasing more serene and hidden.
Li Qingshan didn’t walk very fast, because he feared they would be discovered if his activity became too noisy, and that would disturb their escape plans. But each of his steps easily crossed a distance of several dozen feet after the great changes of his body, so it didn’t appear slow either.
Although he’d been an otaku who didn’t put a foot outside in his previous world, he’d still often yearned for the life of a backpack traveler. He was finally realizing this dream in the present life, even if the way of realizing it was a little bizarre. He admired the landscapes of the deep mountains all along the way, not feeling bored at all.
He wasn’t bored, but Halfmoon was bored to death. She kept muttering, “Meowving too slow, meowving too slow!” She jumped from the top of his head to his left shoulder, then leaped from his left shoulder to his right shoulder and squeezed together with Little An, fooling around with him.
Little An looked like he disliked her very much, so he also jumped here and there on Li Qingshan’s body. The two of them were very light, but Li Qingshan still felt just as if there were two monkeys on his body. He was at the end of his patience after just a moment. “You both quiet the h.e.l.l down!”
“You dare to talk like that to your mistress?” Halfmoon fiercely hammered Li Qingshan’s head.
Li Qingshan shouted out loud and suddenly dashed crazily, charging forward with terrifying momentum.
“Silly Big Black, whatever whatever, I won’t bully you.” Halfmoon rubbed Li Qingshan’s head and laughed straight, “Hee hee.” The bronze bell-like laughter sprinkled across the forest.
Halfmoon just rummaged up and down on Li Qingshan when bored. She very soon found the [Cursive Sword Script] Li Qingshan had hidden inside his thick mane.
Li Qingshan didn’t even have the time to stop her, or maybe one could say even trying to stop her was useless. She brushed the painting scroll open, and spiritual light suddenly emerged. Halfmoon also started in fright from the sword momentum and the sword aura emitting from it. She patted her chest, then turned the [Cursive Sword Script] over and over as she observed it. She was exactly the same as Li Qingshan back then, her face also filled with an illiterate appearance. “You also have this kind of stuff! This should be a spirit device only humans can use right? I feel you’re pretty meowsterious.”
Li Qingshan said, “This is mine.”
“What’s yours is mine. Besides, who cares about this lousy toy of yours. This mistress has seen who knows how many magic treasures and devices, it’s a trivial spiritual weapon.” Halfmoon swung her hand and tossed it back to Li Qingshan. After that she played with the locust wood plaque. The plaque’s edges had already been scorched and looked very shoddy. “What’s this one for this time, there’s not even a bit of spiritual qi? The carving craftsmanship is also so bad. South An, what does this mean?”
“When!” Li Qingshan groped around his waist; sure enough, completely empty. He hadn’t had time to say anything yet that Little An had already stretched his hand to s.n.a.t.c.h the wood plaque away. How would Halfmoon let him succeed though. She dodged him with a gentle shake. Little An refused to give up, and Halfmoon dodged several attacks from Little An in the blink of an eye.
“You weren’t so worried even for the spirit device. Tell meow what this is for and I’ll return it back to you.”
Li Qingshan blocked Little An. “This is a pledge.”
“What pledge?”
Li Qingshan wasn’t willing to tell, but he knew she would definitely not stop as long as she didn’t reach her goal when her curiosity was stirred. “I promised to accompany him back home. His home is to the south.”
Halfmoon stared. “I couldn’t tell you treat your pet also pretty good.”
“He’s not my pet!”
“I’ll give it back to you!” Halfmoon returned the wooden plaque to Little An who carefully put it away. She jumped again on his head. Sharp claws sprang from the tip of her fingers as she started to carve on his horns.