Chapter 44: Dragon in Shallow Water As a plant yao, Qing Yu was always placid of temperament, but thinking of the information he had just discovered, he could not calm himself at all.
Sure enough, they were doomed, there was no right choice! He had hidden it so well, who knew Ming Cang would choose to enlighten Sui Ying at this crucial moment!
Qing Yu shook his head, and hurriedly pulled out the key. His hands trembled uncontrollably in anxiety.
The keyhole was not large, and he had to try many times before he could unlock the door. As soon as he opened the jail cell, he dragged the two outside and ran. "Hurry up and go! When Ming Cang was enlightening her, he saw Sui Ying"s altered memories, he knows that Ning Guang cultivates the demonic path. He"s already convened all the elders in the sect, they"re hastening here right this moment."
A chaos of footsteps and the wind raised in their haste pulled green hems into a fl.u.s.tered arc.
He thought only of getting the two out, and had not yet had the time to wonder how Di Jiufeng had appeared in this prison without going through the door.
"Ming Cang wants to take Ning Guang"s life. After you leave, do not let him find you. Though the two of you together have a chance of defeating him, if you can not take his life in one blow, the pursuit to follow will give you h.e.l.l. You are still young, don"t sacrifice yourselves to vent a temporary anger. Cultivate well, and perhaps in time…"
"Quick! Change back to your original shape!"
Di Jiufeng"s strict shout suddenly sounded by his ear. Qing Yu automatically did as he was told. Just when he turned back into a honeysuckle flower, the air where he was just standing was swept through by a strike of wind.
This palm strike like a furious dragon swept across the place where his body was in a split second. A sharp crack, along with the crash of the wall collapsing, exploded through everyone"s eardrums.
"Sinner, you have nowhere to run!"
Ming Cang rushed in, carving out a narrow path through the roiling smoke and dust. His five fingers in a claw, he struck at the three with enough power to destroy the heavens and earth.
He was a peak expert at Early-Stage Great Ascension. Though he was only a tier higher than Di Jiufeng, because he had realized the Heavenly Way, every strike held the power of the Heavenly Way. When this claw chopped down, Di Jiufeng felt as if time had frozen around her. She wanted to draw her sword, but she moved so slowly that by the time that claw touched her scalp, she had not even reached a defensive position.
Colossal power hit her full in the face, like a basin full of icy water had frozen Di Jiufeng"s very bones!
She let out a groan, like she had already seen the end result, blood splattered meters away.
She thought she would not survive, but just then, a pale hand struck Ming Cang"s fist.
Before the power of that claw, Ning Guang was not afraid. She cared only about Di Jiufeng. Seeing her furrow her brow in pain, Ning Guang could think of nothing else. Even if she exposed her demonic cultivation, there was no point in hiding it anymore. She might as well let it out and gather it into a malicious spirit, howling to take a bite out of Ming Cang.
She was still weak and could not fight a long battle. As soon as Ning Guang let out her demonic energy, she grabbed Di Jiufeng and flew out through the shattered wall.
Bright light filled her sight for a split second, making her vision go white. But in this split second, Ming Cang had already shattered the malicious spirit and chased after them. His eyes were filled with ambition, lit with an unspeakable fanatic light!
Seeing this gaze, Ning Guang"s heart thumped in fear.
But she had no time to think, Ming Cang"s strike was already here. She hurriedly formed a malicious spirit and tossed it over, but this time, it did not even delay him for a breath"s time before Ming Cang had shattered it into grey smoke.
"Sinner! You can"t escape now!" His claws connected into a net, dropping down from above.
Even with wings, it would be impossible to escape from this seamless attack. Ning Guang looked up at the net, a hint of panic showing through her expression. She hurriedly made a seal, but when everything was hanging by a thread, her demonic energy automatically activated!
Because she wanted to conceal her ident.i.ty as the ancient witch, Ning Guang could not use her original power. Even so, her demonic energy was not something just anyone could defeat.
This Ming Cang should not be so powerful! Ning Guang had to suspect what methods he had used.
Looking at him with knit brows, Ning Guang was confused. When that fanatical look full of expectation had appeared in Ming Cang"s eyes again just then, he did not have much killing intent, only that face full of ambition, swearing that he would catch them.
The web of claws slowly tightened. Seeing the two inside with no way to escape, Ming Cang"s heart pounded in excitement.
A feverish smile crept onto his face, all the blood in his body rushing to his head, giving him a strange and monstrous air.
"You can"t escape, hehe, hahaha!" He laughed darkly. With his hands behind his back, Ming Cang walked slowly over to the two trapped people.
After escaping the power of the Heavenly Way, Di Jiufeng had slowly recovered. She pulled at Ning Guang"s fingers, smiled at her, then looked at Ming Cang and said arrogantly, "Old man, you only know how to bully your juniors. You do not respect your own age, you rely on your age and flaunt your age, no wonder the Ji Family has you trapped under their foot."
Di Jiufeng did not like Ji Liuran and had vented her anger towards the Ji Family as well, but she loathed Ming Cang even more.
Di Jiufeng thought she was quite disingenuous using the Ji Family to anger this old thing while also inciting disharmony between the two, but she did not think she had done anything wrong.
"Old man, it"s all because of a pillar like you that Han Hai Pavilion became a place known for power play and not cultivation. Just wait and see, one day your Han Hai Pavilion will fall into desolation and defeat, forgotten in the corner by the world!
Ming Cang loved power, loved the feeling of standing in a high place. He liked when everything revolved around him, chased after by everyone.
But Han Hai Pavilion"s Sect Leader had given him this sort of position. He would not allow Han Hai Pavilion to suffer defeat, could not even bear to hear the word.
His face darkened. A breath caught in his throat, making his old face tremble. "Little viper, you still don"t know your place. If I don"t teach you a good lesson today, you really won"t know what is seniority and respect!" He lifted his foot, ruthlessly stomping towards her face.
But in the second his foot touched her cheek, the two people who had been trapped like dragons in shallow water suddenly disappeared!
"Wh, where are they?!" Ming Cang stared, and yanked up his foot to look. The spiritual energy connected into a net was still whole, but the two people inside had disappeared.
How was this possible? There was a spiritual energy block on this mountain. Without a special defensive device, spiritual energy couldn"t even be used. He had not sensed any movement of spiritual energy, how could those two have disappeared?!
"d.a.m.n it!"
Ming Cang howled, rapidly sweeping his spiritual sense through the entire cliff. He meticulously searched through every corner, every inch of land, but no matter how he searched, there was not even a trace of them left!
"What are you standing there for! Go look! If you can"t find those two! You"ll take their place in the Pure-Heart Precipice!"
With this furious shout, he swept his sleeves and rushed into the ruins. He still remembered that a traitor who helped these evil demons escape had appeared in the sect. He thought, as long as he could find the traitor and announce their execution, with the soft hearts on those two, they definitely would not watch and look on as their savior died. They would come to save them, and at that time, as long as he once again deployed the Heaven Gathering Earth Net, that demonic cultivator would not be able to escape!
It had been many years since he had seen a demonic energy so pure, he would not let her get away!
With that thought, Ming Cang hastened his pace even more. He swept into the ruins like a tornado, and at the same time, his spiritual sense spread, sparing nothing.
He enclosed the entirety of the prison under his spiritual sense, inch by inch, searching for Qing Yu three inches under every inch of ground.
Seeing his movements, Di Jiufeng tsked. "Is this old man a dumba.s.s? If we were able to escape, of course we would take Qing Yu with us, does he think we"re as stupid as him? To leave a hostage for him to threaten?" With Shen City in their hands, they didn"t need to fear any Heaven Gathering Earth Net.
Just then, trapped by the spiritual energy net, Di Jiufeng did not panic at all. She could not use spiritual energy, but Ning Guang cultivated the demonic path. She had even given the colored gla.s.s heart to Ning Guang, of course she could use Shen City.
They could escape anywhere and anytime, Di Jiufeng just had to get in an insult before she would leave.
And of course Ning Guang would do as she wished. Not only had she not left, she had even parked Shen City right above Ming Cang"s head. "Feng, what do you mean by dumba.s.s?"
"There"s something wrong with his head."
Just then, Shen City suddenly shook, and a furious roar came from below them, nearly bursting their eardrums.
The two people readily at hand had disappeared without a trace, even the traitor he thought to use as bait was gone. He had come up empty, and even got mocked in return! Ming Cang panted roughly, like the fire in his heart was going to burn him into ash!
"d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n it! d.a.m.n IT!"
Howling, he let blows rain on the ground, completely unrestrained, until the Pure-Heart Precipice was full of holes. Ming Cang still did not feel any better. He thought about what Di Jiufeng had said, and his lungs filled with fury, crushing down on his chest. His blood stopped flowing properly, all rushing to his head.
"d.a.m.n IT! d.a.m.n IT! LITTLE s.l.u.t!!" His face was swollen red, breaths rough. Ming Cang grabbed the prison door, expression malicious, dark veins popping on the back of his hand.
"I"LL KILL YOU! I"LL KILL YOU!"
As the Sect Leader of the number one great sect of the cultivation world, Ming Cang had never been angered to this degree. After being mocked to his face, the culprit had even escaped right below his eyes. A little ant dared to play with him, Ming Cang could never swallow this grudge.
He panted, face twisting. Each wrinkle on his old face trembled.
He gritted his teeth, a furious dragon gathering in his hand. He struck it on the prison door. When he had destroyed everything in this Pure-Heart Precipice, he finally flitted out, fury rising to the skies.
Ning Guang controlled Shen City to stick to the top of Ming Cang"s head. When he exited the boundary of the spiritual energy block, she finally gave control of Shen City back to Di Jiufeng.
Di Jiufeng took it and turned to smile at Ning Guang--
That gentle gaze, mixed with the delight of getting away with a bad thing, made her face seem ever more lively. Ning Guang smiled at her too, concentrated and indulgent, like she was the only person in the whole world.
Qing Yu burrowed in the ground, looking up at them. Seeing them so connected, this tacit understanding no other person could hope to enter, he began to laugh.
"Aiyah, Qing Yu, you will never be able to return to Han Hai Pavilion, we have implicated you."
Hearing Qing Yu"s laugh, Di Jiufeng looked down at him.
Qing Yu waved his petals. "It"s no matter, I did not want to stay in Han Hai Pavilion in the first place. Would you allow me to stay in this place of yours for the time being? The yao energy here is very rich, it"s quite comfortable here."
"Of course."
Di Jiufeng had no objections, but Ning Guang, hearing this, looked down at Qing Yu as well. Icy cold, indifference, annoyance, and resentment all mixed together in her gaze, like a saw cutting away at Qing Yu"s petals.
In short, this was a threat, a threat to make Qing Yu get the h.e.l.l out.
My G.o.d, you"re going to scare this yao to death.
Qing Yu shook, pulling his roots from the soil. Using roots as feet, he shivered his way behind Di Jiufeng, clinging on to her hems, only showing a small segment of tender yellow petals.
Qing Yu had hidden. Secretly waving his petals, he said quietly, "Jiufeng, the hidden treasure lands will not open for close to a year. In this time, you might as well go look for a Bone-Casting Branch, this thing can rebuild bones from the roots and decrease skeletal age. If you can find one, you will not need to worry about entering the hidden treasure lands."
Notes:
This chapter was translated by Lily. 志在必得 (zhi4 zai4 bi4 de2) was the phrase I translated as "ambition". The full meaning is that "when there is ambition, it will be accomplished", combining both the ambition and the determination to achieve it.