Chapter 10 – The Plan As ideas ran one after another through her mind, Di Jiufeng subconsciously slowed her flight.
In the remote skies, only the sound of wind poured unceasingly into her ears. It rushed and whistled unceasingly, more and more unbearable for the already vexed Di Jiufeng. She furrowed her brow, scolding herself for her impulsiveness. If she was determined to cause a disturbance in front of the sect leader, shouldn"t she have thought through all her countermeasures before going out the door, but instead she was this hasty!
Cursing her own stupidity, a wisp of dejection rose in Di Jiufeng"s heart. She involuntarily clenched her fist.
Right at that time, a voice split the air from behind her. Turning her head to look, she saw old man Qian Sui closing in on her, a malevolent expression on his face. His cultivation was higher than Di Jiufeng"s by at least two levels, and his flight speed was much faster than hers. Even though Di Jiufeng had caught him off guard when she rushed out out, he was still slowly catching up to her.
"You witch! You stop right there!" He grabbed at Di Jiufeng, five fingers bent into a claw.
Seeing this movement, a spark of inspiration flashed through Di Jiufeng"s mind, suddenly growing into a plan.
"You old brute, you think I"ll stop just because you tell me to? Why should I listen to you!"
Placing Ning Guang on the flying sword, Di Jiufeng rushed over with a tap of her toes, like a startled phoenix frantically rushing with spread wings. The action was swift and violent, and Master Qian Sui subconsciously started for a moment. [T/N: The word for phoenix is 凤 (feng1), the same feng as in her name. Probably a low-key pun.]
She caught him off guard, making Master Qian Sui fall into a disadvantage for a moment.
But with the pa.s.sing of time, Master Qian Sui slowly sobered. "Witch!"
Old man Qian Sui flew into a towering rage, coldly yelling with a long hiss, "You get lost back to your own peak, and I"ll pretend the events of today never happened. Or else, if you bring the disturbance to the Sect Leader, I"ll make sure it doesn"t end well for you!"
"Ah, then try it!"
Di Jiufeng sneered, pouring her whole body"s spiritual energy into the palm of her hand and striking towards old man Qian Sui. Charged palm like a shooting star, treading across the wind to approach, the air around her exploded under the pressure, making a deafening cry.
If this palm struck true, it would definitely break every bone in old man Qian Sui"s body.
He was well aware of this point, and quickly drew spiritual energy to strike back. He originally planned to repel Di Jiufeng, but he never expected that the second before their palms met, Di Jiufeng would disperse the spiritual energy in her palm!
What would be the result when a nascent soul cultivator"s full-strength strike fell on a completely unresisting body.
In a split second, the earth quaked and the mountains shook, solid mountain rocks shocked into a rumbling avalanche with the might of that palm strike.
And Di Jiufeng, the one who received the whole force of the strike, only felt the bones in her whole body shaken loose, veins and arteries rupturing one after another, mouthful after mouthful of blood freely spilling up her throat. Her internal organs were ruptured by that palm strike, and Di Jiufeng could only think to roll around in pain. She shuddered uncontrollably, cold sweat rolling down her forehead in rivers. [T/N: The text literally says she 不要钱地 (bu4 yao4 qian2 de) threw up blood, as in "for no money".]
But, suffering this sort of pain, she not only didn"t scream, but a smile spread across her face.
In a split second, a subtle fragrance wound through the air like thousands of peach blossoms, layer upon layer, blossoming at once.
"Shifu!"
After Di Jiufeng was flung out, she heard a voice cracking in fright sound out by her ear. Turning her head, she saw Ning Guang flip over and leap.
Though she cultivated the demonic path, Ning Guang was still young. She had only reached the Qi Refining stage and couldn"t even fly on a sword. But, seeing Di Jiufeng floating down with no thread of life to cling to, she couldn"t pay mind to any of that anymore.
The world froze in a split second. Ning Guang couldn"t hear any other sound anymore, only the beat of her own heart was left in her ear. It slowed and slowed, until, in the end, she couldn"t even feel half a twitch from the heart in her own chest. It was like someone had forcibly gouged it out, a b.l.o.o.d.y stab of pain spreading into her four limbs and every bone, her uncontrollable shudders distinctly visible even through her clothes.
Would Shifu die?
Ning Guang"s heart was seized with fear. Her wide-open mouth couldn"t let out a single sound, like someone had s.n.a.t.c.hed her by the throat. Cutting off her airways, she couldn"t gasp a single breath, and the suffocating pain in her chest made her eyes lose all color, only black and white left in the whole world.
Seeing her move, Di Jiufeng immediately panicked. She wanted to go catch her disciple, but her injuries were too severe. She couldn"t gather any spiritual energy even after several attempts, the exertion making her spit out another mouthful of blood.
"… Ning Guang."
Though Di Jiufeng"s injuries were severe, she had correctly calculated that she could receive them and survive. There was no way she would let that old man Qian Sui talk his way out of disaster, so she might as well raise his crime to the slaughter of a comrade, a serious crime indeed. Though it wasn"t like harboring an evil spirit would normally merit the punishment of body shattered by thunder, it would ensure old man Qian Sui would spend the rest of his days in confinement.
This plan of Di Jiufeng"s was executed well, but she never could have expected that her own disciple would follow her off the sword. With the strength of her physical body currently in Qi Refinement, how could she endure this kind of fall?
"Ning Guang…., Ning Guang…."
Di Jiufeng was in unbearable pain and couldn"t even complete a single sentence, but for her disciple she still forced together a wisp of spiritual energy at the risk of exacerbating her own injuries. She called her spiritual sword Hong Shang, first supporting herself then slowly flying up to catch her disciple dropping out of midair. [T/N: 红殇 hong1 – red, shang1 – to die young]
"Ning Guang, Shifu… is alright, you… don"t be afraid."
Holding her uncontrollably shaking disciple in her embrace, Di Jiufeng reached out her hand to gently stroke her back.
She seemed to have heard a few suppressed sobs. Her fingertips faintly trembled and a wave of pity arose in her heart. "Silly child, you… what are you crying for, Shifu won"t die."
"But… but…"
Ning Guang raised her head, tear stains not quite dried on her cheeks. She glanced at her Shifu"s face, that face beautiful like peach flowers but currently pale to the brink of transparency, fresh blood spreading from the corner of her lip, dying her neck crimson and moistening her lapel.
A layer of grey screened Ning Guang"s eyes, obscuring her pupils and leaving them lifeless like the eyes of the blind. She could dispel it, but in order to make enemies underestimate her she had never done this before. And, at this time, hidden by this layer of grey, Di Jiufeng never discovered the ominous glint flashing through her dear disciple"s eyes. "Shifu, you can"t die, or else…"
I"ll definitely ma.s.sacre everyone in this world to serve as your funerary offerings, then exhaust the jade skies above and yellow springs below to find and return your soul. [T/N: 苦肉计 (ku3 rou4 ji4), lit. the plan of injuring oneself to gain the enemy"s confidence. 黄泉 (huang2 quan2), lit. "yellow springs", is one term for the underworld in Chinese mythology.]
Then, before she had finished speaking, streak upon streak of flowing light came near.