Chapter 42 - Waiting for a Bamboo
All the witchcraft had been found. These things would acc.u.mulate demonic energy and nourish the monsters. The octopus was only one of many monsters, but with Senior Yue, it would not be difficult to eradicate them all. Shang Lingjian immediately issued an order to clean up the rest of the monsters.
The issue of the witchcraft could be solved, but there was still a crucial question—who planted the witchcraft in the middle of Jasper Heaven?
Were people from Beixia hiding in Shangling Academy?
–But the demonic cultivators of Beixia all had a wicked air around them, and it couldn’t escape from Yue Buhun’s eyes.
The only explanation was that someone placed a witchcraft seal here in the academy and then left.
–Shangling Academy was protected by layers and layers of protection seals guarding the mountain. Many seals were designed to fight against Beixia monsters. If someone had really entered and left Shangling Academy like it was their own backyard, then how could they not worry about the apparent failure of the protection seals?
“For today, the plan is for the supporting disciples to investigate whether there are holes in the protection seals,” Shang Lingjian said.
Ling Fengxiao: “Perhaps there has been some change in the Beixia witchcraft.”
“The Academy has already begun studying the monsters, intending to find a way to deal with them.”
Ling Fengxiao: “En.”
Lin Shu could understand Shang Lingjian ’s logic.
After the virus upgraded, it would be natural to upgrade the firewall as well.
Fortunately, the demonic monster had been found by Ling Fengxiao in advice, so they weren’t sitting ducks waiting for slaughter.
The thing was, it was impossible to determine whether the monsters had invaded in order to find Folding Bamboo. Neither Shang Lingjian nor Ling Fengxiao mentioned it.
Lin Shu felt that the observation ability and IQ of these two people couldn’t be worse than him.
And the High Officer clearly knew he was Folding Bamboo, but didn’t raise this issue—was it him overthinking things?
Lin Shu calmed himself down.
The sky was falling, but there was a tall man holding it up.
If that tall man couldn’t hold it up, could he hold it up?
–No.
Since he couldn’t do it, then what was the point of worrying? When the boat hit a rock, it would naturally flip.
After those two individuals finished their discussion, they gathered up the witchcraft seeds and formulated a plan to destroy them.
Ling Fengxiao asked Yue Buhun: “Senior, are there any other demonic monsters?”
“Of course,” Yue Buhun said. “Quickly, call out that dog, let me see!”
Ling Fengxiao said: “They are by your side.”
Lin Shu quietly moved to stand in front of Yue Buhun: “…”
“It’s you?” Yue Buhun squinted at him and said: “You look like a human!”
Lin Shu: “You’ve overly praised me.”
Yue Buhun immediately got excited: “Over praise? You look upright and put together. When I said you looked like a human, I was saying a factually true statement. Why did you use the words “over” and “praise”? Why do you use those words so casually, explain it!”
Lin Shu: “…”
Yue Buhun said: “Why aren’t you saying anything? You must be stunned speechless by me!”
After that, he peered at Lin Shu to see his reb.u.t.tal.
Lin Shu: “Senior is correct.”
Yue Buhun was filled with the intention to argue, but he was suddenly choked in his throat, and suddenly fell into silence.
Ling Fengxiao laughed.
Lin Shu heard this pleasant chuckle and turned to look at Ling Fengxiao.
He saw a tiny flame suddenly light on the fingers of the Big Miss. She had been planning to deal with the witchcraft seeds, but suddenly looked over to look at them, and a faint smile was on her lips.
Her smile was a bit warm, diluting the slightly cold and arrogant look that she used to possess, and it turned her image into something different from the past.
After she laughed, the Big Miss returned to business and sent the spiritual fire into the deep pit containing the sixteen witchcraft seeds.
This fire was not an ordinary fire. It had white edges, and anyone with some knowledge of chemistry would know that this was a sign of extremely high temperature. The main body of the flame was an intense red, the color of Ling Fengxiao’s spiritual power. As soon as the flame touched the surface of the witchcraft seeds, it spread madly.
Thick black smoke was spat out of the pit, and the witchcraft seeds suddenly let out a painful hiss and scream. The sound was high and sharp, and it sounded miserable, an extremely unpleasant noise.
Lin Shu took a few steps back, and wanted to pull Yue Buhun’s wheelchair back to prevent the sound from harming the elderly’s ears.
Yue Buhun shouted loudly: “Don’t move!”
Lin Shu stopped.
He saw Yue Buhun stare at a point in the distance, as if caught in a nightmare. He breathed quickly, his chest rising and falling, but his body did not move at all.
Yue Ruoyun asked quietly: “Grandfather, what’s wrong?!”
Yue Ruohe was visibly worried as well.
Yue Buhun used his right hand to grip the armrest of the wheelchair tightly. After a while, the movements of his chest gradually eased, and he whispered: “Thieves… Thieves from Beixia!”
Yue Ruoyun: “Ah.”
Yue Buhun stared at the witchcraft seeds burning in the fire and was silent for a while. Then, he suddenly yelled “Yiyao!” and pa.s.sed out.
Shang Lingjian immediately walked over and reached out to probe at Yue Buhun’s pulse.
“Stimulated emotions, uncontrollable blood and qi,” he said. “The senior is fine, he will naturally wake up after an hour or two.”
The younger members of the Yue family were very worried, and immediately said: “We will send our sect master to rest.”
Shang Lingjian nodded: “Quickly, go.”
After that, he turned his head to Ling Fengxiao: “The witchcraft seeds have been destroyed. This matter will come to an end for the time being.”
Ling Fengxiao said: “Sir, if there is nothing else, we will take our leave.”
“Go,” Shang Lingjian said. “If there are any clues, I will find you again.”
Ling Fengxiao walked towards Lin Shu and said: “Let’s go back.”
Lin Shu felt that Shang Lingjian was looking at him.
He pretended not to notice anything, and after politely saying goodbye to Shang Lingjian, he left with Ling Fengxiao.
On the way back, Ling Fengxiao suddenly said: “Do you know the Battle of Changyang, from fifteen years ago?”
Lin Shu: “No.”
“Besides the witchcraft seeds, Beixia cultivators also use blood poisoning.” Ling Fengxiao wasn’t angry that he knew so little, and simply said: “Those whose blood has been poisoned gradually become confused, and eventually only become living corpses controlled by the Great Witch. They have impenetrable bodies, are neither dead nor alive, and cannot be defeated unless they are burnt with spiritual fire.”
Lin Shu listened quietly.
“Senior Yue once had a wife. It was a female swordswoman from South Sea Swordsman Sect. It is said that they got together when they very young, and were very much in love,” Ling Fengxiao said. “Fifteen years ago, Nanxia and Beixia fought against each other. Originally, Nanxia had the upper hand, but Beixia used the blood poisoning tactic, and added countless living corpses to the battlefield, forcing Nanxia to retreat.”
“Senior Yue’s wife suffered from blood poisoning, and gradually became a living corpse. In the end, Senior Yue personally burned his beloved wife’s body to ashes with spiritual fire,” Ling Fengxiao said faintly. “That was why he reacted so badly just now.”
Lin Shu: “…So that’s why.”
Yue Buhun was completely confused at first, even failing to recognise his own grandchildren. So then, when he suddenly shouted out “Yiyao!”, it should likely be the wife that Ling Fengxiao had just mentioned. Such a fated explanation, it was a bit sad.
Ling Fengxiao said: “Swords on the battlefield do not have eyes. Even the academy is not safe from danger.”
Lin Shu: “En.”
“Although I will always be looking over you, it is inevitable that there will be a few omissions. You should still have some means of self-protection.”
Lin Shu: “I understand.”
This was what he had been thinking about as well.
Without martial arts supporting him, there was bound to be a bit of unsettlement in his heart.
Ling Fengxiao said: “First, let’s go pick out some weapons.”
Then, Lin Shu was taken to the Treasure Pavilion by the Big Miss.
Then, he watched, stunned, as the Big Miss took off the jade symbols hanging beneath the most expensive and easy-to-carry hidden weapons from the cabinet.
Taking off the jade symbol meant—buying it.
Then, Ling Fengxiao walked over to the sword section, and picked out a few good swords.
There were more people in the sword section than Lin Shu had seen previously.
These people didn’t seem to be serious about choosing swords. They only gathered and spoke in groups. Most of them were disciples of the Taoist Inst.i.tution, and there were a few who were from the Shu Inst.i.tution or Confucius Inst.i.tution. Disciples from the last two Inst.i.tutions rarely came to look at weapons, so today’s sight was particularly strange.
Ling Fengxiao asked: “What are you doing here?”
“Replying the Young Miss,” they babbled, but had a surprisingly common motive. “We’re waiting for someone!”
Ling Fengxiao: “Who?”
“Junior Sister Folding Bamboo!” They replied excitedly.
Ling Fengxiao frowned.
Lin Shu thought, s.h.i.t, Ling Fengxiao didn’t like Folding Bamboo to begin with, but these people still brought them up. The Big Miss had finally calmed down for a few days, but he worried she was going to be irritable again.
Then, Ling Fengxiao said: “You’ve seen her?”
“It’s because we’ve never seen her, that we are waiting here,” someone said. “Junior Sister Folding Bamboo is unparalleled, and has excellent swordsmanship. I’ve deeply admired it for a long time!”
Really, it was so embarra.s.sing.
In Lin Shu’s eyes, this man had dug a pit for himself.
Ling Fengxiao asked coldly: “So?”
“So, we’ve been guarding the Folding Bamboo sword. No one from the Taoist Inst.i.tution has dared to buy it, so if someone comes to claim it, it must be Junior Sister Folding Bamboo!”
The group of people started to chatter: “Junior Sister Folding Bamboo must definitely want to buy the Folding Bamboo sword. If we want to see her true form, this is the safest method!”
“We just have to be patient and wait. It’s a long wait, but as long as I can see the true form of Junior Sister Folding Bamboo, I will be satisfied no matter how long I wait!”
“Junior Sister Folding Bamboo hasn’t appeared in the martial arts courtyard recently, it’s such a pity that we can no longer see her swordsmanship!”
“Senior Brother Xiao Shao’s swordsmanship is equally outstanding, but he is a man after all. Outside of the dream world, it’s fine if we can’t see him, but people really want to see the true form of Junior Sister Folding Bamboo!”
Lin Shu: “…”
Junior Sister Folding Bamboo has no true form for you to see.
You are seriously trying to send me to an early death.
Won’t the Big Miss be jealous?
Yes, she will, because people were praising Folding Bamboo, angering the pufferfish.
Sure enough, Ling Fengxiao’s lips curled up in a sneer: “So that’s it…”
“Yes!”
Ling Fengxiao continued to say slowly: “Is this Folding Bamboo sword so good?”
“It’s naturally a peerless sword! Junior Sister Folding Bamboo will definitely buy it!”
“Oh.” Ling Fengxiao replied in a light tone.
Her red clothes billowed, and the Big Miss walked over to stand before the sword named Folding Bamboo.
“Young Miss, look at this material, wa—”
They breathed halfway, and then suddenly stopped.
The group of people that had been chattering like ducks and waiting for bamboo suddenly felt their throats get choked at once.
The Big Miss took down the jade seal from the Folding Bamboo sword: “I’ll buy it.”
“This…” Someone wanted to cry, and said: “Young Miss, please be merciful, we wish to see this Folding Bamboo sword get handed over to—”
The Big Miss said slowly: “But I also want to take a good sword and hand it over to someone else.”
The male disciples gathered there suddenly looked like mourning concubines.
Then, Ling Fengxiao walked over to Lin Shu and put a dozen exquisite jade seals in his hand: “Are these enough?”
Hateful gazes immediately fell on Lin Shu.
Lin Shu thought he could hear even the slightest sound of grinding teeth.
Lin Shu: “It’s enough.”
Why would they stop at grinding their teeth, it looked like he was about to get chopped in half by everyone’s sword.
But after all, no one dared to make trouble in front of the Big Miss, and even if they hated him, they had no choice but to stand there.
Lin Shu felt a bit like he was dreaming.
The Big Miss hated Junior Sister Folding Bamboo, but she unexpectedly helped her obtain the Folding Bamboo sword!
Moreover, it was the Big Miss who had personally bought it. No matter who it was, they would all dispel with the idea of tracing the ident.i.ty of the disciple Folding Bamboo through the Folding Bamboo sword.
After all, the sword was the only clue to find Folding Bamboo. Because it was too good, and because of his crime, it had been bought by the Big Miss. Many other precious weapons had also been bought by the Big Miss, all in order to raise a hamster that lacked the power to bind a chicken.
–Senior Brothers, I have let you down.
Lin Shu took the jade seal.
Then, he heard the sound of numerous senior brother’s hearts being broken.
The Big Miss completely ignored them and looked at him, asking softly: “Do you like it?”
Lin Shu thoroughly felt the joy of being a kept man.