Chapter 22: The Comrade
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The red-colored outfit wrapped around the girl’s body perfectly. It outlined the contours of her well-proportioned figure to its best and there was only one word that was sufficient to describe her: voluptuous.
She had voluptuous b.r.e.a.s.t.s, a voluptuous bottom, a voluptuous chin, and even the corners of her eyes were voluptuous.
The girl was young and looked to be around eighteen or nineteen years of age. Her complexion was fair and soft, complimenting her delicate and charming red lips which curved attractively at the corners. Her round eyes sparkled as if they were burning with a hot flame, the overall effect was that she was like a little red chili pepper in human form. One’s eyes felt like they were burning even with just one look at her, but one would be unable to look away. Almost like a moth drawn to a flame knowing full well that it will be burned, one could not resist the deadly desire of looking at her which emanated straight from the bone marrow.
The voluptuous Little Chili Pepper approached them, she did not look at Wen Leyang or the others but her burning-hot gaze was firmly fixed on the two monks. She laughed sharply and said, “The two grand masters, we have met again!” Her beautiful laugh gradually curdled into a ghastly cackle.
The old monk Ji Fei, immediately recalled his flying sword as he looked towards the red-clothed girl with a strained and uneasy look. His mouth chuckled mockingly, yet he was quietly trying to s.h.i.+ft his stance into a more defensive position.
The other monk who had been ceaseless dodging the attacks from the flying sword until he was all confused and dizzy, suddenly lost his momentum as the attacks stopped. His body spun around twice before falling with a thud onto the ground. He gasped for air in huge breaths and his face was densely covered in sweat drops as he turned to look at the visitor who had interrupted the fight. As he saw the red-clothed girl he leaped up immediately and stumbled to the old monk’s side and said, “It’s over, she has found us!”
The panic-stricken look on Ji Fei’s face was lifted as he seemed to have thought of an idea. He laughed at his revelation and said, “It’s okay, let me have a try.” He turned to face Little Chili Pepper with the voluptuous yet ghastly eyes, gently shook his head as he shouted once abruptly, “It was all that monk’s idea!” He immediately turned tail and ran, seeming not to care anymore about his new ‘apprentice’ or the Thunderstorm Summoning Stone .
The huge monk was stunned and smacked himself firmly on his bald head as he berated, “How could I never learn from my mistakes!” He then covered his face with the huge sleeves of his robe and also ran away.
Little Chili Pepper stomped her feet firmly, “Don’t run away! Go, Ah Dan!” She flipped over with her bare hands and held up two needles about half a foot in length and flung them towards the old monk. The small plump boy known as Ah Dan babbled as he answered her call, discarded the clumsy look he had when he was ascending the mountain, and scurried with great speed towards the fleeing monk like a raging young leopard.
Wen Xiaoyi cried out in alarm and said in a low voice, “Those are Spirit Needles! Her powers also appear to be similar to the Corpse Dance of the Luo family, this is clearly a person from Crow Ridge!” Immediately she explained to Wen Leyang, “Similar to the Wen family’s Faulty Punch, the Corpse Dance could only be attained by pa.s.sing the Major Examination of the Decade, one would only be allowed to learn it after becoming an Inner Disciple of Crow Ridge.”
Little Chili Pepper gesticulated with her hands and feet and the pair of long needles attacked in a strange yet forceful manner. However, her movement appeared somewhat strange and uncoordinated. Wen Leyang watched for a while before he was enlightened; while she was attacking, most of her body’s joints remained rigid, the strength and movements of her entire body depended upon the s.h.i.+fting of her muscles, and it really looked like a corpse was dancing.
The plump Ah Dan’s movements too was pretty similar to how Little Chili Pepper was moving. Well, at least their styles were the same.
Wen Leyang nodded his head in agreement, “the Necromancy Seal should be hers, but I am unsure of how the two monks had stolen it from her hands.” Little Chili Pepper’s capabilities appeared to be slightly stronger than how he was more than four months ago.
However, from Wen Leyang’s observation, when compared to the two monks’ ostentatious fighting style and momentum in their Buddhist magic arts, Little Chili Pepper’s strangely forceful and bizarre approach showed that she was at a lower level of power. Wen Leyang had a virtuous and sincere intention, he was afraid that the girl would lose the fight so he took two steps forward silently and gathered the strength of his entire body to prepare to force his way into the fight anytime.
The huge monk and the old monk were all tangled up as they tried to run, anxiously yelling out strange squawks, yet neither were willing to raise a hand to harm anyone. Instead, they ran like two thieves who were trying to escape their guilty conscience.
After a while, even Wen Xiaoyi could see that the little baby Ah Dan was in contrast more skilled, for the red-clothed young girl could not deal with the old monk Ji Fei on her own. Her long needles may be full of murderous intent and flew with great ease, yet they could barely touch the old monk’s body at all. If the old monk were to fight back wholeheartedly, Little Chili Pepper would sustain heavy injuries immediately.
The group of four was divided into two pairs of people persistently pulling and twisting at each other. The little plump boy jumped up and down, the rigorous movement caused the round sungla.s.ses on his face to slip and fall to the ground with a clatter. Wen Xiaoyi grabbed Wen Leyang’s arms and her palms were sweaty, “The child… is a corpse, it’s… it’s a child’s corpse!”
Wen Leyang held out his arm and gave a few pats on the little girl’s forehead, he had noticed it since the beginning. Ah Dan’s actions were like the wind yet did not make a sound, and this was essentially not something a two to three years old child would be able to do. Also, he would stick out his tongue and lick his lips once in a while, and though his movements were swift, this detail did not escape Wen Leyang’s sharp eyes.
That little tongue was pitch-black in color.
Under the sungla.s.ses, the rim around Ah Dan’s eyes was covered in a layer of dark bruises which stood out starkly against his ghastly pale face. His eyes were also tightly shut, as if he had never opened them all this while.
The old monk Ji Fei continued to try to dash away for a few times yet every time he was blocked by the red-clothed girl. Suddenly his rolled his eyes and growled at Wen Leyang, “My precious apprentice, take that tablet with you and leave. I, your Master, will follow along real soon!”
Before he could finish that sentence, Little Chili Pepper saw the tablet in Wen Leyang’s hands through her split vision. All of a sudden she abandoned her pursuit of the old monk, her graceful body oscillated in a breathtaking curvature as she grasped the Spirit Needles and pounced towards Wen Leyang and shouted at him with a spoiled voice, “Give it to me!”
Ji Fei was extremely happy that his ruse had worked and started to run away with his sleeves trailing behind him. As he was picking up his pace, a human figure darted swiftly in front of him with a pure and honest smile blooming on his face. The old monk’s body, which had just been getting ready to escape a moment ago, jumped away from the figure instinctively. Although he had been fighting continuously earlier, neither the fat monk nor Little Chili Pepper could touch his frail old life. However, it was different, the enemy had abruptly appeared before him without warning. If it had been a sneak attack he would be at a great disadvantage.
Wen Leyang blocked the old monk’s path and said while smiling happily, “Kind Master, please do not leave yet, I still have some matters that required your guidance.”
Little Chili Pepper, who had been das.h.i.+ng forward like electricity, had pounced on Wen Leyang when unexpectedly there was a blur in her vision. The village youth which had seemed simple-minded disappeared and in the blink of an eye was standing in front of the old monk.
Wen Leyang waved his hand and tossed over Necromancy Seal to the red-clothed girl, “Miss… maiden… fellow comrade, please cease the fighting.” As he was saying that he pointed towards the aggressive-looking undead toddler who seemed determined in putting up a desperate fight.
The red-clothed girl appeared slightly dazed as she held out her hand and caught the seal. She hesitated for a moment before knocking lightly on the bone needles a few times, making a dull, hollow noise, “Ah Dan, don’t fight anymore!” The corpse toddler immediately obeyed as he babbled and nodded his head. He then ignored the monk and with a stiff upright posture, he leaped back to his master’s side. He rummaged with his plump hands and lifted out another pair of sungla.s.ses from his chest pocket to put on his face.
The fat monk and the old monk were filled with puzzlement and gazed towards each other. They had seen Wen Leyang’s speed and the ease with which he had blocked the old monk showed them that they had misjudged him. The ability of this young fellow from the village was far more impressive than he had appeared.
In the process of cultivating Qi to nourish the spirit, a competent person who was engaged in self-cultivation could readily gauge the capacity of the other party. A fellow Qi-pract.i.tioner would have a particular gleam or glow in the eyes derived from the foundation of this practice, and there was no way to hide this. Yet the power in Wen Leyang’s body seemed to be contrary to every other major practice in this world, most of which is focused on building from the internal to the external. One was supposed to build from the foundation of their practice, then invigorate their Qi to nourish the spirit. Wen Leyang’s practice, on the other hand, was from external to internal. His body appeared sleek and well-rounded but one could not see even a speck of a pract.i.tioner’s characteristic in him. This was the reason why the two monks had believed this young fellow was of prestigious roots and fought each other to take him as an apprentice.
Amongst the pract.i.tioners, it was fairly common to not being able to gauge each other’s exact limits. However, it was almost impossible to completely mistake a pract.i.tioner as a regular person or vice versa.
Wen Leyang did not respond to the two monk’s questioning gaze as he was unsure how he should respond, “These two great masters stole… took her belongings?”
The fat monk blushed as scarlet as the old monk and gave a furtive glance, “It was neither stolen nor taken, it was picked up, accidentally picked up.”
Wen Xiaoyi giggled and said, “Just like how you accidentally picked up a precious apprentice.”
The fat monk had a twinkle in his eyes as he nodded his head vigorously, “You are right, it’s all fated!”
“Fated, my *ss…” Little Chili Pepper was flushed with rage. She pointed the Spirit Needles at the old monk, “Give me back my lantern!”
The old monk gazed towards the fat monk with a heated gaze, “You, monk! Under these circ.u.mstances, you should just return the lantern to the little girl.”
The fat monk opened his small eyes wide, his mouth gaped opened and stuttered but no words came out.
Little Chili Pepper inhaled once deeply, then fully exhaled with her full b.r.e.a.s.t.s. Her scorching hot gaze looked towards Wen Leyang and asked, “How did this tablet end up in your hands?” She waved the Necromancy Seal around as she was saying that.
Before Wen Leyang could say anything, Wen Xiaoyi rushed before him and answered on his behalf, “The old monk explicitly wanted to take him as his apprentice, we had yet to agree with that request when the old monk shoved this tablet into his hands and considered it as a welcoming gift. You arrived soon after that.”
Little Chili Pepper nodded her head and the intense expression on her face relaxed. Wen Xiaoyi was as clean as ice and pure as jade, her guileless nature immediately gave one the impression that she could be trusted, and therefore the words that she spoke would be completely believable.
Little Chili Pepper was no fool either; if it were only up to herself and the undead toddler, they would not have been able to take down those two thieves. Fortunately, this simple young village fellow who appeared to possess unique skills and also seemed to be on her side, had stepped in and changed the tide of the fight. She quickly recognized that he was not of the same party as the monks and immediately sought his help, “Young man… fellow comrade, these two old thieves are con men and they stole my belongings!” The little chili pepper was also unsure of how to address Wen Leyang, she had thought in a straightforward manner like he did, that they were all comrades
Within the four seas, all men are fellow comrades.