Chapter 119: Cone Nail
Wen Leyang felt the hairs on his head stood up. Like a hen noticing a venomous serpent, he spread his arms and frantically s.h.i.+elded Wen Xiaoyi, Chi Maojiu and the others behind him. They retreated frantically.
Ever since they entered the stone forest, Wen Leyang’s spiritual sense had been keeping a close eye on his surroundings. He never expected to hear someone talking softly beside his ear out of the blue.
Only when Wen Leyang cried out in a hoa.r.s.e voice that the others notice a stranger had appeared among them. They burst out in shock.
A maiden, around nineteen years of age with several green long silks like those used by Leyang Shoujin wrapped around her body in a random fas.h.i.+on, was curiously eyeing them with askance.
Under the long silk was a curvy body, tall and enchanting. Her long hair was like a black waterfall, reaching to her ankles. The black was a sharp contrast to her fair skin, which almost made it a pain to look at. She had long, slender eyelashes, a delicate nose arch, a pointy chin and lively eyes.
Chang Li’s beauty is flawless while constantly changing like magic, something out of this world. Wen Xiaoyi’s beauty is a natural stream, clear, cool, with no colors of worldliness. Mumu’s beauty is like a fire, at first glance you’ll get burned but you won’t be able to resist the urge to get burned twice or thrice. Nineteen from One Word Palace is also a beautiful lady. At first glance, she is just mediocre, but upon close inspection, she is practically perfect.
Wen Leyang had not met many beautiful girls compared to his First Uncle. Other than these four, at the fifth place would be Second Mother with her maturity, staidness, and warm generosity. The sixth would be the Red Grandaunt from the little red stream, with chalk falling off her face every time she moved.
In terms of facial features and body, this young lady in front of him was not bad, but when compared to the likes of Chang Li, Xiaoyi, and the others, she did not look very interesting. However, she had a charm no other girl has, like a young weed almost bent over by the weight of dew, like a fledgling recently soaked in the storm. Her hair was clearly dry and smooth, but it gave off a wet feeling…
A temptation that came from womanish origins.
The temptation, under her clever concealment, became even more tempting (I personally think that this description is lame. It’s better to be lame together than to be lame alone…).
Having just broken through two layers of the Prohibition Spell and looking at the savage bloodied corpse on the ground, even the most professional pervert would not be in the mood to think about other things. Wen Buzuo asked in a low voice, “Who are you?” He involuntarily gulped.
The young girl turned her head and looked doubtfully at Wen Buzuo, “I’m not talking to you!” As she said this, her gaze flowed silently like water onto Wen Leyang’s face, “Who are you?”
Little Chi Maojiu quickly reminded him in a low voice, “Don’t tell her!”
The two layers of Prohibition Spell in the stone forest were unimaginably powerful witchcraft. This s.e.xy lady might just be a powerful witch. When two witchcraft pract.i.tioners face off, the biggest taboo was to reveal your name to your opponent.
Wen Leyang s.h.i.+elded the three younger youths behind him, the Poison of Life and Death within him surged like boiling water. What startled him was that this girl is clearly in front of him but his spiritual sense could not pick up her presence even within this short distance. To be slightly exaggerating, it was as if a person sneezed, the other person would have to wipe his face.
The s.e.xy girl’s expectant gaze was lightly cruising on Wen Leyang’s face, as if not answering her question would be a grave sin. Wen Leyang shook his head. The girl seemed to have expected it and sighed softly. She then blinked her long eyelashes as if suddenly remembering something happy and smiled like a little flower on a gra.s.s meadow, “So be it, let’s go!”
Wen Leyang was stunned momentarily, “Where to?”
The girl’s big eyes were full of resentment as if blaming Wen Leyang, who asked as if he did not know, “To punish the evil and spread goodness, to save the world, to rescue all life from disaster… ain’t that fun?”
Wen Leyang was bug-eyed. He slipped a smile. The girl, upon seeing Wen Leyang smiling at her, was completely flattered. Wen Leyang relaxed his expressions for a little and returned to the subject, “Then who are you? Why are you here?”
The girl looked happy and heart-wrenchingly pitiful at the same time, “The name’s Cone Nail!”
Wen Buzuo coughed and wanted to speak. The girl jumped to one side as if evading a pervert, “You’re not allowed to speak…” She seemed to realize that the severity was not enough, then added, “Or I’ll start killing people.” As she said this, she extended a delicate finger and pointed at Three-inch Nail Wen Bushuo beside him.
Three-inch Nail was dumbfounded. When he came to his senses, he grunted heavily, thinking who had he wronged.
Wen Leyang was startled. The girl called Cone Nail only jumped lightly but not a joint on her body moved even slightly. She was like a fallen leaf being blown further by the wind.
Wen Xiaoyi raised her blunderbuss and aimed at the girl. She knitted her elegant brows slightly, “What’s your surname?”
Cone Nail did not resist Wen Xiaoyi. She replied in a pitiful and wronged tone, “It’s Cone…” She had not finished her sentence when the fallen dead Leyang Shoujin, who almost became minced meat, jumped up abruptly. He picked up the snapped brush from the ground and rushed forward like a phantom. The bald brush concentrated a single thick drop of ink and he flung it deviously towards Luo w.a.n.ggen’s eyebrows!
n.o.body expected the long-dead and already cold Leyang Shoujin to come back to life. They also didn’t expect him to ambush the well-behaved child Luo w.a.n.ggen for no reason! Among the group, only Wen Leyang managed to react. He twisted his wrist and grabbed Leyang Shoujin, who was flying past him. He released his Poison of Life and Death. Just when he wanted to use his whole body to stop him, a cracking sound came from below his wrist and blood splattered everywhere.
Leyang Shoujin’s body shook in a peculiar manner and somehow he had broken off half his shoulder. The other brush-wielding arm did not stop and was rus.h.i.+ng towards Luo w.a.n.ggen.
Wen Leyang let go hastily, throwing the wet and soft half shoulder on the ground.
Luo w.a.n.ggen did not manage to react in time. He could only watch as a brush-wielding bloodied mess of flesh rus.h.i.+ng towards him like a phantom.
A sharp noise, which shattered the heavens, suddenly echoed. Everybody was stunned. Countless crystal clear, unevenly shaped icicles broke out just when the bald brush is upon Luo w.a.n.ggen’s brows. The icicles landed completely on the fake corpse Leyang Shoujin.
The bloodied corpse was. .h.i.t by G.o.d knows how many icicles simultaneously. It was instantly frozen into a big stiff lump of hard ice. The tip of its nose which gathered a thick layer of frost was only about one foot away from Luo w.a.n.ggen’s brows.
The zombie beside Luo w.a.n.ggen slowly raised its big foot and stomped mercilessly on the ice lump. A crisp ‘pa’ was heard and the frozen corpse instantly shattered into countless fragments, clattering as they fell on the ground.
The girl Cone Nail said to Luo w.a.n.ggen with a face full of remorse, “I’m so, so sorry. I let my guard down. I should’ve killed him thoroughly back then.”
Luo w.a.n.ggen’s Adam’s Apple moved. He suppressed himself for a while before asking, “Is it… thoroughly killed now?”
Cone Nail still wore her delicate expression, “It is. Don’t worry…”
The term ‘thoroughly killed’ was a bit uncomfortable but it did not stop Wen Leyang from feeling closer to the girl Cone Nail. After all, she had saved one of his companions. Also, with her skills and the undetectable icicles, she could have easily harmed them if she wanted to.
He relaxed his body, “Did you kill this person just now?”
Wen Buzuo had a clear look at the prowess of Cone Nail. To preserve his younger brother Three-inch Nail’s life, he kept his mouth shut tight, lest a word should escape his mouth. He could not help but wonder how he would be looking forward to the face-off between master teacher Chang Li and the girl Cone Nail.
Cone Nail saw that Luo w.a.n.ggen was still shaken and the remorse on her face was even more evident. She pointed to Leyang Shoujin, who had shattered into ice remnants, and said with endless sadness, “He’s not a good man. He sneaked in and brought his weapon to kill me.” She lifted her finger again and pointed at Wen Leyang, little Chi Maojiu, and Luo w.a.n.ggen. She hesitated a while before reluctantly pointing at the Bushuo and Buzuo brothers, “You guys came through the Prohibition Spell. You’re the good guys! You’re here to save me!”
If it was another woman, even if she was the greatest actress continuing to put on a show of upset and pity, she would have been hit already. But Cone Nail’s pitiful look was something that came from deep within her bones. Even if they could sometimes tell that she was acting upset, they still could not help but empathize.
Wen Leyang quickly asked in a nervous tone, “How about the divine beast? Is the divine beast a good guy or a bad guy?”
The reason they came to the Gold-consuming Nest in the first place was to find the Qilian Immortals’ Mountain-guarding Divine Beast. They unexpectedly brought the key and entered the stone forest. If Lue Luo was indeed master teacher Tuo Xie, the object that master teacher grandpa left behind would definitely be connected to Cone Nail.
They had to find the object grand master Tuo Xie had left behind, but they also had to investigate grand master Chang Li’s whereabouts. It would be a disaster if ‘the object left behind by grand master Tuo Xie took the clue to grand master Chang Li’s whereabouts’ as a bad guy and killed it.
Cone Nail listened to Wen Leyang’s words and almost said with a sob, “Of course the divine beast is a good guy!”
Wen Leyang let out a relieved sigh. Cone Nail unexpectedly raised her arm and pointed a finger at them, “Don’t tell me that…that…that you guys think I’m not a good person?” Tears of feeling wronged filled her big eyes. The long silk draped over her body moved along with her, revealing a temptation that was partly visible and partly hidden.
“We only think that you do not look like a divine beast!” Wen Leyang was startled. If he had not seen the pangolin in humanoid form, which was a burly man with a thick tail, he would have honestly guessed that Cone Nail is the pangolin. He quickly shook his head and spoke up.
Cone Nail was momentarily stunned as if she was wondering if she should feel upset for not being a divine beast, “Then what should a divine beast look like?”
Wen Leyang felt his chest tighten, feeling impatience raising within him as more questions were asked. He simply went straight to the point, “Is the giant pangolin dead yet?”
It suddenly dawned on Cone Nail that the divine beast Wen Leyang was referring to was the giant pangolin. She smiled lightly, “That giant pangolin is no divine beast! He barely qualifies as a demon. Not only him, even the one hanging around your neck isn’t fit to be called a divine beast!” As she was talking, she gently waved her arm. Wen Leyang felt a chill on his chest and suddenly the jade knife was in her hands.
Wen Xiaoyi blurted unhappily, “Don’t be fresh with us!” Cone Nail looked at Wen Xiaoyi with remorseful and sad eyes, but Wen Xiaoyi did not buy it and waved her blunderbuss.
Wen Leyang worried that the subject had gone astray again, “The pangolin isn’t dead?”
“No, it isn’t. It’s very fierce. I had no choice but to remove all the scales from his body…” Cone Nail’s expression was all sorts of helplessness as if a bunch of vicious-looking fiends had forced her into removing the scales, “Then it fainted. It is so ugly when it was bald, just like…just like…”
The pangolin was the reason grand master Chang Li’s whereabouts were still unknown. Wen Leyang did not have any good feelings about it. He felt relieved that it was not dead. He chuckled and finished her sentence, “Like a sh.e.l.l-less b.a.s.t.a.r.d!”
Cone Nail immediately laughed and nodded strongly, “Exactly!” She toyed with Wen Leyang’s jade knife for a bit and her expressions changed mid-laugh. Her meek and pitiful smile turned into great shock, which led to many sighs. As if all the pent-up emotions for a thousand years unleashed in this instant. She lowered her head and stayed silent. n.o.body could clearly see her expression. After a while, Cone Nail raised her head again and managed a smile. She said, almost to herself, softly, “You’ve made a mess and think it’ll all be alright by hiding in here?” She tossed the jade knife back to Wen Leyang.
Ever since jade knife Guo Huan cast the demon body-breaking spell for the second time, summoning the Yang’s eclipse and verbally intimidated the Qilian Immortals, he had been quiet. He spent too much of his primordial spirit and fell into a deep sleep. After spending some time in Cone Nail’s hands, he awakened with a start. He first retaliated, “What did I do? For the many long years that I have lived, I have never hidden from anything, have you ever heard of someone hiding like this…” His tone was even more wronged than Cone Nail’s, but he cried fiercely in mid-sentence as if stung on the tongue by a scorpion, and said with a trembling voice, “Y-y-y-you a-a-a-are…”
He stuttered and fell silent again. Wen Leyang was startled. He worried that Guo Huan had just died and subconsciously shook the jade knife.
Cone Nail burst out in laughter, “His primordial spirit is weak, he’ll be sleeping for a while. Relax, he won’t die!” As she was saying this, she tore off a portion of green silk from her body, exposing a length of fair skin. All the guys’ hearts jumped fiercely.
‘Kacha’. Wen Xiaoyi bit off a carrot with contempt. Wen Leyang reached out his hand and caressed Wen Xiaoyi’s beautiful fringe, giving her a rea.s.suring smile.
Cone Nail lightly drew two strokes on the cloth, stepped forward and thrust it into Wen Leyang’s hand, “Wrap the jade knife with this, it works better.”
A layer of frost immediately appeared on Wen Leyang’s hand. The seemingly soft green silk had an unbelievably bone-chilling cold. All thirty-six thousand pores on his body opened and closed fiercely, he was comfortable beyond words. Wen Leyang asked incredulously while wrapping the jade knife, “You know Guo Huan?”
Cone Nail nodded, “Of course! If it wasn’t for that serious mess that he and the cat demon created, why would I be here? But…you guys will rescue me, right?”
Wen Leyang did not get the other half of the sentence. When the words ‘cat demon’ suddenly came out lightly from Cone Nail’s ever wet lips, it was as if Wen Xiaoyi had abruptly raised her blunderbuss and mercilessly fired a shot of Thunder’s Heart Sand into his ear. His mind buzzed. He thought back in detail about the things that Guo Huan had said to him regarding master teacher Chang Li. He looked at Cone Nail seriously “Serious mess? How so?”
“They were fighting tirelessly on the Black and White Island when they broke a nail demon’s Heaven’s cone…”
Guo Huan had spoken about this before. Chang Li had s.n.a.t.c.hed Yin’s Error and Yang’s Mistake away from him while he was refining his clone. The two great demons chased their way to the Northernmost Black and White Island.
The primordial evil beast nine-headed snake Xiang Liu was pinned on Black and White Island by nine Heaven’s cone nails. Chang Li and Guo Huan battled fiercely and eventually broke a nail demon’s Heaven’s cone nail. They also attracted the attention of three reclusive guardian sword saints. Only then was their pickle jar master teacher forced out. With the help of two master teachers from the land of Shu, they battled desperately with the elites of the true cultivators.
Cone Nail continued on, “That nine-headed snake is a powerful demon. It was there when Chaos expanded. It is as old as heaven and earth itself. The nine Heaven’s cone nails, Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth, Sun, Moon, Stars, and a Chaos nail have been refined for countless years, borrowing energy from heaven and earth through a spell formation and barely managed to seal it. Hehe, one of the nails was shattered, the spell formation borrowing energy from heaven and earth naturally lost one of its conduits. The nine-headed snake Xiang Liu would escape sooner or later. Don’t you think this is a serious mess?”
Wen Leyang nodded, “It…it is?” He still couldn’t wrap his mind around the concept of the nine-headed snake Xiang Liu.
Cone Nail anxiously glanced at him, “The point is if Xiang Liu comes to life, there will be great trouble. The cat demon and this Guo Huan had created such a serious mess, they will receive G.o.d’s punishment. No amnesty G.o.d’s punishment, it cannot be evaded. Hiding in a jade knife won’t help either. The all-reaching Heaven’s thunder will not allow him to have a sliver of spirit left in heaven and earth.”
Wen Leyang immediately gritted his teeth, “Nonsense! Chang…Guo Huan is safe and sound inside the jade knife!”
Cone Nail shrunk her body backwards meekly as if frightened by Wen Leyang’s looks. She said pitifully, “That means that Xiang Liu hasn’t come to life yet. Although the spell formation is broken, there are still eight remaining Heaven’s cone nails. If Xiang Liu wants to break free, it must completely destroy the spell formation, which is not that easy.”
Wen Leyang converted the time scales in his mind. These ancient demons’ concept of time was too different from his. They speak of time in hundreds and thousands of years, as if it were free. If anyone mentioned an inch of time is an inch of gold in front of them, the person would be pulverized.
Wen Xiaoyi had no recollection of the nail. She wrinkled her nose and asked, “If Xiang Liu is so powerful, how come it is nailed to Black and White Island?”
Cone Nail was seemingly tired. She lazily leaned on a stone column, “Those who can subdue Xiang Liu are naturally the G.o.ds who made heaven and earth. The nine Heaven’s cone nails were forged from the spirit primordial energy of heaven and earth. The G.o.ds have long disappeared…”
Wen Leyang shook his head, not wanting to give up on clearing master teacher Chang Li’s name, “That does not make sense either. If the Heaven’s cone nails were so powerful, they must’ve been inexplicably tough. Surely it won’t be shattered that easily?”
Cone Nail was bug-eyed. Her meek charm mixed with some incredibility, “Easily? Do you know what kind of force that the cat demon and Guo Huan had? And the nine Heaven’s cone nails weren’t tough to a point. They were only antagonistic to the elements of Xiang Liu’s nine heads. After the formation is set then they could direct the energy of heaven and earth.” As she was saying this she pointed to Wen Xiaoyi’s blunderbuss, “Take this weapon for example. It can fire powerful thunder but by itself, it is no better than a wooden stick. It’s only a conduit.”
Wen Xiaoyi exclaimed in surprise and asked with a wary face, “How did you know that?” Wen Xiaoyi had never fired her blunderbuss in front of lady Cone Nail.
Cone Nail shrugged, “There’s thunder power contained inside it and it can fire lightning. I’ve noticed it for quite some time. You were aiming it at me too.” As she said this, the edge of her lips curved into a sad expression.
Wen Xiaoyi stuck out her tongue and smiled awkwardly. A smile which only belonged to purity undulated refres.h.i.+ngly, snugly fighting back Cone Nail’s s.e.xiness which was concealed underneath her pitiful appearance.
Wen Leyang wrapped the jade knife in layers and put it back in his pocket. His gaze towards Cone Nail was friendly, “Then who exactly are you, and why are you here?” He had a faint idea in his heart, but it was still eluding him, unclear. He had to know for sure.
Cone Nail sighed out of the blue, “I can’t believe him. The person is correct, but he knows nothing.” Although her voice was soft, if an outsider who did not know the story heard these words, he would immediately roll up his sleeves, find Lue Luo and give him a good scolding.
The good-tempered Wen Leyang can no longer take all this questioning which was like coaxing children or squeezing toothpaste. He strongly stomped his feet, “Cone Nail …”
Cone Nail’s eyes brightened. She puffed her chest and replied, “Here!”
Wen Leyang almost swallowed his words. He took two deep breaths before continuing, “What really happened here? Tell us from the beginning, quickly!”
Cone Nail frowned and turned sideways. She looked as if she were thinking what had she done wrong. Then she lifted her head and went straight to the point, “I am one of the nine Heaven’s cone nails repressing Xiang Liu, Ice Nail of the Water Element…the Ice Nail shattered by the cat demon and Guo Huan!”
For schemers like Bushuo, Buzuo and little Chi Maojiu, even Wen Leyang who had a bit of a sneaky side had somewhat guessed her ident.i.ty from her name and their conversations. But hearing her confirm it personally still made them exclaim in wonder.
Of course, Wen Xiaoyi and well-behaved child Luo w.a.n.ggen’s cry was as loud as receiving twenty-four carats of gold.
“The nine Heaven’s cone nails were the condensation of the spirit primordial energy of heaven and earth. We had a divine conscience. We are born from the positive aura of heaven and earth. We are divine beasts, not demons.”
Wen Leyang suddenly understood. Before he met the eighteen bronze men of the Qilian Immortals, he had overheard the conversation between Leyang Wen and Eyang Sect’s enlightened San Tong at the Painting Town base camp. The divine beast that they mentioned was most probably lady Cone Nail in front of them and not Po Tu, who is out cold somewhere.
Cone Nail’s voice was like a sickly teenage girl’s muttering, making people’s heart wrench at the sound of it, “The cat demon and Guo Huan fought until they shook heaven and earth. The island guardians arrived too late, I was already shattered. The spirit primordial energy had basically dissipated, leaving only a trace. I possessed one of my fragments, only a branch of remnant ice and went with the ocean’s flow. I was barely gasping, I couldn’t have survived for a few hundred years…”
Wen Leyang noted in his heart that she could really gasp.
“And then someone found me, and another person brought me here to this Metal acc.u.mulating place.” As Cone Nail was saying this she subconsciously made an awed and amazed expression, “It’s true that Metal generates Water, but wanting to help me rebuild my water body is harder than ascending the heavens. I didn’t know what miraculous magic he used, he actually made me come back to life!” Cone Nail regained her pitiful expression, “One more step and I can return to the world. If you guys can pa.s.s through the two Prohibition Spells, it must be because he let you. You will help me, right?”
Wen Leyang nodded, but he was thinking about something else. He muttered and repeated Cone Nail’s words, “Someone found me, and someone else brought me to this Metal acc.u.mulating place…” He lifted his head suddenly, “The one who found you and the one who cast magic to help revive you was not the same person?”
Cone Nail nodded, “The one who used magic and helped me revive is a hunch-backed good guy. The one who picked me up from the ocean was a plump pickle jar…” Cone Nail added confidently, “He’s also a good guy!”