Chapter 2 The Legend"s Orphan 1-1
Chapter 1 The Legend’s Orphan 1-1 Under the blue sky, a sharp cliff stood next to a surging river. Seen from the water, the cliff is spectacular. On the tree-covered cliff was a red-roofed pavilion where a young couple looked out at the river. The two seemed to be in their early 20s, and both wore white. The man had a lean and handsome face, his silver hair draping casually behind his back, making him look especially out of this world. The woman was pretty, her looks quite striking. The ribbons on her clothes fluttered without wind, adding a sense of allure. The man surveyed the river, marveling, “It seemed like yesterday that the three of us were sitting here and looking at the boats...but it was really more than 10 years ago. After all this time, I’m now a mystic immortal of the Blue Cloud Clan, and they’re well-known thieves. How are they doing? Would I even recognize them?” The woman grimaced, “You really just miss one of them, that Ou girl, right?” The man smiled bitterly, “I already gave up my desires after I chose the path of the mystic.” “Can you really give her up? How many times have you talked about when you were all kids? Please be honest, did you give up everything and follow our teacher to Mt. Yuemang because of her?” The man’s head was lowered as he played with a silver paper crane. “I really miss the time when we were all young. There was no drama and we weren’t bothered by love. Everything changes when we get older.” The woman looked as if she was ready to say something, her eyes filled with sorrow. “You’ll see her in an hour. What will you do?” The man was silent, his hands touching the paper crane. About 10 li away from the cliff, a black carriage with two horses traveled on a wooded path. The person manning the carriage was about 30 years old and buff, with a handsome face touched by the pa.s.sage of time. He had a mature man’s appeal, which would probably attract younger women. “How is Little Ye doing? Is he awake?” The man hurried the horse to run faster as he turned around to ask someone inside the carriage. “Still asleep!” The young mom in the carriage replied. The man sighed, “You think this is funny, what if...” “Pfft,” The young mom made a dismissive sound. “Don’t always think the worst. It’s a good thing our son has natural talents. Maybe he can be a legend when he grows up. So he sleeps a few days for now. You’re perfect except for your always being afraid, Yuesong is better than you in this way.” The man’s face reddened and he didn’t reply. The young mom waited for a response and eventually laughed, “What, are you angry?” The man finally blurted, “Yuesong, Yuesong, Yuesong, you always compare me to him.” The young mom smiled and said softly, “I married you right? Don’t be jealous. I’m doing my best to be your wife. I’m yours, and the kid is yours, we’re all part of the Ye family. Don’t worry about anything.” The man stayed silent and made the horse run faster. Then he laughed. “That’s true,” which made the young mom laugh too. After the laughter, the woman sighed. “We haven’t seen him for more than 10 years now right? Who knows what he’s like now? I really owe him. If not for that misunderstanding, he wouldn’t have joined the Blue Cloud Clan back then, and become free of all desires.” The man said, “Yes, it’s a joke played by fate. But if he didn’t join them, how could he be the clan leader now --” Before he finished, the woman said, ”So what? He can’t have love or any desires at all, he’s doomed to be all alone in life. We get to travel and do what we want. If the letter is true, the clan is about to have some major bloodshed, never mind a peaceful life, I really... really hope he’s not going to be in danger.” The man frowned, as if he wanted to say more, but stopped. After a while, he said, “It’s very lucky we stole the letter, once Yuesong reads the letter, he’ll know what the traitor is, and prevent any trouble.” Just then, a weird light came out of a hill on ground. In an instant, the front legs of the two horses broke as the animals screamed and fell forward. The man yelled and surged upward, falling onto his feet by the road. At the same time, a beautiful young mom also flew out of the carriage; she turned a few times before landing next to the man. In her arms is a boy of about 10-years-old, whose pale face showed he was still asleep. With a loud sound, the hill burst open, revealing a bunch of tall, spider-like creatures waving their sharp claws at the couple with the child. On the cliff, the woman in white said, “Sometimes I wonder what kind of person Ye Xiruo is to win that Ou girl’s heart.” The man said in a low voice. “Maybe she doesn’t like my personality. Mei and I are both independent, and we argued all the time.” The woman blushed as she said, “Maybe we’re more suited as a couple. I never have any opinion, I‘ll listen to you.” The man was looking at the river and didn’t notice her expression. “Don’t make this joke in front of others. We forbid any desires, you don’t want the clan leader punishing you.” The woman’s blush faded, she mumbled. “Punishment? If you wanted to marry me, even if we were only married for one day, I’ll take any punishment.” A strong wind pa.s.sed, with her low voice, the man didn’t hear a single word, only commenting, “Why do I feel panicky right now? Oh no, there’s monster energy nearby!” Ten li away, on the wooded path, bodies of spider monsters lay scattered on the ground, then turning into soil with the wind and scattering. The remaining six-legged spider screeched as it leapt toward the man, who stood upright as he plunged his fingers into the spider. He used his qi and extended his arms, tearing the spider into two. The monster fell down, spilling blood everywhere, before it too scattered. The man tapped his toe and bounced away from the carnage, avoiding even a drop of blood. The young mom, holding the baby, chuckled, “How unlucky for these creatures to meet my husband.” The man sighed, looking at the broken carriage. “You think this is funny? What are we going to do now?” The young mom remarked, “Should I cry instead? We only lost our carriage, it’s just 10 li away now, we can walk, it won’t be that bad.” Someone laughed in the woods, followed by the appearance of a man in black, with a covered face. “Are you two the legendary thieves, Ye Xiruo and Ou Mei?” The young mom’s face fell, “Yes, we are, and you are?” The man in black replied. “You two are quite amazing, if I didn’t know Xin Tianjun was coming here, I’d never be able to find you. Let me give you some advice, this is beyond you. Just give it up, so I won’t have to kill all of you.” The man exclaimed, “You... you wrote the letter!?” The young mom’s brows lifted. “We have to help! You’re a mystic too, how can you do evil things and not fear karma?” The man in black guffawed, “Karma? Even monks aren’t afraid of karma these days!” Then he charged toward the couple. Startled, the man used qi around his hands, making a shadow protecting his body, while attacking the man in black. The man in black laughed as he stood still, fighting Ye Xiruo with his bare hands. Ou Mei put down her baby, took out a short knife and tried to help her husband. The two of them joined forces, their hands and knife merging in power, for a while, they were dominating the man in black. The man in black couldn’t help but compliment them, “You make a nice team. Too bad you’re still mortals, I, Xiao, will still beat you!” Quickly, the man in black turned into a ball of green light, which wrapped around the couple, making cuts appear allover them. Streaks of blood flew into the air more and more rapidly. The couple used all their strength to fight back, with their hands and the knife too, but they couldn’t fight the killing light. Gradually, the couple slowed down, until they lay stiff on the ground. The two tried to get up, but they had lost too much blood. The green light returned to human shape as the man in black strode back to the man and found a letter in his clothes. “If you gave me this earlier, you didn’t have to die.” The man in black laughed coldly as he flew into the woods. At the same time, the sound of soil breaking followed the appearance of five six-legged spiders from under the ground. They screeched as four headed toward the couple and one marched toward the boy. The couple’s eyes almost shot out fire as they watched the monsters heading toward them, but they were both focused on their son. As the spider leapt toward the boy, the dying pair actually created a surge of energy. It was as if their lives were burning as they both created a bright ray of light. Any practicing mystic would know that meant they have cultivated Yuan Shen, their ultimate essence, and the essences were leaving their bodies. The two rays they made combined and flew toward the monster headed for the boy. One loud sound later, the monster became a pile of ashes while the other four spiders were scared away. The couple was not moving at all now, the spiders hesitated before getting close and screeching as they tried to land on them. Yet, with all the fanfare, the spiders’ claws went nowhere. The couple’s bodies had become as hard as rocks, and the spiders were useless. The spiders screeched some more, before noticing the sleeping boy, and flying toward him. The fastest spider among them got next to the boy and opened its mouth, trying to bite down.