Chapter 6
I"m going to see a live battle between two inhuman creatures right after leaving the mountain! Gu Xiaomo trembled with excitement at the thought, completely ignoring the fact that she might be in imminent danger. For some reason, the indistinct, flickering aura of demonic qi from the weasel felt rather familiar to her, and even somewhat…intimate?
This was Suo Ying"s first time experiencing such an event, and she was so frightened that she even had trouble standing. Between the three of them, only eldest martial brother had a chance against the peac.o.c.k missing a tail feather in a fight, to say nothing of the weasel. Her and Gu Xiaomo wouldn’t even last half a move against them. As she thought, she looked over at Gu Xiaomo before her body shook.
—
The peac.o.c.k spirit might have lost his tail feather, but he still had a few hundred years" worth of cultivation experience over the weasel spirit. However, the weasel was a cultivator of a demonic Way that only heightened his offensive skills and made him more ferocious. It made it impossible for the peac.o.c.k spirit to simply stand still and use spells, and forced him to dodge out of the way.
The weasel spirit resumed his original form and opened its mouth to reveal a row of sharp teeth. The peac.o.c.k spirit spread its wings and gave a cry that…alright, he sounded like a drake, but it could still be considered a gentle call. Gold and green clashed fiercely in the air to create a dazzling sight despite the mortal combat that reeked of blood. Both monsters had long reverted to their true forms. The peac.o.c.k spirit arched his head before a protective rainbow screen spread out behind its body. Against the canopy of the night sky, it looked liked pure daylight as it scattered glittering particles across the skies.
The peac.o.c.k had fanned open his tail!
Rays of golden light arched out from the tail feathers to shoot towards the weasel spirit. Their speeds were nearly impossible to avoid, causing the weasel spirit to let out a wretched cry as he incurred heavy injuries. But the peac.o.c.k was missing one of its tail feathers, so he lacked the strength to deal a killing blow. The weasel spirit rolled its eyes in thought before he made an eerie-sounding call. Gray fog suddenly filled the air along with an awful stench. Suo Ying gave a cry as she m.u.f.fled her nose, before realizing she been stupid enough to make a noise. The half-hazy world before her vanished as she suddenly felt something tighten around her waist. Mo Qingyuan suddenly felt something slip out of his hands. His heart gave a lurch as he turned back, but Suo Ying was already gone.
Suo Ying"s tears were all blocked in her nose, the thick, foul stench enough to make her dizzy. In front of her, that ma.s.sive weasel spirit had already opened its b.l.o.o.d.y mouth. Suo Ying"s mind went blank before she weakly punched with her fists, but her blows were like tickles against the weasel spirit"s steel-hard body. A choked noise came from the monster"s throat, half caught between a laugh and a cry of fear, before he cruelly flung her aside. There was no time for Suo Ying to react before she went flying.
Suddenly, a gray figure flashed by and grabbed Suo Ying by the waist before the two of them went tumbling to the ground. Suo Ying crawled to her feet, her forehead warm with fresh blood pouring from her wounds. But she ignored all that to cry out, "Senior sister…!"
Gu Xiaomo didn"t move. Little Blossom was still struggling in alarm beneath her armpit. Finally, the chicken escaped and did her best to run to the peac.o.c.k spirit, who had a.s.sumed human form again. Gu Xiaomo remained half-sprawled on the ground with her head hanging, her expression unreadable. She had been injured by the fall as well, with fresh blood dripping from her wounds. Strangely enough, the liquid had started to pool on the ground in a strange pattern. Mo Qingyuan quickly rushed to her side and supported her by the arm. "Xiaomo, you"ve been hurt–"
He suddenly froze before subconsciously withdrawing his hand. Mo Qingyuan and Suo Ying both saw the same thing.
Gu Xiaomo lifted her head. That was her face without a doubt, but her expression was nothing like the Gu Xiaomo they knew. Her skin had turned even paler, while her lips had curled up into a smile. The sclera of her eyes had turned completely black, almost bloodthirsty.
"You dared to hurt my little junior sister?" she said coldly, her voice empty and strange.
Both the peac.o.c.k and weasel spirits trembled involuntarily as their legs seem to turn into jelly.
"You dared to hurt my little junior sister…" she repeated slowly, word by word. Her chilly gaze gradually swept across to the weasel spirit, who gave a low growl as he bared his teeth to attack. Only the peac.o.c.k spirit could see how much his four legs were shaking. They were on the verge of collapse beneath him.
As Gu Xiaomo took a step forward, humans and monsters alike all took a step back. Her body shivered slightly as she repeated, "You dared to hurt my little junior sister…"
There was a sudden burst of light before a grinning Gu Xiaomo reappeared right in front of the weasel spirit and reached out with her right hand.
"You"re courting death."
By the time she withdrew her five fingers, the sound of breaking bones followed in her wake, causing all who heard it to tremble with fear. For one second, her explosive killing intent had been enough to dash to the skies. Still, her smile was as sweet as ever, as if torturing the ant before her eyes was the happiest thing she"d ever seen. The weasel spirit seemed to be trapped in the air by some invisible force, his wails resounding piteously in the night. His body was wracked with violent shudders before he quickly found release.
In the end, he had died of pure agony.
The peac.o.c.k spirit pointed a trembling finger at Gu Xiaomo. "M…monster…"
Gu Xiaomo lifted her head and looked at him before suddenly teleporting to his side with her right hand raised in the air. Suo Ying shrieked, and Gu Xiaomo"s hand quivered before she turned and met Mo Qingyuan"s clear eyes.
"Eldest martial brother…" she muttered, before collapsing into his arms.
Old Man w.a.n.g had been shaking in his sheets the entire time in the house. When he heard the noise outside suddenly stop, he walked gingerly to the front door and opened it a crack. A face wearing heavy makeup suddenly appeared in his line of vision. Old Man w.a.n.g"s heart leapt violent out of his chest before he was nearly sent flying by the people who rushed inside. Mo Qingyuan abruptly grabbed him by the collar and asked, "Uncle, are there any empty bedrooms?"
Old Man w.a.n.g stammered an affirmative before ordering his servants to prepare the rooms. Only then did he sneak a look back at the white-faced girl in Mo Qingyuan"s arms who"d been so fierce to him. There was an unusual redness to both her cheeks. Meanwhile, the seductive-looking man in green that he"d never seen before was glaring at him. Old Man w.a.n.g felt bewildered. When had he ever offended this man? Although, he seems more frightened of the fainted girl over there. He"s keeping his distance from her like she"d eat him.
—
Her head hurt a lot.
Someone rushed like mad to her side before pulling her into their arms. Gu Xiaomo smelled the distinctive, feminine fragrance of orchids and realized it was Suo Ying. Actually, she"d regained consciousness long ago, but she suddenly lacked the courage to truly wake up.
I actually killed the weasel spirit.
How could she sit up and pretend the person just then hadn"t been herself? How could she continue to stand together with everyone else? Her memories of what had happened were a little fuzzy, but also unusually clear. She silently clenched her hands into fists. Even if she didn"t want to wake, she had to wake up now, because there was a tempting scent wafting from the table that turned out to be none other than…
….chicken soup!
Gu Xiaomo sat bolt upright, completely ignoring the look on joy on Suo Ying"s face as she pointed with shaking fingers to the little china bowl on the table. Sadly, her little junior sister completely misunderstood her yearning look. Suo Ying threw herself at Gu Xiaomo and burst into heartbroken sobs. "Senior sister…sobsob…"
Suo Ying"s sweet voice had turned hoa.r.s.e, a clear testament to how terribly she"d cried while Gu Xiaomo was "unconscious." Gu Xiaomo"s eyes saw the injury on her forehead and felt her heart soften. Gently she asked, "Does it still hurt?"
Suo Ying shook her head before she finally recalled the chicken soup and satisfied Gu Xiaomo"s cravings. Gu Xiaomo suddenly thought of something else and grinned. "We can eat chickens now?"
"Mm," Suo Ying thought it over before she explained, "Eldest martial brother already explained everything to the uncle. It was that weasel spirit who was making mischief. Now he"s already gone…"
"Oh?" Hehe…what about that peac.o.c.k spirit?" Gu Xiaomo seemed to ask almost carelessly.
"Ah, the peac.o.c.k spirit. He didn"t want to stay here because he said you"re…" Suo Ying suddenly stopped, but Gu Xiaomo simply laughed.
"What did he say I was?"
Suo Ying turned around, refusing to say anymore. The room fell into an intolerable silence. Gu Xiaomo held her bowl as she fell into a stupor.
"Senior sister."
"Mm?"
"No matter what you….are, you"re still my senior sister." Suo Ying"s voice was ever hoa.r.s.er now. It sounded less like the results of crying and more like she"d caught a chill. Gu Xiaomo didn"t speak, but took off her necklace with the embroidered bag and lightly placed it around Suo Ying"s neck.
Her voice was soft as she spoke. "Marital Mother said that these seeds were on my body when she picked me up. She placed them into this embroidered bag and sewed it up. Ever since I was young, I"ve never gotten ill, and I think it"s because of this thing… You take it," Gu Xiaomo pressed Suo Ying"s hand down before she could take the necklace off. "My body"s doing great. It"s just a token of senior sister"s feelings. Be good and take it."
Suo Ying struggled a bit more before she finally accepted the bag. The two of them lay down on the bed and talked for awhile, mostly gossiping about the good-looking boys and girls in their sect. After staying up for half the night, Suo Ying was long exhausted and yawned multiple times. Gu Xiaomo laid with her back to her, staring for a long time in the darkness before she shut her eyelids.
She"d always known she was different. Somehow, she"d mysteriously appeared on Tianyan Mountain. Ever since she was young, she could see ghosts and couldn"t learn a bit of the celestial arts. Even though she was pale faced, thin, and weakly, she"d never gotten sick. But no matter how weird she was, she"d never taken away a life she didn"t rule over with her own hands. She hadn"t been able to control herself. Though it was a monster this time, what if it was little junior sister or eldest martial brother next time?
She shut her eyes and gave a soft exhale.
Monster.
Am I a monster…?
—
Old Man w.a.n.g expressed his thanks to them before Gu Xiaomo extorted another chicken feast out of him. Fortunately, Suo Ying had kept watch over the kitchens this time, or else Gu Xiaomo would"ve been glowering at mushroom and chicken dishes instead. After getting their reward money from the local authorities, Suo Ying and Gu Xiaomo muddled their way past their first monster-killing mission. It was clearly Mo Qingyuan"s first time dealing with a thousand-year old monster as well. Although the experience had been harrowing, it was full of its delights in hindsight. The only thing was that the trio had come to a tacit agreement not to talk about what happened with Gu Xiaomo.
The weather was still fine when they left the town early in the morning after a sip of tea. Their next destination was the mountain forests again. Mo Qingyuan smiled and said, "We"ve finally gotten some travel money."
Suo Ying was about to reply when there was a light laugh from one of the trees beside her. Gu Xiaomo looked up and saw the peac.o.c.k spirit hugging Little Blossom as he sunbathed in the tree.
"I have some words to tell the little girl," he chuckled softly, causing bits of powder to scatter from his face. Mo Qingyuan nodded and signaled Suo Ying to go on ahead with him.
Gu Xiaomo looked at him suspiciously before she asked defensively, "What do you want?"
The peac.o.c.k spirit remained sitting on the tree, looking reluctant to approach her. "You have killing intent on your body," he mentioned casually. "It"s not strange for mortals to carry such auras, but yours…" Resemble malevolent spirits or demonic G.o.ds, the peac.o.c.k spirit said silently to himself. Still, he didn"t voice his thoughts out loud.
Gu Xiaomo waved her hands impatiently. "I know I"m a little weird…"
"Many thanks."
"Urk?" Gu Xiaomo gave a start.
The peac.o.c.k spirit jumped off the tree and smiled lightly. "Many thanks to you for rescuing me and Little Blossom. In these troubled times, monsters and demons run rampant. You should be careful on your journey." From his robes, he took out a green feather and said, "This is one of my feathers. In times of danger, it can save your life. Let"s part ways here. Take care of yourself."
Gu Xiaomo accepted the feather, her figure frozen like a stone on the path. The peac.o.c.k spirit turned around before disappearing in a plume of smoke that scattered in the air. Gu Xiaomo kept the feather in her robes and wore a carefree smile for a long time after he left.