Chapter 157 - Sleeve

157 – Sleeve

They moved their hiding place to behind a large boulder.

“What are we going to do? Rush in?”

Shui Yun’er asked immediately after sitting down and leaning against large boulder.

Shui Yun’er’s wound has not stopped bleeding yet. Probably due to the loss of blood, her face is pale.

“First things first, I have to help you deal with the wound.”

With this, Qi Qiqi tore off a sleeve.

Many things fell out of the sleeve cuff and landed all over the ground, stunning Shui Yun’er.

“Big Sister Qi, how many things are there hidden in your sleeves?”

“Is this the time to be saying this?” Qi Qiqi rolled her eyes, “They’re all must-have items!”

“Tableware as well?”

“What’s with that expression!” Qi Qiqi blushed, “Isn’t tableware a must to have meals?!”

As they talked, Qi Qiqi has rolled the cloth into a strip.

“I’ll tear off your sleeve now!”

Shui Yun’er’s sleeve on the injured arm has been stained dark red by blood.

“Okay, but please be gentle.”

Shui Yun’er covered her mouth and chuckled. Qi Qiqi just wanted to scold the other party, “This is not the time for that”, but then she happened to notice that Shui Yun’er’s forehead is already covered with perspiration.

She wants to distract herself… so she made a joke. Qi Qiqi guessed.

It’s all my fault! The girl bit her lower lip.

“I understand, I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Qi Qiqi nodded with an earnest expression, as if taking on a major task.

Then, came a hiss.

Qi Qiqi tore off the sleeve drenched in blood, then creased her eyebrows and observed Shui Yun’er’s injury carefully.

“If Qilin learns that I let you get hurt, I will never hear the end of it.”

Shui Yun’er couldn’t restrain a laughter.

“Young Teacher wouldn’t dare, she’s afraid of you.”

“Is there anything she wouldn’t dare to do? There are only things she doesn’t do, that’s all — can you clean the wound? I only have drinking water.”

It’s not that Qi Qiqi is reluctant to use drinking water, but that Shui Yun’er is good at water magic and can easily make water. There is no need to waste the small amount of drinking water that is remaining.

“No problem. After all, they don’t call me ‘Water Generator’ for naught…”

“Uh, who’d dare to do that?”

“Young Teacher!”

The magic lines on Shui Yun’er’s left arm released water-colored light, then she put her index and middle fingers together and drew a base circle of light in the air. A large quantity of water shot out from the center of the base circle, hit the wound on Shui Yun’er’s right arm, and washed away the blood.

“The wound isn’t as deep as expected…”

Qi Qiqi, who is finally able to see the wound clearly, breathed a slight sigh of relief. It would be troublesome if the wound had reached the bone. She picked out a hemostatic powder from between the things scattered on the ground, pulled out the cork, and sprinkled it on Shui Yun’er’s wound.

A painful groan escaped Shui Yun’er’s lips.

“It hurts! What sort of medicine is this? Big Sister Qi, are you doing this deliberately?”

“I’m not that kind of person! This is a hemostatic powder made by Merak Temple using a secret recipe, it is very effective.” Qi Qiqi’s tone became weird, “Only, it also irritates the wound…”

After Qi Qiqi evenly applied the powder, Shui Yun’er wiped away the tears from the corners of her eyes. The wound feels cold and the pain has lessened significantly. She glanced at the wound, and then opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“This… this is really effective, isn’t it?”

Although the bleeding still hasn’t stopped, but it has obviously decreased.

“I didn’t lie, did I? The effect of this medicine is incredible!”

Qi Qiqi raised her eyebrows and stated proudly. At the same time, she wrapped the cloth strip on Shui Yun’er’s arm to cover the wound.

“Despite how small it is, this bottle costs upwards of 100 taels!”

“It’s so expensive? Must be made from a lot of precious medicinal ingredients!”

“Ugh…” Qi Qiqi froze mid-action, “Although it is a little embarrassing to admit it, but I don’t know much about it… Uncle Teacher Liu [1] is the one responsible. The prescription is also in his hands…”

While speaking, Qi Qiqi has wrapped Shui Yun’er’s wound tightly. After confirming that it is tightly wrapped again and again, she exhaled a long breath and wiped the cold sweat off her forehead.

A mere dressing of a wound, she has practiced such a simple thing many times. But she very nervous, fearing that she might accidentally hurt Shui Yun’er.

After all, Shui Yun’er was injured because of her. Qi Qiqi would be too ashamed to show her face if she hurt her due to carelessness again.

“Should be okay. Do you feel any discomfort?”

Shui Yun’er moved her arm a little, and then shook her head.

“Quite deft. Big Sister Qi, are you doing bandaging exercises in your leisure time? I heard that you’re proficient in feminine arts, is it related, Big Sister Qi?”

“Even you’re teasing me… By the way, Little Sister Shui, aren’t you the type of person who becomes a chatterbox when they get hurt?”

“Chatterbox? What’s that?”

Shui Yun’er asked, eyes blinking. The strange word piqued her curious.

Qi Qiqi got up and patted the sand off her dress.

“It’s a noun and it means that you like to talk a lot.”

“Hey, where did you hear it from?”

“I heard it from your Young Teacher.”

“I see.”

Shui Yun’er laughed brightly while covering her mouth.

Qi Qiqi glanced at Shui Yun’er unhappily, and then popped her head out from behind the large boulder.

The fighting at Mirror Moon Lake is still going on, and it’s intensifying.

The martial demons have an overwhelming numerical advantage, at least 4:1 in their favor. With this degree of disparity in numbers, the martial practitioners, by relying on outstanding martial arts, can barely maintain the balance of the delicate and fragile front line.

However, the scale of victory is gradually leaning in the favor of the martial demons, as some martial practitioners get injured and exhausted.

Evidently, a war of attrition is overwhelmingly disadvantageous to the trial by fire groups.

Why not retreat? Qi Qiqi mused, puzzled.

If the martial demons had implemented a complete blockade of Mirror Moon Lake, then that would be understandable. Qi Qiqi has thought that the martial demons have already enclosed Mirror Moon Lake. However, in fact, as she approached and even reached the edge of Mirror Moon Lake, she didn’t found any traces of Mirror Moon Lake being surrounded.

In other words, the objective of martial demons is probably not to annihilate, but to expel them.

Since this is the case —

“Why insist on fighting to the death? Is it really just to defend the senseless pride of humans — humans can never be inferior to martial demons? If that’s really the case, then it’s beyond foolish…”

Qi Qiqi muttered to herself. The question was naturally not answered. She continued to observe the battlefield.

“Ah?”

She suddenly found an abnormality in a corner of Mirror Moon Lake.

Vajrayana people. They are staying in a corner of Mirror Moon Lake. The martial demons aren’t attacking them for some reason, nor are they intervening in the battle. Instead, they are chanting scriptures and watching from the sidelines.

It’s because of Asura’er.

Qi Qiqi guessed that the martial demons are probably frightened by the power of Grandmaster, which is why they aren’t approaching the place where Vajrayana people are staying.

However, Qi Qiqi can’t see Asura’er. Is she being blocked by people?

“Big Sister Qi, what shall we do?” Shui Yun’er also popped her head out from behind the large bolder and looked at Mirror Moon Lake, “Just the two of us won’t change anything…”

“Let’s find the leaders of the other sects and ask them about the situation. I want to know why they don’t retreat!”

“Hmm, I see, let’s go together.”

“No. Little Sister Shui, you stay here.”

Considering that Shui Yun’er is injured, it is not appropriate for her to fight any longer.

Qi Qiqi would even like to send her back to the team and leave with them. But if she unfortunately meets martial demons before rendezvousing with the team, can she handle it? One or two may be okay, but if it’s a group, the consequences would be disastrous.

Because of this dilemma, Qi Qiqi compromised to let Shui Yun’er stay here. This place is crafty and remote, and so won’t be easily spotted by martial demons.

However, Shui Yun’er rejected sternly.

“No, I want to go as well.”

“Why? Even if you come along, the scene is so chaotic that you won’t be able to find anyone to help for a while. What’s more, even if you’ll look for Senior Beiming, she may just be staying near Mirror Moon Lake without showing herself… Don’t worry about Qilin, I will definitely find someone to help.”

Shui Yun’er shook her head.

“That’s not it. I know that you’re no less worried about Young Teacher than I am, so I’m not worried that you’ll abandon her, Big Sister Qi. At the same time, I also know that you won’t abandon me — that is why I want to go together with you.”

“You’re really a fool…”

Qi Qiqi is touched by Shui Yun’er saying that she wants to help her. How could she not be touched? After all, there is someone who wishes to share adversity with her.

“Big Sister Qi, you don’t have the right to say that I’m a fool… To go on undeterred by the dangers ahead, you are the No. 1 fool in the world.”

“Really…”

Qi Qiqi showed a vexed expression. She knows that she’s a fool, she refused to listen to Xia Xue’s advice.

“Furthermore, I only injured my right arm. This doesn’t have much impact on my combat strength.”

Shui Yun’er’s martial arts isn’t weak, but her magic is even more exquisite. The damage on her arm doesn’t have much impact on the use of “spells”.

It should be mentioned that magic consumes an astonishing amount of true qi. Unlike martial practitioners, spellcasters generally exhaust their true qi before they exhaust their physical strength. Qi Qiqi has a deep understanding of this point.

However, Shui Yun’er is an exception. She was born with a special physique. Even if she exhausts all the true qi in her body, she can use water qi to cast spells. It can be said that she has formidable combat sustainability.

Xue Qilin once sighed, claiming the if Shui Yun’er reaches the Heaven Realm, she might be able to cast spells for three days and three nights without rest.

Thinking of which, isn’t she more impressive than I am? What sort of expression Qi Qiqi is making right now… Well, she’s a little jealous.

“Okay, let’s rush into the lion’s den together.”

“I haven’t heard the expression ‘lion’s den’ in a long time.”

The two looked at each other and smiled knowingly.

Taking the lead, Qi Qiqi stopped smiling, and then pointed in a certain direction.

“In a moment, we’ll rush over there.”

Amid martial practitioners who are good at fighting alone, there is a group of people who are expert in fighting in formation. They are dressed in Daoist robes, are armed with bagua swords, and have formed a formation that keeps the martial demons outside. Some wounded, exhausted martial practitioners are resting in the empty space inside the formation.

They are —

“One Dao Church?”

Qi Qiqi lowered her hand and nodded.

“One Dao Church’s formation is exquisite, it can exert power beyond imagination. They are especially good at defense. In the Martial World, they are known as “Dao Turtoise”. There is the safest place on the battlefield.”

Well aware of this as well, the martial practitioners at Mirror Moon Lake have organized several lines of defense with One Dao Church as the core. They haven’t undergone military training, nor do they have enough relevant knowledge. The lines of defense they have formed are quite loose, so it’s not unlikely for there to be breaches. However, it is better than nothing. With this, the pressure on One Dao Church’s formation is reduced, making it more stable.

“You can attack from a distance with your ‘magic’, so it’s best that you stay there and provide support.”

“Big Sister Qi, what about you?” Shui Yun’er frowned.

“Don’t worry, if anything goes wrong, I will retreat immediately.”

“It’s a bit hard to accept… but — fine… I understand. However, Big Sister Qi, keep your words in mind. If anything does go wrong, you must retreat immediately.”

“So annoying! I will!”

Qi Qiqi wrinkled her nose. This is something she learned from Xue Qilin.

At the time, she didn’t expect that the “goes wrong” would come so suddenly, making it impossible to guard against.

[1] – Uncle Teacher Liu refers to Liu Chengzong, the old fogey who wanted to take revenge on Xue Qilin in the previous volume