CH 72

Chen Ziqi had a good memory for faces. He studied her face for a moment, then remembered that she was the girl who had blocked his path in tears back in Xunyang City.

“Ah, it’s you,” Chen Ziqi said. He didn’t remember what this girl’s name was, so he just said this to be polite, and released the hand he was using to press her neck against the wall. 

Yühu was delighted when she saw that Chen Ziqi still remembered her. “What are you here for?” she asked. She remembered that Chang Qi gege was from the Lushan Sect.

“I’m looking for someone,” Chen Ziqi said, looking at the Suxin Sect’s many winding paths. “Do you know where Yue Taifei is? The one that the Abbess Wuyin brought back with her.”

Yühu was a core disciple, but she was always being bullied by her shijie and shimei; they made her fetch this and carry that, so she was very familiar with the paths in the Suxin Sect. She knew exactly where Chang Er was.

Yühu hesitated for a moment before replying. “Come with me,” she said, reaching out to pull at Chen Ziqi’s sleeve. 

“Tweet tweet!!!” Dan Yi was protesting even more vehemently now.

Chen Ziqi thought that the little red bird was chirping because he had gotten his feet caught on a loose thread or something. He pulled back the hand that Yühu was tugging on, then took the little fluffball out to check what was wrong. When he found that the bird was perfectly fine, he used a finger to flick his little bum, then set the bird down on top of his head.

The little bird had a good view from atop Chen Ziqi’s head, but it wasn’t warm and cosy like it was when he was snuggled in Chen Ziqi’s clothes. The Suxin Sect was in a real mess today, and Chen Ziqi was anxious about Chang Er’s safety, so he walked incredibly fast. The little red bird could only clutch tightly at the strip of cloth that tied Chen Ziqi’s hair up to stop himself from slipping and falling to the ground.

Chang Er’s residence was in a secluded corner of the sect’s grounds. Both sides of the residence faced the side of a mountain, and there were vegetable plots all around it. A fence had been built all around it using firewood.

“Pant… it’s over there,” Yühu said. She had originally been pulling Chen Ziqi along, but eventually, it had been Chen Ziqi who dragged her along in his haste. She could barely speak now, she was panting so hard.

Chen Ziqi’s breathing was still regular even after running all this while. As he looked around, he felt that something wasn’t right. It was too quiet in here.

Anywhere Chang Er was should have been bustling with activity, but this place was completely still and silent. Chen Ziqi’s heart thudded ominously. Had this little girl deceived him? Or, had something bad happened here?

He pulled Yühu into the residence with him. Chen Ziqi figured that if it was an ambush, or if there were traps that were set for intruders, he’d toss her out as cannon fodder. 

The wooden fence gate was open, and the yard was in a mess. A small wooden table had been split in half, and melon seeds were scattered all over the food. The old sweeper nun lay motionless on the ground.

“Aunty Yun!” Yühu exclaimed in shock. She immediately ran over to the old nun’s side to check on her.

Every last muscle in Chen Ziqi’s body was tense now. He strode forward two steps and picked up a pearl hairpin that had fallen onto the ground. It was a phoenix hairpin with dangling detail. A Taifei could not ordinarily wear a phoenix hairpin – that was beyond what her rank allowed, but she could wear it because it had been a gift from Dan Yi. The phoenix was the symbol of the Cloud Palace, so Dan Yi could use it and could also make a gift out of things with a phoenix on it. This hairpin had been gifted by Dan Yi to Chang Er as a New Year present.

There were bloodstains and deep sword marks in the ground around the house. The sword marks were made in threes, with the middle mark being deeper than the two beside it. 

The Three-Layered Jianfa… they were from the Lushan Sect! Dan Yi recognised the sword cuts and chirped twice, but Chen Ziqi couldn’t understand his birdcalls.

“Mum!” Chen Ziqi called out anxiously. He touched the bloodstains on the ground. They were still wet! The four palanquin bearers who had followed Chen Ziqi into the residence suddenly sprang out.

“Wang ye, there are people coming our way. We have to leave quickly,” one palanquin bearer said. Two of them pulled at Chen Ziqi, trying to fly out of the residence with him immediately.

“Where do you think you’re going?” an old, hoarse voice demanded. An old nun wearing dark blue robes made of coarse cloth suddenly rushed into the residence and hit out strongly at Chen Ziqi with her palm. 

The two palanquin bearers held on to Chen Ziqi and fell back gracefully, moving about five steps away. They only just managed to dodge that powerful blast.

“Chen Ziqi!” Yu Linglong shouted. She ran in, holding on to her shoulder with one hand. She had been stunned when she saw that the intruder was Chen Ziqi, and she grit her teeth angrily. “Shishuzu, catch him! He’s King Jian, Chen Ziqi!”

King Jian, Chen Ziqi?! Yühu was still cradling the old sweeping lady in her lap when she heard this, and she was stunned. When she saw the blue-robed old nun charge at Chen Ziqi, she shouted instinctively. “Shishuzu, don’t hurt him!”

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Yu Linglong really hated Chen Ziqi. She pulled out the soft silk sash at her waist and lashed out at him. Chen Ziqi immediately bent his waist, dodged nimbly, then used the Roving Dragon Follows the Moon to catch hold of the silk sash. He wrapped it quickly around his own arm and pulled hard. Yu Linglong couldn’t help toppling forward with the momentum, and she fell into Chen Ziqi’s arms. Chen Ziqi lifted Yu Linglong’s chin with a finger. “Little beauty, did you miss your husband?” he asked tauntingly.

“Go to hell!” Yu Linglong bit out. She was furious now, and she tried to use the silk sash to strangle Chen Ziqi. Chen Ziqi obviously wasn’t going to let her have her way. He counter-attacked by clapping a hard blow to her injured shoulder, which was still oozing blood. The wound immediately became even bigger, and fresh blood gushed out of it. Chen Ziqi could clearly see that the wound was made by a sword.

In that case, the blood on the ground must have been Yu Linglong’s, and not his little fairy’s. Chen Ziqi heaved a sigh of relief. He used the silk sash to pull Yu Linglong towards him whilst she was still pressing the newly opened wound with her hand. “Tsk. Now that I’ve seen you without your veil, you can only be mine from now on,” he said.

Yu Linglong got a shock. It was only now that she realised she wasn’t wearing a veil, and she was so angry that her eyes turned red. 

“Meimei!” Yu Furong ran in, followed by two old nuns.

Shit! Chen Ziqi cursed internally, then gripped Yu Linglong’s throat with a hand. “This King orders you to stop right now!” he shouted.

The four palanquin bearers who were fighting with the blue-robed old nun disengaged and floated back to Chen Ziqi, standing behind him.

“This King mistakenly barged in here. Please accept my apologies. I ask that the abbesses here do not take offence,” Chen Ziqi said, smiling politely as he gripped Yu Linglong’s neck hard. 

“Wang ye, these three are the Suxin Sect’s Shishuzu, and all of them are at the very peak of martial arts cultivation. You have no hope of winning against them. Let go of my meimei, and we can have a talk after that,” Yu Furong said, staring intently at Chen Ziqi.

In the days that she hadn’t seen Chen Ziqi, he seemed to have grown taller, and his face looked more mature and dignified. He looked even more dashing than before.

“Hmph! You really don’t know where you stand!” the blue-robed old nun said, sniffing derisively. The three old nuns attacked simultaneously, their palms moving out to deliver a powerful palm blast to Chen Ziqi as one.

Chen Ziqi knew he couldn’t withstand or block this blow, so he just kicked Yu Linglong forward. The girl was trussed up like a dumpling in her own silk sash, and she couldn’t stop herself from plunging forward. At the same time, Chen Ziqi tossed out a big handful of Stone Grey Powder. 

“Urk!” Yu Linglong got hit by the full force of the palm blast, and blood sprayed out from her mouth like a fountain.

The two old nuns who were right in front got a whole faceful of the Stone Grey Powder and couldn’t open their eyes. The one behind these two nuns didn’t slow down, however. She pulled the two old nuns aside and charged at Chen Ziqi with her fingers extended like claws.

“Pei!” Chen Ziqi used a single hand to block that blow, then spat Spicy Eye Water at her.

“AHH!” the nun screamed. This Spicy Eye Water had been made personally by the Thousand Poisons Sect Leader, and was far more potent than the Stone Grey Powder. The old nun fell to the ground and rolled about in agony, rubbing frantically at her eyes. 

The Stone Grey Powder’s effects would wear off very soon. Yühu had been silent all this while as she stood to the side, but she suddenly stood up and tugged at Chen Ziqi. “Let’s go, quick,” she said softly.

Chen Ziqi pressed his lips together, then ran out of the residence with her without hesitation.

In a corner, Yu Furong bit her lip hard as she cradled her gravely injured sister in her lap. Her eyes swept over the old nuns who were rubbing frantically at their eyes, and her eyes flashed with hatred. Earlier, these people had not given a damn about whether Linglong lived or died. It seemed that King Wan Dianxia was right. The Suxin Sect treated her and her sister as sacrifices, and didn’t give two hoots about them.

With this thought in mind, she had no desire to go to the kitchen to get some vegetable oil to help these old nuns wash out their eyes. She just continued cradling her sister silently. 

After passing through a small road, they came to a small spring that was flowing out of the rock wall of the mountain. Chen Ziqi immediately threw Yühu’s hand aside and dashed toward the spring. He took in a huge mouthful of spring water and swished it around his mouth, trying to clear the stuff on his tongue.

The water that he spat out was bright red. Yühu jumped in shock. “Big Brother Chang, are you hurt?” she asked.

“Pei pei pei!” Chen Ziqi gargled and spat out a few times. He finally felt like the intense burning sensation caused by the Spicy Eye Water was going away.

This concoction didn’t just burn the eyes; it burned the mouth as well. Chen Ziqi really didn’t know what this Thousand Poisons Sect was thinking when they made this poison in liquid form. He could only spray it with his mouth, and after he did so, it was so spicy that he felt like his tongue was going to burn to ashes. 

As Chen Ziqi wiped his mouth, the little red bird popped its head out of his clothes and looked at him worriedly.

“I’m fine,” Chen Ziqi said, smiling placatingly at the little bird. He bent his head to plant a kiss on the small red bird’s fluffy head.

The little red bird’s head immediately turned even redder. It was… spicy hot.

“Tweet tweet tweet!” Dan Yi protested, using all his might to rub his head against Chen Ziqi’s clothes. He gave Chen Ziqi a dissatisfied little peck. 

“You little f*cker!” Two of the abbesses’ furious shouts could be heard not too far away. Chen Ziqi didn’t dare to delay any longer. He quickly pulled Yühu into the forest that was a few steps away.

The palanquin bearers could fly off with him, but these two nuns were very powerful martial artists, and once they were in the sky, they’d basically become live targets. They had to put a good distance between themselves and the nuns before they could fly off.

“The Hidden Library is ahead. You can go there and hide for a bit,” Yühu said, pointing to a three-story building in the depths of the forest as she ran.

The Suxin Sect had a tradition of teaching its girls to read. The founder had not only expected her female disciples to practice martial arts, she also wanted them to be literate. It was only when girls could do both that they could stand up to men as equals. As such, the Suxin Sect’s library was a particularly large one. The Hidden Library’s main door was wide open, and the two second generation disciples who usually guarded the entrance had disappeared. 

Yühu felt that something was off, but they could hear the two abbesses behind them hot on their heels. There was nothing they could do but grit their teeth and dash into the Hidden Library.

The first floor was very large and filled with bookshelves. Chen Ziqi quickly pushed down one of these bookshelves to the entrance to block it as he ran. The books on the bookshelves all fell to the ground with loud thuds as the bookshelf toppled over. They ran straight up to the second floor and looked for a more secluded corner to hide in. As they were doing so, they crashed into someone, and both sides shouted in surprise.

“It’s you!” Chen Ziqi recognised the fellow who was rummaging roughly through the books. It was that fellow Jiang Liangcai, King Wan’s Minister of General Affairs, who had visited him in his mansion!

Before the chicken farm had been destroyed, this fellow had come to his mansion. Shortly after he left, all the chickens in the chicken farm had been killed, and right now he was in the Suxin Sect… 

Chen Ziqi narrowed his eyes. This Jiang Liangcai was definitely in cahoots with the Yu sisters.

“Mr Jiang, what a coincidence,” Chen Ziqi said, looking nonchalantly at the book in Jiang Liangcai’s hand. He heard the old nuns’ footsteps on the first floor, and his mind spun quickly, trying to decide what move to make. He had Yühu with him, and he also couldn’t ask Dan Yi to turn into human form to fight the old nuns…

At this very moment, Jiang Liangcai suddenly pulled out his sword and charged at Chen Ziqi.

Chen Ziqi got a shock. He pulled out the dagger hidden at his waist to block the blow. Jiang Liangcai, who had pretended to be weak in martial arts all this while, was presently using a high level jianfa from the Huangshan Sect! 

“This official is the one who found the book. I will not let Wang ye steal the fruits of my labour,” Jiang Liangcai said as he struck again and again with his sword.

Who the f*ck wants to steal the fruits of your labour?! Chen Ziqi cursed inwardly. He stole a look at the book Jiang Liangcai had stuffed into the folds of his clothes. The words “Jiu Cheng” could be seen printed on its cover. Could this book have something to do with the “Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng” music score?

“Bang!” The old nuns blew away two bookshelves with a single palm blast and rushed onto the second floor. They weren’t after Chen Ziqi just because he’d intruded into the Suxin Sect anymore. Now, it was personal; they wanted to beat to death the asshole who dared to throw Stone Grey Powder at them!

Chen Ziqi used the Nanke Mizong Step, which he’d learnt a bit of from Lan Jiangxue, and swooped behind Liang Jiangcai in a flash. He kicked the fellow right in the buttocks. 

Liang Jiangcai immediately plunged forward and got hit by the old nun’s palm blast right in the chest. At this very moment, the windows behind Chen Ziqi opened, and four palanquin bearers shouted at Chen Ziqi from outside.

Chen Ziqi didn’t stop to think. He pulled Yühu and leapt out of the window.

There was nothing underneath them but thousands upon thousands of feet of empty air. They hung motionless above the ravine for a split second.

“AHHH!” Chen Ziqi and Yühu screamed in terror. What the hell, wasn’t he supposed to be running for his life? Why did these fellows make him jump off a cliff?! The curses didn’t have time to leave Chen Ziqi’s mouth before he started free falling into the ravine. 

AHHHHHHH!

The author has something to say: Mini-theatre

Qiqi: AHHH! Wasn’t I supposed to be running for my life?

Palanquin Bearer: That’s correct. This is running for your life 

Qiqi: Why am I jumping off a cliff to save my life

Palanquin Bearer: You’re the MC. It’s a rule that MCs won’t die when they jump off cliffs

Qiqi: But you’re just extras without names! You’ll definitely die if you jump off a cliff

Palanquin Bearer: We have wings! 

Qiqi: Oh right, okay

Yuhu: What about me then?

Qiqi: All the best

Yuhu: QAQ