CH 44

March 25th, 2023

Fang Li took a deep breath, composed himself, and followed the rest of the group forward. 

Because Xie Huai had split the river in one blow and directly destroyed the array underneath it, everyone crossed without a hitch.

On the other side of the river was a craggy stone forest.

The stone pillars grew in all sorts of bizarre shapes, chaotically piled together without clear distinction and exuding a horrifying, eerie aura.

This trial would be much more dangerous than the previous ones, but most likely, it wouldn’t be able to stop Xie Huai.

Most importantly, the treasure vault was just past here, and there weren’t really any traps past this point. Now was the best chance to avoid the others and move on his own.

Fang Li lowered his eyes pensively. If he didn’t slip away now, it would be too late.

Lu Hongdao was still following the Cloudbank Keep members closely. He had more or less witnessed Xie Huai’s might, so naturally, he was going to cling tight to this big thigh the whole way. As long as he followed Xie Huai and didn’t wander off, there probably wouldn’t be any risk to his life……

The crowd walked into the stone forest, but they unexpectedly found that there was no change at all. The surroundings were calm and peaceful, as if it was only a regular stone forest.

But Fang Li knew that things weren’t so simple. 

In the middle of walking, someone suddenly shouted angrily and took out his sword, thrusting it toward the person beside him, his expression savage, his eyes bloodshot. Xie Huai promptly turned his head back, his black eyes glancing coldly at him, and the person’s movements stopped abruptly, as if he wanted to move, but couldn’t. That person’s body shook without pause, and after a few breaths, he collapsed onto the ground, unconscious.

Fang Li watched this scene impassively. That person had fallen into an illusion, and although Xie Huai had forcefully stopped him, he’d still fainted due to damage to his soul.

Xie Huai realized the stone forest’s method of attack and signaled to Tao Lu with his eyes.

Tao Lu fished out a jade-colored bell and shook it in his hand. The clear, crisp sound reverberated through the air.

Lu Hongdao had originally thought everything was normal. It was just that for some reason, he felt something strange beside him and turned around to see Fang Li looking at him, dripping blood from all his facial orifices. He was so shocked his legs nearly folded out from underneath him, but as soon as the bell sounded, the Fang Li before his eyes returned to normal, still smiling at him. At this, he finally understood that he’d entered an illusion.

Fang Li smiled as he watched Lu Hongdao. Seeing that he’d come back to his senses, Fang Li finally relaxed. Illusions weren’t the stone forest’s only method of attack, but the illusions were the most likely to take one by surprise. The other attacks, Xie Huai could easily block, and since Cloudbank Keep had brought a mind-cleansing spiritual treasure, he didn’t need to fret.

Seeing that they were almost halfway through the stone forest……

Fang Li suddenly pointed at a stone pillar and revealed a brilliant smile, saying, “Bird, bird.”

Lu Hongdao turned and saw that the stone pillar did look a bit like a bird. He was just about to helplessly coax Fang Li a bit, but unexpectedly, Fang Li suddenly struggled free of his grip and started running in that direction!

Unable to react in time, Lu Hongdao was shaken off by Fang Li. He was about to give chase, but in the blink of an eye, Fang Li’s figure vanished from sight. Even the bird-like stone pillar from just then was no longer in its original spot.

In a flash, Lu Hongdao was soaked in cold sweat.

He, he’d lost Fang Li!

After nimbly concealing himself in the stone forest and freeing himself of Lu Hongdao, Fang Li traveled very quickly the whole way, perfectly avoiding the traps and swiftly exiting out the other end of the stone forest.

Before his eyes was a narrow walkway, the stone walls all around him littered with caverns.

This wasn’t the front of the treasure vault, but the side. Those people could walk in through the front door, while he would quietly slip in through the back. When he’d gotten what he needed, and Xie Huai and the others had left…… he could just leave the valley and find a chance to meet back up with Lu Hongdao.

As for how to explain it?

What did a fool have to explain for, it was all luck.

The corners of Fang Li’s lips hooked up, his footsteps light. Just then, he vaguely heard sounds coming from ahead. His expression suddenly quivered, and he hid himself inside one of the caverns in a flash.

Du Meng’s deep, resounding voice carried over as he laughed coldly. “How far have Xie Huai and the others gotten?”

The demonic cultivator under him responded, “They’re about to arrive at the front hall.”

Du Meng said hatefully, “Good, is everything prepared? Remember, don’t take action until they’ve entered the hall. This time, I’ll make sure there’s no return for him.”

As they spoke, the two seemed to have walked into the distance.

Fang Li slowly left his cavern, his expression sinking.

Although he’d only heard bits and pieces, he quickly pieced together the whole of the matter.

Previously, he’d even thought it a bit strange that the news about Grieving Wind Valley hadn’t gotten out any sooner or later but just happened to spread now.

It looked like everything was a plot against Xie Huai.

Rumor had it that these years, Xie Huai had been constantly going after Du Meng’s head, until Du Meng was basically like a dog without a home, not daring to show his face in the last nine years. How could such a petty and vengeful person as Du Meng tolerate the life of being threatened by Xie Huai day after day until he could only hide and cower? Of course he was going to look for a chance to get revenge.

After Fang Li had died, Du Meng had taken in a portion of the Hollow Ridge demonic cultivators under his wing and had gained knowledge of the treasure vault here. These days, he’d intentionally released the news for the sake of drawing Xie Huai here to ambush and kill him.

But Fang Li wasn’t actually too worried about Xie Huai. With the demon lord’s treasure vault appearing and both righteous and demonic cultivators congregating, Xie Huai might have already made preparations…… Besides, Xie Huai was the “number one in the world” anointed by the author of the original work themselves. With his cultivation level right now, Du Meng shouldn’t be able to kill him and was most likely just setting himself up to be humiliated.

But he was afraid those ordinary cultivators who’d come in search of treasure wouldn’t be so lucky.

When the demonic cultivators under Du Meng killed, they didn’t care who you were. It would be hard to avoid implicating others in this disaster, and Xie Huai might not be able to protect all of them.

The others were one thing……

But Lu Hongdao absolutely couldn’t be allowed to run into any accidents. He sure didn’t want his dad to lose a friend in his middle age.

At this thought, Fang Li let out a gloomy sigh.

This really was troublesome……

…………………………

On the other side, seeing Fang Li wander off, Lu Hongdao was hopping up and down with anxiety. He didn’t even have time to worry about the difference in status and grit his teeth to charge toward Xie Huai, pleading, “Yuyi-jun, that nephew of mine has gotten lost, he’s a poor, foolish child…… Please save him, I’m begging you!”

They all said that Xie Huai was the paragon of the righteous cultivators, devoting his life to slaying demons to defend the Dao and rescuing the wounded, basically like a living bodhisattva. Lu Hongdao looked at him with eyes brimming with hope.

Yuyi-jun definitely wouldn’t watch someone die before his eyes, right?

Right now, only Yuyi-jun could come to the rescue!

Xie Huai lowered his eyes impassively to cast a sidelong glance at the middle-aged man.

The man was looking at him with an anxious, uneasy expression, and the worry in his eyes wasn’t fake. It looked like he was just yet another person being played for a fool by that fellow.

That fellow was clearly escaping from you on purpose to sneak off in secret. What does he need you to worry about him for?

It looked like this place had been his goal, and he’d finally given himself away……

A trace of derision appeared in the depths of Xie Huai’s eyes. He withdrew his gaze as if nothing had happened and walked directly past Lu Hongdao.

Lu Hongdao stood there blankly.

Xie Huai’s white robes brushed past his field of view without the slightest pause.

In that split second, the chill in Xie Huai’s eyes had practically frozen him solid, and he didn’t dare to try to stop him again at all……

How come……

Yuyi-jun seemed, to be a little different from the rumors?

That person was as cold as the ice at the bottom of an abyss. There wasn’t a trace of pity in those eyes. No…… even the emotions of a living person were missing.

He wouldn’t come to the rescue.

Lu Hongdao’s hands immediately grew cold. If Yuyi-jun didn’t go, who would rescue Fang Li?

He thought about how his moment of carelessness had allowed Fang Li to wander off like this. How was he going to explain it to Old Fang when he got back?! It was all his fault, if only he’d held on a little tighter.

Tao Lu glanced at Lu Hongdao with a bit of pity. He could tell that Lu Hongdao wholeheartedly loved and protected that fool, but under such dangerous circumstances, Shixiong couldn’t possibly leave behind all these people for the sake of rescuing one fool, could he?

There were levels of priority to things. That fool could only depend on his own luck now.

Seeing that Xie Huai was getting farther and farther and that Lu Hongdao was still standing there foolishly, his disciples started to get anxious and all huddled over to drag him away, continuing forward behind Xie Huai.

Fang Li was definitely down on his luck now, but they couldn’t let Lu Hongdao fall here, too!

All the way until they exited the stone forest.

Lu Hongdao still looked like his soul had left his body.

His heart full of endless regret.

If he’d known earlier that this would happen, he wouldn’t have come to join in on the excitement. He would have gone straight home when they were at the entrance of Grieving Wind Valley. It would have still been better than this!

Xie Huai’s expression was indifferent, his eyes faintly closed.

Ever since entering the valley, that fellow playing the fool had been completely calm and unruffled. No matter what kinds of traps they encountered, it was like they had all been within his expectations, and he’d remained steadfast without a trace of fear. Plus, he’d even dared to enter the stone forest alone…… It looked like he was very familiar with this place.

Just what kind of person was he?

After leaving the stone forest.

There was an expanse of empty space before them, and the mountain walls all around them were littered with pitch-black caverns. They looked dark and sinister, causing a shiver to run down one’s back.

And near the front, in the very center of this expanse, was a huge, thick, and heavy black door made of darksteel.

This was the main entrance of the treasure vault.

Heaven’s Summit’s members stepped forward to investigate the door. There were no more traps on it.

At this, the crowd finally let out a breath.

The Heaven’s Summit elder said in a clear voice, “When this old one opens this door, everyone can enter in order. Everyone who has come here to the demon’s treasure vault will have a share. Heaven’s Summit will be sure to fairly distribute……”

Before he was done speaking, a thin, pale young man suddenly came out of who knows where, staggering as he ran. He looked all around him in alarm, then charged in Lu Hongdao’s direction, his eyes red as he said, “I, couldn’t find you, scared……”

Lu Hongdao had originally already fallen into despair. The stone forest was such a dangerous place, and Fang Li had no chance of surviving after wandering off by himself. He hadn’t thought that Fang Li would suddenly charge out and was immediately shocked silly with joy.

He pulled Fang Li by the arm, checking him up and down. Seeing that he hadn’t been injured, his heart was finally at ease.

A fool had fool’s luck!

The Heaven’s Summit elder hadn’t expected to be suddenly interrupted, and his expression was extremely displeased, but how could a great and mighty elder of a righteous sect squabble with a fool? So he only coughed lightly and continued, “Heaven’s Summit will……”

Who knew that the fool would speak up and interrupt him again.

Fang Li pointed at the caverns on the stone walls, trembling and revealing a scared expression as he said, “I, I saw in those caves, people, they, they were so fierce……”

Xie Huai’s expression suddenly sharpened.

At the very moment Fang Li had spoken, a deadly arrow had been shot straight towards him!

Because his attention had been on Fang Li the whole time, Xie Huai struck without any hesitation, his sword splitting the arrow straight into two halves. The broken pieces fell onto the floor with a sizzling sound, clearly having been laced with poison—

Xie Huai laughed coldly. He’d long known that Du Meng wouldn’t be so well-behaved. So it turned out he’d been waiting here.

The Snowblue Sword hummed softly in his hand, and with a strike of his sword, cold light thundered toward the caverns on the walls.

Du Meng and the others had been hiding among the caverns the whole time to wait until Xie Huai’s group entered the treasure vault so that they could set a trap outside to surround and slaughter them. Who would’ve expected that a fool would suddenly show up from who knows where and expose them in some bizarre turn of events? In his haste, he’d wanted to kill that fool to silence him, but he’d been stopped by Xie Huai.

Seeing that Xie Huai had already discovered them, Du Meng immediately took out his spiritual weapon, squeezed out a flurry of countless arrows to delay Xie Huai, then turned and fled without a trace of hesitation, not even bothering to look after his subordinates!

In these past few years, he’d gotten plenty of experience being chased. When facing Xie Huai, one absolutely couldn’t stay and fight. If not for the skill in fleeing that he’d developed, he would have died a long time ago!

Xie Huai furrowed his brow as he struck with his sword, blocking the countless poisoned arrows! But a few still slipped past, and a couple of miserable screams rang out from beside him. In the blink of an eye, the life was gone from those people.

Du Meng’s subordinates still hadn’t had time to react when they saw their leader run away, and they were also scared into turning tail and running as fast as they could, fearing that if they were a step late, they’d become the sacrificial lamb!

In the blink of an eye, the demonix cultivators had scattered in all directions.

The Heaven’s Summit elder stood there dumbly, his eyes wide in stupefaction, looking blankly at Xie Huai.

This, was this was the might of the number one in the world……?

Right, where had those demonic cultivators come from?

It couldn’t be that those demonic cultivators had planned to wait until they’d entered the hall to spring a trap on them?

No wonder, no wonder.

Ever since arriving here, the four great sects had already exchanged blows a few times with the demonic cultivators who’d come to harass them, but those demonic cultivators hadn’t lingered to fight. As soon as they saw that they couldn’t win, they’d retreat, allowing the righteous sects to occupy the entrance of the valley. They’d even thought that the demonic cultivators didn’t dare approach to anymore…… So it turned out that it’d all been for the sake of lowering their guard. In truth, they’d been hiding here, waiting for them.

In that case, if not for this fool accidentally stumbling onto the demonic cultivators, they’d be in big danger right now. After all, there was only one Yuyi-jun.

But Fang Li appeared to be completely oblivious to it all. He cowered behind Lu Hongdao, his brow wrinkled, putting on a pout, saying, “I’m scared……”

Just then, his wrist was suddenly grasped by a scorching hot palm, and Fang Li was immediately lifted up.

He looked up with astonishment, meeting Xie Huai’s cold, sharp eyes, and his chest immediately tightened.

What was going on?

His performance shouldn’t have had any flaws, right? Although his appearance had been a little sudden, he was a fool, okay…… A fool had fool’s luck, don’t you know?

A dark expression surged in the depths of Xie Huai’s eyes. He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Fang Li’s sleeve.

Fang Li looked down at his own sleeve with some puzzlement.

Oh, just now, Du Meng had released a flurry of arrows before leaving, and one of them had accidentally brushed against his sleeve. There was a small cut on his sleeve, but it hadn’t touched his body at all, it was no big deal……

He had matters in hand. Even if Xie Huai hadn’t acted, he had confidence that he could have avoided the poisoned arrows.

But Xie Huai’s expression was truly a little scary……

Had he discovered that there was a problem with Fang Li?

Just when Fang Li was anxious and uneasy, his scalp starting to tingle, Xie Huai suddenly released his hand.

Inside his sleeve, Xie Huai’s fingers curled slightly.

In the moment that Fang Li had said that demonic cultivators were hiding here, he’d understood Fang Li’s meaning. Fang Li had come back on purpose to warn them.

He’d clearly already left, but he’d come back for the people here.

Was it because of Lu Hongdao?

There was a complicated, murky expression in the depths of Xie Huai’s eyes. He’d originally thought that this was a crafty, deceitful liar who’d come for the demon lord’s treasure vault, but he hadn’t thought that this person would also have a sincere desire to protect these people. It wasn’t a waste of Lu Hongdao’s concern for him.

Only, exposing Du Meng’s plot like this, did you not understand that Du Meng would raise a hand against you?

Why did you have to put yourself in danger like this?

Why, do you cherish yourself so little?

He knew he shouldn’t.

This fellow pretending to be a fool obviously couldn’t possibly be that person, yet time after time…… he made Xie Huai uncontrollably think of that person.

At this point, Lu Hongdao finally came back to his senses and thanked Xie Huai with endless gratitude, “Thank you, Yuyi-jun, if not for you, this child would have died for sure. He’s suffered a lot in his life, you know. If he really died here, how would I tell his father?!”

He’d misunderstood Yuyi-jun before. Yuyi-jun only had a cold face, but his heart was warm. He actually was a good person! Lu Hongdao’s heart was full of gratitude and guilt, and he pulled Fang Li’s hand, about to kneel……

Xie Huai’s sleeves fluttered, and a formless force stopped Lu Hongdao. Only indifference was left in his eyes.

Whether or not Fang Li had needed his saving was still up for debate, but he has saved all of your lives. If not for Fang Li, many more people here would probably have died.

He’d originally thought that Fang Li had ulterior motives and might be a spy for the demonic cultivators, but looking at it now, Fang Li couldn’t possibly be on Du Meng’s side. Then exactly why had he come here pretending to be a fool?

There were layers and layers of fog around this person.

Xie Huai gave Fang Li a profound glance, then turned and left.

Fang Li’s heart finally fell back into place. It looked like he’d muddled through.

There shouldn’t be any kind of danger after this. It would still be best if he hurried and got what he needed, then brought Lu Hongdao away from here. Where would a lofty and high up person like Xie Huai find time to bother with him? He didn’t need to worry overly much……

Fang Li lowered his head and restrained his expression, following the crowd into the treasure vault.

Everyone was extremely cautious, but no accidents happened after that. The danger was truly gone.

Only.

Everyone’s face looked extremely unsightly.

The treasure vault was in absolute disarray and completely empty. Obviously, it had already been plundered a long time ago.

But Fang Li still had that perplexed expression, smiling completely obliviously.

The moment he’d seen Du Meng appear, he’d expected this outcome. Du Meng was sure to have robbed this place clean before releasing news of this place to lure others over. How could he have left a single thing behind for the righteous cultivators?

These people were destined to have come here for nothing.

But he wasn’t very disappointed.

Wu Yimei had been the one to oversee construction of this treasure vault back then. Even if Hollow Ridge had dispersed later and news of this place had unexpectedly fallen into Du Meng’s hands, there were some hidden passages that Du Meng couldn’t possibly know about.

Seeing this scene, the crowd was full of frustration, not believing that they’d worked so hard to come all this way just to return empty-handed. Although the hall was already in chaos, they still rummaged and searched all around, unresigned.

The surroundings were noisy and clamorous, everyone in their own world.

Fang Li couldn’t be less conspicuous.

Seeing that Xie Huai was far in the distance and had his back facing him, Fang Li slipped away quietly from the side.

But he didn’t notice that as soon as he left, Xie Huai turned around.

Xie Huai had been pretending not to pay attention on purpose so that Fang Li would relax his guard. He wanted to see precisely what purpose Fang Li had for coming here.

He followed Fang Li at a distance into the side hall.

In front of him, the thin young man in plain cotton clothing walking through the hall nimbly, his footsteps light, quickly turning into a corner with nobody around. He reached out to brush his hand against the smooth, clean walls, and a secret door immediately appeared on the wall.

Xie Huai’s expression became heavy as he followed Fang Li into the hidden door. As soon as he entered, the door closed behind him again.

As soon as the young man put away his dazed, confused expression, a careless smile hung off the corners of his lips, and he walked through the secret passage as if strolling through his own home.

Xie Huai fixed his eyes on the person before him.

Why would you know of a secret passage that even Du Meng doesn’t know of? You’re definitely no ordinary person, and even less are you an ordinary demonic cultivator.

Just what kind of person are you?

Xie Huai’s hands slowly curled into fists, and his breathing couldn’t help but slow, his chest slightly rising and falling.

In all these years, he’d gone to any place where that person had left a mark just to search over and over for a trace of that person, hoping in vain that that person had only been deceiving him once again…… Perhaps he was still alive in some corner of this world……

But in the end, he knew in the depths of his heart that all of it was just him deceiving himself. His hopes were dashed again and again, and as time passed, even fooling himself became harder and harder.

He knew he shouldn’t hope in vain.

That person would never appear again. He had absolutely no lingering attachments to this world, which was why he’d left so decisively.

To the point that he hadn’t been willing to leave him even a single keepsake.

But right now, Xie Huai gazed at the figure of the person before him.

The pale young man knew where to go without even looking, his footsteps easygoing and carefree……

Just as if, he was the owner of this place.

In the midst of Xie Huai’s daze.

This person’s figure, seemed to overlap with that person’s.

Xie Huai didn’t dare to move his gaze away, as if afraid that as soon as he moved his eyes, this person would disappear again, and Xie Huai would never see him again……

In that moment.

An absurd, uncontrollable thought suddenly emerged in his mind.

………………………………………

The Author Has Something to Say:

Xie Huai: The wife is pretending to be a fool, I have to keep a close eye on him.

Fang Li: Don’t talk about it anymore, losing in the opening moves is no good : )

Author: Got nuttin’ to do with me, shrugs.