Chapter 1449 - 784: She Didn't Invite Me to Absorb Yang Energy?! (Part 2)

Miss Yin really is absorbing yang energy!

Good going, Miss Yin, feasting on the meat and not calling her over!

What kind of friend does that? Donggong Ruoshu was a bit angry for a moment, but she still pretended to be asleep. She didn't know why—she just instinctively wanted to play dead, not think about anything else.

And as she kept on pretending, she soon drifted off again.

Before long, Yin Weiyin slowly rose, rinsed her mouth with the water pouch, wiped it clean with a cloth, then turned back, gently closed her eyes, and went on meditating.

Chen Yi let out a breath, lifted the carriage curtain, and looked out the window as if nothing had happened.

He'd just felt something was off, so he ended it early.

His Great Yin had helped him, but he hadn't helped his Great Yin. That left him feeling a bit guilty.

The carriage returned to its former quiet.

Outside the window, mountain wind was picking up, making the branches and leaves of the forest rustle loudly. A few early sprouted tender leaves were torn from their twigs, spinning past the carriage window. In the distance, the mountaintop shrouded in drifting cloud and mist occasionally revealed a jagged cliff face through gaps in the flowing clouds, ancient and silent.

The carriage rolled on, following the winding mountain road, heading deeper into the ranges.

Chen Yi saw the Paper Maid occasionally adjust the reins, guiding the horses pulling the carriage around protruding stones in the road. He let his gaze follow the road out toward the farther reaches.

There, the mountain slopes grew ever more precipitous, and the clouds and mist grew thicker.

The carriage traveled for about an hour. The mountain path was rugged and hard to navigate; the dirt-and-stone track that had been barely discernible was gradually buried beneath roots and scattered rocks, becoming vague and indistinct. The wheels often rolled over hidden stones, jolting violently.

The fog around them quietly grew denser as well, no longer the drifting, gauzy veil that had hung around the mid-slopes, but billowing up from the forested ravines, pressing visibility down to almost nothing. Ten zhang away there was only a murky blur of gray-white; even the outlines of nearby trees turned hazy and warped, like great beasts lying in wait.

Thick fog and treacherous road.

Thunk.

The right wheel once again slammed hard over a rock, and the whole carriage lurched sharply to the left, then crashed down again. The impact was much harsher than before.

"Mm!"

A muffled cry of alarm sounded. Donggong Ruoshu was jolted clear off the wall of the compartment; her head slammed squarely into the opposite plank, with a dull "thunk."

She clutched her forehead and woke completely, eyes wide. From inside, Chen Yi could see the fright in them.

"You alright?"

Donggong Ruoshu shook her head, then nodded.

"I—I had a nightmare…"

At her words, Chen Yi's heart gave a jolt, and he turned to look at her.

Miss Donggong's true form was a Pixiu. Though her mind was as simple as a child's, she was an auspicious beast that enjoyed Heavenly Luck, with an intuition for fortune and calamity far keener than that of humans.

For her to be jolted awake like this and immediately speak of a nightmare was likely no ordinary matter.

"The road really is a bit dangerous, and the fog's thick." Chen Yi lifted the carriage curtain. The fog outside was frighteningly dense; sheer cliffs nearly vertical were swallowed up by the mist, appearing deceptively flat.

Yin Weiyin also slowly opened her eyes, sensing something wrong.

Her connection to the paper figures had grown faint, despite them being right at hand.

The situation at present was absolutely off.

Yin Weiyin's slender brows knit slightly. Her right hand slipped from her sleeve, five fingers swiftly moving in calculation; an extremely faint spiritual light flowed around her fingertips, casting over her face.

Sure enough…

She lowered her hand, her gaze turning toward the window as she said, "The earth's breath is agitated, the mountain spirits uneasy… we've disturbed the Mountain God."

"Mountain God?" Donggong Ruoshu rubbed her forehead, repeating the word in bewilderment.

Yin Weiyin did not explain much, merely inclined her head slightly to Chen Yi. "The Spiritual Energy here used to be upright and gentle, but now a violent, grim killing intent is faintly showing through, like a person startled to anger. I fear someone has used some unknown means, or offended a taboo of the mountain, provoking the Divine that guards this place to wrath."

Chen Yi immediately thought of something and said, "Those Jianghu people searching for relics?"

Yin Weiyin listened, felt the words were reasonable, and slowly nodded. "So it would seem."

Taoists and monks roam the four seas, commune with spirits and ghosts alike; whenever they see a mountain they bow to the mountain, whenever they see a temple they bow to the temple. The first lesson for a wandering cultivator is to bow before King Lingguan, for they know better than common folk that three feet above the head dwell the Divine.

Those Jianghu people are not ignorant of this truth, yet they rely on their own strength; once a man has a pound of weight to him, he wants to blow three mouthfuls of breath. All the more so when those who practice Martial Arts have yang energy that burns bright—common ghosts and petty fiends dare not draw near—thus they grow like old horses who trust their worn-out mangers, thinking even if they offend the Mountain God, nothing will come of it. The more green and newly stepped into the Jianghu they are, the more they act so; on the contrary, those old hands with thirty, forty years of middling Martial Arts always harbor fear and reverence.

From amid the ranges there seeped a breath that weighed upon the heart, as if the entire mountain had awakened, silently watching the uninvited intruders.

The Paper Maid controlled the carriage and forced it another hundred-odd zhang forward. The fog was shockingly thick; here the mountain road was all but broken off. On one side a slick, precipitous rock wall, on the other a bottomless ravine; only a narrow cliffside path two or three zhang wide remained in the distance.

Just then, through the billowing mist, several vague black masses could be seen barring the road ahead, and the fog carried the stench of blood.

The carriage slowly halted.

Chen Yi lifted the curtain and was the first to alight, signaling to the two women that they need not follow.

He pinched his fingers in a spell, and the thick mist was parted somewhat by the mountain wind; the scene before his eyes grew a little clearer.

On the narrow mountain path lay seven or eight corpses strewn in disarray. Judging from their clothing and bearing, they were the same sort of Jianghu Guest who had been fighting over spoils in the inn several days ago.

They had died in varied fashions: some with neck bones snapped, some with chests caved in, some with no obvious wounds upon their bodies yet black blood seeping from their seven apertures—clearly injured by extremely powerful Inner Strength. Weapons were scattered everywhere, most broken or with edges curled, showing how brutal the struggle had been.

And among these corpses, there was still one man who writhed and moaned.

The man sat with his back against a boulder; his abdomen had been completely slit open by a sharp blade, and dark-red, bluish intestines had spilled out, trailing over the ground.

His face was as white as paper, his lips dark purple, his gaze already unfocused, only a rasping breath ho-ho-ing from his throat.

Chen Yi walked to him and crouched. Since there was a living mouth to question, there was no need for Soul Search.

The man felt someone approach; his eyeballs laboriously shifted and settled on Chen Yi's face. He moved his mouth and spoke in a faint voice:

"…Be…kind… give me… a clean…end… Once I'm dead, I'll… put in a good word for you with King Yan…"

If it had been the Chen Yi of old, he might truly have snapped a finger and sent out a strand of Sword Qi to free the man from his suffering. Walking the Jianghu, one sees death often enough; to grant a swift end is in itself a kind of mercy, and a sort of duty.

But now Chen Yi was in no hurry. He sent over a breath of True Qi to hang the man's life by a thread, and asked, "What happened?"

The man received that mouthful of True Qi from Chen Yi, and a trace of focus returned to his scattered gaze. His chest heaved violently a few times.

"It was… Cloudpiercer Liu Laosan… They… those black-hearted… rotten-lung beasts!"

Every few words he spoke brought a spasm of pain, and Chen Yi listened patiently to his account.

These Jianghu people had truly followed that vague, insubstantial legend and within this mountain found the so-called ancient cliff carving of the "Spirit Deer Leading the Way", then discovered behind it the hidden Dragon-breaking stone. Within lay the site where the Jin Family's Emperor who took the tonsure had entered nirvana. With the secret treasure within reach, the parties agreed to open it together and share the spoils according to their contributions.

Yet agreements are no match for human greed. That Cloudpiercer Liu Laosan's band had long since colluded in secret with another group. As everyone gathered and headed for the resting place of the relic, they suddenly struck, slaying the leading man first. A melee erupted in an instant, and this wounded man had his belly ripped open by a vicious blow from the very companion who usually called him brother.

Amid the shouts of killing, screams, and the clash of blades, at some unknown moment the Earth Veins began to wail and the mountains to tremble, turning this great range into what it was now.

"We had agreed… to open the stone gate together, and whatever lay inside… would be divided by how much each had done… so no one would suffer a loss. But… but someone got greedy! Someone got greedy!"

At this point his strength was nearly spent. The hatred in his eyes flared like a candle about to gutter out, then swiftly dimmed, leaving only endless bewilderment.

"…Kill me… it hurts… it hurts too much… The thing… they won't be able to take it… they'll… they'll all die. I curse them, I curse them all to die…"

By the end his speech had grown slurred, cursing them to die even as he begged Chen Yi to end him quickly.

Chen Yi had heard all he needed. In the past, he would not have begrudged a strand of Sword Qi; now, however, he only shook his head. He raised one hand lightly; vast Primordial Qi lifted the spilled intestines and pushed them back in. With another wave, his belly seemed as though stitched shut by invisible needles and thread. Chen Yi said:

"Let's see what fate has in store for you."

The Jianghu Guest's bewildered eyes suddenly filled with a line of vitality. He stared straight at Chen Yi, his lips buzzing as if wanting to say something, and at last squeezed out broken words:

"May I… may I know my benefactor's name…"

"Merely a minor pawn under Illuminant Sage Zhao Yin's seat."

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[The postgraduate entrance exams are over. Starting tomorrow I'll launch a major update push, aiming for six to eight thousand characters a day. Everyone please subscribe more (tears).]