Dance Of The Dragons
Chapter 434 : Trap (1)

Chapter 434: Chapter 434 : Trap (1)

"Shang Zichen was initially very kind to me. He said that he knew my mother very well, and that he would like to give me a chance to enter the sect.

But of course, like every other applicant, I had to show him what I could do."

With a sigh that seemed to carry the weight of the world, Huang Taichen held out both hands in front of him. Turning them over slowly, he examined his palms with a desolate gaze.

"I only had one ability that I inherited from my father -- the ability to talk to animals. So I showed him what I could do, and he was very excited. Beyond excited."

Huang Taichen tightened his fingers into fists and clenched his jaw in fury.

"He promised to talk to his father, Sect Leader Shang, about allowing me to enter the sect.

The next time he came to find me, he said that Sect Leader Shang wanted me to showcase my ability during the Spiritual Mountain Competition."

Huang Taichen whipped up the black flute at his waist and held it up before Qiao Wei’s eyes.

"This flute is called ’Discordant Melody’. It was a gift from Shang Zichen. He said that it was a fitting weapon for me. Something I could use to amplify my abilities.

Although Shang Zichen allowed me to join the Spiritual Mountain Competition, I must not join as someone from Tian’an Shang Sect.

I had to join as an outsider.

It was fine, I thought. Many other rogue cultivators did the same thing to attract the greater sects’ attention. I could be one of them.

Before the competition began, Shang Zichen took me aside and said that he required my help.

Or better said, Sect Leader Shang required my help.

There was an additional beast that they wanted to smuggle into Mount E’ling. It was particularly difficult to tame, so they asked for my help."

"The three-headed lion," Qiao Wei guessed.

"Yes. I didn’t even know where it came from. It was chained to the ground from all sides some distance away from Mount E’ling.

I coaxed him with Discordant Melody and made it walk into the competition ground."

"You were the one who broke Meng Xijun’s barrier," Qiao Wei said. "But how?"

Huang Taichen shook his head.

"I don’t know. I suspect that it was one of Discordant Melody’s power."

Qiao Wei stretched his hand out.

"May I take a look at the flute?"

"Sure."

Huang Taichen handed the flute over to Qiao Wei, and the latter ran his fingers across its smooth surface to inspect it.

"This is not an ordinary spiritual flute," Qiao Wei remarked. "It is bathed in a thick, malicious aura. If you keep it by your side, it will negatively affect your karma and your luck."

A muscle at Huang Taichen’s cheek twitched violently.

"I didn’t know that," he said curtly.

"And then, what happened?" Qiao Wei urged him to continue.

"I made the three-headed lion go into a cave as per Shang Zichen’s wish. And then I... spent the remaining time hunting for a red flag. Stupid me, I didn’t know that the red flag was planted inside the cave."

Huang Taichen broke into self-deprecating laughter.

"I did everything Shang Zichen asked of me, but he still failed to keep up his promise.

To top it off, people started circulating rumors about my background and my involvement with the three-headed lion at the competition.

They were saying that I was the one who smuggled the lion in... I mean... RAHHHHH!!!"

Huang Taichen grabbed his bowl from the ground and smashed it against the wall in a fit of anger.

"I know that I was the one who did it, but I did it because Shang Zichen asked me to! I didn’t know that it was wrong! Weren’t cultivators supposed to hunt beasts during the competition anyway? Why was it wrong to add one more lion to the hunting ground?"

"It was because that three-headed lion was a demonic beast," Qiao Wei explained. "It was a dangerous monster. No ordinary cultivator could defeat it."

"I didn’t know that," Huang Taichen whimpered. "How was I supposed to know? Shang Zichen did not tell me any of it. I only found out weeks later that my action caused great upset during the competition..."

Huang Taichen’s legs gave out under his body and he crumpled to the ground.

"And then, a week ago, Shang Zichen came to find me again. He said that this time he meant it. Sect Leader Shang really wanted me to enter the sect.

I was invited to my first night hunt with the Sect Leader and his two sons. I was so excited. I was so happy. And then it happened..."

Huang Taichen clawed into his face in horror.

"What exactly happened? Tell me."

I met Shang Zihan and Shang Zichen at the clearing of a nearby forest.

Sect Leader Shang couldn’t make it because he fell ill that morning.

In the end, we had to go without him.

The brothers Shang told me that they were trying to hunt a malevolent giant wolf spirit, and they needed my help to lure him out and kill him."

"I used Discordant Melody to coax him out, and we fought valiantly against the wolf spirit. It was so fierce. At one point, it almost scratched my eyes out.

Both Shang brothers were heavily wounded from the fight.

And then, Shang Zichen cried out to me.

’Kill it,’ he said. ’Stab it with Discordant Melody!’

Mind you, the end of Discordant Melody is indeed sharp. It can be used as a knife of some sort.

So I... With all the courage I had, I stabbed that beast in the heart."

"It was an exhilarating experience. I killed a monster. The Shang brothers kept congratulating me like I had just won the Spiritual Mountain Competition.

We hung the carcass at the tallest tree like a trophy.

Shang Zichen cut out its heart and packed it in a box for me to take back.

’Come to Tian’an Jade Palace tomorrow morning with this heart as proof of your achievement,’ he said. ’You will enter the sect tomorrow.’

I went back home with a smile on my face. I was so happy.

When I woke up in the morning, I took the heart with me and headed to Tian’an Jade Palace.

The entire palace was in chaos because Sect Leader Shang just passed away due to a mysterious affliction.

When I presented the cut-out heart to the outer disciples at the palace gate, they screamed at me and called me a murderer."