Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 152 - 145: Wait and See

Chapter 152: Chapter 145: Wait and See

Standing quietly in the flower field, Lin Xin gazed at the towering man-eating flower, slowly writhing his body as the throbbing and sensations from Yin Mantuo continuously flowed into his mind.

From afar, suddenly there came cries of alarm, followed by what seemed to be the sound of people fleeing in the distance.

Lin Xin glanced over and saw two farmers tumbling and scrambling as they dropped their hoes and ran.

"It seems I need to hurry...." he murmured to himself. This place had already been discovered.

Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he began to rapidly restore his spiritual energy, while also taking out medicinal pills to hasten the recovery.

Time trickled by, and he didn’t know how long it had passed.

Suddenly, the man-eating flower vine burst open the large cocoon it had wrapped around itself, revealing a giant red vertical pupil as tall as a person, growing on a mass of irregularly shaped, vine-woven matter. It looked like a monstrous single eye, twisted and woven from a mass of giant vines.

Opening his eyes, Lin Xin stared at the fully evolved man-eating flower vine. For some reason, even now, he felt a subtle sense of threat. It seemed this time the man-eating flower truly had its strength greatly enhanced after evolving.

"What improvements do you have now?" he asked telepathically.

’Attack...’

A message transmitted from the flower vine.

"Attack?"

After pondering for a moment, Lin Xin retracted the man-eating flower and was about to leave when he suddenly spotted a blue pigeon flying rapidly in the sky from afar.

The pigeon dove with lightning speed, only taking a few moments to descend and land on the back of Lin Xin’s hand.

"A message from Liu Yang?" Lin Xin was startled, not expecting to receive a message from Radiant Sun Sect at this time. He took the scroll from the pigeon’s leg, unrolled it, and read.

Just skimming the content, his face darkened immediately.

Whoosh!

The scroll in his hand burst into flames and with a snap, he clenched his fist, turning it to ashes that scattered in the air.

"This is outrageous!"

A flicker of red light glinted in his eyes as his figure vanished from the spot in the blink of an eye.

******************

One day later....

In Chao Yue Valley, within the domain of music.

A man in a yellow garment clutched his chest, his face as pale as paper, swiftly flickering through the valley.

Right behind him was a trace of gold light. Beneath the moonlit night, within the golden halo, were a young man and woman embraced tightly together.

"You really can run!" Yuan Shihong spoke with some helplessness from behind, chasing for a full day and more, yet still not catching up to the man in yellow. A mere Third Layer cultivator had managed to delay him this long; the other’s lightness skill was actually far superior to his own.

"Thank you for the compliment, Elder. I devoted myself to this movement technique exactly for times like this," the man in yellow replied with a feigned relaxed demeanor.

But in reality, his back was drenched with sweat, drying, then becoming wet again, his spiritual energy swirling madly within his body, and his meridians were already tearing with pain. Thankfully, Spirit Heart Villa had abundant resources, especially money, so he still had plenty of medicinal pills at his disposal. However, his body was already struggling to keep up.

Yuan Shihong suddenly halted, no longer pursuing the man in yellow, but just stood there in the valley.

"Since I can’t catch up, I won’t chase you. You dared to show yourself to draw me away from the manor, clearly you have some feelings for Spirit Heart Villa. If that’s the case..." Yuan Shihong slightly smiled and instantly turned to sweep back the way he came.

As a peak Qi Cultivator with vast and sustained energy reserves, he showed no signs of fatigue whatsoever.

Seeing him about to leave, the man in yellow also stopped and coldly called out.

"Elder, what you are doing is slaughtering the innocent. Do you think I would disregard myself for the people of the manor?"

"Are you trying to provoke me?" Yuan Shihong stopped again and immediately sneered. "You were saved by the people of the manor; I don’t believe you feel no gratitude toward them at all."

"I was saved by the people of the manor!?" The man in yellow feigned surprise at first, then showed a hint of astonishment, but quickly masked it with anger. "If Elder has any issue, direct it at me. It has nothing to do with Spirit Heart Villa!"

With Yuan Shihong’s cultivation, a peak Qi Cultivator, he naturally caught the fleeting look of astonishment on the man in yellow. His suspicions surged.

The more the man in yellow tried to appear concerned for the manor, the more it made Yuan Shihong suspect that the other might be trying to misguide him, leading him to investigate the manor instead to let himself seize the opportunity to escape.

But upon reflection, if the man in yellow truly wasn’t anxious about the manor, he shouldn’t have revealed himself from the beginning.

As Yuan Shihong mulled it over, he became somewhat confused by the man in yellow’s machinations.

"Grandfather need not overthink this. The main purpose of our trip is clear; we can attend to the rest later—it’s not too late," Wan’er said softly in his arms.

Her words instantly clarified his thoughts.

"Indeed, you are my dear Wan’er. Let’s first go back and take care of the main affair. Whether the rest is accomplished or not is just a detail—not worth worrying about."

No longer glancing at the man in yellow, Yuan Shihong turned and left.

A few leaps and he vanished within the valley.

The man in yellow didn’t expect him to leave so decisively. After waiting in place for a while, he began to regulate his breathing slowly.

Spurt!

Suddenly he spewed a mouthful of blood, his complexion instantly becoming exhausted.

"Oh, Junior Brother, this is all I can do for you now...."

**************

One day later.

At noon, the sun was blazing high in the sky.

Yuan Shihong reappeared in front of the bamboo forest of the manor, this time he could faintly see that the manor had become somewhat deserted by now, evidently having had some time to react to the previous events, the people inside had already heard the news and avoided the area. The area outside the bamboo forest was also empty.

He looked down at the ground.

"There are no wheel tracks, so they clearly didn’t leave by carriage."

He strolled toward the manor. No guards were to be seen around, only the green flags of the manor fluttering in the wind, occasionally making a faint whistling sound.

Yuan Shihong, with the Golden Scale Sword in hand, walked slowly on the main road to the entrance. Wan’er followed close behind him, step for step, looking around curiously.

Entering the manor, they found the thrown-open main gates leading to an empty courtyard, without a single figure in sight. The only thing in the vast entrance plaza was a huge bronze furnace, engraved with many flowers, birds, insects, and fish.

"A mere Seventh Layer villa master is also interested in alchemy?" said Wan’er, with quite an interest.

"Mere Seventh Layer... As far as I know, this villa master is not just at the Innate Seventh Layer. Ten years ago, he was a promising Qi Cultivator of the Sect Formation Hall with exceptional talent in formation, excelling in it. If there are any troublesome formations in this manor, I wouldn’t be surprised at all."

Yuan Shihong stated indifferently, a trace of weariness flashing across his eyes.

Even for him, rushing back with full force without rest for a day and a night was tiring.

"No matter how troublesome, how much of a threat can it pose to a Qi Cultivator?" laughed Wan’er.

"That’s also true," Yuan Shihong replied with a smile, swallowing a medicinal pill and slowly recovering his spiritual energy.

As the two of them walked across the vast plaza, they looked around but found no traces of anyone.

"It seems they have run off early, but so many people can’t have possibly escaped all at once, there must be some left behind!"

Yuan Shihong took out a piece of talisman paper from his bosom, murmured an incantation, and the talisman paper immediately flew up, igniting into ashes in mid-air. The black ashes condensed into a small sword, which rapidly spun around. After a while, the spinning slowed down and eventually stopped, pointing in a certain direction of the manor.

Seeing this, Yuan Shihong smirked.

"It seems there are still some who haven’t left."

"Grandpa is getting more and more skilled with the Life-Chasing Talisman."

"It’s just a pity that they are a bit expensive," Yuan Shihong shook his head.

The two followed the direction indicated by the talisman paper. Passing through several courtyards, they suddenly came upon a yard with a large tree standing tall.

Through the archway of the courtyard, they could see a foxy woman sitting under the tree, carefully reading a book.

"Are you part of this manor?" Yuan Shihong called out as he entered the courtyard.

The woman lifted her head and looked at him calmly.

"Why ask when you already know?"

Yuan Shihong frowned slightly, feeling that there was something off about this woman, with no cultivation, no aura, not even a heartbeat.

"Neither human nor demon, you are quite the curiosity," he remarked.

The woman was indeed Xiao Lingling, who had been staying in the courtyard. Only about ten meters apart from him, she had no trace of cultivation; her body was born from the large tree in the courtyard. Over the years, she had come to understand many things, she just chose not to speak of them openly.

"I am clearly human, sir, why would you say otherwise?" asked Xiao Lingling, lowering her head and then inquiring.

Yuan Shihong just smiled.

"I am here to ask you, where have the other people of this manor gone?"

Xiao Lingling pondered for a moment and was about to speak when suddenly there came a flurry of footsteps from behind the manor.

Yuan Shihong sensed an Innate presence rapidly fleeing the manor grounds.

"Trying to escape? Interesting!"

He grabbed Wan’er, and his figure blurred as he employed the Flash Spirit movement technique to its fullest. In just a few moments, he crossed the courtyard and shot in the direction of the noise.

Xiao Lingling was stunned to see him leave, then she continued to sit calmly under the tree and resumed reading.

She had been instructed to hide in the basement and not come out, but she knew that hiding alone wouldn’t keep her concealed. It was better to come out and attract attention openly. If she was lucky and lived, then it would be over. If she was unlucky and got killed by the attackers, then it would also be the end of her fate. Perhaps it would even fulfill a wish she harbored in her heart...

Yet she hadn’t expected that as soon as she emerged, someone deliberately led Yuan Shihong away, exposing their own hiding place, risking their lives to draw away the powerful enemy.

She vaguely knew that besides what was inside the manor, her husband still had hidden forces. Perhaps the forces that helped last time and this time were the same hidden forces.

"Quick, hide yourself!" Lin Xinyuan ran out from behind a rockery in the courtyard, coming over to pull her.

"It’s okay..." Xiao Lingling just smiled, showing a gentle smile.

"What on earth are you thinking!" Lin Xinyuan was also exasperated, forcibly embracing her. She lifted Xiao Lingling and dashed towards the entrance of the underground passage.

Xiao Lingling, being held in her arms, no longer spoke but simply smiled. Her smile grew even tenderer.

****************

Yuan Shihong chased out of the manor only to see a dark shadow flash by, heading straight for the distant woods.

"Thinking you can escape from me?"

He leaped up, using all his might in the ascending clouds technique of qinggong, his spiritual energy amplifying the lightness skill to bring about a series of void shadows, chasing directly after the person.

Unexpectedly, just as he rose into the air, a violent rumble emanated from the ground right below him.

Boom!

A blinding white light suddenly engulfed both him and Wan’er. (To be continued. If you enjoy this work, please visit Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly tickets. Your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)