Eternal Swordmaster
Chapter 303 - 296 Unforeseen Event - Part 1

Chapter 303: Chapter 296 Unforeseen Event - Part 1

The black wild goose flew through the clouds and mist that wreathed the mountains.

It glided over the hills, crossed ancient pavilions, its white long beak uttering a long call. Then, it swerved around a steep peak covered in grey-black rocks and suddenly surged upward.

Whoosh!

A White Feather Arrow shot up from below, piercing the wild goose’s neck fiercely.

The black-bodied, white-beaked wild goose instantly let out a mournful cry, plummeting straight down.

It sliced through the clouds, penetrated the mist, and crashed violently into a dense pine forest.

Crashing through the pine leaves with a rustling sound, the wild goose thudded onto the thick bed of pine needles.

After a few weak struggles, it flapped its wings a couple of times without strength, before a dark hand grabbed it and lifted it up.

"Nice and plump! Tsk tsk, dinner is secured for tonight!"

A dark-skinned man holding the goose shook it; his other hand carried a curved longbow, the string of which still trembled, clearly having just fired that arrow.

The man had the complete look of a hunter, with a tiger skin skirt wrapped around his waist, a hunting knife and a quiver on his back, and his face smeared with war paint.

Raising the goose, he put his mouth to its head and sucked fiercely.

A faint blue, translucent flame slowly emerged from the body of the goose, initially pulled out slowly and then suddenly accelerating, burrowing fiercely into the hunter’s mouth.

"Huo Sanlang, the man who never kills, I never knew where you cultivated such Demonic Arts from, but now I see it clearly," said another figure, a woman clad in a dark purple robe, who slowly emerged from a nearby tree trunk, her body rapidly solidifying from semi-transparency.

The woman’s eyebrows slanted into her temples, giving off a sharp and martial aura.

"As one of the three evils on the Evil Path, if it weren’t for the Sect Leader reigning us in, do you think I’d enjoy partnering with a madman and pervert like you?" The hunter scoffed coldly.

"Flower Demon of the Night, Hong Xiuer. Who doesn’t know you enjoy embroidering with human skin? Night Flower, heh, such a refined name," he taunted.

But the woman didn’t pay him any heed.

"Where’s Yellow Robe?"

"He’s the only one who hasn’t shown up," Huo Sanlang replied casually.

"Who says I haven’t arrived?"

Before their conversation ended, a puff of white smoke rose from the ground, filling the air. Amid the smoke, an elder wearing a golden crown emerged slowly, a small white medicine chest on his back. Although clearly a man, he was garbed in a bright red long robe typically worn by women, and his hair was adorned with a small red flower.

"Old Demon Huang, with your vast experience, the Sect Leader has ordered the three of us to kill that man. How we strike, how we combine forces, it’s all up to you," Huo Sanlang said indifferently.

The elder in the golden crown, Yellow Robe, glanced at the other two.

"Since the three great demons of the Evil Path have gathered here today, with our combined might against a mere Yuan Qiuque, what need is there for scheming? Strike together, and within three breaths, we can turn him into a pool of pus!"

"Old Demon Huang, with your Demonic Flame reaching the skies, and having just offered a sacrifice from an Outer Regions tribe not long ago, you’re naturally full of bravado. As for someone unsophisticated like me, dressed in women’s clothing, well..."

The woman in the long robe, the Flower Demon of the Night, spoke with a playful tone.

"Enough already, what kind of daughter are you, really?" Huo Sanlang interrupted impatiently. "Doesn’t it tire you, dressing as a woman all the time?"

"I like dressing as a woman! So what? How does it bother you?" The Flower Demon retorted angrily.

"It bothers my eyes!" Huo Sanlang’s expression suddenly turned cold. "Say one more word, and I’ll kill you!"

"I don’t believe you’d kill and break your vow!"

The Flower Demon’s body trembled, her complexion turning extremely unsightly.

Though they were all among the three demons, the strongest was Huo Sanlang, while the most cunning was the Blood-hand Confucian Scholar, Yellow Robe. She, who seemed perverted, was in fact the weakest.

"I don’t kill, I consume," Huo Sanlang said grimly.

"All right, all right, let’s all save the chatter. Jade Pure Sect and Heaven Cloud Sect have joined forces to ambush our Red Spine Sect masters. If we don’t retaliate, will they really think we’re afraid of Jade Pure Sect?" Yellow Robe intervened.

"Red Jade Ring, Red Jade Bead, Red-Crested Crane Jade Pendant from the Golden Mansion. Blue Moon Banner, Blue Moon Knife, Knife and Banner with Sword Bells by the Silver Osmanthus Furnace."

A lazy, carefree male voice drifted over.

"Drink to my heart’s content in the day, at night without flowers, chaos beckons instead."

The voice wafted over, echoing through the mountains and the forest beyond.

As the singing ceased, a slender figure leisurely settled onto a large bluestone outside the pine forest, drifting down like fluff, light as feather.

This was a man dressed like a schoolmaster from a private tutor’s home, wearing a somewhat worn grey cloth robe, carrying a small wooden cage in his hand, which contained a yellow oriole chirping incessantly.

"I never thought that Yuan, upon coming to Lord Autumn Mountain, would encounter an old acquaintance," he said with a gentle gaze, appearing just like any ordinary person, yet firmly watching the pine forest in front of him that blocked the way.

"Brother Yuan, after a hundred years apart, have you been well?" Yellow Robe donned his golden crown and stepped out in his red women’s robe which looked exceedingly bizarre.

"Brother Huang, since our parting at Shen Luo Mansion, we were supposed to meet again over wine and merriment, yet I did not anticipate..."

"...that you, a top Evil Path expert, would become a great hero of the Righteous Path, renowned by word of mouth. Oh, the irony," Yellow Robe said flatly.

"Reputation is but floating clouds; my greatest pleasure in life has always been to eat well, play well, and drink well," said Yuan Qiuque with a smile. "As for the rest, we can talk about that later."

"Since Master Yuan’s wishes are so tranquil, why not let us handle the Life and Death Knife?" The figure of Huo Sanlang emerged on the rugged mountain path behind Yuan Qiuque.

"The young lady has long admired Master Yuan. Meeting you today, it turns out that seeing one in person is not as impressive as hearing about them. I had thought you were a dashing and handsome hero of the age, but it turns out you’re just an ordinary old man," commented Hong Xiuer, who lightly landed on a black pine beside Yuan Qiuque.

"The Life and Death Knife? I remember you three demons of the Evil Path always acted alone. Who would have thought that now you’ve become the lapdogs of the Red Spine Sect?"

"A wise man submits to circumstances. Moreover, Sect Leader Huang’s Demonic Arts are unmatched; no one can rival him. We are willing to submit and serve him—what’s wrong with that?" said Huang in a solemn tone. "Why not join us, Brother Yuan? Just hand over the Life and Death Knife, and the sect leader will certainly be lenient with you. With Brother Yuan’s skills, you will surely be an unparalleled support for the Red Spine Sect’s conquest of the world, second to one, an enviable position!" Huang urged.

Yuan Qiuque showed a strange expression when Huang Yuerong was mentioned.

"If only it were that simple," he said, shaking his head. "The enmity of Shen Luo Mansion must be avenged. And... you don’t understand. Huang Yuerong is not the person you think he is..."

"Enough talk; in the end, you’re just getting ready to fight," Huo Sanlang said as he stepped forward and drew a hunting knife from behind.

Once the hunting knife was drawn, a ghostly wail seemed to rise faintly in the air.

Above the heads of the four, the sky slowly began to gather dark clouds, the wind howling increasingly louder, as if at any moment lightning might flash and torrential rain pour down.

Huang, no longer speaking, drew a strange weapon from his sleeve that flashed red. His gaze locked firmly on Yuan Qiuque’s hands.

As soon as he drew his weapon, specks of red light like fireflies began to circulate around him, gradually igniting everything on the ground—trees, leaves, grass, roots, even stones and earth—all burning slowly, casting everything in a red glow. The ground all around him turned into a sea of fire.

The Flower Demon at night produced a black jade hairpin with a flicker of black light on its surface, and soon waves of black fog billowed around her, swallowing everything in the vicinity. It was as if she was standing alone in an endless flood of darkness within a few dozen meters, creating a distinct area from the other two.

"It’s a pity..." Yuan Qiuque sighed.

"A pity for what?" Huang asked, narrowing his eyes.

"It’s a pity that it’s not easy for the three of you to have broken through to the Scenic Level, and yet today, all of you are going to fall here," Yuan Qiuque said with a sorrowful expression as he gently let go of the birds in his hand.

"Arrogant talk!" Huo Sanlang was the first to lose patience, standing beneath stormy clouds with violent winds. His hunting knife started to tremble slowly.

"The Life and Death Knife, once drawn, leaves only life or death, only one choice. This battle is not Yuan’s fault," said Yuan Qiuque. Suddenly, a huge black and white Yin Yang disc emerged behind him.

The disc began to rotate slowly, and from its center, a gigantic black and white knife blade rose gradually.

He reached back and took hold of it gently.

Boom!

A terrifying tremor exploded from him as the epicenter, sending a web of cracks spreading across the ground.

From a distance, one could see half the mountain crumble like glass into countless deep fissures. The entire mountain shook violently and skewed, sending a shower of debris tumbling down.

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

"This is my father’s Cave Mansion," said the boy.

In the midst of a desolate mountain, a platform protruded from the middle of a cliff halfway up.

Two figures, one tall and the other short, were standing on it at the moment.

Both were standing by the entrance of a dark and deep stone cave.

The tall one, a middle-aged man dressed like a Confucian scholar, was looking up at the characters carved above the cave entrance.

"Star... Spin... Cave."

"Master really can read these characters!" exclaimed the shorter figure, a black-haired boy with fair skin, looking somewhat like a girl.

Upon hearing the middle-aged Confucian scholar reading the name of the cave, the boy immediately showed a look of anticipation.

"It’s just a little bit of knowledge," replied the middle-aged Confucian scholar, who was Lin Xin, having come along with the boy disguised as the black-faced man, Black Fox.

After meeting with Black Fox, who had transformed from a black-faced man to a boy, the two exchanged part of the reward for their mission: four Demon Talisman Seeds.

The rest—the secret techniques for locating Demon Talisman Seeds and his father’s notes and relics—could only be found in the Star Spin Cave.

"Do we just go in like this?" Lin Xin asked the boy.

"Use this." The Black Fox boy twisted his body and with a flick of his bushy tail, a stream of black qi shot from behind him into the cave.

Soon after, the sound of faint crackling came from within.

After about ten breaths, it finally quieted down inside.

"It’s ready," the Black Fox boy nodded to Lin Xin.

They slowly walked into the cave through the entrance.

There was a small underground stream that flowed across at the entrance; the Black Fox boy went ahead and leap forward, landing on a large stone platform in front.

Lin Xin gave a slight smile and floated lightly, drifting across the stream.

"Master, follow me," said the Black Fox boy solemnly. (To be continued. If you like this work, we welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation tickets, monthly tickets, and your support is my biggest motivation. Mobile users, please read at m.qidian.com.)