Love & Redemption
Chapter 147: Volume 4 Hua Meng Sudden Split - 4 Spiritual Beast (2)

Chapter 147: Volume 4 Hua Meng Sudden Split Chapter 4 Spiritual Beast (2)

The Chief Constable saw that both of them carried swords and, despite their refined clothes, had a dust-covered appearance. He figured they must have some connections, and finally nodded his assent.

As soon as Xuanji received the deposit, the first thing she did was pay the tab; the surly tavern keeper released Yu Sifeng, saying harshly, "Good that you know your place! If you dare to dine and dash again, I’ll break both your little brats’ legs!" With that, he walked away cursing and grumbling.

Xuanji frowned as she watched him walk away, muttering softly, "That man is so annoying; he’s still so arrogant even after we paid."

Yu Sifeng straightened his disheveled collar, offering a light smile, "Watch me, I’ll teach him a lesson."

He pulled an Iron Marble from within his robes, holding it between two fingers as if he was about to flick it; Xuanji hurriedly gripped his arm, "Don’t, he’s just an ordinary person, how can he withstand your flick!" A flick from Yu Sifeng could shatter a Liuli jar—as she had witnessed. If it hit the man, it might break his bones.

He shook his head, snapped his fingers, and with a "pawn" sound, the marble dropped to the ground, bounced up, and hit the man right in the back of the knee. The man cried out and tumbled to the floor, taking a while to get back up. He looked around, baffled as to how he fell, and could only curse and mutter as he returned to the tavern.

"Tripping him was a gift for offending us," Yu Sifeng said with a faint smile, a hint of mischievousness in his eyes, showing a childlike spirit.

Even though Xuanji had taken down the notice and they had received the deposit, the Chief Constable was still wary of them. Hearing they planned to head to Pingliang straight away, he quickly summoned his men, selecting four loyal and formidable subordinates to follow them—ostensibly for support, but actually to keep watch.

"The official road to Pingliang allows for fast travel; you can arrive within a day by galloping. This strange fire matter, we entrust to the two young heroes. If the issue isn’t resolved upon the month’s expiration, I’m afraid we’ll trouble you to return the deposit to the government office."

The Chief Constable spoke quite curtly; in reality, they were given half a year to resolve the issue, but he felt these young men were charlatans and had a bad first impression, so he only gave them a month’s deadline. If they weren’t successful, they had to politely return the deposit and leave.

Yu Sifeng bowed with hands clasped, "Let’s not talk of other matters for now. Please provide a detailed account of the strange fire, so that we can understand the full situation."

The Chief Constable hadn’t expected him to make such an inquiry and felt he couldn’t neglect to answer, so he proceeded to describe the situation in detail.

It turned out that the strange fire hadn’t first appeared in Pingliang. According to the locals, a few nights prior, an anomaly appeared as great flames engulfed the summit of Dragon Head Mountain, reaching into the sky as if Heavenly Fire had descended. The next day, they found that nearly half of Dragon Head Mountain was scorched. The blackened, substantial scorch marks spread from the peak, looking as if the flames were moving on their own, heading west across Dragon Head Mountain. They trailed along the Jing River and reached Pingliang. The people of Lutai Town were so fearful because they lived too close and didn’t know when the strange fire would reach their doorsteps; with the spreading tendency of the strange fire, Lutai Mountain couldn’t be spared.

Yu Sifeng heard this and pondered for a long while. Xuanji tugged on his sleeve and whispered, "It sounds like a large demon capable of spewing flames."

Yu Sifeng furrowed his brows in concentration, unable to think of any large demon species associated with fire. Besides, the places that had been scorched were so horrific that it seemed unlikely to be ordinary flames. Could it be that some Divine Beast was using the human world as a pathway?

Seeing them silent, the Chief Constable assumed they were intimidated and spoke, "This matter is indeed strange; if it’s inconvenient for you two..."

Yu Sifeng smiled and waved the concern away, "The Constable worries too much. Since we have taken down the notice, we won’t leave Lutai Town until we resolve this matter." He turned to look at the four constables the Chief Constable had sent to assist, adding, "It’s best if you each carry two bags of water, and choose the horses with the fastest endurance. No need to prepare anything else."

The four men concurred and asked, "Shall we set off now? Should we bring two more horses for the two young heroes?"

Xuanji and Yu Sifeng shared a smile but did not reply. They made their way to the government gate and turned back saying, "No need, we will go on ahead to Pingliang to wait for you." With those words, they rose into the air by Sword Flight, disappearing in the blink of an eye, leaving the crowd to rush to the gate in astonishment. Only then did they realize that the pair were truly Cultivators.

Performing Sword Flight publicly was usually not allowed, for fear of causing a stir, but both were annoyed at being underestimated and, without planning it, decided to show off their abilities. After flying off, Xuanji burst into laughter, saying, "I think sometimes we’re kind of bad."

Yu Sifeng also found it amusing. They both had the whims of youth, and this bit of mischief was nothing more than a minor display of their capabilities.

Lutai Town was not far from Pingliang, and it took almost no time for the two to arrive there by Sword Control. Xuanji noticed the extensive farmlands stretching as far as the eye could see, with both wet and dry fields, and thought the Chief Constable’s description of Pingliang as a granary, specializing in grain production, was indeed accurate.

It was the heat of the afternoon, and as they walked along the field ridges without any shade, they were drenched in sweat. Yu Sifeng took a deep breath, exclaiming, "Strange, Pingliang has never been so scorching hot in the summer; it’s suffocatingly hot."

Xuanji felt even hotter, her cheeks flushed red as she looked around and sniffed the air, saying, "I don’t smell any demon energy, but this heat is different from summer warmth—like being scorched from the inside. It must be related to that strange fire."

Seeing someone across the ridge, she ran over and asked, "Excuse me, where around here has the strange fire appeared?"

The person, caught off guard by someone suddenly rushing from behind, stumbled, and his bamboo hat rolled off, revealing silver-white hair. It turned out to be an elder. Yu Sifeng quickly helped to steady him, speaking softly, "Sorry for startling you, elder."

The man raised his head, causing them both to startle. It turned out he had white hair like frost, yet his face was young and fresh like that of a youngster, with eyebrows arching sharply and a pair of spirited Phoenix Eyes; he was a coldly handsome man.

He lightly pushed aside Yu Sifeng’s helping hand, picked up the bamboo hat from the ground, placed it back on his head, and whispered, "I’m not quite clear about this matter; I’m just a passerby."

After speaking, he turned his face and walked away. Xuanji looked stunned and said, "How did he... I thought he was an old man."

Yu Sifeng pondered and said, "I’ve heard of a disease where young people can also grow white hair, and gradually their skin on the face turns white... That disease is very rare and quite terrifying. Maybe this person has it... Indeed, we were impolite just now."

After finishing, he suddenly thought of something, clapped his hand, and exclaimed, "No! That’s not it!"

Xuanji curiously asked, "Not what?"

Yu Sifeng didn’t bother to reply as he turned around looking for the person’s figure, but saw the fields were empty, without a single human shadow in sight! The person had clearly not gone far, yet in the blink of an eye, he had disappeared!

Xuanji also realized something was wrong and anxiously said, "How could he disappear?! There’s nowhere to hide here!"

Yu Sifeng said, "Look, the weather is so hot, we are sweating profusely, but when I saw that person just now, his face was clean and dry, without a single drop. Besides, he claimed to be a passerby, but did you see him carrying any baggage? It seems quite peculiar!"

Moreover, to vanish into thin air in the blink of an eye, this person must be no ordinary individual.

"Si Feng, do you think he could be related to the strange fire?" Xuanji walked a full circle, confirmed there was nowhere to hide nearby, and had no choice but to return and ask him.

Yu Sifeng shook his head: "I don’t know... Let’s move on. We can ask when we find someone."

The four constables from Lutai Town, without eating or drinking, spurred their horses on and finally arrived in Pingliang by evening; meanwhile, Xuanji and Yu Sifeng had already arrived at the farmer’s house and thoroughly inquired about the strange fire.

"The strange fire has been traveling westward. The local elders say that last night it burned the fields of Li Family Village. Based on this trend, tonight it should leave Pingliang Town and be near the forest by Yellow Bird Slope. So, tonight, Miss Zhe and I will guard over there at Yellow Bird Slope, and we need the four of you to watch the movements from outside the forest. The moment there’s any movement, send a warning signal immediately to notify us."

Having said this, Yu Sifeng gave each of the four constables a long, thin, firecracker-like object and taught them how to use it.

Constable A, hearing that only the two of them were going to confront the strange fire, couldn’t help but express his concern, "Miss and Young Master, don’t you need our help? Just the two of you... It’s... too dangerous."

Yu Sifeng shook his head and said, "This is not something you can handle. If you insist on going, you’ll only be throwing your lives away. Rest assured, we have our own plans. Please keep your water bags with you at all times and do not discard them."

Everyone had already witnessed their sword flight skills in Lutai Town, so they had no doubts, and they immediately nodded their heads in assent. While they were talking, the host farmer sent over some food and drinks. Pingliang was a major grain-producing town, so the dishes were nothing special. Everyone ate for a while, finished two jars of wine, and when they looked up and saw the moon high in the sky, instead of feeling the coolness of the night, it became even hotter, soaking their clothes with sweat.

An elder from the host family sighed, "It’s about time. It’s so hot, soon there’ll be flames reaching the sky, and no one dares to go see what’s happening for fear of being scorched."

A gust of wind blew through the window, scorching hot as well, not only failing to alleviate the stuffiness but making it even more oppressive. Xuanji was about to roll up his sleeves to fan himself when he heard a distant cry, like some gigantic animal crying out low, yet it wasn’t unpleasant, but clear and melodious.

The old man pointed to the window in alarm and said urgently, "It’s here! The firelight!"

Everyone quickly turned around, only to see far away, countless bright red flames soaring into the sky, slashing the night. The firelight was shimmering and dazzling, indeed like heavenly fire falling. Yu Sifeng smacked the table, and the six of them leaped out the window, racing toward Yellow Bird Slope where the firelight was emerging.

Xuanji, the most anxious of them all, couldn’t wait to run and took the lead in sword flight. Yu Sifeng hurriedly instructed the four constables, then followed in sword flight. Once reaching a higher viewpoint, they saw everything in front of them: the large expanse of forest at Yellow Bird Slope was indeed on fire, with wild flames threatening to burn up the sky. The color of the flames was even brighter and redder than ordinary fire, no wonder half of the sky was lit.

Xuanji, seeing the blinding fire and what appeared to be a massive object of the same color slowly moving within, nearly the size of half the forest, gasped and said softly, "What is that?"

Before the words fell, the object let out another clear cry, and immediately following, it floated up from the ground, two pairs of gigantic Fire Wings flapping, scattering countless sparks. Yu Sifeng, noticing the creature had wings and resembled a bird but with a long, thick snake tail, had a flash of insight and blurted out, "It’s Tengshe, the Divine Beast Tengshe!"

Xuanji didn’t wait for him to finish, already pursuing in sword flight, drew out the Bengyu with a "hum," which emitted a joyful ring. Filled with Sword Qi, she formed a sword technique with her fingers and, with a flick of her wrist, a myriad of silver Sword Qi shot towards the huge, beautiful Fire Beast. It clearly hadn’t expected an ambush from behind and was directly hit by the Sword Qi, letting out a shrill cry. It twirled in the air, suddenly landed, and disappeared.

"Chase it!" Yu Sifeng shouted.

(To be continued... If you want to know what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)