Love & Redemption
Chapter 148: Volume 4 Hua Meng Sudden Split - 5 Spiritual Beast (3)

Chapter 148: Volume 4 Hua Meng Sudden Split Chapter 5 Spiritual Beast (3)

As soon as they landed, the four constables also caught up. At Yellow Bird Slope, the flames soared into the sky, and the firelight cast on everyone’s faces, drenching them in sweat. Constable Yi, seeing Xuanji and the others were also there, hurriedly exclaimed, "There’s someone! When I ran over here just now, I saw someone in the woods!"

Yu Sifeng was quite startled and repeatedly asked, "Are you sure you didn’t see wrong?"

The area here was burning so fiercely, they already felt unbearably hot even on the periphery of the forest, let alone inside.

Constable Yi nodded and said, "Absolutely not mistaken! He seemed to be wearing a bamboo hat, like he was traveling. I called out to him a few times, but he did not respond and disappeared in a blink of an eye. Seeing the forest ablaze, I also didn’t dare to chase in."

It must be a lost traveler, and if they allowed him to wander around Yellow Bird Slope like this, he would eventually burn to death. Yu Sifeng and Xuanji exchanged a glance, nodded, and unbuckled the water bags from their waists. They poured them over their heads down to their toes, and the water, cooked by the high temperature, had also become hot. The wet clothes clinging to their skin turned hotter than before when the scorching wind blew.

"The two young heroes?" The four constables saw them this way and were about to enter the woods, hastily trying to stop them, "It’s burning so fiercely, isn’t going in the same as courting death?!"

Yu Sifeng borrowed a few more water bags from two of the constables, hung them on his waist and said softly, "Please wait here, pay attention to the surroundings. We’ll check it out and come right back."

Without waiting for them to stop him again, the two quickly ran into the woods. The fire in the Yellow Bird Slope forest grew even more intense, even the soil turned red, cracked open, and the two picked only the unburnt spots to run on. Before long, the water on their bodies had dried up, the skin on their faces nearly peeling off in pain. However, this was secondary; most crucially, the ground had gotten so hot it seemed like a frying pan, probably scalding many blisters under their feet, painfully piercing to the marrow. They had to pour two more bags of water and looked around, one to find the Fire Beast that Xuanji had shot down, and one to find the traveler the constables had seen before.

After searching in the woods for a long time, still no trace. Four bags of water all used up, they would turn into roast meat if they stayed any longer. Yu Sifeng saw that the path forward was full of flames with no way to enter and finally sighed, "Let’s go back. Staying here any longer is also dangerous for us."

Xuanji nodded, and just as they were about to return the same way, they suddenly heard a clear whistle from the opposite side of the forest engulfed in flames, exactly the sound of the Fire Beast earlier. Both were startled, hastily turned around, but saw amidst the bright blinding firelight, a blurry figure moving leisurely, supporting a bamboo hat, quite relaxed. The whistling gradually lowered and eventually turned into singing.

"Heaven cannot be guessed by worries, Dao cannot be prearranged; delays are fated, why recognize the time? Moreover, heaven and earth act like a furnace, the Creator as the craftsman; Yin and Yang as the charcoal, all things like copper."

The voice was clear and melodious, reaching straight to the heavens. Xuanji listened for a while, amazed, and asked, "That demon is singing! What is he singing?"

Yu Sifeng shook his head, "It seems to be about the unpredictability of the Heavenly Dao, even if you know something beforehand, you can’t exactly predict when it will happen. Living beings are like in a furnace, with Yin and Yang as charcoal, melting everything."

He suddenly thought of the recent events and remained silent. The song was indeed right, even though Liu Yihuan had Heavenly Eye and could oversee the bigger picture, knowing fortunes and misfortunes, there is always a predetermined fate in the darkness, who can genuinely avoid bad luck and seek good fortune.

Xuanji also seemed to have a realization and remained silent. The demon sang for a while, then suddenly laughed loudly, and said in a deep voice, "Two little kids, quite bold, eh! Actually dared to stab me with Sword Qi!"

Both were shocked to see the fierce fire opposite suddenly shot up, powerful and compelling, forcing them to step back. The wall of fire split open a crack, as if torn by a pair of invisible giant hands, and the figure that had been walking slowly in the firelight calmly walked out through that crack. The man was dressed in dark clothes, wearing a bamboo hat, one hand holding it, the other hand patting his shoulder. Amid the swirling firelight, his hair seemed silver, each strand fluttering, his half-visible face under the bamboo hat was smooth as jade, a smile on his lips.

"It’s you!" Xuanji pointed at him, her jaw almost dropping. It was the same man they had met in the fields that afternoon! Initially, seeing his snow-white hair, they thought he was an old man, but who knew he was a young man! "You... you’re not the... fire-starting demon, are you?"

The man chuckled and did not reply for a while, then said, "I only passed through the mortal world out of necessity, there will be blessings to repay later. This fire will extinguish after 1 a.m.; if you don’t want to burn to death here, better hurry up and leave."

Yu Sifeng furrowed his brows, said softly, "So that Fire Beast, Tengshe, it’s you?"

The man adjusted his bamboo hat, looked up at him, and Yu Sifeng felt his gaze piercing, like cold electricity, unexpectedly startling him. Tengshe was no ordinary demon beast, but a Divine Beast from above, and since he said he passed through the mortal world, with blessings to repay later, those words were surely true. With him and Xuanji alone, there was no need even to think; they could not fight him, just a single hair from him could kill both of them. Immediately thinking of withdrawing, he respectfully said, "It was our recklessness. Please, Tengshe, go ahead, we will leave right away."

Xuanji, pulled a few steps by him, still couldn’t help but turn back to look at the man, curiously asking, "Is he Tengshe? That huge demon from before? How did he turn into a human..."

Yu Sifeng whispered, "Not a demon, a Divine Beast. This is beyond our control, we can only leave it to him."

Xuanji also felt the pain searing through her chest from the flames and truly didn’t want to linger, so she nodded. Unexpectedly, the man behind them suddenly sneered, "Just like that, you’re leaving? You dared to disrespect me, naturally, you must pay the price!"

Both of them were shocked. Xuanji felt the Bengyu at her waist suddenly heat up, becoming as hot as if it had just been pulled from a furnace, causing her to shiver. The next moment, Bengyu leaped from its sheath into the air, tracing a silver arc before landing steadily in the man’s hand.

"Is this the sword that wounded me?" the man arrogantly asked, flicking the Bengyu with his finger and immediately producing a clear humming sound. He praised, "The mortal world does have this fine sword! No wonder it could injure me! You two kids are oblivious, having not seen the world, but I won’t blame you. As a punishment, I’ll be keeping this sword!"

Turning around, he pointed at a spot on his shoulder blade, indeed, there was a small hole in his clothes, but whether it had pierced his skin was unknown. The Sword Qi of Bengyu was extremely sharp, capable of splitting rocks. Both had witnessed the Sword Qi hitting the body of Tengshe, yet it only tore a hole in his clothes, which shocked them immensely.

Seeing Bengyu continually calling out in his hands, as if unwilling to leave its master, Xuanji urgently said, "You can’t keep it! That’s my sword!"

The man laughed, "If not the sword, then keep the person! Was it that hand that injured me? Chop it off yourself!"

Xuanji saw his unreasonable behavior, and her naturally stubborn temper surged as she angrily said, "It’s clearly your fault! Starting a fire without reason, harming so many people! Still a Divine Beast? Must be fake, right?!"

The man became furiously enraged and shouted loudly, "What impudence, girl! Divine Beasts are not to be insulted by you!"

Xuanji retorted, "It’s you who are bringing disgrace upon yourself!"

The man sneered without replying, and, pinching Bengyu with two fingers, was about to exert force to snap it. Xuanji screamed, rushing to stop him, but unexpectedly, the wall of fire behind him suddenly surged like the opening and closing of a large gate, pressing towards her, and she felt an unbearable heat forcing her to retreat.

After attempting to break it for a while, Bengyu remained intact, which slightly surprised him. He gently caressed it and exclaimed in shock, "Ding Kun?! It’s actually Ding Kun! How did it end up like this..." Then suddenly startled, he looked up, sizing Xuanji from head to toe, muttering, "Changed a lot... no wonder, no wonder..."

Xuanji ignored his "no wonder" and demanded, "Give me back my sword! You damned demon!"

The man chuckled, thrusting Bengyu into the ground, and declared with arms folded, "I’ve long heard of your Samadhi True Fire’s prowess, always wanted a chance to test it against you. Heaven pity me! Today, I finally got my chance! Don’t be polite now, make your move! Let’s see what the War God General is made of!"

Xuanji saw his fanatical gaze, his bizarre demeanor, felt a chill in her heart, and stepped back, softly saying, "I... I won’t fight you..."

The man laughed uproariously, "You have no choice but to fight! Watch out!"

As soon as his words fell, the fire wall behind him ’whooshed’, surging like a tidal wave, covering the sky and smashing down with heat waves intense enough to melt steel. Xuanji screamed, no longer caring about dignity, and tumbled away to escape; narrowly was her skirt hem licked by a tongue of flame, and in an instant, half of her skirt was burnt.

The man laughed derisively, his voice mocking, "Ha! A glimpse of your bare skin, yet you’re just an ordinary woman after all!"

Xuanji’s face turned both red and pale, clutching the corner of her skirt, unable to speak a word. Suddenly, she felt a weight on her shoulder; it was Yu Sifeng taking off his jacket to drape over her, whispering, "Put this on. Let’s find a chance to escape; he is too strong." He had taken off his jacket, baring his upper body, sweat cascading down his skin in the firelight, casting captivating colors.

Xuanji was initially stunned, then blushed. Unable to utter the words of thanks stuck in her throat, she turned and fled.

As Yu Sifeng saw Tengshe about to summon fierce flames, he instantly drew a talisman paper, after making a hand seal, he threw it out, immediately transforming into a sky full of miniature water dragons, blocking the fierce flames momentarily. He took this gap to turn and flee, suddenly hearing the man laugh, "Leaving the palace as fire, transformations at will. Fleeing without fighting is no better than death."

He felt a scorching pain on his back, and turning around, he saw the sea of fire had engulfed him, swallowing him whole, with Xuanji’s scream sounding far away in the background. (To be continued, for further developments, please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters available, support the author, support genuine reading!)