Love & Redemption
Chapter 153: Volume 4: The Splintering Dream of China - 10: Soul and Spirit (Part 2)

Chapter 153: Volume 4: The Splintering Dream of China Chapter 10: Soul and Spirit (Part 2)

At that time, the night was profoundly dark, and visibility was dim, three of them chased after, but only saw the Red Bird’s red glow flash and vanish, flying towards the due north. There lay a great lake, and because the local people rumored that divine beings resided within it, human presence was scarce on regular days. Even more so for outsiders like them, who were not allowed to pass freely. Now, seeing the Red Bird flying towards it, everyone hesitated only momentarily before mounting their swords to give chase.

Just as they reached the lake, they saw the Red Bird’s feathers horrifically puff up as it circled above the water’s surface, emitting a chilling cry from its throat. Stranger still was the usually tranquil water’s surface, which suddenly rippled in concentric circles, as if something beneath was about to emerge.

As soon as Tengshe landed, he let out a "hmm" of surprise, sniffing left and right, and said, "This place is very odd."

Little Silver Flower shivered inside Yu Sifeng’s sleeve, trembling incessantly no matter how he tried to calm it. He couldn’t help but wonder aloud, "Could there really be a divine being in the lake?"

Tengshe scoffed, "What kind of divine would stay in such a forsaken place? This thing seems to have just come over... Mm, let me see... It was sent here using a Water Escape spell. Quite a big one, and it seems rather stupid..."

Before he could finish, the Red Bird screeched sharply, the sound piercing their ears. Suddenly, it flew high, seemingly also frightened, not daring to approach the lake’s center any further, but crying out anxiously at the shore, circling non-stop. The ripples on the lake grew larger and larger until they turned into violent, white froth. Following that, with a "whoosh", an enormous creature burst forth from the water, sending droplets falling like rain, carrying with them a fishy stench. As the creature broke the water’s surface, it shot up over a hundred yards, swaying left and right for a moment. It quickly spotted the radiant Red Bird by the shore and immediately lunged towards it.

Luckily, its huge body meant that although its movements were fast, they weren’t agile. The Red Bird dodged its lunge and pecked and scratched at it frantically. However, due to the considerable size difference, its attack was akin to tickling, unable to inflict any harm. The creature turned and lunged again, and the Red Bird, flapping its wings, emitted a fearful cry and suddenly soared higher, no longer daring to fight.

Xuanji saw that the creature looked like a giant snake, yet underneath its belly, there were countless legs wriggling, which was spine-chilling and resembled a centipede. However, a centipede didn’t have such glossy, dark skin. She and Yu Sifeng had traveled far and wide over the past year, encountering many strange demons and beasts, but they had never seen such an ugly monster before. Just one glance was enough to give them nightmares. Even someone as brave as her couldn’t help but shudder, stepping back several paces, not daring to look closely.

"Is it a Snake Demon?" Yu Sifeng drew his sword, ready to strike as soon as it pounced.

With arms crossed, Tengshe looked on with a gleeful expression, "Sort of, just one of the most idiotic lower-level demons. You’ve heard of the Ba Snake swallowing elephants, haven’t you? The Great Wilderness gives rise to a kind of giant snake that can swallow an elephant whole. This thing must be a Ba Snake. If it has grown legs, it must be quite old, and in a few hundred years, it could turn into a spirit and transform into a human."

"Turn into a human?!" Xuanji exclaimed, turning her face away. She mustered up her courage to take several more glances, the more she looked, the more disgusted she felt, unable to imagine what such a creature would look like as a human.

Tengshe shrugged his shoulders with an air of nonchalance, even letting out a yawn. He walked over to a tree by the shore and took a comfortable seat to nap, saying, "This sort of thing is beneath me. It’s a loss of dignity for me to fight it. Resolve this yourselves."

"Hey!" Xuanji shouted angrily, having never seen a more uncooperative spiritual beast!

Realizing that there were others on the shore, the Ba Snake silently dove towards them. Xuanji unsheathed Bengyu and chopped at its smooth and firm skin, only to be surprised by its unexpected resilience. As sharp as Bengyu was, it only pierced a little before being repelled. Oblivious, the Ba Snake slithered out of the water onto the shore, its numerous fine legs crawling, looming as high as a pile of more than a dozen men—a sight repulsive to behold.

Yu Sifeng took out a short sword from his sleeve and thrust it into the body of the Ba Snake, kicking off it and lightly landing on its back. His new treasure sword, making its first appearance in action today, was driven by all the strength he could muster deep into its spine. Black, foul-smelling blood gushed out like a spring, spraying all over him in specks.

With its colossal body, the Ba Snake was slow to react and seemed to feel nothing, focusing solely on shaking its head and tail in pursuit of Xuanji. Fortunately for her, the creature was not agile; otherwise, even ten Xuanjis would have been swallowed in one gulp.

Yu Sifeng suddenly felt a strangely itchy sensation on his wrist. Glancing down, he saw many small blisters emerging where the Ba Snake’s blood had splashed on him. As the blisters burst and yellow fluid seeped out, his skin began to corrode. Alarmed, he quickly tore his clothes and wrapped them tightly around his wrist. Behind him, he heard Tengshe laugh, "Its blood is quite poisonous. You should be careful."

Xuanji cursed, "Enough with your nonsense! You’re a jerk for not lending a hand!" She then turned around, grabbed the dagger that Yu Sifeng had planted into the Ba Snake, leaped onto its back, and began stabbing wildly with Bengyu, creating one bloody hole after another.

Only then did the Ba Snake start to feel some pain. It writhed on the ground as if sifting chaff, and the two people on its back were tossed here and there, disoriented. If not for their tight grip on the handles of their swords, which were deeply embedded in its body, they probably would have been thrown off long ago. But the Ba Snake, with its prodigious strength, continued to thrash wildly, eventually intensifying its efforts to the point where the two could no longer hold on and leaped down from its back. Seeing such a massive creature twisting and turning on the shore, flattening a large area of the forest behind it, both were somewhat shocked.

"The eyes, the eyes! Stab its eyes!" Tengshe instructed them from behind, posing like an expert master giving tips on battling the Ba Snake.

Xuanji was about to turn on him in a quarrel when a sudden inspiration struck her. Glancing at the Ba Snake, she saw its round head and two large eyes shining like green Liuli, utterly defenseless. Yu Sifeng tugged at the hem of her clothes from behind, and immediately catching on, she grit her teeth and flew up with Sword Control, hurling herself at its big head.

The Ba Snake, struggling with the pain of its wounds on the back, suddenly scented the breath of living beings nearby. Overjoyed, it snapped its jaw shut. Yu Sifeng darted through its sharp fangs, suddenly soared higher, and alongside Xuanji, aimed ruthlessly for its large, dull eyes and stabbed down.

With a "pff" sound, they felt like they had punctured a ball, and a great deal of black liquid gushed from the wound. Knowing the dangers, they did not dare to face it head-on, quickly dodging and drawing their swords for another strike, not knowing how many times they stabbed at the pitiful eyes of the Ba Snake. In agony, its whole body shook violently, its numerous legs kicked in disarray, and though it sensed the breath of living beings, they were as nimble as rabbits and eluded capture. Finally, the Ba Snake gave up and rolled on the ground, clueless about how to alleviate the severe pain.

Xuanji held Bengyu in her hand, her fingers slowly brushing over the blade as a dazzling flame suddenly burst forth from it. She seemed to be able to summon a bit of the Samadhi True Fire now, although not much, but it was somewhat more reliable than the intermittent success she’d had before.

Feeling the sudden intense heat flare up beside it, Ba Snake instinctively tried to dodge, but it was too late. Xuanji leapt onto its back, plunging Bengyu, which was ablaze with Samadhi True Fire, fiercely into its heart. Like cutting through melon, she sliced from head to tail. The Samadhi True Fire was an incredibly formidable Heavenly Fire, and Bengyu was an exceptionally powerful Divine Artifact. This strike cleaved Ba Snake in half. It had only managed to struggle once before it crashed to the ground, dead on impact.

Xuanji slowly landed on the ground, her palms sweating profusely, breathing quickly, hardly daring to believe that the two of them had managed to kill such a monstrous creature. As she was dazed, she suddenly heard Tengshe clap from behind, "Not bad, though it took a bit longer than I expected, you still killed it. Very good."

"I... you," Xuanji snapped back to reality and immediately turned around to berate him, "have you ever seen such a useless spiritual beast? While your master was up front fighting the demon, you just sat there watching the show?"

Tengshe snorted, "If you can’t even handle a Ba Snake, how can you be my master?"

Xuanji felt so frustrated she could almost go insane, wishing she could poke a few holes in his face with Bengyu. Yu Sifeng came over and patted her arm, gently saying, "Let it be, he does have a point, after all. Spiritual beasts are only meant to assist their masters, we still have to rely on ourselves when it really comes to fighting. Being able to kill the Ba Snake just goes to show our progress."

Xuanji glared fiercely at Tengshe and was about to speak when suddenly she heard the shrill cry of Red Bird by the shore start up again. Everyone was startled, thinking that some other monstrous creature was about to emerge from the water. They had barely managed to kill Ba Snake, and if another formidable beast appeared, they really would have no choice but to wait for death.

Red Bird took to the skies, circling above the lake as if hesitant to dive into the water, when there was the faint sound of whistling through the air, and small objects shot out from the water, striking Red Bird right in the belly, sending it screeching down to the shore, unable to move.

Xuanji hurriedly went to rescue it, but then a familiar laughing voice came from the center of the lake, followed by a loud splash as someone leapt out of the water, flying high in the air with Sword Control, looking down at them from above. Both figures were dressed in short black clothes with a White Iron Ring hanging at their waists.

Upon seeing the faces of the two people clearly, Xuanji felt as if she had been struck by Heavenly Thunder, completely unable to move a finger.

Ruo Yu! Zhong Minyan!

After looking down for a while, Ruo Yu suddenly smiled, "It’s been half a year, Xuanji, and you have greatly improved. Ba Snake was the Deputy Hall Master’s spiritual beast. It was brought here just to scare you all, but you weren’t watched carefully, and you managed to kill it."

Xuanji couldn’t say a word, just staring blankly at Zhong Minyan. He hung his head, not looking at anyone, the vague moonlight casting an unprecedentedly cold and frosty expression on his face.

Yu Sifeng exclaimed, "How did you get here?! Min Yan! Ruo Yu!"

Zhong Minyan turned his head away, saying nothing. Ruo Yu laughed softly twice before saying, "Sorry for harming your Red Bird. It was impolite, so I had to take preemptive action. Si Feng, how are your wounds? You really do have a charmed life, that sword thrust didn’t manage to kill you."

Yu Sifeng’s brows furrowed tightly, remaining silent.

Xuanji’s lips moved slightly before she finally said, "Six... Sixth Brother, come back!"

Zhong Minyan acted as if he heard nothing. Ruo Yu gently continued, "Such foolish words need only be said once. We came to say hello and also to pass on a message from the Deputy Hall Master. He’s asking whether Linglong has woken up yet. He seems to have accidentally picked the wrong bottle last time, giving the wrong soul. If Linglong hasn’t been saved yet, he invites you and Si Feng to pay another visit to Buzhou Mountain."

This was complete provocation. Xuanji clenched her fists tightly, her nails digging into her palm, not even feeling the pain anymore. What should she do at a time like this? Accusations and pleas were useless, and to come to blows would hurt even more than hitting herself.

In silence, for there was nothing else she could do, she remained motionless.

*****

The recent updates have more words than before... Stretching out my hand for tickets, monthly recommendations cannot be omitted.

Such a diligent mother as Shisi is rare to see. Blushing... (To be continued, for future story please visit www.qidian.com, more Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)