Love & Redemption
Chapter 175: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift - 32 Conference (Part 4)

Chapter 175: Volume 4 Hua Meng’s Sudden Rift Chapter 32 Conference (Part 4)

The person from Lize Palace immediately blew a whistle and slowly called the python back. It seemed somewhat reluctant, circling around Chu Lei and the Dianjing Valley disciple twice, regrettably hissing, and finally winding away. It coiled around its master’s body, and eventually slowly sank into the shadow at his feet, leaving no trace.

That person slowly clasped his fists together, speaking in a calm voice, "My apologies for the offense, please forgive any disrespect."

Chu Lei couldn’t help but fall silent. After a long moment, he turned to look at the Dianjing Valley disciple who was petrified with fear and asked in a low voice, "Can you continue?" The person’s eyes were wide with shock, utterly unable to utter a single word, and he looked like he was about to faint. Chu Lei sighed quietly, clapped his hands, and announced loudly, "Victory to Lize Palace!"

Noise from the wooden building rose one wave after another, with praises for some, curses for Lize Palace’s breach of etiquette for others, but most were curious where that person hid such a massive creature. Yu Sifeng sat back down in a daze, his mind filled with doubts. He never knew that among the younger generation of disciples, someone could rear such a large spiritual beast! That python looked to have a cultivation of nearly five hundred years. Could a young disciple really subdue it?

Someone grabbed his arm, and Linglong’s excited voice rang in his ear, "Oh my goodness, Si Feng! Your Lize Palace actually has such an incredible person! That python he raised is so powerful! Your Little Silver Flower is nothing compared to it!"

Clearly, the Little Silver Flower coiled in his sleeve was not pleased with Linglong’s words, struggling to stretch its head out and hiss aggressively at her.

"Oh, your little snake even gets angry!" Seeing how cute it was, Linglong couldn’t resist teasing it, making a silly face at it. Zhong Minyan couldn’t help but smile wryly, saying, "Why are you so childish, fighting with it like that."

Across at the Eastern Arena, the Dianjing Valley disciple had passed out and was carried down from the stone column. The expressions of several elders from Dianjing Valley were not looking good, as their loss was too embarrassing. Elder Jiang, who was relatively younger in Dianjing Valley, and quite hot-tempered, immediately remarked, "The people of Lize Palace are indeed full of talents, bringing such a large spiritual beast to the stage, are they trying to fight to the death?" Elder Heng Song gently tugged at his sleeve, but he acted as if he hadn’t noticed.

The Great Palace Master of Lize Palace seemed to have not heard his comment. Instead, the Vice Palace Master chuckled and clasped her fists, saying, "My young disciple was rude; I apologize on his behalf to everyone here. This is his first time participating in such a competition and understandably he was nervous. Fortunately, he did not go as far as to kill anyone. Compared to that Wu Tong from back then, this is indeed a relief."

By mentioning Wu Tong, she was clearly looking to embarrass Dianjing Valley. Back then, Wu Tong was a disciple of Dianjing Valley. Surely enough, Elder Jiang’s face immediately looked terrible. Wu Tong was his direct disciple back then; when he committed a crime and was hunted by the Five Great Sects, he ended up joining the demons, bringing the greatest shame to Elder Jiang, not anyone else.

He said sharply, "By saying that, you are implying..."

Before he could finish, Valley Master Rong uttered a stern warning, "Elder Jiang! The competition isn’t over yet!"

He forcefully swallowed the rest of his words, his face turning an ashen hue. Valley Master Rong spoke indifferently, "Your sect indeed has many talents, enviable indeed. However, the Flower Pinning Conference is about exchange and learning, not combating enemies. Such a large spiritual beast could easily cause casualties; I hope both Palace Masters will give this serious consideration."

The Great Palace Master still said nothing, while the Vice Palace Master replied with a smile, "Valley Master Rong speaks truly; I will instruct him not to use the spiritual beast unless absolutely necessary."

Her response sounded insincere, and even someone as composed as Valley Master Rong couldn’t help but feel a spark of anger, giving a light snort and saying no more.

The first day of the competition ended swiftly, eliminating half of the participants. Out of ten disciples from the Shaoyang Sect who competed, only six remained, whereas Fuyu Island took advantage of the terrain and managed to keep eight. In the evening, the young disciples gathered together to celebrate Xuanji’s passing of the first round, naturally leading to another bout of feasting and drinking. Laughter and lively banter among the young people need not even be mentioned, but sometimes Xuanji would remember the inexplicable victory over Du Minxing and feel slightly uncomfortable.

On the way back to his room, Tengshe, out of character, said nothing and remained oddly quiet. Xuanji, not used to this behavior, couldn’t help but ask, "Do you... uh, like the dishes on the island?"

Tengshe suddenly snapped back to reality and nodded eagerly, "Very nice! Quite delicious! After this whole event ends, can I pack some food to take with me?"

Xuanji chuckled dryly twice, "It’s possible... but if you take it away, it’ll spoil in no more than two days..."

Seeing Tengshe seemed to be preoccupied with something, as if his mind was not at peace, she asked, "What are you thinking about? It’s rare to see you with something on your mind."

Tengshe snorted, "What nonsense are you talking about! How could an immortal have such trifling thoughts and concerns as you mortals do!"

"Then why do you look so preoccupied?"

Tengshe furrowed his brows, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "I seem to have... smelled a familiar scent. But I couldn’t find out where it was during the day, I’ve smelled it before, although I can’t remember whose it is..."

Xuanji wondered aloud, "Are you saying there’s a demon on the island? Could it be that Uncle Dongfang opened the checkpoints and let someone in, and that’s how a demon sneaked in?"

Tengshe shook his head, pondering, "It doesn’t seem like it’s from the crowd... I want to take a walk around the Martial Arts Arena, do you want to come along?"

"Why go to the Martial Arts Arena so late?" Xuanji glanced at the sky, which was almost at the third watch, "It’ll be the same if you go tomorrow. Since it’s a demon you know, it probably isn’t a bad guy, so what’s the hurry?"

Tengshe gave her a disdainful look and, without bothering with her, turned and left, saying, "You’re so clueless, have you ever heard that the darker the night, the better for handling affairs? If you’re not going, I’ll go by myself, don’t follow me!"

Xuanji hurriedly caught up to him, "I’m going too! You’re such a reckless beast, if you cause any trouble again, it will be your master who loses face!"

"Pah! Don’t flatter yourself too much!"

They bickered as they walked until they reached the Martial Arts Arena. Even at night, there were countless guards patrolling the arena to prevent anyone from tampering with the stages in their eagerness to win. Tengshe took a convoluted path, seemingly unfamiliar with the way, occasionally lifting his head to sniff the air before moving on. Xuanji felt dizzy from the winding route and tugged at his sleeve, whispering, "Hey! Where exactly are we going? It’s going to be embarrassing if we get caught!"

"Who asked you to come along? Just roll back by yourself!" Tengshe shook off her hand and leaned to the left to sniff, suddenly noticing something. With his eyebrows raised, he bolted.

"Wait!" Xuanji quickly followed, seeing him run toward a large platform behind the northern arena, which was guarded by a ring of Fuyu Island disciples. His wild dash was bound to attract attention sooner or later. She was extremely anxious, yet she couldn’t call out, so she clenched her teeth and followed, suddenly remembering something. She touched the small pouch at her waist and suddenly had an idea.

"Tengshe!" she called out softly, and as he turned back irritably to scold her, she threw him a small bottle, "You move fast. Go up there and drip this stuff on their faces."

Looking down, Tengshe saw a crystal bottle no bigger than a thumb in his palm, containing half a bottle of translucent liquid. After a light sniff, he immediately sneezed several times and grumbled, rubbing his nose, "Powerful! Is this what they call a sedative in the mortal world?"

Xuanji saw that the people above had started to notice the disturbance and shoved him, saying in a low voice, "Hurry up!"

Seeing such an amusing scene, Tengshe was not one to shrink back. With a light tap of his foot, he leaped onto the platform in the blink of an eye. There was a commotion above, but it consisted mostly of words cut short as they were put to sleep by the sedative. After a while, Tengshe poked his head out from above and gave her a soft whistle. Xuanji ran up grinning, only to find more than a dozen Fuyu Island disciples lying helter-skelter on the platform. She felt a twinge of guilt and saluted them with her hands.

"What’s this stuff?" Tengshe asked curiously.

Xuanji turned around and followed his gaze, only to find that there was nothing on the high platform except for a huge cage, which was the one brought by the Vice Palace Master of the Lize Palace that day. The cage was covered with a black cloth, tightly secured, and the edges even seemed to be nailed down with iron wires, hiding something unknown inside.

The two of them walked up to the cage, and Tengshe knocked on it with his hand before sniffing with his nose and said in a deep voice, "This is it! The smell inside is very familiar! I want to see what’s being kept in here."

Xuanji saw him reaching for the black cloth and hurriedly stopped him, "Don’t rush! I remember now! Every Flower Pinning Conference requires plucking flowers, so this must be the flower that was plucked! Don’t cause trouble."

"Plucking flowers?"

"The Flower Pinning Conference isn’t just about the disciples of each sect competing with each other. Even if one wins against all others, there’s still one last arrangement, which is to fight against the demons prepared in advance by the elders. Only by winning can one qualify to pin a peony on oneself. I think definitely the cage contains a demon they’ve caught. If it’s accidentally released, the scene will definitely be a mess."

Tengshe snorted and laughed coldly, "You mortals just love to let your imaginations run wild. You think all the demons and devils in the world are opposed to you mortals, that you need to wipe them all out at once for peace. Those demons were living just fine, what do they have to do with you?"

After speaking, he suddenly exerted force, and with a "rip", he tore open a hole in the black cloth. Xuanji stomped her foot in irritation, raised her hand to grab his hair, and dragged him away. Suddenly, a soft exclamation came from the cage, a voice delicate and seductive, sounding very familiar.

Both were stunned, and Tengshe said in surprise, "A woman?! Wasn’t it a demon?"

As he finished speaking, a snow-white, slender hand reached out from the hole, and the seductive voice murmured, "This voice... are you Xuanji?"

Xuanji was shocked, hurried forward, drew out her Bengyu, and slashed the black cloth completely, revealing a purple-dressed woman leaning against the railing and looking intently at her. That expression, that graceful bearing, turned out to be Zi Hu!

"Xuanji!" Zi Hu cried out, and then tears flowed, sobbing, "I thought you all died on Buzhou Mountain! Oh my, you’re still alive, right? No one is dead, right?"

Xuanji’s mind was in chaos, not understanding how Zi Hu ended up in the cage. She urgently said, "We...we’re fine! But you! How did you get here? Who captured you?"

Zi Hu wiped away the tears, bitterly saying, "It was that pretentious Vice Palace Master! He’s the one who extinguished my candle too! He said he wanted me to be the plucked flower... and then he’s kept me in this cage ever since. Pah! I always thought he was a pervert! Xuanji, you must help me take revenge!"

She cried pitifully.

Xuanji exclaimed, "The Vice Palace Master?! As expected... I knew he was no good! Don’t worry, I’ll get you out right away!" She drew her Bengyu and struck hard against the cage. With a loud clang, sparks flew, and her palm was slightly numbed by the vibration, but the cage remained unmoved, its material a mystery.

Zi Hu said softly, "Don’t bother, this cage is cast from celestial Xuantie and has been spelled to lock away my demon power, I can’t move."

Xuanji struck a few more times, to no avail. She anxiously said, "How strange, if I had known earlier that you were in the cage, I would have come to rescue you sooner! But how come I can’t smell your demon energy?"

Zi Hu raised her wrist to Xuanji’s eyes. On her snow-white wrist, there was a black bead deeply embedded into her bone, immovable. She said with tears choking her voice, "It’s this damned thing! Once I wear it, there’s no more demon energy! Look, how do I get it off? It’s so ugly!"

Seeing the bead, Xuanji’s heart stirred, feeling she had seen it somewhere before, yet at that moment, she simply couldn’t recall what it was. She said softly, "Don’t panic. If I can’t cut through the cage, I’ll burn it down!" Then, she turned and called out, "Tengshe, please, burn the cage!"

Tengshe had not yet managed to respond when he heard the Purple Fox let out a soft cry, tremblingly saying, "You... You are Lord Tengshe?"

Tengshe stared at her, his voice filled with confusion, "You recognize me? I seem to also recognize you, but... I can’t quite remember. Were you always... like this before?"

Purple Fox said with tears, "I was just a little fox before, I hadn’t cultivated into human form."

"Ah! It’s you!" Tengshe clapped his hands, finally remembering, "That fox! The one that ran around after Wuzhiqi all day long!"

Purple Fox said with a trembling voice, "It’s me... I never expected to meet Lord Tengshe here. I... I have a question to ask, how is... how is Wuzhiqi doing?"

Tengshe frowned and said, "You ask me, but whom should I ask? Anyway, he must still be lingering on in the Netherworld, half-dead and barely breathing, I guess!"

Purple Fox dropped tears and choked out, "I... I always wanted to go to the Netherworld to see him!"

"You’re really infatuated; that guy Wuzhiqi never knew how to pity and cherish the fairer sex, so you should give up on that fantasy. Desire has only hindered his cultivation. After his punishment in the Netherworld is over, he still has the chance to ascend and become enlightened. With you clinging to him like this, how is he supposed to cultivate?"

Purple Fox said anxiously, "I’m not clinging to him... I just... just want to know that he’s doing well, and then I’ll be at peace..."

Tengshe "tsked" and muttered, "Isn’t this clinging?" He grasped the iron bars of the cage and said in a deep voice, "Step back, I’m going to burn this damned thing to ashes. It’s really something that they managed to get the heavenly Xuantie!"

Purple Fox stepped back a few paces and said with gratitude, "I owe you a debt of life today, Purple Fox will definitely repay your kindness in the future!"

"What’s there to repay!" Tengshe’s palm ignited with a bright red flame, and in an instant, he had an iron bar glowing red-hot, which he easily snapped off with a twist of his hands.

"But how come Lord Tengshe is here...? Xuanji, do you know him?" Only now did Purple Fox realize that these two might know each other and couldn’t help but feel very curious.

Immediately Tengshe’s face flushed red, and he couldn’t stammer out a reason, he shouted fiercely, "Why all these questions?! Shut up!" Xuanji laughed and said, "Oh, you don’t know, Purple Fox. Tengshe has become my spiritual beast..." Before she could finish, Tengshe threw the broken iron bar at her, shouting, "You wretched girl, can’t you shut up for two seconds or will you die?!"

"A spiritual beast?!" Purple Fox looked at the two of them in disbelief, then suddenly remembered that Xuanji had a special status, so it wasn’t strange for her to have made Tengshe her spiritual beast, and thus she nodded and said, "That is really... um, congratulations..." Seeing Tengshe’s fierce and angry appearance, she was so scared she swallowed her words back.

Seeing Tengshe busy for half a day and having removed only two iron bars, Xuanji urged, "Can you hurry it up? If someone discovers us, we will be in big trouble!"

Tengshe looked up to retort but then suddenly paused, letting go of the cage and turning his head as if looking at something.

"You know that doing this is a grave mistake; you’ve got quite some nerve!" A deep voice suddenly rang out from behind, Xuanji was startled, she turned quickly, and saw Chu Lei standing there with a gloomy face.

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