Love & Redemption
Chapter 73 - 30 Ting Nu

Chapter 73: Chapter 30 Ting Nu

The second installment.

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Xuanji followed the secret passage for less than a quarter of an hour when she suddenly realized there was no way forward; what she felt was a thick stone wall. Strange, could this secret passage actually be a dead end created to confuse the eye?

She was not willing to give up and groped around the stone wall, her fingertips suddenly touched a protrusion—upon reaching higher, it turned out to be a black iron candlestick. Her master had once said that if one encountered a dead end, one should pay more attention to one’s surroundings and push things with one’s hands; perhaps a new path might be discovered.

She tugged hard at the candlestick downwards—no response; she pushed it upwards—still no response.

It turned out that what her master had said was not always right. Xuanji slumped against the stone wall, feeling that the secret passage was dark and unlit, ominously chilling and quite terrifying. She took out a flint from her bosom and lit the candlestick, thankfully it still had some oil left to burn.

Who would have known that just as the oil lamp was lit, a "clack" sound came from behind, as if something had opened up. Xuanji hurriedly turned around, only to see a crack opening in the opposite stone wall; it appeared that the candlestick mechanism was triggered by fire, and as long as the candlestick was lit, the mechanism would be unlocked.

Without delay, fearing that Si Feng and the others might encounter an accident if taken by the demon for too long, Xuanji immediately slipped into the side passage. She hadn’t gone far before a light appeared in front of her, and the surroundings suddenly became bright as if she were in a cave, where stalactites dripped water and the underground springs were crystal clear, faintly emitting a soft bioluminescence.

She heard the sound of water babbling ahead and quickened her pace. There was a large rock obstructing the path at just the right moment, and, anxious in her heart, she did not bother to look where she stepped and lightly leaped, crossing over the accumulated water on the ground, flipping past it.

With a "splash," she failed to check in time; it turned out there was a large pool of underground spring water behind the rock, and she accidentally fell into the water, soaking her lower half. The spring water was ice-cold to the bone, and even though Xuanji was protected by the Yang Que Technique, she still shivered from the cold.

Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the water ahead, as if someone was surfacing from beneath. Xuanji, thinking it was Zi Hu who had noticed her, immediately grasped her sword and concentrated her power, staring warily ahead, ready to strike as soon as the enemy emerged.

The pale blue surface of the water rippled more and more, and with a "splash," a snow-white figure leaped from the water, gently swaying in mid-air. The huge fish tail, like a white veil, flicked once before falling back into the pool, splashing countless droplets.

Xuanji was startled. Was that a person or a huge fish?

While she was still perplexed, she heard a voice ahead murmuring, "How did you come here?"

The voice was somewhat hoarse and gruff, even unpleasant to the ear, and the speech was somewhat muffled and unclear, not sounding like an accent from the Central Plains.

Immediately after, a figure suddenly surfaced on the water, with pitch-black hair like seaweed, tangled down to the waist, pale skin, and eyes of the palest green. Those long, narrow, and deep eyes were now tenderly gazing at her, filled with affection and joy.

"Ah! It’s you! You—" Xuanji cried out, pointing at his nose, unable to finish her sentence.

It was him! The pearl incident! Merfolk!

Xuanji clumsily swam to him from the water, grabbing his icy hand, and shouted in a rush: "How have you been? It’s been so long... How, how did you get here? That fox demon..."

The merman smiled slightly, holding her hand and said softly, "And you?"

"I... well, I..." Xuanji was about to tell him what had happened, but then she felt something amiss and pointed at his nose again, exclaiming, "You can talk now!"

He still smiled, droplets falling like pearls from his long lashes. His body exuded an ethereal beauty that only demons possessed, a type of allure that intoxicated and captivated.

"I..." Xuanji suddenly forgot what she was going to say.

"My name is Ting Nu." He said softly, "You can call me Ting Nu."

It turned out that the Merfolk also had names. She smiled at him slightly, about to catch up on old times, when she suddenly thought of Si Feng and the others, who had been abducted by Zi Hu, and her face fell immediately. She sighed, "Ting Nu, I have urgent matters to attend to. We can chat another time. I’m looking for that fox demon, she has abducted Sixth Brother and Si Feng."

Ting Nu said indifferently, "I know. She is a demon who practices Yang and Yin."

Xuanji finally sorted out her thoughts and asked, "How do you know that? And why are you here? Were you captured by her as well?"

Ting Nu shook his head and said in a raw tone, "She is undertaking a grand endeavor and forced me to help her. When I refused, she imprisoned me here."

"What grand endeavor?"

Ting Nu pondered for a while and then said, "Let’s not talk about that now. You must have come across her unintentionally. She has been in desperate need of replenishing her power. When encountering Cultivators, she is even less willing to let them go. If we do not hurry to rescue them, I fear it will be too late."

Upon hearing this, Xuanji became anxious and turned to continue the search but was gently held back by him. He whispered, "You... do you not remember anything?"

Remember what? She looked at him, confused.

Ting Nu gazed at her quietly, with that familiar look, as if they had known each other a long, long time ago, having crossed countless years to meet here once more.

"With your ability, how could she..." Ting Nu sighed softly and gripped her hand, "Don’t be anxious. Focus your mind and close your eyes, search carefully, and you will find them."

"I don’t..." Xuanji meant to object, but upon seeing his gaze, she found herself speechless and complied by closing her eyes and focusing.

After a while, she suddenly became aware of various noises filling the previously silent cave, the slight ripples of water, the soft breaths of Ting Nu opposite her, and even the moss on the cave walls silently stretching.

Who are you looking for?

A voice inside her seemed to be asking.

She needed to find Sixth Brother, Si Feng, Ruo Yu... and that powerful Zi Hu.

As if instinctively, she gently raised her right hand as if to grasp something, and in a flash, her consciousness gathered, passing through the stone wall, over countless corridors, seeing through the a thin muslin curtain. The person inside the curtain was suddenly startled and turned around abruptly, meeting her gaze with a pair of ghastly green eyes.

She had seen her!

Xuanji was startled and opened her eyes. It was still that cave, with a Merfolk opposite her, and nothing had changed. She clenched Yu Sifeng’s sword tightly and whispered, "I... I know where they are! I must go and rescue them!"

After speaking, she lightly leapt ashore, wrung the water from her clothes, and turned to leave. Ting Nu suddenly said softly, "Take me with you, will you?"

Xuanji paused for a moment, unconsciously glancing at his fish tail, and stammered, "Taking you is not a problem, but you..." Can you walk? Was she expected to carry or hold him? Well, Merfolk probably didn’t have a gender, but he did look like a man...

Ting Nu smiled faintly and pointed to a corner behind her, "Although I cannot stand and walk, I have my ways."

Xuanji followed his gesture, and to her surprise, there was a wheelchair which she hadn’t noticed before. She hurriedly moved the wheelchair to the edge of the pool and hoisted Ting Nu up, who settled in it as light as a feather.

Xuanji removed her bridal gown and draped it over him. Fortunately, the gown was quite large; it fit him well and even covered his fish tail.

"Let’s go," Ting Nu said, lifting his head to give her a slight smile, his red attire and black hair indeed making him look like a demon. (To be continued. If you wish to learn what happens next, please visit www.qidian.com. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)