Wen Qianshu suddenly said, “Be careful!”
The system was stunned, not yet understanding what had happened, when Wen Qianshu abruptly stepped forward, grabbed Yun Cai’s wrist, and pulled her behind her.
Endless Moon scattered into countless water droplets, freezing all the skeletons and the undercurrent beneath the catfish demon. Then came a muffled thud, as if something had slammed heavily against the ice, cracking it. The ground rumbled and vibrated, and the sound of sticky water rose, surging toward the surface.
The mountain shook and the earth quaked, sending rubble tumbling down.
Yun Cai: “Oh? There’s another move?”
Wen Qianshu: “Let’s go, quickly.”
Yun Cai: “Don’t go back the way we came. Run forward.”
Wen Qianshu was already heading forward, followed by Yun Cai. The two disciples behind her didn’t understand why, but they followed closely. Rocks flew everywhere, a foul stench filled the air, and the ground beneath their feet shook so violently it was hard to stay steady. Before long, a deafening roar was heard, and countless water droplets pierced through the rocks, coalescing into a full moon.
“Below you.”
Wen Qianshu stopped abruptly. She put one arm around Yun Cai’s waist and held Endless Moon in the other, flicking it into the air. It transformed into a long whip that shot out, its tip striking the mountaintop and instantly freezing into solid ice.
Then, the ground beneath her feet suddenly gave way, and a powerful suction force pulled from behind, almost too strong to resist.
Yun Cai followed Wen Qianshu’s arm, bent at the waist, and swept her long spear, hooking the two disciples and flinging them into the air. Several eel-like creatures leaped up from below, baring their sharp fangs and hissing as they charged. Wen Qianshu gripped the whip tightly and did a backflip. Yun Cai righted herself, held her spear horizontally, and a great burst of flame erupted, burning most of the charging eels. The half-charred eels crackled, falling down in a trail of fire.
The monster below was hit squarely by the fire. It cried out in pain, and the suction force suddenly weakened. Wen Qianshu immediately flew up, her whip coiling around the two disciples. Yun Cai raised her arm and brought it down again, driving her long spear deep into the stone wall, only to hear a sharp shriek.
On the chaotic stone wall, countless pairs of eyes appeared.
2333: “These are stone bats! They’re a type of bat demon. They look like stone but carry a toxin that can paralyze people, making them like stone, completely numb—”
Wen Qianshu: “Huh? How are these things born?”
“Which bat and stone found their fated connection?”
2333 was going crazy: “They just look like stone, they’re not born from stone!”
The stone bats began to shriek, one after another, and lunged at Yun Cai.
Just then, the suction force from behind returned. Wen Qianshu released the two disciples, yanked Yun Cai over with the whip, and then let her fall. Wen Qianshu swung her arm, whirling the long whip. She pulled Yun Cai downward to burn the eel demons with fire, while she used the momentum to fly upward. The whip transformed into a bow, and with one arrow, she froze the swarm of bats.
With fire below and ice sealing the mountaintop, the two of them finally managed to drag the two disciples out of the cave. Even 2333 was dizzy from watching Wen Qianshu leap up and down, let alone the two disciples. Being tossed by a spear and swung by a whip, they had long since been knocked unconscious.
Yun Cai: “What on earth is going on? Where did so many demons come from out of thin air?”
Wen Qianshu, of course, knew, but she just kept a cold expression. She and Yun Cai each helped up a disciple and said, “I don’t know. Let’s go quickly.”
Meanwhile, in Yan Family Village.
A young boy jumped down and patted Yan Han on the shoulder, saying, “Xiao Han, why are you still washing clothes? Aren’t you going to have a look?”
Yan Han stood before the lowest stone step, bent over, and scrubbed an outer coat. “I’m not going.”
A group of boys ran past on the steps above. Seeing him out of the corner of their eyes, they shouted, “Yan Laoxiao, you’re not going?”
That young boy was the youngest in his family, and since he hadn’t had any younger siblings for several years, others called him “Yan Laoxiao.” But he clearly disliked this nickname. He bent down, picked up a small stone, and threw it. “Pah! Say that again!”
The boys jeered, drawing out their words, “Ooh— so you’re keeping your little sister Xiao Han company—”
After saying that, they pushed and shoved each other, laughing as they went on their way.
Yan Zhi’s face turned red. He ran back down and scuffed the ground with the tip of his shoe. “Let’s go have a look. I heard the leading immortal is amazing and can even perform magic.”
Yan Han kept her head down and still said, “I’m not going.”
Yan Zhi: “Aiya, it’s true! That immortal can tap a bowl with their finger, and the water inside will freeze!”
He chattered on beside her. Yan Han finally stopped and turned her head to the side. “A bowl of water is not a river.”
But Yan Zhi’s eyes went wide, and his mouth hung open, speechless.
Yan Han: “What’s wrong?”
Yan Zhi: “The river— the river— it’s frozen—”
Yan Han turned back and saw that the river in the distance was frozen solid. The ice was spreading, engulfing the entire river. Yan Han dropped the clothes in her hands, and the water on them froze as well.
Yan Zhi gasped in amazement, but Yan Han immediately stood up and looked to the side. She saw a long whip flash by, carrying something as it flew over their heads and landed on the muddy ground. Yan Zhi ran forward, craning his neck to see. “Eh? Why are there two people—”
Yan Han stared intently into the distance. She saw a figure land on the ice, flying backward, a long rope circling around her, ripples of water floating.
Inky hair, thin lips, clad in snow-white.
Dark brows, cold eyes, cheeks like the bright moon.
The other person seemed to sense her gaze, turned her eyes, and lifted her long lashes slightly, her face as cold as frost.
Yan Han’s eyes met hers, and she quickly looked away.
Wen Qianshu narrowed her eyes. The person on the bank had long, narrow eyes, a delicate nose, and a small mouth. Her skin was extremely fair, like creamy white porcelain. Her waist was slender and her figure tall. At first glance, she looked like a weeping willow in the wind, pitiable and lovely. But her eyes, half-closed then open, added a touch of spring charm. One could tell she would grow up to be a peerless beauty.
Wen Qianshu’s gaze swept past, and she looked forward again. Then she planted her foot, halting her backward momentum, and pushed off, flying up to catch Yun Cai, who had been knocked into the air. Then she looked down at the water and said coldly, “You’d better think this through. My Martial Uncle, Yan Qingxi, is here. If you keep chasing, you won’t be able to protect your lives.”
With a crisp crack, the ice broke open, revealing a giant eel. Its forehead was covered in wounds, gashes and cuts swollen from the water. It seemed to snort coldly before turning and diving back into the water.
Wen Qianshu set Yun Cai down and gestured for her to go to the bank first. Behind her, the ice melted and the water rose, the long river returning to normal. Yan Han stood where she was, while Yan Zhi ran back, looking at them with a mixture of fear and curiosity.
Wen Qianshu walked up the stone steps, glanced at Yan Zhi, and suddenly opened her mouth and coughed up blood. She raised a hand to cover her lips, but blood gushed from between her fingers, instantly soaking the front of her clothes.
Yun Cai was alarmed. “Are you alright?”
Wen Qianshu raised her hand, holding a bamboo slip, and waved it. “I’m fine. We’ve entered the barrier. Martial Uncle—”
Before she could finish, her vision went black, and she pitched forward. Yun Cai turned sideways to catch her, draping her arm over her own shoulder. With her other hand, she channeled spiritual energy into the bamboo slip. It floated up, aimed in one direction, and shot away.
Yan Han followed the bamboo slip with her eyes and heard the rustling of the wind. Suddenly, she saw a person in white catch the slip between two fingers and appear before them. He had a snowy complexion and black hair, sword-like brows and cold eyes. When silent, he looked like a jade statue; or like a banished immortal, with wide sleeves and a long robe, the corners and cuffs of which were indistinct, as if dissolving into mist and clouds, ready to return to the heavens at any moment.
Wen Qianshu coughed up blood as she said, “Martial Uncle.”
Yan Qingxi nodded and took a step forward. The bamboo slip in his fingers was gone, replaced by a jade bottle. With a light tap, he produced a pill and fed it into her mouth. “What happened?”
Wen Qianshu swallowed the pill whole and looked at Yan Han and Yan Zhi beside her. Yan Qingxi understood her meaning. He snapped his fingers in the air, and the river water flowed backward and upward, turning into an ice bridge that carried them all into a house.
As soon as they entered the house, a disciple came to greet them. “Senior, this is— Senior Sister? Why are you here?”
Yan Qingxi set down the two unconscious disciples from Yanyun Sky. “Look after them.”
His gaze shifted to Yan Han and Yan Zhi. “And these two as well.”
The disciple quickly replied, “Yes.”
Once inside the house, the surrounding river water immediately turned into solid ice, enclosing them.
Five Spirits Mountain cultivated the five elements. In the beginning, one needed a weapon forged by a master or chosen from the armory to act as a medium to channel the power of the five elements; Yun Cai and the two disciples were at this stage. After that came comprehending the laws and forging one’s own life-bound magical treasure. At this level, one could change the form of elements, just like Yan Chengshuang’s Endless Moon. Further up, one no longer needed a medium and could directly mobilize the elements of heaven and earth. A level higher was to comprehend the Great Dao and merge with the five elements. The final stage was to enter the five elements through one element, ultimately mastering the complete law of the five elements.
Wen Qianshu didn’t know what level of cultivation Yan Qingxi had reached, but she figured he must be close to the final step.
Yun Cai cultivated fire and was ultimately not used to this ice house; even the color of her propped-up fiery red long spear seemed to have faded a little. She bowed and said, “Junior Yun Cai of Yanyun Sky pays her respects to Senior.”
The current head of Yanyun Sky was the eldest of the five heads. He had married young and had been deeply in love with his wife for many years, as close as glue. But he only had this one daughter late in life. She was the apple of his eye, a fire in his arms. When talking to others, he couldn’t go three sentences without mentioning his beloved wife, nor ten words without bringing up his precious daughter. Yan Qingxi naturally recognized her.
If it were an ordinary person, they would have at least offered a few words of comfort, asking things like, “Why did you come out here? Were you frightened? Why did Head Yun only send these two people to accompany you?”
But Yan Qingxi was exactly the kind of person his senior sister described as “recruiting good disciples but not knowing to bring them to Canglan Courtyard, always just watching as others take them away.” He gave a faint acknowledgment and looked back at Wen Qianshu. “What did you encounter?”
Wen Qianshu recounted the general situation. After leaving the cave, they had encountered several more groups of demons on the way. During one encounter, Yun Cai couldn’t fend them off, and Wen Qianshu took a blow for her. It was this blow that injured Wen Qianshu, but she had managed to hold on until she found Yan Qingxi.
Yan Qingxi: “Why didn’t you call for help?”
“That’s exactly what I wanted to tell you, Martial Uncle,” Wen Qianshu said. “These demons were numerous and of many different kinds, yet they only came in waves to entangle us.”
Yun Cai: “Before Senior Sister Yan arrived, we had been entangled with that catfish demon for a long time. Looking back now, it clearly had the ability to deliver a fatal blow and injure all three of us at once, but it merely stalled for time and didn’t use lethal methods.”
This “Senior Sister Yan” made Wen Qianshu pause and look up at her. Yan Qingxi, however, had no particular reaction, nor did he find it strange to suddenly have another martial niece—Yun Cai was younger than Yan Chengshuang, and since they both belonged to Five Spirits Mountain, it was not a problem for her to call her Senior Sister.
Yun Cai: “And there were many undercurrents underground, so it could have escaped at any time, yet it insisted on fighting us. The demons that came later were the same. Each one could have taken a step further to kill us, or a step back to retreat, but instead they just stayed in the middle, keeping us in suspense. It’s clear—”
Yun Cai: “They wanted to tie us down and force us to send a message asking the sect for help.”
2333: “?”
So she’s already figured out half of it?
“Correct,” said Wen Qianshu. “I think so too. And since Five Spirits Mountain has no outposts nearby, I believe they wanted to lure Martial Uncle out.”
2333: “Huh?”
2333 was stunned: “What are you trying to do?”
Are you really planning to expose the protagonist now!
Then what’s the plan going forward?
Author’s Notes:
OOC Theater:
System: Teetering on the edge of insanity.
Get instant access to all the chapters now.
