Chapter 59 – Once and For All

Lu Chengye gritted his teeth. If he’d had the materials here, he would have turned each of those people into little cursed dolls.

He was helpless. How could he have failed in such a one-sided situation!

And he was truly defeated. The golden arrow had been destroyed, and all of his spirit stones were used up. He couldn’t even wield the Heaven-grade weapon in his hand.

This was truly a case of failing to achieve a goal and suffering an even bigger loss.

So even though he knew where Fang Yang and Cao Zirui were, he didn’t dare approach them.

To him, the Burning Sky Bow and the golden arrow were no different from pieces of rubbish. He only had himself, and his two fists were no match for four hands. And now there were even more hands, because that damn Feng Ye was here too!

It was all just dog shit luck! It was enough for that bastard Feng Ye to get lucky and win against him, but those two bastards Fang Yang and Cao Zirui got lucky too. Otherwise, how could the golden arrow have broken so strangely?

The Floating Island Secret Realm had opened who knew how many times, and he had never heard of any earthquakes. Neither too early nor too late, the earthquake centered directly on the location of the golden arrow, breaking the Earth-level weapon he had obtained with great difficulty.

If he gave this excuse to Xue Ren, there was a 90% chance that he wouldn’t believe it. He would just think Lu Chengye was deceiving him and kill him in a temper.

He wasn’t being overly-suspicous. Xue Ren really was likely to do so.

And even if Xue Ren didn’t kill him, the Sect Leader definitely would once he found out what Cao Zirui had been through.

Wouldn’t it be child’s play for a powerful Nascent Soul cultivator to crush him?

Thinking about it this way, he really had no way out – all thanks to those three people. The more Lu Chengye thought about it, the more hateful he became. He cursed Feng Ye, Fang Yang, and Cao Zirui over ten times. He didn’t know Hao Chen, so he was able to escape his wrath.

A bunch of useless people who had nothing to their names but luck! Lu Chengye thought with a complete lack of self-awareness that he was the only one who was truly conscientious and down-to-earth.

He didn’t steal or rob, and he won the competition with his own ability. What? Poisoning? He was still capable of poisoning.

How unfair the world was! He was such an honest and hardworking person, but whereas he was unlucky, those three experienced good luck one after another.

No, he couldn’t just accept his fate like this! Lu Chengye abruptly clenched his fists. If he was going to die anyway, he might as well give it one more try!

He glared fiercely in the direction of those four people. Killing intent spread out wildly, but he realized that although he wasn’t close, he wasn’t far from them either. This could easily alert the enemy, so he quickly restrained himself.

But although he quickly brought himself under control, the bell hanging on Cao Zirui’s waist still sensed it.

Ding-ling. The silent bell all of a sudden gave a short ring, so short that if there was a little more noise in the environment, he wouldn’t have noticed it at all.

But Cao Zirui was particularly sensitive to the sound of this bell. At almost the same time the bell rang, the expression on his face changed mid-conversation with Fang Yang, and he looked around warily.

Fang Yang also heard the bell, but he wasn’t as sensitive as Cao Zirui. It was only when he noticed Cao Zirui’s change of expression that he realized what the bell signified. He immediately stood back to back with Cao Zirui, simultaneously calling for his Useless Shixiong and Hao-dage to come over and form a circle to facilitate defense.

But when Feng Ye and Hao Chen saw the two gesturing toward them, they stood there unmoving, looking at each other speechlessly instead.

The only thing that could pose a threat to them in the Floating Island Secret Realm was each other. When the two of them started to fight, even the lawless monsters in the sea had to stand aside. 

Of course, this was something they kept to themselves and didn’t speak out loud.

Fang Yang and Cao Zirui stood together warily for a long stretch of time, but there was no movement around them. The bell didn’t ring again after that first instance.

The two of them could only gradually relax. Cao Zirui analyzed: “It might not be Lu Chengye. Perhaps it was a passing monster. It should have left by now, so the bell hasn’t rung again.”

Fang Yang wiped the nervous sweat from his forehead and breathed a sigh of relief: “Just a false alarm.”

Since there was nothing to worry about, they began to hit the road again. But Feng Ye suddenly said: “Can you show me that bell?”

As he spoke, he glanced at Cao Zirui’s belt. The golden bell swayed with his movements, but no longer made any sound.

Cao Zirui was taken aback. Although he didn’t understand, he still took off the bell and handed it to Feng Ye.

Feng Ye held the bell in his hand and poured a trace of spiritual power into it. Although magic tools differed from magic arrays, they were essentially the same. No matter their operation system, they were always powered by spiritual energy. The flow of that energy would tell him information that couldn’t be gleaned from the surface.

For example…..this bell was actually one of a pair of mother and child bells. Cao Zirui’s was actually the child bell. Although it could be used for early warnings, it also continuously emitted small spiritual leads so tiny that they were almost undetectable, allowing the mother bell to track its real-time location.

Feng Ye’s eyes narrowed. He had long suspected that Lu Chengye had a means to track Cao Zirui and Fang Yang through the dense jungle, because they were never able to lose him. There had to be a reason for that. And as it turned out, the problem lay with this bell.

“This is a nice-looking bell. Did someone give it to you?” Feng Ye asked, calm and composed.

Although he asked this in a veiled way, Hao Chen beside him knew exactly what he was asking. Feng Ye had suddenly stopped and asked to look at the bell, so there must be something wrong with it.

He didn’t expose Feng Ye, but instead acted as an ignorant spectator.

And Fang Yang and Cao Zirui were the actual ignorant spectators. The two of them still didn’t realize that something was wrong with the bell. Cao Zirui thought for a moment before replying: “My shixiong gave it to me before I left. Thanks to this bell, I was able to escape Lu Chengye’s pursuit several times.”

Although they were from the same sect, in terms of age, Feng Ye could be considered Cao Zirui’s shixiong. However, in terms of seniority, there was only one person qualified to be called Cao Zirui’s “shixiong.”

Xue Ren.

“Xue-shixiong is such a good person!” Fang Yang told Cao Zirui with admiration.

Cao Zirui nodded in agreement. Although he rarely spoke with his shixiong – because Xue Ren almost never took the initiative to talk to him and Cao Zirui’s own personality was rather introverted – the two sect siblings had always been familiar strangers.

But before he left, Xue Ren had suddenly given him such a gift. Although Cao Zirui didn’t say anything, he secretly kept this favor in his heart, thinking that if he found some precious spiritual plants this time, he would take them and give them to Xue Ren as a return gift.

It was a pity that he hadn’t found any worthwhile spiritual plants during his escape. He would have to think of some other way to repay the favor. With this in mind, Cao Zirui sighed with regret.

“Xue Ren…..” Feng Ye whispered to himself. He hadn’t paid much attention to Xue Ren as a person. He was more concerned about Xue Ren’s master, Sect Leader Ji Chengyue.

The only close encounter he’d had with Xue Ren was their unexpected encounter that night.

Although it had only been one encounter, Feng Ye had discovered that this person was duplicitous.

If Xue Ren was not the kind, gentle, good-hearted person he appeared to be, then everything could be explained.

For some reason, perhaps from jealousy or the fear that his master’s other personal disciple would threaten his position, he had attempted to murder Cao Zirui through Lu Chengye.

This explained the unknown high-level magic weapon in Lu Chengye’s hands. How had a Qi Refining stage disciple like him obtained such a treasure, and why had he hunted down Cao Zirui, a person he had no grudges against? Everything was connected.

Feng Ye had already painted a picture of the outcome of this pursuit in his mind, and was lost in thought for a long time. Fang Yang and Cao Zirui were a little puzzled as they stared at him. They didn’t understand what Feng Ye was doing with the bell for such a long time.

Feng Ye met their puzzled gazes and smiled, then handed the bell back to Cao Zirui.

He didn’t say a word as he watched Cao Zirui tie it back onto his belt.

He had no evidence. Lu Chengye attacking him under Xue Ren’s orders and the real reason Xue Ren gifted him the bell were all just suppositions.

What he could see may not be the whole truth. If there was another mastermind behind Xue Ren, could he have given Cao Zirui the bell out of ignorance? If he rashly told Cao Zirui, not only would he alienate his fellow disciple, but he might also wrongly accuse a good person.

So Feng Ye didn’t say anything. But now that he knew Cao Zirui was carrying a tracker, he couldn’t just ignore it entirely.

The reason the bell rang just now was not what Cao Zirui had guessed, that it was just a monster passing by. This child bell could transmit its location to the mother bell through an invisible thread of spiritual power, but similarly, Feng Ye could locate the mother bell through this thread.

Feng Ye had already realized that Lu Chengye was following them nearby. This fellow was unscrupulous, and must have some ulterior motive.

He didn’t destroy Cao Zirui’s tracker, which was constantly reporting his location, because he planned to directly eliminate the source.

Feng Ye suddenly clenched his fist and smacked it into his palm, as if he had just remembered something important. He said to the three of them with some vexation: “I left something at camp. I’ll go back and get it.”

“Ah? Is it important?” Fang Yang couldn’t help but glance at the sky when he heard this. Although they weren’t in a hurry, they also didn’t have very much time. If they had to backtrack, they might not make it in time.

Feng Ye nodded.

Fang Yang rolled up his sleeves and prepared to run: “What is it? I can run fast, so I’ll get it for you.”

Feng Ye: “……”

Hao Chen covered his lips with his mini fan and couldn’t help but chuckle.

He had also guessed most of what Feng Ye had figured out. He’d met Xue Ren as well and witnessed his duplicity, so he easily came to a conclusion and was on the same page as Feng Ye.

And he also knew that when Feng Ye said he had to go back, he didn’t really mean it. Feng Ye was probably going to solve this problem once and for all.

So before Feng Ye could reject Fang Yang’s offer, he conscientiously covered for him. He pushed Fang Yang and Cao Zirui forward, one hand on each of their backs: “The thing belongs to your shixiong, and he’s the only one who knows what it is. It would be a waste of time for you to go. We can wait for him as we walk – Fellow Daoist Feng Ye will definitely catch up with us, right?”

When he said this last sentence, he turned and winked at the slightly stunned Feng Ye.

Feng Ye stared for a moment, but soon returned to his senses and agreed: “Right, I’ll catch up with you. No need to wait for me.”

“But….” Fang Yang took two steps when he was pushed, but he was still a little worried. How could he just go ahead and leave his Useless Shixiong behind? 

So he jumped to the side to evade Hao Chen’s insistent hand, turning to look at Feng Ye.

Feng Ye waved to the anxious-looking Fang Yang and assured him with a smile: “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely catch up with you.”

His attitude was so firm that Fang Yang had no ability to persuade him, and could only helplessly follow Cao Zirui and Hao Chen as they continued forward.

Feng Ye watched their retreating backs. Just as he was about to turn and leave, Hao Chen suddenly turned his head and smiled at him.

In fact, when Hao Chen didn’t insist on making things difficult for him but instead offered his help, he was indeed a rare source of assistance. 

It had been obvious since their first meeting that there was an inexplicable tacit understanding between them. Therefore, even though he hadn’t left anything behind at all, the two of them were able to stick to their story.

So just now, even with Feng Ye not saying a word, Hao Chen had guessed what he was going to do and covered for him in a timely manner.

At first, Feng Ye was unable to believe that Hao Chen had good intentions, so he was a little stunned. But now it seemed that Hao Chen was honestly helping him.

He was a little prejudiced against Hao Chen, Feng Ye reflected on himself. He sent Hao Chen a grateful nod, then turned and left in the opposite direction.

Hao Chen watched Feng Ye’s figure disappear into the depths of the jungle, then turned back and landed a meter away from Fang Yang and Cao Zirui, following them unhurriedly.

Fang Yang deliberately slowed his pace to make it easier for Useless Shixiong to catch up with them, murmuring to Cao Zirui as he walked: “I wonder what’s so important that he has to go back for it at a time like this.”

Cao Zirui thought for a moment, then replied: “It must be something of great importance. Don’t speculate, he’ll definitely catch up with us.”

“Ai.” Fang Yang sighed dejectedly.

As they talked back and forth, Hao Chen didn’t interrupt them.

He followed the two of them in silence. After walking for about half an incense stick’s time, Hao Chen estimated that the distance was close enough. The corners of his mouth suddenly curved up.

It was true that he was helping Feng Ye, but…..honestly, it couldn’t be called that.

He put his hands behind his back when Fang Yang and Cao Zirui weren’t looking. A feather dropped out of his sleeve, and before it could drift to the ground, it transformed into a lifelike crow.

The crow flapped its wings and flew into the jungle behind the three of them, chasing after that lone, departing figure.

How can I miss a big show starring Feng Ye? Hao Chen thought with a smile.

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Chapter 58 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 60