Ch. 122 – “He might….not be coming back.”
The market town was made up of densely-packed dwellings, with the presence of humanity everywhere one looked. But beyond the market town lay mountains and forests that rarely saw human activity, much like the rest of Longqiu.
The animals had all retreated back to their dens due to the sudden rainstorm, and the only sounds in the forest were the wind and rain, along with the rustling and swaying of the shadowy trees. It was a distinct sort of quietness.
But inside a hidden forest cave, the sound of human voices suddenly rang out.
“You seem rather dissatisfied?” the black snake whispered in Ling Yun’s ear, slithering from the collar of his robes.
Ling Yun’s expression was even gloomier than the overcast sky. It had been the only expression on his face ever since they fled to this cave.
“Why did you interfere?” Ling Yun responded in a hostile tone.
He had always addressed the black snake as ‘God,’ but such an address had never carried the slightest hint of respect. Deep down, he had never truly seen this demonic creature as a master deserving of reverence. Their relationship was merely one of mutual cooperation.
But despite never holding any respect for him, this was the first time Ling Yun had spoken to the black snake in such a bad tone.
The black snake flicked his tongue, but didn’t lose his temper at this human’s disrespect. He just replied with mocking amusement: “I saved you. Is this the attitude you show to your savior, Ling Yun?”
Without his intervention, Ling Yun would have been cut down by Feng Ye’s blade where he stood.
Ling Yun failed to appreciate his kindness, and replied coldly: “I never asked you to save me.”
As Ling Yun spoke that last word, the black snake suddenly dissolved, and black mist poured from his sleeve to re-form into the shape of a man.
A shape identical to Yinglong’s.
“You never asked me to.” The man’s voice sounded from the featureless black form, now sharp and fierce, lacking its previous amusement.
Slender fingers coalesced out of the mist and gripped Ling Yun by the collar, thrusting him violently against the wall of the cave.
He leaned in close and said in a low, magnetic voice: “But you lost, Ling Yun.”
“You lost to the person you hate the most. You couldn’t defeat him one hundred years ago, and you can’t defeat him now.” The man suddenly eased his grip. He pulled back slightly, allowing Ling Yun a clear view of the mockery on his face.
“He didn’t even use any divine power. He defeated you in the way of the sword, your very own specialty.” The man shook his head at this, regarding Ling Yun with evident pity. “You really are a complete failure.”
Ling Yun clenched his fingers so hard that his knuckles cracked. He swatted away the hand at his collar. At the same time, he condensed his spiritual power into an invisible blade and swung it at the man.
The man was severed in two, but there was no flesh or internal organs inside of him, only black mist.
The black mist dispersed along with its human form, only to gather again as a black cloud in front of Ling Yun.
Ling Yun’s chest heaved slightly due to his movements and the intensity of his emotions. He fixed the black mist with a hostile look, but didn’t attack again.
“Hehe.” A chuckle emerged from the black mist, and the man said to Ling Yun: “What is the point of taking your anger out on me? It would be better to think about how to deal with him.”
The blade made of spiritual power vanished from Ling Yun’s hand, and he lost his furious expression, reverting back to his usual coldness.
That fury wasn’t gone, however. It was just buried down deep inside.
“How to deal with him?” Ling Yun echoed. “You and I have each clashed with him once, and the outcome was the same for us both. Until the Emberless Horizon opens, you don’t have enough power in the mortal realm to deal with Yinglong.”
“But Jianmu and the Living Soil, the keys to opening the Emberless Horizon, are both in his hands. What else can we do? We can’t defeat him in a direct confrontation. Perhaps we could take hostages?” Ling Yun proposed.
“Hostages?” The man immediately rejected this idea: “Hostages won’t work against him. If necessary, he will not hesitate to sacrifice a hostage regardless of their innocence.”
The Jianmu incident a century ago had confirmed this. The humans he had used as cover when climbing up the divine tree had also acted as his hostages.
But Feng Ye? He hadn’t even hesitated before slicing Jianmu in two.
“Yinglong is called the God of War, and his power is universally acknowledged.” The man dismissed Ling Yun’s proposal, but agreed with his estimation of Feng Ye.
Yinglong was indeed formidable, and as things stood now, they had no hope of contending with him.
“However…..” The man’s tone shifted, and he chuckled again. “The stronger something is, the more fatal its weakness.”
“You know his weakness?” Ling Yun grasped the key point in his master’s words.
“Of course I do,” the man said matter-of-factly.
“Why didn’t I tell you before now?” The man asked before Ling Yun could voice the question himself. “Because this killing move can only be used in the absence of outside interference. Using it too early would be pointless. But now, everything is in position. The time is ripe, and the moment has arrived to reveal the knife in our hand.”
“God of War…..” the man murmured, tasting the words on his lips. “The title ‘God of War’ doesn’t mean he’s invincible. Now, with that troublesome Kunpeng out of the way, his defeat is inevitable.”
“Hehe….” The man’s low chuckle echoed throughout the cave, drifting outside to be drowned out by the sound of falling rain.
The rain continued to come down heavier, showing no signs at all of letting up. Lightning flickered through the dark clouds, and torrents of rain beat down on the human world.
By the time Fang Yang saw Cao Zirui off and rushed back to the inn, he was so waterlogged that it looked as if he had been fished out of a lake.
He entered the inn and found the communal area deserted. A table and chairs were still scattered across the floor in a mess.
Fang Yang was a little taken aback. Where were Useless Shixiong and Hao-dage?
The innkeeper heard Fang Yang’s footsteps, and emerged just then from the back courtyard. Seeing how sodden Fang Yang was, he tossed him a towel.
Fang Yang took the towel. He could have easily dried himself with spiritual power, but with the innkeeper standing right there, he refrained.
Accepting the innkeeper’s kindness, Fang Yang scrubbed his face with the towel and asked with irrepressible impatience: “Where are those two companions of mine? The tall ones?”
“Oh, ah, them…..” The shopkeeper shook his head and whispered his guess to Fang Yang: “They seem to have quarreled. I was in the back at the time, and came out to find my table and chairs overturned. One of them stormed off, and the other stayed put, then went up to the rooms a short while later.”
“They quarreled?” Fang Yang repeated a little incredulously.
How could Useless Shixiong and Hao-dage have fought? They usually got along so well.
Although the two of them used to bicker all the time and engage in childish behavior, none of that really counted as quarreling. If anything, it was more like…..play-fighting?
Fang Yang shook his head. That description didn’t seem to fit quite right. But in any case, they had never gotten into a violent fight that resulted in overturned tables and chairs.
At this thought, he could no longer stay still, and quickly thanked the innkeeper before running upstairs.
He dried his clothes on the way up, then knocked on Feng Ye’s door.
The innkeeper hadn’t specified which of them had gone and which had stayed, but Fang Yang didn’t have to think very hard at all to determine that the one who stayed was his Useless Shixiong.
“Come in,” called that familiar voice, as flat as ever.
Fang Yang pushed open the door and found Feng Ye leaning against the window, looking out sideways at the curtain of rain that seemed to blot out the sky.
The expression on Feng Ye’s face was as flat as his voice. If the innkeeper hadn’t just informed him, Fang Yang never would have guessed that Feng Ye had just quarreled with Hao Chen.
Walking into the room, Fang Yang asked despite already knowing the answer: “Where’s Hao-dage?”
Feng Ye’s lips thinned ever so slightly. He wasn’t quite as impassive as he appeared.
After a long pause, Feng Ye spoke two words:
“He left.”
“Then when is he coming back?” Fang Yang asked.
Feng Ye was silent even longer this time. Rain continued to pound down, and the wind carried a few droplets inside to land on his fingers.
He rubbed them away, feeling a chill against his skin.
Then he said softly: “He might…..not be coming back.”
When he heard this, Fang Yang looked up at Feng Ye, then out the window at the torrential rain. Lightning flashed through the clouds, and a low rumble echoed across the sky.
“Hao-dage will definitely come back,” Fang Yang said suddenly, sounding very certain of this.
Feng Ye was a little surprised, and looked at Fang Yang with some amusement: “How can you be sure?”
“Because Hao-dage likes you so much. How could he leave you behind and go off alone?” Fang Yang spoke as if this was a matter of course.
“Likes me?” Feng Ye stared at Fang Yang in disbelief. Was Hao Chen’s affection for him so obvious? He himself had only realized it recently, but Fang Yang already knew?
But looking at Fang Yang’s expression, his version of ‘liking’ was different from how Feng Ye and Hao Chen understood it.
What Fang Yang spoke of was just the affection between good friends.
“That’s right, ah.” Fang Yang listed an example: “When you were unconscious back at the sect because of your internal injuries, it was Hao-dage who carried you back and stayed by your side without ever leaving.”
Feng Ye thought back to that day. Fang Yang was referencing the time of Xue Ren’s rebellion. Not only had Hao Chen remained by his side at all times, he had even kept watch from the same bed.
Feng Ye couldn’t help but chuckle when he remembered waking up to Hao Chen saying: “You must take responsibility.”
When Feng Ye finally smiled, Fang Yang breathed a sigh of relief and continued to console him: “My mom and dad also argue, and sometimes Mom will get so angry that she goes back to her parents’ house. But she always comes back on her own a few days later. After all, she likes my dad, so she couldn’t bear to stay away forever.”
Feng Ye wasn’t sure whether or not Fang Yang’s analogy was appropriate or even accurate. It didn’t seem as if things had reached that point between him and Hao Chen.
In the end, he just smiled in response.
As he continued to gaze out at the curtain of rain, he felt a sudden, almost imperceptible hint of anticipation. Perhaps he would soon spot a familiar figure.
There was nobody out on the street. No normal person would venture out in this downpour.
But miraculously, Feng Ye really did spy a figure at the end of the street. A very familiar figure.
It was not Hao Chen.
Walking against the wind and rain, Ling Yun stopped not far from the inn and gazed up at Feng Ye in the window.
Feng Ye frowned, locking eyes with him through the driving rain.
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Chapter 121 << Table of Contents >> Chapter 123
