Chapter 73

The clear, lofty song still echoed in his ears, but the dog boy's reply never came, not even his breath remained—he seemed to have fallen into a deep sleep. Zhou Shuo slowly stopped, lifted his gaze to the starry sky; the plot, altered by his presence, had changed: Xu Xiang, who should have died before the Luotian Grand Ritual, only now died, and even in his final moment he called Feng Baobao.

Xu Xiang, the dog boy Feng Baobao spoke of, is dead—this seems a trivial matter. Zhou Shuo has personally ended lives, participated in the plot of the Tian Xing Jiu Ge world, and indirectly disturbed the plot of the Yang Shen world, yet this is the first time he has personally come into contact with a disturbed plot.

"Tsk." Zhou Shuo shook his head slightly, dismissed his speculation, rose again to catch up with Balun and Xia Liuqing ahead, and together they rushed to behind Feng Baobao, who was already singing into her phone.

"Old Wu? He really is answering the phone." Xia Liuqing stopped, first glancing at the burly man whose eyes were rolled up under the girl's feet, then at the girl pressing the phone to her ear with her right hand; he couldn't help but slightly open his mouth, staring in disbelief at Zhou Shuo catching up from behind—it was exactly as he had said.

"Impressive." Balun watched the girl on the phone, glanced with the corner of his eye at the guy catching up behind, and from that distance judged by hearing alone what the other was doing.

"Good night, dog boy." The girl withdrew her gaze from the starry sky, lowered the phone pressed to her right hand and hung up, then turned to face the three.

"Hey you, what's your name again?" Xia Liuqing looked at the girl who had turned around, her drooping eyebrows slightly raised, and poked Zhou Shuo on the right.

"Zhou Shuo." Zhou Shuo looked at the old man staring unblinking, only extending a hand to poke his arm, and couldn't help but twitch the corner of his mouth.

"Well, little Zhou, since you're here, there's no need for this old bone of mine or guest Balun to lift a finger—my task is her." Xia Liuqing showed no courtesy, using her status as an elder and Balun as a guest to order him around.

"No way, I can't beat her." Zhou Shuo faced the old man who bossed him around without courtesy, his expression unchanged as he refused, causing the old man's face to stiffen slightly, then he looked at him with a strange gaze.

"What are you looking at!" Zhou Shuo glanced askance, smirking at the old man's slightly odd eyes; "If you've got the guts, drag me into a gang‑up and see whether I'll hold back or go all out!"

While Zhou Shuo and Xia Liuqing stared at each other, the invited Balun suddenly sprang forward—because the opposite target, after glancing at Zhou Shuo, Xia Liuqing, and Balun for a few seconds, lightly scratched his own cheek and then turned and ran.

"That guy……." The girl ran, slightly turning her head and glancing behind with the corner of her eye; although she didn't know Xia Liuqing and Balun, she knew Zhou Shuo—whether from the Jinmen rescue of Zhang Chulan or the match two days prior, she could tell she was at a disadvantage against him, unlikely to win one‑on‑one, let alone with two helpers, so she chose to turn and run.

"Huh!" The girl glanced behind with the corner of her eye, her gaze suddenly shifting, she lowered her waist— a hiss, the military knife swept past her head, then the knee coming from her bosom she blocked with both hands, the huge force flung her outward.

"Interesting, excellent combat reflexes—looks like she's had good training." Balun flicked his military knife and narrowed his eyes at the girl flying backward.

"Her reaction, properly speaking, should be instinct." Zhou Shuo stopped, looking at the foreigner who, relying on his lightning‑fast body technique, suddenly intercepted Feng Baobao and sent her flying backward; he shook his head slightly—this kind of mind‑body unity is not a neural reflex gained from training.

"Instinct? Do you think it's innate?" Balun gazed at the tall, sword‑bearing youth.

"Hmm, according to the saying it's innate." Zhou Shuo nodded slightly; if we follow the words of the yi ren, spiritual awareness is indeed innate, yet it can be acquired through cultivation.

"Instinct? No, Xia, what do you say?" Balun shook his head and turned his gaze to the stooped Xia Liuqing.

"Hmm, on this point I lean toward little Zhou's view: this girl has a light, agile form and clear breath, not like a person of the turbid mortal world, she bears an immortal's aura." Xia Liuqing looked the girl up and down, shook her head then nodded, her tone full of wonder.

"We need to talk some science; we can't just judge by her demeanor…" Balun opened his narrowed eyes, his expression bearing a wry smile—these Easterners really are strange.

"Not everything in this world can be measured by science—watch closely." Zhou Shuo looked at the foreigner who had opened his eyes, tapped the ground with a probing foot; the originally slightly rising Feng Baobao lifted her body and shifted her foot to avoid the force bursting from the ground beneath her, yet that force, which had suddenly erupted from the ground, bent in an instant as she dodged, grazing her face as she leaned back.

"Hmm, now I can be sure—I agree with little Zhou, hehe, what a fine Ruyi Jin, little Zhou, are you really surnamed Zhou?" Xia Liuqing saw the girl's precise dodging, her eyes flashed with excitement, and she teasingly glanced at Zhou Shuo.

"I really am surnamed Zhou, but I learned this move from that kid Lu Liang." Zhou Shuo looked at the teasing old fellow and slightly shrugged his shoulders.

"No wonder, I see now—but what did you originally train in?" Xia Liuqing, hearing Zhou Shuo's words, felt a sudden realization, then grew a bit confused: innate audiovisual ability, decent sword‑qi skill, plus Ruyi Jin—how much does this kid know? The Lu family's Ruyi Jin is notoriously hard to master.

"Internal alchemy." Zhou Shuo glanced at the old man and blinked his eyes.

"Have you emerged as a Yang Spirit?" Xia Liuqing slightly opened her mouth.

"Yes." Zhou Shuo nodded; the old man's opened mouth didn't close.

"Let's make a bet." Balun looked at the astonished Xia Liuqing, spoke to Zhou Shuo, saying he didn't believe the girl's reaction was instinct.

"I won't bet, you've got nothing good to offer me!" Zhou Shuo looked at the guy proposing the bet, shook his head, but Xia Liuqing beside him snapped back to attention and interjected.

"I'll bet with you—I want your bottle of precious whiskey."

"Fine, I want your bottle of aged brew." Balun, seeing Xia Liuqing take up the talk, hesitated not—he was just interested.

After the bet was set, Balun switched the grip on his military knife, assumed a stance, tiger‑eyeing the girl surrounded by the three of them—she showed not a flicker of emotion from start to finish; he hardly believed that such an instinctual person could exist in this world, she seemed like a born warrior.

His steps shifted slightly, Balun planted his legs and inched toward the girl; from her eyes he could detect no emotion at all, so he could make no prediction—thus he could only go straight in, deciding on direct combat. The distance between Balun and the girl was less than a meter, and their figures instantly crossed past each other.

"Huh?" Xia Liuqing looked at the instant crossing of Balun, involuntarily letting out a questioning sound—he hadn't seen the fight clearly.

"Here, Balun struck Feng Baobao at this point—the small intestine celestial window point; her blood vessels dilated, her heartbeat slowed, her breathing stagnated." Zhou Shuo watched Feng Baobao as she crossed paths with Balun, pointed to the outer side of his own throat, and as he gave Xia Liuqing a cue, the motionless Feng Baobao lurched forward and collapsed limp, while Balun sheathed his knife and turned.

"In Western medicine terms, I hit her vagus nerve, causing cerebral hypoxia and fainting." Balun put away his military knife and gave Zhou Shuo a slight nod.

"She didn't faint." Zhou Shuo looked at the nodding foreigner, glanced at his chest, then pointed at the struggling girl on the ground.

"By your reckoning, it's already a turtle in the urn." Balun glanced at the still‑struggling girl, then looked away, lowered his gaze to his chest—he wasn't a total victory, because his shirt had a small hole blown open where the opponent had just struck him; but for some unknown reason the opponent hadn't dealt a killing blow.

"Then our task is done." Xia Liuqing looked at the girl slumped on the ground, struggling, and chuckled—but the instant he finished speaking, the still‑struggling Feng Baobao suddenly lifted her head, used hands and feet, and scrambled away clumsily.

Although cerebral hypoxia made even standing and walking difficult, after a few seconds of scrambling she regained her ability to move; after dodging several attacks from Balun behind her, she crawled up a large tree using hands and feet, while Balun stopped at the base of the tree, ceasing pursuit.

"................" Zhou Shuo looked at Balun, whose several instant attacks were non‑lethal and who hadn't pursued, glanced at the idle Xia Liuqing beside him, and slightly tightened his grip on his side sword.

"Why aren't you pursuing?" Xia Liuqing asked Balun, who had stopped pursuing and instead halted his steps.

"I am a soldier; when facing an enemy, the first thing to do is judge the opponent's hostile intent. According to that standard, even if the opponent is an old, weak woman or child, I would become a butcher—but this girl hasn't crossed that line, so I have no reason to strike her again." Balun didn't look at the girl in the tree, but turned to face the old and young before him, his tone pausing slightly before he spoke.

"Speaking of which, I recall she's supposed to be your mission!"

"You say that, yet you can't handle it yourself, and you expect this old bone of mine to manage? On the contrary, little Zhou, you—your Ruyi Jin and sword qi just now were quite formidable; you're certainly no pushover!" Xia Liuqing laughed, meanwhile glancing at Zhou Shuo.

"Ah! Really? Elder Xia, you overpraise me—my skill waxes and wanes; you young folk know I can't compare to you old-timers and Balun, veterans of a hundred battles whose meals outweigh my salt intake. Speaking of which, Elder Xia, you seemed a little pleased when you saw Feng Baobao just now—does she resemble Senior Mei, or perhaps someone you're close to?" Zhou Shuo explained without changing expression, meanwhile smiling as he asked.

"Hey, kid, don't spout nonsense—I tell you, my feelings for Jin Feng are as plain as heaven and earth can see; to this day I'm still a pure innocent." Xia Liuqing, upon hearing Zhou Shuo's words, instantly grew annoyed; she'd say anything, but she won't tolerate this kind of talk.

"When you were young, you weren't even an actor, really nothing… Damn, if you have something to say, say it properly; don't resort to violence, don't do shameful deeds, fear not ghosts knocking at the door, an upright person fears not his shadow slant—I've had enough of you; if you strike again I'll turn against you."