Chapter 218: Still Daring to Tease This Old Man?

The setting sun sank to the end of the Gobi Desert, and the scorching wasteland bathed in starlight and moonlight.

Lu Yan, clad in a Taoist robe, floated high in the sky, his face iron-green, scanning the hundred-li expanse of the Gobi Desert for any trace of human figures.

Xi Yanjun stood waiting at the crack below, shouting loudly:

"Junior Uncle, those three cunning brats, could they not have come out?"

Lu Yan felt this was impossible; after all, finding one opportunity was already a heavenly blessing; even if they wanted to continue searching, they would have to return to the surface for supplies first before going down to search slowly, let alone those three cunning brats had provoked him, the Ancestor of the Divination Sect!

The three took the opportunity and didn't run; were they waiting to die underground?

Following the sword marks left by the other party as a guide, Lu Yan rushed to the surface exit; he didn't catch up along the way, and after coming out, he only found a few small cultivators searching for medicinal herbs nearby, and a few flying birds; those three were as if they had vanished into thin air.

Could it be they truly didn't come out...

Or did they exit from somewhere else...

Logically, they should return by the original path; wouldn't they get lost looking for other exits...

Lu Yan was full of confusion, but he still waited like a hunter by the stump high in the sky; after all, descending into the Zhu Que Mausoleum was like diving; as long as the other party hadn't found another exit, they would eventually have to poke their heads out from here.

But after waiting for more than half a double-hour, Xi Yanjun below suddenly shouted:

"Junior Uncle, there is movement below."

Lu Yan frowned, immediately dropped back to the ground to listen with his ear cocked, and discovered that deep within the crack, a 'thump-thump' sound came; the distance was quite far, but it could still be faintly heard; it seemed someone was digging stone.

At this time, there should be few groups of Daoist friends underground...

Lu Yan felt he had found the target, and immediately leaped into the ground fissure, chasing towards the source of the sound.

As a result, after traveling more than twenty li, he had not found the three cunning brats; instead, he saw that on the wall, there were more sword marks, still Taoist sect signs, marking the Life Gate and Death Gate, freshly carved!

??

Lu Yan was not a foolish person; he felt this was either a trick, or the three had water in their skulls.

After a slight consideration, Lu Yan, relying on his cultivation, still followed the Life Gate to feel his way in, and the result was truly a smooth path all the way...

—

Whoosh~

The three were inside a rock cave, able to hear only the faint wind sound produced by the flow of spiritual energy.

Xie Jinhuan stood with one hand behind his back at the cave entrance; seeing that Sister Hua was almost finished refining, and that Lu Yan, just as he had predicted, had not chased after them, his heart relaxed a few points.

Nangong Ye maintained his Bingshan expression; seeing that half a double-hour had already been spent, his inner heart was actually under extreme pressure; he turned his head and said:

"Are you done yet?"

Bu Yuehua also wanted to fight quickly and finish decisively, but refining the spiritual resonance of heaven and earth required peeling the silk from the cocoon slowly; if she accidentally took the Yang Fire into her body as well, she would explode on the spot; for this reason, she could only focus all her attention on the tiny fireball remaining in her palm and replied:

"Almost, I will help you find it immediately."

Nangong Ye saw the demoness successfully obtaining such a precious treasure; actually, his teeth were a bit itchy; his gaze swept over the plump and full buttocks; he very much wanted this demoness to offer herself in marriage as thanks, so that both sides would be in the water...

But this way he would still be held hostage; he must make this demoness disciple get into the water as well, so both sides could be balanced...

Thinking such nonsense, he didn't know what he was blindly pondering; seeing the demoness was about to finish, Nangong Ye prepared to leave this place of trouble.

But whether it was that Heaven had eyes, unwilling to let mortal beings take heavenly treasures and earthly gems so easily, it must create some calamity.

Just as Xie Jinhuan leaned out to observe the crack outside, preparing to head to the next spot immediately, the red-clothed ghost beside him, with a surprised look in her eyes, said:

"Oh ho~ this old Taoist has some skill; he really chased after us."

As the words fell, an old-fashioned angry scolding came from far down the crack:

"Cunning brats, dare to play tricks on this old man! Bing Ding Yinghuo, Zhu Que transforms, blazing true fire, obey my command..."

Whoosh~

The instant the sound rose, a slight wind suddenly whipped up at the end of the narrow stone fissure.

Xie Jinhuan stood within the protection of the Yin-Yang Ruler, feeling no change in temperature, but at the end of the distant dark crack, firelight clearly lit up, its brightness rapidly climbing until it illuminated the hundred-zhang rock layer fissure!

Hiss...

The Five Elements Yang Fire inside the Zhu Que Mausoleum was so strong that cultivators could hardly grasp it; cultivators of any school entering were equivalent to being magic-suppressed.

But Lu Yan possessed the Ling Guang Divine Gift; the flames he controlled shared the same origin as the Zhu Que Mausoleum; although he could not mobilize the power of heaven and earth, he was not suppressed too greatly.

Discovering the situation was wrong, Nangong Ye's face changed suddenly; holding the Yin-Yang Ruler, he blocked in front:

"Burning Heaven Li Fire Spell, retreat quickly!"

Bu Yuehua darted out at the same time; her left hand waved, bringing out three black flying knives; like butterflies dancing in the wind, they crisscrossed and shuttled through the rock fissure, shooting towards the source of the fire, while at that very moment, a voice came from the opposite side:

"Ji Ji Ru Lv Ling!"

Boom—

As the words fell, flames burning the world surged forth from a hundred zhang away, directly transforming into a visible golden-red firebird; dragging flames along its path, the scene was like a smaller Deathwing; wherever it passed, the rock walls almost instantly turned into scorching red charcoal!

The three flying knives flying halfway were swallowed and dissolved by the blazing true fire the instant they touched it, and then turned into red molten iron, pressing back in reverse.

"Hiss..."

The three looked up, feeling the entire long narrow fissure instantly turn red; in the blink of an eye, it spread from a hundred zhang away to right before them.

Nangong Ye held the Yin-Yang Ruler to protect a space of more than a zhang around his body, feeling as if he were being swallowed by a torrent of molten lava.

The flames, sufficient to melt everything in the world, pressed the Yin-Yang Ruler's formed Yin-Yang suppression domain down to only a few feet around his body.

The narrow fissure offered no place to dodge; Bu Yuehua and Xie Jinhuan would die the moment they showed their heads; they could only hug Nangong Ye and fly backward; at first they stepped on rock, but after running no more than ten-plus zhang, the ground was burned red by the blazing true fire.

Fortunately, the three had come to the Fire Phoenix Valley having already anticipated the ground being burned red; their shoe soles were made of fire-resistant material, so they would not be burned to ashes on the spot.

Because the protected space was small, the three were squeezed together and could not move easily; Xie Jinhuan simply took Sister Hua and carried her around the waist, running on the rock like a hot iron, shouting loudly:

"Daoist friend, wait!"

Lu Yan stood at the other end holding the Fire Decree Token; actually, he also had caution in his heart; discovering that these three cunning brats didn't even dare to fight back, yet were not instantly turned to ash, his eyes showed slight surprise; hearing the voice, he still pinched the fire hand seal and pursued: "A great Saint like Ye, afraid of this old man's three-legged-cat fire arts?"

"I am Xie Jinhuan; Empress Dowager Guo and I have some incense karma; Lu Lao hit the wrong person; it would be hard to explain when you return."

"?"

Lü Yan's brow furrowed; he felt this time it probably wasn't someone impersonating.

Rumor had it that Xie Jinhuan was a male favorite of Empress Dowager Guo, and that Empress Dowager Guo was the true power behind Northern Zhou.

Although the rumor was very likely nonsense, even if Xie Jinhuan wasn't Empress Dowager Guo's lover, there was surely a formidable master behind him.

The path of cultivation was like treading on thin ice; taking such talk at face value had no real downside, but turning a blind eye and making a mortal enemy could easily bring disaster.

At this, Lü Yan paused to consider, stopped the fire art in his hands, and the city-burning flames immediately dispersed, soon revealing three figures in the distance.

Blazing True Fire was no ordinary flame—it could smelt and forge immortal artifacts; the rock layers simply couldn't withstand the scorching. After only a short rampage, the cracks in the rock already showed signs of melting.

Xie Jinhuan stood on the ground; even through his shoes he could feel the soles of his feet being scorched. Shifting from foot to foot would be too undignified, so he kept his back straight, his bearing calm and steady, as if he felt nothing at all.

Bu Yuehua, meanwhile, drew out a waist saber wrapped in black cloth, slipped quietly down from Xie Jinhuan's embrace, only to find no place to set her feet without being scorched. Secretly marveling at Xie Jinhuan's composure, she realized jumping back into his arms would be improper, so she swiftly used her yin-cold qi to cool the ground.

Nangong Ye, for his part, held the Yin-Yang Ruler out in front, his eyes as if facing a formidable foe.

Lü Yan was a cultivator from the Northern Border and didn't know the two women; he only studied the dashing Xie Jinhuan, felt his appearance matched the rumors, and at once spoke coldly:

"The rumors say—does Young Friend Xie himself take them for the truth?"

Seeing the other had stopped his hand, Xie Jinhuan knew Empress Dowager Guo's name still carried some authority, and replied in a clear voice:

"It's not entirely just rumor—I do have some affection with Empress Dowager Guo. Meeting is fate; I didn't know it was Elder Lü coming just now, so I used a small trick to avoid danger and caused a bit of a misunderstanding…"

A misunderstanding?

Lü Yan was no fool; he had just announced his own identity, yet Xie Jinhuan had called him 'Young Friend Lü' and spoken of 'the Dao follows nature'—that was rubbing it in his face!

Though furious inside, Lü Yan didn't keep cursing, but said:

"What happened just now—out of regard for our both walking the orthodox path, I can let it pass. But the orthodox path has its rules too: heaven-sent things go to the capable. Since you've come to this blessed grotto-heaven, gains and losses depend on each one's own skill.

"Young Friend Xie has already claimed two opportunities; greed makes for poor digestion. Give up one, and my Five Spirits Mountain is willing to offer a stalk of Minghe Grass as thanks for showing the way. What does Young Friend Xie say?"

Minghe Grass was a medicinal ingredient produced by the Northern Dark Lake; its effects were similar to Hu Gu Teng, and it counted as a treasure, but compared to the Linguang Divine Gift that appeared once every sixty years, it was clearly not in the same league.

But Lü Yan's words were truly polite—if he weren't wary of the master behind Xie Jinhuan, he would have simply killed and seized the treasure. They were cultivators of different nations; where would any orthodox-versus-unorthodox distinction come from?

Nangong Ye felt that, given the gap in their cultivation, Lü Yan's offer was already very restrained, and at once glanced at Bu Yuehua.

Bu Yuehua cared a great deal about the great opportunity she'd just obtained, but no matter how good an opportunity, one needed to be alive to claim it. So she glanced at Xie Jinhuan, her eyes asking whether to hand it over.

But Xie Jinhuan had always been the one robbing others—when had anyone ever robbed him? So he glanced at the all-capable little ghost.

Ye Hongshang had been observing the opponent the whole time, and now replied:

"This man can only use fire arts here, and only his own qi isn't suppressed—he can't draw on the power of heaven and earth. With the Yin-Yang Ruler shielding you, you can hold out, but you can't outlast him in a tug-of-war; no chance of winning. Collapse the tunnel and just leave—he can't exactly burn a hole through the rock."

"?"

Xie Jinhuan felt this made sense; they couldn't fly or burrow through earth here, and once the tunnel collapsed, even if Lu Wu Zhen came he'd still have to dig slowly—and blocking is faster than digging, right?

Thinking of this, Xie Jinhuan looked at Lü Yan some hundred zhang away:

"If I said there's another opportunity not far off, would Elder Lü believe me?"

Lü Yan gave a cold snort. "You really take me for a fool? If there's another one, Young Friend Xie is welcome to go take it."

"Fine, then I'll go take it!"

Boom—

The instant Xie Jinhuan's words fell, the Heavenly Gang Mace in his hand had already flashed out, slamming into the rock wall at the side.

Under the heavy blow, the already red-hot, swollen rock wall immediately shattered and collapsed, pouring down like a flood. Xie Jinhuan grabbed Seeing Bing Tuozi and Bu Yuehua and retreated rapidly.

Rumble rumble—

Lü Yan sensed something was wrong and struck at the same time; his Fire-Commanding Token shot out a line of flame that pierced through the tunnel like an arrow, instantly blasting a pit several zhang deep into the collapsed rubble—but from behind, the sounds kept coming:

Boom boom boom…

The sounds gradually faded into the distance.

Seeing this, Xi Yanjun's brow furrowed, and he flashed out from behind the rock wall:

"What do we do?"

Lü Yan, fighting in this godforsaken place, was truly hampered at every turn. He looked left and right:

"If that brat eats his fill and gets away clean today, I'll write my name backward."

Xi Yanjun followed behind, searching for a path, secretly feeling that his martial uncle's harsh words were delivered with quite some finesse.

After all, the name 'Lü Yan' flipped left-right was indeed reversed; but flipped up-down, wasn't it still Lü Yan…

Still, this wasn't something Xi Yanjun could say outright. So he went along, winding left and right, and after roughly two quarter-hours of searching, unexpectedly discovered new sword marks on the wall, marking the Life Gate and Death Gate.

?

Lü Yan saw the familiar marks and felt that Xie Jinhuan was no brainless pig—he was the dog being led on a leash!

Xie Jinhuan clearly couldn't be a brainless pig, so…

"Cunning brat, you dare lead me on? Simply lawless! Let's see what tricks you can pull!"

Lü Yan bristled with fury and charged straight toward the Life Gate…

——

Wrote over fourteen thousand characters, deleted and revised into just two chapters, sigh or2!

A shout-out: recommending a new book "Wilderness Livestream: Starting from Lop Nor"—if anyone's interested, feel free to check it out~

(End of chapter)