Chapter 990: Some Things Can't Be Seen Through

Sometimes, plans do change due to unforeseen circumstances. For example, Ji Yuan had originally intended to use the book "Yellow Springs" to mislead the so-called Revered Master of the Yu Ling Sect, who was presumably eager to find him. However, both of their mindsets have now shifted.

Since Yellow Springs had already descended, Ji Yuan no longer needed to use Yue Cang to incapacitate or exploit his opponents. With Ji Yuan and Xie Zhi's strength having further advanced, the most advantageous course of action would be to eliminate Yue Cang.

Unfortunately, the Yu Ling Sect's Revered Master's attitude towards Ji Yuan also seemed to have changed. Clearly, he dared not remain in his original location.

Whether one calls it straightforwardness or sincerity, Ji Yuan believed the titles he had previously learned from Hou were authentic. Since Yue Cang, the so-called Revered Master of the Yu Ling Sect, deliberately chose to avoid Ji Yuan, Ji Yuan knew it would be difficult to find him.

However, this was not a goal that needed to be achieved at this stage. If they were apprehensive of him, it wouldn't be a bad thing for Ji Yuan. In fact, Ji Yuan thought it might be better if they understood even more clearly that if they wished to rise, he, Ji Yuan, was an unavoidable obstacle.

In Qiyou, a small country in the western part of the Southern Barren Continent, Zuo Wuji, accompanied by Li Feng and Jin Jia, had temporarily settled in a dilapidated abandoned house on the outskirts of a town.

The country of Qiyou had not known peace in recent years. Caught between two warring major powers, Qiyou was inevitably swept into the conflict.

This caused great suffering for the people of Qiyou. Due to a past miscalculation in its national policy, Qiyou had attempted to remain neutral and benefit from both sides, thus not aligning with or relying on either major power. While this approach indeed brought more advantages during peacetime, once war erupted, it meant neither of the warring nations had any protective military strategy for Qiyou.

Although Qiyou's ruler soon chose to align with one side, the soldiers of the major powers did not necessarily obey orders strictly. A simple retort like "Generals outside the capital are not bound by all orders" could override many directives.

Fortunately, the literary arts were flourishing, and often the civil and military spheres were not separated. The number of righteous scholars and martial artists in the human world was increasing. Furthermore, many capable administrators were prominent literary figures, so no one truly wished to antagonize the world's literati. Consequently, the two major powers still exercised some restraint and did not go too far.

Being located in the Southern Barrens, it was inevitable that demons and monsters would emerge during such times of war. Naturally, many such creatures appeared, with some great demons from the Southern Barrens even taking advantage of the chaos.

Zuo Wuji and his companions, who would ordinarily stay in one place for only a few months at most, had remained in Qiyou for a year and a half. Besides slaying demons and monsters, they would also intervene if they encountered bandit soldiers acting excessively beyond the official conflict between the two nations.

Because martial arts were prevalent, many soldiers also practiced military formations and combat techniques. In the elite armies of major nations, even squad leaders and corporals were absolutely brave and fierce warriors. There were many experts in the army; leaping and fighting were not difficult. In actual urban street combat, not only the streets but also the interiors, exteriors, and rooftops of houses became battlegrounds, with shattered rooftops and destroyed dwellings being common occurrences.

At this moment, inside the dilapidated house, firewood was burning in the stove at what used to be the kitchen. This kitchen was the best-preserved room in the house; at least its roof didn't leak, and though its door panel had fallen off, it could still be propped back into place.

Jin Jia sat leaning against the kitchen doorframe, his pair of golden maces resting on the ground outside by his feet, having left two shallow indentations in the dirt. Zuo Wuji sat in front of the stove, watching Li Feng, who had grown considerably more robust over the years, stir the firewood inside.

“Great Hero Zuo, Uncle Jin, the roasted taro will be ready soon,” Li Feng said, chuckling. “I'm already drooling!”

Li Feng carefully controlled the burning firewood in the stove, constantly checking on the few roasted taros inside; this was their dinner for the night.

While traveling, Li Feng couldn't constantly call Jin Jia 'Divine General Jin,' so he eventually settled on 'Uncle Jin.' Although Zuo Wuji had always taught him skills, acting as a true mentor without formally accepting him as a disciple, Li Feng still couldn't bring himself to call him 'Master.'

Great Hero Zuo had never mentioned taking him as an apprentice, not even indirectly. Li Feng sometimes deluded himself into thinking that the person he wanted to apprentice under was Mr. Ji. He didn't dare say anything explicit in front of Great Hero Zuo, so he continued to call him 'Great Hero Zuo,' which sounded less intimate than 'Uncle Jin.'

“Hmm, just don't burn them like last time,” Zuo Wuji teased.

Li Feng quickly retorted. “No, no! That was just once; you can't keep bringing it up, can you?”

Zuo Wuji smiled and looked at Jin Jia, who was sitting by the doorway, gazing up at the moon. It was mid-month, so the moon appeared very full and bright.

“Brother Jin, how about we have a sparring match sometime?”

Hearing this, Jin Jia shifted his gaze from the bright moon to Zuo Wuji inside the room, the firelight from the stove dancing on his face.

“Alright,” Jin Jia replied, “When I fight you, I won't hold back!”

Zuo Wuji was delighted by Jin Jia's response and burst into hearty laughter.

“Hahahaha… Brother Jin, I'd be very happy to fight you. If you held back, I'd be displeased… Hmm?”

Mid-sentence, Zuo Wuji suddenly sensed something and stood up, walking towards the kitchen exit. Jin Jia also rose and stepped out ahead of him.

Although the town was much dilapidated, it wasn't completely devoid of inhabitants; its population had simply dwindled significantly. Especially in the outer areas where Zuo Wuji and his companions were, there were many empty houses.

At that moment, on the overgrown dirt path just outside the courtyard's fence, a slightly hunched figure slowly approached, leaning on a walking stick. By the moonlight, they could discern it was an old hunchbacked woman.

“What's wrong? What's going on?” Li Feng asked, also emerging from the house. Jin Jia, immensely built, stood up and blocked out all the moonlight, like a giant door. Then Li Feng also spotted the figure slowly moving with a stick in the distance.

“Finally appeared,” Zuo Wuji muttered with a cold chuckle. He waited until the old woman with the stick was close to the courtyard before walking to the fence and speaking in her direction.

“Excuse me, old woman, are you walking alone late at night?”

The old woman raised her head to look into the courtyard, seemingly a little breathless from her journey, and managed a pained expression.

“Alas, the world is like this, and my stomach is empty,” she sighed. “What can an old woman like me do?”

Zuo Wuji nodded and stepped outside the fence.

“If you're hungry, old woman, we're roasting taro; we can share some with you.”

A smile appeared on the old woman's face, revealing her pitted but mostly intact large yellow teeth. Her wrinkles converged, and with half her face shrouded in moonlight, she looked somewhat eerie.

“Good people, such good people!” she exclaimed. “There aren't many good people in this world…”

Zuo Wuji smiled, walked up to the old woman, and extended his hand to help her.

“Old woman, let me assist you.”

“Oh, oh…” she nodded, still smiling. She patted Zuo Wuji's arm and walked through the broken fence into the courtyard, where she came face-to-face with Jin Jia, who stood like an iron tower. He looked down at her with his usual expression, eyes narrowed.

“Oh my, you startled this old woman! What a giant fellow… Oh, and there's a child too! Good, good!”

Li Feng frowned, feeling uncomfortable about the old woman Zuo Wuji had helped in. After a moment's thought, he instinctively retreated into the kitchen and used a fire poker to stir the almost-roasted taros in the stove.

After helping the old woman into the courtyard, Zuo Wuji suddenly said in a low voice.

“Old woman, it seems your appetite must be quite large, yet there aren't many people in this town for you to eat. I had some doubts when I first saw you, but now I suddenly understand…”

The old woman's smile became even more eerie as she looked up at Zuo Wuji beside her.

“Hehehe… What are you talking about, young man? What have you understood?”

“I think, old woman, you probably deliberately set a trap and have been waiting for martial artists or immortal cultivators who slay demons to come, haven't you?”

The old woman glanced at the kitchen doorway, ten paces behind Jin Jia, where his pair of golden maces were naturally the most conspicuous in the moonlight.

“Alas, you are clever, but what a pity…”

Within the old woman's sleeves, her fingernails were rapidly growing longer.

“Pity about what?”

“Pity you realized it a little too late!” she hissed. “The taste of ordinary mortals is good but not nourishing enough. Martial artists like yourselves, who have cultivated some martial spirit, and those rogue spellcasters are far more delicious. Now, prepare to die… Hmm?”

Just as the old woman intended to launch her attack, she suddenly found one of her hands stuck, firmly gripped by Zuo Wuji with a single hand. How could he do that with his qi, blood, and martial spirit? Unless… No! This is bad!

Seeing Zuo Wuji's half-smile, the old woman made an immediate decision, and a powerful demonic aura erupted from her with explosive force.

A giant black shadow stirred the air, raising a furious wind mixed with dust. It was a house-sized, scaleless, slimy four-legged snake, and the moment it revealed its true form, it whipped its tail towards Zuo Wuji.

“Boom…”

The bursting demonic energy surged skyward. Zuo Wuji raised his arm to block, maintaining his standing posture, but was swept back a short distance, plowing the ground. The remaining structures in the small courtyard swayed precariously under the impact of the demonic energy, and even the kitchen had tiles sent flying.

“Roar…”

A spitting sound accompanied the roar, as foul, reeking matter spewed from the four-legged snake's mouth, engulfing the entire courtyard, while its demonic body simultaneously shot into the sky.

“Zha—”

Jin Jia roared suddenly, a thunderous blast of sound. A flash of lightning burst from the sound wave, eradicating the pervasive filth and leaving the monster dizzy with terror. It tried to fly but found itself rooted, its tail firmly clutched by Jin Jia, making it impossible to ascend.

“Who are you? Spare my life, please, both of you, spare my life! I was blind and mistook you for ordinary people!”

“Demon, prepare to die.”

Jin Jia paid no mind to its pleas. With a burst of immense strength, he pulled down with a force capable of crushing the monster's tail, only to find he was pulling nothing. The creature had, surprisingly, severed its own tail and frantically fled into the sky.

Meanwhile, Zuo Wuji had already executed a light leap, touching down on Jin Jia's shoulder. The latter's shoulder twitched, sending out a surge of power, and Zuo Wuji, like an arrow released from a bow, swiftly caught up to the soaring monster, landing on its back.

The monster only registered Zuo Wuji's presence when he landed on its back.

“What?”

The monster twisted its snake-like head, intending to turn and strike Zuo Wuji with its sharp front claws, but found its opponent had already raised a leg to kick.

“Thump…”

The mid-section of the snake's body shuddered slightly, its internal organs having been struck with immense force, causing them to burst.

“Hissing roar…”

The monster let out a pained shriek, and Zuo Wuji, using the momentum from his kick, leaped to the monster's head. His left hand easily plunged into the formidable demonic body, gripping it firmly, while his right fist struck, smashing into the monster's iron-hard skull.

“Thump…” “Crackling…”

In an instant, the snake demon's pained shrieks ceased, its demonic energy dissipated, and its massive body plummeted from the sky.

“Crash…”

The remaining structures of the abandoned house finally succumbed, either collapsing from the impact or shaking apart.

“Ptui, ptui, ptui…”

Li Feng, with a dozen roasted taros tucked into his clothing, leaped out of the dust-shrouded area. Fortunately, he had reacted quickly and salvaged the taros first, otherwise, dinner would have been ruined.

“Great Hero Zuo, Uncle Jin, the monster's dead, right? Didn't seem that powerful!”

Zuo Wuji took a 'Cloud Step' in the air, causing a booming sound from the qi beneath his feet, then gently glided to the ground.

“This monster was actually not simple at all,” Zuo Wuji corrected him. “It was close to the strength of a Great Demon, no wonder it dared to set traps for martial artists and demon-slaying cultivators.”

“Indeed,” Jin Jia responded briefly. He looked at various spots around the small courtyard; a few drops of residual venom had fallen, causing a nearby large tree to wither in a short time.

Li Feng also noticed the tree and stuck out his tongue.

“Come on, come on, it's time to eat! They're all perfectly cooked, no good food wasted!”

“Mmm!”

As Zuo Wuji smiled and walked towards Li Feng, a calm, gentle voice, tinged with amusement, drifted from the distance.

“What good things do you have? May I also have some?”

The voice was so familiar that none of the three by the demon corpse in the courtyard could forget it. The moment they turned, they saw a gentleman in a blue robe approaching.

Jin Jia had almost no time to react; he immediately took a few steps forward to Ji Yuan, bowing respectfully with lowered head.

“Esteemed One!”

“Mr. Ji!” exclaimed Zuo Wuji. “Mr. Ji?” repeated Li Feng, startled.

Ji Yuan smiled and nodded towards the courtyard, his gaze sweeping over Jin Jia and Zuo Wuji. After only a few years apart, Jin Jia, living independently, had cultivated surprisingly fast. As for Zuo Wuji, in Ji Yuan's perception, he merely seemed like a martial artist with slightly stronger qi, which was clearly due to his contained martial spirit, making it difficult for Ji Yuan to fully discern his true strength.