Chapter 13: Young Girl Xiao Yan
By Gu Zhenren
2014-06-18
The young girl Xiao Yan sat in a dark corner, her back against the cold mountain stones. Her head was buried between her knees as she wept heartbrokenly.
The scene of the recent family evaluation was still vivid in her mind. Once a genius, she had now become the lowest of her family, mocked by her peers.
“Father, Mother, when will I be able to avenge you in this state…” Thinking of her parents’ revenge, Xiao Yan was overcome with grief and sobbed continuously.
As tears blurred her vision, a soft blue glow suddenly caught her eye.
“Huh?” Xiao Yan raised her head, blinking her swollen eyes, and saw a strange blue treasure light emanating from a peculiar rock. It rippled like seawater, bathing the surroundings in a dreamlike haze.
Xiao Yan was greatly astonished. “I’ve been to this back mountain countless times. Whenever I felt wronged, I’d hide here to vent. I never saw anything strange before. Why is there such an anomaly today? This blue radiance is so beautiful, what could it be?”
The stones in the Ghost Continent were not solid but riddled with holes of various sizes. When the cold wind blew into these holes, it created sounds like wailing ghosts.
Currently, the blue treasure light was shining through these very holes. It was clear that the light source was within the rock.
“White Bone Ape, smash this rock.” Xiao Yan tapped her Immortal Pouch and summoned a Demonic Beast.
This beast was a specialty of the Ghost Continent, exceptionally powerful and the size of an adult. It was a white-haired ape, but its face was covered by a white bone helmet, and it held a thick Tibia bone in its hand.
“Aow aow aow…” The White Bone Ape let out a long howl, pounded its chest, and its aura surged.
Then, with a powerful thrust of its legs, it leaped into the air.
Its arms swung with force, bringing the bone club in its hand in a wide arc.
With a bang, the rock was smashed into pieces, scattering rubble everywhere.
The pervading blue treasure light, like a startled turtle retracting into its shell, immediately vanished.
Above, the white bone sky quietly emitted a pale light, and the surroundings returned to the dim tone characteristic of the Ghost Continent.
Xiao Yan walked forward, carefully clearing away the碎石 (crushed stones). Finally, she discovered a ring.
The ring was drab and ancient in style, very unremarkable. However, a fleeting blue light flashed at intervals on the ring, subtly reminding Xiao Yan that this ring was likely the source of the earlier blue light.
“This should be an ancient Demon Soldier,” Xiao Yan’s attention was completely captivated. Her large, bright eyes sparkled with starlight.
She tentatively extended her delicate, pale fingers to pick up the ring.
The blue light on the ring suddenly intensified, then quickly faded.
The change in the light caused Xiao Yan’s heart to race. “The only Demonic Creature I have left is the White Bone Ape. Let’s see if I can capture this ring.”
In Xiao Yan’s limited knowledge, ancient Demon Soldiers were always extraordinary. However, she couldn’t discern the true cultivation of this ring, which made her uneasy.
After all, she was just a low-level Monster Tamer. If the Spirit Gap was too large, she wouldn’t be able to subdue this Demon Soldier and might even suffer a backlash, causing her own Spirit to fluctuate or even dissipate.
Yet, Xiao Yan was reluctant to hand over this ancient Demon Soldier she had found directly to her family. After her parents’ deaths, her family had treated her with indifference, and some relatives had even been harsh, deliberately making things difficult for her.
Her innate adventurous spirit urged her to hold her breath, focus her mind, and cautiously extend her consciousness, attempting to communicate with the ring’s Spirit.
“Who is this junior, daring to awaken me from my slumber?”
A grand, ancient voice suddenly echoed in Xiao Yan’s mind.
“Ah?!” Xiao Yan was startled by the voice and sat down abruptly on the ground, her face turning instantly pale, her beauty lost in fright.
The voice had come too suddenly and too loudly. It was like a thunderclap exploding beside her ears. She felt dizzy, and echoes continued to reverberate in her mind.
“You… Who are you?” Xiao Yan stammered, surprised to see the ring slowly floating towards her.
“My surname is Chu,” the voice appeared in her mind again, but this time it was much gentler than before.
Upon hearing this, Xiao Yan’s alarm deepened, and the last trace of color drained from her cheeks.
No ring would have a surname. Xiao Yan, being intelligent, immediately realized that a powerful Soul resided within this ancient Demon Soldier ring!
She felt her vision blacken. The situation had instantly become as bad as it could possibly get.
In the Ghost Continent, there were two factions, Humans and Ghosts, in opposition.
The Human faction was mostly composed of Ghost Saints who had migrated and gradually developed, their sphere of influence covering a quarter of the Ghost Continent’s area.
The Ghost Soul faction comprised the souls of cultivators from the Nine Provinces who, after death, came to the Ghost Continent and continued to survive in its unique environment, forming a vast power bloc. They occupied three-quarters of the Ghost Continent’s area.
The Ghost Soul faction completely suppressed the Human faction. There were irreconcilable conflicts between the two factions. The souls in the Ghost Soul faction needed new bodies to continue their cultivation, often through forceful possession, destroying the original souls of humans and taking over their bodies.
What terrified Xiao Yan even more was that this soul before her clearly came from another Continent. Being able to pass the Ghost Continent Three Trials made it infinitely stronger than the souls native to the Ghost Continent.
If he wanted to possess her body, Xiao Yan would have absolutely no power to resist.
“I, I’ve unintentionally disturbed senior. This junior deserves a thousand deaths. Please, have mercy and forgive this careless mistake. I will leave now and not disturb your sight.” Xiao Yan, still shaken, trembled as she spoke.
“Wait, who told you to leave?” Chu Yun’s words immediately halted Xiao Yan’s movement to stand up.
Xiao Yan gritted her teeth, certain that she was doomed this time. She let go of her fear and looked directly at the ring, her eyes resolute. “Senior, do you want my body?”
Chu Yun laughed heartily. “I am a man, what would I want with a woman like you? If I wanted to possess someone, I would have already done so. Why else would I still be confined in this Star Ghost Spirit Ring?”
Hearing this, a spark of hope ignited in Xiao Yan’s heart. She thought of a possibility. “So, Senior wants to enter the Wine Pool Meat Forest to obtain a perfect body that matches your soul.”
Somewhere in the Ghost Continent lay a sacred land known as the Wine Pool Meat Forest.
The Meat Forest was a peculiar type of demonic tree that bore fruit called “meat fruits.” Souls could enter these meat fruits and form new bodies.
After being immersed in the Wine Pool, these new bodies would generate a new Spirit.
This was a design conceived by the Ghost Saints. Many souls were reborn and resurrected as humans in the Ghost Continent because of this. These individuals then intermarried and had offspring, becoming part of the Human faction.
Chu Yun had gathered a lot of information and was aware of the Wine Pool Meat Forest. “That’s right. Only such a body would befit my status. Someone like you, with your small arms and legs, is too weak. You are not qualified to be my body at all.”
Although belittled, Xiao Yan felt genuinely happy. She could sense Chu Yun’s arrogance, which stemmed from his power, but it was also her chance to survive.
Chu Yun changed the subject. “However, despite that, your offense in disturbing me still requires punishment.”
“Senior, I offended you unintentionally. You are magnanimous…” Xiao Yan fell to the ground, her legs dragging as she recoiled fearfully, shaking her head and backing away.
“Hehehe, little girl, you don’t need to be afraid. It is your fortune to gain my favor. As long as you cooperate obediently, everything can be discussed. Do not resist; resistance is useless.”
The ring gradually approached Xiao Yan. Leaning against the mountain rock, the young girl had nowhere left to retreat!
Fanggu Fortress was located within the Ghost Howling Stone Ridge and served as the main city of the Xiao family. It covered a vast area and had a population of over 230,000.
“Halt! Who goes there? State your name!” The young guard at the south gate of the fortress stopped the distraught Xiao Yan.
Xiao Yan’s hair was dishevelled. She looked up at the guard’s words, revealing her pale face, dull eyes, and utterly lost expression.
The guard recognized her and frowned. “Xiao Yan, it’s you. What’s wrong with you? Hmph, go in.”
Xiao Yan walked into the fortress silently, her steps unsteady.
The guards’ conversation drifted from behind her.
“That’s strange, Xiao Yan never showed such weakness before. Did something happen to her in the back mountain?”
“Tch, what could have happened? You think too highly of her. She’s just a girl of fifteen or sixteen. She came in last again in the family competition. I really don’t understand how she was so outstanding two or three years ago.”
“Perhaps she heard the news and knows the purpose of the Tang Family’s third young master’s visit.”
“Mmm, that’s possible too. But we won’t get to see the good show, hehe…”
The guards, gloating, became more excited as they talked, completely oblivious to the unremarkable ring on the ring finger of Xiao Yan’s left hand.
As Xiao Yan entered Fanggu Fortress, the number of pedestrians on the street quickly increased. Seeing her, many people cast looks of sighing, pity, ridicule, or schadenfreude.
None of this registered with Xiao Yan.
She felt as if she had fallen into a dark abyss, her life devoid of any light.
Not long ago, she had been forced to sign a Contract with Chu Yun.
The contents of the contract were too horrific to recall; it was a complete nightmare. Simply put, it was a contract of servitude. Now, Xiao Yan no longer belonged to herself but was the private property of Chu Yun.
“You don’t need to be so disheartened. In a few hundred years, when you look back on this period, you’ll be glad you met me. As long as you cooperate with me obediently, and I successfully revive through the Wine Pool Meat Forest, you will regain your freedom,” Chu Yun’s voice echoed in Xiao Yan’s mind.
Xiao Yan gave a bitter smile.
The Wine Pool Meat Forest was a sacred land in the Ghost Continent. It did not have a fixed location but appeared once every twenty-three years. Each appearance caused bloodshed and chaos that affected the entire Ghost Continent.
How difficult it was to seize the Wine Pool Meat Forest, to emerge victorious from the competition among all the powerful beings in the Ghost Continent.
Xiao Yan did not believe she had the luck to wait for the day Chu Yun would revive in the Wine Pool Meat Forest.
“Xiao Yan, where did you run off to! You made us search for so long! Hmph, you lost the family competition, and you still have the mood to go shopping. It seems you’ve given up on yourself. Come with us quickly, the ancestor wants to see you.” Just then, a squad of guards approached Xiao Yan, their tone arrogant as they barked.
“What is it?” Xiao Yan’s pupils contracted.
“Your fiancé, the Tang Family’s third young master, has arrived and specifically requested to see you.” The leader of the guards said with a mocking sneer.
A sense of foreboding immediately enveloped Xiao Yan’s heart.
(To be continued)
