Chapter 431: Protagonist, Without a “Que Que”
The long night had not yet ended, and a deathly silence lay over the Gobi Desert.
A few flying swords, with their jagged trails of spiritual light, were the only illumination under the night sky.
The five disciples of the Xing Tian Division, who had survived until the end, were now utterly exhausted. They had just seen a gigantic fox head in the northwest that had dispersed a thousand-li dark cloud, but they lacked the energy to ponder what it was.
After rushing into the northwest valley as quickly as possible, they found a cave nestled on a cliff and descended into it with Yun Jiujiu.
Yun Jiujiu’s bang, smeared with bloodstains, obscured the upper half of her face, her expression grim.
When the two people had first held her, she had struggled a few times, trying to break free from their grasp and yelling about going back to help Feng Yu Die, but after a short while, she stopped moving.
The two who held Yun Jiujiu’s shoulders had assumed she was merely exhausted. Upon entering the cave, they quickly prepared to let her lean against the stone wall for a good rest.
However, the moment Yun Jiujiu’s little legs touched the ground…
Yun Jiujiu directly grabbed the collars of their clothes and pulled their faces towards her, shouting at them:
“I told you two to let me down, damn it!!! Are your ears deaf?! Huh?!”
The chirpy loli voice was already hoarse, sounding as if something was stuck in her throat, echoing incessantly in the small cave.
Beneath the messy, bloodstained bangs were a pair of peach blossom eyes, reddened with tears, filled with endless grief and indignation.
The five people inside the cave were all feeling disheartened.
They were the only five surviving disciples of the Xing Tian Division from that Immortal Ship.
Perhaps they had survived due to luck, or perhaps their own strength surpassed that of other Xing Tian Division disciples, but there was one reason they could not deny:
—Without Feng Yu Die and Yun Jiujiu, they would have long ago died like their fellow disciples on the Gobi Desert, under the spells and spirit swords of those Ghost Spirit Sect disciples.
However, when Feng Yu Die told them to take Yun Jiujiu and leave at the end, they had fled.
“…”
Not a single one of the five dared to speak in response to Yun Jiujiu. They all stood silently in place, lowered their heads.
Seeing their demeanor, Yun Jiujiu ground her teeth, muttering in near breakdown, “Cowards!! You bunch of pathetic women!! Feng Yu Die and I risked our lives to save the five of you from the Ghost Spirit Sect, and this is how you repay her?!”
“…”
“Isn’t it just one Core Formation Stage demonic cultivator? You all survived hundreds of Ghost Spirit Sect disciples, and you’re still afraid of just one of her? Why did you run?! Why didn’t you stay and help Feng Yu Die chop that wench down?!”
One of the people Yun Jiujiu was gripping by the collar replied softly, “Senior Feng asked us to take you away.”
“What?! What did you say?!”
Seeing that someone had finally spoken, Yun Jiujiu’s eyes widened in anger. She immediately raised her right hand, formed a fist, and swung it towards the person’s nose.
Her fist, the size of a steamed bun, carried gusts of wind as it hurtled towards the Xing Tian Division disciple’s nose bridge.
Upon seeing this, that person couldn’t help but close their eyes and turn their head, preparing to take the punch. But after waiting for a long time, they felt no sharp pain in their nose bridge.
Slightly opening their eyes, they discovered Yun Jiujiu’s fist stopped steadily an inch from their nose.
Looking at the Xing Tian Division disciple before her, whose body was covered in bleeding wounds, Yun Jiujiu finally suppressed the urge to vent her anger.
“Waaahyahaa—!!”
Yun Jiujiu now felt as if she were facing five lumps of cotton. She couldn’t fight, nor could she scold. She could only grind her teeth and stomp her foot to vent her frustration. Then, she took a step back, glared at them, and asked, “Names.”
The five people hadn’t heard clearly. They slowly raised their heads, looking at her in confusion.
Seeing this, Yun Jiujiu took a deep breath and once again shouted, “What are your damn names?! Are you all mute?!”
The five people now reacted. In order from left to right, they answered:
“Chen Yuanyi…”
“Han Yuehe.”
“Shangguan Xin.”
“Qiu Wuhe.”
“Chen Mu.”
Yun Jiujiu actually had a bit of face blindness; she wasn’t good at remembering people’s names. Even the maids who were constantly by her side on Jian Jiu Peak, she would sometimes call by the wrong name.
But at this moment, she tried her best to match the five names to the three males and two females before her.
After taking a deep breath, Yun Jiujiu took out the only bottle of Spirit Gathering Pills she had left from her Storage Bag and threw it into the hand of one of them: “Take it and eat!! These are the last few Spirit Gathering Pills in my bag, I don’t have any more!!”
Yun Jiujiu wiped her tears with her sleeve, pinched her nose, and blew the bloody snot to her feet. Then, she examined the wounds on the five people and cursed, “Get lost and heal yourselves!! Anyone who dares to die, I’ll mix their ashes with rice and feed them to the dogs!! All five of you will follow me to Jianmen Pass! Not one can be missing!!! Not one! You five were bought with Feng Yu Die’s life!! Haa—”
“…”
“What are you still standing around for? Go take the Spirit Gathering Pills and share them!!”
“Ah… Yes.”
The person who caught the pill bottle paused for a moment before coming back to their senses. After responding, they quickly pulled out the stopper, poured out the pills from the bottle, and distributed them to the other four on one side.
Yun Jiujiu watched them each take the pills, sit down, and begin to gather spiritual energy to heal. Then, she turned and walked to the cave entrance, took out a few Breath Concealment Talisman Scripts from her Storage Bag, and affixed them above the cave entrance.
Afterward, she looked out towards the outside of the cave.
Yun Jiujiu longed to see the silver-haired, “no que que” woman riding a flying sword towards her.
But, she also knew this was just wishful thinking.
The first time Yun Jiujiu saw that demonic cultivator, she felt that the black-haired, red-eyed female demonic cultivator was different from those Ghost Spirit Sect disciples who had died at the hands of her and Feng Yu Die.
If Feng Yu Die hadn’t grabbed her ankle and pulled her back forcefully at that moment, she would have likely died under that female demonic cultivator’s sword in one move.
However, she was unwilling.
Feng Yu Die, that “no que que” woman, had deceived her affections, but had saved her life twice. She had always wanted to find an opportunity to repay Feng Yu Die, but now…
“Who the hell am I going to repay?! Damn it!!”
Yun Jiujiu cursed loudly, then turned and walked back into the cave. She sat down, closed her eyes, and began to cultivate to recover…
…
————
Sizzle…
The sounds that reached her ears were the crackling of wood burning in a bonfire, and the aroma of roasted meat with a hint of star anise filled the air around a simple tent made of branches and oilcloth erected on the Gobi Desert.
Feng Yu Die, lying inside the tent, twitched her nose slightly and slowly opened her eyes. She propped herself up and asked, covering her forehead, “Young Master Ye?”
Feng Yu Die thought Ye Anping was there, roasting a roasted chicken for her, but when she looked up, she saw a man much taller than Ye Anping, and her face fell with disappointment.
Hu Mu had already reverted to his human form. He sat by a bonfire, holding a sizzling skewer of meat, turning it over the flames; Xue Tian Qiao lay beside him, gazing longingly at the meat skewer in his hand, drooling.
“Master, is it ready? Ready? Ready?”
“…”
Hu Mu remained silent. He turned his head to look at Feng Yu Die, who had sat up, then stood up and walked to Feng Yu Die’s side, looking up at her and glancing sideways.
Feng Yu Die, who had been rubbing her head, saw a shadow fall upon her and weakly raised her head, asking softly, “What is it? Ah-woo—”
Hu Mu didn’t speak. He shoved the roasted meat skewer he was holding into her mouth, then turned and sat back down by the bonfire, picked up a raw meat skewer, and began roasting it again.
Feng Yu Die looked completely bewildered. She slowly raised her hand, pulled the roasted meat skewer Hu Mu had put in her mouth out, and stared blankly at the Demon Emperor who was roasting the skewer.
What the hell? Was he telling her to eat?
Xue Tian Qiao saw that her master had given the first skewer to Feng Yu Die. She puffed out her cheeks but said nothing. Seeing Feng Yu Die’s bewildered expression, she quickly helped her master explain, “White-haired sister, my master is thanking you for taking care of me.”
“…”
Xue Tian Qiao propped herself up, walked to her side, and said, “You’ve been asleep for half a day. My master just went around and caught a few rabbits to roast for us. Try it quickly… My master’s cooking is excellent! In the Demon Race, no one cooks better than my master!”
Feng Yu Die still hadn’t reacted. She stared blankly at the roasted meat skewer in her hand.
At this moment, Xiao Tian emerged from her forehead and nodded at her:
“Feather Butterfly, eat it. I was watching… That big fox just went to raid a rabbit’s nest. It’s rabbit meat.”
Hearing Xiao Tian say this, Feng Yu Die felt a little more at ease. She tore off a small piece of meat, chewed it, and savored the taste, thinking it was still not as good as the roasted chicken made by Ye Anping.
After swallowing it with a gulp, she looked at the Demon Emperor who had his back to her, roasting meat, and said, “Esteemed One, thank you for saving my life…”
“…”
Hu Mu did not reply, but Xue Tian Qiao turned to look at her master’s face and helped answer, “My master means, you’re welcome.”
“…”
“My master is just a tsundere, he doesn’t like to talk much…”
Hu Mu felt that if Xue Tian Qiao continued talking, his title as the Sovereign of Ten Thousand Demons would be buried underground. He couldn’t hold back anymore and shouted, “Female fox, shut up!!”
Xue Tian Qiao pouted and replied, “Oh…”
Hu Mu took a deep breath, turned back to look at Feng Yu Die, a hint of wanting to skin her in his eyes, and asked, “Who tied up this female fox?”
“Uh…” Feng Yu Die was stunned for a moment. She recalled Ye Anping’s words before they set out and replied softly, “Demonic cultivators tied her up. We encountered them and rescued her…”
Before she could finish speaking, Hu Mu’s eyes widened slightly, and he interrupted with a roar, “Ying—!”
Feng Yu Die immediately swallowed hard. She glanced at Xue Tian Qiao beside her and finally realized that she had slept for so long, and the Demon Emperor must have already asked Xue Tian Qiao what had happened.
After hesitating for a moment, she decided to tell the truth, but was interrupted by Xiao Tian:
“Feather Butterfly, it’s okay. Just say what Anping told you to say! When the big fox asked this little fox earlier, the little fox also answered according to Anping’s words. Anping told this little fox that if she helped to fool the big fox, then Anping would find a way to get her a tuft of her master’s tail fur to make a felt blanket.”
Hu Mu glared at her fiercely and asked again, “Another chance, who tied up my disciple?”
“It… it was demonic cultivators. Senior Ye and I rescued her…”
Hearing the same answer, Hu Mu gritted his teeth, but didn’t say much more and continued to roast skewers for Xue Tian Qiao.
From beginning to end, Hu Mu did not believe that the person who abducted Xue Tian Qiao in Tianan City was a demonic cultivator.
The demonic cultivators wanted the three cities of Donghuang and sent elders to offer tribute to the Demon Race, even making such a large concession. They had no reason to abduct Xue Tian Qiao again to threaten him.
However, both Xue Tian Qiao herself, the physical evidence and witnesses collected by the Demon Race within Tianan City at the time, and even the elder of the Ghost Spirit Sect at that time had personally admitted to it.
But even so, Hu Mu did not believe it.
He felt that this was most likely a sinister scheme by the old woman of Xuan Xing Sect to drag the Demon Race into the human’s internal strife.
The Demon Race was no longer the Demon Race blessed by the Dragon Spirit ten thousand years ago. If the Demon Race were to be drawn into the grudges between human immortal families and demonic cultivators, they would only become cannon fodder.
The person guarded by that old woman Dan Yue, the human youth, had said that Hu Yu Lan died at the hands of the Tian Mo Sect Master.
Although Hu Mu had also wanted to avenge Hu Yu Lan for thousands of years and had finally found a target, he could not drag the entire Demon Race back into war just for his own personal matters. That would be the act of a tyrant.
Hu Mu inexplicably recalled the Human Saint Emperor who had enlightened him in the past.
A head of silver hair similar to Feng Yu Die’s, a facial appearance similar to Feng Yu Die’s…
He closed his eyes and exhaled deeply. After a long while, he spoke again, “What does the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao say about how Hu Yu Lan died?”
“…”
Feng Yu Die was stunned for a moment and turned to look at Xiao Tian.
Xiao Tian hastily took out the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao from her skirt and read the contents to Feng Yu Die, asking her to repeat them to Hu Mu:
“To help Bai Yu Rou stall for time, Hu Yu Lan single-handedly blocked the path of Yu Yan, the Sect Master of Tian Mo Sect, and was then captured alive by the Sect Master of Tian Mo Sect…”
“Enough.”
Hu Mu interrupted, stood up, took the roasted meat skewer in his hand, walked to Xue Tian Qiao, put the skewer in her mouth, and lifted her by the back of her neck.
“This time, seeing that Qiao’er is unharmed, I will let it slide. But when we return, tell that old woman Dan Yue, if she pulls this kind of stunt again, don’t blame me for falling out with her!”
Although Feng Yu Die didn’t quite understand, she nodded slightly in agreement:
“…Oh.”
Hu Mu took a deep breath, glanced at her, and asked again, “Where is the Pavilion Master of Xing Tian Division?”
“Ah…”
Feng Yu Die was stunned for a moment, then glanced towards Xiao Tian. She saw Xiao Tian holding the Heavenly Scroll of the Dao, pointing to the “Luoxia Mountain” on a map of the Central Domain on one page, and nodded:
“Luoxia Mountain.”
After she finished speaking, black spiritual mist emanated from Hu Mu’s long tail, enveloping him and Xue Tian Qiao.
“White-haired sister, when you see Brother Ye, remind him. He promised…”
After Xue Tian Qiao finished speaking, the spiritual mist dispersed, and the figures of the two fox demons disappeared.
Feng Yu Die sat under the canopy. Seeing that Hu Mu had indeed left, her shoulders drooped slightly, and she let out a long sigh:
“Hoo… What’s going on?”
Xiao Tian spread her hands beside her and explained:
“Anping wanted to frame the Ghost Spirit Sect for abducting the little fox, but that big fox seems to firmly believe that the Sect Master of Xuan Xing Sect was behind it. And so, this happened…”
Feng Yu Die frowned and pondered for a while, then suddenly raised her head and asked, “Young Master Ye… Where is Young Master Ye?”
“He probably doesn’t know anything happened here yet. Feather Butterfly, do you miss him? Hehe— Feather Butterfly…”
“Xiao Tian, shut up.”
Xiao Tian chuckled awkwardly and spread her hands helplessly, saying, “Let’s go to Jiujiu’s place first. When you were asleep, I went to check. She and the surviving Xing Tian Division disciples are hiding in a valley twenty li away, recuperating. They are very safe.”
“Mm…”
Feng Yu Die nodded, looked down at her now bloodstained clothes, then untied the hair tie from the back of her head and re-tied her hair. She then pushed herself up from the ground, summoned a flying sword from the Storage Bag at her waist, and leaped up.
The rising sun peeked from beyond the eastern horizon, the sky was clear and cloudless.
However, when she looked towards the west, she saw countless dried blood pools and the Gobi Desert covered with the corpses of Xing Tian Division disciples and Ghost Spirit Sect disciples.
Feng Yu Die’s brow furrowed slightly, a hint of bitterness appearing in her eyes. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, then flew over them. Under Xiao Tian’s guidance from her shoulder, she headed towards the valley where Yun Jiujiu was located.
“Feather Butterfly, don’t think about it, it’s not your fault.”
“…”
Feng Yu Die shook her head slightly, indicating she didn’t care. After flying on her sword for a while, she slowly landed at the entrance of a cave in the northwest valley.
It seemed like there were anti-peek talismans set up inside the cave. When she stood outside and looked in, it was empty. But the moment she stepped over the dark boundary of the cave entrance, Yun Jiujiu and the five people meditating in Qi Cultivation entered her sight.
The five survivors and Yun Jiujiu currently had their eyes tightly closed, either due to extreme fatigue or complete concentration on Qi Cultivation. They had not noticed her arrival at all.
Seeing this, Feng Yu Die didn’t want to disturb them, so she simply walked to Yun Jiujiu’s side, preparing to cultivate and recuperate with them.
However, as she sat down, Yun Jiujiu seemed to wake up. She groggily opened her eyes and turned her head towards her:
“…”
Feng Yu Die thought she had disturbed her and smiled apologetically, asking, “Did I disturb you?”
“…”
Yun Jiujiu rubbed her eyes as if she were seeing a hallucination. But upon confirming it was indeed Feng Yu Die, she was finally overjoyed and shouted, “Feng Yu Die!! You “no que que” bitch are still alive?!”
Hearing this, Feng Yu Die’s brow immediately furrowed: “Jiujiu, what’s wrong with me having “no que que”? Do you have one?”
“I… I… Woo— *sniff*—”
“Ah? Why are you crying?!”
“Waaahhhhhh—!! I thought you were dead, waaaah—!!!”
“*Gag*—”
Yun Jiujiu pounced like a starving wolf, directly headbutting Feng Yu Die in the stomach, causing Feng Yu Die to puke out the meat the Demon Emperor had roasted.
…
Ps: This chapter makes up for yesterday.
