Chapter 527: Agu, Little Missy
At the edge of the Blood River in the Eastern Domain, Moonfall Gorge.
Hoooo— Hoooo—
Within the uneven mountain gorges, bellows worked by human power exhaled dragon-like breaths, supplying the killing spiritual energy to a giant alchemy furnace suspended mid-air by iron chains in the center.
The sound it produced could be heard clearly even from outside the gorge.
Inside a watchtower on the mountain peak outside the gorge, seven outer disciples of the Tian Mo Sect sat around an iron pot hanging over a stove, stewing the bones of demonic beasts they had just hunted from the wilderness.
Bang bang…
“Come! Senior Brother, this Junior Brother toasts you.”
“You are too kind, Junior Brother…”
Clinking of glasses and the sound of toasts echoed non-stop.
“Speaking of which, did you guys see him before? Young Master He, who visited us a few days ago.”
“What about him?”
“That aura of blood was terrifying. I had already abstained from food for a year, but when he walked past me, I was so scared I peed myself.”
“Is it that exaggerated? But I heard that Young Master He led a few hundred Tian Mo Sect disciples and directly destroyed the Bei Ming Sect a while back. Is that true or false?”
“It’s hard to say if it’s true or false, but Young Master He coming here is definitely not a good thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“Look, the Tian Mo Sect is already short-handed trying to fend off immortal cultivators from the northwest and south. For the Grand Elder to send Young Master He to Moonfall Gorge at this time, doesn’t that mean the immortal families are preparing to attack our Moonfall Gorge?”
Upon hearing this, one person immediately waved his hand and retorted:
“Even if the immortal families are at their peak, they wouldn’t dare set their sights on Moonfall Gorge. This Moonfall Gorge has no spirit脉, no resources, and it’s not a crucial pass. We only have this Blood Alchemy Furnace… What would the immortal families gain by attacking Moonfall Gorge?”
“Then why did the Grand Elder send Young Master He here?”
Everyone fell silent, stumped by this question.
It was at this moment that a “ding ding” sound of iron bells entered the watchtower.
Since everyone had fallen silent and hadn’t spoken, all present heard this sound.
Ding ling ling…
Ding ling ling—
“Bells?”
One of them stood up and walked towards the window, following the source of the sound.
However, just as he took one step.
Shua—
A silver light flashed directly at the back of his neck.
The Tian Mo Sect disciple who had just been calling him brother suddenly had a sword in his hand. The remaining five people were stunned and stared at him in disbelief, asking:
“Hey!! What are you doing?!”
“You brat… Ahhh—!”
But his answer was a bloodstained blade.
Shua—
After only a few flashes of sword light, out of the seven Tian Mo Sect disciples who had been drinking and eating meat together, only one person remained standing.
“Heh…”
The person sneered at the corpses of his fellow disciples, then threw his sword aside, walked to the watchtower window, unlatched it, retreated ten paces, and cupped his hands in a salute.
The next moment, two men and two women, four people, flipped in through the window into the watchtower.
Ye Anping glanced at the six decapitated Tian Mo Sect disciples, then looked at the person who had just saluted him, and said nothing.
A Core Formation Stage demonic cultivator wearing a ghost-face mask, who had entered with Ye Anping and two others, took out a bag of spirit stones from his storage bag, stepped forward, threw it into the Tian Mo Sect disciple’s hand, and said coldly:
“The promised reward.”
“Thank you… I shall take my leave then.”
The Tian Mo Sect disciple weighed the bag of spirit stones in his hand, nodded with a sinister grin, and turned to leave down the stairs, intending to exit the watchtower.
However, the moment he turned, the Core Formation Stage demonic cultivator accompanying Ye Anping suddenly drew his sword and split him in two from his forehead to his… well, everywhere.
Shua—
He then stepped forward, picked up the bag of spirit stones that had fallen into the pool of blood, wiped off the blood, and put it back into his storage bag.
Seeing this, Ye Anping showed no reaction, but Gu Mingxin and Feng Yu Die behind him reacted with raised eyebrows in surprise and knitted brows in confusion, respectively.
The masked man scanned the surroundings, then turned to Ye Anping and cupped his hands in a salute:
“Young Master Ye, I can only escort you this far. Moonfall Gorge is not an important location, and the Cui Xin Palace does not have spies here. The rest will be up to you, Young Master Ye.”
Ye Anping returned the salute naturally:
“En, thank you for your trouble.”
The masked man nodded, then walked straight to the window, jumped out, and instantly disappeared into the heavy snowfall outside, his aura vanishing without a trace.
After he left, Feng Yu Die looked at the corpses of the demonic cultivators filling the room and asked:
“Young Master Ye, wasn’t that person one of their people? You just killed him?”
Ye Anping smiled, brushed the snow off Feng Yu Die’s clothes, and explained:
“This person was probably bribed by Cui Xin Palace with spirit stones and is completely untrustworthy. It’s better to bury him to eliminate future trouble than to let him take the money and leave… Mo Chi Ling has been hiding in fear for hundreds of years. If Yu Yan knew she was still alive, she would surely die.”
“…How cruel.”
Ye Anping shrugged with a smile, waved his hand, and scattered a handful of talismans to incinerate the seven demonic cultivator corpses in front of them. He then walked to the stove and began roasting a chicken.
After Gu Mingxin closed the window, she tiptoed over and asked:
“So, Ye Anping~ am I pretending to be your wife again, bringing you, the cauldron, along to cause trouble?”
“?”
Feng Yu Die was slightly taken aback upon hearing this and immediately stepped forward, frowning and retorting:
“Who’s the cauldron?!”
“You are~”
Gu Mingxin sneered dismissively, her face filled with anticipation for her role as a wife, and blinked her eyes while staring at Ye Anping’s profile.
Seeing her like this, Ye Anping, clearly addicted to being provoked, sighed. Before Feng Yu Die could curse, he interrupted:
“No need. There aren’t any major restrictions in Moonfall Gorge. Once my Junior Sister and the others arrive, we’ll just smash our way in from the back.”
“Tch…” Gu Mingxin pouted with a hint of boredom, “Are you afraid of me? That’s why you don’t want me to play your wife anymore?~”
Ye Anping glanced at her and simply ignored her. He beckoned Feng Yu Die to sit beside him, handed her the roasted chicken, and asked her to roast it while he asked:
“Agu, He Qingjiao is your Senior Sister.”
“I’m not familiar with her~ I’ve only met her once or twice… What? Are you afraid I won’t be able to kill her?” Gu Mingxin narrowed her eyes slightly, hugged Ye Anping’s arm with her chest, and asked with a smile, “Whoever you want dead, I’ll help you kill them. Moreover… she’s someone from He Buqun, that bastard… I want to wipe out the entire He family…”
Ye Anping looked at the killing intent erupting in Gu Mingxin’s eyes and mused, retorting:
“Is that so?”
“Hmm? Isn’t it?”
Feng Yu Die saw Gu Mingxin leaning so close to Ye Anping and immediately hurried to press against him as well, even pulling Ye Anping towards her, causing Ye Anping to look at her again.
Seeing Feng Yu Die’s sulky expression and knitted brows, Ye Anping shook his head slightly and ignored the two of them. He called out:
“Xue E… Xiao Tian…”
Xue E poked her head out from Gu Mingxin’s forehead:
“Ye Anping, call me…”
Before she could finish speaking, Xiao Tian directly rushed out from Ye Anping’s forehead and kicked towards Xue E’s nose. But Xue E was quick to dodge and quickly retreated into Gu Mingxin’s forehead, causing her kick to land squarely on Gu Mingxin’s forehead.
Bang—
“…”
Gu Mingxin stared at him, clearly displeased. But before Xiao Tian could react, Xue E emerged from the back of Gu Mingxin’s head and executed a “New Year’s Greeting Sword Technique” from behind, swatting him to the ground.
“Ay!!”
Ye Anping looked at the two little ones, feeling weary, and shook his head slightly, yelling:
“Stop fooling around!!”
This time, Xue E immediately stopped swinging her wooden sword at Xiao Tian, who was covering his head and lying on the ground, and said:
“Ye Anping, she started it!!”
Xiao Tian pouted aggrievedly: “It was you who dismantled my bed first…”
“You two sneak into Moonfall Gorge and draw a map of the disciples inside, as detailed as possible.”
“Oh…” “Okay.”
… …
——-
Deep within Moonfall Gorge.
Cold snow floated on the surface of the cold spring. The surroundings were pitch black, illuminated only by the light from the alchemy furnace suspended in the distant Moonfall Gorge.
He Qingjiao closed her eyes and lay on the surface of the spring, letting the snow-laden water, rich in killing energy, prick her bones. However, her expression was calm, as if she were asleep.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps approached.
“Young Master He… Elder Yue has something to report to you.”
A little maidservant with no eyes walked to the edge of the cold spring and spoke a sentence with a slight bow.
After a long while, He Qingjiao slowly opened her eyes and finally walked from the center of the cold spring to the bank. She took out a chest binder and saw her two large, round moons — her breasts — flattened, before changing into men’s robes and walking past the little maidservant with her sword on her back, ready to have her lead the way.
However, just as she took a step, she remembered she had forgotten something.
She hurriedly turned back to look at the cold spring and used spiritual energy to retrieve a scroll painting on a cloth base.
He Qingjiao looked at the person in the scroll painting. The corners of her eyes slowly drooped, and her cold face melted halfway, revealing half “gentleness” and half “killing intent.” Her eyes gradually became fierce, and she murmured:
“Agu, where are you now?”
The blind maidservant, who had noticed she wasn’t following after a while, stopped and called out in confusion:
“Young Master He?”
He Qingjiao quickly suppressed her feminine voice, nodded in response, and followed.
“Mn…”
Following the leading maidservant, they walked upwards along the plank road on the rock face. Soon, they arrived before a five-story pavilion.
He Qingjiao did not knock or greet them. She raised her hand and pushed the door open, scanning the arrangement of the pavilion’s main hall. She saw a Nascent Soul Stage outer elder of the Tian Mo Sect leading several Core Formation Stage disciples, gathered around a map, seemingly discussing strategies to counter the enemy.
Earlier, the Tian Mo Sect had received news that Young Master Xiao of the Xuan Xing Sect, leading about seven hundred Tian Yun Peak disciples, was heading straight for Moonfall Gorge after crossing the Blood River.
He Buqun had ordered her to kill Young Master Xiao and Liang Xiaoxue, who was accompanying him, so she had come.
The Nascent Soul Stage outer elder saw He Qingjiao enter the room and immediately broke out in a cold sweat. He said:
“May I ask if Young Master He has been resting well recently?”
“What is it that you need me for?”
“Uh…” Elder Yue hesitated for a moment, then lifted his cloud-like sleeves and pointed to a spot on the map. “According to the news sent back by my disciples, six medium-sized Immortal Ships of the Xuan Xing Sect have crossed Mingshan Mountain and are less than a thousand Li away from Moonfall Gorge… so we wanted to ask about Young Master He’s plans…”
“Plans? My mission from the Grand Elder was to kill the Xuan Xing Sect’s Young Master and Liang Xiaoxue who accompanied her. I have nothing to do with anything else. That is your business, Elder Yue…”
Elder Yue took a deep breath and quickly explained:
“…Moonfall Gorge is originally a place for alchemy for the Tian Mo Sect, and there are only about six to seven hundred Core Formation Stage disciples in the valley.”
“Doesn’t the Xuan Xing Sect also have seven hundred people?”
“But…”
“After I kill Young Master Xiao and Liang Xiaoxue, you can’t handle the rest of the Xuan Xing Sect disciples?” He Qingjiao’s eyes showed a hint of disdain. She looked up and said, “The Tian Mo Sect does not nurture useless people. To me, you are no different from a rat.”
Elder Yue had no temper. He had only heard of He Qingjiao’s talent and that she had previously destroyed the entire Bei Ming Sect with a few hundred people.
“Young Master He, when we learned that Grand Elder He said you would be coming, I thought you would bring the inner disciples of the Tian Mo Sect with you. I never expected you to come alone…”
“So?”
“Young Master He, not everyone can ignore their cultivation level and kill cultivators of higher realms like you.”
Hearing this, He Qingjiao’s eyebrows immediately rose, and a hint of a bitter smile appeared on her face:
“Heh heh… Yes, not everyone is like me and Junior Sister Gu…”
“Gu…”
It was common knowledge throughout the sect that Gu Mingxin had ascended to immortality. Before, they would respectfully address her as “Young Master Gu” or “Senior Sister Gu,” but now everyone avoided her, not daring to address her using martial sect titles, or even mention her name.
After all, when Gu Mingxin ascended to immortality, Patriarch Yu Yan had been so enraged that he had purged the Tian Mo Sect again.
Anyone who addressed Gu Mingxin as “Senior Sister” or “Young Master” after her rebellion would be thrown into the alchemy furnace and become nourishment for the new disciples of the Tian Mo Sect.
He Qingjiao narrowed her eyes slightly and asked with a smile:
“Gu what?”
“This…” Elder Yue was drenched in cold sweat. “Young Master He, please don’t mock this old man. This old man dares not say more… Patriarch Yu Yan has already punished the disciples of the sect before.”
“Heh…”
He Qingjiao sneered, finding Elder Yue extremely boring, but didn’t say much more. She said:
“Lead your people out of the gorge and face the Xuan Xing Sect head-on.”
“Ah?”
“Didn’t you just ask for my opinion? This is my opinion…”
Elder Yue wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and retorted: “Young Master He, wouldn’t it be better to hold our ground? The Tian Mo Sect will send more elders or disciples…”
“The elders and inner disciples of the sect have to block the immortal cultivators coming from the north, south, and southwest across the river, so they don’t have time. The Xuan Xing Sect Young Master only brought over seven hundred people. I alone am enough to handle them.”
“But…”
“If you ask me and then don’t do as I say, then why did you ask me?”
“… …”
Elder Yue was immediately rendered speechless. He looked at the more than ten confidants on both sides who didn’t dare to make a sound. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and nodded in agreement:
“Yes, then we will follow Young Master He’s arrangements. This old man will have the disciples in the valley assemble…”
“Heh, that’s more like it…”
He Qingjiao snorted coldly and turned to leave.
The moment she walked out of the pavilion and closed the door, several Core Formation Stage disciples who had been holding on stiffly immediately felt their legs weaken and squatted down, holding onto the edge of the table.
“Elder Yue, that aura of blood is too terrifying…”
“Hooo…” Elder Yue exhaled through his nose and said, “I’ll say it upfront, after the battle begins, don’t get too close to him. Stay as far away as possible. He doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe… Anyone who blocks his sword, even I would be cut in half by him…”
“Ah… Yes.”
“Alright, ring the bell to gather the disciples.”
… …
