Xing Wanxing looked back and spotted the young girl's silhouette upon the distant eaves, recognizing Li Ling. His gaze turned grim. Channeling the surging dharma power within his six spring orifices, he stomped his foot down hard. His sole sank into the dirt, sending a circular shockwave of qi blasting outward.
Countless shattered stones rose into the air.
*Swish! Swish! Swish...*
With a thrust of his palm, the airborne gravel shot forth at blinding speed, its sharp shrieks seeming ready to rip the night veil to shreds.
Li Ling left the eaves, gliding through the empty air upon traces of blue mist and light. Her movement technique was exquisite to the extreme, effortlessly evading every piece of gravel.
She touched down in the middle of the street, her voice crisp and melodious. "Why do I feel like you don't look much like Fodu Bandits?"
Xing Wanxing narrowed his eyes, murderous intent flaring in his pupils. "Is that so? Lord Buddha here will chant a lustful scripture for you in a moment—or perhaps you'll be the one chanting it for Lord Buddha!"
His six springs gushed, the dharma power in his body surging so vigorously that it overflowed across the surface of his skin, condensing into a protective shroud of gray mist. Any ghoulfire ladybugs that drew near were knocked straight to the ground by the blast of dharma power.
Xing Wanxing knew very well that Li Ling was not a dharma-martial cultivator, but a mind master who walked the path of the divine soul. She was unsuited for close-quarters combat, and her physical body was comparatively frail.
Therefore, the instant his foot kicked off the ground, he shot forward several fathoms, closing the distance between them.
"Opening a mere six springs gives you the nerve to clash head-on with me? Who granted you such courage?"
As Li Ling backed away at an unhurried pace, her fingers formed a hand seal. The space between her brows lit up in a bizarre fashion, as though an entire world of light were concealed beneath her forehead.
*Whoosh—*
Seven brilliant traces of light shot out from between her brows, stretching nearly a hundred feet into the night.
The temperature of the surrounding air noticeably rose.
The seven traces of light danced wildly across the streets of Immortal Burial Town. A wooden pillar supporting a house was slashed through, snapping in an instant. The severed edge was scorched black with char marks.
The more than twenty soldiers of the Earth Wolf King's Army who had been searching the town converged upon the scene, charging forward with weapons drawn. Yet in an instant, four or five were cut down—some lost hands, some were severed at the waist, and others were decapitated, leaving the ground awash with blood.
"It's a mind master! What terrifying light-trace whip-swords!"
"Fall back! Fall back quickly!"
...
All the soldiers retreated in panic.
In the cultivation of the martial way, a difference of a single realm created an immense disparity in combat prowess.
They could clearly see that even Tenth Master Xing, who had opened six springs, was facing peril after peril before that young girl, struggling desperately to cope.
Peering through the ruined window lattice, Li Weiyi watched the clash between the two top experts on the street, inwardly astonished. Li Ling looked frail and delicate, like an obedient little sister from next door, yet her combat strength was so formidable that the leader of the Earth Wolf King's Army was utterly outmatched.
Killing the other spring-opened dharma-martial cultivators was as effortless as chopping melons and slicing vegetables.
Just how old was she?
This had to be an immortal cultivator whose natural talent surpassed the superior grade!
Quietly leaping down from the roof beam, Li Weiyi prepared to seize the chance to slip away.
On the street, a sudden change occurred.
Amidst the branches and leaves of the thousand-year apricot tree above the ancient well, a shapely figure with a tail appeared. With a flick of her hand, countless ox-hair fine needles flew forth.
These flying needles were refined from the fur of fiendish demon stone monkeys and were as light as nothing. Struck using a specialized technique, they produced virtually no wind, flying noiselessly and catching targets entirely off guard.
To throw flying needles as light as hair and achieve lethal destructive power naturally demonstrated the immense strength of the practitioner's dharma power.
Even with Li Ling's perceptual capabilities as a mind master, she only detected the danger when nearly a hundred ox-hair fine needles were within a hundred feet of her. Unable to discern where the peril originated, she instinctively retreated at full speed, crashing through the door of an abandoned house to take cover.
*Hiss, hiss!*
The flying needles slammed into the street, earthen walls, and support beams.
The street's stone pavers split open, the earthen walls collapsed, and the pillars and beams were riddled with countless tiny perforations.
Li Weiyi had just dropped from the beam and had not yet had time to leave when, with a loud bang, the front door shattered and the silhouette of a young girl charged inside. For a moment, their eyes met; neither uttered a word.
Li Weiyi wanted to slip out through the back courtyard.
Yet Xing Wanxing's short, stout frame was surprisingly swift. He had already vaulted over the earthen wall, landing with a heavy thud in the center of the courtyard, clutching a foot-long short sword in his grip.
Footsteps echoed from all directions.
The more than thirty surviving spring-opened dharma-martial cultivators of the Earth Wolf King's Army completely encircled the abandoned house.
Intimidated by the seven light-trace whip-swords from Li Ling's brow, no one dared to barge in recklessly.
This was the terrifying aura she had carved out with blood!
*Whoosh!*
Yan Qingqing flew out from among the lofty branches of the apricot tree, dharma power circulating around her. Like a falling leaf, she drifted onto the broad, quiet street of Immortal Burial Town, advancing step by step.
Her figure was lush and full, her fiery-red tail swaying in rhythm with the stride of her slender legs. The two canine ears upon her head lent a touch of playful charm to her seductive, sultry face.
"Cang Li's sister, the Nether Lamp Wayfinder of the Jiuli Clan... Ah, my stone monkey flying needles seem to have hit you!" Yan Qingqing's voice was perpetually coquettish and sweet, her face bearing a faint smile.
With a sweep of her palm, wisps of dharma power drew the flying needles from the ground into her hand. She discovered that one was missing.
A single needle was more than enough!
Standing in the rear courtyard, Xing Wanxing barked, "Why waste your breath on so much nonsense? Let's storm in together and hack her to death with a flurry of blades! We need to leave this place as quickly as possible."
Yan Qingqing was Shi Jiuzhai's eighth disciple, a peak expert of the Yongquan Realm who had opened seven springs. Yet Xing Wanxing did not address her as Senior Sister, nor did he show much respect.
That was because his greatest asset had never been his cultivation or martial prowess, but his moneymaking abilities, which Shi Jiuzhai valued above all else.
A flicker of displeasure flashed through Yan Qingqing's eyes, but she smiled. "What's the rush, Junior Brother? The flying needles are coated in poison. Once her body gradually petrifies and stiffens, won't taking care of her be as easy as flipping a hand? Besides, she's such an important figure, such a delicate little beauty—how can you be so coldhearted? Could it be that you've done something shameful and want to silence a witness?"
Xing Wanxing naturally understood that Yan Qingqing's clandestine arrival was undoubtedly at Shi Jiuzhai's instruction.
Fortunately, there had been no treasure inside the giant silver coffin; otherwise, the one struck by the stone monkey flying needle right now would have been him.
Xing Wanxing replied, "It's not that I wish to brutally destroy a tender flower, but rather that this girl seems to have uncovered our secret. You hardly need me to tell you how grave this matter is, do you? Once word leaks out and arouses the suspicions of the Jiuli Clan, I'm afraid neither of us will have a way to live before Master."
The smile faded from Yan Qingqing's face.
Disguising themselves as Fodu Bandits to attack the Cangling Tribe was intended to incite turmoil in Lizhou, and the conspiracy involved many powerful figures. If an error truly occurred, she dared not imagine what fate awaited her and Xing Wanxing.
...
Inside the abandoned house.
Li Ling stared at Li Weiyi, her voice cold. "You heard them, didn't you? All witnesses will be silenced. Do you think you'll be an exception?"
Just now, when she suddenly burst through the door, Li Weiyi had been startled, yet she remained remarkably calm.
It was clear that his prior suspicion had been correct: Li Ling had indeed tracked him to Immortal Burial Town, and she had known all along where he was hiding.
Li Weiyi was rendered speechless. Lowering his voice to the barest whisper, he said, "You could have fled anywhere else. Why break in here? Were you deliberately dragging me down with you? I saved your Cangling Tribe before; repaying kindness with malice like this is going too far."
"I had no other choice."
Li Ling sat down upon a low clay couch covered in dust and cobwebs, completely unconcerned by the filth, and continued, "That woman outside has formidable cultivation—she has opened at least seven springs. Her needle attacks are silent and traceless, impossible to anticipate or defend against. Had I fled in the open, she would have needed only one more wave of needles to ensure my death."
Li Weiyi felt entirely numb. Of Shi Jiuzhai's two disciples, one had opened six springs, and the other had opened seven. As a mere mortal who had only just entered the three-spring level, what kind of high-stakes game had he stumbled into?
Even more terrifying, that woman with seven springs was a mutant, possessing greater combat prowess than a mortal of the same realm.
Li Weiyi said, "Fleeing outside means one death. Hiding in here means two."
Li Ling stared into Li Weiyi's eyes and shook her head. "I am a Nether Lamp Wayfinder. I possess a unique intuition for good and ill fortune, which is why I can guide the coffin-bearing convoy through the Mist Domain of Departed Spirits along the correct path. In you, I sensed a sliver of life."
"I think your excuse is far too contrived." Li Weiyi did not believe her mystical claims in the least. He added, "You stalked me all the way to Immortal Burial Town; surely you had no good intentions, did you?"
Li Ling knew that no matter what she said now, he would not believe her, so she simply stopped explaining. "Fine, I wanted to drag you down with me. But right now, aren't we grasshoppers tied to the same rope? Only by finding a way through this immediate crisis will you have a chance to get your revenge, won't you?"
*She isn't even pretending anymore?*
Li Weiyi was well aware that over thirty formidable dharma-martial fighters had surrounded the building, blocking every possible escape route. It was a dead end.
Those two disciples of Shi Jiuzhai would not care whether he was innocent or not; no living creature would be allowed to walk out of Immortal Burial Town alive tonight.
Fearing that Li Weiyi might lose his head and drag them both down together, Li Ling offered one final explanation: "You underestimate the perception of a seven-spring dharma-martial expert. If I could detect your location, she certainly could as well. Moreover, she belongs to a canine-type mutant race and possesses a keen sense of smell. Do you really think she didn't know where you were hiding?
"If I died or escaped, you would certainly be the very first person she killed next.
"By fleeing in here, I actually gave you a fighting chance at survival."
Li Weiyi chose not to argue with her for the moment. This girl was young yet extraordinarily shrewd, calmer and more rational than many adults. He asked, "Were you really hit by her stone monkey flying needle?"
Li Ling's delicate, well-behaved face turned dark and somber. "Fortunately, only one needle struck me."
Li Weiyi said, "Then before your body petrifies and stiffens, let's break out in separate directions to seize that sliver of life."
Li Ling stared straight at Li Weiyi.
"What is it?"
"Cunning!"
"How am I cunning?" Li Weiyi asked.
Li Ling said, "If we charge out now, all the bandits will surely attack me, and you'll be able to seize the chance to slip away."
Li Weiyi had not even considered that angle, but he had to admit... she made sense, and her calculations were meticulous.
"Either way is death. Making a move now at least offers a fighting chance," Li Weiyi said.
Li Ling told him the truth: "The stone poison contained in a single stone monkey flying needle is very slight. I've already taken a secret medicine to temporarily suppress it. But those outside don't know that. Wouldn't our odds be far better if we wait for them to barge in and catch them completely off guard?"
Li Weiyi felt more and more that this girl was deep and calculating, someone he would need to guard against in the future.
She said, "Once I unleash my full strength, the stone poison will spread rapidly. Before that happens, I will do everything in my power to severely wound or kill the two dharma-martial cultivators with the highest cultivation. The rest will be left to you. After we escape, my body will definitely petrify and stiffen. When that happens, I'll need you to take me back to the Cangling Tribe."
"Do you think I will?" Li Weiyi said.
Li Ling said, "If you take me back, I will give myself to you in marriage."
*Dangling a pie like this...*
*Does she even believe it herself?*
Chapter 36