CHAPTER 6

He didn't say anything for a while, which surprised Qin Yan. He turned to look at him and noticed Fu Changling had his head bowed. After a moment's thought, he pursed his lips, as if looking for something to talk about, and took the initiative to ask, "What were you looking at just now?"

Fu Changling tilted his head and smiled. "I was looking at how good you look."

Qin Yan was not as embarrassed as Fu Changling expected him to be when he heard this. He turned his head expressionlessly and looked at Shangguan Yuan, who was occupied in front of him, and said flatly, "You're afraid of me."

Fu Changling froze as Qin Yan continued without expression, "Why?"

Why?

That, of course, was the result of years of fighting.

Fu Changling was lucky to have survived when his entire clan was wiped out back then and has lived a life of being hunted to be killed ever since he managed to escape.

Qin Yan was the one who was most interested in hunting him down, and for nearly ten years, he had been constantly pursued and chopped by Qin Yan. Every day, he had to get up whenever he heard the name "Qin Yan" anywhere. No matter how tired, miserable, sleepy, or hungry he was, he had to pack his things and flee for his life right away.

Later, after escaping death several times, he grew stronger and became the most powerful Huayang Jun in the immortal realm, and only after that did he gain the courage to confront Qin Yan.

However, Qin Yan was now a Jindan, and he was a Zhuji. Whimsical cultivators, such as sword cultivators, were already fond of competing with others to advance through levels. Back then, he might not have even been able to defeat Qin Yan at the same level of cultivation, let alone now.

Knowing full well that the current Qin Yan could go berserk and turn into a demon at any time and that he was nothing more than a pitiful, weak, and defenceless Zhuji tender poached chicken, where did he find the courage to not be afraid when Qin Yan could have killed him with his fists?

But these were certainly not going to come out of his mouth, so he quickly responded, "That's not true! I'm just awestruck by you! You are, after all, a well-known figure in Yunze and a role model for my generation. I'm just a little uneasy to suddenly meet the real person who had been legendary all along."

Fu Changling uttered these words before remembering that it was only the first time they had ever met. He did know Qin Yan's name, but Qin Yan probably didn't know his, so he coughed gently and said, feigning detachment, "Umm, I'm Fu Changling. You're Qin Yan, am I right?"

Qin Yan nodded, and Fu Changling praised, "It really is Qin Xiong! With an impressive appearance and extraordinary cultivation, Qin Daoyou is deserving of being the Hongmeng Heavenly Palace's chief disciple—having received the true teachings of the Master Swordsman Palace Leader Jiang, he stands out from the rest, as if separating good from evil! Truly a breath of fresh air and unforgettable!"

After a brief silence, Qin Yan finally said, "You should write."

"I can't fully express my admiration for you in writing!"

"No need to express it. Writing is enough."

"No, let me say more!"

Qin Yan stopped talking. His face was expressionless, completely unconvinced.

Fu Changling felt his acting was over the top as well, so he coughed lightly and changed the topic, tentatively saying, "You came to Shangguan Estate on a mission this time, didn't you?"

Before Qin Yan could respond, Shangguan Yuan exclaimed happily, "We're here!"

The two of them looked up and saw a vermilion-mottled entrance door right ahead of them. The door was made of wood, and two stone lions stood on either side, each with a lotus lantern atop their heads. The combination of the light from the lotus lanterns and the bright red illumination next to them gave the entire scene an eerie atmosphere of encountering a wine shop in the wilderness.

Shangguan Yuan lifted the hem of his garment, knelt on the ground, and started kowtowing towards the door, panicking and saying, "Laozu, Yuehua is back. Please save your grandchildren."

"Yuehua is back?" An elderly man's ageing voice came from behind the door. Fu Changling felt that something was off when he heard this voice. Qin Yan, too, clearly sensed the peculiarity and raised his hand to his sword.

"Don't be afraid, Yuan'er." The vermillion door rumbled open. It appeared to not have been opened in a while, and clouds of dust were flying. Shangguan Hong's voice seemed to be close at hand, full of compassion, "This Venerable will not let you all down no matter what."

"Thank you, Laozu! Thank you, Laozu!" Shangguan Yuan began to kowtow on the ground, seemingly incredibly grateful. As the dust slowly settled, it was at that instant that a shrivelled hand darted out of that chamber, its fingers fiercely embedding themselves into Shangguan Yuan's head! Shangguan Yuan let out a horrified cry, and then his whole body seemed to be glued to that hand, which was slowly lifting him up by gripping his head.

Shangguan Yuan was grappling with Shangguan Hong, trying to stop his actions, but he was utterly powerless to stop the flow of spiritual energy from his body to Shangguan Hong's. He couldn't even shake Shangguan Hong off at all, and all his struggles became futile.

"However, if you want this Venerable's help," Fu Changling and Qin Yan looked at the elderly man in the chamber, and the other party looked up with an evil grin on his thin, pointed face, "something has to give."

Fu Changling and Qin Yan didn't say anything as they looked ahead.

Behind the vermillion door was a circular hall. On the floor of the hall was a bizarre formation pattern filled with blood, spreading all the way to the end of the chamber.

A young girl was nailed to the wall at the far end of the chamber with long spikes. She had similar facial features to Shangguan Yuemin, but she wore a low-waisted golden gauze skirt that was unique to the western tribe. The long spikes holding her beautiful face in place forced her to face left, and she stood on tiptoe with her left foot raised; one hand extended to the left, while the other went around the top of her head and also to the left. Every joint of her hands and feet, as well as the tops of her forehead and neck, were nailed with the long spikes, and blood seeped through her clothing and trickled down her torso into the formation pattern.

On her side were bloody palm prints mixed with scratches that appeared to be the marks of a person struggling in excruciating pain. The scratches and palm prints, combined with the scrawled words "help", covered the entire chamber, giving the impression of a suffocatingly desperate horror.

And Shangguan Hong was crouching on all fours like an animal right in the middle of the chamber—at this moment, one hand was raised, extended halfway across the chamber, with its fingers sunk into Shangguan Yuan's head.

He was absorbing Shangguan Yuan's spiritual power, and the Gong method he was running...

Fu Changling's fan-tapping on his shoulder slowed down—it was the tactic of those from the Karma Prison that he despised the most back then.

It was just that the Gong method used by the Karma Prison was subtler and did not require the use of Spiritual Roots to absorb spiritual power, and the degree of absorption was more intense and thorough, whereas Shangguan Hong's Gong method was more akin to the Karma Prison Gong method's initial prototype, with a significant limit to the amount of spiritual power that could be absorbed.

But in any case, Fu Changling had a headache when it came to the Karma Prison's stuff.

He couldn't help but raise his hand to cover his face and grumble out loud, "This is too ugly."

"I don't think he's a Jindan," Qin Yan assessed objectively. Fu Changling looked up and sighed, "He is a monstrously ugly YuanYing. That much is obvious. It's just a pity that this YuanYing is also nothing more than a bogus one—having formed a YuanYing, the Way of Heaven refuses to acknowledge it, and even the thunderbolt tribulation refuses to strike, so now it's still such a hideous thing. It's truly deplorable, pathetic, and lamentable."

"You two," Shangguan Hong craned his head and narrowed his eyes, "are you tired of living?"

"Elder Shangguan," Fu Changling, upon hearing this, stated quickly with a sincere look on his face, "we're both young and have a lot to say, so please don't take offence. It's almost midnight, and it's getting late. How about we leave for today and come back another day?"

"Now that we're all here," Shangguan Hong grinned, "how can I let you go?"

"It seems that Elder Shangguan is very lonely," Fu Changling sighed, then looked at Qin Yan and said with a sincere expression, "Qin Daoyou, you and Elder Shangguan should have a cup of tea. I'll leave first!"

As soon as he was done speaking, Fu Changling shoved Qin Yan forward, turned around, and sprinted back in the direction he had come from.

Shangguan Hong's hand immediately lengthened and reached out to grab Fu Changling, but Qin Yan's sword was swifter. He slashed at Shangguan Hong with his sword, forcing his hand to deflect. Fu Changling took advantage of this opportunity to run erratically all the way out of sight. Qin Yan frowned and hesitated for a moment before finally focusing his attention on Shangguan Hong.

"Who taught you this Gong method?" he asked coldly, and Shangguan Hong cackled evilly. "You ignorant kid, you're still concerned about this when you're about to die? Let's talk about it later—if you survive!"

As soon as he was done speaking, countless hands erupted from Shangguan Hong's body and charged towards Qin Yan. Simultaneously, the ground lit up, and thousands of red flashes burst out of it like blades. Qin Yan tapped his toes and raised his sword to slash at Shangguan Hong!

They both moved quickly, and Shangguan Hong's hands filled the entire space. His hands carried a strange glow, and as soon as Qin Yan touched that glow, his spiritual power would be immediately absorbed. Rather than fighting Shangguan Hong, it was more like he was being chased by him.

Somewhat painstakingly, he moved himself in the direction in which Fu Changling had fled, while Fu Changling dashed frantically through the passageway, drawing his own teleportation array as he went.

Hurry up, hurry up.

Just a little bit more, and he'd be able to leave this damn place as soon as the drawing was done!

He didn't care if Qin Yan was the one who had exterminated the entire Shangguan Clan, nor did he want to care where Shangguan Hong had acquired his Gong method. Being a mere Zhuji level, his only goal in mind right now was to save his life and get out of there as soon as possible!

Quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly, quickly!

He ran while rapidly drawing the array suspended in mid-air with his fingers.

As the array began to take shape, he was startled to hear a woman's sudden, gentle call, "Fu Gongzi."

Fu Changling's hand froze. He looked up and saw Madame Shangguan, who was carrying a lantern and whose entire body was shrouded in the black mist; her eyes had turned completely crimson, and bloody tears were trickling down her cheeks, with a frail yet stunning and eerie beauty.

She looked at Fu Changling and said softly, "Fu Gongzi, there you are."

Just as the words were spoken, the dark Qi came whizzing towards Fu Changling with a sharp cry. Fu Changling's breath caught, and he whirled around and ran wildly in Qin Yan's direction, screaming piteously, "Qin Yan!!! Help!!!"

Fu Changling yelled while frantically hurling spells, but the black mist was far more ferocious than when he first saw it, and Fu Changling's spells could only marginally stop it.

He didn't care if Qin Yan was an enemy or a friend; he could only seize the only hope and rush towards Qin Yan.

"Qin Yan! Qin Ge! Master Qin!" Fu Changling shouted and ran hysterically towards Qin Yan, seeing him and Shangguan Hong facing off from afar. Despite Qin Yan's quick movements, he had only been dodging and had not dared to touch Shangguan Hong at all. Fu Changling had witnessed such a scene countless times in his previous life while battling the demon cultivators from the Karma Prison. When the righteous cultivators of Yunze confronted these demon cultivators back then, they were all helpless.

For a moment, he began to question his own judgement. Perhaps Qin Yan really had nothing to do with the Karma Prison at this time, and the sword intent of the Zhenxue Sword at the Shangguan Clan ruins back then was something else.

If that was really the case...

He shuddered slightly inside, and before he could think much about it, he subconsciously shouted, "Split the Jindan!"

Qin Yan looked up sharply and saw Fu Changling hurling a spell head-on. That spell was drawn somewhat crudely, but Qin Yan's eyes widened the moment he saw it.

The spell struck Shangguan Hong, who paused briefly. Despite having something on his mind, Qin Yan was quick to act. His entire body turned into a flash of light the moment Shangguan Hong's movements revealed a flaw, and his long sword pierced Shangguan Hong's lower abdomen with great force, pouring into his Jindan.

Qin Yan then heard Shangguan Hong scream out in agony as he twisted the long sword in his hand, and Fu Changling, who was only a step away from him, simply leaped towards him at this moment.

Qin Yan reached out and yanked Fu Changling behind him, then spun around and swung his sword in a horizontal motion in front of the mass of dark Qi.

"Every injustice has its perpetrator," Qin Yan's sword Qi took on that black mist, and he said flatly, "You took Shangguan Hong's life yourself. Your affairs have nothing to do with us."

Qin Yan's words made sense, but the other party had clearly lost its mind as it charged towards him, roaring. Fu Changling was a bit taken aback. In theory, with Shangguan Hong dead, the Wushi Luo shouldn't be so out of control, but why was the Wushi Luo still so crazed when they had already killed Shangguan Hong? Could it be that Shangguan Hong wasn't the Wushi Luo's real enemy?

But Fu Changling had no time to think about it, so he drew the array quickly and sullenly.

And when Qin Yan saw that persuasion was ineffective, his sword beam soared. Thrusting his long sword in front of him, a Taiji diagram spun and unfurled against the Wushi Luo, which was charging forward with all its might.

While Qin Yan was shielding him, Fu Changling drew the last stroke of the teleportation array behind him. The array rotated, the pattern lit up on the ground, and the black mist rushed towards Qin Yan's sword with a fierce destructive force. Fu Changling turned his head to look back at Qin Yan as the blue sword Qi and the black mist collided.

He restrained the slight trembling in his heart.

Such an emotion, he had felt many times before, yet he suppressed it each time, and this time was no exception.

He wasn't going to die.

After taking one look at the Wushi Luo and Qin Yan engaged in battle, Fu Changling made a snap decision in his heart. Qin Yan had no choice but to flee as soon as he left. He wouldn't have any trouble escaping even if he wasn't able to kill the Wushi Luo.

He immediately went to find his father after separating from Qin Yan, so that he would be completely safe later on.

After all, it was still unknown whether Qin Yan was an enemy or a friend. Even though everything Qin Yan had shown so far should have been on his side, for Fu Changling, the fact that Qin Yan had defected to the Karma Prison in his previous life was something he always remembered, making him unable to trust Qin Yan completely. The current affairs of the Shangguan Clan were entirely the handiwork of the Karma Prison, and Qin Yan was so bent on coming for him that he couldn't stay with Qin Yan.

It wouldn't matter if Qin Yan was a good person who had come to protect him if he didn't stay with Qin Yan. After all, he could protect himself.

However, it would be better for him and Qin Yan to part ways sooner rather than later if Qin Yan was a bad person who came to take his life or do something else.

Fu Changling didn't hesitate once he'd made up his mind, lifted his foot, and stepped into the teleportation array while Qin Yan and Shangguan Yuehua were fighting.

The moment his foot touched the teleportation array, he suddenly heard a shout from behind him, which caused his blood to instantly freeze, "Fu Changling!"

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AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I was telling a friend the other day that I find that so far, as if I had written a dependent-on-his-wife Gong who is useless aside from his flirtatious mouth and latching on to the strong tendency.

My friend said, "It's not as if, it's a fact. Don't you think that the story you have written is one about an iron-willed Shou × a soft rice Gong?

Me: ...

No... that's not true. Changling is incredibly strong and powerful!

...❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❧❦❦❧❦...

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