Chapter 75: CH 75

“… …” Both the old witch and Yühu were rendered speechless.

Dan Yi was stunned as well. He stared blankly at Chen Ziqi for a moment, then the corners of his lips lifted bit by bit, very, very slowly. He pulled Chen Ziqi into his arms, then stood in a relaxed manner, even though his body was as tense as a pulled bowstring. His eyes didn’t leave the old witch, watching her every movement carefully. 

This old witch said that she was Abbess Wuyin’s Shifu. The masters of the Qi Sects usually only took in disciples after the age of thirty-five, and Wuyin was presently seventy or eighty years old. Her master had to be at least 120 years old!

Neili that had been cultivated for 120 years was not something that Dan Yi’s fourth level Danyang Divine Martial Arts could compete with, not by a long shot.

“Hahaha, so you prefer men to women…” the old witch cackled madly. Some greed appeared in her eyes as she looked at Yühu’s young, fresh face.

Yühu couldn’t help shivering in fear. Hadn’t the Supreme Abbess died long ago? She had never seen any Supreme Abbess since she entered the Suxin Sect, but she didn’t dare to say this out loud. She grit her teeth, trying to make her trembling less obvious. 

“Qianbei must be the Suxin Sect’s previous leader, Abbess Liaoji?” Dan Yi said in his usual calm, unhurried manner. One of his hands was placed behind his back, and he signalled to the three black-clad men with it.

“So there are still houbei who remember me,” the old witch said softly, as if she was reminiscing about events of old. Her eyes fell on the small white jade flute hanging from Dan Yi’s waist, and all of a sudden, she threw Yühu down, charging at Chen Ziqi without another word.

Dan Yi grabbed hold of Chen Ziqi and leapt back several feet. The three black-clad men behind him rushed forward and attacked the old woman, causing her to veer sideways. Those withered fingers with long, unkempt nails nearly scratched Chen Ziqi’s nose, but he leaned back as far as he could and threw some Stone Grey Powder at her.

Unfortunately, this old witch’s martial arts were on a totally different level from the old nuns they’d met earlier at the top of the cliff, and this Stone Grey Powder had no effect on her whatsoever. She raised a hand and sucked every last bit of the powder into one of her sleeves, then blasted it back at them.

The Stone Grey Powder that had been thrust out with the force of that old witch’s neili became a deadly weapon. Dan Yi somersaulted a few times with Chen Ziqi in his arms and managed to avoid the Stone Grey Powder attack. The tips of his toes touched lightly on the cave walls, and he leapt up strongly to a higher position.

“Danyang Divine Martial Arts!” the old witch cackled. Killing intent emanated from every pore of her being now as she crouched on the ground on all fours like a rock rat. She then sprang into action, moving as quickly and easily over the cave walls and ceiling as if they were nothing more than flat ground. She appeared in front of them in an instant, moving so quickly that her movements couldn’t be seen with the naked eye, then grabbed hold of Chen Ziqi’s collar and slammed a hand down on the top of Dan Yi’s head.

Dan Yi raised his arms to counter, then snatched Chen Ziqi back from the old witch’s clutches. 

Chen Ziqi used the Roving Dragon Follows the Moon to wind his arm up the old witch’s arm, aiming for her eyeballs. However, the old witch was much faster than that; her hands disappeared in a blur, and Chen Ziqi suddenly felt two of his fingers break with a loud cracking sound.

“AH!” Chen Ziqi shouted in pain.

Dan Yi got a shock. His movements halted momentarily, and the old witch landed a solid blow on his shoulder, throwing him back several feet. Meanwhile, Chen Ziqi plunged squarely into the old witch’s arms. He was covered in cold sweat now; his two broken fingers were firmly in the old witch’s grasp.

“Qiqi!” Dan Yi gripped his injured shoulder and trained his anxious gaze on the old witch’s hands. 

“Tsk! So you two really are a pair of lovers,” Abbess Liaoji said, laughing that unpleasant cackling laugh of hers. She continued gripping Chen Ziqi’s broken fingers hard as she looked toward Dan Yi. “You must be the current Cloud Palace Master. What’s your name?”

“Dan Yi…” Dan Yi replied, taking a deep breath to regulate his breathing as he tried to estimate this old witch’s neili.

“Ljr sbeg vjv vlfv?” atf biv klamt jrxfv. Ktf fzqgfrrlbc bc tfg ojmf kjr j ragjcuf wlz bo fnli lcafca jcv meglbrlas.

Gjc Tl’r ygbkr mjwf abufatfg ribkis. “Zs ojatfg lr kfii,” tf rjlv, vlrqifjrfv ja atlr lcjerqlmlber defralbc. 

“Lf’r ralii cba vfjv?” atf biv klamt jrxfv lc rtbmx. Vtf ibbxfv ilxf rtf tjv yffc vfjia j rfglber yibk, jcv tfg tjcvr alutafcfv wbgf obgmfoeiis jgbecv Jtfc Ildl’r ygbxfc olcufgr. “Lbk mjc la yf? Lbk mjc tf cba yf vfjv sfa?”

“Ah…” Chen Ziqi’s face had originally been pale and bloodless with pain, and now that force was being applied to his injury, he couldn’t help speaking out. “Hey, Abbess, what’s it to you if his dad isn’t dead?”

“He must be more than 150 years old now. How can he not be dead?” the old nun mumbled to herself jealously. Understanding suddenly dawned on her face, and she gripped Chen Ziqi’s fingers hard. “Out with it. What secret methods of cultivation does the Cloud Palace have?” she asked, directing this question at Dan Yi.

Dan Yi saw that Chen Ziqi was in agony, and his brows furrowed into a deep trench. “Don’t hurt him. I will tell you whatever you want to know,” he said. 

“You two really are a pair of lovebirds,” the old witch cackled.

Chen Ziqi bared his teeth, violently cursing the old witch in the silence of his heart. He looked up at Dan Yi and saw that those beautiful phoenix tail eyes were full of worry for himself. Dan Yi simply couldn’t hide those emotions of his, and Chen Ziqi couldn’t help being surprised by the depth of the emotion there. That look in Dan Yi’s eyes…

Abbess Liaoji had the advantage of a hundred over years of cultivation and was very relaxed. She walked over to the bookshelf carved out of stone, still gripping Chen Ziqi by the fingers. She opened an ancient-looking painted box and took out a yellowed bamboo scroll.

“Do you know what this is?” the old witch asked, giving the bamboo scroll to Dan Yi. 

Dan Yi took it and lowered his gaze to read it. The calligraphy style looked ancient, and it was written with strength and vigour. It was identical to the words “凝心” written outside the cave; both sets of text probably had the same author.

“There is no limit to martial arts cultivation. The mortal body is but a temporary vessel. Leave this earthly vessel and be reborn into emptiness; break the barriers and achieve eternal life…”

These few words seemed to be casually thrown out there, and they spoke of martial arts being limitless. Most people found it difficult to progress further after achieving a certain level of cultivation, and this text said that that was due to the constraints of the mortal body. If one managed to break past this cultivation impasse, one would transcend the mortal body and achieve eternal life as a god or immortal.

Such theories had always existed, but no one had ever managed to do it in practice. This bamboo scroll was a little different, however, because the name “Zhao Hetian” was inscribed in tiny letters at the very end of this lengthy dissertation. 

“Is this Zhao Hetian’s Will?” Dan Yi asked, pressing his lips together. King Wan had spoken to him about this before. He quickly read through the contents.

The bamboo scroll wasn’t complete. There were two bamboo slats missing in the middle.

“… Jiu Cheng, which can assist in breaking the barriers.”

What this “Jiu Cheng” referred to was unclear. However, everyone could see that this was a thing that could assist with transcending the mortal body and achieving eternal life. 

“I’ve meditated on this for many years, and I believe that the “Jiu Cheng” this scroll refers to isn’t about attaining the ninth level of cultivation in some gongfa, but the music score, “Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng”. Unfortunately, the Jiuyin Mountain Villa only has three parts of this ancient relic,” Abbess Liaoji said rather regretfully.

Chen Ziqi was getting impatient listening to all this. His broken fingers were hurting so much that his whole hand was numb. He signalled to Dan Yi with his eyes.

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Dan Yi shook his head almost imperceptibly. This old hag was too powerful, and he didn’t dare to risk Chen Ziqi’s life. “Do you want me to look for the remaining six parts of the score for you?” he asked.

“Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng” was a very old music score that was divided into nine parts. The legends said that if one managed to finish playing all nine parts of the score, one could summon a phoenix. However, due to the passage of time, only three parts of the score remained with the Jiuyin Mountain Sect. This had been passed down from generation to generation in the Cheng family as a family heirloom. It was originally kept in their ancestral hall. 

Abbess Liaoji had asked her disciple Wuyin to take the three remnant pieces of the music score, and when Abbess Wuyin found out the secret behind this score, she killed the whole Cheng family because she was afraid that the secret would get out.

There wasn’t a single person who didn’t hope to achieve eternal life. If this was made known in the martial arts world, it was entirely possible that a bloodbath would ensue. Chen Ziqi’s heart thudded in his chest. This was a very high-level secret, and this old hag probably told it to them for one very simple reason – she had already decided to kill them all.

“That’s right,” Abbess Liaoji said, cackling again. “Your dad is still alive even now, so pray tell, what means did he use?” She assumed that the omniscient Cloud Palace definitely had the complete score for “Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng”.

“… …” 

Well, that’s because he’s a phoenix, and unless something extraordinary happens to him, his natural lifespan is around three hundred years… Dan Yi pressed his lips together, refusing to answer the question.

“You’re not going to say? Alright,” the old witch said, her expression cold. She extended a clawlike hand and pressed it to Chen Ziqi’s chest, forcing a spurt of neili into his body.

“Urk…” Chen Ziqi felt like all his internal organs were being squeezed hard by some freakishly strong hand, and it was so painful that he nearly fainted. This method of forcing neili into one’s body wouldn’t cause that person any injuries, but would put him in unbearable agony.

“Stop!” Dan Yi shouted, unable to stop himself from taking a step forward. He forced his feet to stop moving with a burst of willpower. “The Cloud Palace doesn’t have a copy of “Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng”. The reason why my dad can live for so long is because of the Danyang Divine Martial Arts.” 

Abbess Liaoji stopped what she was doing to Chen Ziqi. She glanced at Dan Yi for a moment with narrowed eyes, trying to assess whether what he said was true. Someone who had lived for a hundred years could tell quite easily if Dan Yi was lying. She found that Dan Yi was telling the truth, and told him to write out the manual for the Danyang Divine Martial Arts for her. “Your little loverboy here will accompany me for a year. In that time, make sure you get the full score of ‘Xiao Shao Jiu Cheng’ to exchange it for him,” she said.

That useless Wuyin hadn’t anything to show for her efforts even after so many years. She was already 135 years old and couldn’t wait any longer. The Cloud Palace Master’s barging into her cave was really heavensent.

Chen Ziqi’s face bore a pained expression as he listened to the old hag nag on and on. He looked at Yühu, who was curled up in a corner, not daring to make a sound, and he suddenly had a flash of inspiration. This old hag didn’t seem to be as crazy as when they had first entered. It seemed that she could be sane so long as she didn’t hear anything to do with Yühu…

“Umm, Abbess lady,” Chen Ziqi said, pretending to want to have a casual chat with her. “Why don’t you let Yühu find a nice man?” 

Yühu had just been minding her own business in a corner and got the fright of her life when she heard Chen Ziqi suddenly say her name.

“Men are all disgusting creatures!” Abbess Liaoji shrieked. “Just like that person – a cheat, a liar…”

Dan Yi was writing out the Danyang Divine Martial Arts manual from memory, and he looked up when he heard Abbess Liaoji shriek. “Not all men are bad. If I fell in love with someone, it would be forever,” he said, looking straight at Chen Ziqi.

Chen Ziqi felt his heart flutter like a little bird in his chest. He tore his gaze away from Dan Yi’s, then mouthed something to Yühu. 

Yühu swallowed hard, then said what Chen Ziqi mouthed to her. “Ab… Abbess, I’ve already… already slept with a man…” she stammered.

“What did you say?!” Abbess Liaoji said, going crazy again. She threw Chen Ziqi aside and shrieked wildly as she flew at Yühu.

Dan Yi immediately reached out to catch hold of Chen Ziqi. The black-clad men next to him moved faster than the eye could see and scooped Yühu up.

“BAM!” the old witch’s hands slammed hard into the floor, sending broken rock chips flying into the air. The dark, solid stone now had two deep palm prints on it. 

“Ah…” Chen Ziqi groaned. In the moment when he’d been tossed aside, that old witch had forced more neili into him again, and he collapsed on Dan Yi’s shoulder, panting heavily.

“Qiqi, I can’t fight her off alone. Do you remember that move we practiced when we were kids – the Roving Dragon Chases the Phoenix?” Dan Yi asked, holding him tightly in his arms as he ran and dodged in the cave. He spoke directly and steadily into Chen Ziqi’s ear even as he leapt around.

“I remember,” Chen Ziqi said, gritting his teeth. He pulled out a scarlet handkerchief from the folds of Dan Yi’s clothes and bound his broken fingers together. “Let’s do it!”

Dan Yi put Chen Ziqi on his back, dropped to the floor, then stretched out his arms slowly. One of Chen Ziqi’s hands wound up Dan Yi’s shoulder like a roving dragon as he yelled, “GO TO HELL, YOU DISGUSTING OLD WITCH!” 

—

The author has something to say: Mini-theatre

Qiqi: Your dad’s more than a hundred years old – why are you only sixteen?

Birdie Gong: I was born in his old age 

Qiqi: What on earth was your dad doing for the first hundred years?

Birdie Gong: He hadn’t found a wife yet

Qiqi: The Cloud Palace has so much money, and you’re telling me he had a problem finding a wife?!

Birdie Gong: He didn’t have a property ownership certificate 

Qiqi: Huh? Why didn’t he go get one made?

… …

XX: Sir, please put your thumbprint here

Birdie Dad: Tweet (A wing-print) 

XX: … …

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