Chapter 651: Nobody Messes With My Patient (3)
The men ran heedlessly as if gone completely mad. Jun Wu Xie was in no hurry to pursue them. She first made Lord Meh Meh set her down before she waved her hand carelessly asking Lord Meh Meh to go after the men in pursuit.
“I want them alive.” Jun Wu Xie reminded Lord Meh Meh chillingly.
Lord Meh Meh immediately gave a earth shattering roar and sped off in a white flash!
Jun Wu Xie came to stand beside the black beast. Her eyes narrowed as she looked at the unconscious Mu Qian Fan on the black beast’s back. She reached out her hand and felt for his pulse. After determining he was still alive, she immediately opened her Cosmos Sack and took out a few bottles of her elixirs. Jun Wu Xie lifted Mu Qian Fan’s drooping head and pushed an elixir into his mouth.
Jun Wu Xie treated Mu Qian Fan’s wounds without a word. The earlier clamour disappeared and silence pervaded. The black beast lay upon the grass unmoving. Although it was a spirit body, after taking on a physical form, it would possess a body temperature. On a night as cold and chilly as this, if they were to put Mu Qian Fan who had lost so much blood on the cold and frosty ground, hypothermia might quickly kill him.
The tranquility here greatly contrasted the panic that was taking hold on the other side of the woods. Those men made a mad scramble and ran for their lives, but their legs were no match for Lord Meh Meh’s incredible speed.
Very shortly, Lord Meh Meh had already caught up to them. With their senses overtaken by the overwhelming fear, the crazed men screamed for their ring spirits to attack Lord Meh Meh. However, Lord Meh Meh just swung several of his tails indifferently and he quickly sent the weak and miniscule ring spirits flying.
The Beast Spirits went flying through the air but Lord Meh Meh was not about to let them off so easily. His huge tails were suddenly wrapped around all of the beast spirits and they were raised high up before they were heavily smashed onto the ground!
Pitiful wails and whines sounded in the thrashed up woods. Although spirit bodies do not bleed, but they would nevertheless still feel pain.
In a blink, those beast spirits were already tormented by Lord Meh Meh until they were teetering on the verge of death and they were not even able to moan in agony anymore.
When the men saw their ring spirits so effortlessly taken out, they ran away screaming in all directions.
Lord Meh Meh did not rush. It curled one of its tails around all the severely weakened beast spirits and then raised itself to its full height. From its high vantage point, it searched for the running figures through the thick foliage.
The night’s silence was broken by occasional screams and wails. Their voices were filled with despair and fear but there was no one else around to hear them!
After Jun Wu Xie finished treating Mu Qian Fan’s wounds, the black beast was at its limit and it could not maintain its form anymore as it morphed into the tiny little black cat, quickly curling up in exhaustion on the ground, without moving an inch.
Jun Wu Xie raised her hand and used the Spirit Healing Technique to slowly treat the little black cat’s injuries.
The ground beneath their feet trembled and Jun Wu Xie looked up. Lord Meh Meh was returning and its tails behind it were curled around the escapees and their ring spirits, so badly weakened they had turned sort of translucent.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes narrowed and Lord Meh Meh quickly stretched eight of his tails forward to come before Jun Wu Xie and released their grip. Ten pale and ashen faced men fell together clumsily onto the ground.
“Don’t….. Don’t kill us…..” The leader of the band of men was gripped in paralysing terror as he sat on the ground. He looked at Jun Wu Xie with horror filled eyes, his face completely drained of colour.
The other men from the group besides their leader were now just trembling helplessly as they knelt on their knees, not daring to move from their spots.
“Why did you want to kill him?” Jun Wu Xie asked, her gaze cold as she stared at the man.
Chapter 652: “Nobody Messes With My Patient (4)”
The man looked at Jun Wu Xie as his entire body trembled visibly. Even though the young youth before his eyes looked to be so scrawny and weak, he did not dare underestimate the youth in the slightest.
For someone to be able to command a legendary Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, there was no way he would be just a simple common youth.
Even with so many of them, before the might of the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, not a single one among them had been able to escape and they were all captured. Even when they had split up and hid themselves among the dense trees in the woods, none of them had still been lucky enough to escape.
After realising the unbelievable might of the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast, they had completely given up on any thoughts of escape.
“I….. I…..” The man conspicuously froze a moment and his eyes appeared shifty as he glanced around him.
Jun Wu Xie’s eyes narrowed slightly. Lord Meh Meh quickly and intelligently detected its “feedstress’” annoyance and it surreptitiously flicked out one of its tails and smacked the shifty eyed man straight onto the ground!
A Guardian Grade Spirit Beast’s careless flick, was to the average human, a force one would not be able to withstand!
“ARRGH! !” A ear piercing scream erupted from the man and when Lord Meh Meh moved its tail away, the man’s entire body had been driven into the earth. He was broken in several places and blood gushed out from his body, staining the ground a deep red!
The man let out a few weak moans and his body gave a violent twitch before he completely stopped moving.
“…..” Lord Meh Meh stared at the man it had just smashed into the ground and it blinked its eyes several times before it turned to Jun Wu Xie. When it saw Jun Wu Xie’s eyes slowly turning frosty, a chill ran up its spine and it hastened to dig the man out from the ground before laying the body gently on the ground, lightly shaking and prodding it for a long while…..
The result was…..
The body was dead through and through! No doubt about it!
Even his nose had been smashed, plastered flat upon his face. His broken ribs stuck out the front of his chest and there was no way that he could be resuscitated.
“…..” Lord Meh Meh froze, and its pointed ears flatten against its head in remorse. It hung its head forlornly and did not dare look into Jun Wu Xie’s eyes.
[How was it to know that the man would be so hopelessly fragile! ? It had just “stroked” the man with its tail lightly and it had suddenly turned over and died!]
[He broke too easily!]
Jun Wu Xie glanced at the man’s corpse and turned her eyes upon the frozen and petrified group of men.
The men were not aware of the “conversation” that Jun Wu Xie had with Lord Meh Meh with their eyes. They only saw that their Boss had with just a moment’s hesitation, been mercilessly executed! Not the slightest mercy was shown at all!
At that moment, although they were grateful they were still alive, they were already scared completely out of their wits and they did not even dare turn their eyes to look once at the corpse beside them.
“You, come here.” Jun Wu Xie raised a hand, pointing her finger at the man holding a bow in his hand.
The man wailed and was about to plead when he found himself kicked from behind by his companions, causing him to fall forward, landing right before Jun Wu Xie’s feet. Others in the band were fearful of being implicated and none of them made any moves to help.
Panicked, the archer fell into a kneeling position and he struck his head hard upon the ground before Jun Wu Xie. He was so terrified he did not even dare raise his head the slightest as he knelt there trembling.
“You tell me.” Jun Wu Xie’s frosty voice sounded above the man’s head.
To him, that voice sounded just like the solemn gong of death’s knell.
“It….. it wasn’t….. my idea….. to kill him….. It was him….. He made….. me do it…..” The archer prostrated himself on the ground, wishing he could sink lower down in plea, as he stammered out his reply.
“Reason.” Jun Wu Xie did not want to hear such nonsense.
The archer remembered how his Boss had died and he did not hesitate in the slightest as he said: “He….. he accidentally overheard our conversation. Boss was afraid that it would be leaked out and he ordered us to kill him off.”
Chapter 653: “Nobody Messes With My Patient (5)”
It turned out that when Mu Qian Fan had gone out to find firewood, he had coincidentally passed this area. Unexpectedly, this group of men had been discussing their plans within the woods and the currently decreased leader of the group had not bothered how much Mu Qian Fan had heard when he was spotted, wanting only to prevent their business from being leaked, he had led his men in pursuit to silence Mu Qian Fan.
The scent of blood that Jun Wu Xie had initially detected had been from Mu Qian Fan. If the little black cat had not gotten there in time, Mu Qian Fan might have already gone to meet his maker.
“What were you discussing?” Jun Wu Xie asked.
The archer did not dare to hide anything and prattled on: “We….. We are actually from the Yan Country…… Because our Master wanted us to go explore the Heaven’s End Cliff, we were discussing our plans about our trip to the Heaven’s End Cliff when…..
[Heaven’s End Cliff!]
Jun Wu Xie’s heart thumped.
“What were you going to do at Heaven’s End Cliff?” Jun Wu Xie asked coldly.
“That….. That I really do not know….. People of a lowly status like us are not in a place to know of such matters and the only person among us who knew in detail what our mission entailed was our Boss. He had not mentioned anything about it to us….. I….. really do not know anything…..” As the archer spoke, he kept on striking his head upon the ground, pleading for Jun Wu Xie to spare his life.
Jun Wu Xie narrowed her eyes and pointed at the dead corpse before she asked: “Does he have a map on him?”
The archer nodded quickly.
“Yes! Yes! But he had never shown it to us at all. He kept it on himself all the while.”
“Find it.” Jun Wu Xie ordered.
The archer scuttled over quickly, and when his eyes saw the grisly state of the corpse, he froze a moment in hesitation.
Lord Meh Meh blew out a breath of hot air and when the hesitant archer felt the warm gush blow past him, he turned a shade paler and immediately began searching frantically.
“I’ll search! I’ll search! I’ll look for it right away! Don’t kill me! I beg you not to kill me!”
The archer had tears flowing down his cheeks as he pleaded pitifully, and he forced his hands to rummage through the still slightly warm corpse.
After a while, he finally pulled out from the corpse’s robe pocket with a trembling hand, a blood stained map. Immediately upon finding it, he quickly turned and was all jittery as he presented the map before Jun Wu Xie.
“It….. It’s this one…..”
Jun Wu Xie reached out and opened up the map. The map was not made from skin but from common parchment. A large part of the map was currently badly stained with blood and it was impossible to picture what the entire map was showing.
Based on the portion left that was still visible, the map was slightly similar to the two other maps Qiao Chu and the others were holding.
Mu Qian Fan had already drawn and plotted the map showing the way to the Heaven’s End Cliff and Jun Wu Xie was certain that the map she was holding in her hands was not showing the way to the Heaven’s End Cliff.
If the map was not showing the way towards the place, then there was only one other possibility!
The map, was one of the eight pieces showing the way to the Dark Emperor’s tomb. And the map here in her hands, was not the original, but a duplicate.
“Yan Country.” Jun Wu Xie uttered as she stared at the largely blood covered map she held within her hands. If Lord Meh Meh had not smashed the leader of the band of men dead earlier, they would have effortlessly gained the third piece of the maps towards the Dark Emperor’s tomb.
“Who is your Master?” Jun Wu Xie asked, staring at the terrified archer.
The archer gulped loudly before he replied: “The Yan Country’s Crown Prince….. Yan Country’s Crown Prince…..”
Jun Wu Xie’s eyebrow raised up, a little surprised. The Yan Country was not small and weak like the Qi Kingdom. It can be said that the Yan Country was the mightiest among all the countries and their lands were the most vast. The Yan Country and the Qi Kingdom were two extremes. The Yan Country was the first country to be founded and the Imperial Family had been adept rulers. Over time, the Yan Country had grown from strength to strength and the lands they controlled expanded rapidly. When war had broken out between the various powers a century ago, the Yan Country had at that time grabbed the opportunity and reigned supremacy since.
Chapter 654: “Paying the Price (1)”
It can be said, the Yan Country had become the mightiest power in the Lower Realm. The Yan Country was fond of warring and it had previously carried out several successful war campaigns. It was not until the last major war a century ago that sealed their reign of supremacy that the Yan Country gradually tempered their lust for war.
The Yan Country’s efforts were now concentrated towards developing their economy and their people kept well skilled in battle, to maintain their unshakable reign.
Jun Wu Xie pondered over the facts. The treasure map leading to the Dark Emperor’s tomb comprised a total of eight separate pieces. The existence of one of the pieces was not known to the Twelve Palaces as it was hidden from them and currently in Fan Zhuo’s hands. The remaining seven pieces were separately held by seven of the Twelve Palaces in unspoken defiance of the revered might of the Dark Emperor and the overpowering dominance held by the Dark Regiment.
The Twelve Palaces were afraid of carrying the unpardonable crime of disturbing the eternal rest of the Dark Emperor and hence had sent their men to liaise with the various powers of the Lower Realm, handing the precious maps over to men within the powers they were grooming, to secretly assist them in locating the Dark Emperor’s tomb.
Up to that moment, Jun Wu Xie knew of three of the maps. Besides the hidden one held by Fan Zhuo, one was in the hands of the largest clan, the Qing Yun Clan. The other was within the top three academies throughout the lands, the famed Zephyr Academy. With a quick analysis of the two previous examples, it was not difficult to conclude that all the scapegoats the Twelve Palaces had picked were some of the strongest and most influential powers in the Lower Realm. Weaker powers would not have adequate resources to challenge the trials at the Heaven’s End Cliff anyway.
The palaces involved in it, totaled seven in number. Jun Wu Xie did not know what kind of actions the other five palaces had taken, but she only knew that every individual palace who were involved in this all had vested interests in the various powers they had roped in.
And the Yan Country could very well be one of the powers one of the seven palaces had chosen.
“The Yan Country’s Crown Prince.” Jun Wu Xie glanced at the archer prostrated limply upon the ground before her and she knew that he had divulged everything he knew.
There would not be anymore more information that she would want to get out from the man.
“Will….. will you…… re….. release us now……” The archer pleaded, snivelling on the ground, his body trembling.
Jun Wu Xie stared at the bow in the archer’s hand that his ring spirit had morphed into.
“Give.”
The archer was baffled a moment before he realised Jun Wu Xie was staring at his ring spirit. He did not hesitate in the slightest and quickly handed hours bow over.
Jun Wu Xie studied the bow a moment before she said to the little black cat upon her shoulder: “Try it.”
The little black cat immediately gave out an obedient meow.
The archer looked blankly at Jun Wu Xie, completely not understanding what Jun Wu Xie was doing.
However, in the very next moment, he was stunned into stupefied silence by what he saw right before his eyes!
The tiny little black cat raised its paws and held one end of the bow, slowly pushing it into its tiny little mouth.
The seemingly sturdy bow was suddenly bitten off by a chunk and with the little black cat’s sharp teeth and quickly swallowed up!
Before the archer could recover from the shocking sight, the agony of having one’s ring spirit forcibly torn out struck him heavily and he suddenly found himself sprawled upon the ground twitching violently!
The torment assaulted his body relentlessly, making his face turn green and he was soon foaming at the mouth.
“Meow?”
[It is….. edible afterall, but the texture is rather different from a beast spirit]
The chunk that was bitten off turned into a shapeless spirit form in the little black cat’s mouth. It did not need to chew and the little black cat just swallowed it down into its belly.
The little black cat had previously swallowed up Mo Xuan Fei’s Golden Lion and this was the first time it was devouring a weapon ring spirit. Jun Wu Xie had only wanted to test it out and had not thought that it would be successful!
The little black cat devoured the weapon spirit bit by bit and the archer was by then already slumped in a heap, his body twitching incessantly on the ground, his eyes rolled over showing only the whites, and his breath was coming in short sharp gasps.
Huddled together in a bunch, the archer’s other companions could do nothing but watch with their eyes wide at all that was happening, their hearts gripped in overwhelming and paralysing fear!
Chapter 655: “Paying the Price (2)”
That little black cat…..
is actually….. capable of devouring ring spirits!
How is that possible!?
Something so shocking and completely unheard of was happening right before their eyes! Not even in their worst nightmares would they ever dream that such a horrifying thing could happen!
They watched their companion writhing in agony upon the ground, and watched as his ring spirit was being slowly devoured. Their strength seeped completely out from their legs and they began to shake uncontrollably.
The appearance of the Guardian Grade Spirit Beast had already driven them into utter despair and the youth’s merciless actions coupled with the little black cat’s strange abilities almost drove them into madness. They prayed fervently to the Heavens in their hearts, that they would not share the same fate.
Having their ring spirits torn forcibly from them, just thinking about it sent chills up their spine!
After devouring the weapon spirit, the little black cat was still not satisfied and it squinted its eyes as it stared at the several ring spirits gripped in Lord Meh Meh’s tail before smacking its tongue against its lips.
“You can still go on?” Jun Wu Xie noticed the little black cat’s gaze before she asked calmly.
“Meow!”
[Even if I stuff myself to death, I will swallow the whole bunch of scoundrels!]
[Didn’t they enjoy chasing me down so much earlier? The wheels of fortune has reversed and now it’s revenge!]
Jun Wu Xie nodded, indicating to Lord Meh Meh to release one more beast spirit.
The beast ring spirit had already been severely thrashed up by Lord Meh Meh and was very weak. When Lord Meh Meh threw it onto the ground, it lay there motionless, in an unmoving heap, not showing even a single bit of the previous ferocity it had displayed when it pursued the black beast and Mu Qian Fan earlier.
The little black cat jumped down from Jun Wu Xie’s shoulder and morphed into the massive black beast. It strode slowly over to stand neediest the beast spirit and lowered its head with its jaws wide open, before it took one big bite out of the beast spirit as if in vent!
A loud scream erupted together with the snap of the black beast’s jaws from the group of men huddled together!
The beast spirit’s contracted human owner grasped and clutched at the clothes at his chest, suddenly toppling over onto the ground, his legs kicking out in agony.
Jun Wu Xie watched him with a cold gaze, and there wasn’t an ounce of pity in those eyes.
If she had come just a moment later, the one who would have ended up dead now would be Mu Qian Fan!
After the little black cat devoured another two beast spirits, it couldn’t swallow another bite. It walked back fully satisfied to stand behind Jun Wu Xie, indicating it had had its fill.
“Kill them.” Jun Wu Xie ordered in a chilling tone as the terrified men stared at her in disbelief.
Whoever dared to mess with her patient, must be prepared to pay the price!
With the threat of death looming heavily over them, the men managed to summon up enough strength to scramble and crawl, futile screams of despair escaping from their throats, despite knowing deep in their hearts, their feeble attempt to escape certain death would eventually prove fruitless!
Several of Lord Meh Meh’s huge tails flicked down, as if swatting at flies, smashing onto the “insects” scrambling in all directions crushing them into the ground. It wasn’t so “gentle” this time round, having received Jun Wu Xie’s order to squash them, Lord Meh Meh did not hold back its strength.
‘Squelch Squelch Squelch ’
Sounds of squishy smacks resounded in the woods. The men were all smashed into the ground by Lord Meh Meh and all their bones were completely crushed. Under the crushing force, their bodies were all mashed up, reduced into unidentifiable red splatters scattered across the ground, making good fertiliser for that patch of the woods.
“Meh?” Lord Meh Meh looked at the several patches of deep red blood stains on the ground before turning to Jun Wu Xie and gave out a short bleat, as if asking for Jun Wu Xie’s approval.
Jun Wu Xie nodded.
Lord Meh Meh heaved a sigh of relief and it turned back into its tiny fluffy form of a wooly sheep, happily prancing to come beside Jun Wu Xie and its hooves tapped a circle around her, shamelessly asking for praise.
However, Jun Wu Xie stretched out her hand and shook the blood covered map before Lord Meh Meh’s eyes and Lord Meh Meh who was just a moment before smirking proudly quickly stopped moving its excitedly bobbing tail and hung its head sheepishly.
Chapter 656: “Paying the Price (3)”
After dealing with the band of men, Jun Wu Xie made the black beast carry the still unconscious Mu Qian Fan and they made their way back to the campsite. Lord Meh Meh kept a distance following behind Jun Wu Xie. Its hooves would tap a few quick steps before stopping to carefully observe Jun Wu Xie’s back. When it eventually realised that it would not be getting a response from Jun Wu Xie, it hung its head sadly and followed behind quietly, feeling down and dejected every step of the way.
Lord Meh Meh felt that the first man it had smashed up wasn’t its fault. How was it expected to know that humans were so weak and so easily squished? It had just gently, very gently and softly touched him and the man had suddenly died!
At the campsite, beside the campfire, Rong Ruo and Fei Yan had already returned and the five companions were seated around the fire chatting among themselves.
When they heard footsteps, they turned with a smile on their faces but suddenly saw that Jun Wu Xie had not returned alone, but with Mu Qian Fan!
What puzzled them further was when they saw that Mu Qian Fan was completely covered in blood!
“What exactly happened! ?” Qiao Chu immediately stood up.
Jun Wu Xie told the gang about Mu Qian Fan having accidentally stumbled upon the band of men and was attacked. She explained it with the scantest of details necessary and shoved the blood covered map to Hua Yao.
Hua Yao compared the incomplete map with the others for a long while and then he said said: “If I am not wrong, this map should be one of the eight pieces that form up the map to the Dark Emperor’s tomb. A pity it got so badly stained with blood or we would have another piece of it in our hands.”
At the end of his statement, Hua Yao could not help but give out a sigh.
Every single piece of the map would not be easy to attain, and letting this perfect opportunity slip away this time would most definitely require a long time and tireless efforts from them to make up for it.
Jun Wu Xie did not say a word but turned her gaze to stare at Lord Meh Meh beside her. Lord Meh Meh looked up and saw Jun Wu Xie’s incredibly frosty eyes and its round wooly body could not help but shiver.
“Meh meh meh! !”
[I didn’t mean it! It was really unintentional!]
Lord Meh Meh ran charging in a straight line into the woods at the side abs hid among the trees.
“ Wha….. what happened to Lord Meh Meh?” Rong Ruo asked when she saw Lord Meh Meh ruining away looking distraught, but the sight of the ball of white wool dashing off made her feel like laughing.
[It looked so adorable.]
“Don’t bother yourselves with it.” Jun Wu Xie said softly.
“Although the map can’t be used, at least we got some great information didn’t we? It seems that the fourth piece of the maps is currently in the hands on the Crown Prince of the Yan Country. Once we get our hands on the one in the Zephyr Academy, we can set forth towards the Yan Country next.” Hua Yao said optimistically with a laugh. It’s an ill wind that blows no one any good. Having gained information on the next piece of the map had saved them quite a bit of time instead.
“The Yan Country, it is a rather long journey from the Zephyr Academy though.” Fei Yan was thoughtful as the already all too familiar image of a map of the Lower Realm appeared in his mind.
Between the Yan Country and the Zephyr Academy, there were several small countries. Judging based on the distance, they would need more than a month, to reach the faraway Yan Country. And that over a month’s journey would require them to drive their horses hard and fast.
“There’s no need to rush. Shortly after this trip when we get back, we will be able to gain entry into the Zephyr Academy’s main division, in a week’s time at most. We are sure to be able to locate that map at that time.” Hua Yao reasoned calmly.
“Who in the Zephyr Academy do you suspect is most likely to be holding the map?” Fei Yan asked inquisitively.
“Ning Rui.” Jun Wu Xie answered suddenly.
Jun Wu Xie continue to say: “When the Twelve Palaces were looking for scapegoats in the Lower Realm, they will not approach those who does not hold power. If it’s not the Headmaster, it could be the Vice Headmaster.”
Chapter 657: “Arriving at Heaven’s End Cliff (1)”
“If it is really in his hands, we don’t have to wait till December. We can make our move once we return.” Fan Zhuo said smilingly. Qiao Chu and all his companions had all enrolled into the Zephyr Academy to investigate who was holding the map. If they could ascertain their target, it would save them a lot of time.
Jun Wu Xie nodded, locating the Dark Emperor’s tomb as quickly as possible held great importance for her. Besides giving her the power to resist against the Twelve Palaces, it was also for her father, Jun Gu.
The Soul Calming Jade preserved Jun Gu’s body in perfect condition and would keep his soul’s spirit intact.
The horde of treasures in the Dark Emperor’s tomb was filled with the rarest and most powerful magic items, and from among them, Jun Wu Xie was sure she would find something that would be able to bring Jun Gu back to life!
If Jun Gu could be resurrected, she believed it would make her Uncle and her Grandfather very happy.
The little black cat might have devoured a ring spirit too many and had already fallen into a deep slumber. Jun Wu Xie discussed a little bit more about their plans regarding their trip into the Heaven’s End Cliff with Qiao Chu and the others before they all called it a night.
Mu Qian Fan regained consciousness three days later. As his injuries were rather severe, the coachman’s job was handed over to Fei Yan. Sitting at the front of such a large sized horse carriage, was a pretty young “girl”, with a horse whip in hand, humming a lovely tune. As the carriage trundled along, the occasional adventurers they came across could not help but stare wide eyed at Fei Yan’s pretty face, resisting the urge to stop the fast rolling horse carriage.
Fei Yan would also occasionally throw out a few bashful winks and flutter his eyelashes at them, drawing several raucous cheers.
It was deemed, among the group of companions, the most feminine looking one among them wasn’t Jun Wu Xie nor Rong Ruo, who were the real girls among them, but it was the crossdressing Fei Yan instead.
On that point, Fei Yan did not mind it in the least. He was only too glad to tease and taunt the simple minds of those fools.
Two days later, they finally arrived at the Heaven’s End Cliff.
The land was completely bare. The sheer cliff looked like it was cleanly sliced off by the Heavens and when you peered down off the broken cliff, an endless sea of white met the eyes. The formless and insubstantial fog stretched all the way beyond the horizon, seemingly endless.
Heaven’s End Cliff. Where the lands end in a sheer cliff, and where the Heavens begin!
Qiao Chu walked to the edge of the cliff and stretched out his head to peer over. He could only see a whole ocean of pure white, obscuring the bottom, hiding the ends.
“This really….. does look a little scary.” Qiao Chu gulped. In a place so heavily covered in mist like this, your sight would be heavily obscured. Forced to transverse a strange place like this blind, greatly unnerved people. Moreover, they already know, under that blinding mist, the place was filled with endless dangers.
Mu Qian Fan had not fully recovered from his injuries and he had wanted to go down with them. But was flatly rejected by Jun Wu Xie and no matter how hard he pleaded, she did not relent.
Qiao Chu and the others had already gathered and packed everything, slinging them all upon their backs. Their hands gripped large coils of thick ropes as they made preparations by themselves near the edge of the cliff.
The two hidden shadowy bodyguards, Ye Mei and Ye Sha, suddenly appeared, standing between Jun Wu Xie and the cliff’s edge.
“Young Miss, why are you going down there?” Ye Sha asked, looking at Jun Wu Xie. Both he and Ye Mei could feel that there was something rather terrible hidden under that impenetrable fog.
“The Dark Emperor’s tomb.” Jun Wu Xie replied.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei were suddenly dumbstruck. They both exchanged an incredulous look and they both saw the utter disbelief in each other’s widely opened eyes.
“Young….. Young….. Young Miss, what did you just say?” Ye Mei deeply believed his ears were playing tricks on him.
Dark Emperor’s tomb?
DARK EMPEROR’S TOMB!!!
When did his Lord get a tomb…..
His esteemed Lord is still very much alive!!
Jun Wu Xie repeated it another time.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei looked even more horrified!
Utter blasphemy!
Who dared commit such an atrocious blasphemy!? His esteemed Lord was still very much alive and kicking! Who in the damned Heavens erected such a god damned tomb!?
Chapter 658: “Arriving at Heaven’s End Cliff (2)”
Ye Sha and Ye Mei were about to go mad! From where in the blasted abyss did this Dark Emperor’s tomb pop up from?
“Young Miss….. From where did you come to know about this Dark Emperor’s tomb?” Ye Sha asked very cautiously.
“It is a well known fact in the Middle Realm. A long time ago, the Dark Emperor passed on, and the people from the Dark Regime erected a tomb. The location had always been a deep mystery and it is said that all the treasures and magical items the Dark Emperor had acquired throughout his reign was buried together with him in the Dark Emperor’s tomb, which greatly stirred up all the Twelve Palaces, leading them to send countless people down to the Lower Realm in a relentless search for it.” Qiao Chu knew Jun Wu Xie was not well skilled at long explanations and he opened up his mouth to help explain.
Ye Sha’s and Ye Mei’s eyes widened, especially when they heard the words “the Dark Emperor passed on”, and rage began to fill their eyes.
But what further fueled their rage was when they heard that the Twelve Palaces were also involved in it!
“The Dark Emperor’s….. ‘cough’, who spread that news?” Ye Sha did not dare even utter the word “passing” together with his Lord’s title. Irregardless that it was to be used just as an analogy, it would still be a blasphemy to his revered Lord.
“Erm….. That, I do not know. But at that time, there was a great flurry of activity within the Dark Regime. How and why the Dark Emperor died was not known but the Dark Emperor’s tomb had always been something everyone in the Middle Realm dreamt of finding.” Qiao Chu replied, scratching at his head. He had witnessed Ye Sha’s skills before. Those skills were strong enough to oppose the larger part of people from the Twelve Palaces and Qiao Chu had naturally assumed Ye Mei and Ye Sha to be from the Middle Realm, but…..
They didn’t seem to have the slightest idea of the widely known fact of the Dark Emperor’s passing.
“When the Dark Emperor died several centuries ago, and the Dark Emperor’s tomb was erected the very next year. Is there anything wrong?” Qiao Chu asked innocently.
Both Ye Sha and Ye Mei felt the corner of their mouths start to twitch.
“Please wait a moment here.”
Upon saying that, the two immediately walked away to the side speaking in soft whispers.
“Nobody knew anything about it back when our Lord was sealed down here in the Lower Realm, don’t tell me those morons back in the Dark Regime really thought Lord ….. erm….. is no longer around?” Ye Sha whispered with a frown on his face.
Ye Mei nodded.
“That shouldn’t be too far from the truth. I suddenly realized that only the few of us were with our Lord then and only we were aware of the fact that our Lord had been sealed down here. At that time, we only knew that our Lord was somewhere in the Lower Realm but we did not know exactly where he was located, and all of us had been frantically searching blindly all of that time, while not a single one of us had gone back to inform the Dark Regime….. I’m afraid those people back in the Dark Regime really thought that our nobel Lord ….. and that is how this tomb came about.” Ye Mei was feeling that a massive headache was going to hit him.
The events that happened at the time, was not known to anyone in the Middle Realm. Only the few of them who were with Jun Wu Yao knew exactly what happened. Once Jun Wu Yao was sealed away, all of them had been unimaginably frantic and they all lost their heads, thinking of nothing else but to locate Jun Wu Yao, and not a single one among them even thought to return back to the Dark Regime to pass on the news.
“What a….. farce this has become!” Ye Sha said, with a heavy sigh.
“But we can’t be entirely sure of this, and this is just a guess. We don’t know for sure that this place is built by the Dark Regime.” Ye Mei reminded Ye Sha.
“But the Young Miss seems to hold high interest in this place!” Ye Sha had lost his past memories and he had always found it rather curious that Jun Wu Xie would choose to travel together with Qiao Chu and the others. Now, things were finally becoming clear to him.
The Young Miss was highly intent on going in with those kids and dig up his esteemed Lord’s “bogus” tomb!
Ye Sha suddenly could not decide whether he should laugh or cry.
“Should we reveal the truth of the matter to the Young Miss?” Ye Sha was feeling mightily conflicted. If the place at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff was really designed and built by the Dark Regime, then it would only be all too clear to him just how insidious and dangerous that place could turn out to be.
Chapter 659: “Arriving at Heaven’s End Cliff (3)”
Ye Mei shook his head.
“Lord Jue did not leave any instructions pertaining to this and we cannot decide on it unilaterally. Moreover…..” Ye Mei’s brow furrowed up and said: “I think the reason Lord Jue did not reveal his real identity to the Young Miss was to avoid drawing any dangers to her. Those people had up till now still not given up on their persecution of our Lord Jue.”
Ye Sha thumped his fist into his palm angrily.
“If we hadn’t fallen into their trap at that time, based on those lowly insects, they wouldn’t have been able to do anything to our Lord! It’s a shame that after having been sealed for so many years, our Lord’s power has diminished, or I will be the first to follow right behind our Lord Jue, in his charge to erase the previous humiliation suffered!”
The things that had happened to Jun Wu Yao at that time, was now a prickly thorn lodged in the hearts of Ye Sha and his comrade.
Having allowed their Lord to be humiliated, it was due to the incompetence of his subordinates!
If they had not been duty bound to locate Jun Wu Yao at that time, they would have taken their own lives to atone for their crime in failing to protect their lord.
“That’s all in the past. We will need to wait till Lord Jue comes back to decide how to handle this. But from what I can see, the Young Miss seems determined to go down the Heaven’s End Cliff. If we cannot reveal the truth to her, we should at least go down together with them. Firstly, that will give us the opportunity to keep a tight watch over the Young Miss, and secondly, it will also let us ascertain for sure whether that place below the Heaven’s End Cliff is truly the work of the Dark Regime.” After deliberating on all the available options, Ye Mei realised that was the only logical choice.
Ye Sha could not come up with any better ideas and could only agree to it.
The two of them went back to discuss it with Jun Wu Xie, requesting to be allowed to tag along for the trip down the Heaven’s End Cliff, as they would be unable to answer to Jun Wu Yao if Jun Wu Xie was to come into any harm.
The moment they brought out Jun Wu Yao’s name, Jun Wu Xie gave up on arguing the issue.
Moreover, Ye Sha was highly skilled, and looking at the way Ye Mei interacted with Ye Sha, Ye Mei’s skills did not seem to be inferior. Having two skilled fighters with them would naturally make it safer for the companions.
Jun Wu Xie’s group brought along a total of ten coils of strong ropes in preparation for any unexpected turn of events and they were able to give two spares to Ye Sha and Ye Mei.
Mu Qian Fan was to remain at the top of the cliff to guard the equipment while Jun Wu Xie and the others had already secured their ropes and thrown the other end over the edge. The long ropes fell a long way down and they were quickly lost as they fell beyond the layers of thick white rolling fog.
“Please let us go ahead of you.” Ye Sha offered.
Jun Wu Xie nodded.
Ye Sha and Ye Mei took the ropes at the two extreme ends, where they would be most exposed to danger. At the same time, Ye Sha took Lord Meh Meh from Jun Wu Xie and stuffed it into his robes to reduce Jun Wu Xie’s load.
Moments after Ye Sha and Ye Mei had started on their descent, Jun Wu Xie heard them holler up to them and all the companions gripped their ropes, beginning on their own descent as well.
The distance from the top of the cliff to the bottom was extremely far and they were even made to spend the night hanging from the ropes. The companions had already changed into thicker clothing and they had even worn coats treated with a waterproof coating as the outermost layer. Although they were unable to make it completely keep out the damp in the mist, it was nevertheless better than nothing.
Wearing thick and rough gunny cloth gloves over her hands, Jun Wu Xie gripped the rope tightly, gradually moving herself down the cliff face.
They did not move very quickly. For such a long climb, overexerting your strength too quickly would only cause them to completely deplete their energy halfway through it.
They had just descended barely ten metres when Jun Wu Xie felt the temperature around her drastically drop suddenly. The ropes they had just thrown down not too long ago was already coated with a very thin layer of water vapour. If they had not been well prepared by purchasing the rougher hemp ropes, paired with their rough gloves to increase the friction to improve their grip, these wet and slippery ropes would have given them a lot of problems now.
Jun Wu Xie raised her head and looked up. She found that she could no longer see the top of the cliff. Everything before eyes her had been covered by a thick white mist.
Chapter 660: “To the Bottom of the Cliff (1)”
It was just a mere ten metres and even when facing towards the sun, the visibility was already so low, it would be reasonable to think that not a sliver of light would reach the bottom of the cliff.
Jun Wu Xie brushed away her thoughts and focused on carefully moving herself downwards.
The descent was expected to be a long one, hence, Jun Wu Xie and her companions had before beginning their descent, coiled a loop of rope around their hip, as a precautionary measure.
The climb down was slow and dull, but none of them could relax even a moment. The rope gripped in their hands was the only thing their lives depended solely on and the slightest slip might cause them to fall deep down the bottomless abyss, smashed into countless pieces!
Enveloped in the thick fog, the companions’ grasp on time’s passing was distorted. All around them, they saw only the blinding white, monotonous and unchanging. If they did not feel the temperature around them dropping further and further, they would have felt that they had not moved at all.
Jun Wu Xie refocused herself, and continued with the long and weary descent.
If she was attempting this with just the strength from her past life, she would not have held out till now. But after being reborn, her spirit powers have grown and throughout the climb, those spirit powers greatly helped her reduce the physical strain. Jun Wu Xie’s position was right in the middle of the climbers, merely a metre away from her companions at her sides. The distance between the climbers was deliberate to allow them to look out for each other when needed.
In the beginning, Jun Wu Xie had still been able to see Rong Ruo on her left and Qiao Chu on her right. But as they descended lower, visibility fell further as the fog grew thicker and the sunlight’s penetration gradually waned. The surroundings became dark, gloomy and a clammy cold seeped in.
Jun Wu Xie was no longer able to see Qiao Chu’s and Rong Ruo’s faces clearly and was only able to make out a blurry silhouette of their figures.
They had not even gone half the distance down and the situation was already like this.
At that moment, Jun Wu Xie grew more wary and cautious of what they might have to face at the bottom of the Heaven’s End Cliff.
As they descended further, the temperature dropped to a point that made them start to feel the chill. Jun Wu Xie had no choice but to expend a little of her spirit power to cover over herself, to slow down the loss of her body heat.
“Should we take a break?” Qiao Chu’s voice suddenly reverberated.
“How long have we been climbing?” Fei Yan’s Boyce chirped in, from within the dim surroundings.
“I don’t know. “
Jun Wu Xie paused. “Ten hours.”
She had been counting the seconds in her mind and without realising it, when she reached the six hour mark, half a day had passed.
“Let’s rest a little.” Jun Wu Xie said.
Although her hands were protected by heavy gloves, but after ten long hours of constant friction, it had caused her palms to feel slightly numb.
And that was even when she had her spirit power to protect her body. If they had not made prior proper preparations and did not have spirit powers to support them, they might not even have lasted half the amount of time.
“Alright! I was thinking something didn’t feel right with me. It must have been my hunger. Let’s all rest up a little and get something to eat to regain our strength.” Qiao Chu said, his voice slightly tinged with anguish.
Everyone agreed to the suggestion and they concentrated their spirit powers into one hand to firmly secure their grip on the ropes. They then planted their feet against the cliff face to maintain their balance while they reached into the little bag at their hips with the other hand to take out prepared bits of dried meat to stuff into their mouths to chew and swallow.
Under the low temperature, the meat was hard as rocks and even the water they carried with them was biting cold.
In their current situation, they did not have any other choice but to make do with what they have to fill their stomachs.
“Ye Sha, Ye Mei.” Jun Wu Xie held the dried meat in her hand but did not immediately consume it, but she instead called out for Ye Sha and Ye Mei who had started their descent one step before them.