“In the face of life and death, you can bend and stretch. Benzuo* hasn’t seen shameless righteous disciples like you all in a long time.” The bewitching woman sneered. She swept her malicious gaze across the eight people as if looking at delicious food. “I wonder which sect raised such useless things like you all?”
TN: literally just ’this seat’ but more like ’this venerable/powerful/etc. one", leaving it in pinyin because the translation is just a mouthful
The people from Wangshu Pavilion exchanged frantic glances. It didn’t seem like this thing was going to let them go.
“Sister, you are both majestic and stunningly beautiful. We are kneeling before a great being like you out of heartfelt admiration, not shamelessness.” Jiu Hui put away the lantern given by Lord Fuguang into her storage ring, pushed aside her senior brothers and sisters, and squatted in front of the group. “Even if you didn’t threaten us with life and death, we would still be willing to bow down to you.”
“Sister?” The bewitching woman’s voice was slightly hoarse. She sized up Jiu Hui. “Little girl, you’re not very old, but your mouth is quite sweet. Which sect taught you to speak like this?”
“I am… a disciple of the Shenji School.” Jiu Hui’s face remained unchanged, and her heart didn’t skip a beat. She calmly said, “My master sent us out to do something. I beg you, sister, to spare our lives.”
“Benzuo did say to spare your lives, but I didn’t say I would let you go.” The bewitching woman sneered, easily using her spiritual power to shatter the barrier on Prime Minister Wu’s back and pull the eight people out. “Just now, I captured a few disciples from Wangshu Pavilion. Why don’t I take you to keep them company? They had a bit more backbone than you, though. I had to beat them half to death before they knelt and begged for mercy.”
Wangshu Pavilion?carpreads.pages.dev
Jiu Hui was puzzled. All eight disciples of their Wangshu Pavilion were present, so where were the other disciples?
Crash!
At the moment when the bewitching woman seized the eight people, Prime Minister Wu transformed into the size of a palm and darted into the snowdrift at an extremely fast speed, vanishing in an instant.
The eight of them…
You’re a turtle, but you’re pretty fast when you’re running for your life.
“A natural-born coward, a shrinking turtle.” The bewitching woman didn’t care about Prime Minister Wu’s escape. She chuckled and said, “Humans have a sumptuous meal on New Year’s Eve. Benzuo should learn from human customs.”
She spread her arms, and a bloody gale suddenly rose, sweeping the eight people from Wangshu Pavilion into the wind and disappearing into the distance.
Jiu Hui and the others only felt a moment of dizziness, and within a few breaths, they were thrown into a dilapidated temple.
The dilapidated temple was drafty, and there were scattered white bones in the corners. Jiu Hui had just gotten up when a bewitching woman pinched her chin, forcing Jiu Hui to look at her.
“Your face is so tender. I wonder if your blood is as fresh and delicious as your face?” The dilapidated temple was dim. The enchanting woman waved her hand and lit the torches on the wall. Her blood-red eyes seemed to flicker with a red light.
In the flickering firelight, Jiu Hui noticed the woman’s slightly protruding Adam’s apple. She blinked and asked, “Senior, do you want to eat me now?”
“Of course not.” The bewitching woman released Jiu Hui. “Benzuo has always been a woman of her word. I said I wouldn’t kill you, so I naturally won’t take your lives right away.”
She stood up and waved her sleeve to set up layers of formations in the ruined temple. “You disciples of the Shenji School, sleep well tonight. Tomorrow, I will savor your flavors one by one.”
After she finished speaking, she transformed into a red light and vanished.
“Ptui, ptui, ptui.” Chang He glanced at the pitch-black temple outside, his expression grave. “This place is at least 500 li from Taolin City. This woman brought the eight of us with her and was able to fly us this far in an instant. I’m afraid her cultivation is unfathomable.”
“She’s not a woman.” Jiu Hui took out a handkerchief from her storage ring and wiped her chin, which had been pinched by the enchanting woman. “This broken temple is full of evil spirits, and the smell of blood is so strong that it makes me want to puke. I wonder how many people this monster has killed. But Senior Brother Chang He, how did you know that this place is at least 500 li away from the sect?”
“The moon is not visible here,” Xi Yuan explained on her behalf. “Throughout history, the moon has never been visible on New Year’s Eve, except within a five-hundred-li radius of Wangshu Pavilion.”
“Wangshu is the moon. Every New Year’s Eve, the moon that all living beings around Wangshu Pavilion see is actually a magic weapon left behind by the founding ancestor. The founding ancestor said that New Year’s Eve is a day for mortals to reunite, and there can’t be no full moon to accompany them. So, he spent ten years refining a magic weapon that could replace the moon, and he passed down an ancestral order that every New Year’s Eve, Wangshu Pavilion must hang this magic weapon high in the sky.” Xi Yuan frowned slightly. “This broken temple can’t see the moon, which proves that we are at least 500 li away from the sect.”
“Wait, little Junior Sister said that crazy old woman isn’t a woman, could it be that he’s a crazy old man?” Chang He accidentally kicked a bone, and quickly put the bone back in its original place, clasping his hands together and saying, “I accidentally offended you, please don’t blame me, please don’t blame me.”
“Neither a man nor a woman.” Zhi You took out a clean handkerchief from his storage ring and handed it to Jiu Hui. He pointed at the back of her hand with his index finger. There was still a dirty spot there. “It’s a leech yao.”
“Leeches… don’t differentiate between male and female?” The other six members of the Wangshu Pavilion were very surprised. Their useless knowledge had increased again.
“That’s right, leeches have no gender.” Jiu Hui stood up and walked to the edge of the barrier. “But when they want to have children, they can choose to be the father or the mother.”
Chang He couldn’t help but touch his goosebump-covered arm. “This thing wants to suck blood. It wouldn’t be raising us to slowly suck our blood, would it? It said it wouldn’t kill us, but that doesn’t mean it won’t suck our blood.”
“This leech yao is probably nearly five thousand years old. None of you are its match.” Jiu Hui probed the barrier. “I hope that after Prime Minister Wu escapes, he’ll call Master to come save us.”
“Look at what you’re saying. A five-thousand-year-old yao, even if all our masters were to join forces, they wouldn’t be its match. When that time comes, will they be coming to save us, or to die with us?” Chang He circled the barrier, looking it up and down. “We should be thinking about how to escape before they come to die with us.”
“Don’t even think about it, this barrier can’t be broken.”
A feeble voice came from the corner.
Jiu Hui looked towards the corner and said, “Why is it you again?”
Yuan Wo and two Shenji School disciples were lying in a corner covered in blood. Judging from their pale faces and weak breaths, they had probably already been drained of blood by the leeches once.
“We originally planned to visit Taolin City for fun, but who would have thought that we would be captured by the yao halfway there and brought here.” Yuan Wo felt a little guilty, his eyes flickering as he avoided looking at the eight people from Wangshu Pavilion.
“Are you three the disciples of Wangshu Pavilion who were beaten half to death by the leech yao?” Jiu Hui walked up to the three of them and said condescendingly, “You’re begging for mercy, but why are you also pretending to be from our Wangshu Pavilion?”
“Wasn’t I afraid of losing face for the sect…” Yuan Wo glared back at Jiu Hui. “When that monster told you to have a good sleep just now, why did it call you disciples of the Shenji School?”
“You’re afraid of embarrassing the sect, does Wangshu Pavilion not care about its reputation?” Jiu Hui coughed dryly and silently looked away. “Forget it. We won’t hold this against you.”
“That’s not right, you don’t have any injuries on your bodies.” Yuan Wo reacted, “You wouldn’t have directly knelt down and begged for mercy, would you?”
The eight people from Wangshu Pavilion looked at the beams of the dilapidated temple together. Hey, these beams looked really good.
Yuan Wo struggled to get up. “I’ll fight you eight losers!”
“Sect Senior Brother, forget it, forget it.” The other two Shenji School disciples quickly pulled him back. “In times of crisis, we must unite as one and find a way to deal with that leech yao.”
Most importantly, the three of them were injured and had their blood sucked by the leech yao, so they couldn’t beat the eight of them.
A wise man knew when to retreat. It was best to endure it for now.
“There’s also a formation on the roof.” Yuan Wo leaned back against the wall, feeling dizzy, and said weakly, “Don’t go near the north wall. That side is full of those things that suck blood.”
He almost threw up in disgust.
“We can’t go up or out.” Jiu Hui took out eight cushions from her storage ring and threw them on the ground, sitting down cross-legged. “How about you, Yuan Wo, use the sect master’s disciple token to ask for help from the major sects?”
“Do you think I’m a core disciple of the Ten Great Sects?” Yuan Wo said in exasperation. “Only core disciples of the Ten Great Sects can use the disciple token to send messages to the major sects. Our Shenji School doesn’t have that kind of power.”
“Oh, I see that your Shenji School is usually so arrogant and self-important, I thought you could stand shoulder to shoulder with the Ten Great Sects.” Jiu Hui clicked her tongue. “What use are you?”
Yuan Wo was so angry that his head was buzzing. “How long are you going to hold a grudge for?!”
“I’m petty and can hold a grudge for a lifetime.” Jiu Hui glanced around. “Keep your voice down. Do you want to attract the leech yao?”
Yuan Wo took a deep breath and shut his mouth.
Fine, he endured it for the sake of the ten thousand spirit stones he still owed her.
“It seems you’re still not peaceful enough.” The leech yao appeared in the ruined temple. “Benzuo likes quiet people.”
Black evil energy spewed from its mouth, and in an instant, the disciples of Wangshu Pavilion and Shenji School fainted silently.
“Humans are still more pleasing to the eye when they don’t talk.” It walked with satisfaction to Jiu Hui and Zhi You, who had fainted on the cushion, and opened its mouth to reveal rows of densely packed, terrifying teeth.
“Senior.” Jiu Hui opened her eyes, pressed down on its wrist, and smiled faintly. “Senior promised not to kill us, so how can you go back on your word?”
“You can actually resist my evil energy?” It frowned and grabbed Jiu Hui’s neck with its backhand. “It seems that benzuo can’t keep you.”
“Senior, you have a cruel heart.” Jiu Hui pressed down on the hand that was choking her. “Cultivation is not easy. I wonder how many people have died at your hands over the years?”
“A silly little girl who can’t even protect her own life still wants to care about those dead trash?” It gradually exerted force with its hand. “Why don’t you wait until you die and go down there to ask them yourself?”
“Senior, if you don’t want to talk, then don’t. Why do we have to fight?” Jiu Hui blinked and turned into a wisp of green smoke in its hand. She then flashed behind it. “Your original form makes me want to puke. I really don’t want to fight you. Why don’t you be considerate and kill yourself?”
The leech yao turned around and looked at Jiu Hui with a grave expression. Seeing her pale cheeks and slightly trembling hands, it suddenly chuckled. “I thought you were so powerful. Just turning your body into smoke has cost you a lot of spiritual power, hasn’t it?”
Jiu Hui smiled without saying anything. She pinched a talisman between two fingers. “Raging Fire spell!”
It waved its hand to fan away the talisman paper, and said angrily, “I have cultivated for thousands of years, how could I be afraid of fire? How dare you insult me?!”
“Raging Fire spell!” Jiu Hui ignored its words, formed seals with her hands, and summoned countless fire talismans. The Raging Fire talismans transformed into fire dragons in the air, tightly strangling it.
Seizing the opportunity, Jiu Hui flicked her sleeve, sweeping the unconscious people together and tossing out the turtle shell that Prime Minister Wu had lent her, which she then placed over them.
“You can’t even save your own life, yet you still have the mind to care about others.” The leech yao broke free from the fire dragon, causing sparks to fly everywhere and igniting many things. The leeches to the north were instantly burned to ashes by the fierce fire.
“Senior, your so-called filial and virtuous descendants have been burned to ashes by you, and you don’t even shed a tear for them?” Jiu Hui saw that the Raging Fire talismans were useless against the Leech Demon, and took two steps back: “What a cold-blooded, heartless, and disgusting yao.”
“Are you trying to stall for time by talking so much nonsense?” The leech yao summoned the Blood Refining Whip. “Unfortunately, not just anyone can come here. No one can save you.”
“It’s better to rely on oneself than to ask others for help. Senior, you’re overthinking it.” She took a few steps back and said towards the ceiling, “Zhi You!”
What?
Were there other people in the temple who were still awake?!
The leech yao raised its head and suddenly saw a blizzard of white snow pouring down from the sky, as if an avalanche of snow.
“Ah!”
It let out a piercing scream, struggling to dodge the “white snow”.
This wasn’t snow at all, but salt!
“I’ll kill you!” Enduring the intense pain, it swung its whip at Zhi You, who was hiding on the beam. Zhi You dodged it and waved his wide sleeves. The salt piled on the ground turned into countless chains, which wove into a cage and locked the leech yao inside.
“Zhi You, are you okay?” Jiu Hui flew to Zhi You’s side, grabbed a handful of salt and turned it into a flying sword, pointing it at the leech yao from afar: “Senior, we’re in a good mood tonight, as long as you kneel down and beg for mercy, we’ll let you…”
“Forget it.” She threw out her flying sword, which stabbed into the thigh of the leech yao. “You’ve harmed countless people, and your evil energy is reaching the heavens. Even if you were to kneel and beg for mercy, I still couldn’t spare you.”
The leech yao was about to rush over to kill Jiu Hui, but as soon as it touched the chain cage, its flesh and blood turned into blood, and it was so painful that it could only shrink into a ball in the middle of the cage. It stared at Jiu Hui with unwilling eyes and said, “Why do you know that I’m most afraid of salt?”
As arrogant as it had been when it suddenly appeared from the clouds, it was now just as disheveled.
“As long as it’s a yao, it will have a weakness.” Jiu Hui pinched a magic formula, and two more daggers flew out of the salt pile. “This is not ordinary salt, but fine salt taken from the deep sea and refined in an alchemy furnace. Let alone senior with only five thousand years of cultivation, even if you have ten thousand years of cultivation, you cannot escape your instinctive weakness.”
“It was recorded in the book that leeches encountering salt will have thin blood.” Jiu Hui sighed. “No wonder people say that books contain beautiful women and riches. We should read more books.”
Only a fool would fight to the death, while a smart person would have long since learned to exploit their enemy’s weakness.
The leech yao lifted its blood-red eyes, staring fixedly at Jiu Hui. “How did you find out that I’m a leech yao?”
Jiu Hui: “…”
She turned her head to look at Zhi You.
Zhi You said with a straight face, “A guess.”
“Yes, we guessed.” Jiu Hui nodded. “When I called you a leech, you didn’t deny it.”
“You!” The leech yao wanted to charge over again, but in the end, it retracted with a miserable shriek.
“When you’re out and about, your identity is what you give yourself” Jiu Hui’s tone was indifferent. “If you have the chance to be a yao in your next life, don’t do evil. Accumulate virtue, and don’t let people guess your true form.”
Outside the house, a clap of thunder sounded. Without thinking, Jiu Hui used a sharp blade to cut her own skirt. She turned her head and saw Zhi You protecting his cloak, unwilling to damage it. She reached out and pulled off the cloak from his body, tearing his inner robe. The two of them rolled on the ground together.
The leech yao looked at the two of them in confusion. What were they doing?
Boom!
The second clap of thunder struck, and Jiu Hui threw away the dagger in her hand. She summoned a salt dragon and forced the salt into the leech yao’s mouth.
“Ugh, ugh, ugh!” The leech yao clutched its throat and rolled around in pain, but it couldn’t utter a single word.
“Evildoer, cease your actions!” The door of the ruined temple was smashed open, and Nan Feng rushed in with two core disciples. He raised his sword and slashed at the barrier. In an instant, the roars of tigers and dragons echoed as boundless sword intent transformed into a cold light that fiercely attacked the barrier.
However… the barrier remained motionless.
Snowflakes drifted into the temple through the main entrance. Nan Feng was forced back two steps by the barrier and had to lean on his sword to keep from falling.
“Fellow Daoist Nan Feng,” Jiu Hui said weakly, clutching her chest. “This yao has cultivated for nearly five thousand years. We can’t break its barrier.”
A five-thousand-year-old yao?!
Nan Feng’s expression changed drastically, but when his gaze fell upon the yao rolling around in the cage, the panic on his face turned into bewilderment. How did they manage to imprison this five-thousand-year-old yao?
Before he could ask, a stern shout came from behind him.
“Nan Feng, get out of the way!”
He and his two core disciples dodged out of the way as two extremely terrifying sword intents attacked from outside the door. The barrier that had been unbreakable just now instantly turned into mist and vanished without a trace.
Yu Jing and Qiu Hua stepped into the temple, one on the left and one on the right. When they saw that everyone was still alive, their expressions relaxed a lot. Yu Jing checked on her several junior nephews and nieces and saw that they were sleeping soundly. She then walked over to Jiu Hui and Zhi You and helped them sit down nearby with a pained expression. “Jiu Hui, Zhi You, what happened?”
“Master!” Jiu Hui suddenly threw herself into Yu Jing’s arms and burst into tears. “That yao is truly evil. It captured the eight of us and said it wanted to drink our blood, eat our flesh, and make us kneel. My fellow apprentices refused to submit and were beaten unconscious. I was so scared that I almost died.”
“Don’t be afraid, my good disciple. Don’t be afraid.” Yu Jing patted Jiu Hui’s back lightly and said in a loud voice, “You faced the threat of this evil yao and refused to submit, even at the cost of your lives. You did very well. You are worthy of being good disciples of our Wangshu Pavilion.”
Nan Feng and the two core disciples of the Jiutian Sect showed admiration on their faces. Although the Wangshu Pavilion was in decline, its backbone in refusing to yield in the face of evil yaos was truly admirable.
“Your disciple and Zhi You were no match for this yao. Fortunately, your disciple had some salt in her storage ring. It just so happened that this yao was most afraid of salty things, so your disciple was able to subdue it with this.” Jiu Hui felt a little sorry for the salt. It was such good salt, and it had been wasted on this yao.
Some?
Nan Feng looked at the thick layer of salt on the ground, as well as the cage refined from the salt, saying “some” was too modest, wasn’t it?
“Mmm, mmm, mmm…” The leech yao glared at Jiu Hui with blood-red eyes, wishing it could drain her blood and devour her flesh right now.
After all these years of dominating the yao clan, it was defeated by a young girl and a young boy.
“Master, it’s still glaring at me.” Jiu Hui squeezed into Yu Jing’s arms. “Your disciple is scared.”
Shua!
A sword light flashed, and the leech yao’s eyes were ruthlessly gouged out.
Qiu Hua sheathed his sword and said indifferently amidst the screams of the leech yao, “If an evildoer can’t control its own eyes, it doesn’t need them.”
Nan Feng and his two core disciples secretly took two steps back. They still remembered that Immortal Venerable Qiu and their sect master didn’t get along. Before their sect master arrived, they wouldn’t say a word more.
“Nan Feng.” Qiu Hua turned to look at Nan Feng. “Collect the remains in the temple and bury them so they can rest in peace.”
“Yes, junior will obey.” Nan Feng immediately put away his sword and went to collect the bodies. The two core disciples quickly followed, using their actions to prove to Immortal Venerable Qiu that they were observant and hardworking.
After collecting all the remains, Nan Feng dutifully retreated to the entrance, acting as a gatekeeper. They felt more at ease with some distance between them and Immortal Venerable Qiu.
“Thank you for your help today, Sect Master Qiu.” Yu Jing stood up and thanked him. “My sect’s incompetent disciples have troubled you.”
“Pavilion Master Yu, there’s no need to be so polite. I have a deep connection with little friend Jiu Hui, so even if Pavilion Master Yu hadn’t asked, I would have come to help you all.” Seeing that the nine people under the turtle shell barrier were still unconscious, Qiu Hua turned to Jiu Hui and asked, “Little friend Jiu Hui, are these little friends alright?”
“They’re fine. They just passed out after being infected by the evil yao’s evil poison.” Jiu Hui emerged from Yu Jing’s arms and waved her hand to remove the turtle shell barrier. “I wonder when they’ll wake up?”
“This incense can dispel evil energy, so don’t worry, little friend Jiu Hui.” Qiu Hua took out a Mind-Clearing Incense from her storage ring, lit it, and stuck it in the ground. “Your sect’s disciples had the strength of character to remain unyielding in the face of the evil yao. Pavilion Master Yu truly knows how to teach her disciples.”
The six people from Wangshu Pavilion were in a daze. They vaguely heard words like “unyielding” and “character”. They couldn’t help but wonder, who were they talking about?
“Sect Master Qiu, you flatter us. These children are just a bit reckless.” Yu Jing smiled gently. “They still have a lot to learn.”
The Wangshu Pavilion disciples were speechless.
Oh, so that was who she was talking about.
Author’s Note:
Wangshu Pavilion: “character”
Little Garlic Chive: “Scared”
Prime Minister Wu: “Speed”
Jiutian Sect Disciple: “Suddenly There’s Life in His Eyes”
Zhi You: “Silence”
Shenji School: “Sect’s Reputation”
Leech: “No One Speaks for Me”