(Hello, Dog Huang. I still use this chapter title. I intended to call this chapter: Let's Hear the Meowing Together … The firecrackers outside the window remind me that the New Year is coming. Ah, it's time for a holiday. It's so comfortable. I'm looking forward to it.)
…
…
Three hundred and thirty years ago, the human Cultivation practitioners and the high-level creatures of the Snowy Kingdom had a war in the Lanling Snowland.
Since then, the Cultivation circle hadn't had a real war.
The fights between the Cultivation sects and the fights between the orthodox and deviant sects were merely battles. The scale and intensity of the Battle of the Cloud Platform were far from enough.
Yet, a real war between the Aoyama Sect and the Western Sea Sword School was inevitable.
Since it was a war, it was necessary to make thorough preparations and analyze the situation before the war.
If the Western Sea Sword School was led by the Godly Swordsman, Nan Qü was the real killer.
In fact, the Aoyama Sect had been studying this first hidden swordsman for many years.
On the basis of hundreds of years of study, they attempted to determine the method by which Nan Qü could seal his energy and evade the Great Formation of Aoyama.
The Giant friend of Jing Jiu had encountered the fog on the Foggy Island in the South Ocean, and was certain that the fog was a natural phenomenon on the island, which would gradually dissipate when it was too far away from the island.
Hence, Nan Qü must not have used this method.
After a complicated and meticulous calculation of Nan Qü's background, his previous Cultivation methods, and his temperament and intelligence, and two elders of Shiyue Peak had passed out, the Aoyama Sect had finally arrived at a conclusion that was more than ninety percent reliable: Nan Qü had used the Mountain-God Soul-Capturing Method of the barbaric tribes to refine himself into a living corpse.
The living corpse didn't have any vitality, so it could evade the search of the Great Formation of Aoyama.
When needed, Nan Qü would wake up and strike a deadly sword at Liu Ci or Yuan Qijing at the critical moment before the Great Formation of Aoyama was activated.
Nan Wang came from the southern barbaric tribes, so she was familiar with these magic methods. As such, Liu Ci suggested that Jing Jiu take her with him.
Feeling displeased, Zhao Layue yelled in a low voice, "Now that you know he is in the coffin, why don't you follow this clue to investigate?"
Jing Jiu said, "There are too many coffins. It's impossible to find out."
Nan Wang was stunned. He didn't understand why there were so many coffin carts. Did many people die every day?
Jing Jiu looked at her expression and sighed in his heart.
He and Liu Ci were the same in the beginning. They did not understand why so many people died every day.
It wasn't until the Curtain Rollers sent them the data that they found out that more than ten million people died in Chaotian every year on average, and more than three million people died in the area they were investigating. This meant that ten thousand coffins would be opened and closed in the places they were investigating every day.
Actually, this was common sense. It was just that the lifespan of cultivators was too long, so they couldn't think of this point.
…
…
Nan Wang and Jing Jiu left Deer Mountain and headed west. They came to the mountains hundreds of miles away from Yi Zhou.
It was already summer, but the mountain was not cool at all. Instead, it was even more stuffy and hot. In addition, there were no spiritual veins, so it was no wonder that there were so few people.
The highly achieved monks of the Baotong Zen Temple took out the precious red moss that had been preserved since spring to entertain the two distinguished guests, but they didn't find any clues.
Before they left the Zen Temple, Jing Jiu made a detour to the vegetable garden to have a look, but he didn't find anything either.
The white cat suddenly meowed toward the sky in the northeast while squatting on Jing Jiu's shoulder.
Nan Wang leapt up on his sword without hesitation and flew in the direction of the sky.
Jing Jiu followed him, but he had a bad premonition.
The reason he took the white cat with him was not for safety, but for smelling. In the entire Aoyama, the cat was the only one with a good sense of smell, save for the Dead Dog.
It was a desolate mountain full of miasma and wild trees, devoid of roads and traces of human beings.
The white cat squatted on Jing Jiu's shoulder and raised his head to sniff the air, meowing once in a while.
Jing Jiu and Nan Wang kept changing their direction while listening to the meowing of the cat, and they went deeper into the mountain.
As dusk approached, the white cat yawned and shook his head a few times, trying to keep himself awake. Then he meowed once, reminding them that they were still ahead of them.
Nan Wang thought the cat's current dignified appearance was much more adorable than its previous ferocious appearance, so she reached out her hand in an attempt to rub his head.
The white cat wouldn't let her touch him. He opened his small mouth and bared his teeth, which were sharper than the flying swords, and was about to bite her with a low growl.
It was then that his expression changed abruptly, and he climbed down from Jing Jiu's shoulder at a high speed and entered his sleeve, unwilling to come out again.
Seeing Jing Jiu's quivering sleeve, Nan Wang remained silent.
Looking at the mountain and fields ahead, Jing Jiu had a grave expression on his face.
He had found it.
…
…
There was an old path buried by weeds in the deep end of the mountain and fields.
There was a dilapidated small temple at the end of the path, with a lantern hanging in front of it.
There was a black coffin in the ruined temple.
A young woman walked out from the temple, wearing a short skirt and adorned with silver bells; but she didn't make any sound as she walked.
The young woman lit the lantern outside the temple, and the red light illuminated the ruined temple. It was nightfall.
On a cliff a few miles away, Jing Jiu pulled back his gaze and looked at Nan Wang.
That young woman resembled Nan Wang.
"To eliminate the influence of the descendants of Nan Qü, I ordered my tribe to kill many people, but some of them managed to escape."
Looking at the young woman walking back into the temple, Nan Wang said expressionlessly, "Her name should be Nan Zheng."
After saying this, she took out a wine pot from somewhere and started to drink.
She didn't drink because she felt sentimental when she saw Nan Zheng, but because she was scared.
Nan Qü should be lying in that black coffin.
She was the peak master of Qingrong of the Aoyama Sect and a swordsman in the upper state of the Broken Sea, but she was nothing in her opponent's eyes.
Jing Jiu said while looking at her, "You should drink less alcohol and practice your sword work more."
Nan Wang had a good talent for Cultivation. If she were willing to spend more time drinking, singing, and feeling sentimental and sad, she would have reached the upper limit of the Broken Sea State a long time ago.
Back then, Jing Jiu and Liu Ci thought that Nan Wang was the most likely candidate to enter the Heavenly Arrival State after Fang Jingtian; but she had already been surpassed by Guangyuan Zhenren. It was a pity in Jing Jiu's eyes.
Nan Wang wondered if this guy was scared senseless by the black coffin and dared speak to him in such a tone.
Jing Jiu was also surprised that she didn't ask him whether he wanted to die or not. He guessed that she was very nervous at the moment. Pointing to the ruined temple in the distance, he asked, "Who is the godly statue in the temple?"
This ruined temple was obviously built in the style of the godly temples of the southern barbaric tribes, but the godly statue in the temple didn't look like Nan Wang. It was much taller, and the paint on the statue's face had fallen off a long time ago; but it still gave off a cold and murderous aura.
"It should be Nan Qü himself," said Nan Wang.
Nan Qü was the true god of the southern barbaric tribes eight hundred years ago, so his Cultivation state and status were worthy of the title.
However, as he was forced into the Foggy Island by the Sword Formation of Aoyama, he had been forgotten by most of the inhabitants of the tribes.
This dilapidated temple was very likely to be his last temple.
Thinking of this possibility, Nan Wang raised the alcohol jar again and gulped down a mouthful of alcohol.
Jing Jiu sensed the trembling in his sleeve, and knew that Ada was still scared. He stroked Ada through the cloth to comfort him, and then said to Nan Wang, "Don't be scared. I'm here."
"You're not your Master; don't talk nonsense."
Nan Wang wiped the alcohol off the corners of his mouth, and said expressionlessly, "Guard this place well. I'll go inform the Sect Master."
Jing Jiu sat down cross-legged after saying "I'll do it".
The white cat was startled by something, and crawled out from Jing Jiu's sleeve. He climbed onto Jing Jiu's shoulder and held Jing Jiu's neck tightly with his paws.
His sleeve ruffled without the aid of the wind, and a sword bracelet fell off from Jing Jiu's wrist. The bracelet dissolved into the wind and turned back into the original Thoughtless Sword, turning into a blood-red line and vanishing into the twilight.
Looking at the disappearing blood-red line, Nan Wang felt it odd.
She and the elders of the peaks witnessed Jing Jiu's born shapeless sword body with their own eyes at the Sword Trial that year, and they were certain that he was a rare genius in the sword work.
But how old was this guy, and he had only practiced the sword for a few years? How could he be able to travel with the sword? And wasn't the Thoughtless Sword the one Jingyang left for Zhao Layue? Why could he use it?
…
…
The night shrouded the wild mountain and the ruined temple, making the red lantern even more eye-catching.
The black coffin lay in the temple in Silence, giving off an eerie and dreadful feeling.
On the cliff a few miles away, Nan Wang and the white cat stared at the ruined temple without moving their gazes away.
One of them was standing, and the other was lying on the ground, blending into the surrounding trees and weeds.
It took a long time for the night to pass.
The morning glow illuminated the sky.
Jing Jiu opened his eyes.
The traveling sword was over, but the Thoughtless Sword hadn't come back yet.
Nan Wang was fully aware of how fast the Thoughtless Sword could travel, but he couldn't figure it out.
Knowing that Nan Qü was here, the Aoyama Sect should have attacked with all their strength; but why hadn't they sent back any news?
Jing Jiu got up and looked at the ruined temple amid the morning sunlight, saying, "I told them that Nan Qü was here, but I didn't ask them to come over."
It was true that Nan Qü had employed the Mountain-God Soul Capturing Method to turn himself into a corpse in the coffin, but it was more than that.
The corpse in the black coffin was devoid of any energy, as if it were a real corpse. Yet, Jing Jiu felt that something was missing from the corpse.
The eerie red lantern reminded him of a possibility.
The red lantern was used to summon the soul.
Had Nan Qü's soul left?
The soul of the orthodox Cultivation practitioners was the yuanying, and the soul of the Cultivation practitioners was the sword spirit. The people in Chaotian were more accustomed to calling it the sword ghost.
This habit originated from Nan Qü's ghostly sword style.
The corpse in the black coffin had lost its soul, which meant that Nan Qü's sword ghost was gone.
If it were any other Cultivation practitioner, they would think that the absence of the sword ghost meant that the corpse was truly dead, even if that person was Nan Qü.
Yet, Jing Jiu knew that the sword ghost could live alone under certain special circumstances.
He believed that an old guy like Nan Qü would shock heaven and earth if he were truly dead; it was impossible for him to die so quietly.
Nan Qü's sword ghost must be alive, but it was unclear where he had gone.
Jing Jiu didn't ask Liu Ci and Yuan Qijing to come here, because he was worried that Nan Qü's sword ghost might have gone to the West Ocean.
If that were the case, Aoyama would have to send all its forces to the West Ocean in order to avoid any mishaps.
… …
… …
Nan Wang didn't understand why the Big Brother Sect Master and the Big Brother Sword Justice listened to Jing Jiu's opinion.
What if Nan Qü woke up in the coffin?
She remained silent while looking at the ruined temple, her face pale.
The Master White Ghost was the Principal Guard of Aoyama and a figure in the initial state of the Heavenly Arrival; but they were still no match for Nan Qü's sword even if they joined hands.
It was then that the young woman walked out of the ruined temple and blew out the red lantern.
"According to my calculation, the corpse in the coffin won't wake up; so we are safe."
Jing Jiu went on, "All we need to do is destroy the lantern and the corpse in the coffin when necessary."
The white cat meowed pitifully, as he thought to himself that he didn't dare do such a thing.
Nan Wang sneered, "You can do it if you want."
Thinking of the ominous premonition, Jing Jiu said, "You're right. You guys go first. I'll wait here."
(End of this chapter)
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
