Capture the Jade - Chapter 7-1

(TL’s note: I refer to the old spirit as “it” and “she”, depending on what the author uses) 

Lin Chengyou said lazily: “Lady Teng is right, the size of this spirit is not small, and it can not be eaten in one go, so it is better to bring it back to slowly enjoy it. Today, I will eat its arm, and tomorrow, eat its head. If one can not get enough of eating it by themselves, it is not a big deal to invite friends over to eat it together.” 

The old spirit’s heart was burning with rage when it heard this, with its body together as if it was about to leave the formation. When everyone saw this, their hearts suddenly jumped to their throats. Unexpectedly, the old spirit was agitated for a while, but in the end, was actually able to restrain itself. 

Teng Yuyi had been secretly sweating. After all this effort, the old spirit still refused to be fooled, and there was not much time left. If it continues on like this, no one will be able to escape. 

On the other hand, Lin Chengyou was as steady as Mount Tai, slowly and leisurely turning the handle of the sword: “Since this old spirit does not dare to move, so I will now try it to see if it is this jadeite sword that is better or if it is the Nine Heavens Xuan Sword that is better.” 

He sneered, and spread his arms out lightly. He jumped off the beam of the roof and drew out the sword while in mid-air, pointing it directly in between the old spirit’s eyebrows.

The old spirit knew the power of the jadeite sword, and blocking it hard would be a dead end, so she faced upwards at the sky and stiffly rose high off the ground. Tonight, she had really met two nemesis, just when Lin Chengyou was injured, another Lady Teng appeared. If it was Lady Teng, killing her would be a lot easier, as there was no need for the other party to get closer. She could tear her into pieces from afar, but out of all people, that sword fell into the hands of Lin Chengyou. 

“The prince is approaching the age of adulthood. How can you openly covet my flesh like you have never seen a beauty before? Are you not afraid of being laughed at?” 

She smiled enchantingly, intending to fly around the formation. Lin Chengyou wants to force her out of the formation, and she insists on wanting to lure him in. 

Lin Chengyou suddenly smirked and looked back: “Forget it, are you harming people too much? Your appearance is so ugly. Don’t know if you have heard of this saying before, “Appearance is born from the heart”. Even for an evil spirit, your appearance is truly ugly. Let alone eating your meat, even taking a glance at you makes me feel bored and disgusted.” 

The old spirit’s expression changed drastically. She had been cultivating for hundreds of years, but had never been able to cultivate into a beautiful appearance. If she had not forcefully occupied the skin of a beauty a few months ago, she would still be wearing an old ugly face. 

She had seized the body of many women before, but they were all unsatisfactory. Only when she bumped into Mrs. An Guogong, did she know what was considered stunning. 

After being a beauty for a few months, she almost forgot about her original appearance. Lin Chengyou’s words were like sharp blades that stabbed into her heart at once. 

Her gaze was like a poisonous arrow, and her lips began to twitch: “You’re looking for death!” 

Lin Chengyou added fuel to the fire: “Lady Teng, do you really want to eat this thing? Are you not afraid of your appearance being harmed by its poisonous gas?” 

“That’s true.” Teng Yuyi changed her mind, “Why not take it back to feed the cows and horses instead.” 

The old spirit’s eyes were scarlet red and it could no longer hold it in. It stomped its legs and instantly rose from the ground: “Crazy people who don’t know how to cherish their lives. Tonight, I will tell you two the feeling of living is no better than dying.” 

Lin Chengyou turned around with a smile and tried to run away, but unexpedicately, his sore spot was affected and he instantly fell to the ground. 

Jue Sheng and Qizhi were extremely shocked: “Senior brother!” 

The guards turned pale in shock, and hurriedly rushed forward. 

The old spirit’s hatred could reach the sky. How could it miss such an exceptionally good opportunity. Without needing to go out of the formation, its claw can tear Lin Chengyou in half. 

Lin Chengyou was indeed heavily injured, lowering his head and coughing non-stop. The old spirit grimly laughed, and the guards were just about to exert themselves, when Lin Chengyou suddenly laughed twice and clasped her claw with his backhand. Before the old spirit could take her claw back, he dragged her, soaring into the sky. 

This move caused one to be caught off guard. The old spirit secretly knew that this was bad, and it was just missing a few mouthfuls of spiritual powers, but unexpedically would get caught in Lin Chengyou’s plan. Fortunately, the formation was still under its feet, and it was not too late to go back in. 

Because she was anxious to get away, she released clouds of flames-like black mist. Lin Chengyou threw her aside and shouted: “Change the formation!” 

The two little Taoist who only knew how to cry, jumped up and lifted their Taoist robes and ran so fast that it looked like one was flying across the courtyard. They staggered back and forth, and in a blink of an eye, they changed the formation. 

The old spirit secretly knew in her heart that this was not good, hurriedly chanting the incantation loudly. The vine under her feet heard her call, soaring several feet high around her feet, and was just about to summon them to bring her back into the formation. However, in a blink of an eye, there were two golden rays of light that sprang out behind the two little Taoists. The rays of light intertwined with each other, swirling upward until it reached the coiled golden net above her head. The three golden rays of light merged into one, and the old spirit only felt that there was a strong force that came up from the bottom of her feet. Before it could leap into the formation, it was ejected far away from the formation. 

The old spirit fell onto the eaves in a panic, and after a hard time of relaxing its strength, it raised its head in embarrassment, seeing Lin Chengyou standing on a tree not far away, looking at her with a smile yet not a smile. 

“You can stop me from absorbing spiritual power, but can you stop me from becoming a demon?” The old spirit gritted its teeth in hatred. Lin Chengyou used every possible means to lure her out of the formation. The little Taoist were in charge of blocking her escape route. She hated that she was tricked over and over again by Lin Chengyou, also not knowing when the three of them communicated under her nose. 

However, Lin Chengyou no longer cared to fight with the old spirit anymore, and threw the jadeite sword to the guards below: “Return it to Lady Teng.” 

Then, he jumped down from the treetop: “Do it, change to the Xuantian formation.” 

The little Taoists complied loudly: “yes.” 

Teng Yuyi took the jadeite sword, turned around and pulled Madam Du with her away. Luring the old spirit out was a success, and what would happen later on would be much easier to deal with. 

Under the moonlight, the old spirit could clearly see that Lin Chengyou’s snow-white collar was fully covered in bloodstains. He was originally suffering internal injuries, and just now, he had used all his internal strength to drag her out of the formation. Right now, he was like an arrow at the end of its flight (out of strength), and he won’t be able to resist much longer. 

Seeing that Teng Yuyi was about to run away, she immediately changed her mind. Leaving Lin Chengyou behind, she turned to chase Teng Yuyi instead. 

Teng Yuyi slipped away very fast, and in a blink of an eye, she was already at the gate. 

The old spirit rushed along the eaves, and tonight, she had chased all the way till the Ziyun Building. Not only to get revenge for the stab from that sword, but also because of the great loss of Mrs. An Guogong. Instead of wasting power on trying to replenish the weak body, it would be better to find a new and fresh beauty.  

This young lady, surnamed Teng, was born slender and beautiful. Although she was not as plump as Mrs. An Guogong, she had a more youthful and graceful appearance. She was very surprised by Teng Yuyi’s appearance, and she already had the idea long ago. 

The strange thing is that it was obvious that she was chasing Teng Yuyi, but the three people behind actually did not try to stop her, only hearing a little Taoist say: “Senior brother, do you really want to use this formation method?” 

“It is already all laid out, what are you so pesky for?”  

“But, I just remembered that master had said that the Xuantian formation needs for the main body of a man…Otherwise, not only will it not be able to penetrate through the sky, but also damage the people who set up the formation.” 

“… …” 

Another person also spoke: “Although this formation requires extremely high-level skills, but if a senior is not… …there is no need to force it. At worst, we can use another formation to capture this old spirit, and once we drag it back to Qingyun Temple, then we can set up the formation to suppress it.” 

The tree spirit laughed secretly, as expected of being a child with a young mind. In the face of such a rascal noble like Lin Chengyou, he can still ask such a stupid question. 

From the looks of it, this formation can no longer be arranged, so she became more relieved. 

The group of people all scattered and fled. Teng Yuyi’s body was deft (quick and skillful in action), and took the lead to run out the courtyard first. The old spirit was inexplicably full of excitement, and chasing relentlessly all the way. 

Teng Yuyi was terrified, and ran along the wall while scolding: “old spirit, when you are dying, you still want to harm people. Moreover, look at who is behind you.” 

The old spirit: “Do you still expect that Lin Chengyou will come save you? He was injured by me to the point where he is completely out of strength, and has long been too busy to care about anything else.” 

Teng Yuyi sneered: “I don’t expect for anyone to save me, but if you are not afraid that your left claw will also be cut off by me, you can try me.” 

The old spirit recalled how Teng Yuyi and Lin Chengyou had both joined forces just to lure her out of the formation. she gritted her teeth in anger, and smashed the wall in front of her. She leaned over to catch Teng Yuyi, but suddenly, a strange force of wind struck her back, lightly and slowly, like silk, like cotton.  

The old spirit had an auspicious feeling in her heart, and wanted to turn her head to see, but the strange force suddenly rose up, like a pair of soldiers joining forces, beating the drums and gongs1gong = (percussion instrument originating in East Asia and Southeast Asia, driving thousands of flags, driving a hundred of soldiers, like the mountains and oceans were overwhelmingly pressed against her forehead.

There was a loud bang in the old spirit’s head, gathering all the vicious energy in her body to fight back, but this strange power was very different from the spells that she encountered before, illustriously containing an endless feeling of righteousness. It simply did not allow her to dodge at all, and the power of thousands of catties smashed down on her head. 

The old spirit stooped and froze in mid-air, and her soul seemed to have been crushed into pieces. While struggling to look up, she saw a fiery dragon wandering around all over the place in the courtyard, and most of the evil creatures were entangled, either mournfully screaming or instantly burned into black ash. 

At night, the wind carried a gloomy chanting sound, hitting the golden jade, light as a spring, like an attentive dispute, it was Lin Chengyou’s voice. 

“Hold the soul stable, I am here to resist the spirits and devils.”

“Break——” 

The old spirit’s eyes were slightly budged, and before she could struggle, a ray of light like snow appeared, striking indirectly into her face hard. 

The old spirit howled in pain, desperately trying to break free, but the ray of light like snow twisted around her like a spiritual snake, binding her tightly. 

Lin Chengyou hung in mid-air, and the voice of the chanting got louder and louder. The old spirit could not stop herself from trembling. From face to neck, every inch of the bark was exposed with brown and black knots. The long hair on the shoulders slowly turned into stands of branches. 

Seeing that hundreds of years of power was about to be destroyed in one swoop, it was too late for the old spirit to regret it, and it could not help, but cry. 

Her voice was mournful, as if one was overwhelmed with sorrow. Lin Chengyou was aloof, but the little Taoists and guard were actually moved with empathy. Having seen many sad things, all of it seemed to be aroused by this cry one by one. 

Lin Chengyou was secretly cursing in his heart. Even at this moment, one is still playing tricks. He released that the evil spirits were here to disorder people’s minds. Those who have their guards down, are deeply moved to the core (affected) without knowing it. 

He flicked away the talisman on the Thunder Altar Instrument, waved his sleeve, and striked the Thunder Altar Instrument. The old spirit was beaten so badly that her whole body was quivering, and the crying stopped abruptly.