Ch. 21 Clear Heart And Little Desires

Lin Jiu’s mind went blank for a split second.

The person standing behind her wasn’t Wei Liang, but a tall strong red skeleton frame.

A pair of dark red, empty eye sockets stared right at her.

The wind whistled menacingly above her head as a strong sense of danger enclosed Lin Jiu. She listened to her body’s instinct, and covered her head as she leapt to the side frantically and then rolled away.

Her swift and elegant movements, that looked even better in combat than dancing, came from many years of practice. A person that had transversed like Lin Jiu, who could show some moves, was already considered talented.

Lin Jiu resisted the temptation to stick her head in the ground like a frightened ostrich, and pressed her trembling hands on the ground as she looked up.

The skeleton had rushed towards her and swung its half-meter long axe one-handed on the empty spot where she was just standing a moment ago.

Then, the left side of her face suddenly felt numb and a chill surged to her brain.

Lin Jiu confirmed that because of her basic cultivator foundation, her five senses were stronger than normal people and she had even activated the legendary sixth sense, a numbing and chilling sensation that forewarned her of danger.

Without thinking, she pushed heavily against the ground and spun herself up in a smooth twirl.

Sure enough, a swish! zipped past her and a bone arrow pierced the ground, the tail end of the arrow still wobbling from the impact.

A flash of light passed by her from behind, and as Lin Jiu turned her head around to take in the scene behind her, her ears started to drum and her mind turned blank.

Behind her, an army of red skeletons marched forwards like a tide, swiftly and boldly heading towards the snow-white mountain ahead.  Lin Jiu, who was in the skeleton army’s path, was like a lone little ant in the strong current, ready to face this disaster.

She deeply inhaled, grabbed the still trembling bone arrow from the ground, and forced herself to calm down as she looked to the sides.

As expected, the skeleton army was coming from all directions.

Luckily, the majority of the skeleton army didn’t notice the surprise visitor, and their steps were firm and their bone weapons were in hand as they marched towards the white mountain.

The skeleton that had attacked Lin Jiu with an axe didn’t chase after her, and twisted its skull and continued its march forward.

Lin Jiu exhaled in relief and clutched the bone arrow she had pulled out in her hand. The skeletons that were holding bows were nearing her. When they saw her, they used their bow as the blade and slashed at Lin Jiu.

Lin Jiu’s heart tingled, and the hand holding the bone arrow tightened slightly, instinctively, and she poured her spiritual energy into the bone arrow. In her mind, she could see the dark golden stream flow from the end of the arrow to the tip of the arrow, and the slightly brittle bone arrow immediately turned hard.

She raised her hand, and used the arrow to block off the skeletons that were slashing their bows at her.

Zi—

The excruciating sound of the bones of grinding against each other reached her ears, and the bone arrow and the bone bow both slid toward each other’s ends. Lin Jiu used the opportunity to lean to the right side of the skeleton, and, using her strength, she used the bone arrow in her hand as a knife and cut through the skeleton’s chest.

Shards of the bones flew everywhere! The tall frame collapsed!

Lin Jiu gasped for air in joy, and stared at the next skeleton that was about to attack her.

At this moment, a little red glow started to float out from the pile of shattered bones behind her, falling on Lin Jiu’s body.

Her body trembled as she sensed the skeleton’s malice before he died.

“Wu Meng Xia… You’ve hurt my whole family…”

A chill ran through the back of her head.

Wasn’t Wu Meng Xia the hero that guarded the Qian Qi Pass a few days ago? Are there any secrets about this?

Lin Jiu dodged the oncoming attack from another bone knife, and wondered if this so-called righteous way of immortality had already long rotted from the inside like cotton wool. Otherwise, where did this huge resentment come from?

She could vaguely feel the sword on the white mountain in front of her. This was where the resentment of countless souls lay!

From her left, the excruciating sound of the bones rubbing against each other could be heard once more, a skeleton that was holding a knife smiled devilishly, charging forward with his knife.

Lin Jiu jumped backwards to avoid the attack aimed towards her abdomen.

Ever since she traversed this cultivation world she was always led by Wei Liang. She was used to his care-free and graceful expression when he was slaying his enemies, and Lin Jiu could feel that she slightly resembled him, until this very moment.

These resentful skeletons only had the basic foundation skills and didn’t have any battle tactics. They only had the simplest of fighting abilities.

But even on easy battle mode, Lin Jiu found she couldn’t handle it. She swayed from left to right, her back drenched with cold sweat.

The good thing was that these skeletons had a memory of a goldfish. Lin Jiu simply just had to run behind them, and they would be puzzled for a while, then turn and follow the rest of the army to charge towards the white mountain in front of them.

Lin Jiu started to attack them from behind, and she successfully cut through a few skeletons and obtained their malice.

“Mother, I regret it so much…”

“Ouch! Ouch! Don’t eat me!”

“Wu Meng Xia, you’re a liar!”

“I beg you to let me go, grandpa demon! You should look for Wu Meng Xia!”

“This is all your fault! Wu Meng Xia! I will never forgive you, even if I become a ghost, I’ll come after you!”

Lin Jiu avoided the skeleton’s attacks as she destroyed them from behind. At first, she did this to protect herself, but slowly her curiosity grew, and she wanted to know what exactly happened at the Qian Qi Pass.

As the skeletons shattered beneath her attack, their resentment rained on Lin Jiu like drops of bright red blood, and a cloud of shadow was cast silently on her heart.

Kill, kill, kill……In the sea of red, her pupils started to heat up, and it was like her vision was painted with an even darker shade of blood…

Just when Lin Jiu started to gain momentum, a refreshing vibe suddenly entered her forehead.

It was like the first drop of snow water from the ice glaciers during the start of summer, faintly bringing a dark and cold fragrance.

Lin Jiu was startled!

These grievances had started to affect her mind, causing her to give up on defense and to step forward and fight.

She was slightly startled, trying to awaken the Red Lotus in her consciousness. As soon as it rotated, all the grievances collected on her body were drawn into her consciousness, and was swallowed up by Lotus.

The sixth petal only showed a slight sign of blossoming.

Lin Jiu’s heart sank heavily.

The secret realm would open in a few days’ time, but the sixth, seventh and eighth petals needed huge sources of hatred. She felt helpless. As she looked at the situation before her, she’d rather just crash on her pillow and get some sleep.

Lin Jiu took a deep breath, both hands holding tightly onto the bone arrow as she slashed towards the boundless army of skeletons.

She was still considered lucky, as she was met with an even lower-skilled enemy that she could just lash out and kill.

Resentment wasn’t just any random thing— it was poisonous, desperate, painful, anxious, and hateful, torturing the dead souls. She helped relieve them and they passed their grievance to help the Red Lotus blossom, so it was a win-win situation!

Lin Jiu’s mind sharpened, her moves even more precise.

Time flew past quickly.

Inadvertently, Lin Jiu’s movements became more and more smooth. As she avoided the attack of the skeletons, she could even pay some attention to her own posture.

The spiritual energy flowed freely through the bone arrow in her hands. She gathered them in different parts of the arrow and accurately used moves such as picking, chopping, stabbing, and slashing. She was like a fish, slipping past one of the tall skeletons, the bone arrow unleashed, breaking it into two.

Her left foot lightly tapped on the ground as she easily avoided the sword that came from above. The corners of her lips were slightly hooked upwards, and she stepped on the body of the bone sword, leapt gently, and with a swing of her arm she sent the skull flying.

She landed on the ground in one graceful movement, and Lin Jiu couldn’t help but remember every time when Wei Liang was landing as he held on her.

Wei Liang…

Lin Jiu tightened her grip on the bone arrow, thinking that she created such a great opportunity for you and Liu Qing Yin to spend some time alone, both of them alone, in a dark room.

Don’t disappoint me!

***

The disappointing Wei Liang looked calm and indifferent as he glanced sideways at the blushing Liu Qing Yin.

His right index finger tapped in the center of Lin Jiu’s forehead, and at the place where their skin touched, a faint white light softly flickered.

Liu Qing Yin stared at Wei Liang’s hands. Her breathing sounded heavy in the quiet underground tomb.

“Mas…ter…” she said, her tone hoarse.

In no time, the demons already started to rush into the passage opened by Wei Liang. Wei Liang was only focused on protecting Lin Jiu’s consciousness, and Liu Qing Yin reluctantly picked up her sword to slay the demon squad.

Killing ten of these infant demons didn’t take up much of her energy, but what she didn’t expect was one of the demons sneaking behind her. Liu Qing Yin was unprepared when it sprayed a peachy mist on her.

Liu Qing Yin inhaled the mist right in.

After handling the bodies and closing off the passageway, Liu Qing Yin hurriedly returned to Wei Liang’s side and started to meditate.

That demon’s mist was powerful and Liu Qing Yin wanted to protect her own spirit, but memories of her master and her flirting around kept popping out in her mind. After resisting for quite some time, she couldn’t help but open her eyes. When she did, she saw Wei Liang’s finger tapping on to the middle of Lin Jiu’s forehead.

His fingers were long and beautiful, and his skin was as pale and smooth as the finest white jade, exuding a refreshing and cool aura.

Liu Qing Yin couldn’t help but feel even more frustrated. She couldn’t help but tremble at the thought of his cold hands heavily stroking her body, a touch that she craved so much.

She could no longer suppress that thought anymore.

She shivered as she walked to Wei Liang’s side. He looked over at her, his gaze cold and dull.

“Mas…ter, help me.” Liu Qing Yin said with much difficulty, “I’m incompetent, I can’t get rid of the demon’s poison. If I resist for any longer…”

Wei Liang’s thin lips moved. “What about resisting.”

“If I resist any longer…” Liu Qing Yin bit her cherry-red lips. “If I resist it, I’m afraid that it would hurt my root of love. From then on—from then on, I will not have any feelings for men, never again, never again…”

It was difficult to say such words, but at the moment, she was poisoned and her consciousness started to feel a little unclear. She gritted her teeth against the anxiety rising within her. “If I continue resisting it, I am afraid that I would not have any feelings for men, ever again, not even a single thought of it!”

After finishing, a pair of big misty eyes stared straight at Wei Liang.

Wei Liang didn’t shift his gaze, and his voice was as cold as before when he spoke. “If you aspire to be a cultivator, you should always have a clear heart and little desires. If this is the result, then that would be great.”

Liu Qing Yin: “…”