Chapter 134 - 133: There’s Always Someone Better, Peach Blossom Lane, Tofu Beauty
On a barren wasteland.
Two figures were present—one sitting, the other standing.
The sitting figure’s face was covered in blood. His entire body was a tapestry of wounds, like shattered porcelain.
"Big Brother..."
The red-eyed woman stood to the side, not knowing how to comfort him.
The man named Hun gritted his teeth, then coughed up a large mouthful of blackish-red blood.
Shock, horror, ferocity, resentment, and disbelief flashed in his eyes.
Ever since he had refined an Ancient Demon Corpse and broken through to the Dao Palace Realm, he had never been beaten this badly.
Even his natural-born horn had been shattered by that person, his skull fractured.
He didn’t dare go back to retrieve it, only activating one Secret Technique after another to flee in a panic.
"Great Xia..."
Hun took a deep breath, then said with a grim expression, "I never expected Great Xia’s foundation to be so profound, to be protected by a mysterious Great Power. Today, I finally understand."
The mention of that person made the red-eyed woman’s heart pound with lingering fear. She couldn’t help but ask, "Who on earth was that? We’ve never heard of Great Xia having such a terrifying Daoist Palace Great Power!"
Logically, any Great Power who reached the Dao Palace Realm should be quite famous.
But this mysterious Great Power from Great Xia seemed to have appeared out of thin air, his true identity impossible to discern.
At the thought of Su Bai, even someone as powerful as Hun fell silent.
His expression flickered, dark and uncertain.
Rage and humiliation surged within him.
After a long while, Hun finally managed to suppress the fire in his heart and regain his cold demeanor.
He said in a deep voice, "Fifth Brother and Old Jiu didn’t die unjustly at his hands."
"It seems we, the Nine Demons of Qishan, have picked a fight with the wrong person this time."
"Hmph... I’ve been injured and need to return for treatment immediately."
"If you still want to take the True Dragon Blood Bead and kill that man..."
"...you’ll have to go by yourself!"
The red-eyed woman understood. She nodded lightly. "Don’t worry about me, Big Brother."
"I know the stakes. Once I kill him and take the True Dragon Blood Bead, I will return immediately."
"I won’t go trying to provoke that expert."
"Good."
Hun grunted in acknowledgment, then quickly rose, leaped into the air, and transformed into a streak of crimson light before vanishing.
After a moment of thought, the red-eyed woman also flickered and disappeared.
...
Yan Qingyue had not left the Emperor’s Guard Hall.
She had kept vigil all night in the great hall of burning oil lamps.
Her eyes were fixed on a single oil lamp. Beneath it, the name "Wu Tianming" was carved.
She hadn’t looked away for even a breath’s time.
During that time, the flame in the lamp had flickered erratically, wavering violently for a long while.
The flame grew dim, nearly extinguishing completely.
At that moment, Yan Qingyue’s heart was in her throat.
Fortunately, the flame did not go out. Instead, it slowly stabilized.
It was just as before, a tiny, bean-sized flame.
It had just burned away a little more of the already scarce oil.
An unknown amount of time passed.
Suddenly, Yan Qingyue felt the light and shadows in the hall shift for a moment.
She looked up to see Wu Tianming’s figure appear in the hall.
"Thank you, Lord Wu, for warding off the calamity!"
"If it weren’t for you, Lord Wu..."
Yan Qingyue faced Wu Tianming and bowed deeply and respectfully.
This bow was not just for herself, but for Great Xia and all the common people of the city.
Wu Tianming clutched a cloth and wiped his own oil lamp. He wiped it for a long while before slowly shaking his head.
"The calamity arrived, but it was not I who stopped it."
"This trial was exceptionally dangerous. This old man almost didn’t make it back."
Yan Qingyue froze, confused.
Wu Tianming turned to look at her, his weathered and ancient face filled with a deeply complex expression.
He didn’t elaborate, only sighing softly.
"When I was young, I only felt that the Imperial City was too large."
"Only today do I realize the Imperial City is far too small. There’s always someone better out there..."
Yan Qingyue was now completely bewildered.
’How can the Imperial City be big one moment and small the next?’
She couldn’t make sense of it.
...
After returning to the prison, Su Bai saw Zhang Wei patrolling the corridor, silent and seemingly lost in thought.
"What’s wrong? Still thinking about that matter?"
Su Bai walked over and clapped him on the shoulder.
"No! It’s just... I feel a bit down."
Zhang Wei composed himself, then forced a grin.
"Don’t overthink it. Just focus on doing your job well!"
Su Bai didn’t say much more and began his routine patrol, following the orders from above.
When it was late at night, he entered the mysterious cave as usual to freeload some Experience Points.
’Looks like coming here to freeload so often isn’t working. The Evil Qi has weakened a lot.’
An hour later, Su Bai gave up on absorbing the Evil Qi.
He had just opened his panel and saw that his Experience Points had barely increased—by less than ten thousand.
Because he had been visiting so often, the Evil Qi seeping from the cave had weakened considerably.
It would need some time to recover.
After all that, the busy Su Bai finally returned to his personal quarters and fell into a deep sleep.
「The next morning.」
Su Bai had just walked into the break room when he saw Zhang Wei, who had bounced back to his usual self, wearing clean, tidy clothes and reeking of strong cologne. He was cheerfully carrying a silver bowl as he walked over.
"Brother Su Bai! Perfect timing! Come and try this tofu I just bought!"
"I already had the kitchen staff fry it up for me, drizzled with hot sesame oil and sprinkled with the finest scallions!"
"This flavor is just... incredible!"
Curious, Su Bai reached out and took the bowl of tofu.
’When did this kid Zhang Wei have such a change of heart?’
’Didn’t he always eat fried bread before?’
’Why the switch to tofu?’
Puzzled, Su Bai took a small bite.
The flavor was savory and fresh, and the texture was indeed excellent.
Just then, a young Martial Artist from the Prison Suppression Bureau smelled the aroma and immediately walked over.
Su Bai noticed that he was also holding a silver bowl filled with tofu.
’How strange!’
"Haha! Come on, come on! Everyone come get some tofu! I’ve got enough for all of you!"
Then, to Su Bai’s stunned amazement, Zhang Wei pulled out plate after plate of tofu from a large food container.
This...
Su Bai’s expression shifted slightly. He had a sharp feeling.
’This guy is definitely up to something!’
"Zhang Wei! Since when are you so generous?"
"Heh heh! We’re all brothers! What’s a little tofu between friends!"
At that moment, a Prison Suppression Bureau Martial Artist who seemed to know the truth said laughingly while eating, "He didn’t go buy tofu to treat us, he went for the person who *makes* the tofu!"
Su Bai was instantly curious. He walked closer and asked him to elaborate.
And so he learned the full story.
It turned out that a new tofu shop had opened in the Imperial City that day.
It was run by a mother and daughter, and the daughter was said to look like a Celestial Immortal who had descended to the mortal realm.
In just one morning, her fame had already spread.
And so, naturally, the moment Zhang Wei got the news, he had immediately changed into a handsome, proper outfit and doused himself in cologne.
He had rushed out of the prison first thing in the morning, eagerly running off to buy tofu.
After learning the reason, Su Bai had a strange look on his face.
’No wonder Zhang Wei was practically radiating hormones this morning!’
’So that was the reason!’
At the same time, he was also amazed.
’What do you call this?’
’A Tofu Beauty?’
In the break room.
Everyone was tasting the tofu while chatting excitedly.
The Prison Suppression Bureau Martial Artists who had seen this "Tofu Beauty" were praising her looks to the heavens.
This was torture for the others.
Many of the Martial Artists from the Prison Suppression Bureau who hadn’t seen her yet were itching with curiosity.
The crowd discussed it for a moment.
Seeing that it was still early before assembly time, they all excitedly decided...
To go to Peach Blossom Lane in the city and see the Tofu Beauty with their own eyes!
To get a look at her true face!