Chapter 250: He’s Back
The Yunluo Forest was lush and verdant, its ancient trees scraping the sky. Shen Daoxing walked alone, a head in each hand. He moved forward slowly, and before long, three mounded graves appeared before him.
Shen Daoxing walked up and gently placed the two heads before the gravestones. He swiped a hand over his Sumeru Ring, and a jug of wine appeared in his grasp.
He tilted the jug, pouring wine out over the gravestones.
"This should count as revenge for you all."
Shen Daoxing stared silently at the three graves for a long time. Finally, he set the wine jug upon a gravestone, raised his hands, and bowed deeply. Only then did he turn and walk slowly away.
Meanwhile, at the edge of the forest, a shimmering white light suddenly rose from Yue Wuchen’s headless corpse. Immediately after, a yellow paper talisman floated out from his clothes.
The yellow talisman drifted slowly in the windless air. Without anyone holding a brush, ink began to manifest on its surface, as if recording something.
Then, the yellow talisman transformed into a streak of light and shot toward the heavens.
Far away in the forest, Shen Daoxing noticed the streak of light. He leaped to the top of a towering ancient tree, but the light had already vanished into the sky, its message sent.
Shen Daoxing raised an eyebrow, leaped down from the ancient tree, and continued on his way out of the forest.
A short while later, a dozen or so figures came leaping through the forest, moving swiftly. Suddenly, they all stopped in their tracks, their eyes widening in horror. "Wuchen!"
"Wuchen is dead?"
"Who was it? Who killed him?"
"Could it really have been Shen Daoxing?"
"How is that possible? Wuchen was a master at the Fifth Layer of the Spirit Transformation Realm. How could Shen Daoxing have that kind of power?"
SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!
All eyes turned in unison to the grim-faced young man in the center of the group. It was Zhao Wufeng, the very one who had once presided over the Celestial Profound Sacred Land’s entrance examination.
Zhao Wufeng’s brows were knitted so tightly they nearly formed a single line. His expression was grave, but he said nothing.
"It’s Shen Daoxing!"
Suddenly, a disciple from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land shouted.
All heads snapped in that direction to see the figure of a white-robed man walking out slowly from the trees not far away.
"How audacious, Demon Star—"
Several disciples from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land roared and were about to rush forward.
Zhao Wufeng suddenly put out a hand to stop them, shaking his head. "Let him pass!"
Shen Daoxing’s expression was impassive. He glanced at the group from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land, and seeing they had no intention of attacking, he couldn’t be bothered with them. ’Since the news that I escaped the Ghostly Mist Abyss is already out,’ he thought, ’there’s no point in killing these few.’
And so, Shen Daoxing walked past them at an unhurried pace.
Zhao Wufeng’s heart, however, leaped into his throat. He was incredibly tense, and beads of sweat the size of soybeans dripped from his forehead. As Shen Daoxing passed, he couldn’t help but take an involuntary step back.
Only after Shen Daoxing had passed and disappeared into the distance did Zhao Wufeng let out a long sigh of relief.
The group looked at Zhao Wufeng in confusion. "Zhao, why didn’t you let us attack just now?"
"How do you think you compare to Yuwen?" Zhao Wufeng countered.
"Yuwen was a once-in-a-century genius of our Sacred Land. We’re no match for him, of course."
The disciples shook their heads.
"And how do you think you compare to Wuchen?"
Zhao Wufeng asked again.
"We’re even less of a match for him."
The disciples shook their heads again.
"If that’s the case, and even Yuwen and Wuchen died at Shen Daoxing’s hands, why would we have attacked just now? Were we asking to die?"
Zhao Wufeng retorted coldly.
With that, Zhao Wufeng turned and headed back toward Ancient Moon City.
...
Shen Daoxing walked out of the mountain forest, leaving the Yunluo Mountain Range behind.
He glanced around before leaping into the air, heading back in the direction of Ancient Moon City.
However, he didn’t enter Ancient Moon City itself. Instead, he made for the West Suburb, landing before a very inconspicuous thatched cottage.
The thatched cottage was small and simple, offering basic shelter from the elements and little else.
Hearing the noise outside, the cottage door opened and Elder Mu, Mu Yiheng, emerged leaning on a cane. Seeing Shen Daoxing, his face lit up with joy. "Young Master Shen, you’re finally here! We’ve been waiting for you for a long time. The Cloud Ship is almost repaired, and then we’ll be able to leave."
"Elder Mu, you must know who I am by now, right?"
Shen Daoxing said calmly as he stepped forward.
Elder Mu chuckled. "Right now, the entirety of Ancient Moon City is plastered with wanted posters bearing your face. How could this old man not know?"
"And you’re not afraid of me?"
Shen Daoxing couldn’t help but ask.
Elder Mu paused. Before he could speak, Xing’s voice piped up, "Because we trust you, Big Brother! We know you aren’t the great demon the Celestial Profound Sacred Land makes you out to be."
Elder Mu shook his head and added, "The Celestial Profound Sacred Land may be a Cultivation Sacred Land, but in the end, it all comes down to one thing: profit. To seize more cultivation resources, they’ve gone so far as to tyrannically control every country, large and small, in the East Continent.
"Back then, if the Business Alliance hadn’t had the Celestial Profound Sacred Land backing them, they never would have been able to act so wantonly. You can listen to their words, but you must never take them to heart."
Shen Daoxing raised his clasped hands and bowed to Elder Mu. "Thank you for your trust, Elder Mu."
Elder Mu spoke up. "Alright, you can stay here with me for now. This place is remote, so disciples from the Celestial Profound Sacred Land aren’t likely to come searching here. Once I finish repairing the Cloud Ship, we’ll leave. The journey to Cangzhou is quite long, so we’ll need to make ample preparations."
Shen Daoxing nodded.
Although he was capable of Sword Flight, his Spirit Transformation cultivation wasn’t enough to sustain it for long periods. Moreover, Cangzhou was a great distance away. Even if he exhausted all the Spiritual Power in his body, he doubted he could make it there.
Just then, Xin poked his small head out and ran out cheerfully, grabbing Shen Daoxing’s arm. "Big Brother, hurry and come inside! Tell me what’s happened these last few days. I heard you were amazing! That you defeated all the geniuses in the East Continent! Quick, quick, tell me about it!"
Shen Daoxing smiled as he was pulled into the thatched cottage.
...
In a quaint and spacious hall within the Shangguan Mansion, Shangguan Yiran sat in the main seat, holding a teacup. Her face appeared calm, but her eyes kept darting outside. The tea in her cup was long gone, yet she unthinkingly raised it to her lips again and again.
TAP-TAP-TAP-TAP!
The sound of hurried footsteps echoed, and Fu’s figure appeared at the hall’s entrance.
Shangguan Yiran shot to her feet upon seeing him, asking urgently, "What’s the news?"
Fu bowed to the Commandery Princess, then shook his head and sighed. "Young Master Shen has been in the Ghostly Mist Abyss for over ten days with no news. Even if he’s lucky enough to get out, Yuwen the Sword Fool and Yue Wuchen are still waiting for him outside. I’m afraid..."
At that, Shangguan Yiran sank back into her seat, her eyes growing dim.
Fu glanced at Shangguan Yiran, hesitated for a moment, and continued, "News has come from the Sacred Land. They say they’re organizing a party to enter the Ghostly Mist Abyss to search for Young Master Shen. Commandery Princess, you are to be among them."