“Shizun, are you okay?”
Lin Cangyuan glanced at the concerned face beside him and grunted in response. “It’s just a bit of bleeding.”
Deng Yenuo bit down on his lower lip. A bit? Lin Cangyuan’s abdomen had been ripped open, with his guts practically spilling out. The only lucky thing about this entire situation was that it had been done by a lower-level ghost without any venom. If it had been anything else, Lin Cangyuan would have already died. Deng Yenuo took out a pill bottle and attempted to stuff the pill into Lin Cangyuan’s mouth. The man turned his head away and glared at Deng Yenuo.
“Are Phoenix Elixirs a common pebble? They don’t even have them stocked back at the base. Save those for yourself.”
“No, but, Shizun—”
“Are you still going to go against me?” Lin Cangyuan asked.
Deng Yenuo shuddered and quickly tucked the pills away. “Alright. Alright. Shizun, don’t get angry.”
Lin Cangyuan ignored the way Deng Yenuo’s voice shook with each gasping breath he took. Just when he thought Deng Yenuo had given up, he was faced with another pill.
“You—”
“This one’s different. I have a lot of these,” Deng Yenuo said. He looked at Lin Cangyuan pleadingly. “Shizun, please.”
Lin Cangyuan pursed his lips. For a moment, it seemed like he might refuse, but the next, he had already plucked the pill from Deng Yenuo’s fingers and swallowed it. Deng Yenuo’s eyes lit up. He hurriedly took the water canteen from his side and forced Lin Cangyuan to drink some water. Once he deemed that it was enough, he sat back down beside his shizun.
The two men remained silent as they listened to the howling of ghouls and rustling of leaves.
“They’re probably worried,” Lin Cangyuan said.
Deng Yenuo glanced at his shizun. “You should head back. There’s finally a lull, so it’s the perfect time to—”
“And leave you here?” Lin Cangyuan frowned. It was obvious Deng Yenuo had no intention of heading back. “Don’t be ridiculous. I’m your shizun. I was the one who sent you out here as well. Now that the situation has progressed to this step, you think I can just abandon you?”
“Shizun, don’t get worked up,” Deng Yenuo said, nervously glancing at Lin Cangyuan’s abdomen. It was healing, but it was healing very slowly. “It was this disciple’s fault for speaking out of turn. I’m sorry.”
Lin Cangyuan’s angry expression loosened. Deng Yenuo looked haggard. In his memory, his disciple had always been the brightest light. This was the first time he had ever seen Deng Yenuo look so dispirited. Yet, it wasn’t because of the ghost barrier on the verge of rupture, but it was because Lin Cangyuan had been injured.
“We’ll head back in the morning,” Lin Cangyuan murmured. “We should probably notify the sects to make sure they’re ready for what’s to come. There’s only so much longer we can hold out for with just this small team of people.”
And they’ve already suffered grave losses.
“Make sure to remember Qingyin Temple,” Lin Cangyuan said. “They’ll have some…Buddhist mantra or whatever to chant. It’ll be much easier if we have a few temples on our side and—”
“Shizun.”
“…What?”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
“Don’t talk so much. The pill won’t be able to work fast enough,” Deng Yenuo said quietly.
Olc Jjcusejc rlutfv jcv ifjcfv yjmx jujlcra atf ojiifc agff agecx. Gfcu Tfceb abbx boo tlr beafg gbyf jcv ijlv la bnfg Olc Jjcusejc yfobgf qeiilcu eq tlr xcffr jcv gfralcu tlr mtlc bc la. Ktf qjlg rqfca atf joafgcbbc delfais ecali cluta ofii. Ca atja qblca, atf rbecv bo utbra tbkir jwqilolfv. Ktf atewqlcu bc atf yjgglfg ugfk ibevfg jcv ibevfg. Ktf rbeir bo wliilbcr wjvf atflg qgfrfcmf jcv bypfmalnf mifjg.
“Shizun, you can’t go. I’ll go this time,” Deng Yenuo said, pressing Lin Cangyuan back down as their small team headed towards the crack in the barrier again.
“You aren’t powerful enough,” Lin Cangyuan said.
“You’re too injured,” Deng Yenuo said, glaring at Lin Cangyuan.
“Lord Immortal Liaosu, perhaps you should listen to your disciple this once. Your injury looks very nasty. If you were to die on the battlefield, we won’t know what to do,” a helpful cultivator chimed in.
After hearing a few rounds of agreements, Lin Cangyuan finally acquiesced. He watched Deng Yenuo leave his side, but before the man could go too far, he caught his hand. Deng Yenuo glanced at their hands before looking at Lin Cangyuan.
Lin Cangyuan gripped his hand tightly. “If you come back injured, I’ll break your legs.”
Deng Yenuo smiled. The veiled warmth in those words melted away the fatigue that had been piling up in his body. He bent down a little and pressed a kiss to the back of Lin Cangyuan’s hand. He pulled away before the man even realized what had happened and happily ran off to catch up with the group.
Quanjing Continent was once known as the Land of Immortals. In ancient times, it was where the gods and deities made their homes. After the Great Celestial and Demon War and the gods returned to Heaven, what was left behind were thick Dragon Veins, overflowing with spiritual energy. It became a breeding ground for the world’s greatest sects and best cultivators.
But such great rewards must also come with greater problems.
The reason the Dragon Veins on Quanjing Continent were so thick and full was because it still, technically, remained the Land of Immortals. Unlike other continents that were populated mainly by humans, Quanjing Continent contained a plethora of oddities—Kunlun Mountain was a stark example. Quanjing Continent was the doorway to many realms and every realm used it as a way to enter the human plane. While most entrances were hidden, the Ghost Realm was Quanjing Continent’s direct neighbor.
In the past, the Ghost Realm had been hidden underground, but during the Great Celestial and Demon War, mountains crumbled, grounds split, and oceans rose. As a result, the Ghost Realm was pushed to the surface. For a long while afterwards, the humans were not only plagued by demons and wayward spirit demons, but also by malicious ghosts that snuck out from the Underworld through a path in the Ghost Realm.
A greater lord immortal, who was about to ascend to godhood, saw what plagued the land. As his one last deed for humanity, he erected the barrier that kept the Ghost Realm away from the Mortal Realm. Through the years, the barrier has worn down and every five hundred years or so, a crack would emerge. Most of the time, the crack was easily repaired but this time, everything was going wrong.
“Deng-xiong, what do we do?! The crack isn’t getting any smaller!”
Deng Yenuo narrowed his eyes.
In the past years, the ghosts wouldn’t even have noticed if a crack appeared—that was because Yunjing Pavilion had stationed a smaller branch in the lower realms, just to monitor the Ghost Realm’s barrier. Things would be fixed quickly without incident. This time, before the branch sect could even report it, ghosts had already started hammering at the barrier, making it bigger and larger than it had previously been. Now, even with them constantly pouring their energy into the barrier, it remained the same size. The ghosts had learned that pushing against the barrier would create friction, causing the spiritual energy poured in to be near negligible.
“Just hold on until morning,” Deng Yenuo said, pushing more spiritual energy into his sword.
In the morning, the sun was strong, causing many ghosts to retreat. It was only at night that it became a problem.
In the two months since Deng Yenuo arrived, they had lost over fifty people. It got to the point that Deng Yenuo had to start asking for volunteers from the sects in the lower realm to help. But the crack was getting bigger and more dangerous ghosts were spilling into the Mortal Realm. Lower realm cultivators were no longer enough to hold them off.
Just as it was reaching the dawns of the morning, a loud shout startled Deng Yenuo into attention. He whipped his head to the source of the sound and watched as a ghost, the size of a bear, ripped the head off of a nearby cultivator. In the frenzy of things, three cultivators let go of their sword. With four cultivators breaking free of their positions, the formation broke and the slit began to form more cracks.
“Deng—”
“Rearrange your formations!” Deng Yenuo shouted. He pulled his sword from the ground and flew towards the ghosts that were spilling out from the crack.
He vaguely heard Lin Cangyuan’s voice, but it didn’t matter. The safety of the hapless common folk were more important.
The newly formed formation was shaky at best. Without a higher realm cultivator like Deng Yenuo at its center, the newly formed cracks were not able to heal and, instead, were only stagnated.
The cultivators who were supposed to be guarding the barrier in case ghosts flew out had joined Deng Yenuo in battle. The ghosts that spilled out this time were more ferocious than the last. Deng Yenuo could feel his arms grow heavier. If it continued like this, the barrier would rupture and the entirety of the lower realm would be swallowed whole.
Deng Yenuo closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate. Of the fifty ghosts that escaped, only three were left. The sun was beginning to peer over the horizon. Deng Yenuo was hanging on by a thread. It had been several days since he had last slept, much less had anything to eat. He was tired. Fatigue was starting to drag him down.
“Yenuo!”
The loud voice jerked Deng Yenuo awake. He was swaying on his feet as a shadowy ghoul lunged itself towards Deng Yenuo. Deng Yenuo’s eyes widened. Its talons were dripping with venom, but he barely had the strength left to lift his sword. He closed his eyes, bracing for his death.
But the pain he had been expecting didn’t happen.
He opened his eyes to the sound of cheers.
The shadowy ghoul was wrapped in long white silk cloth. The silk was violently tugged. The ghoul splattered into pieces and the silky cloths returned into the sleeves of their owner. Deng Yenuo watched Jiu Jingyi jog up to him. She clicked her tongue as her hands traveled over his face.
“Look at you! You poor thing!” Jiu Jingyi huffed. She glared at Lin Cangyuan, who was limping over. “Look at you two! Don’t you have half the mind to send out a distress signal!?”
The battlefield had quieted except for Jiu Jingyi’s scolding. Lin Cangyuan awkwardly cleared his throat.
“There wasn’t enough time. Shimei, we’ve been fighting for our lives out here,” Lin Cangyuan said.
Jiu Jingyi let out a huff of irritation. She glared at the cultivators around her, her heart aching slightly. “Forget it. I’ll stay here. Yenuo, you head back and ask your Gui-shishu for help.”
“But—”
“Am I more useful here or are you more useful here?” Jiu Jingyi interrupted.
Deng Yenuo had no excuses to refuse her. It was true—she was more powerful and she was fresh blood to the battlefield. After another moment of hesitation, he nodded. He glanced at Lin Cangyuan. “But, Jiu-shishu, don’t let Shizun overwork himself. He’s healing from an injury from last night.”
“Alright, alright. I’ll take care of your shizun,” Jiu Jingyi said, waving away Deng Yenuo’s nagging.
The small, ragtag group of cultivators returned to their camps.
Jiu Jingyi helped wrap up Lin Cangyuan’s wounds, all the while her mouth was running as she nagged him. Lin Cangyuan let out a soft sigh.
“I know, I know. I didn’t want to hide it. I already said that we were being swarmed. Isn’t that enough?” Lin Cangyuan said.
Jiu Jingyi fell silent. After a while, she finished wrapping up Lin Cangyuan’s wounds. She shoved a Phoenix Elixir into his mouth and helped him lay back down. She glared at him menacingly, her arms crossed over her chest. Lin Cangyuan shifted uncomfortably.
“What?”
“What are we going to do without you?”
“…What?”
“We don’t have our families. You’re like our big brother. What would we do if something happened to you?” Jiu Jingyi snapped.
“Jingyi,” Lin Cangyuan struggled to sit up, only to be pressed back down. “I—”
“I know what you’re going to say. ‘You’re all big now, you’re all adults. You don’t need me.’ But it’s not about whether we need or don’t need you to take care of us. If anything happens to a family member,” Jiu Jingyi’s voice trailed off. “Can’t you take better care of yourself?”
“I will,” Lin Cangyuan quickly promised.
Jiu Jingyi chewed at her lower lip. She scoffed and finally sat down. “You and Gui-shixiong are exactly the same.”
“Well…we were sort of raised together,” Lin Cangyuan said sheepishly. He awkwardly patted her shoulder. “Jiu-shimei, don’t be mad. I promise, I’ll be more careful.”
“Don’t make promises you can’t keep,” Jiu Jingyi snapped. She brushed Lin Cangyuan’s hand away. “Just. Just make it back alive. That’s all we’re asking.”
Lin Cangyuan laughed. He hissed slightly from the pain and let out a slow breath. After the pain subsided, he smiled again. “Alright. I’m fine, aren’t I? It’s just a little tear.”
Jiu Jingyi breathed in deeply. Lin Cangyuan braced himself for another scolding, but it never came. He smiled a little sadly as Jiu Jingyi turned away to ferociously cut him a plate of pears.
“Can’t believe this is the second time I’m using this thing in the past month,” Gui Yin grumbled as he stepped out into the courtyard.
Deng Yenuo followed him silently. Gui Linghuo glanced at the haggard man and gently tugged on the edge of his robes. Deng Yenuo glanced down and offered a smile.
“I told Siyi to make some pastries,” Gui Linghuo whispered. “Have some before you leave.”
Deng Yenuo’s smile tightened. He rubbed Gui Linghuo’s head and turned back to Gui Yin. The man held the jade seal to his forehead. The point of contact between him and the seal glowed. It was much stronger than last time, when it was filled with confusion and lacking in confidence.
Gui Yin’s booming voice echoed in the minds of the sect master, palace lords, and head monks of the Beidou Alliance. It startled them from their activities and filled them with an instinctive fear.
“This is Lord Immortal Ninglan. The Ghost Realm’s barrier is about to be breached. Prepare for invasion in the upper realm. Anyone who wants to join Yunjing Pavilion in the front lines, head over to Beihua Town (辈花镇). Details will be written and sent out in greater detail as soon as possible.”
There was a long pause as Gui Yin waited for the stunned silence to pass. When it hadn’t, Gui Yin coldly tacked on one last sentence: “If any major sects in the Beidou Alliance attempts to avoid getting embroiled in this war, when everything is over, I, Ninglan, will personally drag you down from your seat!”
With that threat, Gui Yin exited the carefully crafted array. He tossed the jade seal over to a nearby servant and cleared his throat. The strength of his voice transmission was loud, reaching even to the foot of the mountain, where a few disciples had either been leaving or coming back.
“Assemble the ranks and prepare to head to Beihua Town in the lower realms. Prepare for war.”
A/N: are you guys EXCITED?!??!?!!! WOOOOOOOO *throws tissues at you* probably not needed. just in case, y’know?
😀 oh yeah. Things are getting interesting.
thanks for reading!!
Thank you for the update ❤️💯
thanks for readddd
[whispering] life and death situations, can love bloom on the battlefield?
…wait that was a high death toll…….. EVERYONE. STAY SAFE AND GOOD LUCK, ROMO LATER
yes yes, we focus on surviving this time, romo later LMAO thanks for reading!!
Oh noooo I finally caught up with the updates😭 Can’t wait for the next chapter💕
thanks for reading!! ;v; hope you’ve enjoyed it so far!
I crave violence. And also, just after I was talking about my mans disappearing in the ghost realm????? I better shut my crow mouth lol. Also I’m reallllly excited for gui yin to show his badasssness in warrrrr baby
nah but when you commented last chapter about linghuo being 14 is the perfect time to start tragedy i laughed so hard cuz i knew this chapter was next KSDFL;AJSGH
thanks for the read!!
I’m a sucker for some family angst. Make me cry, Author-sama.
you’re in the right arc then uwu
Yikes!
indeed 😔 THANKSFor the read!!!
Woooh- just binged through everything. Your writing is absolutely lovely~ and i love the mixture of chill and suspense you’ve managed! It’s very nice to see things not always resolved with just a few words but still having so many open to listening and logic at the same time. I look forward to seeing the characters and plot develop more!
A new arc arrives~ and 1 of 4 favors is finally, not resolved but, being investigated. I have a sneaking suspicion one of them will be used on Erlang himself sometime in the far future… 👀
!!!!!!!! thank youuuu! i enjoy the level of tension/pacing that i end up writing usually, but i know some people would find it slow =v= so it’s nice to hear that someone else enjoys it too!!
thanks for the read and i hope you enjoy the future chapters as well!!
Hahahha I just love our MC 🤣🫶🏽
I LOVE THIS SO MUCH