Chapter 65: Peonies Drifting Fragrance
"Damn it, my fourth-rank official seal!" Qin Feiyue's face changed dramatically. He hurriedly felt for his waist—the fourth-rank seal was gone, causing cold sweat to pour down his forehead!
Losing an official seal was a serious matter, but as the Imperial Preceptor's disciple, he could still suppress this incident. What terrified him even more was that he hadn't noticed at all when the cripple had stolen the seal. If the cripple hadn't been stealing the seal but instead had stabbed him in the back...
He couldn't help but shudder.
Seventh Young Master's face flushed red as she hugged her chest, surrounded by a throng of palace maids, packed tight and impenetrable.
Just now, the cripple had filched several treasures from "him," and only when he stole the breast binding that wrapped "his" chest did he discover that "he" was a woman.
The cripple's greatest taboo when stealing was touching a woman, which caused a slight flaw in his technique. Qin Feiyue seized the opportunity, and the cripple had no choice but to flee.
"This cripple is the divine thief who infiltrated the imperial inner court to steal the Imperial Edict—the Heaven-Thieving Thief!"
Qin Feiyue suppressed the shock in his heart. Seeing that Seventh Young Master was unharmed, he breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Young... Young Master was frightened. This general is incompetent..."
Gu Li'nuan, frozen within the mystic ice, was even more shocked. This cripple had actually stolen the scabbard of the Junior Guardian Sword from right beside him!
Not only the scabbard of the Junior Guardian Sword, but the black banner in his other hand had also been stolen by the cripple!
He was currently sealed in mystic ice—how hard and how cold was mystic ice? It had frozen even a great expert like him, unable to escape. Back then, Qin Mu had tricked him into using up his vital energy before he could send the hilt of the Junior Guardian Sword out of the mystic ice.
Yet this cripple ignored the mystic ice entirely, lightly touched it—truly the hand of a ghost or god—and directly took both his black banner and scabbard!
"Lord Gu, this cripple once went deep into the imperial inner court years ago, strolling openly into the imperial treasury before the eyes of countless elite palace guards. Countless traps and killing formations in the treasury were all useless. He stole the Imperial Edict, and no one could stop him."
Qin Feiyue said, "Fortunately, the Imperial Preceptor intervened, cutting off one of his divine legs. But even the Imperial Preceptor couldn't detain him. He fled far away with the Imperial Edict and vanished without a trace."
Gu Li'nuan was horrified and remained silent for a moment before saying, "He lost a leg, yet he can still perform such sleight of hand? Is that a divine leg or a divine hand?"
Suddenly, the mournful cry of a giant beast came from ahead of the ship. Qin Feiyue's heart jolted, and he hurried to the bow. His pupils contracted sharply. Ahead, a giant spiderweb stood before the ship, spanning the Surging River horizontally, completely blocking over ten miles of the river's surface!
The giant beast pulling the ship had crashed into the spiderweb and was struggling to break free. Then the river parted, and a colossal spider slowly crawled out from the depths, dragging the beast onto the web, continuously spraying silk, and then sinking its fangs into the beast's body.
Even though many soldiers on the ship used qi to control their swords and even employed divine abilities, they couldn't drive away the giant spider, nor could they cut through the web!
Soon, the giant beast shriveled up, leaving only a skin.
Qin Feiyue's body trembled, and the hand gripping his sword also shook. He wanted to strike down the giant spider but dared not move.
He saw a pharmacist by the riverbank carrying a medicine basket, dressed in simple blue clothes, very ordinary, but his face was completely disfigured, extremely hideous.
The pharmacist waved his hand, and the giant spider in the river began to retract its web, crawling along a strand of silk toward the pharmacist. The spider grew smaller and smaller until it became a tiny speck that crawled into the pharmacist's basket.
Without the spiderweb blocking it, the ship drifted downstream again. Qin Feiyue faintly heard a voice: "Tell the Imperial Preceptor, don't get any crooked ideas about the Great Ruins, or you'll provoke us old cripples..."
Gu Li'nuan, within the mystic ice, trembled and said, "It's the Poison King..."
Qin Feiyue suppressed the palpitations in his heart, steadied himself, and shouted, "All soldiers, hear my command! Raise oars, row the ship, return to Yankang!"
After sailing two or three miles, a soldier suddenly stammered, "General Qin, there's someone on the river!"
Qin Feiyue gritted his teeth, his face iron-blue, and said coldly, "What demons and monsters dare to block my ship? Do they think I'm made of clay? Ram them to death..."
Just as he said this, he suddenly saw the person on the river. The man had only an upper body; his lower half had been cut off at the waist by someone unknown.
This strange man held two bizarre large blades in his hands, standing on a reef in the middle of the river.
Suddenly, blade light tore through the sky, earth-shattering. Qin Feiyue looked up and saw the clouds in the sky split apart by the terrifying blade aura!
Then the blade light descended, slashing toward the ship!
Whoosh—
The great waters of the Surging River parted to both sides. This river was actually split in two, severed by this one slash into two streams!
"Seven Star Divine Depths, open!"
Qin Feiyue roared. The divine depths within his body burst open one after another, and terrifying vital energy erupted, transforming into two giant dragons that slammed into the side of the ship, shifting it a hundred zhang sideways!
The blade light grazed the ship's hull and slashed upstream, splitting the river for over ten miles along the way, only closing again behind the strange man on the reef.
"Heh heh, fighting the Imperial Preceptor's disciple is boring. Fighting the Imperial Preceptor himself would be interesting..."
The strange man on the reef sheathed his blades, propped himself up with both hands on the reef, and with a sudden burst of strength, leaped into the sky and disappeared.
Qin Feiyue suppressed the trembling in his legs and called out, "Steady the ship, steady..."
His voice trembled so much that he couldn't even understand what he was saying. He had to sit down first to regulate his breath, but his mind was a tangled mess.
Gu Li'nuan was even more terrified than him, trembling as he said, "Heavenly Blade! The Heavenly Blade who once challenged the heavens with his blade and died at the hands of the gods—he's still alive..."
Qin Feiyue's expression shifted between light and shadow. "This inconspicuous little village in the Great Ruins—how did it gather such a group of ancient monsters? Divine Spear, Heavenly Blade, Divine Thief, Poison King... Besides these few, what other terrifying beings live in that village..."
He looked at the geographical map of the Surging River. The map he had painstakingly drawn along the way was still on the ship. Those ferocious villains just now hadn't destroyed the Surging River geographical map, which made him breathe a sigh of relief.
"Wait!"
He suddenly realized something. Those vicious scoundrels hadn't destroyed the Surging River geographical map, not because they didn't want to, but because they disdained to.
These old monsters were confident that even if he took this geographical map away, the Imperial Preceptor would never dare to invade the Great Ruins!
"Why didn't they kill us?" asked the cross-dressing "Seventh Young Master."
"Disdain."
Qin Feiyue said bitterly, "They disdained to kill us, probably because our skills are too low..."
Bitterness filled his heart. As the Imperial Preceptor's disciple, he had always held himself in high regard, and his reputation was quite prominent both in court and among the people. He never expected that a single trip through the Great Ruins would bring him face to face with so many powerful beings, shattering his former arrogance!
When he first encountered the Blind Man, he still had some pride. Though shaken by the Blind Man, his backbone of pride remained. But then he met the elusive Cripple, the insidious and venomous Pharmacist, and the bloodthirsty Butcher. His pride and backbone were utterly crushed, leaving only fear.
"Nothing can stop the Imperial Preceptor, and nothing can intimidate him!"
Qin Feiyue thought of his master, the Yankang Imperial Preceptor, and the unease in his heart immediately dissipated. His gaze grew resolute, and he murmured, "The old fellows of the Great Ruins want to act like mantises trying to stop a chariot—they'll only be crushed to dust!"
The ship sailed on, downstream with the current. Qin Feiyue suddenly paused, looking ahead. There had once been an oasis here, with an ancient temple on it. But now the oasis had vanished without a trace!
He had originally thought the ancient temple had some eerie qualities and hadn't entered to investigate, but he had marked this place on the Surging River geographical map. Now, upon returning, both the temple and the oasis had disappeared.
"Open Eyes!"
Qin Feiyue muttered softly. A sharp light shot from his eyes as he looked beneath the water. His heart was horrified. The oasis was still there, but it had been flattened by some immense force, and the ancient temple now lay sunk at the bottom of the river!
"The Great Ruins..."
He steadied himself and ordered the soldiers to channel their vital energy into rowing, to leave this place as soon as possible.
Not long after the ship sailed away, the river suddenly split open, and a bronze Buddha, chains hanging from it, rose slowly from the depths. Though the bronze Buddha was extremely heavy, it seemed weightless, standing on the water's surface with both feet.
"The old monsters of Crippled Elder Village are this strong—they won't be easy to deal with..."
The bronze Buddha gazed in the direction of Crippled Elder Village, then stamped his foot and burst into motion, racing along the riverbank and disappearing into the distance.
"Stealing my merit—this matter cannot be let go so easily. But since the Yankang Imperial Preceptor is restless and wants to enter the Great Ruins, I'll just sit on the mountain and watch the tigers fight! When they tear each other apart, I, Thunderclap Monastery, will reap the spoils!"
Outside Crippled Elder Village, Qin Mu saw the Cripple approaching. The Cripple tossed him something, and Qin Mu caught it—it was a sword scabbard, a perfect match for the Junior Guardian Sword.
Qin Mu was stunned and was about to ask the Cripple where he got it, when the Cripple shoved another item into his arms.
Qin Mu pulled it out and looked. It was a milky-white garment embroidered with pink peonies, about a foot wide and long like a sash, carrying a faint, clean fragrance.
"Grandpa Cripple, what is this?" Qin Mu asked, puzzled.
The Cripple's smile froze on his face, and he said awkwardly, "A sweat towel. Keep it to wipe your sweat. Bad luck, really bad luck. How did I end up touching something like that? Touching it brings three years of misfortune..."