Chapter 169: I See the Yellow Springs in a Sea of Fire
The bells of the Heavenly Tree Servant Temple fell silent, and the depths of the alley were enveloped in stillness.
A young girl stood quietly before a wooden door, lost in thought.
From within the small courtyard came a low growl. The sound was so faint it was nearly inaudible, yet it rang as clearly as if right beside the ear, filled with a venomous curse and barely concealed rage, eerie to the extreme.
Dozens of strands of black mist seeped through the gaps in the wooden door with that low roar.
But in the next moment, the growl in the courtyard suddenly transformed into a cry of terror.
Those black mists, which seemed so filthy and horrifying, dared not approach the girl’s body and drifted far away, appearing utterly terrified. Occasionally, a few strands of mist were carried by the wind at the alley’s entrance toward the girl, only to be incinerated into green smoke by a golden flame that emerged from nowhere.
At such times, several pained cries would echo from the courtyard, sounding somewhat like a dog whimpering.
The wooden door of the courtyard could not withstand the clash of these two utterly different auras. It rotted at a visible pace, then slowly collapsed.
Stepping into the courtyard, the girl saw the neatly stacked pile of firewood and was momentarily startled.
It reminded her of the first time she had gone to the National Academy and seen the neatly arranged clothes in Chen Changsheng’s room wardrobe.
The short pine tree beneath the courtyard wall had long withered, leaving only patches of green and brown that were even more jarring to the eye.
On the ground, over a dozen black footprints marred the white stones, but they were very small, looking more like a child’s.
The house door had already decayed, and several streaks of dark liquid slowly dripped from the beams, exuding a foul, fishy stench.
This once serene little courtyard had now become utterly bizarre and terrifying.
Behind the half-paper door were Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi.
They leaned against the wall, pale as if dead, but still alive.
Just moments ago, they had been on the verge of being killed, even devoured, by Chu Su, but Chu Su had suddenly vanished.
The quiet courtyard seemed to have nothing happening, but to powerful beings in the sacred domain like Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi, it was clear that a silent yet perilous battle was unfolding inside and outside the courtyard gate.
When those golden flames burned the black mist into green smoke, Bie Yanghong knew who had come.
He glanced at Wuqiong Bi and finally felt relieved.
No matter how terrifying and powerful Chu Su was, he could not defeat that girl.
Because that girl was Xu Yourong.
…
…
Yes, the girl standing in the courtyard was Xu Yourong.
Back then, by the Tong River, after receiving Chen Changsheng’s letter, she had handed him the white crane and returned to Saintess Peak.
At that time, no one knew what she would do next—not Ye Xiaolian, not Chen Changsheng, not even herself.
She didn’t know why the first thing she did upon returning to Saintess Peak was to gather her fellow disciples and begin handling temple affairs.
In the process of handling those affairs, she realized what she needed to do, or rather, what she wanted to do.
So handling turned into delegation. After finishing the temple duties, she left Saintess Peak.
The white crane flew extremely fast; only those in the sacred domain could keep up.
She had set out a day later than Chen Changsheng, yet arrived at White Emperor City at nearly the same time as him.
Because she could also fly.
Just as she was about to head to the imperial city, she suddenly sensed something—something that made her uncomfortable.
It was like seeing a rotting, stinking corpse on a vast, pristine white grassland.
Or like being full to bursting and then seeing a plate of cold, greasy pig head meat.
It was a profoundly unpleasant spiritual experience.
With her clear Dao heart, she felt it even more acutely, and it was even harder to bear.
So, following that sensation, she came to the end of this alley and caught that scent.
She hadn’t expected that when she pushed open the door, she would see Wuqiong Bi and Bie Yanghong.
Chen Changsheng didn’t know about the sacred battle two days ago or what had happened in White Emperor City, and neither did she.
At that time, they had both been in the sky.
Seeing Bie Yanghong and Wuqiong Bi, Xu Yourong quickly pieced things together, vaguely guessing the truth.
Or perhaps “deduction” was a better word.
But she still hadn’t found the person who made her feel so uneasy, even vigilant.
Able to evade her eyes and so skilled at concealment?
Xu Yourong didn’t speak to Bie Yanghong or Wuqiong Bi, nor did she enter the house.
She stood quietly in the courtyard, lost in thought.
A chilly wind blew in from the alley, entering the courtyard.
The dead short pine rustled, shedding its needles.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly.
Suddenly, a spark landed on those pine needles.
With a roar, the needles burst into fierce flames, forming a wall of fire.
That wall of fire rapidly spread outward until it surrounded the entire courtyard.
Countless flames also sprang from beneath the ground, burning relentlessly through the gaps between the white stones.
Xu Yourong stood quietly in the sea of fire.
From deep, deep underground came a faint, furious scream.
Crackle, crackle!
Countless white stones were blasted into the air, and a figure was driven out from underground by the flames.
It was a short, hunched creature, wrapped in a black robe, exuding a foul, decaying stench.
He tightly covered his head and face with the robe, as if terrified of the flames, leaving only his hands exposed. Those hands were covered in ugly scales and black fur, with filthy, sharp claws that still held traces of rotting flesh.
From within the black robe came incessant, piercing shrieks, filled with rage.
He waved his claws, as if wanting to lunge at Xu Yourong and tear her to pieces, but he dared not take a single step forward.
Xu Yourong looked at him calmly and said, “Are you Chu Su?”
The furious shrieks from within the black robe stopped, replaced by a gasping sound that was neither crying nor laughing.
Chu Su was bitterly smiling, but he wanted to cry even more.
He had never imagined he would encounter this person in White Emperor City.
Back in Wenshui, when Chen Changsheng had brought the three National Church leaders and a group of strong fighters like Guan Feibai, Chu Su had been unafraid. His Yellow Springs cultivation technique was extremely secretive and insidious, and his skills in concealment and escape were formidable. Even if Zhexiu had enough killing power, even if Nanke possessed speed rivaling his own, and even if figures like Qiu Shanjun had appeared, he had still been confident they wouldn’t catch him.
No matter what he did, even if he failed, he could easily escape.
It had been like that in Hanqiu City, in Wenshui, and even when facing Xiao Zhang.
But he knew he had a nemesis.
It was the girl in the sea of fire.
Xu Yourong possessed speed greater than his, and her clear Dao heart made her immune to his spiritual attacks.
More importantly, her fasting sword perfectly countered his Yellow Springs technique.
In other words, no matter how selfish and cold he was, today he had to fight with passion.
Only then could he gain a sliver of a chance to win.
With a tearing sound, a rip opened in the back of the black robe.
Accompanied by a stench, a pair of ugly gray fleshy wings sprouted from Chu Su’s back.
The white stones on the ground surged up, hurtling toward Xu Yourong. (To be continued.)