Legend of Fu Yao

Meng Fuyao smiled in return. “You too.”

The trio wandered around as the sky was quickly darkening. No one knew where they were. Technically, given the speed of the three people, no matter how precarious the road was, after such a long walk, they should have already gotten out of the Lingzhu Mountain. However, right now, it felt as though they were still circling around the same place.

Meng Fuyao collapsed onto the ground in dismay. “Let’s not walk anymore. Perhaps, if we stay here, we might be able to avoid some of the dangers,” she whined.

“No.” Shadow Blade pulled her up. “We must get out of here before Fog comes. Right now, she has merely set a formation, but when she is free to take action, it will be over for us in this disadvantageous environment.”

“How’s her martial arts?” asked Meng Fuyao. “Just based on her whimsical and erratic formation, it is enough for her to stand above the rest. Coupled with her skilled martial arts, who else would be able to compete against her? Why is she only the eighth out of the ten strongest?”

“Her natural talent is inadequate,” explained Shadow Blade. “Apparently Fog is also from Xuanyuan, and her parents were blood-related siblings… a taboo topic; barely anyone knows of it.” He carefully listened to the sounds of the wind. “We seem to have walked to somewhere near a river.”

Meng Fuyao sniffed the faint scent of water and heard indistinctive yells as weapons clashed against another. “A battle?” Meng Fuyao asked questioningly.

But Xuanyuan Min seemed to be focused on something else. “Ning Dai river? We reached the corners of the hunting grounds?”

The two had their attention on different things, but neither was wrong. Just as the last word was muttered, a ray of silver light flashed past. One could vaguely make up the shape of a person. His moves were swift, and as he advanced, he stirred up the surrounding mist. The mist graciously moved aside, creating a path as though a sharp blade had neatly cut it into half. Suddenly, a figure appeared amidst the fog.

Black hair and robe. Sleeves embroidered with fiery red flames. A stance ready to attack. A swift figure that contained no frivolous, extra actions, yet ever so imposing.

Meng Fuyao cried in surprise, “Zhan Beiye!”

But Zhan Beiye continued his move as though he didn’t hear her, the sword heading straight for her. With a murderous aura, the blade was now right in front of her face. Meng Fuyao could feel beads of cold sweat forming on her forehead, stumbling backward, shocked.

“Be careful!”

The one that yelled was Shadow Blade. He stood there, not moving an inch, but one of his hands had already wrapped around Meng Fuyao’s arms, holding onto her.

Meng Fuyao quickly stood up and accidentally kicked a pebble. She could vaguely hear the pebble rolling down the grassy slope and then falling into something – probably a cave. What followed was a series of strange sounds. She couldn’t figure out what was in the cave, but her instincts were screaming at her, telling her it wasn’t anything good.

Meng Fuyao was still badly shaken. She glanced over and realized that the mist had recovered and Zhan Beiye had disappeared.

Blankly, she sputtered out a question: “Illusion?”

“No, it’s a reflection,” said Shadow Blade. “He should be somewhere nearby, and that attack was probably for his enemy but was reflected in front of you by the mist.”

“How intriguing,” mumbled Meng Fuyao.

Suddenly, the wind picked up its speed and looking around, one could see a group of large, grey birds dispersing the mist as they flew low around the forest. With long and sharp beaks, they pecked the moment they bent down.

“Even you have come to bully me!” yelled Meng Fuyao, angry and amused at the same time. She turned, and all of a sudden, Destiny Rebellion was already in her hands. A ray of black light attacked the birds. Droplets of blood accompanied by soft, grey feathers filled the surroundings as it descended elegantly from the sky. The birds shrieked in fear, attempting to avoid death in a chaotic manner. But Destiny Rebellion was persistent in its pursuit, and wherever it passed, the new bird carcasses would appear on the ground.

Xuanyuan Min stared at the dagger, surprised. It was the first time he had seen Meng Fuyao taking action. He stared blankly at Destiny Rebellion, then, at Meng Fuyao in deep thought. Meng Fuyao didn’t seem to realize the oddity as she proudly recalled Destiny Rebellion. Suddenly, the expression on her face changed.

The birds had all fallen, but Destiny Rebellion had disappeared!

Then, she heard someone yelling for her.

That voice belonged to Zhan Beiye. Meng Fuyao responded to his call; she knew that they were all, oddly, interconnected, and that dagger of hers not only reflected but even made its way there. The unlucky emperor from Dahan had no calm and collected Shadow Blade and suddenly saw Meng Fuyao… this dagger… wouldn’t take his life, would it?

Worried, Meng Fuyao wanted to rush over to find him, but Shadow Blade stopped her. “The formation is changing too quickly. We can’t move forward anymore, nor can we touch anything. Ignore all illusions, calm down, and wait.”

Grudgingly, Meng Fuyao kicked a bird carcass. As she kicked, the mist dispersed, and suddenly, a figure entered her version. It was a pretty face, and she dressed in a colorful outfit. She was lying down on her stomach at the bottom of the “mountain of rocks” as she struggled to climb upwards. What was behind her was a dark, unfathomable abyss.

Meng Fuyao cried, “Zhu Zhu!” and reached out to pull her up. But as she reached her hand out, there was no one there, and instead, a slimy thing wrapped itself around Meng Fuyao’s wrist.

Meng Fuyao immediately smashed her hand onto the floor.

With a “kacha,” the snake made its escapade, but it was too late for Meng Fuyao. She could feel her wrist go numb, and upon a closer look, there were two pinhole-sized holes on her wrist.

“God damn!”

Meng Fuyao muttered harshly under her breath. Next, to her, Shadow Blade’s expression changed into a worried one. He grabbed her hand over and swiftly tore off a piece of his sleeve, tying it around the elbow to stop the poison from moving up. Without a word, he bent down to suck out the poison.

“I’ve got medicine!” exclaimed Meng Fuyao.

Shadow Blade ignored her and continued to spit out the blood with poison. He continued until the color of the blood lightened, and only then did he apply the medication on her wound. He then produced two green pills for both of them to swallow.

Meng Fuyao watched him and noticed that the corner of his lips seemed cracked – powerful poisons were able to create wounds instantly in one’s mouth.

Worried, Meng Fuyao asked, “Are you not going to fetch some water to rinse your mouth?”

Shadow Blade shook his head. “This is the time where we shouldn’t move. This formation is linked to our emotional state and now is, in fact, in its most pressing time.”

Meng Fuyao remained concerned. This poison seemed to be extremely pervasive in nature. Despite her fast reaction and Shadow Blade’s quick response, she had still shown symptoms of slight dizziness. In Shadow Blade’s case, he came in direct contact with the poison, and if he didn’t rinse his mouth, he would be in a very precarious situation.

Meng Fuyao could hear the sound of water flowing. Inferring that a water source was near, she got up in search of it.

“You are not allowed to go!” hollered Shadow Blade.

Without turning back, she responded, “Shut up!”

Shadow Blade turned red in anger. Xuanyuan Min looked curiously at him and then at her. Meng Fuyao was ready to set off when suddenly, Lord Yuan Bao scuttled out of her embrace and disappeared in an instant.

Shocked, Meng Fuyao called out anxiously, “Rat, rat-” She turned back and glanced at Xuanyuan Min. She had been unwilling to let the Xuanyuan family know of Lord Yuan Bao, and now the guinea pig had made its own appearance, most probably to get some water.

In a flash, the guinea pig disappeared. Since no one knew where it went, she could only wait for it at the same spot. Thankfully though, this guinea pig was a detector for danger.

‘… that should be useful in this formation?’ Meng Fuyao had little faith in this thought as she squatted there, sighing. Then, she remembered seeing Zhu Zhu. ‘She seemed to have fallen off a cliff? Which cliff? Got to find some way to save her. And Zhan Beiye, did I attack him? Ah… What a bunch of unlucky kids…’

With another flash, Lord Yuan Bao quickly ran back with a large piece of leaf in its claws. On the leaf, there was some liquid.

Elated, Meng Fuyao complimented Lord Yuan Bao. “Good rat!” she praised as she passed the liquid over to Shadow Blade. “Quickly rinse your mouth.”

Shadow Blade stared at the liquid with a frown. Meng Fuyao took a closer look and felt that this liquid was indeed a little murky. Even though they couldn’t tell the color of the liquid because of the leaf, it was clear that it was not water… it even had a strange smell.

‘Which muddy puddy did that rat collect water from?’

Seeing Shadow Blade’s unwillingness, Meng Fuyao raised her eyebrows as she began her lecture. “The rat, with the risk of losing its life, passed through so many obstacles—going through the fire, the rain of bullets. etc., before finally getting this precious water into your hands! And you actually dare not drink it? You really don’t appreciate your comrades enough, and you are letting down those who have sacrificed themselves for you… you are too…”

Shadow Blade looked up and poured the “water” into his mouth without a second thought.

He would rather drink the dirty water than listen to Meng Fuyao nag…

“That’s right, if you want to be the best of the best, you must suffer the bitterest of the bitter.” Meng Fuyao smiled happily.

Shadow Blade, on the other hand, gagged as he forced himself to rinse his mouth and turn around with a frown.

Meng Fuyao quietly turned over to the guinea pig. “… Sir, did you actually go and collect water? What the heck is that liquid?”

Lord Yuan Bao squatted on her shoulders with its mouth clamped shut.

‘I wouldn’t tell you, I’ll have you know that this is very precious too, it clears out internal heat and detoxifies!’

Lord Yuan Bao revealed a wretched expression…

The trio sat on the floor as they listened to the odd sounds in the surroundings. From afar, no one knew who Fog was fighting against, and despite the formation, they could feel the imposing aura.

Meng Fuyao looked up at the sky, and above the mist, she could vaguely see the shiny stars scattered across the sky. At this point in time, the thick fog made it impossible to see the stars clearly, but the light that the stars emitted could still be seen. From here, one could deduce the brightness of the stars. Meng Fuyao seemed to have seen a similar scene but couldn’t recall anything about it.

The fog dispersed and Zhan Beiye appeared once again. Jokingly, Meng Fuyao reached her hand out and demanded, “Return the dagger to me!”

With a blink of an eye, Zhan Beiye vanished. Meng Fuyao kept her hand, and this time, she saw Ya Lanzhu. She was still climbing with much difficulty, and for an instant, Meng Fuyao noticed that there was something on top of the cliff she was climbing. Then, the scene disappeared.

Meng Fuyao frowned. This revolving scenes and cliffhangers were certainly making her anxious. Fog’s formation was certainly unparalleled. Even without personally fighting, she could make use of the surroundings to attack them. The ones that were trapped in here, which of them wasn’t an elite? But even so, they were all rendered powerless against a bunch of grass, rocks, and trees.

She enquired Shadow Blade about the surrounding cliffs and described the place that Ya Lanzhu was in. After contemplating, Shadow Blade replied, “There are three cliffs that resemble what you’ve just described. But we are not even sure of where we are, how are we going to find her?”

Meng Fuyao was exasperated as she stomped her foot. She prayed that Zhu Zhu would be safe and thought about how the strength of the ten strongest had stemmed from their ability to hack the laws of nature. Her being able to reach the sixth level of “Cleaving Nine Heavens” made her one of the top fighters in the martial arts scene. But right now, at this place, she was beaten at every step of the way. No matter how she trained, at the most important moment, her inner energy would always get stuck… If she could not reach this level, even if she were to have all the power and authority in the human realm, what rights did she have to go over the Evergreen Shrine?