The man from Li’ze Palace immediately whistled, slowly recalled the python. It still looked a little reluctant, and circled twice around Chu Lei and Dianjing Valley disciple twice, flicked its tongue, and finally slithered away, towards its master’s body, and finally slowly sunk into the shadow of his feet, without a trace.
That person slowly arched his hand, said in a rambling voice, “I have offended, please forgive me.”
Chu Lei can’t help but be silent for a long time, turned back to look at that terrified Dianjing Valley disciple, whispered: “Can you continue?” That person’s jaw was stammering, simply unable to say a word, looking as if he was about to faint. Chu Lei secretly sighed, clapped his hands and said aloud: “Li’ze Palace won!”
The clamor from the wooden buildings rose higher than a wave. Some praised, others were lambasting the Li’ze Palace for breaking the rules, most are curious about where such a behemoth was hidden on that person. Yu Sifeng sat back in bewilderment, his heart uncertain. He had never known anyone in the young disciples’ generation who could raise such a large spirit beast! The python looks to be nearly 500 years old, can a young disciple subdue it?
When someone grabbed his arm, Linglong’s excited voice rang out in his ears, “Oh my God! Sifeng! You have such a powerful figure in Li’ze Palace! The python he has is so powerful! Your Xiao Yinhua is not even close to it!”
Obviously, Xiao Yinhua curled up in his sleeve was very dissatisfied with Linglong’s words and struggled to stretch out her head, hissing viciously at her.
“Yo, you little snake can still get angry!” Linglong saw it was very cute and couldn’t help but laugh and make a face at it. Zhong Minyan was nearly in tears and said, “You are so childish, why are you fighting with it?”
On the opposite side of the eastern ring, the disciple of the Dianjing Valley was carried off the stone pillar because he had passed out. The expressions of several elders from the Dianjing were not good, because the loss was really too embarrassing. Elder Jiang, who was younger and more aggressive in the Valley, even said, “Li’ze Palace is really talented, bringing such a big spirit beast to the stage, are they going to fight for their lives?” Elder Heng Song on the side gently pulled his sleeve, but he pretended not to notice it.
The Grand Master of the Li’ze Palace seemed not to hear his words, but the Deputy Master giggled and said, “My disciple was rude, I’ll apologize to all of you on his behalf. It’s his first time to participate in this kind of competition, inevitably nervous, but fortunately did not kill anyone, compared with that Wu Tong back then, really lucky.”
He mentioned Wu Tong, obviously to embarrass Dianjing Valley. Back then, Wu Tong was a disciple of the Dianjing Valley. He had committed a crime, was wanted by the five sects, and eventually became part of a demon gang, the most humiliated person was Elder Jiang, not others.
He said sternly, “You say so, is ……
Before he finished his words, Master Rong Gu bellowed, “Elder Jiang! The competition is not over yet!”
He swallowed back his last words, and his face was blue. Master Rong Gu said indifferently, “Your sect has many talents, which is really enviable. However, the Zanhua Tournament is meant to be a sparring match, not a fight against the enemy. The two masters of the Palace should pay attention to the fact that such a big spirit beast will inevitably cause casualties.”
The Grand Palace Master still did not say anything, only the Deputy Palace Master laughed and said, “Master Rong Gu is right, I will teach him not to use the spirit beast until it is absolutely necessary.”
The words were not sincere, and even a well-mannered Rong Gu master couldn’t help but feel the fire in his heart, so he hummed softly and said nothing more.
The first day of the competition was soon over, half of the people were swept away, and only six of the ten disciples of the Shao Yang Sect were left to compete. However, Fuyu Island took advantage of the terrain, leaving eight people in the competition. In the evening, the young people got together to celebrate Xuanji’s passing the first level, and naturally, they had a lot to eat and drink. Of course, young people gathered together to chat and laugh, there is no need to say more, but Xuanji sometimes thinks of winning inexplicably against Du Minxing. Still a little uncomfortable.
On the way back to the guest room, Téngshé unexpectedly did not speak and was silent. Xuanji was quite unaccustomed to this appearance, and couldn’t help but say, “Do you … uh, do you like the dishes on the island?”
Téngshé suddenly returned to his senses and nodded quickly, “It’s very good! Quite delicious! After the conference, can I pack some food to take away?”
Xuanji laughed dryly, “Yes, yes … but, it will be rotten after two days if you take it away.”
Seeing that Téngshé seemed to be worried, she asked, “What are you thinking? It’s rare that you have something on your mind too.”
Téngshé tsked, “What nonsense are you talking about? How can the gods have all your little thoughts and ideas?”
“Then why do you look so preoccupied?”
Téngshé frowned and hesitated for a moment before saying: “I seem …… to smell a familiar smell. I’ve smelled it before, but I can’t remember whose …… it is.”
Xuanji wondered, “You are saying that there are demons on the island? I’m not sure if it’s because Uncle Dongfang has opened up the control card and let people in, so there are demons mixed in?”
Téngshé shook his head and groaned, “Not the crowd … I’m going to go for a walk around the martial arts arena, do you want to follow?”
“Which martial arts arena will be used at this late hour?” Xuanji looked at the sky and it was almost sān gēng[1]. “Its the same if you go again tomorrow. The demon you know is not a bad guy, so why are you in a hurry?”
Téngshé is not interested in her, and he was going to leave, saying, “You are so stupid, haven’t you heard that it is good to work in the dark and wind? If you don’t want to go, I’ll go myself, don’t follow!”
Xuanji hurriedly chased after him, “I want to go too! You’re a reckless beast, if anything happens again, it’s me, the master, who will be embarrassed!”
“Yuck! Don’t put gold on your face![2]“
The two of them walked and fought with each other, until they reached the martial arts arena. Even at night, the arena was patrolled by numerous guards to prevent anyone from tampering with the ring in their desire to win. Téngshé seemed to not recognize the way, and from time to time he looked up and sniffed with his nose, following closely. Xuanji was so dizzy that she tugged on his sleeve and whispered, “Hey! Where the hell are you going? If people find out, it will be ugly!”
“Who told you to follow me? Get out of here!” Téngshé shook off her hand and went to the left to sniff, and suddenly found something, raised his eyebrows and ran.
“Wait!” Xuanji hurriedly followed and saw him running towards a huge platform behind the ring in the north, where a circle of disciples from the Fuyu Island were guarding. With the way he was running, sooner or later he would be discovered. She suddenly remembered something and touched the small leather pouch at her waist, and suddenly she had an idea.
“Téngshé!” She whispered, and when he was impatient, she threw him a small bottle, “Move fast, Go up and drop the contents on the faces of those people.”
Téngshé looked down and saw a thumb-sized crystal bottle with half a bottle of translucent water on his palm, and after a gentle sniff, he immediately sneezed several times and rubbed his nose, “Great! This is what they call mortal drugs?”
Xuanji saw that the people above seemed to notice that something was wrong here, so she gave him a push and said in a low voice, “Go!”
Téngshé was not willing to back down from such a fun event, and with a click of his toes, he flew up to the high platform in the blink of an eye. The people only heard the noise from above, but fainted before finishing a single sentence. After a while, Téngshé poked his head out of the hig platform and whistled softly to her. Xuanji smiled and ran up, but saw a dozen disciples from Fuyu Island collapsed on the high platform. She felt guilty and arched her hand at them.
“What is this?” Téngshé said strangely.
Xuanji turned her head and followed his eyes. It turned out that there was nothing else on this high platform except a huge cage, which was brought by the Deputy Master of Li’ze Palace that day. The cage was covered with a black cloth, covered very tightly, and the edges seemed to be nailed with iron wire, so she doesn’t know what was hidden inside.
The two of them walked up to the cage, and Téngshé knocked it with his hand, then sniffed it with his nose and said in a deep voice: “This is it! The smell inside is very familiar! I want to see what it contains.
When Xuanei saw that he raised his hand to tear the black cloth, she hurriedly stopped him, “Don’t rush! I remember now! I remembered that every time a Zanhua Conference is held, the flowers must be picked, this must be the ones that were picked! Don’t make a mess.”
“Picking flowers?”
“The Zanhua Conference is not only for the disciples of the different sects to compete. Even if you win, there is an arrangement to fight with the demons prepared by the elders in advance, and only if they win can they be eligible to get the peony flowers pinned, which are the hairpins[3]. I think this cage must be the demon they caught, if accidentally released, the scene will be difficult to clean up.”
Téngshé grunted and laughed coldly, “You mortals like to think nonsense, All the demons and monsters in the whole world are against you mortals, all must be killed in one swoop, to kill them cleanly! The demons are living well, so what is in your way? What?”
After that, he suddenly used his hand, there was a tearing sound, and he tore a hole in the black cloth. Xuanji stomped her feet in a hurry, and raised her hand to grab his hair and drag him away. Suddenly someone in the cage whispered, the voice was very tende and charming, very familiar.
Both of them were dumbfounded, and Téngshé said in a strange way, “Woman?! Not a demon?”
Just after he finished speaking, he saw a snow-white slender hand poking out from the opening,, and the charming voice murmured, “This voice …… you, are you Xuanji?”
Xuanji was taken aback, rushed forward, pulled out Beng Yu and cut all the black cloth apart, and saw a woman in purple leaning against the railing and looking at herself, the eyebrows, the appearance, it was actually the purple fox!
“Xuanji!” Zi’hu shouted, followed by tears flowing out, and said, “I thought you had died in the Buzhou Mountain! Oh my God, you are still alive, right? No one has died, right?”
Xuanji’s mind was in turmoil, she couldn’t understand how the purple fox could be locked in the cage, she said urgently, “I, we are fine! But you! How did you end up here? Who caught you?”
Zihu wiped away her tears and said hatefully, “It’s that strange Deputy Master of the Palace! My candle flame was extinguished by him! He said he wanted me to be the flower …… that was plucked, and then he kept me in this cage. I’m sorry! I think he is a pervert! Xuanji, you must help me take revenge for this!”
She cried very poorly.
Xuanji said in surprise, “It’s the Deputy Palace Master?! Sure enough …… I think he is not a good person! Don’t be anxious, I will let you out right away!” She drew out Beng Yu and slashed towards the cage with a loud noise. Sparks flew everywhere, her hand was slightly numb, yet the cage didn’t move, she didn’t know what material it was made of.
Zi’hu whispered, “Don’t bother, this cage is made of iron from the sky[4] and is under a spell that locks up my demon power, so it can’t move.”
Xuanji cut a few more times, but it did not work. She said anxiously, “How strange, if I had known it was you in the cage, I would have come to save you earlier! But how come I can’t smell your demonic aura?”
Zi’hu raised her wrist to her eyes, snow-white wrist, nailed with a black bead, deeply embedded in her wrist bone, can not move. She choked, “This is the damn thing! As soon as I put it on, I lost my demonic energy! Look, how can I get it off? It’s so ugly!”
When Xuanji saw the bead, her heart was moved, she felt as if she had seen it somewhere, but for a moment she couldn’t remember what it was. She said in a low voice, “Don’t worry, I’ll burn it if I can’t cut the cage! She turned back to the cage and called out, “Please, burn the cage!”
Téngshé had not yet been able to respond, but heard Zi’hu cry out and tremble, “You …… are Lord Téngshé?”
Téngshé fixedly looked at her, and said in doubt, “I was wondering if you knew me? I seem to know you too, but …… can’t remember, you used to …… be like this?”
Zi’hu said with tears in her eyes, “I was just a small fox, not a human being.”
“Ah! It’s you!” Téngshé finally remembered, “The fox is that fox! The fox that followed Wu Zhi Qi’s ass all day long!”
Zihu trembled and said, “It’s me …… I never thought I’d meet Lord Téngshé here. I …… have a question for you, is Wu Zhi Qi …… doing well?”
Téngshé frowned and said, “You ask me, who do I ask? Anyway, he should still be lingering in the underworld and half alive!
Zi’hu shed tears and choked up, “I …… have to go to the underworld to see him!”
“You are really infatuated, that guy Wu Zhi Qi never knows how to pity and cherish the jade, so don’t be obsessed. The lust will mislead his cultivation. After his punishment in the netherworld is over, he will still have a chance to ascend to the Tao. How can he practice if he is entangled by you like this?”
Zi’hu said anxiously, “I am not haunting him …… I just …… want to see him doing well, I am relieved ……”
Téngshé made a ‘tch’ sound and muttered, “This is not stalking?” He gripped the iron bars of the cage and said in a deep voice: “You step back, I’ll burn the damn thing to a crisp. It’s not easy for them to get the heavenly iron!”
Zi’hu took a few steps back and said gratefully, “I will definitely repay the kindness of saving my life today!”
“What reward?” Téngshé’s palm lit up with a bright red fire, and in an instant, an iron bar burned red and was broken off with a gentle break.
“But why is Lord Téngshé here ……? Xuanji, do you know him?” Zi’hu realised that the two of them seem to be acquainted with each other, so she is very curious.
Téngshé flushed immediately, and unable to give a reason, screamed fiercely, “Why do you speak so much?! Shut up!” Xuanji smiled and said, “Oh, you don’t know yet, Zi’hu. Téngshé has become my spirit beast ……” Before she finished speaking, Téngshé threw the broken iron bar at her and shouted, “You’ll die if you don’t say a few words, you stinky girl!”
“A spirit beast?!” Zi’hu looked at the two of them in disbelief, but suddenly remembered that Xuanji was a special person, so it was not strange to accept Téngshé as a spirit beast, so she nodded and said, “That’s really …… uh, congratulations ……” She saw Téngshé’s fierce and fierce look and was so scared that she swallowed the rest of her words.
Seeing that Tengshe had been busy for a long time and had only removed two iron bars, Xuanji urged, “Can you hurry up? If someone finds out, we’ll be out of luck!”
Téngshé looked up and was about to retort when he suddenly froze and let his hand fall from the cage, turning his head to look at something.
“You know this is a big mistake, but you are really bold!” A low voice suddenly sounded behind him, Xuanji was taken aback and hurriedly turned to see Chu Lei standing behind with a gloomy face.
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[1] : 三更 (sān gēng) – a unit of time, specifically the unit used to measure time during the night in ancient china. sān gēng literally translates as 3rd Rotation or Watch, with each gēng being 2 . 4 hours long. (2 hours 24 minutes). The yi gēng (first/initial watch) started at 19:12 (07:12PM) according to the modern time measurement. So sān gēng would be the time between Midnight (12AM) and 2:24 AM. Here is more information on Traditional Chinese Timekeeping
[2] : Don’t think too highly of yourself.
[3] : Zanhua Tournament translates as Flower Hairpin Tournament, if someone wins against the demon, they would be awarded a peony flower hairpin as a mark of their victory.
[4] : Most probably a meteorite. As it translates both as Iron from the sky, and iron from heaven.
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