Lie Huo Jiao Chou Volume 2 Chapter 35

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Sheng Lingyuan looked deep into his eyes: "You are covering for me?"

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　　In the end, Xuan Ji crashed because of the over-excessive weight. His immoble wings pulled along numerous artificial leaves, and a bunch of people landed in a way that couldn't be rougher. Not only did they crack some rocks, some comrades with good elasticity bounced a couple times on the ground.

　　No matter whether it was the 'emperor,' 'general,' or 'good guys and girls,' all were rolling on the ground.

　　"Ah! I just changed to a new phone and it's cracked again!"

　　"Where did the car key fly off? It's a government vehicle."

　　"Who put an iron ball on the car key? Are you sick? Is your head a heart shape... Ow, how did hair got tangled here?"

　　Sheng Lingyuan's clothes which were made from dried vines were ripped by Ping Qianru's zippers, almost rendering him bare. Luckily, Luo Cuicui was growing out a bunch of devil's ivy that he could somewhat use to cover his body. His hair was tangled onto Xuan Ji's wings, creating a complicated Chinese knot, and these two people, one couldn't retract his wings, and one couldn't pull back his hair.

　　Bixia seemed like he didn't have the strength to get mad. With his strange looking clothes, he sat down on the ground like an environment protection ambassador and expressionlessly waited for Xuan Ji to untangle his hair... and turned his back against the mithril bullets that were as white as snow on the mountain. 

　　The mithril bullet's huge energy and the burning true fire crashed into each other. The mountain ridge suddenly made a cracking noise, and the ground started to shake.

　　Next, with a boom!, the altar in the middle of the mountain ridge started to fall down, numerous skeletons and carefully crafted columns turned into dust, the whistling of the wind was mingled with sorrowful cries.

　　On the mountain, the paper trees collapsed unceremoniously and fell down in everyone's direction. As people started fleeing, Xuan Ji had no way to separate himself from Sheng Lingyuan, so under this situation, he had to open his wings and cover both of them underneath.

　　As the noise around them subsided, Xuan Ji heard from Sheng Lingyuan's mind a lot of noises but couldn't distinguish the contents. It was like he was trying hard to suppress millions of thoughts and concerns, and the outer consciousness only mechanically counted numbers.

　　Right now, it was as if they were truly alone from the world. Xuan Ji's wings were opened, and Bixia's hair was tangled on it, so he had to tilt his head and almost slammed against the wings.

　　Sheng Lingyuan's lips were dry and so pale they looked transparent. His lips were pale without blood, yet there were blood stains, making people think of the mythological 'mermaid lamp*' — the murky mermaid fat was roasted by fire, and the translucent lamp oil reflected the cold sparks lit up at the wick. It was unable to be extinguished, said to last for thousands of years.

*鲛人 (jiaoren) are the mermaids of Chinese mythology. When they weep, their tears transform into pearls, and their oil can keep a lamp burning for a thousand years.

　　Their minds were connected, and as soon as Xuan Ji thought about this, Sheng Lingyuan also heard it. While Bixia had a mouth that could fool people either dead or alive, he couldn't even respond to this, so he had to quietly wipe away the blood on his lips and chin.

　　Embarrassing...

　　Xuan Ji quickly looked away: "It's because this position is too odd, so that slaps right at my eyes."

　　Sheng Lingyuan stopped for a moment, then formed his fingers into a knife and cut the hair that was tangled on Xuan Ji's wings.

　　Xuan Ji didn't expect to have his wings freed. For a second, he fell backward, at the same time, he couldn't help but think: "Didn't you say that 'hair and body come from parents', and it was a taboo for ancient people to cut their hair?"

　　The words 'parents' flashed through Sheng Lingyuan's mind and he smiled coldly, but also suppressed it as soon as it rose.

　　At this moment, the earthquake stopped momentarily, Sheng Lingyuan reached out to lift Xuan Ji's wings up, waved his hand at the paper trees and turned around to briefly look at the shaman tribe altar. While he wasn't sure who did this, but the rats that hit randomly from the dark may not have been a bad thing.

　　At least with the collapse of the shaman tribe altar, all the dangerous incantations inside would explode with it.

　　"So..." Gu Yuexi struggled to crawl out and broke the silence while the fear was still strong, "Director Xuan, what's under the mountain foot?"

　　Everyone looked at each other after surviving the disaster, Xuan Ji glanced at Sheng Lingyuan, feeling that it wouldn't be right to talk about the truth about the shaman tribe.

　　He knew Sheng Lingyuan had 'heard' him, but the other was completely unresponsive and still continued counting like usual. He had counted all the way to over thirteen thousand.

　　Xuan Ji had become an expert in 'reading between the lines'. He only stopped for a moment before realizing that Sheng Lingyuan being 'uncaring' was a kind of a quiet agreement... He even had a feeling that Sheng Lingyuan would announce to the world about the history of Dongchuan and the shaman tribe, if not he wouldn't have let Xuan Ji see so many of Aluojin's memories.

　　Judging from this old man's personality, if he didn't want to reveal the secret, he would have killed Xuan Ji inside the shaman tribe grave.

　　But... if that was the case, then why were the shaman tribe people erased from history?

　　Gu Yuexi then pointed at Yang Chao: "Also, what did he do? He cried so hard, I feel like water is drained from him... Hey young man, what's wrong with you?"

　　"I don't... don't know...," Yang Chao was half dead as he kneeled on the ground and sobbed, then squeezed out his words like a string of air,  "I'm very pained... uncomfortable..."

　　"You all, I also have a million of 'why' questions, but I feel like for things like this, we should flee first. After we come back, we can talk," Team Leader Wang took out a fiery red feather from his head, "Bird... Director Xuan? Is this your suspect?"

　　He pointed at Sheng Lingyuan, Sheng Lingyuan lifted his eyes to glance at him, and Team Leader Wang for some reason trembled a little and curled his finger back.

　　Sheng Lingyuan already counted to a fourteen thousand when a thought interrupted his mind, thinking: "Koi fish."

　　Xuan Ji: "..."

　　Who could have guessed, this old senior who was tough and strong like this had such a lucky and auspicious bloodline.

　　"Not the suspect. Something unexpected happened, and the suspect died down there, it is a long story." Xuan Ji waved his hand then turned around to look at Sheng Lingyuan, "About him..."

　　Sheng Lingyuan looked down, his smile faint as he circled his arms on his chest.

　　He clearly wore dry vines as clothes and some devil's ivy as a supplement for some torn pieces, yet as he was standing there, there still seemed to be an emperor's robe on his body, and a snap between his fingers could command the atmosphere of Jiuzhou.

　　"He is..." Xuan Ji's mind went through several circles. For some reasons, the words Aluojin had said before he died still lingered in his mind. Then, he hazily remembered the person that was struck by lightning on the roof and the sacrificial writing which filled the ground. Those who were able to witness it felt fear, yet that person was nonchalant about it. He had said 'I have always hated getting bound by anyone', thus would rather be struck down by Heavenly Thunder than to give in.

　　Xuan Ji's words had reached his mouth, yet he changed his mind: "My sword spirit."

　　Sheng Lingyuan looked at him in surprise.

　　Team Leader Wang: "What do you mean?"

　　Was this Director Xuan an otaku who was into those games, animes, and manhuas?

　　"Sword spirit." Xuan Ji quickly organized a story in his mind and spoke without flaws, "My sword is handed down within the family, it's an antique. I thought that maybe one of these days, if I don't have enough food, I will just post it online and sell it. But then, last time, when I came into contact with the sacrificial writing on Chiyuan, I... became too much of a leader and stood a bit close to the lightning. Somehow those eighty-something lightnings interacted with my antique sword and its energy reacted... Then, a sword spirit appeared."

　　Everyone was beyond shocked.

　　"Let's not talk about it," Xuan Ji sighed, "Out of everyone, he has to look like that great devil that was hit by lightning, it's terrifying."

　　Sheng Lingyuan looked deep into his eyes: "You are covering for me?"

　　"Shh," Xuan Ji quickly shared a glance with him, "You may not be afraid of getting imprisoned in the laboratory and being watched 24/7, but I'm afraid of your mass killing. Cooperate, don't cause trouble."

　　"He knows everything and is very good at ancient history," Xuan Ji turned to Team Leader Wang and the bunch again, saying, "He also remembers a lot of lost old incantations, just that his Mandarin right now isn't too good... and he also has a terrible personality. You all have no need to feel offended by him, he's ancient, yes, please have some mercy."

　　"Completely rational by itself? So cool!" Team Leader Wang, who was related to the same family with koi fish eight hundred years ago, curiously looked at Sheng Lingyuan. 　　　　While it was rare, in some strong families, there were cases of 'Special Ability' weapons that were passed down, but some people disliked getting poked about this, so he only complimented a bit then politely looked away and introduced himself, "I'm the leader of Fengshen I, Old Wang —— Wang Ze. I was ordered by Director Xiao to come here and pick you all up... We prepared a helicopter so that must have caught that bastard Lord Yue De's attention, fucking hell, they have mithril bullets at that! I have never touched mithril bullets before!"

　　Xuan Ji: "About the mithril bullets, don't forget to tell Old Xiao. If the suspicion is proved to be true, these people make money through robbing people's graves. Right now, we're not only investigating them, but also ruining their reputation, so them going nuts is expected."

　　Wang Ze took out his phone and wanted to contact Xiao Zheng when he realized his phone screen had broken into a spider web after a 'rough landing'. He was so heartbroken that he had to breathe out, gritted his teeth, and looked up: "Say, right now, just set other businesses aside, let's go beat that old man up. Director Xuan, what do you say?"

　　'Mithril bullets' and 'true fire' clashed into each other, their interaction creating an effect of an explosion on the mountain. Not only did it force the experienced field workers away from the mountain, it also startled those that hid in the dark and fired shots. Some who were slow were buried under the mountain.

　　"What's happening? Why is the earthquake so bad?"

　　"The mountain is collapsing, run!"

　　The old man in traditional suit basically didn't go up on the mountain, as soon as he saw something wasn't right, he was already on the car to flee.

　　"Shi-Shi-Shifu, did we just explode the forbidden land?" The driver disciple pressed on the gas up to the point that the car was bouncing as he spoke in horror, "It-it won't be a big problem?"

　　The old man's back was drenched in a cold sweat, he had experienced a lot, thus he was more sensitive than those half-assed disciples. Earlier, when the mountain collapsed, he could somewhat hear a bizarre wind carrying a faint sense of resentment and anger.

　　What the hell was that thing?

　　Sometimes, those who played tricks about the supernatural were the most susceptible to these things.

　　The old man faked a brave appearance and glared at the disciple: "Shut up, how could there be any problem? Those were mithril bullets, even the mountain collapsed, even if the Monkey King is on the mountain foot, everything would be turned to dust! I don't believe it, even devils have to be afraid of nuclear bombs! Besides, are there no devils on this earth? There are so many who do bad deeds, even if there's karma, it shouldn't be on us, give me the phone!"

　　After the old man in grey traditional suit spoke, he grabbed the phone and texted Lord Yue De who was at the Penglai Conference: "Shifu, everything is cleaned up."

　　Lord Yue De didn't respond.

　　At this time, while everyone was arguing in Penglai Conference, a group of high level Deviant Control officers barged in —— Director Huang was a normal person, if someone placed something minor on him, he wouldn't notice it, so usually while he went out, he would have a group of experienced field workers coming with him as security guards.

　　The security guards had no right to be in the conference room. Grandma Yu lifted a thin brow: "Director Huang, what does Deviant Control Office mean by this?"

　　"We're following the rules," a team leader stood before Director Huang, "Sorry to interrupt, Grandma Yu, after this is done we will come to your house to apologize. Just now I received reports from support workers at Dongchuan, some pointed out and confirmed that Lord Yue De and his disciples used illegal means for fraud and stole from the citizens. He also garnered worshippers in the local areas..."

　　Lord Yue De just got the news from his disciples, yet he didn't have time to read before slamming the door to stand up: "You're talking nonsense!"

　　The team leader coldly said: "I am only relaying the message, you're not convicted, we need you to cooperate with the investigation."

　　Lord Yue De's seat was next to Grandma Yu, he knew his position was high above and couldn't withstand this type of treatment and became furious: "You dare..."

　　Grandma Yu stretched her hand to stop him then sat up from her chairwoman seat. On her kind old face, her eyes were like daggers: "This comrade, you can come back to relay the message, but how is it appropriate to barge into the Penglai Conference? The emperor's guards in the past didn't dare to be so arrogant —— doing as you please, this is not following the rules and is quite disrespectful to everyone here."

　　The air in the conference room became tense.

　　Someone then said: "Isn't this Deviant Control Office bunch too comical: finding some ordinary person to be in charge, the underlings work in chaos, and now you even want to arrest people at Penglai Conference. In the future, will you be barging into people's houses?"

　　Lord Yue De opened the disciple's message under the table, his mind calmed down and deleted the conversation history: "This old face doesn't have anything to hide, if you want to arrest me, then do it. Do so many things in front of your seniors, what do you want to show off? Do you have evidence?"

　　At this moment, on the highway in the outskirts of Dongchuan, the old man in a traditional suit was waiting for his Shifu's response when he was suddenly pushed forward by the sudden brake.

　　The old man angrily said: "Do you want to die?"

　　"Shifu..." The driver turned around fearfully, "There... there..."

　　In the middle of the road, he saw a bunch of dummies made from grass and straws holding hands and preventing the cars from passing.

　　The street lights on both sides haven't been bright since a long time now, making people feel like the eye positions on the dummies reflected the flickering a small fire, and in the dark of the night it looked exceptionally creepy. Within a hundred meter distance, one could even hear them chattering, whispering, and laughing.

　　The driver couldn't help but think of all the myths about the 'prohibited area', and urine started pooling at his lower body.

　　Right after that, those dummies seemed to 'see' them and suddenly stopped talking, and the surrounding became dead silent.

　　Then, from somewhere came a sound of an owl's laughter, and those dummies suddenly moved —— they didn't walk or jump, but instead 'teleported' a few meters forward, like those classic horror movies in the past!

　　"When Xiao Zhang pinches the clock, their time will stop for a second, and we will push the dummies forward." Xuan Ji gave out a risky bad idea and ordered sneakily on the side, "then when time speeds up twice, we'll stop. The timing has to be perfect, or else the special effect will be wrong."

　　Sheng Lingyuan couldn't understand it: "What's a special effect?"

　　"Listen to me, I grew up watching horror movies."

　　Sheng Lingyuan seriously couldn't understand, this ancient Bixia wasn't familiar with modern day's horror movies' scripts, so he didn't know what these were for. But in this little topic, he was more comfortable to talk... But maybe because they worked together earlier, and Xuan Ji helped him hide his identity, so now he was more cooperative.

　　Those dummies who had human energy kept flashing as they moved forward, closer and closer, the driver had already been scared shitless, he was crazily trying to move backwards on the empty mountain road and crashed into the disciples who just caught up.

　　The old man's hips were almost broken from the crash as he yelled: "Useless! What are you running from? The mithril bullets!"

Chapter end