Chapter 73: Chapter 30 Ting Nu
The second installnt.
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Xuanji followed the secret passage for less than a quarter of an hour when she suddenly realized there was no way forward; what she felt was a thick stone wall. Strange, could this secret passage actually be a dead end created to confuse the eye?
She was not willing to give up and groped around the stone wall, her fingertips suddenly touched a protrusion—upon reaching higher, it turned out to be a black iron candlestick. Her master had once said that if one encountered a dead end, one should pay more attention to one’s surroundings and push things with one’s hands; perhaps a new path might be discovered.
She tugged hard at the candlestick downwards—no response; she pushed it upwards—still no response.
It turned out that what her master had said was not always right. Xuanji slumped against the stone wall, feeling that the secret passage was dark and unlit, ominously chilling and quite terrifying. She took out a flint from her bosom and lit the candlestick, thankfully it still had so oil left to burn.
Who would have known that just as the oil lamp was lit, a "clack" sound ca from behind, as if sothing had opened up. Xuanji hurriedly turned around, only to see a crack opening in the opposite stone wall; it appeared that the candlestick chanism was triggered by fire, and as long as the candlestick was lit, the chanism would be unlocked.
Without delay, fearing that Si Feng and the others might encounter an accident if taken by the demon for too long, Xuanji imdiately slipped into the side passage. She hadn’t gone far before a light appeared in front of her, and the surroundings suddenly beca bright as if she were in a cave, where stalactites dripped water and the underground springs were crystal clear, faintly emitting a soft bioluminescence.
She heard the sound of water babbling ahead and quickened her pace. There was a large rock obstructing the path at just the right mont, and, anxious in her heart, she did not bother to look where she stepped and lightly leaped, crossing over the accumulated water on the ground, flipping past it.
With a "splash," she failed to check in ti; it turned out there was a large pool of underground spring water behind the rock, and she accidentally fell into the water, soaking her lower half. The spring water was ice-cold to the bone, and even though Xuanji was protected by the Yang Que Technique, she still shivered from the cold.
Suddenly, there was a disturbance in the water ahead, as if soone was surfacing from beneath. Xuanji, thinking it was Zi Hu who had noticed her, imdiately grasped her sword and concentrated her power, staring warily ahead, ready to strike as soon as the enemy erged.
The pale blue surface of the water rippled more and more, and with a "splash," a snow-white figure leaped from the water, gently swaying in mid-air. The huge fish tail, like a white veil, flicked once before falling back into the pool, splashing countless droplets.
Xuanji was startled. Was that a person or a huge fish?
While she was still perplexed, she heard a voice ahead murmuring, "How did you co here?"
The voice was sowhat hoarse and gruff, even unpleasant to the ear, and the speech was sowhat muffled and unclear, not sounding like an accent from the Central Plains.
Imdiately after, a figure suddenly surfaced on the water, with pitch-black hair like seaweed, tangled down to the waist, pale skin, and eyes of the palest green. Those long, narrow, and deep eyes were now tenderly gazing at her, filled with affection and joy.
"Ah! It’s you! You—" Xuanji cried out, pointing at his nose, unable to finish her sentence.
It was him! The pearl incident! rfolk!
Xuanji clumsily swam to him from the water, grabbing his icy hand, and shouted in a rush: "How have you been? It’s been so long... How, how did you get here? That fox demon..."
The rman smiled slightly, holding her hand and said softly, "And you?"
"I... well, I..." Xuanji was about to tell him what had happened, but then she felt sothing amiss and pointed at his nose again, exclaiming, "You can talk now!"
He still smiled, droplets falling like pearls from his long lashes. His body exuded an ethereal beauty that only demons possessed, a type of allure that intoxicated and captivated.
"I..." Xuanji suddenly forgot what she was going to say.
"My na is Ting Nu." He said softly, "You can call
Ting Nu."
It turned out that the rfolk also had nas. She smiled at him slightly, about to catch up on old tis, when she suddenly thought of Si Feng and the others, who had been abducted by Zi Hu, and her face fell imdiately. She sighed, "Ting Nu, I have urgent matters to attend to. We can chat another ti. I’m looking for that fox demon, she has abducted Sixth Brother and Si Feng."
Ting Nu said indifferently, "I know. She is a demon who practices Yang and Yin."
Xuanji finally sorted out her thoughts and asked, "How do you know that? And why are you here? Were you captured by her as well?"
Ting Nu shook his head and said in a raw tone, "She is undertaking a grand endeavor and forced
to help her. When I refused, she imprisoned
here."
"What grand endeavor?"
Ting Nu pondered for a while and then said, "Let’s not talk about that now. You must have co across her unintentionally. She has been in desperate need of replenishing her power. When encountering Cultivators, she is even less willing to let them go. If we do not hurry to rescue them, I fear it will be too late."
Upon hearing this, Xuanji beca anxious and turned to continue the search but was gently held back by him. He whispered, "You... do you not rember anything?"
Rember what? She looked at him, confused.
Ting Nu gazed at her quietly, with that familiar look, as if they had known each other a long, long ti ago, having crossed countless years to et here once more.
"With your ability, how could she..." Ting Nu sighed softly and gripped her hand, "Don’t be anxious. Focus your mind and close your eyes, search carefully, and you will find them."
"I don’t..." Xuanji ant to object, but upon seeing his gaze, she found herself speechless and complied by closing her eyes and focusing.
After a while, she suddenly beca aware of various noises filling the previously silent cave, the slight ripples of water, the soft breaths of Ting Nu opposite her, and even the moss on the cave walls silently stretching.
Who are you looking for?
A voice inside her seed to be asking.
She needed to find Sixth Brother, Si Feng, Ruo Yu... and that powerful Zi Hu.
As if instinctively, she gently raised her right hand as if to grasp sothing, and in a flash, her consciousness gathered, passing through the stone wall, over countless corridors, seeing through the a thin muslin curtain. The person inside the curtain was suddenly startled and turned around abruptly, eting her gaze with a pair of ghastly green eyes.
She had seen her!
Xuanji was startled and opened her eyes. It was still that cave, with a rfolk opposite her, and nothing had changed. She clenched Yu Sifeng’s sword tightly and whispered, "I... I know where they are! I must go and rescue them!"
After speaking, she lightly leapt ashore, wrung the water from her clothes, and turned to leave. Ting Nu suddenly said softly, "Take
with you, will you?"
Xuanji paused for a mont, unconsciously glancing at his fish tail, and stamred, "Taking you is not a problem, but you..." Can you walk? Was she expected to carry or hold him? Well, rfolk probably didn’t have a gender, but he did look like a man...
Ting Nu smiled faintly and pointed to a corner behind her, "Although I cannot stand and walk, I have my ways."
Xuanji followed his gesture, and to her surprise, there was a wheelchair which she hadn’t noticed before. She hurriedly moved the wheelchair to the edge of the pool and hoisted Ting Nu up, who settled in it as light as a feather.
Xuanji removed her bridal gown and draped it over him. Fortunately, the gown was quite large; it fit him well and even covered his fish tail.
"Let’s go," Ting Nu said, lifting his head to give her a slight smile, his red attire and black hair indeed making him look like a demon. (To be continued. If you wish to learn what happens next, please visit qidian. More Chapters are available, support the author, support genuine reading!)
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