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The black night dyed the world in thick ink.
The sweet, metallic scent of blood drifted through the air.
Shrill, tragic screams pierced the eardrums, echoing all around. Figures fell, one by one, and the courtyard was littered with corpses.
A man held a peerlessly beautiful woman, weeping. The woman’s eyes were already closed, her clothes covered in so much fresh blood that their original color was no longer visible. The man’s cries were filled with despair, his eyes lifeless, his face streaked with tears.
He looked up, his gentle eyes revealing a murderous glint, as if filled with endless hatred, yet also as if bidding farewell, making a final struggle. He gently laid the woman down, holding his sword, his expression resolute.
A ray of light shot towards him!
Rumble! Lightning streaked across the sky.
Tan Yun’s eyelids flew open. A single tear slid from the corner of her eye, and she gently wiped it away.
After rushing for several days, she had stopped in these mountains to regulate her breath, but had unknowingly recalled this nightmare.
Tan Yun sighed, her breath condensing into frost. The temperature in the mountains dropped abruptly. Tan Yun took a sip of Jade Flame Wine to warm herself.
Another clap of thunder echoed in the sky.
Tan Yun glanced at the sky. Dark clouds had gathered, and a fierce wind blew wildly through the mountains. The surrounding tree branches appeared to be performing a frenzied dance.
She stood up, her purple robes torn by the wind. Her tall figure was uniquely beautiful in this dance, yet she also appeared delicate and helpless.
Just as she was about to leave, she suddenly heard the sound of fighting and a woman’s shriek from not far away. The voice was filled with terror.
Tan Yun’s expression paused. The sound was getting closer. With a light tap of her foot, she leaped to the top of a tree. She saw a woman fleeing through the forest, the hem of her skirt torn, her hairpin half-fallen. Her terrified face was covered in tears. She was in a sorry state. Judging by the material of her clothes, they were rather ordinary.
She was likely just a commoner.
The man behind the woman was being rammed by several beast-pigs. He was like a ball of yarn, being kicked around by the beast-pigs, his body caked in a clump of mud. His breath had long since left him.
A few more beast-pigs were chasing the woman.
The woman glanced back. The beast-pigs were right at her heels. Their eyes were rolled back, saliva dripped from their mouths, and there was fresh blood on the large tusks by their cheeks. In just another instant, the sharpest tip of a tusk would pierce her delicate skin.
“Ah-”
The woman wasn’t watching where she was going. Her foot slipped, and she stumbled and fell. She closed her eyes in despair.
She felt a cold glint flash past her ear.
Schlick!
Death did not come for the woman. Instead, she heard the sound of flesh and bone being sliced open. Her eyelids trembled, and she slowly opened them.
It was dark, and hard to see clearly.
But that purple robe was exceptionally distinct under the moonlight. The woman’s back was like an insurmountable mountain, a reassuring barrier that sheltered one from wind and rain.
The woman covered her mouth. Perhaps because she saw a hope of survival, her tears began to gush uncontrollably.
In just a moment, the beast-pigs were all chopped into small chunks of meat, slowly oozing blood. Yet not a single drop had splattered nearby, a testament to how fast the sword had been. Only one beast-pig in front of Tan Yun was spared, its body remaining intact.
Tan Yun observed it carefully.
This beast-pig, with its smooth skin and fat flesh, did not look like it had been running free in the mountain forest.
The woman stood up and rushed to the man’s side. She knelt before him and shook him. “Dad, wake up! We’re fine, we’ve been saved.”
The man didn’t move, nor did he answer her.
“Dad… Dad…”
This scene reminded Tan Yun of the nightmare she just had.
She walked up behind her and tossed her a bag of spirit stones. “The man is dead. Find some people to bury him.”
With that, Tan Yun turned to leave.
The woman also turned and desperately clutched the hem of her purple skirt. “Immortal Master, please don’t go! My father and I left the village this time to find someone to come back with us. For some reason, the poultry in our village have all gone mad. They attack people on sight. Many people have already died…”
“Let go.” Before she could finish, Tan Yun snapped. Given that the other party was a commoner, she could only force herself not to send the person flying.
The woman was startled by her own rudeness. Her face alternated between panic and the pain of losing a loved one. But she had finally found someone. If she let go, the other party might just leave in disgust.
In this world where might makes right, the lives of common people were like ants. Ordinary cultivators couldn’t be bothered to interfere in such trivial matters. So, she dared not let go. She could only steel herself and continue.
Her voice trembled. “Please, Immortal Master, just follow me back to the village for a look…”
Before she could finish, her body was suddenly sent flying back several meters, and she fell heavily to the ground. The intense pain cleared her head considerably. Even if she forcefully tried to keep the person here, what was the use? In the end, it was no match for a single thought from the other party.
She endured the roiling qi and blood in her body and looked up, wanting to see that person.
In the dark and blood-scented mountain forest, only that purple robe seemed otherworldly. Her fair face glowed with a faint white halo without the need for moonlight. Her eyes were so full of worldly wisdom that it made one want to probe them. Below her delicate nose, a shadow covered her red lips, half-hidden and as bewitching as a rose.
This was the most beautiful woman she had ever seen.
Even though there was no smile on her face, even though she held no good feelings towards cultivators, she couldn’t bring herself to be angry at or dislike the woman before her.
Tan Yun’s skirt hem was dirtied. She raised a hand and formed a seal. The hem fluttered and instantly became clean again.
Rumble! Lightning flashed.
Tan Yun glanced at the sky, then at the dead pig. Its eyes were still rolled back. It was indeed a bit strange. She sighed helplessly. “Lead the way.”
“Thank you, Immortal Master.”
The woman clutched her abdomen and stood up. She looked hesitantly at her father. “Then… my father…”
Tan Yun raised her hand and formed a seal again.
The earth split open into a pit, the corpse rolled in, and the soil filled the hole back up.
“Lead the way.”
After all this was done, the woman led her towards the village, glancing at her from time to time, wanting to speak but not daring to.
“What is it? Just say it.”
The woman pursed her lips and said cautiously, “Immortal Master can just call me Fu Xin.”
Tan Yun frowned but did not respond.
Fu Xin lowered her eyes. “Thank you for saving me just now, Immortal Master. If my father knew in the underworld, he would surely be grateful.”
Tan Yun’s expression was indifferent, and her pace quickened slightly.
Seeing this, Fu Xin kept her lips sealed and said no more.
Not a single flame could be seen in the entire village. It was pitch-black, and there were no figures on the streets either. If not for Fu Xin leading the way, Tan Yun would have thought this was a dead village.
Lightning flashed again.
A cold wind drizzled, and a shower pattered down.
Fu Xin was soaked to the bone. She glanced sideways at the person beside her. The rain was as if it had eyes, avoiding this person. Not a single drop of rain touched her purple robe; she was still as otherworldly and unreachable.
“Where are the people of the village?”
That person’s voice was cold and clear, making Fu Xin’s heart tremble. This was not a shudder of fear. “It’s too dangerous in the village. The villagers are all hiding in a cellar. Please follow me, Immortal Master.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Fu Xin saw several dogs emerge from the street corner. Their eyes, like the beast-pigs’, were rolled back. Their fur was patchy and irregular, and there were several knife wounds on them. It seemed they no longer recognized their original masters and had been slashed by knives while attacking others.
They pounced and bit at the sight of people.
Generally speaking, beasts are very sensitive to the strong. When encountering them, they either flee or submit. Only under special circumstances would they fight to the death with an enemy stronger than themselves. But these dogs were just domesticated animals, their strength not even comparable to low-level demonic beasts, yet they still did not retreat in the face of Tan Yun.
Tan Yun raised a hand and flicked a finger.
Spiritual energy transformed into a sharp sword and shot into the dogs’ foreheads. The dogs’ legs went limp, and they collapsed to the ground. Because of the heavy rain, the ground was wet, and inertia caused their bodies to slide for several meters.
Fu Xin didn’t even see what happened before the dogs were all dead. Her eyelids trembled. This was a strong person, this was a cultivator. This was the chasm between their worlds, an insurmountable gulf.
“Immortal Master, could you eliminate all the poultry in the village as well?” Fu Xin asked tentatively.
Tan Yun gave her a cold look. “The lot of you can just pick up knives and work together to deal with these animals. Why do you need to borrow another’s hand1?”
“The Immortal Master speaks reasonably. Please follow me.” Fu Xin sighed inwardly.
She actually wanted to cultivate too, but she was the only one her father had. She had hesitated for a long time because she knew that once a commoner started cultivating and joined a sect, they had to sever their worldly ties. She couldn’t bear to do it. This delay had dragged on until she was nineteen, and she had already missed the age for the entrance test. Now her father was dead, her worldly ties severed, yet she was all alone.
Tan Yun glanced sideways, seeing through the other’s thoughts at a glance. She furrowed her brow and remained silent, observing her surroundings. This place was yin and cold. There was only one stream. The rain fell to the ground, and regardless of the terrain’s height, the water all moved, bit by bit, towards the stream.
Seeing this, Tan Yun walked closer to the small stream.
“Immortal Master, have you discovered something?”
In the stream, even the fish were tearing at each other, causing the water to become somewhat murky with bits of fish flesh.
Tan Yun shook her head. “It’s nothing. Let’s go.”
The shower came and went in a hurry. The dark clouds had thinned considerably, and the wind had also weakened.
The villagers came out of the cellar one by one. Seeing a beautiful, purple-robed woman with an extraordinary air following behind Fu Xin, they knew at a glance she was a cultivator. They immediately knelt on the ground, their attitude pious.
“We implore the Immortal Master to see if there is an evil demon wreaking havoc in our village,” one of the elders said, looking up. “A few days ago, the poultry in the village began to attack people on sight. We rely on these animals to live. Please help us, Immortal Master.”
“Please help us, Immortal Master.”
Tan Yun frowned, a bad premonition rising in her heart. “A few days ago? Was it the day of the celestial phenomenon?”
The man nodded. “Yes, it was that day.”
Hearing this, Tan Yun looked up at the sky.
Her body instantly rose, hovering in mid-air to observe the entire village. The whole village had a stream and a mountain. According to the principles of formations, this place was a good spiritual land. Even if the village was not rich, there shouldn’t be any major disasters.
Tan Yun frowned. She wasn’t sure if this matter was truly caused by the phenomenon. Suddenly, she saw a flash of light.
She narrowed her eyes to look.
Something was faintly shimmering under the murky stream water.
Tan Yun landed by the stream. With a wave of her sleeve, the stream parted, creating a bridge of water, a truly breathtaking sight. The reefs at the bottom were exposed, and there, a demon core was polluting the water source.
“So it was you making trouble.”
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Glossary
Beast-pig (兽猪, shòu zhū): A type of beast, likely a low-level demonic beast.
Fu Xin (付馨, Fù Xīn): The village girl Tan Yun saves.
Demon Core (妖丹, yāodān): The crystallized core of a demonic beast’s power, similar to a spirit stone but formed within a beast. It’s a source of potent, and often chaotic, energy.
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Reika’s Notes:
- A nice action chapter this time.
- This text was translated by RudeGirl and given to BC Novels for publication.
- I helped with the footnotes, formatting, grammar, etc., the usual stuff that is needed to post this on the website.
- Please let me know if there are any errors. Thanks for reading!
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