Chapter 13: Die with Eyes Wide Open

Chapter 13: Dying with Eyes Wide Open

"Ugh..." Shang Yunduo blacked out for a sec—or maybe longer. Ears ringing, head pounding, feeling sick, mind still hazy. All he remembered was getting slammed hard, then flying through the air, and then... nothing else.

He shook his head, only to feel dizzier.

It took him a good, dazed minute to snap out of his knee-jerk reactions of "Where's my phone?" and "I gotta call 911!" He hadn't been hit by a car—some monster had rammed him.

A full-on head strike, with an ivory-like horn charging at him and Yuezhang Fairy.

Right, where was Yuezhang Fairy?!

Memory flooding back, Shang Yunduo scrambled to find her. Before he could even lift his head, his eyes locked on Yuezhang Fairy, right there in front of him, inches away... her eyes.

Wide open, staring into the afterlife.

Caught off guard, Shang Yunduo's pupils shrank in shock.

His gaze moved downward. A huge, bloody hole went straight through Yuezhang Fairy's chest. Blood was still flowing, spilling out of the chest wound. Her moon-white dress was drenched in blood, and what the fabric couldn't soak up spread out under her. There were also smears of blood on the wall behind her—the beast's horn had impaled her, slammed her into the cave wall, and she'd slid down. The blood-smeared wall still had the dent from the beast's horn.

Shang Yunduo snapped wide awake.

Dead?

The person who'd just been talking to him was dead?

As his senses came back, a thick, sickening smell of blood hit his nose, making him want to puke even more. "Ugh—"

He tried to lift his hand to cover his nose and mouth, but his limbs wouldn't listen. His hands and feet were ice-cold, frozen stiff. All he could feel was his hand twitching out of control.

"Watch it!"

"Don't panic! This Golden Scale Beast isn't fully grown! It's only second rank! Don't panic!"

"Fellow cultivators, hold it back! I've got a way to kill it!"

Through the ringing in his ears, Shang Yunduo slowly started to hear voices. That monster was still here?!

Shang Yunduo quickly cycled his spiritual energy and checked his gear. His protective jade pendant was shattered, and his close-fitting armor was cracked too. He was freaked out—what the hell had hit him?! In the novel, Xiao Chi's armor had tanked three full-force hits from a Foundation Establishment cultivator!

He had to get out; the armor couldn't take another hit like that.

As soon as his hand could move a bit, he fumbled in his storage pouch for healing pills and qi-restoring elixirs, chugging them down like crazy. Ignoring the pain of blocked spiritual energy, he forced his qi to circulate like the sect had taught him. Only when his body started warming up and his limbs got some strength back did he stand up against the wall and start inching toward the cave entrance.

By then, he finally got a good look at the beast that had sent him flying and killed Yuezhang Fairy.

It was a monster the size of a hippo, with a long, sharp horn and a mouthful of jagged fangs. Its whole body was covered in golden-brown scales, with even tiny scales at the base of its horn. It glowed with a dark gold light, eyes blood-red, rampaging like crazy.

Shang Yunduo's heart was pounding. Surviving a hit from something like that—he must be insanely lucky.

This place was way too dangerous now.

As he edged out, he quietly scanned for people.

Inside the cave, the glowing tools that had lost their spiritual energy had rolled all over the place, casting dim, messy light that showed the outlines of bodies scattered on the ground. As the Golden Scale Beast ran, it kicked a glowing pearl that rolled to a stop next to a body. Shang Yunduo recognized him—the Eighth Layer Qi Refining cultivator who'd sparred with Bai Li earlier. His eyes were also wide open, and there was a large bloody hole in his chest. His hand was still in a defensive pose, his incantation unfinished. All the skills he'd trained were never used; he'd been killed on the spot.

Dead with eyes wide open.

Shang Yunduo shut his eyes. Through the screams and shouts trying to control the chaos, he saw more bodies.

Some he knew, some he didn't. All dead.

Some were torn in half; some had shattered tools that had lost their spiritual shine.

The worst off weren't the already dead, but people like Shang Yunduo who'd just been knocked out—only to get trampled by the rampaging Golden Scale Beast.

A piercing scream echoed through the cave. Before he could even cry for help, his voice cut short, abruptly silenced. The Golden Scale Beast, with its blood-red eyes, seemed pissed off by the loud noise, turned back, and impaled him.

Shang Yunduo's breath caught.

He instinctively tried to retreat, but he was already against a wall, with nowhere to go. His hand was covered in sticky blood.

"Hah..."

He was screaming inside.

The cacophony felt like it was about to blow his brains out.

"Trap it! In just three quarters of an hour, my poison will kill it! Everyone, don't you want the Golden Scale Beast's scale armor and inner core?!"

It was Niu Chengdian.

There was no trace of injury on him at all now, as if he hadn't been sitting beside Yuezhang Fairy meditating to recover just moments ago!

So his target was this Golden Scale Beast?

Shang Yunduo recalled him flicking something onto Yuezhang Fairy's skirt. Looking around the cave, the most brutally struck area was exactly where Yuezhang Fairy had walked.

It was all too clear now. This bastard Niu, unwilling to make a move himself, had used Yuezhang Fairy as a red flag to provoke the mad beast—letting the beast charge at the unsuspecting Yuezhang Fairy, then making everyone help him restrain it!

Now, the beast had been accidentally released by someone else.

The rampage seemed random.

So many were already dead; the beast was worn down. He was ready to kill it.

Shang Yunduo ground his teeth in anger. He only regretted not having a deadly poison in his storage pouch to throw a dart and kill this bastard Niu.

Utterly ruthless.

Yuezhang Fairy had thought of him as a friend!

He suspected that the absence of Li Wuzi and Tang Huan was no coincidence—it was probably Niu's doing too.

"The Golden Scale Beast's inner core can assist in Core Formation! Everyone, don't you want it?! Daoist Zhang, Daoist Bai Li—huh, Daoist Shang?!" Niu Chengdian, hovering in the air, was extremely surprised to find Shang Yunduo still alive.

Shang Yunduo cursed inwardly. Even at a time like this, he's still thinking of me?!

He grabbed a sword from the ground and hurled it at Niu Chengdian. "Why aren't you calling me 'Senior Brother Shang' now? Aren't you unhappy that I'm not dead?!"

Niu Chengdian deflected it and laughed. "What are you saying, Senior Brother? Let's join forces and kill this Golden Scale Beast together to avenge that blow you took."

"Revenge should start with killing you!" Shang Yunduo pointed his sword at Niu Chengdian. "It was him who lured the Golden Scale Beast here! All these deaths are his fault!"

Niu Chengdian burst out laughing. "Don't you want to reach Foundation Establishment? Don't you want Core Formation?!"

The rogue cultivators who were rushing outward actually hesitated.

The truth of what happened, who used whom, who killed whom—none of it mattered in the face of Foundation Establishment and Core Formation.

After all, it's not like they were the ones dying.

"Big brother!" Zhang Yu, who had already reached the cave entrance, called out. "Aren't we going to snatch it?"

Zhang Yan stopped midair, gritted his teeth, and said, "Give me the white ribbon. You wait here!"

Shang Yunduo, who was still a good distance from the cave entrance, was stunned by the sight.

Most of those who had already run to the entrance turned back!

Did they all have a death wish?

Niu Chengdian kept shouting, "Senior Brother Shang, how about we cooperate? I can give you the beast's horn!"

Ridiculous!

Shang Yunduo glanced back. The Golden Scale Beast was almost upon him. He didn't care anymore—since someone else was going to intercept it, why not run now?

He charged toward the entrance, but a white ribbon whipped out from that direction. The rampaging Golden Scale Beast was yanked off balance, while Zhang Yan on the other end of the ribbon was dragged forward, losing control in midair. In the blink of an eye, he came crashing toward Shang Yunduo's position.

Shang Yunduo, who was running close to the wall, slammed on the brakes. Just as Zhang Yan was about to hit the wall, he grabbed him, and both tumbled to the ground. At least Zhang Yan avoided slamming into the wall and getting hurt.

"You... thank you!"

"You're welc... Holy crap!"

The enraged Golden Scale Beast, chasing Zhang Yan, charged at the two of them.

Terrified, Shang Yunduo scrambled to his feet and fled. Zhang Yan saw this and also turned to run in the opposite direction. They barely dodged to the left and right, but the beast's violent charge still rattled Shang Yunduo's internal organs and brain. The nausea he had barely suppressed surged again. He coughed up blood as he ran, almost getting it all over his clothes.

Seeing the Golden Scale Beast pull its horn out of the wall, Shang Yunduo and Zhang Yan each shot a string of Fireballs from opposite sides. But the Flame Control of a Qi Refining Ninth Layer cultivator didn't even scorch the beast's scales. It remained unharmed, simply shaking its head and emerging from the flames.

Shang Yunduo thought, with such a disparity in strength, are they still dreaming of taking its Golden Core?

However, the rogue cultivators who had turned back took action. Daoist Yuqiu stabbed his vine staff into the ground and chanted, causing vines to shoot out from the staff and reach toward the Golden Scale Beast. Seeing this, Zhang Yan used the white ribbon to assist. Several other rogue cultivators also used magical items like ropes and nets. With combined efforts, they barely managed to hold the beast in place.

Niu Chengdian flew over, overjoyed, to face the Golden Scale Beast. Holding a dagger that glowed with cyan light, he slashed at the beast's eye viciously. "Go!"

The trapped Golden Scale Beast seemed to sense the danger coming. It struggled even more violently, shaking off the vines and ropes. The dagger missed its eye but scratched the corner of its eye.

The Golden Scale Beast froze for an instant, but the poison on the dagger quickly spread through the blood in the wound.

"It worked!" Niu Chengdian quickly fled far off. "Hold it off for a quarter of an hour..."

Only then did the Golden Scale Beast realize it was injured; it shook its head and let out a deafening roar.

Two nearby rogue cultivators who hadn't yet released their magical tools were flung away by the suddenly roaring and leaping Golden Scale Beast. They smacked headfirst into the wall. If not for their cultivation, their brains would have been splattered everywhere.

Seeing this, the others quickly backed off and continued to attack and bind with long-range artifacts. For a moment, a standoff set in.

Shang Yunduo was stunned. What poison was this? Or had Niu Chengdian come prepared all along?

This guy shouldn't be messed with.

He immediately gave up on revenge altogether. He just wanted to get out of this mess as quickly as possible.

Just as he rushed to the cave entrance, a sword swung at him. Shang Yunduo quickly dodged and, seeing who had swung it, was speechless. "If I leave, won't you and your brother have one less person to fight?!"

Zhang Yu: "What are you scheming?"

Shang Yunduo: "What am I plotting? Niu Chengdian is not a good person. I advise you two to leave quickly too. Hey, if you attack again, I won't go easy on you!"

Zhang Yu answered with a flurry of sword blossoms.

If it weren't him being attacked, Shang Yunduo would have applauded her. But since he was the one with several holes cut in his clothes, he couldn't appreciate the sword dance. He said angrily, "My good intentions are taken for bad. I'm done. Get out of my way!"

He drew his sword as well, parrying Zhang Yu while trying to escape. At the same time, the low-level rogue cultivators inside the cave had returned, casting spells and using artifacts, all trying to wear down the beast together.

The Golden Scale Beast was in agony as the poison spread through its body. Blood began to drip from its eyes. In pain, it struggled even more violently, causing the cave to shake.

"It's almost done! Hold on—Bai Li!"

Daoist Yuqiu shouted.

Bai Li felt a sudden blast of wind and instinctively dodged. A Golden Scale Beast burst out from behind him and bit off a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.

In pain, Bai Li dared not linger. He quickly fanned with his fan and leaped far away. The others were also terrified.

How could there be a second one?!

No, more rocks fell from the hole where the Golden Scale Beast had emerged. The ground trembled. An even larger golden head appeared from within, its long horns covered in golden scales up to most of their length, gleaming under the glow of nearby luminous artifacts.

"Run!!"

Author's note:

Yunduo's versions of understanding the cultivation world—

1.0: Fun! So many spells!

2.0: Madmen, every single one of them!