Chapter 27: Female Lead

Chapter 27: The Female Lead

Without company, Shang Yunduo had little interest even in gathering herbs.

He trudged on silently with only his compass, not stopping as the sky darkened.

If Pei Jie was also in the west, today's trip had only increased the distance between them. If Pei Jie came looking for him first and then went to find the Floating Cloud Flower, he'd definitely have to take a roundabout route.

Fortunately, the weather was nice tonight, with no thick fog; moonlight pierced through the clouds, so he could see well. Shang Yunduo decided to press on.

He walked unsteadily through the shallow waters, going on for a while without encountering any cultivators, or even many demon beasts.

Could it be that everyone feared the dangers of the night and tacitly agreed to move only during the day?

That was a stroke of luck for him; he could exploit the time gap and didn't mind staying up all night.

After walking most of the night, Shang Yunduo's mind grew calmer. The surroundings were silent, the world deep blue, with only the moon in the sky and its reflection in the water, along with sparse starlight. Drifting clouds kept him company, frogs croaked in rhythm, and occasionally a small fish leaped from the water, kicking up the beat of the gentle night music.

Shang Yunduo felt better, recalling the "Forest Rhapsody" he had once heard, and began composing a song in his mind.

He hummed softly, his new melody carrying him across the wide shallows until he reached a waterlogged forest and stopped.

After confirming there was no other spiritual energy, no strange sounds or presences nearby, Shang Yunduo found a tree hollow and crawled in.

A large bird that had been sleeping inside flapped its wings and flew away, startling Shang Yunduo.

"My apologies, fellow cultivator," Shang Yunduo said, cupping his fists apologetically. He was just too tired.

The water bird flew off without looking back, and it sounded like it was cursing up a storm.

Shang Yunduo took out an outer robe to cover himself, curled up in a comfortable position, and muttered, "Hey, don't be like that. I'll just borrow this spot for a little while."

After three days without proper rest, Shang Yunduo's frayed nerves relaxed without him noticing. He'd only meant to nap briefly, but before long, he fell into a dead sleep.

At dawn, three spiritual energy signatures rapidly approached the shallow waters.

Shang Yunduo jolted awake. Before he could even take stock, the tree canopy above him was sliced off by a single sword strike.

Leaves and branches hit the water, sending spray everywhere.

Shang Yunduo: "..."

Good thing he slept in a tree hollow and not out in the open like Lou Dengge.

He cautiously poked his head out of the hollow, darting his eyes to observe. He saw a man and two women fighting fiercely.

They looked dead tired, like they'd been fighting all night. Upon closer inspection, two of them were wearing familiar robes.

Where had he seen them before?

Huh, wasn't this the uniforms of Soaring Wind Valley and Flying Stone Peak?

So the male Soaring Wind Valley disciple and the female Flying Stone Peak disciples were teaming up again to attack someone?

Shang Yunduo clicked his tongue in wonder, grumbling inwardly, thinking, Your two sects sure have an ever-changing alliance.

A female voice shouted, "A Su, hand over the Thunder-Swallowing Jiao, and I'll spare your life!"

Wow, so fierce.

Shang Yunduo stayed hidden, listening to the gossip and watching the show. He didn't want to get involved, but when he heard "Thunder-Swallowing Jiao" and "A Su," his mind snapped to attention.

Surnamed Su, raising a Thunder-Swallowing Jiao—could it be Su Ziyuan?!

He poked his head out again, this time most of it, and saw a female cultivator being chased by the other two. She pointed her sword at the Flying Stone Peak woman and said, "If you have the guts, come and take it!"

"You asked for it!"

"Sister Zhang, don't be impulsive! Beware her Kunlei Sword..."

It really was Su Ziyuan!

Shang Yunduo leaned out further, curious to see if the female lead matched the book's description. When he looked, he felt cheated.

What was all that about "skin as smooth as cream, charming and lovely, kind and understanding, with pear-shaped dimples when she smiles, like spring water"? He had always imagined her as a kind of doll-like sweetheart, but she was clearly a strikingly beautiful woman.

Even her sword-swinging movements were very mature and alluring!

Su Ziyuan's Kunlei Sword crackled with lightning, faint thunder rumbled around her, and the water around her feet surged. The expressions of the other two and Shang Yunduo all changed.

He'd almost forgotten that Su Ziyuan had a mutated thunder spirit root!

With a swoosh, he darted out of hiding. If she really called down thunder, even the tree hollow he was hiding in would be destroyed!

Suddenly, another person burst out, startling all three others, who immediately pointed their swords at him.

Shang Yunduo jumped far away and then took a few steps back. "Don't be upset! I'm just passing through. No, wait—I was sleeping here first, and you all are the ones passing through!"

The three: "..."

The rising sun cast a brilliant light over the water. The three looked at Shang Yunduo, while Shang Yunduo stole a glance at Su Ziyuan again, secretly admiring. Although the novel's description was unreliable, the female lead was indeed a true beauty! So gorgeous!

Seeing him sneak a glance at Su Ziyuan, the female cultivator surnamed Zhang sneered, "What are you staring at her for with such lecherous eyes? Have you taken a fancy to her?"

"Huh?" Shang Yunduo quickly averted his gaze, annoyed and afraid of being misunderstood. "Don't talk nonsense."

He was a fan of that pairing, after all.

"I have a Dao companion."

And a fierce one at that.

He was simply curious about the female lead's appearance, and since Su Ziyuan was beautiful, he took a few extra glances.

Besides, he had always thought of Su Ziyuan and Xiao Chi as a cute girl and a clueless guy, but now it looked more like a long-legged mature woman and a fool. He needed some time to digest that contrast.

The female cultivator snorted disdainfully.

"What's that snort for?" Shang Yunduo said. "And you standing there with him—what does that mean? Are you two a couple?"

The male disciple quickly said, "Don't speak nonsense!"

Shang Yunduo: "So only you can talk nonsense, and I can't? You're disciples of Soaring Wind Valley and Flying Stone Peak, right? I'm curious—what exactly is the relationship between your two sects? Just yesterday, I saw a Flying Stone Peak disciple kill a Soaring Wind Valley disciple to seize treasure, and today a Soaring Wind Valley disciple is helping a Flying Stone Peak disciple seize treasure?"

The male disciple’s expression changed.

The female cultivator surnamed Zhang angrily said, "Quit trying to cause trouble!"

Shang Yunduo provoked blatantly: "I don't even know any of you; we have no enmity, why would I lie? Does your Soaring Wind Valley have a couple using something called the Fate-Thread? And this time, did your Flying Stone Peak send a Foundation Establishment stage cultivator wielding a Mother-Child Sword?"

Hearing this, the male cultivator's face changed drastically: "Where did you see them?"

Shang Yunduo: "To the west, but that Foundation Establishment cultivator, I discovered his secret, and he wanted to kill me to silence me. He chased me for a day, but I can't recall the exact location. It's useless for you to know anyway; he's already disposed of the body and erased all evidence."

The female cultivator, enraged, flew a sword at him: "Nonsense! If you had encountered my Senior Brother Zhou, you wouldn't be alive!"

The male cultivator grew hesitant.

Shang Yunduo dodged: "See? It really was one of yours from Flying Stone Peak! I never said whether it was a man or a woman, nor did I know if his surname was Wang, Li, or Zhou!"

Realizing that the man only had the cultivation of the Eighth Layer of Qi Refining, Shang Yunduo shot a look at Su Ziyuan: Run.

But Su Ziyuan completely misunderstood. Seeing him look at her, she loyally raised her sword and attacked the female cultivator surnamed Zhang from behind, "Let's cooperate and kill her!"

Shang Yunduo: ????

Huh?!!!

No, how did it come to this?

The female cultivator surnamed Zhang quickly activated her artifact and yelled angrily, "You two are indeed in cahoots!"

Shang Yunduo thought: What a huge misunderstanding! What a grievous injustice!

He was only afraid that they would mess up the script and affect the meeting between Su Ziyuan and his cheap junior brother!

But the two girls were already fighting, trading artifacts and talismans one after another, clearly both from wealthy backgrounds.

The male cultivator from Soaring Wind Valley looked at Shang Yunduo, who helplessly said, "I'm not lying to you. Her senior brother really did kill your fellow disciple."

Without the male cultivator's support, the female cultivator surnamed Zhang quickly fell into a disadvantage. It wasn't that her artifacts were weak, nor entirely due to insufficient cultivation—she simply lacked combat experience. Su Ziyuan overwhelmed her, leaving her disheveled with her clothes soaked with mud and water, looking quite pathetic.

Su Ziyuan's combat style was far more ruthless and mature than Shang Yunduo's. She never missed an opportunity, ruthlessly exploiting any opening and pressing her advantage with vicious strikes.

After being knocked into the water again and having her weapon sent flying by Su Ziyuan's lightning-infused sword, the female cultivator surnamed Zhang finally snapped: "Senior Brother Liu!"

Shang Yunduo stepped in to block: "Two girls fighting—shouldn't we stay out of it?"

Cultivator Liu, already largely convinced by Shang Yunduo's words and unsure of the relationship between Shang Yunduo and Su Ziyuan, hesitated.

The female cultivator surnamed Zhang took another hit. Her newly summoned artifact was also snatched by Su Ziyuan. In a fury beyond fury, she roared, "Die! All of you die!!"

In her fury, she patted her Spirit Beast Pouch, and a Third-order Beast leaped out.

Shang Yunduo had suffered greatly from demon beasts before. Seeing the creature, which was two sizes larger than a Golden Scale Beast with a mouth full of fangs, he shouted in alarm, "Dodge!"

Su Ziyuan was also startled.

She never imagined that a mere Qi Refining cultivator could possess a Third-order Beast. Without waiting for Shang Yunduo's warning, she had already leaped back and turned to flee.

Unexpectedly, the enraged female cultivator's first target was not her or Shang Yunduo, but the male cultivator surnamed Liu, who had failed to come to her aid in time.

The Gale Ape slammed down its palm, and the male cultivator didn't even have time to make a sound before he was killed on the spot.

Shang Yunduo was dumbfounded, forgetting to run.

Until the Gale Ape charged at him, and the female voice roared, "Kill him!"

Shang Yunduo's hair stood on end from her shout, and he fled desperately, rolling and scrambling even more frantically than the day before.

But the Gale Ape—part monkey, part wolf, unclear whether it was a demon beast or a spirit beast—was faster than the Foundation Establishment cultivator from the previous day.

In an instant, the calm water surface was shattered. Shang Yunduo sprinted ahead, the massive Gale Ape hot on his heels, sending splashes higher than if oars had been rowing.

Su Ziyuan, who had fled some distance, was also stunned.

She wondered, why isn't he using Sword Flight?

Could it be he doesn't know how?

But upon closer look, Shang Yunduo's running speed wasn't slower than an average Qi Refining cultivator's Sword Flight, yet the Gale Ape was steadily closing in.

She wanted to help but hesitated.

A Third-order Beast roughly equated to a human cultivator at the Foundation Establishment stage, and this Gale Ape, being well-nurtured, was clearly stronger than an average Third-order Beast, with cultivation nearing the peak of Foundation Establishment. Rushing in would only mean death.

If she used an array, maybe she could trap it for a while.

Just as she pulled out her array flag, the Gale Ape had already caught up to Shang Yunduo.

"Not good!"

Shang Yunduo saw the shadow descending and the approaching Demonic Qi, and "swoosh"—he dived into the water.

The Gale Ape slammed down its palm, partially absorbed by the water, but the remaining force still sent Shang Yunduo tumbling far away, the taste of blood rising in his throat.

If not for his layers of defensive artifacts stacked upon each other, he would have been killed instantly.

The Gale Ape roared and pursued. Shang Yunduo quickly slid back and ducked under its belly. The Gale Ape swung its arm and missed, then reached under itself, while Shang Yunduo circled around its legs.

The Gale Ape kicked, and Shang Yunduo grabbed its hind leg and scrambled onto its back, but the Gale Ape's steel-like fur left him no foothold.

The Gale Ape reached back with both arms, grazing Shang Yunduo's clothes as he narrowly avoided them. Shang Yunduo fell into the water again, and when he looked down, his Mirage Lizard Gauze robe was torn, revealing large patches of black clothing.

Su Ziyuan gritted her teeth, grabbed her array flag, and charged forward. But someone else was faster than her.

White robes fluttering, falling from the sky, a sword plunged into the mouth of the Gale Ape, which was only three or five meters away from Shang Yunduo.

Piercing from above, it forced the Gale Ape's open mouth shut and pinned it in place.

"Senior!!!" Shang Yunduo nearly wept with joy.

Author's Note:

Yunduo: Senior!! Waaah~ [Crying loudly][Crying loudly][Crying loudly]