Chapter 34: Chase

Chapter 34: Chasing

After sending off Shang Yunduo and Pei Jie, Lou Dengge had just let out a sigh of relief when he saw the flying carriage circle back.

Bewildered, he thought Pei Jie and Shang Yunduo might not have finished arguing and were returning to continue picking a fight for the Taiyuan Sect. To his surprise, though, Shang Yunduo opened the carriage door and jumped down, landing right in front of him.

Lou Dengge was confused. "Daoist Shang, what is this..."

Shang Yunduo said in a deep voice, "We’ve got a score to settle."

Lou Dengge: "Hmm?"

He looked up at the carriage in the sky, then without hesitation took out a stack of Haste Talismans and two bottles of pills from his storage pouch. "You and me, we don’t have any scores to settle, Daoist Shang..."

Shang Yunduo waved his hand. "No, don’t. I’ll chase, and you run. The finish line is Floating Cloud Flower Lake. If I can’t catch you, we’ll be even. If I catch you..."

"???" Lou Dengge quickly said, "Wait..."

Shang Yunduo suddenly drew his sword. "You’re dead!"

Lou Dengge: "No, no, no, Daoist Shang, it’s a misunderstanding!"

Shang Yunduo didn’t listen. Raising his sword, he struck. "Here we go!"

Lou Dengge dodged while explaining, "Hey, hey, it’s all a misunderstanding! Let’s talk it out!"

Shang Yunduo: "I’ll give you three counts. If you don’t run by then, I won’t hold back. Three, two..."

"Sigh." Lou Dengge sighed and took off running.

Shang Yunduo: "One!"

He sheathed his sword and gave chase.

As he ran, Lou Dengge looked up at the carriage that kept following them at a steady distance. He couldn’t help turning back to ask, "Friend Shang, what’s going on with you two?"

Shang Yunduo leaped and bounded. "Just fly. My Senior won’t interfere."

Good to know!

Lou Dengge whipped out his flying sword and shot into the mountains, not fully trusting that Pei Jie would really stay out of it.

He flew up and down, high and low, whipping around sharply every now and then. Shang Yunduo almost lost him several times, once almost smashing into a cliff due to Lou Dengge’s sudden swerve.

After close to an hour of running, Lou Dengge roughly understood what they were doing—using him as a moving target for tracking practice.

And Shang Yunduo gradually figured out where he fell short compared to Lou Dengge.

In terms of spiritual power, Lou Dengge was actually weaker than him, but his Sword Flight skill was way better. Shang Yunduo couldn’t catch up using Sword Flight alone; mixing Body Techniques with spiritual power worked better, but what really set them apart was experience.

Unlike Lou Dengge’s way of running, the last time that guy Zhou was after him, his own escape had been utterly chaotic, relying purely on instinct. If he could run like Lou Dengge, he'd have lost that Zhou in half a day.

Realizing their intention, Lou Dengge relaxed. He had never thought Shang Yunduo was the type to be deadly fierce, and after hearing Shang Yunduo plead for Xiao Chi, he thought Shang Yunduo was even more softhearted and naive. At this point, he was almost certain Shang Yunduo didn’t actually want to kill him. While running, he turned back to chat with Shang Yunduo: "Friend, why bother with this? Aren’t you tired of running?"

Shang Yunduo panted as he ran. "I'm... tired!"

Lou Dengge swallowed a Qi Recovery Pill. "But what did you tell that Senior of yours?"

Shang Yunduo: "I... said... said I can’t outrun you!"

Lou Dengge: "Oh dear, look at this mess. Why did you have to say that extra line? Without the terrain on my side, I couldn't outrun you either!"

Shang Yunduo: "I—figured that out!"

So that's why Pei Jie seemed surprised that he couldn’t outrun Lou Dengge.

When would his Senior ever change this habit of judging people purely by their power stats?

He sprang off a tree, bending it down to close the gap, trying to grab the man and end it, but Lou Dengge alertly pulled away yet again. Shang Yunduo cursed, "Damn it! I don't believe this!"

Lou Dengge burst out laughing.

He'd honed these skills in life-or-death situations, chased by demonic beasts—how could he let Shang Yunduo catch on so fast?

When they reached the swamp, Lou Dengge pulled out a Haste Talisman. "Friend, time to speed up!"

Shang Yunduo cursed again: "Damn."

Pei Jie had forbidden him from using talismans or activating his full spiritual power. As the distance kept getting bigger, Shang Yunduo looked up and yelled, "Senior!"

From the flying carriage, Pei Jie’s voice came down calmly: "Be patient."

If he wasn't facing thirty lashes if he lost, he'd probably be more patient, Shang Yunduo grumbled internally. But his feet never stopped, adjusting his breathing, maintaining his rhythm. The straight line is the shortest distance between two points. If there was a track between him and Lou Dengge, he'd take the inside lane...

Chase, chase, chase!

He stepped lightly across the water, as if treading on solid ground, barely leaving a ripple on the calm water.

Beneath the water, a demonic beast hidden in the mud slowly opened its eyes.

Reaching the middle of the swamp, Shang Yunduo suddenly sensed a surge of spiritual energy nearby—faster than both of them!

What was that?

In the water!

He instinctively looked down, and saw a dark shadow growing bigger and closer beneath his feet. He dodged quickly to the side, just as a shark-like jagged mouth broke through the surface where he had been standing.

A fish!

He suddenly remembered reading about the Fish Demon that had devoured many people.

Before he could see its full form, the long black fish vanished in a spray of water. When he sensed it again, it was only a meter away.

Shang Yunduo dared not stand still gawking. He ran for his life toward the shore up ahead: "Help!"

Lou Dengge naturally sensed the extra spiritual energy behind him. Turning his head, he saw Shang Yunduo flying across the water on the crests of waves, running like lightning. Beneath the waves, a huge slender black fish chased him, swift as a bolt of lightning.

Facing a life-and-death crisis, Shang Yunduo seemed to unlock a new level, closing the distance rapidly. Lou Dengge also accelerated.

The principle—if there’s a beast behind you, outrun your teammate to safety—Shang Yunduo understood well. But he still couldn’t outrun Lou Dengge, and the black fish was almost on him. Looking back, he could see its gleaming, cold teeth. His spiritual power was nearly gone. Several sharp turns did nothing; the fish only got closer, and the shore seemed impossibly far. In desperation, he looked up and shouted, "Senior! Help! Senior!"

Above him, Pei Jie leaned against the window, one hand supporting his chin, watching the chase with composure. "After all this running, haven’t you realized you can’t outrun it?"

Shang Yunduo: "Then why won’t you help me!"

Pei Jie: "If you can’t outrun it, don’t run. Fight it."

Shang Yunduo: "..."

If he stopped for even a second, he'd be bitten!

Sure enough, the moment he paused to think about how to fight, that sharp-toothed, rotten fish sank its teeth into his shoe.

Luckily, his shoe was a magical artifact and wasn't bitten through, but the crushing bite force hurt his heel even through the sole. As it burst out of the water, Shang Yunduo got a clear look at it—such sharp teeth, such a pointed snout, such an ugly fish!

Ew!

He quickly kicked and stomped to flip the fish over, and in a flash of inspiration, stepped on its head to leap up, landed on his flying sword, and grabbed the carriage.

That fish wasn't a pushover either; even as he flew into the air, it twisted its body and launched itself up after him.

“Damn it, go higher, higher, hurry up!” Shang Yunduo slapped the side of the carriage.

Pei Jie did as asked, raising the carriage higher—but at the same time pushed him off. “If you can beat it, you can come back up. Otherwise, I'll take your belt.”

Shang Yunduo stared, dumbfounded, as he and the fish fell in tandem. He quickly steadied himself, stabilized on his flying sword, and put some distance between himself and the fish.

Is there no humanity?!

He was almost out of spiritual power!

He instinctively reached for a medicinal pill, but when he felt for his storage pouch, it was empty! To prevent him from cheating, Pei Jie had taken away his pill pouch!

Shang Yunduo was furious.

What kind of cultivation partner was this?

He wanted to lodge a complaint!

He wanted a divorce!

He hadn't mastered the fourth level of Flame Control yet; the first three levels weren't hot enough and lacked power, and he'd be at a disadvantage here.

He had to rely on the Wood Fire Pearls.

Low on spiritual power, Shang Yunduo only took out three pearls. He had to time his attack perfectly and not waste any chance.

He needed to wait for the fish to leap out of the water.

He waited, but that crafty fish lurked underwater, waiting for him to approach the surface.

He had to lure it out.

Shang Yunduo looked up at the sky. Pei Jie wouldn't help him. If he begged for help, he might actually have his artifacts taken away.

Frustrated, Shang Yunduo took out Bai Li's fan and Daoist Yuqiu's vine staff from his storage pouch.

One was metal-attributed, the other wood-attributed. He couldn't fully unleash either of them, but something was better than nothing. Shang Yunduo ran a mental rehearsal, then thrust the vine staff into the water.

The staff landed in the mud, and vines spread out like waterweeds, weaving into a net that surrounded the black fish. Shang Yunduo flew above the mouth of the net to wait. But the semi-intelligent fish wasn't fooled; it twisted a few times, found a gap, bit through the thin section of vines, and escaped. Shang Yunduo quickly swung the fan, sending a blast of wind that carried steel spikes flying, kicking up a spray. The black fish leaped out from the wave, hiding in the spray, and lunged at Shang Yunduo.

“Watch out!” Lou Dengge shouted in alarm from a distance.

Shang Yunduo kicked his sword toward the black fish and controlled the three Wood Fire Pearls to converge on it from three directions. The fish whipped its tail, sending a chilling spray of water that extinguished one pearl in an instant. It lunged again, and Shang Yunduo flew backward, fanning the air, controlling the remaining pearls to disrupt it. Another pearl went out. But Shang Yunduo had spotted an opening. In a flash, he released the Fate-Thread, binding the black fish tightly.

“Phew!”

He'd won!

He thought the fight was over, but the black fish arched its body and dragged him back with tremendous force, yanking Shang Yunduo off balance and sending him crashing into the water.

Before he could stabilize himself in the water, the calm water suddenly came to life, surging toward his head, his mouth and nose, like a wall plastering over him, trying to drown him!

Shang Yunduo tensed up, held his breath, and clutched the Fate-Thread tighter. The thread, thin as silk yet tough and sharp as steel, cut into the fish's flesh, drawing blood.

The fish struggled even more violently, nearly flinging Shang Yunduo off. The surrounding water pressed tighter, suffocating him. Shang Yunduo pulled the Fate-Thread even tighter.

Suddenly, with a series of *puffs*, several ice pillars stabbed into the water, and the thrashing black fish was frozen still.

Someone pulled Shang Yunduo's head out of the water. The water distorted his vision, making it impossible to see clearly; he could only tell by the color of the clothes that it was Pei Jie. Sure enough, the next moment, familiar spiritual energy enveloped his hand. The Fate-Thread surged with power, slicing through the black fish like cutting melons and vegetables, slicing it into pieces. The wall of water that had been blocking his breathing and vision dissipated with a splash back into the swamp.

“Cough—cough—cough!” Shang Yunduo pulled down his mask and covered his mouth and coughed violently.

He'd held his breath too long and couldn't breathe properly. He'd accidentally tasted the water earlier—clear as it looked, it was all blood.

“Ugh…”

He went limp and started to fall back into the water, but Pei Jie grabbed him again. Shang Yunduo, covered in stinking blood and mud, looked miserable and pathetic. He was furious that Pei Jie hadn't helped him earlier and that when he finally did, it was just a moment too late. So he wrapped his arms around Pei Jie's leg and started acting spoiled.

If he had to be filthy, then Pei Jie wouldn't stay clean either. Let him be dirty too!

Pei Jie: “Get up.”

Shang Yunduo: “I have no strength.”

Pei Jie: “Put away your artifacts.”

Shang Yunduo doubled down on his stubbornness, hugging tighter, trying to soak Pei Jie's pristine white pants: “I don't have any spiritual power either.”

But Pei Jie grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, pulled him off, and threw him back into the water.

Shang Yunduo: ???

Is there no shred of humanity?!

Shang Yunduo wiped his face, stood up from the water in a rage, and yelled, “What are you doing?! Whose side are you on?!”

Pei Jie used a Cleansing Spell to clean his clothes. “You still have strength, and you still have spiritual power.”

Shang Yunduo: “……”

He plopped back down into the water.

Author's note:

Daoist Lou: Oh my, oh my, anyone got any melon seeds?