Chapter 58: Elder Yang

Chapter 58: Elder Yang

Su Hang lowered his eyes at those words and could only follow along with the others.

The sky was a dull gray, and the air carried a faint scent of soil. The quiet surroundings gradually settled Su Hang's mind.

"Stop." Elder Yang, standing at the front, halted abruptly. Her sharp, cold gaze swept inch by inch over every corner ahead.

Seeing this, Qu Wenshan stepped forward to stand beside Elder Yang, his sword sliding from its sheath with a sharp clang.

The atmosphere immediately turned tense. Ji Chuan quietly moved to stand beside Su Hang, saying in a deliberately casual tone: "Hey, look how tense the Elder is—do you think there's some evil spirit around?"

At that, Su Hang paused mid-step, then turned to look at Ji Chuan, a hint of helplessness flashing in his eyes. He said quietly, "Isn't that exactly why we're here—to catch evil spirits?"

Ji Chuan raised an eyebrow and teased: "I figured a sheltered young master like you would be scared."

Su Hang rolled his eyes, his striking gaze flickering. He thought to himself: they were cultivators—what cultivator feared evil spirits?

"I think you're the one who's scared of them."

Su Hang had only meant to fire back quietly, but unexpectedly, he caught Ji Chuan's inner thoughts.

'Heh, not gonna lie, this is my first time seeing so-called evil spirits from novels—and it's not even in the original plot. I'm a bit nervous. Thought this young master was just like me.'

Hearing this, Su Hang's eyes lit up. A faint smile tugged at his lips as his brows lifted, a playful glint surfacing in his eyes.

Seeing Su Hang smile, Ji Chuan started to grin back, but when he saw the other tilting his head with a mocking look, his smile froze.

"Whoa, young master, what's with that look?"

Su Hang's smile deepened, but he said nothing, only giving Ji Chuan a light smile before stepping forward.

Just as the mood between the two lightened, a sharp, urgent voice rang out from ahead.

"Watch out!"

The shout had barely died down when a blade whistled past Su Hang's ear. Instinctively, he reached for his sword to block the incoming flying blade, but the next instant, it collided with a thrown dart and clattered to the ground.

Su Hang saw none of it. A tall, slender figure blocked his view—Elder Yang. She stood before him, two fingers clamped around Su Hang's flexible sword, the blade bent in an arc, its edge stained with blood.

"E-Elder Yang?"

Su Hang's heart was still pounding. He stared wide-eyed, panicked, carefully watching Elder Yang, whose face was clearly angry. "Your hand is bleeding..."

Elder Yang didn't respond. She just let out a cold laugh: "Using a flexible sword to block a sharp blade? Hah, that's a first for me."

A flush of embarrassment crept up Su Hang's face, and he stammered, "E-Elder, I..."

Elder Yang ignored his embarrassment. She lifted Su Hang's right wrist and said flatly, "This is an arm guard. It must be from Immortal Venerable Lingqing. It's not just decorative—you can use it to block short blades. Not as good as a shield, but better than a flexible sword."

Su Hang hung his head in shame, not daring to meet her eyes. The Hidden Frost at his waist seemed to have heard Elder Yang's words and stirred restlessly. Su Hang quickly patted it to calm it.

"And," Elder Yang seemed unwilling to let Su Hang off the hook, "that item at your waist isn't a jade pendant. It's called a Jade Barrier. It can transform into a shield."

Su Hang lowered his head even further. In truth, Immortal Venerable Lingqing had told him all this before, but in moments of danger, Su Hang still instinctively drew his sword. A flexible sword was for offense, not defense. If not for the Elder's help today, Su Hang didn't dare imagine what could have happened.

"Thank you for saving me, Elder Yang."

"It wasn't me who saved you," Elder Yang said coolly.

Su Hang was taken aback, looking at Elder Yang in confusion. "Huh?"

Elder Yang turned to look elsewhere. Following her gaze, Su Hang saw Lu Jinghe standing not far away. The throwing dart on his wrist was still out. He was quietly watching Su Hang and the Elder, his expression slightly grim.

Embarrassed, Su Hang quickly said, "Th-thank you."

Only then did Lu Jinghe retract the dart at his wrist, replying coolly, "It was nothing."

With that, he turned and strode forward. Elder Yang, who had been shielding Su Hang, released the flexible sword from her fingers and walked ahead without a word.

Su Hang let out a soft sigh, lowering his head, his face full of gloom.

He'd been a burden again.

"Stop overthinking. You're fine, that's all that matters."

Just as Su Hang was feeling down, a voice cut through his thoughts. His eyes brightened, and he abruptly looked up at Elder Yang. His eyes were slightly red, a swirl of unreadable emotions churning beneath the surface.

'If something happened to him, Immortal Venerable Lingqing would... never mind.'

Su Hang: "..."

He let out a bitter laugh. Sometimes he truly hated this ability—he couldn't even allow himself to imagine. He shook his head, deciding not to dwell on it, and quietly fell to the back of the group.

*

On the way, Elder Yang told them that the attack on Su Hang meant their group had been targeted. They just didn't know who was after them. Likely, the evil spirits wreaking havoc here had known cultivators would come and had set up an ambush in advance.

Hearing this, they all remained on high alert throughout the journey.

By the time the sky had fully darkened, they finally arrived at the border of Ying Country. Unlike the peaceful, harmonious scene last time, the streets and alleys were now completely empty. Most doors were dark, and the few households with dim lights had their doors tightly shut.

Elder Yang shot Qu Wenshan a look, and he immediately understood. He walked toward one of the dimly lit houses and knocked, but there was no sound from within.

"Excuse me, is anyone home?"

The moment Qu Wenshan finished speaking, the lights in the nearby houses all went out.

Elder Yang: "...Come back."

Qu Wenshan knew he had done something foolish and forced a stiff smile onto his face. But Elder Yang didn't scold him much. She simply looked around and spoke in a calm tone.

"There's a heavy aura of death here. Likely due to constant warfare—it's probably the death energy that attracted the evil spirits, or perhaps the demon race."

Elder Yang paused at this point, then turned to face Su Hang and the others with a serious expression. "Regardless, if this involves the demon race, we must be extremely careful."

Hearing this, Su Hang furrowed his brows. He looked around, his heart filled with mixed emotions, and muttered to himself: "War? But last time Wenshan and I came here, it was still a peaceful scene. How could it have fallen into constant warfare in just one year?"

Hearing Su Hang's words, Qu Wenshan's face showed no expression: "The flow of time in the upper realm and the lower realm is always different."

Su Hang's body stiffened. He suddenly remembered that Qu Wenshan was a prince of Ying Country. Wenshan had just lost his biological brother, and now he saw his homeland's border in such a state—how must he be feeling...

He opened his mouth, trying to find words, but no words of comfort would come out. He turned to look at Qu Wenshan, only to find no trace of sadness on the other's face.

Afraid that Qu Wenshan was bottling everything up inside, Su Hang carefully asked, "Are you alright?"

Qu Wenshan looked up at Su Hang, a hint of confusion flashing in his eyes. Seeming to catch the worry in Su Hang's gaze, he paused, his lips twitching slightly. After a few breaths, his expression shifted, and he said, "Young master, I'm fine."

With that, he turned and walked hastily toward Elder Yang, leaving Su Hang standing there.

Just as Su Hang was staring after Qu Wenshan's retreating figure, unable to look away, a cold, clear voice interrupted his thoughts.

"Is this place really lifeless because of war?"

Before Su Hang could turn around, he caught a whiff of the crisp, clean fragrance of Snowfall Peak—the unique scent of Immortal Venerable Lingqing. The aroma was faint, as if it might fade away in the wind at any moment, yet Su Hang still detected it.

His eyes brightened with a sense of anticipation he couldn't put into words. He whirled around, only to find Lu Jinghe standing behind him, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his lips.

Su Hang was a little disappointed, though he reasoned that the Immortal Venerable was usually so busy—how could he have followed him down to the mortal world?

Lu Jinghe, observing Su Hang's subtle expression, deepened his smile, his eyes dark and unreadable. "I don't think a war happened here. What do you think?"

Snapping back to reality at Lu Jinghe's words, Su Hang glanced at him, feeling something was off for no clear reason. He wondered why this man had suddenly become so talkative—hadn't Lu Jinghe ignored everyone before?

But he brushed it off, figuring Lu Jinghe only got talkative because he sensed danger, and didn't dwell on it.

After hearing Lu Jinghe's remark, Su Hang noticed how out of place everything felt.

It was true that many people had died here recently, but how could it be attributed to war?

There was no smell of gunpowder in the air, only the scent of earth. No signs of chaos or conflict—the wheat fields were intact as they passed, and no bodies were left out in the open...

It didn't resemble a war zone.

Su Hang blinked, then looked up toward Elder Yang, fear creeping into his heart.

Surely Elder Yang had noticed these details?

As the only elder leading this training trip, everyone naturally did whatever she said. If she said these deaths were due to war, they would all believe her and investigate accordingly.

Elder Yang couldn't have missed these clues.

What was she trying to hide?

Su Hang unconsciously shivered. He glanced toward Elder Yang, seeing Qu Wenshan about to search the houses without lit candles, while Ji Chuan stood nearby, his expression more solemn, quietly observing Elder Yang.

Ji Chuan seemed to notice Su Hang's gaze, turned around, and flashed a sly, teasing grin.

Su Hang walked over to Ji Chuan in a few steps, with Lu Jinghe silently following behind. Su Hang poked Ji Chuan's side and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "You've noticed something too, haven't you?"

Ji Chuan revealed an enigmatic smile, leaning close to Su Hang's ear, and said, "Me? I'm not telling you."

'Whatever Elder Yang's motives, as long as they don't hinder me, I'll pretend not to notice. Whatever she says goes—what does it have to do with me?'

==========Author's Note:==========

Thank you to all the readers who've made it this far! I love you all so much!