Chapter 5
Edward Quan ·
15
Mặc Thanh laughed coldly.
“Mock my master? One slap could kill you.”
“Insolent! Who gave you leave to speak?”
“Tử Linh, even a brat like this? You must be desperate.”
【Desperate? I’m delicious!】
【This crown prince is nourishing from head to toe.】
“You little…”
Before Giả Uy finished, my sword sheared off his hair.
“Another word, and you won’t need your tongue.”
“What are you being so fierce for? Hmph!”
Pouting indignantly, he fled.
【Tonight, I’ll throw a sack over him and teach him manners.】
A vicious glint crossed Mặc Thanh’s eyes.
“Leave him. He only has a filthy mouth.”
I patted his arm and warned:
“Enough trouble lately. Behave.”
“Yes, Master.”
He nodded immediately.
The bronze bell rang.
The assembly began.
As expected, he won.
Outwardly indifferent, he stepped up to receive the prize.
Inside, he was ecstatic.
【The Phantom Jade Fruit!】
【They say it’s sacred for dual cultivation.】
【Is this the sect leader’s blessing, wishing Master and me an early marriage?】
16
Wishful thinking.
The fruit strengthened spiritual consciousness. Nothing to do with dual cultivation.
It had to be eaten as soon as its seal opened, so he ate it on the platform.
A celebration followed the competition.
But nausea struck, and I returned to my cave residence.
He wanted to accompany me.
I told him to stay and watch the elder.
If the formations were wrong, something might happen tonight.
Reluctantly, he obeyed.
I meditated until late.
Suddenly, shouts rose outside.
“Seal the gates!”
“Catch that serpent demon!”
I sent him a message.
“Where are you?”
No answer.
Sword in hand, I rushed out.
Torches blazed over the rear mountain.
“What happened?”
Flying up on my sword, I stopped a Law Enforcement disciple.
“Senior Giả Uy was attacked and lies unconscious. The elder suspects a powerful demon.”
At that moment, a huge black Mystic Serpent with wings on its back shot into the sky.
“Mặc Thanh!”
“He’s a Mystic Serpent demon!”
The elder hovered, directing the formation.
“Activate the Mystic Heaven Formation!”
“Lower the Demon-Catching Net!”
A golden net fell and bound him.
His roar shook heaven and earth, but he couldn’t escape.
Exhausted, he crashed to the ground, gouging a long deep pit.
“Mặc Thanh! You deceived me! I’ll kill you!”
I summoned my Violet Gold Sword.
It became a streak of light and pierced his chest with unstoppable force.
“Tử Linh! Have you gone mad?”
The elder tried to stop me. I struck him back with a palm.
“Today, I’ll kill this ungrateful serpent!”
My blade turned.
A green serpent core the size of a child’s fist came free, glowing darkly in my hand.
【The skin, flesh, and bones too. Don’t miss anything.】
His eyes slowly closed.
His breath ceased.
17
“Tử Linh! We haven’t established the truth. Why kill him?”
The elder shouted furiously.
“He was plainly a spy. He deceived me. I’ll grind his bones to ash!”
Cold-faced, I worked quickly.
Skinned him.
Removed sinews.
Separated bones.
The disciples quietly backed away from the brutal dismemberment.
“I know this has hurt you deeply,” the sect leader said gently.
“Don’t grieve too much. Go and rest.”
“Sect Leader!”
“He hid here for five years. As his master, Tử Linh cannot have known nothing.”
“She should be confined to the Water Prison and questioned.”
The elder spoke immediately.
“If I knew he was a demon, why would I let him remove my poison?”
My eyes reddened.
Looking humiliated, I swiftly gathered every piece into my storage pouch.
“Chí Phong.”
“We watched Tử Linh grow up.”
“Don’t you know her character?”
“She wouldn’t shelter a demon spy.”
The sect leader shook his head.
The other elders agreed I probably knew nothing.
“This is serious. How can we dismiss it?”
Still invoking the rules, Chí Phong insisted on the Water Prison.
I clutched my chest.
Swayed.
And fainted.
18
The Water Prison was out of the question.
Apologetically, the sect leader gave me medicine and told me to rest.
He signaled to the elder, who finally stopped pursuing it.
Feigning grief, I saw them out and rushed to the alchemy chamber.
I melted the serpent’s skin, bones, and flesh and poured everything into a black rabbit puppet.
Then placed the green core inside, formed a hand seal, and called:
“Mặc Thanh, wake up.”
I waited anxiously.
Would his external incarnation still work?
The rabbit opened its eyes.
Looked at its paws.
Then wailed.
“Master! Why a rabbit?”
“Less conspicuous. Understand?”
I lifted it by the ears.
“I told you to watch the elder. Why reveal yourself?”
It curled up its legs pitifully.
“Someone put Yellow Bear Pills in my wine.”
“They wouldn’t normally affect me.”
“But they reacted with the Sacred Jade Fruit.”
“My seal loosened. I burned all over. I meant to find you, but the elder forced my true form out.”
“Someone exposed you deliberately, then wanted me imprisoned?”
I grew more suspicious of Chí Phong.
“One more thing, Master.”
“On the platform, something in the formation stirred my bloodline.”
“Come. Let’s look.”