Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-28

The little girl was called Luo Heng, her nickname was Luo Luo because ever since she was very young, she used to add some words that preceded her actual speech. For example, when she called for an eagle to fall on her little hand, or when she called to a crocodile to take her to the other side of the river, she would always say, “Loh Loh, quickly!”

Luo Luo was fourteen this year. She was very young and for some reason, she looked even younger than she actually was. She was immature and cute to say the least. Like her appearance, she was naive because she was borned into a high position and great wealth. She did not have to worry about anything. Even after she left her homeland and came to the capital, she still hasn’t changed at all.

She lived in the herb garden in the capital for nearly a year. She barely interacted with others which left her, more or less, lonely and bored.

But this didn’t bother her. She was only concerned about how to xiu xing – in the aspect of xiu xing she had some problems that she could not solve. Even her seemingly omnipotent father could not solve them which is why she travelled thousand miles to the capital.

She hid her identity and went to listen to some lectures in the Heavenly Academy and the Startaker Academy. She went as far as to privately ask famous professors about her situation and to discuss related questions with an honorable guest in the great Zhou royal palace. Even so, she unfortunately couldn’t get answers to her questions.

One night, when she was at her most disappointing moment, she suddenly felt a star light up in the sky. She did not know where the star was but because she knew that the spirit was very strong, very calm and also very different from common xiu xingists’ spirits – she could feel it because she had a very special talent. She was certain that what she sensed was real and she wanted to find that person.

She wanted to put the questions that bothered her for years in front of that person and hoped to get answers.

Yet after twenty days, she still couldn’t find the person. Even though she sent disciples and honorable guests from the royal palace out to search, she still could not find a trace of this person. She was extremely disappointed.

Luo Luo’s was feeling slightly depressed. Even the well-known and rare Cong Yu new tea in the cup could not grab any of her attention. Normally, she excelled in Teaism; how could she ignore the fragrant tea? It was very uncharacteristic of her.

Suddenly, she smelled a scent.

Luo Luo opened up her eyes wide and her body became somewhat stiff.

This scent was very light, but after it had entered her nose, it became intense and extremely clear like a good wine that lures people. There were countless rare fruits in the herb garden which would give off different smells at night but they could not hide the smell that Luo Luo picked up.

In the valley that she lived in during her youth, there was a mountain of flowers. But even if they all bloomed together under the morning sunlight in the beginning of summer, it would not be as fragrant as the scent Luo Luo sensed now.

She dared to swear on all the stars that she had never smelled such good fragrance in her life.

This fragrance was especially light.

What kind of scent was this? Where did this scent come from?

When Luo Luo was thinking, she suddenly realized the scent had disappeared. Just in a second, the fragrance went away. She could no longer find a single remaining scent. She felt lost as if she just missed a very important thing in her life.

She walked to the west along the wall for a several dozen steps. After she arrived at where the flowers were blooming in the ivies, she discovered that the fragrance was not from here. Subconsciously, she looked towards the green ivies on the wall. She thought the faint fragrance was coming from the other side of the wall.

What’s on the other side? It seemed like the discarded Tradition Academy. Compared to the herb garden lived in, the other side had been soundless, like a graveyard. Yet since a few days ago, it suddenly became noisy and crowded, as if something had just happened.

Should I go to take a look?

She had a feeling that the fragrance was related to the person she was trying to find.

Luo Luo’s hand in the wide sleeves slightly grabbed tighter. She became a bit nervous. Without turning, she looked into the darkness of night.

Far away, the oil lamp that was emitting lights behind the spider plant fell into the depth of the night, became distorted and disappeared.

It meant that there were people, or some kind of power existing.

She knew who they were. They were her clansmen who were responsible for protecting her. But at the same time, these people also restricted her freedom. Everyday, when she wanted to go to the Heavenly Academy and Startaker Academy, they had to prepare a long time beforehand, and so, they obviously wouldn’t allow her to leave at night.

Luo Luo saw her shadow on the wall and thought that she was so useless and was such a coward.

Suddenly she laughed, shook her head, pulled out a button and then loosened her hand.

The button that was made from horns of rhinoceros, fell from her little hand to the ground.

“Pa.” One light sound came out.

A fog shrouded the corner of the wall and went in and out of the green ivy.

“Soh, soh, soh, soh,” around ten people came out as fast as arrows from different places in the darkness of night.

The leading middle-aged man waved his hand and dispelled the fog but he still could not see anything in the corner.

These people obviously had high xiu xing. They were probably even some of the best in the world. Yet now, their faces were all extraordinarily pale. They were extremely scared.

One said with a shaken voice, “Prin…Miss…disappeared.”

The middle-aged man’s face was extremely cloudy. He ordered with a low voice, “Report to the palace quickly!”

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Luo Luo didn’t go very far; she just went to the other side of the wall.

She was confident that her people wouldn’t able to find her in such a short time because the seemingly ordinary button was actually the Button of Thousand Miles.

The Button of Thousand Miles was a magical item. It could teleport a person to a far distance. Even facing a powerful enemy, the owner could use this item to escape. However, this button was really rare and could be seen as having a second life. Even places like the Zhou Royal Palace or the Longevity Sect didn’t have many of these buttons.

But she just used it without much regard and she only flipped over a wall.

For sure, it was a waste of such an unique item. But because of this reason, she was sure that her people would never imagine that she just used a Button of Thousand Miles to travel over a wall. She should have enough time to find the origin of that fragrance.

Compared to the cost of finding that person, the cost of the Button of Thousand Miles was nothing to her.

She was always generous.

When Luo Luo moved into the Herb Garden half a year ago, she was curious of the Tradition Academy and the event that occurred more than ten years ago. So, she climbed up the wall and took a peek. However, when she entered the school several months later, many things had changed.

It was still quiet around here, but the wildgrass around the lake was trimmed into a grass field. From the starlight, it was easy to see that the weed in the lake was also cleaned up. But the biggest change happened to the buildings. Besides the main building, which was still in ruins, other structures were mostly fixed up.

The night was dark and only the library had its lights on.

Luo Luo walked two steps towards the library. Suddenly, a light wind blew onto her face. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. A satisfied expression came to her face. She captured the leftover fragrance in the wind and with this, Luo Luo knew she had found the right place.

But when she opened her eyes, her satisfied expression quickly turned into one of caution. A hint of coldness showed up in her young complexion.

A person slowly walked out of the back of a tree growing around the lake

The person wore a black robe that reached up to his knees and the two sleeves were also long enough to touch his knees. His appearance was sharp, but his face was covered by the hoodie of the black robe which gave off a mysterious aura.

Luo Luo looked at the person and smiled. Her right hand slowly reached into her pocket and pulled out a button made out of bull horn.

That was another Button of Thousand Miles.

She didn’t know the identity of the person in the black robe, but it was clear that he had waited for her to appear. That was the problem

Luo Luo was taught from her childhood to not place herself in danger. In addition, she detected that the person in the black robe……especially the dark item that he held tightly in his hand was dangerous to her.

Therefore she used the second Button of Thousand Miles without hesitation.

She was truly generous, but she was also wasteful. She was rich enough to do that.

She opened her palm and the button started to fall onto the earth.

But at the same moment, the man in the black robe also opened his palm.

The thing that he held in his hand seemed to be made out of iron. The two tips were sharp and the surface was smooth. It looked like a giant needle.

The dark iron piece landed on the floor faster than the button did. Its sharp tip stabbed deeply into the soft soil.

Suddenly tiny scales grew out of the smooth metal surface. The scales came off and transformed into millions of iron pieces. These pieces flew silently into the surrounding night sky.

Following the iron pieces, a powerful presence rapidly covered the entire area of the Tradition Academy.

The smoke screen was gone.

Luo Luo was still in her original spot, and a trace of blood was flowing out of the corner of her lip!

The Button of Thousand Miles couldn’t help her leave!

She raised her head and glanced at the night sky. The starlight that was emitted seemed to reflect in a different direction.

The needle-like iron weapon was powerful enough to lock down such a large space!

Her smile was gone. She looked at the man dressed in the black robe and said sincerely, “ A struggling Heartseeker….Oh wait, I forgot….. There is no such saying at your place. But it is still a struggle to get to your level. You really want to die without a trace and your family members hunted down for all their lives until not a single one left? Is it really worth it to pay this price?”

This was not a threat, but rather an objective statement, that’s why it was powerful.

Anyone who dared to bring harm to her would face the boundless rage from the Red River of Eight Hundred Miles.

“To do that, you first need to know my identity.”

The man in the black robe slowly let down his hoodie and a ordinary face was under it.

It was just a middle-aged man. There was nothing special about his complexion. If he was thrown into the crowd of the capital, no one would be able to remember his face, especially when he ties up his hair.

Today, he didn’t put on any camouflage. His black hair went down to his shoulder. The two black demon horns were shown clearly under the starlight.

This middle-aged man from the Demon Race said religiously without hesitation,

“…..If I am able to kill you in the capital of the human world, speak less of my life, I am even willing to sacrifice my soul.”