Ze Tian Ji (Way of Choices)
chapter-990

Chapter 990 – A Sword Shines on the Shore of the Red River

Several hundred hard white stones shot like arrows at Xu Yourong’s body.

Yet this was not the beginning of a horrifying battle, but rather that of an escape.

Chusu had no confidence that he could defeat Xu Yourong. He did not even dare to attack her.

Hotheaded? Battle? Only a complete idiot would make such a choice.

He only hoped to leave alive, with the best case being a retreat with his entire body intact.

Under the cover of the white stones, he crashed through the wall of fire, transforming into a gray blur as he fled toward the alley.

All that was left behind was an anguished howl of misery echoing through the courtyard.

The wall of fire was the true fire of Xu Yourong’s Phoenix blood. Even he had to pay a grievous price to break through it.

Xu Yourong watched as the gray blur vanished, her slender brows rising.

A gale howled, causing the white stones assailing her to drop down to the floor.

Two wings of holy white unfurled behind her.

The wall of fire suddenly disappeared, as did the flames rising from the ground.

Xu Yourong also disappeared, transformed into a stream of light as she pursued.

……

……

The crystals on the floor were powder, stained black and giving off the stench of decay.

The small wooden pagodas had also rotted into what were essentially piles of pulp.

Fear could still be seen on Wuqiong Bi’s face, confusion in her eyes.

Bie Yanghong glanced at her. With some difficulty, he raised his hand and rubbed her head, soothingly saying, “It’s okay now.”

When his hand touched her head, Wuqiong Bi let out a shriek, like some small and startled beast. This was following by a stream of filthy curses, pouring out of her thin and pale lips for quite some time.

She cursed at Xuanyuan Po and Xu Yourong, summarized thusly: ‘Is Xuanyuan Po, that bear cub, so engrossed with marrying the demi-human princess that he doesn’t care about whether I live or die? Since Xu Yourong is in White Emperor City, why did she appear so late? Did she do it on purpose to make things hard on me?’

Bie Yanghong’s complexion turned somewhat unsightly, taking a while to return to normal. He knew that his wife had never in her life encountered true defeat, so the encounters of the last few days had truly scared her quite badly, making her somewhat dazed. He truly found it hard to discipline her.

……

……

The sound of the bell from the Celestial Tree temple had ceased and the mists pervading the streets of the Pine Paths had been summoned to the Imperial City by some power. Three Harmonies Borough was quiet and peaceful. If not for the grim scene within the small courtyard, it would be difficult to imagine the intense battle that had taken place here.

This battle was now taking place far away from the small courtyard, in another street.

The puddles on the damp street suddenly evaporated as the place became abnormally dry. The trees planted along the shore to protect against the wind rustled, their leaves yellowing, then blackening, as they drifted down to the ground. It was like some invisible brush was giving them new coats of paint.

The shore of the Red River suddenly exploded with light.

Countless ripples appeared on the surface of the river, then massive waves. The massive Jings let out low roars, expressing their respect and servitude. They then swam deep into the river, concerned over the effects of this battle.

As the waves settled, the trees swayed in the wind. The stones on the street grew damp once more, the stench of filthy water gradually rising.

Xu Yourong returned to the small courtyard with a thin arm, covered in scales and black fur, in her hand.

The place where the arm had been severed seemed to have been rubbed with something, preventing any blood from coming out.

A normal girl seeing a strange arm that did not belong to a human would assuredly scream in fright and would certainly not carry it.

Xu Yourong cared about cleanliness, but she did not care about such things. Her brows were knit together as if she was thinking about something.

No one was capable of seeing the battle just now, but it had really taken place and was extremely intense and dangerous.

On a rock by the shore of the Red River that had ruptured into two, she had used the temple sword to slice off Chusu’s right arm but failed to keep him.

The Yellow Springs art that Chusu cultivated was truly terrifying, its techniques erratic with all kinds of eccentricities. Even with her brightly lit Dao heart, she found it impossible to completely see through.

Xu Yourong was prepared to enter the courtyard to examine Bie Yanghong’s injuries when she sensed something and vanished.

Since he had come, there was naturally no need for her to appear, or to put it another way, she had no desire to see him right now.

……

……

Deep within the mountains on the other shore of the Red River, Chusu walked out from a stream with a heavy stone in his left hand.

The black robe on his body was soaked and clung tightly to him, revealing the deformed and bizarre curves of his body and making him seem all the more wretched.

At the most dangerous moment, he had used his right arm to block Xu Yourong’s Sword of Great Light and hidden in the river. Borrowing the giant bodies of the Jings, he hid in the mud at the bottom of the river. Finally, he found the hidden entrance into an underground river and, after danger upon danger, managed to escape.

Severely wounded by the loss of his arm, he could not endure the turbulence of the currents in the river. If he hadn’t been hugging the stone, he might have been flushed back into the Red River to become a ghost under Xu Yourong’s sword, or rammed to death on the rocky walls of the underground river.

He threw the stone onto the ground and sat down. He gasped for breath, his head lowered, and he seemed in incredible pain.

In the past, even if he had lost the arm, a secret technique of the Yellow Springs would help him regrow his lost limb. Thus, in every assassination or battle, he could use all his strength, almost insanely attacking Chen Changsheng or Xiao Zhang.

But this time, he would not be able to regrow his arm.

The stump of his arm was edged with divine Qi from the temple sword of South Stream Temple.

Even more frightening was the drop of Heavenly Phoenix true blood that was already spreading through the wound.

Let alone regrowing the arm, if he did not immediately find a place to rest, this drop of blood would continue to eat through his flesh and meridians until it finally destroyed all his Yellow Spring Yin openings, his flesh, and his entire mind.

He heard the cry of a crane in the distance.

Chusu’s body trembled and he raised his head toward that cry, his eyes brimming with fear.

If he were found by Xu Yourong again, the only path left for him would only lead to death.

He decided to not return White Emperor City, even though the only person willing to protect him, Madam Mu, was there.

He had failed to complete the mission Madam Mu had given him, and now Xu Yourong was within.

He was truly afraid of Xu Yourong.

So it was in the past.

And even more so now.

……

……

The White Crane landed in the small courtyard.

It was accompanied by a gasp of surprise and a curse from Wuqiong Bi.

All of the Pine Paths began to come to life.

The Archbishop of the Western Wastes, several dozen priests, the Tang clan stewards, ten-some southern cultivators, the Great Zhou ambassador, experts from the army, the Bear tribe leader, and a large number of demi-human experts all came to this place, tightly surrounding the small courtyard.

It was somewhat similar to the situation from last night, but the atmosphere was even more somber.

Because the Pope had come.

No one noticed Xu Yourong standing on the eaves of the temple to the Celestial Tree.

Whether it was because she had seen someone or had not seen someone, she seemed very satisfied.

So she gave a faint smile, so beautiful that it could topple a city.