Chapter 52 – Hurry and Catch Up
Song Qianyi pointed toward the crimson river and the chaotic battlefield. “Look at all this and tell me—who exactly do you want to pursue?”
Meng Xueli swung his spear in a mighty arc, splitting the water, shattering waves, cleaving clouds and crushing mountains. A leader without boundaries was still better than one who didn’t value their life.
Liu Jing: “You’ve just never been struck by ‘Hundred Generations of Time’. Tch, and to think you used to fool us, saying this kind of odd weapon wasn’t practical.”
Jing Di ignored him. “The fact that I met him, that I walked alongside him—that’s fate. I fell in love with him at first sight, and when I saw his true face, I liked him even more. I sincerely want to be his Dao companion—what’s so wrong about that?”
As he spoke, Meng Xueli approached with his long spear in hand. The five others eyed this strange weapon again, instinctively tense.
Meng Xueli’s expression remained calm. “You all must have noticed something’s wrong with this secret realm. Someone’s breaking the rules. The ones who attacked me didn’t seem like regular contestant disciples. We’d best part ways here. The green hills will remain, and the flowing waters will go on—farewell, all of you…”
“No!” Jing Di shouted, realizing his reaction was too strong. He softened her tone. “I mean—we’re already in this boat together. We should stick it out through the storm. If you ditch your companions the moment danger arises, what kind of person does that make me?”
Meng Xueli: “It’s a special situation. You and I aren’t from the same sect. It’s better we avoid suspicion.” Mingyue Lake and Han Shan had long-standing tensions. Not long after Ji Xiao’s death, someone from Mingyue Lake had already ascended to sainthood—Meng Xueli couldn’t help but be suspicious.
Jing Di understood what he was worried about and quickly explained, “I swear upon my Dao heart, I knew nothing about this! And I truly believe… my master wouldn’t…”
Meng Xueli: “Fellow Daoist Jing, thank you for everything these past few days.”
Whatever her original intentions, he had indeed fought bravely in the recent battle and had helped them tie bamboo rafts and roast fish. He deserved thanks.
Jing Di deflated a bit. “…You’re welcome.” Calling me “Fellow Daoist” and saying “thank you”—what else can I even say now?
Meng Xueli nodded to Jing Di’s four teammates on behalf of himself and the other three from Han Shan. “Farewell.”
The four bowed to him, casting sympathetic glances toward Jing Di.
The three Han Shan disciples looked reluctantly at Song Qianyi, but they knew the importance of the situation and agreed that parting was for the best.
After the two teams went their separate ways, the Han Shan trio began to sense something was off.
“Elder Meng… this doesn’t seem like the way to Central City…”
Meng Xueli turned to his three junior sectmates and said, “This secret realm is more dangerous than expected. You all should leave via a teleportation array.”
There were four teleportation arrays scattered across the realm, and one happened to be nearby.
The three from Han Shan were shocked.
“We’re not leaving!”
“We swore to protect Elder Meng with our lives!”
Meng Xueli shook his head. “Those people’s motives are unclear. They might even destroy the arrays. If you don’t go now, you might not be able to leave at all. Besides, I have something more important for you to do. After you leave, report the changes in the secret realm to Ziyan Peak Master and have her notify the sect leader immediately.” His voice dropped. “I’m worried Han Shan might be compromised. I hope I’m just overthinking it…”
It was the first time the three had seen Meng Xueli with such a grave expression. A sense of dread crept over them—they understood this was no trivial matter.
Zhang Suyuan tried to persuade his two junior brothers, “Let’s say Elder Meng fights at tenfold strength on his own. If we three stay and fight together with him, that strength might drop to eightfold. If we remain here, we’ll only distract him and become a burden.”
He Ming nodded after some thought. “The message will be delivered—Elder Meng, rest assured!”
Li Wei: “Please take great care, Elder Meng.”
After saying goodbye to two different groups, Meng Xueli took a deep breath and continued on alone.
As twilight descended, the evening sun filtered through the dense forest canopy, its light dimmed by layers of foliage, leaving only the faintest glimmer behind.
Meng Xueli was used to working solo. Traveling alone didn’t scare him—in fact, he found it freeing. But before long, he realized that Jing Di and the others were trailing him.
They didn’t seem hostile. They kept their distance, not too far, not too close, quietly shadowing him from spots just out of view—almost as though they were guarding him.
Meng Xueli was puzzled. “What’s this kid up to now?”
Since they didn’t show themselves, he pretended not to notice. Maybe they’d eventually give up and turn back.
He decided to find a place to rest for the night. His human body wasn’t as tough as his former demon one—it needed meditation and recovery.
He entered a secluded, silent cave. It was pitch-black inside, stretching deep beyond sight.
Meng Xueli triggered the mechanism at the tip of his spear, Hundred Generations of Time. With a soft “zing,” the spear’s point lit up with a faint red glow, like a flickering flame.
He used the weapon to light his path. But just then, he heard movement behind him. Without a sound, he waited for the person to get closer—then suddenly spun around and swept his spear out wide—
A familiar voice called out:
“Xueli, it’s me.”
Meng Xueli quickly pulled back. In the faint red glow from Hundred Generations of Times, the man pulled down the hood of his cloak, revealing a strikingly handsome face.
Meng Xueli stared in shock. “What are you doing here? No—how did you even get in?”
Ji Xiao answered honestly, “The mirage beast recognizes me.”
Meng Xueli knew the mirage beast—he and Que Xianming were both old acquaintances of it. The mirage beast wasn’t an ordinary spiritual beast but a demon from the demon realm. It had no grand ambitions, was naturally lazy, and had lived for 500 years without even learning to take human form. It spent its days lounging and breathing lazily.
But why did the mirage beast recognize Xiao Tingyun?
A trace of sourness rose in Meng Xueli’s heart. Ji Xiao not only kept other demons as pets, but even introduced his son to them as a show of trust. Now the mirage beast, gatekeeper of the secret realm, seemed to find Ji Xiao more useful than him. He had no right to be upset about it—but that only made him feel more bitter.
Meng Xueli snapped, “Ridiculous! Do you think this is some kind of fun place? What are you doing here?”
“I was worried about you,” Ji Xiao said, noticing how exhausted he looked. He reached into his storage pouch and pulled out a handful of pine nuts. “Brought you something to eat.”
Meng Xueli’s eyes lit up, and he held out his hands expectantly.
Meanwhile, the array master turned his array disc. “Elder Meng has vanished inside that cave!”
Jing Di shouted, “Quick! Let’s catch up to him!”
Huge shoutout to @_nyanmaru_ on Discord for commissioning this! The chapter will be posted regularly, show your support for Ciacia at Kofi.
