SWNOVELXO Chapter 404: The Ox is Exhausted!
Chapter 404: The Ox is Exhausted!
One day later, within the Joyful Union Sect.
Shangguan Yu stood outside Zhao Ningzhi’s cave dwelling, her voice icy as she asked, “Sister Zhao, are you still not done yet?”
It had been four days and four nights – even an ox would be exhausted!
Zhao Ningzhi sighed and opened the cave entrance. “Senior Sister, please come in.”
Shangguan Yu’s heart skipped a beat. Could it be that the boy had truly been drained dry?
She entered with a cold expression, only to find that the situation she had imagined hadn’t occurred.
Something far worse had happened – the boy wasn’t even in the cave!
“Where is he?”
Zhao Ningzhi swallowed hard, her voice trembling. “Senior sister, please stay calm!”
Shangguan Yu’s chest heaved with suppressed fury as she clenched her teeth. “Speak!”
Zhao Ningzhi steeled herself and truthfully recounted the entire incident. Shangguan Yu’s expression became increasingly frosty.
“I tried to restart the array today, but it seems that the array on the other side has been destroyed.”
With a loud slap, Shangguan Yu slapped Zhao Ningzhi’s face.
Zhao Ningzhi fell onto the bed, her hair disheveled and a clear handprint already forming on her delicate face.
“His life is tied to the fate of every member of the Joyful Union Sect, yet you let him go like this?”
“He’s only at the Foundation Establishment Realm. Did you really believe that he could survive against the disciples of the Heavenly Deception Sect?”
“We may have agreed not to use disciples from the Core Formation Realm or higher, but do you really think they would follow the rules?”
“Knowing that he was in danger, you delayed to speak up until today. Zhao Ningzhi, where is your brain? Did you grow it on those two lumps of flesh on your chest?”
Seeing Shangguan Yu’s uncontrollable rage, Zhao Ningzhi touched her stinging cheek, her voice filled with guilt. “Senior Sister Yu, it was my fault! I am willing to accept any punishment!”
Shangguan Yu laughed bitterly, her anger turning into mockery. “Any punishment? What can I punish you with? Punish you to go and please the Heavenly Deception Sect?”
“Even if you were to sleep with every member of the Heavenly Deception Sect, could you possibly keep up?”
“Zhao Ningzhi, how can you face all the sisters of the Joyful Union Sect?”
Zhao Ningzhi remained silent, her lips pressed together as tears streamed down her face.
Shangguan Yu snorted coldly. “Apologizing and crying – do you think that will solve anything? Our master is no longer here. Who are you crying for?”
She flicked her sleeve and said icily, “Come with me to the Joyful Pavilion!”
Zhao Ningzhi silently wiped away her tears and followed her to the Joyful Pavilion, where they met Shangguan Qiong.
After hearing the whole story, Shangguan Qiong looked at Zhao Ningzhi and let out a long sigh.
“Sister Zhao, you really were wrong this time. Sigh.”
Zhao Ningzhi choked back her sobs. “Senior Sister Qiong, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have been so softhearted.”
“You can ask the disciples who have been exploited by the Heavenly Deception Sect if they accept your apology,” Shangguan Yu said coldly.
“Yu’er, enough. The rice is already cooked – we need to focus on damage control,” Shangguan Qiong interjected.
“I’ll go find him!” Zhao Ningzhi explained.
“Hmph, I’m afraid you won’t come back. Besides, if you leave, who will maintain the sect’s array?” Shangguan Yu replied coldly.
Both Zhao Ningzhi and Shangguan Yu were skilled in arrays, and the Joyful Union Sect’s arrays were always maintained and repaired by the two of them.
In the event of an attack, one would control the array while the other maintained it-both roles were essential.
Shangguan Qiong thought for a moment and said, “I’ll go instead. I have the Lingering Poison Insect, and I can sense his location if I get close enough.”
Without hesitation, she quickly disguised herself, donned a black cloak, and blended in with the sect’s disciples as she left the Joyful Union Sect.
But as soon as she stepped out, she was immediately followed.
The person who followed her wasn’t aware of her true strength, assuming that she was merely at the Nascent Soul Realm. They cautiously trailed behind her.
Shangguan Qiong, however, wasn’t in a hurry to shake off her pursuers. Following Zhao Ningzhi’s directions, she flew straight toward the tomb.
Upon arriving, she found that the tomb had collapsed, with the ground sunken in several places, indicating some kind of disturbance.
Shangguan Qiong discovered broken qin strings and fragments of a sword, which gave her a clue about what had happened.
She ventured inside and saw the mostly collapsed main tomb chamber and the destroyed array.
“Overloaded operation… it seems they encountered spatial turbulence…”
Shangguan Qiong’s heart sank. Even with her cultivation, encountering spatial turbulence would be a death sentence. For Lin Fengmian and the others, it was even more dire.
“Beautiful lady, wandering around this desolate cemetery in the middle of the night, are you feeling lonely? How about I keep you company?”
A lecherous chuckle echoed as the Nascent Soul Realm cultivator who had been following her revealed himself.
Shangguan Qiong looked at him, the corners of her red lips under her hood curving into a charming smile.
She opened her mouth and said softly, “Alright.”
The Nascent Soul Realm cultivator was overjoyed, rubbing his hands together as he approached, though his eyes remained wary.
Shangguan Qiong, however, didn’t make a move. Instead, she smiled and said, “Come and catch me. If you catch me, I’ll let you do whatever you want.”
With that, she transformed into a streak of light and swiftly flew away, leaving behind a lingering fragrance.
The man took a deep breath, savoring the scent, and grinned. “Hehehe, how fragrant. The beauty sure knows how to play!”
He pursued her relentlessly, while Shangguan Qiong kept just enough distance to keep him hooked.
Killing this man would be easy for her, but the subsequent trouble it would bring wasn’t worth it. It was better to keep him occupied for now.
In the chaotic spatial turbulence, Lin Fengmian and the two women drifted aimlessly, unsure of how much time had passed.
The environment was eerily quiet. Were it not for the presence of the two beautiful women, Lin Fengmian might have been driven mad by the silence.
However, the two carp spirits seemed to be enjoying themselves, pulling Lin Fengmian and the others through the turbulence as if they were swimming upstream.
As time passed, the whiskers on the carp spirits’ faces grew longer, and their fins and tails became longer as well.
Their movements became more graceful, leaving trails of glittering starlight in their wake. Occasionally, faint dragon roars could be heard.
Suddenly, the spatial turbulence ahead became more active, and swirling currents formed.
The Carp Spirits also became more energetic and swam rapidly toward the turbulence. Lin Fengmian and the others followed close behind.
When they reached the area, the Carp Spirits leapt powerfully, emitting a sound similar to a dragon’s roar.
With a loud crack, they broke through the spatial turbulence, carrying the trio with them.
A flash of lightning illuminated the sky, and the space around them shattered, revealing a fissure.
Lin Fengmian and the two women began to fall, the sounds of wind, rain, and thunder filling their ears.
These familiar sounds were like heavenly music, breaking the suffocating silence they had endured.
The two massive carp spirits, seemingly exhausted, intertwined and transformed back into the Double Fish Pendant, flying towards Lin Fengmian.
The trio stabilized themselves as heavy rain poured down, giving them a sense of relief and survival.
As they looked up, they saw flashes of lightning illuminating the sky, and a massive crack appeared in the air.
Soon, the rift disappeared and everything returned to normal, as if the previous events had been an illusion.
“We are finally out! I was about to suffocate!” Liu Mei exclaimed, patting her chest with a laugh.
“For the first time, I find the sound of thunder so pleasant,” Chen Qingyan remarked with a sigh.
Before Lin Fengmian could speak, he felt a sudden warmth in his chest, and the surroundings seemed to echo with faint chanting.
In a fleeting vision, he saw a middle-aged man seated on an altar, muttering something before abruptly opening his eyes.
“Why would he be in the central region?”
The vision vanished as quickly as it had come, leaving Lin Fengmian uncertain if it was real or just his imagination.
But he clearly recognized the man – it was Cao Zhengyu, Cao Cheng’an’s father and a Soul Severing Realm cultivator!