chsdbacks Chapter 246: Mount Popo
Chapter 246: Mount Popo
Beyond the dimly lit hillside, the hoarse cawing of crows pierced the night, the sound of their flapping wings mingling with the howling wind, adding a chilling touch to the impenetrable darkness.
Li Shu, dressed in only a thin shirt, was shivering uncontrollably in the wind.
It wasn't because of the cold. With his cultivation level, he was already immune to both heat and cold.
As night fell as black as ink, a hunched figure emerged from the shadows without warning amidst the undulating, desolate graves.
"Brother, is that you, brother?"
The girl's voice was light and ethereal, unusually so, like a wisp of smoke suspended in mid-air, separated from the world, unable to settle into reality.
In an instant, Li Cai stood in front of him. She was a little girl who was less than 1.5 meters tall, with delicate and cute features, but there was a dark red birthmark on her right cheek, which was a hideous skull shape that faintly glowed with an eerie dark light in the night.
But Li Shu seemed completely oblivious to the mark, as if he had long since forgotten about the strangeness. The moment he saw his sister, his heart, which had been hanging in suspense for so long, finally settled. He quickly stepped forward and carefully pulled her into a tight embrace.
"Little sister, I've finally avenged you. Now we can live a good life. Once we leave this hellish place, I'll take you to a beautiful, peaceful place where we can live a tranquil life!"
His eyes shone with burning anticipation. The thought of no longer having to wander and endure humiliation made all the resentment and exhaustion that had been building up in his heart for days vanish instantly.
Li Shu never had any grand ambitions. Having suffered enough since childhood, his greatest wish in this life was simply to live well with his younger sister.
The two embraced, their cheeks resting on each other's shoulders. Li Shu had her eyes closed, her heart filled with anticipation for the future, completely unaware that the eyes of the person in her arms held no warmth, only an unyielding chill.
Pfft—
The dull thud of a sharp blade piercing flesh suddenly tore through the night.
Li Shu's eyes widened suddenly. He stiffly lowered his head, his pupils contracting violently as he stared intently at the withered, black arm that had pierced through his chest from behind.
His arm was thin and withered, the dark skin clinging tightly to the bone like cracked old tree bark, frantically draining his life force at a visible speed. In the blink of an eye, his years of hard-earned cultivation vanished like a receding tide, leaving his dantian completely empty.
"Little sister..."
Li Shu's voice shattered amidst the metallic taste rising in his throat. The disbelief in his eyes gradually faded, leaving only a bone-chilling bewilderment. He looked at the face before him, half of which was covered by skull patterns, and forced a heartbreaking smile.
"Good brother, can you give me all your cultivation?"
Li Cai's voice was as cold as ice, and there was not a trace of kinship in her eyes, only the indifference of looking at prey, and even a hint of the pleasure of a successful hunt.
"You're not... Little sister... You are... What kind of monster..."
Li Shu wanted to say something more, but more blood was stuck in his throat, and he could no longer utter a complete syllable.
His head grew heavier and heavier, and drowsiness washed over him like a tide. In his final moments, he suddenly remembered his foster mother's dying words, her grip on his hand in the arena. An endless, bitter smile crept over him, drowning out his last vestiges of consciousness.
Li Shu collapsed heavily onto the cold mud, her eyes remaining open until her death, a self-mocking smile on her lips, as if laughing at herself for clinging to a false sense of family and being like a moth drawn to a flame.
Li Cai's figure disappeared into the night.
Step, step.
The steady footsteps echoed in the deathly silence of the graveyard. Zhang Ping slowly emerged from the shadows and stopped in front of the mostly dried-out corpse of the boy.
He crouched down, his fingertips brushing against the side of Li Shu's neck, his eyebrows slightly raised.
"There's still a sliver of hope?"
He followed Li Shu for half the night, his target being the sect token on Li Shu's body from beginning to end.
With a thought, he reached out and summoned a token that gleamed with a cold, mysterious light. The token slowly floated up from Li Shu's corpse. The patterns on the token were ancient and profound, and it faintly emanated spiritual energy.
"It's still there after all."
He had heard every word of the conversation between the brother and sister. Coincidentally, Li Shu had never mentioned the sect token to the monster until his death. The monster only absorbed his cultivation and took his spirit coins, but left behind the most valuable token intact.
"That saved me a lot of trouble."
Zhang Ping weighed the token in his hand and chuckled softly. He had originally prepared to wait until both sides were severely injured before making his move, and had even considered fighting the other cultivators who coveted the token head-on. He never expected that this would be the final result, and that he would obtain it without any effort at all.
After carefully putting away the sect token, Zhang Ping looked up into the darkness where Li Cai had disappeared, tracing the patterns on the token with his fingertips before looking away after a moment.
"Never mind, I don't know what kind of spirit it is. Its cultivation is mediocre, and there's no point in chasing it."
Three months later, on Penglai Plain, at Bobo Mountain.
"Wave--"
A silly cry rang out overhead.
"Get out of the way, you silly bird, go play somewhere else."
Halfway up the mountain, in the lush bamboo forest, the wind rustled the leaves like shattered jade. A small courtyard with green tiles and bamboo walls was hidden deep in the bamboo sea, a secluded haven from the world. Zhang Ping lay on a bamboo recliner in the courtyard, impatiently waving his hand to shoo away the bob-shaped bird that kept circling above his head.
Light footsteps soon echoed from the end of the bamboo path, and a little girl with chubby cheeks and two buns, carrying a white porcelain plate, came running towards them. Her crisp voice drifted over before she even arrived.
"Sect Master! The grapes you ordered are washed!"
The little girl blinked her big, watery eyes, hopped in front of Zhang Ping, and proudly presented him with the plate. The grapes on the plate were plump and round, their purple skins glistening with dewdrops, looking sweet and juicy.
Zhang Ping didn't even fully lift his eyelids. He casually picked up a thin bamboo stick from the side and lightly flicked the little girl's bottom, his tone carrying a lazy, amused tone.
"You've been stealing food again; you should be punished."
"Ouch—" The little girl cried out in pain, clutching her bottom and shrinking back. She pouted, looking aggrieved, and muttered under her breath, "It was just one, why are you being so stingy..."
"Um?"
Zhang Ping gave a lazy hum, the last syllable of which was drawn out and carried a subtle sense of pressure.
The little girl instantly bristled, frantically waving her hands and shaking her head, her face turning bright red: "No, no! Sect Master, I absolutely didn't steal any! I didn't touch a single one!"
Seeing her flustered and increasingly guilty-looking attempts to explain, Zhang Ping helplessly rubbed his forehead and sighed inwardly.
What kind of disciples are they recruiting?
It's one thing to be young, but why does it seem like the brain isn't working very well?
His newly established sect is likely to be ruined by this bunch of idiots...