CHAPTER 487: CHAPTER 474: UNEXPECTED FATE

Zhao Changhe was indeed wronged. When he mentioned the two rooms, it was just an offhand remark, not something he had actually thought through. Who would have time for dual cultivation with all the sound effects at a time like this? The timing and the setting were just not right.

Although he and Yue Hongling were indeed both injured and tired and in need of rest, it wasn’t too severe—a bit of medicine and meditation would be enough.

After treating Han Wubing, Zhao Changhe sat down to meditate, a bit fatigued, and the room became silent for a moment.

Yue Hongling tilted her head to another angle.

Looking at him, it seemed like she thought the one who wanted to engage in dual cultivation was herself, not him...

Seriously... she had been led astray.

Soon the Spirit Clan leader personally brought over some roasted meat and fruit wine. Perhaps because Zhao Changhe had ordered "not to be disturbed," the leader didn’t dare say a word more, bowed respectfully after setting down the food, and left.

Zhao Changhe opened his eyes and exchanged glances with Yue Hongling. For the first time, they felt a sense of guilt while eating. It didn’t seem right to offer money, considering they were posing as envoys, and envoys wouldn’t hold back with generosity.

Yue Hongling shook her head and checked the roasted meat, "Let’s eat first. If we get the chance later, we’ll remember to reciprocate."

"Right," Zhao Changhe responded in a low voice. "Looking at this, the Ancient Spirit Clan seems to be in a bad situation... What’s with this Forbidden Land, treating them like slaves?"

Yue Hongling said, "That’s why Sisi wants to seek a breakthrough elsewhere... When I first met her, she was very open-minded, willing to do anything. She even dared to steal from the Thief Saint. When she was impersonating the Maitreya Holy Daughter, she knelt as soon as you pressured her. She was utterly indifferent to everything, concepts like conscience and reserve meant nothing to her."

Zhao Changhe asked curiously, "How did you suddenly find out about the Thief Saint? I seem to recall I only told you about a senior."

"Sisi told me herself. She said she felt guilty towards her master. I didn’t know who it was before, but I wouldn’t fail to connect the dots after seeing the Thief Saint just now, would I? Do you think I’m stupid?" Yue Hongling said indignantly, "And you kept it from me. What was the point of that?"

"It’s a matter within their Sect, it’s private and shouldn’t be spread casually."

"You keep calling me ’husband, husband.’ Don’t you see me as your wife? Am I a stranger to you?"

Zhao Changhe surrendered, raising his hands.

Yue Hongling snorted, "So you’re saying that later on when she tricked you yet didn’t want to hurt you... she must have had a hard time. She likes you quite a bit, huh?"

Zhao Changhe finally understood why Yue Hongling was in such an unusual mood—turns out she was jealous. He decided it was best to keep his head down and focus on eating the meat without saying a word.

Han Wubing ate his roasted meat slowly and glanced at him.

And there you have it—when even a straightforward woman like Yue Hongling couldn’t help but feel jealous... then consider a situation with three women in one play. How could a martial artist not end up with a massive headache? And yet they’re expected to focus single-mindedly on martial arts and strive for improvement? That just doesn’t make sense.

Yet this guy really was cultivating at a terrifying pace. Judging from the earlier battle, especially that last-second kill of Ying Shuang, Han Wubing was convinced that he couldn’t beat him even in his prime.

It was truly baffling.

Yue Hongling asked, "Do you want to help the Ancient Spirit Clan solve this Forbidden Land problem?"

Zhao Changhe pondered, "Without knowing the strength of the other side, we can’t talk about solving it, but we need to understand the situation. We’ll put aside who is right or wrong for the time being... We really do need the Ancient Spirit Clan’s help for many things. If we can use it as a bargaining chip, it’s not a bad approach."

Yue Hongling didn’t point out whether he wanted to help Sisi or not and said seriously, "Their strength might be very formidable. Judging from Sisi’s cultivation, her mastery of martial arts is average, but she has many odd and extraordinary techniques. And she’s still young, indicating there could be many powerful wizards in the clan. Such a force, even if placed in the Miao Region, could compete with Lei Zhentang’s Black Miao Clan, perhaps even surpass them. Yet, they are so oppressed by this Forbidden Land."

Zhao Changhe nodded slightly, "Yes, the Ancient Spirit Clan should indeed be stronger than the Black Miao... If nothing unexpected, there’s an Ancient Demon inside that Forbidden Land, at least as powerful as the Corpse Demon in the Maitreya Secret Realm. Speaking of which, the Corpse Demon had Gu Technique... Hey dammit, I’m carrying the Corpse Demon with me, how could I forget, damn it!"

Yue Hongling glared at him, unamused.

Suddenly, Zhao Changhe pulled out a cloth bag from somewhere and delved into it with his mental perception.

Inside was a clump of dark insects in a groggy state as if they were asleep.

This was likely the Gu Insect housing the residual soul. Since it had been violently Soul Searched by the Vermilion Bird and Xuanwu sisters, its Soul Sea was in chaos. If it were a weaker being, it might have already died or turned into an idiot. For this creature, the situation was relatively better; it was merely in deep slumber. If left undisturbed, it could probably sleep forever.

Since the start of their adventure from Ba Mountain, Zhao Changhe had encountered so many things that he forgot about this matter. In fact, from the beginning, the very reason he thought to come to the Miao Region was sparked by this Gu Insect, feeling that there must be a connection. Wanzhuang had deliberately given him the bag for this reason.

If not now, then when?

Zhao Changhe activated his spiritual energy, waking up the Gu Insect.

A majestic will transmitted from the Gu Insect, "Who dares disturb my slumber..."

"Pretending, are you? You’re still acting the part of the defeated commander. What, you think a new Maitreya picked you up?"

"..."

The Corpse Demon seemed to regain some lucidity and recognized Zhao Changhe, the weakest of those who had besieged it earlier, and sneered, "It’s you. The Vermilion Bird and Xuanwu could obliterate my soul; I fear them somewhat. But what are you to shout at me so brazenly?"

Zhao Changhe’s mind stirred slightly, and the Dragon Sparrow stood up inside the ring, facing the Gu Insect.

Corpse Demon’s soul scattered in terror: "Human Grade Sword Spirit!"

Human Grade... Dragon Sparrow is a piece of shit in terms of human decency... Oh wait, is it about the three grades of Heaven, Earth, and Man? If it’s about this concept, I have a feeling Dragon Sparrow is about to curse someone out.

Sure enough, Dragon Sparrow was furious: "Human Grade? Why am I only Human Grade! Can a spirit of Human Grade have such a clear will transmission? I think you’ve had your soul searched until you’ve become an idiot!"

"Earth, Earth Grade?" Corpse Demon was somewhat unsure: "But the power isn’t there..."

"Clang!" Dragon Sparrow slashed down, and Zhao Changhe, sweating profusely, issued a command and barely dragged the rampaging loli off to one side: "Regardless of how this idiot judges you, in my heart you are Heavenly Grade, no, not even Heavenly Grade is a worthy exchange!"

Dragon Sparrow calmed down and then slightly raised it over the Gu Insect: "Can I extinguish your soul?"

"Yes, yes..."

"When my master asks you something, you answer that, cut the crap!"

The Gu Insect also fell silent.

Zhao Changhe also became silent, finding the taste of being called "master" really strange. Rest assured, just for that word, no matter how I practice swordsmanship, I won’t abandon you...

After a long while, he finally asked: "Where did you get your Gu Technique from?"

This time, Corpse Demon was very honest: "I am a Spirit Clan person, it’s only natural I know Gu Technique."

He really is a Spirit Clan person, Zhao Changhe kind of expected it but still asked: "With your monotonous Corpse Control Gu Technique, how dare you claim to be a Spirit Clan person?"

Corpse Demon said: "Even a clever woman can’t cook without rice... Gu Technique requires nurturing of Gu, I was trapped in that dilapidated temple’s backyard, for a long time I couldn’t even leave, where was I supposed to get Gu Insects? It was not easy fooling Maitreya to get for me the most urgently needed Corpse Control Gu..."

"The most urgently needed..."

"Yeah, even a fool could see that I wanted to take over his body, there was no other way, but to rely on this to do it, what else would be most urgently needed? Yet he went through all the trouble to help find the ladder for me to take over his body."

Zhao Changhe fell silent for a moment, then slowly said: "The Spirit Clan was enemies with the Buddhist path of the Central Plains at that time? So you were imprisoned as a demon?"

"There were conflicts, no different groups are that harmonious, but enemies is too strong a word. My capture is purely because of my own doing, using Gu Insects to control others for benefits. And because I coveted their Transformed Lotus, snuck into those baldies’ temple, I offended the baldies... It has nothing to do with the Spirit Clan. Of course, after I was captured, the Spirit Clan would probably trouble the baldies, but soon the sky fell, and I guess no one cared about me anymore, it was just fate..."

"The Spirit Clan would trouble people for you? Was your status very high in the Spirit Clan?"

Corpse Demon was quite proud: "Of course, I am the protector of the Spirit Clan’s Holy Beast Blood Turtle, not only of esteemed status, but also the only one who knows how to command the Holy Beast Blood Turtle. Without me, the Spirit Clan would certainly be in trouble and want to save me."

Blood Turtle... why does that word sound so familiar...

Zhao Changhe was stunned for a long time: "It seems there’s no need for a rescue; the Blood Turtle has been stolen, and killed."

"?" The Gu Insect that Corpse Demon was possessing widened its tiny eyes: "Was it Lie’s doing! I knew it, you have the aura of that slave, you’re his legacy, aren’t you!"

Zhao Changhe suddenly felt a strange affinity.

After all that trouble, the household guarding dog he cursed was the Ancient Spirit Clan, and the people he killed with one stroke were the ancestors of the Ancient Spirit Clan... I wonder if Sisi’s ancestors were among them.

Lie came from a slave background... From this ending, it’s quite possible he was once a slave of the Ancient Spirit Clan, hence his name is different from those of Central Earth.

No wonder the Blood God Sect also specializes in the flesh and blood techniques, and they are particularly interested in "witchcraft," even their location is in Wushan. And at the time Sisi was interested in the "treasure with Evil Qi," her recognition and knowledge exceeded that of ordinary people; their clan must have records relating to Evil Qi, although people today have not learned it.

There is also a strong possibility that the martial arts of the Ancient Spirit Clan are missing because a group of fierce warriors in their fighting sequence were killed by Lie, leading to a problem with the inheritance, leaving only the housekeeping witchcraft and Gu Technique to carry on.

This fate is interesting, too bad Sect Hierarch Xue has never had contact with the Spirit Clan in this lifetime, but it doesn’t matter, the Saint Heir has arrived.

Corpse Demon was asking: "You are Lie’s successor, so you’ve come to trouble me? God damn it, even the Blood Turtle has been killed by you guys, what else do you want from me! To control the corpse of the Blood Turtle?"

Zhao Changhe’s expression was extremely peculiar: "If the Spirit Clan is currently being bullied, what do you think?"

Corpse Demon exploded in rage: "Other than that slave’s legacy, who else dares to bully our Spirit Clan! I’ll fight you!"

Dragon Sparrow pressed down on the agitated Gu Insect.

Corpse Demon: "..."

Zhao Changhe turned his head and sighed to Yue Hongling, who was watching him communicate mentally and was perplexed: "I think I’ve found a really awesome helper, although it’s a bit stupid right now."

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PS: Monthly ticket, I want a monthly ticket~