CHAPTER 347: XU CHUNFENG, I’M WANG QUAN! A PALACE-CLAD BEAUTY! A CLIFF-DIVE SECRET MANUAL!?

“Who are you?”

The bald youth was startled.

He seemed to see through that Li Yanchu was also a living man, and his tone softened a little. Of course, it might also have been the effect of the Illusory Form.

“A monk?” Li Yanchu probed.

After all, in this era, men valued keeping their hair long; only Buddhist disciples, such as monks and novices, would have a shaved head.

“You’re the monk! Your whole family are monks. What do you know?!” The young bald man glared at him.

Well now. Li Yanchu arched a brow, and his face grew cold.

The bald youth studied Li Yanchu’s face for a while, then suddenly broke into a grin, “Sir, I was only joking just now. Don’t take it to heart!”

“I’m Xu Chunfeng[1]. May I ask how to address you, sir?”

Li Yanchu’s lips twitched. This guy changed faces a little too quickly. He cast a glance at the bald youth with his Qi Sight.

The man’s fortune was shrouded in mist, unclear to read.

Is it being veiled by some magic treasure or powerful divine art? The thought stirred in Li Yanchu’s heart, and his eyes glimmered with clear light.

Ever since his primordial spirit had grown stronger, the upper limits of his Qi Sight had risen greatly as well.

At once he pierced through the haze and couldn’t help but let out a low sound of surprise. This man’s fortune surged magnificently, and his body was suffused with pure clear qi and even touched with golden qi.

His destiny was of utmost nobility. It foretold a youth obscured by dust, but a future of boundless promise.

Moreover, he was certainly a formidable mystic cultivator. No traces of blood-sha or karmic entanglements clung to him.

“I’m Wang Quan,” said Li Yanchu.

“So it is Daoist Wang Quan, my apologies for any disrespect!”

Xu Chunfeng lowered his voice as he spoke, “To meet you today is truly joyous. I have something good to show you.”

He led Li Yanchu behind that block of black rock. Following his gesture, Li Yanchu looked over. There, a group of palace-dressed beauties in sheer gauze were dancing gracefully.

The closer they were to the center of Fengdu, the thicker the yin qi grew; here, one hardly even needed the Spirit Eyes to see ghosts.

There were nine women in total. Their figures were supple and alluring, and their eyes were brimming with spring water, and their cheeks were like peach blossoms. Beneath the gauze were tight-fitting garments that revealed swathes of snowy white skin.

And watching them intently was a hideous, imperious old crone.

“Daoist Wang Quan, what do you think? Rare beauties, are they not!” Xu Chunfeng waggled his brows.

Li Yanchu’s mouth twitched despite himself. Where had this clown come from? Was he simply naïve to the world, or was his mind frighteningly deep and calculating?

“Mr. Xu, this is Fengdu. Those women are all ghosts!” Li Yanchu said flatly.

“Ghost wives and fox concubines are one of life’s great pleasures. I’m rather fond of them myself.” Xu Chunfeng chuckled.

Li Yanchu was left speechless with a wry smile. At that moment, the hideous, imperious old crone’s gaze snapped toward them, her eyes like cold lightning.

“Who dares spy on my old body!?”

To which, Li Yanchu and Xu Chunfeng fell speechless.

Boom!

The block of black stone before them, harder than fine steel, shattered into pieces, and debris flew everywhere. The crone had casually tossed out a single hairpin, yet its power was that terrifying.

As Li Yanchu and Xu Chunfeng’s eyes blurred, nine tall women with rosy, youthful faces suddenly surrounded them. In an instant, it was a blur of snowy white skin, dazzling to the eyes.

“Mr. Xu Chunfeng, you saw a woman with a sword, didn’t you? She was also alive,” Li Yanchu suddenly asked.

Xu Chunfeng was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “I did. Though her face was veiled, that cool and aloof bearing was enough to turn a man’s soul upside down.”

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know. I only crossed paths with her once. She was a peerless beauty, and we spoke quite congenially. But I had urgent matters, so I urged her to leave on her own.”

Li Yanchu couldn’t help but glance at Xu Chunfeng, and he almost laughed aloud. That wasn’t what the ghost-face vine’s ‘recording’ had replayed earlier at all.

“Daoist Wang Quan, do you know that fellow cultivator?” Xu Chunfeng asked.

Before Li Yanchu could reply, the hideous old crone flew into a rage. These two brats were actually standing here chatting away right in front of her!?

“Spying upon the palace maids... such a crime deserves death!” Her voice was cold, imperious, and seething with anger.

Palace maids!?

Li Yanchu and Xu Chunfeng exchanged a glance. If there were palace maids here... did that mean there was a palace hidden in this place as well!?

The old crone shrieked shrilly, and the nine women in palace dress immediately wore strange expressions. Their hands shot out, lunging at the two men to kill!

Strictly speaking, Li Yanchu and Xu Chunfeng were the intruders here. These ghosts, trapped within Fengdu, couldn’t leave anyway, so there was no question of them killing anyone.

Li Yanchu frowned slightly, keenly noticing that most of the attacks were focused on Xu Chunfeng. Far more of the women had chosen to surround him.

“Daoist Wang Quan, fear not! I’m here!” Xu Chunfeng yanked the sharp axe from his belt.

With a swing through empty air, a saber-keen aura split the very ground!

Boom!

A massive shockwave blasted outward from Xu Chunfeng, flinging the gauzy women in all directions. Their already-thin garments grew even more disheveled.

“Go!” Xu Chunfeng roared. He charged forward like a one-man army, breaking through the encirclement.

Seeing this, Li Yanchu raised an eyebrow. So fierce!? He followed close behind, rushing out with Xu Chunfeng.

Seeing this, the crone scowled furiously and spread her five fingers wide. Several zhang away, a ghostly hand shot out, reaching straight toward the two of them!

However, Xu Chunfeng didn’t even turn his head. With a backward swing, he brought down his axe.

“Ah!” the old crone screamed in pain, and the ghostly hand instantly dissipated into the air.

The two of them successfully broke through the encirclement of the gauzy, palace-dressed women and streaked away. Li Yanchu also felt that this breakout had been surprisingly easy.

This Xu Chunfeng was quite formidable. No wonder he dared to venture into Fengdu alone as a Daoist cultivator.

Bald, wearing a scholar’s robe, wielding an axe... Xu Chunfeng left a strong impression on Li Yanchu.

Then, the two of them rushed several li in one go. Behind them, there was neither the rush of wind nor any ripple of aura. When they turned to look back, a chill ran down their spines.

The group of palace-dressed women and the grotesque old crone hadn’t pursued them at all. Instead, they stood in place, their eyes dark and lingering while silently watching their departing backs.

Just then, Li Yanchu’s expression darkened. He had seen plenty of vicious, vengeful ghosts and evil spirits, but this kind of situation was rare indeed.

He couldn’t help but glance at Xu Chunfeng beside him. Who exactly was this guy!?

Li Yanchu sensed that the direction the two of them had fled in coincided exactly with Fang Qinglan’s location. So he didn’t separate from Xu Chunfeng, but continued traveling alongside him.

Xu Chunfeng was a free-spirited, impulsive sort, and he spoke candidly about his own experience entering Fengdu.

He had heard a storyteller at the teahouse mention that the protagonists in these tales always had strange encounters after leaping from cliffs, either obtaining divine weapons or inheriting skills from masters.

Hearing this excited him greatly. Already searching for the location of Fengdu, he was so moved by the story that he actually planned to find a cliff outside the city and jump off.

And that, somehow, led him here.

“You mean... you jumped off a cliff and ended up directly in Fengdu?” Li Yanchu asked in disbelief.

To lure him in, that old farmer Wang Xue’an of Mount Youming had exerted tremendous effort and even used up a sheet of Yinde Money, a highly precious consumable artifact that disappears after use.

Was Wang Xue’an really that incompetent?!

1. The surname 许 (Xǔ) is common and neutral, while the given name 春风 (Chūnfēng) literally means “spring breeze,” evoking warmth, freshness, and vitality. To me, the name suggests someone with a lively, cheerful, or carefree personality, possibly charming and approachable. It has a subtle literary elegance. ☜