Shen Yuefu's cool voice had barely fallen when the dizzy disciple clung to a pillar inside the hall, struggling to steady himself.
"sect master, Elder Shen, a fishing village near the Western Sea sent word along with Pei Xianqiao's Cangling Snow Sword tassel. In the secret letter they claimed her cultivation has completely vanished. She lies on a bed unable to move and they ask that her master come to take her away!"
"This is the sword tassel brought from the village!"
The disciple finally cleared his head and, holding the tassel with both hands, presented it.
Han Huijun snatched it up in panic and shoved it before Shen Yuefu.
"Is this really hers?"
Shen Yuefu only swept his gaze over it before turning his eyes aside.
"Where is that fishing village?"
Han Huijun saw that he gave no denial and instead asked about the village's location. That alone was proof enough. The tassel was truly Pei Xianqiao's.
He stumbled back a few steps as though disaster had descended upon him.
The disciple, terrified, glanced at Han Huijun and said in an uneasy voice: "Jiuyang City!"
As soon as the words left his mouth, both Shen Yuefu and Han Huijun vanished without a trace.
The disciple stared blankly at the empty throne. At last, he realized the severity of this matter.
"Remember, bury this in your stomach. Do not allow a single person to know!"
Han Huijun's stern voice still rang in his head. The disciple dropped to his knees in fright, kowtowing again and again to affirm compliance.
Qingshui County.
The square bustled with liveliness, but the stone hut was silent and cold.
Xiao Rong yawned and jumped onto a wooden bench with excitement. "Xiao Meng, are their spirit fruits ready?"
Meng Xiangxiang laughed. "Da Huang already went to check. Outside it is so lively they say the piled-up spirit fruits have already formed a mountain!"
Xiao Rong waved dismissively. "We can't eat that much. No need to be so enthusiastic, it's embarrassing!"
Meng Xiangxiang looked at his grin that nearly split to his ears and hid a laugh behind his hand. "This is what Rong-yé deserves. Even more spirit fruits would not be too much for you."
"Really? Since you said so… then I'll accept them on behalf of Boss!"
Xiao Rong burst into joyous laughter, hands on his hips, unable to close his mouth.
Meng Xiangxiang chuckled helplessly when suddenly a dazzling ball of light swooped in from the window. He asked at once, "Are they here?"
Xiao Rong straightened instantly, adjusting his robes and checking his clothes.
The phoenix perched on Meng Xiangxiang's shoulder and spoke with a human voice. "They left."
Meng Xiangxiang blinked. "Left? Where to?"
Xiao Rong looked at the phoenix in confusion.
The phoenix lifted a wing and pointed. "To the Guangxuan Inn in the south."
Xiao Rong leapt atop the table. "Why would they go there? Did they store the spirit fruits in the inn?"
The phoenix shook its head. "They carried the spirit fruits inside Guangxuan Inn… to offer them to someone else."
"Someone else? Who else could it be?" Meng Xiangxiang's eyes widened.
The phoenix answered, "That group wore identical robes. The Daoist garments I have seen before. They should be from Wuxiang Sect."
"What is Wuxiang Sect doing here?" Xiao Rong wrinkled his nose.
Meng Xiangxiang's heart grew uneasy. "Could it be… they mistook Wuxiang Sect as their savior?"
The phoenix hesitated, then nodded. "It seems just so."
Xiao Rong stomped in anger. "Absolutely not! The one who saved them was me… was Boss!"
The phoenix spread its splendid wings with a sigh. "Wuxiang Sect's elder is powerful. I dare not show myself before him."
It was, after all, the divine beast phoenix. Once revealed, it would trigger frenzied pursuit from all sides. It could only observe from afar, not draw near.
Meng Xiangxiang's brows knotted. With a sudden blow of his fist to the ground, he growled: "Back when the people of Qingshui County were enslaved by black-robed men, Wuxiang Sect never came to save them. Now that I sought Fairy Pei to refine a divine pill and rescued their lives, Wuxiang Sect's elder suddenly shows up swift as thunder!"
"No! I must tell them the truth. I won't let Wuxiang Sect steal my spirit fruits!"
Xiao Rong, cheeks puffed with rage, whipped out his vines and in one stride leapt a hundred meters away.
Meng Xiangxiang hurried after him. "Rong-yé, take us with you!"
The phoenix still perched on his shoulder when a sudden sinister wind arose, ghostly cries shrieking. Meng Xiangxiang's form swelled several times its size, carrying it out of the ancient forest.
"Cluck cluck cluck!" The phoenix instantly transformed into a wild pheasant, cowering on his shoulder without daring to move.
Guangxuan Inn.
Yue Qingsu sat in the seat of honor, lips curving as he gazed at the piles of spirit fruit presented below.
"The people of Qingshui County know to repay kindness. If Qiao Qiao were here, she would be overjoyed."
"Yes, Master. Junior Sister Qiao Qiao always loved helping the weak. If she saw so many people restored by her blood, she would be delighted."
Yue Qingsu's eldest disciple Zhao Yuan stood by his side, recalling Pei Xianqiao's gentle smile. His lips also curved upward.
"Who is deceiving all of Qingshui County? Who is shamelessly stealing my—my Boss's—merit?!"
A clear childish voice rang out across the inn. Yue Qingsu and Zhao Yuan exchanged glances, both frowning.
"Master, let me see which fool dares cause a disturbance!"
Zhao Yuan's expression darkened. At Yue Qingsu's nod he flew outside.
Stepping from the crowd, he saw two figures and a chicken surrounded. He paused in surprise.
"So it is you making such noise?"
Xiao Rong looked him up and down in puzzlement. "You are the elder of Wuxiang Sect? How come your cultivation looks about the same as mine?"
Zhao Yuan snorted coldly. "My master is not someone you can see. Leave at once. Wuxiang Sect's guests will arrive soon. I will not allow you to make trouble here."
Xiao Rong huffed. "So you're not an elder! If not for your elder stealing my Boss's credit, I wouldn't care to see you at all. Hurry up and call him out. This young master wants to have a good talk!"
Zhao Yuan's brows knitted tighter. "What tree sprite dares act so foolish? If you won't drink the toast offered, then drink the punishment wine. I don't even need my master's hand. I alone can subdue you all!"
His palms wove mysterious seals into the air, sending a powerful gale that made clothes whip and flap all around.
Xiao Rong glared wide-eyed. "So unreasonable! You stole the merit and now you want to kill us to silence the truth. Is this how the so-called first sect of the Central Domain earned its fame—through robbery?"
Meng Xiangxiang's ghostly maw split wide, his voice chilling. "Rong-yé, no need to waste words. He already sees you are a tree spirit with cultivation. Striking now means he wants to catch you and forge you into a weapon!"
Xiao Rong's pupils shrank. "What? This brat is that wicked? I've already set foot on the Dao. How dare he think of forging me into a weapon?!"
"Because your strength is too weak and meaningless!"
Zhao Yuan's lips curled, his eyes flashing with certainty.
A giant palm descended. Xiao Rong's eyes flew wide.
A ghostly shadow surged forth. Meng Xiangxiang's vast form shoved back the crowd and crashed head-on with Zhao Yuan, shielding Xiao Rong.
"Cluck cluck cluck!"
The phoenix flapped its wings furiously, darting straight for Zhao Yuan's eyes.
===
Didn't I just say yesterday that I found a bunch of new novels that caught my interest? Well… after a quick search, I already have 59 new novels on my list. Most of them are in the 15–200 chapter range, so not too crazy length-wise.
And yeah, like I mentioned before, for casual reading I usually rely on the Google Translate extension. I'm honestly too lazy to "think" when I'm reading—if I read raw Chinese, my brain has to actually work, but with English my brain just automatically processes the meaning without effort (￣▽￣).
But here's the thing… I've kinda gotten used to how bad MTL translations can be. If you've read enough MTL, you know exactly what I mean (lol). And since my eyes are now spoiled by my own translations, whenever I read raw MTL I'm like, "Hah? What's going on??" (－‸ლ). Basically, my comprehension for raw MTL has gotten worse.
Of course, I can still manage stuff that's not too messy—like modern settings, or maybe some xianxia. But when I tried reading 杀道侣后,修仙界恶女成魔门老祖 (After killing her Taoist partner, the evil woman in the world of immortal cultivation became the ancestor of the demon sect), I could follow along and understand the gist… but wow, it was painful to read (ಥ_ಥ).
So in the end, I decided to just pick it up for translation instead (After Killing Dao Partner, the Villainess Becomes the Demon Ancestor). Each chapter's word count is short, kinda like The Invincible Money-Grubbing Fairy or The Cube Queen's Apocalypse Feast. Right now it's at 184 chapters and still serializing. Honestly, at my pace, I'll probably finish catching up with it in just 2 days.
And maybe after that, I'll add a couple more serialized novels from the batch I found yesterday during my novel hunt. Decisions, decisions…
Oh, and one more thing! From now on, I'll also try to make my novel covers as close as possible to the original ones. Of course, sometimes I might still make my own version too, but I'll do my best to stay faithful to the original designs (*≧▽≦).