Chapter 259 Immobilization (Revised) "I knew you would come..."
He communicated telepathically, but Lin Feiran spoke directly, so her nasal tone and intonation were very clear. It was the first time Ru Xian had heard her speak in such a tone, and he even paused for a moment.
"You were looking for me outside?"
"Of course I had to look for you." Lin Feiran sat on the street with embers still burning, surrounded by closed doors. She simply sat there, "The night before last... I dreamt that something might happen to you. When I woke up, you were nowhere to be found. I was a little anxious, so I came out with Senior Guyu to look for you."
She heard Ru Xian chuckle softly: "Have you searched the trunks and jewelry boxes? Maybe I'm in there?"
Hearing that he still had the leisure to joke with her, Lin Feiran felt even more relaxed. She brushed off the embers and stood up: "Of course I've turned everything over, I even pried open the clam shells in the yard to check."
The laughter was even louder, like hail.
Lin Feiran rubbed her stiff shoulders and walked towards the city gate. She didn't reveal her previous fatigue or complain at all, but simply said...
"Where are you? Why can't I even contact Yin Yang Yu?"
Ru Xian quickly replied, "It's in a secret realm, so there's no need to worry too much. It's just that someone I used to know invited me here for tea and to catch up. The Yin-Yang Fish was temporarily sealed away by him, but I've unlocked it now, so he won't be unable to contact me in the future."
Lin Feiran was puzzled: "Since you know someone, why would they take you away in such a way?"
“Yes, I don’t understand it either.” Ru Xian’s voice was flat, revealing little emotion. “So we’re fighting now.”
Lin Feiran: "..."
Now is not the time to tease her!
Ru Xian added, "It's also possible that we just disliked each other, so being a little rude is understandable."
"How is the battle going?" Lin Feiran asked instinctively.
Ru Xian simply said, "What do you think? At least I can still talk to you."
Lin Feiran paused, but still couldn't glean anything from that calm tone, so he said, "No matter what, as long as you haven't lost, that's fine. We've reached the vicinity of the secret realm, but we haven't been able to find the entrance. Do you know how to get in?"
“I know,” Ru Xian replied. “This is a naturally formed secret realm, but it is now controlled by someone I know well. You can’t enter by chance alone. It’s like an empty house with a lock. Without his permission, it’s difficult for others to enter.”
Lin Feiran, understanding his nature, continued to ask, "Unless?"
"Such a controlled secret realm may appear as solid as gold and jade on the outside, but it is not stable on the inside and can be broken from the inside out."
He had clearly not finished speaking when he suddenly fell silent.
"like……"
"Lin Feiran."
He spoke softly.
"This man wants something from me, but I also want something from him. We are destined to fight. It has been a day and a night now, but no one can predict the outcome."
Lin Feiran stopped in her tracks, her expression hardening, her heart filled with astonishment.
After fighting for a day and a night, Ru Xian was finally able to spare some attention and break the Yin-Yang Fish's restriction, which shows the extent to which the opponent could control Ru Xian.
Ru Xian continued, "During the fight, he intentionally lured me here. The secret realm can be considered his territory, and I would definitely be hampered a lot here, but I still came. Do you know why?"
Lin Feiran was rushing towards the woods to the north when he said, "Don't worry, once we find a weakness and break in, if you don't get what you want, I'll definitely get it back for you."
"No." Ru Xian chuckled, then sighed helplessly, but unfortunately Lin Feiran couldn't hear her.
He spoke, no longer using his heartbeat, but his tone was very gentle, as if he were whispering in her ear.
"It's because of you."
He twirled the emerald spear in his hand, his snow-white hair brushing against the flying golden daggers. In this dreamlike and bizarre secret realm, the spear spun out like a dragon, and with a clang, it pinned all the daggers to the ground.
He raised his hand, and the spear returned to his palm. Dust and grime swirled around, creating a series of rough, sandy sounds. The sound of the rolling dust reached Lin Feiran's ears.
“I knew you would come looking for me.”
As Ru Xian got up and looked around, all that remained were broken walls and ruins. Hundreds of cultivators lay scattered about, their limbs loosely rolled over. A boy named A Cheng was coughing incessantly beside him, bits of flesh and thin blood spurting from his mouth.
Amidst the hoarse cough, Lin Feiran also heard another person's panting, but the next moment, all sound was cut off, and all she could hear was the howling wind of the night.
He then spoke in his mind: "Nothing ventured, nothing gained. You will surely come looking for me, so I need not hesitate. When we enter the secret realm together, I will place a golden needle at the entrance. It will drill into the entrance and slowly pierce a crack in it."
"With the crack now, you can break in with just one sword."
Although a naturally formed secret realm, once destroyed, cannot be regenerated, it also has an extremely ingenious feature: it is very easy to repair. Therefore, timing is crucial if one wants to break through it. The reason he chose this method to quietly break through from the inside was to give Lin Feiran time. If she could seize the opportunity the moment the crack appeared and break through in one fell swoop, she would definitely be able to enter before it was repaired.
He would never have done this before.
But now it's different; he knows Lin Feiran will definitely come looking for him.
"After entering, head to the highest point in the secret realm; we will be there."
After you see me and him, no matter what my condition is, remember to use the method I taught you before to deal with Skywalker: first, break his throat, then take the string of cloud beads hanging on his chest.
Lin Feiran was momentarily shocked, not expecting him to be fighting with Skywalker. She still nodded in agreement, "I understand."
“Okay.” Ru Xian nodded. “There’s nothing you can’t do if you promise. So you also need to promise me that no matter what happens, your life will be the top priority.”
"……I know."
"I bet you haven't slept much. Get some rest tonight."
"good."
He said softly, "There is one last step. When you see me, remember to insert that golden needle into the intersection of my three acupoints on my heart."
This was the last vital point he left, and he handed it over to Lin Feiran.
As if wiping away the bloodstains on the back of his hand, Chen Lao looked across at the other side and slowly stood up. After coughing a few times, his voice was no longer clear, and he finally showed a tired old appearance.
He wiped the blood from his body, his gaze fixed intently, their eyes meeting in mid-air. The next moment, he raised his hand: [Disperse]
The scattered dust then solidified, as if supported, and the tall figure was clearly revealed in the gray haze.
He looked across at the other side, and as Ru Xian made the same movement, he uttered another sentence in a hoarse voice.
In an instant, a silent roar reverberated, violently assaulting the ears of everyone present. Acheng immediately coughed up a mouthful of blood, pursed her lips, and fainted. The scattered cultivators were shattered into pieces, but the residual force of the shockwave continued to spread outward.
First, the esoteric monks guarding outside fell one after another, and the huge rocks under the tower cracked open with a roar. Then, the picturesque half-moon not far away collapsed in large sections in an instant.
Finally, there were the people coming and going on another mountain, setting things up.
Just before the aftershocks arrived, a cultivator wearing straw sandals descended from the sky. He plunged his giant sword into the ground and, as he formed hand seals, the sword instantly grew as tall as a mountain, resembling a towering stone tablet guarding the place from afar.
The aftershock struck, creating a deafening roar like the tolling of a bell.
"Protect the wedding banquet! Protect the wedding banquet!" A sandstorm raged in the venue. The cultivators at the back clutched the things in their arms tightly. The deep red wedding silk became even darker in the night, shaking out a sound like a raging wave.
Amidst the commotion, a person sleeping in a certain house suddenly awoke. He gripped the snow sword in his hand, slowly surveyed this unfamiliar place, and then his gaze fell upon the window.
His master was standing there, gazing at another mountain.
Right there, the previously frozen dust began to fall uncontrollably, landing on the scattered white clothes and gold ornaments. It was actually quite pleasant to hear, like the sound of rain, but no one raised their hand to brush it away.
As the dust settled, another group of esoteric monks arrived. They dared not look at the battle scene for long, but hurriedly searched for Elder Chen's figure, finally finding him in a corner of the ruins.
"Mr. Chen, are you alright?"
Old Chen collapsed to the ground, no longer speaking, only panting, like an old, broken bellows, only making a broken, leaky sound.
Their bodies were so weak that they had already broken in several places under the weight of so many rubble, but he was happy, even exhilarated.
With a trembling hand, he pointed at Rushan and laughed, "I won! I won after all! Take him back, and everything will proceed according to plan!"
...
The following day, a purple figure appeared in the secluded realm under clear skies.
Amidst the bowing and saluting of numerous esoteric Buddhist monks, Bi Sheng hurriedly walked past, followed by the monk carrying the giant sword.
"Mountain Moving, what exactly happened yesterday? In just one night, this place is a complete mess. If the wedding banquet is delayed, I will not let anyone get away with it!"
The monk wore a straw hat and straw sandals, and had a very calm expression. He didn't look like a monk at all, but rather like an ordinary farmer.
Although he followed behind Bi Sheng, he was unwilling to say much, only pointing to another place: "I slept for a long time last night and know nothing about what happened before. Qi Chen and Zhuo Jue were awake the whole time, so they know."
Bi Sheng paused and turned to look.
The two were sitting at a lacquered wooden table, one cutting out the character for "happiness" and the other repairing a puppet. They occasionally whispered something to each other, and seemed to be getting along very well.
She stepped forward and, as the two prepared to rise and bow, waved her hand first: "No need for formalities. What happened last night?"
Qi Chen looked up and shrugged: "Old Chen brought someone back yesterday. They took a different secret path and went directly to the main mountain. We don't know who the person was."
All I know is that they started talking and then started fighting, which lasted for a whole day and night. Finally, it must have been Old Chen who intervened, and that's how it ended up like this.
Zhuo Jue sat to the side, smiling, and said, "Holy Maiden, this secret realm is Elder Chen's territory. If we really miss the appointed time, how can we not let him go?"
Qi Chen chuckled, not with a hearty laugh, nor with a hint of sarcasm, but simply because he found it amusing.
Bi Sheng glanced down at him, but did not answer his question. Instead, she asked, "Putting everything else aside, have you finished making all the puppets I asked you to make these past few days?"
"They're all in the side rooms," he chuckled. "I wonder when the Holy Maiden developed the interest to attend the wedding banquet?"
Not only him, but Qi Chen, Ban Shan, and Fu Yin, who was seeking refuge from the summer heat in a corner, all looked over at once.
Bi Sheng didn't offer any explanation. She just looked coldly at the rooftop above, then at the newly joined Nine Swordsman.
“When you joined, I told you that the Nine Swords are different from ordinary cultivators. You are destined to be with the Dao Lord, so you don’t need to accumulate merits to achieve that thing. But the price is that you will be completely at the Dao Lord’s service, regardless of cause and effect or right and wrong.”
Qi Chen pondered for a moment, and the double happiness symbol he was cutting in his hand had turned into two paper figures, which were now clanging and clattering.
He asked, "So, is the wedding banquet your idea, or the Dao Master's idea?"
Bi Sheng sneered and turned away, saying, "When I have absolutely no disagreement with the Dao Lord, the Dao Lord's will is my will. You all do your own thing, and you don't need to worry about anything else."
Seeing the person leave, Qi Chen flung the scissors aside, a look of melancholy and impatience appearing on her gentle face: "The cold disease is raging more and more severely. At such a critical time, instead of staying at home with his wife, he has to come here to cut paper-cuts for others!"
Fu Yin's face was equally somber, but his gaze was different from the others. He did not look at the wedding banquet, but stared intently at a certain spot in mid-air.
Zhuo Jue, also known as Ji Changying, straightened his mask, put down his dagger, looked at everything in front of him, and said slowly.
"Yes, why would I come here to attend their wedding banquet?"
...
Wrapped in a cloak, Gu Yu, who was fast asleep, was suddenly woken up by someone pushing him. He opened his eyes abruptly and looked to the side with sharp eyes, which happened to meet Lin Feiran's wary gaze.
She put a finger to her lips to silence him, then pointed upwards.
He looked up and saw several streaks of light approaching from a distance at great speed.
He said softly, "These cultivators..."
Seeing that he had woken up, Lin Feiran stood up and moved his shoulders, neck and wrists: "I recognize them. Those are all elders of Daohe Palace."
Gu Yu's eyes lit up, and she immediately got up: "They must be heading towards the summit, let's go!"
Without disturbing the other residents of Yingzhou City, and not wanting to reveal themselves using their magical artifacts, Lin Feiran led the chase from below, passing through the trees and rocks, while Gu Yu followed her trail.
Lin Feiran had been to that summit many times before. She concealed herself and moved up through the forest and cliffs, arriving even before the elders.
There were few trees on the summit, making it difficult to conceal her figure. She dared not get too close, so she pressed herself against the cliff face, only revealing her eyes to look into the distance.
There were five Taoist priests who came this time. They were all her very familiar teachers and had a very close relationship with Zhang Chunhe. They were wearing various Taoist robes, which looked to be made of the finest materials, and their eyes and brows were full of joy.
A golden crack opened, revealing the bright sun and green trees within.
After marveling at the grand scale of the project, the elders gathered in front of the rift. They were used to doing things at a leisurely pace and were quite particular about formalities. After a few polite exchanges, they entered in order of rank.
Lin Feiran had been watching intently from the sidelines. She had even waited for the right moment, and just as the last elder was about to step in, she suddenly flipped up and flashed across the peak like a bolt of lightning. She was so fast that she was already pressed against the back of the last elder.
A strange breath brushed against his neck. The elder turned his head in confusion, but apart from a dark figure that had been suddenly thrown out and rolled several times in the snow before getting up, there was nothing else.
He felt the figure was familiar, but before he could look again, the rift in the secret realm had already closed.
"..."
Gu Yu watched the black ball roll past her eyes, speechless for a moment, then went over and nudged her: "Did you miss it, or did you not get in?"
"I didn't go in."
Gu Yu got up and started studying: "Don't panic, let me try to figure out which way the door faces."
"No need to calculate." Lin Feiran sat up and spread her hands to him. "Look, even if the door is open, you can't get in. If you want to get in, you can only wait for it to break open a crack from the inside."
She walked to the entrance with her sword in hand: "I will wait here today. As soon as the rift opens, I will immediately draw my sword."
Gu Yu asked in surprise, "How did you know?"
Lin Feiran looked up and finally smiled slightly: "As Xian said."
"He's still waiting for me, I'll definitely go."
Author's Note: This volume is titled "Though Dead, Still Alive," and although it mainly focuses on Lin Feiran, it's not just about her personal ordeal.
Bad news: Things aren't going smoothly; it won't be finished this month.
Good news: This volume is nearing its end! The longest volume is finally coming to a close, and we can finally move on to the final chapter! [crying emoji]
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