Chapter 199 Misty Rain Pavilion (Twenty-Seven)
After the final lightning strike, the area around the magic array was littered with discarded magical artifacts, including the Heavenly Rank artifact that Elder Nie had summoned.
Xiao Qingyan, who was outside the magic array, breathed a sigh of relief without his noticing. However, upon seeing the countless cultivators from the Eight Pavilions around him, his heart, which had settled, suddenly jumped again.
Jiang Gu, supporting Xiao Qingyan's body, struggled to his feet. Old Nie slowly narrowed his eyes. Following Jiang Gu's previous instructions, Xiao Qingyan quickly stepped forward to support him.
"Young Master, your cultivation was only at the Great Perfection of the Mahayana Realm before. How did you leap to the Great Perfection of the True Immortal Realm after the tribulation?" Before Elder Nie finished speaking, the Dharma Image behind him had already appeared.
Seeing his reaction, the cultivators from the Eight Pavilions around him became alert, and cold sweat poured down Xiao Qingyan's back.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang Gu calmly took two steps forward and asked, "What, even Elder Nie won't allow me to have a fortuitous encounter?"
Old Master Nie sneered: "I'm afraid you're not Xiao Qingyan at all!"
The crowd erupted in uproar upon hearing this.
"How dare you seize the young master's body to undergo tribulation! Speak! Who exactly are you?!" Elder Nie shouted sternly.
Jiang Gu never intended to completely deceive the other party from the beginning. After all, if Elder Nie became suspicious, he could find out the truth with a single probe of his primordial spirit. He said in a light tone, "Truly, your eyes are getting old and senile. You even gave away the divine artifact, yet you can't recognize your own father."
Xiao Qingyan gasped, turning to stare at him in shock. Old Master Nie was already furious, his face turning ashen. "I'll see just what kind of monster you are!"
Just as Xiao Qingyan was anxiously wondering how they could escape, his primordial spirit was suddenly struck by a sharp pain, and in the next instant, someone grabbed his neck.
“My soul is connected to Xiao Qingyan’s. If you don’t mind, you are welcome to give it a try.” Jiang Gu glanced down at the array’s core beneath his feet.
Elder Nie raised his hand to stop the restless cultivators from the Eight Pavilions, and said with a gloomy face, "You are Jiang Gu."
"Thank you all for your great help just now," Jiang Gu said casually.
Those cultivators who had unleashed their magical treasures were so angry they almost vomited blood. Jiang Gu had just escaped right under their noses, and now he had blatantly made a fool of them. Anyone else would not have seemed so foolish.
Unfortunately, Xiao Qingyan is now in his hands—Xiao Qingyan himself isn't particularly capable, but the sect leader values him highly. If Jiang Gu really kills him, all of them will be in deep trouble.
Old Master Nie cursed Xiao Qingyan in his heart as a good-for-nothing who was more trouble than he was worth, but on the surface he still showed great concern, "As long as you release the young master, everything is negotiable."
“I hit it off with Young Master Xiao at first sight and would like to keep him here a little longer,” Jiang Gu said. “However, if Elder Nie pursues him relentlessly, I cannot guarantee that his soul will remain intact.”
After considering his options several times, Elder Nie said in a deep voice, "Don't move, remove the restrictions."
Jiang Gu smiled slightly and activated the formation beneath his feet.
In the shadows, a pair of eyes were fixed on Jiang Gu's every move, watching him use Xiao Qingyan's body to move, watching him grab Xiao Qingyan's neck with his hands, almost pulling her into his arms, his eyes red as if they were about to bleed.
Even so, he did not act rashly.
Seeing that Jiang Gu and Xiao Qingyan had disappeared into the formation, Wei Feng transformed back into black mist, carefully sniffing Jiang Gu's aura, and urged the Fire Rope to chase after the direction Jiang Gu had left in.
"Elder Nie, should we give chase?" the cultivator beside him asked anxiously.
Old Master Nie stared at the vanished Mirror Flower Scroll with an inscrutable expression, and said in a deep voice, "Why chase after him? Jiang Gu and Xiao Qingyan are connected by soul. What if he wants to perish together with him? If the young master's soul is scattered, how will we explain to the Master of the Platform?"
"But..." The cultivator saw his grim expression and dared not continue.
Old Master Nie was naturally worried that Xiao Qingyan would be taken away and he would not be able to explain himself to Xiao Dan. However, he also did not want to cause trouble for himself. He had already failed to suppress Wei Feng in the Fuquan Temple, which was already a failure of his job. If Xiao Qingyan made any further mistakes, Xiao Dan might not be able to keep him.
"Pass down the order that the young master was misled by Jiang Gu and conspired to steal the divine artifact, the Mirror Flower Scroll." After a moment's thought, Elder Nie said, "Issue arrest warrants in all cities and make sure Jiang Gu is captured alive."
"Betrayal? Betrayal?" The cultivator was stunned for a moment.
"Fools, can't you see? This is clearly a play staged by the young master and Jiang Gu." Old Master Nie sneered, "They've coordinated their efforts, otherwise, how could the young master have been taken away so easily? Besides, that Mirror Flower Scroll..."
——
To evade Elder Nie's pursuit, Jiang Gu set up the teleportation array in an extremely complicated manner. It took him half an hour to bring Xiao Qingyan out of the array.
Xiao Qingyan, still shaken, held the Mirror Flower Scroll. "We actually escaped?"
“Old Master Nie doesn’t want to cause trouble either,” Jiang Gu said. “He must have realized that you were involved.”
Xiao Qingyan smiled at him, "It's alright, at least we've escaped for now. Thank you, A-Gu."
"Next—" Jiang Gu hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly noticed the presence of others. "Who!?"
A burst of killing intent shot straight at Xiao Qingyan. Jiang Gu reacted swiftly, pulling Xiao Qingyan aside and blocking the attack with his hand. His gaze suddenly paused, "Wei Feng?"
The thick black mist viciously twisted around his arm, almost breaking it off, and the young man's tall figure gradually emerged from the mist.
"Come out." Wei Feng gripped Xiao Qingyan's arm tightly. Anger and jealousy had destroyed his reason. The thought of his master's primordial spirit in this bastard Xiao's body made him want to grind this body into powder.
Jiang Gu frowned slightly. "The people from the Eight Pavilions are still investigating. This body can conceal its aura."
“Then enter my body.” Wei Feng said through gritted teeth, “My primordial spirit can completely envelop you, and not a single trace of your aura will leak out.”
"Stop fooling around." Jiang Gu shook off his hand. "Your primordial spirit is already unstable, and you're forcibly turning into mist. Why don't you leave with Jiang Xiangyun and the others?"
Wei Feng laughed angrily, "Leave with them so you can live and die with this Xiao guy and be all lovey-dovey?"
He was absolutely furious, especially since Jiang Gu refused to come out of that body and insisted on blocking Xiao Qingyan behind him, as if he was afraid that he would eat him alive—although that was indeed his intention.
“Wei Feng.” Jiang Gu’s face turned cold.
The ghostly pattern on Wei Feng's back pierced straight into Xiao Qingyan's body, attempting to forcibly pull Jiang Gu's primordial spirit out. However, he was already seriously injured and had been entangled with Jiang Xiangyun and Yao Li for a long time. After forcibly summoning the ghostly pattern to turn into mist, his primordial spirit had begun to dissipate, but he didn't care at all. Under these circumstances, he still wanted to fight Jiang Gu head-on.
Sensing his reaction, Jiang Gu immediately activated the black jade bracelet to contain his primordial spirit and said sternly, "Stop."
Wei Feng stared intently at him, his grin intensifying, his face contorted with malice. "Your soul is connected to Xiao Qingyan's, and you even hit it off with him at first sight. What, are you afraid I'll hurt him? Jiang Gu, you've truly opened my eyes. I begged you to help me through my tribulation, but you refused. Instead, you voluntarily crawled into his body and even took him with you on your escape. You've rejected me time and time again. Is it because you like him?"
Jiang Gu's face grew darker as he listened. Seeing that he was about to open the black jade bracelet and scatter his primordial spirit, he coldly withdrew from Xiao Qingyan's body and returned to his own body in the spirit pet bag. His primordial spirit, which had just undergone tribulation, was still weak, and his body also had unhealed serious injuries. He swayed and almost lost his balance.
Wei Feng's icy fingers gripped his wrist, and the ghostly markings pierced his flesh without hesitation, binding his bones tightly. The already healed wounds began to bleed again, and even the primordial spirit frantically tried to squeeze into his sea of consciousness. If Jiang Gu did not know his temperament, he would almost think that Wei Feng was forcibly seizing his body.
"That's enough." Jiang Gu didn't want to fight him anymore. Both of their primordial spirits needed to recuperate, especially since they were on the run.
Wei Feng's ghostly markings had already covered his back and arms, with many tiny markings even piercing into his flesh. Jiang Gu raised his hand to draw a Qingming talisman and was about to place it on Wei Feng's forehead when Wei Feng slapped it away halfway through.
"I'm perfectly sober!" Wei Feng gritted his teeth and said, "You used the alluring fragrance to bewitch me and then abandoned me, refusing to let me help you through your tribulation. You even sent Jiang Xiangyun to stop me, just because you were afraid I would cause you trouble! Let me tell you, Jiang Gu, I'm determined to cause you trouble. Don't even think about getting away from me again! And don't even think about living happily ever after with this Xiao guy!"
Xiao Qingyan, who was standing to the side, finally couldn't help but speak up: "Actually—"
"Shut up!" Wei Feng suddenly turned his head, his ghostly white eyes suddenly appearing on his face, and his sharp fangs pressed against his lips. "I'll eat you up sooner or later!"
That face was truly hideous and terrifying, especially with those sticky, dense ghost patterns. Xiao Qingyan instinctively took a step back, her face pale as she clenched her fists.
Jiang Gu disregarded the ghostly patterns piercing his body and continued to activate the black jade bracelet to gather Wei Feng's scattered primordial spirit. He said in a deep voice, "Retract the mist and ghostly patterns, and retract the primordial spirit as well. You cannot enter my sea of consciousness."
"So I can't go in but he can, huh?!" Wei Feng turned his head, bared his teeth, and roared angrily, "You want to have a spiritual connection with him? He's no match for me! I should have locked you up—"
"If you speak without thinking again, get out." Jiang Gu finally turned cold, his aura becoming extremely low. He stared at Wei Feng expressionlessly, saying nothing more.
Wei Feng was panting heavily, glaring at him angrily and ferociously. The menacing ghost patterns gradually subsided, but they were still firmly attached to his flesh and blood. His dissipating primordial spirit finally showed signs of gathering. Jiang Gu had accumulated a great deal of prestige in his heart, and he was somewhat afraid, but anger and jealousy still prevailed.
"You just don't believe me." Wei Feng's jaw tightened, and he stared at him with reddened eyes. "You think I'm disgusting and want to get rid of me again."
Jiang Gu took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his rising anger. He wasn't a mild-tempered or patient person; anyone else would dare to act so wildly in front of him—
"I'm telling you, it's impossible," Wei Feng said bitterly. "I'll drag you down with me even if it kills me."
With enough spiritual energy gathered in his palm, Jiang Gu chopped Wei Feng on the back of the neck with a hand chop. Wei Feng stared at him in astonishment, but his body went limp uncontrollably. The Fire Rope gathered all his ghost patterns, and the Jade Bracelet tightly protected his dissipated primordial spirit. Jiang Gu then pulled him into his arms.
That wretched creature finally shut its incessant mouth.
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