Twenty-two: The Crescent Moon Like a Hook - Part One
After Mingjin left, the rain started falling in the detention center, and it got dark from the sky to the ground.
Chen Du held the medicine jar left behind by Ming Jin in his hand, playing with it as he pondered past events.
He certainly wouldn't forget Lu Sui, and his tragic end, but he felt nostalgia. For Lu Sui, what stood between their years of friendship was deep disappointment and the sigh of knowing someone's face but not their heart. The other side of their past affection was that, in his current state of destitution, looking back, he didn't even want to glance at his past self. He wished he had more memories specifically about himself; now, even the freedom to occasionally look back was no longer in his own hands.
He didn't have an umbrella; he just used his mountain magic to shield himself from the rain while wearing a straw hat. However, Zhou Wei was standing a bit far away and didn't see him, so he ran over with his umbrella and put it over Zhou Wei's head.
“Tian Guang learned it from you, didn’t he?” Zhou Wei shoved the umbrella into Shen Du’s hand. “He uses his mountain magic to shield himself from everything, big or small.”
“Since you’ve learned it, what’s wrong with using it?” Shen Du said dismissively, especially since it was their sect’s custom to use magic in small-scale situations. “Why don’t you give it a try? It’s much easier than using an umbrella to block the rain, and it doesn’t take much effort.”
Before Chen Du could finish speaking, Zhou Wei tried it out.
"After discovering traces of the evil spirit yesterday, what progress has been made today?" Shen Du asked.
“I just asked,” Zhou Wei and Shen Du said as they walked towards the opposite tree after the rain started, as everyone was scattered and taking shelter under the three pine trees. “There’s nothing wrong with the daytime. It’s just that the rain is heavy tonight, and we’re worried that evil spirits might come out and do something, so we called a few more people.”
"What amazing magic."
"You mean the one with the class elder?"
“Yes,” Chen Du nodded. “Elder Shao used to practice metal arts, right? We used to hang out at Tian Guang’s house when we were kids, so we know a bit about it. In the end, Elder Shao found out the path from the underworld to the human world from the evil spirits. It’s just a pity that we still can’t find it.”
"There will definitely be opportunities in the future," Zhou Wei said.
Rain washes away scents. When it falls to the ground, it nourishes the soil and vegetation, amplifying their aroma and making it a characteristic of rainy days, while also burying other traces.
Looking up at the endless raindrops, one's attention quickly wanders.
"It's getting a bit boring." Standing opposite, Duan Shuxuan yawned helplessly.
“At times like these, boredom is better than fun,” Chai Wang said.
“I didn’t dare ask,” Duan Shuxuan whispered to Chai Wang as they moved closer, “How long will this kind of guarding continue?”
“Let’s hold out until that evil spirit can’t hold on any longer,” Raindrops bounced onto Chai Wang’s right hand, which was holding the umbrella handle. He picked up his left hand and gently wiped away the raindrops. “After all, this is such a rare opportunity.”
"Sigh, we can only stay under this tree in the rain, and we can't even see the moon," Uncle Duan sighed helplessly. "Speaking of which, won't we get struck by lightning if we stay under this tree?"
“This is a sacred tree, it has been enchanted, how can it be the same as ordinary magic?”
Because Duan Shuxuan amplified his voice, Zhang Xu, who was closer, also heard what he said and reached out from behind to pat Duan Shuxuan on the back of the head.
"The smell of rain is so strong."
Under another tree, a cultivator from Huicheng sniffed the air and muttered to himself.
"The smell of rain?" Upon hearing this, the monk traveling with him immediately sniffed the air. "You mean the smell of water? It doesn't seem to have anything special about it."
“Perhaps it’s because you live in the woods and are familiar with the smell,” said the first monk. “I live in the outer city, and it’s especially clear to me when it rains.”
“Really? Then I’ll have to smell it again,” the second monk said intently, but unfortunately, “there’s still nothing special. I think I can smell the scent of pine branches.”
"Hmm...it seems to have a floral scent as well."
"The scent of flowers? In this heavy rain? Your nose is incredibly sensitive."
The cultivator didn't take it seriously and laughed. But before his laughter subsided, he involuntarily frowned at the strange smell.
“Master, Master,” Duan Shuxuan stood up straight and called out to Zhang Xu, “Look at the other side.”
Wan Xia and Zhang Xu turned around together. They saw that the two people opposite them had raised their lanterns above their heads and shaken them a few times.
But the lantern fell to the ground shortly afterward.
"Something's happened," Zhang Xu narrowed his eyes slightly and looked across the room. "Jing Xun, you stay here with the sect leader. Jing Chu, let's go. Be careful, everyone."
As he spoke, Zhang Xu held the lantern up to its highest point and gestured to both sides.
The fallen lantern did not respond, but the other side, though a little later, quickly responded to the signal.
A few claps of thunder briefly illuminated the world, and Zhang Xu and Chai Wang took the opportunity to reach the pine tree where the Huicheng cultivators were resting. They found one of them lying face down, his head against the tree trunk, and the other lying sideways in the rain. Because the area was paved with stone bricks, Chai Wang helped the fallen cultivator to his feet, and under the lamplight, he could immediately see that the man had freckles on his face.
"Uncle-Master, he's been poisoned."
Zhang Xu was a little slower than Chai Wang in his actions. Upon hearing this, he quickly supported the other person's neck, picked up the lantern, and examined him carefully: "This poison is extremely potent. Fortunately, he is still breathing."
"What happened?"
Upon seeing the flickering light, Chen Du and Zhou Wei rushed over. Zhou Wei, Wan Xia, and Duan Shuxuan stayed near the evil spirit while Chen Du quickly came to check on the situation.
The wind blew and the rain fell. A gust of rain slanted down on them, blurring their vision for a moment.
“They’ve been poisoned,” Chai Wang said, helping the unconscious monk lean against a pine tree. “I’ll go get my master to come and take a look.”
A strong evening breeze swept through the forest, carrying a delicate fragrance that brushed against the faces of several people. Wan Xia, who had rushed over, only caught the last vestiges of the fragrance, yet he couldn't help but exclaim in surprise, "It's the poison of the flower spirits; this is difficult to cure. How are they?"
Immediately, Wan Xia used wind magic to erect a wind wall around the five people, sweeping away the rain and smell.
"Oh no!" Shen Du, who was holding the lamp for Wan Xia, looked up and saw that Zhang Xu also had a red spot the size of a thumb on his face. He pointed it out to Wan Xia. "What should we do?"
"Don't rush, rushing will only make things worse."
As he spoke, Wan Xia took out a white porcelain bottle, took out a pill from it, handed it to Zhang Xu, and then fed it to the two cultivators. However, as he leaned closer, he caught a whiff of an unprecedented, exotic fragrance. Upon closer inspection, Wan Xia noticed that the red patches on the two cultivators' faces were no longer blurred; instead, they were gradually refining, revealing the outlines of flowers.
The exotic fragrance emanated from this "flower".
"What a vicious poison."
As the group struggled with their troubles, a flash of white light appeared in the forest. In a flash, an arrow crackling with lightning shot straight toward Zhou Wei and Chai Wang, who were guarding Ping He.
The sliver of white light shone directly onto Pinghe's closed eyes, causing her to instinctively raise her hand to shield them, but her hands were locked to a frame. However, this small movement of her arm instantly cleared her previously dazed mind. It was as if she had forgotten something; now, suddenly remembering it, a cold sweat broke out all over her body.
The sword sliced through the air, snapping the incoming arrow in two, which broke off on the ground and then disappeared.
Zhou Wei gripped his sword, his eyes fixed on the direction from which the arrow had come. In the gloomy, dark forest, there was at least one enemy, weapon in hand, pointing at them.
"Excellent archery skills," Duan Shuxuan also stepped forward, "hitting the bullseye even in the dark."
“Yes,” Zhou Wei gripped the hilt of his sword, a rugged look appearing on his face, “it’s something to miss.”
An arrow flashed by in the darkness, and in that instant, it reminded Chen Du, who was looking up, of a sliver of sunlight peeking through a dense, sunless forest, as if even the fragrance of the trees swaying in the wind was right before him. The scent sent a shiver down his spine, and he quickly opened his pouch, where, right on top, lay the box of pills that Ming Jin had given him before he left.
"Sect Leader Wan, please take a look at this."
Chen Du removed the lid and handed it to Wan Xia.
"What is this? Do you have the antidote?" Seeing an opportunity, Wan Xia picked up a small ball and smelled it, while gently stroking the small ball with his fingertips. "This is not a pill, it is a fruit."
"Fruit?"
Because it was still dark and the items had been kept with the medicine box, Chen Du hadn't given it much thought. Now, hearing Wan Xia's words, he picked up a pill and squinted to examine it carefully.
"Are you sure it will work?" Seeing the two city cultivators' pale faces under the lantern light, Zhang Xu didn't care about the details.
"I'm not sure either..."
“The smell is similar,” Shen Du stammered, not daring to speak, but Wan Xia had already taken over, “If we are poisoned by the smell of plants, I think this fruit comes from the same branch.”
"Can he be saved?" Zhang Xu still didn't get the answer he wanted, so he couldn't help but ask again.
“I don’t know if it should be applied externally or taken internally,” Wan Xia said, handing a fruit to Zhang Xu. “Eat one first and see what the effect is. Tianyi, take one, crush it, and apply it to Elder Zhang’s red spots.”
“They actually used me as a test subject,” Zhang Xu said while chewing on a fruit. “But I’m your senior brother. The taste is not bad.”
"How is it?" Shen Du asked as he quickly applied the dressing to his wound.
"It seems to be having some effect," Zhang Xu's voice trembled slightly. Shen Du took the lantern from Wan Xia's hand and watched him take Zhang Xu's pulse. "The poisoning has slowed down. Quick, give them both to swallow."
As the three men divided up their tasks, a flash of lightning illuminated the night like day, blinding them and leading them to believe it was a sign of another thunderstorm. Only after they had finished their immediate task did the sounds of their struggle reach their ears.
The light was not lightning, but arrows crackling with electricity that came from all directions, flying towards Zhou Wei and his fellow disciple Ju Xia, who were guarding the area around the evil spirit. Faced with the dense barrage of arrows, the three found it increasingly difficult to defend themselves, but they still remembered their mission and fought desperately, refusing to retreat an inch.
After cutting down the last arrow, the three had barely caught their breath when a dark figure flew out from their left and right sides, two swords aimed at them as they regained their footing. Zhou Wei and the other two didn't seem to have much coordination, but the evil spirit was clearly prepared. A few flashes of sword light, and the two groups gradually moved away from the cage where the evil spirit was imprisoned.
The rain lessened and became more frequent.
The sounds of fighting seemed to travel far into the cold, dark night.
"They've arrived as expected."
Seeing this, Zhang Xu, who was in relatively good condition, immediately drew his sword and rushed towards Zhou Wei, who was fighting alone.
In a two-on-one situation, the cultivators gained the upper hand.
The two sides gradually retreated back to the vicinity of the cage.
The demon's eyes remained bright even in the darkness. Seeing the two who had come to her rescue, Pinghe mustered her strength and struggled. Leaving aside the shackles binding her, she had no idea how to break free from the mountain magic surrounding her, even as she gasped for breath.
"Pinghe!" A familiar voice came from behind her.
"Lu Yuzhu!"
Pinghe turned his head to the side, but could only see half of Lu Yuzhu's face. The latter was pulling a porcelain bottle out of her person.
Be careful!
After speaking, Lu Yuzhu leaped aside and hurled the porcelain bottle at Ping He's head. Hearing Lu Yuzhu's voice, the two evil spirits who were still fighting each slashed hard, sending Duan Shuxuan and Zhang Xu, who were fighting last, two steps closer to the cage. Then they sheathed their swords, took two leaps, and disappeared from the scene.
The porcelain bottle flew through the air, cracked, and the shattered pieces and dust were blown and rolled by the wind, eventually landing at Chen Du and Wan Xia's feet.
The sky remained dark, obscuring the moon, with a fierce wind whipping the clouds into a frenzy. The ground was also dark; it was impossible to distinguish people from ghosts in the darkness.
As the porcelain bottle cracked, a streak of frosty white lightning pierced the heavens and the earth.
A speck of white from the sky grows upside down towards the ground, forming a large tree with entirely white branches. From a distance, amidst the rain clouds, some thick and some thin, the purple iris of the phoenix twines and spreads around this white tree.
A thunderous roar shook the heavens and the earth.
The ground cracked open, as if lightning was spreading across the horizon.
On a stormy day, birds returned to their nests. One bird, still flying in the sky, saw the thunder in the distance and let out a cry that echoed through the air.
Although the nearby cultivators used their mountain-building techniques to protect themselves in time or not, they were all blasted away by the lightning, which was like divine punishment. They lay or sprawled on the ground, unable to respond.
Wan Xia and Shen Du became suspicious because of the bottle shards. They quickly used their combined mountain magic to block the four of them. The white lightning almost blinded them, so they could only close their eyes and turn their heads to the side. Finally, before the barrier cracked, the lightning dissipated, and the two of them lost their balance and fell to the side.
Feeling dizzy and unsteady on his feet, he quickly got up and ran towards the four people who had fallen to the ground.
The cage that imprisoned Pinghe vanished in an instant.
The two evil spirits who had left were the first to come out and, under the falling lightning, helped Pinghe up, preparing to retreat along the pre-arranged route.
“Fuxia,” Pinghe cried, tears welling up as she looked at the familiar arm. “Wu Rang, what brings you here? Did you go to Lord Zhegui for help?”
“They both came to find me,” Wu Rang said without saying much, and together with Fuxia, he carried Pinghe on his back. “Don’t worry, Gongsha and Gao Daren don’t know I’m here.”
"Don't overthink it," Fuxia said calmly. "Not many people can escape Lord Zhegui's attack, but we can't be careless. Lu Yuzhu, cover our retreat. Let's go quickly."
After speaking, Fuxia and Wu Rang led Pinghe out of the pit. The residual power of the lightning had almost completely swept away the ruins of the broken altar, and even the surrounding ancient trees had turned into three charred but inexplicable objects. The surroundings were spacious.
The three evil spirits ran towards the path leading into the densest forest.
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