Chapter 51: Rebellion
At this moment, the figures in the entire hall danced with a transcendental air, a unity of nature and human. Countless opera stars were willing to play supporting roles, all of them forming a surging backdrop, while the main character was inevitably Cang Ming.
Tian Xin had cut off the firewood from under the cauldron, deserted the battlefield, and left the stage to dry out in the moonlight. In the moonlight like white sand, Old Guilian saw the appearance of each "leading opera artist" and immediately shuddered.
However, his gaze quickly returned to Cang Ming, and he whispered softly, "I understand, you naughty boy. These weird little brats are all meant to complement you, right? You really put a lot of thought into it."
Tian Xinshu had fled, but the deputy general remained oblivious, diligently directing the soldiers playing the drums and music. The music shifted to a high-spirited, clear tune. Cang Ming improvised, casually performing a few sword flourishes on stage. Then, like a dragon playing in the water, he took off into action, turning gracefully and elegantly to blend in with the countless supporting characters.
Countless opera stars rose and fell, rising and falling like a wave of people. Cang Ming stepped on tiptoe over a series of boulders, arms stretched out, as light and playful as crossing a single-plank bridge. The surging crowd around him resembled a bustling market beside the bridge.
The supporting cast, each playing a background role, shifts in rhythm, harmonious yet distinct, creating a scene that resembles a grand opera. Some appear to be hawking flowers along the street, others to be engaging in a martial arts competition, and yet another group dances to the moon, enacting a spring temple fair.
In the bustling city, Cang Ming lifted his skirt, lay on the rock, fanned himself and drank, forgetting everything else.
Old Guilian was so delighted by this that he couldn't stop. With a flick of his hand, he pulled back his sleeves and folded them neatly around his wrists. He stretched out his two bony hands, parting the layers of supporting waves, and reached out to Cang Ming: "Young Master, why don't you take off this cumbersome mask?"
Without further ado, Wei Ci launched his ambush. Suddenly, pages of silvery-white gulls flew silently from the depths of the mountains, plummeting to the earth like a shower of shooting stars. The gulls were as thin as paper, faintly gleaming like a faint trace of ink in the moonlight.
Suddenly, the ink marks condensed into water droplets, flew out from the white gull, dragged a tail of light like broken silver, and shot towards the old ghost lotus with thousands of arrows.
Old Guilian was instantly struck, his body covered in black spots, and he collapsed to the ground, twitching. A handful of yellow talismans were thrown at him, crackling and exploding with fire. As soon as they touched the alcohol stains on his head and face, a blazing flame instantly erupted.
He clutched the burning paper skull tightly, his face distorted, his mouth wide open, unable to scream. Only then did he realize he had been ambushed and trapped. The lotus flowers on the fan had burned to charcoal. Old Ghost Lotus's weaknesses, one the paper skull and the other his greed and anger, ultimately led to his death.
When the song ended, the crowd dispersed. The disguised army retreated like birds and beasts. There were no more dancing figures around. The show ended in an instant.
In the empty mountain, only Cang Ming's figure jumped up, hanging upside down, and raised high the jar used to pour wine: "Collect!"
Old Ghost Lotus revealed its true form and slowly turned into a tattered rag doll, the same size as a real person, with its body and limbs rolled out of layers of white cloth, and its head made of paper.
Cang Ming held up the jar, a mixture of emotions. Old Ghost Lotus' true form wasn't a lotus emerging from the water; it was clearly a cloth figurine! It was a cloth figurine used in folk sorcery, a few needles pierced into it to perform simple curses.
The tattered rag doll floated up tremblingly and was about to be taken into the jar.
"Be careful!" Wei Ci threw out a flying gull, which hit something with a plop, causing a sound of pearls and jade colliding.
Cang Ming turned around and saw a huge golden skeleton attacking her. One of its claws was already close to her, but was just repelled by Wei Ci.
The deputy general shouted, "My Lord!" and abandoned his army to rush forward to meet them. Tian Xinshu secretly escaped, sneaked into the underground palace, and summoned the golden bead curtain into the skeleton formation, making a comeback.
Cang Ming kicked away the skeleton's claws, and a group of seagulls swooped down, penetrated the skeleton formation, and the skeletons shattered to the ground.
As he was about to confront the regrouped skeletons, Cang Ming suddenly felt something was wrong. Turning around, he saw that Old Ghost Lotus had indeed vanished. As the skeletons attacked Cang Ming and Wei Ci tried to stop them, Tian Xinshu grabbed Old Ghost Lotus and fled.
"Stop!" Cang Ming was so angry that he almost fainted. He jumped up and down to catch up. Wei Ci stayed behind to guard the boat. You Xiao, who was on the boat, ran out and screamed, "Miss Li is gone!"
Miss Li was gone, of course. Tian Xinshu, clutching the dying Old Guilian in one hand and the bewildered Li Xianzhen in the other, rushed forward recklessly.
The deputy general chased after them desperately, trying to reach out and help hold up the two men, but his fingertips were always a few inches away from reaching.
Cang Ming chased after him relentlessly, shouting fiercely, "Tian Xinshu, leave Old Guilian behind!"
Tian Xinshu shouted without even turning his head, "He's been beaten back to his original form, I'm taking him away!"
Although the deputy general was confused, he still chimed in: "The king took him away!"
Cang Ming thrust his sword forward, hastily forming a magic array. Hexagonal snowflakes descended like a vast starry sky, enveloping the silent Tongduo Mountain. Wei Ci couldn't help but cheer, "Excellent!"
"You shameless bastard!" Tian Xinshu was trapped in the formation, desperate to escape. Running away was the best option, and he cursed furiously, "He's already revealed his true form, and all his magic power has been lost. Isn't that enough? I want to take it back!"
"I will suppress him at the foot of the mountain. What's the difference between that and you leaving him there?" Cang Ming attacked repeatedly, not forgetting to appeal to his feelings and reason. "I understand your heart..."
"What the hell do you understand!" Tian Xinshu flew to avoid the sword, his snow-white body already burned by the snowflake magic circle, leaving deep and shallow black marks. "How can anything good happen to me if I fall into the hands of a Taoist like you?"
The deputy general protected Tian Xinshu, thrusting and stabbing with his spear, and shouted in agreement: "This cannot be good!"
Tian Xinshu dragged Old Ghost Lotus and Tian Xinshu around and around, dodging the sharp sword energy. With a sharp turn, Li Xianzhen was thrown over and collided face to face with Old Ghost Lotus.
At that moment, her eyes widened, her pupils clear, as if she had suddenly regained consciousness. Without even thinking, she drew her dagger and cut open the doll.
The old ghost lotus, which was almost cut in half, let out a faint scream with the last of his strength and fell down limply.
Tian Xinshu unconsciously loosened his grip and squatted down. Old Guilian was truly dead this time, killed by Li Xianzhen. Li Xianzhen was controlled by the deputy general and kept muttering to himself, "Kill him, kill him..."
The deputy general kept shouting "Master," "Miss," and then asked Tian Xinshu, "My king, what should we do now?"
Tian Xinshu lowered his head and said, "Xian Zhenyu."
The deputy general shouted, "Yes!" and pulled Li Xianzhen with one hand while picking up the body of Old Guilian with the other. Cang Ming waved his sword, removed the magic circle, and said, "You can go."
Tian Xinshu seemed oblivious to the sound. A chilly wind blew, blanketing the mountains with frost, rain, and snow. Seeing she didn't move, the lieutenant general summoned the legion, ordering them to fetch a carriage.
Several soldiers came trotting over carrying a dilapidated carriage: "Deputy General, this is the only carriage we found in the mountains." The carriage seemed to have fallen apart and was wrapped with cloth strips.
The deputy general cursed, "Useless guys." But he had no choice but to put the few people into the carriage.
The soldiers got in front of the carts and acted as the horses. The deputy general identified the Qimen Dunjia formation and pointed the direction with some uncertainty. The procession disappeared from sight in a cloud of dust.
Cang Ming wearily sheathed her sword, removed her mask, and gazed with a sense of loss at the place where they had vanished. Turning around, Wei Ci stood behind her, wearing only his undergarments, his brows sharp and his eyes sparkling. "The General's improvisation was brilliant and beautiful."
Cang Ming asked: "Will you feel cold like this?"
Wei Ci raised his eyebrows and said, "That's good. Since the general wants to wear this suit, I will of course offer it to him."
The silver-white robe she wore covered Cang Ming's feet, and the sleeves were rolled up several times, only held in place by a belt to prevent them from dangling. She casually adjusted her collar and began to undress in front of Wei Ci.
Wei Ci's cheeks turned pink, and his ears instantly turned red. He looked away and said in a muffled voice, "General, how can you..." in front of me?
Cang Ming was startled and opened his clothes to show him: "I am still wearing my own robe underneath."
Wei Ci turned his face away, wanting to look but also trying to avoid it. Cang Ming returned the outer robe to him, and he took it and put it on slowly. Every move stretched his muscles and bones, and through the thin, breathable inner garment, the strong and powerful lines of his body rolled, full of tension.
Cang Ming looked at her for a while before she realized that Wei Ci was staring at her with amusement. Wei Ci asked, "What are you looking at, General?"
Cang Ming was not in the mood for joking and shook his head. Wei Ci asked again, "How does the general tie his belt? I want the same one."
"Let me do it." Cang Ming took the haphazardly wrapped belt from his hand and tied it into an exquisite knot. The heat radiating from Wei Ci's body spread to Cang Ming with a warm feeling.
Wei Ci pinned a few fresh crabapple flowers on Cang Ming's bun, and the two smiled at each other.
Cang Ming sighed, "Old Ghost Lotus is doomed. Now it all depends on when the person behind the scenes will show up."
Wei Ci's eyes turned cold. "General, didn't we agree that after we dealt with Old Ghost Lotus, you would live in seclusion in the mountains with me and no longer meddle in other people's affairs?"
"Yes, that's right." Cang Ming glanced to the side guiltily and evaded the question, "However, we still need to search Old Ghost Lotus's lair to see if there are any survivors..."
Wei Ci approached her and said with his head down, "I've already sent someone to do it. There's no need to let the general do this little thing himself, right?"
Cang Ming said again: "Then, the clue of Weiyang Crown..."
With Wei Ci as the center, the air pressure within a few feet dropped to freezing point. He put one arm around Cang Ming's waist, holding her in his arms, and with the other hand lifted her chin, forcing her to look into his eyes.
Cang Ming had no choice but to pretend that he didn't know what he had done wrong. He blinked his watery eyes and said with an aggrieved and innocent look, "Brother Wei Ci, I'm scared when you do this."
"I want to hide you in a safe place. I can't lose you again." Wei Ci softened his voice and whispered patiently to Cang Ming, "You understand, Cang Cang."
Cang Ming's finger gently touched Wei Ci's lips, making him dazed for a moment. Cang Ming turned his head and looked into the distance cautiously: "There are people in the mountains, living people."
Accompanied by the sound of tinkling and banging, someone came walking on the moon, breaking the peace of Tongduo Mountain.
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