Chapter 73 Seventy-Three
Chapter Summary: [He asked warily, "Jiang Cheng! Did the earth shake?"]
They are currently in an underground cave. If the earth shakes and the mountain collapses, no matter what...
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He asked warily, "Jiang Cheng! Did the earth shake?"
They were currently in an underground cave. If the earth shook and the mountain collapsed, it would be an extremely terrible thing, whether it blocked the cave entrance or buried them alive. Jiang Cheng, however, said, "No!"
But Wei Wuxian felt the ground shaking even more violently, and the sword tip trembled so badly it almost touched Wen Chao's throat several times, causing him to scream in agony. Jiang Cheng suddenly shouted, "It's not the ground shaking, it's the thing beneath your feet that's moving!!!"
Wei Wuxian also noticed that it wasn't the ground that was trembling, but the stone island he was standing on. Not only was it trembling, but it was also rising higher and higher, with more and more of it rising above the water.
He finally realized that this wasn't an island, but a colossal creature lurking in the deep pool—he was now atop the beast's shell!
Lan Jingyi's eyes widened: "Wow! That's so exciting!"
Lan Sizhui: ...
How can something so dangerous be exciting?
Although... he really wanted to see the live version of this adventure recorded in the book.
The "stone island" quickly moved towards the shore.
The approach of this unknown monster brought an invisible sense of oppression. Except for a few people such as Lan Wangji, Jin Zixuan, Jiang Cheng, and Wen Zhuliu, everyone else kept retreating. Just when everyone thought that the thing underwater would suddenly burst out, it stopped.
Because he jumped onto its back, he woke up the sleeping beast. Now, Wei Wuxian could not act rashly and remained still to observe the situation.
On the dark waters surrounding "Stone Island," a few unusually bright red maple leaves floated by.
Beneath these maple leaves, deep within the black pool, lies a pair of gleaming, bronze-like objects.
The brass mirrors grew larger and closer. Wei Wuxian felt a sense of foreboding and dragged Wen Chao back two steps. Suddenly, the ground beneath their feet shook, and the "stone island" rose into the air. A huge, dark beast head, supporting the maple leaves, burst forth from the water!
Amidst a chorus of screams of varying pitches, the monster slowly turned its neck and stared at the two people standing on its back with its enormous eyes.
This round beast head is quite strange, resembling both a turtle and a snake. Looking at the head alone, it resembles a giant snake, but considering its body, which is mostly out of the water, it looks more like…
Wei Wuxian said, "...What a huge...turtle..."
Everyone: ...
It's a Xuanwu divine beast that has lived for hundreds of years, and you call it a turtle? Doesn't it have any dignity?
Jiang Cheng was too busy being nervous at the time, and because he was far away on the back of the Xuanwu of Slaughter, he didn't hear what Wei Wuxian was muttering. Now that he heard it clearly, Jiang Cheng didn't hesitate to give him a belated eye roll.
Only someone like him could still be so sarcastic in a situation like this.
This is no ordinary turtle.
If this turtle were to crash onto the training grounds of Lotus Pier, its shell alone would probably fill the entire arena. Three strong, burly men wouldn't be able to encircle its dark, monstrous body. Ordinary turtles wouldn't protrude an incredibly long, coiled snake head from their shells, covered with a mouthful of protruding, yellowed fangs, nor would they have four sharp, seemingly agile animal feet.
Wei Wuxian stared intently into those large, golden eyes. The pupils were narrowed to slits, shifting between sharp and shallow gazes, as if the gaze was sometimes focused and sometimes unfocused, making it impossible to discern what the two things on his back were.
It seems this monster's eyesight, like the snake's, isn't very good. If it doesn't move, it might not be able to detect you.
Suddenly, two streams of water vapor shot out from the monster's two dark nostrils.
The few maple leaves that had been floating on the water were right near its nose. Perhaps it was tickled by these little things that it sneezed. Wei Wuxian remained motionless, standing like a statue, but this small movement terrified Wen Chao.
Wen Chao knew this demonic beast was bloodthirsty by nature. Seeing it suddenly snort, he thought it was about to attack. Ignoring the sword at his neck, he struggled frantically and screamed at Wen Zhuliu beside the table, "Help me! Help me! What are you standing there for?!"
Everyone's thoughts at this moment were the same as Jiang Cheng's back then, and they all cursed, "Idiot!"
The powerful families who had been intimidated by Wen Chao back then felt as if they had swallowed a fly.
Were you intimidated and threatened by such a coward back then?
If we had united earlier, this thing would have been a piece of cake. Why would we have bothered ourselves like this?
Suddenly, one of the two strange objects in front of it began to writhe like an insect, emitting a piercing sound, which immediately startled the monster. Its snake-like head jerked back, then sprang up, its yellow and black fangs bared, lunging to bite its own back!
Wei Wuxian tossed his hand, and Wen Chao's sword flew like an arrow toward the seven-inch mark of the beast's head.
However, the black scales covering the beast's head were as hard as iron armor. The sword's edge struck a steel plate with a clang, sparks flying, and the sword fell into the water. The beast seemed startled, its enormous eyes turning downwards to look at the long, thin object that was still glowing in the water. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Wei Wuxian, carrying Wen Chao, leaped into the air and landed on another stone island, thinking, "Please don't tell me this is also a giant turtle!"
Suddenly, Jiang Cheng shouted, "Watch out behind you! The Core-Melting Hand is here!"
Wei Wuxian suddenly turned around, only to see a pair of large hands silently attacking. He instinctively struck out with his own palm, clashing with Wen Zhuliu, feeling an unusually fierce and sinister force surge through him, as if something was being sucked out of his arm. Wei Wuxian instinctively withdrew his hand, and Wen Zhuliu seized the opportunity to grab Wen Chao and land back on the shore. Wei Wuxian cursed under his breath and quickly followed, leaping ashore. All the Wen Clan disciples took down their bows and arrows, retreating while aiming at the demonic beast. Arrows rained down, striking the beast's black scales and shell with a clanging sound, sparks flying. The battle appeared intense, but it was utterly useless; not a single arrow hit a vital spot—it was merely tickling the beast. The enormous beast's head swayed from side to side; the skin beyond its scales was like a black, stubborn rock, pitted and uneven, making it impossible for arrowheads to penetrate deeply.
Wei Wuxian saw a sheltered student beside him panting heavily, struggling to draw the bow, barely managing to pull it open. Unable to bear it any longer, he snatched the bow and kicked the student aside. With three arrows left in his quiver, he quickly nocked them, drew the bowstring to its full length, and focused intently on aiming. The bowstring whirred near his ear, and just as he was about to release it, a scream suddenly came from behind him.
The screams were filled with terror. Wei Wuxian turned his head and saw Wang Lingjiao directing three servants. Two of them were roughly holding Mianmian up, prying her face up, while the other raised a branding iron and pressed it straight at her face!
"Miss Mianmian?!"
The younger generation watched the confrontation between Wei Wuxian and Wen Zhuliu with rapt attention. When they saw Wang Lingjiao order someone to use a branding iron to burn Mianmian, they couldn't help but gasp in surprise.
This roar, a combined force that resounded throughout the entire space, did not slow down the movements of the people in the Heavenly Shadow at all, but it scared the elders around them half to death.
"Sit down, all of you! What kind of behavior is this?!"
Lan Qiren shouted, and the younger generation immediately sat up straight.
Wei Wuxian watched as the younger generation moved in such perfect unison, even those who weren't from the Lan family, and three black lines appeared on his forehead.
As expected, the reputation of Elder Lan resounded throughout all the prominent families, and it has not diminished to this day.
If Jiang Cheng knew what Wei Wuxian was thinking right now, he would definitely say, "So, the saying 'unprecedented and unparalleled' refers to you."
The tip of the branding iron was already glowing red and sizzling. Wei Wuxian, who was some distance away, immediately turned the arrowhead around and released the string.
Three arrows were fired simultaneously, hitting three men who fell backward to the ground without uttering a sound. But before the bowstring could even tremble, Wang Lingjiao suddenly grabbed the iron branding iron that had fallen to the ground, pulled Mianmian by the hair, and slammed it against her face again!
Wang Lingjiao's cultivation was extremely poor, yet her attack was both swift and vicious. If she had struck Mianmian, even if she hadn't lost sight in one eye, she would have been disfigured for life. Even in this extremely dangerous situation, where she had to flee at any moment, this woman persisted relentlessly in her scheming to harm others!
The other young masters were busy collecting arrows and nocking bows, focusing all their attention on fighting the monsters. There was no one around the two of them. Wei Wuxian had run out of arrows, and it was too late to snatch any from others. In desperation, he rushed over, slashing Wang Lingjiao's hand that was grabbing her hair with one palm and striking her heavily in the chest with the other.
Wang Lingjiao took his palm strike head-on, spat out a mouthful of blood, and flew backward.
However, the tip of the branding iron was already pressed against Wei Wuxian's chest.
The juniors, who had just sat upright under Lan Qiren's stern presence, were about to stand up and clap and cheer when they saw Wei Wuxian hit three people with three arrows at once.
Unexpectedly, a few seconds later, a piercing pain awaited them.
"ah!"
"Damn! That really hurts!"
"Wang Lingjiao, you son of a bitch!"
...
Another cry came from the space, caused by the pain of the branding iron pressing on the heart.
Lan Jingyi broke out in a sweat from the pain again. He looked at Wei Wuxian with admiration. Senior Wei was really strong. He was still alive and kicking despite suffering so many injuries every day.
Wei Wuxian, the main character, was busy wiping away the sweat and rubbing the wounds of his Lan Er-gege (elder brother Lan), and had no time to respond to Lan Jingyi's admiration.
Looking at the spot Lan Wangji was covering, Wei Wuxian suddenly remembered that Lan Zhan really did have a brand on that spot.
Unbeknownst to him, he had already endured excruciating pain alongside Tianying once, and now he was experiencing it again because of Tianying's empathy...
Suddenly, Wei Wuxian felt a deep resentment towards himself for suffering so many injuries, a feeling he had never experienced before.
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