Chapter 53 Spirit Beast Riot
The disciple outside rushed in to report:
"Sect Master, another spirit beast has suddenly become agitated, and it's even worse than yesterday!"
Upon hearing this, Zhu Fu, who was in the hall, was suddenly startled:
"Oh, such a strange thing has happened."
Having said that, his gaze fell upon Su Yunyu, and an idea came to him. He then said:
"How about this, I can give you the fragments of the manual."
So Su Yunyu immediately forgot to ask Xiao Shuying what she had said, and turned to look at Zhu Fu, suppressing her eagerness:
What conditions are required?
“The condition is,” Zhu Fu said slowly, flicking her shawl.
"Help me find out the truth about the spirit beast uprising in my sect."
“Of course,” Su Yunyu agreed immediately, determined to succeed. He had already completed so many challenges before, so what was a mere spirit beast rampage?
However, before proceeding, he still needs some assurance:
"I hope the sect leader will make a vow and not go back on his word."
“Of course,” Zhu Fu said, unperturbed by his doubts, and easily made a vow.
The spirit beasts were in a frenzy. If she were to investigate, she could naturally resolve the situation in time. However, with Su Yunyu in the lead, she decided to simply enjoy herself.
Perfect timing! She can witness the brilliance of the world's number one expert and experience firsthand what it means to have snow-covered clothes on a clear night and sword flowers startling lotus blossoms.
With the token given to her by Zhu Fu, Su Yunyu had almost no hindrance in entering and leaving the Beast Taming Sect. The disciple who initially notified her led her to the place where the riot was supposedly taking place, which was a large fenced-off forest.
The Beast Taming Sect lives up to its name, primarily focusing on taming spirit beasts. The tamed spirit beasts are either used to increase the sect's strength or auctioned off.
Most of the spirit beasts contracted by cultivators come from this area. This vast forest before us is the habitat of some of these spirit beasts, the disciple leading the way explained, pointing ahead:
“Starting the day before yesterday, some spirit beasts have suddenly become irritable. Although they don’t attack people, their condition is not right. We have also ruled out some issues with their training. As of today, the spirit beasts’ condition is getting worse and worse, and we don’t know why.”
Su Yunyu glanced at it and saw that the disciple was pointing at a large, white-browed tiger lying on the ground, looking listless. The once majestic and powerful spirit beast was now just panting and had no other signs of life.
He observed for a while but couldn't see anything clearly, so he decided to go closer to take a look and told Xiao Shuying to wait for him where she was.
The disciple removed the barrier for Su Yunyu and walked to the white tiger. Just as he was about to crouch down for a closer look, the previously listless white tiger, smelling the unfamiliar scent, immediately bared its teeth, rolled over, and roared.
"Awooo—"
With its roar, the spirit beasts that had been docilely eating spirit herbs scattered around it began to howl and bark as if they had been infected, and they gradually approached Su Yunyu.
"..."
Unexpectedly, she was surrounded and attacked as soon as she entered. Just as Su Yunyu summoned her Snow Blossom Sword to prepare for battle, the disciple ran in and shouted:
"You can't kill the spirit beast! We all control our beasts with sound, wait for me to help you!"
If she couldn't kill them... Su Yunyu glanced around and saw more and more strange spirit beasts gathering, approaching step by step, baring their teeth and looking ferocious.
Strangely enough, spirit beasts are known for their docility and loyalty, but these spirit beasts in front of us seem to have been infected with some kind of virus, as if they have lost their minds.
The disciple quickly took out a long flute and began to play a mournful tune. It was unclear what tune he was playing, but it was likely a unique melody of the Beast Taming Sect.
As the flute music rose and fell, slowed and quickened, pouring down like flowing water, the spirit beasts stopped their approach, and their fierce eyes turned innocent.
Just when everyone thought the crisis was over, the white tiger roared again, its eyes turning completely red. This caused the previously conscious spirit beast to whimper in response, and it charged towards Su Yunyu and her disciple once more.
not good!
Adhering to the principle of not killing spirit beasts, Su Yunyu manipulated her spiritual energy to create a barrier on the spot. This barrier was incomparably refined, powerful, and unrestricted, leaving the disciples stunned in place.
"Wow... such strong spiritual energy..."
Su Yunyu's identity was very mysterious within the Beast Taming Sect, and Zhu Fu did not publicize it. The disciples of the sect had long been detached from worldly affairs, so when they saw such cultivation, they were immediately filled with admiration.
"Why doesn't controlling beasts with sound work?"
Su Yunyu faced the spirit beasts outside the barrier from a distance. These spirit beasts seemed very anxious and kept ramming against the barrier.
Fearing that the spirit beasts might hurt themselves, Su Yunyu used her spiritual energy to create a long rope and tied them up. Now the spirit beasts could only whimper in vain and couldn't move at all.
The disciple was also extremely puzzled:
"That's the strange thing. Now even the method of taming beasts doesn't work anymore."
As soon as she finished speaking, the spirit beasts seemed to become even more restless, no longer content with just attacking. They began to breathe fire or strike with lightning. In short, spirit beasts of different attributes launched their own attacks, and now they could not be restrained. Su Yunyu had no choice but to use her spiritual energy to repel them one by one.
Although he was highly skilled, there were too many spirit beasts here, and they were extremely excited. This couldn't go on for long, especially since there seemed to be some restlessness coming from the forest, which meant that even more spirit beasts might want to join in. With this in mind, Su Yunyu decided to give it a try himself.
He took out a zither from his spatial storage and infused it with spiritual energy with each strum. Although he didn't understand music theory or sheet music, he already had the relevant theories in his mind.
Therefore, Su Yunyu sat cross-legged and waved the strings of her zither, attempting to control the spirit beast with her powerful spiritual energy.
Amidst the chaos and siege of spirit beasts, within an icy blue barrier, Su Yunyu, dressed in white, was playing the seven-stringed zither. A sudden gust of wind whipped his disheveled, jet-black hair, but his elegant face remained as aloof and composed as ever.
Xiao Shuying, who was observing the spirit beasts from the outside, was startled when she suddenly heard the clear, snow-like sound of the zither.
When he looked in the direction of the sound, he saw that the person was like the moon shining over the vast ocean, a beauty beyond compare.
Although the music was infused with powerful spiritual energy, which calmed the spirit beasts for a short while, they quickly became more agitated and chaotic. Xiao Shuying had already realized that these spirit beasts were tainted with demonic energy, and that simply using spiritual energy to soothe them was not enough.
If we're talking about who in the Beast Taming Sect has the demonic energy to calm down spirit beasts, it's naturally only him, but...
There were many suspicious things about Su Yunyu, and he still wanted him to disappear, but these spirit beasts didn't pose any threat, so it was better to appease them.
So Xiao Shuying plucked a leaf, infused it with demonic energy, brought it to her lips, and awkwardly blew out a trembling melody—
The next second, the spirit beasts quieted down, the red in their eyes faded, and they returned to their innocent appearance.
Seeing this, Su Yunyu breathed a sigh of relief. He had been playing for a long time without any effect, and just as he put the zither into his spatial storage and was about to send a message to Zhu Fu through his token, he saw the scene before him.
But who was it that managed to calm things down?
He looked in the direction of the sound and saw Long Aotian blowing on a leaf. The tone was very simple and not a melody at all, but it made a sound.
"..."
Could it be that the spirit beast actually prefers such awful music, while his highbrow and refined tunes are incomprehensible to it?
Regardless, the spirit beast quieted down, and Xiao Shuying stopped playing. The disciple walked over, looking puzzled and uncertain.
"Why can you play it, but we can't?"
Xiao Shuying crushed the leaves, using the demonic energy within his own meridians—the demonic energy of the spirits of the Three Realms—so others couldn't detect it. Naturally, he couldn't truthfully reveal that he used demonic energy to soothe the afflicted, so he simply made up an excuse:
"I don't know either, I just wanted to try, and I didn't expect it to work."
Su Yunyu walked over and heard this speech. She couldn't help but sigh in her heart. Long Aotian was truly extraordinary. Look, he could calm down the rioting spirit beasts with just a few words.
Xiao Shuying then changed the subject again:
"I think the problem might lie with that white tiger; perhaps we should observe it more closely."
The white tiger went through a series of changes: from being listless at first, to suddenly becoming aggressive, and then back to being quiet and docile. Su Yunyu felt a mix of emotions.
Just as he was considering whether to get closer, he felt a warm touch on his cheek. For some reason, he felt a surge of irritation and slapped the hand away.
With a crisp snap, Su Yunyu realized belatedly what he had been irritated about after he finished slapping the paper.
Strange, just like the sudden feeling of irritability, it couldn't possibly be because of the spirit beast.
While Su Yunyu was still in a daze, Xiao Shuying withdrew her hand with a chilling air, the back of her hand already bright red.
Just now, a drop of spirit beast's blood had gotten on Su Yunyu's face, which was quite a stain on her fair skin, so she abruptly reached out to wipe it off.
Although he had anticipated that Su Yunyu would resist, he did not expect her reaction to be so intense.
So, is he really just a heartless person on the surface, as Zhu Fu said...?
When Su Yunyu came to his senses, he finally realized that he had just slapped Long Aotian's hand down.
Oh no, I can't let Long Aotian misunderstand that I dislike him, otherwise I'll have gained goodwill for nothing.
So Su Yunyu temporarily put aside the unusual behavior of the white tiger, took Xiao Shuying's drooping hand, and said somewhat apologetically:
"I didn't mean to just now, don't overthink it."
Seeing Su Yunyu's lowered, pale face and her slightly trembling eyelashes, Xiao Shuying's heart softened instinctively, and she blurted out:
"My apprentice knows."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xiao Shuying, who was already angry, realized that he had calmed her down so easily, and was immediately annoyed with himself for it.
What was he doing? Su Yunyu had only given one explanation, yet he had accepted it so quickly.
Who knows if it was intentional or not, who knows if it's true or false.
How could he trust Su Yunyu to such an extent?
Su Yunyu wanted to say a few more words, but just then a voice descended from the sky; it was Zhu Fu:
"Oh dear, I sent you two to investigate the spirit beasts, how come you're all lovey-dovey now?"
Xiao Shuying quickly withdrew her hand. The phrase "you and me" was too grating, making the little thorn in his heart even more smug. Su Yunyu was also a little uncomfortable, so she pretended to be nonchalant and briefly recounted what had just happened.
Upon hearing that the spirit beast rampage had reached such a level, Zhu Fu's previously playful expression immediately turned serious. She asked Su Yunyu:
"Any clues?"
"We might have to start with the spirit beasts."
"This..." Zhu Fu hesitated.
"If we try to deal with the spirit beasts, they are likely to die from stress."
Xiao Shuying coldly replied to her:
"But investigating only external factors probably won't reveal anything."
By starting with spirit beasts, the existence of demonic energy can be quickly discovered, but the only consequence is the sacrifice of a spirit beast.
As Zhu Fu was deep in thought, another disciple ran over to report:
"Sect Master, something terrible has happened! A spirit beast from the east has injured one of our disciples!"
Seeing that the situation was getting worse, Zhu Fu had no choice but to agree:
"Alright, then I'll leave this matter to you two."
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Author's Note: Rushing to update! Actually, I just wanted to write a scene of a serene (or aloof) beauty playing the zither. [doge]
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