Chapter 116: The Burly Man’s Dark Spirit

I took the first taxi I found by the roadside and went back. It had been such a long time since I’d returned, yet nothing had changed here. After getting out, I also found the little path. It looked as if no one had walked it for ages, which eased my mind a bit. I didn’t stop along the way and went straight to the very top. Pushing through the bushes, I saw that everything was still the same, and after so long I saw Second Uncle and Nangong Xi there as always. I slipped in from the edge of the shrubs, and Second Uncle noticed me right away.

“Ah, there you are back.”

He said it and took my arm, pulling me into the courtyard. In half a month, Second Uncle had broken through to the Linglian Realm, and Nangong Xi had progressed even faster, already at the third rank of Linghua. I sat on the old stone bench and chatted with him.

“So? Did you find what you needed? How are you getting by?”

I smiled, told him about my living situation and everything that had happened on Tianyang Mountain. After hearing it, he laughed a few times and muttered, “That old fool... can’t even keep the sect in order.”

Both of them were happy to see me back. No matter what I said, they insisted on making a proper feast.

While Second Uncle was busy in the kitchen, I looked over at Nangong Xi.

“Not bad at all. You’re already third rank, almost catching up to me.”

“Heh. You never come back to keep me company. I get so bored.”

“I did come back, didn’t I?”

As for Nangong Xi, her cultivation talent is truly on a par with mine. It may be because I haven’t trained properly lately that my progress has become so slow.

At that moment I remembered Chenchen. Back then, when Chenchen and I gave the token to Li Zijian, he still hadn’t found his own. I took out my phone and called him.

“Hello, this is Lin Yao.”

“Hey. What’s up?”

That voice was so familiar—it was Chenchen.

“I already got the token. It looks like only you are left. Have you found yours?”

“All good. I found mine. It’s at an abandoned factory in our city. No real danger.”

With that, I was much relieved. After we exchanged a few pleasantries we hung up.

I checked the date: there were still about ten days left in the month, which meant those ten days I could spend here in the mountains to train and prepare for the next game. As clattering sounded from the kitchen with pots and pans, I sat in the yard staring listlessly at the sky.

“Brother, come practice with me,” Nangong Xi said quietly by my side. I didn’t even look at her and replied, “Why drag me into sparring now?”

Before my sentence fully left my mouth, I felt a blade of sword intent from the side. I instinctively jumped back and only then saw that Nangong Xi was holding a long sword. She clearly wanted to have a fight with me for no reason at all.

“Fine, then I’ll play with you a little.” I said, drawing the long sword from my ring as well. I had learned a little of swordwork on Tianyang Mountain, so I wasn’t completely unskilled.

Compared with last time, Nangong Xi was more forceful now; stronger, faster. I knew swordplay wasn’t my strength, so I switched to the Snowblade, and that gave me the advantage. The Snowblade seemed to know my intention and didn’t give me extra help this time, or else I might have hurt Nangong Xi badly.

Her sword technique was also very practiced, but she had not reached its core. Next to my Wing-Shadow Blade Art, there was still a gap.

I hadn’t even reached the third form when she couldn’t bear the pressure, tossed her knife to the side, and sat down heavily.

“What happened? Weren’t you full of strength a moment ago?”

I sheathed the Snowblade, picked up her sword, and handed it back.

“As a cultivator, no matter what, you must never drop the weapon in your hand.”

Although she was still pouting, she listened and took it back, then slid it into the ring without further complaint. I patted her head and helped her up.

By then, Second Uncle came out carrying dishes, glanced at us both, and laughed.

“Just the two of you…”

This time too he cooked a lot, as he always did whenever he was happy—a full table of his specialties. This time was no exception.

Those meals on Tianyang Mountain had been good, but I still preferred home cooking. It had a sense of warmth to it.

“Second Uncle, you’re not bad, reaching Linglian already.”

I asked him as we ate.

“These past few days, I too have wondered. I’d been stuck at Linghua for years, and then all of a sudden, a breakthrough came.”

“A happy omen,” I said.

After dinner, I returned to my room. I had spent most of the day running around, and I was utterly worn out.

The room felt clean and tidy, as if the Nangong family swept it every day; not a grain of dust.

I lay on the big kang. I still felt a little odd, since the bed was soft and the kang was hard. No sooner had I lain down than sleep overtook me, and I drifted off.

That sleep lasted until after eight in the evening. In the mountains there is no electricity, so even charging my phone requires a power bank. The room was completely dark now, with light only spilling in from the courtyard.

I peered out and saw that Second Uncle and Nangong Xi were still awake. Second Uncle sat as usual, holding an old book, while Nangong Xi practiced without showing any sign of fatigue.

I walked into the yard with my breath still heavy from sleepiness. Just as I was about to speak to Second Uncle, a blast of cold wind came.

My sense of danger is always accurate. With the temperature steadily dropping, I was certain this was a yin spirit. I first thought it might just be passing by, but when the chill lingered long and never eased, I sensed something was off.

Second Uncle, whose realm is higher than mine, would have sensed it too. During my time on Tianyang Mountain I had learned many things I had never known, including matters of yin spirits.

The teacher had said that with an ordinary or low-grade yin spirit, directing spiritual energy into the eyes is enough to see it. For higher-grade ones, willow leaves are needed as a helper.

With that in mind, I noticed the willow leaves nearby. I plucked two and, recalling the method, did as taught.

“Hasten, as law commands!”

After reciting the formula and touching the willow leaves to my eyes, then removing them, I could see the spirit at once. It was far fiercer than I’d imagined: a heavily muscled man-like figure, floating half in midair, and his eyes had vanished. I couldn’t tell who he was looking at.

Second Uncle had his own method too. He took out a yellow sheet, moved it in a complicated way, and saw the spirit as well.

I pulled Nangong Xi up and stood with Second Uncle.

The spirit was by no means weak—just a little under my level, one minor rank lower. Because Nangong Xi couldn’t see it, she could only stay behind me.

“Whoever you are, fiend—leave at once!”

Before Second Uncle spoke, I was the one who roared first. Yet the yin spirit seemed not to hear and stood motionless.

Soft measures were useless, so I resorted to force. In an instant I drew the Snowblade and slashed toward it. My blade was about to cleave through it, and yet it still did not move.