Chapter 91: Not a Bad Deal After All

If it had been someone else, they might even have asked why Gu Changqing was toying with him, and whether there was some grudge between them.

But Qu Cheng was not a man of many words. He merely etched the matter into his heart, waiting for a chance to settle accounts after they entered Lotus Ridge.

“There is no need for the two of you to quarrel over such a trifle. The urgent matter is to reach Lotus Ridge first. After that, you will both be fellow disciples,” Bai Xiang Daoist said, attempting to smooth things over, though even he felt the words lacked much force.

Qu Cheng only gave a cold snort.

“Hahaha, I was only joking with Fellow Daoist Qu! I would never bear to part with my maid!” Gu Changqing laughed heartily, resting his hand on Li Youling’s head.

Though Li Youling was nearly five feet three, she was still too short for him; it was more natural to place his hand atop her head.

Tears were already trembling in Li Youling’s eyes, her sockets red, her expression on the verge of tears, pitiful and fragile to behold.

What Gu Changqing had just said had truly frightened her.

She had followed him all the way from Pingyao and plunged headlong into this world. It was not merely that she had no kin here; she did not even have the strength to protect herself.

If Gu Changqing were to give her away, she did not dare imagine what would become of her.

Especially since the other man did not look like a benevolent sort at all.

“Come then! First to Lotus Ridge!” Gu Changqing said with a grin, and the group set out of the city.

But once outside, they put distance between one another.

Bai Xiang Daoist led in front, Gu Changqing and Li Youling followed several dozen paces behind, and Qu Cheng remained over a hundred paces farther back.

The three parties formed a triangle, each guarding against the others.

Especially Qu Cheng and Gu Changqing.

Bai Xiang Daoist no longer spoke. His only thought now was to deliver them to Lotus Ridge first; after that, it would no longer be his concern.

After all, by bringing these two into Lotus Ridge, he would earn thirty spirit stones.

Yet before they had even entered the Ancient Savage Mountains, a smile surfaced on Gu Changqing’s face. Both hands suddenly shot out dozens of Blood Sea Bee Needles straight toward Qu Cheng, while the Mother-and-Child Soul-Slaying Sword flew from his sleeve, stirring up gusts of sinister wind in the air.

The long and short twin swords, swift as lightning, crossed a distance of a hundred meters in an instant and tore toward Qu Cheng.

“I knew you were no good!” Qu Cheng had long been wary of Gu Changqing. At that moment, a small sword with a reeking bloody wind flew from his sleeve as well, engaging the Mother-and-Child Soul-Slaying Sword in battle.

At the same time, a dark glow lit up over his body, enveloping him from head to toe. The dark light was struck repeatedly by the Blood Sea Bee Needles, trembling nonstop, and quickly dimmed.

Seeing how formidable Gu Changqing’s magical tools and techniques were, Qu Cheng roared, “Fellow Daoist Bai Xiang, why do you not come to my aid?”

Bai Xiang Daoist had sensed Gu Changqing’s move the instant it began. He immediately darted into the woods, and then, upon seeing that Gu Changqing’s target was not him, he stood where he was, his expression shifting uncertainly, shock and fury mingling in his heart.

He had known Gu Changqing was no good, but he had not expected him to be so utterly unrestrained.

Gu Changqing’s body suddenly swelled by a full circle as he lunged toward Qu Cheng, laughing aloud. “This man has set his sights on my maid and has also turned murderous toward me. Greedy and venomous, he cannot be left alive! Even if such a fiend entered Lotus Ridge, he would only be a source of instability. Fellow Daoist Bai Xiang will see for yourself!”

Inwardly, Bai Xiang Daoist cursed: You are the greatest source of instability here.

He was now beginning to wonder whether drawing Gu Changqing into Lotus Ridge had been a good thing or a bad one.

But after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately remained motionless.

One must know that Gu Changqing had already made the Yu family’s household a scene of chaos, and at this moment he was wrapped in red light, with what was clearly a protective magical artifact above his head.

Moreover, there were those two flying swords, with their sinister winds, holding Qu Cheng’s sword at bay. In total, that made three magical artifacts.

Even if the two swords were a matched set, they still counted as two artifacts, and Gu Changqing’s strength clearly exceeded Bai Xiang Daoist’s expectations.

Even if Qu Cheng and he joined forces, they would gain nothing.

After weighing it all, Bai Xiang Daoist decided to watch and wait.

Qu Cheng was cursing inwardly. He had thought to wait until they entered Lotus Ridge before seeking a chance to settle the matter, never imagining that the other would strike the moment they left the city.

Seeing that his flying sword was trapped by the two blades and utterly outmatched, and that Gu Changqing was charging at him like a ferocious tiger, he hurriedly produced several talismans from the pouch at his waist and activated them. In an instant, a fireball and two bolts of lightning struck the red glow around Gu Changqing.

All three talismans were intermediate offensive talismans, yet when they landed upon the red light, they merely caused it to quiver.

Qu Cheng immediately understood that the other’s protective magical artifact was extraordinary, and shock and fury welled up in him anew. Gritting his teeth, he gave his sleeve a shake, and a red thread shot out from within, streaking straight toward Gu Changqing.

Then he himself darted toward the woods at the side.

He did not even spare a thought for his flying sword.

The red thread was incomparably swift, crashing directly into the red glow. Only then did Gu Changqing see that it was no red thread at all, but a scarlet centipede as thick as a baby’s arm, its body smooth and lustrous like jade, so that it did not even appear monstrous.

He raised a hand at once, summoning a river of blood to sweep the centipede within it.

Yet a patch of inky green stained the red glow around Gu Changqing, and the spiritual light about him swiftly thinned.

Gu Changqing paid it no mind. With wild laughter he cried, “Why does Fellow Daoist Qu wish to run? Why not sit down and have a proper talk? Perhaps we can clear up this misunderstanding!”

But how could Qu Cheng possibly believe such nonsense?

With a thought, Gu Changqing had the Mother-and-Child Soul-Slaying Sword ignore the other’s flying sword entirely, splitting apart to pursue Qu Cheng from both sides. Their speed was even faster than Qu Cheng’s own sword by a notch.

Then they twisted together and directly shattered the dark glow around Qu Cheng.

Terror filled Qu Cheng’s heart, yet he had no room to respond. The two flying swords circled and slashed once, and his limbs were instantly severed from his body. Blood sprayed from the stump of his limbs as he fell to the ground, shrieking miserably.

Gu Changqing sent a direct kick crashing into Qu Cheng, sending him flying into the woods, after which the Blood Prison lunged forth and wrapped him within it.

Qu Cheng still tried to control his flying sword for one last desperate struggle. The sword circled Gu Changqing and struck several times, and the red glow around Gu Changqing, already as thin as paper, was finally cut through.

Gu Changqing was startled. His hand, wearing brass knuckles, smashed out with a savage expression. “Get lost!”

The flying sword was sent flying a hundred meters away, while Qu Cheng turned into a pool of blood. The sword immediately fell to the ground and stopped moving.

“Damn it, I just recharged the Turtle-Snake Eight Trigrams Lamp, and it got emptied this fast?” Gu Changqing stared in suspicion, and after a moment he remembered how that blood-red centipede had struck the spiritual light, leaving it stained with a trace of dark green. He instantly burst into curses.

“Damn it, such a vicious poison? It can even poison through protective spiritual light?”

Unfortunately, the blood-red centipede had turned into a pool of blood not long after being swallowed by the river of blood, leaving not even a trace of remains. Even if he had wanted to vent his anger, there was no chance.

Still grumbling, Gu Changqing put away the flying sword, then entered the woods and drew back the Blood Prison. Pure blood qi and spiritual energy surged into his body, finally dispelling the hunger that had followed his breakthrough to the sixth level of Qi Refinement.

“This fellow should be at the sixth level of Qi Refinement, shouldn’t he?” The spiritual energy Qu Cheng had provided was in fact quite considerable.

Even if he was not at the sixth level, he could not be far off; his strength was rather decent.

“Still, being fused with me is not a bad end for you!” Gu Changqing felt that although the man had not reached Lotus Ridge, this trip had not been too great a loss.

He then collected the other man’s empty pouch and whisk, and discovered that the whisk too was a magical artifact, though of the lowest grade, not worth much at all. Even if sold to the Treasure Pavilion, it would not fetch a hundred spirit stones.

He took out another hundred spirit stones and fed them into the Turtle-Snake Eight Trigrams Lamp. Then, opening the other man’s empty pouch and glancing inside, he directly pulled out a small bag.

Upon opening it, he found only a pitiful few dozen spirit stones inside, and his anger rose again.

“So poor! He didn’t even have enough to replenish the hundred spirit stones for the Turtle-Snake Eight Trigrams Lamp! No wonder you ended up dead!”

Aside from that, there were a few bottles and jars, as well as some dead venomous insects.

Gu Changqing could only comfort himself. “At least there’s a flying sword. It’s not a total loss!”

What he did not know was that the most valuable thing on Qu Cheng was not the flying sword, but that blood-red centipede. It was an exotic species, faster even than a flying sword and horrifically venomous.

If raised properly, its power would far exceed that of ordinary magical artifacts.

But the situation had been urgent, and before the exotic centipede could be fully raised, it had been forced out for use.

Qu Cheng had even hoped to buy some time, waiting for the centipede to bite Gu Changqing to death.

Alas, the exotic centipede had been melted away directly in the Blood Prison.