Vindicated After a Wrongful Death - Chapter 40

The disciples of the Qu Yi Sect were still scouring the grounds for Qu Xing, and a heavy air of panic hung over the entire sect.

Yun Yanli, wearing his mask, strolled back leisurely from the small town at the foot of the mountain. Seeing the panicked disciples, he fed a hawthorn berry to the phoenix and sneered. “Just a fool. If he’s lost, he’s lost. Is he really worth all this effort?”

The little phoenix spat out two seeds and said in a tiny, high-pitched voice, “They should look on the bright side, maybe that Sect Master is already dead.”

Yun Yanli bit down on the last hawthorn berry, holding the small wooden skewer. “That’s true.”

Over the past three days, Yun Yanli had spent his idle time wandering through almost every corner of the town below. Now that the novelty had worn off, he found himself increasingly bored.

Estimating that Xiang Zhongjing should be awake by now, he didn’t bother following the proper mountain paths. Instead, relying on his cultivation, he leaped directly onto the tree branches and swept his way up from the mountainside.

The little phoenix flapped its wings, flying beside him. Halfway up, it spotted something and suddenly let out a “chirp,” breathing a small tuft of flame that nearly singed Yun Yanli’s hair.

Yun Yanli was already used to this. He tapped his toes lightly on a branch and looked toward where the phoenix was staring.

The Qu Yi Sect was situated at the peak of a deep mountain, with a cliff to the north. Yun Yanli wasn’t particularly good with directions and had simply focused on flying upward, accidentally stumbling upon a clearing of jagged rocks at the base of the cliff.

The clearing was overgrown with wild weeds. Because it was shielded from the light, it felt chilly and gloom, like the entrance to the Yellow Springs of the underworld.

At that moment, in that clearing amidst the tangled weeds and rocks, a man dressed in white monk robes stood with his hands pressed together. Pure spiritual energy swirled around him, causing the prayer beads on his wrist to flutter gently.

Before him lay a strangely shaped thing. It looked human but also not, appearing like a ferocious beast yet with a human hand visible, limp among the tall grass.

The strange creature was no longer moving, and not a single breath could be felt from it.

The monk’s eyes were closed as he chanted, presumably performing a rite for the deceased.

Yun Yanli, with his high cultivation, hid himself within the dense branches, casually twirling the wooden skewer in his hand.

He remembered that monk; he seemed to be called Suanyi.

After finishing the rite, Suanyi stood there in silence for a long time before turning to leave.

At the moment he turned, Yun Yanli seemed to catch a glimpse of the monk’s pupils, which appeared to have three-petaled flowers within them.

Yun Yanli waited until Suanyi had left before leaping down to the rocky clearing with the phoenix, looking down at whatever was on the ground.

It had once been a body of flesh and blood, but it looked as though it had been corroded by something. Its limbs were of varying sizes, and a black mist swirled over it like flies buzzing around a corpse, a stomach-churning sight.

Yun Yanli frowned at it. The stench emanating from the body nearly overwhelmed him. After a moment, the bloated body dissolved into a pool of bloody water, seeping into the jagged rocks.

the little phoenix landed, standing beside a stray lock of messy hair and gesturing for Yun Yanli to look.

Yun Yanli’s brow furrowed. “White hair?”

He had a good memory. Three days ago, there had been a white-haired man among the guests, the very person who had mentioned the criminals of the Nine States.

Recalling the white-haired man’s passably handsome face and looking down at this pool of filth that used to be a corpse, he found it impossible to connect the two.

Yun Yanli didn’t linger. He had the phoenix breathe fire to cremate the remains and then channeled his spiritual power to head back toward the Qu Yi Sect.

A moment later, Yun Yanli reached the sect and wandered over to find Xiang Zhongjing.

The door to Xiang Zhongjing’s room, which had been tightly shut, was now ajar. He must be awake. Yun Yanli didn’t bother with pleasantries and pushed the door open to walk inside.

“How are you Nine States people as thin as paper? Just a trip to the forbidden grounds…” He was mocking as he walked in, but his words died in his throat when he saw Xiang Zhongjing lying on the soft couch, tangled up in the coils of a black dragon.

Yun Yanli: “…”

Xiang Zhongjing was lying on his side, his unbound dark hair veiling half his face. He could be seen pressing against the cool dragon scales, rubbing against them in a daze.

The black dragon’s body was twisted into complex loops, almost completely covering half of Xiang Zhongjing’s body. The dragon’s head was rested right at Xiang Zhongjing’s neck, a position from which a single bite would kill the man instantly.

Sensing someone enter, the black dragon suddenly snapped its eyes up, its vertical pupils glaring coldly at him.

Seeing this, an inexplicable rage flared up in Yun Yanli’s heart. The wooden skewer he had been playing with was suddenly engulfed in a tuft of flame. With a flick of his wrist, it condensed into a sharp blade of sword intent.

“Demonic dragon, get away from him,” Yun Yanli said, looking at him coldly.

Gu Congxu had just managed to soothe the restless Xiang Zhongjing when Yun Yanli spoke. Xiang Zhongjing was startled awake, mumbling something as he tried to lift his head to see who it was.

Gu Congxu remembered that Xiang Zhongjing didn’t want Yun Yanli to see his face. He shifted back into human form in an instant, pressing Xiang Zhongjing’s face into his chest to keep him from rising. He looked at Yun Yanli with indifference. “And if I don’t, what will you do?”

His posture was possessive, cradling the weak Xiang Zhongjing in his arms, his Peerlessly handsome face filled with cold arrogance.

To a True Dragon, all people in the world were merely ants, and those from the Cloud State were no exception. This was the pride born in a True Dragon’s bones, a disdainful haughtiness.

The only people a True Dragon would treat differently were the master who raised him a thousand years ago, and Xiang Zhongjing, with whom he had spent sixty years day and night.

Though Xiang Zhongjing was a detestable person, to Gu Congxu, he was different after all.

Yun Yanli was proud and haughty; he had never been looked at with such eyes in his entire life. His fingers suddenly tightened, and with a darkened face, he slashed a sword of light toward Gu Congxu without a word.

Gu Congxu let out a cold laugh, not giving this bit of spiritual power a second thought. He raised a hand to summon Xiang Zhongjing’s veil and quickly placed it on his face, even as the flaming sword intent arrived right before him.

A True Dragon’s body was the toughest of weapons. If Gu Congxu had only possessed one dragon bone before, he might have struggled against Yun Yanli, but over the past three days, he had refined the other bone that still carried his master’s spiritual power, and half of his suppressed cultivation had returned.

Gu Congxu didn’t even blink as he raised his hand, catching the flaming sword intent with his well-defined fingers. His loosely tied long hair was blown back by the violent wind of the impact.

Yun Yanli hadn’t expected him to catch it so easily. He moved his fingers, looking at him coldly.

Gu Congxu caught the sword intent effortlessly, his fingers completely unharmed. He lowered his eyes to examine it for a moment, then looked at Yun Yanli with a half-smile. “The spiritual power of your Cloud State is indeed different from the spiritual pulse of the Nine States.”

He closed his eyes as he absorbed the Cloud State spiritual power from his palm into his body. The seal on the Nascent Soul, which had loosened once at the Great Spirit-Beast Ceremony, showed signs of moving again.

Gu Congxu was finally certain: the spiritual power of the Cloud State could indeed break Xiang Zhongjing’s seal.

With that thought, Gu Congxu placed Xiang Zhongjing gently on the couch and looked toward Yun Yanli.

He had to find a way to get more of Yun Yanli’s spiritual power to break the seal, otherwise, this body formed from two dragon bones would remain uncomfortably restricted.

Yun Yanli looked coldly at Gu Congxu. A gleam suddenly swirled through his eyes, and he seemed to see something that made him laugh. “To think that in a barren, broken place like the Nine States, a demonic dragon actually exists. And a sealed, trapped one at that.”

Gu Congxu was not nearly as polite to others as he was to Xiang Zhongjing. He lowered his hand, his fingers transforming into sharp dragon claws, his gaze fixed on Yun Yanli as if he were looking at a dish of food.

Yun Yanli was undeterred. He raised two fingers and placed them lightly over his eyes. Upon closer inspection, a thin, watery film could be seen covering his pupils.

It appeared to be a spiritual tool, covered in dense, tiny formations. When in use, even his pupils took on a reddish tint.

“My Father Lord feared I might fall in the Nine States, so he specifically gave me ‘Xianting’,” Yun Yanli said faintly. “Xianting can not only help me avoid a crisis in the immediate future, but it also allows me to see certain things… things you don’t want others to know.”

“Is that so?” The corners of Gu Congxu’s eyes were filled with an icy chill. He said darkly, “Then did you see the crisis where I lop your head off a moment from now?”

Yun Yanli seemed to find this statement incredibly funny and laughed aloud. “You want to kill me with a body condensed from just two dragon bones? Wishful thinking.”

Gu Congxu’s claws stiffened, and he looked at him indifferently.

That tool called Xianting was indeed of some use.

Yun Yanli suddenly gave a cunning smile and said slowly, “Not only can I see that your body is currently formed from two dragon bones, but I can also see… that half of a life-and-death pact on you, forcibly held in place by your soul.”

Gu Congxu’s pupils constricted violently. He couldn’t listen to another word. His entire body shot toward Yun Yanli like an arrow from a bow. The True Dragon’s sharp claws slashed out, instantly grinding the wooden skewer Yun Yanli had turned into a sword into powder.

Yun Yanli retreated several steps. Seeing that this dragon truly intended to kill him, he swung his hand to summon a spiritual sword, mocking him. “Oh, did I hit a nerve? Your master is already dead. Why waste your soul keeping that useless life-and-death pact? For decoration? Do you still fantasize that he can come back to life?”

A buzzing sound echoed in Gu Congxu’s ears, yet Yun Yanli’s sharp, biting mockery pierced through it like a bolt of lightning.

Master is already dead…

Useless life-and-death pact.

Come back… to life?

The evil dragon grits his teeth so hard they nearly snapped. The pitch-black pupils that had been quiet were now veiled in a blood-red mist. His demonic eyes were grim and piercing, and patches of black dragon scales began to emerge on his handsome face.

Killing intent filled the surroundings.

The little phoenix was so scared its feathers puffed out. As a spirit beast of the same origin, it could feel the suffocating pressure and rage emanating from the True Dragon. If his reckless Young Lord truly enraged the demonic dragon, there would be hell to pay.

“Young Lord! Young Lord, shut up!” The little phoenix hopped around on his shoulder, crying out anxiously, “Can’t you see he’s about to turn demonic?! What good does it do you to make him angry?!”

Yun Yanli was too conceited and arrogant. Having been provoked by Gu Congxu earlier, he wanted to vent as much as he could, regardless of the consequences.

He crossed his arms and sneered, “I, the future Sect Master, am happy. I am pleased. That is enough.”

Phoenix: “…”

The phoenix almost pecked his ear and shook his head hard to see if any water would rattle inside.

The evil dragon was already on the edge of a violent eruption. If he shifted into his dragon form and unleashed his fury, he could likely crush the entire Qu Yi Sect, let alone a demonic dragon that had lost its sanity to its inner demons.

The phoenix was dying of anxiety.

Just then, Xiang Zhongjing, who had been lying quietly on the soft couch, mumbled something in a tiny, barely audible voice. Gu Congxu heard it.

He was saying, “Sangeng.”

Gu Congxu, who was on the verge of demonic transformation, shuddered. The blood mist in his pupils vanished instantly, and the dragon scales on his cheeks receded back into smooth skin. The killing intent dissipated at once.

Yun Yanli, who had been waiting for the explosion, arched an eyebrow and watched in surprise.

Was it really this easy for a demonic dragon to regain its sanity?

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