Chapter 1439: Uninvited Trouble Approaches People, Waiting for New Life After More Than Twenty Years

What happened?

A massive explosion suddenly erupted from the north, shaking the mountains and the ground, with stars gleaming brightly in the sky.

Such a strange celestial phenomenon occurring near the half-mortal, half-spiritual town of Chang De Zhen left people in a state of panic.

Was it an earthquake?

Or had the beasts from Qing Yuan Shan gathered together, signaling another beast disaster on the way?

It's been over a decade since the last beast disaster... Oh no, Er-zhu just entered the mountains not long ago—surely nothing's happened to him?

No, no, the heavens will protect him. Er-zhu is such an honest and kind-hearted boy; nothing bad will happen to him.

Ah, we need to go tell his father at the blacksmith shop!

You're right, but who should go?

At that, the neighbors who had been worrying about Cao Er-zhu all started avoiding eye contact.

Er-zhu was a lovable kid, but his father, that drunkard—oh, don't even get started!

Anyway, I'm not going. Old Yang, you...

I have things to do; my stall isn't sorted out yet!

Well, if you have things to do, so do I. I need to slaughter a pig—I've already delayed some time today.

With a beast disaster looming, you're still talking about slaughtering pigs? Hurry up and pack your belongings to get ready to flee!

It won't happen. The heavens will protect us from any beast disaster, just like thirteen years ago.

Ah...

Unease spread through the streets.

Yet, from the blacksmith shop with its doors tightly shut, not a single sound emerged.

The drunkard was as usual.

In the backyard, Kui Lei Han was acting completely out of character—no trace of his usual disheveled appearance, and he wasn't sprawled on the ground.

He wore a heavy cloak, his face chiseled like an axe, with strong, sharp features. His thick beard still had some ink stains on it, and his expression was distant, lost in thought.

Before him stood a large table scattered with various drawings.

The drawings featured circles, squares, lines... crisscrossing in intricate complexity.

Among them were scattered large surnames like Dao, Rao, Bei, or Ba... written with bold, sweeping strokes that flowed like dragons and snakes.

If Cao Er-zhu were here, he would be utterly shocked.

In his memory, his father never lifted a finger for anything refined, let alone handled ink and brush.

But Kui Lei Han's handwriting had its own unique style, exuding the air of a master, with an undeniably solid foundation.

This side of him was something Cao Er-zhu had never seen in over twenty years.

Ah...

After a long while, a deep sigh echoed in the backyard.

Kui Lei Han licked his ink brush once more, but in the end, he couldn't continue writing. He set down the paper and brush, turned around, and lay back down on the ground.

His cloak swept across the table, scattering the white papers everywhere.

Amid the pile of diagrams and squares meant for organizing thoughts and untangling chaos, one piece stood out with its sharp, vigorous strokes:

Shan gao niao ming yuan,Qiu yi xue ai ai,Wu si lin zhong lu,Huo bu qing...

The final stroke of "qing" broke through the edge of the white paper, even tearing off a corner.

Perhaps it was from a moment of shock, causing a slip of the brush.

Perhaps it was pent-up energy bursting forth like a dam breaking.

In any case, there was no more to follow.

As Kui Lei Han lay back in the yard, his cloak flipped over him, and he closed his eyes.

A muffled thunder rumbled in the backyard, the table exploded into pieces, and the white papers shattered like flying snow.

Then, purple lightning flashed across the sky, turning the fluttering snow into vanished traces.

Splat!

Blood splattered as the deer fell.

On Qing Yuan Shan, Cao Er-zhu pulled his long sword from the deer's neck, and the green sword shadow beneath it vanished instantly.

He had completed his father's task first.

Naturally, what followed was dividing up the deer skin, antlers, meat, and all the valuable parts, then storing them away.

Cao Er-zhu had a space ring—an incredibly rare item in the world, given to him by his father—so he didn't need to worry about the meat spoiling.

Something's not right...

After skillfully handling the deer carcass in front of him, Cao Er-zhu scratched his head, feeling more and more uneasy.

He had just entered the mountains, and an explosion had come from the direction of home?

That feeling was back again!

Ever since he was young, whenever special guests came to the blacksmith shop—like that uncle in white—his father would send him into the mountains to hunt, and the trips would last longer than usual, at least half a month or a month.

Normally, he couldn't stay in the mountains for more than three days, because his father wanted hot meals, and Cao Er-zhu had to go home to cook for him.

If he was away too long, his father would ask where he'd been, what he'd done, and who he'd met...

But on those longer trips, his father never asked anything and let him wander freely, as if it didn't matter if he never returned.

This strangeness had followed Cao Er-zhu for over twenty years, but it didn't really seem all that strange.

Because every time he came home, nothing unexpected had happened.

Chang De Zhen was still the same Chang De Zhen.

The blacksmith shop was still the same blacksmith shop.

His father was still in that half-dead state.

But the oddity lay right there!

Why does something weird always happen at home every time I go out? Cao Er-zhu wondered blankly.

This time, it was a massive explosion.

Last time, it was daytime in Chang De Zhen suddenly turning into night, and that moonlight still felt like a dream when he thought about it.

The time before that, there was a strange phenomenon in the sky, like space was ripping open, as if monsters were about to crawl out.

And from his childhood, the most memorable ones...

Once, the sky was filled with countless tiny swords, all bowing in unison toward a certain direction—it was utterly shocking.

Another time, the entire Chang De Zhen was enveloped in white flames, as if it were going to burn everyone alive.

That time, Cao Er-zhu was so scared he went home early, but he saw nothing and got scolded by his father until he was red in the face.

From then on, he never dared to go home early on his own.

It feels like everyone has secrets they're hiding from me, and my father does too...

Cao Er-zhu muttered to himself, but he quickly forgot about it because he had secrets he was hiding from his father.

When he was six, he went into the mountains and met a girl younger than him.

She wielded a broken stone sword and defeated him easily.

Unfortunately, his father wouldn't let him use Fa Shen Xing Jie, or maybe he could have fought back.

In the following trips to the mountains, Cao Er-zhu challenged her again, but without Fa Shen Xing Jie, he lost every time.

His father said that in the Lian Ling Jie, experts like him were everywhere, so Cao Er-zhu believed it completely.

He was curious about who her master was, since she could use a bit of Che Shen Nian and incorporate it into her sword techniques.

Finally, one time, he secretly used Fa Shen Xing Jie to hide his presence and followed her to a waterfall.

That time, he finally uncovered the truth.

He saw an enlightened immortal.

Completely different from his father, this immortal perfectly matched Cao Er-zhu's ideal of great power.

He could wield a cloud sword, split the heavens, break the waterfall, and seize the spirits.

He also knew that special Che Shen Nian and was guiding the girl in her cultivation—clearly, he was her master!

Without a doubt, little Cao Er-zhu's presence was exposed, but it didn't lead to any danger.

The old immortal was very friendly.

Little Cao Er-zhu yearned to become a graceful sword cultivator, not just a blacksmith swinging a big hammer.

He selectively forgot his father's warnings, thinking that good people are good, bad people are bad, and someone who seems good isn't necessarily all bad.

In the end, the old immortal didn't take him as a disciple.

But he said Cao Er-zhu could practice with them, though their paths were different, and he would eventually have to return to his own way.

Ba Yue!

When he arrived at the Qing Yuan Shan waterfall, the old man and the others were there.

Cao Er-zhu was overjoyed.

Sometimes when he came to the mountains, he couldn't find the old man and his group because they often wandered the clouds.

Cao Er-zhu had once suggested they take him along, and he selectively forgot about his father again.

But the old man and his group seemed to realize he had a father to care for, so they never agreed to take him.

Cao Er-zhu, you've come?

A hoarse and dry voice spoke.

Ba Yue was bent over a small desk, writing something, and behind her, Xiong Bai Jun spoke up.

Xiong Bai Jun was a white bear, named by Ba Yue. It was taller and stronger than Cao Er-zhu and usually carried her sword as her friend.

Of course, Xiong Bai Jun also knew sword techniques.

Around the old man, it seemed everyone—whether human or not—knew sword techniques.

That year when he was six, when this white bear spoke human words, Cao Er-zhu was envious.

As a result, he nearly got his head chopped off with a sword and never dared to covet Xiong Bai Jun's bear paws again.

Cao Er-zhu, you're here?

The girl in white, Ba Yue, set down her paper and brush, looked up, and smiled gently.

She had a fair and flawless oval face, with clear and ethereal eyes. Now, she had grown into a graceful young woman.

When Cao Er-zhu looked at her, he always thought of his long-lost sister.

He felt Ba Yue must be a fairy from the heavens, though he knew it was just an illusion.

Whoosh!

As Ba Yue smiled at him, the waterfall behind her suddenly burst with a sharp sound.

Streams of water swords shot toward him, infused with silver-white Che Shen Nian, piercing the void and aiming straight for his head.

Boom!

Cao Er-zhu raised his hand to block it.

Fa Shen Xing Jie activated just in time, repelling the attack known as Jian Nian.

But the "Dian Dao" embedded in the sword technique shook him back half a step—a concept he had pondered for so long without mastering.

Don't mess with me!

I'm stronger now; I don't want to fight you, or you'd lose!

Cao Er-zhu was fuming, his good mood from seeing his friend ruined in an instant.

Hee-hee...

The girl in white covered her mouth and laughed, her voice as crisp as wind chimes. She stood up from the table, a sly glint flashing in her eyes.

Little White, beat him!

With a wave of her sleeve, Xiong Bai Jun roared and leaped into the air, drawing its protected purple great sword and slashing down.

Behind it, thousands of void swords materialized in the sky.

Beneath its purple great sword, a green sword shadow formed.

It charged forward, and as the waterfall's torrent fell, the flying water swords transformed into green, evolving into a sword realm that surged out.

Cao Er-zhu set down the bundle on his back.

He wasn't joking—before, fighting Xiong Bai Jun required using three-tenths of his Fa Shen Xing Jie.

But now...

Break!

Cao Er-zhu stomped his foot, unleashing the Lei Xi Ou Yi array diagram.

He shouted into the air, shattering the heavens with thunderous sound that rolled into a purple sea of electricity, exploding violently.

Boom!

Xiong Bai Jun was sent flying, its white fur instantly scorched black as it hit the ground and started convulsing.

You...

Ba Yue's face was stunned, staring blankly at the Ou Yi array diagram under Cao Er-zhu's feet.

Beneath the waterfall, the white-clothed old man, who had been sitting cross-legged with eyes closed, meditating as the flowing water pressed down and mist swirled around him, suddenly opened his eyes.

Have you cultivated Lei Xi Ou Yi?

The old man stood up from under the waterfall, his white robes and beard giving him an air of immortality.

Old man, Er-zhu is bullying Little White!

Ba Yue flitted over like a bird, grabbing the old man's arm and shaking it, even wiping away nonexistent tears:

Wahhh, Little White's been beaten to death by him.

As soon as he cultivated Ou Yi, he came to eat bear paws—he's been craving them for twenty years!

We shouldn't have come specially to tell him; he's just an ungrateful wolf!

You... Cao Er-zhu trembled with anger, pointing at her. This wasn't a fairy; she was a demon! You're talking nonsense!

The white-clothed old man naturally knew the truth lay with the honest one. He shook off the little demon and leaped out from under the waterfall.

Old man. Cao Er-zhu quickly bowed, performing an ancient sword ritual.

Your Lei Xi Ou Yi—your father probably wouldn't want you showing it to outsiders. The old man examined the array diagram and stroked his beard with a smile.

Cao Er-zhu scratched his head innocently: You're not outsiders.

Ba Yue walked over, arms crossed, brows furrowed like willow leaves, stepping on the Ou Yi array diagram as she curiously examined it, muttering:

The purple Ou Yi array diagram looks so much better than the second realm!

Well, you've got some conscience, Er-zhu. It's not in vain that the old man taught you sword techniques for so many years and let you show me the array diagram.

But your talent is just too poor! Entrusting the spirit sword path to you is hopeless. Old man, am I right? We should go find Xu Xiao Shou instead...

Cao Er-zhu felt ashamed: My father says I'm talentless too.

Ba Yue was suddenly at a loss for words.

She glared at the big fool, said nothing, just rolled her eyes and turned to check on Little White's injuries.

Put it away. Don't show the Ou Yi array diagram to anyone else in the future—it could bring you deadly trouble. The white-clothed old man said after observing it.

Oh. Cao Er-zhu quickly hid the array diagram, then asked, Ba Yue just said you came to tell me something?

We're leaving. The white-clothed old man smiled.

Ah? Cao Er-zhu was stunned, as if struck by Lei Xi Ou Yi.

Not far away, Xiong Bai Jun had already stood up after taking some pills.

Though it looked filthy and beaten, having been blasted by Fa Shen Xing Jie for years, its skin is tough.

And Cao Er-zhu had clearly held back that strike, not using Che Shen Nian—just a thunder sound... though it was Ou Yi thunder.

Ba Yue sat on the tall, upright Xiong Bai Jun's shoulder, her lotus-like skirt swaying to reveal her fair legs. She tilted her head and said with a smile:

Me, the old man, and Little White—we're all leaving!

We won't come back here anymore, so we came to say goodbye. Don't go crying and sniffling, yelling that you miss us.

She covered her mouth and laughed.

Then she patted the still-dazed Xiong Bai Jun under her.

The big white bear raised its paw and started chuckling, hoo-hoo.

Cao Er-zhu couldn't laugh at all. He anxiously looked at the old man: This can't be real!

It's true. The old man nodded. This parting will last for years; we'll meet again only if fate allows.

But! Cao Er-zhu paced in circles, his thoughts in disarray, not knowing what to say.

He didn't even know if Ba Yue was her real name, what the old man's surname was, or where their home was.

This farewell, relying on fate alone, might mean they'd never meet again in a lifetime!

Because his father wouldn't allow him to set foot in Lian Ling Jie.

We're friends! Cao Er-zhu looked at the old man, at Ba Yue, at Xiong Bai Jun.

Yeah, that's why I told the old man we had to come say goodbye... Ah! I knew you'd cry, but don't cry—I hate it when people cry. Ba Yue pointed at the big fool, trying to stop the tears with her eyes.

I... Cao Er-zhu was on the verge of tears. How could friends just suddenly say goodbye and leave? Even his big iron hammer had never left him.

I'll go with you! He had a sudden idea, his rebellious phase arriving late but strong.

No. The old man stepped back. I'm just a wandering crane; I can't take you, and I couldn't bear the consequences.

Then how can I find you? Cao Er-zhu watched as the two and the bear gradually walked away, his feet feeling like they were filled with lead, unable to move or follow.

Don't search.

The old man refused him.

His father was holding him back from behind.

Never before had Cao Er-zhu wanted so badly to step into Lian Ling Jie.

He wanted to seek vengeance freely, wander the rivers and lakes, and have friends!

He didn't want to spend his life in that blacksmith shop with a pile of scrap metal; he wanted freedom!

I'm leaving Qing Yuan Shan! He shouted at the backs of the old man and Ba Yue, as if shouting at his father.

He paused, but got no response, so he shouted in despair: Old man, how can I leave Qing Yuan Shan?

Wait!

From the distant sky, Ba Yue's wind chime-like laughter echoed.

Wait for what? Wait for who? Tell me!

Cao Er-zhu jumped anxiously, but could only watch as the old man and the bear rode their swords into the distance.

Whoosh!

A silver-white Jian Nian shot toward him.

Cao Er-zhu swung his hand fiercely, and with a boom, the void and the Jian Nian were both pulverized by Fa Shen Xing Jie.

The entire waterfall was shattered by the splattering purple lightning, sending rocks flying and thunder flashing.

But in the distance, the traces of the old man and Ba Yue had vanished.

Cao Er-zhu felt disheartened, wanting only to turn back home, but remembering the month's limit hadn't even begun...

Wah!

He hugged his big head and burst into tears, then suddenly noticed the small desk where Ba Yue had been writing.

He hurried over and saw a sword manual and a note on the table.

Cao Er-zhu picked up the sword manual first, then burst into tears again.

It was the Xing Tian Qi Jian that he had begged the old man for so long. The old man said his comprehension was lacking and wouldn't teach it until he reached the second realm.

—Ba Yue had hand-copied one and left it, the ink still fresh. She was truly a good person!

Right, the note... maybe she left an answer for me?

Cao Er-zhu tucked away the sword manual like a treasure, then looked at the note Ba Yue had left, held down by a paperweight.

He pulled it out and saw only three elegant characters, clearly a person's name:

Guo Qing Kuai Le! Qiu.