MOF Chapter 101
by VolareAzurefall incessantly flickered…
“What? Borrow… borrow a spiritual artifact?” Shen Wangu never expected Nangong Ci to make such a request. A hint of difficulty appeared on his face. “But spiritual artifacts can only be used with the permission of our father… the sect leader. Even if I agree, I can’t get past the sect leader.”
Nangong Ci had no intention of making things difficult for him. He said, “Since that’s the case, then I will personally visit your esteemed immortal sect and request the sect leader. When the time comes, I hope Young Master Shen will say a word for me.”
Shen Wangu, hearing that it wasn’t a difficult matter, nodded and agreed.
The two of them flew on their swords towards Shuo City together, arriving before nightfall.
Cangling Capital was full of mountains, high in the surrounding areas and low in the middle, with a large, flat area where the main hall was built.
Upon entering Cangling Capital, a disciple quickly went to inform the sect leader.
Nangong Ci followed Shen Wangu to the entrance of the main hall and paid his respects to the sect leader, Shen Heshuang.
“Junior Nangong Fufeng greets Sect Leader Shen.”
A trace of surprise flashed in Shen Heshuang’s eyes. He glanced at Shen Wangu beside him and smiled at Nangong Ci. “Fufeng, no need to be so polite. You’ve come to me here. Does Sect Leader Nangong know about this?”
Nangong Ci shook his head and said, “I haven’t had time to tell the sect leader yet. I apologize for this sudden visit and any disturbance caused. I hope Sect Leader Shen will forgive me.”
“It’s nothing.” Shen Heshuang instructed Shen Wangu, “Fufeng is new to Cangling Capital, so you must treat him well and not neglect him.”
Shen Wangu quickly said, “This child understands.”
After he finished speaking, his expression hesitated, and he raised his head to give Shen Heshuang a look.
Shen Heshuang understood his meaning and said unhurriedly, “Fufeng has come here this time, surely it is for some important matter, right?”
Nangong Ci said, “Sect Leader Shen is perceptive. This junior has indeed come uninvited, and there is an important matter I wish to discuss with you.”
Shen Heshuang said, “Since that’s the case, let’s sit down and talk slowly. Wangu, you may go arrange accommodation for Fufeng first.”
Shen Wangu had just breathed half a sigh of relief when he heard Nangong Ci say, “There’s no rush. I’ve already mentioned this matter to Young Master Shen.”
The meaning of these words was that he wanted Shen Wangu to stay.
“Very well.” Shen Heshuang looked at Shen Wangu. “You may also sit down.”
Shen Wangu had just sat down when he saw the hot tea that had been prepared on the table. He stood up again and poured a cup for each of them.
Nangong Ci accepted the tea and said, “Thank you.”
Shen Heshuang nodded at Shen Wangu. Although he didn’t say a word, satisfaction could be seen in his eyes.
Nangong Ci observed Shen Heshuang’s expression. Seeing him take a sip of tea and gently place the cup on the table, he opened his mouth at the appropriate time and said, “Sect Leader Shen, this junior has heard that Cangling Capital possesses a spiritual artifact.”
Shen Heshuang’s brow twitched, but he said without changing his expression, “That is indeed the case.”
Nangong Ci took a deep breath imperceptibly. “I wonder if Sect Leader Shen would be willing to lend the spiritual artifact to this junior for a time? I will definitely return it in perfect condition and on schedule.”
Shen Heshuang didn’t quite agree and said seriously, “Spiritual artifacts are treasures for suppressing the world. Our Cangling Capital is ordered to protect them, so how can they be lent out casually?”
Shen Wangu looked conflicted. He mustered his courage and stood up, recounting how Nangong Ci had saved his life in detail.
Shen Heshuang’s expression softened a lot. He rubbed his brow and pondered for a moment, then said somewhat helplessly, “According to the rules of our Cangling Capital, this spiritual artifact should not be lent to others. However, my Shen family is not one to be ungrateful. Fufeng, you are young but have a steady mind, and you act with propriety. I will make an exception this time and lend you the spiritual artifact.”
Nangong Ci’s eyes lit up slightly, and for the first time in several years, his dormant heart stirred with excitement. He stood up and respectfully bowed to Shen Heshuang. “This junior is deeply grateful to Sect Leader Shen! If Cangling Capital ever needs Fufeng’s help in the future, Fufeng will not hesitate to do whatever is necessary.”
Only then did Shen Wangu truly breathe a sigh of relief and said with a smile, “Daoist Fufeng is too kind.”
Shen Heshuang said, “It’s getting late, Fufeng. Why don’t you rest first and come with me tomorrow to retrieve the spiritual artifact?”
Nangong Ci said, “Alright.”
The accommodation they arranged for Nangong Ci was on a mountain peak, only a moment away by sword flight. The room was quiet and elegant, with several bright lanterns hanging under the eaves.
After Shen Wangu left, Nangong Ci entered the room. The furnishings inside were complete. The thought of borrowing the spiritual artifact and having the chance to find Xie Ci’s soul filled him with excitement, and he couldn’t sleep at all. He stood and sat in the room from time to time.
In the second half of the night, Nangong Ci pushed open the window and watched the night until the east vaguely turned white.
The sky at dawn was covered with dark clouds, as if brewing a heavy rain.
Nangong Ci left the mountain peak and arrived at the main hall of Cangling Capital, where he saw a figure pacing back and forth.
He walked up and said, “Young Master Shen.”
Upon hearing his voice, Shen Wangu’s footsteps immediately stopped. He turned around stiffly, his face forcing a slightly bitter smile. “Daoist Fufeng, you’ve arrived.”
“Yes.” Nangong Ci smiled. “Are we going to invite Sect Leader Shen now?”
“This… no. Daoist Fufeng, listen to me.” Shen Wangu wrung his hands and hesitated, not daring to look him in the eye. “The spiritual artifact was sent to Ghost City in the middle of the night yesterday… so now…”
Nangong Ci’s smile disappeared, and the lines of his face returned to their usual cold hardness. He confirmed, “You’re saying that the spiritual artifact is no longer in Cangling Capital?”
Shen Wangu braced himself and said, “Yes.”
Nangong Ci said, “Why?”
Shen Wangu said, “The spiritual artifact cannot be lent to others.”
Nangong Ci said, “Then why did you agree to me in the first place?”
Shen Wangu sighed. “Daoist Fufeng, I… I was also forced to.”
Nangong Ci understood in his heart and said, “I want to see Sect Leader Shen.”
As the rain began to fall, Nangong Ci received the news that Shen Heshuang was in seclusion and wouldn’t see anyone. He knew that he had completely lost any chance of borrowing the spiritual artifact.
At the same time, a burst of cheers erupted throughout the heavens and earth.
“It’s raining! It’s finally raining!”
“The rain is here! There’s water! Everyone, hurry and collect the rain!”
Throughout Cangling Capital, disciples held basins, buckets, and other utensils out in the rain, rejoicing and spreading the news.
Layers of dark clouds pressed down, making it hard for people to breathe. The sky was dark, and the rain was heavy. Nangong Ci stood outside Cangling Capital for half a day, every part of his body soaked. The sodden and heavy immortal robes clung to his body, unable to dispel the cold.
It was noon, but there was no light at all, as dark as a prison.
Azurefall incessantly flickered, as if urging him to leave this place. Rainwater seeped into his eye sockets, pushed out and dripped away by the tears that welled up.
Shen Wangu carried a rain-avoiding lantern and ran out with an umbrella. He slowed his pace three meters away from Nangong Ci and approached with a guilty expression, saying, “Daoist Fufeng, we were wrong to do this. How about this, besides the spiritual artifact, I will agree to any other condition you have.”
Nangong Ci clenched Azurefall tightly, the veins on his arms bulging, and his violent emotions rose with the increasing rain.
Shen Wangu held the umbrella over Nangong Ci’s head and opened his mouth to speak, but the sharp sound of a cold sword being drawn erupted in his ears. Silver light flashed before his eyes, and fragments fell from his shoulder.
When Nangong Ci sheathed his sword, Shen Wangu didn’t even know what had happened. Only when the cold raindrops hit his face did he quickly use his sleeves to cover his head.
“Daoist Fufeng, the rain is too heavy, let’s go inside first…”
The rain curtain was like a wall, cutting off his words. Nangong Ci forcefully pressed Azurefall back into its sheath, not even turning his head, and strode into the rain with a wave of his sleeve.
The wide swing of his sleeve was like a white sword angrily cutting through the rain curtain, and a burst of the rain’s pained weeping echoed on the ground.
Nangong Ci left Shuo City.
The people who had survived the disaster returned to the city and built new homes with the help of the immortal sect disciples. At this moment, everyone was crying with joy because of the rain. Everywhere he went, there was jubilation. Even in the remote wilderness, he could still faintly hear it.
The sun rose, the clouds dispersed, and the rain stopped, revealing the light. Nangong Ci walked along the road. When he passed a newly tilled field, he saw an elderly man with frosty hair sitting on the ground.
Nangong Ci used his spiritual power to dispel the water from his immortal robes, straightened his clothes, and went forward to say, “Old man, what’s wrong?”
The old man said, “My body is failing me. I’m resting here for a while.”
Hearing this, Nangong Ci sat down beside him, and the two of them rested together on the ridge of the field.
After a long time, the old man spoke first. “I see that you have an extraordinary bearing. Are you a disciple of some immortal sect?”
Nangong Ci said, “I am a disciple of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion in Jin City.”
“Oh, I see.” The old man rested his arm on his leg and gazed into the distance. “It’s raining, so the people will have a harvest next year. Immortal, where are you heading?”
Nangong Ci said, “I can go anywhere.”
The old man stroked his beard and said with a smile, “Traveling in the same boat in the morning, traveling in the same carriage in the evening, the river is endless, the road is hard to find. How can you go anywhere? You must have a destination.”
Nangong Ci thought for a moment and said, “No one travels in the same boat, no one travels in the same carriage, no one travels on the same road. Whether or not there is a destination is not important.”
The old man was choked by his words and slapped him with his sleeve. “What kind of talk is that!”
Nangong Ci shook his head and stood up. “Old man, you rest here. I’ll take my leave first.”
He walked several meters forward, when suddenly he heard the old man’s gentle but deep admonition behind him: “The karmic ties of the mortal world are over, Immortal, don’t be attached—”
Nangong Ci’s heart trembled, and he quickly turned around, but the ridge was already empty.
After the disaster, evil spirits in various places began to stir, and the fierce evil spirit, Cang Su, appeared in the world, only to be jointly killed by various families in just ten days.
At the place where Cang Su was defeated and died, a young man was now manipulating puppets, searching for Cang Su’s remnant soul that had managed to escape by luck.
“Did you find it?” A girl’s voice, like the light chirping of an oriole, came from behind a pile of rocks.
Yan Zhan said, “There should be one, but even if we find it, it probably won’t deign to be our companion.”
The girl smiled coldly. “Having been beaten to a pulp by the immortals, and now without even a decent body, what qualifications does it have to look down on us?”
Yan Zhan said, “Don’t make me laugh. Come help me search. If those immortals come back, things will be difficult.”
The girl went over to help and asked, “After finding Cang Su’s remnant soul, what do you plan to do?”
“What to do?” Yan Zhan’s tone was somewhat casual. “Besieged by the six sects, Cang Su must hold resentment in its heart. Why not let it take revenge?”
The girl said, “On where?”
“Yong City.” Yan Zhan said coldly, suddenly turning his head to smile at her. “I hate Yong City the most.”
“Hua Jieyu, Yan Zhan, what are you two doing?”
Yan Zhan glanced at the person who had come and coldly sneered, “What’s it to you?”
Hua Jieyu turned around and said, “Looking for Cang Su’s remnant soul. Lu Jinnian, you can help us search too.”
“I won’t do it.” Lu Jinnian casually sat down on a clean stone, propping his elbow on his knee and looking at the two of them. “You can search yourselves. Anyway, there’s plenty of time.”
After watching for a while, he added, “Wen Liangchen said he wanted to find a guide for refining Yin corpses. Did you find one?”
Yan Zhan ignored him, while Hua Jieyu replied, “No.”
Lu Jinnian said, “I thought so. The constitution suitable as a guide is so rare. Where are we going to find one?”
“Found it.” Yan Zhan interrupted him impatiently, the puppet he retrieved wrapped a wisp of Cang Su’s remnant soul.
“So fast?” Lu Jinnian said in surprise.
Yan Zhan bypassed him without looking sideways. “Let’s go, back.”
Lu Jinnian was ignored, and his face was not very pleasant.
Hua Jieyu was also too lazy to mediate the conflict between the two, which was nothing more than mutual dislike, so she followed Yan Zhan and left directly.
“Why Yong City?”
Halfway there, Hua Jieyu still asked this question.
Yan Zhan carried the puppet, and a familiar face that had gradually blurred with the passage of years appeared in his mind.
“A Luo, why did you and your mother come from Yong City to this place?”
“Because my mother said that my father no longer remembers her.”
“Your father has amnesia?”
“No. Mother said something about fleeting love and unequal matches. Anyway, she and my father cannot marry.”
“Tch, that’s clearly taking advantage and not wanting to be responsible! What’s his name? When our A Luo grows up and becomes powerful, we’ll find him and demand an explanation!”
“Jiang, his surname is Jiang.”
…
Thoughts were pulled from the depths. Yan Zhan hooked his lips and said, “Because I’m happy.”