MOF Chapter 67

Chapter 67: A Disciple of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion Ventures into Peril at Devil’s Cliff Peak

The first rays of the morning sun illuminate the stone steps, the spring breeze gently blowing…

Xie Yiling ran over, somewhat surprised, “Nan… Daozhang Fufeng, what are you doing here?”

The surrounding disciples, upon hearing this, also turned their heads in astonishment.

Nangong Ci shook the sapling in his hand, as if not noticing the surprise in Xie Yiling’s tone, “Planting trees.”

“Pfft, hahahaha!” Although he had already guessed this was the reason, Xie Yiling couldn’t help but laugh, “Daozhang, you… you’re here to plant trees?!”

Nangong Ci looked at him helplessly, the suppressed laughter of the other disciples reaching his ears.

Everyone in the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion knew that Daozhang Fufeng, Nangong Ci, could wield a sword to slay demons and save the world with his hands, yet he could only kill trees by planting and make flowers wither. The year before last, he had the whim to raise a spiritual turtle, but it closed its eyes and kicked its legs to the Western Paradise in less than three months.

The Southern Return people called him—”The Living King of Hell.”

Si Wumian lowered his head, covering his mouth, his shoulders trembling with laughter. He turned his head and found Nangong Ci looking right at him, his smile instantly freezing on his face in fright.

Nangong Ci said, “It’s alright, laugh if you want to.”

Xie Yiling looked at his three trees and said to Nangong Ci, “Daozhang, I have some empty space over there, would you like to plant yours with my One, Two, and Three, and make a Four?”

“Senior Brother Xie, you even gave them names! I want to think of one too!” Si Wumian turned to find the tree he planted, only to discover with regret that he could no longer tell which one it was.

Nangong Ci planted the tree in the space next to Xie Yiling. He looked at the small sapling, its leaves swaying in the wind, a slight smile on his lips.

“Are you thinking of a name too?” Xie Yiling asked curiously, seeing him so engrossed in watching it, but then noticed that there were already two faint characters on the sapling.

He walked closer, bent down, and leaned his head close to the tree, carefully looking at it. He used his fingers to wipe away the remaining wood shavings and read out the words, one by one, “A—Ci.”

Xie Yiling suddenly fell silent. He maintained his half-squatting position, staring fixedly at the two characters that Nangong Ci had carved with his spiritual power. Then, slowly, his face began to turn red, starting from his neck.

“Don’t make a sound.” Nangong Ci grabbed his arm, his expression unchanged, intending to pull him up to stand straight. He took the opportunity to whisper in his ear, “It’s enough for you to know.”

“You, me.” He turned around, glancing at the characters again with some reluctance, “Will… will others discover it?”

Nangong Ci’s lips curled into a smile, “It doesn’t matter.”

The late spring breeze, like silken satin, brushed across his face, considerately carrying away the heat from Xie Yiling’s face.

After planting their trees, a group of disciples went down the mountain together. Xie Yiling and Nangong Ci walked side by side at the back of the group. As they walked, their arms swayed gently, and the back of Xie Yiling’s hand accidentally brushed against the back of Nangong Ci’s hand.

His heart fluttered slightly, and a bold idea sprouted. Xie Yiling slowly opened his fingers and touched Nangong Ci’s little finger.

“A-Ling!”

The shout startled Xie Yiling, and he instantly retracted his hand, clenching all his fingers into his palm. After his heart calmed down, he let out a long sigh of relief.

Nangong Ci turned to look at him, a hint of a smile in his eyes.

“Brother,” he asked Nangong Yue, who was walking towards them, “What’s wrong?”

“Regarding your trip to Devil’s Cliff Peak, I have already explained it to the sect leader. We will set off tomorrow,” Nangong Yue said, his gaze sweeping over Xie Yiling, who was standing to the side.

Before he could speak, Xie Yiling quickly said, “I’m going to practice my skills. Young Master Yue, Daozhang Fufeng, this disciple will take his leave first!”

Seeing Xie Yiling’s figure disappear into the distance, Nangong Yue asked, “Do you need to bring any other disciples with you to Devil’s Cliff Peak?”

Although Devil’s Cliff Peak could not be called an extremely dangerous place, it had never been explored before. Having more helpers would provide more strength.

Nangong Ci looked at him, “Does Brother have any suitable candidates?”

“I wouldn’t recommend anyone, but Lu Jinnian found me and volunteered to go with you and lend you a hand.”

Nangong Yue finished speaking and observed Nangong Ci’s expression.

“Since Brother doesn’t recommend him, then forget it,” Nangong Ci said, “Brother, I have something else to attend to, so I’ll leave first.”

*

The moment the night enveloped Fufeng Pavilion, Xie Yiling skillfully slipped inside.

An opened jar of ointment was placed on the table. When Nangong Ci saw him coming, he pointed to the empty seat beside him, “Come over here.”

Xie Yiling touched the superficial injuries he had sustained during today’s competition and sat down next to Nangong Ci.

“You haven’t applied the ointment yet, have you?” Nangong Ci scraped out a dab of ointment that was almost the same color as his skin with his snow-white fingers. He turned to face Xie Yiling and said, “Clothes.”

Xie Yiling appeared calm on the surface, but upon closer inspection, his ears were already red to the point of almost dripping blood. He loosened his Southern Return Pavilion uniform and pulled it down to his elbows.

Numerous small cuts were visible on his well-defined shoulders and arms. The opened skin had already scabbed over and felt rough to the touch.

Nangong Ci gently spread the ointment with his fingers, applying it little by little to the wounds.

The ointment took effect extremely quickly, and the wounds that had been somewhat painful quickly healed for the most part.

The candlelight in the room flickered, creating ambiguous shadows on the walls.

After applying the ointment, Nangong Ci cleaned his hands and returned, finding that Xie Yiling had already put on his pavilion uniform.

Xie Yiling pursed his lips and looked up at Nangong Ci. The candlelight flickered in his dark pupils.

“It’s getting late,” Nangong Ci said, looking at him, “Go back quickly.”

Hearing the expected words, Xie Yiling, though disappointed, still forced a smile, “Thank you, Sixth Brother. Then, I’ll go back first.”

At the moment he pushed open the door, Nangong Ci walked over from behind him and stood behind him. Xie Yiling paused his footstep, and the next second, he felt a touch on his cheek.

Nangong Ci’s hand followed his cheek and moved to his eyes, pausing for a moment in mid-air. Then, with a slight force, he covered his eyes.

A faint kiss, with a half-embrace from behind, gently landed on the corner of his lips.

In the late spring night, the chirping of insects and the cries of birds rang out from time to time.

The red candle shone dimly, and the half-open door revealed the silhouette of a person standing still.

Soon, in the hazy night, a white figure quickly disappeared outside Fufeng Pavilion.

The next day, the sky had just begun to lighten. Two white figures were already on the stone steps of the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion, walking side by side, one on the left and one on the right.

One of them walked nimbly, the tied-up hair forming a cheerful arc with each movement.

The other walked steadily, his eyes gentle as jade, listening to the endless stream of words from the person beside him.

“Hahahaha! Lu Jinnian was so hilarious!” Xie Yiling’s eyes exaggeratedly showed faint tears, “As soon as he heard that it was you and Sixth Brother going together, his face immediately turned into a… an eggplant!”

His description was strangely apt. Nangong Ci remembered that Lu Jinnian’s face was indeed like that at the time, and couldn’t help but curl his lips, “You were so busy looking at Lu Jinnian’s face, why didn’t you turn around and look at my brother’s?”

Upon hearing those words, Xie Yiling immediately stopped smiling, “Do I even need to look? I can imagine it, it must be terrifying.”

“Sigh.” Not knowing what he was thinking about, he sighed and said, “Young Master Yue has shown me great kindness, so naturally I can’t be disrespectful to him. But…”

Memories of Nangong Yue suddenly starting to make many harsh demands of him, as well as more punishments, flashed through his mind, and he couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“Don’t think too much.” Nangong Ci tilted his head and looked at him, “I will resolve our matter. I will tell my brother, the sect leader, and everyone in the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion. Don’t worry too much.”

“Ah?” Xie Yiling’s face showed horror upon hearing that, “You’re going to tell everyone in the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion?”

It wasn’t that he was unwilling, but this kind of behavior, expressed by Nangong Ci, was really a bit bizarre.

Nangong Ci seemed amused by his reaction and laughed, his laughter clear and bright like the sound of a cold spring flowing.

The first rays of the morning sun illuminated the stone steps, and the spring breeze blew through the trees. Xie Yiling’s heart stirred at that moment.

The elegant Daozhang smiled charmingly, and the jade-like young man was destined to be in trouble.

Seeing that his words had fooled Xie Yiling, Nangong Ci smiled even more, “Let’s go.”

Xie Yiling, realizing what had happened, quickly chased after him, “Nangong Ci, you tricked me!”

Devil’s Cliff Peak wasn’t too far from the Southern Return Heavenly Pavilion. After flying on their swords for nearly two hours, the two arrived at their destination.

Nangong Ci untied the silver bell from his waist and cast a spiritual spell on it.

There was indeed an evil aura in the mountains. Xie Yiling explored it with his spiritual power and found that this evil aura was not too fierce, but it was strangely peculiar.

Suddenly, a series of delicate bell sounds, different from the silver bell, rang out. Bìluò instantly came out of its sheath, blocking a series of golden bells that suddenly appeared in front and knocked away the silver bell.

Nangong Ci lightly channeled his spiritual power, and Bìluò sliced through the golden bells with a single sword strike, returning to his hand. He looked up and saw the series of golden bells floating in mid-air, surrounded by golden light.

“Jingle bell—jingle bell—”

The golden bells quickly returned. Nangong Ci, holding his sword, was about to strike when a golden rope suddenly flew out from the golden bells, speeding towards him, intending to tie him up.

Xie Yiling hurried to block, but who knew that the golden rope would avoid him and fly directly towards Nangong Ci.

Nangong Ci quickly retreated, his sword energy flying, but the golden rope was not affected at all, binding his waist.

The Bìluò in his hand suddenly became extremely heavy. Nangong Ci gritted his teeth secretly, but still couldn’t muster the strength to lift it, and had to let go. Bìluò fell to the ground, making a clear sound.

This is… the Immortal Binding Rope?!

As soon as Nangong Ci channeled his spiritual power, he found that the spiritual power that surged out was completely devoured by this golden rope.

“It’s the Immortal Binding Rope! Xie Ci, don’t come over.”

As soon as he finished speaking, Xie Yiling saw Nangong Ci’s entire body rise into the air, being taken away by the golden rope. The golden rope bound Nangong Ci, lifting him into mid-air, the golden bells following behind, flying forward all the way.

Xie Yiling was unwilling to just watch Nangong Ci being taken away. He drew out Bu Song and sent out several sword energies.

The golden rope was knocked askew, nearly causing it to crash Nangong Ci into a cliff on the side.

Xie Yiling quickly stopped, afraid to move. He could only watch Nangong Ci being taken away. He picked up the Bìluò on the ground, secretly gripped the sword tightly, a coldness welling up in his dark eyes. Without further delay, he immediately chased after them.

The figure of Nangong Ci was no longer visible ahead, but a strange mansion appeared.

The mansion was heavily guarded inside and out, airtight.

Bu Song on his waist vibrated. Xie Yiling looked up again and found that those in the mansion were all transformed from various kinds of spirits and monsters.

He carefully observed the periphery of the mansion for a while and finally cast a spiritual curse on the most marginal lackey.

The spiritual curse had a manipulative effect. Everything the lackey saw could be transmitted to Xie Yiling through the spiritual curse.

The lackey entered the mansion, and a group of people were kneeling facing a few steps of stairs.

“Congratulations, Great King, for capturing a member of the Immortal Sect with just one move! Seeing the dazzling light on this rope, his cultivation must be not shallow!”

“Great King, if you take out his golden core and consume it yourself, wouldn’t that make you an Immortal Lord as well?”