MTLNOVEL chapter 375
Not Following the Script
With an eighth-level crystal, flying hundreds of miles on a sword was no problem. The better the quality of the sword, the less spiritual energy it consumed. The earth-grade sword Long Tian obtained from Liu Xuan was a definite family heirloom among some small to medium families.
Having acquired such a precious weapon, Long Tian had never boasted about it. After leaving the Tian Luo Sect, he walked a considerable distance before switching to his flying sword. After about the time it takes to burn a stick of incense, he hovered above a patch of forest.
“According to the map, this should be it.” He landed in the forest, stowed his flying sword, and released his consciousness, delving deeper.
This forest was rich in resources, but there were no spiritual plants, which dashed his hopes of making some extra profit. Before long, he found his target: four blue-patterned wolves.
The number was quite different from what the mission indicated; there were a full twelve missing. Long Tian couldn’t help but feel puzzled.
Sensing an unfamiliar scent, the blue-patterned wolves all stood up.
The gap in cultivation was too great; Long Tian effortlessly slashed down the wolves that lunged at him, then stored their corpses in his storage bag. After circling the forest without finding any more of their kind, he speculated that they might have gone elsewhere to hunt, so he decided to wait for the wolf pack to return at a nearby village.
Seeing a cultivator, the villagers looked at him as if he were a deity, some even kneeling in reverence. Long Tian had grown up in a village himself and lacked the arrogance and entitlement of ordinary cultivators; he quickly waved his hands to signal the villagers not to do that.
“Immortal, how is the forest now?” an elderly man, presumably the village chief, asked nervously.
“I’ve killed a small portion of those vile beasts; the rest should have just gone out to hunt and haven’t been spotted yet. Don’t worry, there are formations set up by my sect’s steward in the nearby villages. As long as you don’t wander around, the beasts can’t enter the village. Once they return, I will slay them all, leaving no harm behind.”
“Thank you, Immortal.” The villagers expressed their gratitude once more, inviting Long Tian to rest in the village. Just as he was about to follow them inside, he suddenly noticed a very inconspicuous symbol beneath the stone tablet at the village entrance.
But this symbol had long been etched in his mind, and the moment he saw it, he thought of a certain assassin faction he loathed to the core: the Black Mantis Sect.
Long Tian immediately scrutinized the villagers with a wary gaze. Could it be that they had already been bribed by the assassins of the Black Mantis Sect, trying to lure him into the village to catch him like a fish in a barrel?
—
“No.” The old fallen immortal was still quite sensitive to human emotions: “Just now, when you spoke with them, I didn’t notice anything amiss.”
“Regardless, there are symbols of the Black Mantis Sect here, indicating that they have visited this place. It seems that my outing has still been reported to Bai Song.”
From Tianluo Sect to here, Long Tian spent most of the day traveling. The time taken was enough for Bai Song to notify the assassins of the Black Mantis Sect, allowing them to prepare for the assassination in advance.
I must go somewhere else.
Long Tian’s eyes flickered; he didn’t make a sound. Originally surrounded by the crowd and preparing to enter the village, he suddenly vanished, even the villagers didn’t notice when he disappeared.
Back in the forest, Long Tian had some questions he couldn’t understand. Was the decrease in the number of Blue Flower Wolves related to the Black Mantis Sect? If they were the ones who killed them, why didn’t they set traps in the forest and wait for him to fall into them? Since they had come in advance, why hadn’t they shown themselves?
After wandering around the forest without discovering any issues, Long Tian decided not to think too much. He would deal with the assassins first, so he began to set up formations within the forest.
—A few kilometers away, in the river;
After considerable effort, Ye Yong finally found the deeply hidden Golden Core Cave.
There was no other way; the protagonist possessed a reverse fortune, easily breaking into tombs to obtain treasures, while the antagonist Ye Yong could only feel his way like a blind man, exploring bit by bit. Fortunately, he had read the novel, which narrowed down the search area, and he was meticulous, not missing a single detail; otherwise, he might not have found it even after several days.
This cave had existed for a hundred years without being discovered by the outside world, so it still had some value. Unfortunately, he encountered an antagonist who “knew” the future and had an external advantage.
Upon entering, Ye Yong skillfully disarmed the traps using his knowledge of formations and went straight to the room where the cave’s master had passed away.
The room was rather desolate, lacking any furnishings. A desiccated corpse, devoid of moisture but not decayed, sat cross-legged in the center, with a large sandalwood incense burner placed in front of it, surrounded by some burnt-out spiritual candles.
To Ye Yong, the Golden Core was, to put it bluntly, nothing significant. However, in the face of a deceased person, he still held the respect that was due. He performed a cultivator’s salute to the corpse, waiting for a response.
This Golden Core cultivator had almost broken through to the Nascent Soul stage in life, but fate had played a cruel trick. There were many cultivators who, on the verge of a breakthrough, ended up dying with regrets. After all, he was a peak Golden Core cultivator, and having had regrets in life, he had only been dead for a hundred years; his spirit had not completely dissipated and still lingered within the remains.
Sure enough, the corpse moved slightly, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Ye Yong was already prepared to draw his sword because, in the novel, the corpse wanted to absorb Long Tian’s yang energy to cultivate into a “Zhang,” commonly known as a zombie. This was not the same as a flesh-eating zombie; in comparison, a zombie was merely a lesser version, with no real combat ability.
Zhang had astonishing combat power and were divided into several types, depending on their environment: there were dry Zhang, water Zhang, forest Zhang, and so on.
Outside the cave was a river, rich in moisture, so if it successfully cultivated, it would become a water Zhang. The manifestation of a water Zhang could lead to floods, depending on its cultivation level, ranging from minor stream overflows to catastrophic river reversals, causing devastating floods.
After waiting for a while, the corpse showed no intention of lunging forward to absorb yang energy, which made Ye Yong feel a bit awkward. Since the other party did not attack first, he felt it was inappropriate to strike, as there was a difference between desecrating a corpse and acting in self-defense.
—
“Creak, creak.” After a while, the dry corpse emitted a sound of bones grinding together, pointing towards the wall behind.
Ye Yong knew that it was the hidden chamber where the dry corpse’s belongings were stored, but why was it pointing directly? Why not follow the script?
“Junior Ye Yong.” Ye Yong removed the fox mask, revealing a face that would make any man envious and secretly distressed: “I apologize for unintentionally intruding on your territory, senior.”
“Creak, creak.” The dry corpse seemed to pause for a moment, then nodded, as if indicating understanding, its hand still pointing at the stone door of the secret chamber.
“What does this mean, senior? Is there something in there for me?”
“Creak, creak.” It nodded again, the sound still carrying an eerie quality of bones rubbing together.
What’s going on? Why isn’t it attacking? Just because I’m the villain and not the protagonist, it plans to let me off? Do the dead act according to a halo?
Ye Yong was bewildered, but soon thought of something.
Right, when the protagonist entered, he was injured and bleeding, which means his yang energy was exposed. So the dry corpse absorbing yang energy was purely instinctive?
Of course, Ye Yong wasn’t naive enough to think that the dead wouldn’t lie or set traps. He remained vigilant and approached the wall, where there was a not-so-obvious protrusion. He pressed it gently, and with a rumble, a stone door appeared, revealing a crack.
In the novel, there were no traps in the secret chamber, yet Ye Yong still cautiously pushed it open, keeping an eye on whether the golden core dry corpse behind him showed any signs of movement.