Chapter 58 of 90
Brothers Over the Snake Spring
Ximen Lang had a handsome face. He smiled slightly.
"Ma Daha. We're only cooperating with Li Yutang. And the fire crystal—you got it by robbing a caravan, didn't you? Why get yourself hurt over a stone? Why break the harmony between us?" He lowered his sword a little. "Hand over the fire crystal, and I'll leave at once. And I'll never trouble your cottage again."
"Ten years," said Ma Daha. "I've been stuck at Martial Soul for ten years. Ten years!" His voice cracked. "That fire crystal is my one hope of reaching Martial King. Even if I die, I won't hand my hope over to you like an obedient dog!"
Li Yuguo, listening, had already guessed the whole thing.
Li Yutang wanted Li Yuguo gone. So he had asked Ye Qiong to help. Ye Qiong might be an idiot about some things, but he was not a fool. On the contrary—he was a shrewd one. Offending the County Lord of Nalan City for the sake of Li Yutang was not a wise trade. So he must have refused.
And after he refused, Li Yutang had brought out his bargaining chip. The fire crystal. Help me, and I'll tell you where it is.
And Ye Qiong had agreed.
In the bitter cold lands of Saibei, cultivation resources were desperately scarce. A fire crystal was a heavenly treasure, dense with fire-aspected vitality. It could be refined into weapons or absorbed directly into a cultivator's body. It was worth more than its weight in gold. For a treasure like that, Ye Qiong had set aside his scruples and come to this cottage to demand it.
But Ma Daha wanted to advance too. He had refused flatly. And for all Ye Qiong's talent, how could an Advanced Martial Teacher face a man at the peak of Martial Soul? Ye Qiong had been injured, too. His protagonist's halo had failed him for once. He had not been able to show off. So he had gone back and fetched his senior brother and his second senior sister to help.
Ximen Lang and Yun Xianchen. The two leaders of the second generation. The two strongest candidates to lead the sect one day.
Of course, Ximen Lang did not need to worry much about Yun Xianchen as a rival. Because Yun Xianchen was, in name, his fiancée.
"You refuse a toast and drink a forfeit!" Ximen Lang's voice went cold. He drew the long sword from his waist in one smooth movement. "If that's how it is, don't blame me for being rude!"
There were only ten or so True Yuan Sect disciples here. But every one of them was a master.
Ma Daha looked around him. At the bodies of his brothers on the ground.
"Li Yutang's betrayed us," he said, through his teeth. "He's found a stronger backer. We can't let it go. We have to avenge our dead brothers!"
He roared, and the bandits roared with him, all around the yard. One by one, they raised their weapons and faced the disciples of the True Yuan Sect.
"Go! True Yuan Sword Formation!"
Ximen Lang swept his sword forward and went straight at Ma Daha. Behind him, the disciples fell into a sword formation, orderly and precise, and advanced into the bandits.
Ma Daha met him head-on with his mace.
Clang!
The long sword struck the mace. There was a huge, ringing roar of metal, and the whole battlefield seemed to center on the two of them, and a wave of force exploded outward from where their weapons met.
It spread in a ring. Like a ripple on a pond, but made of air. And it hit the iron braziers at the edge of the yard and blew them over.
The burning wood inside spilled out and scattered. In the blink of an eye, the timber walls of the halls around the yard had caught fire.
Li Yuguo had been knocked back on his heels behind his own brazier. He was shocked.
Is that the peak of Martial Soul?
He had written it. He had never seen it. It opened his eyes.
All around the yard, the bandits and the disciples had crashed together and were killing each other. It was chaos. A tangle of bodies, too thick to pick apart. Sword-light and blade-light and shadows of swords, one after another. Ye Qiong had his own way of fighting, Li Yuguo noticed. He never fought anyone head-on. He slipped through the crowd, picking his chances, and when no one was looking, stabbed a bandit in the back. Once. Twice. In the blink of an eye, he had cut down a dozen men.
The fighting grew hotter. The clean ground was covered now in bodies and blood and scattered limbs.
The fire had reached the brazier where Li Yuguo was hiding. He had to move. He sprang up onto a burning log beam, meaning to cross to the far side of the yard along the roofline—
A cold light flashed in Ximen Lang's hand, and something flew at him.
Li Yuguo dropped. He twisted in mid-air and swung the Iron-Blooded Mad Saber off his back and caught the thing on its broad blade—clang!—and landed in the very middle of the yard.
In the middle of everyone.
All around him, the fighting stopped. Every face turned to him in astonishment.
Ximen Lang took one look at his face. And stepped forward, and clasped his fists.
"Consort!" he said, very politely.
"Li Yuguo! You're not dead!" Ye Qiong's eyes were red. His teeth were bared.
Li Yuguo laughed. "You carry on. Keep fighting. I'm just passing through!"
"Wait. You bastard—are you in league with Ling Snake Cottage?" Ye Qiong pointed at Li Yuguo's nose. He turned to Ximen Lang. "This King of Soft Rice has done so much evil. Heaven should strike him down! Senior Brother, we can't let this wicked man go!"
"Excuse me," said Li Yuguo, and sneered. "But who used me as bait last time, and then abandoned me and ran?"
"You—you're lying!" Ye Qiong was shaking with rage. He wanted to cut Li Yuguo down where he stood.
Yun Xianchen spoke.
She had sheathed her long sword behind her back. Her voice was clear and crisp.
"That's the robe of a Blood-Clothed Sect disciple. And your blade looks like a Blood-Clothed weapon."
"So!" Ye Qiong's face lit up. "You've been running with those scum from the Blood-Clothed Sect! So the Blood-Clothed Sect has come to Ling Snake Mountain too. Li Yuguo—tell me honestly. Where are the people from the Blood-Clothed Sect?"
Li Yuguo knew he could not go on just watching the play any longer. So he simply said:
"Everyone. Look. On my way here, I saw a group of Blood-Clothed guards leaving the mountain with a package. And I heard them say a word. Fire crystal." He shrugged. "So I think Chief Ma Daha's fire crystal has already been stolen by them. That's why he can't hand it over!"
Ma Daha was astonished.
He had never imagined the King of Soft Rice of Nalan City would speak for him. Slowly, he lowered his mace.
Ximen Lang looked at Li Yuguo's clothes. "Then why are you wearing their robe and carrying their weapon?"
"Ah." Li Yuguo spread his hands. "Think about it. I'm the dignified consort of the Kingdom of Haotian. And thanks to Brother Ye Qiong here, I was carried off by a Dragon King Turtle as its dinner. It took me back to its lair." He looked around the circle. "Surely everyone here knows—the Dragon King Turtle guards the most famous Snake Spring in Saibei!"
Ximen Lang's eyes began to burn.
The Snake Spring was a spiritual wonder that shook the world. Ordinary people who cultivated beside it advanced far faster than any others. It was said to be a true spirit spring. A single sip could calm the mind and speed one's cultivation.
"Consort," said Ximen Lang, "please—keep it short!"
"Fine! Senior Brother Ximen is refreshingly direct. That's how it was. When I got to the lair, both my legs were broken. I thought it was the end. But to my surprise, I found that the Dragon King Turtle had killed a whole crowd of Blood-Clothed Sect disciples there. My own clothes were in rags. I thought—well, I can't go home naked, can I? So… I drank some of the spring water. I never expected my wounds to heal so fast. Then I put on the clothes of the Blood-Clothed disciple, and set out to go home…"
He told it smoothly and completely. There was hardly a hole in it anywhere.
Ye Qiong strode forward.
"You—I don't believe a word you say! You say you saw the Snake Spring—what proof do you have?"
Li Yuguo had been waiting for exactly that. He had known Ye Qiong would try to embarrass him. So while the boy was talking, he had quietly opened the system and bought two bottles of Snake Spring water. A hundred cuckold points each.
Current Cuckold Points: 2500
He took them out of his sleeve. Two little glass bottles, with something inside that glowed with a soft blue light, like moonlight on water.
"Everyone, please look," he said. "Here's my proof. Two bottles of Snake Spring. I brought them out at the risk of my life!"
At the far side of the circle, Yun Xianchen saw the bottles. And her heart trembled.
She had reached a bottleneck in her cultivation. For months now, she had not been able to calm her mind enough to break through it. And the Snake Spring could steady the mind. She wanted it. More than she had wanted anything in a long time.
But she did not let it show. Her face stayed cold and empty. No one noticed anything.
After all, a spirit spring like the Snake Spring was incredibly rare. Most people who had it hoarded it. Drank it a drop at a time. Who would ever carry it around in his sleeve as if it were ordinary water?
Ximen Lang was very greedy.
He understood at once. By quality, the Snake Spring was worth no less than the fire crystal. Perhaps more. A fire crystal was mostly used as a weapon material. But the Snake Spring could simply be drunk, and once drunk, it would strengthen one's cultivation directly.
It was not something mere pills could compare to. It was a luxury.
He came over. "Brother Li," he said, "could we take a step aside and talk?"
"Of course! It's been so long since you and I talked, brother. I have so many things I want to say to my brother," said Li Yuguo, smiling. He looked, at that moment, like a man and a beast at the same time.
The fighting had plainly stopped. But Ma Daha was in an awkward position. He had lost a great many of his brothers—more than a hundred men—and now there was the King of Soft Rice in the middle of his yard as well. He did not know what to do.
But he was not a fool. He understood that when Li Yuguo had said the fire crystal was stolen, he had said it to save him.
So he called to his men. "Everyone, come back! Since the Consort of Nalan City is here, we'll give him face!"
"Yes! Big Brother!"
The bandits all around came running back and gathered beside Ma Daha.
"You thieves!" Ye Qiong shouted. "Are you scared?"
"Junior Brother. Stop."
Yun Xianchen stopped him at once.
"Since the Blood-Clothed Sect has shown up," she said, "this fight is obviously not one we should continue. Besides, most of our senior brothers here are injured, more or less."
"But—" Ye Qiong ground his teeth. Then he went and stood behind Yun Xianchen.
In a corner of the yard, away from the fire, Ximen Lang said: "Brother Li. I hope you've been well."
"Enough small talk," said Li Yuguo. "I know what you want to say. But I want to talk to you about something too. Ye Qiong."
At the name, Ximen Lang frowned.
These days, Ye Qiong was making such fast progress. He had made a great splash in the True Yuan Sect. And he had already begun to press down on Ximen Lang a little.
Even Ximen Lang's own father, the head of the sect, had clearly begun to favor Ye Qiong. Because Ye Qiong was talented.
Ximen Lang did not speak.
Li Yuguo added some fuel to the fire. "Ye Qiong's so popular now. If this goes on, I'm afraid Brother Ximen's position in the sect…"
He drew the last word out. And did not finish it.
A man as clever as Ximen Lang could not fail to understand what Li Yuguo meant. "Brother," he said slowly. "Could it be you have some way?"
"A way?" Li Yuguo smiled. "Look. This precious junior brother of yours wants to kill me. And honestly, I've been wondering about it myself. I never killed his family. I never robbed him of money. So why does he hate me so much?" He shrugged. "But I'm not the kind of honest man who just lets himself be humiliated. Some things, I take measures about. So—Brother Ximen. Since you and I have the same adversary… as the saying goes. The enemy of my enemy is my brother!"
"Yes!" Ximen Lang's eyes gleamed. "When I go back this time, I'll certainly come to Nalan City to visit the Consort in person!"
Li Yuguo waved his hand.
"Don't call me Consort. You're actually older than me. From now on, I'll call you Brother Ximen." He held out one of the little glowing bottles. "And I'll give you this bottle of Snake Spring. You didn't get the fire crystal this time. But with this Snake Spring, I think your sect master will be happy too!"
Ximen Lang trembled when he heard it.
"If that's so," he said, and his voice shook with excitement, "then I, Ximen Lang, owe you a favor!"
"What does it matter? You and I are brothers. There'll be lots of things to cooperate on in the future. Don't you think…" Li Yuguo smiled brightly.
Ximen Lang took the Snake Spring. His face split into a wide, wretched smile.
"Good brother!"
"Brother!" Li Yuguo laughed.
The two villains clasped each other's hands, as warmly as two brothers who had been parted for many years.
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