Book 8: Chapter 27: I Don't Understand
Book 8: Chapter 27: I Don’t Understand
“I know I said quite a bit of nonsense.”
Lin Xi shook his hands, using this to relieve some of the pain from his bones. “However, the key lies in that there is no way you can easily kill me, and there is no way I have the ability to easily deal with you. If we continue like this, both sides will suffer with neither side coming out ahead, that is why I spoke so much nonsense to you.”
The green-pupiled young lady forcefully adjusted her breathing, Lin Xi’s words making her remain quiet for a long time.
“Then what can you do? Pretend that you didn’t see me, let me leave like this? If you say this, why would I trust you? You can easily tell a Yunqin high ranking military officer or a cultivator, and then there’s no way I can escape.” She thought for a long time, and only then did she raise her head, looking at Lin Xi and said, “Unless you can help me escape, escape together with me.”
Lin Xi didn’t reply, only looking at this green-pupiled young lady and asking, “I am a bit confused… you can clearly hide underground, so why do you still continuously flee? This is especially when the cave barbarians naturally live underground, you even understand how to control these giant beetles.”
“Your intention is that I could have just hid in an underground cave, wait until the battle is over before coming out.”
The green-pupiled young lady looked at Lin Xi, her expression becoming a bit unnaturally red from turning too pale, this instead giving off an excessively ice-cold feeling, like jade. “The cave barbarians are different from your Yunqin military, having many methods to transfer troops. Only by escaping and by telling them what to do will they stop coming over to throw their lives away.”
“I don’t have a choice. As for you…” The green-pupiled young lady looked at Lin Xi, slowly saying, “You are a Yunqin soldier. If you help me escape, it is precisely treason. Could it be that you will do something like this?”
Lin Xi frowned, still not replying, only asking, “If you can flee… If the cave barbarians don’t come to Dragon Snake Mountain Range to plunder food, will they be able to live properly?”
Because of the pain from her wounds and the even greater emotional suffering, this green-pupiled young lady’s thoughts became a bit sluggish. However, she couldn’t think about the deeper meaning behind Lin Xi’s words, only subconsciously starting to consider this issue itself… If it was in the past, the answer was definitely no way. It was because the cave barbarians all ate an extremely large amount of food, in winter, most of the plants in Great Desolate Swamp would wither away, resulting in most of the cave barbarian tribes entering a state of famine, but this year, it was possible. It was because after this great battle, the most robust and at the same time the cave barbarian soldiers who ate the most, already only exceeded six thousand.
Lin Xi waited for the green-pupiled young lady’s answer.
For him, if he could make Dragon Snake Mountain Range more peaceful, able to make the soldiers loyal to the empire not have to sacrifice themselves one batch after another, then he would do it. If there would be even greater revenge, triggering more deaths, then he would do everything he could to keep this green-pupiled young lady here. Actually, there was some more nonsense he wanted to say, but didn’t have time to. As early as when he was in Green Luan Academy, he already knew that Yunqin Empire’s recent circumstances weren’t as great as it looked on the surface, the situation not as calm as it looked. Even if the cave barbarians didn’t enter Dragon Snake Mountain Range, Dragon Snake Border Army might still not have the ability to infiltrate the Great Desolate Swamp and progressively occupy it.
The pressure from Great Mang to the west and south, in the past few decades, already shaved away Yunqin’s absolute power. In recent years, this side’s white mountains and black waters initiative was actually already gradually in the hands of the cave barbarians. Lin Xi vaguely felt that this green-pupiled young lady had the ability to grant the cave barbarians and Dragon Snake Border Army a bit of breathing time… Even if this war still had to continue in the end, even if it was just a few years, even if it was just a single autumn and winter’s peace, this was already extremely meaningful for him.
However, the green-pupiled young lady didn’t give him an answer.
Even so, what left him stunned was that the green-pupiled young lady who was originally starting to ease up immediately became filled with even greater anger, her expression filled with even more hatred. Then, she turned around, starting to run crazily with all of her strength.
Lin Xi was confused. He used the fastest speed to pick up his swords, forcefully enduring the pain in his chest, following her.
…
The two’s rapid footsteps passed through this plantain forest, and then entered a mist shrouded area filled with aquatic plants.
Before fleeing into this aquatic plant region, the green-pupiled young lady’s speed was above Lin Xi’s. However, when she entered this woodland filled with black water, Lin Xi’s speed already exceeded this green-pupiled young lady’s.
Even though this chase was extremely difficult for Lin Xi, his soul force was abundant. The soul force’s rippling, together with Glorious King Destroys Restraints, instead made the first thousand steps more difficult than the later thousand steps. After continuously running for over a thousand steps, along his breathing, despite being burning hot, there were waves of warmth and numb itchiness that continuously spread from his injuries, making his condition develop in a good direction and not worsen.
The green-pupiled young lady spat out another mouthful of blood. Even with her cultivation level, there was no way for her to understand how Lin Xi could run faster and stronger.
Her face’s abnormal redness completely withdrew, the skin on her face, because of excessive paleness, instead became like a half translucent white jade color. Her body temperature also began to drop. After another ten or so halts of time, she knew that she would faint from the failure of some bodily functions and then quickly die afterwards.
Suddenly, she sensed a bit of familiar aura.
Even with the impending threat of death, she still didn’t stop. However, this bit of aura instead made her body shake. When she knew that her final bit of hope finally came, she couldn’t support herself anymore, falling forward weakly, relying on a hand to support herself on the water and only then did she stabilize herself, not completely collapsing into the shallow water.
Lin Xi didn’t understand why this green-pupiled young lady would suddenly crazily run for more than ten li of distance. In his perception, he didn’t sense anything strange, but he sensed a trace of indescribable danger from the green-pupiled young lady’s movements.
Soon afterwards, he heard water sounds.
Water sounds that were unimaginably fast.
This was the sound of footsteps landing in the mist shrouded shallow waters. Meanwhile, what left him shocked wasn’t the frequency of water sound, but rather the speed at which it approached.
This meant that the distance covered with every single step was definitely extremely terrifying.
The light white mist above the green-pupiled young lady’s head moved rapidly, instantly scattering out a large expanse. Then, like a rock from the heavens itself, a figure descended .
Lin Xi’s eyes narrowed, unconsciously taking several steps back.
This was a cave barbarian with a wide forehead, his mouth and lips extremely thick, figure not all that large and tall. His upper body was exposed, dressed in modified black chain armor trousers, his entire body covered in hard and cold muscles. The feeling he gave off was like a volcano that might erupt at any time.
“Pu!” A muffled noise sounded. This cave barbarian stood perfectly straight in place, his legs entering the earth, directly going down to his knees. However, under this type of terrifying impact, his figure was tall like a javelin, even his knees not bending in the slightest.
“Fire King… be careful, there are two Yunqin cultivators who are definitely going to catch up.”
The green-pupiled young lady’s hands were still supporting the water, blood trickling out from the corners of her lips. She was completely powerless to wipe it off, but she still immediately raised her head, instantly speaking to the cave barbarian who bowed down, about to raise her up, “Shameless.. Fire King, kill him!” Then, she forcefully endured her shortness of breath, panicking and furious as she spat out these words.
This cave barbarian nodded, not reaching out his hand to support her, instead turning around towards Lin Xi, starting to move.
Lin Xi couldn’t help but turn around.
Only now did he finally somewhat understand… could it be that just now, when this green-pupiled young lady ran crazily, cursing him for being shameless, it was because there were actually two cultivators who secretly followed him?
The instant he turned around, an ear-splitting chi sound rang out from the pool.
Red light erupted from the cave barbarian’s body, his legs as if becoming burning hot iron rods, making even the water that they made contact with become thick white surging mist.
The moment he turned around, he saw two figures rush out from the light white mist behind him with extraordinary speed.
One was a red-clothed zither master.
The other was a petite figure entirely wrapped within a black cloak, her facial features couldn’t even be made out.
He had met both of these individuals before. The red-clothed female zither master appeared in that bamboo forest that night, helping him fend off the most powerful sword master within East Forest Province.
As for this petite figure who seemed to be isolated under eternal darkness, when he was facing Mu Chenyun in North Grain Cave Town, she clearly also helped him.
After being momentarily stunned, when he heard the chi chi sounds behind him become even stronger, he turned around, his face becoming completely scarlet red from the radiance.
Lin Xi’s breathing instantly stopped.
He didn’t know that a sword master who already touched upon the Sacred Expert level already died under this cave barbarian’s hands. The scene before his eyes, for him, was still completely unimaginable.
This cave barbarian that ran towards him already completely became a human torch, the blood-like flames blazing outside his body, burning the surrounding air until it warped. The streaks of flames were like the most dazzling dancers as they twisted about.
A wave of terrifying heat spread over.
Lin Xi was full of shock as he looked at this cave barbarian who was a dozen or so meters from himself. He suddenly discovered that even the corners of his clothes already began to burn slightly.
Ding!
Before Lin Xi had time to retreat, a beautiful zither note sounded under this extreme pressure. The shallow muddy waters before the zither suddenly produced a deep groove, all of the mud within the gorge becoming a black longsword, directly rushing out, hacking at the incoming cave barbarian’s body.