Refining the Mountains and Rivers

Chapter 1602A. Brothers

Cloud Mist Taoist was considered a below-average cultivator in Millet Nation. It was only in this area that he had some sort of reputation. In his early years, he was rather mediocre but had lofty aspirations. Afterwards, he was taught of his insignificance by the martial arts world. Discouraged, he came to Cloud Mist Valley and concentrated on making a home here. He also took in two apprentices so as not to break his inheritance.

The older apprentice was known as Ning Changgeng, and he was a son of one of the noble families in Millet Nation’s Imperial Capital. Although his family was not very prominent, it was one that had enjoyed huge wealth for many generations. Every year, his family sent a large amount of gifts and money to Cloud Mist Valley. This was the reason why Cloud Mist Taoist could cultivate without caring about worldly matters.

The second apprentice was known as Stone Mouth. It was a name given to him by his parents, and it was rather apt. He was very quiet and rarely spoke, as if he had a mouth made of stone. He was from a poor family background. His parents and relatives were all dead, leaving him alone. If it were not for the fact that his cultivation was not bad, Cloud Mist Taoist would have chased him out a long time ago. What was the point in keeping a bastard who did not even greet his master?

However, unexpectedly, these two apprentices had a rather good relationship with each other. They stayed together and ate together. They encouraged each other to cultivate, and that was the only thing that made Cloud Mist Taoist feel reassured and gratified. It was also because of this that they had come together when he called them to come greet his new apprentice.

The older apprentice stood in front and saw Li Ruhua first, who was standing beside Cloud Mist Taoist. Her gaze was bright. Stone Mouth followed behind and his face turned slightly red. Thankfully, it was not very obvious. He bowed cautiously before retreating quietly to the side.

“Cough! Her name is Li Ruhua. From today onwards, she will be your junior. I hope that the three of you will support each other and take part in the cultivation of the Great Dao together.” After he finished speaking, Cloud Mist Taoist quickly gave the excuse of letting the three of them get familiar with each other to leave.

Li Ruhua looked over at Cloud Mist Taoist’s departing silhouette before she smiled and bowed, “Greetings Seniors.” She blinked, looking to her left and right, her smile never faltering. However, in her heart, she could not help but breathe a sigh of relief.

This time, she had called Li Mu to open up the Grandeur and Millet Realm and it had taken him a lot of trouble to do so. In the end, she still returned disappointed. She found the mark that Li Mu had made in advance, but there was no trace of barbarian aura on the handsome Ning Changgeng. This meant that of course, he was not the Barbarian King.

In this chess game, it seemed that she had taken a wrong step and ended up wasting a favor that someone owed her. Li Mu was indeed very shrewd. It would be difficult for him to ever wind up owing her a favor in the future again.

As for Stone Mouth who stood beside Ning Changgeng, she only gave him a glance and that was it. On the surface, she tried not to make it too obvious that she did not care about him at all. After the three of them had a conversation together, however, it was obvious to Stone Mouth that junior sister was closer to his senior brother. He pursed his lips before cupping his hands and leaving. To begin with, he was someone with a cold personality. Since junior sister did not wish to get closer to him, he decided that he would take the initiative to stay away.

According to Li Ruhua’s promise to the West Desolate King, if she could confirm that Marquis Chongwu was unrelated to the new Barbarian King, she would let this experience of being in the Grandeur and Millet Realm act as compensation to him. This was to prevent Marquis Chongwu from harboring any resentment once he left the realm. However, in reality, after entering the Grandeur and Millet Realm, Li Ruhua only had one thought in her heart – Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin must die.

Tearing up her alliance with the West Desolate King was indeed rather troublesome. However, accidents were bound to happen in the Grandeur and Millet Realm. As long as she could remove herself cleanly from these accidents and not leave anything behind that could be used against her, what could the West Desolate King do to her? This was not the Imperial Capital, and Li Mu was here as well. He would not stand by and do nothing and let her be killed by the West Desolate King’s lightning powers.

As for why she wanted to kill Marquis Chongwu Ning Qin, the reason was rather simple. It was because when she was in the West Desolate’s Imperial Capital, she looked at Marquis Chongwu from afar and started to feel an extreme fear in her heart. It was such a strong feeling that even swallowing her saliva hurt. Even if he was not the new Barbarian King, Li Ruhua still wanted him to die.

It was the first time she had ever felt like that in her life. Even when she was making a deal with the West Desolate King, she had already harbored such a thought of killing Marquis Chongwu. That West Desolate King must not have expected that there would be someone who was bold enough to be so agreeable to him on the surface but to oppose secretly.

Of course, it was already mentioned previously that the best outcome would be if she could completely get out of this situation unscathed by removing anything that could connect her to this matter. For this, she had already made the necessary preparations and found someone whom she could manipulate.

So, on the night when Cloud Mist Taoist had been dragged away by Li Ruhua to have a ‘talk’, he returned pale-faced. He could clearly sense Li Ruhua’s movements, but he just turned over in his bed and blocked his senses completely so that he was cut off from the outside world. A big disaster was imminent, so he did not have the energy or abilities to care about his two apprentices’ lives. What mattered to him was that he lived.

Li Ruhua knocked on the door and Ning Changgeng was the one who answered. When he saw that it was junior sister, he was rather happy. However, without waiting for him to speak, Li Ruhua smiled and said, “Elder brother, I’m looking for second brother. Please let him know that I’m looking for him.”

Ning Changgeng was frozen for a while. When he regained his composure, he turned around and shouted, “Stone Mouth, junior sister is here to see you.” He smiled and did not lose his demeanor as he retreated into the house.

Stone Mouth came to the door. He was still silent and cautious as he paused for a while before he said, “Why are you looking for me?”

Li Ruhua smiled and replied, “It’s not convenient to say it here. Second brother, let’s take a walk in the valley.”

Ning Changgeng, who was facing away from them and holding onto a bamboo scroll, froze slightly. Under the light of a candle, the expression in his eyes turned gloomy.

Stone Mouth hesitated for a moment before he nodded. He turned his head to let his elder brother know where he was going, and then he retrieved his coat and left with Li Ruhua.

In the room, Ning Changgeng put down the bamboo slip in his hand. He looked blank, but also wronged, as if he did not expect that something like this would happen. However, deep in his heart, he did not have any other thoughts. He merely felt down and lifeless.

Stone Mouth, who had left his house, was quiet, and so was Li Ruhua. They walked in silence, neither of them speaking a word until Li Ruhua finally stopped in her tracks.

Stone Mouth tilted his head upwards to look at her and said, “I know you don’t really care about me, so junior sister, if you have something to say, just get to the point.”

Li Ruhua smiled and nodded, “I came to this place to fulfill a promise. I’m here to tell you one thing, for example…who you really are.”

Stone Mouth looked alarmed. “Junior sister, what do you mean?”

Li Ruhua raised her hand, “Do not move.”

Then, Stone Mouth realized that he really could no longer move. Her tender and slightly cold fingers tapped gently on the spot between his brows. However, to him, it felt like a longsword pierced through his forehead. The pain was so excruciating that his head was being split apart.

He opened his mouth to scream, but before he could make a sound, Li Ruhua used her hand to cover his mouth. She smiled and blinked at him, “You will only wake up after you suffer. I know you’re feeling very uncomfortable now, but trust me, when you’ve woken up, you’ll thank me for this.”

After half an hour of experiencing this intense pain, his robes were drenched with sweat. Like a drowning man who was rescued from the water, he laid on the ground and gasped for breath. However, the look in his eyes had changed. One moment he looked blank and dazed, and the next moment he looked awake and alert.

Li Ruhua took two steps back and said softly, “It must feel bad to be forced to wake up from a dream. Go back and sleep a little more. When you open your eyes tomorrow, everything will be fine.”

Stone Mouth got up and stumbled away.