Chapter 365: The Umbrella Sword’s Ingenous Use

The thin disciple solemnly bowed to Priest Wang, his eyes moist. It seemed that he truly had feelings for Wang Cuihua, willing to save her even at the cost of his own life. Such melodramatic scenes happened every day in this world, and one should be numb to them by now. However, Ye Wenxin still felt deeply moved. True feelings in times of hardship had always been an unchanging truth throughout history.

One would die without regrets for the sake of love.

With Priest Wang’s matters settled, Ye Wenxin turned to Gu Xiangsi and Hei Haowen. “I’ll be right back. You two stay here and keep watch together.”

Gu Xiangsi reacted intensely. She had thought that this so-called plan would include both of them, but unexpectedly, Ye Wenxin was leaving them behind to venture inside first.

In fact, Ye Wenxin feared that Gu Xiangsi might find an opportunity inside. She wanted to go in to rescue Wang Cuihua and, at the same time, see if she could seize the opportunities inside the city before anyone else. Ye Wenxin had selfish motives, but everyone else thought she was selfless. Especially Hei Haowen, who was full of admiration, and willing to face death together.

“Don’t exaggerate; it’s not as dangerous inside as you imagine. I’ve already inherited memories and have a good understanding of jiangshi kind. As long as Xiao Li and I are careful, nothing will go wrong. Besides, Senior Brother Haowen’s Buddhist aura is too conspicuous, and Xiangsi, your righteous energy is also too prominent, making it unsuitable for you to accompany me.”

To put it more simply, neither Hei Haowen nor Gu Xiangsi were suited for stealth. If they came along, it would be too conspicuous, she just softened her words to make them sound better to their ears.

Both of them still looked unwilling, but eventually nodded.

After confirming the arrangement, Ye Wenxin prepared herself. She watched as Xiao Li gave another solemn bow to Priest Wang. Ye Wenxin wanted to assure them that nothing would happen, but seeing the emotional atmosphere, she didn’t interrupt and let Xiao Li kowtow to Priest Wang.

The other disciples held their breaths, while two disciples helped to open the seal. In an instant, a head emerged from the hole. Before Ye Wenxin could react, the umbrella sword behind her moved on its own and decapitated the jiangshi.

The head fell to the ground, but it didn’t die immediately. It screamed, as if trying to say something. Ye Wenxin couldn’t understand the jiangshi’s words, but Ghost Mother, who was leaning against her, said, “It’s saying, ‘I am in so much pain.'”

Ghost Mother showed an indifferent expression, seemingly unaffected by the jiangshi’s emotions. Ye Wenxin nodded and then directed Sword Ghost to go inside and check the situation.

Sword Ghost swiftly flew up and soon returned through the hole, reporting, “Thirteen jiangshi, no signs of any living person’s presence.”

Hearing this, Priest Wang’s face turned pale, and he seemed unsteady. If those nearby hadn’t supported him, he would have almost fallen to the ground. Ye Wenxin frowned slightly as she heard Priest Wang murmuring, “I truly am all alone.”

“No news is the best news. Let’s go in now.”

Ye Wenxin thought this was a good thing. She comforted Priest Wang and then looked at Xiao Li beside her. Xiao Li nodded, pulling out a peach wood sword¹ and a celestial mirror. They were expecting a fight, but after crawling through the dog-sized hole into the city, they saw that the jiangshi had already been knocked to the ground.

The umbrella sword was still in a killing frenzy, with the sword and umbrella sometimes separating and sometimes joining together, giving Ye Wenxin no chance to show her skills.

“Grandmaster’s umbrella sword is truly a divine artifact,” Xiao Li couldn’t help but gasp. Ye Wenxin just smiled slightly, without saying much. They followed the path, carefully walking along the wall.

There were many jiangshi along the way, but the umbrella sword was faster. Xiao Li had been worried about the dangers inside, but seeing the situation, he relaxed a bit.

In just a moment, the two of them had covered about a third of the journey, yet they still didn’t sense any signs of living people.

Following normal human logic, upon arriving at a strange and dangerous place, one would definitely walk along the wall. This way, they could always keep themselves in a position to defend and attack effectively.

However, along this path, there were only more jiangshi, and no signs of fighting. This left Ye Wenxin puzzled about how Wang Cuihua, with her bells, could wander freely in this jiangshi city.

Seeing that Xiao Li was no longer nervous, Ye Wenxin turned to ask him, “What kind of personality does Cuihua have?”

Xiao Li was a bit bemused by the question, but he still replied, “Although Senior Sister Cuihua is young, she’s considered talented in our One Short Sect. As for her personality, she is rather carefree, and direct in her speech, but she means no harm.”

Ye Wenxin paused, recalling Wang Cuihua’s reaction when she saw her, and suddenly realized they were approaching it the wrong way. If Wang Cuihua was a direct person, she would never choose to walk along the wall. But how could Wang Cuihua move around so silently?

Could there be something special about those little bells? Ye Wenxin wondered to herself. Seeing her expression, Xiao Li added, “Although Senior Sister is hot-headed, she is not brainless. Since she dared to bring that lady in, she must have a way to escape.”

Xiao Li busily highlighted Wang Cuihua’s strengths, trying to correct Ye Wenxin’s poor impression of her.

“Oh, and Senior Sister is also skilled in tracking and concealment.”

Upon hearing this, Ye Wenxin stopped in her tracks, and began heading directly towards the center of the city.

“Grandmaster, why did you change the route?” Xiao Li, assuming Ye Wenxin was angry, asked urgently.

“If she’s skilled in concealment, she wouldn’t search as circuitously as we have. Activate the celestial mirror² and try to track where your Senior Sister is. Sword Ghost, Ghost Mother, kill everything in your path!” At the same time, a sense of foreboding arose in Ye Wenxin’s heart. She felt that if they didn’t quickly find Wang Cuihua and the lady with her, they would be in mortal danger.

This Jiangshi King had cultivated for thousands of years, and only the combined power of Sword Ghost and Ghost Mother could contend with it. However, if they defeated the Jiangshi King, Ghost Mother would become the new threat. Ye Wenxin couldn’t take that risk, nor could she afford to expend her qi on a mere Jiangshi King, which could once again put her at risk of Qi Deviation.

Therefore, she planned for a swift resolution. Before the Jiangshi King could react, she intended to rescue Wang Cuihua and the lady and get them out of there.

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Footnotes:

1. 1. The peach wood sword is a Daoist ritual instrument and is believed to have functions such as protecting the home, bringing blessings, warding off evil spirits, and attracting wealth in Chinese traditional customs.
   It is made from natural peach wood, which is considered the essence of the five woods and also known as Immortal wood, having the power to ward off evil and protect the home. ↩︎
2. 
   2. A celestial mirror, or literally translated as ‘heavenly secret mirror’, is a Daoist tool used for divination. ↩︎