Chapter 25
Although this half-way master and disciple pair agreed to take a walk after the meal to aid digestion, Cui Xiao Xiao was anxious and wished she could fly to the valley in an instant. Naturally, her footsteps were hurried.
Wei Jie was a bit puzzled and asked, “Is the thing you lost very important? You seem to be in a great hurry.”
Cui Xiao Xiao tugged at the chain connecting the two of them, urging Wei Jie to walk faster, and said in a tight voice, “Of course it’s important…”
Since she was sent to this era more than two hundred years ago by the statue of Zhu Jiuyin, her fate of ten calamities had reached its peak, and almost everything was going against her.
It didn’t matter if she was unlucky, but she absolutely could not implicate her master!
With this thought, her footsteps became even faster.
Suddenly, an arm stretched out to her slender waist, and then her entire body was lifted up by Wei Jie with one hand. The next moment, she heard the wind whistling in her ears. Wei Jie had actually picked her up and started running through the grass.
Xiao Xiao knew that Wei Jie at this time had not yet mastered the demonic arts, but she didn’t expect his movement technique to be so impressive.
She asked Wei Jie, distracted, if this was also self-taught.
Wei Jie explained, “I unintentionally saved a powerful expert, and he taught me the chant. After pondering for a few days, I mastered it.”
Xiao Xiao recalled that her master, Tang Youshu, had once mentioned that before Wei Jie was too deep into the demonic path, he had many acquaintances and learned many exotic techniques. His own comprehension ability was unmatched, and he integrated them into his own style.
If he hadn’t become a demon back then and had found a famous master, his cultivation achievements might not be underestimated. Within a hundred years, even ascending to immortality might not have been difficult.
Just looking at his current skills and cultivation, he was much better than her. She couldn’t really teach Wei Jie anything. His taking her as his master seemed to be more out of boredom and amusement.
While she was distracted, Wei Jie had already brought Xiao Xiao back to the valley where he had slain the snake.
At this time, the sky was getting dark, and the corpse of that big snake was still lying there motionless. The pungent and foul smell of snake blood permeated everywhere.
But strangely, even though it was such a large, rotten corpse, it did not attract other animals to gnaw on it. In this valley, there wasn’t even the sound of insects at night.
Xiao Xiao guessed that the snake venom of the Broken Soul Snake was too domineering, so even after its death, its lingering power remained, causing other snakes and insects to avoid it.
But that corpse-eating beast was another sinister existence. It ate all rotten flesh in the human world. The more poisonous and rotten the corpse, the more it liked it.
When there wasn’t enough rotten flesh, it would attract evil spirits and demons to create slaughter, piling up rotten corpses for it to enjoy.
With such a strong stench, why hadn’t it attracted the corpse-eating beast yet? And where was Master Tang Youshu? Did he unintentionally enter this valley as in the original trajectory?
At this moment, Xiao Xiao noticed that Wei Jie was staring intently at the snake’s belly, so she also looked over in the direction of Wei Jie’s gaze.
Although the valley was dark at this time, Xiao Xiao’s eyes were different from ordinary people’s. She immediately saw the abnormality of the snake’s belly.
It turned out that the snake’s belly looked bulging and seemed to be breathing, rising and falling in the dark night.
Did this snake… come back to life?
No! There was something in its belly!
Xiao Xiao quickly exchanged glances with Wei Jie. Wei Jie silently drew out his whip, and Xiao Xiao took out the water-transforming talisman from her bosom.
Just then, the snake’s belly bulged again, and an animal the size of a thin dog crawled out from the ruptured snake belly. It looked like a dog but wasn’t a dog, with a big head and a small body, and a large mouth full of fangs.
At this time, it was covered in sticky snake blood from head to toe. It licked the blood at the corner of its mouth while staring intently at Xiao Xiao and Wei Jie.
When it raised its nose to sniff the scent of the two people carried by the wind, its eyes seemed to burst with frenzied joy, as if seeing two pieces of excellent meat.
Just as Wei Jie swung his whip to strike it, it suddenly jumped into the stream beside it, rolled around, washed off the blood on its body, and became more transparent. It quickly disappeared from sight.
Xiao Xiao knew that this dog-like thing that could turn invisible was the corpse-eating beast! It indeed came, attracted by the big snake’s body, just like in the original timeline.
But… where was Master?
As the corpse-eating beast vanished, Xiao Xiao’s hair stood on end. She knew that the beast had not left but was hiding in some corner, eyeing her and Wei Jie like a tiger watching its prey.
Thinking of this, she casually raised the water-transforming talisman, conjuring a stream of water that formed a circular ring, encircling herself and Wei Jie. She then let the water ring gradually expand outward in all directions.
Perhaps it was because survival was too difficult in this era two hundred years ago, requiring back-to-back life-or-death situations. Xiao Xiao found that her ability to control water had become much more stable, and she could easily let the water ring move steadily.
Wei Jie couldn’t help but look down at his little master with approval and said in a low voice, “This water-controlling trick is not bad. When there’s time, I’ll have to ask Master to give me some pointers…”
If he weren’t the future Great Demon King, just based on this sweet little mouth, any master would have to teach him wholeheartedly!
Unfortunately, Xiao Xiao now only wanted to rescue her future benefactor and then break this damned Soul Locking Shackle, staying far away from the Great Demon King.
As for her and Wei Jie’s master-disciple relationship, which was as fragile as paper, she didn’t need to take it seriously at all.
At this moment, the water flow in the southeast corner was suddenly cut off by something. Under the impact of the water flow, the invisible corpse-eating beast that had been trying to approach the two finally showed itself!
That beast also seemed to feel that these two people were troublesome and needed some help. It bared its teeth and suddenly raised its head, howling and making a hissing sound.
The next moment, the ground cracked, and a plume of dark yellow smoke emerged. Then the smoke gradually gathered into the shape of the dead two-headed snake and coiled around the corpse-eating beast.
When the smoke swirled for a moment, the size of the corpse-eating beast suddenly increased several times, and its head gradually split into two.
Xiao Xiao gasped. She finally understood why the old matriarch of the Wei Family said that this corpse-eating beast would cause living beings to suffer.
It turned out that it not only gnawed on rotten flesh but also took possession of the soul power of the corpses and absorbed the power of the souls.
If this evil creature were allowed to wreak havoc in the human world, after devouring countless souls, how terrifying would the accumulated soul power be!
Although the beast had the soul of the Broken Soul Snake to enhance it, it did not rush towards the connected duo recklessly. Instead, like a cunning wolf, it wagged its snake-like long tail, crisscrossing its steps, moving back and forth, observing the two, as if slowly looking for flaws.
At this moment, a rustling sound suddenly came from the cliff, followed by a scream. Then, a person fell from high up on the mountainside.
That person was still holding a torch in his hand. When he fell, by some coincidence, the torch was thrown onto the corpse-eating beast.
The corpse-eating beast was burned by the fire and howled in pain. Then it shook its two heads and rushed straight towards the person who had fallen.
In the firelight, Xiao Xiao saw that the person seemed to be a fair-skinned scholar, wearing a scholar’s distinctive blue headband and holding a hoe for picking herbs in his hand.
This person was completely different from the master in Xiao Xiao’s memory.
After all, when Tang Youshu met Xiao Xiao, he was already over two hundred and twenty years old, with white hair and eyebrows, and a face full of walnut-like wrinkles. It was impossible to imagine what he looked like when he was young.
But the timing of this scholar’s fall was similar to that of Master Tang Youshu back then. Xiao Xiao immediately determined that the person who came was her benefactor.
Seeing the corpse-eating beast pouncing on the scholar, Xiao Xiao anxiously manipulated the water flow to act as a whip and fiercely lashed at the corpse-eating beast.
Perhaps it was because of her anxiety. This time, when Xiao Xiao was circulating her energy, she felt the qi from her dantian flowing through her meridians and condensing in her hand. The controlled water flow actually froze inch by inch.
In the end, an ice crystal longsword condensed in Xiao Xiao’s hand and fiercely struck one of the dog heads of the corpse-eating beast.
Success! She actually mastered the Ice Condensing Technique!
Xiao Xiao had no time to be happy. The corpse-eating beast, after being attacked, howled in pain and turned around to pounce on her and Wei Jie again.
Wei Jie and Xiao Xiao, this pair of half-way master and disciple, had no tacit understanding. One went left, and the other went right, each preparing to dodge. But being connected by that damned chain, neither of them managed to dodge and collided with each other again.
At this critical moment, Wei Jie finally used the Wei Family’s ultimate technique for capturing demons – the Beast Roar!
He opened his mouth and suddenly let out a low roar at the corpse-eating beast. That sound actually caused the snake soul coiled around the corpse-eating beast to dissipate like smoke.
Unfortunately, Wei Jie’s true qi cultivation was not enough, and the effect could not last long. In just a moment, the snake soul coiled around it again.
But that moment of preparation time was enough.
Seeing that the two heads of the corpse-eating beast were clearly biting towards her and Wei Jie, Xiao Xiao condensed an ice dagger in her hand again and fiercely stabbed it into the beast’s mouth.
And Wei Jie inserted the handle of the whip into the mouth of the corpse-eating beast.
At this juncture, Xiao Xiao saw Wei Jie actually hugging one of the beast’s heads with his arms. She steeled her heart and also imitated his posture, hugging the other beast head, twisting her hand to immobilize it.
At this moment, Wei Jie shouted at the scholar sitting on the ground, “Hey! Come over here!”
The scholar had been sitting on the ground in a daze, seemingly unable to come back to his senses. Only when he heard Wei Jie’s shout did he tremblingly get up.
“Lend me your mouth. Spit some yang qi into this beast’s mouth!” The corpse-eating beast had an addiction to eating rotten things but feared yang qi. Wei Jie knew this point, so he instructed as such.
Huh? The scholar seemed to be dumbfounded upon hearing it.
Wei Jie held the beast’s neck with force and shouted, “Hurry up! Otherwise, once it breaks free, it will kill us. By then, we will all become its meal!”
Hearing him say this, the scholar immediately perked up, mustered endless courage, and boldly stretched his neck to forcefully spit a few mouthfuls of breath into the beast’s mouth that was pried open by the whip.
Strangely, the beast seemed to be so nauseated by the scholar’s breath that it actually rolled its eyes in disgust. Then with a burst of strength, it broke free from Wei Jie and Cui Xiao Xiao. Like being drunk, it lay on the ground and started vomiting loudly.
As a result, the Broken Soul Snake meat it had just eaten was completely vomited out.
The corpse-eating beast, which couldn’t stop vomiting, quickly shrank like a deflated bag. With a swing of Wei Jie’s whip, its neck was tied up.
This corpse-eating beast only liked to eat rotten things and could not be tainted by human yang qi. After the soul power of the Broken Soul Snake dissipated, it turned into the appearance of a pug again. It didn’t turn invisible anymore and just raised its huge head, wagging its tail at Wei Jie in a fawning manner.
At this moment, Wei Jie heard Cui Xiao Xiao asking anxiously beside him, “How is it? Are you hurt?”
It could be heard that her voice was even tearful, truly filled with heartfelt anxiety.
Wei Jie knew that she must have been worried when he protected her just now.
He couldn’t help but smile and was about to turn around to tell Xiao Xiao that he was fine.
But when he turned his head, he saw that his master’s little face was full of heartache. She quickly ran towards that white-faced scholar who had been sitting on the ground in a daze…
Wei Jie was locked together with her and could only be dragged along by her with a long face.
Xiao Xiao rushed to the scholar’s side and helped the still dizzy scholar up. After confirming that he was only frightened and not seriously injured, she finally breathed a sigh of relief and asked softly, “May I ask… what is your esteemed surname, sir?”
The scholar had been sitting in a daze on a large rock since he fell, watching an amazing battle between humans and beasts. He was also forced to pass qi mouth-to-mouth to this ferocious monster. For a while, he was in a trance and couldn’t come back to his senses.
It wasn’t until Xiao Xiao dragged Wei Jie over and inquired about his well-being that he slowly wiped his sweaty forehead and cupped his hands in salute, “This humble one’s surname is Tang, given name Youshu. May I ask for the names of you two heroes?”
Hearing the scholar state his name as “Tang Youshu,” Xiao Xiao’s heart that had been in suspense finally settled down.
Thank the gods of all directions! She had finally arrived in time to save her master!
It’s just that her current master looked gentle and fair, pure and clean, seeming to overflow with a youthful aura, vastly different from the white-haired and wise old man in her memory.
But looking at his soft and jade-like gaze, it was exactly the same as the old man in her memory!
Xiao Xiao never thought that in her life, she would have the fortune to see her master again!
In an instant, she was overwhelmed with emotions. Her eyes unknowingly became moist. She respectfully helped Tang Youshu up and said softly to him, “Master… Mr. Tang, you really scared me to death just now…”
At this moment, a lazy voice came from the side, “The situation just now wouldn’t have killed anyone. If it weren’t for me, at most, you would have been eaten by the corpse-eating beast. Then your souls would not be able to ascend and would always be controlled by it.”
Wei Jie added unhurriedly from the side. Looking at his expression, he seemed to regret not seeing the exciting scene of people being eaten.
That Mr. Tang was quite responsive and quickly cupped his hands in salute, “This great hero’s skills are remarkable, well-versed in the way of capturing beasts. At a glance, he is no ordinary person! I have been visiting famous mountains and great rivers, wanting to find an immortal master. I didn’t expect to encounter a great person here…”
Saying this, Tang Youshu was so excited that he trembled. He knelt on the ground with a thud, “If the great hero doesn’t mind, I am willing to take the great hero as my master and learn the skills of subduing demons and eliminating monsters from you!”
Obviously, Wei Jie’s calm and bravery just now had moved the young scholar’s aspiration to improve himself, wanting to take him as his master.
These words were almost identical to what Tang Youshu said when he first met Wei Jie back then.
It’s just that this time, the Great Demon King Wei looked him up and down with a picky gaze and then mockingly said, “You don’t seem to have good aptitude and are not suited for cultivation. You’d better go elsewhere to seek a famous master!”
Upon hearing this, Xiao Xiao was instantly stunned.
Because according to the memoir in her master’s secret manual, when Wei Jie accepted disciples back then, he did say that her master’s aptitude was not good. However, in appreciation of Tang Youshu risking his life to fight the corpse-eating beast for him, he still made an exception and accepted him.
But now, because of her appearance disrupting the course of events, Wei Jie was not in a desperate and helpless situation, and Master Tang Youshu’s merit of risking his life to save him was greatly reduced. Given Wei Jie’s temperament, he definitely would not accept a stranger as his disciple for no reason…
Seeing Tang Youshu’s disappointed and sad expression after being rejected, Xiao Xiao also felt quite uncomfortable.
Because she knew how much her master admired this demonic master of his.
He once said that he had no regrets in this life about taking Wei Jie as his master!
Thinking of this, Xiao Xiao couldn’t help but pull Wei Jie aside and whispered on behalf of her master, “…Since he sincerely wants to take you as his master, why don’t you accept him?”
Wei Jie was using his whip to lead the corpse-eating beast. Out of boredom, he kicked its butt with his foot. Hearing Xiao Xiao’s words, he half-raised his sword-like eyebrows. His pair of purple eyes seemed to be smiling yet not smiling as he inquired, “You are quite chivalrous, treating that scholar so well… Didn’t you say you dropped something in the valley? How come I don’t see you looking for it, but instead, you are inquiring about that scholar’s well-being? Could it be… that you lost a lover?”
What kind of nonsense is this! It’s simply an insult to the master and an unfilial act!
Xiao Xiao widened her eyes and said, “Bah! What lover! I feel a sense of familiarity with Mr. Tang at first sight. Looking at him, I feel that he is kind-hearted, like a father!”
Wei Jie nodded in sudden realization upon hearing this and turned his head to ask the young man who was still kneeling on the ground and refusing to get up, “Mr. Tang, how old are you this year?”
Tang Youshu quickly replied respectfully, “I am sixteen this year!”
Oh, so this father is actually a year younger than Sect Master Cui!
Wei Jie turned his head and glared at his master with a sidelong glance, silently accusing his master of recognizing the young as the old, which was really shameless!
Alright, Cui Xiao Xiao also couldn’t explain to Wei Jie this spontaneous father-daughter affection that far surpassed age limitations.
She cleared her throat and said to Tang Youshu, “Mr. Tang, there will be plenty of time in the future. You have seen too few sects now, so you think he is an exceptional talent. Perhaps in the future, you will meet a master more suitable for you… You will definitely have great achievements!”
These words obviously couldn’t comfort the hurt heart of the young Tang Youshu. He looked at Wei Jie in disappointment, his lips trembling, and even the corners of his eyes were moist.
Xiao Xiao couldn’t bear to see this. If she went back more than two hundred years and let her master feel heartbroken and sad, wouldn’t that be unfilial!
She pursed her lips and glared at her unruly disciple, “It’s just accepting a disciple! I, as the grand-master, agree! You can accept him for now! We’re taking this talent for our Talisman Sect!”
Wei Jie sneered and sized up Tang Youshu, who looked like a scrawny chicken. He gladly said, “Hurry up and thank your grand-master. Come, first kowtow to her!”
Tang Youshu looked at Cui Xiao Xiao in disbelief and quietly confirmed with Wei Jie, “This lady… is your master?”
Seeing Wei Jie nod, Tang Youshu immediately perked up and kowtowed to his grand-master, “Grand-master above, please accept this disciple’s bow!”
How could Cui Xiao Xiao dare to accept this life-shortening bow? She ran over and held his arm, “Our Talisman Sect is not particular about formalities and doesn’t follow these grand etiquette routines. You can just call me Xiao Xiao normally. There’s no need to call me grand-master!”
Huh? How can one be so disrespectful? Tang Youshu immediately shook his head like a rattle drum and repeatedly said, “How can this be done?”
But Wei Jie disrespectfully interjected, “Oh, not particular about formalities! Not bad… Xiao Xiao, see if the corpse-eating beast scratched my back.”
Cui Xiao Xiao didn’t want the Demon King to address her so intimately. She glared at him coldly and said, “You have to call me Master! Don’t call me by my name!”