The Blood of Youth – CH 050

Chapter 50: He Should Be an Old Friend

As soon as the lady in green uttered those two words, a layer of translucent black smoke appeared around Lei Wujie and Xiao Se and surrounded them. Lei Wujie’s eyes widened in amazement, and he looked at Xiao Se. Xiao Se’s frown deepened, and he spoke softly, “Secret arts? Naraka Defense Ward?”

If martial arts was orthodox and Daoism was occult, then the secret arts tended towards the unorthodox. In Snowy Peak Temple, the monk, Wuxin, practiced the divine skills he discovered in Rakshasa Hall, and those were considered in between martial arts and secret arts, yet those skills had been regarded as unorthodox and uncanny. Also, very few people actually cultivated secret arts. Rumors were that only a few celestial masters in Heavenly Revelations City’s Directorate of Astrology, as well as the small number of scattered secret arts practitioners in the country, managed to achieve a high level of mastery in this area. There were two reasons for this. One was because cultivating secret arts required highly superior mental strength, and ordinary people would not have such innate talents. The second reason was that cultivating secret arts went against the Heavenly Way, and their cultivators were often described as being withered and very skinny, and it never ended well. Was this young lady in green one of the handful of secret arts practitioners under Heaven?

Furthermore, the two words she just recited were clearly Naraka! Xiao Se had heard this word once, and it came from the mouth of someone more terrifying to him than anyone else he’d ever met.

The black smoke enveloped the two of them at the same time Sikong Qianluo stepped into the courtyard. However, she didn’t see the strange black smoke that was right in front of her. She merely glanced around the courtyard and smiled at the lady in green. “Ye-jiejie, how are you?”

The lady in green returned a slight nod. “Miss Qianluo.”

Sikong Qianluo hovered around suspiciously in the courtyard, spinning the spear restlessly in her hand. Xiao Se and Lei Wujie exchanged a glance, and they more or less figured out what the secret arts did. The black smoke created a barrier, and the two people inside could see everything outside, but anyone outside the barrier could not see the people inside, nor could they see the black smoke. This sort of skill was indeed beyond the possibilities of martial arts. No wonder people had a fear of secret arts practitioners.

Finally, Sikong Qianluo gave up unwillingly, a frown on her face, and she said to the lady in green, “Ye-jiejie, if you see two repulsive scumbags running in here to hide, you must tell me!”

The lady in green covered her mouth and chuckled. “What do the two repulsive scumbags look like?”

Sikong Qianluo said hatefully, “One wears red clothes and the other wears blue, both in tatters. One holds a sword, and the other carries a staff on his waist. They just look like bad guys!”

Xiao Se rolled his eyes subconsciously, while Lei Wujie put his hand on the sword’s hilt again, trying to test if he could draw the sword this time.

The lady in green thought for a while, then shook her head. “I haven’t seen two people fitting that description. If I do, I will definitely tell Miss Qianluo.”

“Okay. The weather has turned cooler in the past few days. Ye-jiejie, your health is not good, so you should rest inside the house.” Sikong Qianluo finally gave up and jumped out of the courtyard.

When Xiao Se and Lei Wujie saw her leave, they also made their move to step out of the black smoke. However, the black smoke seemed to be entangled with their bodies, and they couldn’t shake it off. They felt a jolt of fear in their hearts, but at this moment, Sikong Qianluo suddenly pushed open the door and entered. But in her eyes, all she saw was the empty courtyard, and in the middle stood the lady who always exuded peace and elegance. The lady in green smiled at Sikong Qianluo. “Did Miss Qianluo drop something?”

Sikong Qianluo walked in and picked up a little bell on the ground. “I dropped this little thing just now.” After speaking, she finally closed the door and left.

The lady in green waved her hand slightly, and the black smoke finally dissipated. She whispered, “My Naraka Defensive Ward is only at the beginning realm, so it couldn’t completely hide your breath. Although Sikong Qianluo is young, she is the true successor of the Spear Immortal. So, she must have perceived something just now and came back again to check.”

Lei Wujie nodded and cupped his fists. “Many thanks to this lady. May I ask for the lady’s honorable name…”

The lady in green shook her head. “It was nothing. This is not the first time Miss Qianluo tried this trick, so I’m quite used to it.”

“Let’s go.” Xiao Se pulled Lei Wujie along and nodded at the lady in green. “Thank you very much.”

“Wait…” Lei Wujie wanted to resist, but Xiao Se pulled him up and jumped out of the courtyard. He turned his head back hurriedly and saw the lady in green still standing where she was, a faint smile still on her face.

After a long time, the lady in green finally turned around, pushed open the door, and walked into the house. As she closed the door gently, she whispered to herself. “It’s been so long since we last met.”

Lei Wujie and Xiao Se had already passed several courtyards, and naturally they couldn’t have heard what the lady in green said. Lei Wujie retorted testily, “Why’d you pull me away!”

“Were you planning to ask the lady’s honorable name, then her age, and lastly, whether or not she was betrothed?” Xiao Se smirked. “But, consider her response. One, she didn’t answer your question, and two, she said such situations happened often, so she didn’t do it especially to save us. Clearly, she’s drawn a line between us. Yet, instead of leaving, you want to stay and pester her? Besides, if you want to see her again, how difficult can that be? Since Sikong Qianluo knows her, you can easily ask Tang Lian about her.”

“Ask me what?” a deep and familiar voice sounded, and the two immediately came to a stop. A person was standing a distance away, carrying a wine flask, as he turned his head to look at them with a smile.

Lei Wujie walked forward in surprise. “Da-shixiong.”

“You couldn’t even defeat Sikong Qianluo. I really don’t want to be your shixiong anymore.” Tang Lian smiled and tossed the wine flask to Lei Wujie.

Lei Wujie caught it hurriedly, then raised his head and took a sip. “If I had my Murderous Dread sword, I could have managed a draw, at least.”

“Why?” Tang Lian became stern all of a sudden. “Why didn’t you draw the sword?”

Lei Wujie put down the wine flask, sighed, and rotated the long sword in his hand. “This sword.”

Tang Lian raised his eyebrows. “Rainfall?”

“Yes, Shifu said this Rainfall sword was forged by the Sword Spirit Tomb, so the sword will recognize its owner. If I don’t have the willpower of a critical situation to draw the sword, it can’t be drawn.” Lei Wujie looked at this long sword, recalling how it had screeched incessantly when facing the Silver Moon spear. Now, it was completely silent.

“Indeed, the Li family from Pingjiang’s Sword Heart Tomb forged swords that were different from the rest. It’s said that the final process of forging their sword is to cut open their palm and feed their blood to the blade. That’s why the swords they forged were claimed to contain souls. I once heard that there were two ancient swords, Twisted Soul and Exterminate Spirit, and they were fed with a whole person when forged,” Xiao Se said slowly.

Tang Lian chuckled. “With your talent, it’s only a matter of time before you can draw your sword. You rarely get a chance to leave the mountain; why don’t we have a drink together?”

Lei Wujie’s eyes lit up. “I actually know a pretty good wine shop in Lower Pass City.”

Tang Lian asked, “Is it the wine shop where you had the wine that advanced your realm by one level for every cup of wine you drank?”

“Yes, Donggui Wine Shop. But I’ll take Shxiong there on one condition. I want to ask you something,” Lei Wujie said.

Xiao Se snorted coldly. He didn’t expect Lei Wujie to be so smitten by the lady in green so quickly.

But what Lei Wujie said next surprised him.

“I want to ask, what’s the story between Lei Hong, Zhao Yuzhen, and Li Hanyi?”

Tang Lian was taken aback, but he nodded with a smile. “Indeed, their story is not something you can hear in any ordinary tea shop.”