novelraw Chapter 460: This codger is so fat he’s practically a ball
Chapter 460: This codger is so fat he’s practically a ball
Keeping her expression calm, Yu Zhao sent a voice transmission to the ancestor: “They are watching us; to be precise, they are watching me.”
Ever since her fortuitous encounter in the Land of Divine Remains, her eyes had been able to see things others could not. The moment she appeared, those hidden and open gazes fell onto her, brazenly measuring her as if she were meat on a chopping board. The intent in those eyes was obvious: greed, surprise, covetousness. She did not understand why they looked at her like that, but she knew one thing: they had to leave at once.
The ancestor had the same thought. The two exchanged a glance, quickened their pace down the gangplank, and plunged into the sea of people. As they moved, cultivators who had been boarding at the dock suddenly reversed course and sprinted in the direction they fled. The already crowded throng erupted into chaos and curses: “After them, they ran that way!” “Move, move, we can’t let anyone else get them! The Earth Clan’s bounty is mine!” “Why are you shoving me, you rushing off to reincarnate or what?” “…”
While the crowd shoved and swore, Yu Zhao and the ancestor, already in altered faces, concealed themselves among the people and glanced at each other. The ancestor said in a low voice: “The Earth Clan has issued a bounty. They’ve marked you.” Yu Zhao answered under her breath: “It’s that storage bracelet.”
From the fragments of conversation around them she had already grasped the key. She had not killed Tu Xiao, so the problem could not be Tu Xiao himself; it could only be the storage bracelet. She had nearly suffered backlash when she probed the bracelet; most likely when she used her divine sense to peer into it, the one who laid the barrier caught her visage, and the bounty followed. Fortunately that face had been one she had conjured, and she carried an Earth Clan artifact capable of easily reshaping her features. Unless something unusual occurred, there was no way she would ever be—
“They’re here!”
Yu Zhao was still turning the bounty issue over in her mind when a shout exploded behind them. She looked back to see a sharp-mouthed, monkey-cheeked man pointing at the ancestor while yelling in glee: “This codger is so fat he’s practically a ball. I’d recognize him anywhere!”
The ancestor flew into a rage, strode forward in two and a half steps, and cracked the man across the face: “With a figure as dashing as mine, you dare say I’m round like a ball; that deserves a beating!” The man collapsed unconscious, a swollen cheek blossoming with a perfect handprint. The slap also blew their concealment. More cultivators surged toward them. If the Divine Wood Star docks had not forbidden fighting, the two would have been enveloped under a barrage of multicolored light already. Even so, some opportunists still tried to fish in muddy waters and take cheap shots in the confusion.
“Move!” The ancestor wrapped Yu Zhao in a sheath of spiritual power and instant-shifted toward the sparsest stretch of crowd. Yet each time they touched down, someone broadcast their position, and shaking the tail proved impossible.
“Ancestor, head for the teleportation arrays,” Yu Zhao said quickly. “Once we leave Divine Wood Star by array, we can change faces again and disappear.”“Good!”
They fought their way to the teleportation platform only to find every array dimmed and ringed with guards. The onlookers, spotting them, swarmed forward as if they had been waiting for rabbits to bolt into the snare.
“Why are there people everywhere! How much blood money is the Earth Clan spending on this!” The ancestor nearly coughed blood in frustration. They had just escaped that cursed Land of Divine Remains, only to be hunted down again the moment they set foot out here. Could a poor ancestor not get a single day to live in peace?
As the press grew tighter, Yu Zhao knew they could not linger. “Ancestor, to the docks!”
He did not question her; he wheeled and hauled her back toward the waterline. Alongside the great liners running to and from the Land of Divine Remains, cultivators from various small worlds also left their personal starships berthed here. As Yu Zhao and the ancestor arrived, a starship on the edge of the piers was just about to lift off. The ancestor did not wait for her reminder; he yanked her up onto the hull in one motion. Sirens shrieked within the starship.
“They’re on the starship!” “Stop that ship!” “Do not let them escape. Take them down!”
A scatter of lights streaked toward the hull like a meteor shower. The ancestor’s scalp prickled. If all that landed, would he not be hammered into meat paste? He gritted his teeth, dumped every treasure out of his storage, braced up a spirit shield, and tried to encourage himself. But before the attacks could land, the starship’s defensive barrier flared and absorbed them all. Under a thousand staring eyes, the ship thrummed, then shot for the sky. In the sunlight, a massive red sigil shimmered faintly across its plating. Someone recognized it and cried out: “That’s the Nangong Clan’s crest. It’s the Nangong Clan’s starship!”
Those prepping their own ships to give chase quietly lowered their flags. The Nangong Clan was a house even stronger than the Earth Clan. Offend them and forget the bounty; whether you left alive would be a question. The crowd could only stand there resentfully, watching the vessel dwindle to a small black speck and vanish.
“Phew, that was close.” The ancestor swiped at the cold sweat on his brow. He had thought he had just escaped the wolf’s jaws only to fall into the tiger’s den; good fortune had tugged him clear after all. “Yu Zhao, did you catch whose ship this was?”
He had barely asked when the deck under his feet irised open. A voice, not exactly familiar and not quite strange, drifted up: “Esteemed guests, please step inside and speak.”
The ancestor looked at Yu Zhao in surprise. She nodded. He straightened the wind-ruffled folds of his robe, then swung himself through the hatch. Yu Zhao followed right after.
They bowed. “Many thanks to Daoist Friend Nangong for the rescue; this humble one is deeply grateful.” Nangong Yin returned the salute to Yu Zhao and the ancestor and said, calm and courteous: “Had you not aided me first, I could not have escaped that peril. To be of help to you now is my honor.”
Yu Zhao’s last impression of Nangong Yin had been the crisp, ruthless way she had dealt with the man who took liberties with her, and she had assumed Nangong Yin, like Jin Yuan, was proud and flamboyant. Seeing her so proper here gave Yu Zhao a different view. The ancestor had fewer scruples. They had helped Nangong Yin; Nangong Yin had helped them; favors canceled, no one owed anyone. He found a comfortable spot, sat, and chuckled: “Junior Nangong, where are you headed? If it’s convenient, could you carry us for a leg?”