novelraw Chapter 465: If You Don’t Want to Live, Then Go Die
Chapter 465: If You Don’t Want to Live, Then Go Die
Yu Zhao did not see Ancestor Sui Bian again until three days later. When she did, she also finally met the long-renowned Elder Qun Fang.
“This is the junior I told you about, Yu Zhao,” Ancestor Sui Bian said, the bruised and blotchy colors on his face squeezing into an obsequious smile that was almost comical.
Yu Zhao could hardly bear to look; she turned instead to the stately, elegant woman and bowed respectfully: “Junior Yu Zhao greets Elder Qun Fang.”
That Elder Qun Fang would see her at all meant Ancestor Sui Bian had been forgiven. Even so, Yu Zhao could not guess what the elder’s attitude toward her would be, and she braced herself for some measure of displeasure. To her surprise, Elder Qun Fang’s lips curved, her gaze filled with warmth: “I thought Sui Bian was talking nonsense again, but you are even better than he said. Come here and let me have a proper look.”
Yu Zhao stepped forward. Elder Qun Fang took her hand and studied her for a moment before saying: “This isn’t your true face, is it?” Yu Zhao hesitated, then dispelled the disguise.
Elder Qun Fang stared at her face in a brief daze; her gaze dropped to the Jade Ruyi at Yu Zhao’s chest, and a frown gathered between her brows. Ancestor Sui Bian thickened his skin and leaned in: “Qun Fang, see if you can figure out a way to take off that blasted thing.”
“Be quiet,” Elder Qun Fang snapped, shooting him a glare before sinking back into thought. Yu Zhao’s heart climbed into her throat.
Elder Qun Fang gave a soft sigh. Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian both started. “Qun Fang…” he began, but Elder Qun Fang silenced him with another glare and said: “Listen first. If you had just formed the bond with this Jade Ruyi, I could sever it for you. But it has been too long. It is nearly fused with you. If you don’t believe me, look here.” She pointed to an almost imperceptible red filament within the Jade Ruyi and showed them.
Ancestor Sui Bian looked at Yu Zhao in confusion. Yu Zhao nodded heavily: “It wasn’t there at the beginning.”
“There’s another way to verify it,” Elder Qun Fang said, flicking a thread of spiritual power against the Jade Ruyi. The artifact remained untouched, but discomfort pricked through Yu Zhao’s body for no reason she could name. It was not strong, but it was unmistakable. Elder Qun Fang explained calmly: “The longer you wear it, the deeper the fusion. In the end, you and it will be indistinguishable. It is you, and you are it.”Yu Zhao felt a chill crawl over her skin. Before she could speak, Senior Sui Bian let out a wail and collapsed to the floor, clutching Elder Qun Fang’s leg as he bawled: “Qun Fang, Yu Zhao is the most promising disciple of our Five Elements Dao Sect. You must help her. If she’s gone, this old codger won’t live either.”
Elder Qun Fang kicked at him without mercy: “If you don’t want to live, then go die!”
He clung to her leg with a death grip and pleaded: “Qun Fang, I was wrong. Hit me, scold me, anything you like, but you cannot ignore Yu Zhao.”
Yu Zhao was moved and mortified in equal measure. Since the ancestor was still planted on the floor, she could hardly remain standing; she simply knelt beside him: “I beg Elder Qun Fang to show this junior a way out.”
After several futile kicks failed to dislodge the ancestor, Elder Qun Fang shot him a withering look and then helped Yu Zhao to her feet. She was ice to him, but gentle as water to Yu Zhao: “I cannot dissolve your bond with it, but there are two approaches worth attempting.”
Ancestor Sui Bian stopped howling at once and stared at her with shining eyes. Elder Qun Fang said: “First, the one who tied the bell must untie it. The craftsman who made the Jade Ruyi may know how to sever its link to you.”
Yu Zhao frowned. The Jade Ruyi was the emblem of the Auspicious Palace; whoever made it must be tied to that organization. But the Auspicious Palace was no ordinary group; its ties with the Wind, Fire, Earth, and Wood clans ran deep. Even if she found them, persuading them to help might be impossible. Worse, she could walk into a tiger’s jaws and be sold as a Furnace Cauldron all over again. She eliminated the first method almost immediately.
“The second is to borrow external force and break it,” Elder Qun Fang continued.
Yu Zhao said quietly: “My ancestor and I tried that. Even his strength cannot destroy the Jade Ruyi.”
Elder Qun Fang sniffed in disdain: “He is only early Integration. He may not even possess one percent of the maker’s power. If he could break it, that would be the strange thing.”
Ancestor Sui Bian’s face turned sheepish.
Yu Zhao, however, gleaned something else: the Auspicious Palace was even more unfathomable than she had imagined. A sudden dread seized her: “Elder Qun Fang, is it possible for them to track me through the Jade Ruyi?”
Elder Qun Fang’s gaze darkened: “If they care to, not only your location, but everything you have done in this time would be laid out clearly before them.”
Yu Zhao’s heart plunged. She had thought her Concealment adequate, but it might all have been under watch without her knowing. Even Ancestor Sui Bian stopped clowning and sprang to his feet: “What do we do?”
“In the best case,” Elder Qun Fang said, “you find a source of sufficient external power as soon as possible and forcibly damage the Jade Ruyi.”
Ancestor Sui Bian tugged at his hair: “But I have no one to borrow such power from. People flock with their kind; most of my friends are about my level, some worse. Where am I supposed to find a great cultivator a hundred times stronger than me?”
Yu Zhao knew even fewer people in the Middle Thousand World. The only one she could think of, Dao Lord Tai Wei, was in the Upper Thousand World, beyond reach.
Just then, the Antler Imprint in her Sea of Consciousness flickered. Yu Zhao’s eyes brightened. She did, in fact, know one more formidable senior.
“There may be an opportunity at hand,” Elder Qun Fang said.
Both Yu Zhao and Ancestor Sui Bian looked at her at once. Doubt still shadowed Elder Qun Fang’s face, as if she lacked full confidence. Ancestor Sui Bian grinned wide, showing a mouthful of white teeth: “Qun Fang~”
Yu Zhao chimed in with all the earnestness she could muster: “Elder~”
Elder Qun Fang regarded the two of them with an expression that said much and nothing. “Let me be clear first. I cannot guarantee success.”
Ancestor Sui Bian bobbed his head: “We know, we know. You’ve already helped us greatly. No matter how it turns out, you are our greatest benefactor.”
Yu Zhao nodded hurriedly in agreement.
Only then did Elder Qun Fang seem to steel herself: “In truth, this matter is also related to Lingyin Sect.”