Chapter 84.1 Evil Ghost

The Cangyuan Secret Realm was huge. There were dense forests, islands, and even a vast area of sea. You could go anywhere, depending on your fortune.

Su Su couldn’t find Yue Fuya, so entered a stone forest first instead.

The stone forest was filled with many strange rocks. Some seemed to have been split down the middle, and were barely still connected, while others were like pythons with eyes as big as lanterns, and even had clearly visible scales.

Observing the stones, Su Su felt a little depressed. If Ninth Heaven Curved Jade was still here, it would’ve surely told her all about the origins of the stones.

After walking for a while, Su Su heard the footsteps of a group.

She wasn’t sure if they were friends or foes, so she cautiously turned and hid behind a huge rock.

Just as her figure disappeared, a man playfully pushed a woman out.

The man had an elegant appearance, and he eagerly said, “Good Junior Sister, hurry and let Senior Brother kiss you, I’ve missed you so much.”

The woman with orchid embroidered clothes flirtatiously teased and bantered with him.

“Why, are you not afraid of being discovered by Senior Sister Ding? You will be Daoist companions with her once you leave the secret realm.”

The man’s eyes showed a hint of disgust, “Do you really think I like her? If not for her great father, with just her looks and body, even if I was blind, I wouldn’t agree to be Daoist companions with her.”

The woman gasped, stroking the man’s back she said, “Elder Ding’s medicinal pills are good indeed. Since I gave you my body, once you gain benefits from that ugly woman, you must give some to me.” 

The man impatiently undid her clothes, “Of course, who else would I give them to if not you? Don’t worry, that ugly woman can’t find this place, so she won’t know about what we do.”

Su Su never expected to encounter such a pair of wild mandarin ducks ¹ 野鸳鸯 (yěyuānyāng) – (derog.) illicit lovers; unorthodox couple just after entering the stone forest.

Her gaze fell behind another jagged stone, where a chubby lady in pale yellow buried her face in her knees, her body trembling slightly.

It looks like——

Instead of not knowing anything, she knew everything.

Seeing the ornaments on their waist, they seemed to belong to a small sect. Su Su didn’t move. Running into all this by accident, she calmly averted her gaze and looked behind the stacked stones.

There was a sign of something not quite right over there, but that pair of wild mandarin ducks over here were immersed in their own world, unaware of it.

Instead, like a frightened little beast, the woman in yellow instantly looked towards the source of the strange sound.

Su Su thought to herself, this young lady is a bit pitiful, but her cultivation is actually pretty good. At least much better than that pair by the rocks.

Su Su held her breath. She’d originally wanted to leave, but now she changed her mind.

In every secret realm, the more dangerous a place was, the greater the chance of it containing treasures, so the stone forest had to have magic treasures.

To Su Su’s surprise, the woman in yellow bit her lip and came out from behind the stone.

“Ling Wencheng, Ai Feihe!”

Hearing her voice, the man named Ling Wencheng panicked and hurriedly re-tied his belt. The woman’s face also paled from fear, and she quickly looked towards the lady, “Senior Sister Ding, let me explain, we……”

Ding Yan ² 颜 (yán) – face; facial appearance looked at her with disgust, “I heard everything, you don’t need to explain. Once I leave, I’ll let my dad know that you’re both together ³ 情投意合 (qíngtóu-yìhé) – (lit.) to have affinity with each other (idiom); to find each other congenial . But right now, I just want to inform you that there’s something strange in the forest, so leave quickly if you don’t want to die!”

Ling Wencheng’s expression looked bad, and he intended to pull Ding Yan’s hand, “Junior Sister Ding, does our hundred years together mean nothing to you? How can you be so cruel?”

Ai Feihe also added, “It’s your luck that Senior Brother Ling is willing to marry you, so you must appreciate ⁴ 不知好歹 (bù zhī hǎo-dǎi) – unable to differentiate good from bad (idiom); not to know what’s good for one; unable to recognize others’ good intentions; not to know chalk from cheese; not to appreciate what is good it.”

Ding Yan’s body was trembling with anger, but she didn’t have the heart to argue with them and just turned around to leave.

Afraid that she would go, Ling Wencheng grabbed her wrist, not taking her warning seriously at all, “Junior Sister Ding……”

Su Su heard the rumbling become more and more distinct, and in a flash, that strange sound was already by her side.

Su Su raised her head, only to see seven to eight stone monsters that were dozens of zhang ⁵ 丈 (zhàng) – a measure of length, ten Chinese feet (3.3 m) high, coming over among the huge rocks, creating deep craters in the earth with every step. They were giant, but their movements were extremely agile. In the blink of an eye, they appeared in front of the trio.

The stone monsters were taller than the ancient trees, and they punched their fists to the ground. As the sect’s elite, Ling Wencheng naturally had some skills. His pupils shrank as he reacted and quickly dodged.

Ding Yan’s reaction was also quick, so she managed to jump away.

Unfortunately, Ai Feihe, who was left behind, was hit and injured by a huge rock.

Only then did Ling Wencheng remember his Junior Sister, who he’d been intimate with just moments before. He hurriedly used a spell to pull her over, and created an earth shield so he could take her away.

Observing, Su Su concluded that the cultivator surnamed Ling likely had double spiritual roots of earth and wood.

Ai Feihe still hadn’t recovered from her fright.

However, the stone monsters wouldn’t let them easily escape. As he was about to leave by sword, Ling Wencheng was grabbed by a stone monster’s hand.

In only a moment, Ling Wencheng and Ai Feihe were surrounded by danger ⁶ 险象环生 (xiǎnxiàng-huánshēng) – dangers spring up all around (idiom); surrounded by perils .

A yellow light struck over, and Ding Yan shouted, “Hurry up and leave!”

Thinking quickly, Ling Wencheng took out his sword again, and dragged Ai Feihe into the air.

Once Ai Feihe was safe, she remembered something, and her gaze darkened. She whispered a few words into Ling Wencheng’s ear.

Ling Wencheng’s gaze also changed. He looked towards Ding Yan, who was surrounded by stone monsters and about to leave.

Hesitating for only a moment, his gaze turned ruthless, and he raised his hand to give her a palm hit.

He hit Ding Yan on the shoulder, and she fell from her sword. Seeing that she was about to be trampled to death by a stone monster, Su Su flew over and hit the stone monster with a palm on the top of its head. The stone monster collapsed ⁷ 分崩离析 (fēnbēng-líxī) – to collapse and fall apart (idiom); disintegrate and torn by dissension; fall separately and split differently and instantly burst into pieces.

Su Su pulled Ding Yan up, “Get up quickly.”

Ding Yan hurriedly reacted and looked at Su Su with gratitude. Looking up again, she found that the Ling Wencheng duo had already fled without a trace.

She clenched her fists and helped Su Su to defeat the stone monsters.

Strangely, the shattered stone monsters quickly reformed and stood back up again.

Su Su knew they couldn’t be killed, so she no longer acted recklessly. Pulling Ding Yan, she flew to the top of a huge rock nearby.

She gestured an incantation to cover herself and Ding Yan and hide their presence. The stone monsters had no intelligence, and once they could no longer sense their breath, they quickly left.

“Thank you for saving my life. My name is Ding Yan, I’m a disciple of Qian ⁸ 虔 (qián) – pious; sincere; reverent luo ⁹ 罗 (luó) – collect; gather; catch Sect. In the future, if you need my help, I’m willing to risk life and limb ¹⁰ 万死不辞 (wànsǐbùcí) – ten thousand deaths will not prevent me (idiom); ready to risk life and limb to help out; willing to risk any danger to do one’s duty for it.” Ding Yan said.

Su Su didn’t refuse either, as immortal cultivation emphasized karma. She replied, “My name is Li Su Su. Just now, I thought you would choose to let them die at the hands of those stone monsters.”

The ‘them’ that Su Su mentioned was naturally that pair of wild mandarin ducks.

Ding Yan smiled bitterly and said, “My dad often said that the number of people in our sect is declining, so the disciples mustn’t kill one another ¹¹ 自相残杀 (zìxiāng-cánshā) – to massacre one another (idiom); internecine strife; (of persons within a group, party, etc.) kill each other; cause one another’s death; infighting .”

“They wanted to kill you.”

Ding Yan clenched her fist and said, “I won’t let them go!”

Judging by her expression, Su Su knew that Ding Yan would find and kill the two.

Everyone had their own approach, and Su Su decided not to interfere too much.

She nodded at Ding Yan, and was about to head deeper into the stone forest.

“Immortal Li! Don’t walk deeper inside. My dad came to the Cangyuan Secret Realm before. He said there’s an illusion array in the stone forest, and even the seniors from thousands of years ago couldn’t get out and turned into stone. The stones you see are all transformed from living beings,” Ding Yan said.

Su Su smiled at her, “Thank you, I’ll be careful.”

Edited by: Gaze