Zhenming Pagoda 3

I probably mentioned before that Master used to love wandering the mortal world (traveling and enjoying the scenery), until an incident happened ten years ago. Since then, Master gradually turned into a homebody.

Actually, to be precise, what made Master depressed was not an incident, but a person.

A person who died ten years ago.

And this person is currently standing right in front of us.

On a pale and gaunt face was a pair of slightly drooping, melancholy eyes. The originally frail body actually looked a bit stronger now, much more upright than before. But that special temperament hadn't changed—that uniqueness of someone who, despite not being outstandingly handsome, carried an air of solitary gloom that always made people unable to resist taking a few extra glances.

Qiao Jiashu.

This person was Master's fatal knot.

Sure enough, Master was completely stunned. That face, which had always been peaceful and elegant, was now swept by waves of immense shock. He stared fixedly at the person in the dim light, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, but he couldn't utter a single word.

Purple flames ignited on my body, and I asked coldly, "Qiao Jiashu is already dead. What are you?!"

Qiao Jiashu didn't look at me, as if I didn't exist. He just looked at Master with a somewhat dazed expression, a pale smile rippling at the corners of his mouth. "Wenxiu."

"This is impossible..." Master slowly shook his head, as if trying hard to restrain something. "He's already dead. Ten years ago... I buried him with my own hands..."

That Qiao Jiashu didn't seem anxious to explain, just continuing to stand quietly there like a wandering ghost. "Wenxiu, do you still remember what was the first sentence I ever said to you?"

Then, he mouthed a few words, and Master's body trembled violently.

I still clearly remembered the first meeting between the two of them. At that time, Master had traveled near Mount Tangdi and heard that a snake demon was wreaking havoc, making the people suffer. So, he took me into the mountain to slay demons and eliminate evil. We indeed encountered a giant green python, but it clearly wasn't a match for Master and fled after barely fighting. We chased it all the way into a cave, where we found the green python and a... doctor?!

That doctor who was treating the python's injuries was Qiao Jiashu. After seeing Master, he uncharacteristically didn't change his expression because of Master's beauty. He even seemed a bit too lazy to pay attention and just said, "Do you understand love?"

Master, who had been on full alert, didn't react immediately. "Huh?"

Qiao Jiashu, dressed in green, raised a pair of melancholy, detached eyes and said in a very serious tone, "Because Fahai doesn't understand love. If you aren't Fahai, why would you hit Little Qing as soon as you see her?"

So what this Qiao Jiashu in front of us just mouthed was: Do you understand love?

I admitted, even I had only just recalled this matter... Master definitely wouldn't have brought it up to anyone else.

Holy shit... Qiao Jiashu was clearly dead as a doornail back then. How could he become a zombie after so many years?!

Master's expression changed, becoming somewhat dazed, with a trace of disbelief, and deep within his black eyes, there was a slowly spilling, soon-to-be overwhelming ecstasy.

Master reached out his hand toward Qiao Jiashu, as if wanting to touch his cheek. I was so anxious—Master was losing his mind! I hurriedly pressed down hard on Master's shoulders, but a surge of true qi rebounded from his body, shaking me so much that I stumbled back five steps, my internal breath churning relentlessly.

Damn it... he forgot about me again as soon as he saw his old lover... I've accompanied him for I don't know how many times longer than this guy, okay?! Is it appropriate to knock me back so hard?!

However, just as Master was about to touch Qiao Jiashu, the latter suddenly took a step back, dodging Master's hand.

"Wenxiu, I am no longer the person I used to be. Perhaps it's better if you don't acknowledge me."

Fuck! If you didn't want to acknowledge each other, why did you have to pretend to be so pitiful and mouth that sentence just now?! You could have just not shown your face!

However, Master couldn't hear the monstrous complaints in my heart. He was somewhat eager. "Is it really... really you? What's going on? Aren't you..."

A sigh came from the darkness, lingering like a wisp of newly extinguished fireworks. "Wenxiu, I once asked you, if one day I also became a demon who wreaked havoc on the world as you say, would you also suppress me in this sunless Zhenming Pagoda? You didn't give me a clear answer back then. Can you answer now?"

Master paused. He didn't seem to understand why Qiao Jiashu, having come back from the dead, would bring this up at this moment. And why the aura around Qiao Jiashu felt a tiny bit strange.

I could feel it. The qi on his body was not as clear as before, but somewhat chaotic. It didn't really feel like the aura of a human.

Returning from the dead—setting aside how he came back to life for a moment—even if he had his body and his memories, was the one who returned still the old Qiao Jiashu? I couldn't help but feel that this person was... somewhat dangerous. Maybe even more dangerous than that Bixie Palace Master...

I suddenly started to miss that infatuated Palace Master...

Seeing that Master didn't answer, Qiao Jiashu slightly lowered his head. His falling hair obscured his line of sight.

"Are you really still unwilling to answer? Fine, being able to see you once is already good enough."

Just when Master's entire attention was focused on Qiao Jiashu, I suddenly noticed that female doll move a bit. Although she was still smiling hollowly and hadn't even changed her posture, her distance from Master had clearly shortened. There was indeed a trick! I dove headfirst into my main body, forcefully broke free from Master's hand, and crashed towards that Ounu. Ounu let out a string of sparse giggles and suddenly vanished. I thrust into thin air, but ended up slashing Qiao Jiashu's arm.

"Ya Jiu! What are you doing!" Master shouted angrily, hurrying forward to check Qiao Jiashu's injury, but at that moment, Qiao Jiashu suddenly threw something at Master. Fortunately, my movement was fast enough, and I quickly blocked in front of Master, deflecting the object. Looking closely, it was actually a silver needle. Master stared blankly at the needle on the ground, then looked at the person opposite with an unclear expression. "Jiashu..."

But what was even stranger at this moment was that the cut I had made on Qiao Jiashu's arm healed rapidly like a miracle, leaving only a spot of blood on his clothes.

This was clearly not something a normal human could do! He really wasn't human!

"Master, don't be fooled by him! He is not the Qiao Jiashu from before; he is the one who broke into the Zhenming Pagoda and released Guiche!" I roared at Master, hoping he would regain his calm and reason.

Master's body seemed to jolt. And Qiao Jiashu's mouth curled into a grin as he began to laugh with a somewhat twisted voice, "Hahahaha, so what if you know? It's too late for everything."

I suddenly felt something was wrong. Turning my head, I saw Ounu unexpectedly pop out from the darkness behind Master, without any warning, not even a trace of demonic qi. This time, I dashed over with all my might, only to feel my body turn cold as I passed right through Ounu's dry wooden body. Although my speed was incredibly fast, I was too late; Ounu's hand had already grabbed the hem of Master's clothes. A blinding flash of light appeared before my eyes, and when my vision refocused, the scene in front of me had completely changed.

The great hall before my eyes was no longer as it was before, but a completely different massive space. The surroundings were raging with blazing flames, as if an explosion had occurred everywhere. I found myself still embedded in the chest of the Ounu I had already killed, but where was Master?

Turning my head, I found Master standing behind me, but his hands were shackled by copper-colored chains, connected to two rings on the ground. The chains looked very thin but were densely covered in runes. Master also looked at his hands in confusion, seemingly not understanding how he had suddenly appeared here, but when his gaze fell upon me and Ounu, realization dawned on him.

"Master, don't worry, I'll save you." I pulled myself out of Ounu and forcefully hacked at the silver chains trapping him. But with one strike, I only felt a colossal force rebound, sending me flying away viciously. I hadn't been hit this hard in a long time, rolling on the ground twice, completely dizzy. I caught my breath and planned to try again, but was stopped by Master's shout.

"Ya Jiu, don't waste your effort. This is the Fine Copper Chain, used to imprison Guiche. I can't summon even the slightest bit of true qi right now. Unless you have the key, the more force you use, the greater the backlash you'll suffer." As Master spoke, his expression seemed a bit dejected. "You were right. I was too uncalm just now, which is why I fell into the trap. Don't worry about me, go find Senior Brother first."

I knew he must be feeling extremely bitter inside. Within just an hour, he first experienced the joy of recovering what was lost, only to be immediately betrayed. Sigh... The relationships between people are always so unreliable. Feelings that had supposedly gone through so much life and death separations could still change at the drop of a hat. Us swords are still more reliable.

I was just about to say that at least I had eliminated a troublesome Ounu, but as my gaze shifted, I found that Ounu's corpse was gone...

Damn it... How could this broken little doll be so formidable?! I opened a hole in her body and she still isn't dead? Next time, I definitely have to chop her into many pieces and then burn her...

At this moment, the scorching hall suddenly trembled, and a few more stones fell from above. The fire was burning so intensely, yet the pagoda showed no signs of collapsing. It was just filled with billowing thick smoke, and I was afraid that if dragged out too long, Master would suffocate. Since this chain was used to lock Guiche but was now locked on Master's hands, then Guiche must have already been released by Qiao Jiashu. This also meant that Qiao Jiashu must have the key on him.

But where had Guiche run off to now?

Just as I was thinking this, a deep, hoarse voice came from the sweltering air.

"Stinky Daoists of the Shushan Sect, quite a few have come in today. What a pity you're so skinny, not even enough to fill the gaps between my teeth."

In the smoke and fire, I first saw eighteen red dots floating in the black thick smoke. Gradually, these red dots grew larger, like eighteen flying red lanterns. As the distance closed, I finally recognized that those were not lanterns at all—they were eighteen blood-red eyes!

A gigantic blue-green bird head poked out first, its feathers, sharp and hard as blades, flaring out. Its massive and somewhat damaged beak slightly opened, revealing dense teeth inside like a shark's. Those red eyes, appearing to burn with fierce flames, stared at the chained Master, filled with bloodlust and hatred. Following closely, eight other dark shadows also emerged from the darkness. Long necks intertwined like a tangle of pythons, and on each neck grew an equally ferocious bird head. Its body was as towering as a small mountain, densely covered in invulnerable blue-green feathers. A pair of red sharp claws stepped out through the blazing fire, seemingly feeling no burning at all.

In front of this gigantic monster, Master was practically like a little fly.

This was the legendary nine-headed bird Guiche... How many bugs did this bird have to eat to grow this big?

I smiled bitterly at the fact that I could still complain. Looking at this situation, I feared it wouldn't be so easy to protect Master today... But Master seemed very calm. There was not a trace of fear on his face; instead, he was even calmer than when he had just seen Qiao Jiashu.

Master looked up at Guiche and said indifferently, "Even if you kill me, you still cannot leave this Zhenming Pagoda."

Another of Guiche's heads spoke. This time, the voice belonged to a little girl. Such an innocent and cute voice coming from the beak of this terrifying monster bird created a discordant sense of horror. "Of course I won't kill you right now. Whether you live or die is decided by your senior brother."

Almost simultaneous with its voice, three other figures instantly appeared in front of Master and me. Besides the expected Ounu and Qiao Jiashu, there was also Immortal Langya, who had been missing for a while. He bore marks of battle, with a trace of blood at the corner of his mouth and dust on his plain clothes. Seeing Master locked by the Fine Copper Chain, his life hanging by a thread like a mayfly beneath the feet of the massive Guiche, Immortal Langya's eyes widened slightly.

"Junior Brother!"

Qiao Jiashu said, "As long as you hand over the key to the eighty-first floor, your junior brother can live."

Immortal Langya's body shuddered, and he immediately showed an expression of anger. "Despicable!"

Guiche spoke again in that innocent child's voice, "You better think quickly. I've been locked up for so long, and my stomach is getting hungry~"

Master looked at Qiao Jiashu, his face revealing that kind of wounded vulnerability that made my little heart twist up.

It seemed that whatever was locked on the eighty-first floor was an incredible thing. Immortal Langya now wore a pained expression, his mind seemingly engaged in a heaven-and-man struggle. If he handed the key over to them, I feared something very bad would happen, but looking at his interactions with Master along the way, the relationship between the two of them used to be very good. He definitely wouldn't be willing to sacrifice Master, right?!

Even though according to the Shushan Sect rules, Elder Siming had to protect the Zhenming Pagoda at any cost. Including sacrificing the lives of his fellow sect brothers.

Both sides were at a stalemate. I thought to myself that going on like this was really not a solution, so I transformed from my sword body into human form, and then cleared my throat.

Thus, everyone's gaze fell upon me.

I said, "Various great deities, sorry to interrupt, but I think there is a problem with your logic."

Qiao Jiashu frowned slightly. "What problem?"

So I patiently analyzed it for them. "Look, coming here to release Guiche was just to lure Immortal Langya in, right? Then you use Master to threaten Immortal Langya to hand over whatever key. If he doesn't hand it over, you'll kill Master. But what if Immortal Langya does hand it to you? Then both Master and Immortal Langya would be useless. Just look at the level of thirst from this Guiche next to you; it'll definitely use the two of them for a snack, right? No matter how you calculate this deal, it's a loss."

Immortal Langya said, "He makes a fair point. Threatening me with Junior Brother doesn't make much sense."

Qiao Jiashu glared fiercely at me. "Then in your opinion, what constitutes a worthwhile deal?"

I spread my hands. "I don't know what you want to do on the eighty-first floor, but right now the entire pagoda is trapped in an independent space by the Tianxian Formation. Even if you release the ultimate big demon from the eighty-first floor, you still can't get out, right? In my opinion, why don't you let Master go, and we sit down, drink some tea, and catch up. Wait until the people outside think it's quieted down inside, and they'll naturally dispel the Tianxian Formation. When that time comes, you can fight your way out with Guiche, wouldn't that kill two birds with one stone? Unless..."

I deliberately dragged out the "unless" with eighteen twists and turns, turning my gaze to Guiche. "Unless Master Qiao feels that our Guiche isn't powerful enough and wouldn't give you enough face if you took it out, so you just have to go to the eighty-first floor?"

Upon hearing this, Guiche indeed became somewhat unhappy, all nine heads looking simultaneously at Qiao Jiashu.

Qiao Jiashu frowned. "Don't listen to his nonsense. This sword has always been smooth-talking like this!"

I spread my hands. "Then tell me, what part of what I said is wrong? You clearly already have a valiant, domineering, wildly cool and awesome demon like Grandpa Guiche here, so why do you still absolutely need whatever damn demon is on the eighty-first floor? No matter how powerful it is, can it be as cool as our Nine-headed Bird?! Am I right, Grandpa Guiche?"

Eight of Guiche's heads nodded up and down together, very much agreeing with my wise perspective.

Master and Immortal Langya stared dumbfounded as I spouted nonsense, and actually won the agreement of the enemy. A faint anger surged onto Qiao Jiashu's cheeks, and his form suddenly shifted. First his legs, then his body successively grew green scales, rapidly growing taller and thicker, until finally, he actually transformed into a giant green snake, opening its bloody maw and lunging at me.

This sudden change left all of us dumbfounded.

How did Qiao Jiashu turn into a snake demon?!