Death… and me

A Coincidental Meeting And Provocation

chu yang sped the whole way toward the south.he had finally realized — all these people on the streets who were hurrying to the north were heading there to join the great war to exterminate the li clan. it turned out that the dharma supreme had already given the order to exterminate the li clan.

it went without saying that chu yang held great interest in exterminating the li clan. however, he also felt that he ought to receive his brothers first and that heading to the lower three heavens was the top priority at the moment. as for the li clan… he could just head over when he had time to spare.

chu yang was naturally unaware that at the same time as he was setting off, a lot of other people had also set off and were hurrying on their way.

such as tan tan, young master yu, mo tianji, gu duxing and the others…

chu yang sped on ahead. in the late afternoon, just as the sky was about to turn dark, chu yang suddenly discovered a group of people on horseback coming toward him from ahead.

among them, a horse carriage approached at high speed, its wheels rumbling.

chu yang ducked to the side and got out of the way as they sped past him. as the horse carriage went past chu yang, the curtains coincidentally opened, revealing a small gap.

a pair of eyes met squarely with chu yang’s.

a startled expression appeared on both their faces at the same time.

then, an order could be heard. “halt!”

…

with a serene expression on his face, diwu qingrou sat in the horse carriage within the zhuge clan team on the way to the north.

he didn’t know why the dharma supreme had specially picked him to head the operation. neither did he know what had happened in between. however, he cherished this opportunity very much nonetheless.

and so, he had come.

as he traveled to the northwest, diwu qingrou was rather regretful.

all because the sixth fragment of the nine tribulations sword had appeared and now, the nine heavens passageways were open.

to be honest, what diwu qingrou wanted to do the most was to carefully analyze everyone who went through the passageways during this period of time and pick out every single nine tribulations from among them. verifying the truth of his deduction step by step was what gave him the most pleasure.

moreover, diwu qingrou had already finished all the necessary preparations.

determining the nine tribulations sword master’s true identity was the only way he could negotiate with the nine tribulations sword master and stand on equal ground with him.

diwu qingrou had planned for this for a very long time. but what he never expected was that with a single command from the dharma supreme, he would be dispatched from the south and traveling day and night to the north to act as the commander-in-chief of the joint army comprising the eight great clans and law-enforcement officers!

this was equivalent to a fast lane to success!

diwu qingrou was assured and confident that so long as he commanded the operation well, this would definitely be a beautiful victory. his meritorious achievements would no doubt be immense. furthermore, there was also the possibility that with this, he could establish and set in stone the foundation of the diwu clan’s long-lasting prosperity.

to him, this was similarly a great opportunity bestowed upon him by the heavens.

one couldn’t have everything in life.

diwu qingrou made a prompt choice — to believe in the dharma supreme!

the difference between the status of the dharma supreme and his was heaven and earth — he had no reason to trick him. all of this was real. on the other hand… in his eyes, whether or not he could determine the nine tribulations was ultimately still rather hard to say.

besides, that nine tribulations sword master was definitely not one who was easy to deal with.

in comparison, what he could gain from the dharma supreme was for certain.

diwu qingrou let out a heavy sigh. subconsciously, he found the carriage rather suffocating and lifted the curtains slightly.

who knew that the moment he did, his eyes would meet with those of another person at the roadside?

in that instant, both of them felt the same way — surely not? could such a coincidence really occur?

…

“where are you going?”

“i’m going to the northwest.”

“what are you going there for?”

“to be the commander-in-chief of the joint army. what about you? where are you going?”

“i’m going to the southwest.”

“what are you going there for?”

“for fun.”

…

both of them gave each other a meaningful smile at the same time.

smiling, chu yang said, “to be honest, i miss the lower three heavens quite a fair bit.”

diwu qingrou nodded. “same here.”

“looks like… there’s going to be another battle like that again?” chu yang tilted his head, finding this somewhat interesting.

“yes, if that’s the case… i’m afraid it’s unavoidable.” diwu qingrou smiled genially.

“fighting with you is a little tiring…” chu yang chuckled. “therefore, you will have a new opponent. of course, the precondition is that you must succeed in the northwest this time.”

“i look forward to my new opponent!” diwu qingrou smiled. the two of them held out their hands in a gesture of respect and bade farewell to each other.

“a promise is a promise.”

“we shall meet again.”

with a smile, diwu qingrou returned to the horse carriage and settled in the seat. all of a sudden, he felt relief and a sense of inexplicable joy in his heart.

the guards in the surroundings stood guard very nervously, all the way until chu yang’s form disappeared into the horizon. only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. that indescribable sense of dominance and imposing sword intent from that man earlier had made all of them feel as though they were up against a formidable enemy!

now that he was finally gone, all of them breathed a sigh of relief at last.

in the team, two black-robed men let out a light breath of air as they slowly dispersed the cultivation that they had gathered.

when the guards outside the horse carriage heard what diwu qingrou was murmuring within the carriage, they couldn’t help but be rather filled with reverence.

“meeting a talented man is the biggest fortune in my life; two men commence a battle of life and death in the wind and frost. being able to receive his unobstructed and unhindered intent, i will be happy even if i perish in the hills!” diwu qingrou murmured, “if i can turn the universe into my chessboard and the lives of all living things in this world as my pawns, and battle against you in a complex war of politics and diplomatic relations and use to the limit everything i’ve learned in this lifetime, i will have no more regrets in my entire life!”

at the same time, there was a smile on chu yang’s face as he continued on his way to the south. he thought to himself, “one holds heavenly secrets[1] in his grasp; one is gentle and easy[2] even when he sets out on a conquest. one devises strategies in his mind; one determines strategies ten thousand miles away… mo tianji, diwu qingrou… it’s up to you guys now.”

as he thought about it, he became rather excited.

the curtains of the battle in the upper three heavens were about to be raised.

they had only exchanged a few words during this unexpected meeting with diwu qingrou. however, in these few sentences alone, diwu qingrou had revealed too much information to him.

during this trip to the northwest, he would be the commander-in-chief of the joint army.

what joint army? why was diwu qingrou the commander-in-chief? what was the brilliance behind this move? who was the mastermind in the dark who was scheming all these? what would diwu qingrou gain from this battle? what would he do after obtaining it? what was his purpose in doing all these?

these few words had given chu yang a clear answer to all of these questions!

chu yang wasn’t dumb; he naturally understood and comprehended all the fine details in everything.

however, now that mo tianji had come up, going along with the principle of slacking as much as he could, chu yang of course wouldn’t step forward to personally compete with diwu qingrou…

when the time came, he could just let mo tianji agonize over this.

and with that, minister chu relaxed even further.

during dawn the next morning, he had already passed by the zhuge clan’s territory and entered the lan clan’s. he was only dozens of miles away from tianlan city, the headquarters of the lan clan.

right at this moment, chu yang suddenly stopped in his tracks.

because he had suddenly noticed black smoke billowing and rising within tianlan city, covering half the sky above…

what had happened? could the lan clan…

the moment this thought occurred to chu yang, he increased his speed and hurried over!

…

tianlan city.

in the lan clan.

the lan clan had dominated tianlan city for ten thousand years. here, the lan clan was the ruling faction! in the past, no one had ever dared to make any trouble in tianlan city. everyone firmly believed that even in the future, there would not necessarily be anyone who had the guts to create trouble in tianlan city.

in the early morning.

a man and a woman followed the large crowd in the streets of the city center. just like that, they chatted idly as they walked over to the main gates of the lan clan. the main gates looked impressive and awe-inspiring, as if a ruler descending upon the world.

the two of them glanced about as they walked.

they looked just like two country bumpkins who had suddenly entered the number one city in the world, behaving as though there were simply too many things for their eyes to take in and too many things dazzling their eyes.

the man constantly sighed in awe. “wah… my god! wah… what the f*ck! wah… my goodness…”

the woman also gasped without pause. “wah wah, look at this. wah wah… look at that… wah wah…”

at the gates, two guards on duty watched the couple with great interest, both of them rather amused. they had seen a lot of country bumpkins before, but this was truly their first time seeing country bumpkins who were gaping in amazement so openly…

when they noticed that these two were actually coming toward the main gates of the lan clan as they peered about curiously, they couldn’t help being startled. could these two country bumpkins actually be intending to enter the lan clan and take a tour around?

“what’s this place? it’s so beautiful!” commented the woman.

“let’s go in and take a look!” the man was full of enthusiasm. the moment he raised his head, he pulled the woman along as he continued walking forward.

what the hell! they are really intending to come in!

the two guards became troubled at once.

especially when they got a good look at the man’s looks after he raised his head. both of them were pretty much astounded right away.

so… there really can be someone who could look this ugly in this world…

“stop right there!” the two guards reached out and stopped them in their tracks. “what do you take this place for? do you think you can enter just because you want to? how audacious of you!”

these two were, of course, tan tan and xie danfeng.

tan tan raised his chin. “why aren’t you letting us in? didn’t quite a few people go in earlier? why are you stopping us just as it reached our turn? could it be that you are discriminating against me because i’m too handsome? and afraid that i would go in and seduce pretty girls?”

then, as if he was making a painful decision, he said, “you can rest assured! i definitely won’t do that.”

he spoke resolutely and decisively, and with some regret. it was as if it was some kind of terrible loss to him that he couldn’t use his handsome and suave looks to seduce the pretty girls of the lan clan.

the two guards were flabbergasted at once!

not only was this fellow ugly, but he was also actually thick-skinned!

after being stunned for a while, they finally couldn’t take it anymore and burst into uproarious laughter. “with looks that even your uncle and your grandmother wouldn’t love and dote on you, do you really think you’re that handsome and suave? you’re actually thinking of seducing pretty girls?”

tan tan’s countenance darkened. “are you saying that i’m not good-looking? my uncle and my grandmother wouldn’t love and dote on me?”

the two guards continued guffawing, beyond amused. “not just that, not just that. your looks are such that not only will your uncle not dote on you and your grandmother not love you, it’s practically utterly devoid of conscience and intolerable by the heavens…”

tan tan’s countenance turned terribly sinister. “you’re saying that my looks are… utterly devoid of conscience and intolerable by the heavens?”

the two guards nodded vehemently. “yes! yes! …ahh…”

without any warning, a tragic cry resounded. tan tan had already struck out at the speed of light and grabbed them by their hair. the two heads crashed against each other with a loud bang as he bellowed, “you’re the one who looks utterly devoid of conscience! you’re the one who looks intolerable by the heavens!”

he discarded the two guards, who had already passed out, and charged into the lan clan in a blazing rage. “i’m going to ask just what kind of upbringing this family has and you can’t stop me! actually daring to insult me like that… if i don’t get an explanation, i’m going to wipe out this entire place!”

tan tan, who deliberately intended to create trouble, had finally found an excuse to lash out.

moreover, this excuse was so unbearable to him. they could have just stopped at ‘ugly’, but they actually… had to say something like ‘looks intolerable by the heavens’?!

tan tan was in a terrible rage. he stormed through the gates of the lan clan like a hurricane as he screamed and shouted. “all of you, get your asses out here! and give me an explanation. otherwise, i’m going to commit murder and arson. one, two, three! fine, since all of you won’t come out, i’m going to set fire to this place…”

he spoke so hurriedly and so quickly. how could the lan clan members possibly react in time? the moment he finished the countdown, flames shot out of his hand. with a swoosh, black smoke and burning flames were already all around those awe-inspiring gates of the lan clan. flames danced about. in an instant, thick smoke rose into the air…

[1] the ‘tianji’ in mo tianji’s name is used here

[2] the ‘qingrou’ in diwu qingrou’s name is used here