Death… and me

"Forget about you listening… even as I speak on this topic, it feels like I am talking about fantasy stuff…" Young Master Yu smiled bitterly as he said: "But this… is actually the biggest secret of the Nine Heavens Continent!

“All origins find their roots in… the Nine Tribulations Sword!"

"Then wouldn’t it be right to say… that all the secrets lie within the Nine Tribulations Sword?" Chu Yang frowned as he asked. At this moment, he thought in his heart: [F*k, it’s merely a sword, that’s all! How can it actually be so… complicated?]

"Correct, Nine Tribulations Sword; it’s such a pity that you’re not the current Lord of Nine Tribulations Sword! Moreover, this generation’s Nine Tribulations Sword… has already taken birth. Now that it has come into being, it’s searching for an individual capable of accomplishing all this. You don’t stand a chance!" Young Master Yu replied slowly, certainly having misunderstood the meaning of Chu Yang’s words. In fact, there were traces of ridicule and helplessness contained in his explanation.

"Not a chance ah…" Chu Yang looked up, and said in a disappointed manner: "It’s a pity."

"It’s quite a pity indeed." Young Master Yu heaved a long sigh. The way he showed his pity appeared quite genuine, so much so that it made Chu Yang feel the crisis residing in his own Dantian.

If anyone found out that the Nine Tribulations Sword was present in his Dantian… Chu Yang would dare to make a bet: [Even if my progress speed gets a hundred times faster, even if I have a hundred lives… I would still die a miserable death and that too in a very short amount of time! ]

Young Master Yu remained in a daze for a moment, then finally snapped out of it and said: "This… was precisely all about the Nine Heavens Continent."

After saying this sentence, Young Master Yu gently moved his fingers. Suddenly, Chu Yang discovered that the tea’s fragrance, originally stagnated in the air, had suddenly started flowing once again; slowly drifting outside…

[Does this mean that this conversation is over? ]

The sound of the lake’s flowing water, as well as the noise of the outside world suddenly sounded at this very moment. The blockade set up by Young Master Yu a while ago, had surprisingly sealed up the entire space surrounding them.

Those on the outside couldn’t hear the sounds coming from the inside, and vice versa. What kind of magical power was this…

Chu Yang felt moved in his heart as he asked: "May I ask Young Master Yu about the martial rankings followed in this continent…"

"Martial rankings… it’s the same as the ones you have been seeing all this time…" Young Master Yu lowered his head and smiled gently: "However… genuinely wonderful places aren’t located here ah…"

[Places which are genuinely wonderful aren’t located here? Is he referring to the Lower Three Heavens or the Nine Heavens Continent?]

"Oh? Then these so-called genuinely wonderful places you talk about… have you visited them before?" There was an abundance of implicit meaning in Chu Yang’s question.

"Indeed, it was quite fun." Young Master Yu’s eyelids drooped down as he said in a heavy voice: "Those places were full of dangers … but also brimming with opportunities…"

Chu Yang pondered, and then suddenly smiled in his heart; his heart was telling him that, judging from the Young Master Yu’s statement, it seemed like these so-called genuinely wonderful places were located in the Upper Three Heavens.

"I have already prepared a position for you." Young Master Yu lifted his teacup and took a sip. Suddenly, the look in his eyes turned severe as he stretched out his hand and grasped the void. The misty fragrance of the tea which was drifting in the air was suddenly grasped by his hand, and clenched as if it was mud, thereby turning into a small ball. Afterward, he flicked his finger three times.

Three streaming jets of milky white mist flew out from that small ball, producing a loud whooshing sound. They instantly pierced through the cabin and flew out!

‘Plop’, from the outside, came three successive sounds of someone falling into the water.

The water surface was undulated, thereupon making the boat sway up and down in accordance with the fluctuating water surface…

"In this world, there shall always be too many… of these overreaching conceited…" Young Master Yu grinned toward Chu Yang and said in a low voice: "… ants!"

Then he stood up and revealed a smile before saying: "They make me feel so vexed." At this moment, his smile was suddenly filled with a desolate murderous aura as his snow-white teeth gently nipped his lower lip; the white light being reflected by his white teeth was similar to that of a sea shark that was about to swallow its food…

A shout filled with rage suddenly echoed on the outside: "Who is there in the boat? What kind of valiant hero doesn’t even bother to give a prior greeting and just goes on to launch sneak attacks!"

"These people must have come looking for you. You mounted a fish to stir up troubles, and that has brought to you your own doom…" Young Master Yu paid no attention to the calls coming from outside. He just smiled at Chu Yang and said: "Do you wish to go, or do you want me to go instead?"

"I would like to, but since you have stood up already." Chu Yang smiled slyly: "I wouldn’t wish to forcibly take away your inclination of doing what you want to do."

Young Master Yu stared blankly for a moment, then immediately burst into laughter: "Cunning!"

He stood up, then crossed his hands behind his back, and strolled out. The cabin was still sealed from all sides, yet Young Master Yu’s figure had suddenly disappeared from there.

Chu Yang looked at his seat as a strange look flickered in his eyes. He finally stood up, opened the boat’s curtains and went out.

Young Master Yu used bare hands to condense the air; the enemy was speared with just a snap of his fingers. From start to finish, he continued to play down without the slightest bit of smoke and fire resulting from his actions. Although Young Master Yu had revealed only a fraction of his martial skills, he could already be ranked at the ‘top of the list’ of the most formidable people Chu Yang had met. He was fully deserving of being held in such high esteem, without any reservations.

Chu Yang came out and saw that this boat had been completely surrounded. He did not even know when it actually happened.

About 5 or 6 boats were anchored all around them. On the prows of those boats, there stood several people. Three blue-clothed corpses were floating quietly on the surface of the water. In all likelihood, this was the result of Young Master Yu’s skill from a moment ago. He had merely snapped his fingers thrice to achieve this result.

On the boat anchored right across them, there was a square-faced middle-aged man, with an angry look spread across his whole face. He was glaring at Young Master Yu as well as at Chu Yang, who had come out just now. The look in his eyes was quite grave!

Chu Yang carefully looked at those boats and immediately recognized them: [These boats belong to the Flute Master’s side. Presumably, they have come to take revenge since I have ruined the Flute Master’s plan of gaining the upper hand by a show of strength. ]

"You lot have surrounded my boat, what do you want?" Young Master Yu stood atop the bow of his boat with his hands crossed behind his back. His black robe was fluttering in the wind while his countenance was brimming with an elusive air of arrogance.

"Young Master, may I ask who is responsible… for the death of those three men?" That middle-aged man was unconsciously terrified by his imposing aura. Even though his tone was still as strong as before, it had unknowingly changed into an inquiring note.

"I am…" Young Master Yu didn’t even look at him since his eyes were affectionately looking at the lake’s green water. He sighed, and said with an unexpected sense of guilt in his voice: "I am sorry…"

"Since Young Master is apologizing… then…"

"I am sorry… that I made those three ugly corpses fall into your clear and pure water. It is my fault…" Young Master Yu’s voice was brimming with regret as he apologized: "In order to properly express my apology, I will clean up this area."

That middle-aged man’s face suddenly turned purple with rage. He was rendered completely speechless.

It turned out that Young Master Yu’s apology was meant for the lake’s water, and not for those people… and this had completely infuriated the middle-aged man, who had mistakenly misunderstood Young Master Yu’s intentions!

[You first killed three of my people, and then you actually put blame on their corpses for polluting the water? Could there really be anything more unreasonable in this entire world?]

"Are you from the Transverse-flute Master’s faction?" The middle-aged man restrained his rage as he asked with his teeth clenched. One could see his temples throbbing with anger.

"You must be from the Flute Master’s faction, correct?" Young Master Yu finally raised his head and cast a sidelong glance at him. There was a limpid look in his eyes as he asked gently. The pure look in his eyes made him seem like a wealthy young master, who had grown up in golden palaces and jade towers, and simply didn’t know about the worries of this world.

However, when the middle-aged man looked into his eyes, he immediately felt a creepy chill rising from the depths of his heart.

"Yes! A while ago, this young master used a big fish to tow his boat and resorted to using a vulgar claptrap in order to please the crowd and cause sensation, destroying the public presence and image of my master. Therefore I must know what his true intention was?" The square faced middle-aged man directed his dignified gaze towards Chu Yang: "Sire, I think you need to give us an explanation."

He could tell that it wouldn’t be easy to deal with this young master, so after acknowledging his own status, he immediately transferred his attention onto the main target and started accusing Chu Yang instead.

His words simultaneously gave an indication to Young Master Yu: [We want him, not you. If you are busy… then you can continue to do whatever you were doing earlier…]

By doing so, they had actually revealed their own weakness, exposing that they were basically begging for mercy.

"Explanation? What explanation?" Chu Yang didn’t say anything; instead, Young Master Yu rolled his eyes and asked indifferently.

"Before the Match of the Three Masters, each of the masters gets to flaunt their own talent. This is the convention…" The middle-aged man replied.

"Convention? What convention?" Young Master Yu frowned as he asked in an awe-inspiring manner.

"Respectable Young Master, even if your martial skills are outstanding… you must keep in mind that it is difficult to deal four hands with just two fists. Always remember that this world possessed its own rules of existence." The middle-aged man said out loud while appearing quite fierce, yet cowardly at heart.

He didn’t even know who the young man before him really was, but he was still already scared in his heart.

"It is difficult to deal four hands with just two fists, you say?" Young Master Yu uttered an ‘oh’ sound as he slowly raised his hand, pointing towards a boat on the left side of his own, and said: "Are you referring to these people?"

His voice sounded very light, and could also be described as quite gentle. However, as soon as he finished the sentence, that boat suddenly got crushed with a loud ‘puff’ sound!

The seven of eight people onboard had their bodies sent flying upward, and then simultaneously disintegrated in midair, leaving behind only fragments of their body, and mincemeat.

Without any pitiful screams, or any traces of energy in the air, with just a causal movement of his hand, a boat was broken to pieces along with the people onboard.

This was simply a demonic sorcery!

There were fragment of boat floating on the water’s surface, and even the biggest among them did not surpass the size of a palm. An inexplicable smell of blood spread on the surface of the lake.

Young Master Yu inclined his face from side to side as he said in a painful voice: "It’s all my fault… I have polluted this water…" Then he turned his face to look at the middle-aged man with his pure and innocent eyes. He smiled affably and asked, "Are there any other hands?"

Then he lifted his hand while looking inquisitively at the middle-aged man. His finger was already pointed at another boat as he asked: "Or maybe…"

Before he could finish the sentence, there sounded loud sounds of people falling into the water. From the boat his finger was pointed at, a total of seven or eight people had jumped into the water. At present, they were desperately swimming away in all directions…

The middle-aged man’s eyes were frozen with terror; his entire body was trembling while his upper and lower teeth were intensely clashing against each other. At this time, his legs appeared like a pipa(1). It seemed as if he would kneel down any time now.

"Do you still want an explanation?" Young Master Yu looked at him genially as he asked in great amusement: "I can give you an explanation, you know? Trust me; I can certainly give you one."

"No… No… I don’t want to hear…" The square-faced middle-aged man’s dignity had flown far away, and beyond the topmost layers of the clouds. With his hands shaking repeatedly, he stuttered awfully, in pure desperation.

"You don’t want to hear?" Young Master Yu looked as if he was having a headache, and so he asked again: "Do you want an explanation or not? The way you’re speaking right now is quite strenuous to listen to, you know…"

"Don’t… please don’t… don’t want any explanations…" The middle-aged man was so scared that he started to cry. One could hear the desperate sobs in his changed tone.

"Good, quite obedient I must say. In the future, make sure you remember this important lesson you’ve learned today: not everyone can just ask for an explanation, understood?" Young Master Yu laughed kindly: "Now go back and tell your master. If he wants to keep his small mouth intact to play that flute of his… he must learn to be more sincere and well-behaved? Got it?"

Pipa: Chinese musical instrument with four strings.