Chapter 98
“Great king, it’s a cat!” The crowd of mice was greatly startled, one and all about to immediately drill into the ground in panic and flee in disarray.
The Great Mouse King Cat-Eating Mouse finally found the cat it was looking for. Elaborate thoughts went through its mind. An ordinary cat could eat ordinary mice, then a monster general level cat monster could naturally eat monster general level mice monsters. After that its two legs went soft and it coolly said, “Ev…evacuate!”
“The Great King is wise!” said the crowd of mice who dug holes in the ground and drilled inside on the spot.
Therefore, a great herd of mice monsters had come with overbearing momentum, then immediately ran off in a flurry when they saw the cat Halfmoon.
Halfmoon went through a burst of loud meowhahahaha laughters.
Li Qingshan said in amazement, “Truly shy as a mouse.” The fearsome suction of the quicksand suddenly vanished. He stood up and leaped out of the sand pit.
Halfmoon’s expression changed at once. “Our whereabouts have been exposed already, hurry up and go!”
Li Qingshan suddenly turned his head back. A beam of rainbow light broke through the air on the faraway horizon to the south. The fierce and sharp aura seemed to rip his eyes open even with a single glance from far away. How would he dare to stand still and stay behind. He charged toward the Ice Sword Cliff.
Mountain rivers and vegetation flew back at mad speed. Li Qingshan originally felt he was fast like the wind, but that beam of rainbow light would come even closer every time he turned his head back. It caught up within a distance of a hundred miles in the space of a moment.
Li Qingshan said to Halfmoon, “We can’t go on like this, you leave first!”
Halfmoon said, “What are you saying, we’re already close to our goal.”
Li Qingshan said, “We’ll be caught up if it goes on like this. You go to the Dragon province by yourself!”
Halfmoon looked at Li Qingshan. She nodded heavily. “Then, Big Black, you take care of yourself. Don’t get yourself actually killed!” She vanished from sight the next moment, having blinked somewhere unknown.
Li Qingshan immediately suppressed the aura of his entire body and switched directions. He dashed to the east.
It wasn’t that he was thinking of giving up his life for the cause or sacrificing himself for others. This sword immortal was mighty, and they couldn’t offer any resistance. If he’d caught up to them, it’d have been most likely the sword immortal wouldn’t have let go of him either after butchering Halfmoon. Then he’d also been lumped together with her and killed in the name of slashing demons for the sake of righteousness. There was no way he could have told them he was actually a human when such a moment came.
So he could only let Halfmoon run first. It was very possible this sword immortal would choose to first chase after Halfmoon in order to kill her, and then he could use the [Spirit Turtle Sea Guarding Secrets] to suppress his aura. Maybe he could escape from a calamity, and Halfmoon wouldn’t be weighed down by him either. It was the best choice for the both of them.
“Husbands and wives are birds of a flock, but they fly off on their own when disaster strikes. As to whether it results in life or death, one can only seek to help oneself and leave the rest to fate.” Such thoughts inexplicably emerged in Li Qingshan’s mind.
Soaring Dragon Elder had been patrolling in the sky when he’d been suddenly disturbed by the activity on Black Mouse Mountain. However it wasn’t rare either for monster beasts to kill each others inside the Boundless Mountains, so he hadn’t paid any special mind to it.
“Monster general!” He only paid attention after a powerful monster qi had surged that only a monster general could have. He’d induced his senses with all his focus, and then an even stronger monster qi had soared to the sky a moment later. He’d immediately responded and chased their way on his sword.
Struggles to the death between monster beasts could still be said to be common, but battles between monster generals were extremely rare, because every monster general who’d gone through one heavenly tribulation would have gained a certain amount of intelligence. They all nominally belonged under the order of the same monster king and were each commanded by their respective monster marshals, so they wouldn’t fight casually.
If everything went as anticipated, then the monster cat he was looking for would be right there.
Indeed, he’d latched onto that monster qi when he was still several hundred miles away. On its side was actually that strange monster he’d seen once. He couldn’t help but give rise to an anger at having been almost fooled. He’d originally believed this cat monster would have acted alone out of caution, but he hadn’t expected she would still have helpers. No wonder he couldn’t find her at all for so many days.
The sword light was approaching at high speed when the cat monster suddenly vanished from that little monster’s shoulder. That little monster rushed toward the east meanwhile.
Soaring Dragon Elder hesitated a moment. He ignored Li Qingshan and continued to fly toward the Ice Sword Cliff. He was bound to block that cat monster’s way out of the Verdant province. It would be trouble once she stepped onto the Dragon province’s soil.
Li Qingshan felt as if the flow of his blood was about to come to a halt when that sword-like gaze swept over him. He only let out a sigh of relief when that sword light swiftly rushed toward the north. He ran for another ten miles and reached a quiet and hidden ravine. He drilled inside and hid under a mountain precipice, then tightly repressed all of his monster qi.
He heaved a deep breath. He finally escaped from disaster!
Li Qingshan inwardly assessed this journey’s gains. He’d obtained several dozen spiritual pills from Halfmoon, each of them with an even greater effect than the spirit ginseng. It’d made his [Spirit Turtle Sea Guarding Secrets] progress by leaps and bounds. Right now he still had a dozen spirit pills he hadn’t had time to eat. He’d carefully stashed them inside a porcelain bottle. He probably wouldn’t be too far from the [Spirit Turtle Sea Guarding Secrets]’s first layer once he ate all these spirit pills. Then he could recover a human shape after some painstaking cultivation and once again return to human society. Moreover he’d even gotten rid of that hateful cat monster who proclaimed herself his mistress. It was truly hitting two birds with one stone.
Li Qingshan rubbed Little An’s head with a smile. It won’t be long until I complete our promise.
Li Qingshan stayed entirely still and allowed the sands of time to drip by, grain by grain. He suddenly felt a burst of tremors going through the earth, but it then quickly vanished, followed by another burst of tremors.
The sky slowly darkened, and dark clouds once again draped across the sky. Great snow fell down, even accompanied by the whistle of sharp winds as it spread through the sky and covered the land.
Li Qingshan was even more at peace inside his mind. It was even more impossible to find him in such weather, and it was probably also comparatively easier for Halfmoon to escape! He was unexpectedly still somewhat reluctant to part with her, but she presumably had reached the Dragon province by now and would probably very soon be able to live the life of freedom she wanted! Green hills stood unchanging and blue rivers flowed eternal. Everyone would meet again if such was their fate.
“Secret of Ten Thousand Swords!”
A stern shout burst inside the snowstorm like a clap of thunder. It pulverized the wind and the snow, interrupted thoughts and feelings.
A boundless murderous intent shrouded down.
“Not good!” Li Qingshan hugged Little An as he stood up and immediately jumped. He turned his head back in mid-air and saw thousands upon thousands of sword rays crisscrossing amidst the wind and snow, shattering the precipice he’d relied on to hide himself until it crumbled down with rolling rumbles.
Li Qingshan threw himself on a small dried stream. He’d merely raised his head that he saw three feet of greenish blade point directly between his eyebrows, only three inches away.
Soaring Dragon Elder held his sword in his right hand and stood on a boulder as he watched Li Qingshan with freezing coldness. “Say, where did that cat monster run off to?”
“You’re the Soaring Dragon Swordsman?” Li Qingshan was shocked the instant he saw the sword immortal’s appearance. The portrait inside the Dragon Gate Sect’s Ancestor Hall once again floated in his vision. The inheritance of the Dragon Gate Sect went back for multiple generations to hundred years in the past at least, but the Soaring Dragon Swordsman seemed only a little older compared to the portrait. If one then considered that the Dragon Gate Sect might have intentionally drawn him a little younger out of veneration for his august person, then there was simply no change at all. There was no word other than “immortal” with which to describe him.
However, this fearsome immortal was presently pointing at his head.
“You know me?” How sharp would Soaring Dragon Elder’s mind be, since he was able to form his golden core? “The matter of the Dragon Gate Sect was your doing?” The karma from olden days the Heavenly Fate Elder had spoken of should be precisely here.