Chapter 31
Yu Sui noticed the red spider on the window, so small to the naked eye that it appeared as merely a red dot. Because it was so tiny, it often remained in people's visual blind spots, making it hard to notice.
Even if discovered, one would only think it was a small spot, never imagining it could be a spider.
Yu Sui stared at the tiny red spider and slowly straightened her body. That touch of red became blurred, flickering between near and far in the silence. Her heart suddenly plunged into depths, falling continuously, and her thoughts became hazy.
Her eyes also lost their luster. Invisible spider silk wrapped around Yu Sui's hands and feet, pulling and tugging her toward the window.
The window was pushed open. Outside was a deserted alley. Yu Sui was pulled by the spider silk, falling backward from the window and landing in the dimly lit dark alley before walking away.
No one noticed this sudden change.
Yu Sui's eyes were vacant as she was led by the spider silk to a place rarely visited by people, avoiding the bustling streets and alleys, taking small paths to reach the edge of a remote cliff road with the deep sea below.
At night, the sea surface was azure blue. Among the rippling waves, one could see the reflection of the round moon above.
A black shadow stood on a pillar of the cliff walkway.
Lu Haiyu had completely merged with the darkness, standing in a dead corner of the mountain wall where moonlight couldn't reach. He was slightly hunched over, gaunt and skeletal, dressed in black tight clothing, his gaze fixed on Yu Sui who had already been pulled by spider silk to the mountain path entrance.
That slender-figured girl appeared extremely fragile in Lu Haiyu's eyes. Just a gentle grip could snap her neck. Such a weak person, yet she possessed the Agricultural School's supreme treasure, Breath Soil.
On Lu Haiyu's index finger was a red dot, his Ghost Armored Sky Spider. At this moment, he was relying on the spider silk of his own Ghost Armored Sky Spider to pull Yu Sui toward him.
During the day, he had received a message from his companion that there was a problem with the Breath Soil in Nangong Sui's body, making it unable to neutralize toxins. This afternoon, she would leave Taiyi Academy and come to the Outer City.
Lu Haiyu seized this opportunity and would never allow failure.
The Agricultural School had been trying to reclaim the Breath Soil from the Nangong family for so many years, and so many people had died. He had to avenge those fallen brothers.
Yu Sui had already walked onto the walkway against the mountain wall. As she moved forward slowly, Lu Haiyu raised his hand. The spider silk between them flickered with silver light in the moonlight for an instant, and another strand of spider silk condensed with Five Elements power crept along Yu Sui's neck down to her heart.
The Ghost Armored Sky Spider's toxin invaded the depths of Yu Sui's consciousness, sealing Yu Sui's five senses, wanting her to remain completely unaware. The toxin mixed with Lu Haiyu's Five Elements power continued to penetrate deeper into Yu Sui's consciousness.
It reached a forbidden zone.
Strange Fire flickered, giving the Ghost Armored Sky Spider's toxin no chance to react before completely devouring it all.
Yu Sui instantly awakened, her eyes bright. Meeting Lu Haiyu's shocked gaze, she raised her hand and tore apart the spider silk wrapped around her body.
What was happening?!
After Lu Haiyu's initial shock, he reacted quickly. Spider silk rose again, surging toward Yu Sui from all directions.
Normally, spider silk was invisible to the naked eye, but now there were thousands upon thousands of strands, each covered in poison. They made buzzing sounds as they flew toward Yu Sui.
Yu Sui's gaze penetrated through the spider silk to look at Lu Haiyu behind them.
The fear in her heart was no less than Lu Haiyu's.
If the toxin hadn't greedily penetrated the deepest part of her consciousness trying to devour the Strange Fire, she wouldn't have avoided the toxin and awakened.
Li Trigram, Life Technique, Celestial Fire.
Flames suddenly burst from the spider silk, burning them away, along with all the Five Elements energy and toxins that Lu Haiyu had attached to the silk.
Yu Sui's figure flickered and disappeared from Lu Haiyu's sight using Wind-Riding Techniques.
Lu Haiyu's heart trembled. Wasn't the Princess of the Nangong family an Ordinary Practitioner?!
How could she know Nine Schools Arts?
That guy's intelligence didn't mention this!
Lu Haiyu caught sight of Yu Sui approaching with Wind-Riding Techniques and immediately retreated to dodge. But Yu Sui immediately followed up. The two were very close in combat range, close enough that Yu Sui could punch his face with a swing. Lu Haiyu was forced to increase the distance again.
As the two fought, spider silk flew about. The transparent silk was unpredictable, suddenly appearing and shooting into the mountain wall, smashing out one or two large holes like sharp blades cutting through, shaking loose many rocks.
Yu Sui leaned back to avoid the suddenly appearing spider silk, then accelerated again. When her punch landed on Lu Haiyu's shoulder, spider silk also grazed past her cheek.
Lu Haiyu was sent flying by Yu Sui's punch and fell onto the walkway, while Yu Sui was also forced back by the successive spider silk. The sharp blade-like silk tore through her clothing and skirt hem, cutting off the golden hairpin in her hair. Gold and jade beads fell with the mountain wall into the seawater.
The spider silk came urgently, rapidly, and densely. Yu Sui was continuously forced back. Celestial Fire burned away part of it, but couldn't stop the overwhelming numbers.
Lu Haiyu was hit by Yu Sui's punch. Although it didn't strike a vital point, that punch carried Five Elements energy, and Yu Sui simultaneously used Zhen Trigram, Life Technique, Thunder Fist. Yu Sui was also attacking with killing intent. After being hit by that punch, Lu Haiyu felt thunder strikes throughout his body, both mind and spirit injured. Before he could even get up, he spat out a mouthful of blood.
He had been careless, completely not expecting Yu Sui to know Nine Schools Arts.
In this situation, Yu Sui's swift and precise attacks turned Lu Haiyu's complete advantage into disadvantage.
Lu Haiyu supported himself against the cliff wall to stand up, coughing, and wiped his mouth with his hand. Golden Five Elements energy flared around his body for protection. He stared at Yu Sui who was being forced back by spider silk, his eyes filled with killing intent.
He formed hand seals with both hands, gathering Five Elements energy. When he exhaled, darkness spread around his body, and shadows born from the darkness took shape, materializing as a giant python and an ape.
Agricultural School's forbidden Nine Schools Arts: Phantom Beast.
The black giant ape was very fast. After it disappeared in a shadow flash, Yu Sui couldn't sense its location. Wherever there was darkness, it could emerge from the shadows at any time.
When the giant ape emerged from behind Yu Sui, thunder snakes flickered around Yu Sui's body, withstanding the giant ape's attack. But while dodging the poisonous spider silk, she was whipped away by the giant python.
Yu Sui flew off the walkway, rolling down along the mountain wall, crushing flowers and grass as she tumbled, leaving a clear trail of damage on the mountain wall.
Although they were illusions, when those black shadows approached you, you could smell the python's fishy odor, feel that slippery, cold touch when touched, and the terror of sharp fangs about to bite your neck.
Seemingly real, seemingly false.
Lu Haiyu couldn't afford to delay for even a moment. Seeing Yu Sui knocked away, revealing flaws and gaps in combat, he immediately pursued. Spider silk followed Yu Sui's falling trail and shot forth. The giant ape leaped from the mountain path and jumped down, landing below the cliff to block Yu Sui's path.
Yu Sui rolled sideways to dodge the spider silk, ignoring the burning pain throughout her body. She took a deep breath and used Wind-Riding Techniques to stand up and steady herself. A huge black shadow fell from overhead. The giant python coiled around her waist, and the sound of bones cracking made Yu Sui grunt in pain.
The giant python threw Yu Sui back up again. She was flung to the ground and slid far away, her back hitting the mountain wall hard.
The phantom beasts were too fast, giving Yu Sui no chance to use Nine Schools Arts before throwing her back. The phantom beasts also knew different degrees of Nine Schools Arts, and the pressure from their scattered Five Elements energy was no less than that of a Fifth Realm Nine Schools Arts practitioner.
If the previous trials were just testing abilities, then this battle was a life-and-death struggle, all deadly moves with no mercy left.
Yu Sui's upper body leaned against the mountain wall, several ribs broken, the pain from any movement affecting her whole body made her sweat profusely. The fishy smell was near her, a nauseating odor. Cold snake tongues licked the bloody wounds on her neck, making her hair stand on end.
This was the first time, Yu Sui's first time being deeply in crisis and fighting back on her own, and also the first time feeling the gap in Nine Schools Arts between herself and her pursuer.
Even relying on the information advantage to catch them off guard, it still wasn't enough. Lu Haiyu's control over Five Elements energy was more precise and faster than hers, while Yu Sui was still lacking, lacking in experience, knowledge, and realm.
The giant python coiled around her body, raising its head to stare at her intently.
Spider silk wrapped around her hands, feet, and neck again. Just a gentle pull would make her head roll.
Sky Spider toxin also re-invaded her Five Elements energy, suppressing it so she couldn't use it.
Yu Sui lightly raised her eyes to look at Lu Haiyu who was covering his shoulder as he walked over.
Lu Haiyu stared at her warily and said in a deep voice, "I never expected that the Ordinary Practitioner Princess of the Nangong family would hide so deeply."
At this point, Yu Sui's only chance to win was to rely on Strange Fire.
But there was a third person here.
Strange Fire flickered in the depths of Yu Sui's consciousness, telling her that another person was secretly watching the show. If she wanted to rely on Strange Fire to turn the tables, she must leave no survivors.
Yu Sui said softly, "Wei Ren, how long are you going to keep watching?"
Wei Ren, hiding in the darkness, was somewhat surprised upon hearing this. He had actually been discovered?
Lu Haiyu also frowned and looked around. He hadn't even noticed there was someone else nearby. When had this kid Wei Ren followed them?
Yu Sui coughed up blood and said weakly, "If I'm to die today, you should at least let me die understanding, right?"
Lu Haiyu concentrated and searched carefully, also discovering the third person's presence. He said in a deep voice, "Damn kid, come out."
Wei Ren sighed, shadow-stepped down from high on the mountain wall, and landed at a position neither too far nor too close from the two. He stood in the moonlight, as if openly spreading his hands, "I was just worried, so I followed to take a look."
Yu Sui was coiled by the giant python and couldn't move, only turning her eyes to look at him.
Wei Ren was also looking at Yu Sui.
Lu Haiyu stared at Wei Ren with hateful eyes, "Why didn't you mention that she knows Nine Schools Arts?"
"Did I not mention it?" Wei Ren said lazily, "I didn't know either."
"You're pretending with me? You even knew about her Breath Soil not absorbing toxins, but wouldn't know she can use Nine Schools Arts? You even entered the trials together!" Lu Haiyu became more and more angry as he spoke, aggravating his internal injuries and causing him to cough several times, "Do you fucking know that if I hadn't dodged just now, her Thunder Fist would have directly shattered my Five Elements Light Core, and I would have been the one to die!"
"Hey, why get so angry? You didn't die, and it's Princess Nangong who's about to die." Wei Ren was scolded harshly but remained unhurried, still replying lazily.
"Are you fucking doing this on purpose?!" Lu Haiyu was furious and was about to go beat up Wei Ren, but suddenly heard Yu Sui's unexpected laughter and immediately looked over warily.
"What are you laughing about?" Lu Haiyu demanded, "At such a young age, yet with such scheming. Those brothers who came to seize the Breath Soil back then must have died at your hands too, right?"
"That would be overestimating me, or underestimating the Nangong family." Yu Sui slightly raised her head. On her pale neck were deep red wounds carved by spider silk. Sweat and blood were now mixed, staining her clothing red.
"I've only been learning Nine Schools Arts for a couple of days. How could I kill your brothers who tried to seize the Breath Soil?" Yu Sui smiled slightly as she looked back at Lu Haiyu.
Lu Haiyu saw that she looked so resigned facing death, and slowly frowned, "Aren't you afraid of dying?"
"Who isn't afraid of death?" Yu Sui's eyelashes trembled lightly, her words spoken softly, "I've worked so hard to live until now, and it's only because of your Agricultural School's worthless thing that I've lived so wretchedly until today."
Wei Ren looked toward Yu Sui, his expression unreadable.
"Worthless thing? I think your talent is too poor, not knowing how precious the Breath Soil really is! The Breath Soil falling into the hands of an ignorant fool like you is its misfortune, but don't worry, I'll soon take it back." Lu Haiyu looked at Yu Sui coldly.
Yu Sui tilted her head slightly, "Is that so? Only half the Breath Soil, can't even filter out Agricultural School toxins. If that's not worthless, what is?"
"What do you mean only half?" Lu Haiyu was stunned, then became alert, "Don't think saying this will stop me from killing you. I see you're young, but your deception methods are endless."
"Otherwise, why do you think the toxin suppressing my Five Elements energy is working now?" Yu Sui laughed lightly. She raised her head to look at Lu Haiyu, and in that moment of lifting her gaze, it was as if she was looking at something truly worthless, making Lu Haiyu feel the humiliation of being scorned.
"The Breath Soil in my body is only half. If you want the complete Breath Soil, you'll have to go find my mother for it." Yu Sui smiled, even leaning back against the giant python's body as if she didn't care.
Lu Haiyu said disdainfully, "To survive, you'd even tell such lies. Lady Su having a daughter like you, I feel sorry for her."
"You seem to have quite a good impression of my mother." Yu Sui rolled her eyes to look at Wei Ren, her smile flickering in her eyes, "What about you? Someone who grew up hearing my name, you must have been waiting to take the Breath Soil from me for quite a long time."
Before Wei Ren could reply, Lu Haiyu had already snorted coldly, "Back then, Lady Su snatched the Breath Soil from Nangong Ming's hands to save a group of our Agricultural School brothers. Even though she was pregnant at the time, she rebelled against Nangong Ming to save the Agricultural School, but because you inherited the Breath Soil when she gave birth to you. Since you're her child, Lady Su naturally wouldn't harm you to retrieve the Breath Soil."
Yu Sui listened in a daze.
Lu Haiyu became more and more angry as he spoke, pointing at Yu Sui and cursing, "Lady Su devoted herself wholeheartedly to our Agricultural School. Even to escape Nangong Ming's pursuit, her eldest daughter, your sister, died at the peak of Luo Mountain because of this. And you? You were taken back by Nangong Ming, making Lady Su subject to his control for her child's sake. You are your father's accomplice in persecuting Lady Su! While you lived gloriously as a Princess in Qingyang, did you ever think of your deceased biological sister!"
Yu Sui's expression remained calm, only her eyes trembled slightly.
Long ago, she had already imagined that someday in the future she would hear such words.
Just as she had imagined, the person saying these words was righteous and indignant, looking at her with anger and hatred.
And her?
She was just as miserable as she had imagined.
Wei Ren saw that Yu Sui seemed dazed. He looked at Lu Haiyu and mocked, "Why are you being so righteous about other people's family affairs?"
"Have I lived so well?" Yu Sui's mouth was bleeding. She looked at Lu Haiyu and asked, "Because of this half Breath Soil, I'm always being hunted. So what if I'm a Princess? As an Ordinary Practitioner Princess, I'm constantly called worthless and a disgrace to the family. Even when reading books, I have to kneel to read them. Is this what you call living gloriously? Why must I die? You want the Breath Soil, tell me a way that doesn't require my death, and I'll return the Breath Soil to you."
Wei Ren looked back at Yu Sui in surprise, really not expecting her to make such a request.
Lu Haiyu was even angrier, "Smooth talker! Even facing death, you still want to play tricks. The Breath Soil you inherited from Lady Su lives and grows with you. Only when you die will it work!"
Yu Sui smiled, "What did I do wrong? Why must it be me who dies?"
Lu Haiyu was unwilling to waste more words with her and raised his hand, "Because your fate is thin."
Yu Sui stared directly at Lu Haiyu with her extremely black pupils, which reminded Lu Haiyu of Lady Su. It had to be said that what this mother and daughter resembled most were these eyes and brows.
Identical, yet each different.
"Hey," Wei Ren reached out to stop Lu Haiyu, "What she said isn't impossible, a way to strip out the Breath Soil without letting Nangong Sui die."
Lu Haiyu turned to look, "Ridiculous! Don't make trouble at this time. I'll settle accounts with you later!"
Deep in Yu Sui's heart, the flames burned fiercely, scorching even herself. Every time she felt angry, she would try hard to suppress this flame that tempted her so extremely.
Day after day, year after year.
She always pressed this anger down tightly, not daring to let this flame have the slightest chance to emerge.
Not everyone in the world stood on her side.
Or rather, when the flames symbolizing her anger burned on this land, there would be no one in this world standing on her side.
Yu Sui slowly blinked, seeing Lu Haiyu and Wei Ren arguing. The pain from blood loss kept Yu Sui clear-headed.
Wei Ren was still blocking Lu Haiyu, "Why not? She's a Ghost Way School disciple. The Ghost Way School can separate flesh and consciousness. Those who enter the Ghost Way School all have talent in this area, which means there's a chance..."
Yu Sui tilted her head slightly and said softly, "Too late."
Wei Ren and Lu Haiyu both looked toward her simultaneously.
Yu Sui thought to herself that she had been angry for too long.
Fierce fire and lightning appeared simultaneously, blindingly bright so that people couldn't see what was happening. Wei Ren only felt himself being whipped away by something, his mind and body not yet reacting before he was already falling toward the sea.
The black illusions coiling around Yu Sui all dissipated in the fierce flame's light. Thunder snakes instantly and forcefully pierced through Lu Haiyu's heart, shattering both his Five Elements Light Core and heart simultaneously. Without support, Lu Haiyu's body fell backward like a kite with a broken string, dropping toward the cliff below.
Yu Sui supported herself against the cliff wall and stood up shakily, shadow-stepping to pursue Wei Ren who had fallen into the sea.
The sea surface splashed with water, and the azure seawater was tinged with some blood.
Wei Ren had been whipped by the massively powerful thunder snake until half his body was numb. As he fell, seeing the continuous bleeding from his body, he couldn't hide his fear.
The power of that Eight Trigrams Life Technique was definitely not just First Realm level.
Besides the Eight Trigrams Life Technique, there seemed to be something else. Was it Li Trigram's Celestial Fire? It was too fast, he had no time to react or see clearly before being whipped into the seawater.
Wei Ren was trying to surface when he saw a red shadow approaching.
Yu Sui, who had pursued him, grabbed Wei Ren's neck and pressed him toward the seabed.
Her black long hair and floating sleeves blocked between the two of them. Blood spread out, blurring Wei Ren's vision so he couldn't see Yu Sui's appearance clearly.
Wei Ren deeply felt that he would really die at Yu Sui's hands if this continued. He still wanted to explain, so he used Phantom Beast: Snake Shadow. The giant snake coiled around Yu Sui and pulled her away. Wei Ren got a gap and used Kan Trigram, Life Technique, Water Crossing, shooting through the water like a fish and floating upward.
When he had surfaced some distance, Yu Sui behind him relied on Strange Fire's power to crush the phantom, and thunder snakes in the water made crackling sounds as they pursued Wei Ren, striking him heavily again and coiling around his hands and feet to drag him underwater.
Under intense pain, Wei Ren looked back and finally saw Yu Sui clearly underwater.
Those eyes that disregarded everything, as if no one could make her stop.
Yu Sui underwater looked at Wei Ren's fearful gaze and even smiled at him. At this moment, Yu Sui was just patiently and calmly waiting for Wei Ren to die in her hands.
Wei Ren was being dragged by thunder snakes to Yu Sui's presence. When she reached out her hand, a thunder snake that didn't belong to her but was more powerfully forceful struck down, repelling both of them and splitting this section of seawater, raising huge waves.
The repelled Wei Ren and Yu Sui were sent toward the surface by the rolling tides.
Wei Ren even used Wind-Riding Techniques to distance himself from Yu Sui before surfacing. Seawater poured in, and his ears were filled with the rushing sound of water. Looking up, he saw Mei Liangyu standing on the shore facing the moonlight, with thunder snake light still flickering in his hands. His eyebrows and eyes were cold and indifferent, only lightly glancing at Wei Ren who had surfaced, his slightly curved eye corners seeming somewhat disdainful, before quickly looking toward Yu Sui on the other side.
Wei Ren had never been so happy to see his roommate.
It was to the degree that he should burn incense in gratitude.
Behind Mei Liangyu were Blackbeard, sweating profusely with anxiety, and the Nine Schools Arts practitioners from the Nangong family. Seeing Yu Sui emerge from the seawater, they all shouted, "Princess!"
Yu Sui was rolled out of the water by the waves, shook the water droplets from her face, and opened her eyes to look forward.
She immediately saw Mei Liangyu standing at the front with lightning still flickering beside him, and her gaze was slightly stunned.
If Mei Liangyu hadn't intervened, she should have destroyed the world tonight.