Zanxing

Chapter 6 – Escape (2)

The sun was about to set.

The glow shrouded the entire mountain, the hustle and bustle of the day faded, and the night became cooler.

The fog was heavy in the mountains at night at the end of summer, and as soon as the fire was lit, the coldness dispelled a little.

The little girl with the double-ringed bun hairstyle looked no more than 13 or 14 years old. Her eyes were still swollen from crying during the day, making her look like a goldfish. But at this moment, she was happy to find Miss Yang again. The little girl handed roasted bird eggs to Zanxing and said, “Miss, let’s get up early tomorrow, we should be able to meet the young master in Pingyang Town.”

“Yes,” the coachman, Lao(1) Niu followed suit, “The young master must be very worried about miss.” Once he said this, Zanxing didn’t even want to eat the roasted eggs.

The young master was Wang Shao, the young city lord of Yue City. In the novel “The Peak of Nine Heavens”, he was the fiancé of the female cannon fodder “Miss Yang”. He was vicious, lustful, domineering and arrogant. In the original novel, he was the first stop of the male lead’s face-slapping, and the hatred towards him was very stable. He was a proper villain character. The reason she remembered Wang Shao was probably because he was the fiancé of the female cannon fodder with her name.

Regardless of the grievances between Wang Shao and the male lead, Zanxing thought that he was at least good to “Miss Yang”. When the male lead returned ashore after his reborn, the first thing he did was to kill Wang Shao’s fiancée in front of him, thus forming a deathly feud with Wang Shao. For the sake of his dead fiancée, Wang Shao tried to kill the male lead and wanted to restrain him everywhere. Although Wang Shao was eventually killed, he was still an affectionate person.

Unexpectedly, when Zanxing returned ashore, she realized that the affectionate person had already run away with the carriage overnight on the day Zanxing fell into the water.

Anyone with a little friendship would think of rescuing her! Or at least leave a few servants behind. However, in the end, nothing was left behind except for the two servants of the Yang family. Even the carriage belonged to the Yang family. Was this something humans should do?

As if sensing Zanxing’s anger, Hongsu cautiously said, “Actually… the young master also has his own difficulties, and he is also afraid of hurting others. Don’t be sad, miss.”

Many girls in Yue City wanted to marry Wang Shao. After all, Wang Shao had a high level of cultivation, and his father was the city lord. His status was not bad, and he might even enter the cultivation sect. Miss Yang forced her way through these girls by virtue of her beauty, and finally got engaged to Wang Shao. Hongsu was worried that her young lady would be devastated by this, so she had no choice but to clumsily comfort her.

“I’m not sad about this.” Zanxing stroked her face, and as soon as her fingers touched it, she immediately felt a burning sensation. She was shot in the right cheek by the black liquid of the ‘Hu’ while underwater, and her right cheek was injured. She didn’t know if it would be dangerous.

Lao Niu said, “Our Yue City is a small place, and we haven’t seen many monsters normally. But Pingyang Town is different. Pingyang Town is at the foot of Gufeng Mountain, and Gufeng Mountain is the seat of Taiyan Sect. I heard that the people at Pingyang Town are well-informed, so someone must know what to do with the injury on the young lady’s face.”

“Yes,” Hongsu also encouraged, “and when you arrive at Pingyang Town, you will be able to see the young master. When the young master enters Taiyan Sect, there are countless elixirs in the sect, and he would definitely be able to find a way to cure the young lady’s face.”

Zanxing, “…”

She couldn’t tell the poor little girl that Wang Shao would fail the Taiyan Sect’s selection competition. He was defeated in the first test, and didn’t even touch the door of the sect.

Lao Niu fiddled with the branches in the fire, suddenly thought of something, and asked Zanxing, “By the way, miss, you were underwater, how did you escape?”

“I just,” Zanxing replied as she withdrew her thoughts, “I fell into a hole, found the exit, killed the monster and came back.” There was silence all around.

The flames licked the branches and made a “sizzling” sound.

After a long while, Lao Niu tremblingly asked, “Miss…killed that monster?”

“Yes,” Zanxing nodded, “My face was hurt at that time.”

“But…” Hongsu swallowed her saliva, “I heard from the young master that the monster’s cultivation level is equivalent to that of a cultivator in the late stage of Foundation Establishment. Miss, you have just stepped into Qi Refining…”

Moreover, she entered Qi Refining though the use of many spiritual elixirs and pills, which couldn’t represent true strength.

“Really? Maybe I broke through.” Zanxing calmly replied.

Hongsu and Lao Niu looked at each other, both were a little confused. They felt that… the young lady had become different from the past. In the past, Miss Yang was only interested in the young master. Rather than cultivating, it would be better to find more beautifying treatments. As she was born beautiful, she was admired by many since she was a child, so she had an arrogant temper. Apart from Hongsu, she would frequently beat and scold the other servants. But after returning today, she had become much calmer and gentler. Even towards Wang Shao, who had run away, she behaved very calmly. If it was in the past, Zanxing would be crying and scolding at the same time, cursing the eighteen generations of Wang Shao’s family.

Was she taken over by evil spirits? But there wouldn’t be such gentle and amiable evil spirits in the world.

“I heard that some monsters have been cultivating for many years, and their bodies will form demon cores. It is equivalent to the golden core of cultivators.” Lao Niu changed the subject.

“Demon core?” The girl’s attention seemed to be attracted by his words, and she turned her head sideways. Half of her face was beautiful and bright, but the other half was covered with several black marks, which looked a little terrifying under the dancing light from the fire.

Lao Niu sighed in his heart, such a good girl, but she was disfigured. The doctors in Pingyang Town were well-informed, but if her face couldn’t be saved, her life would be over.

He thought about his young lady’s worrisome future, and answered absent-mindedly, “Yes, there is sufficient energy in the demon core, and cultivators can absorb the energy in it, which is quite beneficial for their own cultivation. Some people say that a demon core is equivalent to a third-grade elixir.” After a pause, he continued, “However, there are very few monsters with demon cores, and it’s rare to see them…” As soon as he finished speaking, a white hand stretched out in front of him, and there was a blood red pill that was glowing in the palm of her hand.

Zanxing asked, “Is this it?”

—

(1) The primary meaning of “lao” is old. When used as a prefix to a name, it’s often a term of respect for the elderly.