Chapter 41: Mu Chen responded with a hum, the tips of his ears getting red against his cold face. (1/2)

Translator: DragonRider

Chu Qianshuang was startled.

‘I’m such a bigmouth! Now I just wooed grand martial uncle a pursuer whose eyes are virtually filled with obsession. This person looks exactly the same as second martial uncle gets angry with master.’

Thinking like that, Chu Qianshuang immediately took to his heels and rushed to report a message to Mu Chen.

‘What if the red-dressed person forces grand martial uncle? Grand martial uncle is so warm-hearted that he will certainly suffer! Terrible!’

Mu Chen just finished checking his disciple’s physical condition when Chu qianshuang landed beside him with a worried look.

Liu Hanzhi also turned to look at them.

‘My own disciple, who I’ve raised up myself, isn’t intimate with me but gets along quite well with Mu Chen and Duanmu Feng. Grass is indeed always greener on the other side of the fence. Such an unfilial child does need a spanking.’

Chu Qianshuang looked around and set a boundary to block outsiders’ vision. Then he told Mu Chen all his understandings about the matter at one sitting. He kindly reminded Mu Chen to be as discreet as possible to avoid the red-dressed man in any case, “The man wears a red robe, very much like the so-called coquettish bitch that is hard to get rid of. If in any case grand martial uncle is pestered by him, do remember to send a distress signal!”

Mu Chen felt a terrible disgust all over his body. Although he didn’t believe Chu Qianshuang, he decided to kick off whoever in red trying to pester him.

In the midnight, the somewhat low pressure and the dark clouds rolling in the sky implied a heavy rain was about to pour down. Mu Chen stood by the window and looked out at the scenery—the dark night added a solemnness to the vermilion of Yanyang Palace so that everything around seemed more tranquil.

Since Jing Ming left, Yanyang Palace suddenly quieted down, for which Mu Chen had felt a little unaccustomed.

Black Egg fluttered its wings back after looking for food at somewhere. Knowing that the rain was coming, it stood on the windowsill for a rest, with its eyes closed. Sensing Mu Chen in a daze, it opened one eye to have a look, then took out a golden pearl hidden under its wings and passed it on to Mu Chen with its wings.

Mu Chen felt puzzled, ”What is this?”

Black Egg whispered, ”The demon core of a gold serpent, which I heard can be used to concoct pills. It’s for you!”

Mu Chen pinched it up for a look, abundant gold elements converging in the palm of his hand. Demon cores were more stable and less likely to drain off efficacy than many spirit pills. Therefore, many pill alchemists deliberately reared spiritual beasts in captivity for that purpose, and then killed them to harvest the core so long as they had born one, which Mu Chen had always looked down upon.

‘Only fools will use such a bloody method to kill spiritual lives for cores. A truly talented pill alchemist can bring wonders with spiritless things, without the necessity of killing creatures that have been fostered with elaboration.”

Black Egg looked around and found Gu Yunjue was not there. Then it dared to speak without inhibition, bragging with much proud, ”First I did this…, then I… and… Bang! Bang! Bang! …I finally finished off the serpent of core formation stage. It crawled around my thighs calling me ‘daddy…daddy’ to ask for mercy, though, I didn’t give it any chance to escape from my palm, since I am such a righteous bird.” Picturing a serpent hugging its claws crying for mercy, Black Egg shook its pronged feet up and down with self-satisfaction.

‘Damn! I was so domineering!’

Mu Chen frowned on that cumbersome statement, ”Your voice sounds so terrible!”

Black Egg hastened to cover its mouth with the wings and scanned around with round red eyes to check if Gu Yunjue was there.

”But it's possible to be cured,” Mu Chen seemed absorbed in deep thought before an inspiration suddenly occurred to him. ”Come with me,” he said to Black Egg.

Black Egg followed Mu Chen into the pill concocting room. Compared with Gu Yunjue who had capricious moods, Mu Chen, the so-called bad-tempered, seemed to be the embodiment of the word ”tenderness” in its eyes. Moreover, Mu Chen had such a pure soul, the purest at least among the immortals Black Egg had met, that it couldn’t possibly resist.

Mu Chen fiddled about for a while and finally got a black ointment as big as Black Egg's nails. He fed Black Egg with it, chuckling with satisfaction, ”The effect only lasts for ten days.”

Black Egg, “Chirp?”

‘Hell! How can I make such a noise?!’

***

Just back from the main peak, Gu Yunjue stopped suddenly at the entrance of Yanyang Palace. He looked at the West with a strange feeling, instantly turned around and found the one who had been waiting for him for a long time. A sense of teasing appeared on this young man’s beautiful face, ”Why haven’t left yet? You want to give me something else?”

Gu Yunjin’s face froze, his heart gripped by a sudden dull pain, ”I suddenly recalled something before leaving and thought it would be better to tell you.”

Gu Yunjue stood still without responding, seemingly very interested.

Gu Yunjin continued, ”The devil world is capturing pill alchemists, among whom Mu Chen is listed in the first place, as he is Danyang Zi’s disciple after all. You’d better pay attention to it.”

As soon as Gu Yunjin finished, Gu Yunjue drew the sword out of its sheath, a cold light flashing before eyes. Then a black-dressed man fell between them with a bang. From the irrepressible devil breath on his body, Gu Yunjin instantly recognized him from the devil realm.

Snickering faintly, Gu Yunjue stepped his delicate white boot on the man’s chest; gentle as his move might seem, the creepy sounds of bone cracking could sent chills down the spines. The person under his feet convulsed painfully, his mouth open, where the dark red blood mixed with the fluid of broken viscera flew out irrepressibly, his eyes filled with blood streaks, and his face twisted. However, he, out of fear and pain, couldn’t even make any sound. Gu Yunjue uttered in a strangely unhurried manner, without any fluctuation on the face, ”Tut, caught another one.”

Before Gu Yunjin said anything, this young man suddenly stretched out his juvenile hand, exposing the slender fingers with well-proportioned knuckles. But his next action thrilled the other deeply through the heart. Gu Yunjue hung his fair palm over the black-dressed man and grasped in empty, extracting the man’s soul out. Then as he moved his foot, red flames emerged from the ground and incinerated the man’s body into ashes.

The beautiful white-dressed young man smiled at Gu Yunjin and took out a transparent sphere from the space ring, where more than a dozen black souls wailing mournfully were imprisoned. They clung to the wall and tried desperately to break through the barrier for freedom. Unfortunately, what they had been able to crush at will was now an insurmountable obstacle. No matter how hard they struggled, the sphere wouldn’t move the slightest, and they were just like an ant trying so hard to shake a tree but without result.

Then Gu Yunjue stuffed another soul in it with an innocent smile, ”They could just serve as food for my spiritual pet after being interrogated. Will my elder brother come and stay with me for a few days?”

Looking at the undisguised malice in Gu Yunjue’s eyes, Gu Yunjin shook his head with a hollow laugh.

‘Stay for a few days? Perhaps, I’ll be casted to feed birds by this little brother in human’s shell. His proficiency indicates he must have extracted many souls…’

Gu Yunjue spread his palms regretfully, his pure and white robe presenting him as an innocent teenager, ”What a pity!” With that said, Gu Yunjue licked the corner of his lips like a coveting monster, as if he’d seen the essence of the other’s soul through the skin, which chilled Gu Yunjin to leave as soon as possible.