Chapter 98: Entering the s.h.i.+eld
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
In the back courtyard of the Wei family household.
“Didn’t Tan Zhi, first young master of the Tan family, go to find s.h.i.+ Yu? Why isn’t he back?” Many of the grand family sons who had gathered were beginning to feel perplexed that s.h.i.+ Yu had yet to come, while Tan Zhi had not come back either.
“It’s been so long… even if Tan Zhi had walked slowly from here to the s.h.i.+ family household, he would’ve returned by now.”
“What’s the situation?”
“Could it be that s.h.i.+ Yu ran into Yang Zixi on the way here?”
“Maybe.”
…
Most of those present were gossiping among themselves. None of them thought that s.h.i.+ Yu had not dared to come, but rather some special circ.u.mstances had occurred. s.h.i.+ Yu was the first young master of the tyc.o.o.n s.h.i.+ family, while that teenager in white was not even from a grand family. n.o.body would have thought that s.h.i.+ Yu had not dared to come.
“Looks like Sister Jiapei did not listen to our warnings.” If there was anyone present who thought that s.h.i.+ Yu had not dared to come, it would be today’s host, first young master of the Wei family, Wei Hongtao. Just now, as the young man in white was leaving, he was about to stop him but was stopped by Ren Jiapei, first lady of the Ren family.
Then, Ren Jiapei had told him mysteriously that s.h.i.+ Yu would not dare to come. Naturally, he did not believe her. But now, it appeared that Ren Jiapei was probably speaking the truth.
“This young man… who is he?” Wei Hongtao did not believe that it was a coincidence. The city was huge, and the chances that s.h.i.+ Yu had b.u.mped into the teenager on the way were slim. Furthermore, even if they had run into each other, why didn’t Tan Jiazhi return to find his brother, Tan Li?
Wei Hongtao glanced at Tan Li but overheard him telling the rest that his cousin, s.h.i.+ Yu must have run into the teenager on the way.
With nothing left to watch, many of the guests left after bidding Wei Hongtao farewell.
“That Yang Zixi would rather fall for an average teenager than get together with Young Master s.h.i.+ Yu… do you think she is a fool?” laughed Zheng Qiuhe, third lady of the Zheng family. To her, anyone beneath a grand family was nothing different from an average teenager.
“She used to find Young Master s.h.i.+ Yu too much of a playboy… but which capable man does not have multiple wives?”
“In my opinion, that Yang Zixi is just playing hard to get… or maybe after the teenager she’s with dies in s.h.i.+ Yu’s hands, then she will realize that family background is the most important thing in this world.”
“Indeed. That teenager may be talented in martial arts, but what use can that be?”
“If Young Master s.h.i.+ Yu finds out about how he flirted with Yang Zixi, he’ll be done for!”
…
The people ridiculing Yang Zixi with Zheng Qiuhe were all the grand ladies who used to be sworn sisters with Yang Zixi. in the past, they had been jealous that s.h.i.+ Yu had taken a fancy to Yang Zixi. but because she used to be the first lady of the Yang family and of the same status as them, they had not dared to show their jealousy. Now that Yang Zixi had been chased out of the Yang family, they were free to express the jealousy that they had repressed for so long.
…
In the depths of the Lost Forest.
“In front of us is the territory of the two golden-crowned eagles… after going around it, we know that the spirit fruit appeared within their territory.” Surrounding the territory of the master of the forest, the two golden-crowned eagles, many people had gathered at different places to peer within fearfully.
“Commander Xue, the spirit fruit should be inside the territory of the golden-crowned eagles; should we take the risk?” asked a white-haired old man in a grey robe as he looked at the man in front of him.
The man was around fifty years old, with a fearsome face. He was in a silver robe, with a sword hanging at his waist. He was none other than the commander of the city’s army, Xue Meng. He was also one of the few adepts approaching perfection of the gathered qi within the Chu royal household, and he had come here on the orders of the Chu King.
“We lost our chance,” sighed Xue Meng.
“Hm?” Just as the old man in grey was wondering what he had meant, he saw a black figure race towards them from the bamboo forest in the distance. As it got closer, they could see that it was a ma.s.sive black eagle with a golden crown, circling them from above. Even from this distance, its eyes were murderously sharp.
Whoos.h.!.+
Soon, another identical eagle appeared, but this one’s golden crown was not as dark as the previous one.
Seeing the two ma.s.sive eagles circling them above, the old man gulped. He knew that these were the masters of the Lost Forest, the two golden-crowned eagles of petty consummation of the gathered qi.
“Sirs, we have no intention of entering your territory,” shouted Xue Meng as he stared seriously at the two eagles above.
Just as the old man in grey was thinking that Xue Meng had achieved nothing, the two golden-crowned eagles flashed them a nasty look and turned to leave.
“They… understood you?” The old man was incredulous. He could not help but question, “Commander Xue… I thought only connate demons could attain intelligence? Why does it seem like… these two golden-crowned eagles already have intelligence?”
Typically, demons could only attain intelligence after reaching the connate stage, and only if the demons were of a certain background.
“Usually, only connate stage demons can attain intelligence… but these two eagles are different. Although they have only achieved petty consummation of the gathered qi, they have already attained it,” answered Xue Meng.
“Let’s head back… since the spirit fruit appeared in their territory, we cannot touch it. Even if all the adepts approaching perfection in the royal household came along together, we would hardly be able to steal it beneath their watchful eyes.” Xue Meng sighed heavily and turned to leave.
The old man turned to look again inside, then turned and caught up with Xue Meng. Even Xue Meng, a great consummate adept, did not dare to enter the eagles’ territory. He was just a level-nine adept and stood even less of a chance of getting out alive.
As Xue Meng and the old man were leaving, all the people sent by the other inferior and superior tyc.o.o.n families were also being stopped outside of the eagles’ territory. Initially, they had all considered taking the risk. But when they saw the two golden-crowned eagles a.s.serting their dominance in front of them, they all turned to leave hurriedly, as if afraid that the eagles would attack them.
Soon, the two eagles had circled their territory and scared away all those who had been drawn to the unnatural spirit in the forest.
“These fools must have come thinking that a spirit fruit has appeared,” laughed the darker-colored golden-crowned eagle as he spoke in demon tongue.
“If they knew that the unnatural spirit was caused by a yuan-tier lady, they would probably wet their pants,” added the other eagle.
“Something’s not right!” Suddenly, the eagles ahead drew back. “Second Brother, there’s something moving in there… someone has breached our territory!”
Immediately, the two eagles flew towards the depths of their territory. When they reached the edge of the fog, they were just in time to see a white figure pa.s.s through the fog. However, it was as if the fog had completely ignored him and did not produce any blinding white light to attack him.
“How is that possible?!” Seeing this, the two eagles looked at each other in disbelief.
“Could it be… the s.h.i.+eld has lost its effect?” The two eagles were about to rush in as well, but just as they neared the s.h.i.+eld, they were forced back by the blinding white light from the fog. The white light was as scary as it was before.
“Maybe there’s an entrance there?” The two eagles turned to enter from where the white figure had bypa.s.sed the s.h.i.+eld but were turned away by the fog again. The blinding white light from the fog was so powerful, it was no different from an attack from a connate adept and far more powerful than they could resist.
“How did that lad… go in just now?”
“If I saw correctly, he was just a teenager.”
The two eagles stared at each other blankly. They could not fathom how a teenager could possibly breach the s.h.i.+eld. The fog completely covered their vision, and they could not see within.
That scary lady must have put up the s.h.i.+eld to prevent anyone from entering… now that the lad went in, he will definitely be killed by her! thought the two eagles.
The figure who had entered the s.h.i.+eld was none other than Zhou Donghuang. Although he was just an adept of the gathered qi, with his impressive history, he still had some knowledge of s.h.i.+elds. The s.h.i.+eld that had appeared here was only the lowest level of s.h.i.+elds. Even at his level, with some effort, he could easily enter the s.h.i.+eld unharmed.