Chapter 6 : To Steal a Rafter and Replace it with a Column (1)

A night had pa.s.sed, Xu Xing Zhi recovered some of his vitality. Even though his kneecaps were trembling slightly, he was at least able to stand stably.

The gold chain on his wrist had disappeared after a wave from Meng Zhong Guang. The strange thing was there were no red marks left by the tied up area nor was there much pain when he moved about.

Xu Xing Zhi got out of bed and found out that the bathtub was filled with hot water that was still steaming hot waves.

He was not polite either and took a bath without a moment"s hesitation. After a slight grooming and tidying, he touched at the folding fan at the bedhead and went out for a walk.

Outside the tower, a patter of fine rain was drifting slowly. As soon as he left the tower gate, Xu Xing Zhi saw a head that was exposed above the ground. A Zhou Bei Nan that was overflowing with resentment.

Zhou Bei Nan"s face turned green when he saw him yet he was unable to move his line of sight. He could only fiercely glanced upward from the ground.

Somehow, Xu Xing Zhi felt like teasing him when he saw Zhou Bei Nan"s gnashing his teeth.

He squatted down and said with concern: "What is this?"

Lu Yu Jiu who was using a banana leaf to shield Zhou Bei Nan from the rain obediently told Xu Xing Zhi: "Because he played with Senior Brother yesterday, he was punished by Meng Zhong Guang until now."

Hearing the whole story, Xu Xing Zhi then used the fan to fan Zhou Bei Nan and he rejoiced in his misfortune: "That"s really hard for you."

Zhou Bei Nan"s face was written full of "Scram".

And Xu Xing Zhi felt like bully him more because of this.

He wanted to reach out and touch Zhou Bei Nan"s head but he only felt emptiness. This then reminded him that Zhou Bei Nan was long dead and what he saw right now was only a soul. A mortal man simply could not touch him at all.

Xu Xing Zhi had a little sympathy rising from his heart but Zhou Bei Nan stared at him and said: "… Xu Xing Zhi, just you wait, wait until I come out and strangle you to death."

Xu Xing Zhi"s sympathy vanished in an instant.

He conveniently picked up a bunch of hairs that was hanging from his sideburns and laughed at Zhou Bei Nan: "Official, why don"t you come?"

Zhou Bei Nan was so disgusted that he would wait to climb out ond use his hand on this scourge immediately.

He was having fun teasing at Zhou Bei Nan when he suddenly heard a girl"s voice singing in the forest vaguely. The voice was wonderful, silky, like an oriole. It was occasionally echoing with the sounds of bamboo as if it was accompanied by the sounds of a drum.

He slowly walked over to discover a bamboo forest. He turned between the bamboo stalks until he found the Skeleton Girl who was proficient at medicinal treatment.

Her eyes met Xu Xing Zhi"s gaze and the singing instantly stopped. Her bone joints trembled all over.

She stared at him without blinking for a long time before the Skeleton Girl suddenly realized something. She turned and fled into the bamboo forest.

Xu Xing Zhi remembered that he did write about a woman in his book who specialized in unusual medicinal treatment and she was indeed a body of bones.

If someone was injured, she can transfer those injuries to herself as long as the injuries did not reach into the bones and the injured would be able to recover. Yesterday, she removed all the burns injuries from Meng Zhong Guang using this technique.

But Xu Xing Zhi was not clear as to how she and the original owner was a.s.sociated. As long as she saw him, she seemed to only want to invariably avoid and was unwilling to meet him.

Lu Yu Jiu gazed at the back of the Skeleton Girl and looked at Xu Xing Zhi again. He softly asked: "Senior Brother, do you not recognize her?"

Half of Lu Yu Jiu"s face was covered by the fierce ghost mask. Xu Xing Zhi could not see his expression but he could hear the unspeakable regret in his tone.

"Who is she?" Xu Xing Zhi asked.

Zhou Bei Nan clicked his tongue, signaling Lu Yu Jiu not to talk.

Lu Yu Jiu pursed his lips: "She intentionally told us last night not to tell you."

… But what was so hard to guess this?

The long green ribbon on the Skeleton Girl was just like the one on Meng Zhong Guang. That must be a special relic of Fengling Mountain.

Her body of bones was completely washed cleanly and it was as white as jade. Even if she only had left a head of long hair, she still would comb it properly before going out. She must be someone who treasured beauty.

In Xu Xing Zhi"s fragmented memory that was indeed such a beautiful woman, surname Yuan, called Yuan Ru Zhou. She was the youngest junior sister in Fengling Mountain. She was like the flower that triumphed over beauty. Her appearance was as bright as clouds and she had a good temperament that was lively and smiling.

Yet she was only left with a body of bones, singing in the woods.

Xu Xing Zhi had an idea in his heart but he pretended to be ignorant. He shook his fan and smiled: "That"s strange, I can"t guess who is she. But, by just looking at the bones, she must be an excellent beauty."

Zhou Bei Nan who was buried in the ground disdainly said: "…Which woman is the world is not a beauty in your eyes?"

Xu Xing Zhi folded the fan back and said: "Every woman in the world has their own beauty. Some beauty lies in the skin and some beauty lies in the bone, and you naturally do not understand this principle."

The Skeleton Girl who was hiding in the woods heard every word of Xu Xing Zhi.

With hot tears rolling down, she turned and ran.

Her white soles stepped on the dry leaves, creating a rustling sound.

He had enough of teasing Zhou Bei Nan so Xu Xing Zhi went to take a walk around the tower. He was still thinking about his own worries.

Everything here was different from what he imagined, there was no grand scene of unending disciples nor ghosts everywhere. It was just a lonely tower.

Meng Zhong Guang had been in the wilderness for more than ten years but he had never trained any of his underlings. This was really a mystery to Xu Xing Zhi.

In Xu Xing Zhi"s view, this was not like a chasm for a dragon to hide or a cave for tigers to have their lair, but more like a place to rest and dwell comfortably. And this place was only for Meng Zhong Guang and several of his good friends to stay.

Nevertheless, from those barbarians who came to hara.s.s them yesterday, their lives were not particularly clean anyway.

It was unknown where Meng Zhong Guang went but Zhou Bei Nan was still planted in the ground with Lu Yu Jiu next to him. Zhou w.a.n.g was also missing and even the ghost servants controlled by Lu Yu Jie was hidden away.

Xu Xing Zhi tucked his fan inside his sleeve and wandered like a young master stolling in the opera house, feeling rather bored.

It"s annoying, he didn"t want to play anymore, he wanted to go home.

After walking a round, Xu Xing Zhi picked a dry place and sat down with his legs stretched out. He said with a loud voice: "… Come out."

Xu Xing Zhi was aware that someone was following him since he left the tower.

But the man who was following him was like a gentleman, silent, not far nor near. He was quite patient in fact.

After being revealed, someone came out of the tower.

Xu Xing Zhi made an exclamation of surprise.

This person was not Meng Zhong Guang like he imagined but an unfamiliar face. He was even dressed like a young scholar.

He was dressed in a brown robe which was washed till white but it won in being clean. His hand held a white duster(2).

His facial feature was very beautiful as if he was born for these three words "gentle as jade".

The person walked to the side of Xu Xing Zhi and there was a slight curve in his eyebrows as he greeted: "… Xing Zhi."

Xu Xing Zhi concentrate as he thought, he flashed all the characters he wrote in his story in his mind until he roughly determined his ident.i.ty. His eyebrows were slightly wrinkled.

He patted at his side, indicating the person to sit down and the person sat down. His sitting appearance was very disciplined; he had a straight line of sight and his back was relaxed. Xu Xing Zhi felt that when compared to his manner, his was no different to a puddle of mud.

But of course, he had no intention to correct his posture.

Xu Xing Zhi recalled the name he heard from Meng Zhong Guang yesterday and tried to put the name in its right place: "Qu Chi?"

Obviously, Xu Xing Zhi"s luck was not bad to be able to guess in one stroke.

The person gave a warm and pleasant smile: "… En,"

Xu Xing Zhi sighed again.

… It was really him.

Qu Chi was very gently and his tone was also very warm alike to the water filtered from a clear with light rippled stream: "… Zhong Guang told me to follow you and protect you."

Xu Xing Zhi could not play any tricks in front of him: "Thank you."

Qu Chi good-heartedly reminded: "You sitting position is not very appropriate."

Xu Xing Zhi continued to have no qualms and lazily said: "This is comfortable."

He spoke with ease but his eyes remained on Qu Chi.

Qu Chi naturally does not know what Xu Xing Zhi was thinking. He touched his pockets twice and politely invited him: "… Candies for you."

With this, he showed his opened palm to Xu Xing Zhi.

There lay two pieces of colorful glazed paper wrapped on something.

Xu Xing Zhi took a piece and unfolded the glazed paper. He found a small stone as big as a nail cap lying inside.

Qu Chi eagerly recommended: "It"s very delicious."

Xu Xing Zhi poured the stone into his palm and weighted it twice. He asked: "… Is this candy?"

Qu Zhi nodded and swore: "Yes, I want to eat candy. This is what Ah w.a.n.g found for me. She said this is called candy."

Xu Xing Zhi placed with the small stone and realized that this stone was washed very cleanly.

He confirmed with Qu Chi again: "… You won"t swallow the candy, right?"

Qu Chi obediently answered: "No swallowing, Ah w.a.n.g and Tao Xian don"t let me swallow. They say it"s not good."

Xu Xing Zhi affirmed: "That"s right, don"t swallow when you are eating candies."

He no longer hesitated and very naturally toss the candy into his mouth and Qu Chi was elated.

Qu Chi took the remaining small stone and suck in his mouth, the blissful expression was not like a mature adult but of a young kid.

The stone naturally did not have any taste but Xu Xing Zhi pretended to eat with relish.

Speaking of it, Xu Xing Zhi"s perception of Qu Zhi was really different from the rest.

When he saw Zhou Bei Nan, as he was too eager to kill himself so Xu Xing Zhi did not have many strong emotional fluctuations for him.

When he saw Meng Zhong Guang, he head was filled with thoughts of the "Knowledge of the World" who tasked him to kill the villains, so he was too nervous to produce any additional thoughts.

However, when he saw Qu Chi, Xu Xing Zhi"s mood was not so stable.

Because Qu Chi was the only person in the story that Xu Xing Zhi had set a background.

Combined with the scarce memory of the original owner, Xu Xing Zhi learned that he was originally the Eldest Senior Brother of Danyang Peak. He was attacked by devil cultivators and beaten until he suffered from mind illness.

In other words, Qu Chi"s mind was at most five to six years old, he could not even differentiate between candies and stones.

Xu Xing Zhi guessed that thirteen years ago, due to his mental disability, he helped Meng Zhong Guang to steal the magic artifacts and hence, was exiled into the wilderness.

Seeing Qu Chi, Xu Xing Zhi couldn"t help but thought that if only he had written a positive and interesting story, maybe this group of people would be much happier now, instead of being trapped in this huge prison where those who were crazy went crazy, those who were paranoid went paranoid and those who are foolish went foolish.

As Xu Xing Zhi was entertaining all sort of ideas in his head, Qu Chi who was sharing the candies with him suddenly changed his expression. He shook away the dust in his hand and stood in front of Xu Xing Zhi.

Xu Xing Zhi had yet to respond when numerous plum blossom blades(3) came rushing from the right side and attacked like a flowing fire. They were like a torrential rain hitting Qu Chi"s duster with a loud sound.

Qu Chi"s wrist flied up and down, he moved with ease and coiled around. With a pull and a shake, the duster shoot back the blades that came so sneakly.

Immediately, there were several screams echoing out from the forest. It sounded like they were penetrated into sieve by their own blades.

With one hand brushing the duster and the other hand pulling out a Yuchang sword(4) at his waist. Qu Chi was on guard and he faced the forest where the blades came from and ordered Xu Xing Zhi: "Quickly go back to the tower. Meng Zhong Guang have said that if anything happened to you, he will take all my candies away."

… What a really severe punishment.

Xu Xing Zhi suspected that in Qu Chi"s eyes, he was a big walking candy.

Unspoken critisicm might be unspoken critisicm, Xu Xing Zhi still knew his own weight. Naturally, he would not stay here and be a hinder. He was about to run away, but his arms was caught by a figure that flashed from the middle of the road.

Xu Xing Zhi could not help but panicked.

Qu Chi immmediately turned his head back and saw who the person was. He nervous expression became calmer: "Zhong Guang, bring Xing Zhi back to the tower."

"Meng Zhong Guang" showed a cold smile when he heard this.

The hand that held his arm was so hard that Xu Xing Zhi felt something was wrong.

He raised his eyes and saw "Meng Zhong Guang" eyes shone with a wolf-like yellow.

The person grinned at himself, with two sharp canine teeth protruding like a carnivorous monster. He confronted the newly captured muntjac(5) under his paw, and wondered where to start first.

Xu Xing Zhi was shocked and said to Qu Chi: "Wait, He"s not…"

Qu Chi cleanly did not notice anything, he pushed Xu Xing Zhi to "Meng Zhong Guang" embrace: "Quickly go back to the tower."

Xu Xing Zhi"s heart was cold but the chill had yet to penetrate into the bottom of his heart when the arrogant smile of the person in front of him froze.

His body uncontrollably fell forward and Xu Xing Zhi nimbly dodged. He watched him fall and convulsed.

— The connection between his fourth vertebra and his fifth vertebra was clearly broken and there was a finger-deep hole in it.

The real Meng Zhong Guang stood behind him and slowly wiped his hands with a handkerchief before he gently pulled Xu Xing Zhi back to his side: "Senior Brother, did you get any injuries?"

Xu Xing Zhi shook his head with undecided fright and looked at the fake Meng Zhong Guang on the ground.

The struggling "Meng Zhong Guang" on the floor facial features twisted for a while before it regained back its original appearance; Back to a man with sallow complexion and a messy bread.

The Animal Hide Man"s back was broken and the pain was unbearable. He gritted his teeth and muttered: "Meng Zhong Guang, why are you here…"

Meng Zhong Guang squatted down and grabbed his hair. There was a smile in his face: "If I always stay in the tower, how can I know who will lay hands on my Senior Brother when I am not around?"

The Animal Hide Man"s throat was soaked in blood and he was horribly hoa.r.s.e: “Just now… The scout clearly said you were on the Blue Bridge Slope a hundred miles away.

Meng Zhong Guang"s reply was too casual, like he was making a trivial joke: "Just a hundred miles. I ran very fast."

The Animal Hide Man knew he was going to die and he exhausted all his strength to make a terrible roar: "Meng Zhong Guang, you demon-"

Meng Zhong Guang"s face remained unchanged and he fingers knotted. A faint smile on his face as he sliced into the Animal Hide Man"s spine. The yet to be spoken curses turned into a terrible scream.

"You used my face to hug my Senior Brother." Meng Zhong Guang said. "Are you wishing for death? No, that"s too good for you."

He blocked in front of Xu Xing Zhi like he was cracking open a walnut and knocked the Animal Hide Man"s spine into debris.

The Animal Hide Man had long fainted and after Meng Zhong Guang kneaded the animal skin man into a ma.s.s of mud, he ordered the Qu Chi who was slightly at loss: "Qu Chi, bring back all those people in the mountain to me. Make sure they remain alive. I"ll send them to death myself."

The author has something to said:  

Angel Qu Chi has come online.

Qu Chi(angel smile) : Please eat my candies~

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