232: Chapter 232 They Came with Knives

Su Chen roared inwardly.

The “Instant Teleportation” skill, which had been ready to go, activated with full power.

In an instant.

The space around him twisted violently.

The next moment, his figure vanished from where he stood.

The light sphere, thrown half a beat late, was not only meant to save Su Chen’s life but also to restrict his movements.

But now, only an empty space remained within the cover.

All attacks missed, striking the light barrier and erupting into deafening roars.

However, that light barrier was a very high-grade extraordinary item.

Those attacks, powerful enough to annihilate an Eleventh Tier, didn't even break the surface of the light barrier.

Otherwise, these Men in Black wouldn't have dared to attack with full force.

The alley ground was blasted into huge, deep pits by the aftermath, and smoke and dust filled the air.

When the smoke and dust cleared.

All the Men in Black saw it with despair.

The empty ground in the center of the light barrier.

“What?!”

The Man in Black shouted sharply.

“Chase!”

“He used spatial Instant Teleportation, and his divine sense seems to be hidden by something. I can't detect his exact location, but he can't be too far.”

“Immediately seal off the nearby area and search!”

However, at this moment.

A green stream of light descended from the sky at an astonishing speed, landing at the alley entrance.

The stream of light dispersed, revealing a slender and graceful figure.

The newcomer was completely enveloped in a large black cloak, with the hood pulled low.

Against the close-fitting black cloak, the newcomer's figure appeared exceptionally curvaceous.

Large chest, ample hips.

The most exquisite feature was her slender waist, like a water snake.

Under her tight clothing, it presented an almost perfect streamline.

At the edge of her hood, a few strands of soft green hair were visible.

As well as a small part of an exquisitely beautiful face.

“Where is he?”

The green-haired woman suddenly looked up, her emerald snake eyes now filled with rage.

She looked at the Men in Black in the alley, who had just recovered from their astonishment and were about to disperse to search.

“Where is he?”

“I told you to ‘invite’ him over, just to scare him a bit and temporarily stop him here.”

“What did you do? Why did you scare him away?”

The alley fell silent.

Those Men in Black, who had just been full of killing intent, froze in unison the moment the green-haired woman appeared.

Facing the woman's questioning, they offered no defense or vigilance.

Like children who had done something wrong, they lowered their heads in shame.

But if one looked closely, the eyes revealed beneath the masks of these Men in Black were almost entirely filled with grievance.

Immediately after, these Men in Black all raised their hands, removed the featureless masks from their faces, and pulled off their hoods.

Beneath the masks were young, beautiful female faces.

Upon closer inspection, most of the Men in Black had faint non-human features on their faces.

Their skin was delicate and fair, their features exquisite, their pupils mostly vertical, and their ears slightly pointed compared to ordinary people.

There were even a few fine snake scales adorning their temples or the backs of their hands, mostly in shades of green and white.

However, these scales, when adorning these women, did not appear ferocious; instead, they added a touch of beauty.

At this moment, each of these snake women had a face that was half shame and half grievance.

On one hand, they dared not look directly at the green-haired beauty, but on the other, they occasionally couldn't help but glance up at her.

“Green Ancestor, please calm your anger!”

The leading snake woman, whose aura was the strongest, also revealed her true appearance at this moment.

She was a beautiful and mature woman with a dark green diamond-shaped scale on her forehead.

She knelt on one knee and whispered.

“We… we were also acting entirely according to your instructions, Green Ancestor.”

“We are all at least Tenth Tier, and his cultivation is only Seventh Tier. Logically, he absolutely couldn't have dodged our attacks or resisted them in any other way…”

“We originally intended to throw out our White Snake Cult's supreme treasure to protect him just before he was attacked, but who would have thought that a Seventh Tier martial artist like him would possess such a bizarre escape technique…”

“Restrain, you call that restraining?”

The green-haired woman, referred to as “Green Ancestor,” was so angry that her pretty face turned pale, and her eyes almost spewed fire.

She pointed at the huge deep pit on the ground and the messy scene around them.

“You were trying to blast him to smithereens!”

Seeing no one explain, the Green Ancestor spun around, indignantly saying.

“I repeatedly emphasized not to harm him in the slightest; did you completely ignore it?”

“You… you!”

The other black-robed snake women exchanged glances at this scene.

The leading snake woman sighed and bowed slightly.

“Green Ancestor… didn’t you say yourself that if we couldn’t scare him, we should attack him with full force, since that item could keep him safe…”

“You said that yourself back then, and we just did as you said…”

Upon hearing this, a trace of unnatural embarrassment flashed across the Green Ancestor's face.

“Right, right, right… it seems I really did say that.”

“Damn it… damn it… I’ve lived for thousands of years, yet whenever it concerns him, I become so forgetful, so irrational, so thoughtless…”

As she spoke, her pretty face was a mix of red and white, and she stomped her foot in agitation, her voice somewhat choked.

“Yes, Young Master Su, it’s all your fault, all your fault for protecting Xiao Qing so well back then…”

The emotional moment ended, and the Green Ancestor suddenly turned around to face the other snake women.

“Do you know who he is?”

“Although he currently has no memories, he is the ancestor of our White Snake lineage.”

“He is the ancestor worshipped by all existing snake clans.”

“If it weren't for the chaos caused by the fake White Snake Cult recently, we still wouldn't know where to find him.”

“A thousand years, almost a thousand years…”

“You probably don't know, but Big Sister Bai… she's almost gone!”

Ignoring the astonished expressions on the other snake women's faces, Xiao Qing continued speaking to herself.

“Her last wish is to see him again.”

“Just like that misty evening a thousand years ago by West Lake in Qiantang…”

By the end of Xiao Qing’s words, her eyes were tearful, and her voice was choked with emotion.

She suddenly raised a hand to wipe away the moisture from the corners of her eyes.

Taking a deep breath, she forcefully suppressed her turbulent emotions and sternly said to the snake women.

“Why are you all still standing there foolishly?”

“Disperse immediately, with this as the center, a hundred li radius.”

“No, three hundred li.”

“Search for him.”

“Dig three feet deep; you must find the Ancestor!”

“Remember, once you find him, immediately send me a message and follow him from a distance. Absolutely do not disturb him again, and do not reveal your identities.”

“If anything goes wrong again… you will go and apologize to Big Sister Bai yourselves!”

“Yes, Green Ancestor!”

The snake women responded solemnly, then their figures transformed into several streams of light of various colors, shooting out in all directions.

Vanishing instantly into the horizon.

Xiao Qing stood alone in the messy alley.

Looking in the direction Su Chen disappeared.

“Young Master Su… where… where exactly are you…?”

“Big Sister Bai… she…”

“Really can't wait much longer.”

Fine raindrops, like a curtain of water, suddenly seeped down from the makeshift wires above the alley.

Xiao Qing looked up at the gloomy sky, fragmented by crisscrossing lines.

Feeling the chaotic rain streams patting her slightly flushed face.

So… warm.

The last time it was this warm.

Was when she was still called “Xiao Qing.”

In a trance, it was as if she saw a thousand years ago again.

That boundless, lingering misty rain that enveloped Qiantang for three months.

Beneath the fine rain curtain that day.

At the foot of Gushan Mountain by West Lake.

In a secluded bamboo pavilion, half over the water.

She, Big Sister Bai, Young Master Su.

Three people.

The tea in the pot had already boiled for the third time.

“Young Master Su… are you truly leaving?”

The pleading voice was Big Sister Bai’s.

It was a rare sight for Xiao Qing to see Big Sister Bai, who was always gentle and strong, show such a pleading expression.

“Mm.”

She couldn't help but interject.

“Young Master Su, those bald donkeys from Jinshan Temple are too much.”

“By what right?”

“Just because Big Sister Bai is a demon and married you, a mortal…”

“She has to suffer this ‘Flooding Jinshan’ heavenly tribulation?”

“It was clearly Fahai who meddled, so why should Big Sister Bai be the one to be suppressed in Leifeng Pagoda?”

“And you still want to… to… you… I…”

“Xiao Qing.”

“Many things in this world are not based on ‘why’.”

“Rules are set by them, and reasons are given by them.”

“Right and wrong… sometimes aren’t that important.”

“But…”

The straightforward Xiao Qing, just like today.

Her eyes were already subtly misty.

“This isn’t fair.”

“Big Sister Bai has never harmed anyone. She practiced medicine as a demon in Qiantang and saved so many people.”

“Why should Big Sister Bai suffer a thousand years of suppression?”

“Young Master Su, you too, you… you clearly could have…”

“Xiao Qing, stop talking.”

Bai Suzhen suddenly spoke, interrupting her.

“Husband, this concubine understands your intentions.”

“It’s just…”

“You are actually an immortal, aren’t you?”

“Ultimately, you and I are merely strangers who met by chance, and I am just an ordinary little demon in the mortal world.”

“For me and Xiao Qing, you took my place and entered that pagoda.”

“Suffering the torment of earthly fire and the erosion of incense.”

“A thousand years of silence, ten thousand kinds of solitude.”

“Suzhen… what virtue or ability do I possess?”

As soon as her voice fell, a sliver of heavenly light suddenly poured down from the Qiantang sky, which had been rainy for several days.

Xiao Qing could guarantee.

She would never forget the sight of that sliver of heavenly light shining on Young Master Su’s face for the rest of her life.

“Miss Bai.”

“Several years ago, I, having lost all my magic power, was fished out by you by the Qiantang River.”

“At that time, I was trapped in a fishing net, dying, my life hanging by a thread.”

“It was you and Xiao Qing who took me in.”

“Later, you achieved cultivation, transformed and entered the world, practiced medicine, saved people, accumulated virtue, and never forgot your original intention.”

“As for the karmic entanglement between us, whether it’s fate or tribulation, I can no longer distinguish.”

“This world is too harsh on women, especially women of your status.”

“Rules are shackles, rumors are swords.”

“So-called ‘Heavenly Dao’ and ‘moral order’ are merely tools for certain beings to maintain appearances and dominion.”

“Fahai insists on suppression, the Heavenly Court imposes punishment.”

“What they want isn’t right or wrong; it’s ‘obedience,’ it’s ‘warning’.”

“In this life, I have seen too much injustice, and I have done many… perhaps, in the eyes of others, equally unconventional and unacceptable things.”

“But at least, while I can still do something, I am unwilling to see you suffer this unwarranted thousand years of hardship for this fabricated ‘crime’.”

“Beneath Leifeng Pagoda, though the earthly fire is fierce and the incense toxic, a thousand years of solitude may also be a form of cultivation for me.”

“Miss Bai, live well.”

“Take Xiao Qing and see the world a thousand years from now.”

“Perhaps by then, the rules will be different, and people’s hearts will have changed.”

“As for me…”

“It’s peaceful beneath the pagoda, a good time to ponder some things I’ve never quite understood.”

“Xiao Qing, you are impetuous, but your heart is good.”

“In the future, listen more to your Big Sister Bai.”

“The human heart in this world is complex; demons, immortals, and gods all have their desires.”

“Protect yourself, and protect her.”

“I’ve always known your feelings, but unfortunately… we are fated to be apart.”

“Time is up.”

Xiao Qing stood there blankly, looking at the teary-eyed Bai Suzhen beside her, not knowing what to say.

She nodded desperately, her throat choked, unable to utter a single word.

The sound from the distant top of Leifeng Pagoda rang out.

He didn't look at them again.

He turned, step by step.

Walked into the boundless rain curtain outside the pavilion.

“Idiot!—”

Xiao Qing's melodious voice suddenly shattered the silence.

“You know, you know everything!”

“You clearly knew my feelings, knew I wasn’t content to just treat you as an older brother-in-law, you clearly knew I could be with Big Sister…”

“But you insisted on playing dumb, feigning ignorance!”

“You clearly knew that Fahai was setting a trap for you, and once you entered Leifeng Pagoda, you would likely lose your life.”

“Big Sister and I, even if we sacrificed a thousand years of cultivation, it wouldn't be impossible to fight him.”

“But you just had to…”

Xiao Qing’s voice was hoarse from crying.

But.

His figure gradually blurred in the rain curtain, tall and solitary.

Yet.

He never looked back once.

...

“Big Sister Bai…”

In the alley of Jinguan City.

Xiao Qing raised a hand and vigorously wiped away the tears from her face.

“Don’t worry, this time, even if Xiao Qing has to risk her life, I will definitely bring Young Master Su to you!”

“Please wait…”

“You must wait!”

...

At the same time.

West Suburbs of Jinguan City.

A hundred li away, above a dense, uninhabited mountain forest.

A spatial rift appeared somewhere.

Su Chen's figure stumbled out, his face a little pale.

Although the “Instant Teleportation” skill was wondrous, its consumption was also enormous.

Especially since he had just acquired this skill, and his application was not yet proficient.

This full-power activation almost drained thirty percent of his spiritual energy.

“Phew… that was close…”

He stabilized himself, floating in mid-air, vigilantly looking around.

Below were continuous green mountains and forests, with the faint outline of Jinguan City visible in the distance.

The Instant Teleportation distance wasn't too far.

But during the Instant Teleportation, Su Chen shielded their divine senses.

This location had finally temporarily escaped the encirclement of the Men in Black.

They shouldn't be able to find this place for a while.

Those Men in Black… are they the genuine White Snake Cult?

Who wants to kill him?

The true White Snake Cult wants to kill him, the fake White Snake Cult wants to kill him, and the High Martial Families still want to kill him…

Is this… the price of being too dazzling?

Countless questions swirled in his mind, but Su Chen knew this was not the time for deep investigation.

He must leave here immediately.

The distance here was also not too far; if they found him, he would be finished.

He endured the discomfort of his spiritual energy feeling hollow and was about to activate his movement technique to flee towards where Zhuge Jinyu and the other two were in the East Sea.

Just as his spiritual energy was about to be unleashed.

Under the perception of his divine sense.

Two vast, terrifying divine senses, like the sea, suddenly shot out without warning.

From the east and north directions of Jinguan City.

Towards Su Chen's location.

(Third update done, one chapter two thousand characters, one chapter four thousand characters, bounty update completed, new bounty update progress: 8/99. From now on, updates should be on time at midnight, no more delays.)

(The book received many malicious bad reviews today, some of which were clearly from competitors. I have already reported them to Fanqie official.)

(I also implore all benefactors who have read this far to move your prosperous little hands and give a five-star review!)