Tomb of God by Chen Dong

[sanjaykanaka]

thanks you zoeng 😀 ... was bit worried !! haha well long chapters so guess needs more time ... thanks again :]

[Laoren]

Thanks zoeng, jiayou

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 1: Leaving Shen Mu 第一卷 走出神墓

Chapter 6: Panicked Bloody Battle 第六章 血戰驚魂


“Wait a minute.” Chen Nan hurriedly drew back. “Your Highness the princess, you’re too merciless. Earlier today, I clearly knew that you and your group of subordinates were vulnerable and weak. Nevertheless, I was too honourable to just abandon you guys, so I came over to help. How can you still treat me like this?”

“Heihei. Smelly thief, you really are smooth. You’ve known all along that after the Third Prince makes his move, he’ll definitely kill you to silence you. Otherwise, how else would you be brave enough to ask for a deal with me at that time?”

“Hai… This… Because it’s like this, you have more of a reason not to kill me. Your guards are already seriously injured. In any case, I still have some strength left to fight.”

The princess mumbled to herself. Seeing his smile, she said, “Alright. Since it’s like this, I’ll let you off the hook for now. Here, it’s on my back.”

Seeing the princess hand over the case fitted with Houyi Bow to him, Chen Nan cried out, “Don’t! Just kill me instead.” He knew that the princess was already firm in her decision. Her plan was to divert everyone’s attention onto Chen Nan by having him carry Houyi Bow while she looked for an opportunity to escape on her own.

“Alright, I’ll kill you.” The princess unsheathed a length of her sword.

“No, don’t! I’ll do it.”

On that tranquil night, the urge to kill was latent in the forest. Traces of moonlight reflected off blades at the Third Prince’s tent. At the moment, he and his subordinates were quietly plotting.

The leader of the Third Prince’s subordinates, Yang Chong, said, “We were fooled during the day. No way is that old man Zhuge Chengfeng anywhere in our vicinity. Your Highness, let’s make our move now; a long night invites nightmares^[1].”

The Third Prince contemplated for a moment and then said, “First of all, we mustn’t rush. In any case, we already have them surrounded. Keep a close eye on them for now. We don’t have to act rashly without thinking. Let them be anxious for a night. When they relax at daybreak, we’ll make our move.”

Yang Chong replied, “We don’t have to take them so seriously like this; almost all of them are injured. Although that little witch is somewhat difficult to deal with, how can she possibly overpower Your Highness?”

The Third Prince indifferently said, “Yang Chong, you aren’t experienced enough yet; you’re still impulsive. How can I feel at ease letting you assume personal responsibility? Correct, they’re already injured, but injured tigers can still fight back. Don’t ever treat your enemy with contempt. Since one night’s time is enough to crush their fighting spirit and weaken their strength, why would we not take advantage of that? The way to overcome your enemies is by exhausting every possible means to create favourable conditions for yourself. You must learn this well.”

Yang Chong’s forehead was already covered in sweat. He felt both veneration and fear towards His Highness the Third Prince. The faint domineering aura emanating from the Third Prince caused him to feel heavily oppressed.

“Yes, subordinate knows his mistakes.”

With his hands clasped behind his back, the Third Prince took a few steps in his tent. “Once we succeed, immediately return to Baiyue with Houyi Bow. You can’t stop for even a minute on the way back. Do you understand?”

“Your Highness, are you not leaving?”

“I can’t leave yet, I still need to go to the Luofeng Mountain Range to see the qilin.” The Third Prince smiled.

Yang Chong said, “Your Highness, that is much too dangerous.”

“It’d be even more dangerous if I were to immediately rush back to Baiyue. Everyone would realize that it was all my doing. Heihei, I’ll remain here, leaving no evidence. No one can say I did it.”

“Your Highness is brilliant.”

“Alright, go make your arrangements with the troops. Tell them that when we make our move at dawn, it must be neat and tidy. Don’t leave a single survivor.” The Third Prince’s face was icy.

“Yes, subordinate understands.” Despite the fact that Yang Chong held innumerable life or death experiences under his belt, he still broke out into a cold shudder.

Princess Chu Yu gathered all her subordinates. Her face lacked its usual playfulness. At the moment, her expression was incomparably serene, like an unflustered general.

“I’ll inform you all now regarding the matter involving that degenerate Chen Nan. ‘An ordinary man is innocent; treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime’^[2]. The Third Prince of the Empire of Baiyue is as ambitious as a feral wolf. He plans to steal our Empire of Chu’s national treasure, Houyi Bow. There’s a huge discrepancy in strength between us. Even if I were to give Houyi Bow to them now, there’s no way they’d be compassionate and lenient. They’ll still kill us in order to silence us. But there’s two ways for us to die. One way is to not fight and die humiliating deaths. The other is to die as heroes. You guys decide the way you prefer.”

All the guards in the tent lowered their voices and snarled, “Die as heroes.”

“Right! Even though we’ve been forced into dire straits, we definitely can’t surrender. We need to fight to the death and make them pay the bitterest price. Are you guys willing to use your blood to uphold the honour of our Empire of Chu?”

“Willing!’

“I want to fight for the princess!”

“I want to fight for the Empire of Chu until I bleed my last drop of blood!”

…

Chen Nan gasped with admiration at the princess’s exceptional method. She obviously wanted to get everyone’s support in helping her escape, yet she still gave such an impassioned speech.

“Alright, now we’ll begin our preparations…”

The princess assigned a position for every imperial guard. After her explanation, they were to take advantage of the shade of night and covertly lie in wait at their respective positions.

After that, the princess turned to face Chen Nan and said, “Degenerate, considering your martial arts is so pathetic, I don’t need you to kill them. You only need to take good care of Houyi Bow.”

“…”

“Do you guys have anything to add?”

A female guard stood up and asked, “Princess, why don’t we take advantage of the night and break out of the enclosure?”

The princess shook her head, sighing. “You guys come over here.”

She lifted up a corner of the big tent, picked up a little stone off the ground to serve as a bullet, and fired it into the trees. The little stone made a soft sound when it landed in some underbrush not too far away. At the same time, the sound of the light cry of bowstrings could be heard. Ten plumed arrows shot towards the location of the underbrush.

“So you see, they’ve already made preparations. They’ve long ago set up an ambush for us. Heihei, since it’s like this, we’ll wait here. We’ll wait for them to fall into our own ambush.”

All the imperial guards thought of the princess admiringly.

The princess also said, “I’m guessing if they don’t mobilize their attack within two hours, then they’re probably putting it off until dawn. You guys must by all means be careful. You absolutely cannot slack off. Alright, you guys go prepare.”

Chen Nan inwardly sighed, “I didn’t expect the little demon to be so meticulous. It’s a pity that she doesn’t have an army to command. If the power she had was equally matched with that of the Third Prince, then to whose hand the deer falls would be really uncertain; either of them could end up as the winner. This little girl is truly formidable!”

Just before everyone went off, a guard suddenly kneeled on the ground and vowed, “Subordinate will definitely spare no effort in helping the princess escape from here.”

Upon seeing this, the other guards also kneeled down in succession.

“I pledge my life to protect the princess.”

“I’ll protect the princess until I bleed my last drop of blood.”

…

Everyone present quietly vowed to use their lives to safeguard the princess.

Of course, there was one exception. It was the one who the princess viewed as a ‘degenerate’, ‘a smelly thief’, Chen Nan. He inwardly said, “What a joke. Protect this little demon? She already prepared her escape a while ago. What a repulsive girl, actually wanting me to carry Houyi Bow to my death. Ai, if Houyi Bow wasn’t sealed, who’d be able to stop me?”

After those several guards withdrew from the tent, they promptly lied in ambush nearby.

Chen Nan just began heading over to the side of the tent when a swordswoman suddenly unsheathed her longsword and pushed it against his neck. She said, “You need to stay behind and protect the princess. Stay here diligently.”

Chen Nan felt that compared to the character Dou E^[3] from the ancient legend, he suffered even more injustice. It was an unfathomable mystery how he had gotten wound up in this mess in the middle of a danger zone.

Death is not at all painful. It happens in an instant, nothing more. The most painful thing that nothing can surpass is waiting for death. Every minute was torture. With every passing moment, the heartstrings are pulled tight until they can no longer bear the continuous immense strain and snap, falling apart.

Despite the outstanding martial arts of the imperial guards under the command of the princess, the endless wait still caused them to break out into cold sweats. In contrast, the character who they viewed in their eyes as ‘shady’, Chen Nan, was quite relaxed. Chen Nan was continuously surveying escape routes. He relentlessly revised his plan to escape.

“En! Step one: I’ll fling Houyi Bow at that poor devil. Step two: I should run to that place. Then… en! The umpteenth step: won’t I meet my death at those trees? I need to think… En! At last, I’ll take advantage of the chaos and slip away.”

If the people helping became aware of what Chen Nan was thinking, they’d surely kill him straight away.

Over the eastern horizon, only the planet Venus remained dazzling in the sky. Chen Nan knew that the moment of life or death would soon approach. He took the pitch-black Houyi Bow out of its case and gently rubbed it. He used the language of ten thousand years ago and lowly said, “Old friend, do you remember me? I’m Chen Nan. Who could’ve imagined that I’d be able to meet you again after ten thousand years?”

A guard beside him gave him a shove and said, “What are you muttering?”

“Oh, nothing.”

Just then, twenty or so human figures assumed a ring-shaped encirclement around them. The guards under the princess’s leadership let out long breaths. They had painfully waited for this moment to finally feel some sense of relief. Regardless of whether or not they survived, they were unwilling to endure this kind of torment.

When the endless night ended, murderous intent soared in the forest. Like tigers and wolves, those twenty or so people rushed forward. Meanwhile, the guards under the princess’s command already had in their hands bows and arrows aimed at the intruders.

“Sou!”

“Sou!”

…

The plumed arrows simultaneously flew, resulting in wretched screams. Six people were shot to death on the spot, falling onto the ground.

The leader of the Third Prince’s guards, Yang Chong, cursed in a low voice, “**** this devil princess! It’s already daybreak, but she’s still on guard.”

When the ninth person was shot to death by a plumed arrow, the Third Prince’s guards finally arrived in front of Chen Nan and company. Their bows and arrows lost their effectiveness.

One after another, the princess’s guards wielded their weapons to meet them head on. Only two people didn’t move from their original positions. One was Chen Nan. The other was one of the survivors who experienced the great battle with the Monolithic Snake: a magus-in-training. Presently, Chen Nan was still searching for an opportunity to escape, while the magus-in-training was reading aloud an incantation, preparing to use his magic.

Magical elements fluctuated in the air. A massive awl of ice rapidly coalesced. The ice awl transformed into a white light and forced its way into the group of enemies. In the blink of an eye, it impaled two people through the chest, finally stabbing a third person to death before disintegrating.

After launching such a successful attack, the magus-in-training was pleasantly surprised. When he wanted to once again make use of his magic, he discovered that his body had exhausted its magical power. Originally, his body was seriously injured; the fact that he was capable of casting a single spell was already extraordinary. But now that he was unable to use his magic, he was a dead man. A steel sword was launched by an enemy towards him. It accurately pierced the magus-in-training’s heart. The magus-in-training carried an unreconciled expression on his face as he slowly shut his eyes.

Chen Nan still didn’t move. He lied on his stomach in the underbrush, waiting for the best opportunity to flee.

Currently, both sides fighting to the death suffered casualties. Despite their injuries, the princess’s guards persistently propped themselves up. The whole group was using all their being to battle.

Suddenly, the princess rushed out of the tent as fast as lightning. She burst into the group of enemies with a slender sword in hand. Wherever it passed, someone would fall dead. They left behind a splattering of blood in the air.

Chen Nan stared blankly. He originally believed that the princess would take advantage of the chaos to escape. He didn’t expect her to actually storm the enemy group instead. It seemed like she had a change of heart when the time came for the painful struggle. If this were not the case, then she wouldn’t have forcibly given Houyi Bow to him earlier.

“It’s hard to imagine that the little demon hasn’t evolved into a genuine demon yet. Ai! In the end, she’s still just a young girl. Her heart can’t be regarded as too frigid yet. She still can’t bear to abandon her subordinates on their own while she flees for her life. If she was older by a few more years, maybe this would be a different case.”

While the enemies were in a state of confusion, Chen Nan lifted up the pitch-black Houyi Bow and stood up. In an instant, he became the focus of everyone present. Ten or so enemies with murderous intent rushed towards him at the same time.

Seeing Chen Nan successfully attract the enemy’s attention, a look of unwillingness flashed across the princess’s eyes, but then she became incomparably furious.

Chen Nan loudly shouted at the Third Prince’s guards, “Brothers, I’ve accidentally become your enemy. Don’t you guys want this Houyi Bow? Catch!” He tossed Houyi Bow towards them, but he deliberately angled it in a certain way. Houyi Bow landed right beside the princess.

“Kill!” The Third Prince’s guards flocked forward. With her safety in mind, the princess’s guards also rushed forward. The encirclement immediately collapsed. Everyone clashed towards either the princess or Houyi Bow. Troops from both sides fought in frenzy.

The princess glared fiercely at Chen Nan. Her eyes were about to breathe fire. If her gaze was capable of killing, then Chen Nan would’ve been burnt to ashes long ago. Her extremely unreconciled gaze shifted from him to her charging enemies whom she welcomed with her blade.

Chen Nan coldly smiled. “Don’t blame me. If others don’t offend me, I won’t offend others. It was you who forced me to carry Houyi Bow to my death at first. I’m only acting in my own best interests.”

He bent over and picked up a longsword off the ground, equipping it. He turned around and just began to run towards the depths of the forest when suddenly, the sound of a patter came forth. Houyi Bow literally dropped from the sky to his feet.

“No way! How can it come back to me so quickly!” Chen Nan turned his head and saw the princess coldly smiling among a group of enemies. Meanwhile, several of the Third Prince’s guards were already charging towards him.

“Little girl, you sure are fierce.” He already didn’t have enough time to throw Houyi Bow back. He turned around and dashed towards the depths of the forest, but after running only a dozen or so steps, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, his body ice cold.


The Third Prince, leading four guards, emerged from the depths of the forest. He had on his face the trace of a faint smile and said, “Interesting, interesting; marvellous, marvellous. I didn’t expect Princess Yu would lose because of a hole that you’ve dug. I truly underestimated you. I didn’t think you’d be this quick-witted. At first, I was waiting for Her Highness Princess Yu here. Who would’ve known that you’d be the first to run away.”

“This… Your Highness the Third Prince, I’ve never regarded you as an enemy. I didn’t come out of the imperial palace with them, and I’m certainly no palace eunuch. That little demon—oh, that Princess Yu—she’s the reason why I’ve become entangled in this mess. It’s because I know a gargantuan secret that she’s been wanting to keep my mouth shut all this time. But… in the end, it seems like her wishes won’t be fulfilled.”

“You call her a little demon? Haha… Chap, you really are amusing,” the Third Prince heartily laughed, but his face quickly became heavy. “In front of me, you’re nothing but a little crafty at best. Don’t try to put on whatever act in front of me, and don’t vainly try to use whatever ‘gargantuan secret’ to beg me to let you go.”

Chen Nan’s heart sunk and a cold layer of sweat covered his body. “It’s true. I accidentally discovered a map in some ancient cave. Although I’m not particularly proficient in ancient civilizations, I still know a few words. The surface of it has the three ancient words ‘Black Tortoise Shell’.”

“What?” The Third Prince was alarmed, but in a moment, his face chilled. He coldly said, “You sure have guts, to have the impertinence to babble nonsense in front of me!”

“Your Highness, everything I’ve said is true. Absolutely true. If not, that little demon wouldn’t chase me for a thousand li to kill me.”

The Third Prince’s eyes emanated a chilling glint. He coldly looked at Chen Nan for a moment before saying, “Where’s the map?”

“This… It’s already been hidden in a secret place.”

“Hmph!” The Third Prince gave a cold humph and called out to him, “Grab Houyi Bow and come.”

Seeing the Third Prince withdraw, several guards who were originally pursuing to kill Chen Nan for Houyi Bow also followed suit. At the moment, Houyi Bow was in the underbrush not too far away.

The Black Tortoise Shell immortal treasure which had never been obtained by anyone before truly had an incredible attractiveness. Although the Third Prince didn’t believe Chen Nan’s words, he left him alive so that he’d be able to more thoroughly investigate him later.

“Hu~” Chen Nan let out a gasp of air. He handed Houyi Bow over to the Third Prince whose face stirred emotionally. He used his hands to continuously rub the bow’s dark back.

“At last, the continent’s immortal treasure Houyi Bow is in my hands. Haha…” His two eyes emitted a blazing light.

The daylight was already bright. A layer of faint mist hovered over the forest. The prickling smell of blood saturated the air. Corpses were disorderedly littered throughout the depths of the forest.

The princess’s white clothes were already cut open at various locations. There were more than ten splatters of blood on her body. Her eyes contained a baleful look. Blades were pushed up against her. Over half of the Third Prince’s guards were killed by her, but nearly all of her guards were exterminated. Only a few lying on the ground sporadically let out weak groans.

“Stop!” ordered the Third Prince loudly. “Your Highness Princess Yu is indeed outstanding. All the guards under my command are experts; one can be considered as ten. It’s unexpected that this many still died.”

The leader of the guards, Yang Chong, and three other attackers backed away from the princess.

The princess propped herself up against her sword, panting for air. Locks of her long jet-black hair were drenched in sweat. Her spirit was weary, strength exhausted, but the violent deaths of the guards under her leadership deeply stung her heart. She had relied on her fury to support herself until now.

The princess glowered at the Third Prince and directly called him by his name, “Ren Jian, by doing this, aren’t you afraid of inciting a war between the Empire of Chu and the Empire of Baiyue?”

“Heihei, Princess Yu, you should already understand. What conspired today will forever be an odd occurrence. No one will know what kind of incident had happened here to the princess of the Empire of Chu.”

“There isn’t a wall that can thoroughly stop the news. Sooner or later, this matter will become well-known throughout the continent.”

“There is no wall here, and no one to hear the news.”

The princess pointed at Chen Nan and said, “What about him?”

“Haha, thinking about this really makes me laugh. The princess of the grand Empire of Chu, the brilliant, famous little witch, was unexpectedly made a fool by this insignificant character.”

The princess turned her fierce gaze to Chen Nan. If she could still move, she would have stabbed him to death long ago. Chen Nan was inwardly angered. Even at this time, the little demon was still trying to frame him.

The Third Prince shot a cold glace at Chen Nan before turning back to the princess and said, “Princess Yu, pray tell, how should I handle you? I really can’t bear to kill a beautiful woman as attractive as you, but if I were to leave you at my side, I’d have to constantly be on guard for your assassination attempts. Ai, this is really a big headache. It seems like the only thing I can do is quietly send you away. I think there are some princes of other states who would definitely want to receive you as a gift.”

The princess seemed like she was hard at thought, her face full of pain.

The Third Prince coldly said, “You mustn’t make a vain attempt at exploiting those princes’ powers to get revenge. Maybe some of them will be kind-hearted enough to let you go. You can be a special favour that we give away. Merely a present that an alliance of others and I can pass around among each other. Heihei, I know you won’t commit suicide. You won’t give up an opportunity to live; only if you continue living can you try to get revenge.”

Powerless, the princess sat on the ground.

The heart of the nearby Chen Nan became desolate. The Third Prince was truly too terrible. This was absolutely an ambitious and ruthless character.

Suddenly, the princess lifted up her head. She firmly looked at Chen Nan, then faced the Third Prince and asked, “Ren Jian, why won’t you kill him?”

The Third Prince smiled. “Oh, I forgot to tell you. This guy will give me the hidden precious map pertaining to the location of the Black Tortoise Shell.” Although he didn’t particularly believe Chen Nan knew the secret of the Black Tortoise Shell, he felt that the resentment between Chen Nan and the princess was due to this hidden precious map. He wanted to take this opportunity to inflict another blow upon the princess.

“Haha~!” The princess suddenly gave out a large, graceless laugh. She was even crying.

“Ren Jian, you huge idiot. Haha~! It’s funny enough to kill me! You actually believe that guy has the Black Tortoise Shell? That’s too funny! Haha~!”

The Third Prince Ren Jian’s face became ashen. He coldly looked at Chen Nan.

Chen Nan’s heart instantly became heavy. He suddenly brandished a palm and struck at the pit of the stomach of the guard standing beside him. He easily wrestled Houyi Bow out of that guard’s grasp. Learning from the princess’s teacher Zhuge Chengfeng, Chen Nan used Houyi Bow as a club. With strength, he faced another guard to the side. His actions were simply too abrupt, and that guard still didn’t fully comprehend the current situation. His chest was bashed in and he instantly died a violent death.

“Haha, amusing. Degenerate, nice going!” shouted the princess, who found joy in someone else’s misfortune.

“Kill him for me!” Ren Jian bellowed.

Two other guards wielding steel swords chopped towards Chen Nan. He was left with no option but to raise Houyi Bow to meet the blows. Even though he used Houyi Bow to deflect the guards’ attacks in the beginning, he couldn’t defend against twenty or so exchanges. He was eventually forced onto his back by a guard’s palm strike. He spat out a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

When his blood sprinkled over Houyi Bow, a warm current surged from the bow to his hands. The pitch-black Houyi Bow began to emit a faint golden glow. The bowstring lightly vibrated.

“This… Wasn’t Houyi Bow like this ten thousand years ago? Whenever I gripped it, it would be lively and gently cry, releasing a golden glow. H-has the seal been removed?”

As all this was happening in an instant, a guard was charging towards Chen Nan who was lying on the ground.

Chen Nan quickly climbed up off the ground and nocked a dried stick into the bowstring. He pulled the bowstring back a little bit. A golden radiance, like a haze, surged towards the stick. A faint golden ray shot forth from the bowstring like lightning. A squall erupted in the forest as the wind thundered.

The golden ray ran into the steel sword, colliding with it in a shower of golden rain. The steel sword was shattered in an instant, its fragments sprinkling down from the air. The stick, in the midst of the golden rain, was like the God of Death’s lance. It instantly split the guard’s chest open. Blood gushed out wildly from the massive, bloody hole. The guard died without even closing his eyes.

---

[1] 夜長夢多/a long night invites nightmares; meaning ‘circumstances can become unfavourable over long periods of time’.

[2] 匹夫無罪，懷璧其罪/an ordinary man is innocent; treasuring a jade ring becomes a crime; meaning ‘a normal person hasn’t committed a crime, but is accused of such due to hiding a treasured possession’.

[3] 竇娥/Dou E; the main character from the ancient Chinese play 感天動地竇娥冤/The Injustice to Dou E written by Guan Hanqing; spoilers: she suffered a lot of unfair injustices.

[SilverNight]

thank you for the chapter!!

[Olbid]

Thanks for the chapter!

[sanjaykanaka]

thanks for the chapter!! 😀 finally some action !!! haha can't wait for the next chapter

[Gopper]

gotta say, huge fan of the novel and the hilarity of situations the MC finds himself in

[Turcan Mihai]

Gret story hope for more

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 1: Leaving Shen Mu 第一卷 走出神墓

Chapter 7: Taking Liberties with the Princess 第七章 調戲公主


This astonishing new development caused everyone present to turn pale in fright. The princess was left wide-eyed as she muttered, “How can this be? Didn’t old fogey say that Houyi Bow could only be used once a year? I already used it once, even old fogey couldn’t pull it apart again, but this degenerate actually…”

An intense uneasiness surged in the Third Prince’s heart. He never expected that this lowly prisoner would be able to break the seal placed on Houyi Bow.

Chen Nan shot another arrow. With another thundering of the wind, a sparkling golden ray shot forth from Chen Nan towards another guard. The guard looked utterly startled as the shining arrow gouged a sizable, bloody hole into his stomach. Blood bubbled out. A bloody mist diffused from the corpse.

Again, Chen Nan nocked a dried stick into the bowstring. Everyone on the battlefield had discoloured expressions. No one knew whose life would be seized by the next arrow. The originally insignificant character had transformed into the beholder of everyone’s fates.

Chen Nan nearly collapsed from exhaustion after firing two arrows. Although those two arrows had removed the immediate dangers adjacent to him, the crisis in front of him was still left unresolved. He barely had enough power to fire another arrow, let alone the other six enemies on the battlefield. Which one should he shoot?

Whenever the stick was aimed at someone else, everyone present turned more and more fearful. In their eyes, the tiny, dried stick was as heavy as Mount Tai.

Chen Nan finally aimed the stick in the direction of the Third Prince Ren Jian. Ren Jian’s face changed slightly, but he quickly calmed down.

“Chen Nan, think clearly. The one you want to kill is a prince. If you kill me, it’ll be equivalent to offending the entire Empire of Baiyue. Can you by yourself fight against a whole nation? Although the world is large, I’m afraid you won’t be able to find a place to call your own afterwards.” The Third Prince’s tone relaxed as he said, “If you agree to surrender and pay allegiance to me, I won’t only forget about the disrespect you’ve shown me today, but I’ll also guarantee that you’ll rapidly move up in the world; I’ll give you a high official post with a generous salary.”

“Do you think I’m a three year old? If I let you go today, forget about a high post and a generous salary, my corpse might not even be left intact. What I loathe most is others threatening me. Today, I will kill you, you cheap prince.”

The princess laughed, “Haha, Ren Jian is ‘cheap’.”

Chen Nan inhaled a deep gulp of air. He exhausted all the remaining energy in his body to fire one more arrow. The faint golden ray seemed to be a divine punishment from the heavens. With the rumbling of thunder, it swiftly shot towards Ren Jian.

The Third Prince Ren Jian’s face abruptly changed. He dragged a nearby guard and threw him in front of the arrow’s trajectory. The guard’s blood sprayed everywhere. The guard had an unreconciled expression as he toppled over into a pool of his own blood. After the golden ray pierced through the guard’s chest, although its colour darkened quite a bit, its velocity didn’t diminish at all as it continued to fly towards the Third Prince.

A resplendent radiance flashed from the Third Prince’s waist. A one chi long, brightly dazzling dagger collided with the golden ray.

“A flying sword! Don’t tell me he’s a Daoist?!” Chen Nan cried out, alarmed.

Every successful Daoist has several magical weapons that they bind to their lives, most of which are flying swords. Not only can Daoists telepathically send our their flying swords to kill someone from over a thousand steps away, but at the very peak of their swordplay, they can also attain total control of their sword, riding upon it to escape from the ground. But there weren’t many successful Daoists. Akin to the rarity of phoenix feathers and unicorn horns, there were even fewer who reached such a high level in their swordplay.

When Chen Nan was young, he took an exceptional liking towards cultivating Dao, but the profound words of his father Chen Zhan had dispelled his feelings on the matter. Chen Zhan had said, “Cultivating martial arts is not necessarily inferior to cultivating Dao. If you cultivate to the level of true martial arts and comprehend the true essence of the martial way, then you’ll realize that cultivation has many different routes leading to the same direction. The pinnacle of the martial way and the pinnacle of Dao coincide a little…”

Although Chen Zhan hadn’t finished speaking, Chen Nan had already understood his meaning. Henceforth, he cultivated diligently. In the end, when he was sixteen years old, he became known as ‘the best’ among his peers. But then what? His cultivation had declined instead of improving and he had descended into the nadir of his life.

Thinking back to the present, Chen Nan realized that the Third Prince was indeed a Daoist, but he must have only recently started cultivating. It is said that the flying swords of successful Daoists are rarely on their persons. Instead, they’re often concealed and absorbed into their bodies.

The magnificently resplendent sword collided with the golden ray. The sound of metal striking metal roared through the air. The dagger’s splendour was completely repelled back, and it shattered into innumerable fragments, falling onto the ground. A jolt shot through the Third Prince’s body. He repeatedly vomited mouthfuls of blood, his complexion deathly pale.

Chen Nan understood that flying swords were closely bound to their Daoist. If a flying sword were to suffer damage, their Daoist would also suffer severe injuries, if not outright killed.

Although the golden arrow had darkened substantially, it still continued on its trajectory towards the Third Prince. Currently, there were two men standing protectively in front of the Third Prince. Yang Chong, the commander of the guards, had sealed their acupoints and had thrown them in front of the Third Prince.

Yang Chong loudly shouted, “Your Highness, I once heard my teacher say that arrows shot by the Godly Bow will not stop until it comes into contact with the blood of its target. Your Highness, please excuse me.”

The instant the golden arrow pierced through the two guards, Yang Chong arrived at the Third Prince’s side. He wrapped his arms around the seriously injured Third Prince and lifted him up into the air. Meanwhile, the stick, which only had a faint golden glow remaining, failed to penetrate into Ren Jian’s body. The arrow disintegrated upon hitting him.

“Ah~!” the Third Prince Ren Jian miserably shrieked. Then, he indignantly cursed, “Yang Chong you idiot, I’ve already thrown up so much blood that my clothes are already dripping with it. You… If you cause even a single rip, you...”

The Third Prince angrily threw up another mouthful of blood, scaring Yang Chong into a cold sweat.

The princess burst into laughter, “Haha~! So hilarious! The cheap prince’s *** is about to burst open, haha~!”

Chen Nan already completely exhausted the energy in his body. Without the strength to shoot a fourth arrow, his confidence plummeted. He fiercely inhaled a mouthful of air and, with great difficulty, put together one last tiny bit of strength. He stood up and walked forward a few steps, putting on an act like he was about to collect another dried stick.

Seeing this, the Third Prince, Yang Chong, and the princess stirred. Yang Chong piggybacked the Third Prince Ren Jian and fled. Currently, his qinggong was of the grandmaster level. In a flash, he disappeared into the forest.

The princess had exhausted her stamina from her fierce fighting. Currently, her waist was aching and her legs were soft. When she tried to get up to run a few steps in pursuit, she wound up taking a tumble. Watching the Third Prince and Yang Chang successfully escape frustrated her to the point of tears.

Chen Nan didn’t think his feint would achieve such a great result. The Third Prince of Baiyue and his stray dog had anxiously fled. The little demonic princess of Chu was so scared she blessed the pear blossoms with her rain of tears. It was lovely and pitiful. He didn’t dare to be so pleased as to lose his own sense of measure. He nocked a dry stick into his bowstring and strenuously aimed Houyi Bow at the princess as we walked towards her. He wanted the princess to experience what he had previously gone through when his acupoint was sealed.

Seeing Chen Nan take step after step towards her, the princess’s face lost its flowery countenance. The tears in her eyes danced. She hadn’t forgotten how she had treated Chen Nan before.

“Degenerate… smelly thief… you… don’t come over.”

Chen Nan nearly let out a laugh. Chen Nan didn’t think the little demonic princess had the ability to display such a weak, feeble look. But soon after, he inwardly muttered, “When she was confronting the Third Prince Ren Jian, she didn’t look this afraid. Don’t tell me that I’m more terrifying than him? En! That’s wrong!”

“Little demon, take out what you have hidden under your sleeves. If you don’t, I’ll shoot.”

“Dang!”

The princess helplessly threw away the dagger concealed up her sleeves onto the ground.

“Hmph, how can your eyes be so malicious.”

Chen Nan expended a great deal of effort in walking to the princess. With the dried stick, he hit a few points on her body, sealing eight or nine major acupoints.

“Haha, success.” Pleased with himself, Chen Nan heartily laughed. With both his legs weak, he fell onto the ground.

“Ah~! Degenerate, smelly thief, **** off… Hurry and **** off…” the princess fearfully cried, over and over.

Chen Nan lied across the princess’s thighs and exhaled, saying, “I’m so tired, I’ll die, ai! Little demon, do you still have the qualifications to order me around right now?”

“You’re shameless… obscene… Hurry and **** off degenerate, smelly thief…”

“So noisy. If you keep clamouring, I can’t stop what will happen next.” Chen Nan aimed towards the princess’s towering chest.

“Ah~! Degenerate… smelly thief… bastard…” the princess cried out in fear, but the sound gradually decreased in volume. At the moment, she was scared out of her wits. She was truly afraid of Chen Nan’s evil desires.

Chen Nan couldn’t endure his exhaustion a moment longer. With the princess’s thighs as his pillow, he rested and taunted her. “So comfortable. The royal princess’s legs are really out of the ordinary. Meditation, cultivation, can’t your legs also help with treating high blood pressure? Wow, this is ironic.”

The princess was ashamed and angry. Her eyes were gleaming with tears.

“Degenerate… release me. If you let me go, I’ll tell my father the emperor to promote you to a high official.”

“I’m quite lazy; I don’t want to be an official. Besides, I don’t believe you. Just now, the Third Prince wanted to use crafty plots and deceitful stratagems against me, so I shot him in the ***. Do you want to be shot as well?” Chen Nan stretched out his arm and with a bang, he slapped the princess’s charming bottom. Previously, she had trampled all over him. To vent his anger, he was making her ashamed and angry.

“Ah~! You…” The princess was incomparably ashamed and indignant. Her tears streamed down her face.

“Smelly thief, if… you… let me go, I’ll… be good to my word, I’ll… definitely give you… many rewards,” the princess choked with sobs.

“Ai, to date, you either call me a degenerate or a smelly thief. I really can’t tell if you’re begging me for something or trying to anger me.”

“Chen Nan… Chen-gongzi, let me go… wuwu…” Feeling wronged, the princess burst into tears. She was the Emperor of Chu’s most doted upon little daughter. When had she ever yielded to someone and spoken to them with such a low voice? The more she cried, the more upset she became. The more she cried, the more wronged she felt. Her tears were like a broken line of pearls that, once broken, couldn’t be put back together.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry.”

“Wuwu…” The princess ignored him. Her crying became even louder.

“If you keep crying, I’ll immediately strip off your clothes,” Chen Nan said as he firmly grasped the princess’s sleeves.

The princess was so scared that she immediately stopped weeping. Sparkling teardrops clung to her long eyelashes. Her face was covered in tear stains. Her appearance was incredibly lovely and pitiful, like a delicate little angel.

Chen Nan inwardly sighed, “She’s still just a little girl after all.” He gently said, “Ai, stop crying.” But he inadvertently saw a sudden flash of happiness in the princess’s eyes. He came to a sudden realization and gave the princess’s thighs a big slap and said, “You almost deceived me.”

“Ah~! You…” With her thighs receiving punishment, the princess gave out a fearful cry. She didn’t think that Chen Nan would undergo a change like this so quickly.

“Little demon, you don’t have to keep pretending. How can demons become angels? Throughout the whole journey, your demonic nature was apparent. Recalling your conduct and deeds, it was like I was living a nightmare. I won’t forget the things you did. It’s already too late to pretend to be pitiful now, you’ve already let me see your true nature.”

“Chen-gongzi… you’ve misunderstood me. Actually, I’m very kind-hearted and honest, not one bit vicious. Last time… last time who told you to peep at me while I was bathing? I’m a princess; it’s only natural that I have the dignity and honour of one. I had no alternative but to treat you in that way.”

Chen Nan said, “You’re kind-hearted and honest and not vicious? How kind-hearted of you to almost castrate me. Also, every time you were overly happy, you’d find me and make me ‘convey’ the ‘happiness’ in my heart. I usually couldn’t even get up off the ground after, and you call this having no alternative?”

The princess pitifully said, “Chen-gongzi… Chen-dage… I was wrong, please forgive me... Let me go, wuwu…”

“Little demon, don’t keep pretending. To tell you the truth, ever since I grabbed you that time, I’ve never planned on letting you go.”

“Chen Nan-dage, let me go. Whatever you want, I’ll make my father the emperor give to you. You can be rewarded with a lot of gold, silver, and jewels, or even many gorgeous women.” With that said, the princess looked at him hopefully.

“Gold, silver, and jewels are mere worldly possessions, what will I do with them? As for beautiful women, is there a need for me to get another one from so far away? Heihei…” Deciding that the princess was still putting on an act, Chen Nan gave her a smile filled with malicious intent.

“You… I’m begging you, let me go.”

“Give up, I definitely won’t release you.”

The princess lowered herself so much and spoke so well of him. Seeing Chen Nan so resolute, her expression turned cold. Her tone abruptly changed as she screamed, “Audacious! Do you know who you’re talking to? I am the Empire of Chu’s princess. You’re nothing but a mere commoner of my Empire of Chu. Treating me like this, aren’t you afraid of provoking the wrong people and getting yourself killed? Aren’t you afraid that my royal father will execute you and nine generations of your family?”

The princess was furious. Just now, she had seemed so delicate.

“If I were afraid, I wouldn’t be doing this. Little demon, are you finally revealing your true colours?”

With an icy expression, she coldly said, “Chen Nan, you better hope for the best. Everywhere beneath the sky is royal territory. All the land including the seas belongs to the imperial family. Today, you’ve already committed an offense against the Third Prince. If you continue to disrespect me, then that’s tantamount to offending two nations. There won’t be a single place in the world that you can call your home.”

She took a glance at Chen Nan and continued, “Don’t think that your actions aren’t known by gods and aren’t felt by ghosts. The Third Prince Ren Jian already escaped. If I don’t return to the imperial palace safely, Ren Jian will definitely expose you. At that time, he’ll do everything he can to pin all the blame onto your shoulders. At that time you’ll… heihei.”

“If I let you go back, I’d still find it hard to avoid death. Ai, it seems like my best option is to find a place with verdant hills and limpid water and live a life in seclusion. But I have a royal princess with me; although it’s difficult, I can accept it. In the future, we can have a bunch of kids. Now that I think about it, this kind of life doesn’t sound too bad.” Chen Nan deliberately showed a longing expression on his face.

After hearing this, the princess’s face paled beyond comparison. Her voice trembled as she said, “You’re shameless, vulgar, despicable…”

Chen Nan calmly let her finish her cursing and continued, “After ten or eight years, we can bring a huge group of kids to go see your father. I think at that time, he won’t wish to kill me anymore.”

The princess was so angry that she was quickly becoming wild. She cursed, “You’re a devil.”

“Haha, I’m a devil, you’re a little demon; we’re a couple who were made for each other. Indeed, fate worked over a great distance to bring us together!” Chen Nan took the princess’s right hand in his, fiddling with her slim, jade finger.

“You… let go of me.” Her face blushed a deep red. The princess was ashamed and angry.

“Even demons have times when they’re embarrassed. It’s a true marvel. I remember that time you were going to castrate me with your own hands. Now, you’ve suddenly become such an embarrassed and bashful young lady.”

“You… hmph! It feels like a cockroach crawled onto my hand. It makes me sick.” After having said that, the princess shut her eyes and ignored him.

Chen Nan smiled. “Alright, since it’s like this, I’ll be like a cockroach and sleep with you in my embrace.”

With that, he sat up, embraced the princess into his arms, and reclined on the ground.

“Ah~! Let go. Take your filthy hands off me. Ah~! You hoodlum, scoundrel…” The princess was beyond ashamed and angered. She very fiercely gazed at Chen Nan, gnashing her teeth in fury. She was itching to take a bite of Chen Nan.

Chen Nan held the warm and soft body of the princess against him. Seeing her jade-like complexion, he felt his heartbeat somewhat speed up. He couldn’t deny that the princess had an appearance capable of destroying a nation. He had used Houyi Bow three times consecutively, exhausting the stores of energy is his body. Because of that, along with his previous sleepless night, drowsiness began to sweep through him. With the intoxicating smell of the princess’s delicate fragrance, he felt his body was as light as a feather. He slowly fell asleep.

From the beginning, the princess had cursed nonstop at Chen Nan. After seeing Chen Nan unexpectedly fall asleep with her in his embrace, she hurriedly stopped her cursing. After all, a sleeping enemy is much safer than a conscious enemy. The princess didn’t know the own feelings in her heart; never before had she lied down in a man’s embrace before, let alone an unfamiliar one. Usually, she was the one giving others a hard time. Today, an average-looking degenerate would unexpectedly be so disrespectful to her. She constantly pondered countermeasures, from gentle persuasion to violent means, to deal with the current situation. She even thought of trying to seduce him, but she discarded every plan. The guy in front of her was unmoved by force or persuasion.

While she was reflecting on countermeasures, she also concentrated the remaining vital qi in her body to attack her sealed acupoints, but every attack failed to release her acupoints the slightest. She finally gave up, discouraged.

Seeing Chen Nan sleeping so soundly, the princess was very annoyed. Chen Nan’s arms were wrapped around her soft, slender waist, making her breasts snug against his chest. This intimate contact made the princess go mad. Sensing Chen Nan’s body temperature, the princess cursed over and over, “Wind, please rise up with force and blow down a tree to squish him; rain, thunder, please burn him to a crisp; darkness, stars, please send a meteor to crush him…”

But the wind didn’t rise, the rain didn’t fall, and the sky didn’t darken. The trace of a smile formed at the corner of Chen Nan’s mouth repeatedly as he had good dreams.

“This damned guy, how can he still smile so wantonly in his sleep? Degenerate, smelly thief, shameless loser…” Another round of cursing came from the princess’s mouth. Gradually, she could no longer endure. She, too, had had a sleepless night, Not only that, but she had fiercely battled hand-to-hand earlier. She was just as exhausted as Chen Nan. Slowly, she also shut her eyes. Lying on Chen Nan’s stomach, she fell asleep as well.

At noon, Chen Nan awoke from his slumber. A thread of sunshine shone through a small chink in the trees. The light shone on his body, giving him a sense of warmth and comfort, free from worries.

At this time, the princess was still in a deep sleep. Her chin fit snugly against Chen Nan’s shoulder. It pressed down against him, giving him somewhat of an ache, but he didn’t move. He silently admired the princess’s peaceful sleeping posture. Suddenly, the princess mumbled to herself, “Degenerate, smelly thief… don’t run… I need to kill you…”

Chen Nan muttered, “Even in your dreams you want to kill me. You really are too vicious.”

Not too long later, the princess’s long eyelashes fluttered as she blinked. She woke up, but was still drowsy-eyed and a little dazed.

Chen Nan said, “Little demon, your sleeping is very sound!”

The princess blinked her two eyes and thoroughly woke up. As the two of them were in such an intimate position, she became incredibly embarrassed, but her appearance quickly cooled.

“Seeing this princess in this condition, you better not talk about it.”

“Why can’t I talk about it? You drooled a ton while you were sleeping on my stomach! You almost drowned me.”

“Drivel. That’s just dew,” the princess embarrassingly quibbled. Her face was red.

“Haha, your sincere appearance is really too cute. If you kept your demonic nature hidden and was always like this, everyone would treat you as an irreplaceable treasure.”

The princess angrily rebuked, “Degenerate, smelly thief, don’t appraise the head and discuss the feet when this princess is like this.”

“Become my wife right away. Can’t a husband nitpick at his wife? Also, you don’t always have to refer to yourself as ‘this princess’. I’ll also stop calling you a little demon. I’ll just call you Yu’er.”

“Outrageous! You’re disgusting. Is ‘Yu’er’ something ordinary people can call me?” reproved the princess.

“Why can you call me outrageous then?” With that said, Chen Nan got up off the ground, carrying the princess with him.

“Outrageous! Degenerate, smelly thief, let me down…”

Chen Nan carried the princess on his shoulders. Picking up Houyi Bow, he took great strides away towards the exit of the forest.

The weather was exceptionally blistering hot. Noon’s scorching sunshine made the princess, being carried on the shoulders of Chen Nan, feel awfully uncomfortable. She angrily said, “You lunatic, where are you bringing me? Hurry and let me down.”

“I’m looking for a place with verdant hills and limpid water to live a life in seclusion. Once I find it, we can kneel to heaven and earth as a bride and groom and get married,” Chen Nan said, smiling.

“Ah! You’re shameless. Hurry and let me down. It’s so hot, I’m going to die.”

Just then, a wild animal came running out from the depths of the mountainous forest, panic-stricken. All sorts of little animals that were usually hidden came running out as well, escaping into the distance. Various large carnivores were following closely behind them, also fearful. The running animals carried with them a fishy-smelling wind.

Chen Nan hastily let the princess off his shoulders, embraced her, and jumped up into a tree. Her eyes didn’t show a trace of fear. Instead, her two eyes looked curiously at the various animals running all over the place. The earth suddenly trembled. The forest began to sway back and forth. From the distance, a tall figure was moving towards them.

“My god! What a big prize! We’ve unexpectedly come across an ancient giant. Weren’t the chances of seeing such a big guy in this mountain range stupidly low?” Chen Nan’s head began to ache.

The princess was just as endlessly excited, seemingly forgetting about the loss of her body’s freedom.

“Wow! An ancient giant! Not only have I seen a flying dragon, but I’ve also seen an ancient giant! This has been a worthwhile trip.”

“Of course you’d think it’s been a worthwhile trip—the most important part is you’ve found a good husband.” One sentence from Chen Nan smacked the princess back to reality.

“You degenerate, don’t talk, no one will think you’re a mute,” the princess angrily said.

Chen Nan said, “Don’t talk. We’ll hide here and wait for him to pass us.” He saw the princess’s crafty eyes and said with a low voice, “If you want to alert that big guy, don’t hesitate, just do it. But the first thing I’ll do is throw you at his feet.”

“Why don’t you simply seal my mute acupoint?”

“So you’ll slowly learn to be obedient.”

“You’re dreaming. Wretched guy!” the princess indignantly cursed.

“Hong!”, “Hong!”, “Hong!”…

Step by step, the ancient giant drew closer and closer. With every step, the mountainous forest swayed. The violent shaking caused the leaves of trees to be sent flying.

Chen Nan reached out and hugged the princess sitting on a different branch closer. He placed one of his hands closely behind her lower back. He lowly said, “He’s about to come over. If you want to cry out, then be prepared. I’m already set to throw you over there.”

The princess angrily said, “Take your filthy hands off, or else I’ll really shout. Don’t think I don’t dare.”

“I want to hug you close. It’d be a wonder if you somehow don’t fall down. If you do, would you break your *** into pieces like the Third Prince?”

“You…”

The lofty ancient giant arrived only ten or so meters away from them. The giant was over thirty meters tall. The hair on his body was as thick and long as a beast’s. Other than its exceptional height and thick body hair, its appearance was the same as that of a regular human.

A strong, rancid smell came from the giant, nearly causing Chen Nan and the princess to vomit. Chen Nan hastily buried his face in his sleeve, covering his mouth and nose. Seeing the princess’s suffering and hopeful face, he removed the hand at her waist. He wrapped his arm around her neck, covering her mouth and nose with his hand.

At first, the giant walked in a straight line vacantly, but when he passed the location of the two of them, his nostrils suddenly flared. He turned and walked straight towards the area of the mountainous forest they were in.

“Sure enough, he found us.” Chen Nan hugged the little witch and jumped down from the tree. He swiftly pushed his way deeper into the forest.

“Hou!”

The giant’s roar was like a sudden clap of thunder surging across the sky. He took massive strides and in only three steps, he overtook them.

“Honglonglong!”

Trees, six or seven meters in height, were like rice straws as they were trampled by the giant. A large tree collapsed in front of the two of them, inciting the princess to cry out in fear, “Degenerate, you’re a dumbass! Hurry the hell up, he’s closing in on us! Ah~! Hurry up a bit you moron~!”

[sanjaykanaka]

thanks for the chapter !!... aye chen nan the universe is messing with you :P

[Chosen5000]

Thanks for the chapter

[Laoren]

Thank you for your hard work, TLing for us

[sainuu]

Haha. She deserves it.
Thank you Zoeng.

[Anxin San]

Seems like it has a lot of potential, thank you very much for translating, looking forward to it.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 1: Leaving Shen Mu 第一卷 走出神墓

Chapter 8: Falling from Heaven to Hell 第八章 從天堂跌入地獄


Chen Nan dangerously dodged the large toppled tree. He whirled around and dodged to the side. The giant didn’t halt its steps; it continued taking large strides onward. While the giant was in the process of turning around, Chen Nan, carrying the princess, already ran twenty or so meters away.

The princess shouted, “So dumb! Hurry and run up ahead so we can hide. Ai! Idiot, why are you stopping? Hurry and run.”

Chen Nan abruptly stopped and stood still. All of the sudden, he threw the princess to the ground.

“Ah~!” The princess’s charming butt immediately came into close contact with the ground. “Degenerate, you… ow! That really hurt… You big bastard, ow…”

Chen Nan didn’t pay any attention to her. He reached out and removed Houyi Bow from his shoulder. He bent his left foot a step forward. With his right hand, he nocked a dry stick into the bowstring. At this moment, Chen Nan seemed to have had devoted his entire mind on the giant before his eyes.

His right hand strained to pull the bowstring. The black Houyi Bow suffused with a faint gold. The strength of heaven and earth frantically surged into Houyi Bow. Chen Nan and Houyi Bow seemed to be of the same flesh and blood, bound together. A golden light emanated from the duo. A tremendous power undulated from his heart and diffused out in all directions.

The giant sensed the tremendous power fluctuating in the air and displayed a hint of fear. He stopped in his tracks.

A boundless, limitless strength borrowed from heaven and earth turbulently surged towards Chen Nan and Houyi Bow in waves. From head to toe, Chen Nan emitted a dazzling golden light. The blinding light even eclipsed the splendour of the celestial sun.

The giant involuntarily drew back a step. He was deeply frightened.

The princess’s heart shook. In no way was she able to relate the man in front of him with that degenerate Chen Nan; the two of them were as different as the sky and the earth. The man before her eyes right now was like the peak of a mountain. His formidable, imposing manner was similar to that of gods and devils. It was enough to give someone the urge to prostrate themselves in front of him and worship him. Under this compelling, imposing manner, the ancient giant no longer seemed so grand. The man standing still up ahead resembled a giant who could raise his head to face heaven and could bow his head to the earth.

“Is this really that degenerate Chen Nan? Is this really that smelly thief?”

Between the sky and the ground, the winds rose, clouds surged, and blackness thundered. The light surrounding Houyi Bow grew denser and denser. The golden light rushed like running water towards the branch nocked to the bowstring. In this brief amount of time, the branch transformed into a bright, golden ray. It emanated a fearsome force capable of making one’s heart palpitate in fear.

With the golden ray directed towards him, the giant trembled. Chen Nan softly released the bowstring, but at the final juncture, he angled Houyi Bow to the side and shot it in another direction. A fierce gale erupted. Black thunder surged on. Like lightning, the golden ray shot through the vacant space beside the giant. In the blink of an eye, it reached the forest’s tallest, grandest tree.

The thirty or so meter tall tree disintegrated instantly. Wood shavings filled the sky. The ancient giant let out an uncanny scream, turned, and fled. The forest was thoroughly trampled to the ground by its massive steps. The mountainous forest trembled.

The ancient giant’s lofty silhouette finally faded into the distance. The frantically surging strength from heaven and earth slowly died down until it was still again. In a short while, the mountainous forest regained its peacefulness. The golden light surrounding Chen Nan’s body also gradually dimmed before finally vanishing. But his formidable, imposing manner was still the same as before. His figure gave off the sense of a lofty mountain.

The princess’s voice trembled. “Degenerate… Chen Nan… how can your shooting technique be so lacking? There was such a giant target in front of you, but you still couldn’t hit it.”

Chen Nan’s imposing manner gradually became restrained. It seemed like his whole body underwent another transformation. He resumed his ordinary appearance. The princess let out a breath of air. She was truly somewhat afraid of the Chen Nan that had just been in front of her. He had seemed comparable to gods and devils.

Chen Nan sighed out a breath of air and said, “I don’t know if I’ll still have the chance to have another taste of the feeling of the true martial way in this lifetime.”

“Don’t shamelessly show off. Even my teacher is only lingering at the fringe of the legendary true martial way, forget about you. Hmph, you’re really labouring under a delusion!” The princess didn’t give up an opportunity to attack Chen Nan’s wishful thinking.

Chen Nan glanced at the grand tree’s powdery fragments wafting boundlessly through the sky. He seemed to be speaking to himself, but also seemed to be speaking to the princess: “I used my heart to shoot that arrow! Just then, my heart already clambered up to the level of the true martial way. If I had enough power then, I could’ve shot dead a heavenly god!”

“Pei! You’re truly shameless. You couldn’t even shoot the giant, a huge target, yet you still want to shoot a heavenly god. Who do you think you are!”

Presently, Chen Nan completely resumed his original appearance. He smiled. “I’m your husband.”

“Hmph! Shameless!”

Chen Nan paid no attention to her and continued, “After a godly arrow has been shot, it won’t stop until it comes into contact with the target’s blood. Do you honestly think that arrow missed its target? I just didn’t seize the opportunity to kill him in one move. If by chance it was like that time you somehow messed up when dealing with the Monolithic Snake, wouldn’t it end up causing a fatal disaster? Therefore, I only used the power of a godly arrow to deter him. If I had used enough strength and drew the bowstring back just a hair more, it would’ve shot towards him without hesitation.”

“I just realized something. Degenerate, not only are you super shameless, but you’re also a super disgusting, narcissistic madman!” Although the princess’s mouth was mercilessly insulting Chen Nan, recalling the scene that she had just witnessed, she couldn’t help but become despondent. The might of that arrow just now had left an incredibly deep impression on her. Her heart couldn’t help but acknowledge that at that moment, Chen Nan’s heart and mind were fully in tune with Houyi Bow.

The princess felt aggrieved and inwardly said, “I can’t believe this mediocre guy could actually get the Godly Bow’s approval. Repulsive!”

“Wife, let’s go. Let’s go home and have our wedding ceremony!” Chen Nan embraced the princess.

“Damn degenerate, let me down, hurry and let me down…” the princess incessantly cursed at him.

Just when Chen Nan carried her on his shoulders, the princess seized the opportunity to open her mouth and bite down on Chen Nan’s shoulder ferociously.

“Ah~!” Chen Nan painfully cried, “Ah, you little demon, don’t bite…”

He reached out a hand and pinched the princess’s chin. He expended quite a bit of energy to pry open her mouth.

“Putong!”

Chen Nan once again threw the princess onto the ground. For the second time, the princess’s butt came into close contact with the ground. The pain caused her face to turn pale.

“Ah~! You bastard, ow!... It hurts so damn much… Damn degenerate… ow…”

Chen Nan undid his upper garment and pressed it against the orderly row of teeth marks on his shoulder. His face was purple.

“Little demon, you’re still so fierce!”

In pain, the princess’s eyes were gleaming with tears.

“Serves you right, I hope it hurts… ow…”

“Haha~!” Chen Nan couldn’t help but give a big laugh. “How was it? Did it feel better? If I throw you again, your beautiful butt might have to ‘fight to see whose superior’ with the Third Prince’s.”

The princess hatefully glared at Chen Nan and fiercely said, “Wretched guy, you actually have the impertinence to treat me like this. Sooner or later, I’ll have you killed. Ow… it hurts…”

“Wife, actually, I know I can’t blame you for this; I know you’re hungry. But next time, you must remember you can’t eat your husband’s shoulder. Alright, let’s go find a comfortable place, then eat something there.” Chen Nan smiled. This time, he ‘cautiously and solemnly’ hugged the princess. After that, he carried her on his shoulders, disregarding her cursing.

“Chen Nan you wretched guy, how can you treat me like this? No matter what, I’m still a royal princess, how can you carry me on your shoulders like prey? You’ve sealed my whole body, so can’t you at least let me walk on my own?”

“No way, that’s too slow.”

…

After crossing over two mountain peaks, a light blue jade-like band of land emerged at the base of the mountain. A clear spring running down the mountain converged with a brook meandering through the rest of the mountain range. Even from a great distance, the crashing of water could be heard. Under the scorching sun, this sound was without a doubt the most alluring melody to hear.

The princess’s eyes shone. Cheerfully, she said to Chen Nan, “Degenerate, there’s a river up ahead. Let’s go immediately, I’m about to die of thirst.”

“Okay, let’s take a rest over there and eat something.”

The brook was unbelievably clear. The riverbed was littered with pebbles of assorted colours. Small fish swam around cheerfully and lightheartedly, unafraid of the presence of humans. After washing his face, Chen Nan threw off his shoes and socks, soaking his two feet in the cool, refreshing river water. He felt the torrid heat be swept away with the current.

The princess was placed on the shore. As she watched Chen Nan leisurely refresh himself in the river, she resentfully shouted, “Smelly thief, how can you leave me under the scorching sun while you go cool down by yourself? You’re so selfish!”

“It’s so comfortable!” Chen Nan exaggeratingly stretched out his arms. “Demonic wife, don’t be in such a rush. You wait here for a bit first. Wait for me to return from hunting and I’ll give you a period of freedom.”

Chen Nan put on his socks and shoes and headed towards the nearby forest.

The princess incessantly cursed, “Hey, degenerate, smelly thief, come back here. How can you leave me here by myself? What am I supposed to do if a beast happens to come? You deserve to die, you bastard.”

In a short while, Chen Nan returned from his hunt in the forest. He held up two plump snow fowls in his hands. He called out to the princess, “Demonic wife, this time you have to be convinced. Look, delicious game of the highest quality!”

The princess took a look at the snow fowls. They were completely white with bright wings. She reprimanded Chen Nan, “How could you be so cruel? These two birds are so cute, how could you slaughter them like this? You’re a butcher!”

“…”

“You’re a murderer!”

“…”

“You’re a devil!”

“…”

“You’re a guy without any sense of humanity!”

“Enough, please! These two snow fowls are nothing more than food to allay our hunger. You don’t have to elevate them to the status of humans, alright? If you truly have compassion, then you wouldn’t have treated me like that before. I know you’re a person who has a close relationship with your family of devils.”

Chan Nan reached out and gave the princess a few pats on her body. “I’ll give you some freedom for a little while, but you mustn’t run away. I’ve sealed all of your martial arts. In this condition, you’re no different than an ordinary person. If you run around everywhere and aren’t safe, then you’ll probably end up as some beast’s dim sum.”

The princess grinded her teeth in indignation and angrily cursed at him. Chen Nan ignored her. He pulled out the longsword at his waist to tidy the plumage of the snow fowls.

The princess took a glance at the wide expanse of mountainous forest and took a glance at Chen Nan. She was helpless. She whipped around and headed towards the riverbank, but right when her body was turned, a proud smile emerged from the corner of her mouth. If Chen Nan had seen it, he definitely would have shivered with fear; this was the princess’s signature move—a demonic smile.

Treading over the pebbles, the princess walked towards the center of the brook. The cool river water soaked through her clothing. She clasped her two hands together, cupping some water to her lips. After that, she took off her hair clip. Like a waterfall, her shining, long, black hair unrolled and dispersed over her shoulders. The water wet her hair. Like a lively fish, she swam to and fro unhindered in the river.

Chen Nan sharpened two wooden sticks, pierced the two cleaned snow fowls with them, and began roasting them. Shortly later, an aroma wafted towards him. The snow fowls gradually turned a splendid red and a glossy golden glaze. Oil dripping into the open fire made a sizzling sound. Balminess spread throughout the riverbank, forcing Chen Nan to drink a gulp of water.

At the same time, the princess was diving into the depths of the water, only re-emerging about half a minute later. Her drenched hair was covered in water droplets. Her complexion was elegant and refined. She seemed like a luminous hibiscus at the epicenter of a ring of ripples as she emerged from the water.

Chen Nan turned his head and, by lucky coincidence, saw this scene of a lotus rising from the water. The scene made him temporarily lose his bearings as he murmured:

Goddess of Luo^[1]…
Her slender, curved throat and neck,
Immaculate skin emblazoned for all,
Bare of cosmetics,
And fruitless leaden powder.
Cloud topknot erect,
Exquisite eyebrows gracefully arched.
Red lips shining from without,
White teeth dazzling from within,
Glowing eyes of longing,
Dimples of overpowering authority.
Precious beauty of splendid elegance,
Placid manner of unrestrained form.
Tender sentiments, graceful demeanor,
Allure etched in every word…

He became entranced as he watched the princess in the water. He couldn’t help but recall the scene of the princess when he had first seen her. At that time, she wasn’t even covered in a thread of clothing. She had been as beautiful as a spirit, just like a little fairy. Chen Nan stuck the two sharpened wooden sticks holding up the roasted snow fowls into the ground and slowly headed towards the princess. Sitting at the shore, he absent-mindedly watched her.

Slowly, the little fairy-like spirit made Chen Nan recall warm memories hidden deep within his mind. The beautiful image of a woman gradually emerged in his mind. The resurfaced feelings and scene made him recall her from his heart—Yu Xin.

Gradually, his eyes lost focus as the distant memories began to resurface a bit at a time. He felt as if he had returned ten thousand years into the past. At the moment, it seemed Yu Xin was gently walking towards him. She was smiling sweetly, a beautiful longing in her eyes. He seemed to hear the cheerful chatter and laughter of a beautiful woman in his ears…

He awoke from his dream, heartbroken. He knew that Yu Xin couldn’t possibly reappear. Ten thousand years ago, the ascended immortal Depraved Peerless Expert Dongfang Xiaotian had battled with his father, Chen Zhan. He had attacked the Chen Residence at night and delivered them a crushing defeat. For the purpose of saving Chen Nan’s life, Yu Xin had endured the Depraved Supreme Attack: the Ten Heaven-Splitting Strikes. Every inch of her blood vessels had snapped. In the end, she sealed herself within Baihua Valley’s Death-Warding Pass.

“You were still comforting me even at the very end, wanting me to live on well…” Chen Nan shut his eyes. Tepid tears flowed out of his eyes and down his cheeks.

“Can you really comprehend and transcend life and death? Is it something you can just overcome and leave? Can you really meet me again? I know it’s all impossible; that was our final parting! Yu Xin…” Yu Xin was the eternal pain in Chen Nan’s heart—his lifelong regret.

Only after a long time did Chen Nan’s mood gradually settle. Using the river water to wash the tears off his face, he softly said, “I thought I already let go of all those matters from ten thousand years ago… ai! There are some things that people will never be able to forget. The truth that’s engraved in my bones and inscribed in my heart will never be erased. Yu Xin, I turned my back to your wish ten thousand years ago. Not too long after you left, I abandoned myself in despair. Without telling father, I secretly went to a duel to the death… I didn’t think I’d be revived ten thousand years later. Life is but a dream. This time, I’ll definitely live well.”

“I know I’ll never be able to forget about you, but I still need to say it: let bygones fly away!”

Suddenly, wave after wave of white mist rose from the brook. The water surrounding the princess seemed to be boiling, constantly churning out surging bubbles that sent out heat waves when they popped with a splash. Steam curled and lingered at the surface of the river. The little fish swam all over the place in the water, panicking and in disarray.

The princess stayed motionless in the water. Her skin was a glistening scarlet with a dim circulating incandescence. The white mist made her appear even more elegant and refined.

Chen Nan was utterly shocked. He knew that the princess’s blood was currently boiling. Her vital qi was circulating with a speed a hundred times faster than normal. He cursed, “So muddleheaded, how could I overlook the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus.”

He sprinted towards the river and, when he arrived in front of the princess’s body, he threw out his palms in a flurry to slap major acupoints all over her body. Perspiration began to run down his face, not because of the boiling river water, but because of his urgency. He already sent out over ten palms, but his palm strength was obstructed by a force whenever his palms made it within half a cun from her body. He simply didn’t have the strength to seal even half of her acupoints.

Not only had the princess’s formerly sealed acupoints all burst open, but the vital qi in her body was continuously circulating throughout her blood vessels. A layer of protective vital qi had taken form on the surface of her body, causing all of Chen Nan’s palm strength to dissipate into nothingness.

Suddenly, a great force propelled outward from the princess’s body, giving Chen Nan a jolt and pushing him to a reclining position on the surface of the water. The princess was the epicenter of a monstrous wave of water. The Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus’s medicinal strength was finally completely unleashed.

Chen Nan sprang out from the water and hastily ran towards the shore.

The princess shouted, “You want to run? It won’t be that easy!”

Another monstrous wave emerged from the middle of the river and smashed into Chen Nan’s back. He staggered, almost stumbling.

The princess, like a mistreated water fairy, leapt from the surface of the water. In a flash, she arrived behind Chen Nan. Gnashing her teeth, she sneered, “Heihei, degenerate, smelly thief, I’ve tolerated you for how long now? I can finally get my revenge.” With that said, she delivered a palm towards Chen Nan’s back.

Chen Nan hastily turned around to face the attack head on, fiercely battling with the princess directly. In the middle of the water, the two of them twisted and turned. The traces of fists and afterimages of kicks were flying, creating a raging gale. Waves rolled in the brook. Turbulently surging vital qi recklessly splashed water all over the place. Now and then, little fish and shrimp would be caught in the waves and rolled onto the shore to be left leaping and frisking about for their lives. Although Chen Nan was battling with his full strength, the difference between his and his opponent’s cultivation was simply too large. After over ten exchanges of blows, he was kicked in the left rib by the princess. He heavily collapsed into the water with a plop.

The princess vaulted towards him at breakneck speed and sealed his acupoint. She grabbed him by his neck and dragged him to the shore. After arriving on the shore, she used her skills to immediately dry her drenched clothes. She gave Chen Nan a cold laugh. “You bastard, I bet you didn’t think I’d descend upon you again so soon, eh?” Recalling how Chen Nan had treated her, the princess simply went insane. With a shriek, she beat the living crap out of Chen Nan.

“Smelly thief, degenerate, to think you’d be audacious enough to treat me like that. Hitting me, kicking me, grabbing me…” The princess had put aside her image as a princess for a while now. At the moment, she was simply an angry girl throwing a fit.

Chen Nan repeatedly screamed in misery. In a short amount of time, his head was swollen like that of a pig.

“Little demon, you… The way I treated you before could be considered as utmost benevolence, you… aiyah…”

She was fine if she didn’t hear him say a word, but once she heard him mention past events, the princess’s two eyebrows would suddenly bend angrily, her gorgeous complexion covered with a chilly frost.

“You still dare to bring up what happened before?! Y-you damn bastard! For you to actually treat me in that unreasonable way, I want to kill you!” Remembering the profanity that the repulsive guy in front of her had spouted towards her highly royal princess, she felt beyond ashamed and resentful. She picked up the nearby longsword and walked towards Chen Nan with murderous intent.

Chen Nan’s face turned miserable. Just a moment ago, he had vowed in his heart to Yu Xin to live on well. In an instant, he was on the brink of death again. The pace at which the situation had turned was astonishingly fast.

The princess suddenly smiled. Her smile was filled with all kinds of flattery, but in Chen Nan’s eyes, it was undoubtedly the smile of a demon—her smile was brimming with viciousness.

At first, the princess had wanted to use the sword and put an end to him and be done with it, but she suddenly remembered that Houyi Bow was in his possession. She recalled that time in the forest when this useless guy had reversed heaven and earth with three arrows and ended up as the ultimate winner. It was obvious that this seemingly mediocre and ordinary guy wasn’t that simple. Otherwise, there would be no way for him to be able to break the seal put on the Godly Bow. And again when he had confronted the ancient giant, he had shot out an arrow that had paled the world. He and the Godly Bow had become one, emanating an endless light. Even now, the princess still couldn’t help but be moved.

In her mind, she was constantly calculating. If she were to vent her anger out on him and kill him, there would no longer be anyone who knew about the humiliation that the Empire of Chu’s princess had suffered under that bastard’s hands. But if she were to bring him back to the imperial palace and let him take control of Houyi Bow, then the Empire of Chu would definitely gain another exceptional expert.

Weighing the pros and cons, reason prevailed over her impulsiveness. The princess decided to spare Chen Nan’s life and bring him back to serve the Empire of Chu. But still, her heart was completely unwilling. Inwardly, she was full of hate and resentment over the various rude things that he had done to her. Fiercely, she stared at Chen Nan and grinded her teeth. “Degenerate, do you want to live?”

“Of course I do.”

“Okay, I’ll give you a chance. Pledge to never mention the matters that have occurred between the two of us. Ever. Always leave it in your mind only. Can you do that?”

Chen Nan already knew what the princess was thinking. She definitely recognized that Chen Nan had the capability to draw back Houyi Bow and wanted him to keep wielding it, but at the same time, she was worried about people finding out about how she was humiliated at his hands, making her lose face. Figuring out this crucial point, Chen Nan agreed without a moment’s notice.

“Alright, I guarantee I won’t mention to anyone the things that have happened. Oh, nothing has ever happened between us, so there’s nothing that I can mention, right?”

Obviously, the princess was very pleased with Chen Nan’s answer. She coldly laughed, “I’ll consider you clever. I hope you’ll always be this clever.”

“I certainly won’t make Your Highness the princess disappointed.”

“I hope your words and actions coincide.”

The princess used the longsword to prod at Chen Nan’s lapel. With a shake of her hand, she sliced off a length of his lapel and then pointed the longsword at his finger.”

“Ah! What are you doing? Y-you want to back out now?”

The princess mocked, “Hmph, you have the guts of a mouse.”

All sorts of feelings swelled in Chen Nan’s heart. He wholly did not expect that in only half a day’s time, he would again be under the little demon’s control. If he wanted to escape from her ‘demonic clutches’ this time, he’d need a divine intervention.

Seeing the fear across Chen Nan’s face, the princess happily smiled. She used the longsword to cut open Chen Nan’s right middle finger. She reached out and gave him a few pats on his body and said, “Smelly thief, hurry and write a contract selling yourself to me.”

“Ah? A contract selling myself to you?”

“Correct. Today, you need to sell yourself to me as a slave in return for your life. From today onwards, you’ll be my privately-owned property.”

“What? This… Didn’t I already pledge an oath? I absolutely wasn’t speaking irresponsibly, so why are you still so worried? You don’t have to do this, right?”

“Hmph, you shameless degenerate, what kind of trustworthiness do you have? Only a fool would believe your oath. Hurry up and write.”

Chen Nan was exceedingly depressed. Just now, the princess had been his prisoner. In an instant, he became the other party’s slave instead. If he had the strength, he’d instantly strangle the little demon. He inwardly regretted the sordid and contemptible way he had treated her. He truly regretted his past conduct!

The little demonic princess sneered. “To be benevolent to one’s enemies is to be merciless to oneself. You shameless idiot—serves you right!”

Chen Nan wanted to vomit blood. He really wanted to give himself some slaps in the face.

“Smelly thief, hurry up and write.”

The princess’s words dragged Chen Nan back to reality. He wrinkled his eyebrows. “I… won’t… write.”

“What? You dare not to?” The princess was furious.

“It’s not that. I’m illiterate.” Chen Nan was remorseful and annoyed, as well as somewhat embarrassed. For the past year since he had begun his new life, he had only learned Tianyuan Continent’s spoken language. As for the written language, he hadn’t had the time to learn it yet.

“You’re illiterate? Haha~!” The princess impudently laughed out loud. “With just one look at you, it’s obvious that you’re not a good person. To go as far as to be too lazy to learn how to write, you’re truly a degenerate.”

Chen Nan was truly suffering now.

The princess lifted up the longsword and dragged it across the ground. Graceful calligraphy appeared on the ground following it.

“Write what’s written according to the ground.”

Someone beneath the eaves of another’s house has no choice but to bow their head. Chen Nan forced himself to write up the contract to sell himself off as a slave. Then, he pressed down his finger, leaving his fingerprint as the signature. He sighed in his heart, “I’ve fallen from heaven to hell!”

---

[1] Chen Nan is quoting poetry by Cao Zhi: 「……延頸秀項，皓質呈露 。芳澤無加，鈆華弗御。雲髻峨峨，修眉聯娟。丹唇外朗，皓齒內鲜，明眸善睞，靨輔承權。瑰姿艶逸，儀靜體閑 。柔情綽態，媚於語言……」from 《洛神赋》.

[Laoren]

Thanks zoeng, I like this story. Looking forward to your next chapter.

[sainuu]

Thanks zoeng.

[Anxin San]

thank u for the chapter

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 1: Leaving Shen Mu 第一卷 走出神墓

Chapter 9: Regression 第九章 回歸


The princess held the contract for Chen Nan’s enslavement in her hand. Furrowing her eyebrows, she said, “So unsightly. What kind of broken calligraphy is this? It’d look better if a spider crawled around in the dirt instead. You’re such a bad example, how could you not even learn how to write? You’re really… ai! How could our Empire of Chu produce someone like you? You’re seriously our nation’s disgrace, our ethnic degenerate.”

Fainting! Chen Nan didn’t dare rebuke her. With a wooden face, he sat down on the ground.

“You smelly thief, you really are terrible, to be brazen enough to hit me like that…” The princess’s face flushed red with shame and resentment as she spoke. She turned around and ran into the forest. She shortly returned carrying a branch with the thickness of a bowl. Towards Chen Nan, she ordered, “Lie on your stomach!”

Seeing the princess carry a thick branch that was rather disproportional to her dainty body, Chen Nan quickly turned fearful.

“Your Highness the princess… you…”

The princess rudely pressed Chen Nan against the ground. Wielding the thick branch, she gave Chen Nan three heavy spanks to his bottom.

“Ah~!” Chen Nan let out a miserable shriek. “Your Highness the princess, if you beat me so severely, how can I escort you out of this mountain?”

The princess seemed to find reason in his words. She couldn’t just carry him on her back like a flagpole and leave. After giving him two more brutal spanks, she threw the branch to the ground. In pain, Chen Nan let out another shriek. “Little demon, I only gave you a few gentle pats, you don’t have to…”

Hearing Chen Nan’s words, the princess immediately became enraged and hatefully said, “You damn guy, you still bring that up? I’ll hit hit hit hit hit hit you!”

After another round of Chen Nan’s screams, the princess threw the thick branch to the side.

“Hmph! I’ll consider it even for now. When I have the chance, I’ll properly sort you out again, you smelly thief.”

Suddenly, the princess smelled the aroma of the roasted snow fowls and couldn’t help but exclaim: “It smells so good.” She went over to the open fire and pulled out one of the sharpened wooden sticks stuck to the ground. A roasted snow fowl was hanging off of it. With a glance at the golden colour of the snow fowl, she took a soft bite.

With a bite of the glossy, aromatic snow fowl meat, she let out a sigh of praise. “It’s succulent and tender. The flavor is rich, but the fat isn’t too greasy. It really is delicious.”

Perhaps it was because she had been hungry for so long, but the princess no longer maintained her princess image. She impaled the wooden stick back into the ground and with one hand, she tore off a drumstick; with the other hand, she tore off a chicken wing. She took massive, ravenous bites, not at all like a lady.

Chen Nan grimaced in pain as he climbed up off the ground. Seeing the princess’s table manners, he swallowed a mouthful of saliva and moved forwards.

“What are you doing? Back up a bit away from me. Whenever I see you, smelly thief, I get angry,” the princess resentfully shouted at Chen Nan.

“I only want to get my snow fowl.” He moved his hands towards a snow fowl.

“Don’t touch that snow fowl.”

“Why?”

“You dirty bastard, since you treated me so poorly before and did all those bad things, hmph, as punishment, you have to fast for three days.”

“If it’s like that, I won’t have the strength to walk. We’re in a boundless mountain range right now, how could I burden Your Highness the princess like that?”

The princess rolled her eyes. With a ridiculing expression, she smiled. “Here, I’ll give you this, and this too.”

The princess held in her snow white hands the chicken head and the chicken butt smeared in her greasy fingerprints. Seeing the princess’s hateful smile, Chen Nan seriously wanted to disregard everything and lunge at her to pinch her cheeks—pinch them fiercely!

“Will you eat it or not? If you don’t eat it, I’ll throw it away, but you don’t get to eat anything else.” The princess gave him a wicked smile.

“I’ll eat it!” Chen Nan grinded the chicken head and butt in his teeth, as if he were ferociously tearing at the princess herself.

“Smelly thief, eat a little slower, no one is going to fight with you over it. Here, you can have this part too.” The princess giggled and tore off another chicken head and butt, handing it over to him.

“Oh, it smells so good. Its flavour is really too wonderful. You degenerate, you’re not cultured and you’re gluttonous. You don’t need to chew it with so much strength.” The princess ate as she scolded him.

Chen Nan said under his breath, “Demon, you’re still a royal princess. Take a look at yourself. You’re holding a drumstick in your left hand and a chicken wing in your right. Your little face is completely red, and oil is drooling from your mouth. It’s really—”

“You smelly thief, what are you muttering about?”

“Oh, it’s nothing.” Chen Nan didn’t want her to get the wrong idea. He shut his mouth and didn’t say anything else.

In the end, the princess handed Chen Nan the remainder of the snow fowls and said, “This princess is too merciful. Remember, you must nicely repay me and earnestly carry out my every command.”

Chen Nan was depressed, but he could only vent his anger in his mind. “Repulsive! The snow fowls were obviously prepared by me. Heaven, do you still want to play around with me? Why have you allowed me to fall into this little demon’s clutches again?”

The princess ran over to the riverbank to give her hands a wash. She returned and dried her hands off on Chen Nan.

“Wow. You smelly thief, you’re really sloppy. How can your clothes be this filthy? It sickens me to death.” With that, she ran back to the riverbank to give her hands another scrub.

Chen Nan didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

“Smelly thief, turn around,” the princess rudely ordered. Then, she took off her shoes and socks, exposing two bright, clean, jade-like bound feet, and began wading through the water, raising bubbles. Finally, she tired of her play and took a seat on the shore, but the moment she sat down, she cried, “Ow! It hurts.”

She quickly jumped up from the shore and massaged her butt with her two small hands. She had been thrown to the ground twice by Chen Nan. At that time, all of her martial arts had been sealed by him. As a result, whenever her butt collided with the ground from the fall, it truly hurt. Even now, it still ached. Becoming embarrassed, the princess became angry and shot a fierce glance at Chen Nan. Her eyes were breathing fire.

“Wretched guy, you’re still eating? You really have an appetite!”

The princess harshly walked towards him. Chen Nan had just put the last piece of fowl meat into his mouth. For the sake of venting the fury in her heart, the princess shoved him over without so much as an explanation.

Chen Nan’s recently devastated butt immediately collided with the ground. A bloodcurdling shriek echoed through the forest. It was truly a terrifying sound to behold.

“You degenerate, you dared to treat me like that? Serves you right!”

An angel and a demon in the same body; beauty and viciousness in coexistence. The princess had the appearance of an angel, but the nature of a demon. Anyone who saw this girl that was delicate as a flower and as refined as jade would never suspect her of being a troublesome little witch.

After Chen Nan fell back into the little demon’s clutches, the journey was filled with suffering. As revenge, the princess’s actions towards Chen Nan became increasingly brutal.

After two days, the princess and Chen Nan finally left the mountain.

When the princess had entered the mountain with her party, she had brought some clothing and other personal items, but after fighting the Monolithic Snake and the battle in the forest, she had lost nearly all of her travel goods. After coming out of the mountain, the two’s clothing were ragged. Their clothes were thoroughly ripped open by thistles and brambles in the forest, but they didn’t have any other clothes to change into.

“Smelly thief, what are you looking at? Turn your head.”

The princess’s clothes weren’t completely covering her body; some of her snow white skin was exposed. Walking in front, if Chen Nan didn’t carefully lower his head or he seemed to be looking to the side, he would incur a reprimanding from the princess.

With the emergence of an obscure little town in the distance, the two of them looked at it as though it were a relic from the past. Since departing, they hadn’t seen any signs of human habitation in the mountains. Finally, they’ve arrived on land inhabited by other people. Entering the town, they looked at the various pedestrians walking about. The two of them couldn’t help but well up with cordial feelings. They felt that everyone was kind. Of course, the two of them absolutely didn’t find each other kind.

The pedestrians on the street looked on in bafflement at the youngsters dressed in ragged clothes. Chen Nan’s appearance was average and only attracted the attention of a few people, but the princess was naturally beautiful. Even though her clothes were utterly destroyed, it was hard to conceal her complexion. She attracted the attention of an overwhelming majority of people.

The two of them were unaccustomed to being watched like this by everyone and hurriedly fled into an inn. First, the princess wanted to take her pearl hair accessory and hand it over to the innkeeper and have him sell it at a pawn shop for some money. Then, she’d have him buy them some new suitable clothes.

Naturally, the royal princess’s pearl hair accessory was not some ordinary treasure. The lustre and size of it was all the best of the best. Seeing the greedy look in the innkeeper’s eyes, Chen Nan knew that this shark was definitely trying to profiteer off them. But seeing as the treasure in question was the princess’s, he felt it unnecessary to warn her.

Just as Chen Nan predicted, the innkeeper horribly ripped them off, offering them a considerably lower price than its value before leaving. The clothes he had brought them were expensive enough to scare people, but they were brightly coloured and well-fit, making the two youngsters formerly dressed in shabby clothes to look completely new.

The princess’s innate grandeur and temperament naturally began to show itself. In the time it takes to raise a hand or move a leg, her royal, majestic presence was unravelled. But whenever she faced Chen Nan, her royal temperament would vanish completely. To outsiders, she seemed to be a little fairy, but in Chen Nan’s eyes, she was a little demon who bared her fangs and brandished her claws.

When it was time for a sumptuous banquet, the two of them ate like wolves and tigers, as if they had forgotten each other’s identities and only wanted to wholeheartedly annihilate the food in front of them. Although there was an endless supply of game in the mountains, there was obviously no seasoning to use. The flavour and freshness of the game couldn’t compare to the exquisite cooking in front of them.

After enjoying their scrumptious meal, the princess gave Chen Nan a firm look, wanting to give him a punishment, but endless drowsiness took control of her instead. The thrilling experience in the mountains had left her utterly exhausted, so she could only drop the subject. After hitting over twenty acupoints on Chen Nan’s body, she felt reassured and dragged him to another room.

The princess’s body was exhausted. She lied down on her bed and fell into a sweet sleep, a satisfied smile appearing on her rosy little face. Gentle moonlight shone into the room, making her body exude a certain pureness and holiness. She was an angel exiled from heaven to the mortal world, exceptionally peaceful and incomparably cute.

Chen Nan lay stiffly straight on his bed. His body was incomparably rigid. He constantly used his ancestral profound skill to attack over twenty of his sealed acupoints, but the seals only loosened a bit. At this rate, he wasn’t even sure he’d be able to release them by dawn the next day. His ancestral profound skill was truly profound, it was just that too many of his acupoints were sealed. In the end, he gave up.

Moonlight shone into the room like rushing water. Chen Nan contemplated many things. Ten thousand years ago, his family was illustrious, and his status was glorious. Ten thousand years later, he’d somehow become the lowly prisoners of others. He forced a bitter smile at the corner of his mouth. Once upon a time, his family was illustrious, but his life was pale. He thought to himself: “Now maybe it won’t all be the same, right? But that princess is really a bit too terrorizing…”

As his train of thought trended towards the princess, he head began to feel exceptionally ice cold and insufferable. It was only then did he realize that his sleeping posture was abnormal. Chen Nan yelled in his mind, “That damn little demon, she actually… actually made the metal railing my pillow. I…” He held in the urge to curse aloud.

Early in the morning, the town was noisily clamouring. A large number of troops were rushing towards the town. The town’s residents were anxious and uneasy, suspecting a war had broken out. After all, the continent had been peaceful for many years. If no war had broken out, this border town would definitely not bear witness to such a great influx of soldiers.

Clouds of dust were kicked up as three hundred armed horsemen led the force into the town. Following them were two thousand foot soldiers. Due to the sound of people shouting and horses neighing, the town’s residents took shelter one after another. The army blockaded all the roads in town. As an officer went to question the town’s pawn shop, three hundred cavalrymen, like tigers and wolves, rushed forward, encircling the shop.

The pawn shop’s shopkeeper and two assistants hurriedly exited. Seeing that they were surrounded in all four directions by several hundred horsemen wearing ice cold plate armour and icy, thick swords, the three of them trembled all over and kneeled on the ground.

The officer and ten or so cavalrymen immediately dismounted their horses and walked over to them as they kneeled.

The officer loudly asked, “Who is the shopkeeper here?”

The pawn shop’s shopkeeper hurried to kowtow and said, “I-I… am.”

The officer said, “Don’t be afraid, we did not come here for the sake of malice. Stand up and speak.”

“Y-yes… yes.”

The shopkeeper and his two assistants nervously stood up.

“I wish to ask you something. Yesterday, did someone come and pawn off a pearl accessory of the highest quality?’

“Yes, yes, yes, indeed there was someone who pawned off a high quality pearl accessory, but that same night, I sent people to deliver it to the head shop.”

“En, who pawned it off?”

“It was the boss of our town’s Longxing Inn who pawned it, b-but it seemed like he received it from someone else. He was pawning it off in lieu of someone else.”

The officer’s eyes shone. “Oh? How do you know?”

“Because he wanted me to appraise it and had me make for him a fake receipt with a lower price.”

“Alright, bring me to Longxing Inn at once.”

The three hundred cavalrymen grandiosely rushed towards Longxing Inn. The infantry followed. Longxing Inn, from all angles, was completely surrounded. Not a single drop could trickle through. The innkeeper was very frightened and ran outside in his stupor. In a flurry, he took a step forward and said, “M-Mister Officer… is something w-wrong?”

Sitting on his horse, the officer looked like he was submerged in water. He coldly said, “Yesterday, did you pawn a high quality pearl accessory?”

“Y-yes, I… Yesterday, I indeed went to pawn off a high quality pearl accessory in place of someone else.”

“In whose place did you take to pawn it?”

“I-it was a pair of young people.”

“What kind of people were they?”

“It was a young man and a young girl. The young man was about twenty years old and looked ordinary. That girl was about sixteen or seventeen years old and was exceptionally gorgeous.”

A fierce light flashed across the officer’s eyes. He took a picture scroll from one of his subordinates and unfolded it. “Did that girl look like this?”

“Yes, it was precisely this girl.”

The officer urgently inquired, “Where are they now? Did they leave?”

Seeing the officer’s urgent manner, the innkeeper jumped back in fright and trembled. “Th-they have not left yet. They’re still resting in the rear court. Th-they probably have not woken up yet.”

As soon as he heard these words, the officer immediately dismounted his horse. With great strides, he entered the inn. About a dozen distinguished soldiers followed closely behind him. The innkeeper followed them from the rear, trembling in trepidation.

At first, there was an occasional tenant who would poke their head out of their room to take a look, but once they saw the heavily armoured soldiers, they immediately shut their door in fright, not daring to take another glance.

The innkeeper pointed. “The man is staying in that room. The girl is staying in that room beside it.”

After hearing this, the officer went directly to the girl’s room. When he arrived three meters away from the door, he stopped in place before kneeling down. He loudly cried out, “Lord of Fengning City Zhao Sheng respectfully welcomes Her Highness Princess Yu.”

The soldiers behind Zhao Sheng all kneeled as well.

Longxing Inn’s innkeeper had been foolish. He was so scared that he immediately fell onto his bottom. He never could’ve imagined that that beautiful girl was actually a royal princess. He hurriedly kneeled.

After eating in the wind and sleeping outside day after day, the princess was utterly exhausted. It was after great difficulty that she able to sleep soundly in a soft bed. Up until now, she hadn’t woken up yet. It was only when Zhao Sheng called for her three meters from her door did she bewilderedly open her eyes. She could now hear the shouts and neighs coming from outside. When she was finally able to clearly make out Zhao Sheng’s words, Zhao Sheng was already on his fourth kowtow and announcement.

The princess put on her clothes. Panting with rage, she opened the door and loudly said, “I kno~ w! Hmph, so noisy.”

Seeing the princess’s drowsy eyes and her unhappy expression, Zhao Sheng didn’t need to think twice to know not to disturb this proud woman as she got her beauty sleep. A cold sweat began to run down his forehead.

“Your Servant Zhao Sheng, under the orders of Her Highness Princess Yue, has come to respectfully welcome Your Highness.”

“Jiejie? Did my jiejie come too?”

Zhao Sheng didn’t dare raise his head. Still kneeling, he said, “Yes, Her Highness Princess Yue is outside the town.”

“Ah! Really?!” Like a child who made a mistake, the princess quickly slammed her door shut. She said to herself, “This is bad, this is bad. Father and mother must be really worried. Otherwise, they wouldn’t send jiejie to personally come find me.”

Zhao Sheng and the others didn’t dare make another sound. They silently waited outside her door.

After quite a while, the princess slowly opened her door. Now, she resumed the majestic presence of a royal princess. Her tone was indifferent. “Everyone, please rise.”

Everyone thanked her and stood up. The princess continued, “You all leave first. Gather all the troops and prepare to set off. I will return to my room to prepare.”

Seeing everyone leave the courtyard, the princess became lively again and, like a wisp of smoke, ran into Chen Nan’s room. She sloppily released his acupoints and grabbed his ear. “Degenerate, lazy pig, get up.”

“Ah~!” Chen Nan let out a miserable shriek as he suddenly leapt off the bed. He incessantly kneaded his very red left ear.

“Hehe…”

Chen Nan was depressed upon seeing the princess’s hateful smile. Because his pillow had been a metal railing the entire night, he had only just fallen asleep before being awoken by the princess.

After washing up, the two of them ate a little something that the terrified innkeeper had politely brought them.

Once they left the inn, Chen Nan jumped back in fright. Although he had heard the sounds coming from outside and knew that an army had came to receive the princess and escort her back to the palace, he didn’t expect such a great battle array. Both sides of the street were lined with soldiers. Their shining armour formed a line down the street as far as the eye could see. The middle of the street was completely void of people. The entire avenue was already under martial law. They were quietly and respectfully waiting for the princess.

Zhao Sheng had originally prepared a palanquin for the princess, but the princess waved her lily-white hands. “It’s alright. I wish to ride a horse.”

Chen Nan inwardly said, “How could a ‘terrible’ little demon like this sit smoothly and steadily on top of a horse?”

Zhao Sheng personally led the warhorse that the princess was riding. Another soldier went over to Chen Nan to lead his horse.

The princess vaulted onto the horse first, taking the lead, and leaving behind a cloud of dust. Chen Nan and the Lord of Fengning City Zhao Sheng followed closely behind. Finally, the three hundred cavalrymen, then the infantrymen, followed. This group of men and horses majestically left the little town.

The town’s residents finally exhaled, but the Longxing Inn’s innkeeper was still grumbling in complaint. Zhao Sheng had firmly punished him for his avarice, giving him a great fine. Within three days, he would have to go to the city lord’s residence and pay his fine.

Outside the town was open country. Here, two hundred horsemen were ensuring the safety of Princess Chu Yue. As the princess and others neared them, the two hundred cavalrymen, in succession, offered the princess gifts in their hands.

The distant figure of a slender, lonesome person stood calmly among the rosy clouds. From head to toe, the figure was dressed whiter than snow. Underneath the light of the rising sun, the entire person seemed to gather a layer of golden brilliance, like a fairy that had fallen from the highest of heavens to the mortal realm. The sleeves of the robe drifted in the breeze as if riding the wind.

The princess let out a shout: “Jiejie!” She rushed forward, leaving everyone else behind. When she arrived in front of Chu Yue, she promptly threw herself into her embrace.

The princess wrapped her arms around Chu Yue’s waist. Lovingly, she said, “Jiejie, I missed you to death.”

Chu Yue doted on her and patted her head. “You really are too naughty. To actually secretly slip away from the imperial palace for so long, father and mother have been worried to death.”

The princess nervously asked, “Has mother’s health improved?”

“Why are you asking this? Mother’s health has always been well.”

“Hmph! That smelly old fogey has the cheek to deceive me,” the princess shouted resentfully.

“Hehe, who? We’ve actually had our little naughty girl deceived,” Chu Yue asked, smiling.

The princess panted with rage. “Other than my teacher, that smelly old fogey, who else would dare deceive me? Hmph, smelly old fogey tricked me into coming back. He ran off to go see the qilin by himself. I’m furious! Next time I see him, I’ll definitely pull on his beard.”

Chu Yue laughed. “Don’t be so rude towards Elder Zhuge. He’s even respected by father and mother.”

“En, then I’ll pull on his beard less. Ai, right! Jiejie, how did you find me?”

“You’ve forgotten. Yesterday, you pawned off your pearl accessory. The pawn shop’s boss considered it to be a treasure and sent men to deliver overnight to the head shop in Fengning City. The head shop’s boss could make out the royal symbol on the pearl accessory and was really frightened. He hurried and reported it to the Lord of Fengning City, Zhao Sheng. Zhao Sheng had just been dispatched by me a few days ago, so I knew about this matter very quickly. Following the vine to get the melon, that’s how I found you, you naughty girl.”

Chu Yue clasped the princess’s small face. “You’ve suffered a lot outside. Let jiejie take a careful look. En, your skin has tanned a bit, and you’ve gotten a little thinner. Next time, you absolutely mustn’t run around wildly, understand?”

“En! Jiejie, next time, I won’t be able to run around anywhere. My… my imperial guards have…” The princess choked with emotion.

“Be good, don’t be so sad…”

“Annoying. I’m already sixteen, yet people still consider be as a child.” In a flash, the princess was already smiling again.

“Jiejie, let me show you something.” The princess backed away from her embrace and took out a small jade case. She very carefully opened it. Immediately, a strong fragrance wafted forth. A sparkling fiery lotus petal appeared in the small jade case.

“Ah, this is…” Chu Yue was astounded.

The princess proudly said, “Do you know of the legendary Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus? This is the present I’ve specifically prepared for father’s sixtieth birthday.”

Chu Yue excitedly clasped her hands around the small jade box. “It’s worthy of being known as an Immortal Lotus. Just by smelling its scent, one calms down, refreshed and relaxed.”

The sparkling lotus petal was even more eye-catching than the luminescence from the rising sun. The fragrance that deeply penetrated into the heart wafted towards Chen Nan and the others. Those soldiers and that officer also praised it wonderfully.

“Ah, why does it seem like there’s a tiny bite taken out of the lotus petal?” Chu Yue smiled as she pinched the princess’s fine nose. “It must’ve been you, you little gluttonous cat. You took a bite out of it, right? Hehe.”

“Jiejie…” The princess moved her body to the side, acting coquettishly. “Don’t pinch my nose. Otherwise, it won’t be as pretty as jiejie’s.”

“And your mouth is so sweet, it seems to be smeared in honey.”

The princess looked at the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus and angrily said, “Originally, it was an entire petal of the Immortal Lotus. But because that degenerate Chen Nan—that despicable, shameless, vulgar, filthy, smelly thief—used tricks to capture me and seal my acupoints up, I ate a tiny bit of the Immortal Lotus to release them.”

“What?!” Chu Yue cried out in fear.

“It’s that smelly thief. I’ve already captured him.” The princess pointed at the distant Chen Nan.

“Degenerate Chen Nan, come over here.”

Hearing the princess’s shout, Chen Nan felt a headache brewing. He didn’t want to go over.

When he arrived close to Chu Yue and the princess, Chen Nan became absent-minded. From afar, he could only vaguely see Chu Yue’s peerless magnificence. Now that it was almost within his reach, her beautiful, matchless looks gave him a sense of suffocation.

Chu Yue was dressed lightly in white. Her build was slender, curvy and beautiful. There was not a single flaw on her graceful, delicate body. She had a jade-like face without the use of makeup, almond-shaped eyes, a fine nose, and perfect cherry lips—and this was just a brief account of her exceptional appearance. Autumn water is as to divine jade is as to bone; Chu Yue’s could be summarized in a single word: ‘perfection’.

[Zoeng Saiwaa]

Volume 1: Leaving Shen Mu 第一卷 走出神墓

Chapter 10: Fairy Tantai 第十章 澹臺仙子


The princess couldn’t be said to not be beautiful. Among mortals, she was absolutely beautiful, but in the end, she was still young. Chu Yue was in the prime of her life. Compared to her, the princess was still far too young and inexperienced. She was like a vivacious elf, teeming with cleverness. She stuck closely to Chu Yue’s side, giving her an intimate look that displayed her dependence on her.

A pair of beautiful woman. It truly was an exquisite scene.

“Hmph! This shameless degenerate’s courage isn’t that low, he actually dares to gaze like this at jiejie.”

Chen Nan hurriedly saluted. “Formally greeting Your Highness the princess.”

Chu Yue dully said, “Forgo your formalities.”

“Jiejie, take a look. It’s this guy. Don’t just judge his foolish, laughable outward appearance. His heart is utterly corrupt. He’s the most shameless degenerate, smelly thief.”

Fainting! Chen Nan was depressed beyond compare.

“From head to toe, this guy is completely bad. He…” The princess was suddenly somewhat embarrassed. She minced her words. “If not for his trace of usefulness, I would’ve already killed him.”

Chu Yue gave her a smile. “What did he do?”

“Jiejie…” The princess’s face suddenly reddened. She incessantly shook Chu Yue’s arm.

From the start, Chen Nan continuously observed this pair of sisters. He never expected the princess to have such a sincere, lovable aspect to her, clinging onto Chu Yue’s arm. He simply couldn’t believe his own eyes. Was this still that girl who had a fierce battle of wits with that Third Prince Ren Jian, that well-seasoned, resourceful princess? Was this still that girl who tormented him to the brink of death, that incomparably evil little demon?

“Jiejie, look. He’s lecherously stealing a glance at you.”

The princess raised a little fist and gave Chen Nan a reckless punch.

Chu Yue pulled the princess towards her, a smiling expression across her face. She patted her head. “Alright, tell jiejie. What has happened these past few days you were gone? What did you do?”

The princess immediately perked up with delight. Like a cheerful sparrow, she giggled as she began to tell the story of her thrilling adventures in the mountains.

From rare, strange beasts to giant flying dragons, she described all of the unusual flowers and even the bizarre grass from the mountains as if they were living things with living spirits right in front of them. When her description arrived to the point at which she met Chen Nan as she was bathing in a pool, she instantly sobered up and stopped talking.

From only these words from the princess, Chu Yue was able to guess what had roughly happened. Her two eyes couldn’t help but emit a cold light, breaking Chen Nan out into a cold sweat.

Chen Nan exclaimed in his mind, “An expert! Her aura is reserved and profound, with somewhat of an enlightened temperament. Is she a Daoist?”

Chu Yue’s body exuded a faintly discernible Daoist aura, reaffirming Chen Nan’s belief that she cultivated Dao. The cold light seemed to be tangible as it frightened Chen Nan’s innermost being. He was unaware whether or not Chu Yue, for the sake of maintaining her younger sister’s reputation, would kill him in order to silence him.

Chu Yue pulled the princess farther away from him and whispered, “Tell jiejie, what happened?”

The princess bashfully said, “N-nothing.”

Chu Yue’s voice was soft. “With jiejie, what do you have to be embarrassed about? Jiejie won’t cause trouble for you. Hurry, tell me. Let jiejie hear what has happened so she knows how to handle that degenerate… en… Chen Nan.”

“It’s like this…” Red-faced, the princess shyly described what had happened at the pool.

Chu Yue’s face turned ashen. She almost immediately unsheathed her sword and beheaded Chen Nan who was standing not too far away from her.

“You… Why haven’t you killed him yet?”

The princess shot the nearby Chen Nan a fierce glance but turned back to Chu Yue and said, “I originally wanted to torment him, but afterwards…”

Listening to how the princess and Zhuge Chengfeng had battled the Monolithic Snake on equal terms, Chu Yue was on the edge of her seat, secretly anxious. When she finally heard how the Monolithic Snake had transformed into a golden dragon before finally being defeated, she opened her eyes wide in astonishment, repeatedly clicking her tongue in praise.

The princess was captivating. “Afterwards, only a single petal of the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus remained. That smelly thief Chen Nan also ran away… We came across the Empire of Baiyue’s Third Prince Ren Jian. That wretched degenerate was actually unfortunate enough to be captured by them… Then…”

The more Chu Yue heard, the more anxious she became, until her face turned icy. She coldly said, “This Ren Jian is too arrogant. To actually dare attack our Chu Empire and harbour evil plots to steal our national treasure Houyi Bow and bully my meimei, he truly deserves to die!”

The princess was very unaccepting of what had happened. “If my subordinates weren’t already seriously injured, the victor of that battle could have been anyone; either of us could have been the one to kill the deer. Even though it was like that, he still fell into my ambush and almost all of his subordinates died.”

Chu Yue laughed, “Hehe. Our little naughty girl actually has some real ability.” With that, she became more focused. “And then?”

“And then… and then…” The princess again became bashful.

“Tell me. Jiejie won’t laugh at you.”

The princess steadied her mind. After a breath of air, she told her everything that happened.

Chu Yue’s refined eyebrow creased. She heavily said, “Yu’er, you didn’t kill him even after he humiliated you—you’ve matured. You’ve done very well. If we’re able to subdue him, then our Empire of Chu will definitely gain another exceptional expert. But you’ll have to stop insulting him. Since you’ve spared his life, he should be extremely grateful; don’t let resentment and indignation grow in his heart.”

“Don’t tell me you want me to cheerfully laugh and chat with that smelly thief? My teeth begin to ache with just the sight of him. He actually treated me like that before… Hmph! Not killing him is already treating him with utmost benevolence.” The princess looked unhappy.

Chu Yue said, “Aren’t you usually rather clever? You want him to be deeply grateful, but you don’t have to be cheerful around him. You can gain his favour and be dignified at the same time. You just have to make sure you at least have his loyalty, nothing less.”

The princess’s face was bitter. “I really regret not killing him. As soon as I think about having to see that dirty bastard regularly hereafter, I just want to explode in rage. It makes me furious!”

Chu Yue laughed, “Hehe. You can, for the most part, avoid him.”

“Ai, this useless guy can actually become quite impressive when the moment calls for it. Thinking about it just makes me mad.”

“You call him useless even now? Could an ordinary person dispel the seal placed on Houyi Bow? Even Elder Zhuge, whose cultivation reaches sainthood, can only draw back the bowstring of the Godly Bow by a hairsbreadth. If his martial arts was ordinary, forget about drawing the Godly Bow’s bowstring, would he even be able to lift it up? If this matter were to become well-known, every successful practitioner would inevitably be alarmed.”

The princess seemed to be in thought. Recalling how Chen Nan had confronted the ancient giant, the way he had produced that resplendent golden brilliance, she approved of Chu Yue’s words.

“Okay. Next time, I won’t hit his head anymore, I won’t pinch his arm, and I won’t twist his ears.”

Chu Yue didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She didn’t expect the eccentric fairy that was her younger sister would actually take revenge against Chen Nan in this way.

Nearby, Chen Nan was wallowing in dejection not knowing how Chu Yue would handle the ‘hoodlum’ who committed blasphemies against the princess and her reputation. In a moment, Chu Yue pulled the princess by her hand and walked towards him. Every step was as graceful as a lotus. Her body was lithe and elegant. Her movement truly held endless exceptional magnificence.

“Chen-gongzi.”

“Commoner present.”

Chu Yue smiled. “Chen-gongzi, you need not be so courteous. For my Empire of Chu to obtain another remarkable talent, even when meeting the sovereign king you need not stand on ceremony. For all intents and purposes, you will be treated as a state official. Chen-gongzi, to be capable of using our Empire of Chu’s national treasure Houyi Bow, various countries would bestow upon you a high rank. You would be revered by all.”

Chen Nan let out a long breath of air. His imagined misfortune hadn’t arrived. Instead, it seemed like it was finally the time for his fortune to turn.

Chu Yue continued, “But the fact that Chen-gongzi is capable of using Houyi Bow—it is best not to make this public. After all, this matter is too astonishing. In order to avoid unnecessary troubles, I’m afraid we’re forced to offend Chen-gongzi and have him be a nameless official.”

Chen Nan hurriedly feigned a thankful appearance. “I will heed all of the princess’s arrangements, but…”

“But what?”

“The Empire of Baiyue’s Third Prince already knows I am capable of wielding Houyi Bow. Will he…”

Chu Yue said, “He won’t dare mention it. He’ll be more than happy over the fact that we’re not going after him and troubling him further.”

Actually, what Chen Nan wanted to say the most was: “Will he send people to come assassinate me?” But listening to Chu Yue speak like this, he felt it was better to say nothing else.

The princess stood to the side, pouting unhappily. When Chen Nan noticed her stealing glances, she promptly shot daggers at him. To avoid looking for trouble with the little demon, he promptly turned his head to look elsewhere.

Chu Yue said, “Alright, let’s be on our way.”

The cavalry remounted their horses; the infantrymen returned to their units. The mass of troops majestically set out towards Fengning City.

Chu Yue and the princess leisurely led the troops on their horses at the very front. Chen Nan and the Lord of Fengning City Zhao Sheng followed closely behind them.

Mounted on her horse, the princess shifted her eyes. “Jiejie, did father and mother ask you to come find me?”

Chu Yue reached out her lily-white hands and patted the princess’s forehead, smiling. “Afraid? This time, a mythical qilin has appeared at the western border of our Chu, attracting the interest of numerous practitioners from Tianyuan Continent. A lot of them came to inquire about it. Father was worried and had me bring five hundred elite armoured cavalry to come and take a tour of the place. Of course, if I were to find you, I’d definitely need to grab you and bring you back, hehe.”

The princess exhaled. “I was scared to death. I thought you had come specifically for me.”

“Do you understand fear now? To slip away and leave without telling anyone, you don’t know how worried we all were. Fortunately, Elder Zhuge guessed where you were headed and followed you the entire way.”

“Okay, I understand my mistakes.”

Chu Yue gazed attentively at the princess. “Yu’er, have you felt anything strange in your body these past few days?”

“Nothing, I’ve only felt a little warmer, that’s all.”

Chu Yue said, “I looked through an ancient book. Regarding ordinary people, heavenly medicinal herbs that are spiritually nurtured are treasures that can be discovered but not sought after. A dose can increase one’s cultivation by many times, but nevertheless, people in pursuit of the absolute strongest power avoid it. People who take miraculous flowers and spiritual grass find it incredibly difficult to actually dissolve the medicinal strength. Even though only a portion of the medicinal strength is needed to raise one’s cultivation by several steps, after that, it will be incredibly difficult to improve their cultivation further. Most importantly, after one’s cultivation reaches their peak, the negative effects are even more apparent.”

“Huh? Why?”

“The medicinal strength of medicinal herbs will infuse with your own strength. It will restrain the development of your power and make it so that you will never be able to make a breakthrough.”

“Oh, why is it like this? No wonder I’ve felt a little feverish for the past two days, I haven’t fully diffused all of the medicinal strength. What can I do?”

Chu Yue said, “Luckily you only took a smidgen of the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus. Moreover, the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus isn’t meant for improving one’s martial arts, but rather, its main use is to extend one’s life. At the moment, your own power is still the dominant force in your body. After we go back, I’ll help you use that medicinal strength to refine your own power.”

The princess immediately cheered, “That’s great! If this happens, then my power will advance another step.” She also asked, “Jiejie, why don’t you also take a tiny bite out of the Immortal Lotus? Wait for my teacher to return, then he can help you refine it.”

Chu Yue smiled. “You little lazy kitten, you’re full of tricks. Remember, only cultivate your own power. Only then will your power be the most pure.”

Chen Nan, listening from behind them, inwardly nodded in agreement. The contents of the ancient book that Chu Yue had read and the point of view of his father Chen Zhan were in agreement with each other. He couldn’t help but inwardly sigh, “It seems in the past ten thousand years, figures still existed that can rival my father’s heavenly power. I wonder whether they were able to ascend to immortality, or if they remained forever in this mortal world.”

After four hours, the princess and the troops arrived at a small town at the border of Fengning. Chu Yue said to the princess, “Yu’er, go stay at Fengning City for two days. After two days, we’ll go back to the capital city together.”

“Jiejie, where are you going?”

“I still need to patrol the vicinity for two more days, so be patient and wait for me here.” Chu Yue arranged for the princess to stay at the city lord’s residence and then hurriedly went on her way.

Although Chen Nan had full control over the movement of his body, all of his power was sealed. The tight security around the city lord’s residence was also a problem. He wouldn’t be able to escape unless his power somehow rapidly improved to rival the heavens.

The princess was extremely bored. In the city lord’s residence, people were disorderly running up and about, not even chickens or dogs were left undisturbed. Finally, she recalled Chu Yue’s words: if she didn’t completely refine the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus’s spiritual energy and augment her own power with it, then she’d find it exceedingly hard to improve upon her cultivation in the future. Bored, she attempted to refine it by herself.

The princess sat cross-legged on her bed. A gentle white light suffused from her body. A faint fragrance floated throughout the room. At the moment, the little demon seemed to be solemn, pure, and holy. Not a single trace of naughtiness or stubbornness remained on her face.

Soon, drip after drip of sweat slid down her face. Her skin was glistening scarlet. She was currently forcibly dissolving the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus’s spiritual energy, but the fire attribute spiritual energy was heating up her body, causing her to endlessly sweat.

In a moment, the faint white light around her body slowly began to expand outwards. A thin layer of glowing mist took shape in the area surrounding her. The princess’s entire delicate body became hazy. The temperature within the room increased more and more. Raging flames flashed and flickered in her surrounding area. At last, the princess could no longer hold out and let out a loud scream, rushing out of the room.

The guards in the courtyard only saw a human figure run towards the garden. After the princess arrived in the garden, she plunged into the garden’s small lake with a plop. The city lord’s daughter, strolling through the garden, was the first to discover the princess submerged in the water. She screamed, “Not good, the princess is under the water! Come men! The princess is drowning!”

A cluster of guards immediately rushed towards the screams. Chen Nan also heard the yell and was the first to arrive at the scene, just in time to watch the princess climb out of the lake in a sorry state.

The princess was dripping wet from head to toe, particularly embarrassed. To the guards who had arrived after hearing the commotion, she angrily said, “What are you looking at? This princess was hot; can she not take a bath? Hurry and screw off.”

The expression of embarrassment on the princess’s face made Chen Nan break out into a large grin. Seeing her clothes absolutely drenched, showing off her detailed, delicate body, a ridiculing look appeared on his face. Chen Nan only wanted to follow everyone else and leave, but the princess shot him a seemingly tangible cold light from her eyes, clashing with his amused line of sight.

“Degenerate Chen Nan, come over here.” The princess was furious. She used her martial arts to instantly evaporate the water from her clothes as she angrily chided, “Smelly thief, you really have guts, huh? You dare laugh at me. Let’s see how I’ll deal with you.”

Chen Nan let out an exasperated sigh out as his luck ran out. Feeling regretful, he slowly dragged himself towards her.

The princess really wanted to hurt him in order to vent her anger, but in the end, with a shift of her eyes, she suddenly changed her plan.

“Follow me.”

Chen Nan assumed a look as if the wind turned desolate and the water turned chilly. With the attitude of a hero who knew he would never return after going off on their journey, he followed the princess into her room.

“Heihei…” The princess let out a smile teeming with malicious intent.

Chen Nan turned cold.

The princess whipped around and began slapping him at various points, sealing over ten of his major acupoints. With that done, she dragged him onto the bed.

Chen Nan thought to himself, “No way, don’t tell me she…”

“You smelly thief, your brain must be full of dirty thoughts right now. The look in your eyes makes me sick. You’re really too disgusting!”

The princess sat Chen Nan up on the bed. She sat herself cross-legged behind him. She reached out and placed both of her palms onto his back. Her small palms gradually became sparkling like white jade until they began to be suffused with a faint glow.

Chen Nan was alarmed. He sensed the power in his body was quickly being drained away. The vital qi in his countless blood vessels surged like water towards the princess’s devilish hands. The princess grew more and more excited. This was her first attempt at using the Transforming Heaven Thawing Earth Technique to use Chen Nan’s power to continuously refine the spiritual energy of the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus.

Transforming Heaven Thawing Earth was famous. At its absolute strongest, it was even capable of melting living material. It was beyond formidable, and a little bit on the eccentric side. This technique’s other profound use was precisely to dissolve someone else’s energy for one’s own use. Of course, this was only for a moment. After a short amount of time, the power that was absorbed would diffuse away.

As the princess’s lineage originated from the golden branches and jade leaves of nobility, she was never once wronged even in the slightest. Chen Nan had captured her and teased her incessantly, causing her great shame and humiliation. Because of this, she had wanted to torment him throughout their entire journey. This time, after seeing Chen Nan’s mocking expression, she immediately recalled the events that had occurred a few days ago and instantly became infuriated.

The plan she had hatched for revenge had made her excited. She had decided to use the Transforming Heaven Thawing Earth Technique for her first time ever to absorb a portion of Chen Nan’s power and use it to help her refine the spiritual energy of the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus. Seeing Chen Nan’s sour expression as his power was drained from him, she couldn’t help but smile.

At first, the princess was indeed excited. A steady stream of energy surged forth from Chen Nan’s body, causing her own vital qi to react wildly with it. The spiritual qi of the Blazing Inferno Immortal Lotus gradually began to dry up, cheering her on. But afterwards, the princess began to feel that something was amiss. When she wanted to stop, she found her control over the Transforming Heaven Thawing Earth Technique was almost nonexistent. She wasn’t able to stop it, and it continuously operated.

The princess first began cultivating Transforming Heaven Thawing Earth after she had accidentally discovered it in a collection of ancient royal records, but it was merely a remnant of a bigger document. Additionally, she had only spent a brief amount of time cultivating it. She wasn’t yet proficient in using it. She was secretly anxious. If this continued, all of Chen Nan’s power would be completely absorbed by her. Although she extremely hated this ‘smelly thief’, she never had the desire to cripple him and rob him of all his power.

Chen Nan felt like ten thousands ants were currently painfully biting at him. All of his power was being forcibly removed from his body. The years he spent bitterly cultivating were ruined in just a moment. His heart felt numb. All his hopes turned to dust. He felt his spirit float out of his body alongside his escaping vital qi.

But when his heart felt dead, when all his hopes were completely obliterated, a feeling that he hadn’t felt for ages slowly emerged in his heart. His six senses^[1] grew keener and keener. The spiritual awareness that he had lost when he turned sixteen seemed to return to its former glory. Feeling its return into his body, Chen Nan wanted to cry out in excitement.

He was once revered by others as a genius martial student. He was also once mocked by others behind his back. The origin of all this was simply because he had lost his innate spiritual awareness when he had turned sixteen years old. The time when he was between sixteen and twenty years old was an unforgettable nightmare. No matter how much effort he had put in, his cultivation had refused to improve. The frigid mocking and scorching insults that came from behind him blocked out the sky and covered the earth. Heaven’s proud son was beaten from the flower fragrant heaven to the endlessly dark hell.

Chen Nan’s vision gradually blurred. Tears rolled down his face. A smile and tears. The unwillingness in his heart, what he had always dreamt of… In this one instant, everything changed!

With the return of his spiritual awareness, Chen Nan inspected the circulating vital qi within his meridian channels. Seeing his vital qi surging out of his body like water, he no longer felt vexed. He faintly sensed that the princess had had evil intentions, and it was just by coincidence that it resulted in him successfully recovering his spiritual awareness.

“What’s a little bit of power anyway? As long as my six senses regain their sensitivity and my spiritual awareness is recovered, in a short amount of time, I can cultivate it all back and exceed it by many times as well. To take a step forward towards the true martial way, being able to fight on par with eastern Daoists and western magi is no longer just a dream. With this step, ascension to immortality is no longer an unattainable flower within the mirror, moon within the water^[2].”

As they continued, the golden coloured vital qi leaking out of Chen Nan’s gradually became thinner and duller. At the same time, Chen Nan discovered some sort of abnormality within his vital qi. Within the bright golden light of the pure essence of his vital qi, there was an unexpected unmixed light yellow colour.

“This… What’s going on? Why is there vital qi that isn’t glowing and is such a pale yellow colour?” Suspicions arose in Chen Nan’s mind. His ancestral obscure martial technique definitely wouldn’t bring about such indescribable vital qi.

Carefully observing it, he discovered that although the pale yellow vital qi was miniscule, it was distributed throughout every inch of his blood vessels. If his vital qi hadn’t become so thin at the moment, it would be incredibly hard to be able to detect this peculiar, light yellow, pale vital qi.

“It was her…” Chen Nan’s heart turned cold. A layer of cold sweat formed on his body.

The peculiar, light yellow, murky vital qi caused him to recall a distant memory. That previous memory, that forgotten memory, that unforgettable memory… the events of ten thousand years ago flashed through his mind bit by bit.

There was once a girl shrouded in mystery. Like a comet streaking across the vast sky, she lit up the entirety of Xianhuan Continent. Regarding that gorgeous, wise, and mysterious girl, no one knew who her teacher was. No one knew where she came from. She wandered between all the big powers of the world. At that time, many major incidents of the continent were connected to her in one way or another. Mysterious, good-looking, wise, countless young men were captivated by her. She was Tantai Xuan.

When Chen Nan turned sixteen, his ancestral profound skill had just reached the second Chongtian of his Mahayana. Among his peers, his cultivation had been the very best. At that time, he was still high-spirited. That year, the eighteen year old Tantai Xuan searched for Chen Nan. At that time, Chen Nan had been famous. People would immediately cower in fear when they saw him, like he was God. The two of them discussed martial theory. Tantai Xuan’s knowledge was extensive and profound, leaving Chen Nan in admiration. Afterwards, the two of them battled. No victor was determined.

After that, Chen Nan became caught in a whirlpool of emotions without an antidote. Deep in his heart, he was infatuated with Tantai Xuan, but he never expressed it outwardly.

During those days when Tantai Xuan visited Chen Nan’s home, he discovered that every day, she would cultivate an eccentric technique. The vital qi that resulted from the cultivation of that technique had been neither splendid nor bright—it had been a dull, light yellow. Additionally, its might was rather little. Curious, Chen Nan had asked her what the use of that technique was.

Tantai Xuan had smiled, but didn’t answer him. After being questioned over and over again by Chen Nan, she finally profoundly said, “This is an ancient eccentric technique. It allows for your power to reach the heavens. Without experiencing it on your own, it’s hard to understand its advantage.”

Before too long, Tantai Xuan floated away. Soon after, rumours said that she once again had a Daoist on the verge of piercing the sky and ascending to immortality to serve as her teacher. From then on, she devoted herself to cultivating Dao.

Three months after that, Chen Nan’s nightmare had begun. His power had taken a giant step back. He had fallen from his position high in the clouds to the bottom of an abyss. He had felt the gap between himself and Tantai Xuan grow larger and larger. Ashamed of his own inferiority, his heart abandoned all its fantasies; Tantai Xuan had become a goddess too right for him to reach. He could only silently wish her well…

He suffered, ruminating by himself. He wallowed in despair, bitter and agonized…

Two years later, he met that girl in the mountains. He met that merry girl. That spirited fairy. Yu Xin. A hint of brilliance finally penetrated through the dark haze in the sky…

Suddenly remembering all those past events, Chen Nan’s heart turned incomparably icy. Tantai Xuan’s unique beauty vanished like smoke in an instant. The perfect goddess toppled over with a loud bang in his heart…

When the princess finally removed the last trace of vital qi in Chen Nan’s body, his mind gradually grew more muddled until he completely lost consciousness.

Two days later, Chen Nan finally awoke. Opening his eyes, he saw the princess propping her chin up with her arm, gazing out the window, bored.

He moved his body slightly. The princess instantly detected it.

“Ah, smelly thief, you’re awake.”

Pleasantly surprised, the princess ran over to his bedside. She hardened her face into a wooden expression and said, “Degenerate, my jiejie will come in a moment and ask you what happened. You have to tell her that you were the one who provoked me first. Understand?”

Chen Nan let out an abrupt, annoyed laugh. This little demon truly made him not know whether to laugh or cry. She had laid waste to his power by herself, yet she still needed him to speak well of her. But Chen Nan didn’t really particularly resent the princess. In the end, it was because of the little demon that that his spiritual awareness which he had lost for so long had finally returned.

Chu Yue lightly pushed open the door and said to Chen Nan, “Chen-gongzi, you’re awake.”

“Thank you for your worry, princess.”

“Xiaomei is thoughtless. She doesn’t know the severity of what she has done. I hope you can forgive me. After returning to the imperial capital, I’ll definitely seek someone to aid you in recovering your power.”

Seeing that Chu Yue wasn’t blaming her, the princess became vivacious again.

“Be at ease, degenerate. After returning to the imperial capital, I’ll definitely find someone to help you recover your power.”

Chu Yue gave her a cold glance. “So you know the trouble you’ve caused.”

The princess charmingly wrinkled her nose.

The next day, Chu Yue and company departed from the small town at the border of Fengning. Five hundred armoured cavalrymen began their trek back to the capital city of the Empire of Chu.

Chen Nan transformed from an ‘expert’ in the eyes of people back to an ordinary person, but he didn’t feel a hint of loss. He believed that in the near future, his name was bound to stun all of Tianyuan Continent.

Throughout the whole journey, Chu Yue treated him with the utmost care. The only magus among the troops was assigned to his side. Every so often throughout the trip, he would cast a recovery spell on Chen Nan to prevent him from becoming tired.

To this, the princess wrinkled her exquisite nose several times. She wanted to say something, but Chu Yue’s sharp glances made her swallow her words.

After a few days, the party arrived at an ancient city. When Chen Nan heard that this ancient city was named Tantai, his heart pounded.

The ancient city wall was engraved with years of vicissitudes. The scars from blades and the holes from arrows recorded the wind and frost that the city had endured through warfare. The size of Tantai City wasn’t too large. Its population couldn’t be more than a hundred thousand. The residents within the city were just as simple and plain as the ancient city itself. Various displays of art on the street welcomed the two princesses.

As they walked towards Tantai City’s public square, Chen Nan felt like he was suffocating. A statue carved out of white jade towered on a raised platform in the middle of the square. It was a statue of the incomparable, peerlessly magnificent, awe-inspiring Tantai Xuan.

“How is this possible? How can it be… her?!” Chen Nan momentarily lost his bearings. Just a few days ago, the goddess that had captivated him so far in the past was now among his shattered dreams. Now, just a few days later, he unexpectedly had the chance to see a statue of her. The affairs of the world are unpredictable. It seemed like a being in the dark had pulled him to this specific place.

The princess’s cheerful chatter roused him back to his senses.

“Wow! Fairy Tantai is so beautiful, but we’re just as beautiful as Fairy Tantai, xixi.”

A faint smile appeared on Chu Yue’s jade-like face. Her bright eyes roamed all around. The dimples on her jade cheeks left everyone enchanted.

“You really are shameless, comparing yourself to a fairy.”

The princess delicately replied, “I’m comparing jiejie to her. Besides, it goes without saying that we’re just as pretty as her.”

Chen Nan suddenly tugged at the hand of the magus beside him and emotionally asked, “Is that Tantai Xuan?”

Hearing his question, the princess ridiculed, “Smelly thief, how can you be so ignorant and inexperienced? Do you not even know that Fairy Tantai is named Tantai Xuan? Oh, I remember now, you don’t even know how to write. Ai, what kind of guy are you, without any learning whatsoever…” With that said, the princess assumed a bitter and hateful look.

Chen Nan’s voice trembled. “She… Isn’t she a figure from ten thousand years ago? How can people still remember her?”

The princess wanted to laugh at him again, but she was stopped by Chu Yue. Chu Yue saw that Chen Nan really ‘didn’t understand’ Fairy Tantai. She patiently explained it to him. “After ten thousand years, Fairy Tantai had indeed been forgotten long ago, but a thousand years ago, she once descended upon this city. This is one of the very few vestiges left behind by immortals in our Empire of Chu. From then on, people began to remember Fairy Tantai. From this, Tantai City earned its name.”

“She… became an immortal…” Chen Nan muttered to himself. His mood was complicated.

At the moment, everyone was walking towards the statue, but he stood still.

“I thought I already freed myself from it all, but why do all these bits and pieces from my past always emerge in front of me? Tantai Xuan, Yu Xin…”

“The past is like smoke, why does it always linger in my mind?! The past turns into wind, why must it blow so indeterminately, always drifting into my thoughts?!”

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[1] The six senses refer to his eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind/consciousness.

[2] 鏡中花，水中月/flower within the mirror, moon within the water; derived from 水月鏡花 meaning ‘an imaginary illusion’.