Chapter 379: There’s No Escape from Fate
The bells tolled three times.
“Only three times?” the Captain said haughtily as he stood on the deck of the flying ship, clad in his swordsage government uniform. He had his hands clasped behind his back and he looked immeasurably pleased with himself. That said, there was a bit of guilt and anxiety lurking deep within his eyes.
Xu Qing had also been asked to wear his swordsage uniform. At the moment, he wasn’t paying attention to the bells. Rather, he was looking down at his clothing.
The government uniform worn by swordsages was different from a daoist robe. It had a high collar that went up to the ears and wide sleeves gathered at the wrist. It was white, with a fiery red design. The red design was not very prominent, and in fact, was only visible when the sun shone on it. It went from the end of the sleeves all the way to the collar, and resembled fire. When the wind hit the uniform, the various layers would ripple, making it look like a living flame. It had a cape, affixed to the collar with a crimson string, which would flutter in the wind.
At first glance, the uniform seemed simple and plain. However, the truth was that it contained a raging fire. It was an elegant uniform that also looked quite heroic, especially when worn by Xu Qing. In fact, the female disciples on the flying ship couldn’t seem to keep their eyes off him.
Yanyan stood proudly next to him, smiling so broadly her eyes were like crescent moons.
“What do you mean ‘only three times’?” Sir Bloodsmelter said from behind them. “Those bells don’t even ring for me. Sounds to me like you could use a good thrashing.”
Shivering, the Captain turned around, a fawning expression on his face as he rushed over to Sir Bloodsmelter. “Greetings, oh wise Patriarch!”
Sir Bloodsmelter snorted coldly and walked past the Captain. He stopped next to Xu Qing, his eyes full of praise.
Xu Qing respectfully clasped hands and bowed at the waist.
“Ignore your Eldest Brother’s nonsense, Ah Qing,” Sir Bloodsmelter said. “Human etiquette dictates that the ringing of bells comes with a variety of meanings. Don’t put too much thought into it. And by the way, the sect’s bells will never toll more than twenty-one times.”
“Why’s that?” the Captain asked curiously.
Ignoring him, Sir Bloodsmelter said, “Ah Qing, once we’re back in the sect, you’ll have three months to rest and recuperate. After that, you’ll be going on a very long trip. Before you leave, I’ll give you a precious gift.”
Before the Captain could say anything else, Sir Bloodsmelter glared at him and barked, “As for you, you’re not a kid anymore. You’d do well to learn a thing or two from your Junior Brother. Enough with the melodrama all the time! The trouble you get into in the sect is bad enough. If you go to Sea-Sealing County and get beaten up so bad all your seals open, then if they don’t kill you, you can just go ahead and kill yourself!”
Sighing, the Captain looked pleadingly at the patriarch. “Patriarch, forget about Sea-Sealing County. I have a tribulation coming right here and now! I don’t know how I’ll survive it....”
Sir Bloodsmelter snorted coldly and was about to say something further when a host of figures flew out from the Eight Sect Coalition and toward the ship.
They included people from Seven Blood Eyes as well as the other sects in the coalition. After all, the delegation had included disciples from all of the sects. Though none of the others had become swordsages, they had still gone through serious training and had learned a lot about the world. The journey had been anything but ordinary.
Master Seventh was the highest-ranking person who had come, as the representatives from all the other sects were merely elders.
Even still, it was a solemn occasion.
A banquet had been prepared in Seven Blood Eyes to congratulate Xu Qing and the Captain, and thus, as the sound of the bells still lingered in the coalition, they headed to Seven Blood Eyes. Virtually all of the Seven Blood Eyes disciples in the sect were already gathered. Clasping hands to the sky, they offered respectful greetings.
The Captain glanced around warily, and seeing that Arch-Immortal Plumdark wasn’t present, breathed a sigh of relief.
The president of the coalition appeared up above, a kind smile on his face. “Xu Qing, Chen Erniu, the two of you are hereby named dao children of the Eight Sect Coalition!”
That was no surprise. They were swordsages now, and would now be watched closely by the coalition. After all, of the three swordsage appointments, two were in the coalition. Something like this had never happened before in the coalition. It went without saying that the president would appoint them as dao children.
It was important for Seven Blood Eyes, the Swordsage Court, and all future swordsages who would rise up in the coalition. It had nothing to do with playing favorite or anything like that. As the president of the coalition, few people could ever tell what he was thinking, but he always acted in the most reasonable way possible.
After the dao child announcement was made, the festivities in Seven Blood Eyes really took off. Disciples from other sects were coming to offer gifts, and the event lasted the entire day.
During that time, the Captain circulated in the crowd and chatted glibly with everyone. “You listen to me, people. Back in Netherflight City, both Ah Qing and I responded in the most unprecedented way you can imagine. The two of us combined created a light that surpassed 30,000 meters!”
Xu Qing heard that but didn’t mind. At the moment, he was talking to Huang Yan.
“Xu Qing, time really has flown by. I can’t believe you’re a swordsage now! Ai, I really just can’t get used to Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. I’ve already talked things out with my Elder Sister, and we’re going back to South Phoenix. Thankfully, she was just assigned to head back there for official duties. Next time we meet again, it’ll be in South Phoenix!”
It wasn’t the first time Xu Qing had heard Huang Yan talk about how he didn’t like Emperor-Receiving Prefecture. Knowing that he couldn’t convince him otherwise, Xu Qing just nodded. Then he told him about what happened in the Three-Spirits Dao-Suppressing Mountain.
Huang Yan seemed very interested in the story.
Time passed. Eventually, evening fell, and the banquet came to an end. Xu Qing was just getting ready to return to the back of the mountain to pay his respects to Master Sixth when something unusual happened.
Plum-colored light glittered in the sky, creating an interesting contrast with the evening afterglow. Xu Qing looked up. At the same time, the Captain, who had been bragging to Zhang San, also looked up, and his face fell. The plum-colored light up above converged into a single spot, revealing a woman.
She had extremely fair skin, a slender physique, and beauty like that of an immortal from heaven. She was elegant, but also had a terrifying cultivation base. Altogether, she seemed like a peerless beauty from a painting. She was none other than Arch-Immortal Plumdark. She had chosen to come after the official celebration was over. That timing might seem trivial, but it was a show of respect.
Xu Qing immediately got nervous. And then he thought about the letter she’d sent him, and he suddenly felt the urge to get away as quickly as possible. He started quietly backing up.
The Captain reacted similarly. In fact, the moment that plum-colored light appeared, he was fleeing. Unfortunately, little did he know that Master Seventh had been keeping an eye on him the entire time.
The moment the Captain tried to get away, Master Seventh reached out and grabbed him.
The Captain flailed his arms and legs, but it didn’t do the least bit good. Finally, he just looked haplessly at Master Seventh.
“Master....”
Ignoring his highest-ranking apprentice, Master Seventh plastered a smile onto his face as he looked at the descending Arch-Immortal Plumdark.
“Fellow Daoist Plumdark, this disaster of an apprentice caused you a lot of trouble. I think the punishment you suggested a while back would be perfectly appropriate.”
Chen Erniu let loose a yelp as Master Seventh threw him up into the air toward Arch-Immortal Plumdark. His limbs were immobilized, but his neck wasn’t. As he looked down, he could see Xu Qing slipping away in the crowd.
“Help me, little Junior Brother! Explain everything to Arch-Immortal Plumdark! Hurry! Or at least stick by my side....”
Xu Qing looked up furiously. Great, Chen Erniu. You just had to drag me into this, didn’t you??
At that point, he sped up, except sadly, it was too late.
The Captain’s words caused Arch-Immortal Plumdark to look down. As her beautiful eyes locked onto Xu Qing, she smiled enigmatically.
“Come with me, child. There’s something I need to talk to you about.”
Xu Qing’s heart was already pounding. Unfortunately, there was no way for him to refuse her.
Meanwhile, the Captain’s eyes glittered, and he was about to say something, except Arch-Immortal Plumdark waved her hand and sealed his mouth shut. All he could do was madly blink his eyes at Xu Qing to try to get a message across.
Xu Qing ignored him and was about to say something when Master Seventh cleared his throat.
“Go along, Fourth Sib.”
Xu Qing shot a meaningful look to his Master. However, Master Seventh pretended not to notice.
Arch-Immortal Plumdark smiled, and Xu Qing felt himself rising up into the air. The moment he got close to her, he smelled that familiar perfume. And then she spoke, her voice like a trickling stream that could pierce all the way to his soul.
“Did you get my message, child?”
Xu Qing immediately shook his head.
She chuckled, then flicked her sleeve. She, Xu Qing, and the Captain all disappeared. When they reappeared, they were in the Dark Serenity Sect’s demon snake pocket realm.
Right in front of Xu Qing was that massive coiled snake skeleton.
There was also a person present.
It was Wu Jianwu. He had a scrubbing brush in his hand, and his mouth was taped shut. Looking bored, he used the brush to clean the skeleton. When he noticed the three people up above, his eyes lit up. [1]
When the Captain saw that, his heart sank.
“Chen Erniu, you stole that snake’s tooth,” Arch-Immortal Plumdark said. “If anyone else had done that, I’d rip their tendons out and break all their bones. But after talking the matter over with your Master, and also taking into consideration your Junior Brother, I decided not to bicker with you over the situation.
“If you wanted to use that tooth, you could have just come to me and asked to borrow it. Why did you feel the need to steal it? I guess it doesn’t matter. Feel free to keep the tooth if you need it. But your punishment is that you’ll spend the next three months in here making sure that snake skeleton is absolutely spotless.
“Go ahead.”
She waved her hand, and the Captain fell down to the skeleton, right next to Wu Jianwu.
Wu Jianwu looked very pleased. Excitedly giving the Captain a scrubber brush, he then pointed at a spot off in the distance. Some of the skeleton was already clean, but the majority of it wasn’t. Clearly, Wu Jianwu had left some of it untouched on purpose. Now his companion had arrived.
The Captain sighed. However, he was secretly relieved. He had been ready to beg and plead to reduce his punishment, but as it turned out, the punishment wasn’t really that bad.
Looks like that letter I wrote worked after all! I should write more letters in the future!
The Captain blinked a few times and then tried to make himself look as despondent as possible as he started scrubbing the snake skeleton. It didn’t take long before his face fell as he realized that the skeleton was very unique, and definitely not easy to clean. In fact, tapping into the cultivation base didn’t even seem to help. Looking up at the mountainous snake skeleton, he suddenly seemed very bleak.
Xu Qing looked on feeling wonderful.
Having tossed Chen Erniu down, Arch-Immortal Plumdark led Xu Qing to the highest point in the pocket realm. It was the snake’s skull, which seemed to be howling to the dome of heaven.
Settling down, she smiled at Xu Qing.
“Sit.”
Bracing himself, he sat next to her. From here, he had a good view of the Captain hard at work. Normally speaking, he would have enjoyed that view a lot, but with Arch-Immortal Plumdark looking at him, he felt nothing but anxiety. And it got worse when she spoke.
“Child, in the letter you wrote me, you promised me three things. Today, I want you to keep that first promise.”
Xu Qing immediately felt panic set in.
1. If you forgot why Wu Jianwu is here, you might want to pop back and scan chapter 327. ☜