plumnovel Chapter 11 Better to Die for Your Fellow Daoist Than for Yourself
Chapter 11 Better to Die for Your Fellow Daoist Than for Yourself
The riverbank was a muddy pit, reeking of a foul stench.
The three people and the pig looked like dead fish just pulled out of an old jar of pickled vegetables.
A hundred feet away, the ghastly green methane cloud was still churning, and Huanglong Zhenren's roar shook the river, like a madman who had been splashed with excrement.
"I don't have time to hang the clothes out to dry."
Yu Liang wiped the mud off his face, revealing a deathly pale face, and spoke very quickly.
"Once that old bastard gets over his disgusting spit and piss, the three of us tied together wouldn't be enough to stop him from using his whisk."
Ling Qingxuan stood up shakily, barely breathing, yet a glimmer of defiance remained in his eyes: "What do you want?"
"Run separately."
Yu Liang held up three fingers, his eyes frighteningly clear.
"Su Xiu will take Pig Master westward into the mountains. I'll go south to stir up some trouble and stage an empty city ruse. You go east to return to the capital and fetch reinforcements."
Ling Qingxuan frowned deeply: "You lured him away by yourself?"
Would such a liar, cowardly swindler really have such good intentions?
"Don't flatter yourself." Yu Liang sneered, his eyes cold and indifferent, his scoundrel face reappearing. "I value my life very much. I have a way to escape south, but with two of you as burdens, I'm truly headed for death."
As he spoke, he pulled out a small cloth bag wrapped in layers of oiled paper from his pocket.
They moved very carefully.
"This is the 'opportunity' that old bastard wanted most."
Yu Liang lowered his voice, his tone carrying a seductive, almost charlatan-like quality, his fingers gently twirling as if he were twisting an invisible thread.
"Just now, Pig Lord swallowed a wisp of his divine consciousness and then spat it out. I sealed it inside with the last bit of 'cause and effect.' It contains the 'Dao' flavor he's been dreaming of. As long as this thing is on you, that old man's compass will chase after you like a dog smelling shit."
He handed over the cloth bag, his eyes so sincere it was startling, even carrying a touch of tragic grandeur, as if entrusting his orphan to someone.
"Take this and run east. You're from the Suspended Mirror Bureau, protected by the nation's fortune. As long as you run fast, he'll be wary. When the time is right, give it to him to save your life. As long as I'm alive, we'll settle this score slowly."
Ling Qingxuan didn't answer: "And what about you? Without this bargaining chip, you..."
"I?"
Yu Liang pointed to his nose, laughing heartlessly, and casually rubbed a mud ball on his body and flicked it away.
"I'm just a worthless mortal with nothing to my name, why would he chase me? I set fire to the south to make him think I was setting up a trap, to sow discord among him. The more suspicious he is, the greater your chance of escaping, and the safer I am."
The logic is sound and the fit is impeccable.
It even carried a touch of tragic heroism in sacrificing one's own interests for the greater good.
Ling Qingxuan took the cloth bag; it was warm to the touch.
One could indeed vaguely sense a profound aura that made one's soul tremble.
This is... the "heavenly secret" that even Golden Core cultivators covet?
An absurd sense of trust overwhelmed reason.
This man is sharp-tongued and ruthless, yet at the critical moment of life and death, he left the hope of survival to her and entrusted her with his most crucial "trump card."
Is this the righteousness of mortals?
"Su Xiu, let's go!"
Yu Liang didn't give Ling Qingxuan a chance to be moved. He shoved the stunned girl so hard that Su Xiu almost fell over.
Su Xiu hugged the pig tightly, her eyes red-rimmed, her feet seemingly rooted to the spot.
She knew Yu Liang too well; the more relaxed this bastard acted, the more dangerous things were going to get.
"I'm not leaving! You liar, you're going to gamble with your life again!" Su Xiu screamed, her voice trembling with tears. "The money hasn't been paid off yet! If you die, who am I supposed to collect the debt from?!"
"roll!"
Yu Liang turned around abruptly, his eyes fierce, like a wolf driven to desperation.
"Take the pig and get out of here! That's my capital! If you lose the pig, I'll haunt you even in death! Don't drag me down, get out!"
Su Xiu trembled at the shout, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She bit her lip and gave him a deep look.
She understands.
At this point, any hesitation is tantamount to murder.
"Yu Liang, you just wait!" Su Xiufa fiercely wiped her face, turned around, grabbed the piglet, and disappeared into the bushes. "If you dare to die, I'll dig up your grave and feed your bones to the pigs!"
The wind on the riverbank was bitterly cold.
Ling Qingxuan gave Yu Liang a deep look, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
There was a sense of inquiry, awe, and a touch of respect that she herself was unaware of.
"If I don't die..." she gripped the cloth bag tightly, her words ringing with conviction, "I will definitely overturn your case."
After saying that, she gathered her strength and leaped into the air, turning into a blur as she sped eastward.
That was the direction of life, and the path Yu Liang had paved.
Standing in the moonlight, Yu Liang watched Ling Qingxuan's departing figure. The righteous and awe-inspiring expression on his face instantly vanished, replaced by a cunning look that made one's teeth ache.
"Reversal of the verdict?"
A self-deprecating smile curled at the corner of his lips.
"Exquisite".
"Maybe in your next life, you silly woman."
……
In the south, a withered forest.
Flames shot into the sky.
Yu Liang burned everything he could, even hanging his tattered Taoist robe on a tree branch where it swayed in the heat, making him look just like someone casting a spell.
He's gambling.
Is it possible to gamble on whether the greed of a Golden Core cultivator will override reason?
Mid-air.
Master Huanglong had disheveled hair, his body was charred black, and his Taoist robe was covered with foul-smelling slime.
His eyes were bloodshot, a sign of madness born from extreme humiliation.
"Where?!"
Divine consciousness, like a net, was cast out madly.
Flames soared into the sky in the south, and the spiritual energy fluctuated violently—a blatant provocation.
The east was quiet, with only a faint aura rapidly disappearing into the distance.
A normal person would see the south as a trap and the east as a way out.
But Huanglong Zhenren is not a normal person at this moment.
He was a gambler who had lost everything, a Golden Core cultivator whose brain had been ruined by being soaked in pig manure.
The compass needle in his hand trembled wildly, fixed firmly on the east.
There was a causal aura there that made his soul tremble.
Rich, pure, carrying the essence of the Great Dao.
That is... the opportunity to ascend!
"idiot!"
Huanglong Zhenren glanced at the sea of fire to the south, a cruel smile curving his lips.
"Why would I fall for the same trick twice?"
"You think you can fool me with some mortal fire illusion? Mortals are just mortals; they'll never understand that true treasures...can't be hidden!"
boom!
The golden light shifted, ignoring the southern bait, and hurtled straight to the east.
……
In the dead forest.
Yu Liang sat on a rock, poking at the small fire with a twig, humming an unknown tune.
The tune is strange, yet incredibly relaxing.
"Run, run faster!"
He squinted at the receding golden light on the horizon, as if watching a moth drawn to a flame, his fingers habitually twirling lightly in the air.
The cultivators believed in the spiritual power of the compass and in absolute power.
Yu Liang believes in human nature and in greed.
He presented Huanglong Zhenren with an impossible choice: on one side were ants who only knew how to disgust people and obvious traps, and on the other side was a female official who seemed to be escaping with a shocking secret and the "truth" guided by a compass.
Even a fool knows which one to choose.
Intelligent people often die because of their arrogance.
……
Eastward, Shili Slope.
Ling Qingxuan felt as if his lungs were about to explode, his vital energy was depleted, and his legs felt like lead.
A terrifying pressure loomed behind me, like the Grim Reaper breathing down my scalp.
Even if it means sacrificing for that man, this thing must never be lost!
This was an opportunity that Yu Liang risked his life for; it was the last bit of resistance that ordinary people had against this unjust world!
"Hand over the stuff!!!"
A roar exploded.
Ling Qingxuan gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with determination.
"Stubborn to the end!"
Amidst the howling wind and thunder, a giant golden palm of spiritual energy materialized out of thin air and slammed down with earth-shattering force.
Ling Qingxuan turned around abruptly, picked up a wooden stick, and burned the last drop of his life essence in an attempt to block this fatal blow.
boom!
She crashed into the pile of rocks like a kite with a broken string, her body stained red with blood.
The cloth bag slipped from his hand, rolled a few times, and came to rest by the roadside.
Huanglong Zhenren landed.
He didn't even glance at the dying Ling Qingxuan, as if she were just a fly that had been swatted flat.
His eyes were fixed only on that cloth bag.
That is his path! His immortal journey! His eternal life!
With trembling hands, he reached out and grabbed the cloth bag.
"Hahaha! Heaven is on my side! How dare a mortal ant dabble in the Great Dao?!"
Master Huanglong laughed wildly and impatiently tore open the oil paper.
One floor, two floors, three floors.
The movements were rough, yet carried an almost pilgrimage-like devotion.
Until the last layer peels off.
Huanglong Zhenren's laughter stopped abruptly.
It was as if an invisible hand had snapped his neck, and his face instantly turned a deep liver color.
What supreme treasure do I possess? What Dao fruit do I have?
There was only a tattered strip of cloth, stained with pig saliva and emitting a strong, fishy stench.
There was also a crumpled piece of toilet paper.
A line of words, written crookedly in charcoal ash, exudes an overwhelming sense of mockery:
Sorry, but I'd rather die than see my fellow Daoist perish.
Dead silence.
Ling Qingxuan lay amidst the pile of rocks, his vision blurred.
When I finally saw the words clearly, my mind went blank.
Moved, trusting, tragic.
It shattered into dust in an instant.
"Yu...liang..."
These two words were squeezed out from between his teeth, stained with blood, hatred, and a sense of powerlessness after his worldview collapsed.
fraud!
A complete fraud!
He wasn't saving people at all, and it wasn't even for the greater good!
He used her as bait to shield him from disaster!
He had calculated that Huanglong Zhenren would come after the "treasure," and he had also calculated that she would risk her life to protect this fake for the sake of so-called "righteousness"!
"Aaaaaah!!!"
Huanglong Zhenren has gone mad.
First it was pig intestines, then a pig latrine, and now it's a piece of toilet paper!
A dignified Golden Core cultivator was walked around like a dog by a mortal for half the night!
His Dao heart shattered completely at this moment.
"I want you all to die! All of you must die!!!"
Thunder roared, and Shili Slope was transformed into a hellish inferno.
Meanwhile, in the desolate forest to the south, Yu Liang dusted off his backside, listened to the distant thunder, and a cruel smile crept onto his lips.
"Don't rush, this is just the first dish."
He looked up at the dark night sky, as if through the clouds he could see a pair of eyes watching the chessboard.
"Next, let's play something big."