Wayfarer

Chapter 264: Hong Lie Arrives

The beauty playing the flute outside the Xiao manor was none other than Xiao Nanfeng's senior sister, Yu'er.

When they had finally emerged from the undying realm, Yu'er had been worried about the plague of cursed kings around Xiao Nanfeng. She had returned home in search of a means by which the cursed effigies could be separated from Xiao Nanfeng, and he had heard nothing of her for an entire year.

Yu'er stopped playing the flute and gave Xiao Nanfeng a hmph. She scrunched up her pert nose. "Call me Senior Sister, you hear?"

She tried to hide her smile, but was ultimately unable to. Her tinkling laugh reminded one of a field of blooming flowers. A deepset joy could be seen in her eyes.

There was no more time for pleasantries, however. Yu'er immediately turned her attention back to playing the flute. She summoned an even larger ethereal phoenix to attack Cui Haisheng.

Cui Haisheng frowned. He strummed his guqin, sending another crone swooping down toward Yu'er's phoenix. The two birds dissipated in another explosion. This time, however, when the phoenix exploded, an ethereal sword emerged from its body and shot toward Cui Haisheng.

"What?" Cui Haisheng frowned as he hurriedly defended with a palm.

Cui Haisheng blocked the attack, but the shockwave that resulted blew away the fog shrouding him to reveal his gobsmacked expression.

Cui Haisheng's brows furrowed as he realized that he had been exposed. "The Godbane blade? You play the Godbane Flute? How are you related to Han Bingdie? Why do you have her flute?!"

Yu'er shouted, "Cui Haisheng, I advise that you leave now. If you dare attack Nanfeng any longer, don't blame me for any retaliation you might face."

Cui Haisheng called back, "Lass, you must be one of Han Bingdie's juniors. Even she addresses me as Division Leader. How dare a young girl like you try to stop me?"

Cui Haisheng cared less that he had been revealed than being spoken to so rudely by a junior, let alone one supporting Xiao Nanfeng, who had destroyed his avatar.

"Cui Haisheng, why have you attempted to close in on my manor in disguise?" Xiao Nanfeng drew close to Yu'er protectively. "Do you mean me ill?"

More and more of the people of Yongding were looking up in the air in vexation and annoyance. They had only had two days of peace—and now more people were here to make trouble for Young Master Xiao!

When Cui Haisheng saw the common people of Yongding glaring at him, he frowned. He had been exposed. Unless he killed the whole city, he wouldn't be able to hide his presence.

Even so, how could he just leave without retaliation? Even if he couldn't kill the two cultivators in public, he at least had to injure them severely in order to take revenge.

"I heard that a powerful musician has recently joined your employ," Cui Haisheng replied, making up an excuse. "I'm here to get a measure of her skills myself." Before Xiao Nanfeng could speak further, he began playing the guqin in earnest.

Almost a hundred ethereal storks flew out from his guqin's strings straight toward Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er.

Yu'er devoted herself to playing her flute and conjured a hundred ethereal phoenixes, but none were as large as the storks.

The storks attacked in earnest as the phoenixes cried out. Within moments, the phoenixes had dissipated under their furious assault. It was clear that Yu'er was disadvantaged in terms of spiritual power. The phoenixes burst apart to reveal a hundred blades, but the storks defended against them all.

Yu'er's face turned pale as she spat out a mouthful of blood. The attack had caused severe strain to her soul.

"Lass, you're trying to play the Godbane Flute despite the fact that you're only at Stellar Lake? Aren't you afraid of backlash?" Cui Haisheng chuckled.

Just then, Xiao Nanfeng placed a hand on Yu'er's shoulder, transferring a torrent of spiritual power into her body. Yu'er's pale face regained its color as her mindscape was flooded with energy.

Without any hesitation, she continued playing the Godbane Flute. Roiling spiritual power shot out with her music, transforming into a phoenix ten times the size of the ones she had manifested to date. As it spread its wings, pale blue flames emerged all around itself. The flames' aura alone was sufficient to vanquish many of the storks.

"Impossible!" Cui Haisheng exclaimed.

He began to play the guqin more and more furiously, causing the remaining storks to mass together into a giant stork. However, that stork was only half the size of Yu'er's phoenix. The phoenix swooped toward the stork, enveloping it in flames. The phoenix tore it to shreds.

Cui Haisheng spat out a mouthful of blood from the backlash. He gaped at the flaming phoenix, which was already closing in on him and filling his surroundings with flame.

"Impossible!" Cui Haisheng exclaimed again. He struck at the phoenix with all his spiritual power.

A huge explosion occurred in the air, almost like the explosion of an Immortal relic. A mushroom cloud emerged from the flames.

Cui Haisheng was sent flying, his clothes tattered. The phoenix exploded to reveal a huge sword that destroyed Cui Haisheng's guqin, broke through his protective qi barrier, and stabbed deep into his flesh.

"Xiao Nanfeng's spiritual power, combined with the Godbane Flute, is sufficient to harm me?!" Cui Haisheng exclaimed.

"Didn't you want to learn about music, Cui Haisheng? Shall we continue?" Xiao Nanfeng called out.

"Again!" Yu'er began to play the Godbane Flute once more, summoning another ethereal phoenix.

Cui Haisheng's eyes flared with violence as he drew a blood-red Immortal sword. Xiao Nanfeng immediately felt uneasy: the aura that emanated from the sword was far too intense. It might well be a pristine Immortal sword.

"Be careful, Yu'er!" Xiao Nanfeng exclaimed.

He transferred another portion of spiritual power to her as Yu'er summoned one more ethereal phoenix.

"Slash!" Cui Haisheng intoned.

The crimson light emanating from the sword illuminated the heavens. It struck the ethereal phoenix head-on, obliterating it, and continued forward, its momentum barely affected. Cui Haisheng seemed to be intending to kill Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er simultaneously.

Just then, a golden fist appeared in the air, shattering the glow of the Immortal sword and forcing Cui Haisheng to stumble back.

"Who is it?!" Cui Haisheng cried out.

"Have you had enough, Cui Haisheng? Imagine the left division leader losing to a junior of a younger generation in a contest of music, then trying to kill that junior with an Immortal sword!How shameless could you get?!" a voice came from afar.

A resplendent man in gold had arrived and was glaring daggers at Cui Haisheng—none other than Hong Lie himself.

"Hong Lie? What are you doing here?" Cui Haisheng exclaimed.

"Cui Haisheng, do you want the whole world to mock the Tianshu Empire for its spies and traitors?" Hong Lie demanded.

Cui Haisheng pursed his lips. He knew that Hong Lie's appearance meant that he wouldn't be able to hurt Xiao Nanfeng any longer. He glared at Hong Lie, wanting to reveal that he was the victim in this altercation, but was ultimately unable to overcome his pride.

"You have no authority to govern my affairs, Hong Lie."

Cui Haisheng whirled around and flew off. Before he did so, he glared at Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er once again.

"Cui Haisheng, hear you well: if you dare cause trouble for Xiao Nanfeng again, I'll maul you to death!" Hong Lie roared.

Cui Haisheng glared hatefully at Hong Lie from afar before he vanished over the horizon. How angry he was about what had happened today!

Only then did Hong Lie fly down toward Xiao Nanfeng and Yu'er.

"I greet my senior uncle," Xiao Nanfeng replied, bowing.

Yu'er gaped, but bowed as well. "Senior Uncle, I'm Yu'er."

Hong Lie glanced at the two young cultivators and laughed. "Are the two of you about to get married? Are you in such a hurry that you haven't even informed the sect of your plans?"

Taken aback, the two cultivators traded glances. They were both wearing red, and their pairing did seem rather striking.

"Of course not! It's not like that, Senior Uncle." Yu'er blushed furiously.

Xiao Nanfeng glanced at Hong Lie in surprise. To his knowledge, Hong Lie was a stoic and reserved cultivator. He hadn't expected his sense of bawdy humor.

"It's impressive that you managed to destroy one of Cui Haisheng's avatars. Haha, seeing how mad he was makes me want to laugh. Excellent work!" Hong Lie praised.

"How did you know, Senior Uncle?" Xiao Nanfeng asked in surprise.

"Ku Jiang told me. He received word that you had just undergone a huge fight. He's busy at the moment, so he sent me over to help support you."

"I apologize for making you and Master worry, Senior Uncle."

"What for? I'm happy to be here. Haha, you really are impressive. You hid three Wingform-realm cultivators up your sleeve and managed to take down Cui Haisheng—and he can't even reveal what happened out of shame! Just thinking about it makes me smile."

"I had no choice," Xiao Nanfeng replied wryly.

"Don't worry. You were acting in defense of your lands. You had full right to do what you did. If anyone attempts to criticize you for it, Ku Jiang and I will speak up on your behalf," Hong Lie replied definitively.

"Thank you, Senior Uncle." Xiao Nanfeng smiled in relief.

Only then did he truly feel confident in his father's claim that his father and Hong Lie had and would put their lives on the line for each other.

"Lass, that's the Godbane Flute, isn't it? How are you related to Han Bingdie?" Hong Lie asked Yu'er.

"Han Bingdie's my mother, and Ku Jiang is my master," Yu'er reported.

"Oh?" Hong Lie's eyes widened. He laughed. "She's your mother? And Ku Jiang's your master? What irony, haha!"

"Senior Uncle, is Yu'er's mother a famous cultivator? Cui Haisheng seemed to know quite a bit about the Godbane Flute as well," Xiao Nanfeng probed.

"Of course. Han Bingdie's an elder of the left division of the Taiqing Demonic Sect, and she almost became the left division leader herself. No—she gave up on the position, allowing Cui Haisheng to take advantage. The Godbane Flute's a peerless treasure of the left division of the sect, and it's been Cui Haisheng's dream to possess it. It's only natural he would be so mad."