Chapter 9: Temple (2)
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Above, a few fluffy white clouds floated, effectively blocking out the winter sun.
As a result, the folks under the clouds instantly lost their precious sunlight; even the gentle breeze turned chilly and biting, like a bad breakup.
Amid the furious audience of the Crazy Dragon Guild, Li Yi led Lin Nan and her crew through the winding corridors into a tree-lined path, surrounded by lofty evergreen trees that seemed ridiculously out of place for winter.
“This path seems a bit off…”
As soon as Lin Nan voiced her doubts about the route,
Li Yi burst into laughter, “Oh, come on! You’re joking, right? You sound like you’ve been here before!”
Lin Nan deadpanned, “I have been here, actually. The starlets Ru Yu and Si Yan at Yihong Courtyard are practically old friends of mine. What about you? Before the chaos erupted in Sky Sword City, you just stood around at the entrance, right?”
“Hey, gorgeous, don’t underestimate me! I was a regular at Yihong Courtyard too! I knew all the girls there!” Li Yi retorted, his face flushing red.
Lin Nan asked suddenly, “What’s Ru Yu’s going rate?”
Li Yi blinked, momentarily taken aback, then puffed out his chest, “A mere 3,000 spirit coins, come on! I can afford that. Just so you know, even Ru Yu calls me ‘Gold Daddy’!”
“Pfft…”
Little Ai, following behind, couldn’t help but stifle a laugh.
“What are you laughing at, you broke little thing? You probably haven’t even set foot through the doors of Yihong Courtyard,” Li Yi shot back.
Little Ai smacked her lips, “Vice President Li, if you had watched my videos, you wouldn’t sound so clueless. Ru Yu starts at 8,000 spirit coins, and Si Yan is at 7,000. Your 3,000? That’s just enough to buy a plain Jane. Poverty really does limit the imagination, I’m telling you!”
Little Musashi burst out laughing.
Si Yan also covered her mouth, struggling not to giggle, while Lin Nan maintained her poker face.
Li Yi’s face flushed with anger and embarrassment.
Men always have to save face, especially when they just lost it in front of three beautiful women. How could he not feel furious, practically steam pouring from his ears? He momentarily forgot his original purpose and pulled out his weapon, ready to lunge past the three girls and stab Little Ai.
d*mn it! I can’t handle these three women, but who does this petty character think he is laughing at me?
I’ll show you!
“Help! Help!” Little Ai saw the danger and immediately dodged out of the way.
Li Yi didn’t let up, hot on her heels, looking like he wouldn’t stop until he took her down.
Lin Nan was armed with the White Shadow Sword today, the Black Wind Sword hidden away in a pocket-sized storage card because it was too eye-catching.
The White Shadow Sword was a bit shorter than the Black Wind Sword, making it more suited for close-quarter combat.
With no time to instruct Little Musashi to intercept, Lin Nan deftly appeared behind Li Yi, the cold blade pressing against his neck. “Stop.”
Li Yi’s legs wobbled, and he shouted, “Don’t k*ll me! Don’t k*ll me!”
“Where are you taking us? This path surely doesn’t lead to the reception area of Yihong Courtyard. If I’m not mistaken, it seems like we’re headed towards a garden.”
Li Yi immediately blurted, “The guild leader! The guild leader wants to see you!”
“Isn’t she out?”
“Not at all!” Li Yi chuckled nervously, “You might want to ease up on that sword there. Let’s talk this out.”
Lin Nan ignored him and pressed the blade tighter against his neck, sending chills down his spine that made him not dare to move.
“If you say one more lie, even if you have a d*ath immunity ticket, I might just k*ll you twice.”
“I understand, I understand! Ask away!” Li Yi nodded rapidly.
“Why hasn’t your guild leader gone out when it’s time?”
“She said she was waiting for someone and told me to guard the entrance. Anyone who manages to get in unharmed should be brought to her.”
“So, we fit her criteria just fine, huh?”
“Yes, yes! Absolutely!”
Lin Nan didn’t ease up with her sword, “Where’s the place you’re taking us?”
“Just the garden. We didn’t realize that there was a large underground space beneath Yihong Courtyard. The entrance is behind the thickest tree in the garden.”
Li Yi nervously pushed against her White Shadow Sword, “I’m telling the truth! Beautiful lady, please be careful! Don’t slice my throat!”
“Oh? But why do I feel like you’re lying?” Lin Nan’s expression darkened.
Li Yi’s face changed; his previously relaxed right hand suddenly elongated and thickened, rapidly thrusting toward Lin Nan’s abdomen.
Little Musashi and Jing Feng noticed the sudden movement and were about to shout a warning, but Lin Nan had already elegantly sidestepped his sneak attack, her sword slicing through his neck like butter.
Li Yi staggered back, clutching his bl**d-soaked neck, thrusting his wings that spanned two or three meters wide from his back.
“Think you can fly away?”
Before Lin Nan could even give an order, Little Musashi had already jumped in, her katana effortlessly slicing through Li Yi’s wings like they were nothing.
With a grunt, Li Yi fell to the ground, bl**d pouring out uncontrollably before, at some point, it just… stopped.
“Looks like the d*ath immunity ticket is active.”
Lin Nan glared at him coldly, “Li Yi, this is your final chance. You need to understand—I have little patience for Fallen Species.”
Li Yi held his now-bleeding neck with terror, swallowing hard; nearly biting the dust had been a terrible experience, and he didn’t want a retry.
“Yes, yes! I’m telling the truth! I’m telling the truth!” Li Yi babbled.
“The Firefly Guild Leader is indeed home and hasn’t gone out, but… her condition isn’t great…”
“What do you mean?”
“You’ll see when you get there, trust me. Oh, and I’ve got five buddies waiting at the entrance; they’re all tougher than me and have lethal capabilities. But really, we just want your guild leader to come out safely.”
Lin Nan stared at him, evaluating whether his claims held water.
“I know you three aren’t ordinary people. Maybe you can save our guild leader.”
After having his wings halved, Li Yi seemed unable to retract them, the gory mess hanging from him made him look particularly repulsive.
Before long, Li Yi stood at a concealed entrance covered with dead branches and leaves.
He clapped his hands, “Brothers, come out!”
“What’s going on? Didn’t you bring anyone?”
“Ugh! If you’d let us know earlier, we could’ve gone in directly. Now look, our succulent target just slipped away!”
“Yeah, I told you that the fifth guywas useless—worried us for ages.”
As those four grumbling Fallen Species crawled out of the tunnel and laid eyes on Lin Nan and her crew looking unfazed behind Li Yi, they froze, completely speechless.
