Chapter Nineteen: Surrounded (Part I)

Page (1/3)

When Fuyao saw Chiyang suddenly lose her composure, she stopped and looked at her in surprise.

Chiyang tilted her head and listened for a while. Hearing nothing more, a trace of confusion crossed her face.

At that moment, Shijun’s heart stirred. Under the direction of his thoughts, several Blue Souls slowly drifted out of the Hundred-Treasure Bag. The little creatures immediately spotted Chiyang and swarmed around her in delight.

“Feeling reassured now?” Seeing the astonishment on Chiyang’s face turn into joy, Shijun said with a smile beside her ear, “I came to find you. But what came was a person, not a ghost.”

“How beautiful!” Fuyao watched in astonishment as the Blue Souls appeared from thin air and could not help whispering her praise.

A-Li stared blankly as the Blue Souls drifted around the ice chamber. She should have been startled, yet for some reason she made no move at all, merely watching them in a daze, her eyes seeming slightly moist.

“You’ve grown more capable since the last time I saw you.” The sight of the Blue Souls finally put Chiyang at ease, and her expression relaxed. Seeing that Shijun still refused to show himself, she scolded him with a smile, “Stop playing tricks and come out!”

“Hee-hee, I’m afraid I can’t do that. At the moment, only my spirit has left my body. Otherwise, how could I have slipped in without anyone noticing? I tried it just now, but my physical body couldn’t be brought here by teleportation. So I had no choice but to make you talk to the air!”

“Your spirit has left your body? You actually…” Chiyang exclaimed. Then, as if she had thought of something, she smiled sweetly. “Your mind really is hopelessly rigid. Even if you can’t bring your physical body here, you can still manifest yourself. Don’t you know there’s a spell for taking shape?”

With that, she told Shijun the Form-Mimicking Spell.

“What exactly is going on?” Seeing Chiyang smiling and talking to herself, Fuyao grew increasingly perplexed and finally could not hold back her question.

“Miss, Lord Chiyang’s companion has arrived,” A-Li said softly.

* * * * * * * *

Shijun was overjoyed and immediately followed her instructions.

Before long, a faint shadow appeared before Chiyang. It gradually became more distinct until he stood smiling before her, though the Form-Mimicking Spell could not create a tangible body. It merely used powerful spiritual force to simulate his shape. If anyone reached out to touch him, they would feel nothing.

Fuyao had never expected a young man to suddenly appear inside the ice chamber. Frowning, she watched him from a distance.

Shijun nodded at Fuyao with a smile. “You must be Fuyao, right? Big Brother Zisheng told me about your situation. Hello.”

Fuyao was secretly puzzled. How could Zisheng’s friend know Chiyang? Displeased, she ignored him.

Page (1/3)

Page (2/3)

Chiyang gazed at Shijun without blinking, her expression complicated. After a long while, she gave a somewhat rueful smile and sat down.

“Underworld Constable, what brings you here so suddenly?”

Seeing that Chiyang’s expression had softened considerably, Shijun could not resist teasing her. “You’ve been away on assignment for so long that no one has been around to shout at me and accuse me of every imaginable misdeed. I couldn’t get used to it, so I traveled all this way to find you.”

Chiyang burst out laughing and scolded him playfully. “Were you really missing that much abuse? Don’t worry. Since you put it that way, I won’t go easy on you. Shall I give you a proper tongue-lashing right now?”

“That would be fine, except not right now.” Shijun grinned mischievously. “Don’t you want something to eat? I brought all sorts of good things from the Human Realm, the Underworld, and the Demon Realm—pills, food, all kinds of things. Aren’t you hungry?”

As he spoke, a great heap of items poured noisily from the Hundred-Treasure Bag and piled up before Chiyang like a small mountain.

“Sorry, I didn’t prepare any food from the Underworld, but I brought plenty from the Human Realm. You’ll have to make do.”

Chiyang pressed her lips into a smile and called Silverflame over. She undid the cloth around its neck, crushed a medicinal pill in her palm, and applied it to the wound before tying the bandage back in place. Then she looked up at Fuyao.

“Are you hungry? Come over and eat something.”

For some reason, her attitude toward Fuyao was always exceptionally cold.

Fuyao was startled. She pouted and did not move. A-Li, however, said with some delight, “Miss, please sit down. I’ll bring something to you.”

“Don’t bring me anything! I don’t eat those filthy Underworld things.”

With an enigmatic smile, Chiyang picked up a French fry that Shijun had “conveniently” taken from McDonald’s and put it into her mouth.

“Well, that’s convenient. A-Li, if she won’t eat, you can. My companion brought food and medicine from the Demon Realm. Weren’t you injured earlier?”

From a distance, Fuyao saw that quite a number of things had indeed been piled before Chiyang. Among them were her favorite honey-core fruits and lantern buns.

She and Chiyang had been attacked without warning that day and had fled in haste, leaving them with nothing. They had not eaten for several days and were now desperately hungry. They had merely used their demonic power to suppress the gnawing hunger. But now, catching the fragrant scent of the lantern buns, Fuyao suddenly felt ravenous.

She gave a disdainful snort, sat down, and closed her eyes.

A-Li looked helplessly at Chiyang.

“What on earth is going on between you two?” Shijun asked with a smile. “Why do you act like sworn enemies?”

“Don’t interfere. I’ll tell you later,” Chiyang replied quietly.

Shijun thought for a moment, then walked over to the sulking Fuyao. He took out the Demon Realm food and herbs Zisheng had given him.

“You have to eat something. Even if you don’t care about yourself, surely you can’t bear to let your companion go hungry with you? Besides, we’ll be leaving together soon, so you should replenish your strength.”

Fuyao opened her eyes and glanced at Shijun. Her face remained expressionless, but she gave a slight nod and silently picked two herbs from the silk handkerchief.

“Come, A-Li. Treat your wound first.”

Chiyang watched this, realizing that the spoiled young lady was not entirely heartless after all. Her expression softened, and she let out a quiet sigh.

The Silverflame Beast had already wolfed down all a dozen of the hamburgers Shijun had brought out. It licked its lips and gazed at Chiyang, still yearning for more.

Page (2/3)

Page (3/3)

“Do you have any water? I’m so thirsty,” Chiyang asked.

“Yes! Yes!” Shijun secretly congratulated himself. Fortunately, he had experience from his previous visit to the Underworld and had prepared a large supply of food this time for the Demon Realm. Otherwise, things would have been difficult.

Like a diligent attendant, he hurriedly kept pulling things from the Hundred-Treasure Bag while Chiyang asked, “How did you end up coming here? And how did you find us?”

“Don’t ask.” Shijun laughed. “It was Yasha. He found me and asked to borrow my token. After a few questions, I got the truth out of him and came along. We were separated as soon as we reached the Demon Realm, though. As for how I found you, that’s a long story. In short, one of Fuyao’s friends told me where you were. He drew the pursuers away while I took the opportunity to come here.”

Shijun’s voice rose slightly. Fuyao heard him and looked over curiously before asking, “You mean Big Brother Zisheng and Black Leopard?”

“That’s right.” To be honest, from the moment Shijun saw Chiyang, there had been room in his eyes for almost no one else. He had countless things he wanted to tell her and no interest in speaking to anyone else. Besides, he did not have a very favorable impression of Fuyao. Still, she was someone Chiyang had come to rescue, as well as Zisheng’s friend, so he patiently explained, “I only know Big Brother Zisheng. Black Leopard didn’t travel with us.”

After A-Li had finished bandaging her wound, Fuyao gave a quiet hum. Her expression had softened somewhat.

“Thank you. How is Big Brother Zisheng?”

“He’s doing well.” Shijun had no desire to continue the conversation. Seeing Chiyang take small sips of water, he quickly asked, “Can you tolerate the food from the Human Realm?”

Chiyang ate a little more and took several of the medicinal pills Shijun had brought. Her spirits recovered considerably, and a faint flush appeared on her face.

“You’ve done well this time, you rascal. Otherwise, I truly don’t know whether I could have held out. By the way, did you and Yasha come alone?”

Shijun simply recounted everything that had happened before their arrival. At first, Chiyang listened with a smile, tilting her head attentively. But for some reason, when he mentioned that the Four Underworld Generals had come along as well, her expression suddenly darkened.

Shijun noticed and sensed the turmoil in her emotions. She seemed deeply unsettled.

“What’s wrong?” he asked curiously.

Chiyang forced a smile. “Nothing.”

She stared blankly into space for a moment, then said in a low voice, “I just feel that something isn’t right.”

“What isn’t right?”

“…I can’t be certain yet. I’ll tell you later. For now, we need to get out of here as quickly as possible.”

By then, Fuyao and A-Li had finished eating, but they still refused to come over, sitting where they were and staring blankly.

Page (3/3)