Escape the Miaojiang Villain - Chapter 27
Chapter 27: Gusheng Valley-Falling
Lian Jing was still searching for her at the bottom of the pit. The light inside was scarce; except for a single spot of dim glow in the center, the surrounding area was pitch-black, dark enough that one could not see their own hand in front of their face. He could no longer distinguish what was real and what was fake—could it be that Tu Lingxiang, who fell into the pit just now, was an illusion too?
“Hahaha, Lian Jing, prepare to die!” From above came Zhang Haiming’s triumphant laughter.
At the same time, a massive blue spell-seal array lit up around the bottom of the pit. The glow grew stronger and stronger, displaying intricate, densely packed runes upon the seal that completely surrounded him.
Lian Jing raised his long eyelashes and looked toward the top of the pit. A crescent moon hung in the middle of the sky, and standing beneath that moon were two young men in green robes. They were too far away for him to see their faces clearly, but he knew they must be smiling at this moment.
“Where is my maid?” he asked coldly, uttering only this single line.
Zhang Haiming replied with a laugh, “Your maid? Isn’t she down there?”
Standing in the center of the blue spell-seal like a lonely, brilliant red maple, Lian Jing lowered his voice, his tone turning icy: “I will ask once more: where is my maid?”
“Lian Jing, are you stupid? Your maid was killed by your own hands.” Zhang Haiming knew there was a hidden alleyway at the bottom; he had thoroughly inspected the terrain when setting up this trap, and by now, that girl had long since escaped through the passage.
Lian Jing lost all his remaining patience and roared, “I asked you, where is my maid?!”
“Lian Jing, everything you saw today was real! Your little maid ran away with another man. She stopped wanting to serve you long ago! Who do you think you are? Who could possibly stand someone like you?”
Below, Lian Jing raised his wrist and blasted a palm strike toward the surrounding blue spell-seals. However, they were like a wall of bronze and iron—not only did they fail to shatter, but they even reflected the force back. Shaken two steps backward by the rebounding power, he clutched his chest and coughed lightly.
“Lian Jing, the spell-seals of our Shentu Sect aren’t that easy to break,” the people above called out.
How could he not know?
Years ago, every time his aunt came to pick him up, she would bring him to a giant door bearing a blue spell-seal. Only his aunt knew how to open that door; he had tried in secret, but failed.
“Lian Jing, will you still not confess? The person who killed our Shentu Sect disciple, stole the necklace, and broke into Tanhua Pavilion—it was you, wasn’t it?!”
Since things had already reached this point, Lian Jing no longer hid it.
He said, “That woman locked inside Tanhua Pavilion—who on earth is she?”
“Heh, as expected, it was you,” Yuan Zhedao burst out laughing. “That person is not someone you have any right to ask about.”
Yet Lian Jing said, “Go call your master here. I want to see him.”
“You want to see Master? Fine! We’ll bring your head to see him right now!”
As soon as the words left their lips, the two leaped up into the air, each wielding a long sword in hand. Suspended in mid-air, positioned to the left and right, they executed identical sword stances in unison.
To Lian Jing below, the top of the cavern looked as if an invisible axis of symmetry had been drawn across it. One of them represented the sun and the other the moon; brilliant light flowed along their green robes and sword blades. Swishing their gleaming swords together, they converged toward the center. The moment their sword tips touched, a bright beam of sword qi immediately assembled, pouring downward like a column of water and crashing straight toward him inside the spell-seal.
Although he blocked it with both palms, he could not withstand the dual suppression of the sword qi and the spell-seal. He coughed up a large mouthful of blood and collapsed backward onto the ground.
“Lian Jing, before you die, let me tell you one more thing,” Zhang Haiming said with an evil smile, wanting to add one last torment to his heart even in death. “Your little maid really smells quite fragrant.”
That undergarment belonged to her; he had smelled it just now.
And Lian Jing didn’t have any bizarre collection fetish either—he had intentionally claimed that just to help her get her clothes back.
Hearing those words, Lian Jing’s eyes flushed with furious red. Gritting his teeth, he spat, “You’re asking for death.”
He sat up from the ground and took off the Puppet Dream Bell from his waist, gently shaking it. The red bean-like bell rattled inside the silver hollow sphere, emitting an ethereal chiming sound.
Wisps of fine red threads radiated from the bell like smoke and mist, floating up toward the sky above.
“What is that?!” Yuan Zhedao cried out in horror.
Zhang Haiming was equally terrified, saying in disbelief, “It’s… it’s demonic qi!”
Lian Jing below flashed them a wicked, demonic smile—a smile that looked extraordinarily terrifying under the reflection of the blue light.
Like a malevolent ghost.
Gazing up from the abyss, staring at them with sheer hatred.
“How can this be? How could there be demonic qi? How… how could he be a demon?!”
Lian Jing had never possessed any demonic qi on his body before, which was why they had never thought in that direction. It seemed his disguise had been far too convincing.
“Quick! Hurry back and report to Master!” Yuan Zhedao pulled Zhang Haiming, turning around to run.
However, before they could make their escape, several red threads wrapped around their hands and feet. Forced to turn back around, they manipulated their swords to slice through those red threads.
Those thin lines looked like smoke, but in reality, they were tougher than ox tendon. No matter how hard they slashed, they couldn’t cut them.
Accompanied by the chiming of the bell entering their ears, the red threads before their eyes grew increasingly blurry and dense. In their eyes, the red lines seemed to turn into Spider Lilies blooming in hell, their crimson stamens blossoming gloriously in the wind to their utmost beauty. The stamens, exhaling a intoxicating scent, wrapped around every part of their bodies. The swords in their hands slipped to the ground, and only enchanting flowers remained in their vision.
With a flick of Lian Jing’s wrist, the two of them were dragged down into the pit by his red threads, crashing right next to his legs.
He lowered his gaze to look at Zhang Haiming. “I’ll ask once more: where is my maid?”
Zhang Haiming had reached the peak of terror; his pupils bulged wide, filled with red light, and he pointed honestly toward a direction: “In the alleyway over there!”
Lian Jing leaned close to his face and forced out a few words through gritted teeth: “You said… how was she fragrant again?”
Zhang Haiming immediately shook his head like a rattle, the fear in his eyes something he had never shown in his entire life: “No, no, not fragrant… I was talking nonsense… talking nonsense!”
Lian Jing asked again, “The woman in Tanhua Pavilion—who is she?”
Zhang Haiming answered, “My junior brother and I joined the sect late, so we don’t know who she is either. We only know Master brought her here many years ago and kept her locked up in Tanhua Pavilion. Every three months, Master sends someone here to inspect the place; holding that necklace, one can request the owner of the silversmith shop to lead the way.”
Upon hearing this, Lian Jing remained silent for a long time before standing up. Tying the Puppet Dream Bell back to his waist, he commanded sternly, “Hurry up and break this spell-seal!”
Zhang Haiming immediately chanted an incantation, and the blue light spell-seals surrounding them vanished without a trace.
Lian Jing flicked his sleeve, wiped away the blood from the corner of his mouth, and walked toward the direction of the alleyway he had pointed out.
Tu Lingxiang ran through one alleyway after another at the bottom of the pit. She felt as though she were inside the belly of a giant beast, and the alleyways she walked were its convoluted intestines.
Because she was at the bottom of a pit, she couldn’t tell her directions. The underground was dark and deep, so she could only figure out a way to climb up to the top of the pit first before she could find the path out of Gusheng Valley.
Finally, she saw an ancient tree up ahead that grew from the bottom of the pit all the way to the top. Joy spreading across her face, she ran over. This tree was at least a hundred years old, with deep roots, lush foliage, and gnarled, twisting branches. Looking up, it looked like a kind, old grandfather gazing down at her.
The lonely moon was hidden behind it, and the entire sky showed a deep, dark blue. Holding onto the wide trunk with both hands, she stepped on the wrinkled bark of the old tree and slowly climbed upward.
Very soon now, she would be able to escape the Miao land.
During her climb, excitement filled her head. How surreal this night felt! She had never imagined she would ever be so close to the outside world.
Just as she climbed near the top of the pit, she suddenly caught sight of a person in the canyon not far away, walking toward this direction while calling out, “Ah Ling! Where are you?”
It was Sang Qing’s voice.
That direction seemed to be the path she and Lian Jing had taken when they came; from there, one could leave the Miao land.
She didn’t jump down from the tree. Instead, she continued climbing upward until she reached a branch growing out sideways. It was covered with dense leaves, which she could use to hide her figure.
“Sang Qing, I’m sorry… I can’t let you find me.”
Once found by him, escaping the Miao land would likely become difficult. Just explaining the entire situation to him would take a long time, and besides, he hadn’t wanted her to leave in the first place.
Watching him walk past under the tree with a face full of worry—not knowing when he had woken up or how long he had been searching for her in the valley—she felt immensely apologetic inside: Sang Qing, I’m truly sorry.
If there was ever a chance, she would definitely apologize to him properly.
Only after watching him walk far away and disappear into the night did she brace herself against the tree branch to stand up, intending to climb down the tree.
However, just as she stepped out with one foot, she saw a small green snake crawling along that very branch. Her foot had nearly stepped right onto its body! Scared out of her mind, she was terrified of snakes above all else—regardless of whether they were big or small. Moreover, most snakes in this valley possessed gu traits; if she got bitten, she might very well lose her life.
In panic, she scrambled to climb upward, but her footing slipped, and she fell straight down from high above.
“Ah!!!”
No way!
She had finally managed to see the light of day, only to fall into a bottomless abyss at this final moment!
The pit here was much deeper than the one she had tricked Lian Jing into jumping down earlier. Falling from this height, if she didn’t die, she would at least end up half-crippled!
How could she be this unlucky?!
The howling wind whistled past her ears, making her cheeks and ear cartilage sting from the rush. She fell at an extremely rapid speed. In that instant, she thought in her heart: Lian Jing, are you pulling me from hell?! Even in death, you want me to be buried alongside you?!
No way!
Being treated like a beast of burden while alive was bad enough; after dying, she definitely didn’t want to serve him anymore!
The impact of the wind was too great. She closed her eyes during the plunge, feeling as if she had turned into a butterfly, floating lightly through the night breeze.
The expected pain of hitting the ground didn’t come. Instead, she felt herself caught by a pair of firm arms. Before she even had time to open her eyes, she heard a pleasant voice sound from right above her head.
“Look, a fairy fell from the sky.”
Astonished beyond measure, she opened her eyes. What met her gaze was Lian Jing’s pale yet still strikingly handsome face, a deep, inscrutable smile curling at the corners of his crimson eyes.
The light at the bottom of the pit was dim, with mottled moonlight unevenly striking his face. That paper-white face and the un-wiped smear of blood at the corner of his mouth all proclaimed how he had narrowly escaped death.
This wasn’t a ghost.
Rather… he hadn’t died at all!
