Chapter Eight The Wind Suddenly Rises

  Chapter Eight: The Sudden Gust of Wind

  On this clear morning, Ji Ruochen arrived early at Suo Bridge, looking refreshed and revitalized, with the hidden worries between his eyebrows already gone. However, according to the agreed time, it had passed for a moment, but Yun Feng Daozhang still did not appear.

  Ji Ruocheng was perplexed, when he suddenly saw a faint mist rising from the Taichang Palace, drifting towards him. He looked intently and only then did he see that the mist was actually Han Yan. He couldn't help but feel a little strange - why would Han Yan be in the Taichang Palace at this early hour?

  Still dressed in a plain white long dress, without makeup or jewelry, with smoke rising from her feet as if she was walking on waves. She held several ancient books in her arms and walked straight to Ji Ruochen's front before making a slight bow and saying softly: "Brother Ji Ruochen, are you waiting for Daozhang Yunfeng?"

  Ji Ruocheng hastily returned a courtesy and said: "Yes, without Yun Feng Daozhang, I myself wouldn't be able to cross the Suo Bridge."

  With a faint smile, he said: "My master, Yu Xuan Zhen Ren and Zi Yang Zhen Ren are discussing the Tao, they have been talking all night and haven't finished yet. Yun Feng Dao Zhang wants to accompany the two Zhen Rens, and I was just about to return to the Tai Shang Dao De Palace, so Yu Xuan Zhen Ren sent me to escort you across Suo Bridge."

  In the two previous classes, Ji Ruochen and Han Yan sat close together, but each time he was extremely agitated, and Han Yan seemed to be hiding in a faint mist all day, so he couldn't remember her appearance clearly. Ji Ruochen only remembered that every move she made had a rippling wave of water splashing towards him, which would always submerge him completely.

  At this time, the sky was just brightening, and the morning light shone on Han Yan's body, making the misty waves around her disappear. In that instant, Ji Ruochen clearly saw her face.

  She was like a spring water with misty vapor rising from the river, and at this moment, her faint smile was like the moment when the clouds parted and the sun rose.

  At this moment, he was stunned like a wooden chicken, staring blankly at the smoke, unable to utter another word.

  "Junior Brother Ji, Junior Brother Ji?" Yan Yun called out several times before finally snapping Ji Ruochen back to his senses. Ji Ruochen seemed to realize he had lost his composure and dryly laughed twice, no longer daring to look at Yan Yun. He turned around and headed towards the Su Bridge, his flustered departure resembling that of someone who owed a debt from years ago rather than being in the presence of a beauty standing amidst the misty waters and waves.

  Looking at the figure swaying on the Su Bridge, disheveled and forlorn, she stood there with a wisp of smoke, her enchanting eyes flashing with a hint of desolation. In the past few years, among the young disciples who had seen her in the Moral Palace, it was extremely rare to find one who did not lose his soul or composure, and compared to them, Ji Ruochen's reaction at this moment was actually nothing out of the ordinary.

  It's just...

  She suddenly remembered the solemn warning of Yu Xuan Zhen Ren, her left hand quietly clenched into a fist, and unknowingly, a fingernail had already scratched through her palm, a thread of warm blood quietly seeping out from between her fingers and dripping onto the ground.

  She was completely unaware of it.

  Ji Rufeng had already walked more than ten zhangs on the rope bridge, and Hanyan finally took a step forward onto the rope bridge. If he walked further away and lost his footing, no one would be able to lend him a helping hand.

  Originally, with Ji Ruochen having just entered the door of true yuan, he thought that even if he didn't fall off this rope bridge a hundred times, he would still have to have fallen 70 or 80 times. But today, for some reason, he walked along this path unsteadily, waving his hands and kicking his feet, exactly like a duck, as if he was about to tumble into the bottomless abyss at any moment, even Han Yan looked on with some alarm, but seeing that the end of the rope bridge had already appeared in the clouds ahead, he hadn't fallen once.

  It is unknown whether Ji Ruocheng was truly wise and pretending to be foolish, or if he actually had extraordinary abilities, or if he simply had incredibly good luck.

  As she saw Ji Ruocheng getting closer and closer to the end of the suspension bridge, Han Yan finally couldn't bear it. She lightly bit her lower lip, and with a slight tap of her toe on the bridge, a fine ripple quickly spread along the iron chain, catching up to Ji Ruocheng in an instant. Ji Ruocheng let out a cry of surprise, and finally plunged headfirst into the deep chasm!

  With a puff of smoke, she flew forward, like a swallow skimming the water, and swooped down. Her toes hooked onto the iron chain, her slender hand reached out, and she had already grasped Ji Ruochen's hand. Then, with a slight exertion of strength, she lifted him up into the air and gently landed on the head of the iron bridge.

  Ji Ruochen only felt that the palm of his left hand was both icy and numb, a feeling that could not be described, as if he were holding a ball of snow that had not yet melted. It wasn't until the two of them stopped at the head of the iron chain bridge that he finally withdrew his attention, lifted his head to look up, and met Hanyan's eyes, which were rippling with countless waves of smoke.

  For a moment, he stood still again, staring at Huan Yan's gaze.

  Han Yan saw that the two of them were already standing firmly, so she lightly tried to pull her hand back, but didn't think that Ji Ruochen was holding on quite tightly and hadn't let go. She pulled again with a bit more force, but unexpectedly Ji Ruochen also tightened his grip in response, and Han Yan still couldn't retrieve her hand.

  She stopped withdrawing her hand, slightly raised her head, and met Ji Ruochen's gaze. Her dark eyebrows were tightly locked, and she called out in a voice that was as cold as ice: "Ruochen Shixiong..." Despite Yu Xuan's strict teachings, Han Yan's tone had already seeped with an almost imperceptible chill.

  Ji Ruochen simply stared at her, his hand tightening its grip once again.

  At this time, a cold laugh suddenly came: "It's already late now, how can you still be so affectionate? Aren't you afraid of being seen by the Taoist priests and causing gossip?"

  The sound was clear and crisp, like a single note of a bell that struck the dust awake. He seemed to have only then realized he was still holding onto Huan Yan's hand, hastily letting go and taking two steps back. But he still stared at Huan Yan fiercely for a moment before turning towards the source of the sound.

  At this time, a tall and slender girl walked out of the misty morning fog. It was Zhang Yin-yin. Her face was frosty, with a hint of mockery and cold smile at the corner of her mouth. Her left hand tightly grasped the wooden sword at her waist, her slender fingers pale, as if she wanted to snap the hilt of the wooden sword in two. However, the wooden sword she wore today was no ordinary item, but made from the thousand-year-old iron wood produced in the Western Wilderness Cloudy Mountain, which was even harder than fine steel. Not to mention Zhang Yin-yin was just a little girl who had just started her journey, even a cultivator with over ten years of true yuan would be helpless against this wooden sword.

  Yan Yin looked surprised and asked: "Sister Yan, you're waiting here so early, is there something going on?"

  "Of course there's something! But it's not you I'm looking for..."

  As she spoke, she pointed at Ji Ruochen and said: "The one I'm looking for is this cowardly lecher!"

  With a faint smile, he said: "Since that's the case, I'll send Brother Ruochen off at Suo Bridge and bid farewell here." After speaking, he didn't wait for Ji Rufeng to respond and drifted away like a wisp of smoke into the distance.

  With a faint scent of smoke, her hands were hidden in her sleeves as she walked at a moderate pace. Unbeknownst to others, she was secretly wiping her right hand with a white silk handkerchief. In her heart, she thought: "It turns out that all men in the world are the same! Master said that Ji Ruochen is a celestial being, and he has a promising future... But now it seems, he... his appearance, what's the difference between him and other lechers?"

  Until the smoke disappeared into the distance, Ji Ruochen still furrowed his brow, staring at her back without blinking. Zhang Yin waited for half a day and finally couldn't bear it anymore, coldly laughing to one side: "Ji Ruochen, I really didn't expect you had such great skills, entering the Tai Shang Dao De Palace for only half a year, yet you've already hooked up with Dan Yuan Palace's most famous Hanyan. It seems she isn't as rumored to always reject people from afar! Now that she's gone, what are you still looking at? If you want to look, go somewhere where there aren't any people..." At this point, although Zhang Yin was furious, the words were ultimately unspeakable, and he had to stop halfway.

  Ji Ruocheng suddenly turned his head, as if he had only just noticed Zhang Yinyin, and said: "Miss Yinyin, Hanyan and I are not like what you said, she... Ah!"

  Zhang Yin said coldly: "What about her? Why didn't she continue speaking? However, it's right for you to protect her."

  Ji Ruocheng was taken aback again and said, "Don't talk nonsense! I need someone to escort me to cross the Suo Bridge. This morning, Yunfeng Daozhang had something to do, so Yu Xuanzi sent Hanyan to send me across the bridge."

  Zhang Yin hummed and sneered, "The Taichang Palace has 300 disciples. Can't you send at least a hundred or two to help? Cloud Wind Daozhang is busy, but does that mean everyone else is dead? Do you need the Dan Yuan Palace's disciples to assist? Besides, crossing the bridge is just crossing the bridge. This bridge has already been crossed, yet you're still holding hands and refusing to let go at the bridgehead! Do you think this small lie can deceive me?"

  Ji Ruocheng smiled wryly and said helplessly, "Yes, yes! Miss Zhang is indeed wise and perceptive. But I wonder what brings you to find me?"

  Zhang Yin's face was as cold as frost, and she gritted her teeth to spit out two words: "Compare swords!"

  Ji Ruochen was startled. He had thought that after taking the place of Zhang Yin to withstand the disaster of the seven-day Qingxiu, she would be grateful for this friendship and wouldn't dare to come looking for trouble again, but unexpectedly she still wanted to have a sword fight!

  Zhang Yin Yin slapped the wooden sword at his waist and shouted: "Last time my wooden sword was not good, so you were able to sneak up on me! This time Dad gave me a new thousand-year-old iron wood sword, let's have a rematch! Tonight I'll be waiting for you at the Houshan Foundry Platform, tell you, you have to come, whether you want to or not!"

  Ji Ruocheng shook his head and said, "Don't go, you're going to gang up on me again!"

  "This time Zhang Yin surprisingly didn't have an outburst, only saying: 'You can rest assured, there's only me.'"

  "Not going there either."

  Zhang Yin suddenly stopped being angry and smiled instead. His wooden sword let out a soft hum, already unsheathed in his hand. Smiling, he said: "Then let's have our match right here!"

  Ji Ruochen was shocked and hastily called out: "Disciples are fighting in private, if the Taoist master finds out, we'll have to reflect for 49 days!"

  But little did he know that this time his threat had no effect on Zhang Yin, who smiled slightly and with a swift movement of her wooden sword, she struck at Ji Ruochen's throat like lightning!

  "It's been a year of thinking, and I've accepted it!"

  Ji Ruochen was shocked, never expecting her to be so reckless and violent. Fortunately, she had also learned the Da Wuxing Jian Jue from Jingxiao Zhenren, so she quickly dodged to the side, barely avoiding Zhang Yin's powerful sword strike. She hastily cried out: "Stop, stop!"

  Zhang Yin indeed sheathed his sword and did not attack. He stood elegantly in his original position, asking: "Are you willing to compete this time?"

  Ji Ruochen could only smile wryly at the stubborn Zhang Xiaojie, "Fine, I'll compare with you. Tonight, I will definitely go to Zhu Jian Tai. But if I lose this time, can you let me off?"

  "We'll talk about this later." Zhang Yinyin coldly threw out these words, then turned and left, disappearing into the faint morning mist in an instant.

  Ji Ruocheng watched her leave, shook his head and let out a long sigh. He really didn't know how to get rid of this big trouble that he couldn't shake off and live a few peaceful days. Calculating the time, it wouldn't be long before Ming Xin, the little Daoist, would also be released. At that time, who knows what kind of entanglement there would be again.

  Ji Ruoxuan thought and thought, and involuntarily looked in the direction where Hanyan had left.

  Just now, for some reason, when he was looking at Hanyan, he suddenly felt that the ripples in her eyes were overflowing with endless smoke and mist, filling the sky and earth in an instant. At that moment, he could no longer distinguish whether it was the ripples in Hanyan's eyes that had overflowed outwards or his own consciousness being sucked into her pair of eyes.

  He rushed into the vast smoke and clouds, and saw the rolling waves of the sea hidden beneath. The boundless waves suddenly parted to both sides, revealing a huge, icy and hard reef under the water! The giant rock had been unknown for how long it had been washed by the dark current underwater, but its edges were still clear-cut. In the waves, big and small fish were rolled up by the tide, and their bodies were involuntarily knocked against the reef, then they flipped over on the surface of the water with their bellies up, and then were rolled into the water again by the next wave.

  Ji Ruocheng stared blankly at the silent and ruthless giant reef, feeling a chill in his heart for a moment, and was shocked to be stunned. He suddenly found that the giant reef was getting bigger and bigger, only to discover that he was being pushed by a huge wave, involuntarily rushing towards the giant rock! Ji Ruocheng wanted to shout, but couldn't make any sound at all. He also wanted to escape, but the mighty wave behind him was boundless, where could he escape?

  Until Zhang Yin's clear and sarcastic voice entered his ears, the silence in the smoky waves was broken. For a moment, the vast smoky waves, the cold giant reefs, and the countless dead and living fish all disappeared cleanly.

  Yi Mei immediately retreated two steps as soon as she realized her body could move, wanting to get a bit further away from Huan Yan.

  At this time he gazed at the morning mist that still lingered, the recent terror still echoing in his heart, and it was really hard to associate that icy scene with the gentle smoke.

  Could it be that Ji Ruochen suddenly realized that this girl who had been shrouded in mist and clouds all day actually had a cold and hard heart?

  No matter what, at this moment, Ji Ruochen's heart skipped a beat for the woman with the water-colored stone heart, and he also felt a deep sense of fear. This was the first person to make Ji Ruochen feel fearful since he entered the Dao De Sect.

  Before long, the morning mist shrouding the peak of Xixuan Mountain was dispersed by the rising sun.

  On Taichang Peak, Ziyang True Person accompanied Yu Xuan True Person all the way with laughter and conversation until they reached Suoqiao Bridge. The two True Persons sat through the night discussing Daoist teachings, apparently gaining a lot from their conversation. Unlike Heiming True Person, Ziyang True Person had no pretenses whatsoever; this time when seeing him off, there wasn't even a single disciple or servant attending to them.

  The two true men chatted again at the Suo Bridge, and Yu Xuan Zhenren finally bid farewell and rose slowly, flying slowly towards the Dan Yuan Palace.

  Until the Yu Xuan True Person completely disappeared into the distant clouds and mist, the Zi Yang True Person turned around and headed towards the Tai Chang Palace. After walking two steps, he suddenly stopped in his tracks, bent down to pick up a stone from the ground, and examined it carefully.

  The stone road is sparse, with a small drop of blood flowers on it. The blood threads spread along the stone grain, and at this moment, it looks like a burning cloud.

  Ziyang Zhenren gazed at this small patch of blood cloud, his left hand pinched his fingers and secretly calculated, then looked again in the direction of Dan Yuan Peak.

  He let out a soft sigh, flicked his finger, and this small stone flew far away, falling into the bottomless deep valley outside Taichang Peak.