Chapter Eight The Wind Suddenly Rises

  Before long, it was the first day of the lunar month again. Ji Ruoxu quietly left the Taishang Daode Palace and climbed up the stone steps leading to the Hou Shan Zhutai behind him. On his back, he carried a green wooden sword, made from the black nanmu wood born in the unnamed mountain's accumulated rain pool, which was not much different from Zhang Yin's wooden sword. In addition, his Taoist robe was bulging with unknown contents.

  This time, Ji Ruochen was determined to lose and make it look real, so as not to entangle with Zhang Xiaojie again and create more trouble. However, thinking back to the day when Zhang Yin's Yimu sword technique went out of control, he still felt a lingering fear. This young lady was not very old, but her temper was too big, and she didn't know how to hold back, so this time when she came to the appointment, Ji Ruochen wore all the protective talismans, undying curses, and Mingwang cards that the various true people had given him over the years, even hanging a mysterious Wanyou stone around his neck.

  Ji Ruochen's body was cumbersome, and as he walked, there were inevitably some clanging sounds that disturbed the patrolling Daoist priests. However, these Daoist priests all knew that Ji Ruochen could move freely within the Taishang Daode Palace, so they didn't bother him.

  As he walked along the mountain road, Ji Ruochen suddenly felt that the night wind blowing towards him had weakened a bit, but the chill in the wind was even stronger. He shivered lightly and his footsteps gradually slowed down.

  He was very familiar with the chill in the wind, which was a feeling that had been etched into his bones since childhood. The chill of the wind did not blow on Ji Ruodust's skin, but directly to his heart.

  When Ji Ruochen was still young and wandering in the desolate wilderness outside the pass, he would often feel a chill rising from the bottom of his heart. Every time this happened, he knew that another wolf or wild dog had set its sights on him in the depths of the vast wind and sand. It was unclear whether this was an innate ability or one gained through the hardships of life.

  On Moganshan, beside Daode Hall, there certainly won't be any wolves lurking about. What else could be hiding in the shadows?

  Ji Ruochen suddenly stopped in his tracks!

  Ji Ruocheng's heart sank with a chill that was growing more intense by the second, almost freezing his internal organs! He suddenly felt a slight movement in his heart and abruptly lifted his head to gaze up at the night sky. To his astonishment, he discovered that the bright moon hanging high above had somehow transformed into a dark red, viscous liquid, like a clot of blood on the verge of dripping. Ji Ruocheng was shocked, blinked hard several times, and when he looked again, the moon had returned to its pristine whiteness.

  His heart slightly calmed down, and he glanced around, but his heart was still secretly racing! Ji Ruochen raised his head again, seeing that the night sky was still hanging with a blood moon.

  Ji Ruochen had already realized at this moment that the restless stirring in his divine sense was the Separation Immortal Mantra. If he suppressed it, everything around him would be normal, but when it stirred restlessly, a blood moon would appear in the night sky.

  Ji Ruocheng remained still, his expression unchanged, as he quietly crushed a jade token in his sleeve. In an instant, a powerful spiritual energy enveloped his entire body. Almost simultaneously with the shattering of the jade token, a sudden twang of a bowstring echoed beside Ji Ruocheng's ear. The sound seemed to come from right next to him, but Ji Ruocheng looked up towards the Sword Casting Platform instead.

  Three hundred feet away, on the Sword Casting Platform, a small black shadow was slowly flying towards him!

  That was a featherless, pale yellow long arrow wrapped in black and white spiritual energy, flying silently towards Ji Ruochen. In Ji Ruochen's eyes, this featherless arrow flew exceptionally slowly, even the trajectory of its flight could be seen clearly, and the material of the wooden arrow had nothing special about it. As it continued to fly forward, the cracks on the arrow body became more and more, it seemed that after piercing through Ji Ruochen's chest, this arrow would explode into a bundle of wood threads.

  It seemed like an easy task to block the arrow, but Ji Ruochen knew it wasn't. He wanted to raise his hand and slap it away, making the wooden arrow disintegrate in mid-air. However, no matter how hard he tried, his hand couldn't lift up to chest level. In fact, Ji Ruochen's hand was indeed lifting, only at a speed so slow it was almost imperceptible.

  He could only stare blankly as the wooden arrow flew to within three feet of his own chest, and at this moment, his hand had not even lifted an inch!

  Suddenly, Ji Ru's ears were filled with countless fierce howls and roars. Then, numerous ferocious demons emerged from his chest like a tidal wave, their numbers reaching into the thousands! These demonic creatures let out ear-piercing screeches as they flew towards the wooden arrow like moths to flame. However, each of the gray shadows that wrapped around the black and white energies on the arrow exploded into a burst of gray flames and dissipated. The subsequent waves of demons were completely unaware of what was happening, but they continued to charge forward, pushing and shoving each other towards the wooden arrow!

  Myriads of monsters suddenly appear and disappear in an instant, between life and death, it's just a wisp of blue smoke.

  The Wan Yao stone on Ji Ruochen's chest had lost its luster and split into over a dozen pieces, slowly falling downwards. It seemed that the name "Wan Yao Stone" was aptly given, as it indeed contained countless demonic creatures within. However, in that instant, Ji Ruochen saw the demons surging forth and heard their deafening roars, but for some reason, he suddenly understood what was hidden within those roars.

  That's resentment.

  Ji Ruoxin's mind was in turmoil, as if she had been tainted by the vengeful aura of the demonic creatures that was fierce and irreversible.

  The wooden arrow was originally just a ordinary object, but with the mysterious arrow technique stimulating it, it had such powerful force. At this time, being charged by those countless demonic creatures who were willing to sacrifice their lives, it had already exploded into a ball of black and white dual-colored flames. However, the remaining power of the Taiji flames was not to be underestimated either. On Ji Ruochen's body, dozens of protective treasures suddenly lit up, emitting various colored lights that shone on the Taiji flames. In an instant, the spiritual energy of the treasures was depleted one by one, and they exploded, adding dozens of large and small wounds to Ji Ruochen's body.

  However, that Tai Chi flame was blocked. But when the tail of the flame swept across Ji Ruochen's chest, it also burned a large piece of his skin to a crisp.

  The archer was clearly intent on killing him, and this arrow was so powerful that if it hadn't been for Ji Ruochen's abundant magical treasures, even ten of his kind would have been killed by a single arrow.

  Ji Ruochen fell to the ground, then gritted his teeth and jumped up again. This jump pulled on the wounds of various sizes on his body, almost causing him to faint from pain. At this moment, Ji Ruochen seemed to have returned to his childhood when he was alone against a ferocious wolf. He knew that at this time, he absolutely could not faint. The person who had attacked him would not give up if they missed their first strike.

  Ji Ruochen gritted his teeth and grasped the wound on his left arm, the new pain suddenly making him come to. He immediately turned around and rushed towards the Taishang Daode Palace.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, he had just turned around to escape when a clear and crisp shout rang out from the Sword Casting Platform: "Ji Ruochen! Do you still want to run?" Before the shout had even faded away, a slender figure leapt up from the platform, emitting a faint blue glow all over her body, like a long rainbow stretching across the sky, and shot towards Ji Ruochen with lightning speed.

  Ji Ruocheng turned his head and took a glance, knowing that it was absolutely impossible to escape this sword. The attacker's person and sword were as one, with an aura that pierced the sky, but the green light on their body fluttered unsteadily, clearly indicating that their cultivation level was not high.

  Ji Ruocheng's eyes widened in shock and anger. He never expected that the one who had rushed down from the Sword Casting Platform was actually Zhang Yinyin! Moreover, she was emitting a fierce aura, and what's more, it was the aura of the Huishui Sword!

  The five elements of the sword are mutually restrictive and mutually generative, with water being both extremely soft and extremely hard. Its changes are unpredictable, capable of carrying all things or overturning all things. The difficulty in cultivating it far surpasses that of the wooden sword energy, but its power is also much greater.

  Zhang Yin-yin has made a move with the Huishui Sword Technique, and it's clear that she wants to take Ji Ruochen's life. Looking at the power of this sword, even if Ji Ruochen were not seriously injured at the moment, he would still be unable to withstand it head-on.

  Ji Ruochen was shocked and angry, but he really didn't know why he had yielded multiple times, yet she still insisted on killing him. At this moment, life and death hung in the balance, Ji Ruochen couldn't dodge or evade, and it seemed like he had returned to his solo battle against the evil wolf, but instead became calm. He drew out the wooden sword from behind his back, narrowed his eyes, and stared at Zhang Yinyin's incoming attack. When she charged up to him, he finally made a move with his sword, using the "Lieshou" sword technique taught by Yu Xuanyu, the wooden sword was agile like a dragon, striking later but arriving first, and one sword clashed onto Zhang Yinyin's sword!

  Ji Ruochen's wooden sword was two levels lower than Zhang Yin's, and she had to use all her strength to activate the Huishui Sword Technique. As a result, when their wooden swords clashed, Ji Ruochen's wooden sword flew out of her hand instantly!

  Ji Ruocheng let out a long whistle, meeting Zhang Yin's wooden sword with his own. Instead of retreating, he advanced forward. In an instant, the thousand-year-old iron-wooden sword had pierced into his right chest, all the way to the hilt!

  Ji Ruochen's left hand grasped Zhang Yin's wrist, and his right hand patted the wooden sword. The Separation Incantation was activated instantly, and in an instant, the wooden sword was purified. However, the wood energy released by the wooden sword was extremely powerful, not only reopening the wound on his chest but also suppressing Ji Ruochen's true yuan, severely damaging his meridians in an instant.

  Ji Ruocheng's mouth opened wide, and a fountain of fresh blood spurted out, splashing Zhang Yin all over her head and face. She hadn't expected this outcome, and just as she let out a shrill cry, Ji Ruocheng had already pounced on her body, his hands somehow now holding a black cord, which in the blink of an eye had wrapped around her neck, then tightened with a deadly force!

  Zhang Yin-yin was indeed strong, but after all, she was just a young girl. In this kind of close combat that required physical strength, how could she be a match for Ji Ruochen? She was pinned to the ground by Ji Ruochen and couldn't move. As the thin rope around her neck tightened, her kicks and scratches gradually weakened, until finally, she fainted.

  When Ji Ruochen first saw her faint, his hand was still exerting force. At this moment, Zhang Yin in his eyes had no difference from the dying old wolf he bit to death years ago. But when he saw Zhang Yin's lips gradually turning blue, Ji Ruochen suddenly felt a shock and finally remembered that she was the daughter of Jing Xiao Zhenren. Was he really going to kill her?

  At this thought, Ji Ruoxuan's hands immediately loosened, but still firmly grasped the rope head, not daring to relax his mind in the slightest. After a moment, Zhang Yin had a faint breath, but was still unconscious.

  Ji Ruocheng had seen the world and was meticulous in his thinking. He originally thought that Zhang Yin was trying to kill him, first shooting at him without killing him, then flying over with a sword to attack. Only then did he use absolute measures to counterattack. However, upon further reflection, Ji Ruocheng discovered that something was not quite right. The person on the platform who shot the arrow had a thick and pure aura, able to control ordinary wooden arrows with profound archery skills. This level of aura cultivation was unknown how many times higher than Zhang Yin's. Nevertheless, if the person shooting the arrow wasn't Zhang Yin, they didn't seem to be colluding either. He only needed to shoot another arrow, and Ji Ruocheng's life would have been taken immediately. Why would he let a third-rate assassin like Zhang Yin take action?

  But if the two are not in cahoots, then why did Zhang Yin's killing intent surge to the sky and charge forward without hesitation? When did he and Zhang Yin become sworn enemies?

  Ji Ruoxin knew that Zhang Yin's identity was not ordinary, and this matter needed to be figured out. Although the archer had disappeared, he might still be lurking nearby. He couldn't win in a fight, nor could he escape; his only tactic was to take Zhang Yin as a hostage.

  At this time Zhang Yin-yin let out another cry and seemed about to wake up.

  Ji Ruocheng endured the intense pain on his body, using a thin rope to tie Zhang Yin's hands tightly, and then untied his belt. He looked around for a suitable tree nearby and hung her from it. After struggling to do all this, a gust of mountain wind blew by, and Ji Ruocheng suddenly shivered violently, and his vision suddenly went black. He groaned softly, slowly sat down on the ground, and fumbled through his clothes to pull out a red pill, crushed the wax seal, and swallowed it. He didn't appear panicked because he had experienced similar situations as a child and knew it was just a symptom of excessive blood loss.

  He first took a dose of the miraculous medicine and managed to cling to life, but when he looked down, he only then discovered that his long blue gown was already soaked through with blood, a sight that shocked him.

  Ji Ruochen's cultivation was still shallow at this time, and this injury would be nothing more than a flesh wound for a cultivator who had achieved success in their practice. However, for him, it was already a mortal wound. Fortunately, he had prepared thoroughly for this trip, bringing not only many protective treasures but also numerous life-saving spiritual pills. He took a deep breath and forcibly removed his outer robe and undergarments. This simple action made him almost faint from pain several times.

  Ji Ruochen struggled to take out a small black jade box, picked up some ointment, and applied it to the wounds. This ointment seemed to have spiritual properties, as soon as he applied it to the large wound on his chest that went all the way through, it instantly penetrated into the flesh and blood, producing countless tiny black bubbles, and in an instant, even the wound on his back was sealed up.

  Ji Ruocheng's spirit was shaken, and he couldn't help but secretly call himself lucky. As for someone like him with such a low cultivation level yet possessing protective artifacts and life-saving elixirs all over his body, it's likely that even if one were to search the entire Taishang Daode Palace, they would find no one else like him.

  At this time, Zhang Yin was blown awake by the cold wind on the mountain peak. She opened her eyes to see a man with only his upper body sitting in front of her, applying medicine to her wound. Under the dim moonlight, his entire upper body was a blur of blood and flesh, unspeakably terrifying.

  Zhang Yin immediately let out a scream that pierced through the night sky!

  Ji Ruocheng didn't hesitate, and with one swift motion, he leapt up and grasped her throat, stifling her scream in her windpipe. Seeing Zhang Yin's eyes glaze over again as she was about to faint, he finally loosened his grip, his voice cold: "If you cry out again, I'll kill you!"

  Listening to Ji Ruochen's icy voice, Zhang Yin-yin, who was fearless of heaven and earth, was startled and shivered. Her fear had just arisen, and her heart was filled with shame and anger, staring at Ji Ruochen and shouting: "You dare!"

  She had just taken a sip when she saw Ji Ruochen suddenly jump up, and more than ten wounds on his upper body burst open, with blood gushing out. At that moment, she was so frightened that her face turned pale, and she immediately shifted her gaze to one side, not daring to look at Ji Ruochen's body again.

  Ji Ru Chen casually applied medicine to the wound, while seemingly carelessly asking: "Miss Zhang, your arrow just now was really on target!"

  "What? When did I ever shoot you?" Zhang Yin was bewildered.

  "Oh, is that so?" Ji Ruochen continued without lifting his head: "Since you've already fallen into my hands, why doesn't the archer come to rescue you?"

  "What are you talking about? Who's the archer?" Just then, Zhang Yin suddenly felt that something was off with her body. She tried to move and immediately felt a sharp pain in her wrist. Only then did she realize that she was being hung from a tree, with only her toes barely touching the ground. Enraged, she shouted: "Ji Ruochen! How dare you hang me from a tree!"

  Ji Ruochen finally lifted his head, glanced at Zhang Yinyin, and said lightly: "What's the big deal? Don't think that just because you're the daughter of Jing Xiao Zhenren, others will tolerate your behavior. This time, since you want to kill me, I also have ways to deal with you, and it's not impossible that I might accidentally take your life. But what I don't understand is, according to reason, I've never offended you, and I've even helped you before. Why do you keep looking for trouble with me three times five times, and this time you even want to put me to death?"

  Zhang Yin was stunned for a moment, then gritted her teeth and shouted: "You cowardly rascal, you deserve to be killed by everyone! You... why don't you put me down?!"

  "Cowardly pervert?" Ji Ruochen heard this and for a moment was at a loss whether to laugh or cry.

  He couldn't tell Zhang Yin that he was holding onto Han Yan's hand and staring at her intensely because he was intimidated by the cold world hidden beneath her gentle and ethereal gaze, and couldn't escape. However, he now understood that Zhang Yin had nothing to do with the archer, she was innocent and wouldn't lie. As for her charging forward so recklessly, it was probably due to her failure to master the Huishui Sword Technique.

  But tonight he almost died at the hands of Zhang Yin, and this is another scolding sentence that can be made up for being reckless and ignorant.

  Ji Ruocheng suppressed his anger, picked up the blood-stained robe and slowly put it on, saying: "Miss Zhang, our duel is over. If you dare to come and bother me again, don't blame me for being impolite!"

  Zhang Yin saw that his robe was already soaked in blood, and he exclaimed again, not daring to look anymore, hastily turning his face to one side, still stiffly saying: "You cowardly lecher! You treat me like this, thinking I'll let you off? That's wishful thinking!"

  Ji Ruo's eyebrows rose slightly as she said, "Is that so? Say it again and see?"

  Zhang Yin still didn't dare look over, but just shouted: "Say it ten thousand times and I'm not afraid! Think you can let this cowardly ghost off the hook? That's wishful thinking!"

  Bang!

  Zhang Yin let out a pained cry, and turned her head back in disbelief. She saw Ji Ruochen holding a wooden sword, staring coldly at her. This time she watched as Ji Ruochen raised the wooden sword, using it as a whip, and ruthlessly struck her buttocks again!

  Her eyes immediately turned red, and big teardrops began to swirl in her eye sockets, sobbing: "You... you actually dare to hit me... hit me..."

  Ji Ruochen raised his wooden sword again and said, "Speak! Will you dare to come and bother me again in the future?"

  Zhang Yin clenched her teeth and finally said, "You cowardly pervert..." followed by another sharp cry, as it turned out that the outside of her thigh had been struck again by a wooden sword!

  In the midst of Zhang Yin's painful cries, Ji Ruochen wielded his sword and whipped her back, buttocks, and legs more than a dozen times before stopping. At this point, Zhang Yin was both ashamed and shocked, already somewhat stunned, tears streaming down her face, yet she bit her lip to death, refusing to cry out loud. Ji Ruochen asked her again if she had submitted, but she only shook her head repeatedly.

  At that time, the Longmen Inn was not all black shops. When business was good, most of the time it was a regular inn. However, regular inns would inevitably encounter people who ate for free. The shopkeeper had an absolute trick: men were stripped of their clothes and driven out of the store, while women were beaten and then driven away. This move was quite effective, and since then, few people dared to eat for free at the Longmen Inn. At that time, Ji Ruochen asked why it wasn't the other way around, with men being beaten and women being stripped naked, wouldn't that be more intimidating? The shopkeeper just smiled and said that would result in loss of life, our small business is only for money, not for taking lives. Ji Ruochen immediately thought of many fat sheep, and naturally didn't think it was right.

  Ji Ruochen's methods were mostly learned from Zhan Cang, and now seeing Zhang Yin refusing to yield, she decided to teach her a severe lesson, so she took out the ultimate technique of "Hanging Beating".

  He let out a soft "hmm" and raised the wooden sword again, causing Zhang Yinyin to shrink back in fright. But this time, the wooden sword didn't fall on her, instead returning to Ji Ruochen's waist.

  Ji Ruoxuan sneered: "If you continue to entangle and fall into my hands again, then this time's beating will still be light!"

  As soon as he finished speaking, his mouth suddenly opened and he couldn't help but spit out another mouthful of blood. The two were extremely close, and more than half of this mouthful of blood splattered onto Zhang Yin's body. Zhang Yin was unable to dodge, and suddenly remembered the huge wound on Ji Ruochen's right chest, which seemed to be where she had stabbed him just now. Her heart trembled slightly, and her anger dissipated a little.

  Ji Ruochen knew that the effect of the Lingdan medicine would wear off, and he didn't dare say another word. He immediately turned around and rushed towards the Taishang Daode Palace. Just as he arrived at the side door of the palace, he finally couldn't hold on anymore and fell to the ground with a thud. As he was about to lose consciousness, he thought vaguely: "Who in the sect... wants to kill me?"

  At this time, only Zhang Yin was left under the sword casting platform. She had been practicing Taoism since childhood, and as long as she had time, this little restraint couldn't stop her. At this moment, she closed her eyes and recited incantations, suddenly let out a clear cry, and the ropes on her hands were broken and opened.

  Zhang Yin looked around, at this time except for the desolate mountain and cold moon, there was no one else by her side. She stood still for a moment, suddenly raised her head to the sky and burst into loud wailing, after crying out several times, she suddenly wiped away her tears and shouted: "Ji Ruochen! This vendetta will not be avenged, I Zhang Yin swear I will not be human!"

  She made several oaths in a row, and suddenly felt something was wrong with her hand. She lifted it up to take a look, only to find that the sleeve of her garment was covered in blood! Her heart racing wildly, she used her left hand to wipe her face, and under the moonlight, she saw that her palm was also stained with blood!

  Zhang Yin immediately panicked and ran wildly through the mountains, wanting to find a spring or two to wash off the blood on her face and see if she had any injuries.

  Her heart was racing, thinking: "Ji Ruochen! If you dare to hurt my face, I'll never end with you in this life! Spit, no, such a great shame, should have been endless for generations... No! Next life, next next life will also be endless with you..."