Chapter 118: Now Unlike Before, Old Friend’s Grudge
In Gu Ling Town, the examinees, Dojo Masters, and others all left one after another, leaving only the miscellaneous people behind, who continued to stay in the arena.
The crowd looked at each other in dismay, and after a long while, they finally came to their senses, realizing that this Spring Examination had changed locations again.
Thus, the people on site either dispersed or walked onto the arena, gathering with those who had been watching closely in the arena to mutter and discuss.
Among them, the family members of those whose disciples had passed the first two rounds had formed their own circle, chattering away, each chiming in with comments.
Fang Shu’s Second Uncle Yu Le was mixed in among them.
However, Second Uncle Yu Le merely listened to the others’ discussions, his face wearing a smile, nodding and responding from time to time, just to avoid showing any embarrassment for Fang Shu.
At this moment, suddenly a figure approached him proactively; the person had not yet arrived, but a wave of fragrant breeze came first.
Second Uncle Yu Le looked up and saw, his eyebrows slightly raised.
The newcomer was none other than a middle-aged beauty, but her heavily made-up face now had ruined makeup, her Qi and Blood visibly wilted at a glance, though she was still forcing herself to perk up.
She was precisely Fang Shu’s former second aunt.
The beauty now sidled up to Second Uncle Yu Le, as if wanting to huddle together with him for warmth, or perhaps to indirectly probe for news about Fang Shu.
“Yu Lao Er, that examinee you serve isn’t bad at all. How come I never knew you had such connections to gain the favor of such an Immortal Cultivator.” The married woman said lightly.
Facing this woman’s pleasantries, Second Uncle Yu Le just smiled. Looking at the married woman with her weakened Qi and Blood before him, he sighed, “You should hurry home and rest. Look at how weak and frail you are.”
But Second Uncle Yu Le’s lack of concern was one thing; once he showed concern, the married woman reacted as if her tail had been stepped on, her willow-leaf eyebrows immediately shooting up as she scolded:
“Rest for what? Let me tell you, you were just as lazy back then, which got you expelled from the dojo, and that’s why I left too.
If I weren’t hardworking and discerning, how could I have made it to today, able to come watch such an Immortal Sect grand event? I’d have long since been lying in some paper house with you, burned to death, or sold my blood until dead.”
Hearing this, Second Uncle Yu Le’s brows furrowed.
A mix of amusement and exasperation showed on his face, and he finally retorted:
“What a joke! Isn’t Yu here standing perfectly fine right now!”
As he spoke, Second Uncle Yu Le’s eyes scanned up and down the married woman’s body, shaking his head without a word.
The married woman was especially sensitive to the pity in his eyes, and she bristled like a wild cat with fur standing on end, coming right up to claw at Second Uncle Yu Le, completely different from her previous meek and pitiful “little lady” appearance.
“Fine! You, Yu Lao Er! Everyone else in the arena can laugh at me, but not you alone.”
The married woman cursed loudly, drawing the attention of the others, but she paid no mind, venting nonstop:
“You old cucumber, besides that bit of flesh on you, what good do you have, tell me.
Now you’ve finally latched onto a Dojo Disciple, but I don’t see you serving tea or water, fawning attentively. You say, back then if only you’d…”
“Hey! Talk all you want, but don’t scratch!”
The people around heard the bickering and scolding between these two middle-aged man and woman, their expressions all turning strange, thinking it was just playful bickering, though a bit an eyesore.
Even Du Yu Er, Dou Su Fu, Li Hou Er, and the others who had just arrived nearby to go back home or to the dojo with Second Uncle Yu Le stood awkwardly in place for a moment, not immediately stepping forward.
These people watched Second Uncle Yu Le’s entanglement with the married woman, their gazes all darkening with ambiguity.
“Ow! You’ve grown bold these years, daring to push me even.”
Finally, Second Uncle Yu Le broke free from the married woman’s grasp, walking off to the side with a sullen face.
He had originally felt a bit oddly sympathetic seeing the woman pitiful, but now he didn’t even want to acknowledge her—her nature unchanged.
Having shaken off the married woman, Second Uncle Yu Le looked up and saw Li Hou Er and the others.
Li Hou Er spotted the beauty, his eyes rolling as he immediately bowed to Second Uncle Yu Le and dropped to one knee with a slap:
“Greetings, Uncle Yu. Immortal Fang followed the Dojo Master out of town to suppress, ordering us to return to the dojo first to rest.”
Li Hou Er’s action not only stunned Second Uncle Yu Le but also made Du Yu Er and the others pause.
Immediately after, smiles appeared on Du Yu Er and the others’ faces; they all cupped their hands toward Second Uncle Yu Le in unison, calling out:
“Greetings, Uncle Yu!”
This display truly drew the attention of quite a few people around.
The married woman who had been about to chase up and scratch Yu Le also halted abruptly, looking at the Du Gu Guan group with suspicion.
From the crowd, Dou Su Fu stepped out.
The female neighbor knew the married woman and, upon seeing her, feigned surprise and said:
“Oh, isn’t this sister-in-law? Have you seen Brother Shu?
Today is his exam day; if he happened to run into sister-in-law here, he’d definitely come pay respects.”
At this, Second Uncle Yu Le instantly realized—these guys were both teasing him and backing him up.
His old face reddened; he didn’t dare grumble at Dou Su Fu and the others, just walked to Li Hou Er’s side and kicked the kid’s butt hard, muttering darkly:
“You stinking brat, read too many storybooks, have you.”
Li Hou Er rubbed his own butt, grinning as he shrugged, utterly unconcerned.
Then, Second Uncle Yu Le cupped his hands to Du Yu Er and the others, paid respects, and blended into the crowd, returning to Du Gu Guan with great momentum.
On site, only the married woman who had just been bickering with Second Uncle Yu Le remained, standing there dazed, her face full of disbelief.
Shortly after, the married woman huddled in the crowd and, hearing someone who seemed to know a bit about Du Gu Guan, gritted her teeth and asked coquettishly.
When she learned that Du Gu Guan had only brought a pair of sisters and a pair of uncle and nephew to the exam today, her face went wooden, her head suddenly spinning again.
She had thought Yu Le this guy had just latched onto some noble to serve and see off, who would’ve thought that noble was actually his nephew surnamed Yu!
After a good long while, the middle-aged married woman finally came to her senses.
Facing the sympathetic inquiries from those around her, her expression wavered between crying and laughing; she could only force a grin, her face full of melancholy.
………………
On the other side.
Fang Shu and the others took advantage of the night to charge toward Qian Shan Mine.
Though the group carried no torches, each was at least a Third Calamity Immortal, their Qi and Blood already fierce like smoke signals, plus with the Dojo Masters coordinating from the surroundings, their momentum was overwhelming and unstoppable.
Along the way, monsters lurked silently, birds and beasts, flies and insects all crouched low, not daring to make a sound.
In about an hour, the group arrived before Qian Shan.
In their eyes, the mine that should have been bustling with activity, roaring day and night, was now shrouded in Yin Energy, blood everywhere.
On the mountain and below, there were staggering figures pacing and walking among them.
But up close, these figures weren’t so-called miners and mine slaves at all, but rather dried corpses and skeletons dressed as foremen, some human, some monster.
Aside from these dried corpses, the vast mine had no living person left, the atmosphere eerie.
The arrivals all looked at each other in dismay:
“Where are those rioting lowly folk?”
Among them, the Du Gu Guan Master and others’ faces changed drastically:
“Bad!”
“We’ve been tricked! This is drawing the tiger away from the mountain.”
These Dojo Masters were all wide-eyed in rage; they hurriedly turned to look back at Gu Ling Marketplace, only to see the lights in the marketplace flickering uncertainly—not knowing if due to mountain mist or some upheaval already in the town.
Without reporting to the two Immortal Sect envoys, they shot toward the marketplace.
Many Dojo Masters even erupted with Spiritual Light, casting strange arts, each with imposing momentum.
Note that these dojo masters, besides nurturing talent down the mountain, had a more important duty: guarding the marketplace, not letting outsiders ruin it.
Now with the marketplace empty inside, if someone took advantage, they’d be in deep trouble.
While in the mine, the two Immortal Sect envoys who had led everyone here showed no intention of moving.
When Fang Shu and the others grew restless too, the two instead coughed lightly, pointed at the dried corpses, skeletons, and such in the mine, and shouted:
“What are you standing around for! Hurry and advance to suppress, subdue demons and eliminate evil.”
“Don’t forget, you’re still in the midst of the exam today.”
Fang Shu and the others snapped awake.
………………
And in Gu Ling Town.
Not long after the crowd left town.
Clusters of torches surged up around the town.
Those ragged miners and mine slaves emerged like rats from three sides of the marketplace, gazing at the unending lights of the marketplace, greed in their eyes almost substantial.
Among them, a paper figure-like figure on a sedan chair also swayed into the marketplace depths.
But just as this person stepped onto the street, crack.
A flash of cold light fell before him, directly slicing his sedan chair in two.
Clang! The sword cry rang out loudly in the air.
