Chapter 118: Welcome to The Fiend Palace (I)
Translator: Storm in a Teacup
They didn’t step into the Libidinal City at all. The city lord He Xiao led them on the way to the Fiend Palace.
While guiding them, He Xiao introduced the Fiend Realm to the righteous cultivators. “The Fiend Realm is composed by nine cities, governed by nine captains, respectively. Though I am one of these captains, my status in Fiend Palace is only ranked in the middle .”
Luo Jianqing didn’t know how powerful the Fiend Palace was until He Xiao told them the composition of the members.
Despite the Fiend Exalt, Mo Qianqiu, who had already reached fulfilled-late-stage Da Sheng Period cultivation, there were three other Da Sheng Period cultivators serving as his right-hand men: the minister of the Fiend Palace and two Dharmapalas.
Fiend cultivators were quite careless. He Xiao told them everything he knew about the Fiend Palace, with no fear that the “righteous cultivators” might know their secret and use it against them. Of course, everyone in the team knew that none of the Four Sects nor the Eight Families could defeat the Fiend Palace; even Tai Hua Mountain wouldn’t be one hundred percent confident whether they would win Fiend Palace or not if confronted.
Hearing He Xiao speaking of the two Dharmapalas of the Fiend Palace, Luo Jianqing suddenly recalled what Mo Qiu told him before. He remembered that Mo Qiu insisted visiting Tai Hua Mountain and that led to his discover of the unusual relationship between him and his Master. What did he say that day…? “The two Dharmapalas of Fiend Palace were siblings, and lovers, at the same time.”
This gleam of memory made Luo Jianqing chuckled. The young cultivator just realized that his best friend had already joined the Fiend Palace even before that day.
Fo Zi noticed Luo Jianqing’s smile. Curiously, he asked, “Amitabha, Cultivator Luo, do I have the honor to know what makes you so happy?”
They had known each other for a decent amount of time, and Luo Jianqing already found that Fo Zi was not a sedate monk as he thought he would be.
‘There is no way to ferry over the ocean when your boat is not even touching the sea.’
Fo Zi once told him this, and Luo Jianqing kept that sentence in mind. Fo Zi wasn’t a fusty monk. After all, this guy once even said that ‘Whom I like are all deeply bonded with Buddhism’.
Thinking about this, Luo Jianqing whispered to Fo Zi through Spiritual Telepath, “Somebody once told me that the two Dharmapalas of Fiend Palace are a couple.”
Fo Zi smiled, “I see.”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
Minutes later, Luo Jianqing finally broke the silence, “Fo Zi, aren’t you surprised? They are brothers of flesh and blood, but they still chose to be couple cultivators.”
“Life is a circulating river. They chose to be couples, then there is definitely a destined karma between them. Their lineage should never be a burden. This is a Cause, but sometimes a Consequence as well.”
This time, even Luo Jianqing couldn’t understand Fo Zi.
Without using Spiritual Telepath, Fo Zi spoke his thoughts out loud, then the other monks from Gui Yuan Sect heard it as well. These eminent Buddhism masters all put their palms together devoutly and saluted, “Amitabha, Yu Chen has broken into another level of Zen insight.”
Amazed, Luo jianqing looked at Fo Zi but saw the latter fumble his bald head and simper, “Just a fluke.”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
Frequently inspired and leveled-up, the young cultivator once thought that himself was so favored by fortune that his cultivating speed was indeed a rare one, but today he changed his mind. He never thought that Fo Zi could break through next level by a single sentence. Well, cultivating on karma, Buddhism Cultivators were just cheating, and if I was given a chance to choose again, Luo Jianiqng thought, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be a Buddhism Cultivator at all!
They kept marching on.
Having He Xiao as their guide, they never encountered any trouble. He Xiao stayed with the Elders of Duan Hun Sect all the time, and didn’t dare getting close to Tai Hua Mountain’s cultivators.
He Xiao still remembered how Yu Qingzi punished him with the fly-whisk, so he didn’t have the gut to harass Luo Jianqing. However, when night fell, under the cover of darkness, He Xiao would still peek at Luo Jianqing, swallowing saliva.
Wei Qiongyin had no feeling for Fiend Cultivators except hatred, given that her parents were slaughtered by a fiend cultivator when she was little. Seeing He Xiao’s seedy behavior, she put her hand on the hilt, about to draw her sword, but was stopped by Luo Jianqing.
“Great Senior Brother, that nasty Fiend Cultivator has been looking at you with filthy stare. How come you are still so calm? His dirty thoughts are all written on his face. He must have imagined you as the male Fiend Cultivator we saw at the gate of Libidinal City, a lewd young man. He is such a disgusting rat, let me finish him for you!”
The night of Fiend Realm was full of danger. Connected to the Demon Realm, the Fiend Realm was frequently raided by some Demon Beasts. For that reason, the team decided to camp and rest, vigilantly guarding themselves.
Hearing Wei Qiongyin’s words, Luo Jianqing didn’t bother at all. He kept cultivating quietly.
Wei Qiongyin wasn’t an impressively good-looking female cultivator, but surely an elegant one. Holding an expressionless face all the time, Wei Qiongyin kept a distance with all the others. This time, her mask broke. Rage dyed her face a touch of vivid beauty, but nobody noticed it in a dark night like this.
Noticing that Wei Qiongyin was about to draw her sword again, Luo Jianqing finally said something to calm her. “Sister, even our candid Sir Yu Qingzi can tolerate the dirty thoughts of that Fiend Cultivator, you don’t need to be this angry at all. He is portraying me in his filthy fantasy, not you. Just ignore him.”
Wei Qiongyin was enraged, “Great Senior Brother, how could you spare…”
“Sister, there is no need to be mad because of a moribund.” Hearing this, Wei Qiongyin was stunned. She saw Luo Jianqing slowly opened his eyes. Scarlet moonbeam stroked her brother’s elegant visage, making the cultivator an ethereal youth. Luo Jianqing went on, “I treat him as he is a nothing but a bug. Why are you still considering him as a human?”
Eyes widely open, Wei Qiongyin was speechless. After a while, she suddenly chuckled.
Luo Jianqing was shocked by her reaction. They had known each other for dozens of years, but this was the first time Luo Jianqing saw his Third Younger Sister smile. The girl’s only pursuit was cultivating, becoming a powerful cultivator, and then revenge for her parents, but now she smiled, surprisingly, given that they were in the Fiend Realm.
“Great Senior Brother, now I finally understand why there are so many cultivators falling in love with you. Like the folk song said, wait, what’s the lyrics? Ah, I recall, it’s something like ‘immortal lives on the mountain, I yearn for his attention…’”
Luo Jianqing’s face darkened, “Sister!”
Wei Qiongyin didn’t went on and returned to her usual indifference look.
Luo Jianqing had no idea when and who started it; a folk song suddenly went popular among Tai Hua Mountain’s young generation. This song perplexed him a lot because its lyrics… the lyrics was unacceptably bold. It’s totally a love song! Luo Jianqing remembered that Xie Zizhuo once had sung it right in front of him and, well, his brother was beaten so badly by him that the poor lad lay on the bed for three days.
To be honest, Luo Jianqing wondered, why would a normal cultivator sing a folk song like this?
Even though Wei Qiongyin only had time to say two lines of the lyrics, Fo Zi still heard it. Fiddling his Buddha Beads, the young monk reached Luo Jianiqng and sat right next to him. Before Luo Jianqing could greet Fo Zi, the latter said, “Amitabha, I also heard that Tai Hua Mountain has a very famous folk song, but I never had the chance to hear it. Cultivator Luo, can you recite the song for me?”
Luo Jianqing, “…”
From then on, Luo Jianqing never respond to Fo Zi’s any question. He kept his mouth tight no matter how hard Fo Zi tried to persuade him to let the cat out of the box. When they finally got near to the Fiend Palace, Fo Zi still didn’t get the answer. Staring at Luo Jianqing’s back, Fo Zi sighed, “I’m surprised how determined Tai Hua Mountain’s disciple is, in terms of keeping the sect secret.”
Wei Qiongyin was passing him. Hearing his words, she stopped, “Because that folk song is addressing the Great Senior Brother.”
Excited, Fo Zi bowed with a smile, “Amitabha, seems like Cultivator Wei knew this song so well. Could you please reveal it to me?”
Pondering for a while, Wei Qiongyin said, “Well, I wouldn’t sing it out loud, but I can surely tell you the lyrics. It says…”
A long time later, Fo Zi’s laughter broke the silence.
Surprised, Luo Jianqing turned his head to see what was going on with Fo Zi and had totally no idea what’s wrong with his friend, but when they arrived at the Fiend Mountain range, Fo Zi got close to Luo Jianqing and whispered, “I like that they praise Yu Xiao Peak as the ‘Immortal Mountain’ on the Xuan Tian Continent. Cultivator Luo indeed owns ethereal visage that everyone would fall for. However, my friend, I never thought that you’ve been living a life like this. Surviving from it, you’ve earned all of my respect.”
Luo Jianqing’s mouth twitched when he heard “Immortal Mountain” then his face gradually darkened.
Who on earth revealed that stupid folk song to Fo Zi?!!
Expressionlessly, Wei Qiongyin passed them, pretending not knowing anything.