Chapter 143: Respect towards the Strong
Translator: Sparrow Translations Editor: Sparrow Translations
Yan Xiu was climbing up the tree when he suddenly felt the light above him was blocked out.
When he looked up, he saw Fang Zhengzhi tumbling towards him, screaming that he had seen a ghost...
"Ghost?" Yan Xiu did not quite believe it. He was more willing to believe the existence of gods because gods were the stronger of the two.
However, he calmly extended a hand to catch Fang Zhengzhi.
Fang Zhengzhi, who was grabbed by the arm, dangled in midair. This was slightly embarrassing for him, after all, he was a pinnacle Star Conglomerate expert.
Falling from a tree?
How humiliating.
However, upon thinking about what he had just seen, he still felt extremely unsettled. After all, he would much rather see beasts in the Heavenly Treasure Hall than humans.
Furthermore, this was a lady.
Only 10 people from the Divine Constabulary had made the trip into the Heavenly Treasure Hall. Other than himself and Yan Xiu, there was only Lu Yusheng and his seven lackeys.
Without considering the fact that Lu Yusheng and his group were behind.
Was Lu Yusheng a lady?
Evidently not.
His seven followers were also not ladies.
So where did this lady come from?
Even if there were unknown life forms in the parallel dimension, there shouldn't be a lady?
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Yan Xiu and motioned for him to let go. Then, he tiptoed on a branch and scurried to the top once again.
Within a few moves, he was back at his vantage point.
He looked out again...
The lady was all but gone. All that was left were some ripples on the otherwise calm water surface.
"Gone?" Fang Zhengzhi was quite confused. He was sure that his eyes were not playing tricks on him. He was not hallucinating, but, where did that lady go?
When he thought of the elegant, dainty lady dancing on the water, he suddenly felt...
A sense of familiarity towards this figure.
However, he could not be sure. When he had seen the scene, he had been too flustered and shocked to take a good look.
At this point, Yan Xiu was already by Fang Zhengzhi's side and he followed Zhengzhi's gaze to the lake.
"There's a lake ahead."
"Mm."
"Where's the ghost that you were shouting about?"
"Would you believe me if I told you it disappeared?"
"No!"
Fang Zhengzhi was speechless. Yan Xiu had always trusted him. Even when I asked him to follow my techniques before this, he had trusted me.
Why doesn't he believe me now?
"Because, there is no such thing as ghosts!" Yan Xiu replied confidently.
"Did your grandfather tell you that?"
"Confucius said, don't use words to judge and talk about ghosts and gods."
"This sentence is telling one to keep a distance from ghosts and gods, reminding us not to revere them. What does this have to do with the existence of ghosts?" Fang Zhengzhi was curious about Yan Xiu's choice of description.
"If you're righteous, you will have no demons!" Yan Xiu looked at Fang Zhengzhi seriously.
"But I just saw a lady dancing on the surface of the river. Do you believe that?" Fang Zhengzhi did not debate this any further. He decided to just state the facts.
"I believe!"
"..." Fang Zhengzhi was speechless, "Didn't you just say you didn't believe it?"
"I believe that you saw a dancing lady on the lake, but, I don't believe that she's a ghost!" Yan Xiu explain.
"But how can there be another lady in this parallel dimension?"
"That's why, we must go check it out."
Fang Zhengzhi did not reply immediately, instead, he thought about the scene just now. That sense of familiarity would be unlikely to strike him again right?
"Come, let's go take a look!" Fang Zhengzhi said with determination.
"Okay!"
The two of them jumped off the tree and landed below. Just as they prepared to walk to the lake, Fang Zhengzhi stopped, almost as if he thought of something.
"Should we let Lu Yusheng and the others take point?"
"No matter what, Lu Yusheng is already in the Heavenly Reflection state. I think we should be more careful when dealing with experts like that!" Yan Xiu said calmly.
"And so?"
"We can go survey the lake first and set up a few traps. Then, we can hide." Yan Xiu said calmly.
"You've changed, you're evil now! I remember that you used to like facing your enemies head on." Fang Zhengzhi said seriously.
"If I told you I learnt from you, would you believe me?"
"No!"
"It seems like... I'm not evil enough yet."
"People must learn and mature. Congratulations, you are maturing!"
"I will work hard!"
Fang Zhengzhi felt like he was teaching a kid the wrong things. However, if he really had to make a choice, he would still choose to teach Yan Xiu some tricks. Yan Xiu used to be too righteous and easily taken advantage of.
All this while, Fang Zhengzhi was not a heroic person. If he knew he couldn't win, he would run. He would never go head on into a battle in which he could not win. To him, that was courting death.
He preferred to pick his battles. That way, he could live longer.
"Let's go!"
"Okay!"
The two of them did not enter side by side. As what was in front of them was still unknown, they kept a distance with great coordination. Fang Zhengzhi was in front whilst Yan Xiu was behind. The two of them carefully masked their movements as they walked towards the lake.
The humid air blew at them.
Both Fang Zhengzhi and Yan Xiu were extremely careful. As such, there were no surprises.
Even until they had reached their respective hiding bushes by the lake, everything was calm.
It was a strange calmness. It was almost as if the entire world had quietness.
Fang Zhengzhi frowned. He did not like this kind of calm. The calmer the environment, the more dangerous it was. Furthermore, there was no cave surrounding this lake.
So where is the danger coming from?
The lake?!
Fang Zhengzhi tried to look at the lake. He wanted to see if there was anything in the lake. The lake water was clear and he saw no fishes or flora inside.
However, the base of the lake was black and dark like an abyss. He simply could not see the bottom.
Fang Zhengzhi looked at Yan Xiu.
Yan Xiu was hiding in a bush not far away from where Fang Zhengzhi was. He too was looking at the lake, his eyebrows furrowed, almost as if he was thinking about something.
"Did you find anything?"
"The lake is dark and I can't see much, but, there shouldn't be a lady!" Yan Xiu said truthfully.
Fang Zhengzhi nodded slightly. He also felt that if there really was a lady dancing on the river lake, it would be quite ridiculous.
But I really saw it?
As he thought about it, Fang Zhengzhi unconsciously looked up at the bright moon in the air.
The Heavenly Treasure Hall was a parallel dimension. Naturally, this moon was not from his world, but was the moon of this parallel dimension.
It looked brighter than the moon in his pocket dimension. Furthermore, it looked like something was riveting inside, almost like a small shadow on the moon.
It did not block out much of the light from the moon, just a tiny bit.
The shadow was small, but Fang Zhengzhi felt that there was something strange about this shadow. It was a blade, no, a knife, hang on, now it's a spear...
"..."
Within a few moments, that shadow had morphed into over a dozen shapes. Fang Zhengzhi was frustrated just looking at it.
Just as he was about to start scolding, he heard a sound next to him.
"Plonk!"
"Someone fell into the water?" Fang Zhengzhi could feel that this should be the sound of someone falling into the water.
Then, he unconsciously looked towards the lake. He saw a splash of white water and ripples expanding outwards.
"Not good!" Fang Zhengzhi looked at where Yan Xiu was supposed to be. His eyes widened, the bush was now empty.
"That was Yan Xiu?!"
That was the first thought in Fang Zhengzhi's mind. He felt like Yan Xiu was in trouble.
Based on his understanding of Yan Xiu, Yan Xiu would never jump into the water suddenly. He must have met with some trouble, or he was dragged down into the water forcefully by something.
At such a time, Fang Zhengzhi's brain told him to remain calm and observe for signs of how Yan Xiu fell into the water.
However, with the thought that Yan Xiu may be in danger, he could not calm down.
The lake was deep and dark.
Almost as if it was filled with ink.
Fang Zhengzhi was not very willing to jump in because of the possibility of unknown dangers below. However, he still jumped.
Soon after Yan Xiu fell into the water, he jumped into the lake.
The reason was simple...
The person who had fell in was Yan Xiu.
"Plonk!"
The second sound of something falling into the water rang out. A huge splash was seen once again as ripples formed on the water surface, compounding with those from the first splash...
...
The quiet and still night was punctuated by the sounds of two splashes. However, peace quickly returned, almost as if nothing had happened before this.
The moon was high up in the sky, its faint light shining on the surface of the lake causing a faint silver glow.
Slowly, the surface of the lake returned to calm and a river figure floated out once again. Her hair was silky and she looked like she had been there all along. Actually, it looked like she never left.
Then; the lady began to dance, her movement elegant and mesmerizing.
Her toe tips barely touched the water surface, but yet they did not cause any splashes or ripples. She looked like she was holding something in her hands, but upon closer inspection, her hands were empty.
She looked like she was dancing and not dancing at the same time!
...