Chapter 436: Jin River Goddess’ Shrine
The twenty houses here scattered by the shore, some quite far from the others.
The village also had farmland and mulberry thickets. Bamboo groves were planted along the raised pathways.
With the shade of night, the thickets and groves looked even gloomier. The moonlight shone on the falling leaves, resulting in scary shadows on the ground.
Feiyun had a pebble to carve runes on the ground. He was using a secret technique of his race in order to calculate and search. Meanwhile, Jingyue stood quietly behind him with a radiating glow with her red pipa.
“Okay, five steps to the left.” Feiyun stood up and carefully took fives step forward with Jingyue copying his pace.
He stopped again and carved more runes on the ground before walking further.
Even though this process was considerably slow, it was also safe. At the very least, nothing sinister had happened so far. Jingyue began to have a better impression of him. ‘Looks like this thick-skinned king is a little capable.’
Feiyun was squatting on the ground to draw these runes. Suddenly, he gazed towards the dark and said seriously: “Why are you watching us? Come out here!”
Jingyue also noticed someone tailing them. She slightly flicked the strings on her pipa and issued a deafening and murderous sound wave. It severed a mulberry tree instantly.
A shadow flew out from that location with extreme speed. It jumped several times before disappearing without a trace.
“Such incredible speed, are these the unknown creatures here?” Jingyue said.
Feiyun snorted: “We’re not capable of seeing those creatures. It must be one of those young kings. They saw me leaving the house and assumed that I know the way out, it would be stranger if they didn’t follow us. Don’t mind them, take seven steps forward.”
Feiyun’s vision was better than Jingyue’s. Even though that person was very fast just now, Feiyun still caught his general figure and knew who he was.
Meanwhile, Donglai was hiding in the shadows while observing these two. The murderous intent in his eyes grew denser. He has always been a rational person and never wanted to kill a person so bad like right now: ‘Feiyun, if you dare to be this close to Miss Dongfang, you shall pay for it with your death!’ [1]
After another two hours, the group made it to a small farm. Feiyun suddenly stopped and noticed a boulder slightly protruding from the ground. It had clearly been polished.
He channeled a wave of spirit energy in his palm and began digging it up. This was a rough-looking tablet used to mark the border of the village.
There were three ancient characters on it. Even someone as knowledgeable and well-read like Jingyue couldn’t recognize it.
However, Feiyun was able to. It was the same as the text he saw on the turtle shell back at the convent.
“Duo Village.” After reading the name, Feiyun felt a shock coursing through his entire body.
He had given up looking for this village mentioned on the shell and felt that these legends of the goddess were fabrications from ten thousand years ago. But now, he had found it.
Jingyue was also strangely startled by this name: “I’ve heard of this village before.”
“Where?” Feiyun hurried inquired.
Jingyue pondered for a moment before answering: “I think, I’ve seen it on a painting in the clan’s ancestral room. That painting was named Duo.”
Feiyun’s mind became even more shaken after hearing this. The legend of Duo was related to the Jin River Goddess while this goddess was related to the statue that looked exactly like Shui Yueting while Jingyue looked exactly like her. Just how were all of these things connected?
This ghost village was indeed the legendary place named Duo. It was not part of this world and would only appear near the river shore at special intervals.
Feiyun asked: “Where is your ancestral room?”
“At the dragon lake, but I heard the ancestors said that this wasn’t the case in the beginning. It was moved there later.” Jingyue understood that this was important and didn’t hide it from him.
“Dragon lake…” Feiyun murmured and thought that he needed to take a trip there. Perhaps more clues were waiting for him.
Feiyun continued: “I have something else I’ve been wanting to ask you. You… look too similar to that statue on the river. Does your clan not know this?”
Her eyes flashed with a peculiar glimmer and her expression under the veil changed as well. She slightly turned away and said: “Of course they know but there are a lot of girls in this world. It’s not hard to find two that look alike. I’m sure there are many more in the Jin Dynasty who look like that statue.”
‘This damned woman is hiding something from me.’ Feiyun’s intuition told him that she wasn’t telling the truth.
If she didn’t want to reveal it, further prying was useless. There would be more chances to get it out of her later, he thought.
“Alright, let us continue, I can faintly sense the aura left behind by that Enlightened Being now.” Feiyun said with the same expression.
The two walked on the little raised-pathway on the farm with careful steps.
After another hour, Feiyun finally found the mark left behind by the Enlightened Being due to his phoenix gaze. Jingyue, on the other hand, didn’t see anything.
“If we follow these marks, we won’t suffer these unknown calamities. However, keep in mind of the formations too. If we touch them by accident, we’ll die for sure with our current cultivation.” Feiyun warned.
Jingyue flared her nostrils in response: “You actually care about my wellbeing?”
“You’re overthinking it. I’m just afraid of having to carry your corpse around after you die, that’s too much of a hassle… what are you doing? I’m just kidding, don’t be so violent. I told you way before that you need to keep an open mind about comedy. Keep on … fine, fine, I’ll stop.” Feiyun rushed forward towards the remnant marks.
Jingyue was heaving in and out, completely livid just like an angry hen.
“Feng Feiyun, should we go back now and take your Maestro Ye and my big brother with us?” Jingyue chased after him.
Feiyun shook his head: “No, this is only a pathway through the village, it might not be the way out.”
“What, can you be more reliable please?!” Jingyue bit down on her lips and had the urge of throwing her pipa straight for his head.
“What are you getting worked up about? I didn’t say we can’t leave the place.” Feiyun added.
He wouldn’t bicker with her since he felt that would be an insult to his intelligence. On the other hand, Jingyue wasn’t an easily provoked woman. In fact, she was always as calm as water or the clouds up in the mountains. However, Feiyun always had a way to enrage her.
She knew that he was doing it on purpose.
Was he really? Perhaps a little bit.
Who was to blame for making Jingyue and Yueting so similar? Moreover, their auras were alike as well so Feiyun naturally didn’t like her. Whenever he met her, he always felt the urge to hit her head. Of course, this was only a passing thought right now.
“Oh?” He suddenly stopped so Jingyue who was right behind him ran into him with her soft body, especially her towering breasts directly hitting his back. A cold sensation started from her nipples and ran throughout the rest of her body, rendering her immobile for three seconds.
‘Damn him, damn him! He definitely did it on purpose!’ Jingyue was really furious this time with sparks almost flying from her pretty eyes. She believed that he was deliberately playing with her by stopping so that her breasts would hit him.
If it wasn’t on purpose, then where did this cold air come from that nearly turned her into an ice sculpture?
It indeed looked like Feiyun was toying with her. Even though he didn’t mind doing this, but he was really wrongfully blamed this time. This was because of Yama’s spine being fused to his back. The real person at fault here was Miss Dongfang and her rotten luck.
Right when Dongfang Jingyue lost her temper and wanted to go at the guy, Feiyun suddenly grabbed her arm and said: “I found something big, come.”
There was no warning again so Jingyue tumbled and almost dropped her pipa.
After following the marks left behind by the Enlightened Being, they found a tiny shrine at the base of a cliff. It was only half the size of an adult with a lamp inside. There were many red ribbons next to it that were fluttering to the wind.
It looked like a shrine for the local god but wasn’t. There was a clay sculpture of a woman inside with the features of an immortal. She was as pure as jade with fluttering, long ribbons and plumes of clouds beneath her feet. After glancing at it several times, one felt a much stronger urge to prostrate and worship compared to statues in other temples.
“Shui… Yueting!” Feiyun’s eyes widened as he clenched his fists as if he wanted to break his own bones. He gritted his white teeth hard to an audible level.
