Chapter 271


    <h4>A Bolt from the Blue</h4>


    As soon as Zhang Tianhé and his party left Mount Tianlong, the rest of the Great Six’s army dispersed . Some had taken off into the night sky while others had left on foot . Li Yundong did a quick visual sweep of his surroundings, sighing in relief after he did . Except for several dead bodies lying around, the area surrounding the temple was pretty much unupied .


    It was over .


    Li Yundong raised his right arm . "Come here, buddy!"


    The Fan of Seven Treasures hurtled towards him from the side . He grabbed the fan’s rivet and then snapped the fan close . Then, he turned around and flew back towards Cao Yi and the others .


    Cao Yi dried her tears and rose to her feet as Li Yundongnded in front of the temple . Li Yundong shifted the fan on his shoulders and joined the fox spirits in their mourning for their fallen grandmaster . None of them said anything as they continued to weep .


    It was a wordlessmentation, a requiem of tears .


    After a while, Cao Yi sniffed and cleared her throat .


    Li Yundong stepped back, wanting to give them a moment . But then Cao Yi suddenly spoke up . "Hail, Li zhǎngmén, the new Head of the Fox Zen School!"


    All of a sudden, the other fox spirits filed towards him and dropped to their knees, right beside his feet .


    "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, you—" Li Yundong shot Cao Yi a helpless look .


    Cao Yi wasn’t kneeling, though her body was bent forward in a slight bow . Those who were kneeling, Li Yundong realized, were the younger ones .


    "Cao Yi . " Li Yundong sighed . "Let’s not stand on ceremony, okay?"


    Cao Yi straightened herself, looking utterly puzzled .


    Li Yundong gave her a wry smile and waved at the kneeling women before him . "This isn’t necessary . "


    Cao Yi frowned in puzzlement . "But—"


    Li Yundong cut her off by raising his hand . Then, he turned towards the kneeling women .


    "Rise," he said to the women .


    The women rose . Potion Girl was staring back at him with an expression of awe .


    Li Yundong turned to Cao Yi again . "No more of this kneeling stuff, okay? It makes me feel so awkward . And oh, you guys should also drop the zhǎngmén while you’re at it . " He smiled . "Just call me Li Yundong . "


    Cao Yi suddenly cleared her throat . "I’m afraid we must decline, Liu zhǎngmén . Such formalities must be observed . " Cao Yi bowed slightly . "You are the leader of our school now . You are our direct superior . The formalities are a sign of respect . "


    But I want you girls to respect yourselves first, he added silently . These women had already proven themselves to be loyal and courageous . In his book, they shouldn’t have to bow to anyone .


    "Thank you," Li Yundong said, smiling when an idea urred to him . "How about this? Let’se up with apromise . "


    Cao Yi straightened herself and eyed him curiously .


    "I’ll allow the zhǎngmén title," Li Yundong continued, "but I don’t want all these kneeling and bowing nonsense . Deal?"


    Cao Yi’s features twitched as though she’d just tasted something rotten . "That’s... agreeable, I suppose . " All of a sudden, Cao Yi’s eyes went round as though she just realized that she had said something impudent . She cleared her throat . "I-I mean... As you wish, Li zhǎngmén . "


    "Good . "


    Cao Yi took a deep breath, then exhaled .


    "Then please allow me to properly introduce myself, Li zhǎngmén," Cao Yi said reverently . "I am Cao Yi, one of the main disciples of the Fox Zen School . Originally, there were eight of us . "


    Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi nkly .


    "The main disciples of the Fox Zen School, I mean," Cao Yi rified secondster at Li Yundong’s confusion . "There were eight of us . "


    "I see . "


    Cao Yi nodded . "In terms of seniority, I’m ranked sixth . "


    Li Yundong nced around a few times . "Where are the others?"


    A sad look spread across Cao Yi’s face . She pointed at one of the corpses . "That’s Mo Ahshi, the most senior disciple among us . " Cao Yi shook her head . "We recently found out that she’s been dead for over nine years . "


    "Yan Fang," Li Yundong said .


    Cao Yi nodded, then pointed at the bag of dry bones and skin on the ground .


    "That’s Ye Yu, the 7th disciple . " Cao Yi lowered her finger . "What’s left of her anyway..."


    "Okay... What about the rest? You said there were eight of you . "


    "Technically, only seven . " Cao Yi hugged her torso .


    Li Yundong frowned . "Technically?"


    Cao Yi shifted awkwardly . "Wushuang was the youngest among us . "


    Right . And she’d been expelled .


    "Not that it mattered . " Cao Yi sighed . "Liu zhǎngmén had always regarded her as one of us . "


    "Okay . So there’s Mo Ahshi and Ye Yu . " Li Yundong gestured at the corpses . "Where are the other four?"


    Cao Yi shook her head tiredly and gestured at another corpse leaning against the wall . "That’s Gu Feng’s impostor," she said . "The real Gu Feng is dead too . And... And the others are missing . " Tears swam in Cao Yi’s eyes when she looked up at him . "I fear that the worst had happened to them, Li zhǎngmén . " She sighed and pointed at Potion Girl . "She didn’t see any of them when she went back inside the temple to look for the potions just now . "


    "So these are the younger disciples, then?" Li Yundong pointed at the others who were lingering around, whispering to each other .


    Cao Yi nodded .


    The young fox spirits seemed lost, like they no longer had a purpose in life . Not that he could me them . Their whole world had just fallen apart within the span of one night .


    "They’re brave," Li Yundong remarked, ncing at Cao Yi . "They’ve got guts, those girls . "


    The tiniest of smiles graced Cao Yi’s lips, but it quickly tuned into a scowl . "Well . Not all of us are . "


    Li Yundong turned around to face Cao Yi fully . "What do you mean?"


    Cao Yi snorted . "Gu Feng’s disciples"—Cao Yi did air quotes—"fled the school just before the assault began . "


    Li Yundong nced around and took stock of his surroundings . The temple didn’t sustain a lot of damage during the battle, which was a good thing .


    "So what now, Li zhǎngmén?"


    Cao Yi’s question drew Li Yundong’s attention back to her .


    "Do you have a n?" Cao Yi sounded almost tentative .


    Yeah... He was still working that, to be honest .


    "I’ll track down Su Chan first and then bring her back . " Li Yundong stared at Cao Yi . "I hope you understand . "


    Li Yundong wanted to smack himself in the head as soon as those words left his mouth . Why the heck was he speaking as though he was asking her for permission? He was the frigging Head of the Fox Zen School now, for atha’s sake .


    Guess it might take a while for him to get use to that idea .


    "But..." Cao Yi suddenly looked towards the temple . "What if the Great Six attack us again after you leave? Who’s..." Cao Yi lowered her gaze . "Who’s gonna defend us?" Cao Yi looked up at him with pleading eyes . "Only a few of us in the Fox Zen School are great inbat . And... none of them are here at the moment . " Cao Yi sighed and lowered her head . "Liu zhǎngmén is gone . So are Mo Ahshi, and Ye Yu . Ao Wushuang is the most powerful among us . But then she’s been captured..."


    Li Yundong sped Cao Yi’s shoulders with both hands to interrupt her rambling . When Cao Yi looked up again, he gave her a smile . "They won’t attack again . Trust me . "


    Cao Yi didn’t look convinced . "A- Are you sure?"


    Li Yundong released Cao Yi’s shoulders and nodded . "Yes . " He smiled again . "Besides, none of them has to know about my absence . "


    Li Yundong was certain that he had scared the living crap out of those assholes . They wouldn’t return if they thought he was still here, guarding the ce . And he was fairly certain that Zi Yuan would dissuade those idiots from attacking again .


    Cao Yi still didn’t look convinced .


    Li Yundong chuckled . "You guys are pretty good with illusions, am I right?"


    He’d seen Su Chan perform one of those cool illusion spells .


    "Um... Yes?"


    Li Yundong nodded . "Just create an illusion of me standing right there . " Li Yundong pointed at the temple .


    Cao Yi’s eyes widened slightly . "O- Oh... That’s... Actually pretty clever . "


    "Which means..." Li Yundong smirked . "I never left the school . " Li Yundong raised a brow . "After all, I am the guardian of the Fox Zen School . "


    Cao Yi smiled . "I think you’re more than that now, Li zhǎngmén . "


    "Anyway . " Li Yundong lowered the Fan of Seven Treasures to the ground . "Here’s the n . "


    Cao Yi stood up straighter .


    Li Yundong couldn’t help but feel amused at her behavior .


    "I’ll head to Dongwu City to find Su Chan . Meanwhile, you guys should take care of Grandmaster Liu’s body . " Li Yundong sighed and nced towards the old man . "I don’t know much about your customs, but for us humans, there’s usually some kind of ritual . A proper funeral . "


    "As you wish, Li zhǎngmén," Cao Yi said . "I’ll handle—"


    There was a gasp .


    "What’s wrong?" Li Yundong looked towards Cao Yi .


    Cao Yi was looking past his shoulder, squinting through the dark .


    "Who’s there?!" Cao Yi suddenly flung a bunch of needles at something behind him .


    Li Yundong whirled around and saw a dark, wraith-like creature hovering above Mo Ahshi’s corpse . The needles went through the phantom and struck a tree nearby . Then, the phantom shot into the night sky .


    Ningshen: Xianjue!


    Li Yundong turned towards Cao Yi . "Take the girls into the temple . "


    Cao Yi nodded .


    Li Yundong turned towards the Fan of Seven Treasures . "You stay here and protect them . "


    The Fan of Seven Treasures rose from the ground and snapped open .


    After that, Li Yundong took off into the night sky .


    ***


    Even with Xianjue, it was extremely hard to keep up with the dark phantom, especially now when it waspletely dark .


    Hell . Who was he even kidding . He wasn’t even keeping up . The phantom had given him the slip about two minutes ago, and now he had no idea where it was .


    Damn it .


    Who could that be? Was it Yan Fang? But why would she return?


    There you are!


    He caught a glimpse of the phantom somewhere below him on his two o’clock . The phantom vanished into the trees .


    Li Yundong flew downwards andnded on a tree branch secondster .


    Damn it, where did it go?


    Li Yundong closed his eyes . Ningshen: Eryue!


    He spent a minute listening to any voices or noises indicating the phantom’s presence .


    "... Ping’er! Ping’er! Where are you?"


    The voice was male . An old man, in fact .


    "I’m over here, Master!"


    Li Yundong’s blood ran cold . What the hell? That voice...


    Ding Nan?!


    "Where have you been, Master? I’ve been waiting for you for so long!"


    No . This had to be some kind of mistake . It had to be . It wasn’t Ding Nan . The old man had called her Ping’er . Maybe it was just someone with a simr voice .


    The old man chuckled . "Look what I found, Ping’er..."


    "What’s that?" Ping’er said .


    "This, my dear, is the Fox Zen School’s Threaded Hairpin of Traversing Soul!"


    Li Yundong located the source of the voices just then . It was quite far away from his current location . Li Yundong took off into the sky, but kept his Eryue activated .


    "Is it powerful?"


    "Of course it is!” The old man paused . "But first we have to go . Someone’s after me . "


    No you don’t!


    "Oh... Okay . As you wish, Master . "


    "Hmm . I’ll show you how this thing works once we return," the old man said, then chuckled . "Well . I was nning to give it to you anyway . "


    "Really?!"


    There!


    Li Yundong increased his speed and activated his telescopic vision .


    He saw and old man putting his arm around a young woman’s shoulders . Li Yundong bridged his Three Gates and sent a shockwave towards the pair .


    Toote .


    The pair morphed into a phantom and took off into the sky before the st could reach them .


    Li Yundongnded on the floor, stunned .


    There was no mistaking that figure, and that T-shirt .


    That woman was Ding Nan .