Chapter 23.
You owe me a favor, and now I want you to accompany me

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Yun Hai thought that Changming would get angry.

Or at least mock and ridicule Yun Hai, but definitely not let the matter slide.

After all, Yun Hai had ditched him right in front of Zhang Mu, sending Changming to a meaningless death.

If Changming made the slightest mistake, he might have become a pile of bones by now.

And these bones could possibly disappear as well.

Because the barrier of Seven Star Rivers was shattered, broken into pieces.

The Nine Layers of the Abyss lost the First Layer.

Although Yun Hai didn’t expect Changming to survive, Yun Hai noticed that his mood was not so bad after seeing him again.

But it would be better if Changming died before Yun Hai had learned everything about him and lost interest.

Yun Hai was delighted, so his steps were also light and quick, and his smile became more and more happy.

“Daoyou Changming shouldn’t be bashful, if you are happy to see me, just say so.”

Even if Xu Jingxian was a demonic cultivator who could eat both raw or cold food, she still felt that Yun Hai might be deranged.

To eat both raw or cold food: to accept things broad-minedly (in a bad way).

But she could beat up or kill an ordinary lunatic if she didn’t like them.
What the eye doesn’t see, the heart doesn’t grieve over.

And if they were a mysterious lunatic, it was best to keep as far away from them as possible.

She coveted Yun Hai’s beauty, but she couldn’t deal with this madman who knew his own worth.
Thus, she gradually gave up on her ideas.
Let alone dual cultivation, even the thought of having a spring night with him had left her mind.

But he approached them willingly, so she couldn’t just drive him away, right?

“I am happy indeed, yearned to see you again day and night, and couldn’t even sleep peacefully,” Changming actually answered.

His expression was tired, and his posture lazy.
Changming subconsciously reached out to his chest; probably, he was hurt.
His lips were pale, but his expression was still indifferent, peaceful like thin clouds and light breeze.

He wasn’t pretending to be indifferent, it was just his habit of enduring everything without taking hardships to his heart.

If a person is determined to ignore their own pain, it must be that they have experienced many more painful sufferings, compared to which the current situation can be called a comfortable one.

And a person like this should be standing on the top of the world, not wandering the uttermost parts of the earth.

Yun Hai’s interest towards Changming slightly rose again.

“Daoyou Changming has lost weight.”

“This must be the result of my narrow escape from death after being framed by daoyou Yun,” Changming said.

Yun Hai laughed and sat near him cross-legged.

“Then the certain Yun gives his apologies!”

Changming: “I’m afraid that daoyou Yun will be carried away by a whim and decide to deceive me again.
You apologise once, and I will suffer for that half to death.”

Yun Hai noticed the Golden Glass Beads Staff on his knees and faintly smiled.

“Daoyou Changming can’t say he reaped no benefits at all, right? I did it with the best of my intentions.
So many people gathered on the Seven Star Platform, have you met your old friend?”

Changming: “I saw him at the very beginning, but for some reason he can’t remember me.”

Yun Hai: “Many people of this world have similar appearances, you probably found the wrong person.”

Changming: “I believe in my eyes.”

Yun Hai felt helpless: “Looks like daoyou Changming is very stubborn.”

Changming: “How did you realize that there was a problem with Zhang Mu?”

Yun Hai smiled mysteriously: “Do you believe in the saying ‘creatures of the same kind are more sensitive to each other’?”

Xu Jingxian did not fully understand their conversation that resembled a battle of keen words, but, having heard the last sentence, she remembered Zhang Mu’s true colors, and couldn’t help but show a terrified expression.

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But Changming seemed as unperturbed as always, and Yun Hai was calm and composed, as if he was talking about someone else.

“Looks like daoyou Yun didn’t enter this place the way we did, but was rather staying here all the time.”

“I am also from the outside, but I came here earlier than you two.”

Yun Hai raised his head and looked at the sky.
The bright stars filled it, shining like water droplets.

Everything in the Nine Layers of the Abyss seemed fresh, gorgeous, odd and ever-changing for those cultivators who had just entered this place.

But even if the scenery of the Rainbow Bridge was magnificent, Yun Hai had long since gotten used to it.

Xu Jingxian was moved: “Has daoyou Yun ever heard of the Yangzhen Grass?”

Yun Hai shook his head and asked curiously: “What is it? Some kind of a medicinal herb?”

Xu Jingxian turned her head and stared at Changming, spitting out one word at a time: “Did, you, trick, me?”

Changming remained calm: “He doesn’t know, but that doesn’t mean I don’t know either.
I am such a brilliant man of wide learning, how many people in this world can be compared with me?”

Unexpectedly, Yun Hai nodded in approval: “Daoyou Changming is rich in knowledge indeed.”

Xu Jingxian: …

She gritted her teeth silently, feeling that the other was sure she wouldn’t kill him in the Nine Layers of the Abyss.

“But,” Yun Hai switched the conversation to another topic, “the Eighth Layer of the Abyss, the Heavenly Waterfall, is the only place here with exotic plants.
I can’t name many of these plants, but they are all spiritual and mysterious.
Who knows, maybe you will find the Yangzhen Grass you are looking for there.”

Xu Jingxian raised her eyebrows: “Daoyou Yun has visited the Eighth Layer of the Abyss?”

Yun Hai smiled faintly: “I’m merely retelling hearsays.”

Xu Jingxian was speechless.

Changming said suddenly: “Then what about the Ninth Layer of the Abyss?”

Yun Hai shook his head: “I’ve never been there and know nothing of that place.”

His answers weren’t careful, rather full of loopholes, but, since he was unwilling to say more, Changming was unable to do anything.

Now they hadn’t even figured out the Second Layer of the Abyss, so the Eighth Layer of the Abyss was a phantom existence for them.
Xu Jingxian suddenly felt a bit desperate.

When she leaves the Nine Layers of the Abyss, won’t this be “only seven days one has spent in the cave, while outside a millennia has passed”? What if someone snatches her position of Lingbo Peak Master that she got through all kinds of hardships?

Her mind was in turmoil, and her previous appetites faded away.

At his moment, Chen Ting and the others returned.

Their brows were furrowed, and their expressions were gloomy.

The others knew that Xu Jingxian was one of the Jianxue Clan, so they were unwilling to speak to them, and only Chen Ting walked closer.

“Daoyou Yun, you came here too?” He was surprised, since he clearly hadn’t seen him before.

Yun Hai smiled, remaining silent.

He was arrogant to others except for Changming and Xu Jingxian.

More precisely, he was only interested in Changming, and the others were just tedious characters in his eyes.

Chen Ting didn’t pay attention to him either.

“Daoyous, the situation is not reassuring.”

Chen Ting and He Qingmo with his companions were originally going to search through this place.

They didn’t expect to find Wei Yichong’s corpse down the bridge.

Obviously, he had jumped into the lake, but his remnants were found under a tree near the bridge.

His limbs were broken, his body distorted, and his expression fierce, as if he died with a remaining grievance.

It seemed that he had seen the most horrifying scene before he died, and even with his mouth was slightly open.
He used to have a sword, but it was now gone.

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For sword cultivation, wherever the sword went, its owner followed.
But he was separated from his sword and met such a tragic end.
Chen Ting and the others couldn’t find an explanation, so they searched the surroundings quickly, but still obtained no clues.
Wei Yichong’s daiost partner, Guan Xiachang, was all tears.
Who would have guessed that their quarrel would turn into a life-long parting?

The flora around the bridge was wild, trees and flowers were luxuriant.
No matter how they looked, it didn’t seem dangerous.

But wherever they went, Chen Ting and his companions eventually returned to the bridge.

As if they were trapped in an invisible glass sphere forever.

“We met no one else and haven’t seen Xu Fenglin, presumably he has already advanced to the Third Layer of the Abyss.
Thus, there must be an exit somewhere.” Chen Ting said.

Wei Yichong had already paid with his life to filter one option for them: they had no intention to jump down the bridge now.

Xu Jingxian: “What is daoyou Chen planning to do now?”

Chen Ting threw a gaze to He Qingmo: “Let’s speak with daoyou He.”

He Qingmo was unwilling to get acquainted with a woman from a Demonic sect, but they were five altogether including Chen Ting, so if they wanted to achieve their goal, they had to cooperate with Xu Jingxian and her companions.

“I’ve prepared an Eight Trigrams Formation.
If everything goes smoothly, we will be able to leave this place.
Right now, the formation lacks three trigrams: Zhen, Xun, and Li.
I need your help.”

Eight Trigrams Formation: originally, a tactical deployment of troops based on trigrams forms (a trigram consists of three horizontal lines, each can be interrupted in the center, thus there are 8 altogether) used in ancient China.
Here, an arrangement of eight directions to eight people, each direction having different properties.
What can be achieved normally by setting this formation is not specified.

Zhen: eastern, wound (one of the 3 Gates of Great Misfortune)

Xun: south-eastern, shut.

Li: southern, luck.

Changming and the other two were sitting cross-legged, and only He Qingmo was standing on his feet, so it felt like he was looking down on them.

But the others just raised their heads to talk to him, and he was not eager to sit down either.

Xu Jingxian smiled sweetly: “Daoyou He, what is the purpose of this Eight Trigrams Formation? You have to give us some information, right?”

He Qingmo furrowed slightly: “You might not understand even if I tell you, just know that I’m not trying to hurt you.”

Xu Jingxian was still smiling, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes.

“How can you be sure that we won’t understand if you don’t try to explain?”

Chen Ting tried to smooth things over.

“Daoyous, be patient.
We’ve discussed it with daoyou He just now, so let me explain.
He said that since Seven Star Rivers was a formation itself, the Rainbow Bridge is the same.
If it’s a formation, it can be broken through with another formation; if it’s a formation, it is changing constantly, but the essence remains unaltered.
It’s better to shatter it with the simplest Eight Trigrams Formation.
Eight people should protect the eight directions.
If one person finds a loophole, he will tell the others, and we will attack it simultaneously to break through.
Daoyou He said that he will guard the Death Gates, the Kun position, and we shall take the rest, one person for one position.
Do you agree?”

Kun: south-western, death (one of the 3 Gates of Great Misfortune).
Three yin strokes.

Xu Jingxian raised her beautiful eyes: “Then how can we be sure that he will not deliberately leave the dangerous positions to us, and then step over us to leave this place?”

Before He Qingmo could answer, a daoist standing next to him opened his mouth.

“You, temptress, are unable to tell good from bad! Shixiong He is the best in formations in the Celestial Abode Shenxiao! Last time, the Qianxiu Tower offered him huge money for setting up a formation, yet he refused! If there were more than eight people here, why would he even ask you!”

Xu Jingxian smiled happily: “If I am a temptress and you cooperate with me, doesn’t that make you a tempter?”

Chen Ting almost smiled, but managed to hold it.
But Yun Hai showed no respect for their reputation and just laughed aloud.

“You!”

That daoist had already rolled his sleeves, ready for a fight, but He Qingmo stopped him.

“From what I saw, the bridge and its reflection on the lake form a circle together.
Unless this circle is broken, we are trapped here forever, which is bad for all of us.
Think about it carefully and don’t make rush decisions!”

Although He Qingmo said this, his expression was arrogant, and he was not willing to compromise at all.

Xu Jingxian really liked these people from large and famous sects who looked down on ‘temptresses’ yet were still coming for help when they needed her.

“And what if we act rashly?”

That He Qingmo’s shidi answered quickly: “Then we can only leave you behind!”

He was afraid that the others would stop him, so he unsheathed his sword immediately and attacked Xu Jingxian, determined to teach this temptress a lesson.

The long sword covered with qi flew very quickly, and in the blink of an eye, it almost reached the tip of Xu Jingxian’s nose.
A white light flashed between the sword and the woman all of a sudden.
The disciple of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao looked carefully and saw that the white light was actually a leaf.

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He quickly retreated a few steps, but the leaf was still chasing him closely, almost pressing the sword to cut its master’s face.

He heard Xu Jingxian’s smug laughter.

A temptress indeed!

The disciple gritted his teeth.
He turned his hand holding the sword, and it started glowing.
He sliced the leaf, but it split into five parts that turned into ice rays, dispelling his sword energy at once.

He turned pale with fright, finally realizing how formidable this attack was.
He Qingmo could no longer stand aside, so he waved his sleeve, casting the five ice cubes aside.

“Enough is enough!”

Xu Jingxian smiled: “If I raise my hand, I will definitely shed my opponent’s blood.
My family’s Ming-lang is too kindhearted, and he doesn’t want me to end the life of your shidi that is worth as little as a dog’s life, so he attacked him right now.
Why don’t you show your gratitude?”

Shed my opponent’s blood: 必是要见血的, ‘definitely have to see blood’.
The ‘seeing blood’ part, 见血, is precisely the ‘jianxue’ from the Jianxue Clan.
(血, blood, xue, can also be pronounced xie, but it is more colloquial)

Changming coughed a couple of times: “The lady is too fickle.
Before, it was ‘you don’t even look like a man’, and now you started calling me Ming-lang again.”

Xu Jingxian turned her head: “Shut up!”

The face of the man who wanted to teach her a lesson but was taught a lesson instead changed its colors like a rainbow.
That looked amusing.

Chen Ting was standing between them, afraid that they would start fighting once again.

In his opinion, these people of the Celestial Abode Shenxiao were arrogant, and it was really difficult to get along with them.
If He Qingmo didn’t have these skills, Chen Ting would not have bothered to be the peacemaker, but he still had to cooperate if he wanted to get out of this place.

Changming said: “Daoyou He’s plan sounds fine, but how can you ensure that the eight of us will be able to help at any time when we are far apart? Once someone finds a entrance or exit, how will they notify the others?”

He Qingmo clasped his hands behind his back and said indifferently: “I will give you marks of a special type of cinnabar produced in my sect.
If you encounter something dangerous or find a gap, just wipe it off, and the others will feel where to go to find you right away.”

Yun Hai smiled: “An effective method indeed, I have no objections.”

Changming threw him a gaze, feeling that the other’s words had a hidden connotation.

“Since daoyou He is so sure, of course, we are willing to cooperate.” He said.

Xu Jingxian became a loner.
She silently scolded Changming, but still gave a smile, beautiful as a blooming flower.

“Since my companions joined you, I have to follow them.
But if there is no difference between up, down, right, and left in this place, how is daoyou He going to determine the directions for setting up our positions?”

Determine the directions: to build the array, one has to determine the eight directions, each for one position.

He Qingmo took a snow-white writing brush with the cinnabar-scarlet tip out of his sleeve.

He raised it high into the air, and painted a circle in front of their eyes with it.

“There is no use walking around looking for a breach in the formation.
Because we know nothing about this place, the bridge is the central position, to be more precise, that should be the Qian position.
Thus, the point under the bridge should be the Death Gates, the Kun position.”

Qian: north-western, open, one of the 3 Gates of Great Prosperity.
Three yang stokes.

Xu Jingxian: “Do you mean that someone still has to jump down from the bridge? Did you forget that a man just died this way?”

He Qingmo said coldly: “Wei Yichong didn’t jump precisely from the middle of the bridge.
When it comes to directions, you should be very careful, since the slightest mistake can lead to a crushing defeat.
Don’t worry, I will secure the Kun position.
After I jump from the bridge, wait for a bit.
There are two more positions under the bridge, but my shidis will take them.
You can just protect another three directions.”

Changming looked at the expressions of the other two people He Qingmo had mentioned, and thought, I am afraid that your shidis are not as willing to risk their lives as you.

He Qingmo showed everyone their positions and marked their forearms with cinnabar spots using the brush.

But, when his turn came, Yun Hai didn’t move.

He Qingmo looked at him.

Yun Hai only revealed the back of his hand.

He Qingmo: “Roll your sleeve higher.
It is the most effective when placed on the Shaohai point.”

Shaohai point: the point where the heart meridians fuse; located at the inner side of an elbow.

Yun Hai: “I am very bashful, and I don’t like undressing in front of people I don’t know.”

He Qingmo: …

His shidi wanted to leave a sarcastic remark, but his eyes met Yun Hai’s accidentally, and this shidi changed his decision.

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He Qingmo had no other choice but to leave the mark on the back of his hand.
After all, it was still better than nothing.

Guan Xiachang said shyly: “Daoxiong Chen, can I exchange my position and guard the Life Gates?”

Guard the Life Gates: the Gen position is one of the 3 Gates of Great Prosperity, thus it is safer to guard.

He Qingmo said coldly: “I’ve already told you, the Life Gates are not necessarily the Life Gates.
I only assumed the directions to determine positions for us.
These Life Gates might actually be a way to your death.
Are you sure?”

Guan Xiachang’s eyes were full of tears, and she answered nothing.

Being trapped in such a place, no one had protective feelings for the beauty, not to mention that a cultivator’s resistance towards temptations was stronger than an ordinary person’s.

Seeing her like this, He Qingmo recalled Wei Yichong’s death again and only felt annoyed.
He didn’t bother to look at her again, and took eight exquisite arrows out of his sleeve.

“I will send eight arrows towards the determined directions to make it easier for you to find the way.”

He took off a bow from his back, summoned a flying sword, and soared up right above the middle of the Rainbow Bridge.
Seven arrows were shot to the seven sides, and finally the last one fell right under the bridge, disappearing in the void.

“I’m going first.
I hope that no one will make a mistake.”

Under their gazes, he resolutely jumped down off the bridge from the central position.

But his shidis were hesitating.

Xu Jingxian added some fuel: “Are you going back on your words, letting your shixiong die in vain?”

One of them, the person who had just attacked her, gave Xu Jingxian a fierce look, walked to his position, hesitated for a moment, and leaped down.

But the other person took a step back.

“Before we left our sect, shifu gave each of us igniting soul lanterns, tied with red threads.
If shixiong finds something, I will feel it, so I might as well wait here.
Maybe shixiong will find a breach in the formation soon.”

He comforted himself with this excuse, and no matter how Xu Jingxian provoked him, he refused to jump.

Chen Ting had no other choice but to say: “Then exchange your position with mine, I will go.”

“Wait.”

Changming suddenly said: “Look!”

The image on the lake surface changed again.

The blue sky with white clouds disappeared, replaced with fierce flames dashing to the skies.

Even though they knew it was just an illusion, that fire looked like the flames of purgatory, making them feel burning hot.

Guan Xiachang couldn’t help but take a few steps back, looking at it with terror.

Now He Qingmo’s shidi was even more opposed to the idea of jumping down.

Yun Hai suddenly smiled.

“Does daoyou Changming have the courage to go there?”

Changming: “Daoyou Yun wants us both to go?”

“This Mirror Lake is inexhaustibly profound.
I wanted to investigate it for a long time.
Daoyou Changming’s thoughts happened to coincide with mine, so how about we go on a trip there in person?” Yun Hai said, “Don’t forget our gambling.
After all, last time Bei Shu not only didn’t survive for three days, but even died so quickly.
If you agree to bet, you must accept to lose.
You owe me a favor, and now I want you to accompany me.”

Yun Hai finished speaking, and, before Changming or the others could react, he grabbed Changming!

“Hold it!”

Xu Jingxian’s reaction was extremely quick, and she also reached out to grab Changming.

But she was half a step late.
Yun Hai had already gripped Changming’s arm and jumped into the sea of flames under the bridge.

Everybody was stupefied.

Wei Yichong had died right in front of their eyes, and even He Qingmo’s shidis didn’t believe in his plan completely, how could these two just jump down?!

Then, Chen Ting realized one thing: eight people should guard eight positions, but now two of them jumped into one place.
Where would they find someone to fill the vacant position?

The author has something to say:

Yun Hai is Yun Weisi, not a twin or anything.
Yun Hai doesn’t have Yun Weisi’s memories, and doesn’t remember Changming either, so it’s like Yun Weisi starting anew.