Chapter 421 - 200: Here at Last
"Alright."
Ye Feihua sighed.
"I'd have liked to owe you a favor, but... forget it. I dare to take revenge on the Celestial Lord and Earthly Lady, but you... I wouldn't dare."
"But, when the time comes, can you tell me the details?"
Miao Feichan realized the two of them were speaking in riddles right in front of her again, saying things she couldn't understand.
"We'll see when the time comes."
Fang Shuwen waved his hand, dismissing her.
Ye Feihua didn't press the matter. She turned, found the waiter, and asked for a large jar. She placed the Earth Mother's corpse inside, not even leaving behind the limbs Fang Shuwen had severed.
Once everything was packed away, she tied a rope around the jar, hoisted it onto her back, waved to Fang Shuwen, and turned to leave.
Fang Shuwen narrowed his eyes and shook his head slightly.
Ye Feihua was a clever one. That much was clear from how she had schemed for the Seven-String Ancient Chapter on the spot and orchestrated the events in Flying Snow City.
After being rescued by Fang Shuwen, if he had been his old self, he would have brought up the matter of the Seven-String Ancient Chapter without her having to ask.
But Fang Shuwen said nothing... so she knew there was likely no chance of getting it back.
Not owing Fang Shuwen a favor meant settling the debt with the Seven-String Ancient Chapter.
Fang Shuwen let her be.
Still, she was very curious and wanted to know the secret of the Seven-String Ancient Chapter, hoping Fang Shuwen would tell her after he figured it out in the future.
But she didn't know that Fang Shuwen had no need to research the secret of the Seven-String Ancient Chapter at all.
And he would never tell her, regardless.
Though she had gone through so much, in the end, it was all for nothing.
But at least she had saved her own life.
As for what Ye Feihua did from now on—whether she sought revenge on the Celestial Lord or did something else entirely—it had nothing to do with Fang Shuwen anymore.
After finishing breakfast, Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan continued on their journey.
The Jianghu people who had come for the Divine Pill Valley ruins departed in another direction.
As they left, these people paid close attention to Fang Shuwen's movements. When they saw he wasn't heading the same way they were, they breathed a huge sigh of relief, feeling like they had just escaped with their lives.
After all, if Fang Shuwen had also gone to compete with them for the Divine Pill Valley ruins, not only would all their efforts have been in vain, but they might have even lost their lives there.
...
...
The weather had been uncooperative for the past few days, with showers coming and going intermittently.
Sometimes, muffled thunder would roll as rain poured down in sheets.
A moment later, the sky would brighten again. The weather was fickle.
After another shower passed, Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan emerged from their shelter. Seeing the world washed clean, their spirits felt lighter too.
They weren't in a hurry, so they dismounted from Fang Dabao.
The two of them and their "treasure" walked at a leisurely pace, occasionally chatting for a bit before being captivated by the beautiful roadside scenery.
Rounding a mountain pass, they came upon a stretch of farmland.
The fields were tilled into neat squares, a pleasant sight to behold.
An old and a young farmer, who looked to be a father and son, approached them, leading a large yellow ox.
Fang Dabao was a natural-born Exotic Beast and thus had an extremely intimidating presence to ordinary livestock.
The large yellow ox sensed this and stopped in its tracks, refusing to move forward.
The father and son seemed startled by Fang Dabao's size, but after a glance at Fang Shuwen and Miao Feichan, they relaxed a little.
They tugged on the large yellow ox, but it wouldn't budge.
Both of them grew anxious, pulling with all their might, but they still couldn't move the large yellow ox an inch.
Fang Shuwen, however, remained unhurried, continuing his conversation with Miao Feichan as they walked past the pair.
The very instant they passed each other, the father and son, who had been struggling with the ox, spun around without any warning.
The old man flicked his wrist, and a black thread shot out from his sleeve.
The thread was tough, attached to a "flying locust stone."
It cut through the air with an extremely sharp whistle, aiming straight for Fang Shuwen's neck.
If it wrapped around its target, a single, forceful twist from the old man would be enough for the tough black thread to slice through a person's head like a cold blade.
At the same time, the young man's hand, completely blackened, struck viciously at Fang Shuwen's back.
Miao Feichan saw this happen in a daze. Caught completely unprepared, she was horrified.
She instinctively reached for Fang Shuwen's wrist to pull him out of danger.
But in that same moment, an intense wave of terror washed over her, freezing her limbs instantly. She couldn't move her hands or feet.
Only her mind remained clear and active, but every thought that filled it was one of utter shock and fear.
A single drop of rain fell without warning. A dark cloud had gathered in the sky at some point, taking in the whole perilous scene.
But just as the flying locust stone was about to wrap around Fang Shuwen's neck, a hand suddenly shot out from beside his neck and snatched it from the air.
Simultaneously, he pivoted, and the blackened palm missed completely, not even grazing his sleeve.
Seeing this, the young man reacted with incredible speed. He was about to turn and press the attack when Fang Shuwen casually grabbed his wrist and redirected it toward the old man.
"Don't let it go to waste."
The old man was still struggling with the flying locust stone, instinctively trying to wrench it back from Fang Shuwen's grasp.
He was even counting on the young man's palm strike as his hope for turning the tables.
How could he have ever imagined that the very palm that should have struck Fang Shuwen's back would land squarely on his own chest?
THUD.
The Palm Technique landed. The old man was sent flying backward, a perfectly clear hole in the shape of a palm burned through the clothes on his chest.
The Palm Seal left on his chest was pitch-black and reeked. The old man's body shuddered, and with a GAG, he spat out a mouthful of black blood that seemed to contain fragments of his internal organs.
The young man's face changed drastically.
"Father!!"
"He really is your father?"
Even Fang Shuwen sucked in a sharp breath.
"You're so vicious. You'd even kill your own father?"
The young man was already a mix of shocked and furious, and these words nearly made him cough up blood. 'Did I want to kill him?'
He instinctively wanted to argue with Fang Shuwen, but a hand had already landed on his head.
CRACK. The young man died on the spot without so much as a grunt.
The world around them fell silent in an instant, leaving only the sound of the rain as it grew from a drizzle to a downpour. WHOOSH.
And within that Rain Curtain, one figure after another began to appear, flickering in and out of sight...
Fang Shuwen slowly let out a breath.
"They're finally here."