Chapter 0628: A Fickle Hear
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“City Master……” A surprised voice rang out.
“Shu Xing, is that you? Why haven’t you left the Rootless Black City yet? Wait, something’s not right…..” Ning Cheng also recognised the cultivator, it was Shu Xing from the Star Gathering Mansion, one of the top ten academies in the Graceful Star Mainland.
When he massacred the previous Rootless Black City’s City Master and returned to the Rootless Black City, he had met Shu Xing and Bu Mei outside of the Rootless Black City. Although they didn’t have enough black coins to pay at the entrance of the city, he still decided to help them. From then on, Shu Xing worked at the City Master’s Mansion in the Rootless Black City.
Bu Mei was his Dao Companion; however, when Ning Cheng heard that Bu Mei was his Dao Companion, he felt slightly surprised at that time. After all, Bu Mei was the disciple of the Severing Emotions Dao Sect, and Ning Cheng truly disliked every disciple from the Severing Emotions Dao Sect. Those people only had their own interests in their hearts, and once they severed their emotions, they would lose every shred of feelings they had for the people around them.
The reason why Ning Cheng asked Shu Xing why he hadn’t left was that when he first met Shu Xing, Shu Xing was a 2nd Level Crucible Transformation Cultivator. Moreover, he had even stayed within the Rootless Back City’s City Master Mansion for quite a while; therefore, by all logic, his cultivation should have improved. However, when Ning Cheng met Shu Xing now, he only possessed a First Level Crucible Transformation Cultivation. Which meant that over the years, Shu Xing’s cultivation actually declined rather than advancing.
However, Ning Cheng wasn’t in the mood to ask about this, he felt more concerned about Luofei and asked, “Shu Xing, is my wife Ji Luofei here?”
Shu Xing’s expressions changed slightly, but he remained silent.
Ning Cheng immediately felt his heart tighten and no longer thought about whether his actions would ruin the restrictions around Rootless Black City. He quickly swept out with his Spiritual Consciousness.
Although many restrictions covered the Rootless Black City, under Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness, the entire city appeared like an unguarded open-air public square. Nothing could hide from Ning Cheng’s eyes.
Ning Cheng immediately saw Yi Zhuzhu, Yi Zhuzhu sat in the City Master Mansion’s chamber with the highest concentration of starry sky Essence Qi. There was also another man inside the room; however, he could not find Ji Luofei anywhere in the city.
Ning Cheng’s face immediately sank. That chamber was the place where he and Luofei lived and cultivated. He did not mind if Yi Zhuzhu using it for cultivation but Yi Zhuzhu actually brought an unknown man inside. It immediately angered Ning Cheng. He believed that with Luofei’s temperament, even if she decided to leave the Rootless Black City, she would have definitely taken Yi Zhuzhu with her. If Luofei did not leave the city, then Yi Zhuzhu should not have let someone unknown enter that cultivation chamber.
In any case, Yi Zhuzhu was like an adopted daughter for him, and he had brought Yi Zhuzhu’s parents back to the Rootless Black City. Despite the anger, he felt through such actions, Ning Cheng decided not to act until he had the full picture of what was going on.
He looked back at Shu Xing and asked, “Did my wife, Ji Luofei, leave the Rootless Black City? Who is the current City Master of the Rootless Black City?”
Shu Xing quickly replied, “A decade ago, City Master Luofei entered the Bridge of Storms but hadn’t come out. Since then, City Master Yi Zhuzhu managed the Rootless Black City on her behalf.”
“Yi Zhuzhu?” Chang Manyin trembled.
Ning Cheng did not bother with Chang Manyin’s reaction. A Spiritual Consciousness Blade suddenly materialised and spilt Yi Zhuzhu and the male, dual cultivating within the cave. The violent Celestial Essence backfired and caused the two to spew out a mouthful of blood. This caused the two of them to stand up immediately from their cultivations in shock.
Whatever happened, Luofei was trapped in this Bridge of Storms, while Yi Zhuzhu took an unknown male cultivator to dual cultivate in Luofei’s personal cultivation chamber. Ning Cheng would never forgive her.
Ning Cheng pulled Shi Qionghua and in just a few steps reached the City Master’s Mansion. Shu Xing, on seeing this, immediately tried to follow them.
Yi Zhuzhu and the male cultivator had just walked out of the cultivation cave when they saw a gloomy-looking Ning Cheng. She was about to subconsciously come up and greet him, but then her expression suddenly changed. Her body stopped, and she seemed to have remembered something.
“Zhuzhu…..” Even after separating for so many years, Chang Manyin and Yi Jin still recognised Yi Zhuzhu at a glance.
“Father, mother…..” Yi Zhuzhu on seeing both her parents here, could not control her emotions and finally rushed up. At this moment, she even forgot about Ning Cheng standing on the side.
Ning Cheng’s face remained cold and did not speak. Over the years, Yi Zhuzhu had managed to reach the First Level of Plundering Life Realm, showing that she indeed had unmatched qualifications. Most probably, it was the result of the limited cultivation resources in this place; otherwise, she might have already advanced to the Domain Realm by now.
The male cultivator that followed Yi Zhuzhu had a Sixth Level Crucible Transformation Cultivation. When Ning Cheng’s Spiritual Consciousness swept out previously, he already understood that this fellow’s qualifications were much worse compared to Yi Zhuzhu.
Ning Cheng had two wives, and his own cultivation had reached the peak of Celestial Bridge Realm, Sensing the aura coming from Yi Zhuzhu and this male cultivator, he immediately realised that these two fellows had already become a couple a long time ago.
“Zhuzhu, hurry up and greet your Uncle Ning. If not for Senior Apprentice Brother Ning saving us, where would we ever get the chance to even see you? We might have even died.” Chang Manyin immediately recalled that her daughter didn’t greet Ning Cheng, which definitely was quite a rude behaviour on her daughter’s part.
In any case, Ning Cheng had saved their family of three. Moreover, Ning Cheng even nurtured Yi Zhuzhu on their behalf, so it truly was not right for their daughter to ignore Ning Cheng in the face of such grace. Although it was genuinely a happy moment for the family of three to reunite, they had to push their surprise back for the moment.
“Uncle…..” Yi Zhuzhu’s expressions turned somewhat complicated as she came forward and bowed in front of Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng did not bother to greet Yi Zhuzhu, but asked with a flat voice, “Where did Luofei go? Why is there an unknown male cultivator in Luofei’s cultivation chamber?”
The male cultivator’s Spiritual Consciousness unscrupulously swept towards Ning Cheng. When he found that Ning Cheng didn’t give off any imposing aura at all, he immediately showed disdain and spoke up, “Zhuzhu, who is this fellow?”
Yi Zhuzhu quickly stopped the male cultivator, “Brother Hang, don’t talk nonsense, this is Uncle Ning Cheng…..”
“Oh, I know, Ji Luofei’s Dao Companion.” As the male cultivator spoke, his eyes fell onto Shi Qionghua.
He did not put Ning Cheng in his eyes because he knew Yi Zhuzhu’s power. Moreover, although Yi Zhuzhu was a 1st Level Plundering Life Cultivator, even cultivators in the later stages of Plundering Life Realm could not fight against Yi Zhuzhu. What’s more, at the Rootless Black City, Yi Zhuzhu was the City Master. As long as she said a word, countless cultivators from the army and the different powerhouses within the city would immediately rush up.
“Get out of here right now.” Ning Cheng only glanced at the male cultivator behind Yi Zhuzhu and spoke with a cold tone.
Yi Zhuzhu’s face immediately turned pale. Even Yi Jin and Chang Manyin felt that something had gone wrong. This male cultivator seems to have a special relationship with their daughter, and Ning Cheng seemed to be very upset about this male cultivator. If Shi Qionghua, who looked many times better compared to Yi Zhuzhu, were not around Ning Cheng, they would have definitely wondered if Ning Cheng turned upset because he took a liking to their daughter, Yi Zhuzhu.
“Ning Cheng, I have heard of your name. You killed the original City Master using some secret scheming. Even employing some array formations. You also plotted against the rest of the forces in this Rootless Black City to snatch the position of the City Master. For that, Zhuzhu feels very grateful. But people like you should know when to advance and when to retreat. You’ve been outside for all these years. Yi Zhuzhu and I were the ones who built this Rootless Black City after you left. So, don’t come in here and go about pointing fingers.” The male cultivators on hearing Ning Cheng telling him to get out right now immediately revealed his murderous intent. When had he heard such insulting words over these past years within the Rootless Black City? If it weren’t for Yi Zhuzhu, he would have already mobilised the army to teach Ning Cheng a lesson.
Ning Cheng simply ignored the male cultivator and still stared at Yi Zhuzhu and spoke up with a calm tone, “You better answer me.”
Yi Zhuzhu subconsciously shivered before speaking up, “Sister Luofei should still be trapped in the Bridge of Storms. I’ve been trying to save Big Sister Luofei for many years. It’s just that I failed every time.”
“Where is this Bridge of Storms?” Ning Cheng still spoke with a calm tone; however, Yi Jin and Chang Manyin felt worried. They could feel Ning Cheng’s rising anger.
“City Master, I have a jade strip chart to the Bridge of Storms.” Shu Xing, who tried to follow Ning Cheng, finally caught up and quickly took out a jade strip before handing it to Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng grabbed the jade strip and swept inside it with his Spiritual Consciousness. The next moment, the murderous intent surging within his heart grew exponentially. He had seen this place before in a different jade strip chart. Back when Xu Liangzhi wanted to plot against him, he had sent him a jade strip chart to this very same location. Same coordinates and identical surroundings.
Logically, Luofei should have already known that such a place was perilous and something uncrossable. So why did she think that he had entered this place?
The male cultivator next to Yi Zhuzhu on hearing Shu Xing words, suddenly shouted in anger, “Shu Xing, the City Master kicked you out. How dare you show up here again? And who is your City master? The current City Master is Yi Zhuzhu, not some irrelevant person.”
Ning Cheng’s murder intent started to overflow. However, before Ning Cheng could even do anything, Yi Jin had already shot out and raised his hand before slapping the fellow two times. That fellow flew straight up while spurting two trails of blood.
As he heard the exchange of words, Yi Jin could already make some speculations. This male cultivator that his daughter liked did not even put Ning Cheng in his eyes. Not to mention that just a slight overflow of Ning Cheng’s cultivation could kill this fellow instantly, even if he could survive, this man definitely was not a good match for his daughter. This fellow was just an ungrateful wretch with a fickle nature.
“Father, why did you hit Brother Hang…..” Yi Zhuzhu on seeing Yi Jin striking the male cultivator immediately rushed forward and helped the male cultivator up in a panic.
Yi Jin was just about to speak when he was stopped by Ning Cheng.
Ning Cheng asked with a calm voice, “Yi Zhuzhu, why did you let Luofei go to this place?”
“Big Sister Luofei heard that you were trapped in the Bridge of Storms and immediately turned anxious. She immediately took me there to search for you.” Yi Zhuzhu quickly replied.
Ning Cheng sneered, “Luofei knows that I had definitely not entered that place. So how could she go there? If you don’t give me a clear reason today, then don’t blame me for being ruthless.”
“Senior…..” When they heard Ning Cheng’s words, Yi Jin and Chang Manyin anxiously cried out. They did not even dare to address him as Senior Apprentice Brother Ning at this moment.
“Because Brother Hang just happened to be there…. He saw a large group of Exploding Golden Wasps chasing you into the Bridge of Storms, and he recorded it on a crystal ball at that time. Sister Luofei decided to go there to search for you after seeing that crystal ball.” Yi Zhuzhu took in a deep breath before explaining the truth.
Ning Cheng’s icy gaze then fell on the man held up by Yi Zhuzhu, “You saw me chased into the Bridge of Storms and also recorded it using a crystal ball?”
This male cultivator simply did not answer Ning Cheng’s words and spoke directly to Yi Zhuzhu, “Zhuzhu, instead of wasting words with this outsider, kill him.”
“Brother Hang, Uncle Ning is my saviour, and also the benefactor of my parents……” Yi Zhuzhu tried to persuade him from the side.
Ning Cheng did not continue to talk with this male cultivator; instead, he looked at Yi Zhuzhu and calmly spoke up, “Yi Zhuzhu, since Luofei got herself trapped in the Bridge of Storms, how many times have you tried to save her? When was the last time?”
“Three times, the last time was nine years ago….” As Yi Zhuzhu spoke, she suddenly stopped. She instantly realised that she had tried to save Big Sister Luofei only three times in the first year and never attempted it again during the next nine years.
Ning Cheng felt full of disappointment. Yi Zhuzhu simply had little experience with the world. He could have easily forgiven her if she was a victim of deceit once, or even twice if stretching the limits. If she had even a shred of remembrance about how he and Luofei treated her like a part of their own family, then even if someone tried to deceive her again and again, she would have still worked hard to save Luofei. If she could forget Luofei, the benefactor of her life and someone who she regarded as her big sister, for this fickle-hearted fellow, then Ning Cheng had nothing else to say to her anymore.