Fiend Island Guardians (Part 1)
“Mu Yu, did the girl brainwash you? Why did you give them your jade piece?” Zhi Zhen inquired.
“Interpret it however you will,” replied Mu Yu.
“Do you realise what the consequences of your actions are?” questioned Lian Tianyou, unable to believe what transpired.
Nobody heard the conversation between Qiao Xue and Mu Yu.
Mu Yu no longer had any dead weight. Who knows who’d emerge triumphant if they fought again. He shrugged. “Well, I don’t have my jade piece anymore. Was that even a necessary question?”
“…” Lian Tianyou sighed. “What a pity. I was hoping to seek alchemy pointers from you, but it doesn’t seem I will have the chance to anymore.”
“Hey, I’m cool with you staying here to keep my company.”
“All the best to you.” Lian Tianyou decided it was time to return to Third Heaven and report back.
Mu Yu gave the remaining people a smile. “And you guys? You want to have a scrap before going home?”
Si Wusheng cracked his joints. “The fiend beasts here will take care of you in our stead.”
The others agreed with Si Wusheng. As for Gui Hongyu, she went to fetch Gui Xuanyue’s corpse. There was no point in Mu Yu pinching Gui Xuanyue’s jade piece, either. If Feng Haochen recovered his cultivation, people with grudges against him were the last of his concerns.
Mu Yu was left alone with fiend corpses and the rhythm of crashing ocean waves. He mused over why Qiao Xue entrusted her water spirit to him. Surely it wasn’t the key to activating the fiend’s teleportation formation.
The island Qiao Xue mentioned was a tiny dot from Mu Yu’s position. It would take longer than eight hours to reach it. The original plan was to fly Qiao Xue there, but the others stopped him. He joined the birds flying across the ocean. There was strong fiend qi circling the island. Only one of the fiend king’s would’ve possessed fiend qi on that scale.
“Is there another fiend king on this island? If there was, why didn’t they break out the white ape fiend king?”
Xiaoshuai corrected, “This place is different to the white monkey king.”
“A different level? That’s good to hear.”
“Yeah, there are several stronger ones than him here.”
“… There are more fiend kings on this island?!”
“I never said that. I can pick up numerous fiend souls’ auras. If you put them together, they’d naturally be stronger than him considerably.” Xiaoshuai had another listen then added, “I think the fiend souls are orderly chanting something?”
“Like what?”
“Protecting the sacred island is every fiend’s duty.”
“The heck? They have slogans now?”
“Beats me. I’m just interpreting what I hear.”
“I wonder if they’re some defence force the fiend race of this heaven left behind.”
“Well, you have your punctured sword. Just walk in and chop everyone who stands in your way.”
“Man, Qiao Xue didn’t tell me how to utilise the formation or explain how the water spirit is going to be handy. Trial and error it is, I guess.”
The uncanny vibe of the island didn’t subside as Mu Yu closed in. There were black rocks on shore. The waves were violent. He landed on a rock, only or the air to knock him back. His first conjecture was a formation pattern as it wouldn’t make sense to leave the island defenceless. The further he explored the formation, the slimmer the chances of breaking in seemed to be. The foundation and core were also located inside, exponentially raising the barrier to entry.
Mu Yu said to the water spirit, “Qiao Xue entrusted you to me. Are you going to help me enter the island?”
The blue ribbon remained an ordinary ribbon ever since Qiao Xue gave it to Mu Yu. Lost for direction, Mu Yu asked, “Xiaoshuai, you know how to make him talk?”
Surprisingly, Xiaoshuai shook his head. “No idea. He resembles a frayed rope. I can’t sense any life. The punctured sword was a bit hostile, but this… well, I suppose it can’t resonate with you.”
“Human, begone. Only fiends may enter the sacred island.” The hunched elder had a walking stick. He would’ve been mistaken for an esteemed cultivator if it wasn’t for his deer ears.
“Sorry, Elder, I mean no harm. Your fellow fiends directed me here to use your teleportation formation. Would I be able to ask you to help me? You recognise this, do you not?”
Eyes on the water spirit, the elder stated, “That’s not yours.”
“Indeed. A girl lent it to me and mentioned it would come in useful. To be honest, I do not know what she meant.”
“Where are she and the others?” asked the astral elder.
Mu Yu solemnly explained, “Ghost Gate and Life and Death Sect ambushed them. All of them went down valiantly by the ocean.”
“They’re dead?” The elder’s mood riled up the formation. Mu Yu, therefore, stepped back a few steps to be safe. The elder fumed, “You humans killed them?”
Mu Yu retreated a few more steps. “I suppose. I am innocent, though. After I helped Qiao Xue and White Ape Fiend King escape Second Heaven, Qiao Xue sent me here.”
“I don’t trust you! Ol’ Turtle” The phantasmal elder turned around and called.
Another hunched elder walked over on air. His appearance was hazy, but he lacked the aura of death that fiend souls carried. He carried a big turtle shell on his big and walked as slow as a snail.
Speaking at a slow pace, Ol’ Turtle queried, “What is it, Boss Deer?”
“Perform a divination to see if any visitors from Third Heaven are still alive. Now!”
Ol’ Turtle took his time removing his shell and reciting some fiend scripture. He ran his hand slowly over his shell. It took a darn hour just for him to take out a pair of chopsticks. By the time he finished his divination on his fingers, another hour had past.
Mu Yu: It would’ve been faster for them to have just gone to the ocean and checked the corpses. Heavens…
Xiaoshuai: “You done yet?”
No response. Ol’ Deer monitored Mu Yu the entire time. Even the stars had came out!
Ol’ Turtle finished his recital and opened his eyes. Voice stern, he declared, “Phoenix Eagle is gone.”
“And the others?”
“Let me perform another divination.”
Mu Yu sprang to his feet. “Hold up. It takes you four hours to determine a person’s status? Where did you learn your divination skills from, a music teacher?”
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