Chapter 8 – Untying Your Hair for You

The Taiyi Sword had to be melted, and it would be melted tomorrow during the day.

The Yin-Yang Pendant had to be found, and it would be found tonight.

As for when Fu City would be destroyed? And what to do when it was destroyed?

He’d deal with that when Fu City was about to be destroyed.

Young Master Chou’s life motto had always been “live for today, drink for today, and don’t worry about tomorrow’s troubles.” Never mind that Fu City might soon be destroyed; even if you told him he was going to die tomorrow, he would still do whatever he had planned for tonight. To put it nicely, he was as unshakable as Mount Tai in the face of collapse. To put it bluntly, he was heartless.

He found a brush, wrote a note saying “Fu City is in danger,” and sent someone to deliver it to the righteous Daoist Priest Xuanqing. Then, in the dead of night, he, along with Ye Cang, Lu Jing, and Zuo Yuesheng, secretly went to climb the Divine Fu Tree.

“Be careful.”

Ye Cang moved by stepping on the vines wrapped around the tree trunk, carefully making his way up.

“Don’t step on the trunk. Follow me on the vines.”

Ye Cang led the way, with Lu Jing second and Chou Bodeng bringing up the rear. Zuo Yuesheng was sandwiched in the middle; if he tried to desert, Chou Bodeng would run him through with his sword. The ancient Fu tree of Fu City seemed to have been growing here since the beginning of time. Its main trunk occupied a quarter of the entire city’s area. During the day, looking towards the center of the city, one would see countless tall, gray trees rising from the ground, supporting a vast, pale silver canopy. From a distance, it looked like a dense forest, but in reality, it was only a single tree.

Chou Bodeng turned his head to the side.

The Fu leaves also emitted a faint silver glow at night, but as Ye Cang led them along the main trunk of the Divine Fu Tree, the light was mostly blocked by the countless drooping aerial roots, as thick as a dense forest, that plunged deep into the ground. Only a little light could filter down from above, flowing like thin, intersecting streams over the gray, ancient bark.

It was tranquil and beautiful.

“Why can we only walk on the vines?” Lu Jing didn’t find it beautiful, only eerie.

“There are many birds and snakes living on the Divine Fu Tree,” Ye Cang said irritably. “Don’t be fooled by how quiet it is now. If you take one step off the Wood Vine, I guarantee you’ll be snake droppings by tomorrow.”

Lu Jing shivered and gripped the Wood Vine even tighter.

“It’s not just because of that, is it?” Chou Bodeng suddenly asked.

Ye Cang was silent for a moment.

“No,” his voice lowered. “It’s also because of a promise.”

“What promise?”

“The first people who came to Fu City planted Wood Vines at the base of the tree. When the Wood Vines grew, Fu City was also built. The Oracle Master climbed the ancient Fu tree by grabbing the Wood Vines and tied the first Praise Silk. For thousands of years after, all Oracle Masters and Oracle Maidens have climbed the Fu tree by stepping on the Wood Vines, singing praises, tying knots, and taking care of the ancient tree.”

“Then why did you…” Lu Jing was about to ask why he had been kicked out of the City Divination Department, but Zuo Yuesheng gave him a hard pinch from behind.

“Then do you know someone?” Chou Bodeng interjected, briefly describing the young Oracle Master he had seen at Lord Liu’s house that morning. “What’s his name?”

Ye Cang was stunned for a moment, then thought carefully. “I don’t know him.”

“You…” Lu Jing wanted to say something, but Zuo Yuesheng pinched him again.

“He must be a new Oracle Master recruited by the old City Diviner this year,” Ye Cang said with a nonchalant smile. “I haven’t been paying attention.”

“Fatty, stop pinching me!” Lu Jing turned around and cursed angrily, then shivered. “Didn’t you say that if we walk on the Wood Vines, the birds and snakes won’t be disturbed? Why… why do I feel… like there are many pairs of eyes watching me?”

“What?!” Ye Cang’s face changed.

The sound of tens of thousands of wings flapping rose up. Countless wings unfolded at the same time, and countless shadows took to the air. The streams of light on the ancient tree trunk were cut off, and the world was plunged into darkness. A fierce wind assaulted the four people walking high above on the Wood Vines from all directions.

Chou Bodeng flicked his wrist and unhesitatingly drew his sword.

“Don’t kill the birds!”

Amidst the flapping of wings, Ye Cang heard the sound of a sword being drawn behind him and shouted anxiously.

“You can’t kill on the Divine Fu Tree!”

A sky full of dark shadows rushed at them from all directions. Chou Bodeng turned his wrist, leveled his sword, and swung in an arc!

In his previous life, Chou Bodeng had played with everything: darts, sleeve arrows, butterfly knives. He had played with everything a young man in the heat of passion could dream of, but he had never touched a sword. Yet, it was as if something was encoded in his very bones, awakened the moment he gripped a sword hilt. A silver light exploded in front of him, merging into a splash of brilliant moonlight in the darkness. His red robes whipped in the wind, snapping loudly.

From above, below, left, and right, all the attacking birds crashed into the cold, hard blade and were sent flying!

“Why!”

Zuo Yuesheng, in front, flailed his arms wildly.

“If we don’t kill the birds, we’ll become bird droppings first!”

The four of them were too close together, like four ants in a row on a rope. Only Ye Cang at the front and Chou Bodeng at the back had room to draw their weapons and use them. Zuo Yuesheng and Lu Jing in the middle could only use their arms to fend off the attacks. Otherwise, with their level of skill, their swords would have cut down their own people before they hit any birds.

“There are snakes nearby!”

Ye Cang had been an Oracle Master for nearly ten years; he knew his current location on the Divine Fu Tree even with his eyes closed.

“Do you want the smell of blood to attract all the snakes?!”

“My hair! Ouch, ouch, ouch!”

Lu Jing had the highest cultivation. The spiritual energy of a Soul-Fixing Stage cultivator would automatically form a protective barrier around his body when attacked. But the barrier couldn’t stop his hair from getting tangled in a bird’s claws! He instantly clutched his head and screamed on the Wood Vine.

Zuo Yuesheng had the largest body and was being battered by the torrent of birds. He instantly lost his footing on the somewhat slippery Wood Vine. He was slapped in the face by a bird half his size, and with a yelp, he crashed forward. Lu Jing, who was clutching his head, felt as if he had been hit by Mount Tai. His vision went black, and he nearly coughed up blood. He stumbled and slammed headfirst into Ye Cang.

Chou Bodeng heard a series of thuds and bangs behind him. He quickly swept away all the attacking birds and turned to look back.

He saw Zuo Yuesheng flailing as he rolled off the Wood Vine, landing with a loud thud on a protruding branch below. The commotion was so great that even the frenzied attack of the bird flock paused for a moment. Lu Jing, who followed, also fell. As he was in mid-air, the bird flock regrouped and charged at him again. Compared to Zuo Yuesheng, the slender Lu Jing was instantly knocked into the air by the birds and slapped against a branch above with a smack.

“Ahhhhh!”

Lu Jing screamed with his eyes closed, his hands desperately clinging to the tree trunk like a hanged ghost, swaying as he was battered by the flock of birds.

Ye Cang, implicated by the two idiots, slid down the ancient tree trunk, his hands clutching the vines as he struggled to climb back up. Not far from him, a faint metallic glint moved in a crack in the tree.

There really were snakes on this tree!

“Useless!”

Chou Bodeng cursed at Lu Jing as he ran along the Wood Vine towards Ye Cang.

“Is your Soul-Fixing Stage for show?! Set up a formation!!!”

“A formation! Right, right, a formation!” Lu Jing scrambled onto the branch. “What kind of formation?!”

“How should I know!”

Chou Bodeng broke through the flock of birds and rushed to Ye Cang’s side. He reached out, grabbed the unlucky fellow by the back of his collar, and leaped to the side with him.

A foul wind burst from the wood, and a terrifyingly large snake shot out. Its dark red fangs opened wide in the dimness, biting at Chou Bodeng and Ye Cang in mid-air. Ye Cang could even see the flesh deep in its throat. The sharp, menacing fangs scraped past his foot as the snake’s long-planned attack missed.

Chou Bodeng, holding a sword in one hand and a person in the other, landed steadily on a higher branch.

“A Subjugation Formation!”

Zuo Yuesheng below scrambled up, his nose bleeding profusely. In his panic, he rummaged through his mustard seed pouch while shouting at Lu Jing above.

“Quick, quick! Damn it, hurry up!”

The giant snake missed its attack and slithered down the raised tree ridge, striking at Lu Jing with lightning speed. Lu Jing’s mind went blank, and he completely forgot the already-tenuous hand seals for the formation. In that life-or-death moment, he threw the golden net he had used to trap Zuo Yuesheng during the day at the snake’s mouth.

The golden net, upon hitting its target, automatically tightened. With a crack, the snake’s upper and lower fangs slammed together heavily.

Having escaped death, Lu Jing scrambled down from the tree trunk and fled behind Zuo Yuesheng. Zuo Yuesheng had finally found what he was looking for in his mustard seed pouch. He turned his head and saw that the damn Lu Jing had led the big snake right to him. He was so scared his soul nearly flew out of his body. Forgetting about the cost, he threw out two Lightning-Containing Pearls.

Amidst the crackling of thunder, the giant snake’s movements stopped. The smell of roasted meat mixed with a burnt odor filled the air.

Startled by the thunder, the flock of birds that had been continuously attacking flapped their wings and scattered in all directions.

“Pah! You wanted to eat me! Am I someone you can swallow?!”

Zuo Yuesheng’s clothes were torn to shreds, turning him into a beggar. He jumped up and down, cursing triumphantly, while pulling out a skinning knife.

Lu Jing peeked out from behind him, his soul still shaken.

Ye Cang quickly jumped down from the tree trunk and, in a few leaps, rushed to the snake’s corpse, looking devastated. “What happened? This is impossible.”

Chou Bodeng jumped down.

He had just approached to see what the electrocuted snake looked like when Zuo Yuesheng, with a swift cut of his knife, sliced open the snake’s belly, intending to skin it and take it with him. Who knew what this snake usually ate, but its body stank to high heaven. After being electrocuted, the smell of blood and cooked meat mixed together, creating a stench a hundred times worse than a dead person. For Chou Bodeng, whose sense of smell was overly sensitive, it was like someone had thrown a biochemical grenade out of thin air.

“Fatty Zuo! You’re dead when we get back!”

Chou Bodeng, caught off guard, nearly threw up on the spot.

The earlier sword-wielding and snake-dodging hadn’t worn him out, but Zuo Yuesheng’s one cut had made him dizzy. With a swoosh, Chou Bodeng shot up to a higher, upwind spot. He sat on a branch, pressing a hand to his stomach, and it took him a full half-minute to recover.

The two Lightning-Containing Pearls still had some residual power, and for a while, it was quiet. Neither birds nor snakes came near.

Chou Bodeng decided to lean against a forked branch, holding his sword, to both keep watch and rest.

“Isn’t it safe to walk on the Wood Vines?” Lu Jing asked, squatting by the snake’s corpse, his face pale.

“It should be.”

Ye Cang grabbed his hair, unable to accept it, completely baffled.

A thought stirred in Chou Bodeng’s mind; he thought of Liu Aren.

Ye Cang, who considered himself a member of the City Divination Department, was expelled, and the divinely appointed Oracle Maiden, Liu Aren, was possessed by a Shadow Puppet… Was this really just a coincidence?

The thought flashed through his mind and was then tossed aside. Coincidence or not, he didn’t plan to get involved. If the Taiyi Sword had brought him here hoping he would be some kind of superhero and save the world, then it had made a complete mistake.

He was just a profligate degenerate. His life’s goal was to eat, drink, and be merry.

Even if a hundred thousand, two hundred thousand people died, what did it have to do with him?

Turning his head, Chou Bodeng pushed aside the silver Fu leaves and saw the faint glow of torches gathering in the direction of East Street, heading this way.

“Gentlemen, it looks like we’re really going to be hunted down,” he said slowly.

“What?”

Zuo Yuesheng, who had been squatting and pondering whether he could take the snake’s corpse with him, immediately jumped up.

“Find a place to hide. The Divine Fu Tree is so big, they won’t find us for a while.”

Chou Bodeng released the leaves and pushed off the trunk. He was about to get up when he sucked in a sharp breath.

“…What rotten luck.”

“Hurry, hurry.” Zuo Yuesheng hastily broke off the snake’s two fangs. Seeing Chou Bodeng still sitting on the branch, he urged him on. “Young Master Chou, what are you waiting for?”

“Wait, my hair is tangled!”

Chou Bodeng answered irritably, leaning his head back against the branch. He raised his hands and fumbled around, trying to free his hair.

Zuo Yuesheng was stunned for a moment.

Then, he remembered the messy hair that Chou Bodeng, that “genius,” had created for himself. A bad feeling rose in him. “Young Master Chou! Don’t! Please don’t try to untangle it yourself!”

As he spoke, he rushed over.

“I’ll do it! I’ll do it!”

“Get lost!”

Chou Bodeng caught a glimpse of his hands, covered in snake saliva, and his face instantly changed.

“If you dare come over, I’ll kill you!”

“Look out behind you—”

Ye Cang below had just helped Lu Jing untangle his golden net when he looked up, his pupils instantly constricting.

Branches broke and leaves fell. The silver Fu leaves, carried by a strong gust of wind, cascaded down from the sky like a waterfall. A gray shadow instantly appeared above Chou Bodeng’s head. Its wings spread, and a huge shadow enveloped Chou Bodeng—it was a bird as swift as lightning! It was like an arrow, breaking through obstacles to reach him. Its sharp claws suddenly spread, grabbing for the red-robed youth who was sitting on the tree trunk, untangling his hair.

Ye Cang was so scared he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Halt.”

Suddenly, someone shouted clearly.

The gray bird, the broken branches and falling leaves, the automatically unsheathed Taiyi Sword…

All froze in mid-air.

When the person shouted, he was still far away. By the time the sound of his voice faded, he had already landed on the tree trunk where Chou Bodeng was sitting, carrying a lantern.

A snow-cyan ritual robe.

It was the young Oracle Master who had been to the Liu residence during the day.

Chou Bodeng, who was struggling with his long hair, looked up. “It’s you?”

The young Oracle Master, carrying a lantern, walked towards him.

Below, Zuo Yuesheng stopped and retreated to the side of the other two. He nudged Lu Jing with his elbow and whispered, “We’re done for!”

“How do you deal with trespassers who are caught in the act?” Lu Jing whispered to Ye Cang.

“Tie them up and throw them in the dungeon. Then, during the sacrificial ceremony…” Ye Cang made a throat-slitting gesture.

Chou Bodeng’s hearing was sharp. He saw someone gesture to him and spread his hands. Zuo Yuesheng led the way, and one by one, they lined up on the tree trunk—they were very self-aware. Seeing how the young Oracle Master had frozen the gray bird in mid-air with just one word, they instantly lost any thought of escaping.

In a way, the fact that the fat man with the surname Zuo was still alive and hadn’t been beaten to death was not without reason.

“If you want to kill me or cut me up, do it later.”

Chou Bodeng couldn’t be bothered with the three treasures below. He lowered his head and continued to struggle with his hair.

“I’m very busy right now.”

The paper lantern was placed diagonally on a nearby Fu branch. The rustle of clothes made a soft sound as the young Oracle Master in the snow-cyan ritual robe knelt down on one knee beside Chou Bodeng. He reached out and clasped Chou Bodeng’s wrist bone. The force was firm but not excessive. His hand pressed against the cold Kui Dragon Bracelet on his wrist, his knuckles sinking slightly into the flesh, appearing dominant yet extremely restrained.

The three people squatting below slowly opened their mouths wide.

Chou Bodeng slowly raised his eyelids.

The lantern was made of elegant Xuan paper, with faint ink paintings of continuous mountain peaks along a river. The candlelight from within cast the shadows of the mountains and water onto the young Oracle Master’s cheek, sweeping over his cheekbones and falling into his eyes.

“Don’t move.”

The young Oracle Master said, then explained in a low voice.

“It will be done in a moment.”