Chapter Eighty-Six: Annoying

“You damned cur, Gou Lichuan! I am not finished with you!”
“Just because you are a dog, think I am afraid to bite you?”
“Damn it, you dare bite my rear? Just you wait. If I do not turn you into barbecue, I will take your surname!”
“You miserable beast, born without a parent to raise it...”

No one had expected that when Xing Kai woke from his grave injuries, the first thing this well-mannered-looking man would do was clutch his backside and launch into a furious tirade.

The sight was so utterly unlike his usual image that the Chunyang Temple disciple assigned to care for him did not know whether to laugh or panic, fearing he might be silenced for having seen it.

A master ought to have his dignity, after all. To have witnessed such a disgraceful state...

Seeing that Xing Kai’s rage had not yet subsided, and that he seemed capable of cursing for hours more, the disciple quietly decided to leave.

It was better not to behold a master’s shameful conduct.

“Stop. Who are you? Where is this place?”

He was a step too late; Xing Kai caught him in the act.

“Senior Brother Xing Kai, this is New City. I am Chu He, a disciple of Chunyang Temple.”

“A disciple of Chunyang Temple?”

Hearing that the man was not one of his own, Xing Kai immediately put away his earlier tantrum. Then, sensing his manner had been amiss, he cupped his hands and said, “Junior Brother, you know me? Was it you who saved me?”

His identity had always been kept secret even within the Five Elements Pavilion, and he had never revealed it to anyone. He was curious how an ordinary-looking disciple of Chunyang Temple could know his name.

Chu He shook his head. “The patrol in New City found Senior Brother outside the city. As for your famous name... in New City, it is known by everyone.”

Xing Kai was about to ask more when Chu He continued, explaining the rules of the Chosen, the situation, and everything about New City in full.

By the end, Xing Kai asked warily, “Wang Meng is here too?”

“Yes. Senior Brother Wang Meng is currently in charge of keeping the non-Chunyang disciples in order. It was also Senior Brother Wang Meng who told us your identity.”

Chu He nodded.

“In that case, Junior Brother Chu He, would you please call Wang Meng for me? I am not exactly in a fit state to show my face.”

Chu He stole a glance at Xing Kai’s still-swollen backside, nodded, and left.

Very soon, the news that Xing Kai had awakened spread throughout New City. Wang Meng brought several experts who had come out from the little city to meet him.

“Brother Xing Kai, you’ve been hiding that well. I always thought you were a disciple of the East Sea Sect!”

The moment they met, Wang Meng began teasing him, which made Xing Kai somewhat displeased.

“Senior Brother Wang Meng, you jest. At that time, none of us knew what was going on. Who would have declared his sect so readily?”

Xing Kai laughed it off.

The others nearby nodded in agreement.

What Xing Kai said made sense. The dangers inside the little city came not only from the ever-present traps, ferocious beasts, and bewildering formations, but also from the cultivators who knew one another not at all. Trust between strangers was exceedingly hard to earn, so concealing one’s identity from each other was the wisest course.

Just ask—who among those present had shown their true face in the city?

“Haha, there’s no need for one brother to blame another,” Wang Meng said with a laugh, letting the matter pass.

“Junior Brother, how did you get this injury?”

Wang Meng noticed that Xing Kai’s wounds did not seem to have been caused by any weapon or technique, and asked, “Were you injured by a ferocious beast?”

“Does Senior Brother remember that Gou Lichuan fellow?”

Xing Kai ground his teeth.

“Gou Lichuan? That little dog that bites anyone he sees?”

As soon as Gou Lichuan’s name was mentioned, several people instantly grew excited.

“Damn it, I was kicked out by that bastard. I don’t even know if I passed the trial. If I didn’t, I’ll have my master go and make trouble for the Ten Thousand Demons Abyss!”

“That’s a mad dog. I once saw him being hunted by a Shadow Leopard and even stepped in to help. Do you want to know how that mad dog repaid me? The bastard actually teamed up with the Shadow Leopard and tricked me out of an entire pouch of treasures! His dog face turns faster than a page in a book!”

One after another, they denounced Gou Lichuan’s utterly shameless conduct, clearly proving that many had suffered under his hand.

Xing Kai said, “I was ambushed by him. He couldn’t break my spirit armor, so he went straight for my lower half. I was careless and fell for it, and that’s how I ended up like this. I suspect that if not for the restrictions of the Chosen’s rules, he would have killed me.”

Just thinking of Gou Lichuan’s needle-sharp teeth and his reckless, life-for-life style of fighting made Xing Kai feel cold all over.

“If I ever see him, I’ll make him pay even if I have to be eliminated for it!”

Everyone ground their teeth and hurled out harsh words, but Wang Meng remained calm.

“Everyone, there are plenty of experts who have come out of the city. Have any of you seen anyone from the demonic path?”

“The Chosen has already reached the final trial of its first stage. Aside from those seen in the little city, there has been no sign of the demonic path outside. Don’t you find that strange?”

Xing Kai said, “Are you saying there are still footholds in this secret realm besides New City?”

“Mm.”

Wang Meng nodded. “During this period, most of Chunyang Temple’s experts are still inside the little city. For the time being I have taken over some of New City’s affairs, mainly to settle the experts who have come out from there. By now, the total number who have left the city is already over a thousand, yet not a single person from the demonic path has been seen. That is what makes it strange. There is no reason we should all be out while they remain inside.”

“Unfortunately, the rules of the Chosen are too vague. We cannot determine the various conditions, and if we want to prevent the demonic experts from entering the second-stage trial, we do not even know where to begin.”

Xing Kai looked rather dispirited.

Wang Meng patted his shoulder, then glanced at the others with a smile. “In any case, the sacred artifact cannot fall into the hands of the demonic path. Everyone, shall we go and search this secret realm a few times, capture some demonic experts for testing, and see whether we can eliminate them? What do you think?”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

This was not merely a personal grudge. It concerned the balance of power between the righteous and demonic paths, and there was no psychological burden in acting.

Moreover, Gou Lichuan had made enemies everywhere and drawn far too much hatred onto the demonic path. If they could retaliate in a reasonable way, the disciples of the righteous sects would be more than willing.

Thus New City’s forces were mobilized, and a thunderous campaign to root out the demonic path began within the secret realm.

This operation against the demonic experts continued until the little city closed and the first-stage survival trial came to an end, only then gradually subsiding.

Although Gou Lichuan narrowly escaped disaster and successfully entered the second-stage ruins battlefield, he also became a target for experts of both the righteous and demonic paths, and was utterly ravaged there. If the competitors had been permitted to kill one another, there would already have been three feet of wild grass over Gou Lichuan’s grave mound.

The little city trial was perilous, but it had no effect on Wang Li.

Day after day, Wang Li lived by the edge of the abyss in an orderly rhythm.

Each day, twelve hours were divided thus: three hours of cultivation, one hour immersed in simulated combat, three hours of reading, one hour of idle banter with Old Master Sheng, two hours spent repeatedly merging the techniques in his hands, and the rest of the time in blank, vacant daze. Though the life was monotonous, it was also immensely peaceful.

From the day he was born, Wang Li had never enjoyed such stable, leisurely days. Having finally been given the chance to experience them, he naturally cherished them dearly.

But the good days lasted less than two years. After a burly figure descended from the sky, he once again came to understand what it meant to be a nuisance.