Chapter 157: The Rabbit Spirit

The Wolong Mountain Range resembled a colossal pale dragon, prostrate upon the earth, winding on for an incalculable number of miles.

The mountain ranges were layered with verdant greenery and jagged peaks lined up in rows. Anyone entering them was like a single drop of water cast into the sea.

A solitary figure leaped and bounded effortlessly through the mountain forest, traversing the terrain as if it were flat ground.

With a sudden flip, the figure vaulted onto a massive tree at the summit.

"Wow, magnificent..." I sat on an extended branch of this tree, watching the setting sun shimmering vaguely amidst the drifting mist, appearing as if it were floating upon hazy waves, while countless sharp mountain peaks jutted out from those very mists.

As I admired the breathtaking scenery, I casually gnawed on a sweet-and-sour wild fruit I had plucked along the way.

The Wolong Mountain Range truly lived up to its name as a dragon pulse; no wonder emperors and celebrated generals all favored building their mausoleums here.

"Little Purple, what do you think of this place?" I asked the sable perched behind me.

Behind me, the sable stood on a tree branch, tilting its head with a haughty air and letting out a sharp squeak.

"Little Purple, how about a smile for your master?" I turned my head and snatched the sable up into my hand.

The sable merely twisted its head away, remaining completely unfazed, seemingly determined to be stubborn to the end.

"Sigh, how boring. Bringing a block of wood along would be better than having you around," I sighed, tossing the sable away without getting the slightest reaction. Right now, talking to myself seemed far better.

...

"Even bringing a block of wood along would be better than having you around." Beside a small stream in the Wolong Mountain Range, Ling Xinyue said impatiently to her junior sister Chunwan, whose incessant chattering was driving her crazy.

"Why?" Chunwan asked with a look of utter bewilderment.

"Because a block of wood doesn't talk; it stays quiet all the time." Ling Xinyue reached out and flicked Chunwan on the forehead. She truly regretted giving in to Chunwan's nagging and bringing along this perpetual-motion human loudspeaker from the Supreme Spirit Smoke Temple.

Chunwan processed this belatedly, a sudden realization dawning on her. "Is Senior Sister saying I'm too noisy? Then I'll just shut my mouth. If I close it like this, will I look too ugly? Oh right, Senior Sister, do you know who the ugliest person in the cultivation world is? Let me tell you—"

"Chunwan, what happened to keeping your mouth shut?" Ling Xinyue extended both hands and pinched Chunwan's lips from top to bottom.

"Mmph, mmph..." Chunwan's cheeks puffed out like a toad's.

"Be quiet for two hours, or I'll sew your mouth shut." Ling Xinyue chuckled, unable to contain her amusement.

Chunwan nodded fiercely, gazing at Ling Xinyue with a pitiful expression.

Ling Xinyue pulled her hand away, but Chunwan instinctively opened her mouth to protest. The moment she did, she instantly realized her mistake and hurriedly clutched her hands over her mouth.

Ling Xinyue sat cross-legged beneath a large tree by the stream, closing her eyes to clear her mind, yet scene after scene flashed through her consciousness like frames in a movie.

Every single scene featured the image of a certain person, a guy named Qin风 [Qin Feng].

Finally, the imagery froze on the scene in the Ling family's backyard, where Qin Feng braced his hands against a tree, trapping her, staring at her with burning intensity, and aggressively pressing his lips toward her dainty mouth in a fierce kiss.

The image remained frozen right there because in the next second, she would reach out to cover his mouth and push him away. Sometimes, she would quietly wonder what would have happened if she hadn't pushed him away at that moment...

"Senior Sister, Senior Sister, your face is so red. Are you suffering from a deviation in your Qi?" Chunwan suddenly blurted out noisily.

Ling Xinyue opened her eyes and reached up to touch her face; it really was quite warm.

"The two hours aren't up yet." Ling Xinyue glared at Chunwan.

Chunwan hurriedly clamped her hands over her mouth again. Ling Xinyue crouched down by the stream, scooped up a handful of cool water, and splashed it onto her flushed face.

"That jerk is probably still enjoying himself in some woman's tender embrace right now... I'm not missing him, I just want him to hurry up and die," Ling Xinyue thought angrily.

Just then, an earth-shattering roar of a beast echoed from afar, and waves of oppressive pressure surged all the way from the distance, directly impacting their location.

"A fierce beast, at least an advanced-level fierce beast..." Ling Xinyue's expression changed. She grabbed Chunwan and carried her to a hidden spot on the other side of the mountain.

"Chunwan, stay here and don't run around. I'll go take a look. When two beasts fight, one is bound to be injured. Maybe we can reap some benefits," Ling Xinyue told Chunwan.

"Senior Sister, I want to go too." Chunwan clutched Ling Xinyue's sleeve.

"No, your cultivation isn't high enough yet. Those are two advanced-level fierce beasts. If anything unexpected happens, I can still escape, but if I bring you along, you'll just become beast food," Ling Xinyue said.

Chunwan had no choice but to nod. "All right then, but Senior Sister, you must come back quickly."

"Understood." With that, Ling Xinyue set up a protective array and vanished in a flash.

Chunwan sat listlessly beneath a large tree. She pulled out her cell phone, waved it around in all directions, but there was not a single bar of signal.

Just then, a snow-white rabbit suddenly darted out. Chunwan let out a joyful cry and lunged at the rabbit.

The rabbit's speed was extraordinary. With a few agile leaps and dodges, it effortlessly evaded Chunwan's clutches.

就这样, Chunwan this little girl completely forgot about staying put to wait for Ling Xinyue. Driven by a fierce determination to catch the rabbit, she pursued it blindly for an unknown distance. By the time she snapped back to reality, she was utterly lost.

By now, the dusk had deepened, and a thick mist began to rise throughout the mountain forest.

Panic truly set in for Chunwan then. Having no idea what to do, she was on the verge of tears.

Right at that moment, a somewhat hoarse voice rang out, "Little girl, why are you all alone out here? It's much too dangerous."

Chunwan turned around to see an old grandmother with white hair gazing at her kindly.

However, innocent though she was, Chunwan was not stupid. The sudden appearance of such an old woman deep in these mountains was definitely abnormal.

"What kind of demonic creature are you, daring to play ghosts and gods in front of this Daoist nun? Show your true form at once!" Chunwan brandished her sword pill, transforming it into a glowing magic sword with the tip pointing straight at the old woman, though her hand trembled slightly.

"Little girl, you are doing this old woman a grave injustice. I live as a hermit right here in these mountains," the old woman said. As she spoke, the two prominent buckteeth in her mouth were strikingly noticeable.

"Cut the crap! The only things living in the Wolong Mountain Range are either corpses or monsters," Chunwan shouted loudly, refusing to be fooled.

The old woman's eyes suddenly flashed with a crimson glow, and her kindly expression turned sinister. She shrieked harshly, "Since you refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit, this old woman will whet her appetite today and taste what an Onmyoji's flesh is like!"

Clenching her teeth, Chunwan let out a delicate cry as her sword light swept forth like a dragon, piercing toward the old woman.

However, the old woman vanished in an instant, reappearing behind Chunwan in the next second to deliver a kick squarely to her back.

"Ah..." Chunwan cried out in pain and collapsed heavily to the ground.

At that, the old woman let out a shrill, triumphant laugh and lunged toward Chunwan.

"Senior Sister, save me!" Chunwan screamed.

Right at that critical moment, a stream of black light roared through the air like a black dragon, sweeping forward and directly batting the old woman away.

"Damn it, since when do rabbits eat people?" An astonished voice echoed, and immediately afterward, a tall figure stepped out from the mist.

The bucktoothed old grandmother had transformed into a giant snow-white rabbit nearly half the height of a person. baring its teeth and roaring ferociously with its demonic aura exploding, it violently lunged straight toward me as I emerged.

However, this was merely a feint. Midway through the lunge, its body executed a bizarre twist and bolted like lightning into the dense woods nearby.

"Trying to run?" A streak of bloody light flashed from the Blood-Slaying Saber in my hand, instantly slicing clean through the rabbit demon's neck.

I walked forward and dug out the rabbit demon's core.

"You... are you human or demon?" Chunwan's trembling voice rang out.

I turned my head, sizing up the young girl who looked to be around sixteen years old, and chuckled, "And are you human or demon?"

"Of course I'm human," Chunwan said.

"Then so am I." I shrugged, then asked, "You haven't even reached intermediate Onmyoji level, yet you had the guts to enter the Wolong Mountain Range? Consider yourself lucky you ran into me."

"I came here with my Senior Sister! My Senior Sister is super powerful," Chunwan declared.

"Heh, your Senior Sister is pretty thoughtless too," I said with a smile, crouching down to sever the rabbit demon's two hind legs to use for dinner.

At that moment, Chunwan marched up to me angrily, on the verge of arguing, but suddenly she stared fixedly at my face and let out a startled gasp.

I touched my face. That wasn't right—ever since my breakthrough, all the scars on my face had vanished.

"What's with the face? Have you seen a ghost?" I was somewhat speechless at this little girl.

"You... are you Qin Feng?" Chunwan cried out excitedly, stepping forward to grab my hand as I was butchering the rabbit demon's hind legs.