Better Kill That Fish After All

"It's still rising! Your cultivation is still rising!" Ling Hezhou cried.

Chi Yu: "!!"

In just that short time, he had painlessly reached Foundation Establishment.

Chi Yu: "...Is this normal?"

Ling Hezhou shrieked, "No! How could it possibly be normal?!"

Ling Tian looked utterly solemn. "This is very abnormal."

A voice sounded behind them like a ghost. "You killed one of the Nascent Soul cultivators. This is your reward. Happy?"

Chi Yu froze. He slowly turned around and, sure enough, saw Xie Xiyi leaning against the wall with Phantom Lightning in his arms. There was no telling how long he had been listening.

Ling Hezhou roared, "Senior brother! Run!"

Before Ling Tian could move, Xie Xiyi moved faster, cutting off his head with a single stroke.

Ling Hezhou had a protective artifact that gathered his Nascent Soul Spirit, and naturally, Ling Tian did too. Thus, before long, Ling Tian and Ling Hezhou met inside the Soul-Guarding Pearl.

Ling Hezhou: "..."

Ling Tian: "..."

The black mist around Xie Xiyi swept up the Soul-Guarding Pearl, which had been made into an earring, and placed it in his palm, gloved in black mist.

Xie Xiyi handed the Soul-Guarding Pearl to Chi Yu and asked again, "Happy?"

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu: "Haha, I'm absolutely delighted."

Forcing a smile.jpg

Author's note:

Fish: Telegraph.jpg

1: Can't understand it (smiles)

Chapter 14: Better Kill That Fish After All

Xie Xiyi said cheerfully, "Good. Today's a joyous occasion. You ought to be happy."

Chi Yu: "..."

You're the only one who's happy!!

Chi Yu put the earring back on and asked the question he had been wanting to ask all along. "Boss, how did I suddenly reach Foundation Establishment? I clearly wasn't the one who killed that Nascent Soul cultivator."

The man had merely seemed to suffer a backlash when he attacked him.

At the time, Chi Yu had immediately suspected the curse Xie Xiyi had placed on his tongue.

Xie Xiyi had no reason to hide this, so he answered casually, "The Forbidden Curse on you was simply activated. Whoever attacks you has the damage returned to them, and their cultivation flows back into you too. Well? A pretty good Forbidden Curse, isn't it? You can lure cultivators into trying to kill you and reach Nascent Soul before long. There is a time limit, though. It'll need replacing when the time comes."

After saying this, he sounded almost reflective. "Cultivation amounts to nothing more than that. It's very simple."

With that, the black mist swallowed Ling Tian's corpse on the floor. "Can't waste the corpse. I can plant a few more Forbidden Curses in it."

He spoke those horrifying words in an utterly casual tone.

Chi Yu: "..."

Chi Yu tried hard to ignore the implications that grew more terrifying the more he thought about them and continued asking, "Boss, how did you get here so quickly? Did you put a tracking incantation in the Forbidden Curse too?"

"You're very clever." Xie Xiyi laughed. "That's right. I added twelve incantations to the Forbidden Curse on you. Some will kill you if triggered. It depends on your luck. Hopefully you won't trigger them."

Chi Yu: "Nice."

Forbidden Curse.zip

Just what I'd expect from you, villain...

Ling Tian wanted to say something just then, but Ling Hezhou quickly covered his mouth and transmitted his voice. "Senior brother, don't say anything reckless. You saw how vicious he is. Chi Yu already has a hard enough time living under his thumb. If you upset him, he can reduce you to ashes on the spot."

Ling Tian could only hold his tongue and ask through voice transmission, "Who is Chi Yu to him?"

Ling Hezhou told Ling Tian about what had happened between him and Chi Yu. Ling Tian fell silent, only transmitting his voice again after a while. "If we get a chance to return to the Tianyan Sect, I'll have the sect master take him as a direct disciple."

Ling Hezhou said miserably, "Senior brother, you need to tell everyone not to come rescue us anymore. If these rescues keep going, our Lingyun Peak's lineage will die out."

Ling Tian: "..."

While they chatted over there, Chi Yu continued his outrageously bold conversation with Xie Xiyi. "Boss, were you serious about making that Nascent Soul cultivator into a lamp for me?"

Xie Xiyi said, "I'll give it to you once it's refined."

Chi Yu continued speaking boldly. "Then if you give him to me, he's mine, right? Could I ask you to let him go?"

Xie Xiyi paused, then burst into delighted laughter. "What reason do you have for asking me to release him?"

Although he was smiling and seemed very happy, Chi Yu could feel the sharp killing intent radiating from him. Every hair on his body stood on end, like a startled animal bristling in alarm. His body was warning him.

Chi Yu swallowed his words and immediately declared with righteous conviction, "No particular reason. Boss, you should make him into a lamp after all. I'm afraid of the dark when I sleep."

Since he could not save the man, there was nothing he could do.

Chi Yu's hairs slowly settled again. Unable to help himself, he asked Xie Xiyi another question. "Boss, why do you go around killing people? And massacring cities? Aren't cultivators very afraid of karma? Besides, killing too many people makes it hard to survive heavenly tribulations, doesn't it?"

Xie Xiyi was baffled. "Why do you always manage to ask questions like this?"

Although Chi Yu's question crossed a boundary, Xie Xiyi was in a good mood today and did not hold it against him. He said leisurely, "Every person in this world stinks beyond endurance."

Chi Yu's pupils trembled. "Huh?"

Xie Baoyu? (no

The amusement faded from Xie Xiyi's voice, and he continued in a somewhat indifferent tone. "The higher their cultivation, the worse they stink. When I see them, I only want to slaughter every last one."

Chi Yu remembered hearing those cultivators chatting in the restaurant. Apparently, Xie Xiyi did not kill mortals or Qi Refining Stage cultivators, so he could not help asking, "What about people with low cultivation? Do they stink too?"

Xie Xiyi said with a smile, "You really do have a lot of questions."

Still, he was truly in a wonderful mood today, so Xie Xiyi decided to be lenient for once and let it slide.

Thus, he continued answering. "Some do, some don't. Let them grow a little longer. Killing them once they reach Foundation Establishment works just as well."

Chi Yu: "..."

Seriously, are you growing crops to harvest here?

Chi Yu hesitated, then asked, "What about me? You don't kill people with low cultivation, so why have you killed me several times?"

Xie Xiyi asked in bewilderment, "Didn't you ask for it? I merely fulfilled your wish."

Chi Yu: "..."

A very principled villain indeed.jpg

For a moment, Chi Yu did not know what to say. The answer felt absurd, yet there was a certain logic to that absurdity.

Divine Path needs a new name! Change it to We Still Don't Know Why the Villain Turned Out Like This!!!

Chi Yu felt he had nowhere to start, and his position on the righteous side was precarious too-after all, Xie Xiyi had committed every evil imaginable, and Chi Yu had appeared before everyone as his lackey. Now his footing in the villain's camp was so firm he could goose-step.

He had never imagined that instead of a script where he dazzled everyone with his prowess, he had received one where everyone wanted to beat him like a rat crossing the street.

No, I need to pull myself together. People make their own paths!

The villain's spirit sword is secretly in league with me, and my portable old mentors are +1, +1-uh, judging by Xie Xiyi's approach, the future of this Soul-Guarding Pearl might just be +1, +1, +1...

Chi Yu: "..."

Not that future, please!

Chi Yu rallied again. A Long Aotian always started out in difficult circumstances. He had to stay true to himself!

If I say I'm a Long Aotian, then I'm a Long Aotian!

Chi Yu was thin-skinned and had not yet reached the point where he could hide his emotions, so Xie Xiyi saw every change in his expression.

The corners of Xie Xiyi's lips lifted beneath his mask. He found it rather interesting.

He considered keeping him around for now. After all, he was quite interesting.

That evening, Chi Yu found a restaurant with rooms to stay in, and Xie Xiyi checked in as well.

Chi Yu took it upon himself to pay for Xie Xiyi's room too.

Then he found some time, took the Image-Retaining Pearl from his Sumeru Ring, and briskly got to work. He wiped away his sweat, straightened his back, and knocked on Xie Xiyi's door.

Xie Xiyi remained seated on the bed. The black mist around him extended like vines and opened the door.

Chi Yu walked in and said cheerfully to Xie Xiyi, "Boss! Here's what I witnessed. Please take a look."

Although the scene had been brutal and bloody, Chi Yu was mentally resilient, and it had left him with no trauma.

As he spoke, he offered the Image-Retaining Pearl to Xie Xiyi with both hands.

The black mist swept up the Image-Retaining Pearl and activated it.

Soon, images of Xie Xiyi battling the nine Nascent Soul cultivators appeared. More novel still, an impassioned piece of music accompanied the images. Every flash of sword light and every falling head landed precisely on the drumbeat, creating a bizarre harmony and fervor.

Raging electric guitar.jpg

Xie Xiyi had never seen an Image-Retaining Pearl used this way. Once the recording ended, he said nothing and simply activated it again.

Replay.jpg

"Well? Well? Boss, do you like it?" Chi Yu asked, thoroughly spoiling the mood.

The black mist enveloped and swallowed the Image-Retaining Pearl, and unmistakable satisfaction colored Xie Xiyi's voice. "Very good. Did you compose this music?"

Chi Yu quickly waved his hands and answered honestly, "No, no, I didn't compose it. I thought it suited your heroic bearing perfectly, boss, so I found it to accompany you."

Xie Xiyi tried humming the tune but failed. He said thoughtfully, "An instrument I've never encountered."

Chi Yu nodded like a chick pecking grain. "Yes, yes, yes. This kind of instrument doesn't exist anymore."

Xie Xiyi said, "Very good. You always surprise me. I'm even beginning to like you a little."

Chi Yu cautiously tried to gauge his expression. Of course, Xie Xiyi wore a mask, so he could not see it, but his words alone conveyed that he was indeed very pleased.

And so, given an inch, Chi Yu took a mile. "Boss, since you like me now, could you take off your mask and let me see what you look like?"

Xie Xiyi: "Do you want to die?"