Stealing Immortal

Chapter 88: Chapter 87: Retaliation

Chen Qingyang kicked a stone into the water, and the spreading ripples distorted his reflection.

...

Heading up the mountain, it was only a short walk to the small courtyard. The two youths often came to this place to fetch water, as it wasn’t far from where they lived.

Lately, the small courtyard was a hive of activity, and they had been quite busy. After eating, they were meditating to rest, and Chen Qingyang would sometimes supervise their cultivation.

’I should find some time to visit the Cloud Scripture Jade Pavilion and get the recipe for the Qi Gathering Pill,’ he planned. ’If I refine some for them to take from time to time, their progress in Qi Refining will surely speed up.’

After telling them he would be back very late tonight, he left.

He followed the White Jade Steps all the way down until he reached an open space where the path split into five roads leading to different places. He took the fourth path from the left, which began to ascend. After seeing the archway for "Water Moon Grotto Heaven," he turned to the right.

Before long, he arrived at a Cave Mansion.

It was perched on a cliff, glowing with brilliant light. A wooden plank path extended straight toward it, ending at the mouth of a cave adorned with an archway.

When Chen Qingyang reached the entrance, a young woman in red was already there to greet him. "Might I ask if you are Senior Brother Chen Qingyang?"

The woman curtsied gracefully, showing good manners. Seeing Chen Qingyang’s nod of approval, she led him inside. The Cave Mansion was quite large. As they walked along the path, they encountered two men who both stopped, bowed with clasped hands, and waited for them to pass first. The strict etiquette reminded Chen Qingyang of visiting a landlord at the age of fifteen.

Once inside, the space opened up dramatically. There was fine wooden furniture and screens were placed on all four sides, making it look just like a reception hall.

On the dining table, delicacies and fine foods were laid out, and Tian Jingzhao was standing to one side.

He had really spared no expense today.

Chen Qingyang took a seat and sampled a few bites of each dish, finding them exquisite and delicate. Tian Jingzhao, however, began to boast, "I have five Miscellaneous Task disciples in my Cave Mansion. Two specialize in cooking, one takes care of my daily life..."

"...Back when I was a mortal, I never had enough food to fill my belly or enough clothes to cover my body. My family of five had only a two-room thatched hut to shelter us from the elements. Then I began Immortal Cultivation... It’s truly wonderful!"

He had also specially prepared wine, and after two cups, his tongue had loosened.

Chen Qingyang just held the cup to his lips, swirling it around without ever taking a sip. He was only half-listening to Tian Jingzhao’s words, his mind occupied with a single thought: ’Is this really just about drinking wine?’

"Junior Brother Chen, I brewed this wine myself! Even with your heaven-defying Cultivation, it can get you drunk and let you experience the pleasures of the Red Dust. Quick, take a sip!"

’He invited me to appreciate a treasure, but now there’s no treasure in sight, just him constantly pushing me to drink.’

After he finished speaking, Chen Qingyang still just held the cup. "I can’t hold my liquor. If I drink this, wouldn’t I make a fool of myself?"

Tian Jingzhao urged him to eat a couple more bites of food, then returned to the subject. "No matter! If you get drunk, you can just sleep it off here. You’ll still be you when you wake up!"

But Chen Qingyang still shook his head. "Thank you for your kind intentions, Senior Brother Tian, but I’m still worried it will affect my Cultivation!"

Tian Jingzhao was unusually enthusiastic about this matter. "Junior Brother, you may not know this, but I’ve added many potent Immortal Grasses to this wine. It can only help you, not harm you!"

’No matter what we talk about, it always comes back to this wine,’ Chen Qingyang thought. ’It’s as if he’s desperate to get me drunk. Or perhaps... this bastard wants to poison me?’

’He probably doesn’t have the guts to poison me to death here, but he could take the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl from me while I’m powerless or unconscious.’

’If he’s really resorting to such a lowly trick, I wonder if it was Lu Jinzhang’s idea, or his own?’

"Hong’Er, come here and serve Junior Brother Chen a cup!" Seeing that his persuasion wasn’t working, he called the young woman over.

This young woman was well-trained by him. Dressed in red, with a delicate and tender appearance, she picked up the wine cup with a gentle grace. "Senior Brother Chen, don’t be afraid of getting drunk. If you do, you can rest here. Senior Brother Tian’s hospitality is hard to refuse, so please don’t decline any longer."

Tian Jingzhao gave a lewd grin. "Junior Brother, Hong’Er is very good at serving people. With her to serve you in your sleep, what is there to worry about?"

At this, Chen Qingyang no longer refused. He took the cup of wine from the young woman and drained it in one gulp.

And then, his vision blurred. Amidst the laughter of the master and servant, his body went limp and he collapsed to the ground.

"Junior Brother! Junior Brother Chen!"

Putting on a show, Tian Jingzhao shouted twice, but Chen Qingyang remained motionless on the ground.

"Hmph. So unwilling to give me face, yet you still fell for my ploy. My efforts these past few days to get close to him weren’t in vain!"

Hearing his triumphant declaration, Hong’Er grew worried. "Senior Brother, by doing this, aren’t you afraid of attracting the wrath of Master Jing Yuan’s lineage?"

"Bullshit!" Tian Jingzhao scoffed. "I just invited him for a drink, and he just got drunk. If the item goes missing, how can they pin it on me? I’m not trying to kill him. Remember, tonight you are to take off your clothes and lie down with him."

"Ah!" Hearing this, Hong’Er cried out in alarm. Wouldn’t this make people think she was the one who stole the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl? "But... but?"

"No buts. Strip his clothes off and leave them where they lie. If anyone asks tomorrow, just act like you know nothing."

After he finished speaking, Hong’Er began to wipe away tears. Tian Jingzhao couldn’t be bothered with her and reached out to rip open Chen Qingyang’s chest robes.

The instant he tore the robes open, a silver flash suddenly erupted. Tian Jingzhao never saw it coming; by the time he realized what was happening, his brow had been pierced right at the location of his Mud Ball Palace.

His body could no longer stay upright, and he collapsed against the dining table. Hong’Er instantly stopped crying. "Senior Brother, Senior Brother, are you okay...?"

Tian Jingzhao gasped for breath, his face instantly turning pale. "Luckily, it was my Mud Ball Palace. If it had been my Dantian, I would have been crippled!"

To the astonishment of the other two, Chen Qingyang, still on the floor, rubbed his head and sat up, looking dazed and confused. "Senior Brother Tian, that wine is so strong... Huh? Senior Brother Tian, what happened to you?"

The power of that Sword Qi still lingered in Tian Jingzhao’s mind, filling him with fear. Coupled with his immobilized body, his wariness of Chen Qingyang grew even deeper. "Junior... Junior Brother, you’re... awake," he managed to stammer out.

Chen Qingyang sneered inwardly. He patted himself down for a moment, as if suddenly remembering something. "Senior Brother Tian, I have a strand of Sword Qi hidden on my body. It erupts instantly if anyone has ill intentions toward me. Did you get me drunk on purpose to steal the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl from me?"

Tian Jingzhao felt an unspeakable bitterness. He was the one whose Dao Foundation was injured, who had lost half his life, yet somehow his opponent was the one in the right. Beside him, Hong’Er was stunned, as if she still hadn’t processed what had just happened.

"Junior Brother Chen, it’s a misunderstanding! All a misunderstanding! I saw you were drunk and just wanted to help you to bed to rest..."

But Chen Qingyang slammed his hand on the long table. "Nonsense! My Sword Qi wouldn’t have activated if you were just helping me rest! Since you won’t tell the truth, I’ll summon the Law Enforcement Hall right now. We have a third witness here, and with the Law Enforcement Hall’s methods, I refuse to believe they can’t pry open the mouth of this Miscellaneous Task disciple!"

Hong’Er panicked, and Tian Jingzhao was utterly terrified. In this situation, he had no way to defend himself. If he told the truth in his current weakened state, wouldn’t he be dead either way?

Then, Chen Qingyang added, "If there were extenuating circumstances, I might, for the sake of us being fellow disciples, forgive you."

This was undoubtedly a glimmer of hope. Tian Jingzhao lifted his hand and, with great effort, slapped himself across the face. "I deserve to die! I mistakenly believed Steward Lu’s words, thinking that if I got the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl, my accomplishments with Elixirs would surpass yours. That’s why I did such a thing..."

’That Lu Jinzhang really is clever,’ Chen Qingyang thought. ’He never made any agreement with Tian Jingzhao, just instigated him with a few tempting words.’

"...Thinking back, it must be because you offended him that day, Junior Brother Chen. He resented you but couldn’t act directly because of his status, so he used me..."

He muttered on and on. This also revealed a sliver of Tian Jingzhao’s cunning; he was quickly and efficiently pushing all the blame onto someone else.

"Did he say anything like he would take you as his disciple if you got the Separation Huo Dragon Pearl?"

Tian Jingzhao shook his head like a rattle drum. "Of course not..."

"Forget it. Even if he did, you wouldn’t dare pin it on him. After all, if I blew this matter up, you’d have to confront him face-to-face, and that wouldn’t be good for anyone."

Chen Qingyang sighed. "Your name is Hong’Er?"

The young woman was very obedient. "Yes, Senior Brother Chen."

"Help him onto the bed. Don’t just leave him lying on the floor. After taking that sword strike from me, although his Dao Foundation isn’t completely destroyed, it’ll likely take a hundred years for his Mud Ball Palace to recover. Even if it does recover one day, his master, Master Water Moon, won’t wait that long for him. His Immortal Path is completely finished!"

Hearing this, Tian Jingzhao’s face became ashen, and the last of his strength drained away.

’That’s right,’ Tian Jingzhao thought. ’How could Master Water Moon tolerate such a useless disciple? I’ll probably be demoted to another mountain peak to manage Miscellaneous Task disciples.’

Chen Qingyang took the opportunity to check. He had stolen 425 points of Immortal Seedling. For someone in the Seventh Realm of Qi Refining, this was an unusually high amount, which reflected just how crippled Tian Jingzhao now was.

Chen Qingyang walked to the bed and stopped the bleeding for him. "Actually, the Mud Ball Palace isn’t the Dantian, after all. There are ways to restore your Cultivation."

Tian Jingzhao gritted his teeth. "What way?"

"Tier Four Yang Replacement Powder. If you take it long-term, you can slowly recover."

Tian Jingzhao was stunned. His gaze toward Chen Qingyang turned timid. "You mean... Junior Brother Chen is still willing to save me?"

He never imagined that such a fanciful hope would actually be granted.

"Why wouldn’t I be? You were also led astray. I just hope you stay far away from that Lu Jinzhang from now on."

If he could have gotten up, Tian Jingzhao would have certainly kowtowed to Chen Qingyang. As it was, he could only blubber through his tears and snot, mumbling yes while painfully declaring his regret.

Across from them, the young woman, Hong’Er, looked on with obvious disgust.

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