The Immortal Lord and the Demon Venerable Are Both My Vests - Chapter 21

Yin Lang suddenly raised his hand and rubbed his temple.

Wu Mantuo, who had been wearing a serious expression, paused. “What’s wrong with you?”

“It’s nothing, just a little cutie misbehaving and causing some minor trouble.” He tapped the table carelessly. “Where were you just now? Mm… Yan Guihe has been rather restless lately?”

“……”

Wu Mantuo was furious. “Are you even listening to me seriously!”

The next second, she fell silent as a winter cicada.

On the pale hand resting on the table, black flames danced playfully like mischievous children between his five fingers.

The master of the flames looked up, his black pupils revealing a thin chill. “Know your place, Wu Mantuo. Right now, it’s you who is asking this Venerable for help.”

Wu Mantuo forced herself to calm down. “Yin Lang, you understand the principle that when the lips are gone, the teeth grow cold. You can’t be so naive as to think Yan Guihe will stop after swallowing my forces, can you?”

“Yan Guihe is at the Great Perfection of the Tribulation stage! Even with your Black Flames, he would only need to exert a bit more effort to crush you!”

“But what does that have to do with you, Wu Mantuo?” Yin Lang remained unmoved, his tone hinting at irritation. “This Venerable doesn’t have that much patience to listen to your nonsense. State what price you can offer, and I’ll consider whether or not to help you.”

“As you said, Yan Guihe is not an easy opponent to deal with. You only have one chance. Think it through before you speak.”

“How is your behavior any different from Yan Guihe’s?” Wu Mantuo’s face turned iron-blue as she slammed the table and growled, “I might as well go seek Yan Guihe and actively surrender! At least he’s stronger than you!”

Yin Lang sneered. “Then go ahead.”

Wu Mantuo glared at him fiercely. Yin Lang smiled back at her.

Wu Mantuo glared until her eyes were nearly bloodshot, her body trembling. She slammed the table hard again, sat down forcefully, and said through gritted teeth, “I’ll give it!”

Damn it! This surnamed Yin was at least an acquaintance, barely the one among the Ten Venerables with the most principles and bottom line. Giving him one-third was still better than having everything swallowed by that viper Yan Guihe!

After being ruthlessly cut down, Wu Mantuo remained in Yin Lang’s Eighteenth Hell with an iron-blue face. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to return to her own territory, but going back now would just be delivering herself to Yan Guihe.

That fellow appeared to be staying quietly in his own lair without making a move, but in reality, he was watching her movements every moment. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have found an excuse to fight with Yin Lang and then stubbornly refused to leave.

After signing the humiliating contract, Wu Mantuo said with self-abandonment, “Speak then, what do you want me to do?”

With this thing signed and the territory divided, she had essentially made herself half a subordinate to Yin Lang. She said resentfully, “This lady has entrusted her entire fortune to you! Now we prosper together and fall together. Quickly think of a solution for me!”

But Yin Lang said, “No rush, I still have some other matters to handle.”

“Other matters!” Wu Mantuo’s eyes widened. “Are you joking, Yin Lang? What could be more important than dealing with Yan Guihe right now?”

“People from Taihua Immortal Sect will arrive soon.”

“Who cares who comes!” Wu Mantuo was so angry she shattered the table beneath her hands. “This lady doesn’t care whether you destroyed the Jihe Alliance or the Jiming Sect, whether you attracted Shen Muxuan or Xie Tingxuan—those are all your own affairs! You figure out how to handle it yourself!”

Yin Lang could sympathize with Wu Mantuo’s feelings about losing a large chunk of her territory, and since he was in a good mood at the moment, he didn’t intend to haggle with this ally-slash-subordinate over it.

He readily relented. “No need to worry. Jiao Yuyu set out for Jiuyou Court yesterday. Yan Guihe is probably already overwhelmed at this moment and has no hands free to deal with you.”

Wu Mantuo was dumbstruck.

After a long while, she finally reacted and shrieked, “You tricked me while offering nothing?”

Deliberately making her wait anxiously for several days after she came voluntarily and paid compensation, then putting on a completely indifferent rogue appearance to trick her into hastily signing the ‘selling herself’ blood contract, only to tell her after the contract was signed and the benefits divided—

Actually, even if you hadn’t come, I was already planning to move against Yan Guihe.

Wu Mantuo spat out a mouthful of blood.

These damn stinking men! If she believed them again, she’d be a pig!

Wu Mantuo swallowed down her rage and chased after Yin Lang as he left. “Make yourself clear before you leave! Did that fool Jiao Yuyu go alone? Won’t he get beaten bloody by Yan Guihe and come running back crying?”

Yin Lang acted as if he hadn’t heard, turning his head to converse in low tones with ‘White Impermanence’ who had appeared outside at some point.

He had been away too long, and many matters that even Qin Xun didn’t have the authority to handle had piled up like a mountain. If not for the fact that Wu Mantuo could bring substantial benefits, Yin Lang wouldn’t have this leisure time to bicker with her.

“Tianji Daojun of Taihua Immortal Sect will enter the Seventeenth Hell around tomorrow. Venerable, should this subordinate intercept him?” the young man suggested.

In his view, with the Demonic Path in turbulence recently and their Venerable rarely coming out of seclusion, there wasn’t even enough time to handle internal demonic affairs—where was the leisure to play those ‘fighting and brawling’ games with the spiritual cultivators?

“No need. Tianji isn’t like those other spiritual cultivators who shout to kill upon seeing demonic cultivators. As long as it doesn’t involve the immortal sects, he won’t interfere with our affairs.” Yin Lang refused without hesitation.

“If he insists on seeing this Venerable, just tell him this Venerable is in secluded cultivation and won’t see anyone.”

The young man immediately caught the implication. “Venerable is going to… travel?”

Wu Mantuo finally found a chance to interject, saying first, “Where are you going? Take me with you.”

She narrowed her eyes, ‘suspicion’ written on her left cheek and ‘you’re not planning to run after scamming this lady, are you?’ on her right.

“To find someone who will cause trouble for the plan.” Yin Lang strode outward. “Aren’t you complaining that this Venerable moves too slowly?”

Yin Lang left, but Wu Mantuo was blocked by the young man codenamed ‘White Impermanence’ with a confused expression.

“Venerable said that after both he and Venerable Jiao leave, the Eighteenth Hell’s interior will be vulnerable. Just to be safe, Venerable Wu should remain stationed here. We will handle the trivial matters cleanly and certainly won’t trouble the Venerable.”

Wu Mantuo raised her eyebrows high and suddenly moved closer, originally wanting to see this person’s startled appearance. But unexpectedly, even when their lips were almost touching, the young man still showed no change in expression, even the arc of his smile remained constant.

“……” She narrowed her eyes, deliberately moving even closer, her warm breath on his ear as she softened her voice. “Should I say your Venerable is truly bold-hearted? Signing a simple blood contract and daring to let a Demon Venerable stay in his home base.”

The young man smiled silently, still firmly blocking Wu Mantuo’s path without moving.

It wasn’t until Wu Mantuo left in angry frustration that a cold-faced man in black clothes emerged from around the corridor corner, wearing an identical mask engraved with the four characters ‘Yi Jian Sheng Cai.’ (TL: Wealth Upon First Sight)

He stood beside the white-clothed young man, not saying a word.

Then the white-clothed young man suddenly laughed, a completely genuine laugh, the false facade melting like ice and snow, flowers blooming in an instant. He tilted his head to look at his partner and suddenly reached out to touch the mask on the other’s head.

The black-clothed man raised his hand to press it down and turned to look at him, still expressionless.

The white-clothed young man laughed even more happily, intimately leaning over with movements identical to what Wu Mantuo had done earlier. “Are you angry?”

“Don’t be like that. She’s Venerable’s guest, our Eighteenth Hell’s future ally. I couldn’t just push her away directly, could I?”

The black-clothed man pressed his mask and said dully, “Venerable wouldn’t be angry.”

After a pause, he added, “The masks, not switching back.”

“All right, all right, we won’t switch back.” The white-clothed young man chuckled and winked at him. “Then, my dear Ah Zheng, accompany me to the Seventeenth Hell?”

Ah Zheng said with confusion, “Venerable said it’s unnecessary.”

“Yes, yes, yes.” The white-clothed young man sighed helplessly. “Although Venerable said Tianji Daojun won’t cause trouble, we still need to be prepared just in case. Let’s go, let’s go~”

In a restaurant near the First Hell, Hua Tinglan leaned against the window, sighing endlessly.

The table before him was laden with delicacies, but he had no appetite at all. From time to time, he would glance at Chan Xin sitting across from him, slowly eating vegetarian food with chopsticks, and his sighs would grow even louder.

The nearby customers had all been sighed away, yet Chan Xin ate calmly and steadily, completely unaffected.

After eating his fill to seventy percent, Chan Xin gently set down his chopsticks and clasped his hands together. “Elder, there’s no need to be like this. If it’s truly difficult to accept, you may abandon this poor monk and leave.”

Hua Tinglan’s face was cold.

Heh, if this elder could just leave you and go, I’d certainly turn around and leave without a second’s hesitation.

The problem was, if Tiantai Buddhist Sect’s precious Buddha’s Child died here, wouldn’t this elder be hunted by those stinking monks until death! He wasn’t like Lu Li, that ostentatious peacock covered in countless treasures who could flee for hundreds of years without worry.

After working so hard to disguise his identity and infiltrate Tiantai Buddhist Sect for so many years, finally getting some news about the Primordial Jade fragments—if this got ruined, the Demon Lord would tear him alive after awakening!

The hateful thing was, he couldn’t explain the truth about Shen Muxuan going to fight Yin Lang to Chan Xin!

Chan Xin was born with a Buddha-heart, his mind transparent as crystal, unstained by dust. To protect the purity of his Buddha-heart, Tiantai Buddhist Sect protected Chan Xin so tightly that not even water could leak through. When he went out for training, a Tribulation stage elder must accompany him for protection.

This protection referred to both ‘physical’ and ‘spiritual’ protection.

Hua Tinglan was depressed.

Every time this happened, he was exceptionally envious of the two colleagues who went to the other two great immortal sects, especially Lu Li at the loosely-ruled Taihua Immortal Sect—that flowery peacock had been living so comfortably these years……

A breeze brushed past his face, and Hua Tinglan’s expression changed dramatically.

He immediately pulled Chan Xin behind him, spiritual power circulating madly throughout his body, and in the blink of an eye erected a massive defensive barrier, enveloping the entire restaurant within.

Boom——

A huge explosion sounded, and the entire restaurant turned into ruins in the blink of an eye.

The survivors looked at each other in confusion, no one knowing what had happened. The places where they’d been sitting or standing suddenly disappeared, and many people fell heavily from the second floor.

Hua Tinglan had no time to explain further to them. His expression grave, he looked up toward the rooftop across from the restaurant.

Holy shit, how did this guy find his way here???

The Demon Venerable’s red robes fluttered in the wind, black flames swirling around his entire body.

Meeting Hua Tinglan’s gaze, his expression seemed mocking as he mouthed some words.

——The great Venerable Tinglan of Tiantai Buddhist Sect, is this all you’re capable of?

Hua Tinglan had no time to pay attention to his taunts. His brows furrowed tightly as he stared intently at the red-robed figure on the opposite rooftop.

Why would the Seventh Venerable, with only mid-Tribulation stage cultivation, give him such immense pressure!

He was at the Great Perfection of the Tribulation stage!

However, the situation had reached this point, and Hua Tinglan had no more time for further thought.

After recognizing Yin Lang’s identity, the cultivators in the city quickly dispersed. Yin Lang didn’t stop them, his aura firmly locked onto the Buddha’s Child Chan Xin behind Hua Tinglan, ready to strike.

Hua Tinglan naturally sensed this and cursed the Seventh Venerable’s shamelessness in his heart.

If he were the one locked onto, with Hua Tinglan’s abilities, he could easily block a few moves, then take the opportunity to flee with Chan Xin, ideally running all the way back to Tiantai Buddhist Sect and shaking off this big trouble.

But now he didn’t dare move easily. He could guarantee that as long as Chan Xin’s figure appeared in the opponent’s line of sight, Yin Lang would launch an attack with lightning speed. The mere dozens of meters would be covered in an instant, and he wasn’t confident he could block it!

Hua Tinglan didn’t move, and Yin Lang didn’t move either. The two sides pretended to be wooden statues across the dozens of meters.

As time passed, the doubts in Hua Tinglan’s heart couldn’t stop bubbling up.

What exactly was this guy here for? Why hadn’t he made a move? They’d been standing here for nearly half a shichen, right?

Yet Yin Lang’s qi mechanism still tightly locked onto Chan Xin. Hua Tinglan dared neither move nor speak first, afraid that the moment he let his guard down, the opponent would launch a sneak attack.

The ground suddenly began to tremble slightly.

Hua Tinglan’s ears twitched. In the distance… it seemed someone else was also fighting?

Immediately after, he discovered that the sound was getting closer and closer.

“Hahahaha——” Someone laughed loudly while rapidly approaching this city.

Getting closer, Hua Tinglan could finally see the newcomer’s appearance clearly, and his eyelids immediately twitched, wishing he were blind.

One person was bare-chested, wielding a giant axe, his clothes in tatters with numerous greenish wounds scattered across his upper body. The other had green vertical-pupiled eyes, surrounded by dense dark green mist, with snake-like creatures occasionally emerging from the mist, hissing.

The Tenth Venerable Jiao Yuyu? The Third Venerable Yan Guihe? How could they appear here?

Before Hua Tinglan could voice his doubts, a sharp and familiar voice suddenly came from the previously empty sky. “Already at Ming City, Yuyu retreat! Let Adoptive Mother handle this fellow!”

Next, from behind the clouds emerged a figure Hua Tinglan found extremely familiar—lightly dressed, with an alluring figure. Though the face was rather unfamiliar, that coquettish aura in the bones was something he’d recognize even if it turned to ash!

How was Hu Yunu also here? And mixed up with those two Demon Venerables? Shouldn’t she be living it up at Jietian Dao Sect right now?

Jiao Yuyu responded loudly, brought down his axe and immediately retreated. Turning his head, he spotted Yin Lang standing on the rooftop and nearly slipped. “Yin Lang?”

Hu Yunu had developed a conditioned reflex to this name over the past two days. Her peach blossom eyes immediately swept over and happened to meet the round eyes of a certain colleague.

Hua Tinglan: ……

Hu Yunu: ……

At this moment, they simultaneously cursed in their hearts.

Yan Guihe wasn’t stupid either. Although he’d been enraged by Jiao Yuyu, he had weighed the risks and benefits before pursuing all this way. Before coming, he had even arranged for capable subordinates to follow quickly.

He was confident that with his Great Perfection Tribulation stage cultivation, unless any Dao Integration level expert emerged from seclusion or three or more Great Perfection Tribulation stage experts joined forces, no one in Lantian Continent could easily take his life.

So even upon discovering this was indeed a trap, Yan Guihe showed no panic.

He sneered at Yin Lang. “Seventh Venerable, why are you alone? Didn’t Wu Mantuo come along?”

His gaze swept over everyone, directly ignoring Chan Xin with his weak aura and Hua Tinglan and Hu Yunu who were using secret methods to disguise their false auras and appearances. He mocked, “Two mid-Tribulation stages, one early-Tribulation stage—could it be you think that with just you three, you can do anything to this Venerable?”

He laughed until his body shook, and the green misty snake in his hand gradually took form.

“A frog at the bottom of a well, how can it understand the vastness of the heavens!”

The laughter stopped abruptly. Yan Guihe shouted and the water-barrel-thick misty snake shot out, charging straight at Yin Lang!

Yin Lang raised an eyebrow slightly. Black flames surged around his body, spreading along his spear shaft and condensing at the spear tip.

He pointed the spear tip forward, charging head-on without hesitation!

At the instant the spear tip and poisonous snake were about to collide—

Clang——

A magnificent long sword inlaid with gold and jade flew from beyond the heavens, piercing through Yan Guihe’s poisonous snake first.

Half the sword body plunged into the ground, the sword tassel swaying slightly. As if summoned, it suddenly rose from the ground and flew toward the sky as a stream of light.

Everyone’s gazes moved with the long sword.

On the ruined city wall stood a snow-robed immortal lord with a smile. A spot of crimson between his brows, silver chains and the sword tassel in his palm swaying together in the wind.

Facing everyone’s attention, he made an “ah” sound and showed an apologetic expression. “I originally just detoured here temporarily after hearing the commotion, but unexpectedly……”

He slowly shifted his gaze, glancing lightly at Yin Lang.

“However, since Venerable Yin is also here, it’s Heaven’s blessing—it saves me an extra trip to the Eighteenth Hell.”

He raised his sword-wielding right arm with a smile. “Since that’s the case, why don’t you just comply with Shen’s wishes, Venerable Yin.”