Thousand Dusts Ferry Me - Chapter 67

Yu Beiting ultimately obtained that landscape painting. Xie Junze could no longer maintain his composure, yet he still could not resist the Taihua Golden Liquid.

“Those who understand the times are the wise ones” – this saying was perhaps the guiding principle of the entire Huayang Sect. As long as the price was right, they would tie up their own parents’ hands and feet to sell them.

Yu Beiting returned to his residence carrying the painting. Upon entering, he noticed a large white porcelain jar placed on the cabinet by the door. He lifted the red lid and retrieved a Bigu Pill from within.

This Bigu Pill had darkened in color due to prolonged storage.

Yu Beiting seemed to think of something and suddenly smiled with the corner of his mouth.

Then he leaned against the table, spread out the scroll, and carefully appreciated it. After finishing his appreciation, he surprisingly lit a fire and burned this priceless ancient painting.

Suddenly, the sound of bells rang from outside.

Yu Beiting’s expression became serious. He formed a hand seal to clean up the painting’s ashes, then pushed open the door and walked out of his room. In the distance, he saw a golden talisman flying swiftly toward him like a point of starlight.

He reached out to catch the talisman. After the talisman dispersed, Xie Junze’s voice came from the air: “Someone has trespassed into the forbidden area of Guizhen Cave.”

****

The formation outside Guizhen Cave was much more complex than that of Lanji Palace. Yun Qing spent considerable effort breaking through the formation.

After breaking the formation, she said with a solemn expression, “We have probably been discovered. We must fight quickly and decisively.”

The group flashed into Guizhen Cave. Though they had prepared themselves mentally, they still couldn’t help but change their expressions upon stepping inside.

The reason was simple – within Guizhen Cave, all cultivation was forbidden.

It turned out that beneath Guizhen Cave lay a massive naturally-formed Spirit-Suppressing Jade Stone, rarely seen in the world. Within a certain range of the jade stone, cultivation would be suppressed.

When Huayang Zi discovered this place years ago, he transformed it into a place for quiet meditation. The name “Guizhen Cave” carried the meaning of “returning to simplicity and truth,” signifying that when people did not rely on any cultivation, they could comprehend the most fundamental and basic principles of heaven and earth.

Guizhen Peak was also named after Guizhen Cave.

Later, Guizhen Cave became a place where errant disciples would face the wall in contemplation, departing from Huayang Zi’s original intention.

After stepping into Guizhen Cave, Yun Qing felt her qi sea congeal as if frozen, returning to the state before she began cultivating. She couldn’t help but feel secretly amazed.

In the center of Guizhen Cave, within a massive black iron cage, Hanlu Zi stood with her hands behind her back, facing the talismans on the cave wall in contemplation. Hearing the shuffling footsteps entering from outside, she turned to look.

Four young people, all appearing to be around twenty years old. Among them was a red-robed woman with a black cat perched on her shoulder – no matter how one looked at it, it seemed rather improper.

Her cloudy eyes reflected the candlelight within the cave. Hanlu Zi looked at these young people with her hands behind her back and said coldly, “What trick is Jiang Binghe playing now?” Her voice was aged and hoarse, like wind-eroded pebbles.

Yun Qing knew there was no time for lengthy explanations and simply said, “Senior, we have come to rescue you.”

“Rescue me?” Hanlu Zi looked at them with a strange expression, then furrowed her greyish-white eyebrows and said irritably, “I don’t need anyone to rescue me. You should leave.”

Yun Qing acted as if she hadn’t heard these words and walked to the cage, asking, “How does this cage open?”

The four of them searched around the cage in a circle. The iron cage had no door or lock – it was seamlessly integrated, with no apparent way to break it open.

Hanlu Zi became somewhat impatient. “This cage cannot be opened. You should hurry up and get lost.”

Fu Xue couldn’t help but say, “Hey, how can you not recognize good intentions?”

Yun Qing drew her Cangye Sword and swung it at the cage. With a clang, sparks flew, but the iron bars as thick as an inch only showed a white mark.

Seeing this, Cheng Suiyan also drew his sword to try. The Beihai Sword carried heavier momentum than the Cangye Sword, but it also only left a slightly thicker white mark.

Hanlu Zi watched as if observing some farce, her face darkening as she said:

“I don’t care who you are. You must have felt it too – cultivation cannot flow within this Guizhen Cave.

This iron cage is forged from tens of thousands of pounds of Cold Iron. Jiang Binghe spent countless efforts to trap me here. How could a few ignorant children like you break it?

I have no time to play house with you. Go play elsewhere if you want to play. While Jiang Binghe hasn’t arrived yet, hurry up and get lost!”

“I don’t believe it.” Cheng Suiyan stubbornly threw his Beihai Sword to the ground.

The heavy sword crashed onto the ground with a loud clang. Even Hanlu Zi, standing inside the cage, could feel the slight tremor transmitted through the ground. She looked at the giant sword on the ground with surprise.

After throwing his sword, Cheng Suiyan rolled up his sleeves. “Let me try.”

Hanlu Zi angrily said, “Can’t you understand human speech? What did you eat, boy? You grew such a big body but didn’t grow a brain?”

Cheng Suiyan gripped two iron bars, clenched his teeth, and began to exert force.

As his strength gradually increased, his eyes grew wider and wider, light bursting from them, as if the corners of his eyes were about to split.

Hanlu Zi said, “I already told you that cultivation is forbidden in this Guizhen Cave! Do you have an extra qi sea compared to others? You——“

Her words suddenly stopped.

As this reckless youth exerted force, the iron bars visibly began to bend.

This time it was Hanlu Zi’s turn to widen her eyes.

Due to excessive exertion, veins bulged on the young man’s forehead, blood filled the corners of his eyes, his eyeballs protruded, bursting with light like an Asura. Under his hands, the iron bars gradually became more and more bent, while Hanlu Zi’s mouth opened wider and wider.

She watched helplessly as he used his bare hands to pry open a gap in the iron cage large enough for a thin woman to pass through.

Yun Qing noticed that Hanlu Zi had chains piercing through her collarbones, and these chains were connected to the bottom of the cage. Fortunately, the chains were far less thick than the cage bars. She said to Hanlu Zi, “Senior, come closer and let Suiyan help you break the chains.”

Hanlu Zi still had her mouth open, walking closer in a somewhat dazed manner. Cheng Suiyan held his breath, grasped the two chains, and yanked forcefully – the chains broke directly!

Just like that, Hanlu Zi, with chains still on her shoulders, was helped out of the cage by Yun Qing and Fu Xue, silently following the group as they walked out of Guizhen Cave.

As soon as they exited the cave entrance, Ci Li on Yun Qing’s shoulder rolled to the ground and transformed into human form.

Having been deprived of sunlight for too long, Hanlu Zi couldn’t help but shield her eyes with her palm. Feeling the misty mountain scenery around her, hearing the chirping of birds, and breathing fresh air after so long, it felt like a lifetime had passed.

Her qi sea was released from its restrictions and began to become active again. Cultivation flowed throughout her body, and this familiar feeling made Hanlu Zi laugh out loud with excitement. After laughing, her eyes reddened.

“Who are you people exactly?” she asked everyone.

Yun Qing said, “There’s no time to explain now. We should leave this place first.”

Suddenly, a cold laugh came from not far away. “Leave? None shall leave today!”