Zanxing (Retranslated)

Chapter 123 - Coaxing (2)

On the walls of the stone chamber, a layer of green light suddenly emerged, floating on the walls. Upon closer inspection, it was discovered that from the overhead stone wall to the walls on all sides, there were characters floating. These characters were deeply engraved, seemingly carved with the tip of a sword, emitting a mesmerizing glow.

Zanxing looked at the injured arm of Gu Baiying and said, “Martial Uncle, your blood…”

The change in the stone chamber occurred when Gu Baiying’s blood dripped onto the ground. Did his blood trigger the mechanism here?

Gu Baiying was also surprised, carefully staring at the characters on the stone wall.

Zanxing also followed suit, but these characters were not ordinary text. They were symbols, resembling the doodles of a three-year-old child with a stick. At first glance, they seemed a bit sloppy, with lines crisscrossing, making it difficult to discern anything special about them.

It seemed somewhat like deciphering a secret code.

Mimi, upon seeing the glowing words on the wall, became curious and walked around to squat in front of the wall, scratching it a few times with her paw. With just a few scratches, her paw left a glowing mark on the wall of the stone chamber, startling the cat.

Zanxing was perplexed, unable to make sense of it for a while, so she had to ask Gu Baiying beside her, “Martial Uncle, did you gain anything?”

Gu Baiying gazed at the characters in the stone chamber, his expression somewhat solemn. He raised his hand and ran his fingertips over the glowing characters. After a moment, he withdrew his hand and hesitantly spoke, “This seems to be a martial arts technique.”

“Martial arts?” Zanxing looked at the marks on the wall. “How does this resemble martial arts?”

“It’s not exactly a martial arts technique,” he said. “It seems more like a demonstration of moves, but only half of it.”

With his explanation, Zanxing began to understand. Each martial arts manual would automatically change its form according to the owner’s characteristics. Her Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff was recorded in text form, while the markings on the wall were similar to Tian Fangfang’s Dragon-Slaying Technique, illustrating the moves straightforwardly. Of course, the owner’s drawing skills didn’t seem to be very good. Could this be the manual left behind by the owner of this stone chamber?

“Could it be that we have to learn these moves in order to leave?” Zanxing was puzzled. “But it’s only half, how are we supposed to learn?”

Mu Cengxiao was the protagonist, so even if he obtained a fragment of the Five Elements Shattering Divine Technique, he could complete it through various fortuitous encounters. But now, Zanxing and Gu Baiying were just ordinary passersby. Moreover, this stone chamber was so small that even if they wanted to find opportunities, they couldn’t find them here.

Gu Baiying summoned the Xiu Gu Spear and swept it across the blank space on the stone wall. Instantly, a glowing spear mark was left on the wall.

“As I expected,” he said. “It seems that we can only leave here by completing the moves.”

Zanxing widened her eyes slightly, feeling that this condition was too confusing. She looked at the several walls of the chamber, feeling a headache coming on. “Did the owner of this chamber overestimate the people who end up here? We don’t even know what these moves are, how can we complete them? Besides, even if we knew, we might not be able to perform them well. I only know the Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff, but the techniques on these walls are not…” Her voice abruptly stopped.

Gu Baiying turned his head. “What’s wrong?”

“Martial Uncle,” Zanxing looked at him, her gaze filled with disbelief. “These are the techniques of Qing’e Flower-Picking Staff.”

The glowing traces on the walls of the stone chamber depicted the unfamiliar techniques of a martial art, appearing chaotic at first glance. However, upon closer inspection, they matched the martial art she had in her consciousness.

Zanxing drew her Panhua Staff from her waist.

She swung the staff while reciting, “Look, rise to the fourth level, a three-step advance thrust, a sweeping advance, a hu sound, a staff to the knee, a dragging staff to switch to a hidden hand… a knee strike, a double push…”

With each swing of her Panhua Staff, the glowing marks on the wall became brighter. As Zanxing’s movements quickened, the brilliance in the entire chamber grew stronger, dimming the illuminating symbols until the whole chamber was as bright as day.

Gu Baiying’s gaze shifted slightly.

“Change hands and strike upwards for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, advance with five-flower rolls and strike the brocade rug. Stir a pole. Thrust a staff. Retreat with five-flower rolls and welcome a turn on horseback and offer the Vajra Shovel.”

With her final words, a dazzling light burst forth from the center of the chamber, engulfing the two of them. In an instant, as if a doorway had suddenly appeared in the void, they were violently pulled inside. Zanxing managed to grab onto Mimi’s tail just before being engulfed, feeling herself enveloped by a gust of wind.

Boom—

The entrance to something was opened.

*

Deep within the Wudong Mountain, there erupted a deafening roar.

The startled birds in the jungle fluttered in disarray, countless mountain beasts rushed out of their dens, and even the Celestial Song Vine, which usually scared people with its female voice, ceased its singing.

The cultivators who were fleeing in all directions from the fierce fire of the Jinhua Tiger suddenly heard this sound and turned their heads towards the direction of the tiger’s den, asking, “What’s going on?”

“Could it be Gu Baiying and the others…” Pu Tao from the Xiang Ling Sect was taken aback.

“Sister, let’s not worry about that for now. Once this spiritual fire touches us, it can’t be extinguished. We must quickly escape from the Wudong Mountain!”

Although the Jinhua Tiger’s cultivation was not enough to leave the cultivators helpless, the spiritual fire it breathed out caused them quite a bit of trouble. These spiritual fires were intelligent and relentlessly pursued them. At the moment, except for a few people from the Taiyan Sect, the members of other sects had already fled outside the Wudong Mountain.

“Phew!” In a pool of water, a soaking wet head emerged. Tian Fangfang spat out the water weeds in his mouth and sighed in relief. “The water in this pond is indeed effective against fire. Damn it, finally put out these flames!”

Meng Ying and a few others also surfaced.

The spiritual fire breathed out by the Jinhua Tiger couldn’t be extinguished by ordinary river water. Near the Dragon Tooth Tree, there was a pond with abundant spiritual energy. It was Meng Dong who, using his divine sense, discerned the extraordinary nature of this water and instructed them to jump in and extinguish the spiritual fire that had been chasing them all the way.

Meng Ying glanced into the distance, her eyes narrowing. “The people from other sects have all left.”

“Those cowards!” Tian Fangfang cursed. “They’re scared off by a little fire, afraid of implicating themselves.”

“We can’t leave,” Meng Dong’s head was topped with a bunch of water weeds, which he didn’t bother to tidy up at the moment, looking distressed almost to the point of tears. “Martial Uncle and Yang Zanxing are still in the tiger’s den. We must rescue them!”

“Don’t worry, we won’t leave them behind.” Mu Cengxiao looked towards the direction of the tiger’s den. “It’s just…”

Just that, since the moment Yang Zanxing and Gu Baiying fell into the black abyss in the tiger’s den, it closed up, and there was no trace to be found, as if it had never existed.

Where exactly did they go?

*

Zanxing had a dream.

In the dream, there were clouds and mist, with a woman in white dancing lightly and a man in brocade robes standing under a flowering tree with their backs to her, engaged in conversation. She wanted to hear what they were saying clearly. However, the woman seemed to sense someone approaching, and was about to turn around—