bullyxtreme Chapter 145 If Life Could Only Be Like Our First Meeting (4)
Chapter 145 If Life Could Only Be Like Our First Meeting (4)
Li Tingyun doesn't choose the days when he goes to the local area.
Regardless of whether it's around the Ghost Festival or not, regardless of whether the gates of hell are wide open, he can go there.
On that day, he not only went alone, but also brought Mei Shiyu with him.
He contrivedly made Mei Shiyu take a disguise pill to change her appearance.
In his own words, "There are too many demons and monsters in this place. If you show your face like this, you'll easily attract some unclean things."
Mei Shiyu had been to this territory before, so he naturally knew these rules. Last time he went to this territory to retrieve the Fenjing Sword, he was disguised, so there was no need for him to go to the trouble of explaining.
Li Tingyun's insistence on bringing it up made Mei Shiyu feel a bit strange.
Mei Shiyu asked, "What does it mean to 'seduce' unclean things?"
Li Tingyun explained, "It's meant to attract attention. Anyway, you shouldn't reveal your true face."
Mei Shiyu said, "And what about you? You just swaggered in like that, not only without concealing your appearance, but also 'casually' dealt with a patrol of ghost soldiers along the way. If no one told you, people would think you were the Emperor of Fengdu, running wild on your own territory."
Li Tingyun smiled and said, "This is indeed not my territory, but if I want to run wild here, even the Ghost Emperor of Fengdu can't do anything about it."
Mei Shiyu said, "In that case, I should be perfectly safe staying by your side. Why should I be afraid of 'seducing' some unclean things? Besides, although there are many demons and monsters in the underworld, they don't seem that scary compared to the Taiji Palace."
Li Tingyun's smile deepened. "You're right. With me by your side, you don't need to worry about any safety issues. Okay, I admit it, I'm not afraid that you'll attract any evil spirits or trouble. I'm just afraid that you're too good-looking and beautiful, and that someone might have their eye on you... that wouldn't be good."
Of course, it's not that he's bad, but the person he's thinking about will definitely die a very tragic death.
Mei Shiyu said, "Please watch your words. Words like 'good-looking' and 'pretty' are not suitable for describing men."
Li Tingyun said, "But it's very suitable for describing a beautiful woman, isn't it? A beautiful woman is not limited to men or women."
Mei Shiyu was silent for a moment, then said, "How can you always be so annoying?! Sigh, I guess that's one of your skills and strengths, you... bastard."
"Bastard? Haha, bastard? Bastard is good, bastard is not bad. Immortal Mei, I have finally heard a new swear word from your mouth."
Instead of being angry, Li Tingyun laughed, a rather twisted laugh, as if he had thoroughly enjoyed being scolded.
"I thought all you ever did was curse 'big bad guy' and 'annoying person'."
Mei Shiyu was furious. "Li Tingyun, your skin is thicker than the walls of the Gates of Hell!"
"No, I'm the most thin-skinned, because I—have absolutely no shame!"
Li Tingyun laughed heartily and strode away.
Mei Shiyu couldn't argue with him no matter what she did, so she got angry, chased after him, and shoved him aside, knocking him to the side of the road before walking ahead herself.
Li Tingyun had no choice but to follow behind him. When they passed a market, she grabbed his arm and said with a smile, "Immortal Mei, I'll apologize to you, okay?"
Mei Shiyu said, "How do you intend to apologize? At the very least, you should show some sincerity."
Li Tingyun said, "Last time you came to this territory, it was to retrieve the Fenjing Sword. I suppose you didn't have the leisure to stroll around the market. Coming to this territory and not visiting the market is like climbing Mount Tai and not seeing the sunrise; you'll miss out on ninety percent of the fun, which is a real pity."
Mei Shiyu said knowingly, "Do you want to take me to the border market? If you pay for everything, I'd be happy to. But you've come to this territory, you must have important business to attend to. Didn't you say you were going to the Demon Abyss? You still have time to look for fun? Aren't you afraid of causing unnecessary trouble?"
Li Tingyun said, "Of course, all expenses for this trip will be on me. Otherwise, how can it be called an 'apology'? As for what I need to do, it's not that important. It doesn't matter whether I go to the Demon Abyss one more time or one less time. Even if I go there, I will go alone. The reason I brought you to this territory is not so that you would accompany me to the Demon Abyss."
Mei Shiyu thought to herself: I don't even want to come to the local area, let alone go to the Demon Abyss again. I had no choice but to agree to come with you in a daze!
"Li Tingyun, to get to the Demon Abyss, you must pass through the Eighteen Levels of Hell, which are truly dangerous..."
He looked into Li Tingyun's eyes and said, "Why do you insist on going to the Demon Abyss? The Demon Abyss is a place of evil spirits, with no cultivation resources to use. Instead, it hides some inexplicable and sinister things. It is bottomless, and if you fall off a cliff, you will never come back."
Mei Shiyu continued, "The last time I approached the Demon Abyss, my cultivation was suppressed. I felt I had plenty of strength, but I couldn't use it at all. Fortunately, the Dividing Scenery Sword didn't fall into the abyss, but was stuck horizontally on a cliff. I couldn't fly on the sword, so I climbed over with my bare hands. There seemed to be a huge suction force at the bottom of the abyss, and I almost fell in!"
He chuckled softly as he spoke of the urgency of the situation, saying, "If I had fallen, I wouldn't have the chance to stand here today chatting and laughing with you. It was really dangerous back then; I was just a hair's breadth away from losing my life."
Li Tingyun's gaze grew increasingly deep as he asked, "So, how did you escape this calamity?"
Mei Shiyu said, "Actually, I'm not really sure either. I felt like something lifted me up, but when I looked back, there was nothing there. Logically, I should thank 'it,' even though 'it' is not a benevolent creature. When 'it' approached me, I clearly felt a terrifying aura."
“I always felt that ‘it’ should be a huge monster. I’ve heard the legend of ‘a dragon in the abyss’. It is said that an ancient monster is sealed at the bottom of the Demon Abyss. Some people say that although it looks like a monster, it is not a monster. It is likely a demon. Others say that it was the previous Ghost Emperor of Fengdu. It failed to cultivate into a demon and was suppressed instead. But no matter what, there should be a monster entrenched and guarding the Demon Abyss in the underworld.”
"I climbed up the cliff to get the Fenjing Sword. I felt a chill down my spine, which was probably caused by this monster. Maybe it had been circling behind me for a while, or maybe it was looking for another chance to eat me. But I couldn't care less at the time. I just wanted to pull the Fenjing Sword out of the crevice before anything happened."
Li Tingyun laughed and said, "You're really lucky. You weren't eaten by this monster. In fact, it even caught you when you were about to fall. Even though it's not a benevolent creature, it doesn't seem to have any ill intentions towards you. So why do you think it's so scary?"
Mei Shiyu frowned. "Because I know nothing about it, its appearance is too mysterious. It's only natural to be afraid and wary of the unknown. Besides, that monster doesn't seem to be helping me intentionally. I feel like it's 'rubbing' against me, trying to push me off..."
He sighed heavily. "To be honest, I have several scratches on my body that haven't healed yet. It seems that the wounds that monster left on people are very difficult to heal."
“So, it really isn’t a good thing,” Li Tingyun’s eyes darkened, and his voice turned cold. “It deserves to be taught a lesson.”
Mei Shiyu asked, "You often go to the Demon Abyss, have you ever seen this monster? Has it ever caused you trouble? But you seem to be stronger than it, so you're still alive and well. You go to the Demon Abyss every few days, you've almost become friends with it, haven't you?"
Li Tingyun found his words amusing. What "friends"? He never made friends with anyone.
Li Tingyun said, "No, I'm different from you. Although I always go to the Demon Abyss, I never go near cliffs. I don't like standing in such high places. So, I haven't had much contact with that monster at the bottom of the abyss."
His words were a mixture of truth and falsehood, but he spoke so sincerely that Mei Shiyu had no doubts.
"Then what are you going to do in the Demon Abyss?" Mei Shiyu asked curiously. "Are you going to use the abundant demonic energy there to find a place to cultivate nearby?"
Li Tingyun said, "Yes, you are very clever and guessed very accurately."
Mei Shiyu said, "If you do this, will the Emperor of Fengdu have no objections?"
Li Tingyun said, "It was there at first, but then it wasn't. He's very pragmatic."
The mighty Ghost Emperor, who had cultivated demonic arts for thousands of years, was described as "pragmatic" by a brat who was only two or three hundred years old. If the Ghost Emperor heard this, he would probably faint from anger...
However, even if he fainted from anger, he still couldn't have any objections.
Li Tingyun added, "Actually, if I had known you were going to the Demon Abyss to retrieve the sword, I would have brought it back for you long ago. It would have been a convenient trip, and you wouldn't have suffered such a serious injury."
The time that the Dividing Scene Sword was left in the Demon Abyss was longer than his age.
He thought the Dao Xuan Sect had long since stopped caring about this thing.
Mei Shiyu sighed, “But at that time, we weren’t friends. I had only heard of your great name in the cultivation world, but I didn’t know you personally or what you looked like. How could I possibly ask you for help? Even if we were friends at that time, I would not ask a friend to do such a dangerous thing for me.”
From his perspective, venturing into the eighteenth level of hell and climbing cliffs to draw a sword is far more thrilling and exciting than climbing mountains of knives or wading through seas of fire.
Even though Li Tingyun thought it was no big deal, Mei Shiyu knew very well that there would be a price to pay to accomplish this. The only difference was that the price he paid was much higher than that of Li Tingyun.
But no one is born to be the one to pay the price for another person's decisions.
Even if the two are friends, it won't work.
This kind of favor is incredibly heavy, involving life and death, and friendships; it's truly something one cannot afford to bear.
Li Tingyun was slightly surprised. "Friend? You already consider me a friend?"
Mei Shiyu said, "Hmm... I don't know, but I think so. You're not my family or my fellow disciple, but we see each other all the time, so we're pretty close, right? If I don't treat you as a 'special friend,' then I can only treat you like the other people in the Taiji Hall, as the Hall Master and my boss."
Li Tingyun said, "My immediate superior? No need for that. I'm not above you, not your superior. But you said... you consider me a special friend. The word 'special' is quite intriguing. Can you tell me just how 'special' our relationship is?"
Mei Shiyu said frankly, "I never befriend evil and crooked people. You are the first, so you are very special."
Li Tingyun was a little disappointed. It turned out to be this kind of "special" situation. It sounded like a respectable young man had mistakenly entered the world of prostitution and made friends with a local thug... He was Mei Shiyu's only hoodlum friend, which was quite a special status, making people both laugh and cry.
As the two chatted and laughed, they entered the market and went quite a distance inside.
Perhaps their timing was inappropriate, or perhaps the local customs of the border market they chose were rather conservative, cold, and desolate, unlike the descriptions Mei Shiyu had heard from outsiders that "the ghost market is just like the human world," "it's full of life," and "humans and ghosts mingle, and yin and yang are indistinguishable."
Suddenly, Li Tingyun asked, "Are you following me?"
Mei Shiyu asked curiously, "Otherwise what? Didn't you bring me in? Of course I'm going with you."
Li Tingyun stopped abruptly, let out a rare sigh, and said, "But I followed you. Wherever you looked, I assumed you wanted to go. That's how we ended up in this godforsaken, godforsaken place."