by La Mi Tu
“Elder, no matter how much Immortal cream you want, we have it. However, don’t forget our conditions!” Taji Guli stood up and went next to elder Teng Yuan. That time, her left hand was cut off by Feng Qi Qi. Now, it had been replaced by a dark iron hook.
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Zhen: I, used by the emperor
Chapter 195: The Cheap Trio
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Taji Guli stroked the hook on her left hand. Her gaze was on elder Teng Yuan’s face. Because she had a side of her face towards him, the tattoo on her left face glowed mysteriously under the light. Elder Teng Yuan smiled, reached out and wanted to touch the hook on Taji Guli’s left hand, but he was dodged by Taji Guli.
“I just wanted to see if this iron hook was suitable!” Elder Teng Yuan’s wrinkled face smiled like a blooming chrysanthemum. “I’m really a genius! I gave you such a good weapon! Girl, you should thank me!”
The iron hook on Taji Guli’s left hand was designed by elder Teng Yuan after she came to White Bird mountain and met him. Although, Taji Guli felt that it was a bit uncomfortable with such a thing on her left hand, but it was better than an empty broken hand. Especially after she tried the power of the iron hook, she had become more and more skillful at using it.
“If you want me to truly thank you, then help us. By then, we will give you whatever you want!”
Seeing that the moment Taji Guli opened her mouth, she will mention their pact, elder Teng Yuan leaned on the pillow and put more tobacco in the pipe.
“Alright! I know what you all are saying! Isn’t it just about that I shouldn’t agree on curing the gu?! Rest assured, leave it to me. Even if Gu De is the chief, we, these elders also have the right to vote. If I don’t agree, this matter won’t go so easily! Not to mention how difficult the three tests are! Even a high-skilled person would be guaranteed to be gone forever!”
‘Kuang…’ Taji Guli’s hook nailed in the wooden table in front of elder Teng Yuan. The sudden murderous aura scared him so much that the tobacco pouch in his hand almost loosened. He looked again and saw that Taji Guli was looking at him full of anger.
“How many times have I told you that Feng Cang is my man! I absolutely won’t allow anyone to touch him! Did you hear clearly?!”
That overbearing tone matched with Taji Guli’s ferocious looking face caused elder Teng Yuan’s brow to quiver for two to three seconds. Then, he laughed, “A man who needs the protection of a woman is still a man?”
This statement undoubtedly ignited the fire in Taji Guli’s heart. How could she accept the other party talking like this about Feng Cang?! In Taji Guli’s Feng Cang was a perfect incarnation. Even if the person in front of her was Qiang tribe’s elder, but he couldn’t even be compared to a small finger of Feng Cang.
“Feng Cang is not such a man! He’s a hero!”
“Oh…” Elder Teng Yuan lengthened his tone. His voice was full of mockery, “Then, you are imagining that your love is reciprocated?”
Just when elder Teng Yuan was happy that he found the answer, Taji Guli’s hook caught his collar and brought this thin and old man to her face. “Try say that once again.”
Elder Teng Yuan was right, but it was precisely because he pointed out Taji Guli’s heart that let her fly into rage out of humiliation. She didn’t like people seeing through her inner thoughts. Feng Cang had become her hero for many years. She admits that she likes him, but when these words were spoken out by elder Teng Yuan, it changed taste. It was like she was a woman who couldn’t be brought out in the open. She didn’t want that!
“Don’t get angry. Don’t get angry!”
Elder Teng Yuan hadn’t been scared. Instead, he put his mouth on the pipe and inhaled two times. “Comfortable! So comfortable!”
“If you continue to say nonsense, I will make it so that you can never be comfortable again!” The calmer the other party was, the angrier Taji Guli got. These two people; one was like water and one was like fire that couldn’t mix together and be at a state of mutual hostility.
Seeing Taji Guli like this, Duyi put away the box with the cream and pulled Taji Guli to a side.
“Elder, she’s hot-tempered like this. Forgive her!”
“I never haggle with a woman! Women are to be pampered and loved! However…” Elder Teng Yuan swept once over Taji Guli. “I like the gentle and kind-hearted women of our Qiang tribe better. I don’t like such a tigress!”
“Who did you say is a tigress?!”
Taji Guli stood up. She had been forced to hide here for many days. The anger in her heart was already like a thriving volcano and waiting to explode. Now elder Teng Yuan said these words was clearly looking for trouble.
Elder Teng Yuan smiled at Taji Guli’s temper. His mouth made ‘cheche’ sounds. Then, a worm crawled out from his right ear. This was a fat worm with a pair of small wings on its back. Compared with its fat body, these pair of wings were a bit comical. It was just, after the three people on the scene saw the worm, they couldn’t laugh. Especially Taji Guli. She tried her best to suppress the anger in her heart.
“Ah Gu, don’t be afraid! This sister’s temper is just a bit cranky. Don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid!”
Elder Teng Yuan reached out to let the worm crawl on his hand. This worm was blue as the sky. The wings were lovely pink.
“I raised my ah Gu for forty-three years. Look, don’t you think he’s very cute?”
Elder Teng Yuan looked smilingly at the three people in front of him. Especially when he looked at Taji Guli, his gaze paused for a long time. “Good ah Gu, meet father’s new friends!”
That gu worm seemed like it could understand elder Teng Yuan. It flashed its wings and flew to Duyi.
For a moment, Duyi held his breath.
Don’t look down on this worm because it looked cute and seemed like fun to play with. It is a real gu worm. Especially when Duyi heard that this worm was raised by elder Teng Yuan for forty-three years, the way he looked at the worm changed. Forty-three years, it had almost become perfect!
If it was somewhere else, Duyi would’ve certainly picked up such a special worm and studied it. However, here is White Bird mountain and the Qiang tribe’s territory. Here, any worm could be a gu. It could be that you didn’t even know that you already got the gu. So, it’s natural to stay as far away as possible!
“Elder, Guli was just joking with you!” Duyi smiled but his expression was very stiff. He was afraid that this gu would fell on him.
“Joking? I know, I didn’t haggle with the little girl! I only wanted to let you meet my baby ah Gu…” Elder Teng Yuan continued to smoke on the pipe. His eyes were closed. He had an expression that he was enjoying it very much.
“Hey, old man, if you’re unhappy, then come at me! Why use a worm to dress up as god and play the devil?”
Dress up as god and play the devil: to mystify/ play tricks
Taji Guli didn’t like elder Teng Yuan from the very beginning. She felt that this person was too ‘insidious’ and didn’t look like an honest person. Now, seeing that he took out his gu, Taji Guli felt more disgusted. She hated being threatened the most; especially by a worm!
“Guli, shut up!”
As the leader of the three, Longze Jing Tian issued an order at the most critical moment. He stood up and cupped his fists at elder Teng Yuan to apologize, “Just now, it was our fault. Asking elder to please pardon us!”
Although, it had been a while since they met elder Teng Yuan, but Longze Jing Tian still couldn’t see through this elder. He’s the most prestigious elder of the Qiang tribe, but he doesn’t do things according to common sense. Sometimes he was honest, sometimes he was evil. He was crazy and somewhat insane.
It was precisely because of this character that Longze Jing Tian boldly put all his hopes on elder Teng Yuan. He didn’t want much. He only wanted to get Feng Qi Qi. Of course, it would be better if they could kill Feng Cang.
It was just, Taji Guli couldn’t bear to see Feng Cang in trouble. So, they reached a
n agreement. He will get Feng Qi Qi; Taji Guli will get Feng Cang. As for Duyi, Longze Jing Tian promised him that after he (LJT) had killed Ming Yue Cheng and restored Xi Qi, he will give Duyi the position of the highest teacher of the state.
Longze Jing Tian had always believed that there were no permanent enemies in this world. There were only eternal interests. For example, the three of them. They were originally people who would’ve never crossed paths with each other, but for a common interest, they aligned together. Before reaching the goal, the three of them were a small group. If any side encountered a problem, the two other parties must use every effort to remedy the situation. This was where the significance of the alliance lies.
The politeness of Longze Jing Tian was a stark contrast to Taji Guli. Elder Teng Yuan nodded and smoked twice again. He made two ‘cheche’ sounds. The fat worm flew back and stopped at elder Teng Yuan’s ear.
“Go back to sleep!”
After hearing elder Teng Yuan, the worm made two ‘googoo’ sounds and went into his earholes. The whole process was horrifying. Taji Guli almost vomited. She had never seen such a disgusting worm and such a nauseating way.
If it wasn’t because Longze Jing Tian said that this was their last resort, Taji Guli would’ve never lived in such a sick place. She grew up on the prairie. When had she seen so many worms? Ever since she stayed at White Bird mountain, Taji Guli had seen a variety of worms. Whether it was the flying or crawling worms, all made her feel sick. Not to mention that these worms could be the terrifying gu.
“Ha…,” Seeing that Taji Guli didn’t like here, elder Teng Yuan just chuckled. After he smoked a bag of tobacco, carefully cleaned the residue of the tobacco and knocked the ashes from the pipe, he finally put away the tobacco contentedly.
“You don’t want Feng Cang to die, but he had decided to go through the three tests to save his son. By then, even if you couldn’t bear to see something happen to the person you love, I’m afraid that it wouldn’t go as your wishes. Not to mention the mountains of daggers and the sea of flames, even if he is lucky and could survive till the end, the dragon pool is not somewhere anyone can enter. In this century, there had only been three people of our tribe who had passed these three tests successfully. I’m one of them.”
When he mentioned that he had passed the mountains of daggers, seas of flames and the dragon pool, elder Teng Yuan’s eyes obviously showed pride. Because he had passed these three tests, he was able to become the elder of Qiang tribe and became the person people admired. Even the new chief Gu De failed to pass the three tests smoothly!
Taji Guli didn’t know what these three tests are, but when she heard that these three tests would be unfavorable to Feng Cang, she was a bit anxious. “Is there any way to resolve t? Nothing should happen to Feng Cang! Absolutely not!”
“Tsk, tsk, didn’t you just say that he wasn’t a man who needed the protection of a woman?! Since it was like that, then let him get through them himself! Life and death are ruled by fate; riches and honor are decided by heaven! If you want to achieve something without paying an equal price, how could you get what you want?”
Chapter 196: The Black Hearted Wolf
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Black hearted means ruthless and lacking in conscience.
These words coming from elder Teng Yuan were merciless but also inevitable and right. His system of values was like this. To elder Teng Yuan, life was all about equivalent exchanges. You want to get rid of the gu, no problem, then, do it according to the rules of Qiang tribe.
However, when Taji Guli heard these words, they were a cold rejoice in another people’s calamity. If the three tests were really so difficult and something happened to Feng Cag when he is going through the tests, then what should she do? No, she didn’t want anything to happen to Feng Cang!
“How did you pass the three tests?”
“Secret!” Elder Teng Yuan laughingly shook his head. He kept his mouth shut and didn’t want to reveal it. “I see that the opinions of you three aren’t the same. You’d better go talk about it and come with a unified result before coming to find me. Otherwise, if one of your opinion is at the south, the other is at the north, it would be very difficult on me.”
One of your opinions at the south, the other is at the north: to act in a way that defeats one’s purpose
Elder Teng Yuan came to Duyi and opened his hand. “Where is the thing I want? Give it to me! Just now, I told you an important piece of information. Give me some of the Immortal cream! Otherwise, if I fall ill, I can’t help you get more information!”
Duyi didn’t take out the Immortal cream directly. Instead, he looked at Longze Jing Tian.
“Give one box to elder!”
With Longze Jing Tian’s ‘instruction’, Duyi took out a very small box and handed it to elder Teng Yuan. “Smoke it slowly (use little). It won’t be good if you smoke too much!”
“Not good? Then, why do you still give it to me?” After hearing Duyi, elder Teng Yuan retorted. This made Duyi a bit in an awkward position. In the end, he could only laugh helplessly.
After getting what he wanted, elder Teng Yuan took out a large bag. With his hands on his back, he slowly walked out. “Wait patiently! I will keep in touch with you anytime! Remember, don’t run off to anywhere! If you are discovered by our tribe’s people, by then, I don’t know you!”
After elder Teng Yuan left, Taji Guli’s hook slammed on the stone wall. The iron hook collided with the wall which made a golden spark. “Longze, do we really have to believe this old bastard? He really won’t dupe us?”
“Presumably not.” Longze Jing Tian looked at the forest on the outside. He frowned, “The people of the Qiang tribe are united. Only elder Teng Yuan is an exception. We can only act from here (him). Now, we only need to see if Duyi’s Immortal cream is effective!”
Duyi wasn’t so sure about Longze Jing Tian’s words. He had just once heard from Misha by coincident that the thing made from poppy seeds would let people become addicted to it. As a result, it would let him (M) be able to control that person.
Originally, Penglai Island had a lot of poppies. However, Misha said that they were poison and ordered to have a large area of poppies burned. Furthermore, he didn’t allow anyone on the island to grow poppies. When Duyi went to the mainland and discovered the poppy flowers, he did as Misha once mentioned and made a cream from the poppy seeds. After many failures, he finally made the present Immortal cream.
The reason he gave it this name was because after taking this cream, one would get a fluttering feeling like a floating immortal. It could let people forget the ugliness of the world and immerse themselves in the ideal world. It was just like being in a fairyland.
Duyi had tried some once. After he saw those hallucinatory things, he immediately stopped taking it. As Misha said, this thing can be addictive. So much that it would let people be immersed in the virtual world. Taking too much was completely the same as looking for your own death.
If it wasn’t for the sake of controlling elder Teng Yuan, Duyi wouldn’t have taken out the Immortal cream.
He knew clearly well about the power of this thing. He was also afraid that the prescription would be revealed and used by someone with ulterior motives to produce a large amount of it. By then, it would harm people greatly. As for the prescription, Duyi remembered it in his heart. He hadn’t even told his two partners. Only this time, Duyi said to himself. Only to achieve their purpose. When he gets what he wants, he would then stop.
However, it seemed that the effect the Immortal cream had on elder Teng Yuan wasn’t as great as Duyi imagined. Over the past month, he had been continuously increasing the amount, but elder Teng Yuan didn’t show the addiction that Duyi thought that he would show. Could it be that because he was a master, he has more self-control and is resistant towards the Immortal cream?
“It would take Feng Cang’s group some time before they arrive. I believe that during this period of time, elder Teng Yuan will certainly become insep
arable from the Immortal cream. You can rest assured!” Although, he wasn’t so confident in his heart, but in order to give his partners confidence, Duyi still painted an optimistic future for them.
After dealing with the matter of the Immortal cream, Longze Jing Tian looked at Taji Guli. “If Feng Cang insist on going through the three tests, what would you do? If by chance he died, then what would you do?”
Taji Guli didn’t know the answers to what she would do if these two situations happen.
Feng Cang would certainly mount the mountains of dagger, go through the sea of flames and enter the dragon pool to save his biological son. Even listening to these three tests sounds terrifying, let alone go through them. How should she stop Feng Cang? This question had been plagued Taji Guli. Could it be that she should go to Feng Cang and beg him not to go? In accordance with Feng Cang’s personality, he would certainly kill her and then continue to go through the three tests.
“Longze, do you have any good ideas?” Taji Guli couldn’t think of a way to resolve it. She could only resort to asking Longze Jing Tian.
When the three of them formed a team, Duyi and Taji Guli agreed tacitly that Longze Jing Tian was their leader.
On the matters related to Feng Cang, Taji Guli was the person who was baffled on spot. She couldn’t think of any good way. Moreover, Taji Guli knew that Longze Jing Tian hates Feng Cang and wanted to kill Feng Cang. The hate he has for Feng Cang is deep as the hate Taji Guli has for Feng Qi Qi.
It was just, when they joined hands, they reached an agreement. They won’t hurt Feng Qi Qi and Feng Cang. They will only separate this couple, and each will get one. Now, hearing Longze Jing Tian say that, Taji Guli knows that he definitely must’ve thought of a good idea.
“I do have an idea, but it’s not easy to do it.”
Longze Jing Tian and Taji Guli’s thoughts were complete opposite of each other. He would be happy to see Feng Cang die during the three tests. Then, he can take over Feng Qi Qi and become a pair of perfect lovers with Feng Qi Qi.