Chapter 102: Five-Eyed Xiao Xian (Part 4): I Am Shang Shan Part 1

She suddenly brought up the matter, and Dingxiang clearly hadn’t expected it. She froze in place, then her expression turned stern and vigilant.

Shang Shan didn’t wait for a reply. A fiercer attack than before arrived right in front of her face.

She immediately raised her long staff to block it. The blade sliced a thin crack into the staff, and one fragment led to a more severe collapse. The long staff turned into a burst of spiritual light and drilled back into Shang Shan’s palm. She retreated at top speed, but the blade light still drew a long wound across her chest.

Her back slammed into a tree trunk. Shang Shan flipped her body to dodge the thrusting stab that followed closely. A cracking sound rang out as the tree trunk split behind her. She didn’t look back but judged by sound. She brought both hands to her right ear, palms facing backward, and shot out several spiritual power daggers. They probably stabbed into the body of the person behind her, but her pursuer didn’t slow down. The sharp blade light was about to reach her nape.

This pursuit was too relentless. She wasn’t even catching her breath after being injured, which meant she found her opponent troublesome and wanted to press the advantage to finish her off. Shang Shan dashed straight forward. Turning to face the enemy now would only expose a flaw, so she had to find another way to escape.

Her mind suddenly recalled how her master, in her monster bird form, would fly backward after spitting out spiritual power. Shang Shan put the idea into practice. She shot a burst of spiritual light to the side, using the recoil to veer sharply and dodge the impact. She rolled several times in a very undignified posture before stopping.

The enemy abruptly vanished from her sight. Xiao Xian gripped her blade tightly and halted her momentum, standing on a tree trunk and looking coldly downward.

Shang Shan crouched and casually wiped the wound on her chest. She clapped her hands together and spread them apart. A new long staff appeared clamped between her thumbs, with golden spiritual energy extending its length and slowly spreading to both sides.

Xiao Xian’s clothes were no longer recognizable, and half her face was smeared with blood. Her three eyes emitted a chilling aura from the shadows of the tree. She said, “I shouldn’t have let you live until now.”

Shang Shan said, “You can’t beat me at all, yet you say things like that!” As soon as she retorted, she noticed Xiao Xian’s gaze fixed on the spot between her brows—the eye belonging to Qi Xiaoxiao. She realized the words weren’t directed at her but at Qi Xiaoxiao.

For over a decade, Little Baldy, as an evil thing that was neither demon nor ghost, had always been active in the human world without being dealt with by the Demon-Exorcising Little Immortal. Even if she liked to hide and flee quickly, it was impossible to escape Xiao Xian’s notice. After all, the people of Pot City, along with travelers, all carried those protective talismans that could monitor them.

As for Qi Xiaoxiao from Hell, who had been born from an eyeball with self-awareness, reborn with flesh and blood, and made clay little demons to search the human world, Xiao Xian couldn’t possibly be unaware of her. Why was she so cautious toward these cultivators who came to play here? For what purpose had she not wiped them all out?

What was she thinking as she watched a part that once belonged to her wander between the human world and Hell?

The eyeball slowly slid down. This time, it met the girl’s gaze. Xiao Xian shook the blood off her blade. “This matter has nothing to do with you. Why interfere?”

Shang Shan stood up and took a step back. She gripped the long staff with both hands. “How is it unrelated? You’re harming the people. How could I stand by?”

Xiao Xian sneered. “Who do you think you are?”

Shang Shan swung her staff to meet her gaze and declared without flinching, “I am Shang Shan!”

The eyeball slid to the left. Xiao Xian feigned disdain. “Never heard of you.”

She should have gained some fame from her performance in the Civil and Martial Trials, but the unexpected appearance of that yellow sparrow had disrupted the original plot progression, so the female protagonist’s reputation hadn’t spread smoothly. Outside, mentioning Yao’e Immortal meant “renowned,” but mentioning Shang Shan required some recollection—maybe even failing to remember.

Shang Shan said, “It doesn’t matter if you’ve never heard of me. Once I beat you, you’ll know who I am.”

She thrust out the long staff with a shake, and the two clashed again. Meanwhile, on the other side, Penguin Tan used the wonderful sign language she had learned from the clay little demons, along with writing on the ground, to roughly explain Xiao Xian’s true situation to Qiu Shui. The woman knelt beside her sister’s corpse, hugging her body, unable to lift her head for a long time.

“To think it’s like this….” Tears rolled down and fell on the girl’s young, pale face. Qiu Shui stroked her cheek, her eyes filled with complex anger and reluctance. “All these years, what kind of god have we been worshiping?”

Mu Qian Tan waved her flipper to wipe away nonexistent sweat from her forehead and pointed toward Pot City, gesturing for her to hurry and tell more people.

Qiu Shui gripped the jade pendant tightly. The hard object left deep and shallow red marks on her palm, just like the wound on her heart at that moment.

She had always thought her sister had died on the path of avenging their family, but it turned out she had been hidden underground in that state. Those brave souls who dared to climb to the Heavenly Palace had been thrown into Hell for trampling by thousands over more than a decade, their corpses casually manipulated and rearranged. How could anyone let go of such endless pain and humiliation without seeing the light of day?

Qiu Shui gently set down Qiu Ling. Her gaze was reluctant and gentle, but when she lifted it again, it turned to blazing fury. She saw another girl lying nearby. Considering her own strength wasn’t enough to move both, she decided to go back first and call people to help.

Mu Qian Tan waited for them to arrive. She stepped on Lingdang to call her and hopped onto a treetop. She first checked how the two were fighting. Bursts of spiritual light exploded now and then in the dense jungle. One soared into the air while the other fell. The shockwaves from their clashes toppled swathes of trees, sending leaves flying everywhere. It was still quite lively.

Soon, the sound of hoofbeats arrived. Mu Qian Tan came down from the tree and saw that Qiu Shui had brought people.

Perhaps due to the urgency, fearing they wouldn’t make it in time, they had ridden horses. Upon arrival, several people reined in their horses with calls and dismounted hurriedly to check. Those who came probably knew the Qiu sisters. They carefully examined Qiu Ling’s face to confirm and all wore heavy expressions.

Qiu Shui spread out a white cloth to wrap Qiu Ling’s body. One man picked her up onto a horse, another lifted Tan Que, and they mounted up and galloped away, planning to send the bodies back to the city first.

Mu Qian Tan and Lingdang rode on Qiu Shui’s horse back to the city. A large area on the main street had already been cleared for simple beds where the wounded could rest. The man dismounted and placed Qiu Ling on an empty bed, shouting to the crowd, “Everyone, come here!”

People nearby gathered at the sound. The man repeated what Qiu Shui had said earlier, sparking an uproar. Years of faith shattered in an instant. Some collapsed, some couldn’t believe it. They chattered noisily, filled with righteous indignation, but fell silent upon seeing Qiu Ling’s corpse.

Penguin Tan used her beak to tug out the protective talisman from Qiu Shui’s sleeve and flung it to the ground, stomping on it several times while waving her flippers. Everyone understood her meaning and pulled out their protective talismans, tearing the seams to pour out the contents. They weren’t talismans or incense pouches but densely packed tiny eyes and ears!

This further proved Xiao Xian was evil!

Most people were still in agonizing denial, but the quick-reacting ones rushed home to grab rope ladders, shovels, and axes. “There are still dozens of people buried, right? Let’s go dig the kids out.”

They responded in droves, grabbing their tools and preparing to head to Hell to dig people out. Mu Qian Tan thought: Great, she could hitch a ride back to retrieve her magic tools for sure.

The cave Shang Shan had blasted open was still there, six feet wide, similar to the one at the Heavenly Palace. Small stones piled up at the edge, and from beside it, one could vaguely see the dark red pit below. One man squatted at the cave edge holding a rope ladder while the others stood ready nearby.

Penguin Tan was about to direct them to descend in an orderly manner when she caught a pair of feet in her peripheral vision.

Her heart skipped a beat. Penguin Tan stiffly turned her head and saw Xiao Xian, covered in blood with a face like an evil ghost, standing right in front of her.

What in heaven’s name? What was going on?

Not long before, the battle on the cliff was finally nearing its conclusion. Xiao Xian’s blade had shattered and fallen, one arm broken, her body covered in blood, quite disheveled. She leaned on a tree trunk to steady herself. Blood sprayed from her breaths as she chuckled lowly, her shoulders shaking. “Just what are you? How are you so unkillable?”

The girl standing under the tree had multiple blade wounds, her hands bloodied and mangled, sleeves torn to shreds. Though bruised and swollen, her eyes still shone brightly. Her mouth was full of blood, making her words slurred. “Come on!”

Xiao Xian raised her hand and hurled half a flying blade. The wind whistled sharply. Shang Shan locked onto the glint and tried to block with her staff, but realized the flying blade wasn’t aimed at her. A doubt arose, and thinking of who was behind her, she broke out in cold sweat. She swung backhand, the staff tip smashing the blade’s handle squarely. The flying blade veered off, spinning and burying deep into the ground by Dingxiang’s feet.

Shang Shan pulled her staff back, furious. “What are you doing! Isn’t she your friend?”

The blade had flown toward Dingxiang, who had been standing at the back all along. She clutched her broken right shoulder, lowering her gaze to the blade by her feet, silent.

Xiao Xian seemed to find it amusing and smiled. “You even save enemies?”

Unable to tolerate such an attack on a friend, Shang Shan thundered, “She just blocked a blow for you. Why attack her?”