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Chapter 55: Jiang Chen?
The three of them looked at one another; he won’t come out right? The sun had already set behind the mountain– he wouldn’t have to worry about anything…
Thinking of this, the three of them burst into action. They immediately stood up and started running towards the bamboo forest off in the distance. Running was too slow! Xuanyuan Meng creased her brows before she once again slapped a talisman onto her body. She grabbed ahold of the other two and flew into the air.
Gu Yunlan turned her head around to look. As expected, the cave entrance burst open violently. Jiang Chen, wearing his black cloak, came into sight once again. He was visibly infuriated as he bellowed towards the heavens in rage. The earth trembled once more as he broke into a run chasing after the three figures.
“Big Brother, move aside! Watch this,” Bai Nightspring’s voice called out from the distance. Bai Yiran looked over to see the twoon top of a giant truck. A huge cannon pointed towards the three of them. Boom! A cannonball shot towards them.
“Those two idiots!” Bai Yiran scolded. That was clearly an attempt to murder them. How was it aimed at the creature?
In a sudden burst, Xuanyuan Meng brought the other two up into the air, only briefly brushing past the cannonball.
The cannonball shined under the golden light of the setting sun as it directly powered forward.
Jiang Chen halted his footsteps, Boom! A loud sound echoed as the ground beneath Jiang Cheng exploded. Dust rose in the air as the ear splitting rumble exploded.
Gu Yunlan couldn’t help but shut her eyes. Who knew if he actually got exploded to dust?
Roar! A cry of rage once again sounded, and with it, a mix of hate as if he swore to tear them apart
“You two! Quickly start up the car and leave!” Bai Yiran’s face was pale white.Fuck! He’s not dead and even got angrier. Thinking of this, he flew faster.
Bai Nightspring and Yan Zhikuan immediately hopped off the truck and went inside. They left quickly as it stirred up the dust.
By the time Gu Yunlan opened her eyes and looked back, traces of Jiang Chen was still there. The roar from earlier felt like it would rip them apart. Clearly, that explosion seriously injured him.
Safe from Jiang Chen for now, Xuanyuan Meng brought the two of them down onto the truck. They could relax for a second; the three simultaneously slumped down on the back of the truck, and drifted off into a deep sleep.
When the group of five arrived at the mansion, the sky had already darkened. After the dusty group of people washed up, they met up in the study room.
Gu Yunlan sat in front of the book desk and wrote with a brush. The other four people sat on the other side, already starting to chat amongst one another.
“Didn’t I tell you guys already? Why would you go forward when you are supposed to be back? Aren’t you just looking to screw us up?” Bai Yiran looked furious, he used his finger to prod at Bai Nightspring’s forehead.
“We- we were worried about you!” Bai Nightspring looked both wrong and curious.
“”I was forced to go,” Yan Zhikuan immediately defended. He had been injured; even if he was cured by the medicine, his face was still rather pale.
“Explain the circumstance then– how did you get captured? Why did the second young master Yan get injured?” Xuanyuan Meng leaned against the chair lazily. Because of those two, all the stock she acquired at grandpa’s place was gone. What will she use as protection in the future now?
“We were hiding in the bamboo forest because we were worried about you guys. We didn’t dare get close and could only watch from afar…” Bai Nightspring looked as if she were wronged. “Then for some reason the gates to that temple you were in suddenly closed. By the time it reopened, something shaped vaguely like a cat captured us. Later it handed us to the black cloaked creature.”
“I found that it wanted to hit Nightspring, so I took the blow for her. That’s how I got injured,” Yan Zhikuan said. He described it lightly, but everyone knew that it had not been like that.
Everyone fell silent, seemingly worrying about Jiang Chen.
Gu Yunlan put down the brush and asked, “How about you guys? How did you find me? I remember that I fainted in the last half of the kidnapping.”
Xuanyuan Meng said, “We panicked when the trail of clues broke off, but then we heard footsteps. We followed them from afar, and arrived just in time to see the black cloaked creature enter the hidden cell. He didn’t even close the door. We heard what happened inside. As expected, you were there. We could only wait outside. He was so slow to leave.
Bai Yiran added on: ”We were helpless at the end. I imitated his servant’s voice and randomly said that Madam Bai is waiting for him, and he actually believed it!”
Gu Yunlan nodded her head, then said, “Shing Wong temple is an extremely Yin place, do you know who that black cloaked one is?”
Everyone one shook their heads. No one knew. He was able to live in an extremely Yin place and feared sunlight– what is he?
Gu Yunlan rubbed the almost-dried ink on the paper, then said softly, “His name is Jiang Chen…”
Jiang Chen? The four looked startled. While two looked completely at a loss, the other two were in complete shock. Jiang Chen, the mystical JiangShi king!
“Look at this,” Gu Yunlan waved the paper in her hand, indicating for the others to take a look.
Xuanyuan Meng immediately stood up and looked at Gu Yunlan in astonishment. What kind of story is she trying to pass off? Only when she laid eyes on the drawing on the paper did she halt– how beautiful!
The three others were surprised to see her blank look. What’s making her make such an expression? They also went to see and were startled.
Inarguably, Gu Yunlan’s drawing was very good. The creature was drawn coldly and realistically. Even if he wore a silver mask that covered his eyes, from the nose and mouth alone, they can tell that his appearance could rival that of those currently present.
“This is Jiang Chen?” Bai Yiran creased his brows. He had a surprisingly devastating appearance.
Gu Yunlan nodded her head, “Do any of you know who this Jiang Chen is? He’s one of the four great ancestors of Jiang Shi. A rather complete recount is Ying Gou, Hou Qing, Han Ba, Jiang Chen. As for their origins, that’s even more mysterious!”
“That Jiang Chen is a Jiang Shi?” Bai Nightspring’s gaped. She has heard the old necromancer tell stories of Jiangshi before.
Gu Yunlan smiled slightly. “In the folk tales, jiang shi are void of a soul and mind. Undying and never rotting, they exist beyond known realms. Jiang shi have essentially achieved immortality. As long as they face no harm, a jiang shi’s will not die. The most peculiar thing, however, is that jiang shis like drinking human blood. A bitten human would unknowingly transformed into a jiang shi too!
In reality, despite the myth of the Four Great Jiang Shi ancestors, not all of them suck blood. Among the Four Great Jiang Shi ancestors, only Jiang Chen did. Therefore, all the jiang shis we talk about are descendants of Jiang Chen.
Jiang Chen was born from the carcass of a Denglong, devoid of soul and spirit. As a result, Jiang Chen’s descendants have no soul nor spirit and also inherited his ability to suck blood.
Gu Yunlan sipped her tea. She remembered how Xuanyuan had, in the past, insisted he was not a jiang shi. “We cannot defeat Jiang Chen. In fact, he’s probably itching to kill us. Seeing how the Shing Wang temple is currently, we must prohibit entrance in order to protect the common people from suffering harm.”
The four people immediately nodded in agreement.
“Only…” Bai Yiran’s brows remained furrowed. “We fired at him, so he can’t come out during the day. But what about nighttime? Won’t he come for revenge?”
Gu Yunlan hesitated. Yiran was right. After Jiang Chen’s injuries heal, he could easily come back for revenge.
Xuanyuan Meng, who had stayed quiet the entire time, suddenly asked hesitatingly, “Haven’t you guys noticed that he never dares leave the Shing Wong temple?”
Gu Yunlan considered her words. That seems true– Nightspring was captured by a monkey last time. The later capture was also outside the caves. Even then, Jiang Chen didn’t dare pass through the bamboo forest. A boundary!
“I heard that many years ago, my brother and he had a fight and Jiang Chen got injured and thus, he(JC) can’t touch sunlight,” Xuanyuan Meng said. “I only remembered this just now after I heard his name and saw his appearance!” She stopped, seemingly having lost her train of thought.
No wonder Xuanyuan Ying had to recover here. She remembered him saying that he had a fight with his greatest enemy and got injured. Could it be that they were evenly matched, ending with heavy wounds on both sides?
“Do you guys think the missing girls have any connections to this?“ Bai Yiran said, thoughts racing. “You said before, Jiang Chen sucks blood. Maiden blood is very beneficial forYin species’ healing!” Xuanyuan Meng looked at him in agreement.
“Even if that is so, we still cannot defeat him. We must wait for your brother to return…” Gu Yunlan took a few deep breaths. When she crossed paths with Jiang Chen, she had to be rescued. Why does Gu City –a tiny piece of land– have three big shots?
She had to take the long route to avoid that white bone spiritnow she has offended Jiang Chen too. She could only rely on Xuanyuan Ying now.
A boundary– She remembered that there was a boundary last time she was there. Unless there is another boundary, then unfortunately she can’t…
“Wait! Something isn’t right!” Bai Yiran creased his brows even more. He tapped on his leg, suddenly his eyes flashed. “Jiang Chen doesn’t dare come out, but if that is true, then how did the girls get kidnapped? There has to be people helping him. We need to know who the last person the girls met was. Perhaps we can stall his recovery!”
Gu Yunlanjolted at his reminder. As she sunk into deep thoughts, something in her mind halted her thoughts. No matter how much she thought, she couldn’t remember. In the end she could only say helplessly, “Everyone is tired now, let’s continue the discussion tomorrow. Sleep first!”
As they came out from the study room, she and Xuanyuan Meng walked back slowly. The sky had darkened already, without a single strand of moonlight. She gathered up the clothing draped on her. “Mengmeng,” she asked, “he is a jiang shi. If he and your brother went against one another, do you think your brother can win?”
“He once could, but now, it would be hard. The jiangshi can suck blood, and my brother went to war…” Xuanyuan Meng shook his head. Truthfully, even she didn’t know her brother’s true strength. She too had merely heard stories of his abilities. .
“Do you remember how, when you rescued me, you yelled that Madam Bai was looking for him?” Gu Yunlan asked.
Xuanyuan Meng immediately nodded her head, “That time, Yiran used his own surname!”
Gu Yunlan sucked a breath worriedly, “There’s another troublesome thing in Gu City. When I was infected by the corpse poison, it was done by a thousand year old white bone spirit. She and Madam Bai– I fear they are the same person!”
Xuanyuan Meng looked at her in astonishment. “What you’re saying is that they(BLL and JC) might’ve already allied?”
Gu Yunlan nodded her head, “If Bai Linlang and Jiang Chen join hands, then I’m afraid that no one can stop them!”
Seeing Xuanyuan Meng’s face of utter shock, she lightly smiled. “Alright! Don’t think so much. We still need to wait for your brother to comes back. We also need to go see who the missing girls were with tomorrow. Sleep early!”
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