Chapter 676: I’m losing hope in this world swayed by interpersonal considerations

Translator: GodBrandy | Editor: Kurisu

　　If Young Master Phoenix Slayer really called Medicine Master and Riverly Purple Mist, I have to escape! Thrice Reckless Mad Saber thought to himself. If he waited until Medicine Master and Riverly Purple Mist arrived there, he would be in big trouble!

　　Thereupon, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber clenched his teeth and took out his treasured saber, ready to run for his life. He had given up on forcing Venerable White to use his disposable flying sword to send him away. Even if he had a few tricks up his sleeve that could allow him to anger Venerable White rather easily, these tricks were a little too extreme. If he was careless, Venerable White might kill him directly. In short, the price he would have to pay was too high and it wasn’t worth it.

　　After all, he only liked to seek death, and didn’t want to die for real!

　　Every second was valuable. Therefore, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber didn’t even take the daoist robe off his body and quickly made a hand seal. Afterward, the treasured saber stopped midair, and Thrice Reckless jumped on it.

　　Flying swords, flying sabers, and other types of flight-type treasures all had concealing formations engraved upon them so that ordinary people couldn’t see them. Therefore, as long as one started to ride a flying sword or flying saber, they would immediately turn invisible.

　　After jumping onto the saber, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber cupped his fists and bid farewell to all the cultivators present. “Ladies and gentlemen, I have a small matter I need to take care of and will be leaving in advance! Let us meet again!”

　　One could never be too polite. Thereupon, he decided to say goodbye to the various fellow daoists before leaving and implicitly request them to give him some face and not help Medicine Master chase after him.

　　After saying goodbye to everyone, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber stamped on the saber and shouted, “Thirty-third Style of the Stormy Flying Technique, Hurricane Escape!”

　　Green-colored storm wind started to gather and condense around Thrice Reckless’ treasured saber. Afterward, the wind emitted a rumbling sound, just as though someone had suddenly floored the accelerator of a sports car. The treasured saber was accumulating strength, and as soon as Thrice Reckless gave the signal, it would flee from this place as fast as a hurricane.

　　“Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless, stop there!” Young Master Phoenix Slayer called out at this time.

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer again? Thrice Reckless Mad Saber got a bad feeling. Earlier, this guy secretly informed Medicine Master and Riverly Purple Mist about his deed, and now, he was asking him to stop?

　　Did he believe him to be an idiot? How could he stop and not run away given the sitaution?

　　Thrice Reckless stomped on the treasured saber, activating the flying technique and shooting toward the sky.

　　The saber was extremely fast, and it broke through the sound barrier immediately after flying away.

　　But right after, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber’s body suddenly stopped midiar while flying toward the sky! It looked as if something was holding him in place.

　　In the next moment, he felt severe pain transmitting from his waist area.

　　“Aaaaah~ my waist is going to snap!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber clenched his teeth due to the pain. Then, he lowered his head and looked downward, and discovered that someone had put a noose around his waist without him noticing.

　　The noose had tightened around his waist due to the high speed of the flying saber, causing the circumference of his waist to shrink and become as slender as that of a woman. He couldn’t even breathe properly at this time…

　　Below, Young Master Phoenix Slayer shrugged his shoulders and said, “That’s why I told Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless to stop!”

　　“When? Phoenix Slayer, when did you put this noose around my waist? How come I wasn’t able to sense anything?!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber hovered midair, and saber qi exploded from his body. He wanted to cut the rope open.

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer stretched out his hand and pushed his glasses up, refracting rays of wisdom. “Hehe, you didn’t notice because I wasn’t the one that put the noose around your waist.”

　　“Who was it, then?” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber tried to cut the rope with his saber qi. However, he couldn’t break the rope and was only able to leave a dent in it. This made him feel even more uneasy.

　　“It was me,” a man that had the demeanor of a retired scholar said indifferently at this time.

　　He was the type that had seen through the vanity of the world and retired to a peaceful life. He had retired so well that you wouldn’t be able to find him even if he were standing in front of you.

　　It could be only him! His magical treasures had the same ‘demeanor of a retired scholar’ as him. That was why Thrice Reckless didn’t notice that there was a noose around his waist.

　　“Scholar Drunken Sun, why are you helping Phoenix Slayer catch me?” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber called out. He didn’t remember offending Scholar Drunken Wine recently.

　　“Hehehe.” The retired scholar gently laughed and said, “Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless, you got my name wrong.”

　　“Can we not mention this matter at this time? No one remembers that name of yours anyway! Scholar Drunken Wine, Drunken Sun, Sober Eye, or whatever your name is, quickly let me go! We have been on good terms recently. Therefore, let’s not harm each other!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber said anxiously.

　　Time was of vital importance at this moment.

　　If this situation continued, Medicine Master and Riverly Purple Mist would catch up to him!

　　“I’m sorry, Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless, but I owe Fellow Daoist Phoenix Slayer a small favor. Therefore, he requested me to catch you. I pondered on the issue for a moment and concluded that it was time to repay the favor.” The retired scholar raised three of his fingers and said, “However, I can give you three chances as I did the last time. You have three chances to guess my name correctly. If you get it right, I’ll let you go.”

　　Thrice Reckless Mad Saber had tears streaming down his face. “Dammit! And you, Phoenix Slayer! I didn’t offend you as of late, right?”

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer pushed his glasses up and said, “Indeed, you didn’t offend me.”

　　“In that case, why are harming me? We are all friends, so why fight amongst us? The small boat that represents friendship is very precious, don’t capsize it!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber said.

　　Young Master Phoenix Slayer shrugged his shoulders and said, “I, too, owe Brother Medicine Master a favor. Since Brother Medicine Master asked me to hold you in place, I thought it was time to repay the favor I owe him.”

　　Thrice Reckless Mad Saber was speechless.

　　It was another favor!

　　This society where people were swayed by favors was making Thrice Reckless lose hope in the world!

　　“Scholar Drunken King! You are called Drunken King, right?” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber had no choice but to guess the dao name correctly. Dammit, after I return home this time, I’ll find Scholar Drunken (?)’s real dao name and repeat it aloud ten times each day!

　　“Wrong, try again.” The retired scholar faintly smiled.

　　“Drunken Emperor! It should be correct this time, right? The emperor of all drunkards!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber anxiously said while complimenting him.

　　“This name isn’t half bad. But as before, it’s not the correct one.” The retired scholar kept smiling.

　　Thrice Reckless Mad Saber clenched his teeth and said, “Drunken Immortal! I’m pretty sure that this is the correct one! The immortal amongst drunkards, Scholar Drunken Immortal!”

　　From king to emperor and then immortal… if the guess was still wrong, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber would have no choice but to die. Unfortunately, he didn’t have enough time to ponder about this matter and could only rely on wild guesses.

　　“Drunken Immortal? That’s a very creative dao name. As expected of Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless.” The retired scholar grabbed the rope as the expression on his face turned grave. Then, he ruthlessly pulled it, shouting, “Too bad that my name isn’t Drunken Immortal, either!”

　　The rope tightened around Thrice Reckless’ waist even more. At this time, his slender, womanly waist had turned into a gourd waist.

　　“Don’t tighten it! Scholar, stop tightening! I’m dying, aaaaah!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber felt that his intestines would come out if this continued. The pain was unbearable.

　　In addition, he felt as though he was seeing stars at this moment.

　　However, it was right at this time that a miraculous glow suddenly flashed through his mind. “I remember now! Scholar, your name is ‘When the bright moon appears’! You are Scholar When the Bright Moon Appears!”

　　“Idiot, that’s just my nickname online!” the retired scholar said angrily. Bastard, it’s Drunken Moon! My name is Scholar Drunken Moon!

　　Everyone had thought of ‘Drunken Sun’ at some point. Therefore, why didn’t they think of sun, stars, and finally moon by following this pattern?! The sequence should be, Drunken Sun, Drunken Star, and finally Drunken Moon! But why did they all fail to guess it correctly?!

　　Your guesses were all wrong… Thrice Reckless, die!

　　Scholar Drunken Moon tightened the rope even more!

　　“Aaaaaah!” Thrice Reckless’ gourd waist shrank until turning into a wasp waist, sexy in its own terrifying way.

　　“Scholar, stop tightening the rope! You’ll kill me if you continue like this!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber called out.

　　“It doesn’t make much difference whether you die now or a little later. Instead of dying in the hands of Fellow Daoist Medicine Master and Fellow Daoist Riverly Purple Mist, you might as well die in my hands!” Scholar Drunken Moon sneered.

　　Thrice Reckless Mad Saber was calling out so pitifully that he couldn’t look more pitiful.

　　He felt as though he was having hallucinations at this time… his reckless life was flashing before his eyes!

　　Did it mean that the end was near?

　　Ah… I’ve lived my life to the fullest, I don’t have any regrets!

　　Song Shuhang looked upward and glanced at Senior Thrice Reckless Mad Saber, who had a deathly pale complexion due to the noose tightening around his waist. After pondering for a moment, he joined his palms together and started to quietly read the text of ❮Ksitigarbha’s Soul Ferrying Scripture❯.

　　The nearby western monk, who was wearing the emerald-green kasaya, followed suit and also started to read ❮Ksitigarbha’s Soul Ferrying Scripture❯.

　　Great Master Profound Principle also followed suit and joined his palms together. Although he didn’t speak, he was likewise mentally reading some religious scripture.

　　Soon after, the number one screenwriter of the country, Great Master Swallow Cloud, also joined their ranks and started to chant buddhist scriptures.

　　All four of them had light of virtue covering their body.

　　The sound of buddhist prayers suddenly started to reverberate in the whole area, with the golden light of virtue illuminating everything.

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　After an unknown amount of time, Thrice Reckless Mad Saber returned to his senses. The pain transmitting from his waist, which almost got snapped in half earlier, reminded him that he was still alive.

　　“Ahahaha, I didn’t die!” Thrice Reckless Mad Saber roared with laughter. As long as he didn’t die, it was his victory!

　　“Fellow Daoist Thrice Reckless, you should tone down your radiant smile a little. If you smile too brightly, we can’t tie you up properly.” Riverly Purple Mist’s cold voice echoed at this time.

　　Thrice Reckless Mad Saber’s body stiffened. Then, he lowered his head and saw that Riverly Purple Mist was squatting next to his feet and using Scholar Drunken (?)’s rope to tightly bind his legs.

　　Medicine Master was squatting next to his head and tying both his hands behind his back, also very tightly.

　　In the end, Thrice Reckless was tied up into the shape of the number ‘1’.

　　Medicine Master said, “This should be enough.”

　　Riverly Purple Mist replied, “Yeah, it can work. Now, we have to dress him up and make him look a little more cheerful. Afterward, we can raise him in the air and hang him up.”

　　“Alright. In addition, it should be about time for the medicine to start taking effect. I’ve never tested this medicine on a cultivator before. Therefore, I don’t know what the effects will be.” Medicine Master smiled at Thrice Reckless Mad Saber. The current Medicine Master looked like a sunshine boy. Therefore, his smile was especially warm.

　　However, Thrice Reckless still felt cold all over the body.

　　What medicine did Medicine Master give him?

　　They wanted to hang him up and make him look more cheerful? And there was some newly developed medicine as well?

　　What where Medicine Master and Riverly Purple Mist, this crazy couple, planning to do to him?

　　❄️❄️❄️

　　In the meantime, in the Netherworld Realm, on the Mountain of Next Life.

　　Six cave lords had gathered in the same place. The cave lords of the 77 caves of the Mountain of Next Life all had the strength of the Sixth Stage True Monarch rank.

　　“Cave Lord Dragon hasn’t arrived yet?”

　　“Is it possible that it is in China already?”

　　“That shouldn’t be the case. If it is already in China, it should have at least sent us a message, right?”

　　“Forget it. No need to bother with it. Even if it was the one that came up with the plan in the first place, we might as well continue without it since it didn’t appear even when the time is almost up.”

　　“Agreed!”

　　“Agreed!”