Nine Yang Sword Saint - Chapter 77
Chapter 77: Where is the Millennium Owl?
“Nothing much, I am bringing Ning Lang home to meet my father and uncle. And, as we were traveling around, we just happened to come across your place. We heard that the buildings in Horror Mountain Village were very unique and came to take a look,” Ningning said. This was their plan: demand a short tour through Horror Mountain Village using Qin Hongmian’s identity and use Ningning’s Beastmaster talents to confirm if there was a Millennium Owl or not. If there was, she’d find out where it was sealed.
Supposedly, the Millennium Owl should be sealed deep in the dungeon just like Yao Rao in Cloud Sky City. Hence, they needed to find a way to get Ningning into the dungeon the next day while avoiding Zhao Mu’s suspicions.
“No problem, I will personally bring the two of you around our Mountain Village tomorrow,” Zhao Mu said. “It’s just that my Mountain Village is pretty simple and can’t be compared to Qin City. I hope that the two of you won’t be disappointed.”
“I just want to take a look,” Ningning said. “Okay, we’ve traveled for an entire day, and I’m a little tired. Please prepare a room for us to rest.”
“Okay!” Zhao Mu immediately got up. “I’ll immediately get people to prepare the best room for you. However, our village is really simple, so if there is any delay, please forgive us!”
Then, Zhao Mu said, “Wanru, bring Ms. Qin and Mr. Ning to the best guest room.”
“Yes!” The gentle voice of a woman was heard, and a beautiful young woman walked in. She was Zhao Mu’s wife.
“Our two esteemed guests, please come with me,” the young woman asked the two of them.
Zhao Mu said, “Please have a good rest. I will come around to greet you tomorrow morning.”
“Thanks for taking the trouble,” Yang Dingtian said. Then, he and Ningning followed the young woman to the Phoenix Guest House to rest.
They passed by a garden, through a corridor, and down a deep narrow road.
“Sister Hongmian, how come you don’t recognize this sister anymore?” the young woman in front suddenly said with a strange tone.
Yang Dingtian was shocked. Could it be that Zhao Mu’s wife knew Qin Hongmian? If so, it would be a disaster.
“It’s you who don’t recognize me,” Ningning said.
“Could it be that you are still blaming me for snatching the third son? After having his way with me, that unfaithful person abandoned me after half a month as he got a new woman. Then, he even sent me to Horror Mountain Village to marry that useless Zhao Mu.”
“Don’t mention Qin Shaobai in front of me,” Qin Hongmian said coldly.
The young woman smiled and asked, “What happened? You were so into that unfaithful man at that time.”
Yang Dingtian had been cautious throughout their walk and felt lucky that the young woman stopped talking after that.
Phoenix Guest House was a small isolated courtyard with lots of flowers in it. It was truly the best place in the entire Horror Mountain Village.
“This was once Zhao Wuji’s daughter, Zhao Xiu Er’s room. It is also the best accommodation in Horror Mountain Village. I tried to stay here a few times, but I wasn’t allowed to.”
“It’s just that I heard that there is a ghost in this building. Sister Hongmian, be careful that the female ghost doesn’t seduce your pretty boyfriend,” the young woman said.
“Okay, you can leave now,” Ningning said impatiently.
“You already can’t hold yourself back anymore?” The young woman laughed. When she passed by Yang Dingtian, she looked him up and down. “Sister, you have such a good eye. Where did you find such a beautiful boyfriend who makes a woman’s heart itchy?”
“Qin Wanru, control yourself,” Ningning said.
“Hehe…” The young woman smiled and walked out. “Don’t worry. I won’t snatch your man again.”
As she reached the door, the young married woman turned around. “Sister Hongmian, how is it that your teeth have become so nice? Every one of them is like a pearl. They weren’t that nice last time.”
After she said that, the young woman left.
“What did she mean?” Yang Dingtian asked. As he was worried that someone might eavesdrop from outside, he did not make his statement clear.
It seems like Zhao Mu’s wife knew Qin Hongmian, but he wasn’t sure about their relationship. If they were close, she might have been able to spot inconsistencies.
“I don’t know,” Ningning said. “But even if she suspects, there is no way for her to confirm.”
Looking at how Yang Dingtian stared outside worriedly, Ningning said, “Don’t worry. No one is eavesdropping outside now.”
Ningning’s senses were very sharp. When they were at Cloud Sky City, she immediately knew whenever someone entered her valley.
“Do you know who this Qin Wanru is?” Yang Dingtian asked.
“I know this person, but I’ve only heard of her and have never met her before,” Ningning said. “She is a close relative of the Northwest Qin family. Compared to Qin Hongmian, her blood relation is closer, but I didn’t know that she was married to Zhao Mu.”
Yang Dingtian said, “Then, were Qin Wanru and Qin Hongmian close?”
“I don’t know,” Ningning said. “The two of them definitely know each other, but they might not be close. Qin Wanru’s parents hold moderately important positions in Qin City while Qin Hongmian was from Red Rock Fortress, which was thousands of meters away.”
Yang Dingtian took a deep breath. “Since this is so, we shall accept it. No matter what happens tomorrow, we go according to plan and confirm if a Millennium Owl is here.”
Ningning said, “We can stay put for the time being. When it is necessary, we can just act accordingly to changes in circumstances. Tonight, just take a bath and get your beauty sleep.”
….
After she finished bathing, Ningning crawled into the bed and said, “Let’s sleep. We still need to pit our wits and courage against that sly fox, Zhao Mu.”
“I’ll sleep on the floor,” Yang Dingtian said.
“Qin Hongmian is not a chaste woman. Is it possible for her to not sleep with her boyfriend in the same bed?” Ningning asked.
Yang Dingtian instantly climbed into bed. All he could see was Ningning sleeping in her inner wear. The entire bed was filled with her fragrance.
“Sister Ningning, let’s put on our clothes,” Yang Dingtian said: “Then, if there is anything that happens at night, we will be able to take action immediately. Earlier, Qin Wanru said that this place is haunted, and there is not even a single maid here. It is too abnormal.”
“This would make us look guilty and cause suspicion,” Ningning said. Seeing how alert Yang Dingtian was as he wasn’t sleeping even with his eyes closed, she said gently, “Little Tian, you can sleep peacefully. If something happens, I will know.”
Yang Dingtian absolutely believed that, but he couldn’t fall asleep no matter how hard he tried.
“Your heart is uneasy, so you can’t sleep?” Ningning asked in the dark.
“Yeah,” Yang Dingtian said.
Ningning sat up and hugged Yang Dingtian’s head in her arms, letting his head rest on her soft and firm chest, lightly massaging his head.
While massaging, she sang an enchanting song softly.
It was as if her pair of hands had magical powers. Yang Dingtian soon fell into a deep sleep in which he didn’t even dream.
…
“I died so pitifully…..”
“I died so pitifully…..”
Yang Dingtian was immersed in the sweetest sleep he’d had in the past two years but was suddenly awakened by a horrible cry and screaming voice. He opened his eyes.
Instantly, he saw the face of a pale woman with green eyes floating in front of him. Blood was flowing out of the seven apertures in her head.
There was only a face with long hair floating on Yang Dingtian’s bed without a body. Her cries were so sullen and gloomy that Yang Dingtian felt a chill in his bones and goosebumps all over.
“Sister Ningning.” Yang Dingtian reached out to Ningning, but all he felt from her was her ice-cold hand that felt like it’d belonged to a corpse.
Yang Dingtian was stunned and then stared at the female ghost. “Who are you? What have you done to Sister Ningning?”
“I am Zhao Xiu Er. I died so pitifully.” That shadowless female ghost said, “Tell me your name. Are you my enemy? Tell me your name….”
“I am Ning Que,” Yang Dingtian said.
“No, you’re lying. You’re not Ning Que….” The female ghost said angrily, “You’re lying. You must be the one who killed me. I’ll kill you, I’ll kill you….”
Suddenly, two lines of black smoke emerged from the dark and slammed onto Yang Dingtian’s neck. He couldn’t breathe.
“I died so pitifully. I’ll kill you all. You are all my enemies….”
In an instant, the feeling of suffocation got stronger and stronger. He wanted to break free from the rope around his neck and tried to grab at it, but he couldn’t as it was a spectral rope.
“Die, die, you all lied, and I am going to kill you all…” The woman’s laughter was so high-pitch that it caused him to shudder.
“Freeze!” Suddenly, Ningning’s voice was heard, and the feeling of suffocation that Yang Dingtian felt instantly disappeared.
“You actually dare cause a scene with such insignificant mental magic? You’re looking to die!” Ningning said coldly, staring at the corner of the bed. She caught the ghost immediately.
“Ahh….” Suddenly, that bodiless female ghost let out a horrible scream, and the scene changed within seconds. The specter had turned into a strange little beast and was held tightly in Ningning’s hand. It kept on screaming.
This beast was extremely strange. It had the wings of a bat and body of a snake but had a human-like face.
“This is a Mental Demonic Beast known as the Enchanting Demon with a human face,” Ningning said. “It’s very, very rare and is considered one of the rarest demonic beasts in the world. I never expected one to appear in Horror Mountain Village.”
Yang Dingtian stared at this Enchanting Demon with a human face and said, “This little thing is so powerful.”
“It uses mental attacks, causing hallucination and is completely undetectable, especially during deep sleep when the mental defenses are the weakest,” Ningning said. “It seems like the so-called ghost rumors were caused by this little thing. It must have been sent to test our identity.”
“Want to live?” Ningning stared at the demonic beast.
This little beast nodded desperately, but it couldn’t speak. The words uttered by the female ghost earlier were merely a hallucination made by the mind. This demonic beast itself couldn’t speak.
“I have implanted three mental restrictions in your brain, and if you wish to live, you know what to report,” Ningning said. “Just say that we scared you, causing you to faint immediately.”
The Enchanting Demon with a human face nodded and opened its eyes wide, looking at Ningning pitifully to beg for his life.
“Also, I want to ask you something. Is there a Millennium Owl in this Horror Mountain Village?” Ningning asked.
The little beast thought for a while and shook its head.
Ningning’s brow creased, and a mental energy emerged. Instantly, the body of the demonic beast was twisted and pulled in midair, causing it to scream out in pain.
“Is there a Millennium Owl?” Ningning asked again.
The beast desperately nodded. There really was a Millennium Owl!!
“Is it locked up in the crypt?” Ningning asked.
The beast instantly nodded.
“Where is the entrance to the crypt?” Ningning asked.
The demonic beast moved its teeth and claws to produce some weird sound.
“I get it. You can go and report now.” Ningning let it go.
The demonic beast spread its wings and immediately escaped.
“It said that the entrance to the crypt is within the central tower of Horror Mountain Village,” Ningning said.