Tang Bai Li

Volume 3 Chapter 9 Nangong of Yesteryear

“Drink the water of oblivion, cultivate the path of emotionlessness.”

Li Kun looked at Bai Yun, his eyes complex, and asked, “Because I am alive, you cannot be completely emotionless, so you want to kill me?”

Bai Yun looked at Li Kun and said calmly:

“No.”

“Mr. Li Kun, you think too highly of yourself. I no longer care about your kindness.”

Li Kun was silent for a moment, then asked, “Then why do you want to kill me?”

Bai Yun was cold:

“To prove my path by killing you.”

“My heart is already broken, but the heavenly dao does not believe it, so I must kill you to transcend the fifth realm.”

Li Kun: “Then why didn’t you kill me before? Why wait until today?”

Bai Yun: “Because breaking through the realm too early would alert the Nangong family.”

“In the end, the Nangong clan’s power is too great. Although my Bai family is also one of the hundred clans, we are still too far behind.”

“However, all of this is no longer important. Nangong Yu broke his promise, so his family suffered retribution, and chaos erupted in their ancestral land!”

As Bai Yun spoke, her voice suddenly turned sharp, “So I want to kill you!”

“However, not today, but on the battlefield. I will spare you to witness Nangong Zhenyuan being killed by me, and then I will kill you.”

Li Kun nodded and sighed in agreement, “I understand.”

“I will let you kill me.”

Bai Yun shook her head and said:

“You can resist, but your resistance will be useless.”

“Mr., you are no longer the Jade Heavenly Venerate of yesteryear.”

“Now, you cannot even withstand one of my palms.”

These words were extremely dismissive.

Rarely, a trace of anger appeared in Li Kun’s eyes, but it quickly turned into helplessness and bitterness.

He finally nodded.

Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal stood behind, silently watching all this, their expressions stunned.

They couldn’t understand what Li Kun and Bai Yun were thinking. One openly invited the other here, expecting a reunion, but instead, it turned into a killing intent. And even more astonishing, the one being targeted surprisingly did not resist.

After a moment of silence, Bai Yun suddenly spoke:

“You two, will be buried with him?”

Upon hearing this, Xu Mu’s eyebrows twitched slightly. Li Kun, who had been silent for a long time, spoke:

“These two need not die.”

“The elder one is my friend, but he was not involved in the encirclement back then. He came here merely to spectate and to let his disciple see the world.”

Bai Yun listened, her icy gaze fixed on Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal for a long time, then she slowly nodded.

“Alright.”

“But there can be no idlers present during tonight’s general offensive. If you two wish to stay here, you must join the battle.”

The Wine Immortal nodded and said:

“Patriarch Bai Yun, rest assured, although we are not the main attackers, we will contribute our humble efforts.”

Bai Yun nodded:

“Then go down and prepare.”

The Wine Immortal cupped his hands: “Yes.”

With that, Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal left the tent first, followed by Li Kun.

Thus, in that dark military tent, only Bai Yun remained, seated high and mighty.

Bai Yun crossed one leg and gazed at the bead curtain at the tent entrance. Thinking of the retreating figures of Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal, she suddenly let out a contemptuous smile.

Immediately after, ruthlessness and coldness gradually overflowed in her eyes, fixed intently on the bead curtain.

Until the bead curtain shattered.

The sun was setting.

With the battle approaching, Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal were assigned to a medical team responsible for treating the wounded at the Bai family’s camp.

Within the formation, the cultivators began to indulge themselves. Pills and elixirs, as well as wine and meat, were everywhere. Countless cultivators were drunk, unwilling to sober up by force unless absolutely necessary.

Because they knew this might be their last revelry. Although they were allied to attack as three major families, the Nangong family was deeply rooted, and it was hard to say who would win. Therefore, they could only seize the time to enjoy themselves.

Seeing this, Xu Mu couldn’t help but fall silent.

This was the reality of the battlefield. He had seen in many historical records that soldiers always had a good meal before going to battle. It seemed that cultivators were no different.

“You two, are you new here?”

As the wine party was halfway through and he was going to the latrine, a green-robed elder, not too drunk, walked towards Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal, a rosy smile on his face.

“We are people brought by Elder Li Kun and have been arranged to help here,” Xu Mu replied, cupping his hands.

The plump green-robed elder was startled upon hearing this, and the rosiness on his face disappeared, replaced by a look of fear.

It seemed that something in Xu Mu’s words had frightened him.

“Li Kun, you mean the former master of Patriarch Bai Yun, Jade Heavenly Venerate Li Kun?”

Xu Mu nodded:

“Precisely, is there a problem?”

“No, no,” the elder swallowed, quickly waving his hands and shaking his head. “I’m just surprised that someone of that age could still be alive.”

Xu Mu smiled slightly, “You thought he was killed by Bai Yun long ago, didn’t you?”

“You!” The elder hurried forward and covered Xu Mu’s mouth, looking around nervously and admonishingly, “You can say this in private, but you must never let the Patriarch hear it!”

Xu Mu smiled indifferently and said, “What’s the big deal? She just said she wanted to kill him in front of Mr. Li Kun just now, and Mr. Li Kun agreed.”

The elder was stunned, and waved his hands again, “That’s still not right. This is the Patriarch’s business. It’s best if we don’t talk about it.”

Xu Mu pretended to casually take a sip of wine, then unceremoniously slung an arm around the elder’s shoulder and chuckled, “Old sir, we’re going to battle in a bit. It’s uncertain whether we’ll survive.”

“We are not afraid of death, so can we not speak?”

The green-robed elder smiled wryly and shook his head,

“You are new here, you don’t know our Patriarch’s temper. The punishment for discussing her matters behind her back is far worse than death!”

“That serious?” Xu Mu smiled slightly, opened the mouth of his wine gourd, and brought it close to the elder’s nose, turning it around and saying with a smile, “Then tell me something.”

The green-robed elder broke free from Xu Mu’s embrace, shaking his head like a rattle drum, “Absolutely not, absolutely not.”

Seeing this, Xu Mu pretended to be nonchalant and put his arm around the elder’s shoulder again, chuckling, “Alright, then we won’t talk about it.”

“Since we’re new here, the three of us will drink our fill. We have our cultivation, so we’re not afraid of not being able to fight when the time comes!”

“That works,” the green-robed elder smiled, quickly bringing his nose close to the mouth of Xu Mu’s wine gourd, his cheeks flushed, and his expression entranced as he inhaled, feeling ecstatic.

“This wine…”

“Drink his.”

Xu Mu retracted his wine gourd and pointed to the wine gourd at the Wine Immortal’s waist, smiling, “His wine is better than mine.”

The green-robed elder snapped out of his daze and asked with surprise, “Really?”

The Wine Immortal and Xu Mu exchanged a look, knowing what the other was planning. He then chuckled, directly opened his wine gourd, and said mysteriously,

“Smell this.”

The green-robed elder’s eyes widened, bloodshot, “Excellent wine!”

“This aroma, this appearance, this viscous clinking sound, it’s simply divine nectar!”

Seeing this, the Wine Immortal pretended to be mysterious, put away his wine gourd, covered the elder’s mouth, and whispered,

“Shh, keep it down.”

“There isn’t much of this wine left. Let’s three find a quiet place to drink, lest it be snatched away.”

Xu Mu also nodded, pointing to a deserted trench slope a hundred meters away, saying,

“That’s reasonable. I think that spot would be good.”

The green-robed elder glanced at the Wine Immortal, then at Xu Mu.

The two inexplicably began to feel nervous.

“Then let’s go, what are you waiting for? If those guys find out, it’ll be gone!”

The green-robed elder grabbed the Wine Immortal’s arm and said with a solemn expression.

Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal exchanged a look and said in unison with a laugh,

“Alright.”

After three rounds of drinks.

The green-robed elder was thoroughly drunk, being supported by Xu Mu and the Wine Immortal on either side.

“Senior, is that enough? Drinking any more will be fatal!” Xu Mu said to the Wine Immortal, while pushing the wine gourd into the elder’s throat.

“It’s been enough for a while. It was you who kept forcing him to drink because you were afraid he would wake up,” the Wine Immortal said helplessly to Xu Mu. This was his specially brewed Divine Immortal Drunk, and even he himself dared not drink too much of it.

Xu Mu, on the other hand, had poured several pounds of it continuously into this old fellow, causing his belly to swell. He had already lost his senses, and even his soul was numb.

“Oh, then let’s begin.”

Xu Mu said this, pouring one last gulp of wine into the elder’s throat, then smiling.

The Wine Immortal frowned, “Are you sure he knows anything?”

“The Art of Heart Turning is not an easy feat, let alone the sea of consciousness of a fourth-stage lord. Even I cannot use it too many times, or it will greatly damage my own soul.”

Xu Mu nodded and said with a smile,

“Don’t worry, when you mentioned Li Kun, his reaction was so strong, I guessed he might know some inside story.”

“Senior, time waits for no one. Let’s begin now.”

The Wine Immortal nodded, then without hesitation, placed his palm on the green-robed elder’s forehead. With the surge of mystical grey energy, he also slowly closed his eyes. His soul flickered through space, seemingly entering the elder’s chest.

—Buzz!

Instantly, the green-robed elder’s eyes snapped open, gasping for breath as if he had a nightmare, holding his wine gourd and looking around in panic, asking,

“Where am I?”

Xu Mu pretended to be drunk, supporting his shoulder and saying,

“Sen… Senior, you jest. Aren’t we drinking?”

The green-robed elder looked at Xu Mu, then at the wine gourd in his hand, swallowed, and said,

“Drinking, we’re really drinking?”

Xu Mu smiled, “Of course.”

The green-robed elder nodded, relieved, then pointed at the Wine Immortal lying with his eyes closed in the trench and asked hesitantly, “He is…”

Xu Mu: “Drunk.”

“Senior, don’t you remember? We two competed with you to see who could drink more, but he got drunk first, and you were awake the whole time.”

The green-robed elder was stunned and murmured, “I was… awake the whole time?”

Xu Mu looked suspicious, “Wasn’t I? Senior, did you use your power to sober up?”

Upon hearing this, the elder’s old face turned red. He thought that perhaps he had subconsciously used his power to sober up and quickly waved his hand, saying,

“How is that possible!”

“I, Bai Lang, never use my powers when drinking!”

“Oh,” Xu Mu smiled, then holding his wine pot, he asked curiously, “Then Senior, please continue.”

The green-robed elder was startled, “Continue what?”

Xu Mu smiled, “Senior, have you forgotten? You were just talking about Bai Yun, Nangong Yu, and Jade Heavenly Venerate Li Kun.”

The green-robed elder became vigilant, “Did I say that?”

Xu Mu nodded, “Of course.”

The green-robed elder frowned, about to say something, when a memory that did not belong to him suddenly appeared in his mind. In the memory, he and Xu Mu were drinking and talking, and he had told them everything he knew.

At the same time, in reality, he instantly became drunk, and his powers began to dissipate uncontrollably.

“I will continue… talking…”

Xu Mu smiled, “Regarding Nangong Yu, what secrets do you know, tell me all of them.”