Young Noble Be Monster Slaying

Chapter 264: The Great Berry Bandits (I)

Elder Huang ran off quickly, disappearing in a flash. Scholar Sun reacted a bit slower, so he ended up having to stay behind and face Di Nufeng.

Despite being a renowned figure in the world of immortality cultivators, Scholar Sun felt rather nervous to see her.

"Eheh. Ah Feng[1], it's been a long time."

"Old Sun, it truly has been many years since we last met up," Di Nufeng said when she arrived. Seeing that Scholar Sun was the only one here, she asked loudly, "Where did Elder Huang go?"

"He said his house is on fire." Scholar Sun scratched his head and moved his feet anxiously. "If there's nothing important you want to talk about, I'll go help put out the fire."

"Sit down."

"Aye."

At Di Nufeng's command, Scholar Sun obediently sat down, not daring to make another attempt to flee.

The Weapons Master was watching them from behind. He felt rather amused, so he didn't interfere.

Di Nufeng had a special relationship with the Wanderers of the North and South, but they didn't have much of a relationship with the Mount Shu Sect. So, it was not appropriate for the Weapons Master to get involved.

"The last time the two of you came to Mount Shu was thirty years ago, right? You didn't visit for so many years... Was it because you're afraid I'll beat you up?" Di Nufeng asked bluntly as she looked at Scholar Sun.

"How could that be..." Scholar Sun, who had a very good temper, smiled in response. "We have always been extremely concerned about you. We wanted to visit you ages ago, but we've been too busy. That's why we didn't come over to see you."

Di Nufeng rolled her eyes. "Oh, drop the act. What could you two idle old men possibly be busy with?"

"The world is not peaceful, so how could we be idle?" Scholar Sun said with a sigh.

"Anyway, since I've caught you this time, you'll have to give me some benefits, right?" Di Nufeng pondered for a moment. "Write an article praising me, like those ones that are intriguing and also tear-jerkers. And have Elder Huang publish it in the gazette."

"I have no problems with that!" Scholar Sun immediately agreed. However, he added mischievously, "It's just that I don't know if Old Huang would be okay with that. He's secretly biased against you. Just as you've already found out, his disciple heads the Wind-Catching Hall, and that guy is constantly slandering you more and more every day. Hmph, hmph..."

Seeing as Elder Huang wasn't around, Scholar Sun diverted Di Nufeng's attention to Elder Huang and maddeningly stoked the flames of Di Nufeng's rage.

"Precisely!" Di Nufeng punched the palm of her other hand, feeling extremely furious. "They've been ruining my image. It's practically a crime! I've long disliked Zhou Yijian. One of these days, I'm going to storm into the Celestial Pivot Pavilion!"

"It's about time you did that. Are they taking you for a fool just because you haven't shown them your rage?" Scholar Sun said indignantly, echoing her anger.

"That is exactly it!" Di Nufeng nodded in agreement. "The more I think about it, the angrier I get."

"I'm getting angry too just from putting myself in your shoes. Wait here. I'll go catch Old Huang and drag him back for you to beat up until he confesses!"

After saying that, Scholar Sun stood up and disappeared in a flash.

"Eh?" Di Nufeng uttered as she looked in the direction that the two old men had disappeared.

She blinked blankly, sensing there was something amiss.

Nevertheless, Di Nufeng didn't dwell on it. After all, she was there to watch Chu Liang compete. She had, by chance, heard that the Wanderers of the North and South were there too, so she just went over to see if that was true.

Seeing Chu Liang win so easily put Di Nufeng in a good mood, so she was unbothered by the strange situation with the old men and let the matter go.

The next day, it was time for Di Nufengu's favorite event, the Wine-God Contest.

It was the first time this contest was held at the Mount Shu Summit. There weren't many participants, and there were no preliminaries or finals. Everything would happen in one match.

The contest stage consisted of some long tables, and there were rows of earthen jars filled with strong liquor lined up on each one. The contest was a very simple one. The contestants had to drink ten jars of Drunken Tiger Wine in the first round, ten jars of Raging Inferno Brew in the second, and ten jars of Drunken Immortal Brew in the third. The fourth round and onward would continue in the same fashion.

The contest was designed so that a significant number of contestants would get eliminated in each round. The contestant who lasted until the end would be the winner.

This was a contest where Di Nufeng could drink for free, gain fame, and make money. How could she possibly miss out on such a great opportunity?

However, when she arrived at the contest venue, she saw someone she never expected to see there.

"Aunt Tian?" Di Nufeng stared at the person in question with wide eyes. "You're here to take part in the contest too?"

"Yes, and?" the person in question replied.

She was the Discipline Master. Dressed in black robes, she was standing among the contestants, but no one dared to look at her directly.

"You, a distinguished Guardian Elder, are taking part in the contest...? This..."

Di Nufeng was speechless.

"Who do you think suggested adding this event?" the Discipline Master asked. "And who said a Guardian Elder can't participate in a recreational competition?"

"But who would dare try to win when you're participating?" Di Nufeng muttered.

"If you're capable of outdrinking me, don't hold back." The Discipline Master sneered. "It seems you've forgotten who taught you how to drink."

"Heh." Di Nufeng put on a devilish smile. "Aunt Tian, times have changed."

...

"Mount Shu sure has changed a lot."

A weathered man wearing a conical bamboo hat sighed deeply.

He was gazing at Mount Shu, which was over thirty li away. Yet, he seemed as if he could see every blade of grass and tree in the seemingly unending mountain range.

The man was holding the hand of a little girl, who was struggling hard to break free from his grip.

They were the Whale-Riding Immortal and the little girl who had emerged from the Immortals' Marsh.

"Calm down. We can't go straight to Mount Shu. There are too many people around. If we draw a lot of attention, I may not be able to protect you," the Whale-Riding Immortal said. He coaxed the little girl, "Didn't we talk about this before? I brought you here to get the fruit you want. After that, you'll have to be good and return to the Holy Mountain with me. But if we're doing this, you'll have to listen to me and behave."

"Fruit..." the little girl uttered, pointing upward.

"You're pointing in the wrong direction—huh?"

The Whale-Riding Immortal had been about to say that Mount Shu couldn't be in the sky. However, he saw a beam of swordlight suddenly pass by overhead.

It was a sunny day and still daytime. That made it very difficult to see the beam of swordlight flying past high up in the sky, looking like just a narrow streak of green qi.

Nevertheless, it was undoubtedly extremely easy for the Whale-Riding Immortal and the little girl to see it.

"Come on down," the Whale-Riding Immortal said.

He pointed at the green qi and flexed his finger a little. That green qi dropped from the sky rapidly, plunging toward them.

The sword-riding cultivator seemed to be fighting to stay in control of his flying sword and managed to slow his descent somewhat. However, the Whale-Riding Immortal flexed his finger again, and the swordlight instantly landed in front of them.

"When it comes to playing with flying swords, I'm your ancestor, yet you still think you can escape?" the Whale-Riding Immortal sneered.

The cultivator that got dragged down appeared to be a middle-aged man. He didn't have a high cultivation level and was likely to be at the beginning stage of the fourth realm. Judging from his appearance, he was probably a high-ranking teacher from a small immortal sect.

He'd left his mustache to grow out into the shape of the character for eight 八, completing his rather imposing appearance. Nevertheless, the two people before him were not intimidated in the least.

"This mountain is mine, and these trees are mine. If you want to pass through here, leave the fruit behind!" the Whale-Riding Immortal bellowed.

"Huh?" the middle-aged cultivator uttered, taken aback.

He had been flying in the sky when a powerful force suddenly overwhelmed him and dragged him down. Realizing he had encountered a formidable cultivator, he had no intention of resisting at all. In fact, he had decided he would comply regardless of whether the formidable wanted to rob him or violate him... as long as he could keep his life.

Unexpectedly, all the formidable cultivator wanted was fruit.

But I don't have any fruit...

"Esteemed heroes[2], I'll give you whatever you want. But what fruit do I have?" the middle-aged cultivator asked, feeling quite bewildered.

"You don't have any?"

The Whale-Riding Immortal then looked at the little girl.

The little girl pointed at the middle-aged cultivator. "Fruit... has..."

The middle-aged cultivator became nervous. "This... little hero, what fruit are you talking about?"

The little one in front of him looked young. Yet, when she pointed at him, she emanated a powerful bloodthirst that caused a chill to run down his back and his legs to shake.

The adult wasn't the only formidable one; the little one was formidable too!

The middle-aged cultivator lamented inwardly that he had experienced too little of the world. If he had encountered more powerful cultivators, he would have known at a glance that these two were not simply formidable cultivators but monstrous beings on the same level as Eminent Ones!

"It's a red berry with golden veins," the Whale-Riding Immortal added, clarifying for the little girl.

"Ah!" the middle-aged cultivator exclaimed, suddenly remembering something. He took out two gift boxes. "Are you talking about this Mount Shu specialty?"

These were gift boxes he had bought on Mount Shu for several sword coins. He had intended to give them to his friends once he was back at his sect. They weren't particularly valuable, but they couldn't be bought outside Mount Shu. They could be easily purchased on Mount Shu though.

It never even occurred to the middle-aged cultivator that the berries might be so valuable that two incredibly powerful beings would want to steal them from him.

1. Ah Feng is referring to Di Nufeng. Chinese people like to add "Ah" to a person's name/second part of their name. It's basically like a nickname. ☜

2. “Hero” is just like a common respectful term of address people use for cultivators/martial artists etc. ☜