Song of Adolescence

Chapter 49: Barrier of Naraka

All of a sudden, Sikong Qianluo’s pupils constricted. Her long spear shot out with the might of a thousand pound hammer. As she did so, she could hear a faint rumbling emanating from the boy’s sword similar to thunder. What kind of power his sword would unleash once it was drawn was unknown to her. That was why she had to strike her with full might.

However, Lei Wujie fell short of drawing the sword once again! Even after exhausting all the energy in his body, he was unable to pull the sword out. His hands still caught in an awkward sword drawing pose, he looked down at his empty hands with wide eyes.

He was brimming with confidence not too long ago, not at all doubting that he could pull out his sword. Yet all his sword did was rumble a little and nothing else. After that brief moment of shock, Lei Wujie promptly leapt into the air, silvery spear barely missing his core while grazing his shoulder in the process.

Sikong Qianluo was stunned as well. She was fully prepared for the undoubtedly mighty sword strike but all she saw was him pulling a dud. She hurriedly retracted her spear which was why there was only a graze on Lei Wujie’s shoulder. If she hadn’t done so, he would have been skewered already.

Everyone present was stunned.

Standing atop the roof, Sikong Changfeng revealed a smile on his face but didn’t say anything.

As for Tang Lian, he frowned and asked, “What is Lei Wujie thinking?”

Xiao Se glanced at Lei Wujie as he touched the wound on his shoulder. A bitter laugh escaped his lips followed closely by woeful shake of his head.

“I can’t beat her.” Lei Wujie said softly.

Sikong Qianluo was puzzled as she stood there in a daze. She didn’t understand why Lei Wujie would withdraw his move at the last second.

It was then that Lei Wujie and Xiao Se turned around simultaneously as though they rehearsed it before and started running like their lives depended on it.

One of them was the inheritor of the world’s best movement skill, Cloudsteps; the other had who-knew-which of his meridians forcefully opened by the monk, Wuxin. In terms of escaping, there was no way they were going to lose.

By the time Sikong Qianluo came back to her senses and raised the spear, they had already covered an astonishing distance of a dozen paces! “You two worthless bums, where do you think you’re going?!”

Lei Wujie lamented while running away, “Brother Xiao, where in the world did you find such a harpy?”

“Me?” Xiao Se rolled his eyes and continued, “As if I am free enough to stir up a woman like that?!”

From afar, Sikong Qianluo heard the words coming out from Xiao Se’s mouth and yelled, “A woman like that?!”

Xiao Se leaped into the air and said in a clear voice, “The shameless kind that chases after a man every day!”

“Xiao Se, are you trying to die?” Sikong Qianluo stopped moving all of a sudden and she threw an arm back with all her might. Spear in hand, she sent it barreling forth in a powerful throw. Yet before it could even travel far, a feet came stomping down on it.

Even with its undeniably mighty force, that spear was stopped dead in its tracks by an inexplicable stomp from the heavens. However, it had to be said that the person standing on the spear was the one who taught the one who threw the spear how to use it.

“Even after revealing the true body of the Silver Moon Spear, you’re still unable to stop them; your spear must be crying right now.” Spear Immortal Sikong Changfeng gently raised his hand and that same spear came flying into it as if it felt his call.

Sikong Qianluo pouted. “Who says I can’t stop them? I would have stopped them if you didn’t interfere.”

“That’s enough out of you. Even your throwing arm is already off target on purpose. Oh daughter of mine…how much cuter can you get…trying to lie to a Spear Immortal like me.” A mischievous smile appeared on Sikong Changfeng’s face.

“Not just today. For the past four days, your spear was never aimed properly.” Tang Lian added from the side.

Sikong Qianluo’s face rapidly turned red as a tomato. “Alright. Then I’ll make sure to aim straight this time! Just watch me take care of him today!”

“Him?” Sikong Changfeng’s eyebrows jumped.

“Them!” Sikong Qianluo raised her leg and sent her own father’s flying away.

After running for quite some time, the two of them finally lost sight of Sikong Qianluo and were able to catch their breaths. As of right now, blood was flowing non-stop from Lei Wujie’s wound. After glancing at it, Xiao Se said, “We have to quickly bandage it quickly.”

Lei Wujie nodded his head. He wanted to rip a piece of cloth from the clothes he was wearing but he realized that his clothes had long since turned to shreds under the furious assault of the Silver Moon Spear. There wasn’t even a piece of complete cloth left on his body for him to tear off so he could only turn his gaze to Xiao Se. The moment his gaze landed on Xiao Se, Xiao Se understood what was running through Lei Wujie’s mind and he hurriedly took a step back. “This is Delicate Misty Cotton you’re looking at!”

“Is it expensive?” Lei Wujie asked.

“No… It’s just… it won’t absorb the blood.” Xiao Se finally thought of an excuse.

With no solution in sight, they had no choice but to enter a nearby courtyard. In a sense, this courtyard was very Snow Moon-esque. Within this city, there were a variety of pavilions, some big and some small, then there were also a bunch of courtyards of varying sizes, each housing a variety of people as well. Some were martial arts experts, and some weren’t. However, none of them were ordinary.

As the two of them opened the door, they discovered an extremely quiet courtyard. Lush greenery filled the courtyard and there was a swing hanging off a bunch of vines as it swayed back and forth. Even though it was moving, there wasn’t anyone on it. There was a tiny pavilion located on the right side of the courtyard and a guqin laid in the middle. As Xiao Se made his way over, he slid his hand over the side of the guqin and said, “It’s really clean. There should be someone living in this house.”

Lei Wujie nodded his head and spoke in a clear voice, “We’re sorry for intruding, but we respectfully ask that the owner grant us an audience.”

The moment the words left his mouth, the door of the house opened. A slender woman wearing a green robe stepped out.

The ancient classics once said: A maiden once hailed from the north. Her beauty was such that she stood separate from the world. With one glance, a city would fall. With another, a kingdom. Yet even so, such an opportunity wasn’t one to be missed, for such beauty might never come again.

Lei Wujie wasn’t as well read as Xiao Se but, in that instant, those verses seemed to engrave themselves into his brain. As the words ran through his head, the scene which he thought could only happen in books appeared right in front of him.

Xiao Se lightly nudged the dazed Lei Wujie who turned his around to reveal an empty look. “What’s the matter.”

“Lei Wujie, you’re about to bleed dry.” Xiao Se coldly said.

Tilting his head to have a look, he instantly felt a wave of lightheadedness overwhelm him.

The green robed lady walked towards them but didn’t say a word. Lightly pulling out a long handkerchief, she pressed it against Lei Wujie’s shoulder. Her hands worked with practised ease and she quickly bandaged the wound for Lei Wujie. Lowering his head to look at her, Lei Wujie felt his vision slowly go dark and he stammered, “Sorry… sorry for troubling you. This handkerchief…”

Xiao Se’s eyes were sharp and he quickly added, “This is embroidered silk. It costs around eighty taels.”

The green robed lady heard what Xiao Se said and merely smiled before shaking her head.

“What’s your name? Why are you here?” Lei Wujie followed up with another question.

However, just when the green robed lady was just about to reply, her face suddenly paled and she lightly coughed into her hands.

Lei Wujie frowned. “You’re sick.”

Nodding her head, the green robed lady acknowledged that fact. “Xiao Se, Lei Wujie, where the hell did you go?!” It was at that very instant that an enraged cry filled the skies.

“Oh crap, she caught up! Quick, we have to leave!” Xiao Se came forward to support Lei Wujie and was about to drag him away.

However, the green robed lady grabbed onto Lei Wujie and gently shook her head.

As the voice got closer and closer, Xiao Se heard Sikong Qianluo leap into the air from the entrance of the courtyard. There was no doubt that she was about to catch up to them any second now.

The green robed lady softly raised her hand and finally spoke. Her voice was gentle and sweet-sounding and though she might have only uttered a few words, her beauty just seemed so separate from this world.

“Naraka.”