Chapter 24: The Surprise Attack

The red-clothed girl looked at Wen Xiaoyi with surprise, she hesitated for a moment then explained to Wen Leyang, "The Yin Chi is the most incisive type of corpse vermin, it lives by hiding within a corpse on most days and it is capable of manipulating corpses. However, if it were controlling a dead serpent of that enormous size, it ought to not be a being of this mortal world anymore." By her reckoning, since Wen Leyang had returned the Necromancy Seal to her without her asking for it, they were now considered as comrades.

Wen Leyang nodded his head, "The one that bit me was only a foot long. Its entire body was pitch black but where its eyes should be there were only two white scales."

Little Chili Pepper nodded her head as well, "It sounds like that Yin Chi was already evolving into a spirit. During the process, it will look for a more fearsome corpse to seek shelter in and continue to cultivate its energy until its entire body has been covered with white scales. By then, it would have evolved into an immortal snake spirit." She smiled gently as she was saying that, "These are all but legends. The Luo family had been manipulating corpses for generations so we may know about these things in detail more than others. My estimation is that the Yin Chi was living in an ancient corpse, only then would it be able to manipulate the corpse, yet it would not be possible to lure the corpse on its own accord."

Wen Leyang said in his heart that his Eighth Generation Ancestor had become a reanimated corpse because of it.

Little Chili Pepper saw the disbelief in Wen Leyang's eyes and frowned as she asked, "What happened? Was another corpse reanimated at that time?" Her focused expression melted from a scorching-hot charm into a different kind of alluring beauty.

Both Wen Leyang and Wen Xiaoyi nodded their heads together.

Little Chili Pepper shook her head in confusion, "That should be impossible, unless... unless there was something else that had triggered the corpse's instincts, something like... items with celestial Yang (masculine) force..."

The old monk Ji Fei roared with laughter and he patted Wen Leyang's shoulder with a snide look, "You are still a virgin, boy... ouch!" As he was halfway through his speech, he uttered a heart-wrenching cry and held up his trembling hand, his entire palm had swelled up bigger than his head in an instant.

Little Chili Pepper laughed heartily, feeling tremendously relieved from her vented hatred, "How dare you simply touch the shoulder of Wen Bucao's descendant!"

Wen Leyang nodded to Little Chili Pepper while laughing, "I have now understood the matter." Immediately he extended a finger and swiped once past the old monk's inner palm. Ji Fei felt a jet of refreshing sensation that penetrated straight into his bone marrow as the unbearable agonizing pain from earlier vanished in the blink of an eye.

Wen Leyang recalled that 'You've Got Me' is a poisonous bug of celestial Yang force. After making a scene for more than half a day it turned out that his Eighth Generation Ancestor had been aroused by Wen Leyang himself. Fourth Grandfather had known that he was carrying a Buddha's Light Bug with him when he entered the Red Leaves Forest, hence he had warned Wen Leyang to not enter the Life Trademark.

Little Chili Pepper, however, does not know that he is carrying a Buddha's Light Bug on his body. She shook her head immediately and said, "That's still impossible. Even if you are a male virgin that is not considered celestial Yang force..." She realized what she had been saying and her pretty face blushed scarlet in a moment. Her appearance may have been courageous and forceful but in reality, she was a little maiden who had seldom descended from the mountain. She had always just practiced martial arts in Crow Ridge and even her studies were personally guided by the elders at home. However, the standard of living at Crow Ridge is much higher than at the Wen family village as they've even installed Broadband lines at the houses there.

Little Chili Pepper dared not bother Wen Leyang anymore so she turned back to the two monks and diverged the topic of the conversation, "Tell me quick, how are you going to compensate me for my precious treasures? As for the respected Laozi's trousers... I don't want that!"

The fat monk's face looked gloomy as he replied with a melancholic voice, "Nevertheless you should decide on another form of compensation as the both of us don't have any money."

Little Chili Pepper gave a 'humph' and said, "Who cares about money anyways! You should compensate me with your very own magic weapons! Give me the things that you had showed off so flashily before! I want the old monk's silver flying sword and your golden small inverted bell!" She thought that she had finally seen through the two monks; although they were dreadfully skilled, they still possessed a gentleman's manner of conceding to their defeat. They also had not made another attempt at escaping ever since Wen Leyang blocked their way, so she took the chance to demand her compensation at an exorbitant price.

Little Chili Pepper's had expected some amount of grumbling and protest, but she did not expect the two monks to procure these treasures from their pockets almost immediately. Though they both had a sour and unwilling expression as they toyed with the items in their hands and asked, "These items... do you really want this?"

"Absolutely!" Little Chili Pepper answered with surprise but she was firm with her decision.

"Take it then!"

The two monks abruptly shouted at once and simultaneously tossed their magic weapons into the air. Their earlier boisterous manner had been swept away, in the blink of an eye, they turned savage and ferocious!

The little silver sword swept forward as fast as electricity while the small inverted bell rang ceaselessly, in a split second, a dark murderous intent and the solemn glow of divine light entangled and soared towards the sky!

The red-clothed girl had never thought that the two monks would so violently lay down their killing hands all of a sudden and she was completely unprepared to dodge the attack. She could only watch as the flying sword swooped downwards in a murderous arc and the small inverted bell grew as big as a house in just a moment. There was a weapon above and below her and the two smashed towards her.

Little Chili Pepper did not even have the opportunity to curse at them, she helplessly watched as her death approached when, all of a sudden, a blurred shadow flashed before her eyes and a not-so strong-built but sturdy enough body was shielding her from the attacks.

There was a loud bang that echoed through the mountain; Wen Xiaoyi had fired another shot.

Wen Leyang shouted as he threw a punch, the strength from his entire body was concentrated onto his fist. The sensation of the power generated from the poison tempered into his body appeared once again as the skin on his arm and fist wound itself up tightly and released a heavy blow of strength. Wen Leyang felt that within the grasp of his hands were a pair of iron fists!

The two magic weapons that appeared to be greeting the double fists abruptly changed their course. They cut through an unbelievable trajectory and shot angrily towards the empty space on the ground on the both sides of the two companies.

Boom!

Wen Leyang's fist missed the target and as if the air could not bear the strength exerted by the powerful punch, with a rush the atmosphere rippled with gray and white light as it erupted with a loud bang!

Little Chili Pepper did not see the one punch that Wen Leyang had thrown that seemed to have shattered the air, but from the awe-struck gazes of the fat monk and the old monk, she could read the taste of terror in them.

The two magic weapons crashed into a distant stretch of mountain forest not exceeding tens of meters away from the fight. The sound of a screech that was more unpleasant to the ears than a gray owl's wail soared up towards the sky as the outline of a sand-colored human figure appeared from the soil which had been plowed into furrows by the magic weapons. The figure wriggled and wrenched itself free like to a mud catfish.

Neither Wen Leyang nor Little Chili Pepper were aware that someone had been hiding not too far away from where they were. Though the fight had nothing to do with this new person, somehow they were the recipient of Ji Fei and Shui Jing's attacks.

Both the shoulders of the yellow-shirt person had been badly mutilated, fresh blood gushed out in streams and both of its arms had completely disappeared. It had reacted to the sudden surprise attack and used both its arms to block the magic weapons. Its body, however, did not stop for even a moment and kept twisting about. After each twist, it would disappear into the air, and almost concurrently it would reappear again ten feet away. It swiftly escaped down the mountain in this bizarre manner.

The two monks roared loudly and as they could not stand to have their old faces blackened again by the big-muzzled blunderbuss, they took the opportunity and chased after the disappearing figure.

Everything happened in such a short moment that by the time Little Chili Pepper had finally recovered her senses, the three persons had already vanished down the mountainside without a trace.

Wen Leyang stuck his tongue out towards sheepishly and said to Wen Xiaoyi, with his heart still throbbing with adrenalin, "Luckily I did not manage to catch it!" The formidable force released from the two monk's magic weapons cannot be compared to the magic weapons from the Sun Dynasty Palace. Not too far from where the two weapons had met the earth, the trees had all been charred into charcoal and a deep pit the size of a house had been dug into the mountainside.

The two monks had appeared in a rather baffling manner and then they had disappeared without a sign. They left behind a trio of people all standing at the same spot, staring speechlessly at one another.

Little Chili Pepper cracked a smile at Wen Leyang and her passionate smile immediately melted the air, "Are you really a descendant of the Wen Bucao?"

Wen Leyang roared in laughter as he nodded his head.

Little Chili Pepper hesitated for a moment and finally gave in to the 'try or die' sentiment in her, "Many thanks to Wen... comrade Wen for your helping hand earlier."

Wen Leyang's cheeks felt like they were burning as he waved his hands around in a flustered manner. He wanted to say something conversational in return but ended up stuttered for almost half a day before he could finally blurt out, "It's fine, you can just call me Wen Leyang."

Wen Xiaoyi chuckled as she chimed in, "He has a nickname called Little Taiyang."

Little Chili Pepper giggled charmingly, "That nickname really suits you!"

Wen Xiaoyi continued to pester her, "How about you? What's your name?"

"My name is Luo..." Little Chili Pepper suddenly blushed scarlet and she skipped her own name and said, "I am the Inner Disciple of Crow Ridge and my siblings call me by the nickname 'Mumu'!"

Wen Leyang was stunned; he found her nickname very pleasant to the ears and it was not as peppery as he expected. However, he did not know that the nickname had originated from the word 'tigress', implying a character of fierceness and ferocity, and it had gradually evolved into Mumu.

The undead toddler seemed to have become bored and his plump body hobbled and walked away. Wen Xiaoyi was full of curiosity and cautiously followed behind the baby corpse. Wen Leyang looked towards Wen Xiaoyi out of concern.

Little Chili Pepper, or Mumu, laughed and said, "Don't worry, Ah Dan will not harm others in normal times. Little Taiyang, the reason you are here at Mount Emei, is it for..." She then lowered her voice and asked conspiratorially, "The ancient cave at Zhanyan Peak?"

Wen Leyang raised his eyebrows slightly and nodded his head in confirmation.

"So the Wen family had also heard about the incident that happened at Zhanyan Peak four months ago?"

Wen Leyang did not answer the question but he asked a question in reply, "Did you come to Mount Emei because of the incident at Zhanyan Peak too?"

Little Chili Pepper shook her head and an anxious expression melted into her scorching gaze and burning-hot red lips, turning her worry into seduction.