Chapter Ninety-Six: Seeking a Shortcut

Chapter Ninety-Six: Courting Trouble

"I’ve deciphered about thirty percent of it. By next time we meet him, I should be able to take him down," Yun Yang said suddenly.

"Huh?" Liu Chuang asked, a little puzzled by the remark.

"It’s my new ability, sort of. Once I finish analyzing it, I should be able to kill him," Yun Yang explained roughly.

"That strong? If that bastard is going to be that arrogant, then let’s kill him together," Ge Xiaolun said immediately after hearing him.

"Can it really work? Even though I really hate to admit it, he is truly strong," Sun Wukong cautioned, worried the two of them were getting ahead of themselves.

Yun Yang and Ge Xiaolun exchanged a glance, then both let out a snicker and said in unison, "What kind of man says he can’t?"

A ripple of knowing laughter rose from the men present. The women, by contrast, all blushed faintly. Qilin even spat softly under her breath, cursing the two of them for being shameless. No, everyone here was shameless.

Seeing the two of them acting up with no sense of danger at all, Sun Wukong silently shook his head, wondering whether they were truly capable or simply ignorant and fearless.

Still, he made up his mind then and there: if the two of them could not handle it, then even if it cost him his life, he would tear through the Heavenly Palace once more to protect his master’s world.

Once the meeting ended, everyone discovered that the conference room was already packed with angels. Those who had just come out all froze for a moment.

Yun Yang noticed Qingxue standing in the front row and walked up to her.

"Qingxue, what’s all this?"

"The Seventh Heaven Blade detected an extremely powerful and evil dark energy erupting here. There was a very high chance it was the ancient demon god Hua Ye, but just as we were almost here, it vanished all of a sudden, so..." Qingxue trailed off, because what happened next was already obvious to everyone.

"He’s gone. That guy’s already gone. It’s fine now, go back," Ge Xiaolun said, waving a hand after hearing her.

Old Li also stepped out from the departing crowd and said to the angels, "That Hua Ye wanted Earth to become his vassal state. We refused, and he left."

After saying that, he pulled Yun Yang and Qingxue aside, his eyes bright as he looked Yun Yang over.

"What’s this about the informant Ge Xiaolun mentioned?"

"The informant is Rose. Uncle, your grandson might have to wait a few more years," Yun Yang said with a bitter laugh.

"What? Ah, never mind." A flicker of disappointment crossed Old Li’s eyes. Then he drew Qingxue over to the other side and, turning back to look at Yun Yang, said, "Qingxue, this brat Yun Yang is useless to me. And I’m not a super soldier either. I’m still hoping to hold my grandchild, you know?"

Yun Yang was utterly baffled by the sudden change in Old Li’s expression. What on earth was going on?

He had only sneaked up to hear Old Li say he was useless, but at the time he still did not know why. Only after combining that with what came next did he finally understand.

His face immediately went dark. Could that really be blamed on him? He did not want this either. Wasn’t it all forced by circumstance?

Yun Yang was in a very bad mood, but by the principle that happiness should be built on another person’s suffering, he said:

"Exactly, Qingxue. Have you taken a liking to anyone? How about Liu Chuang? He still doesn’t have a girlfriend. Uncle, what do you think?"

Before Qingxue could even speak, Old Li’s eyes lit up.

"That’s right, listen to your uncle. Liu Chuang is a pretty good kid. He used to be a real scoundrel, but he’s turned over a new leaf now. He’s someone worth entrusting yourself to."

"Uncle, I..."

"Uncle knows what you’re going to say. You’re still young, right? Qingxue, let me tell you something: the old saying goes, ignore your elders and you’ll regret it right away. Don’t let Liu Chuang’s age fool you. Men from the northeast know how to dote on their wives." Old Li patted Qingxue’s hand.

"Qingxue is over three hundred years old," Yun Yang murmured from the side.

Instantly, a hint of awkwardness appeared on Old Li’s stern face. He coughed twice to cover it up, but then as though remembering something, the awkwardness slowly faded and a confident aura rose from him. With a serious expression, he said, "Qingxue, you’re not exactly young yourself. When I was twenty, my son was already old enough to run errands."

Qingxue’s gaze drifted toward Yun Yang after hearing that, and the grievance in her eyes was almost spilling over.

Yun Yang felt a little uncomfortable being stared at like that, but for the sake of his own amusement, he still put on a concerned expression and said, "Exactly, you’re already so old—"

A loud thud rang out as Qingxue sent Yun Yang flying with a single palm strike. He crashed into a decorative tree, and its leaves poured down like snow.

Seeing Yun Yang, whom she had blasted away, land on the ground with a soft, miserable thump like a lump of mud, a trace of worry flashed through Qingxue’s clear eyes.

But after Yun Yang groaned his way back up, she lifted her chin and let out a soft huff. Then she refused to look at that irritating fellow again. How dare he bring up her age? As a human, did he not know that a girl’s age was a secret? Serves him right.

Seeing Yun Yang struggle to his feet in such a wretched state, Old Li instinctively stepped back. He was not a super soldier; if he took a hit like that, his old bones might very well die on the spot.

Thinking of that, Old Li hurriedly said to Qingxue, "Qingxue, it’s fine if you don’t like Liu Chuang. I’m still young, after all. No rush, no rush."

With that, he turned and left at once, afraid Qingxue might give him the same treatment. If he wanted to live long enough to see his future grandchild, he felt he ought to treasure his life.

"Uncle Li, I..." Qingxue began.

"No rush, really no rush. I remember I still have water boiling at home, so I’d better go." Before she could finish, Old Li interrupted her again, his feet never stopping as his voice drifted back from far away.

Watching Old Li flee as though escaping a disaster, a hint of irritation flickered across Qingxue’s pretty face. She stamped her foot and muttered, "Am I really that scary?"

At that moment, Yun Yang staggered over to her as if seriously injured, wearing a look of righteous indignation. Trembling, he raised a finger and said, "The ancients never lied to me. The deadliest thing in the world is a woman’s heart."

Then he even made a spitting-blood motion.

"Hmph. On a sheer cliff’s edge you stand, courting death," Qingxue said, forcing back her laughter while maintaining her proud, haughty expression.

Hearing that, three question marks slowly seemed to rise above Yun Yang’s head. His mind was full of one thought: what did she just say? It must be some kind of classical Chinese, right? Why did I understand every word individually, yet have no idea what it means when put together?

Seeing Yun Yang stunned by her words, Qingxue showed a triumphant expression.

Trying to outdo me with old-fashioned language? Doesn’t he know angels have eyes that see through everything?

Combining nineteen years of language study, Yun Yang slowly came to an understanding. Sheer cliffs and precipices were easy enough to understand: danger. "You stand on the edge" meant he should stay away from the side. And "courting death" obviously meant asking to die.

The key was the final part: "asking for trouble." She was saying he was just begging for it.

Realizing this, Yun Yang immediately spread his wings and shot into the sky, shouting as he flew, "Fine, I’m courting death! What are you going to do about it? I’m telling you, you’re finished! Chuang! Chuang—"

Seeing Yun Yang fly while shouting for Liu Chuang, Qingxue froze for two seconds, then reacted and immediately took off in pursuit, shouting, "You stop right there! I’m telling you, you’re done for! Don’t let me catch you!"

Less than five minutes later, Yun Yang had already found Liu Chuang. He swooped over, whispered a few words into his ear, then made a taunting face at Qingxue, who was chasing from behind, before taking off again and disappearing into the distance.

Liu Chuang was still dazed when Qingxue arrived beside him, flushed bright red, and said anxiously, "He’s making things up. Don’t believe him. I didn’t!"

Then she also spread her wings and flew after the villain in front again.

After hearing Qingxue, Liu Chuang looked even more bewildered. He muttered to himself, "What on earth is going on? What did Yun Yang say? Why didn’t I hear a thing? Do super soldiers go deaf too?"

At that moment, Qilin, who was walking behind them, heard Liu Chuang’s muttering. Combined with what she had just seen between Yun Yang and Qingxue, she said helplessly, "Can’t you tell? You were played."

"Huh?" Liu Chuang asked, confused.

"I can feel the superiority that comes from crushing someone’s IQ," Qilin said with a smile.

"Dammit, that brat Yun Yang actually played a prank on me. Just wait until I get my hands on him," Liu Chuang growled after finally catching on.

Meanwhile, Yun Yang, delighted that his prank had succeeded, was still happily swooping left and right through the sky. Since they both had wings of time and space, their normal flight speeds were actually about the same. That even left Yun Yang enough time to turn around and make faces at Qingxue.

His antics only enraged Qingxue further. She scolded him sharply from behind, even bringing out her Flame Sword.

That only made Yun Yang’s mischievous heart even happier. He flew backward, then at an angle, and even shouted mockingly, "Nyeh, nyeh, are you mad? Can’t catch me, can you? Hahaha!"

That was enough to push Qingxue over the edge.

Before long, the two of them had flown beyond the capital and out into barren open land.

Qingxue stopped at once and looked around. After confirming that there was no one within a hundred miles, the stellar energy along her Flame Sword began to shine brilliantly. Then she shouted at Yun Yang, who was still flying about gleefully, "Yun Yang, if you run again, I’m going to launch a Flame Bombardment at you."

Hearing her, Yun Yang immediately froze midair. He turned back stiffly and saw the Flame Sword Qingxue had raised high overhead.

He felt he had gone too far with his antics, that he had boxed himself into a corner. He wanted nothing more than to slap himself a few times. Qingxue had such a good temper, and he had still managed to rile her up with his prank. He was starting to feel like quite the villain.

Seeing him stop, Qingxue lifted the Flame Sword in her hand even higher.

So force works best after all, she thought. Then she called out sharply, "You. Come here."