Pursuit of the Truth

It was a sight difficult to forget, one where a beautiful woman placed her hands behind her back as she revealed her beautiful figure in the sky. With a red blush that made it seem that she was slightly shy, she walked down with light footsteps.

Her waist was incredibly slim, her light green long dress hiding away her slender figure. There were some light red stars sewn on her sleeves, as well as some auspicious clouds [1] that were embroidered with silver threads. Her sparkling eyes contained hints of bashfulness, as if they were the waters of spring. As they shone, the crystalline pearls hanging below the phoenix hairpin on her head swayed slightly.

The pearls were shining brilliantly under the sunlight, but they did not manage to cover up even a single bit of the woman’s beauty. Instead, they became a foil to her, bringing her beauty out so that she seemed breathtaking. Anyone who saw her would be left shocked.

Her soft and supple face was like a beautiful flower, and when she walked, the wind blew her dark locks, causing her to lift up her right hand. Her fingers were long and white, and her action of lifting up her hair as well as that bashful gaze made her a sight that would move hearts if she frowned or smiled.

”I, Yu Xuan, greet big brother Su.” The beautiful girl gradually approached the two people below, and when she was a hundred something feet away from Su Ming, she bent her body slightly. A light fragrance drifted through the air towards him. It was a scent that would enter straight into people’s hearts once they smelled it.

There was a yellow mutt behind the woman, and it was running and skipping to follow behind her. When it stuck out its tongue, saliva fell down. Right behind that mutt was an excited Qian Chen. He looked as if he was on the verge of crying. Tears lingered in his eyes as he looked at Su Ming.

There was also an old man that was actually the bald crane at the very end of the group, walking as if he was a creep. He was rubbing his hands, and even though there was not an ounce of dignity in him, he still put on a nonchalant and sage-like air. The visual impact that was caused by his expression and his manner of walking… was… something that a mortal could not understand.

This might be the first time Su Ming saw the old man, but the thick presence of a creep about him and the solemn expression on his face made it absolutely clear who it was. There was no one else in the entire land of Berserkers who could fuse these two complicated airs together and feel proud of it.

When Su Ming looked at the mutt, a barely discernible glint appeared in his eyes. He shifted his gaze back to the woman. He had to say that she was definitely the most beautiful of all the women he had seen. It did not matter whether it was her face, her temperament, or that bashful look on her face—no woman could compare to her.

Yet for some unknown reason, when Su Ming saw her, he felt as if there was a sharp needle hidden in her body. If anyone carelessly touched it, they would immediately be pierced, and that needle seemed to contain a poison that could kill.

While Su Ming looked at the woman, she, too, was sizing him up. At the moment their gazes met, the woman smiled shyly and lowered her head, casually avoiding Su Ming’s gaze.

Su Ming’s second senior brother let out a fake cough by his side. He lifted his head, instinctively moving the side of his face towards the sun, then seemed to think that this was slightly inappropriate and let out another fake cough and showed a gentle smile towards the woman.

”Little girl, when are you going to get married to my youngest junior brother?”

His words were spoken too suddenly and the meaning behind them was too unexpected. This manner of speech that did not follow any sort of logical conventions not only stunned Su Ming stunned but also made the woman who was pretending to be embarrassed widen her eyes. The shy look on her face disappeared instantly.

Even the mutt by the side forgot to retrieve its tongue after it opened its mouth. A large amount of saliva fell out…

The bald crane sucked in a breath and stared at Su Ming’s second senior brother with a look as if he was looking at a senior and a veteran. As for Qian Chen, he was completely stunned.

Everything around them immediately fell silent at that moment. Only second senior brother continued smiling gently with a face that looked as if he was completely harmless. His act of having the sun shine on the side of his face and his occasional shift in posture caused the atmosphere to remain silent for some time.

”Second senior brother, I-I don’t know her.” Su Ming laughed wryly and instinctively pinched the center of his brows.

”Nonsense. If you didn’t know her, how could she know your name? Youngest junior brother, when you left the ninth summit, Master had me, Hu Zi, and your eldest senior brother gather together to talk about this greatest event in your life. We discussed this for three days and nights, you know? And it was all about your marriage. Now, the heavens had opened their eyes. I didn’t expect you to be so good, youngest junior brother. You actually have such a beautiful girl coming after you by her own accord.

”Ah, your second senior brother is such a pitiful person. I have such unparalleled beauty and talent, such attractive gracefulness, such… Err, that’s used to describe a woman, isn’t it?” second senior brother muttered, blinking a few extra times.

”Se-Second senior brother… I-I don’t know him either…”

The beautiful woman stared at Su Ming’s second senior brother with a wide-eyed look for some time before she quickly spoke up and even instinctively took a few steps back. She had a feeling that this second senior brother was simply too terrifying.

The fright he gave her was even worse than what the Emperor of Abyss had managed. That man had also asked someone to be a matchmaker, wanting her to marry third prince, but Su Ming’s second senior brother had actually said these things right at their first meeting, and he even put on a look as if this was completely expected. The woman felt that she just could not grasp what he was thinking.

This manner of speech that did not follow any logical conventions made Su Ming laugh wryly and the woman instinctively back off, but the bald crane’s eyes started shining at them. He was practically looking at Su Ming’s second senior brother in an idolizing manner while he mumbled nonstop in his heart.

’I got it. Damn, so you can actually speak in this way? I’ve run into a veteran today. Looks like I’ll have to learn how to speak this way in the future. This is a true veteran. This is what it means to be unfathomable. This is an even greater state of intimidating others.’

”So, you really don’t know each other? Well, it doesn’t matter. Now you know each other. Little girl, look at my youngest junior brother, isn’t he of such unparalleled beauty and talent, such attractive gracefulness, such… Well, just look at how good he is. How about this? I’ll take matters to hand today and bear witness to your marriage. From now on, you’ll be his wife,” second senior brother said gently. He might be talking a lot, but his words were not fast but neither were they slow. There was even a faint holy glint in his eyes.

”It’s settled then. Little girl, your name is Yu Xuan, right? We won’t be taking much of your dowry. As for that… you can just give us that mutt of yours. It looks pretty good, seems like the sort that could guard a house. Also, if you have any other sisters, do remember to introduce them to me.” Second senior brother looked at the mutt in a manner as if it was already a possession of his.

Once the mutt met eyes with Su Ming’s second senior brother, it shuddered and quickly took a few steps back, then bared its teeth at him and started growling.

”Madam, why exactly have you been following me all this way?” Su Ming laughed wryly in his heart and simply allowed his second senior brother to continue trying to persuade him. He knew well that his second senior brother was definitely not someone who did things randomly. There had to be some reason as to why he was behaving this way. Perhaps he had seen something.

After all, the method the woman had used to hide herself was incredibly strange. Su Ming had not noticed her earlier on. Only during the wave of impact that had been stirred up by the body of the Rune had he noticed a slight abnormally in that region in the sky and sensed the faint presences of two familiar ripples of power.

Those ripples of power came from the bald crane and Qian Chen, and only then did he notice the whole party.

A thought bloomed in the woman’s head once she heard Su Ming’s words. Her bashful demeanor and the air of the rich had disappeared due to the continuous bombardment of words by second senior brother. At that moment, there was a mischievous air about her. Her huge sparkling eyes made it seem that another idea would appear in her head every single time she blinked.

While she still looked as incredibly beautiful as ever, she currently looked more like a little fox.

Su Ming frowned. The feeling as if there was a sharp needle hidden in her was becoming stronger, and her presence was incredibly strange. This was not an Immortal’s cultivation, and neither was it a Berserkers’ Qi. Instead, there was an aura in her that was rather similar to the aura of death, but it was a different from it as well.

That ripple made Su Ming feel as if his soul was being drawn out, as if a small part of it was going to spread out and head towards the woman.

This strange matter caused Su Ming to become even more wary of her. He cast the woman a profound look and did not continue to ask her why she knew about him. Instead, he cast his gaze towards Qian Chen and the bald crane.

”Come back!” Su Ming let out a cold harrumph.

Qian Chen immediately grew excited. After a moment of hesitation, he quickly turned into a long arc and flew to Su Ming. He was teary-eyed and looked as if he was about to grab Su Ming’s sleeve and bawl, a clear sign that the things he had suffered during the past few days had been incredibly tragic, and it was so tragic that it made a person who originally did not know how to fly learn how to do so…

When the bald crane saw Qian Chen leaving safely, he, too, quietly took a few steps forward before increasing his speed and charging towards Su Ming. When he arrived next to him, he let out a huge sigh of relief in his heart, and his face turned back into that smug and overbearing look once again.

”Let’s go, second senior brother.”

Su Ming looked at his second senior brother and slowly moved back. The feeling the woman gave him was simply too strange, and with his current level of cultivation, Su Ming could sense that there was an incredibly powerful might contained within that mutt.

At that moment, there were hundreds of long arcs charging towards them from the area behind Su Ming. They were Fated Kin that had been told to wait. Once they saw Great Leaf Immortal Sect crumbling, they rushed over due to their worry for Su Ming.

”You… Hmph, what reason would I have to follow you? That’s right, I’ve been following you all this while, but if it wasn’t for me, then you would have died when you were fighting against Di Tian in the Dead Sea? You wouldn’t have been able to leave so easily. If it wasn’t for me, you would have died a long time ago.” Some unknown thought rose in the woman’s heart. As she looked at Su Ming, she spoke with a clear voice and with a tone tinged with anger. ”You… You ungrateful bastard!”

When Su Ming heard those words, his gaze gained a focused edge.

”Haha, so that’s how it is! And you were saying you don’t know him? Miss Yu Xuan, I can tell now, you fell in love with my youngest junior brother a long time ago. The marriage is settled then for sure.” Su Ming’s second senior brother smiled faintly, then narrowed his eyes and looked towards the woman.

”I’ll listen to you, second senior brother.” Once the woman cast a glance at Su Ming, that embarrassed look appeared again on her face. She lowered her head and spoke softly, but she was mumbling smugly in her heart.

’Hmph, I suffered a huge loss when I sold Su Ming. I’ll have to stay by his side. When those two old coots come here, I’ll take a huge chunk out of their purses. There’s no way I’ll take any losses when I conduct my business.’

”Second senior brother…” Su Ming smiled wryly.

”Youngest junior brother, this woman is not bad. She’s not bad at all.” His second senior brother smiled. Once he looked at the mutt, he nodded towards Su Ming in a profound manner.

Translator’s Notes:

1. Auspicious clouds: Represents heaven and good luck, since cloud (yun2) sounds almost the same as fortune (yun4) in Chinese.