Newbie Guardians

Chapter 48 A Series of Schemes

Ouyang Yuntian's eyes were not only red and swollen, but both of his pupils were also bloodshot, making him look somewhat eerie. He turned around and pounded on the cave wall with all his might, sand and gravel falling down. He pounded on it more than a dozen times before stopping, his fists covered in blood.

Mu Lingshan used her healing skills to heal him, but he shook his head:

"Sister Mu, don't waste your magic power. Healing is useless to me. After being transformed by the Gu, my body functions have become very strong, and I will recover soon."

Mu Lingshan stopped the treatment, gently patted his shoulder, and spoke in a very gentle tone:

"Tell me slowly, what happened?"

Ouyang Yuntian took a deep breath and recounted the whole story in detail.

Six months ago, he and his cousin were sparring on mechanical arts. Due to their overly daring design, an accident occurred. The moment the mechanism activated, the violent vibrations caused the base to buckle and reverse direction. Many arrows shot towards Ouyang Yuntian. His sister tackled him to the ground, but the tip of her Spirit Serpent Staff was struck by an arrow, cracking and greatly reducing the spell's power.

Ouyang Yuntian felt extremely guilty and kept thinking about how to fix it. His sister always smiled and told him that magical artifacts were just an aid, and cultivation was the foundation. As long as one's cultivation was high, any magical artifact would suffice. But he remained deeply troubled by this.

One day, a young man named Pang Huadi told him that the Wind and Thunder Canyon was rich in Wind and Thunder Stones. Legend has it that the Spirit Serpent Staff was made from trees that a spirit serpent had coiled around during its tribulation. Having endured countless storms, the trees had amber-like appearance, making their material extremely unique—neither gold nor jade. To repair it, a large quantity of Wind and Thunder Stones needed to be collected. Pang Huadi also warned him that the Wind and Thunder Canyon was extremely dangerous and advised him against the adventure. This stirred his youthful ambition, so he packed his bags, left a letter home, and secretly set off alone. On the way, he was attacked and discovered that Pang Huadi was a member of the Chaos Forces—he had fallen into a trap. The next day, his sister came to rescue him. His attackers initially thought she was only a sixth-tier wind-elemental user, but during the battle, they discovered she possessed both wind and thunder elemental abilities and quickly inflicted heavy damage on everyone. He was tightly bound, his mouth stuffed with cloth, struggling desperately, but Pang Huadi held a knife to his neck. Pang Huadi said that he had kidnapped him to capture his sister; if his sister swallowed poison, he would release Ouyang Yuntian. To save her brother, the older sister swallowed poison, her face turning black as she collapsed to the ground. Then, Pang Huadi told her that she was only feigning death, and that if he behaved well, she would have a chance to come back to life. To save his sister, he also swallowed a different kind of poison, resulting in his current state.

Hannah asked softly:

"Who is that living corpse guarding your sister's grave?"

Ouyang Yun pounded his head repeatedly, saying painfully:

"It's all my fault! It's all my fault!"

After swallowing the poison, he fainted. When he awoke, he found his sister missing. The ground was littered with corpses; everyone except Pang Huadi, who had been hiding in the shadows from the beginning, had been killed. Pang Huadi told him that his sister had been taken away by a man wielding two scimitars with ghost-headed blades. From the description, he knew it was Nangong Qinwang, the eldest son of the Nangong family, who had always secretly loved his sister. Seeing his beloved dead, Nangong Qinwang was consumed by rage. He slaughtered everyone and took his sister's "corpse." On the way, he was ambushed, fighting desperately to save himself, killing all his enemies again before he too was exhausted. To remain by his sister's side, he had himself transformed into a puppet Gu, also fusing with an explosive Gu, retaining only a trace of his love for his sister. He guarded the tomb every day, preventing anyone from approaching.

Ouyang Yuntian wanted to tell him that his sister was still alive, but he was completely unable to communicate. He would fight to the death if anyone tried to take over the tomb.

Because the Earthly Sacred Spring must be found within three hundred days to save his sister's life, Ouyang Yuntian was frantic with worry. He repeatedly considered using traps to kill his opponent, but each time he couldn't bring himself to do it when he saw his brother's infatuated expression. Only today, when he perished together with the Headless Demon, did Ouyang Yuntian finally have the chance to take his sister away.

Elise asked:

"Why didn't they arrange for the Decapitated Demon and the village chief to ambush us? Wouldn't that have greatly increased their chances of winning?"

Ouyang Yuntian continued to explain that the Decapitated Demon was born from the yin energy of the chaotic graveyard, and could only unleash its full power there. Outside the graveyard, it couldn't use any of its special moves. Normally, it wouldn't provoke Nangong Qinwang; this time, it was an accident that it was killed along with him.

Mu Lingshan asked the last question:

"The village chief possesses extraordinary strength, yet his intelligence is quite low. What could be the reason for this?"

Ouyang Yuntian explained that the village chief's suicide by hanging was pre-arranged. Only the hanged man could absorb the powerful yin energy and resentment from the sacrifice of a hundred people, thus rapidly reaching the sixth level of cultivation. Because it was a rapid process, it was like an infant suddenly possessing extraordinary abilities, but whose intelligence needed to develop slowly to keep up.

With all her questions answered, Mu Lingshan looked at Ouyang Yuntian and said earnestly:

"Yun Tian, ​​leave your sister to us. We'll go back to the academy and ask Principal Zhuge to personally calculate the location of the Earthly Sacred Spring and rescue her as soon as possible. You'd better come with us too; I'm sure Principal Zhuge will have a way."

Ouyang Yuntian shook his head and said:

"Sister Mu, although I am young and ignorant, I know how dangerous it is to go to the Holy Spring. The survival rate is less than one percent. I will take you there. Even if we die together, I will have no regrets."

Mu Lingshan retorted seriously:

"Yun Tian, ​​you can't live in this world without trying because there's danger. You want to save your sister, and we want to save her too. Now you have two choices. First, hand your sister over to us, and I promise to take her to find the Earthly Sacred Spring even at the cost of my own life. Second, come back to the academy with us and find the Earthly Sacred Spring together. In short, you must understand that going alone will only lead to your death."

After a long period of frustration, Ouyang Yuntian finally made up his mind and said:

"I agree to hand my sister over to you. I'm staying here to find a chance for revenge!"

Mu Lingshan wanted to say something more, but Hanna'er stopped her.

"I understand how you feel. If I were in your shoes, I would also personally kill the enemy to avenge my sister. Therefore, I won't persuade you to go back with us. However, you must understand that your greatest contribution by staying behind is not to fight anyone, but to cooperate with us from within and without at crucial moments to annihilate the enemy. Do you understand what I mean?"

Looking at the girl who wasn't much older than him, Ouyang Yuntian's agitated heart gradually calmed down, and he muttered to himself:

"Yeah! What's the use of killing one or two? In a pinch, it's much more satisfying to kill dozens or hundreds!"

Seeing the hope rekindle in Ouyang Yuntian's bloodshot eyes, everyone cast approving glances at Hanna. Elise seized the opportunity to pat Hanna's bottom, and before Hanna could react, quietly gave her a thumbs-up.