Volume 2: The Wind Rises, Heaven Grows Cold Chapter 147: That Starry Sky

  "That's right, this is the agreement with Antong Department, in order to prevent any unexpected situations from arising... En? Dongfang Hua was taken aback, just as he was about to explain, his pupils suddenly constricted and he cautiously looked towards the crack outside."

  This crack is quiet at this moment, it's clear that no one has come here waiting as scheduled.

  "There's a problem!" The young man with the surname Chen had a gloomy expression, took a few steps forward, raised his right hand and placed it on the cracked rock wall beside him, closed his eyes, and opened them again after a while.

  "There's no ambush outside, but... nor are the guests who should have arrived according to schedule." He said, his right hand suddenly exerting force, directly prying out a boulder, biting the tip of his tongue and spitting out a mouthful of blood towards the crack.

  In an instant, the stone made a crashing sound and transformed into a figure identical to the young man with the surname Chen. With a cautious expression, he circled around outside the crack.

  "There's no ambush indeed, but why didn't they come..." The young man with the surname Chen looked at Dongfang Hua and spoke in a low voice.

  "Wait again!" Dongfang Hua furrowed his brow, looking at the shadowy figure transformed from the piled-up magic outside the crack.

  After a wisp of fragrance, the figure wandering outside transformed into a patch of bloody fog and turned back into a stone.

  Su Ming gazed at this scene and took notice of the Chen surname youth.

  "Moke brother, Chen young brother, something's not right. After we go out later, it's best not to scatter, and rush together towards the northwest. I remember that's where Antong is gathering." Dongfang Hua said in a low voice with a hint of anxiety, and after seeing Su Ming and the Chen youth nodding, he took a deep breath, gritted his teeth, and suddenly rushed out with a whooshing sound.

  A young man with the surname Chen followed closely, Su Ming was behind, and the three of them rushed out of the crack. Outside the crack, a gust of wind with a bloody smell blew towards them, causing Su Ming's long hair to flutter in the wind. The surroundings were dimly lit, with thin mist swirling around, and a desolate mountain range stretched out before them. Dark energy rose from the ground, gathering towards the sky.

  Dongfang Hua and the young man with the surname Chen sped northwest, transforming into two long rainbows on the ground. Su Ming had intended to follow them, but as he took a step forward, he subconsciously looked up at the sky in this place. As soon as he did, his entire body shook violently, and the calmness and indifference in his eyes were replaced by shock in an instant. His body involuntarily came to a stop.

  "Brother Mo?" The young man surnamed Chen in front suddenly stopped and turned his head to look at Su Ming.

  "Don't bother with him, something is bound to happen in this place and we can't stay for long!" Dongfang Hua spoke quickly, her body not stopping for a moment as she rushed away.

  The young man with the surname Chen hesitated for a moment, then hastily left, and gradually, the two figures disappeared into the distance, without a trace.

  Su Ming stood there in a daze, gazing at the stars in the sky, letting the gentle breeze's voice anxiously call out to him in his mind, as if he hadn't heard it, and had forgotten everything.

  He gazed at the starry sky, and the confusion in his eyes replaced everything.

  Having gone through the cruelty of Wushan, the confusion of Nanchen, the loneliness of several years, and a brief encounter with He Feng, all sorts of things made Su Ming accustomed to calmness, familiar with indifference, and often silent.

  On his face, such a shocking expression appeared, though not rare, but also won't be many, let alone at this moment stepping into the place where the old ancestor of Handan sat and died, in this crisis-filled place, his shocked expression left a blank space in his mind.

  He gazed up at the sky, and although the fog was hazy, his gaze pierced through it, still able to see the dark canvas above, where points of starlight existed, twinkling on and off. If not for the four cracks in the canvas that had been torn open for who-knows-how-long, allowing the fog to seep in, Su Ming would have almost been unable to distinguish whether this starry sky was real or fake.

  "Fake..." Su Ming muttered to himself, staring at the four cracks. Their existence clearly told Su Ming that the starry sky here was fake, man-made, and it... did not exist.

  This starry sky, Su Ming had seen it once before.

  "Su Ming, remember this starry sky..." In Su Ming's mind, his grandfather's voice from back then was like a desolate wind, swirling around.

  Su Ming's expression was dazed, standing there motionless, he gazed at the starry sky, his eyes had a hollow look, the surroundings were quiet, but in Su Ming's heart, there was a voice whispering.

  "Why does this sky remind me of the starry night I saw with Grandpa..."

  "Why is this old ancestor of Handan Mountain here, setting up this starry sky..."

  "Why does something that belongs to him give me a sense of intimacy..."

  "Why can this treasure be taken away by neither wind nor rain, yet when it sees me, it melts into my body..."

  "Why is it that after this sword pierced my body, a path of flesh and blood was opened up, making me feel like it had always existed, yet was blocked?"

  "Why is it that when others use this red grass from Mount Hua, they absorb the vital energy of the atmosphere, but when I use it, the effect is vastly different..."

  "Why..."

  "Mount Huan's Old Ancestor, where are you from... which direction... are you from the vast expanse of this starry sky?" I also asked. The voice in Su Ming's heart changed from a murmur to a roar, a roar that existed only within his heart, and outsiders couldn't hear it. They could only see Su Ming seemingly losing his soul, standing blankly outside the crevice, staring at the sky in a daze.

  In the distance of several hundred feet from Su Ming, there was a small hill. At this moment, two people were sitting cross-legged on the top of the mountain. One of them was an old man in black robe, his eyes shining brightly, with both fingers pressed against his right eye.

  "In the three people of Andongbu this time, Dongfang Hua and Chen Nuo went northwest all the way, should be close to where Andongbu Jixinghe is located, there can be no need to care about it, the two of them left, just looking for their own death."

  Another person was carved down, standing in place staring blankly at the sky, his cultivation... did not exceed eight hundred blood lines! However, in the An Dongbu's guest house, there is no information about this person.

  "Less than 800 bloodlines, directly beheading and enough fresh blood is all that's needed. This time the tribe has prepared for many years, Antongbu won't be able to detect it in advance and take precautions. This person might be a newly absorbed guest family member. Lin Dong, you make the move." The speaker was a middle-aged man who spoke calmly.

  "Let's end this quickly, we still have to meet up with the rest of our tribe who are ambushing the Puqiang tribe." The burly man said, then closed his eyes. He was wearing a red robe, on which a woman's face seemed to appear and disappear. This kind of attire, in Hanyang City, only the Yan Chi tribe could possess.

  Obviously, this big Han is a blood relative of Yan Chi's department!

  An old man in a black robe called Lin Dong nodded when he heard the words, his left hand dropping from above his right eye, and then he stood up and strode forward with extremely fast steps, soon disappearing without a trace.

  Su Ming still stood there, his eyes dazed, he had a strong feeling that he and the ancestors of the Han Shan Department must have some similarities in certain aspects!

  It seems that there is a veil in front of him, he wants to see everything clearly, but there is always a sense of blur, and everything can only be guessed.

  "I'm going to find the place where he's sitting... I want to take a look... at him!" Su Ming closed his eyes, and suddenly raised his right hand, punching fiercely towards an empty space beside him.

  There was a loud, muffled sound, and in the empty space beside Su Ming, ripples immediately reverberated. A black-clad old man's figure emerged, his face pale, with fresh blood oozing from the corner of his mouth after he appeared. Despite the look of surprise in his eyes, he didn't retreat, but instead raised his right hand, and a dark aura spread out, transforming into a black claw that shot straight at Su Ming.

  Su Ming was in a daze, but the moment he walked out of the crack, he had already opened up the Branding Technique. Within a radius of 200 zhang, if there was even a slight movement of the grass, it would not escape his senses.

  When this old man in black appeared, Su Ming had already sensed it.

  At this moment, facing the old man's black sharp claws rushing towards him, Su Ming didn't look at them, but instead raised his head and coldly gazed at a small mountain not far away. Almost as soon as his gaze focused on the mountain top, beside him, the old man who was rapidly approaching suddenly had a flash of green light in front of him, and a green blade appeared out of thin air, piercing through his brow and bringing out a streak of fresh blood that splashed onto the ground behind him.

  The old man's eyes suddenly widened, revealing an incredulous expression, his eyes dimmed, and he fell three feet away from Su Ming. His body convulsed a few times before he died.

  This scene happened too quickly, the red-robed man on the mountain top suddenly stood up, his expression changed greatly, revealing shock. He didn't care much about this battle, he understood Lin Dong's cultivation, although this person only had 800 blood lines, but his barbaric technique was mysterious and could melt into the shadows, quietly approaching from below, it was very difficult for people to detect. In the past, relying on this barbaric technique, Lin Dong repeatedly achieved victories.

  But the red-robed Han didn't expect that Lin Dong would die just like that, he didn't even see the process clearly, and only saw the person who was staring at the sky with a punch.

  After a punch, Lin Dong was forced out of his shadow, but he still carried out the killing. Just at this moment, Lin suddenly burst into laughter...

  The red-robed Han's mind shook, and in the moment he stood up, Su Ming's gaze had just arrived, their eyes meeting in mid-air.

  "Retreat!" The red-robed burly man was shocked, and at this moment, Su Ming seemed to him to be full of mystery. As a member of the Yan Chi tribe, he did not want to take risks, and his words were accompanied by rapid retreat, about to leave this place.

  "Want to go!" Su Ming's eyes were cold and detached, his body took a step forward, his speed suddenly burst forth, transforming into a long rainbow that stuck close to the ground as he sprinted towards this mountain. After seeing Su Ming's speed, the red-robed big man was even more shocked in his heart. The small mountain where he was located was over 400 zhang away from Su Ming, but now Su Ming was approaching rapidly, and this distance was quickly shrinking. Even if he added his own retreat and escape, it wouldn't take long before he would be caught up to.

  "This man easily killed Lin Dong, he must be a strong cultivator hiding his true abilities. I am no match for him!" The red-robed big man retreated with a resolute expression, quickly lifting his right hand to take out a palm-sized red box from his bosom, crushing it with one squeeze, and a round stone floated out from inside.

  The entire stone was red, with dense and intricate patterns etched onto its surface, forming an extremely complex design. The moment the large man took it out, a strong red light flashed on the surface of the stone, rapidly expanding in all directions. As the red-robed man's figure gradually became blurry, he stared at Su Ming within three hundred feet, his mouth curled into a cold smile.

  "Lin Dong may be dead, but he has discovered that there is another powerful figure in the An Dong Department. This mission can also be considered complete... Want to kill Yan Mou? Hmph!"