Firmament Sword

”Hmph, Grandpa, you’re going back on your word! Qianqian is angry now!” The young girl tried her best to look angry, but no matter how you looked at it, she just seemed adorable, failing completely to be intimidating.

The others all put on serious, straight faces, but the smiles in their eyes were already giving them away.

The old man said with a pained expression, ”Then what do you propose we do?”

The girl’s lips twitched. Her eyes darted around as she said, ”How about... you all go back, and I’ll go out and have some fun for a few days!”

”My dear little ancestor... absolutely not! The outside world is very dangerous!” the old man immediately refused.

The girl looked on the verge of tears, gazing pitifully at the old man. ”But didn’t Grandpa say that I’m a master of masters of masters now?”

”This...” The old man’s mouth twitched. He looked to the others beside him, his gaze filled with a plea for help and... a threat!

It was hilarious how they all wanted to laugh but didn’t dare. Seeing that the old man was at a loss, they knew they’d be dealt with later if they didn’t speak up, so one by one, they steeled themselves and spoke.

”Young Miss, let’s just go back. What’s so great about the outside? The Spiritual Qi is thin, resources are scarce...”

”The hearts of men in the outside world are treacherous, Young Miss. You must not underestimate those whose strength is less than yours. In truth, they’re so bad, they’re practically dripping with wickedness!”

The girl pouted. ”I’ve only ever heard of people dripping with wealth...”

”Young Miss, just think about it, what fun could there be in such a godforsaken place? It’s filled with poisonous miasma and overrun with venomous insects. Just lots of ugly, ugly, ugly big bugs... with disgusting slime dripping from their bodies...”

”Ugh, stop talking, that’s disgusting!” The girl glared at the middle-aged man who had spoken. ”If you say one more word, the next time I come out, I’ll sneak your daughter out with me! And then I’ll show her those disgusting big bugs you were talking about!”

”Er...” The middle-aged man was immediately silenced. He only had one daughter, whom he treasured dearly, and he didn’t dare let the Young Miss torment her like that.

”Grandpa...” the girl whined, drawing out the word as she sidled up to the old man. Her expression, a mix of pouting and cheerfulness, made it impossible to refuse her.

The old man thought for a moment, then sighed softly and said with self-deprecation, ”To think that I, the Tiger King, would have a day where I’m this overprotective. Fine. Since you are a descendant of the Tiger King, how could you possibly be a weakling? You can’t grow up if you’re always sheltered under our wings...”

”Does that mean you agree, Grandpa? Oh, that’s wonderful! I’m so happy!” The girl floated in the air, wrapped her arms around the old man’s neck, and gave him a big kiss on the cheek. ”You’re the best, Grandpa!”

”This crazy girl,” the old man chuckled, his face full of affection.

”Patriarch... this, isn’t this a bit inappropriate?”

”Yes, Patriarch, please let us stay behind. The Young Miss may be powerful, but she doesn’t know the dangers of the world. What if...”

Seeing that the old man had actually agreed to the Young Miss’s request, they all suddenly became serious.

The girl pouted, looking at them with a helpless expression as she pleaded, ”Come on, uncles, just let Qianqian go... Actually... you should all... know this. It’s always been Su Qianqian causing trouble for others. I’ve never really seen anyone who could cause trouble for Qianqian...”

”Hahaha, you little rascal, so you finally admit it?” The Tiger King, Su Dongling, roared with laughter, his voice filled with immense satisfaction.

The others all looked grim, clearly recalling the daily antics of this young girl who appeared gentle and poised on the outside but was a Little Witch at heart.

The man who had just mentioned the disgusting big bugs was so frustrated he wanted to bang his head against a wall. In his haste, he had forgotten that this crazy girl in front of him had never been afraid of such things, even as a child. It was always her chasing others all over the mountains with bugs, not the other way around.

”Alright, since you want to play outside for a few days, then go ahead.” The old man’s smile vanished as he said flatly, ”If you truly encounter danger, don’t try to handle it all by yourself. Remember... you are a member of the Su Family! Use your grandpa’s name. If anyone dares to disrespect you, Grandpa will come back and annihilate their entire clan!”

After saying this, the old man’s aura changed in an instant. He was still the same person, but he now inspired an involuntary sense of awe.

In fact, the old man hadn’t changed at all!

It was his state of mind!

Not an aura!

It was that after cultivating to a certain realm, his every word could exist as ”truth” itself!

Compared to the others who were silent with fear, the girl was completely relaxed. She grinned and said, ”I know, I know, Grandpa. Stop nagging. If I can’t win a fight, can’t I just run? And if I really can’t get away, then I’ll use your name to scare them!”

The old man chuckled, at a loss for words, and muttered, ”Your grandpa’s name... is it really as simple as just ’scaring’ people?”

The girl waved goodbye to her departing grandpa and his entourage. Left alone, she flew to the edge of the vortex, found a towering ancient tree, and sat on a branch, swinging her legs as if on a swing. Her eyes were fixed with great interest on the shrinking vortex as she muttered to herself, ’Who on earth entered these ruins? Should I... Ugh, no. Su Qianqian, Grandpa said you’re a person of status. How could you do something like robbing and murdering people?’

’Or... maybe I don’t murder, I just rob? No, no... still no. Su Qianqian is a gentle, poised, virtuous, respectable, beautiful, elegant, pretty, and kind girl. She can’t do things like that!’

’How about... when those people come out, this young lady will judge them with my own eyes. If I think they look repulsive, like bad people, then I’ll reluctantly enact justice on behalf of heaven?’

’Yes, that’s settled. This young lady is a heroine of the Jianghu. When I encounter villains, I enact justice on behalf of heaven. It’s a righteous deed, perfectly justified! And totally doable!’

’I bet... the people who entered the ruins... definitely have shifty faces. They must not look like good people...’

Like a little devil with tiny horns on her head, Su Qianqian sat on the branch muttering to herself, her two fair, slender legs swinging back and forth in the air.

「...」

Xu Luo and Xu Su, those two brothers in misfortune, had no idea that while they felt they’d been tricked, trapped, and were about to die, a Little Witch—innocent and beautiful on the outside but black-bellied on the inside—was outside, racking her brain to plot against them.

But even if they knew, the two of them, Xu Luo and Xu Su, were in no mood to think about it. They were currently facing an unimaginably enormous crisis!

The two held onto each other as they were continuously pulled down by the immense suction. After the initial panic, they had both calmed down.

But calming down was useless; in fact, it only made them more terrified.

Because so much time had passed, they calculated they had already fallen several thousand meters, yet they still hadn’t hit the bottom!

Master Mao clung desperately to Xu Luo’s shoulder, his eyes filled with terror, roaring as they plummeted: ”AHHHH... BASTARDS! YOU TWO BASTARDS! YOU’VE GOTTEN MASTER MAO KILLED! WAHHHH... POOR MASTER MAO... I’VE NEVER EVEN TASTED A MOTHER HEAVEN-SWALLOWING FOX... AHHHHHH!”

Even though their lives were hanging by a thread, Xu Luo had the urge to slap Master Mao into oblivion. What kind of time was this for that furball to still be thinking about a Mother Heaven-Swallowing Fox?

Should he call it reckless, or just plain dense?

”AHHHH, MASTER MAO IS A MIGHTY HEAVEN-SWALLOWING FOX! MASTER MAO CAN’T DIE IN A DARK PLACE LIKE THIS! WAHHH, MASTER MAO IS SCARED TO DEATH!”

”WHY THE HELL HAVEN’T WE HIT THE BOTTOM YET?! AHHHH, IF WE’RE GOING TO DIE, JUST LET IT BE QUICK! CAN YOU NOT TORTURE MASTER MAO LIKE THIS?!”

”MASTER MAO’S POOR LITTLE HEART CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!”

”Master Mao...”

”Shut up!” Xu Luo finally snapped, threatening, ”One more peep and I’m throwing you off!”

”No!” Master Mao extended his claws from his paws, gripping Xu Luo’s clothes tightly. ”Human, at a critical moment like this, how could you survive without Master Mao?”

”Then shut your mouth!” Xu Luo roared.

”Hmph, don’t even think about abandoning Master Mao!”

”...”

”Why haven’t we hit the bottom yet?” After a moment, Master Mao started yelling again. ”What the hell is this goddamn place? Have we reached the Earth Core?! AHHHH, IN A MOMENT WE’LL SEE FIRE BELOW AND THEN WE’LL ALL FALL INTO THE LAVA AT THE EARTH CORE AND GO POOF INTO ASH! AHHHHH!”

”You damn cat, if you keep spouting nonsense, I’m gonna throw you out!” Xu Luo said furiously.

”I am a Heaven-Swallowing Fox! Not a cat!” Master Mao retorted loudly.

Just then, a ball of light suddenly appeared below. Xu Luo, Xu Su, and Master Mao all shut their mouths and looked down.

When the two humans and one beast saw clearly what was below, a cold sweat instantly broke out over their bodies. Master Mao, who had been clinging tightly to Xu Luo’s shoulder, had all his fur stand on end with a FWOOSH. He shrieked, ”What the hell is that damn thing?!”

It was a behemoth, a ferocious and terrifying head easily a hundred meters in size. And the source of the light was the two enormous eyes on that head!

”Hell, did we fall all the way down here just to be this thing’s food? Our tiny little bodies aren’t even enough to get stuck in its teeth, you know?” Master Mao roared, his fur on end. ”Hey, big guy! You didn’t do all this just to eat us, right?”

ROAR! ROAR!

The behemoth below suddenly let out two roars, and a terrifying hurricane instantly erupted from its mouth.

WHUM!

A terrifying, heart-stopping boom resounded. The force of the wind was strong enough to make one tremble. If such a wind were to blow on the surface, it could easily uproot those towering ancient trees and destroy human houses. For humanity, a wind like this was a catastrophe!

”What the hell are you yelling for?!” Master Mao’s voice was instantly swallowed by the wind.

The three of them—Xu Luo, Xu Su, and Master Mao—were instantly blown an unknown distance by this incredibly powerful wind, which also broke their downward momentum.

And then... they saw land.

THUD! THUD!

The two of them tumbled across the ground in a very sorry state before finally steadying themselves.

It was completely dark all around, without a single speck of light. The terrifying behemoth was also nowhere to be seen.

”What is this damn place?” Xu Luo’s feet were on solid ground. The darkness didn’t affect his vision, and he looked around with a bewildered expression.