Chapter 475: Now I Understand Why Monkey Beats You!

Though he had already fled a long way, this world was so quiet that the distant rumble of fighting could still faintly be heard. Yuan Fang, carrying someone as he skimmed across the treetops, suddenly stopped. He slowly turned and looked back. The sounds of battle seemed to have ceased.

Was the fighting over?

Had Master Dao won, or had the Holy Rakshasa? Alarm and uncertainty filled Yuan Fang's eyes. Very quickly, however, he formed his own judgment. How could Master Dao possibly be a match for the Holy Rakshasa? That demon king was far too terrifying.

Tears welled in Yuan Fang's eyes. He sniffled and murmured, "Master Dao, it truly isn't that I lack loyalty. My abilities are simply too limited. I genuinely couldn't help you. If I stayed, I'd only become a burden."

"You were the one who told us to leave quickly. I only ran because I obeyed you, so you can't blame me."

"If I make it back alive, I'll burn incense before the Buddha morning and night and pray for you. I'll ask the Buddha to bless you with good fortune in your next life."

"Mm... Old Bear, what are you muttering about?"

A dazed voice suddenly came from the woman in his arms.

"Uh..." Yuan Fang looked down.

Guan Fangyi's eyes were slowly opening.

His face lit up. "Hongniang, you're awake?"

Guan Fangyi gave a faint "mm," then immediately grimaced.

"This old lady is hurting to death."

Yuan Fang smiled. "Endure it. Just endure it a little longer. I checked your injuries. They shouldn't be fatal. You'll recover."

Guan Fangyi looked at him. "Why are you crying?"

"I'm not. I'm happy. You woke up, so I'm crying from joy."

Guan Fangyi weakly rolled her eyes. Then she turned her head slightly and looked at their surroundings.

"Hm? We escaped?"

The Holy Rakshasa's blow had knocked her unconscious on the spot. She had no idea when she fell into Yuan Fang's hands or when they had reached this place.

"For now, we should be out of danger."

Even Guan Fangyi found that astonishing. She had personally experienced the Holy Rakshasa's terrifying strength. Escaping alive from beneath the creature's hands was enough to surprise anyone. Then her gaze suddenly dropped toward her own chest. Yuan Fang happened to have one hand cupped around one of her breasts. Her voice immediately turned dark.

"Old monk, where exactly are you putting that paw of yours? Believe it or not, I'll chop it off!"

"..."

Yuan Fang looked down and broke into a sweat. He had been focused entirely on fleeing for his life. Naturally, he had held her however made carrying her easiest and truly had not noticed where his hand had ended up. He hurriedly changed his grip, moved his palm away, and apologized again and again.

"It wasn't intentional. I absolutely had no improper thoughts. Don't worry. This old monk is a man of the cloth. I would never entertain such ideas."

"Mm..."

Guan Fangyi's brows knitted tightly. Pain covered her face.

She cursed, "Most of this old lady's ribs are broken. Don't move me around! It hurts!"

"Like this? How about this?"

Yuan Fang hurriedly tried several different ways of holding her. Guan Fangyi could not endure being shifted back and forth. Cold sweat broke across her brow.

"Put me down. Put me down! Stop moving me. Put me down!"

Yuan Fang dropped from the treetop and landed on a lower branch. He carefully laid her flat along the sloping limb. The trees here were enormous. The branch was as broad as a bed, more than wide enough for someone to lie upon. Yuan Fang began peering furtively around them. His vigilance was at an unprecedented height. Guan Fangyi slowly felt around inside her clothes and took out a small vial. She poured out a wax-sealed pellet and cracked the wax shell between her fingers.

Inside lay a medicinal pill as bright red as fresh blood. The moment it was exposed, a delicate, refreshing fragrance drifted through the air. Yuan Fang smelled it and looked back.

Seeing that she was about to take medicine, he immediately reminded her, "I already fed you wound medicine on the way."

Guan Fangyi looked disdainful.

"What kind of good wound medicine could you possibly have? This is top-grade medicine. This old lady is badly injured, so naturally I have to use the finest spirit pill."

She swallowed the pill and quietly circulated her cultivation to stimulate its medicinal effects.

She was not exaggerating.

This was the Heavenly Succor Pill, one of the finest healing medicines in the cultivation world. Even its name carried the sense that Heaven itself would come to your aid. Its efficacy was naturally extraordinary. A single tiny pill was worth one million gold coins.

To exaggerate only slightly, so long as some vitality remained, a Heavenly Succor Pill could almost bring the dying back from death's door.

When they had fled the State of Qi years ago, Niu Youdao had once forcibly demanded one from Guan Fangyi for Black Peony. Unfortunately, Black Peony's injuries had been too severe, and treatment had been delayed too long. The vitality of her body had already been exhausted, with only a thread of true qi keeping her alive. Even wasting a Heavenly Succor Pill on her had been unable to reverse death. Remembering it now was still enough to make one sigh.

Yuan Fang had not taken part in that affair and knew none of those details. He only knew Guan Fangyi had always been like this. He had known her for more than a day or two.

He had heard she was accustomed to enjoying the finest things in the Qi capital and had developed all sorts of delicate habits. He also often heard her sneer that the Maolu region was some backwater countryside. By now he was used to it. The woman simply had a sharp tongue. Her heart was not actually bad. So being looked down upon did not bother him.

Yuan Fang merely chuckled.

He was already accustomed to her mouth. Once the Heavenly Succor Pill's medicinal power took effect, its extraordinary quality became obvious. The medicine spread through her limbs and bones, soothing the pain of her injuries. Relief gradually appeared on Guan Fangyi's face. She let out a long groan and breathed slowly.

"Looks like I won't die. Survive a great calamity and good fortune must follow!"

She casually wished herself a better fate. Yuan Fang still had lingering fear in his heart.

"You really are lucky. That demon king's blow was terrifying, yet you actually survived it. If I'd taken that hit, I don't know how many times over I'd have died."

Guan Fangyi sighed.

"What luck? I just happened to have the Heavenly Sword Talisman's immense power protecting me. Its energy hadn't been exhausted yet, so it blocked part of the blow."

"If that demon king had waited until she completely broke through the Heavenly Sword Talisman's power before giving me that punch, I would've died long ago. How could I still be lying here talking nonsense with you?"

"But the Holy Rakshasa's strength truly is terrifying..."

At that, she suddenly remembered something. Her head turned quickly from side to side.

"Where's Master Dao? Where's the big fellow? Which way did they escape?"

Yuan Fang lowered his head, his mood sinking.

"Master Dao and Master Yuan... they stayed behind to cover our escape. They went to fight that demon king with their lives."

Naturally, he would not mention that he had been the first to run because he was afraid of dying.

"What?"

Guan Fangyi's bright eyes widened in shock. Only then did she remember.

Of course.

With the demon king's strength, if no one had stayed behind to hold her off, how could the two of them possibly have escaped alive? In her panic, Guan Fangyi braced one hand against the branch and tried to sit up. Agony stabbed through her broken ribs and forced her back down.

She asked urgently, "How are they?"

Yuan Fang's voice dropped.

"I don't know."

Those three words made Guan Fangyi's nose sting. Hot tears instantly welled from her eyes. Her pearly teeth bit hard into her lip. Slowly, she straightened her head and stared upward, lying silently beneath the layer of glowing leaves that obscured the stars above.

She did not even need to think to imagine the consequences of those two going to fight the Holy Rakshasa with their lives. She could still see Niu Youdao roaring at her in that desperate moment, ordering her to leave immediately.

She could still remember Yuan Gang creating an opportunity for Niu Youdao to escape, only to see Niu Youdao abandon his own chance of survival and charge back in.

In the end, those two men of loyalty and feeling had risked their lives against the demon king to cover her and Yuan Fang's escape. More and more tears flowed.

They seemed endless.

Through her sobs, Guan Fangyi cursed, "Those two bastards... this old lady must have suffered eight lifetimes of bad luck to run into those two damned bastards..."

She cried harder and harder until she could barely speak. Her body trembled with sobs, and every tremor sent pain through her injuries. Yet the pain in her wounds was nothing compared with the pain in her heart. This time, the ache truly reached her bones. Her heart felt as though it were being torn apart. Never in her life had she been moved this deeply. She had known the heartache of love between men and women. She had known the tenderness and emotion of love between men and women.

But this was truly different. She had seen too many kinds of people in her life. She knew what sort of person was most precious.

"You're a Golden King Bear, aren't you?" Guan Fangyi suddenly turned and cursed through her tears. "A Golden King Bear should be impervious to blades and spears. Why didn't you go help them?"

Yuan Fang's face turned bitter.

"Come now, Benefactor. Impervious to blades and spears is only skin-deep. I can still be slapped to death! Do you really think me charging in would have helped?"

"Besides, wasn't I protecting you?"

"Do I need you to protect me?" Guan Fangyi immediately snapped back. "Once my injuries settle down a little, we're going straight back!"

"Ah!"

Yuan Fang cried out in alarm.

"Are you serious? We barely escaped. Now you want to run back there and throw our lives away?"

Guan Fangyi wiped away her tears.

"Escape? Escape where?"

"Those two bastards have already dragged us in too deep. Without those two sons of bitches, we can't get out at all."

"We're already deep inside the illusory realm. Just the two of us—do you really think we can make it out?"

"The Butterfly Rakshasas gathered near the imperial retreat were definitely only the ones within a certain range who sensed the demon king's return and came over. There must be far more Butterfly Rakshasas elsewhere in the realm."

"You really think the two of us can escape them?"

Yuan Fang sighed repeatedly.

"Hongniang, that's exactly what I'm worrying about. We haven't run into any Butterfly Rakshasas here because they probably all gathered near the imperial retreat."

"But going back isn't realistic either. If we run into the Holy Rakshasa again, won't we die all the same?"

Guan Fangyi reminded him, "We definitely can't leave by continuing outward. Even if we somehow grope our way to the exit, can we move secretly fast enough to reach it before the entrance to the illusory realm closes?"

"Do you think the two of us can survive ten years in here?"

"Whether we can or not, we still have to try! That's better than going back and letting the Holy Rakshasa beat us to death."

"You've followed Niu Youdao for so many years. Don't you know what kind of person he is?"

"He's so slippery and cunning that even if you hold him in your fist, he'll find a way to squirm out between your fingers. There are plenty of people stronger than him. Have you ever seen anyone kill him easily?"

"Did you forget what he said before telling us to leave? He said he'd stay and deal with the Holy Rakshasa."

"Do you really think he'd say that if he had absolutely no confidence?"

"He may still be alive!"

Half of that was Guan Fangyi fooling Yuan Fang. The other half was hope. Emotionally, she refused to accept the reality that Niu Youdao might simply have died like this. Some part of her desperately hoped that the slippery bastard had once again managed not to die. Either way, they could not escape Butterfly Rakshasa territory on their own. She wanted to go back and look. What if Niu Youdao was merely badly injured?

What if he needed treatment?

She carried excellent spirit medicines. And she had to fool Yuan Fang. In her present condition, she could not move easily without him. Yuan Fang shook his head again and again.

"What dealing with her? They started fighting directly. I heard the battle the whole way."

"We should still think of some way to leave. The Buddha will protect us."

Guan Fangyi sneered.

"Now I understand why Monkey beats you!"

"If you won't go, I'll go."

"We have no way to communicate with those Butterfly Rakshasas. The Holy Rakshasa can at least speak human words. If she can speak, she can be reasoned with. If she can be reasoned with, there's still a sliver of hope."

"Whether you choose the Buddha or the Holy Rakshasa is up to you. This old lady won't force you."

"..."

Yuan Fang was left speechless.

He scratched his head.

Why did that actually sound somewhat reasonable? For the first time in his life, he suddenly felt the Buddha might not necessarily be as reliable as the Holy Rakshasa.

[End of Chapter 475]