Chapter Ninety-Seven: All Dark Clouds, Be Driven Back

As they spoke, thunder rolled overhead, as though Heaven itself were answering to the punishment Lin Xiaofeng had mentioned.

Su Fan and the others watched the sky change. Dark clouds gathered thickly, as if they meant to blot out the heavens.

Then came a torrential downpour, without the slightest warning, drenching the four of them at once.

Lin Xiaofeng shook the straw rain cloak on his shoulders and smiled. “Well, I never expected this thing would actually be useful.”

Su Fan looked at his smug face in silence and said through gritted teeth, “Isn't this rain also part of heaven and earth's creation? To take advantage of it when it comes is hardly a bad thing.”

Hearing that, Xiao Lin chimed in as well. “Indeed, it is a fine rain. It washes away every care.”

Qin Yu was still reeling from Lin Xiaofeng's abrupt change of expression before, and then that change of change. His heart was still in turmoil, and on top of that he had developed a newfound reverence for the Wine Sage.

Lin Xiaofeng saw the unpleasant looks on Su Fan and Xiao Lin's faces and grew angry himself, just as he was about to speak when, without warning, a bolt of thunder crashed beside his ear.

Lin Xiaofeng jumped in fright and nearly fell from the air. His expression changed again and again.

Su Fan gave a soft laugh and teased, “I never thought the great Wine Sage would be afraid of a little thunder. Do you think that's a heavenly tribulation or something?”

Lin Xiaofeng shook with rage. “You say I'm afraid? Who says I'm afraid? But you're not entirely wrong. A heavenly tribulation does indeed come with thunder.”

Su Fan grinned. “But that's only ordinary lightning, not a heavenly tribulation.”

Lin Xiaofeng glared at him. “Didn't I say it already? I'm not afraid.”

Su Fan cast him a sidelong glance, then turned away to look at Xiao Lin and Qin Yu, his contempt plain to see.

Lin Xiaofeng grew anxious and suddenly straightened, raising his head and bellowing to the sky, “All dark clouds, get the hell back here!”

Su Fan paused. Qin Yu was startled. Su Fan reacted quickly, so he merely paused; Qin Yu reacted slowly, so he was shocked.

By the time Qin Yu came to himself, the clouds in the sky had already vanished without a trace.

Streaks of sunlight filtered through the gaps where the clouds had been and fell across Lin Xiaofeng's face. Beneath his youthful features was a look of stubborn defiance, as if he meant to prove something.

Su Fan was the first to recover. He looked at the vanished clouds and the lightning that had disappeared with them, then said quietly, “You are...”

“I told you I wasn't afraid,” Lin Xiaofeng said aggrievedly.

Su Fan went on, “If you're this powerful, then why are we still running?”

Lin Xiaofeng lowered his voice. “The man in red is very strong. I can't beat him.”

Su Fan said helplessly, “How could you not beat him? He doesn't seem to have the kind of cultivation you do, the kind that can turn back thunder and lightning.”

Lin Xiaofeng gave a bitter smile. “Whether a person's cultivation is high or not can't be judged just by looking. Besides, how could the master of a sect have low cultivation?”

Su Fan asked curiously, “Then just how strong is he? Strong enough to send back a heavenly tribulation?”

Lin Xiaofeng burst out laughing. “Send back a heavenly tribulation? That's ridiculous. No one in this world has ever been seen sending back a heavenly tribulation.”

Su Fan fell silent, recalling that in the memories of the immortals and demons there did indeed seem to be such a phenomenon, except that in those memories a heavenly tribulation was the punishment for those who would not submit.

Yet immortals and demons were by nature rebellious, as if they could truly contend with Heaven itself. The outcome, however, was always ugly.

Su Fan asked, “Then just how formidable is that old man in red?”

He was not asking out of simple curiosity. He had his reasons. The old man in red had tried to kill him again and again; how could he keep enduring it?

To kill a man, one had to know all his cards and his true strength. Yet no one could truly know that, for either no one had ever fought him, or everyone who had was already dead.

But there were always a few extraordinary people in this world. The three masters of Corpse Valley, for instance. They were among those who had truly fought the old man in red and survived.

Lin Xiaofeng looked momentarily lost, as if remembering the past, recalling a battle long ago.

After a long while, he finally said, “He's very strong, and very cunning. The three of us from Corpse Valley nearly lost our lives fighting him alone. If not for that person's help, Corpse Valley might already have become one of the outlying strongholds of the Primeval Gate.”

“That person?” Su Fan looked at him in confusion. “Could it be the Drunken...”

Lin Xiaofeng hurriedly cut him off. “If not for the many cultivators of Corpse Valley joining forces to resist the old man in red, we might all have died.”

Su Fan sighed inwardly. The person in that place on Old Wine Street at the Drunken Immortal Residence was at the very least in the Heart-Transformation Realm, and only he could contend with the old man in red. Then the red-robed old man's cultivation was beyond imagining. Could he also be in the Heart-Transformation Realm?

Su Fan immediately dismissed the thought. If he were truly in the Heart-Transformation Realm, the three masters of Corpse Valley would never have survived.

Even if another Heart-Transformation expert had come to their aid, the Heart-Transformation Realm was itself a legend. Once one reached that realm, killing Nascent Soul cultivators would be as easy as crushing an ant, effortless beyond measure, requiring no pause at all, nothing more than a casual wave of the hand.

Only now did Su Fan understand why Lin Xiaofeng had fled so quickly. Only now did he understand just how dangerous those earlier confrontations with the old man in red had been.

And yet he still did not understand why, with such cultivation, the old man in red would still endure so much restraint.

There were too many things he did not understand, and there was no need to understand them all at once. Just as knowing that the old man in red was terrifying, yet still having no way to kill him, sometimes knowing too much only deepened one's disappointment.

Lin Xiaofeng smiled faintly. “Still, there's no need to be afraid now, because he won't be coming.”

Su Fan's pupils contracted slightly. “Because of that rain?”

Lin Xiaofeng looked at him appreciatively. “Exactly because of that rain. We're safe now.”

Qin Yu and Xiao Lin looked at the two of them in confusion, unable to grasp the hidden meaning in their words.

But Su Fan snapped, “We may be safe, but what about those more than ten thousand Black Armored troops?”

Xiao Lin hastily said, “The Red Orchid may not be good, but those Black Armored troops are good people too. Every one of them is a young life.”

Lin Xiaofeng said helplessly, “Are you going back? Wuming dares to oppose the old man in red because he has the standing to do so. Do you think the two of you can kill him? How laughable.”

As he spoke, Lin Xiaofeng even laughed aloud, as if to prove how absurd the idea truly was.

Su Fan of course knew it was absurd, but he still could not bear to see all those soldiers die like that.

Lin Xiaofeng added, “Rest assured. Wuming is not a bloodthirsty man. At most, he may only have captured those people.”

Even as he spoke, he could not help shuddering. Remembering the bloody scene he had just seen, and the vile art that took the hearts of ten thousand men, how could he not be afraid?

Su Fan seemed somewhat reassured, or perhaps merely comforting himself. “Then what should we do?”

Lin Xiaofeng laughed. “Naturally, we go back to Old Wine Street and eat meat and drink wine.”