Pursuit Of Immortality: Conquering Ten Thousand Goddesses

"Ahh... hmm... uuhhh..."

Tianming drank another cup of the Cicada liquor as he shook his head sideways. Shi Lan, with a warm smile, nudged him, pouring more into his cup until it was overflowing.

"Come on, brother, you can talk to me, I’m sure no one has understood you so far... let me understand you, how much have you done for this family?"

Hearing that, Tianming turned to Shi Lan with teary eyes. He placed one hand on Shi Lan’s shoulder, looking like a flood of tears was going to burst from his eyes any moment.

"Brother Lan..."

He said, wiping away what little of those tears was left, only to burp a second later. Then he shook his head with a pitiful look on his drunken face.

"I have done so much for that ungrateful viper. I remember, twenty years ago... back in my hometown, I found her, and those two brats, almost dead in the river. They were washed with blood, as if they had fought in the Heavenly war! I saved them and brought them home. That girl, Chang’e, she was beautiful like a rare lily, and the two girls, although strange, were equally beautiful. There were rumors, rumors, that some Cultivator had defied the Jade Emperor.

"Even several esteemed cultivators from the Martial Realm came to this Realm to find them... with time, I connected the dots, and discovered she had run away from the Jade Emperor with two Heavenly Treasures. But Chang’e begged me, and was even willing to destroy her cultivation base and live a normal life with me."

He drowsily went for another drink, while Shi Lan impatiently watched him.

"I see, so she destroyed her cultivation base. What happened after that?"

Tianming raised his flushed face, his lids barely staying open.

"I could have taken the rewards, you know... that witch... I even had to leave my town and come to this disgusting Valley, all because of her. Very ungrateful bitch."

Shi Lan’s grip on the small cup tightened so hard that several nets of cracks caused it to shudder. He dropped it before it could shatter completely in his hand and exhaled.

Then a second later, a warm, kind smile was worn on his face again.

"Hmm, Brother Ming, you know we’re yet to visit the Flower House, those maidens, are we going to miss them because you can’t keep up!"

At this point, Tianming was already lying on the table, wanting to sleep, his voice tiredly coming out.

"Flower... House..."

Before his eyes could completely close, Shi Lan landed a hot slap on his cheek, making him jump up, shouting.

"Flower! Maidens!"

For a moment, he was met with cold silence. His gaze fell to meet Shi Lan sitting, and immediately he bellowed.

"Brother Shi Lan! What are you doing! Up, the day is just starting." 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Shi Lan released that warm and shameless grin of his.

"Heuuii, brother, then I shall be in your care."

He dropped a couple of silver coins on the table, held Tianming up and both of them staggered out.

They continued to walk, until they were out of the Gambling Den. Now, it was time to go to the Flower House.

Of course, Shi Lan had intentionally left out gambling because he needed his precious coin back intact.

They continued through the exploding lights of the street, and passed all the light and were still walking.

Tianming had gotten quite drowsy again but was still being held over the shoulder and led by Shi Lan. He would glance back every now and then and say:

"Brother Shi Lan, I think we may have passed the Flower House, I think we should turn..."

Shi Lan did not answer him, not even paying him any attention. His gaze was stuck to the front and his hand at this point held Tianming, quite tightly and continued to lead him away from the center of the city.

Meanwhile, Tianming was too drunk to be as alert as he should be. Even though he didn’t want to go any further as they reached the edge of the city, going into the forest, he was too weak, too drowsy to break away from Shi Lan’s grip.

The town was silent, and deep in their slumber.

In time, they entered the depth of the forest. This, though, was not the same forest Shi Lan had found himself, this was a much thicker and more dangerous one. The people of Lake Valley had even built a barricade at the entrance. It was also the same forest that led to the Peach Blossom Sword sect, nestled on top of the mountain.

After a while, Shi Lan reached a river and finally released his tight grip on Tianming’s shoulder.

He looked at the young man and said, pointing to the rock beside the river.

"Sit down."

"Brother Shi Lan, this is—"

Before he could finish, Shi Lan hit him with a slap that turned his head first and then his entire body. The man found himself on the ground.

Shi Lan exhaled calmly, adjusted his cloak and sat down on the rock, right beside Tianming who was on the ground with a puzzled expression. His drunkenness seemed to be wearing off.

He sat up and touched his cheek.

"Brother Shi Lan, this is unacceptable."

Shi Lan did not answer him. He simply rummaged through his clothes, put his hand inside the man’s robe and brought out his gold coin.

He gave it a warm look like finding something he lost, then he put the gold back in its pouch.

Tianming now looked furious.

"Brother Shi—"

Again, before he could finish talking, Shi Lan was already holding his hair firmly, too firmly.

He winced in pain as Shi Lan dragged him forward with his hair.

"If you are unlucky enough to reach the Sea of Souls, if Mo Yuan takes notice of you and asks you why you’re here. Tell him you were unfortunate enough to touch Wei Shi Lan’s woman."

Tianming looked horrified now, the reality was beginning to set in. The cold, deadly look on Shi Lan’s face was at this point beginning to unsettle him deeply.

"Let me go! You vile bastard! Let me go this instant!"

No matter how much he struggled, he couldn’t make Shi Lan’s grip budge, he was utterly powerless, Wei Shi Lan’s grip was like hardened metal.

"This is unfair! The Heavens will not allow this! She is my wife! Chang’e is my wife!"

Shi Lan looked the same, cold. His voice came out the same, cold.

"She may be... but from the moment I set my eyes on her. She became mine. Fool. I would have spared you... but how dare you put your hands on her."

He drove Tianming’s head downward, and with an unbothered look, pushed his head into the rushing river. The poor man struggled and struggled but he couldn’t break from Shi Lan’s hold.

Several minutes passed, and Tianming’s struggling body grew still.

He had died... drowned to death by Wei Shi Lan.