Naga
Chapter 4/8
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Fifteen minutes before Yang Chen and the others were ambushed, a tall woman dressed in black, tight-fitting clothing furrowed her brows outside the military district of the Cai clan in Zhonghai. She was none other than Cai Ning who was walking towards her house while stepping on the stone tiles with her leather booths, causing footsteps to be heard.
Behind Cai Ning stood a good-looking man dressed in a western suit who held a fawning smile as he spoke.
“Ning’er, I’ve talked it through with my dad already. He’s coming for a meeting in Zhonghai next month to meet Uncle Cai. Soon, our marriage will definitely be set.”
Cai Ning stopped moving. She turned her head around before staring at the guy in exasperation. “Yong Ye, how many times must I tell you. I don’t like you like that? Why can’t you understand?”
He was revealed to have been Yong Ye, the leader of Second Dragon Group. He wasn’t affected by Cai Ning’s words at all. He chuckled and said, “Ning’er, you’ve been learning under the Tang Sect since young. You haven’t had the chance to interact with any similarly aged guys. Except for me, no one is worthy of your grace. We’re nothing if not a perfect pair destined to be together. Even if you can’t see my qualities as I am now, after we get married, you’ll know just how caring of a husband I am.”
Cai Ning looked at Yong Ye’s confident look as he made the promise. She got so angry that she laughed. “A perfect pair? Who did you hear that nonsense from? I dare you to say it again, and your face will be well acquainted with my Pear Flower Needles.”
Yong Ye paled, while his gaze on Cai Ning turned cold. He cursed in his heart, Damn it! Which old bastard taught her that technique?! After she becomes mine, I’ll look for a chance to break her hands. I’ll see how she can threaten me then!
Although that was what Yong Ye thought, he didn’t dare to express it on the outside. He continued acting innocent as he said, “Alright, alright. I’ll stop talking about it. It won’t be long until we’re married anyway.”
Cai Ning originally didn’t hold any special opinions towards this guy with a mediocre fighting ability who managed to become the leader of Second Dragon Group by relying on connections. However, he had been clinging to her for the past two years which infuriated her.
To Yong Ye, ordinary women were straight-up worthless like dirt no matter how beautiful they were. No one was as attractive to him as the beauty from the Group of Eight.
He initially started admiring her, but soon shamelessly started to chase after her. Until today, Yong Ye treated obtaining Cai Ning as a form of revenge. The more he couldn’t get his hands on something, the stronger his desire was to obtain it.
Following Cai Ning’s repeated rejections, which caused Yong Ye’s pride to suffer, he now held the idea of having nothing left to lose, which hadn’t yet been noticed by Cai Ning.
The two came to the living hall of the Cai residence. The master of the clan, Cai Yuncheng, was seated inside having tea with Abbess Yun Miao and Daoist Yu Jizi. At the same time, the other members of Second Dragon Group were here waiting for their leader Yong Ye.
Seeing Yong Ye who followed Cai Ning inside, the latter who held a displeased expression, Cai Yuncheng couldn’t help but sigh.
He felt incredibly guilty towards his elder daughter. Although Cai Yan grew up rather independently, she had always had her parents by her side. However, Cai Ning was sent away from home since she was ten to the Tang Sect. Since then, she hardly returned home, while Cai Yunchung and his wife couldn’t visit the confidential Tang Sect which was tightly secured.
Thus, after Cai Ning had finished learning and returned, Cai Yuncheng and his wife tried their best to give as much love as possible to Cai Ning. However, she practised lightness skill which allowed her to move without leaving traces behind. As a result, she grew up independent of help and stayed that way. She could handle everything herself and at the same time look after her younger sister and family.
[TL note: Lightness Skill (轻功 qīnggōng) – often left untranslated as “Qinggong”. The ability to lighten the body and move with great agility & swiftness. At high proficiency, practitioners of this skill can run across water, leap to the top of trees, or even glide through the air.]
Thus, finding a good partner for Cai Ning seemed to be the most effort-worthy task.
Unfortunately, coming from a wealthy clan, although Yong Ye’s parents appeared to be equal with the Cai clan on the outside, they were actually from a top clan in Beijing which the Cai clan couldn’t afford to displease. Even when Cai Yuncheng was aware that Cai Ning detested Yong Ye, he had to constantly remind Cai Ning not to do anything that will threaten their clan. After all, the Cai clan may not be able to survive if Yong Ye’s parents wanted to go against them.
Therefore, Cai Ning had been enduring Yong Ye’s absurdity. She’d ignore him whenever she could.
Abbess Yun Miao was aware of Yong Ye’s intention. She snorted coldly before saying straightforwardly, “Yong Ye, perfecting your martial arts would be time better well spent than chasing this girl.”
Yong Ye was pissed but didn’t dare to express his anger. He knew that this old nun whose sword was much faster than her mouth was the one from the Group of Eight whom he couldn’t afford to provoke the most. In addition to her seniority, all he could do was smile and nod.
“Daoist Yu Jizi, General had me ask about Yang Lie’s injury,” Cai Ning asked.
Yu Jizi stroked his moustache as he answered, “Lie’er has recovered substantially. However, he still needs another two or three days before he can wake up, since he was severely damaged. He would most likely have to sit out of this battle.”
Cai Ning noded. She wanted to inform her dad that she would be going to her room to rest when she suddenly noticed an approaching abnormal aura.
“Who’s there?!”
It was almost at the exact moment when Abbess Yun Miao and Daoist Yu Jizi stood up as well. The bodies of the two flashed before standing in front of the living hall, facing the main entrance.
The Cai residence was brightly lit, which made the entire place look like it was daylight.
Suddenly, the sound of echoed from outside the house. Upon hearing the vague melody, everyone felt that a germinating plant drilled their ears as they tried to attack their brains!
“This is bad! Everyone, circulate Qi to protect yourselves!” Yu Jizi shouted.
It was easier said than done. Since the members of Second Dragon Group didn’t have high levels of internal energy, while the ordinary soldiers of the Cai clan including Cai Yuncheng himself, only knew simple methods of cultivation, none of them truly understood the profound internal energy!
Cai Ning frowned. The first thing she did was hold her father’s vest with one of her arms. Whilst she resisted the sound waves, managing to keep Cai Yuncheng conscious.
Before the enemies even entered the house, the tens of soldiers dropped to the ground, holding their heads in agony. The members of Second Dragon Group all paled as well. The group leader Yong Ye who previously looked energetic currently appeared to be suffering.
Only Abbess Yun Miao, Yu Jizi and Cai Ning managed to focus their attention on their surroundings as they made preparations to receive a blow from the enemy.
“Hiss…”
When the sound of the flute slowly weakened, a serpent with a body the size of an adult thigh moved inside from the door!
“A Cobra?!”
Yu Jizi was the first one to identify the origin of the serpent.
“More accurately, it’s the Divine Snake Naga.”
A man’s voice speaking Mandarin, with a heavy Indian accent, came from the outside. Shortly after, a man whose hair was braided, dressed in a black robe entered the house.
Behind the man followed a burly man with blonde hair whose chest was exposed in the air. He had bronze skin and held no expression on his face, similar to the vajras of ancient myths.
The last man who entered held a small, silver flute. He had dark, golden, long hair, a pointy nose and sharp eyes similar to those of a hawk.
Yu Jizi and Abbess Yun Miao looked at each other as they felt a sense of premonition. The appearance of the three in addition to their accent and techniques were all akin to the legendary Indian organization ‘Brahma’!
The people from the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade were all in the process of getting into position. Many of them were still rushing to Zhonghai from other cities.
Their enemies took this opportunity to attack while the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade were getting their preparations done. It was obviously planned beforehand, allowing them to ambush the Yellow Flame Iron Brigade!
“The dumb shit Lin Zhiguo. He sent us the wrong intelligence report!” Abbess Yun Miao couldn’t help but scold her own husband.
However, the current situation didn’t give time for them to come up with a plan.
The man with black braids appeared to be the leader of the three. He said to the blonde-haired, hawk-nosed man, “Garuda, let them sleep like the other soldiers.”
The man called Garuda seemed to have taken a short rest. He quietly nodded before once again blowing his flute…
In spite of being played, there was no sound coming from the flute.
However, the white eyes of the Divine Snake Naga suddenly turned scarlet!
“Hiss!”
Naga suddenly bounced up from the floor like black lightning. Opening its mouth, it shot out a green, poisonous fog before rushing towards Abbess Yun Miao and Yu Jizi!