the portal of wonderland
Translator: Novel_Saga Editor: Maggie_, Novel_Saga
A rustling sound came from the bamboo forest, and a young girl wandered out. She seemed to be fairy-like in her white dress, and could have been sixteen at most. She had a graceful and slender figure, and her breasts were bulging from her blouse. Her serene feet were as white as snow, and her dark hair tumbled down to her waist. She blinked her large bright eyes, flashing beautiful rays of light from them. Not a single man would have been able to resist the seductively amorous fragrance that emanated from her body.
The Daoist priest shouted harshly at the sight of the barefoot nymph-like girl, as if he had seen a hideous snake or scorpion. “The Demon Witch! I didn’t think you would still be tailing me! Do you really believe you can defeat my ‘cold sword’ with your witchcraft?” he asked, and in a flash he turned his one hand over his back or and gripped the handle of his long sword…
“Cold Sword, you should be clear about why I’m following you. Poor dear sister Lan Yun was so into you. How can you be so unconcerned while she lies under the ground, unable to rest in peace?” the beautiful girl said, blinking her clear and shining eyes as if they were heavenly streams. She walked slowly and steadily towards the middle-aged Daoist priest.
“You witch! I’ve told you a hundred times, Yun Er’s death has nothing to do with me. She died because our appointment venue’s location had been leaked,” the middle aged Daoist said, his face twisting with fierceness. He roared at the girl as he took out his sword, which began reflecting blue light.
“I don’t care whether you are being honest or not. You promised to live and die with Yun Er, so I’m only here to help you fulfil your oath. You don’t have to thank me,” the barefoot girl said this with a light smile. She raised her sleeves to reveal a short ruler, which was as white as jade.
The ruler was no more than fifteen centimetres in length and six in width, but wisps of white fog were coiling up around its surface, making it look extremely mysterious.
“The… the Legendary Ice Ruler! Isn’t that the ultimate weapon of your Tian Yin Sect? You’re a lunatic for stealing such a sacred weapon for the sake of a dead woman! Aren’t you afraid of the seniors of your sect? They’ll render you incapable of practicing martial arts once they find out!” the Daoist priest managed to stammer his weak threat. He had prepared to put up a desperate fight, but his expression froze at the sight of the ruler.
“Well, that’s not your business. Let’s not waste any more time. Now I will send you to meet Yun Er,” the barefoot girl gave him a faint smile as she shook her ruler slightly. Suddenly, the air around them stirred invisibly, and white fog rolled out of thin air. The fog quickly turned into white flowers from the swirl; the flowers seemed to be as big as bowls.
“Want to kill me? Stop dreaming!”
“Whiz”
In a flash, the Daoist priest unexpectedly flung the little animal at the girl. He stomped his foot hard on the ground, and shot backwards into mid-air. He then finally vanished into the dark woods, resembling a giant bird.
“Witch, I’ll make your theft of the Legendary Ice Ruler public. Let’s see what your sect will do to you,” the vile oath came from the woods. The last few words of the oath were faintly heard as the priest fled deep into the forest. It was obvious that he had already gone far away.
“What an idiotic man! A mere fake scared you out of your wits! But my Soul-Hunting Incense has caught you now. You will never be able to escape its power range. Oh, this golden hamster has opened its holy eyes!” the barefoot girl said.
She had lifted her slender fingers to catch the golden hamster with ease, and was about to ridicule the Daoist priest further when her eyes lit up with surprise. She lowered her head and looked briefly at the little animal in her hand, when something unexpected happened.
“Well, I was wondering why Cold Sword would grab a golden hamster without any kind of hesitation. It is a hamster with holy pupils, which will soon become a holy animal!” said the barefoot girl, withdrawing her jade ruler. She held the golden animal affectionately to her breast, stroking it tenderly.
The tiny green eyes of the mouse like golden animal trembled the whole time, but it didn’t dare to move its body as it was stroked by the ten slender fingers.
“Oh yes, there’s another little guy.”
After fussing over the golden hamster for a while, the barefoot girl suddenly found Shi Mu standing nearby.
His body was as still as ice, and was covered with a thin layer of white frost. He could only move his eyes, with which he was staring fixedly at the barefoot girl.
She giggled and wandered over to Shi Mu in an unhurried pace.
Shi Mu moved his eyes slowly and with difficulty, following the girl’s movements without looking away.
“Well that’s funny,” the barefoot girl smiled, her face showing a trace of interest. Suddenly, she deliberately began swinging her body from left to right.
Though he was unable to move his body, Shi Mu’s eyeballs began to move left and right to trace the girl’s movements. It was indeed a hilarious sight.
“Ha ha, that’s so funny!” the barefoot girl giggled demurely as she stopped in front of Shi Mu. The little animal was at her breast, and she was arching her back as if her stomach ached because of the laughter.
The girl laughed for a long time before she straightened her back again. She then raised her sleeves, and a puff of white fog rushed out and quickly seeped into Shi Mu’s body.
Then something surprising happened.
The layer of frost on Shi Mu’s body began to melt at a rapid speed, a process that the naked eye could follow clearly.
With a loud thud, Shi Mu fell down heavily into the mud. The impact was so hard that he couldn’t manage to raise his back, and could only slightly raise his head.
Then he saw a pair of slender feet which resembled lotus rhizomes. The ten toenails were painted bright red, as seductive as fresh petals.
“Beautiful?” the owner of the slender feet asked leisurely.
Shi Mu blushed deeply at the question, his whole face turning red. A sudden strength strangely began to grow inside him, enabling him to slowly rise from the ground. He then studied the extremely beautiful face, looking weirder than he could have ever imagined.
“Well little guy. You know, if you were two or three years older than you are right now and looked at me in this way, I’d have instantly gouged your eyes out,” the barefooted girl said as she rolled her beautiful eyes. The little animal at her breast gave out a horrified squeak.
“What’s your name?” Shi Mu finally opened his mouth to ask. Although his voice was somewhat husky, the girl was surprised to find that it was calm enough.
“You really think I’ll tell you?” the girl answered with a grin, after a moment’s surprise.
“I can only go to your family and propose to you once I know your name,” Shi Mu said as he fixed his eyes on the girl. His face displayed a small amount of passion.
“What, say that again? I didn’t quite hear you clearly,” the barefoot girl’s eyes were wide open as she asked in surprise. She assumed she had misheard him.
“I wish to ask you to be my wife. I shall make you my wife,” Shi Mu answered without hesitation, looking determined and resolute.
“What nonsense! Do you even know who I am or how old I am? How can you dare to say such a thing?” asked the barefoot girl. Although she had always been cruel and merciless with a shrewd and deep mind, the young man’s words had caught her off guard.
“Are you already engaged? Or are you in your forties or fifties?” Shi Mu asked, knitting his eyebrows.
“Of course not, and I’m only in my twenties. Wait, why should I tell you that… you…” the barefoot girl answered subconsciously at first, and then grew angry and shameful at her carelessness.
“In your twenties, and not yet engaged with anyone. That’s perfect. I don’t care what you are, because I fell in love with you at first sight. I’ll definitely make you my wife,” Shi Mu said earnestly as her answer put him at ease.
“Ha ha, you think you can marry me just because you like me? I wouldn’t agree even if a Hou Tian Warrior had asked me, let alone a mere Martial Disciple like you. Well, I am wasting my time speaking to you. Honestly, I don’t believe any man’s honey sweet words. I’ve decided not to marry anyone in my life,” the girl said, finally behaving like herself to a certain extent. She then giggled, avoiding Shi Mu’s fervent looks.
“My mother used to tell me that if I ever meet a girl I really like, I must tell her as soon as possible. This way I wouldn’t miss out on a perfect marriage. I, Shi Mu, vow in all seriousness to marry this girl in front of me, within my lifetime. If I ever go back on my word, I shall be pierced by ten thousand arrows and be chopped to death by axes,” Shi Mu said. His unblinking eyes never left the girl, and his hands were raised.
The deadly oath had been made.
A thunder boomed from the sky gratuitously just as Shi Mu finished his last words. No one knew whether it had been a coincidence or not.
The barefoot girl slightly parted her red lips, but was unable to utter even a single word. She gazed at Shi Mu with her beautiful eyes. After a long time had passed, she burst out into a charming laughter.
“That’s… so… so funny! Me! The Demon Witch of Tian Yin Sect is finally proposed to one day. That too, by a teenage boy! Good, good! I won’t let you say that I didn’t give you a chance. If you manage to become a Hou Tian Warrior before the age of thirty, then come for me in the Wan Long Mountains at the Tian Yin Sect. Only then will I tell you my real name. And take this, it’s your payment for the holy animal,” the girl said as she held her laughter. She straightened her back and threw a bottle at Shi Mu, then covered something with her sleeves.
Pu! A sound was heard.
Suddenly, a strong wind began blowing around them, and white clouds
emerged to lift the girl to a height of over 30 meters. She floated away in the faraway sky, leaving Shi Mu with only a faint and melodious last warning.
“I’ll tell you one more thing. The holy animal had been faking unconsciousness that time. If the Cold Sword had not caught it before it fled, you may really have returned empty handed.”
Only a split second had passed from the moment she had thrown the bottle to when she flew off with the animal. She left so soon that it seemed like she was fleeing from something.
“She really flew… The Demon Witch of Tian Yin…” Shi Mu murmured to himself, as he stood dumbstruck and at a loss for words. He was frozen looking in the direction where the girl had disappeared, looking into the distance for a long time.
He finally came to himself after a long time had passed. He smiled bitterly to himself as he glanced at the bottle and the trap he had earlier made.
“‘Try to steal a chicken, only to end up losing the rice’. That’s the saying, isn’t it? Hundreds of silver and the animal, all gone,” he said. However, he could not help but be curious about the contents of the bottle.
After all, an enigmatic girl like her could not have given him anything ordinary.
Shi Mu only gave it a brief thought before he opened the bottle, regarding it as his possession now. A spherical white coloured pill rolled out, swirling. It was as big as his thumb, and a silver light seemed to be glittering faintly on its surface.
“A Qi Ling pill!” Shi Mu cried out involuntarily, after he had studied the pill’s appearance.