Shrouding the Heavens

Chapter 87: Encountering Li Xiao Man

Since a long time back, Ye Fan always had a thought, returning to the Forbidden Ancient Desolate land to receive a heaven sent opportunity!

Be it the experts from the human or other races, they did not dare to enter too deep into the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land. The vegetation within was lush and spiritual medicines were abundant, having been baptised by time, many of the spiritual medicines were fast becoming divine medicines and the forbidden land could be considered a priceless sacred ground.

Ye Fan had partaken the sacred fruit and divine spring, he felt that it was likely he could stay within the forbidden land for a period of time and had planned to reach a certain level before returning to that place which was devoid of life.

“My strength is currently very weak, I really don’t wish to head back there, however, I really don’t see any other options……” He did not have any choice and could only risk death and enter.

“Roar!”

In the depths of the mountainous region, the roars of ferocious beasts shook the heavens like heavenly thunder reverberating, causing the leaves in the forest to float about. Ye Fan’s expression changed, he was still quite a distance from the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land and in the outer regions there seemed to be extremely frightening unique beasts, wanting to traverse through the area seemed exceptionally difficult.

However, if he did not move forward, how would he get rid of the horseman who was currently chasing him? This made Ye Fan very conflicted.

“Jiang Yi Chen, just you wait. Even though you are a child of the Jiang Family, one day I will kill you!” Ye Fan had never felt such deep hatred for a person before, the other party was greedy for his treasures, vicious without any compassion and wanted to exterminate him.

Suddenly, Ye Fan sensed danger as that horseman seemed to be getting closer once again and he swiftly hid.

A green figure appeared in the sky, the expert horseman from the Jiang Family appeared once again but the unique beast that he was mounted on seemed to be frightened as it seemed to flee for its life and rush downwards, landing heavily on the ground causing it to tremble.

Not far away, Ye Fan saw all of this clearly and was alarmed, such a strong unique beast was actually terrified to such an extent? The horseman was also extremely shocked and became a wisp of gentle wind as he hid within a pile of rubble.

At this instant, the entire forest suddenly became dimmer as a fierce squall blew by, several shrubs and trees were blown away and a huge shadow was cast on the ground.

In the sky, there was an immense bird that seemed to cover the sky as it flew by, its entire body was flashing with a golden resplendent light as though it were forged from gold, its body was so immense that it made one speechless, like a golden cloud that was rushing by, it blocked the sun and shrouded the heavens.

“Golden Winged Roc!” Ye Fan was deeply astonished.

The might of the Roc of legend was oppressive and the entire mountainous region became deathly silent, even the roars of beasts had disappeared and only after it had flown off into the distance for a while did the forest regain its normalcy.

The horseman of the Jiang Family remounted his unique beast as it dashed to the sky, even an expert like him could only hide earlier.

Ye Fan was feeling anxious, if he continued to move forward like this, there would be untold numbers of beasts and birds that he would meet, would he really be able to reach that area where life was forbidden?

“The Forbidden Ancient Desolate has nine sacred mountains, connected together to form an endless abyss. It is rumoured that on each of the sacred mountains there is a type of sacred fruit and divine spring, each unique and different……” Ye Fan mumbled to himself to lift his spirits.

“I’ve only eaten a single type of sacred fruit and drank from one type of divine spring and it has already caused my entire being to change, if I ascend the other eight sacred mountains…….” Although he kept encouraging himself, he still felt trepidation that continuing forward would likely have disastrous outcomes.

Only a day had passed and Ye Fan’s ideas were shot through, he had continually spotted three expert horsemen who had sealed off the forward route, constantly patrolling in the air above the primitive mountainous region.

“They really want to exterminate me, actually resorting to sending out so many expert horsemen!”

“Roar!”

On a distant mountain, an ear-splitting roar from a beast could be heard, the three expert horsemen in the sky instantly distanced themselves from the area and Ye Fan discovered that a nine headed snake beast was soaring on clouds and ridings on mists as it appeared in the air.

It was as big as a small mountain and gave one a frightening oppressive feeling, black mist swirled around it and its enormous body seemed indistinct, its body was like that of a qilin but it had nine enormous snake heads, looking extremely ferocious.

Its roar immediately scared off the three expert horseman of Jiang Family and the pressure that was occasionally released made one fill with fear and trepidation.

Ye Fan’s heart was palpitating, he had not gotten near to the Forbidden Ancient Desolate land but various frightening unique beasts continued to appear, if he continued forward who knew what he would encounter. If he could not traverse through the air and relied only on walking to advance, there was simply no way to get past this primitive mountainous region. It was no wonder that those horsemen from the Jiang Family decided to seal the area from here.

Ye Fan carefully proceeded forward for another day before noticing that the relatively safer areas had all been blocked off by the three expert horsemen and there was simply no way to go through.

“While I’m trying to predict what they’re thinking, they are also thinking about my route of escape and must have predicted that I would try to use the Forbidden Ancient Desolate Land to get rid of them……”

Ye Fan hid within a dense forest and after careful consideration, he decided not to proceed forward, otherwise, he would simply be looking for death.

“If I can’t fly, there’s simply no way to get near to the forbidden area……” Ye Fan did not look back as he left, following the path he had taken and used the chance while the horsemen were still there to try and escape from this primitive forest, escaping into the crowds of people.

When Ye Fan escaped to the edges of the mountainous region, he discovered that there was an expert horseman riding on a unique beast whose body was covered in flashing black scales as he patrolled the air above the forest.

“A fifth expert horseman…….” Ye Fan stared blankly at the sky as he muttered: “Were they all sent here by Jiang Yi Chen?”

“They brought a total of ten odd horsemen with them, now that five of them have already been mobilised, could it be possible that Jiang Yi Fei and Jiang Cai Xuan haven’t noticed? That’s simply impossible!”

“Could it be that the two of them have been have actually acquiesced to this?”

“Or could it be that the two of them have sent people out…….”

Ye Fan felt cold in his heart.

Jiang Yi Fei was clothed in white, cultured and elegant, anyone who looked at him would be dazed and could really be considered to seem otherworldly. Jiang Cai Xuan was lithe and graceful, elegant and moving, although she did have some arrogance in her, she was very compassionate towards Ting Ting and had left quite a good impression with Ye Fan.

Under the current circumstances Ye Fan could not comprehend what role did the two play in the current situation that was playing out. He was unsure if it was really as disastrous as he imagined, humans were complex and were difficult to fathom.

“Hopefully the two of them aren’t involved in this, otherwise, if Ting Ting lives in that sort of complicated family, I really don’t know if it’s a blessing or a calamity……” Ye Fan was beginning to feel worried for Ting Ting and old uncle Jiang.

This night, Ye Fan secretly headed back to the small store of old uncle Jiang. At this moment he could see two unique beasts who were patrolling in the air at the mountainous region just outside the small town. As they saying went, the most dangerous place was the safest place and he relaxed as he finally had a good night’s rest.

It was only when the second night came did Ye Fan sneak out of the small town and continue fleeing into the distance.

Three days later, Ye Fan was sleeping outdoors at a desolate area in the countryside when he saw a horseman of the Jiang Family riding a unique beast as it rushed through the air, flying into the distance. This made him shocked, the other party had caught up so quickly and this made him puzzled, how were they finding clues with regards to where he went?

“An ancient aristocratic family is too frightening, if I can’t enter the forbidden area, how am I going to shake them off?” Ye Fan was feeling anxious.

Finally, Ye Fan entered a large city within the Yan State, he felt that only with a large number of people would he be able to safely hide.

Besides the capital city of Yan State, this was the second biggest city, the number of people was not lower than a million and it was flourishing, the streets were wide and there were endless streams of horses and carriages, people continually went by and on both sides of the street shops stood in abundance, the sounds of buying and selling filled the air.

Ye Fan had been constantly on the run and was currently extremely fatigued. Only when he had entered this city did he finally heave a sigh of relief, the people of the Jiang Family could not possible ride their unique beasts on the big streets right?

It was already midday and Ye Fan’s stomach was rumbling with hunger, he touched his bosom but let out a bitter laugh, he did not have a single cent on him. He cut a sorry figure, this period of fleeing for his life had really pressured him into such a state.

“I have to find ways to eat a good meal, I can’t starve my body. I still need the accumulate energy to continue fleeing.” Ye Fan did not have the mood to sightsee and explore this flourishing town, he needed to find a place where he could have a meal.

Suddenly, Ye Fan concentrated hard as he saw a familiar figure, it was actually Li Xiao Man!

Her looks were no longer aged and decrepit and she had regained her youth. She was about 1.7 metres tall, slender and elegant, wearing a pure white dress which seemed to flutter in the wind, giving off a feeling that she did not eat the food of common mortals.

Whether it be now or the past, Li Xiao Man had always been exceptionally beautiful, her appearance quiet and exquisite, it may have been because she was now cultivating, her skin actually seemed to twinkle with a sparkling and translucent lustre, snow white and tender like that of a fine jade.

Li Xiao Man’s white dress danced in the air and her black hair naturally drifted, accentuating and making her skin seem even more sparkling and translucent. Her eyes were big and lashes long, seeming to be full or spiritual qi, her neck was as elegant as a white swan and her small waist could barely fill a grasp. Her legs were slender and perfectly straight, figure lithe and graceful, extremely perfect.

Compared to the past, she had lost a little of her ostentatiousness and gained a bit of nimbleness, she also seemed to have gained an otherworldly aura, like a fairy from the moon descended on earth

Ye Fan had never expected that he would see her here and naturally could not help but think of many past matters. There were sweet moments and also heartless and bitter memories. He turned his body and did not wish to reunite with her under these circumstances.

Li Xiao Man clearly did not notice Ye Fan, she was like a crane amongst a flock of chicken, graceful and nimble, her beautiful and otherworldly appearance attracted many glances and she naturally did not notice a haggard and fatigued youth in the distance.

Ye Fan turned and left, he did not want to remain here but did not expect to knock into someone in his rush.

“Little beggar watch where you go, the street is so wide but you actually knock into me!” A few young males and females were in front and a beautiful girl among them had an unhappy expression, Ye Fan had unintentionally knocked into her.

“Sorry!” Ye Fan hurriedly apologised.

“Junior sister, check if you’ve lost anything. The beggars nowadays resort to such methods to steal.” The young male reminded and blocked Ye Fan, preventing him from leaving.

Ye Fan had been fleeing day and night, his clothes were dirty and in tatters and his face was covered in dirty blots making him seem like a little beggar.

“Senior brother, senior sister……” At this moment Li Xiao Man walked over, although there were many people on the street, the crowd noticed that she was exquisitely beautiful and involuntarily made way for her, allowing her to swiftly draw closer.

“Let him go, I haven’t lost anything.” The girl who had been knocked into frowned as she said.

Ye Fan wanted to turn and leave but Li Xiao Man was already before the group and had noticed him.

“It’s you!”

Ye Fan’s stopped his movements, he did not expect to really run into her.

“Junior sister, you recognise this little beggar?” The few youths by the side had astonished expressions.

At this moment, Ye Fan’s clothes were in tatters and his entire body was covered in dirt. He looked haggard and fatigued. He had been running day and night and his mind was very tired, together with his tattered clothing, no matter how one looked at it, he looked like a person from the dregs of society.