Chapter 9: Gu Xian

"Help…Help…"

A sound as thin as a mosquito appeared faintly, and Yun Shang realized that she almost forgot the person in the snake's mouth.

"Hold on, I'm coming to rescue you!"

Yun Shang calmed down, then stood up and walked to the python's body.

She took a deep breath, gathered strength in her palms, and pried open the python's upper jaw with one hand and the other hand. After exerting force, the snake's head gradually opened.

A young man covered in wounds, wearing a Taoist robe and looking extremely miserable appeared in front of her.

"Hurry, hurry out." The snake's head was too heavy for Yun Shang, so it was very difficult for her to stand up. "I can't hold on any longer."

The man saw the light of day again, coughed a few times, and then rolled out of the snake's head as if he had been given an injection of insulin.

Yun Shang loosened her grip upon seeing this and fell to the ground as if exhausted.

She lay on her back, taking deep breaths, and looking at the azure blue sky peeking through the gaps between the branches. It felt like a ridiculous dream.

If the giant python hadn't been lying next to her with a dagger stuck in her vital points, she really wouldn't have believed this was true.

"Woo woo~" Xiaobai came to Yun Shang at some point and rubbed her face gently with his nose.

Yun Shang reached out and touched its head. "Xiao Bai, you were great just now. We worked well together."

"Ahhh~" Xiaobai walked a few steps and turned back to

Yun Shang called out twice.

Yun Shang looked in the direction Xiaobai was looking and saw the Taoist priest they had just rescued lying face down on the ground in a spread-eagle position. His hair was already disheveled, his Taoist robe was tattered, and his entire body was covered in blood and mucus.

...Is this person still alive?

Yun Shang sat up, walked to his side, hesitated for a moment, and helped him turn over.

The Taoist's face was also in a terrible state, covered in blood and mucus, and his true appearance could not be seen at all.

She reached out her hand and felt his breath, which was weak, but at least he was still breathing.

"Wake up." Yun Shang patted his face, "Master, wake up."

"Cough cough..." The young Taoist priest lying there suddenly coughed twice as if he was resurrected from the dead, spit out two mouthfuls of black blood, and fainted again.

Yun Shang: …

- But at least this time his breathing and pulse were normal.

The two mouthfuls of black blood made his face even uglier. Yun Shang really couldn't stand it anymore, so she searched the Taoist priest's body and found a handkerchief. She used the handkerchief and the clean water she had just drawn to wash his face.

When washing his face, she discovered that he was a handsome young Taoist priest, probably no older than eighteen years old.

Just after washing his face, the little Taoist priest woke up.

"Thank you, little girl." He pulled the wound when he stood up, and grimaced in pain. "If I hadn't met you, I would have died here today."

The first words he said after waking up were to thank her, which comforted Yun Shang a little and proved that she did not save the wrong person.

"How do you feel now?" she asked.

The young Taoist priest leaned against the tree trunk, holding his chest with a pale face, "I have both external and internal injuries. I feel a little uncomfortable now."

"You're not in danger of losing your life, right?" Yun Shang asked.

"I won't die. I have healing pills on me." The young Taoist priest bowed, "Thank you again for saving my life, little girl."

"You're welcome." Yun Shang also clasped her fists.

Only then did the young Taoist have the energy to look at Yun Shang carefully. As he looked, a hint of doubt slowly emerged in his eyes.

"Master, what's wrong?" Feeling the other party's gaze, Yun Shang was confused.

"Girl, how can little girl like you in this dangerous forest?" asked the little Taoist priest.

Yun Shang said, "I want to go to Mushui Town to search immortality!"

"It seems the little girl was already at first level of Qi Refining, the girl is indeed gifted" praised the little Taoist priest.

"Hehe, thank you, Taoist priest!" 

The young Taoist scratched his head, a little embarrassed, "Don't call me Taoist priest, I really can't bear it. My cultivation is shallow, just reached the middle stage of Qi Refining, and I am also a junior brother in the temple."

Yun Shang asked: "Then how should I address you?"

"My surname is Gu and my given name is Xian. I am a Taoist priest from the Wuchen Temple in Beishan. My master has not yet given me a Dharma name, so you can just call me by my full name, young lady."

"Okay then." Yun Shang also introduced herself, "My name is Yun Shang, and this dog is my friend, Xiaobai."

Xiaobai barked to show his presence.

"I really thank you." Gu Xian poured out two pills from another small green gourd and swallowed them, then sat cross-legged in meditation. "If it weren't for Miss Yun, I would have died long ago."

"I don't have any skills, I just rely on brute force." Yun Shang looked at the python corpse not far away, "In fact, it's Xiaobai and your sword that have helped. It's no exaggeration to say that your sword can cut iron like mud, it's really powerful."

"This sword was given to me by my father for self-defense when I left home to practice Taoism at the age of ten." Gu Xian closed his eyes and adjusted his breathing, his voice very soft, "This sword does not match the practice I practice. I usually wear it on my body mainly for meditation, and rarely use it. I didn't expect it to save my life by accident."

"The sword is still on the snake." Yun Shang stood up and walked to the python's body and pulled out the sword.

This sword is very peculiar. There is no blood groove on the blade, but after being pulled out, there is not a trace of blood or dirt on it, and it is clean and bright.

"What a great sword." Yun Shang couldn't help but admire it again.

This sword is neither too long nor too short, and it is also quite light, making it easy to carry.

It is extremely sharp and very handy to use.

"If Miss Yun likes this sword, I'll give it to you." Perhaps the elixir had a miraculous effect, Gu Xian's breathing gradually stabilized, "This can be regarded as my repayment for saving my life."

"How can I do that? This is a gift from your father." Although she really liked the sword, it had a special meaning to Gu Xian. How could she take away someone else's love?

Gu Xian said seriously, "Good weapons can only be put to good use in the hands of the right people. In my hands, they can only be used for decoration, which is too unfair to them. Miss Yun, you haven't learned any martial arts routines but you can use this Shura sword to kill a giant python in the late stage of Qi Refining and about to advance to the foundation building stage. You are it's destined person, don't refuse it anymore."

Yun Shang was a little hesitant.

"If you refuse again, you will look down on me." Gu Xian smiled. His curved eyebrows and eyes matched his actual age very well, and he looked a little cute. "If my father knew that I gave the Shura Sword to my lifesaver, he would be very happy."

The other party has said this much and is very sincere. It would be a bit pretentious for Yun Shang to refuse.

The most important thing is that she really needs a weapon now.

"Thank you...Brother Gu." She originally wanted to call Gu "little brother", but when she was about to say it, she remembered that she was only fife or six years old in this world, and when Gu Xian introduced himself just now, he said that he was exactly eighteen years old this year.

"You're welcome. You've come out to explore the world at such a young age, and having this sword will give you some peace of mind."

Yun Shang looked at the sword in her hand, then at the python, and remembered what Gu Xian had just said, "This snake's cultivation is actually higher than yours, no wonder you were so dangerous just now."

"Speaking of this..." Gu Xian stood up and walked to Yun Shang, pointing at the python's belly and said, "If this beast hadn't fought with the person in its belly and injured its vitality, I would never have survived until you saved me."

"You are only at the middle stage of Qi Refining, yet you try to deal with a giant python at the late stage of Qi Refining? Aren't you too brave?" Yun Shang was extremely shocked.

You have to know that the business of cultivation is very mysterious. If there is a one-level difference between two people, the outcome will be crushed. What's more, the giant python is naturally cunning and has rich combat experience. It is really inappropriate for Gu Xian to fight with it.

"I feel wronged too!" Gu Xian looked very aggrieved. "I came here to collect herbs under the order of my master. I also knew that my strength was limited, so I did not enter the second forest layer and stayed outside. Who would have thought that when I was collecting herbs, I saw this giant python fighting with a casual cultivator. In the end, the fellow Taoist was defeated by the giant python and was accidentally swallowed by it."

Yun Shang was anxious when she heard this, "Run!"

"I ran away!" Gu Xian spread his hands and said depressedly: "Who knew that this beast was so bloodthirsty that swallowing one was not enough, and he wanted to swallow me as well to refine his inner elixir."

"So what the ancients said was right, greed is insatiable, even an elephant is swallowed by a snake." Yun Shang shook her head, "He wanted to eat you, but he ended up confessing himself."

"Miss Yun has a point."