Chapter 85: The Six Brothers of Plum Mountain

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Opening the Five Camphor Caves, Yuan Wuji sped at his fastest toward the Celestial Court.

“Hm?”

He sensed seven auras converging on his position—clearly, they’d been waiting here.

“Sky Howler Dog, your nose really is sharp.”

“Of course! How could I lose the trail of a mere monkey?”

Six oddly shaped figures and a half-human, half-dog demon appeared before Yuan Wuji, encircling him in a ring.

“Sky Howler Dog and the Six Brothers of Meishan?” Yuan Wuji’s tone held a hint of derision. The combined strength of these seven was nowhere near Nezha’s, and yet they dared to block his way?

“Monkey, we heard you stole Brother Nezha’s Nine-Dragon Divine Fire Canopy. Hand it over now, knock your head to the ground before us seven, and we’ll let the matter drop,” Sky Howler Dog barked arrogantly.

Having heard that Yuan Wuji had dealings with the Sect of Severance, Sky Howler Dog saw making him kowtow as a small triumph over their rivals. The feud between the Sect of Severance and the Sect of Elucidation had raged since the Investiture of the Gods, and it still burned.

“Stole? Who said I stole it? I didn’t. Don’t go slandering an honest soul,” Yuan Wuji teased, unable to resist mocking Sky Howler Dog’s foolishness.

“If you didn’t steal it, how did the news get to my master?” Sky Howler Dog asked, perplexed.

“Don’t listen to his nonsense,” the Meishan brothers called from behind. “He’s playing you. If it were a lie, how would it reach Second Lord?”

“Scoundrel! You stole it and still won’t admit it.”

“I already told you I didn’t steal it. Why won’t you believe me?”

“You—” Sky Howler Dog stared at Yuan Wuji, who didn’t seem to be lying, and was half-convinced—until Yuan Wuji’s next words made him fly into a rage.

“I didn’t steal it. I took it by force, fair and square.”

“You’re looking for death!”

Sky Howler Dog swung his bone club at Yuan Wuji, not sparing a thought for the gulf between their powers.

But in the next instant, regret flooded him. He was merely a celestial dog of the lowest rank, no match for Yuan Wuji, who had reached the Taiyi realm.

Even the strongest of the Meishan brothers had only just stepped into the lowest stage of scattered immortals in the Taiyi realm.

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“Dong!”

A powerful recoil sent Sky Howler Dog flying back, nearly knocking the bone club from his grasp.

“All together!” At the moment Sky Howler Dog was repelled, the Meishan brothers seemed to receive a silent signal and attacked Yuan Wuji in unison.

Having fought side by side with Yang Jian for years, the Meishan brothers possessed a flawless synergy—one glance between them was enough to coordinate their next move.

Facing their coordinated assault, Yuan Wuji could not help but be amused. Did they truly not know the gap between them? Or were they simply too confident?

The Golden Tiger and the Blood Tiger coiled at Yuan Wuji’s sides. It was not yet time to deal with the Meishan brothers for good, but he had to teach them a lesson—as he once had Nezha.

With the Dragon-Subduing and Tiger-Taming arts, Yuan Wuji summoned only the weaker Tiger Souls. Had he called forth the Dragon Soul, it would be all too easy for the Meishan brothers to perish by accident.

It was not that the Tiger Souls lacked power—they were simply easier to control than the Dragon Soul, thus better suited to discipline rather than destroy.

The sudden appearance of the twin Tiger Souls made the Meishan brothers realize something was wrong. With a brief exchange of glances, they tried to retreat, but Yuan Wuji gave them no chance.

In the blink of an eye, the twin Tigers, under his command, lunged at the brothers. Retreat impossible, the Meishan brothers braced themselves, but they were wholly unaware of the chasm between their power and Yuan Wuji’s. In an instant, they were struck down—the Tigers tore straight through their bodies.

Even the eldest, who had just entered the realm of scattered immortals, managed only a brief resistance before falling to the Blood Tiger’s assault.

The moment the Tigers struck, the eldest brother realized how dire their situation was. It was nothing like he had imagined. Emboldened by his recent breakthrough, he hadn’t bothered to assess Yuan Wuji’s strength, foolishly believing him an easy target, and had dragged his brothers and Sky Howler Dog into this folly.

When Yang Jian had learned of Nezha’s defeat at Yuan Wuji’s hands, he told his subordinates Nezha’s Divine Fire Canopy had been stolen, displaying Yuan Wuji’s likeness and offering a hefty reward for any report—without mentioning Yuan Wuji’s true strength.

As it happened, the eldest Meishan brother had just broken through. Eager to prove himself, he led his brothers and Sky Howler Dog to intercept Yuan Wuji. He reasoned that someone who stole from Nezha couldn’t be too strong—likely only a scattered immortal—making Yuan Wuji an ideal stepping stone and a chance to curry favor with Nezha.

Only now did he realize how vast the gulf truly was. When Yuan Wuji claimed to have taken the treasure by force, he’d thought it a jest. But it was no joke.

Without overwhelming power, how could one possibly seize a treasure from Nezha?

“We serve the Second Lord. Do you dare kill us?”

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With things at this point, the eldest Meishan brother could only invoke the name of Erlang Shen, hoping Yuan Wuji would hesitate to cross him.

The other five Meishan brothers had all fallen unconscious, their conditions unclear until they could be treated back home. Yuan Wuji had not let them off lightly—mere injury and fainting would hardly suit his style.

Without letting them taste some real suffering, it would not be Yuan Wuji’s way.

“Yes, yes, my master will never let you go,” Sky Howler Dog stammered anxiously, catching the fallen brothers and dabbing the blood from their lips with his little cloak, trying to make them look less battered.

Sky Howler Dog’s eyes grew increasingly bloodshot as he tended his brothers, their wounds clearly striking a nerve.

“Big Brother, are you… are you alright?” Sky Howler Dog choked out, trying to wipe away the blood still flowing from the eldest brother with his bloodstained little cloak.

“Sky Howler Dog, take them and run if you can—I’ll hold him here,” the eldest brother turned and said sternly.

“No, Big Brother, you’re the only one who can take everyone to safety. Let me hold him off—you must run!” Sky Howler Dog interposed himself before the eldest, resolute, as if recalling some past memory.

The sight pricked something deep within Yuan Wuji—a feeling he loathed.

“Enough. I’ll grant your wish.”

With a palm pressed to the eldest brother’s crown, Yuan Wuji sent him, already gravely wounded, into unconsciousness as well.

“I do not fear Yang Jian. It is simply not yet time—his life is mine for the taking, sooner or later.”

“These are but interest on the debt,” Yuan Wuji said to Sky Howler Dog, gesturing to the fallen Meishan brothers.

Had he destroyed the brothers and Sky Howler Dog now, it would have irreparably altered the journey to the West, bringing consequences Yuan Wuji did not wish to see.

Straying too far from the original tale would jeopardize his own opportunities—a risk Yuan Wuji was not yet willing to take.