Chapter 51 Raising the Young Xiao Bumian with Her Own Body

Late at night, a lone star and a pale moon.

The stars were clear and bright, and the full moon, bathed in a hazy, soft light, hung low in the western sky. The chill of winter mingled with the cold night mist, spreading silently.

Mingjian remained frozen on the eaves until the footsteps of those people completely disappeared inside the door, then he seemed to wake from a dream and lightly jumped down.

The door wasn't closed completely, leaving a crack. He hesitated for a moment, then finally lowered his head and silently slipped through the crack.

His mind was a complete mess, and he even began to frantically doubt whether he had misheard. Was it because he hadn't heard his master's voice for so long that he was hallucinating and mistaking someone else's voice for his master's?

How could his master lie to him?

Mingjian still remembered that his master stroked his head and gently told him that he was a disciple of Jianming Immortal Mountain. He had suffered a severe injury while exorcising demons on a certain trip down the mountain, which damaged his foundation and left him with only three hundred years of lifespan.

But this is clearly a thousand years ago. According to Gu Weishen's address and tone, his master is now the national advisor of the mortal realm, holding a highly respected position, which is completely different from the identity of an ordinary disciple of Jianming Immortal Mountain that he mentioned.

His master clearly taught him to be upright and kind, to help the weak and punish the strong, and to distinguish right from wrong, but his master didn't seem to be a... good person.

At least that's how it is with Xiao Bumian.

Mingjian crouched in the corner, staring intently at the gentle-looking man in the blue robe, by the light of the candle and the moon.

He wasn't mistaken, nor was he mistaken; the man was indeed his master, Yun Guiyuan.

Before the bed, Xiao Bumian sat cross-legged casually, tilting his head as if he felt no pain. Several new cuts appeared on his pale wrist, and bright red blood was trickling down his arm, dripping into the white jade porcelain bottle held in Gu Weishen's hands.

The man in blue, or Yun Guiyuan, frowned slightly and spoke up to stop him, saying, "Alright, let's stop here. If we take it off any further, his body won't be able to withstand it."

Gu Weishen was somewhat unwilling, so he took out another small porcelain bottle from his sleeve and said, "Grand Preceptor, this child's recovery ability is exceptional, unlike that of ordinary people. It's just a few drops of blood, why worry? This blood is enough to help my son Guanlan's cultivation advance another level. I don't think the immortal will be angry."

Yun Guiyuan's tone remained flat, yet carried an undeniable weight: "The Bone Transformation Technique also requires his essence and blood as a catalyst. If you obtain too much at once, damaging his foundation, it may be detrimental to the Venerable's subsequent plans. If Gu Guanlan's Bone Transformation fails due to your mistake, and the Venerable unleashes divine punishment... the consequences are beyond my control, and certainly beyond what your Gu family can bear."

Upon hearing this, Gu Weishen's body trembled almost imperceptibly, and the greed on his face was instantly replaced by fear. He finally stopped what he was doing, bowed slightly, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with his sleeve, and his tone became extremely respectful, "Yes...it was I who overstepped my bounds. Thank you for reminding me, Grand Preceptor."

"That's enough." Yun Guiyuan seemed a little impatient and waved his hand lightly. He lowered his eyes, his gaze falling on Xiao Bumian's face, which was excessively pale due to blood loss. His eyes were calm and unwavering, without any pity or disgust, as if he were looking at something insignificant rather than a life.

He said no more, turned around and left the room with Gu Weishen.

The door closed gently, leaving only Mingjian hidden in the shadows and Xiao Bumian, a boy on the bed who looked weak and listless due to blood loss.

At this time, Xiao Bumian obviously did not yet possess the unfathomable cultivation and keen perception that he would later have. He did not notice Mingjian's presence, but simply lay down, closed his eyes, and breathed faintly.

Mingjian hesitated for a moment, but finally stepped out from the corner. He jumped onto the headboard, circled Xiao Bumian twice, and carefully examined him.

The boy's face was as pale as paper, his lips were almost bloodless, and he was so weak that he seemed as if he would break at the slightest touch.

Even though he knew it was just a memory and that Xiao Bumian would be fine in the future, he still couldn't help but leap lightly onto Xiao Bumian's cool chest when he saw his fragile and easily broken appearance. He carefully lay down and pressed his furry head against the other's chest.

His heartbeat was slow and faint, as if it might stop at any moment.

If Mingjian hadn't been absolutely certain that this was a fragment of Xiao Bumian's childhood memories, he would have had almost no way of connecting the weak, pale, and helpless boy in front of him with the powerful, dangerous, and capricious yandere he later became.

Mingjian was in a state of confusion. After confirming that Xiao Bumian was not in immediate danger, he jumped out of the window, leaped onto the roof, and ran quickly in the direction of Gu Weishen and Yun Guiyuan.

Fortunately, the two hadn't gone far. Mingjian soon stopped outside an abandoned courtyard.

He cautiously surveyed his surroundings and recognized that this was the dilapidated courtyard where Xiao Bumian had been imprisoned as a child, only it seemed even more desolate than he remembered.

The once thriving crabapple tree in the courtyard had completely withered, leaving only twisted and jagged branches pointing towards the night sky. There was also a well beneath the tree, and the entire courtyard was filled with a suffocating silence and desolation.

He held his breath, hiding in the shadows, and heard Gu Weishen's voice, filled with suppressed resentment and urgency.

"Grand Preceptor, do I truly lack even the slightest talent for cultivation? Many disciples in my clan have already discovered their spiritual roots and embarked on the path of immortality. Even my son Guanlan possesses excellent aptitude for cultivation. Why am I the only one without them? Could it be that the spirit-testing stone from back then was damaged?"

Yun Guiyuan looked up at the moon for a long while before withdrawing his gaze. He glanced at Gu Weishen indifferently and said in a calm tone, "Lord Gu is joking. The spirit-testing stone of my Yanling Sect is an ancient inheritance and there is absolutely no possibility of it being damaged. Moreover, I have already examined your aptitude and found that you have no talent for cultivation whatsoever. Your son, Gu Guanlan, has some talent, but he has only inherited your wife's bloodline and spiritual beauty."

He paused, then sighed regretfully, "But you also said that your wife herself has no interest in cultivating immortality, which is why the Venerable One has focused his attention on Gu Guanlan."

These words, like a cold knife, completely crushed Gu Weishen's last shred of hope, banishing him to the mortal realm.

Gu Weishen's face instantly turned extremely ugly, turning pale and then red. After a long while, he finally spoke, his voice filled with resentment and a hint of pleading.

"Grand Preceptor, I am already over fifty years old. This morning, when I looked in the mirror, I found that I had a few gray hairs at my temples. But the other disciples in my clan have long since ascended to immortality and are now living freely in the world. Even my second brother, who is about the same age as me, still looks like a young man in his early twenties because he consumed a few drops of that demon's blood essence."

“I was truly resentful, which is why I spoke so offensively. I hope that the Grand Preceptor will forgive my slip of the tongue.”

A compassionate expression appeared on Yun Guiyuan's face as he comforted him, "Lord Gu, birth, aging, sickness, and death are the natural cycle of life and the common occurrence of the world. Why grieve over them? Since that demon was born, your Gu family has enjoyed decades of glory and wealth thanks to its bloodline and essence. Several members of your clan have even embarked on the path of immortality. What more could you ask for?"

Gu Weishen was speechless, his chest tightening, unable to utter a single word in rebuttal. After a long while, as if all his strength had been drained, he bent over deeply and squeezed out a single word through gritted teeth, "Yes."

Yun Guiyuan said nothing more, but with a slight wave of his hand, his figure disappeared quietly as if blending into the moonlight.

Gu Weishen was left alone, standing stiffly in the desolate courtyard under the bleak moonlight.

Knowing he couldn't keep up with his master, he had no choice but to follow Gu Weishen.

Gu Weishen walked heavily to the courtyard gate, where a trusted aide was already waiting. Upon seeing him, the aide immediately jogged over to greet him.

Gu Wei, in a fit of rage, abruptly flicked his sleeve, and roared in a low voice, "Let's go!"

The confidant was very perceptive. Seeing his ashen face, he quickly bowed respectfully and asked, "Master, did the Imperial Advisor say anything?"

"What else can I say?" Gu Weishen's suppressed anger seemed to have found an outlet, his voice filled with gritted teeth and hatred: "That old bastard still uses the same old excuse, insisting that I have no aptitude for cultivation. If they hadn't sworn back then that the blood of that bastard could help my Gu family prosper for generations, how could I have allowed Yunniang to leave behind that wretched child, causing me unnecessary trouble!"

He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging emotions, and spoke in a slightly softer tone, but still coldly, "Fortunately, although using that bastard's blood over the years failed to put me on the path to immortality, it did help Guanlan ascend to immortality, so it wasn't entirely useless."

The confidant quickly echoed and comforted him: "Master, please don't be angry. Just wait patiently for another month. When the fifteenth of next month arrives, the immortal will personally take action, replace the demon's bones with the young master's, and extract his soul fire. At that time, he will naturally only have one path left: death, and he will no longer be able to get in your way."

"I just hope everything goes smoothly," Gu Weishen said.

Mingjian wanted to follow, but accidentally stepped on a loose tile, making a crisp cracking sound.

Mingjian was startled.

Almost simultaneously, the trusted aide's wary voice rang out from below, sharp and menacing: "Who's up there?!"

Mingjian was so frightened that his cat fur stood on end. Without thinking, he turned around and jumped off the roof, landing in the shadows in the corner of the wall.

From the other side of the wall came a slightly relieved voice from his confidant, "Master, it was a false alarm. It seems to have been just a wild cat making a noise."

However, Gu Weishen was naturally suspicious and cautious, and he did not completely let his guard down. He said in a deep voice, "You must not be careless. You should know that in this world, besides mortals, there are also monsters and spirits that can transform into beasts. If it is just a wild cat, that's fine, but if it is a monster, if our conversation today is overheard by someone with ulterior motives, the consequences will be unimaginable."

"Yes! I'm foolish! I'll give the order right away to have someone search thoroughly." The confidant's tone hardened, and he immediately accepted the order.

Soon, the sound of hurried footsteps and low shouts could be heard outside the courtyard, clearly indicating that the Gu family's servants and guards had been mobilized to search the area.

As the night deepened, Gu Weishen's face was hidden in shadow, appearing even more somber.

Mingjian was being chased quite hard, but fortunately, it was fast and did not get caught by the servants. It narrowly avoided being surrounded several times and finally managed to shake off its pursuers without any serious injury, disappearing back into the deep night.

The servants, hastily summoned, carried torches and searched aimlessly in the courtyard and corridors. Most of them looked tired and impatient. They only knew they had to catch the cat, but they didn't understand why they had to make such a fuss, so they were all very resentful.

"What's wrong with the master? Why is he suddenly trying to catch all the stray cats in the manor in the middle of the night?"

"Who knows? Maybe some clumsy cat accidentally bumped into some master or scratched something valuable. What bad luck to be assigned this job."

Mingjian was panting behind the artificial hill, but he wasn't worried. The system had said that everything in his memory would be corrected, and things that had already happened would not change. In other words, in less than the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea, everything would be back to normal.

Sure enough, not long afterward, the commotion outside and the flickering torchlight vanished as quickly as the tide receded. The once brightly lit and bustling mansion fell into a deathly silence in the blink of an eye, as if the sudden commotion had never happened.

The night returned to stillness, with only the faint chirping of insects.

Mingjian peeked out from behind the artificial hill, and after confirming it was safe, he swaggered out and strolled leisurely along the bluestone path.

This time, no one gave him any extra attention. Occasionally, a kind maid would toss him a small piece of dried meat of unknown origin and then wave him away.

Mingjian felt completely relieved, but her thoughts were still unsettled. The conversation between Gu Weishen and his master kept echoing in her mind.

Gu Weishen said that his master was a member of the Yanling Sect.

Kotodama Sect?

Is it the Kotodama Sect that he knows?

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Author's Note: Smith Marseille, I'm on my way back to school. The internet in the car is terrible (like in the caves of Guizhou), so I quickly wrote a chapter when I had some time. Princess, please treat me to some food! [rice][pigeon]