Chapter 21 Too Fast

Qingjue was stunned, but thinking about everything that had happened before, it seemed that he wasn't surprised that Jie Zhoujian could guess it.

How did you know?

"If Master really goes out to visit friends, I will follow him during the day and never disturb him. If Master has something to hide, I will never let Master go alone during the day."

It turns out this kid has said everything, leaving us stuck on both sides.

Could it be that the protagonist has triggered a passive ability? Is this really an important plot point in the main storyline?

“Alright,” Qingjue said, his mouth moving faster than his brain, “I’ll take you with me.”

He regretted it a little after he finished speaking. No matter what, Jie Zhoujian was still a child, and it was too dangerous for him to go with him. They knew nothing about that monster.

Qingjue decided to go alone, also considering that the demon might attack the ley lines of Quanzhang again, and that more people needed to be left behind to protect the ordinary people here.

...His teacher was among them; they couldn't let the earthquake take away more people.

Or maybe...

However, since Jie Zhoujian is the male protagonist, the plot will focus on wherever he is. If he is not taken along, there may be a lot of trouble.

Speaking of which, the Qing family now has several important characters: a noble lady, a reborn demon lord, a descendant of the Heavenly Eye... Aju's experience, which would be a typical tragic and beautiful background in the later stages, seems a bit ordinary in the story.

“Even if Master doesn’t agree, I will still go during the day. No matter what, I will not let Master go alone.”

Now that things have come to this point, there's absolutely no way I can shake him off.

Qingjue sighed: "How could I be a man who goes back on his word? If you want to follow, then follow. It'll be a good opportunity to see if your sword-flying skills have improved. I won't wait for you."

"Master, rest assured, I will not hold you back during the day."

“I didn’t mean that,” Qingjue shook his head and stopped joking. “If there’s danger, stay behind me. That’s an order.”

Jie Zhoujian: "...Hmm."

Such a young child has so many ideas.

Qingjue reached out to touch him, but in the blink of an eye, a certain image flashed through her eyes, and in the image, she vaguely saw an adult man.

...?

...All the rumors are true, and all the illusions are foreshadowing.

The original Immortal Lord Wu Qing... could he have some connection with the male lead?

Qingjue instantly flung his hand away.

I was terrified.

He still remembered his very first thought: he didn't want to end up being favored by his apprentice.

It feels like things are going off track... But as the male protagonist, he has to bring Jiezhu with him in certain situations, as it could trigger plot points at any time.

However, with so many lives at stake, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing. Since things had come to this, he decided to focus on the main storyline first.

As long as he follows the plot, wouldn't he be able to naturally miss out on romance?

Love only slows down his pace of progressing through the story.

Qingjue, along with Jie Zhoujian, left the Qing family at dawn.

The divination instrument is powered by the spiritual energy of several elders of the Qing family, so there is no need to worry about it running out of power or malfunctioning.

However, the destination was farther than he had imagined. He didn't know why the thing stretched its arm so far out, until there was no smoke in sight. Suddenly, the pointer on the instrument started spinning wildly.

Qingjue found an open space to stop, and Jiezhou followed closely behind.

"...Could it be somewhere nearby?"

There must be a reason for the disorder in spiritual energy. Qingjue thought of Jie Zhoujian's protagonist aura and patted him, saying, "Zhoujian, can you sense anything?"

Jie put away the floating mist during the day, and after a moment said, "...The spiritual energy here is scattered and chaotic."

This is similar to Qingjue's feeling.

That's true, he's still just a child. It's already quite good that his senses can keep up with him. We can't expect that just because he's the main character.

Qingjue grabbed Jiezhoujian's hand and muttered to himself, "According to the usual pattern... there should be some secret passage or cave here."

Qingjue looked around and saw that apart from the small patch of grass he was standing on, there were tall trees all around.

The trees here are unlike any I've seen before. They're in a very deep mountain, so the trees are all very tall and large, almost blocking out the sky, and each one is much older than him.

Moreover, few people probably set foot here, so the natural spiritual energy is particularly abundant. Every tree grows exceptionally well, with emerald green leaves, like jade.

Only the spot where Qingjue was standing let in a little light; the rest of the area was completely obscured by leaves, so even if there were caves or entrances, it wouldn't be immediately apparent.

"Master," Qingjue felt the hand gripping him tighten, and Jie Zhoujian asked, "How is your recovery going?"

"?" Qingjue didn't expect him to ask such a question. He said, "Of course it's fine. Didn't you spar with Young Master Yun a couple of days ago? Didn't you see it during the day?"

“I saw it, but I’m still a little worried,” Jie Zhoujian said earnestly, looking up. “If Master feels unwell, just tell Zhoujian. I have a communication talisman that can call someone to help.”

"It's alright," Qingjue said with relief, feeling that at least the child wouldn't turn out badly. "Let's look around for anything unusual."

"Um."

Qingjue secretly drew a talisman for Jie Zhoujian to locate him, just in case.

This little kid is indeed very strong, standing out among all the talented children. Although it's too early to tell where their individual talents are manifested at their current age, Jie Zhoujian's pure combat strength is already quite high.

A student who excels in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education would be an outstanding flag bearer in modern times, and a frequent speaker at Monday's speeches.

Protecting these flowers of our motherland is everyone's responsibility.

Qingjue led Jie Zhoujian around for a while, but they didn't find anything that allowed them to go deeper into the area.

He pondered for a moment, then took out the divination tool again, which was no longer effective with spiritual power.

Since the magnetic field here has a significant impact, it proves that the external magical artifacts are most likely unusable; perhaps they are a protective mechanism set up by that thing for the surrounding area.

If we can't use the things from outside, then...

He casually plucked a leaf, poured a little spiritual energy into it, and a thin film formed to protect the leaf.

He then extracted the spiritual energy he had plucked from the divination instrument, pinched it between two fingers, and casually tossed it onto the leaf.

The moment the spiritual energy came into contact with the leaf, it seemed to have found its home and quickly rushed inside. Qingjue was a little surprised that it was so impatient.

It seemed as if something deep inside had opened its eyes, and Qingjue felt a chill as if he were being stared at.

The next second, a strong wind suddenly arose, and the surrounding vegetation became restless.

Qingjue squatted down, picked up Jiezhoujian, and held him protectively in his arms, chanting an incantation to open a barrier centered on himself.

The branches lashed out at them all at once, but Qingjue, holding Jiezhoujian, stood motionless in the middle.

The leaf imbued with spiritual energy darted around inside the barrier, but thanks to the spiritual power that the Cleansing Technique had applied beforehand, it couldn't go very far before being pulled back.

This way, we can follow it to its source.

Qingjue was like flying a kite; after taking only a couple of steps, he felt a sharp pain in his ankle. It turned out that a thorny bramble had sprouted from the ground.

The thing suddenly yanked Qingjue, and Qingjue and Jiezhou were instantly pulled down.

The surrounding soil collapsed rapidly, and in just a few seconds they were pulled into an underground cave.

Qingjue protected Jie Zhoujian and slammed him hard on the ground with his back to it. Fortunately, he was protected by spiritual power, otherwise an ordinary person would have been crippled by this blow.

"hiss……"

"Master!"

"I am fine."

Qingjue stood up, rubbed his waist which was still slightly sore from the shock, and put Jiezhou down.

This is... the place they're looking for.

The gaping hole above their heads that had pulled them down quickly healed on its own. Although the process was not quite what he had imagined, they were still able to get in smoothly.

The bad news is that the thing could break through the barrier of the Pure Technique, proving that its cultivation level must be at least a hundred years old.

It's a powerful demon.

It's not surprising; only a powerful demon could cause such a huge upheaval. The earthquake brought disaster to the entire Quanzhou and Zhangzhou area.

Qingjue shielded Jie Zhoujian behind him, took out a bright pearl from his Qiankun bag, instantly illuminating the area, and began to seriously observe the surrounding environment.

The cave is very large, and it looks like someone has been there. It's very clean, and you can hear the dripping of spring water.

After the brambles pulled him down, they did nothing else, but they densely covered the surrounding walls, making it look a bit disgusting.

Qingjue felt more anger than disgust.

He really wants to question this thing right now about why it harms people.

What were their true intentions in triggering the earthquake and attacking Quanzhou and Zhangzhou?

Qingjue tossed the illumination bead into the air and led Jie Zhoujian, who was on guard, forward.

He took a couple of steps and heard a few whispers.

But he couldn't hear what was being said, nor did he know what it meant.

Qingjue frowned, a rare occurrence for him: "You're the one who caused the earthquake in Quanzhou and Zhangzhou, aren't you? What exactly is your purpose?"

The thorns flinched, but didn't retreat. After shrinking back a little, they took a few more steps forward.

Seeing this, Jie drew out Fu Lan, ready to fight at any moment.

"My disciple and I have no intention of offending anyone. We are simply here to find a solution and to give the people of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou an explanation."

No one answered; not even the softest whispers could be heard.

Talk therapy was clearly ineffective.

Jie asked a crucial question during the day: "Master, can it understand human speech?"

"..."

That's not necessarily true.

It seems we can only make further plans after seeing the actual thing.

"It's alright, at least we're in here. Let's find it first, unless we spit it out... Hey hey?"

The ground beneath my feet suddenly undulated, like ocean waves, and then…

Qingjue and Jie were thrown out from underground during the day.

Qingjue: "..."

Dead mouth.

Jie sat on the ground during the day, removed the branch from his hair, and quickly helped Qingjue up.

"Master, what should we do now?"

Qingjue curled the corners of his mouth, touched his buttocks that had been hit again, and felt a little angry because he realized he hadn't offended anyone.

"I originally wanted you to initiate the protagonist's speech to address the issue of a peaceful ending, but it seems we have no choice but to force our way through."

Qingjue stood up, stomped twice on the ground where he had just made a hole to throw them out, which now seemed perfectly normal, and smiled innocently.

"Although I don't know exactly what kind of demon you are, if you don't let us in—this lord will tear down the mountain."