Chapter 23 Another protagonist

...That enchanting girl who was betrayed by a scumbag?

Could this really be the reason she attacked Quanzhou and Zhangzhou? But why is she sitting here instead of going there herself?

Seeing that she no longer had any intention of attacking, Qingjue moved closer.

“Master, look,” Jie Zhoujian said again, “there are many things hanging around us.”

Qingjue turned around and looked at the stone walls on both sides. Not only were they covered with vines, but also countless red ropes.

Each of them was tied with knots of different sizes; Qingjue counted them, and each one had nine knots.

It's probably some kind of secret code between couples, right? That's usually the meaning behind this number.

Qingjue turned around and faced the demon again, reaching out to draw out the little spiritual power he had released, wanting to probe into her spiritual consciousness to see what was going on.

Just as it was about to touch her forehead, the fairy girl looked up.

Qingjue met her gaze and heard a clear voice.

"...Are you...a member of the Qing family?"

Qingjue paused for a moment, then withdrew his hand.

"You can speak?" he said. "Why couldn't we hear what you were saying earlier? Otherwise, we wouldn't have had to fight our way here."

Her voice was gentle yet ethereal: "...I haven't spoken in so long that I've forgotten how to speak...I can only use...spiritual power."

She couldn't even open her mouth; even if she remembered how to speak, she probably wouldn't be able to say anything.

“I see,” Qingjue said, resting his finger on his chin in thought. “It’s like how Xiaoyanzi doesn’t like to talk when she’s angry… Can she hear her during the day?”

“Yes,” Jie Zhoujian said, still holding Qingjue’s hand, and asked, “Sister, why did you attack Quanzhang?”

"..." Qingjue was speechless for a moment. He originally wanted to take a roundabout approach and find out what kind of demon this girl was, but the child was straightforward and asked directly.

"An attack...?" The surrounding vines shifted slightly with her small movement. She looked up: "Sorry, it should just be... I need to replenish my spiritual energy... I'm about to die. My vines are heading towards the place with the most spiritual energy nearby."

"That was not my intention... I'm sorry."

If it's a good demon, then we can save ourselves the trouble of fighting.

Qingjue breathed a sigh of relief, patted Jie Zhoujian's head, and said bluntly, "So, you went there out of the instinct to survive, but do you know how many people you killed? The entire Quanzhou and Zhangzhou suffered serious damage because of that earthquake."

His words carried a hint of anger, which Jie Zhoujian noticed, and he squeezed his master's hand reassuringly.

“…I’m sorry, but you can’t kill me. This mountain needs my protection, or I’m willing to give my life.”

"..."

Jie and Qingjue exchanged a glance.

Qingjue asked, "...How many years have you been guarding this place?"

"I can't remember, I can't remember," she said. "It must have been over a hundred years ago."

It seems that this girl's cultivation is more than a hundred years old. In fact, during these hundred years, in the damp cave without the nourishment of heaven and earth, her spiritual power was almost completely exhausted.

That earthquake was probably her last-ditch effort. It was clear that her cultivation was not low; even on the verge of death, she could still make such a big commotion, which was unintentionally thwarted by Qing Jue.

Something feels off. Qingjue has a lot of questions she wants to ask, but she doesn't know which one to ask first.

Jie Zhoujian: "But Fairy Sister, if your spiritual power is depleted, won't you die too? What will happen to you after you die?"

"After death... I don't remember, I don't remember... I only remember that it is my duty to stay here."

"You don't remember anything? No one else has come here in a hundred years? You've just been guarding it?" Qingjue thought of her initial question and said, "Then how do you know I'm a member of the Qing family?"

"Are you really sure?"

The surrounding stone walls crumbled violently with her movements, yet she managed to pull herself out of the wall and leaned close to Qingjue: "Did he send you?"

"No, I came here to investigate the earthquake; it has nothing to do with anyone else."

Qingjue continued, "You don't remember anything, but do you remember 'him'? Was it the man on the stone wall who looked like a member of the Qing family?"

"No... I don't really remember... I only remember... there was a promise—someone would come looking for me."

Could it be that...

Based on the current clues and Qingjue's years of experience reading novels, he can roughly summarize the story's outline.

The fairy girl must be a tragic lover, while the man on the stone wall is a heartless man who tricked the girl into staying here, but in reality, he never came back.

According to the painting on the stone wall, their last meeting should have ended badly... Is this girl love-struck? She's still waiting for him after all this? He even drew his sword, sigh.

It's certain that something bad would have happened here without her protection, which is why the man lied to her like that.

"Tsk..."

Qingjue couldn't stand such stories; he was extremely disappointed in them.

Whatever the reason, it's not gentlemanly to deceive this girl into solving the problem alone, especially when it involves such a vulgar and clichéd tactic as using emotions.

This fairy girl is really foolish enough to have guarded this place for a hundred years. She has been conscious for a hundred years but no one has paid attention to her. So many knots have been tied up, yet she doesn't even think of leaving.

That man is probably already married with children...

The thought that this kind of person came from his own family left Qingjue speechless.

Qingjue sighed and said, "Since we're here to solve one problem, we can't introduce another. Your consciousness is too hazy; you can't explain yourself clearly. But we must figure out what's going to happen. If possible, we'll help you find that... guy."

After some mental conjecture, Qingjue felt it was still too early to draw a conclusion. After all, the girl couldn't remember anything clearly, and it was already quite remarkable that her speech hadn't become confused after a hundred years of waiting.

"Would you mind if I probed into your consciousness and looked into your memories? That way we should be able to figure out the reason."

She naturally nodded; she had already made a mistake, and she needed to find a way to make amends.

Qingjue raised one hand, while Jiezhoujian pulled his other hand.

"Master, can you bring Zhoujian along? Last time you explored the memories of the resentful woman alone, you didn't feel well when you came out."

Qingjue smiled and said, "Alright, but sharing my burden will cause some pain. Are you prepared?"

"Not afraid during the day."

Qingjue thought this child was really... good in every way.

Aside from the possibility of it appearing in BL (Boys' Love) novels.

The process of merging one's consciousness with another is indeed somewhat unbearable, but the pain comes quickly. The fairy girl's mind is still clearer than Menglan's. Even so, Qingjue still silently diverts his attention to protect the consciousness of Jiezhu during the day.

When Qingjue opened her eyes again, she saw a forest full of spiritual energy. Many small animals and fairies passed by. The owner of the body had not yet been embedded in the stone wall. There was no mud or stone solidified on her body. Her slender hands were playing with the stream beside her, and the fish in the water jumped up and played with her.

"Master, are you alright?"

Another voice rang out; it was Xie Zhoujian, who had come in with them.

"It's alright, what about during the day?"

"It's alright during the day, surprisingly not painful—is this the memory of that older sister? It's a forest, and it looks very vibrant."

“Hmm,” Qingjue could do nothing in other people’s memories, he could only follow the first person’s perspective, as if watching a movie from a unique point of view, “This is probably what the outside world looked like a hundred years ago.”

The trees weren't too big to block the sunlight, the ground wasn't too damp, and the area wasn't deserted; you could even see smoke rising from chimneys in the distance.

"Sister Muyuan!"

Qingjue heard a child's voice, and the main perspective followed the sound.

It's a little cat demon with ears and a tail. It looks like a child, but its cultivation level might be several decades.

The girl's name should be "Mu Yuan".

"Xiaohua, why are you here so early today?"

Mu Yuan's voice has not been ravaged by time; it is gentle yet reveals a sense of calm and resilience.

"I caught a really big fish!"

"Really? Haha, that's great."

"Wooden Edge—!"

In the distance, where smoke was rising from chimneys, an old man was calling to her.

"Take some wood to your Aunt Zhang."

"good--"

With a wave of his hand, Mu Yuan sent several vines up from the ground, carrying some timber down the slope.

Humans? They actually get along so well with humans... The demons and humans here are so simple and honest, and the spiritual energy between all things is so abundant. It truly is like a paradise on earth.

Standing up from the stream, Qingjue and Jiejun saw a delicate and beautiful face, with her hair half-up, long and black as ink, standing gracefully.

She has many different flowers on her body, all brightly colored, nourished by her spiritual energy and never withering.

It's truly a pity to see her like this now.

She got up and followed them down. Everyone in the small village below knew her. Apart from some older people, the younger ones all called her "Fairy of Wood Fate".

It seems that Miss Muyuan has profound cultivation and immeasurable merits, and is very much loved by both humans and demons here.

She greeted everyone along the way, ate the pastries that were served, caught a mischievous squirrel demon, her skirt fluttering as she shared the joy with everyone.

Qingjue and Jiezhe possessed her consciousness during the day and could sense some of her emotions at that time. At this moment, Muyuan was joyful, happy, and extremely relaxed.

"Fairy Muyuan!" At that moment, a young man waved to her from the village entrance. "There are a few people at the entrance, they look like Taoist priests, they're about to break in!"

Mu Yuan manipulated the vines to lower the wood, patted it at the end before pulling it back, and said, "Okay, I'll go check on the situation."

"Be careful, fairy! I've heard that many Taoist priests outside are unreasonable in their pursuit of cultivation."

The viewpoint shifted slightly upwards, revealing the wooden frame floating in mid-air.

"Yeah, it's nothing."

The next second she moved to the foot of the mountain at an extremely fast speed, so fast that Qingjue and Jiezhou didn't even have time to react before their gazes had already shifted from the village to this place.

As her perspective shifted, Qingjue was able to see the person in front of her clearly.

Even clearer than on the stone wall, this is the Qing family's Taoist robe.

Although the Taoist robe from a hundred years ago has changed somewhat, not much has changed, and Qingjue can recognize it based on Wuqing Immortal Lord's memories.

The person standing in the middle of the group, making eye contact with Mu Yuan, was completely unexpected by Qing Jue. He never imagined that he would be the other protagonist of the story.

His clothes were noticeably more neat than the others. His sideburns were all neatly pinned up behind his head, with the rest of his hair falling loose down his back, leaving only a few strands hanging on his front. His features were refined, and he gave off a more gentle and refined feeling than Qingjue.

He was Qing Jiujie, the former head of the Qing family, who was killed by the Xie family.