Chapter 63 (Drag it out)

“Of course, Senior Qing Jiujie is sacrificing for the common people, so it is perfectly acceptable,” Wen Tianyu immediately felt embarrassed and said, “Master, please don’t do that, just call me Tianyu.”

"Hahaha, the child is so big but still so easy to tease," Qingjue laughed, then returned to a serious expression and said to Muyuan, "It's easy to say, but you and I both know that the process of tracing the spirit is definitely long, at least a hundred years, and more... it's hard to say, so you'll have to work hard."

After all, Qing Jiujie's soul was already shattered to such an extent that it was already quite remarkable that it could be reassembled.

Without saying a word, Mu Yuan said, "Mu Yuan kneels to thank the Immortal Lord."

"No, no, get up quickly," Qingjue helped her up and said, "It was just a small favor, but... Shen Guisong's identity is special, and there's no way to bring him back to the world."

“Things have come to this point… The Immortal Lord has done his best, and I will not be greedy for more,” Mu Yuan shook his head and said, “It’s just a pity that I can’t recall any more memories of him. I can only feel that I once knew this person when I hear his name.”

It's too cruel to think that something is destined to be forgotten.

"I... have one more request to make of you, Immortal Lord."

"Speaking."

"I wonder if Shen Guisong has any belongings that have been lost in the world. If I can find them, I can take the two of them with me on my travels."

"Alright, if I can find it, I will definitely let you know."

"Thank you, Immortal Lord!"

Qingjue didn't actually believe that a person's traces could be completely erased.

Although no one remembers Shen Guisong, he must have used some things, perhaps weapons, perhaps tea sets, or even... wine pots?

He and Qing Jiu made a pact to always drink together, and after getting to know Mu Yuan, he would also drink alone, which shows that he enjoys drinking.

Perhaps it's among Qing Jiujie's belongings; we'll look for it then.

"Now, let's think about some questions together," Qingjue said, opening his fan and gently waving it. "First, Jieyou ultimately achieved an artificial eye; he swallowed eyeballs and sealed the Mind-Stabilizing Mirror into his own eye..."

Aju: "It sounds disgusting and painful. He's so cruel to himself. He deserves to die."

Wen Tianyu sighed, wanting to kill that bastard with his own hands.

“That’s the problem. Jieyou is a ruthless person. He will stop at nothing to achieve his goals,” Qingjue said, closing his fan and tapping the table. “Would he really risk everything to take Qingjiu down with him?”

"..." Xie Zhoujian said, "Indeed... When I was in the Xie family, Jieyou died, but her presence was still very strong. Although there was no leader and they dared not cause trouble without Jieyou, all their plans seemed to have been set up by Jieyou long ago, and they always followed Jieyou's rhythm."

“In other words,” Yan Shiqun continued, “Jieyou is the core brain of the entire Jie family. Even Jie Nanfeng’s plan was arranged by Jieyou beforehand. He was just carrying it out. He even went to see the map drawn by Jieyou for this purpose.”

Ruan Linglai still felt lingering fear as she listened: "I always felt that this person was terrifying, thank goodness he's dead..."

"...I have an idea," Qingjue's thoughts once again connected, and the reason why he had been so uneventful during his seclusion for the past few years seemed to be explained. He said in a deep voice, "What do you think Jie Nanfeng and the others would do after the Yun family was wiped out if I didn't exist in this world and I didn't appear as an accident in their plan?"

“…Uh,” Ruan Linglai replied, “murder?”

The wild goose, separated from its flock: "Do whatever you want?"

Mu Yuan: "It's not a good thing, is it?"

“Let me remind you,” Qingjue said, “Jieyou knows about the existence of the Heavenly Eye. He knows that the Immortal of the Distant Mountain sent away his descendants. He is an ambitious person and has absolutely no patience to imitate the Immortal of the Distant Mountain’s methods. Even if he wants to live, he will do it quickly. He won’t care what methods he uses.”

"And," Jie Zhoujian said, "his artificial third eye could actually see that Qing Jiujie had learned the Soul Scattering Technique, right? He deliberately used this to get rid of Qing Jiujie... and then..."

By forcing Qing Jiujie to scatter his soul and prevent him from entering reincarnation, he could still die a blissful death and escape the rampaging monsters of Shuofeng.

Pure selfishness.

Qingjue said again, "Do you remember the bodies that went missing after the earthquake and other events? I found it strange at the time, but I didn't think about it in detail. I thought it was normal that they were buried underground and couldn't be found. Now I guess... the bodies were turned into little ghosts by Jie Nanfeng."

Yan Shiqun: "...The little devils at the bottom of the valley, I wondered why there were so many of them, but they were all so weak that I didn't pay attention."

Ruan Linglai understood and said, "Ah! I was wondering... But didn't Master check and confirm that he wasn't lying?"

“He didn’t, because he didn’t know what this method was for,” Qingjue said. “Only Jieyou himself knows the method to bring himself back to life, to borrow life to repay life, the more corpses the better. If we don’t eliminate these Gu worms, I’m afraid the mother Gu will absorb so many lives and what comes out will be Jieyou himself.”

“I got goosebumps,” Aju said, hugging Jie Zhoujian next to him. “Was the missing body also part of the plan?”

"Don't be nervous, it's just a guess, maybe it's not that scary," Qingjue said. "There's no evidence to prove it, just treat it as a ghost story."

“From this perspective,” Mu Yuan said, “Jie Nanfeng was merely a pawn in his game. But did he ever consider who would complete the task for him if Jie Nanfeng didn’t survive?”

“And what about the Zhao and Li families?” Qingjue said calmly. “He never said that all of this was to resurrect him. He just devised a plan to achieve his grand ambition and threaten everyone.”

This condition is enough to motivate people to follow in his footsteps and complete his vision.

One less is fine, one more is even better.

Moreover, without the Clearing Technique, the Xie family would not have been wiped out.

However, Jie Nanfeng was indeed an outstanding achiever. Without him as a variable, today might have been the day of Jieyou's rebirth.

“He did die too easily,” Qingjue smiled. “Since that’s the case, why not turn the tables and let him think that his plan has succeeded? His soul is not shattered and can be easily gathered. If we just want him to reappear briefly, one spirit-gathering stone will be enough.”

Mu Yuan: "What... does the Immortal Lord mean?"

“Drag him out of the gates of hell,” Qingjue said, “and kill him again.”

Mu Yuanwen and Yan Shiqun's eyes lit up.

Everyone was a bit tired, but talking about this made them all wide awake. They discussed a lot of ideas on how to make Jieyou die even more miserably in the short time it takes to gather spirits.

The scene has been decided, but we're still missing a professional actor to let Jieyou have her moment of triumph.

Yan Shiqun thought for a moment: "Would Li Wei agree to help us? Or would he use this as an excuse to do something underhanded?"

“It doesn’t matter. His role is just to prevent the illusion of the Spirit Gathering Stone from being exposed, and to make Jieyou believe that she has really been resurrected,” Qingjue said, already sleepy, propping his head up. “Besides, I have already fulfilled his wish. Now the Li family can’t turn things around. Jieyou has nothing to do with him. And even if he betrayed us… we might as well kill him together.”

Aju said, "I understand. It's like dragging a dead soul over and slapping it a few times. Master, you're so mean, but I love it!"

"You flatter me."

Moreover, Qingjue is getting stronger and stronger, and now he probably has no rivals at all.

Ruan Linglai rubbed her hands together, gritting her teeth: "Fine, I'll definitely use all my strength..."

Yan Shiqun: "Grandma, you want to break your bones? Besides, he's just a soul after all; physical damage can't touch him."

Wen Tianyu's words were automatically translated: "But spell damage is acceptable."

"Alright, everyone, let's rest," Qingjue said, clearly wanting to sleep. "Um, during the day, take Muyuan to Qinghuan to arrange a guest room. In a few days, we'll go to the Yun family to ask for the people back. Linglai, go home and visit them these next few days. You all should go out and get some fresh air too."

Ruan Linglai: "Yay, long live Master! I'm going back to sleep now!"

Jie Zhoujian stood up: "Sister Muyuan, come with me."

Mu Yuan: "Yes, thank you, Immortal Lord and my fellow friends."

Wen Tianyu turned his gaze over: "Speaking of which, I've already finished reading all the books in the library. It's been a long time since I've been to the town's bookstore. Does anyone want to...?"

Yan Shiqun looked away: "...Don't look at me, I don't understand that stuff."

Aju had the same expression as him: "Don't look at me either, I don't like looking at that stuff."

“Sigh,” Qingjue said, “Xiao Aju and Xiao Yanzi, you should go with them. After Tianyu, we won’t be able to stay with you every day. You should cherish this opportunity.”

Aju: "Didn't they say that teleportation arrays are very convenient?"

Yan Shiqun: "Are there so many ways to cherish something that you have to read a book?"

“Sigh, never mind,” Wen Tianyu said, “Master, if they don’t want to, there’s no need to force them. I’ll go by myself.”

Yan Shiqun looked troubled for a moment, then compromised: "...Alright, alright, I'll stay with you, okay? It makes me sound like I'm being petty."

After stammering for a while, Aju agreed under Yan Shiqun's sharp gaze: "Ah, I, uh, sigh... okay, okay."

In fact, Yan Shiqun has picked up some academic studies in the past three years and can recognize most of the common characters, but whether he can understand them when they are put together is another matter.

For someone who doesn't receive positive feedback in their learning and whose strengths don't lie in that area, learning can indeed be very boring.

Qingjue thought it was wonderful.

Wen Tianyu took them to read books so he could sleep more peacefully.

Brilliant plan! Brilliant plan!

By now, they're old enough to go to university; they've grown up so much in the blink of an eye.

They are all handsome men and beautiful women, truly talents of the cultivation world. Their looks are also quite striking. Being surrounded by these little guys since childhood is indeed a feast for the eyes.

Qingjue returned to his room and slept until dawn. Sure enough, the next day everyone had run out. They had been cooped up for several years in seclusion.

Mu Yuan also made an appointment with Qing Feng. The last time the two girls met was about the Yun family, so they had to have a good chat.

It seems that Qingfeng is Muyuan's first same-sex friend besides Qingjiujie and Shenguisong, so there must be a lot of things that can only be said to her.

The house was quiet for a while—hmm?

Qingjue saw Jie Zhoujian feeding the fish alone in the courtyard from afar.

"Why didn't you go out with Tianyu and the others?" Qingjue walked over and asked, "Didn't you want to eat osmanthus cake the most?"

“Tianyu and the others asked me, and I thought Master would be bored by himself, so I stayed,” Jie Zhoujian said, putting away the fish feed. “It’s not too late to go find them later.”

Qingjue smiled and asked, "You're so big now, why are you always clinging to me?"