Chapter 8 The Importance of Character Design

Ruan Linglai was immediately frightened: "Master, you can't say that, you'll always be with us..."

"You're still young and don't understand the importance of character settings, especially in a plot that's incomplete and disjointed. You can deduce a lot from a character's setting. For example, someone like Yun Yuelin is probably 80% rebellious and 20% proud. He's clearly a positive character and won't easily collude with the villains."

Qingjue smiled and said, "Of course I was just joking. I was just telling you to come to him if you need anything in the future, and that when you grow up, you should be friends with Young Master Yun."

He always says strange things that are hard to understand, but the children are used to it and only need to understand the general meaning.

Jie Zhoujian discovered a blind spot: "But why didn't Master just tell us directly?"

"This is the second lesson. This story teaches us that no matter how sweet-talking the other person is, or how angry you are—if someone asks you who your master is or where you live, you must never say it. It's very dangerous, and you'll definitely be a bad example! Never expose me!—Chunhua'er's personality is indeed a bit simple... She's easy to manipulate; a little provocation and she'll confess everything. It doesn't seem difficult at all..."

The last two sentences weren't meant for the two children; he was talking to himself.

Ruan Linglai seemed to understand, but Jie Zhoujian seemed to really understand.

“So,” Jie Zhoujian said, “the first time Master met Young Master Yun, he fought with him to test Young Master Yun’s strength, right?”

Qingjue: "Well... whatever you want to think about it is fine... but remember some good things and avoid learning bad habits."

He was just bored.

There are no cell phones or computers here; all the things modern people rely on are gone. For five years, all I did was cultivate myself and meditate.

It's so boring.

A colleague you can banter with or even fight with without fear of punishment, and who you don't have to worry about snitching or sabotaging you behind your back.

This is the one who can resist making fun of others.

Later, without realizing it, I couldn't change it.

Qingjue sat on a thick tree branch, looking down at the busy Yun family disciples.

Qinghuan and Qingfeng followed his instructions and did not interfere from the shadows.

In fact, he could have left with Qinghuan and Qingfeng, and then Yun Yuelin might have truly believed that he meant well.

However, Qingjue always felt that it couldn't be as simple as just a monster-devouring creature.

Could such an obvious plot advancement really be caused by just a giant mosquito?

Qingjue didn't believe it; he had to keep an eye on it.

As night fell, there was hardly a single fire in the deep mountains and forests.

In order not to disturb the monsters that would attack in the middle of the night, the Yun family disciples did not light any fires for illumination. For a time, the only light source in the village was the lantern in the village chief's house.

Or, from Qingjue's perspective, the entire area is pitch black.

In today's technologically advanced world, it's almost impossible to find such a quiet, uninhabited mountaintop.

In this world, you can see small villages and towns like this everywhere, where residents live off the land and water.

The waiting process was much longer than expected. Qingjue stared at the darkness in the distance for a long time, and he really felt a little lonely. After all, there were no people in this world who could understand him...

“Master,” a childish voice interrupted his reverie, “I sensed something approaching during the day.”

"Oh?" Qingjue snapped out of his daze, patted Ruan Linglai who was gripping him tightly as a gesture of comfort, and asked Jie Zhoujian, "You can feel it?"

"Hmm, there's a tiny... subtle... fluctuation of energy?"

This kid is really a male protagonist; he can sense the fluctuations of demonic energy at such a young age.

Qingjue didn't reply, focusing instead on experiencing everything around him.

Jie Zhoujian is right, there are indeed fluctuations of demonic energy, but... it's more than that.

Then, with a loud "boom," an explosion occurred in the center of the village, and smoke and dust obscured the view.

This also alarmed the Yun family, and Qingjue led his people down to meet up with Qingfeng and Qinghuan.

Qingfeng: "Immortal Lord, what is that?"

Qingjue immediately became serious and replied, "I don't know either, let's go and take a look first."

Inside, Yun Yuelin was organizing the Yun family to carry out a rescue. The house had exploded and trapped several people, all of whom suffered minor injuries. One person was slightly more seriously injured, as his right leg had been crushed.

Qingjue dared not bring the children forward, so he asked Qingfeng and Qinghuan to go and help first, and told the two children to stand still. He then waved away the smoke and approached Yunyuelin.

His hands trembled uncontrollably; he disliked the dust, the ruins, and the cries of pain from the people.

But the story had to go on, and he also wanted to know what had happened, so he asked:

"What was that just now...?"

"I don't know," Yun Yue Lin said seriously. The two of them wouldn't argue when it came to serious matters. "It wasn't that Devouring Monster that did it, and the Devouring Monster is already... dead." — It even took down an entire house with it. That's powerful?

Looking at the ruins before him, Qingjue said, "What exactly is it that made you, Young Master Yun, personally go here? Tell me. I don't believe what your disciple said. You didn't just pass by."

“A cunning fox,” Yun Yuelin said as she checked the ruins one last time to make sure no villagers were left behind. “I knew you would be suspicious. Sure enough, you didn’t leave. Actually, my father told me that he sensed the aura of the descendants of the Heavenly Eye here.”

"The Heavenly Eye?" Qing Jue didn't sit idle after arriving. He browsed through various ancient books in the Qing family library, and even read the forbidden books. It wasn't that he hadn't seen this term before.

The Heavenly Eyes were a family of cultivators from hundreds of years ago. Because there are too few records from later generations, no one knows their names or surnames.

Legend has it that this is a family blessed by divine intervention, and every member of the family, including their descendants, possesses extraordinary abilities.

They are able to glimpse the secrets of heaven and even reverse fate and life and death.

Their trademark is a pair of white eyes; through those eyes, they can see a person's entire life.

This is an absolutely scarce resource in the world. The more powerful a country is, the more everyone wants to possess it and the more people want to objectify it.

Hundreds of years ago, the Heavenly Eye Clan was massacred by those who coveted it, leaving not even a single eyeball behind.

For hundreds of years, there has been no news of them. Mortals have come and gone, and the folk tales are hard to distinguish between true and false. It is estimated that only the ancient books of legitimate cultivation families or older generations know the details.

Coincidentally, Yun Yuelin's father, the current head of the Yun family, not only belongs to the latter category, but also has considerable knowledge of astrology and divination, making him a perfect fit for the profession.

Therefore, the information Yun Yuelin provided was absolutely confidential and accurate; no wonder he brought so many people with him.

As a well-educated modern person, Qingjue believes in the Party but not in fate, opposes feudal superstition, and the red scarf on his chest will only become brighter.

But—this is a world with magic and demons.

Qingjue's first reaction was to ask, "Is this all you're telling me?"

"Father's original intention was for me to send a message to the Qing family. After all, it's a big deal. We are more trustworthy than others in terms of cultivation level and the character of our disciples. It was I who took the initiative to say that I would personally lead the people to resolve this matter."

"What? Do you have a destiny you want to know?"

"Come on, I have no interest in such cryptic things," Yun Yuelin said. "I just think that sending a message is risky, and I don't want that person to fall into the hands of someone with ulterior motives and harm the world."

"So the explosion just now was related to the Heavenly Eye?" Qingjue flipped over a few tiles on the ground, recalling the scene of his first encounter with Jie Zhoujian, and said, "I didn't see any strange people in this place, but... apart from a little demonic energy, there is a strong spiritual energy."

Yun Yuelin: "Nonsense, otherwise how could it have been hidden for a hundred years without anyone discovering it?"

As Yun Yue turned around, Qing Jue saw the Yun family disciples bring the village chief to the two of them.

His tone was harsh, almost interrogative: "What exactly are you hiding? Give me a proper explanation!"

Qingjue stood to the side, shaking his head with a smile.

Yun Yuelin rolled her eyes at him, which was a sign of her dissatisfaction with his attitude, but she didn't say anything and continued to look at the village chief.

"I... my immortals, I really didn't know, this..."

Qingjue blinked, then smiled in a friendly manner, and asked in a more tactful way: "Has anything strange come to your village recently? Don't be afraid, we're here to help you. The immortals around here are the young masters of the Yun family, and they are well-known. Don't worry."

The old village chief was relieved.

"Well... yes, I did. Three days ago, I dug up a white clivia from the mountain. I thought its color and appearance were excellent, and its color was very rare. I don't know why it was growing in the middle of nowhere, so I dug it up and brought it back. I've been taking good care of it, thinking of selling it in the city for a good price. Now that you mention it, yes, yes, that clivia was kept in this room."

"Later, we also felt that the clivia was a bit strange, because mosquitoes that approached it all died on the table, so we didn't dare to touch it."

White Clivia?

Yun Yuelin immediately told her disciple, "Find it for me."

"yes."

Qingjue leaped out of the ruins and came to Qingfeng and Qinghuan's side. Seeing that the people had been settled, he said, "Go and help. Find a white clivia."

Qinghuan and Qingfeng exchanged a glance, nodded to Qingjue, and joined the team scavenging the ruins.

Qingjue squatted down and said to Ruan Linglai and Jie Zhoujian, "Let's go help the older brothers and sisters too."

"Okay!" Ruan Linglai ran two steps forward, then turned back and asked, "Master, what is a white clivia?"

Jie Zhoujian honestly held Qingjue's hand and looked up: "I haven't seen him before either."

...

I have seen regular clivia in flower shops or cafes, but white ones are indeed rare.

No wonder the old village chief spotted it at a glance.

But is that white clivia really still the same as it was originally?

After searching the ruins, the group found nothing. Qingjue squatted down and wiped the dirt off the ground. Sensing the abundant spiritual energy underground, he stood up and said, "Yun Yuelin, take the people and retreat further away."

Yun Yuelin became alert: "...What are you going to do?"

"Demolish the mountain."

A note from the author:

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