Chapter 31: Wen Junsheng's Obsession

Tian Xinshu struggled violently, puffs of white smoke billowing from his body. The smoke grew thicker and thicker, eventually converging into white flames that completely engulfed Tian Xinshu.

In order to break free from the shackles, Tian Xinshu ignited all his magical power. With a loud bang, Tian Xinshu was suddenly pulled out from the wall, and the hut collapsed.

Cang Ming looked back at the ruins and said weakly, "I promised to help her look after the house."

Wei Ci pulled her hard again: "Let's go." He still held Cang Ming tightly, his fingers deeply embedded in the flesh of her arm.

The cold and terrifying aura he emanated caused the surrounding air pressure to plummet, and Cang Ming even felt a vague sense of fear and timidity. She discovered that she had never before carefully considered the meaning of the Underworld Demon King, never understood the true meaning of the Underworld Demon King.

Tian Xinshu climbed up from the pile of rubbish. His vitality was severely damaged by the recent explosion of his magical power, but he had regained his evil nature and cursed loudly: "You thieves, who the hell are you? Why are you always pestering me?"

Cang Ming stubbornly grabbed Wei Ci like he was playing tug-of-war, then turned to Tian Xinshu and retorted, "How dare you ask us? I even want to know who you are!"

"You were chased out of some temple by a Taoist priest, and you're hooking up with a powerful demon from nowhere, and you think you can capture me?" Tian Xinshu laughed strangely and shouted at Wei Ci, "No matter where you come from, don't forget that you are a demon. When the Taoist priest becomes an immortal in the future, will you still be with her?"

Cang Ming shouted, "Shut up." Wei Ci fell silent subtly, and the arrogance around him slowly cooled down.

Tian Xinshu stood up by holding onto the broken wall, throwing himself into a tumble, and yelled: "Crazy husband and wife, a broken pot with a rotten lid, a male dog with a wild woman, a fox with a stupid rabbit—"

Cang Ming decisively interrupted: "Shiqiyan's curse is really effective. Are you satisfied?"

Tian Xinshu was stunned: "What do you mean?"

Cang Ming had an all-knowing expression and sneered mysteriously: "Ever since you placed the curse on Shiqiyan, Fengyan City has been plagued by plague and floods. What will happen next?" She stared at Tian Xinshu's snow-white eyes, but could not get any clues.

Tian Xinshu still frowned: "What do you mean?"

Cang Ming understood clearly and said, "Oh, so it was a curse set by your father."

Tian Xinshu seemed to be ashamed of his unremarkable father: "What does that have to do with me?"

"Last time in the Black Mountain Cave, you said with your own mouth that the Weiyang Crown was in your cellar," Cang Ming sneered, "Your Excellency Tian Xinshu, let's be frank. Those who have fought for the Pearl Crown are not kind people. What's more, you have repeatedly driven the Embroidered Shoes..."

Tian Xinshu's smooth, sculpted face suddenly wrinkled, looking ghostly and eerie. "Just because I fought for the pearl crown, does that make me a villain? Does that mean I'm responsible for all the evil in the world?"

Cang Ming paused and said stubbornly, "You said the pearl crown was stolen, but there's no movement in the martial arts world. Who knows if it was really stolen? Maybe you're the thief crying thief."

Tian Xinshu was furious: "Shut up! I'm the king of this region, how could I lie to a lowly Taoist like you? How could you know that you saw me kill someone?"

Cang Ming laughed in anger: "If I hadn't intervened last time, your embroidered shoes would have killed someone right under my nose."

Tian Xinshu said irritably, "Shut up! What the hell are you talking about? I don't understand you at all."

Cang Ming sighed deeply and said regretfully, "Your Excellency Tian Xinshu, I thought you were straightforward, responsible for your actions, and wouldn't lie."

Tian Xinshu placed a hand on the trunk of the snowy tree. The two had similar textures, shimmering with a white light like a sea of ​​stars. She looked in the direction where Li Xianzhen had disappeared and said sadly, "You bastard, let me tell you something. When I was seven, I cheated someone out of their candied fruit. My senior sister gave me a good lesson, and I haven't lied since." At the end of her words, her expression was bleak, and she didn't want to say any more.

Wei Ci said impatiently, "General, it's time to go. I have something important to tell you."

Tian Xin slid over close to the ground and suddenly blocked their way: "Where are the pottery figures?"

Wei Ci returned empty-handed. Tian Xinshu's voice suddenly broke: "Where did you take them? You actually broke the forest's barrier—"

Cang Ming said: "Hasn't he been breaking it all along? How did you just find out?"

Tian Xinshu flung his sleeves in exasperation, and like a fluttering snowbird, the snow in the entire forest rose from the ground, as if time had turned back, and the falling snow suddenly flowed upwards. The snowflakes gathered into a giant skeleton, causing Cang Ming to shout even more firmly, "You still say it's not you! Oh, right, I forgot to mention that the fruits and vegetables in Fengyan City are all filled with your skeleton totems..."

The skeleton rushed towards her, but this time, Cang Ming used his left fist and right palm to scatter it into a pile of snow powder. Tian Xinshu was running out of energy and stood there panting heavily, her shoulders heaving.

In Wei Ci's opinion, these few moves of punches and kicks were just minor fights lacking in magical power. He was too lazy to even look at Tian Xinshu. He just pursed his lips and pulled Cang Ming to stride towards the outside of Xian Zhenyu without even touching the ground.

Cang Ming's pent-up frustration finally erupted: "I haven't figured out the truth about Shiqi Yan's curse yet. You probably don't care, but I need to rely on this to accumulate merit, okay..."

Meteor, who had not yet said goodbye, stopped striding. He lowered his head and said, "Yes, General, I am just a demon."

Cang Ming waved his hand and whispered in his ear, "I plan to follow her and find Old Guilian through her, and catch them both in one fell swoop. If you're not too interested, you don't have to follow."

Wei Ci said, "General, are you still obsessed with achieving enlightenment and becoming a god? The words I advised you before..."

"Nakano Feiou Demon King." The anger in Cang Ming's heart began to surge again, "Becoming a god is my obsession."

Wei Ci whispered, "It is my obsession to make you give up on becoming a god."

Cang Ming was stunned for a moment, then suddenly smiled: "Are you afraid that I will become a god and part ways with you?"

Wei Ci remained silent. Cang Ming patted his shoulder and said earnestly, "Don't worry, I'm not that kind of person. Even if I became a god, I would come to see you every day. Besides, becoming a god is difficult. Who knows when it will take..."

Wei Ci said, "But... it's not just because of this. More importantly... I can't say it." He looked at Cang Ming almost pleadingly. Cang Ming felt very wrong about forcing the King of the Underworld to this point. "Alright, from now on, I'll catch ghosts within my ability, and you don't have to rely on the hair crown to track me anymore."

The sound of footsteps on the snow came closer and closer. Tian Xinshu followed them quietly and stopped a few feet away.

Cang Ming suddenly gave Wei Ci a thumbs up, full of admiration: "So you hid Tao Ren in order to lure her to follow us, brilliant, really brilliant!"

Wei Ci's mouth twitched slightly, but he said nothing. The two of them walked slowly out of the forest, shoulder to shoulder. Tian Xinshu followed behind them, keeping a few feet away, resentful and wary of the sudden decrease in his magic power.

Cang Ming kept looking back at Tian Xinshu and whispered, "Can you find the way out? This route is also under a spell. You have to follow the guqin music..."

Without a word of farewell, he led Cang Ming along a long and short circuitous route. When he reached a point, he would stop, like plucking a string, and then turn around and walk along a parallel route to the next point, just like plucking or hooking another string.

Cang Ming couldn't help but ask, "What kind of music score is this?"

He replied, "Well, this one is 'Flowing Wind Returning Snow'."

"There's a piece of music like this? What a great name," Cang Ming said in amazement. "Back then, the Wangxian Sect choreographed so many new dances, but this piece of music has never been heard before. I think it must be very appropriate for sword dancing."

A secret smile played on Wei Ci's lips. He looked away, hiding his smug and amused expression. "Yes, it must be very appropriate."

Cang Ming asked again: "How did you know it was this song?"

Wei Ci said, "General, listen. The sound of the wind in this dense forest has a rhythmic sound like a musical instrument, with a sonorous rhythm and a long echo. I guess if I just follow the path of the music, I can enter and exit the dense forest at will."

Cang Ming once again turned his head to gaze at Tian Xin Shu from afar, not forgetting to praise Wei Ci: "So you can also play the guqin. Is there anything in the world that the number one demon king of the underworld can't do?"

Wei Ci smiled and said, "Yes, I have earned the reputation of being a ghost buster thanks to my ghost-catching skills, but I'm not very good at it."

“…”

The snow-covered trees gradually became thinner, the frost thinned, and the lake-green light of the underworld shone through the icy branches. The edge of the dense forest had arrived.

Cang Ming and Wei Ci exchanged a glance, then took the Ice Blade Sword and hung it back at their waists. Without further ado, Wei Ci waved his hand, cleaving a gap in the tangled snowy branches. The untouched branches around them trembled and dodged to the sides, while Tian Xinshu cursed from behind, "Useless thing."

The two men jumped out of the forest one after the other. The moment they saw the light of day again, Cang Ming felt the surging magic power returning to his body, flowing through his meridians all over his body. He was so excited that it was almost like seeing his deceased ancestor. He was even happier than the day he reconciled with Xisheng Wulu.

Tian Xinshu walked out of the snowy trees in a daze. It seemed that she had no other choice but to follow the two people. She just opened her mouth and said, "Give me back the two pottery figures—"

Suddenly, a blue shadow appeared, and Cang Ming jumped down from a height, holding a shiny red-glazed jar in both hands, and shouted, "Collect!"

Like a snowstorm pouring into the altar, the king of one side, the snow sculpture Tianxinshu, was unexpectedly taken into the altar beside his own woods. The lid of the altar was tightly closed and sealed with talisman paper.

Cang Ming wiped the loose hair on his forehead with his sleeve and breathed a sigh of relief: "This is the talisman paper drawn by Xisheng. It will not lose its effect."

Wei Ci raised his slender hands and clapped them lightly a few times, raising the corner of his lips: "General, you have great skills, and you even carry a jar of soy sauce with you."

Cang Ming corrected her, "This is called a jar, a toy commonly used by Taoist priests to catch ghosts. Look, there are also gourds, wooden boxes...all of which can hold ghosts." She lifted up a string of decorations on the corner of her belt, which were all small and exquisite gourds, wooden boxes, and jars, which could be enlarged or shrunk at will when used.

Wei Ci lowered his eyes and smiled deeply, then asked, "What are your plans for next?"

Cang Ming dispelled the jar's reality, holding it firmly beside him. He pulled Wei Ci's arm and said, "Old Ghost Lotus must not be with Shiqi Yan. Let's go back to the inn and have Wu Lu spread the rumor that Tian Xin Shu has been arrested, and wait for Old Ghost Lotus to show up."