Chapter 37 (Original Text): "Senior Sister, do you hate me?"

Shen Cangyu lowered his eyes to look at the person in front of him, his hands forming a hand seal.

"Leaving the Fire"

Now that there's no one around, this is the perfect opportunity to kill him. If she wants to kill him, she can use her Ninefold Blazing Inferno to burn him to death and destroy the evidence. No one will know where he went, and all of this will be over…

"Cang Yu, what are you doing here?"

A voice suddenly rang out, abruptly stopping Shen Cangyu's half-finished hand seal. She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Qiu Sheng's figure in the distance: "Senior Sister, why are you here?"

Sure enough, she knew it wouldn't be that simple. She wanted to kill Shen Qingyan, and Heaven wouldn't let her get away with it.

Qiu Sheng walked over and said, "I was in charge of picking up the disciples of Xiao Kunlun and taking them to Kunlun. I found that one person was missing on the way, so I came looking for him. I didn't expect to find you here. Since you've run into each other, why don't you get to know each other?"

She pointed at Shen Qingyan and said, "This is your junior brother, a new disciple who has just joined our Wanqi Guixin sect."

Shen Qingyan looked at Shen Cangyu cautiously and greeted her obediently, "Hello, Senior Sister."

Qiu Sheng pointed at Shen Cangyu and said, "This is your senior sister, Shen..."

Before she could finish speaking, Shen Cangyu interrupted, "Why send him to the Myriad Weapons Return to the Heart? Does he know swordsmanship? Does he understand swordsmanship? Does he know martial arts? He knows nothing. How can someone who entered the inner sect by luck be allowed to enter the Myriad Weapons Return to the Heart?"

She looked at Qiu Sheng and said sarcastically, "Is our 'All Things Return to the Heart' garbage can? We stuff all sorts of trash into it?"

Upon hearing Shen Cangyu's words, Qiu Sheng's expression also turned ugly: "He is only temporarily residing in Wanqi Guixin. All newly initiated outer disciples, unless led away by someone from another Daoist sect, always reside in Wanqi Guixin until they find their own Daoist sect and then leave."

She said with a stern face, "How did you become like this? It's been several months since we last saw each other, is this how you treat me the first time we meet? Shen Cangyu."

This was the first time Qiu Sheng had ever spoken Shen Cangyu's full name since they met. Shen Cangyu felt a sharp pain in her heart, as if it had been cut by a dull knife.

“You were the first one to change, Senior Sister,” Shen Cangyu said to her, no longer looking at her, and turned to leave.

Instead of returning to Longji Mountain, she went to the first hall of Xingxiang Hall overnight.

Xingxiang Hall was already closed at this time and not open to the public, but Xu Qiubai still opened the door for her when she came looking for him.

"Why did you suddenly decide to come to our Xingxiang Hall?"

Xu Qiubai was leading Shen Cangyu upstairs when she stopped and looked at the incense altar beside her: "I would like to ask for a divination."

Xu Qiubai's smile faded: "This is the first time I've seen you come here for divination. What happened to you?"

In the past, Shen Cangyu came to Xingxiang Hall to find him. She never burned incense or asked for divination, unlike others.

Xu Qiubai once tentatively asked her, and she said, "I know what I will encounter next. I don't need to consult the oracle. I know where to go."

In her previous life, she would ask someone to come to Xingxiangtang to have her fortune told before each mission. She didn't believe in fortune telling; she just wanted to add some fun to her life.

For her, if she knows that something good will happen in the future, she can't help but look forward to it; if the good things don't go as she wishes, she will be disappointed. If she knows that something bad will happen in the future, she will worry and feel annoyed, thinking that she should have known better than to ask. After asking, she will always be worried in her actions.

It's better not to ask.

Xu Qiubai has spent so many years in Xingxiang Hall and has seen all sorts of people. He rarely sees someone as insightful and uninhibited as Shen Cangyu, and he envies him greatly.

But now, she's come to ask for a divination.

"What do you want to ask?" Xu Qiubai took three sticks of incense from the incense stand and handed them to her.

"I want to do something, but I don't know how it will end."

She took the incense and hesitated for a moment. Although she knew the road ahead was uncertain, she still wanted to ask the Heavenly Fragrance Goddess what her chances of defeating Shen Qingyan were.

Shen Cangyu lit incense and placed it in the incense burner. She knelt on the prayer mat, thinking, "Can I kill a time traveler?"

There was no wind around, and the three incense sticks burned quietly in the incense burner until the scarlet flames spread downwards and the incense ash fell down.

"What did Her Majesty say?" she asked, looking at Xu Qiubai.

Xu Qiubai smiled at her and said, "The Empress said that everything will go smoothly, so you can rest assured."

Shen Cangyu breathed a sigh of relief and sincerely said to him, "Thank you."

Xu Qiubai tucked his hands into his sleeves and asked, "It's late. Why don't you stay at our Xingxiang Hall tonight? We still have plenty of empty rooms, so you won't have to travel back."

"No, thank you," Shen Cangyu waved to him, "See you next time."

After saying that, Shen Cangyu ran down the mountain with light steps.

You are lying.

A voice came from behind Xu Qiubai. Startled, he quickly turned around and saw the figure next to the statue. He breathed a sigh of relief. It turned out to be his senior sister, Shui Linglong.

Shui Linglong had been in the First Hall since before they entered, but her figure was covered by the statue, so they didn't notice her.

Shui Linglong possessed an exceptionally beautiful appearance, like exquisite porcelain, with a refined and aloof temperament. She was described as having a golden complexion and clear, intelligent yet proud nature. Within the Xingxiang Hall, Shui Linglong's status was second only to Elder Xu Mei, but Xu Qiubai was not close to her. When they were young, she disciplined him more strictly than Elder Xu Mei, and he was afraid of her. Later, Shui Linglong stopped interfering with him. As they grew up, they became more like strangers than fellow disciples.

Shui Linglong said, "The meaning of that incense stick was clearly 'This journey is dangerous, be careful,' you lied to her."

Upon hearing her words, Xu Qiubai turned his head away and said, "It doesn't matter. No matter what she does, I will help her."

*

As soon as Shen Cangyu stepped into the foot of Dragon Ridge Mountain, he could see many lights shining on the mountain in the distance, some on the third peak and some on the second peak. Those houses that were originally empty were now full.

It must be the new disciples who moved in.

Shen Cangyu snorted coldly and walked upstairs. He hadn't gone far when he ran into Qiu Sheng, who was walking downstairs.

After the commotion, Shen Cangyu looked at her with a bad mood. She wanted to avoid her, but the mountain path was so narrow that there was nowhere to hide.

Shen Cangyu kept a cold face and didn't look at Qiu Sheng, but Qiu Sheng walked over to her and took out several large packages from his sleeve and threw them to her: "When I went out to do a mission, I brought gifts for each of you. These are yours."

When several packages hit her face, Shen Cangyu was taken aback. She didn't expect Qiu Sheng to take the initiative to talk to her.

Seeing Shen Cangyu looking over, Qiu Sheng also snorted coldly and cursed, "You heartless little brat."

Seeing Qiu Sheng like this, Shen Cangyu finally realized that the person in front of her was her senior sister Qiu Sheng. After Shen Qingyan left, she became much more normal.

Although Shen Cangyu was angry about Qiu Sheng's change, she did not want a rift to form between them. She spoke directly: "Why did you announce that disciple as the winner when you were on the stage? You clearly saw the whole match and knew that he had no martial arts skills and knew nothing. Meanwhile, his opponent was far superior to him in both footwork and dagger use. You were unfair."

Qiu Sheng was taken aback: "So that's why you were throwing a tantrum."

She explained, "Although he doesn't know martial arts, he can accurately dodge all attacks. This person is either pretending to be weak to deceive others, or he is really lucky. But luck is also part of his strength. Moreover, he is kind-hearted, which is much better than his opponents. A vicious person, even if he learns Taoist magic, will eventually go astray. It's better to eliminate him from the beginning."

Shen Cangyu looked at her and asked, "Senior Sister, you said you want to eliminate the Five Evils, then tell me, what is righteous and what is evil? Is it true that people have no evil desires at all?"

Chou Sheng couldn't answer her question. She had never thought about these things, and her judgment of good and evil was merely what she had heard; in truth, she herself couldn't distinguish between them. When Shen Cangyu asked, she paused for a long time before simply telling her that the question should be answered by the Hall of Good and Evil.

But Shen Cangyu did not want the Hall of Good and Evil's answer.

She discovered that her understanding of "good and evil" differed from the world's. But she felt that humans are complex beings; could they truly be summarized by simple concepts of good and evil?

During her time in Kunlun, as her understanding of various Taoist practices deepened, her mind began to wander.

The world of Taoist magic is ever-changing, and she was captivated by it, wanting to master it. She was unwilling to confine her future to mere revenge; she longed to see a wider world.

She began to observe the world, the people around her, and herself. She wanted to figure out her place in this world.

She understood that the day her faith and thoughts were finally complete would be the day she had mastered the Daoist teachings.

As Shen Cangyu walked uphill step by step, she suddenly saw a figure blocking her way, preventing her from moving forward.

It's Shen Qingyan.

No, it's that time traveler.

She looked at him coldly. She hadn't provoked him, yet he had come to her of his own accord.

The person nervously clutched the hem of their clothes, looked at her, and whispered, "Hello, Senior Sister."

He pointed to the path behind him and said, "I...I'll be living here from now on. I heard that my senior sister lives in the courtyard above...Please take care of me in the future."

Shen Cangyu didn't respond. She looked at the barrage of comments like "Conquer her," "Win her over," and "Add her to your harem" that floated past her, scoffed, and walked around him straight up.

"Senior Sister!" He suddenly raised his voice, but Shen Cangyu did not stop walking; she didn't care what he wanted to say.

"Senior sister, do you hate me?" he suddenly shouted, his voice trembling slightly.

She turned to look at his tear-filled eyes and uttered a single word: "Yes."

*

After returning to her room, Shen Cangyu lifted the hem of her clothes and sat down on the floor, resting her chin on her hand and looking at the person beside her.

Now, floating in the air are not only the white frames of the comment section's bullet comments, but also the green-framed scroll with the plot written on it.

She scanned the green-framed section from top to bottom; it contained the novel chapter the author had released that day.

The 10,000-word plot explains how Shen Qingyan came to this world, how he met Qiu Sheng, and how he accidentally entered Kunlun. He suffered all kinds of bullying in the outer sect, but in the end, he still won the crown in the competition, and his status rose accordingly. The people in the outer sect disliked him, but they could only look at him with envy and jealousy.

No wonder Shen Cangyu tried everything to unlock the plot, but it never moved an inch, like an ox pulling a cart for half a month. It turns out it wasn't her problem.

Previously, the plot didn't move because the author hadn't started writing yet. Now that the author has started writing, the plot in her green-framed scroll flows like water, writing down everything that has happened during this period without missing a single word, and the chapter ends with their conversation just now.

Shen Qingyan looked at her and mustered up his courage to ask, "Senior sister, do you hate me?"

Shen Cangyu looked at him with disdain in her eyes, exuding an air of superiority: "Yes."

Shen Cangyu: "..." So that's what she looked like just now.

Shen Qingyan felt a pang of sadness. He thought to himself, "When I was reading the novel, I clearly liked her a lot. I never imagined she would turn out to be this kind of person. I misjudged her!"

ah?

novel?

What novel?

Shen Cangyu frowned and reread the plot highlighted in green. The plot mentioned that Shen Qingyan had transmigrated into a novel, and thankfully he still remembered the original story.

Could this original work be the original version of the story?

She examined the words in the green frame word by word, digging out all the content related to the original work, but only knew that the "original work" was related to Pei Wenjing.

Could it be... that she was already part of Pei Wenjing's story?