A Feast of Wonder in the Human World
Chapter 33
As the carriage slowly drove away from the Liu residence, Zhou Yulin inside breathed a sigh of relief. Logically, she should have thanked the other party, but seeing a face that showed no gratitude whatsoever and was filled with hatred, it was already a good thing if she didn't go up and beat the other party up.
How did you end up below the pavilion?
"Just happened to be passing by." The man read from the bamboo tube, his gaze never leaving it, and casually added, "No need for thanks."
Zhou Yulin was about to retort, but her anger vanished the moment she touched the other person's face. Realizing something, she raised an eyebrow. Love-struck people really do harm!
Zhou Yulin simply stopped talking, but she soon noticed the unusual nature of the carriage and asked curiously, "The Liu family has carriages, why don't you use the one that's in your household?" But the moment the words left her lips, she regretted it.
"It's not very convenient, and it's too flashy."
Not only because of this, Zhou Yulin thought that the Liu family couldn't just stand by and watch her brother-in-law and sister-in-law elope. However, stories are stories, and reality is reality, and Zhou Yulin could tell the difference clearly.
"I'll give Wusheng Martial Arts School a ride. My brother-in-law helped me escape, so we're in the same boat. Giving me a ride shouldn't be a problem, right?" As she said this, Zhou Yulin secretly observed the other person's micro-expressions.
"Where are you going to do?" The person in front of her was indeed not easy to fool. Zhou Yulin rested her head on her arm and said lazily, "To see my sweetheart. Brother-in-law probably doesn't know, but I have a childhood sweetheart at the martial arts school."
The young man was taken aback upon hearing this, tightened his grip on the bamboo tube, and retorted, "What are you going to do in such a filthy place?"
These words didn't sound like something her refined brother-in-law would say. Zhou Yulin immediately sensed his resistance to the martial arts school. Just thinking about it, this man had been sickly since childhood, and might have been tortured in a martial arts school when he was young, which was why he hated martial arts schools so much.
“Brother-in-law, after I return to the manor, I plan to persuade Father to let you go to the capital to take the imperial examination. What do you think?” Zhou Yulin did not choose to argue with Xie Wuwang about the topic of the martial arts school. She continued to imagine the future, “In the future, you can focus on your studies and pass the imperial examination. When you return home in glory, don’t forget the Liu family.”
"I've read so many stories about poor scholars who become top scholars in the imperial examinations, only to abandon their wives who shared their hardships." As she said this, Zhou Yulin glanced at the handsome face of the man engrossed in his book. It was strange; she hadn't noticed anything unusual about Chen Muyao before, but now, the more she looked at his face, the faster her heart seemed to race. However, remembering Liu Yuning's barely suppressed affection, Zhou Yulin quickly looked away.
In the silence, a melodious voice, like flowing water, reminded them, "We've arrived."
Feeling guilty, Zhou Yulin immediately lifted the carriage curtain and jumped off the carriage. When he looked up at the four characters "Wusheng Martial Arts School" on the plaque, which were written in a flamboyant style, for some reason, Zhou Yulin did not feel any joy at returning to a familiar place. Instead, he felt a sudden unease in his heart.
To her surprise, "Xie Wuwang" also got off the bus.
This person clearly disliked the martial arts school intensely. Did he follow them down here to give the people in the school a bookish lesson with a bamboo tube?
Zhou Yulin didn't mind the person following her. She hesitated for a second before walking towards the martial arts school. The school was still furnished as she remembered, but a completely unfamiliar person was sitting in the familiar seat. Zhou Yulin looked around the school but couldn't find that familiar figure. Instead, the shopkeeper, who looked much older than she remembered but was still very energetic, came to greet her first.
He still remembered Liu Yuning, and asked with a smile, "Miss Liu, what brings you here today?"
"I remember you have a mute disciple in your martial arts school?" The shopkeeper pondered for a long time before asking uncertainly, "Is it the boy that Miss Liu used to come to see when she was a child?" The shopkeeper muttered to himself, "Then Miss is in trouble."
"I can wait for him whenever he comes today."
"That mute boy drowned years ago."
The two voices fell at the same time.
Seeing Zhou Yulin's clueless expression, the shopkeeper swept the floor while rambling on, "I remember it was around the eve of your fifteenth birthday banquet, Miss. The boy fell into the pond, couldn't swim, and couldn't call for help. He probably drowned after only a few struggles. When they found him in the morning, his body was all swollen from being in the water."
"I felt sorry for him, so I spent some money to bury him."
The shopkeeper's voice faded into the distance, "Later I heard that he wanted to elope with someone. The kid had saved up money and hidden it at the bottom of the lake. When he went to retrieve it, he fell into the lake and drowned."
Fragments of memory from when he was drunk slowly surfaced: "Little mute, take me away."
The woman's stunned expression caught the eye of the man beside her. He listened to the story of this pitiful woman without any emotional fluctuation, his face terrifyingly indifferent.
"This kid doesn't have any relatives or anything. I figured I've watched him grow up since he was a kid, so giving him some money is just fulfilling my obligation." After saying that, the shopkeeper glanced at Zhou Yulin suspiciously. "Miss Liu, did you come all this way specifically for this kid today?"
Even after leaving the martial arts school, Zhou Yulin remained silent. The usually energetic man looked like a wilted eggplant. "He's dead. The dead can't be brought back to life. Please accept my condolences," Xie Wuwang said indifferently from the side.
"What if I said he died because of me?"
"That was his choice, so it's not your fault."
Life and death are commonplace. Zhou Yulin has witnessed the normalcy of life and death separations. She didn't understand it when she was on the mountain, but now that she's come down the mountain as an ordinary person, she finally understands the low, mournful cries at the funeral with its fluttering white paper, she finally understands the mother kneeling before her and her senior brother begging for medicine for her daughter, and she finally comprehends her senior brother's words about the cause and effect of life and death, and how cause and effect are often unpredictable.
Despite being someone completely unrelated to the plot, someone whose death would be insignificant, Zhou Yulin was now experiencing excruciating pain. She clutched her chest tightly, nearly fainting from the pain. Just then, someone grasped her hand. "It's not your fault, really."
Before Zhou Yulin fainted, she thought that if the little mute could speak, his voice should be as gentle and warm as the voice that appeared at this moment.
The young man laid the unconscious girl down, gazing at her peaceful face. A gloomy and fierce expression, not belonging to him, gradually surfaced on his face, and dark emotions began to spread outward. "Don't you hate her? You were just one step away from eloping with her."
"The pond water was so cold that night. In a lotus pond with layers upon layers of lotus flowers, you wouldn't even notice if someone died. But that night, someone clearly saw it, yet they refused to save you."
"Hahaha, do you feel wronged? I'm willing to help you. Kill all those people, those who are in your way and hurting you, all of them will be gone, and you can naturally be with your loved one, forever."
The demonic energy that lingered around the young man relentlessly swirled around him, then tempted him, "I'll lend you this power; go and kill him."
A powerful sword aura parted the carriage curtain, and the carriage was sliced in two with a loud crash.
A chill swept in, and the sword light, as bright as moonlight, dissipated, revealing a figure clad in pristine white. The ethereal immortal lord gripped his sword, its tassel fluttering in the cold wind. His features were like distant, misty mountains, indistinct indistinct. The bone-chilling cold emanated from this man. Upon seeing his face, this usually calm and composed immortal lord showed a slight surprise, but only for a fleeting moment: "You possess demonic energy?"
The young man raised his pale face, chuckled lightly, and said nonchalantly, "Immortal Lord, you must have misjudged me."
Xuan Qingxian sensed the approaching demonic energy. The demonic energy had suddenly become very powerful, and many cultivators in Jinling City had sensed it, but he was the first to arrive. However, looking at the sickly man in the carriage who was about to die, he narrowed his eyes and realized that the situation was unusual. The originally dense demonic energy seemed to have suddenly evaporated. There was only one possibility: the demonic energy came from the person in front of him. He was a demon.
Xuan Qingxian did not press the matter further. He sheathed his sword and sincerely apologized, "I was indeed mistaken just now. I am very sorry for damaging your carriage, young master."
The young man pursed his lips, looking at the immortal lord whose attitude had completely changed, his expression growing colder. "You think you can just send me away with an apology?"
"What does the young master wish to do?"
"Pay back money."
The two simply exchanged glances, yet the tense atmosphere was impossible to conceal.
Xuan Qingxian stared at his opponent, then gave in first. He took out silver from his purse. What could have been done with spiritual power, he chose to hand over personally. As soon as the silver was in his hand, the sound of a sword being drawn rang out. In the blink of an eye, the sword was pressed against the young man's neck. The sword's aura was chilling, and soon a few drops of blood trickled down his pale skin. Chen Muyao raised his eyes, showing no fear, only mockery. "What does Immortal Lord mean by this?"
"Demonic energy has entered your body; you are no ordinary person."
"So what?"
“You cannot guarantee that you will not be controlled by demonic energy in the future.” Xuan Qingxian glanced at the young man, “That alone is enough reason for me to kill you.”
A cultivator nearing the Nascent Soul stage can cause ordinary people to feel short of breath simply by unleashing their spiritual energy, let alone a sickly person with poor health.
He didn't struggle at all. Xuan Qingxian raised his sword, and before the warm blood splattered, he said hurriedly and urgently, "Senior brother, spare his life."
The two swords clashed, and Xuan Qingxian quickly withdrew his spiritual power, looking at the woman who had suddenly appeared with an inscrutable expression. Her bangs were blown away, revealing the cinnabar mark between her eyebrows.
The withered tree blossoming again, the cinnabar mark between the eyebrows, and the fact that he calls you "senior brother"—each one could be a coincidence, but when all three are combined, even the most improbable answer becomes the truth.
"Junior sister?"
Upon hearing the word "simple," Zhou Yulin trembled. She leaned on her broken sword, gazing at the righteous and awe-inspiring immortal lord before her, and a lump formed in her throat.
When memories of her past life resurfaced, she remembered the pain of the sword piercing her heart, and she also remembered that her senior brother, Yuanqing Yujie, was burdened with demonic energy, despised by the world, and avoided by the disciples of the sect.
But none of this has happened yet.
In early March, the willows sprouted new branches, and spring water flowed around the city. She looked at Xuan Qingxian, who was still as bright and cheerful as ever, and suddenly smiled, "How have you been, Senior Brother?"
*
Zhou Yulin briefly explained to Xuan Qingxian why she had come here, omitting the fact that she had died long ago. She only told her senior brother that she had unexpectedly entered the Thousand Miles River Map after descending the mountain.
Xuan Qingxian was quick to learn. Knowing that his junior sister had traveled from the future to the past through the Thousand Mile River Map, he asked with a smile, "Junior sister, did you become the person you wanted to be in the future? How is Master's health? Has that kid Gongsun made any progress? Has Lingxing broken through to the Golden Core stage?"
Of all the things he did, he never asked himself.
“Yes, Master is in good health. Second Senior Brother’s cultivation has increased a lot, and Third Senior Brother has also broken through to the Golden Core stage.” Zhou Yulin dared not meet those gentle eyes. “Why is there demonic energy in his body?”
This statement left Xuan Qingxian utterly perplexed. "The demon race perished a hundred years ago, and our grandmaster wiped out the remaining forces on the continent. Logically, demonic energy should have ceased to exist long ago. Unless…" Xuan Qingxian's brows furrowed, "...the demon god has revived."
Zhou Yulin's heart tightened. She knew that these words would really happen many years later. "Senior brother, how can a person become possessed by a demon?"
“Great joy and great sorrow, great life and great death, demonic energy will naturally come to haunt people.” Xuan Qingxian glanced at Zhou Yulin, “What do you plan to do with that kid? That person looks quite similar to the person you hate. You don’t hate him, so why do you still want to save him?” This question made the person’s expression stiffen. “When you see injustice on the road, you should draw your sword to help. Besides, he is not a bad person.”
"Strange, you used to hate everything related to Chen Muyao, but when did you change your attitude?"
Knowing that he couldn't hide it from his senior brother, Zhou Yulin explained dryly, "That person is annoying, but Chen Muyao is Chen Muyao. I am broad-minded and won't be fixated on a physical appearance."
Xuan Qingxian understood and didn't make things difficult for Zhou Yulin any further. "To get out of the Thousand Mile River Bright Map, we need to find the array core. I'll search for it in the city these next few days. If I find it, I'll send you and your friend out." He winked at Zhou Yulin and asked, "Is that person your friend?"
"who?"
"That kid who's entangled in demonic energy."
Zhou Yulin frowned, instinctively wanting to retort, but then heard the person opposite her laugh and say, "The little moon I know isn't the type to meddle in other people's business. If you had woken up earlier, you could have stopped it sooner, but you chose to stop it at that particular moment. That means one thing—you have feelings for him, and he's someone you care about."
Just as Zhou Yulin was about to speak, the doctor who had finished seeing the patient came out with a solemn expression. "Young Master doesn't have much time left. Please accept our condolences."
"What's the meaning?"
Meeting the woman's fierce gaze, the doctor thought to himself, "Young master's pulse is very weak. He is barely breathing and his life is only being kept alive by medicine. It would be a medical miracle if he could even get out of bed and walk."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Yulin lifted the curtain and went inside, leaving Xuan Qingxian and the doctor looking at each other in bewilderment. Xuan Qingxian was the first to react and said gently, "Just tell me if there's anything you need to do."
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