Chapter 27 Stubborn to the end, don't suffer the pain of losing her again. ...
The next day.
The sun was high in the sky, and the heat made them parched, before they finally woke up.
"Oh dear, how come we slept for so long?" Cui Mingcan stood up, rubbing his head, feeling weak all over. "Cen Xiaoying, you didn't poison the food, did you?"
Cen Ying stretched and glared at him: "Are you crazy? Who would want to poison you? My poison is so precious, do you even deserve it?"
Bai Yuheng shook her numb hands, also finding it strange. It would be understandable if Cui Mingcan was the only one lying in bed, but now all four of them seemed to want to faint, only waking up when the sun was high in the sky.
Could it be that there was something wrong with the pheasant from yesterday?
Bai Yuheng glanced at the pheasant that was now just a skeleton, and then recalled the gaze she had felt last night. Could it be a demon?
But after checking their belongings, nothing was missing, and no one was harmed. Moreover, the barrier she had set up was intact, and there was no sign of it being damaged.
"That's really strange." Cui Mingcan stroked his chin, pondering, "Could it be that some lecherous man has taken a fancy to one of us, and then drugged us with ill intentions?"
"..." Bai Yuheng rubbed her sore shoulders and wrists, and didn't say anything for a moment.
"Alright, alright, with your looks, who would want to seduce you?" Cen Ying rolled her eyes at Cui Mingcan, who was checking his innocence, and said speechlessly.
"What nonsense are you talking about? I'm handsome and rich, a proper young man. If I were to be taken advantage of by some wandering ghost, how would I ever get married?!"
Cen Ying was speechless: "..."
"It shouldn't be a ghost. I set up a barrier for you all last night; ghosts with ordinary skills couldn't possibly get in."
"I didn't see anything suspicious when I was handling the pheasants," Li Tiankuo said casually.
"This is truly bizarre."
"Alright, since there's no damage, let's get going, or we'll have to camp out in the wilderness again tonight," Cen Ying said as she packed her things.
"Well, let's go first. Ordinary little demons wouldn't dare to cause us trouble. If they really want something from us, there are four of us. I don't believe we can't defeat them."
The group nodded, packed their belongings, and set off on their journey back to the Tianyan Sect.
Fortunately, we didn't encounter the strange thing that happened that day again along the way.
They returned to the sect without incident.
However, Bai Yuheng still occasionally felt a deep and burning gaze, but she could never catch anyone in it. She didn't make a fuss, so as not to frighten them.
The sect continued to operate in an orderly manner as always, except that there were many more disciples from other sects participating in this competition.
"Ah! I need to get a good night's sleep these next two days!" Cui Mingcan was actually missing the hard wooden bed on Wangxian Mountain.
"Sigh, I need to get some sleep too. My face is all wrinkled after coming down the mountain!" Cen Ying sighed, touching her fair and smooth face.
Cui Mingcan leaned closer for a closer look, then suddenly exclaimed in surprise, "Oh my! Cen Xiaoying, you've got freckles!"
"Ah! Where? Where is it?"
Cui Mingcan took out a small mirror, looked it in her face, and said in a cheeky tone, "Look, here, here, and here."
"Cui Mingcan!" Cen Ying gritted her teeth and chased after Cui Mingcan, who had just turned and run away after playing a dirty trick on her. "You dare to play me! I'll beat you to a pulp and make you call me grandma today, or I'll write my name backwards!"
"Help! Help!" Cui Mingcan shouted as he ran away, attracting the attention of passersby.
Bai Yuheng and Li Tiankuo stood in front of the sect, their expressions indifferent, as if they didn't know them. After saying their goodbyes, they each returned to their residences.
Meanwhile, inside the Chongguang Hall.
"They all did a good job on this mission." Dongxuan nodded with satisfaction as he looked at the list he had compiled. "But there are so many outstanding disciples from various sects, it's not easy to choose."
Emperor Yuanguang echoed, "Indeed, each generation is more outstanding than the last."
"If we really can't find anyone, why not add a few more competitions?" the sect leader of the Hehuan Sect suggested.
“What Yi Hong said is quite good.” Emperor Lingzhen nodded in agreement. “We can also form a team based on each person’s strengths. It can be divided into a main core team to find the fragments of the Four Directions Mirror, and other teams to patrol the human world and kill or capture the monsters that are harming the people.”
"Lingzhen's idea is good, why don't we go with it?" Xie Yihong, the leader of the Hehuan Sect, glanced at the leaders of the various factions present.
“I think it’s a good idea,” Emperor Yuanguang was the first to agree.
Dongxuan: "Yes, I agree."
"What about the other elders?" Xie Yihong asked with a smile. "If they have different opinions, they can raise them, and we can discuss the possibilities together."
Cen Sheng, the leader of the Five Poisons Sect, had no objection.
Emperor Yuanguang asked with a smile, "What does Sect Leader Miao think?"
Miao Weiqing: "We will do as you all say."
"Alright, then I'll make the arrangements." Emperor Yuanguang nodded, and seeing that no one had any objections, he instructed Yan Li to carry out the arrangements.
*
When Emperor Yuanguang returned to the Xuanshen Palace, he saw a person standing in front of the door, facing the wind, looking as ethereal as an immortal.
"Immortal Master Pei?" Emperor Yuanguang stepped forward and smiled, "You're back so soon?"
Pei Yuan nodded.
"Did you find anything?"
"Um."
Emperor Yuanguang could tell from his expression that he was excited. “That’s perfect. I was just discussing the search for the Four Directions Mirror with some sect elders. If Bai Yuheng is Hengluan, she must already know. This matter can be entrusted to her. After all, none of us know how to use the Four Directions Mirror.”
Pei Yuan's jaw tightened. He said, "Let her go find them? Do you want her to seal those demons again? Or do you want her to dissipate her soul again?"
"..." Yuan Guang Dijun's smile froze, and he clapped his hands and sighed softly, "Pei Yuan, it is our duty as cultivators to protect the peace of the world. As a member of the Tianyan Sect, don't you understand that?"
"Does it have to be her?"
"It could be any of us, if not her." Emperor Yuanguang gave him a deep look and asked in return, "Are you sure she will listen to you? Don't you know at all what she's doing in the Heavenly Evolution Sect now that she's changed her identity? Why doesn't she acknowledge you? Why is she actively participating in this trial? Do you really not know?"
"Enough!"
Pei Yuan turned and left, his cold voice carried on the wind, "I will find a suitable way, it can be everyone, but not her!"
"Stubborn to the end."
Emperor Yuanguang watched Pei Yuan's departing figure and sighed heavily.
-
Pei Yuan went to the Heavenly Book Pavilion and used the crescent key that Yuan Guang had returned to open the pavilion door.
A cloud of dust billowed out.
Pei Yuan cast a dust-clearing spell, cleaning the dust out of the pavilion.
Although the pavilion is small, it has a large collection of books. In one corner, there is a desk with a bunch of dried grapes, a half-empty bottle of fine wine, and several books that are open and haphazardly arranged.
Pei Yuan glanced around and found that the books here were not arranged according to their contents and had no index. He guessed that she had arranged them in her own unique way.
Finding the book he wanted would take him some time. Pei Yuan couldn't help but feel a headache coming on.
Suddenly, an idea struck him. He put down the book in his hand and walked quickly to the desk, eagerly and anxiously flipping through the open book.
"The Square Mirror—"
The open pages of the book contain an introduction to the square mirror: its manufacture, its use, its function, its consequences, and how it was destroyed, and the consequences of its destruction.
Pei Yuan's hand holding the paper trembled slightly, and his eyelashes fluttered slightly.
"..."
"Squeak—"
The door to the pavilion was slammed shut.
Pei Yuan stood on the steps gazing into the distance, his eyes as dark as the night, deep and unfathomable.
He will not repeat the same mistake.
He did not want to, nor did he wish to, experience the pain of losing her again.
*
"Make way, make way, thank you, thank you..." Cui Mingcan pushed through the crowd to the front, quickly glanced at the newly posted notices, and shouted to the three people behind him who couldn't squeeze in, "Li Tiankuo, Cen Xiaoying, you're on the list!"
"Where is Yu'er's?" Cen Ying called out.
"Don't rush, let me see!"
Cui Mingcan nimbly darted from one end of the notice board to the other, reading it all, and muttered to himself in confusion, "Huh? Why isn't it there?"
"What do you mean, 'nothing'?" Cen Ying squeezed in as well.
"I didn't see Yu Heng's name." Cui Mingcan was very puzzled. "Could it be that she didn't report it yesterday?"
"No way! Yu'er and I submitted it together." Cen Ying also looked it over and really couldn't find Bai Yuheng's name. "This is really strange, it can't be! How could it not be there?"
Cen Ying and Cui Mingcan squeezed through the crowd and stood in front of Bai Yuheng, at a loss for what to do.
Bai Yuheng found their reaction somewhat amusing: "What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me like that?"
"Yu'er, I have something to tell you..."
"Go ahead and say it, it's okay, just say whatever comes to mind."
"It's just, it's just..." Cen Ying stammered for a long time, unable to get the words out. Cui Mingcan, who was standing next to her, was getting impatient with her. "Hey! If you won't say it, I will!"
"We searched everywhere but couldn't find your name."
"Huh?" Bai Yuheng was also taken aback. "No?"
"No……"
Bai Yuheng breathed a sigh of relief: "Pshaw, I thought something had happened. It's just a competition registration, why are you all so worried?"
"Yu'er, don't be sad. Maybe they made a mistake. Let's go and talk to the senior brother in charge!" Cen Ying didn't know how to comfort her. She knew that although Bai Yuheng didn't seem to care, she was actually looking forward to being selected.
As she said this, she felt it was feasible, and she took Bai Yuheng's hand to inquire about the senior brother in charge.
"I heard that this was organized by Immortal Master Yanli again," Li Tiankuo, who had been silent nearby, spoke up at the opportune moment.
Cui Mingcan: "I know where he lives!"
The group then set off in a large entourage to find Yan Li.
"Senior Brother Yan!" Cui Mingcan was warm-hearted and good at making friends easily. He waved and called out to Yan Li, who was loosening the soil around the medicinal herbs not far away.
"Junior Brother Cui?" Yan Li raised his eyes, smiled, put down the hoe in his hand, and asked, "You've come to find me?"
"Yes!" Cen Ying nodded. "I heard that you organized this competition?"
Yan Li nodded: "Yes, it was me, your senior sister Zhang Ju, and senior brother Sui Qing who were in charge. What's wrong? Is there any question?"
"Hey! This matter isn't a big deal, but it's not a small one either. Her name was just omitted from the notice."
Yan Li looked at the person Cui Mingcan mentioned and asked in surprise, "Isn't Junior Sister Bai's name on it?"
“No, I’ve looked for them all,” Bai Yuheng shook her head. “But I’m sure I handed over the catalog yesterday.”
Yan Li frowned, cleaned the dirt off her clothes, and said, "I'll go ask Sui Qing."
"Thank you, Senior Brother Yan."
"No need to be so polite. If anything goes wrong, it's our fault for not doing our job properly," Yan Li said apologetically. "You can come with me." He paused, glanced at the four of them, and then added, "But Suiqing doesn't like seeing people, so it would be better if Junior Sister Bai came with me."
"Alright." Bai Yuheng nodded, then said to Cen Ying and the others, "You guys go back first, I'll go with Senior Brother Yan Li."
“But…” Cen Ying wanted to say something more, but was interrupted by Bai Yuheng.
"Oh, it's alright, I'll go by myself. The competition is tomorrow, you guys go back first, those who need to rest should rest, and those who need to practice should practice hard and try to get a good ranking!"
Cen Ying frowned and pouted: "But you..."
"It's okay, I can manage on my own."
Cui Mingcan and Cen Ying exchanged a glance and said, "Okay, then we'll go back first. If you have any more problems, we'll come find you!"
Bai Yuheng smiled sincerely and said, "Yes, yes, definitely!"
After watching the three leave, Yan Li took Bai Yuheng to find Sui Qing.
"Senior Brother Suiqing!" Yan Li knocked on Suiqing's bamboo door and said, "Senior Brother Suiqing, it's me, Yan Li."
"Creak!"
The bamboo door opened in response.
"Come in." Sui Qing sat in the courtyard, where many iron objects were piled on the ground, looking as if he was making some kind of object.
"Senior brother?"
"Speak plainly," Sui Qing said without even looking up.
Yan Li seemed used to his temperament and explained the reason to him.
Realizing that she had overlooked her disciple's information, Sui Qing finally raised her head from the pile of things. Her face was deathly pale, with dark circles under her eyes, bloodless lips, and a pair of emotionless eyes that could make anyone tremble with fear.
"..."
"It's you?" Sui Qing narrowed her eyes, sizing her up.
Bai Yuheng was also deep in thought, but she couldn't remember who he was. Before she died, Dongxuan didn't have this disciple.
"You know me?"
“I don’t know you.” He denied it without hesitation. “Tell me your name.”
"Bai Yuheng".
He took out something that looked like a mirror from his pocket, rubbed it with his large palm, and a faint black light flashed. He examined it carefully, and after a while, he handed it over.
“They were originally on the list, but someone crossed them out.”
"Do you know who it is?" Yan Li asked.
Sui Qing glanced at Bai Yuheng a few more times, then sat back down in the pile of iron and said in a low voice, "Pei Yuan."
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