Moonset Cool Night (6)
The man immediately fell silent, pretending that it had nothing to do with him, and hid his face behind the fan.
There's no way to avoid it.
Xue Fuqing sneered, made a trumpet shape with his hand, and shouted at the man, "Some people always like to gossip. Be careful with your mouth, or it will be covered with poisonous sores one day!"
The man was not in the right to begin with, but he just liked to talk nonsense. He hid his face even deeper when he heard that. He was so timid that she wanted to vomit immediately.
"You only know how to gossip while covering your face. You must look like a pig and you are too shameful to be seen in public!" She snorted coldly.
A burst of laughter erupted in the classroom. The man, knowing he was in the wrong, lost face and vanished into the crowd in shame. Xue Fuqing scoffed, his gloomy eyes sweeping across the remaining people, making them tremble in fear. No one in the crowd dared to gossip anymore.
Li Zhaoyue couldn't help but laugh at her majestic appearance, revealing the dimples on her cheeks: "You really stood up for me, saving me from having to find him myself."
Xue Fuqing snorted, "That bastard always likes to spread rumors and stir up trouble. He's also responsible for my well-known title of perpetual runner-up."
This was funny. Li Zhaoyue burst into laughter. Lou Ze, carrying Wang Kun on his back, looked at the two of them with a bitter look on his face and said weakly, "Wang Kun...Wang Kun is almost dead!"
The two, who had been chatting happily, quickly put away their laughter and walked towards a secluded place with Lou Ze. The only secluded place in Fengshui Courtyard was the pavilion. Li Zhaoyue and Xu Xing had been there before. There was a lotus pond next to the pavilion, and taking a boat into it was just right to hide from others.
Stepping onto the same boat she'd been on before, looking at the same beautiful scenery she'd admired before, Li Zhaoyue's mood was completely different. She stared blankly into space for a moment, then pulled her worn compass from her sleeve.
Regardless, Wang Kun's strange changes still needed to be treated by observing his past through the Tree of Destiny. However, as soon as she took out the compass, Wang Kun's chest suddenly lit up.
"What is this?!" Lou Ze shouted and pulled open the clothes on Wang Kun's chest.
A worn wooden compass fell out, identical to Li Zhaoyue's. She reached out to touch it, and it suddenly transformed into a stream of light and merged into her body.
"This is a strange thing." Xue Fuqing murmured as he looked at the scene in front of him.
Wang Kun's face took on a deep dark blue hue, and his breathing became unusually weak. "No time to delay," Li Zhaoyue thought to herself, closing her eyes and activating the compass.
She entered the same space as usual with almost no effort, but this time, the Tree of Destiny was different. The sea of stars surrounding it was much weaker, and the entire tree took on a dull gray hue. Li Zhaoyue walked forward and found a pitch-black object obscuring the starlight from the tree.
It was the black bug I saw last time, whose origin was unknown.
Only then did she realize with astonishment that the trunk, branches, and even leaves of the Destiny Tree were covered in these strange creatures. The insects devoured the tree's flesh relentlessly, and from time to time, the sound of wind echoing in the air, like the lament of fate.
Wang Kun's current state might be related to this insect. Li Zhaoyue wiped her hand away, and the First Sun Sword appeared out of thin air, its yang energy immediately emitting a strong light. She made a few sword movements, hoping to kill the insect with the sword energy. To her surprise, it had no effect.
The overpowering sword energy of the First Sun Sword even split open space, and she accidentally fell into it. Her eyes fell into deep darkness, and a familiar aura surged in from all directions.
Li Zhaoyue slowly stood up and found that her limbs were weak and the spiritual energy in her spiritual veins had completely disappeared. A person stood with his back to her.
It is a ghost that has been haunting her since she was born.
The Sun Sword vanished, and the spiritual veins that had been so abundant a moment ago ached with dryness. Li Zhaoyue stared in panic at the spiritual being radiating black energy, and subconsciously took a few steps back.
Her back had already hit the transparent wall of air, and she had nowhere to retreat.
But the spirit just stood there motionless, looking at her quietly, not as ferocious as before.
"I've finally waited for you." A hoarse and unpleasant voice came out of its throat, slow and heavy, with a strong smell of decay.
"I have fulfilled my promise to you, finally." Its dark eyes turned and looked directly into her eyes.
"Exchange...completed," its body suddenly began to disintegrate, "Transaction...terminated."
Bang—its body suddenly turned to ash and dissipated into the pitch-black space. A glittering golden object swooped down towards Li Zhaoyue. The glare blinded her, and she reached forward, grabbing the object.
It was a tapered needle. She opened her palm, staring at the glittering object, tilting her head in confusion. The golden light grew stronger, and in an instant, the darkness faded, and she was back in front of the Tree of Destiny.
A vast sea of stars flowed beneath his feet. Li Zhaoyue used his free hand to pick up the needle and gestured a few times at the tree trunk. Unexpectedly, the needle suddenly broke free and rushed towards the Destiny Tree. Li Zhaoyue immediately summoned the Sword of the First Sun, but was too slow to stop it.
The golden light overwhelmed the black mist, forcing large numbers of insects down from the trees. Li Zhaoyue stared at this sudden change with wide eyes, amazed.
The object the spirit had given her… She pondered it, and suddenly recognized it as the artifact in Su Zi's hand—the awl. Su Zi's spirit had fallen, and was even implicated in the exchange agreement made by the man in black. The awl had been used as a bargaining chip and had disappeared.
How could it have ended up in the hands of this spirit? She couldn't understand. Spirits were immortal, yet just now, it had been reduced to ashes right before her eyes.
There's no evidence of death, so there's probably no definitive answer regarding the cone and its identity. But perhaps it's connected to the man in black. I'll investigate this clue once I get out. Li Zhaoyue thought. Right now, the most important thing is saving people.
While she was lost in thought, the divine cone had already cleared away most of the black fog. The insects landed among the sea of stars, slowly growing larger and larger. Li Zhaoyue then watched them grow, transforming into human-like bodies. Finally, a wisp of black smoke descended from the Tree of Destiny and merged with the bodies, instantly bringing consciousness to the creatures.
A huge group of spiritual beings gave Li Zhaoyue the same smile.
"Do you know what a spirit man is?" The girl appeared again, walking out from behind the tree with a smile.
The fog surrounding her had also dissipated somewhat. However, I still couldn't see her specific features, only her beautiful, clear eyes like dewdrops.
"They're just dirty bugs, actually." She clapped her hands and laughed, feigning innocence. "Everyone has them, and no one wants others to see them."
Her words were strange, and Li Zhaoyue, anxious to save people, ignored her and walked straight toward the tree. Strangely, the group of spirits did not attack her, but simply dispersed into the sea of stars and disappeared.
The girl skipped around the tree, her voice sweet and clear: "Some people don't want this bug to exist, and want to kill it without anyone noticing, but they didn't expect it to cause such a disaster."
"What a disaster! What a disaster!"
She laughed happily, talked happily, and even hummed a song at the end. The tune kept taking turns and sounded very strange.
Li Zhaoyue forced herself to focus, searching for Wang Kun's destiny branch. She soon found it. The branch was darker than the last time she'd seen it, and black insects were swarming on it, sucking nutrients. She took out a spike and gently pried at them, sending the insects clattering down.
Wang Kun's branch was so fragile that it almost broke at the slightest touch. Li Zhaoyue could see the karma entwined with it and sighed softly.
When she climbed down from the tree, the girl was still singing and even dancing happily. Li Zhaoyue performed a spell, and when she opened her eyes again, her eyes met Wang Kun's.
He looked completely well and was talking to Xue Fuqing.
"How about I help you calculate? It seems that most people in Yiziyuan have won first place, and you are the only one left. Maybe I will be above you in the next exam."
"Just you?" Xue Fuqing rolled his eyes and looked at him with disdain.
"Are you awake?" Wang Kun asked hurriedly when he saw Li Zhaoyue open his eyes. Li Zhaoyue thought back to his branch that was entangled with various karmas and said hurriedly, "Brother, I just saw..."
"Hey, let's not talk about this for now. Are you getting married in a few days?"
He looked at her with full energy. Li Zhaoyue wanted to talk about something else, but Wang Kun's gaze was too strong to ignore, so she was naturally led astray.
"Have you chosen your wedding dress? What do we need to do then?"
"Uh... these are all arranged by Afeng. You guys? You don't have to do anything. Just relax."
"Have you decided on the dishes for the banquet? I'd like to have a big meal."
"This... was all arranged by Afeng."
Lou Ze crossed his arms and bumped Li Zhaoyue's shoulder, teasing: "You're getting married soon, why are you still calling me Ah Feng? You should call me..."
Li Zhaoyue widened her eyes and looked at him in astonishment.
"You should call me husband." Even Xue Fuqing, who was not good at speaking, teased her deliberately. Li Zhaoyue was angry at first, but then smiled knowingly.
"To be honest, Yiziyuan is not a good place. It can be said that the world of cultivation is not a good place. Junior sister, you really suffered in the past few years." Wang Kun said.
"Yeah, come to think of it, those beasts are quite persistent. They bullied you when we were not around." Lou Ze said angrily.
"It feels unreal to see the hero and heroine in the storybook I wrote finally get married." Xue Fuqing said with a smile.
She rarely smiled, so this one startled all three of them. Wang Kun pointed at Xue Fuqing as if he had seen a ghost, muttering, "What the hell!" Xue Fuqing immediately lost his temper, a flying kick that nearly sent him flying. Lou Ze stood aside, watching the fun, occasionally adding fuel to the fire.
The relationship between the three of them had grown closer over the years, and now they truly seemed like longtime friends, bantering and joking around, looking quite cheerful. Li Zhaoyue stood to the side, looking somewhat dejected.
"I feel like you seem unhappy." Yue Jinhuan's voice came in his mind.
Li Zhaoyue looked at the three people playing around from afar and smiled bitterly, "I seem to be getting more and more lonely."
"Ever since I regained my memory, I've been getting lonelier and lonelier."
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