Six thousand funeral flowers
"Haofang, how is the girl you rescued doing these days?"
While gathering herbs, an elderly woman asked the girl beside her a question.
Hao Fang tossed the herbs into her basket and sighed to the old woman, "The injury won't get worse, but those two legs, they probably won't be able to walk normally again."
"Hasn't her family come looking for her yet? A young woman, so badly injured, and no one's come looking for her... Won't this cause some trouble?"
Hao Fang shook her head: "She wouldn't tell us anything, but she seems to know a bit about pharmacology. She can name several medicinal herbs, and..."
"And what?"
Hao Fang smiled and said to the old woman, "It's nothing. I have to go home and process the medicinal herbs, so I'll be leaving now."
Moreover, she knew how to use needles and was familiar with all the dead acupoints.
Rather than understanding pharmacology, she thought the other person understood something else better.
Hao Fang had prepared the medicinal meal and was about to push open the door to deliver it to Mi Yun's room when she inadvertently heard something fly in from above. Through the crack in the door, she saw a strange scene—
Hundreds of insects, some flying in the sky, some crawling on the ground, and some in their pupal stage, were all heading towards the bed.
"My goodness."
Without a second thought, Hao Fang rushed back to the kitchen, put down the medicinal food, grabbed a burning firewood, and ran back to Mi Jun's room to save her.
Just as she rushed in, Mi Yun was sitting upright on the bed, flipping through a book. Hearing her movement, he looked up as if nothing had happened and asked with a hint of doubt, "What's wrong?"
"Just now? I think I saw a lot of bugs enter this room, but how come suddenly..." Hao Fang also doubted that she was seeing things, and smiled at Mi Yun: "Maybe you didn't sleep well and your eyes are playing tricks on you. Miss Lin, please wait a moment, I'll go get you something to eat."
Mi Yun watched her rush back and forth, putting down the medicinal meal and then going back to prepare more medicine, and silently lowered her eyes.
"The dignified Holy Maiden of the Moon Worship, a peerless genius who cultivated the Water Ripple Moon Shadow to the ninth level, has now lost her cultivation and her legs are crippled. It seems that the so-called Holy Maiden is nothing more than this."
Mi Yun glanced indifferently at a corner of the house, neither making a move nor responding. She simply flipped her wrist, and her entire arm was now covered with the insects that Hao Fang had just seen.
"Fortunately, you learned the art of witchcraft from a young age. Although the number of Gu worms suffered heavy casualties, at least your life was saved. It's just a pity that so many Gu mothers spend years cultivating to obtain just one. In your current state, how long will it take to repair yourself?"
A white figure slowly emerged from the shadows. Mi Yun had already recognized her voice, so she was not surprised when she saw her face.
“It’s you.”
Mi Yun glanced at her briefly before looking down at the Gu worm in her hand.
Liu Lihua smiled and said, "You still remember me, but I wonder if you remember me as I met you not long ago, or... as I was when I was a child."
Mi Yun didn't even look up, just observed the Gu worms: "You really are related to Bai Yue. When I was young, I was chosen as a saintess and often went into seclusion to cultivate. There aren't many people who can say they saw me when I was a child, let alone people of similar age to me."
She flipped her wrist and watched a scorpion slowly crawl from her forearm to her fingertips, then its tail pierced her skin.
"You are the candidate for saintess."
She looked up at Liu Lihua.
This is the default rule for the selection of successive Holy Maidens. At the same time as the Holy Maiden is selected, there is also a Shadow Holy Maiden as a backup. She will take over the Holy Maiden if something happens to the Holy Maiden.
In reality, the so-called candidate saintess is not chosen from among the eliminated saintess candidates, but rather someone who has no name from birth, is unknown to anyone, lives her entire life for the saintess, and yet awaits the saintess's death.
"After I die, you will be the next Holy Maiden."
Mi Yun calmly said, "If you want to take action, now is the best time."
Liu Lihua laughed: "Who said that being a candidate for sainthood necessarily means wanting to become sainthood?"
She paced back and forth in front of Mi Yun, and slowly began to speak:
"Since the former leader Yan Qingmu disappeared, he left nothing behind except a broken piece of jade pendant he wore in his lifetime and some lost clues. So Baiyue spent more than 20 years searching for the broken jade. They were not actually looking for the jade, but for the missing leader. When Yan Qingmu was alive, Baiyue had the most powerful force. It was a demonic sect that everyone hated, whether in the Central Plains or the border regions. It went from being a remote sect to the number one sect in the Central Plains, all because of Yan Qingmu."
Yan Qingmu was the teacher of the last emperor of the previous dynasty. That tyrannical emperor acted cruelly and launched a large-scale war while the leader of the cult was still alive, annexing many surrounding areas in a short period of time. After the leader of the cult disappeared, he searched for him throughout the country. In the last few years, he went mad. Coupled with his overly hasty actions in the border wars, he was beset by internal and external troubles, which led to the Gu family uprising and the eventual overthrow of the dynasty.
"Since Yan Qingmu's death, Baiyue has had no true leader and has gradually declined. She brought too many miracles, so Baiyue followers firmly believe that one person's strength can save the entire Baiyue. Therefore, they desperately search for the broken jade, not for the broken jade itself, but for Yan Qingmu. As long as Yan Qingmu is found, Baiyue can become strong again."
Liu Lihua gently tapped her palm with her fan: "But I don't think so. They are too obsessed with the former leader. Many people have already realized that the broken jade itself has a special function. They can use the power of the broken jade to return to the martial world in a dignified manner. Why should they expect the ethereal leader whose life and death are already unknown?"
Mi Yun raised her head: "What you want to be is not a saintess, but a cult leader."
Liu Lihua tapped her palm, holding her fan as she turned to her: "If this seat is empty, isn't it meant to be occupied anyway? The sect leader disappeared, but left behind such a treasure. Isn't this a reminder that we should find our own way to make Baiyue stronger, instead of just relying on her? Otherwise, how could she have disappeared when both Baiyue and I were at our peak? Who could harm her? The martial world, imperial power, or the storms?"
"No matter what the possibility is, I don't want to speculate any further, because what lies before Baiyue is a clear and practical path, not just endless reminiscence."
Mi Yun remained silent for a moment, then turned back to continue fiddling with the little worm that was feeding on its own blood:
“Those things are no longer relevant to me. I’m already a cripple. It’s good that the communication Gu has been severed, so I can live for a few more days. If Baiyue finds out, they won’t spare my life. What else do you want to know? Ask away.”
In fact, if any of the other disciples are injured, they will naturally be brought back to Baiyue. They are Baiyue's people in life and Baiyue's ghosts in death. Baiyue will do its best to heal them, and even if they cannot be healed, the secret must not be revealed.
But Mi Yun is different. She is the Holy Maiden of Baiyue. In addition to herself, she also represents Baiyue. The Holy Maiden's serious injury is an ominous sign for Baiyue. They need a new Holy Maiden and also need to ensure that the previous Holy Maiden will not appear in the eyes of the believers in a damaged form again.
“I do have some questions for you, but I also hope that you can continue to be this saint.”
Liu Lihua unfolded her folding fan and smiled, "To be honest, when I first started planning this project, the uncertainty I was most worried about came from you. You are very strong, so strong that you don't seem like a saintess. I was worried that you would threaten my position as the leader of the sect. Fortunately, I later saw that you didn't have this idea and didn't care much about other people's thoughts, so I was relieved. But then I started to worry again, would you hinder me?"
"Between trying to win you over and trying to kill you, I chose the former. You still have feelings for Baiyue, but you're not that stubborn. You're willing to sit down and talk to me to protect Gu Jiuyu. I know that you are also a potential partner. So, as long as you agree to cooperate with me, I'm willing to show my sincerity."
Liu Lihua stretched out a hand, and a jade pendant fell from her palm. The circular jade pendant had a small piece of broken jade hanging from its hollow center.
"Back then, when Gu Anmin was on the verge of death during a military campaign, he inadvertently discovered the power of this broken jade. It can bring the dead back to life, so your leg is naturally no exception."
Mi Yun paused, looking at the jade pendant that was still swaying with the fall.
"This jade is the hardest to obtain. Just finding clues to it took me the longest time, even longer than the time you've been in the Central Plains. But its importance is undeniable, and it's the most important for Baiyue."
Yan Qingmu brought Bai Yue many powerful techniques. Bai Yue herself was proficient in poison making and witchcraft, coupled with the top-level lightness skill Water Ripple Moon Shadow. From the perspective of killing moves, other broken jade pieces could not play a decisive role. Even if Yu Yangxian injured her there, even if it had a control effect, the Gu technique could still achieve the same result.
The significance of a piece of jade that can cure all diseases to them is self-evident.
"No wonder you wanted to use the broken jade. Even the sect leader would be powerless to reverse the situation, but the broken jade can bring life."
Mi Yun suddenly realized something and judged, "You don't want to collect all the jade fragments at all, and you don't even want to find the sect leader."
Collecting all the jade fragments might allow one to find the sect leader, but if the fragments are combined into one, will they still possess these abilities?
Compared to the vague possibility, Liu Lihua cares more about what she has now. She wants to become the leader in her own way, so why would she go to collect the broken jade to find the leader again?
Liu Lihua said, "The important thing is not who the leader is, but what Baiyue can gain."
Mi Yun looked at the dragon pattern on the jade pendant, then at her face: "How did you get it? You and Tu Xiao alone wouldn't have been enough, would you?"
"The martial arts world has its own rules, and the imperial court naturally has its own way of doing things."
Liu Lihua laughed: "To bring Baiyue back to the Central Plains, the power of the emperor is naturally required, just like what the former leader did."
Only through collaboration can everything get back on track. Just like Liu Hua, who lost her husband and is now terminally ill, she is willing to lend her her identity so that she has the opportunity to contact those powerful figures, including Zhao Juyan and Gu Yulin behind Zhao Juyan.
Some faces flashed through Mi Yun's mind: Gu Jiuyu, Gu Yulin. She understood why Liu Lihua had asked her to protect Gu Jiuyu earlier. It turned out that she had already made a deal with someone, and asking her to investigate his identity was a pretense; protecting Gu Jiuyu was her real intention.
"The person who crippled your legs and took away your martial arts skills is still alive in this world. Do you want to kill her?"
Mi Yun looked at her, and the Gu worm flew up, slowly flying to the side of the broken jade.
“Kill her, of course we must kill her. She still has a piece of broken jade on her, which belongs to Bai Yue.”
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