Chapter 14 This is the Demon Lord!
Ruan Linglai held the phoenix sugar painting, which was bigger than her face, and didn't have a hand to pull Qinghuan.
Qinghuan exposed the sugar painting shop owner's trick, leaving the rest to the excited crowd to handle themselves. He reached out his free hand and patted Jie Zhoujian and Ruan Linglai's heads one by one, saying, "Your junior brother Wen is asleep. Let's go back. If we're late, the Immortal Lord will blame Huan."
Although I was a little disappointed that I didn't find my master, I did receive a huge phoenix sugar painting.
Ruan Linglai stared at the sugar painting and nodded.
Qinghuan instructed again, "Linglai, stay close to me."
As the saying goes, what you fear most is what will happen to you.
Qinghuan carried the sleeping Wen Tianyu in one arm and held Jie Zhoujian's hand with the other as they walked out of the crowded market. Turning around, she saw...
Ruan Linglai has disappeared.
Qinghuan: "..."
Meanwhile, Qingjue had been observing from the roof of the library for a while.
People come in here every few days, and after being told to go home and wait, they leave. There's no crowding or queuing.
But this price is far from affordable.
Even now, with a whole great sect of immortal cultivators and the Ruan family as its sugar daddy, Qingjue still feels it's a bit too expensive.
Even so, the waiting list is still three months long—the bookstore owner is making a killing.
Although it is well written, surely a storybook shouldn't be this bad? There must be some hidden story behind it.
Qingjue went down and stopped those people to inquire. He learned that what made the story popular at first was not its content, but a particular interpretation.
It is said that a month ago, a strong wind rose around the library, sand and stones flew everywhere, and the sky darkened instantly.
A bolt of lightning struck the book pavilion with pinpoint accuracy, blasting a large hole in the roof.
But when the lightning struck the first draft of the story, the paper remained completely intact!
Next, the bookstore owner seized the opportunity and began marketing, embellishing the writing and process with exaggerated details, and adding the rumor that the author was based on the real-life Wu Qingxianjun, which naturally made the book an overnight sensation.
Qingjue finally understood; it turned out that urban legends also played a part in this.
If these are all embellished versions of the truth... then that thunderbolt couldn't have struck without reason. We'll have to wait and see what happens next.
Qingjue climbed over the roof again and then climbed in through the window below the roof.
The second floor of the library was quite large. He went into a room where miscellaneous items were stored, and it was very dusty.
However, there were many books here, and after searching for a short while, Qingjue found the first draft of "Yunshuiyao". It was indeed intact, without even a trace of scorching.
This thing is a good item; it would definitely be worth a lot of money if sold, but Qingjue doesn't do that.
A single draft of the plot is undoubtedly an unrevised subconscious work, and generally speaking, such a plot will inevitably uncover some unknown secrets.
In addition, the book itself has been the subject of rumors, giving it a somewhat eerie feel.
Perhaps hidden inside is... a clue to my own fate—
Qingjue turned to the first page, his heart tightened, and another feeling crept into his heart.
...Did he use up the amulet that he gave to Ruan Linglai?
Without having time to think about anything else, he put down the book and jumped out of the window.
What happened... Qinghuan is quite reliable, and there shouldn't be any threats around here, so why was the talisman he gave used up?
Following the scent, Qingjue found his way to the woods surrounding the city.
There were too many weeds and bushes here, so even if he could sense Ruan Linglai, he couldn't pinpoint her location immediately.
However, it is certain that Xie and the others are not in this vicinity during the day.
Qingjue simply flew into the sky, mobilizing his spiritual power to overlook the entire forest.
Half an hour ago, Ruan Linglai was walking in the crowd, only thinking about protecting the phoenix sugar painting in her hand. She was hiding from the crowd, and before she knew it, she got separated from Qinghuan.
Moreover, children don't have very strong concentration. By the time she came to her senses, she had already walked a road far away from the town.
"well?"
The little girl held the sugar painting, then belatedly realized she was a little scared.
She called out "Brother Qinghuan Jie" twice, but no one answered.
Ruan Linglai was terrified and turned back the way she came without thinking. But when she turned her head, she saw a boy who was about the same age as her, covered in black aura, with a blood-red lotus mark on his forehead, and his hair was disheveled. His aura was eerily terrifying.
Ruan Linglai froze instantly.
I learned in the elder's class that spiritual energy that is extremely dark and chaotic indicates a demonic cultivation.
The last time demonic cultivators wreaked havoc on the world, killing and plundering, was more than fifty years ago.
Later, the major sects and families of the cultivation world cooperated to seal all the demonic cultivators into Qianlun Mountain. Logically, there shouldn't have been any who escaped.
Ruan Linglai remained motionless, and the man didn't take her seriously. He pointed at her forehead, and Ruan Linglai felt a strong pressure, but it was instantly blocked by something on her body.
But the man hadn't considered this. Seeing Ruan Linglai standing there blankly, he didn't think much of it and walked straight past her into the woods.
Ruan Linglai didn't know what he was going to do, but judging from the previous stories, encountering a demonic cultivator was never a good thing.
What to do, what to do... She had to tell her master... but it was too late...
Ruan Linglai held the perfectly preserved phoenix sugar painting in her hand and hesitated for a moment.
Her sense of justice overcame her fear, and she decided to follow him to see what the little demonic cultivator was up to.
She wants to be a brave person!
But once she entered, she no longer saw the demonic cultivator; instead, she heard several wolf howls.
It wasn't far from the town, but she hadn't expected to find wolves. Ruan Linglai silently recited the mental cultivation method her master had taught her, calming her mind to carefully sense it.
She steadily condensed a stream of energy at her fingertips, protecting her as she passed through the thicket of thorns ahead.
Ruan Linglai blinked as she looked at the scene before her. It was a boy in tattered clothes, not the same person as the little demonic cultivator from before.
He was clutching a black sword in his arms, his legs were wounded, and he had been cornered by a pack of jackals with no way out.
Ruan Linglai instinctively cried out, "Run!"
However, the moment she warned him, the pack of jackals attacked the boy without warning. Ruan Linglai was just a child; she had only wanted to see what the little demonic cultivator was up to, never expecting that there were other people and jackals in the forest.
In her first real battle, Ruan Linglai, despite her fear, raised her hand and chanted an incantation, opening several of them.
However, the number of jackals was increasing, and she was no longer able to cope.
A large pack of jackals charged towards them again, scaring Ruan Linglai so much that she dropped her sugar painting on the ground and closed her eyes, too afraid to look.
But the next second, Ruan Linglai heard no painful cries, nor did she feel any pain. She slowly opened one eye.
Through the bushes, a celestial being in blue and white robes stood before her and the boy. His hair and clothes flowed in beautiful arcs. He extended only one finger, his aura gathering in front of him. The next second, he repelled the entire pack of wolves, who all tucked their tails between their legs and slunk away.
Ruan Linglai couldn't care less about the sugar painting anymore. With an overwhelming sense of security, courage and strength were meaningless. Tears streamed down her face as she ran towards that person: "Master!!"
Qingjue had already dropped his pretense. He squatted down and steadily caught her, patting her head reassuringly as he asked, "What are you doing in a place like this all by yourself? Didn't you stay with Senior Brother Qinghuan properly? Hmm?"
Ruan Linglai, with snot and tears streaming down her face, rubbed Qingjue's clothes until they were filthy. The little girl was terrified and recounted what had just happened in broken sentences.
So they got separated... and even saw a demonic cultivator? Then they shouldn't have come to this forest by themselves. They must be properly disciplined when they get back.
But the child was frightened, so I won't say anything more about her.
After calming Ruan Linglai down, Qingjue turned to look at the other boy beside her.
The child wasn't very big, his clothes were dirty and messy, his eyes had a slightly aggressive look, and he looked a bit like a little hedgehog with its fur standing on end.
He was holding a black sword in his arms, unable to leave immediately due to his leg injury.
That little demonic cultivator couldn't have gone far, so Qingjue decided to heal the child's injuries first.
"...Are you an immortal?" After the child's wound was bandaged, he felt a cool sensation on his leg, and the pain subsided. He asked, "Why did you save me?"
"When you see injustice, you should help others," Qingjue said, tying a rather ugly bow on his leg. "And you, why are you alone in the woods at such a young age?"
“…Someone wants to kill me,” the child said, his eyes no longer wary, but instead showing a hint of inexplicable intelligence. “You are an immortal, you will definitely help me. There is a person covered in black energy who wants to kill me!”
“I also need to know why he wanted to kill you,” Qingjue smiled, seeing through the child’s trick at a glance, knowing that he must be hiding something, and said, “Are you sure you didn’t offend that person covered in black aura?”
"……I don't."
"Then why would he want to kill you for no reason?" Qingjue said again, "The sword in your arms is of the highest quality. Is it yours? Can you even lift a sword of this quality?"
"..." The boy was forced into a corner. In order to survive, he said, "Alright, I found this. If you are an immortal, it might be of some use to you. How about you offer me a good price and I'll sell it to you?"
Wow.
Qingjue touched his chin.
This kid is a business genius at such a young age.
"Why would a little kid like you need so much money? What's your name? Where are your parents? Where do you live? We'll send you back home."
“They all call me Aju. I have no parents and have always lived alone in a dilapidated house with other homeless people.”
...
Orphans, homeless...
Without saying a word, Qingjue grasped Aju's wrist and probed it with his spiritual energy.
He has the potential to become a cultivator.
They actually picked up another major role?
Before Qingjue could say anything more, a bunch of trees behind them suddenly fell down, startling Ruan Linglai so much that she quickly grabbed Qingjue's sleeve.
Qingjue turned back.
It turned out to be that little demonic cultivator covered in black energy with a lotus flower imprinted on his forehead.
"It's him!" Ah Ju, now having found a backer, quickly said, "He's the one who wanted to kill me!"
Qingjue protected Ruan Linglai with one hand while standing up and looking directly at the child.
"Who dares to block my way? Get out of my way at once—you brat!" The voice was childish, but it was full of imposing manner. Moreover, he didn't open his mouth but spoke through his inner energy. "Give me back my sword, and I will spare your life."
...This seat?
Which demonic cultivator would refer to himself like that?
You're not a demonic cultivator, you're a demon lord!
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