Chapter 25 You're so beautiful!
Whether it was a misperception or not, Qingjue actually saw a glimmer of hope in that face, which was covered in sores and had solidified into stone, but that light quickly dimmed.
"……I have no idea."
A century of living alone has alienated her from the outside world and made her lose faith in herself.
For Muyuan, over the past century, she has been just a tree, but a tree with consciousness and her own thoughts.
Unlike cultivators who seclude themselves to comprehend cultivation techniques, and unlike Wen Tianyu who fell into a deep sleep, she was definitely awake.
Qingjue coughed twice and waved his hand to clear the dust from the surrounding air: "I can understand your confusion right now, but now that I'm here, I won't let things end here. Qing Jiujie is my senior, and I have an obligation to clean up his mess."
In Wu Qingxianjun's memory, Qing Jiujie was indeed very virtuous and upright, but Qingjue was unsure what their relationship was.
Immortal Lord Wu Qing is a person who does everything in a detached manner, without any emotion or specific details. His memories are basically just supplementary to the basic settings, so it is probably impossible to find any basis in his memories.
Logically speaking, the former head of the family... should be his master or something like that? Would Mu Yuan be considered his master's wife?
During the daytime, they have to call them... housewife?
However, having guessed wrong several times before, Qingjue dared not guess again.
The most urgent task is to rescue the people.
Qingjue opened his Qiankun bag and took out a pill that emitted a faint spiritual aura.
"This is... a Spirit Gathering Pill? I cannot accept such a pill casually."
Qingjue added, "You're wrong. This isn't an ordinary Spirit Gathering Pill. It's a Spirit Gathering Pill that takes 500 years to form. It's more than enough to stabilize your spiritual power. Although it's far from being a compensation, consider it a gift from your disciple."
"Master..."
"...You really like your apprentice."
"..."
What's going on? The more I protect her, the more adept she gets at it?
Actually, he was afraid of damaging the child's self-confidence, so he never mentioned that he initially took in Jie Zhoujian out of pity...
However, the 500-year-old Spirit Gathering Pill was indeed useless to him, and his disciples were all exceptionally talented and could not use this thing.
Let them give it; the Qing family doesn't lack this kind of nonsense anyway.
"Then I'll trouble Miss Muyuan to stay here a little longer. My apprentice and I will go out and set up an array to ensure the safe evacuation of any remaining creatures in this area."
"...Thank you, Immortal Lord..."
Qingjue had just lifted one foot when he pulled it back: "Right, the chaotic magnetic field of spiritual energy..."
Qingjue and Jiezhou had a much easier time going out this time. They weren't thrown out, but walked out openly from another entrance. Muyuan removed the restriction, allowing them more freedom of movement.
It turns out there was always another exit here, but it was hidden by hundreds and thousands of tree branches.
Qingjue led Jie Zhou on a patrol around the mountain, taking away any remaining demons and spirits. There were indeed no humans left, but they discovered a temple halfway up the mountain.
The temple was in ruins, with several holes in the roof. Inside was a statue, which looked like a fairy.
This was probably built by the local indigenous people to commemorate the Woody Maiden who supported the mountain.
I wonder if those four stone paintings were also carved by them?
To prevent missing any important information, Qingjue turned the entire temple upside down and indeed found a wooden box containing a note.
That was written by the last group of residents of Yuanmuyuan. The gist of it was that they were about to leave to find a new place to live. They didn't know where the fairy had gone. A long-haired Taoist priest said that the fairy was there to protect them.
So they left, thinking that this way the fairy wouldn't have to do things for them anymore.
Unfortunately, they didn't know where to send the note, so they left it in the temple, and no one ever opened it again.
Qing Jiujie probably couldn't reveal Mu Yuan's location. He had another secret in his heart. If even that place were found, everything Mu Yuan had done would be in vain. So he didn't even tell the residents here.
So this is the truth behind the migration of the residents of Yuanmuyuan. This truth is a century late, and even if we wanted to find the person who left this note, we probably wouldn't be able to find them now.
Qingjue drew an array around the mountain, took the note back with him, and read it to Muyuan.
Mu Yuan was helpless for a moment after hearing this. His original intention was to protect the creatures in Yuanmuyuan, but he did not expect that his disappearance would become the opportunity for them to leave.
“Actually, you don’t need to be so stubborn,” Qingjue said, putting away the note. “Now, the situation outside has stabilized. The Qing family and the Yun family are the dominant families, and all the other large and small cultivation families are abiding by the rules of peace. The Xie family has been completely wiped out, except for my disciple… In short, no one will start any more disputes. They can find a suitable place to live after leaving here.”
Yuanmuyuan was a haven during times of chaos, but now that chaos has subsided, Yuanmuyuan is indeed no longer necessary.
But none of these people knew that she had exhausted all her abilities to support the mountain, until finally, she gradually lost her sense of the trees.
"Alright, alright, I really don't like sentimentality. Let's get down to business," Qingjue said, having Jie Zhoujian inspect the place. "The extraction process might be extremely painful. I need to confirm with you again, are you sure you want to leave here?"
Mu Yuan paused quietly for a moment, then said, "Thank you for your trouble, Immortal Lord."
"Okay, daytime."
"It is Master."
The formation surrounding the mountain is used to stabilize the foundation of the mountain range, so that if the mountain is destroyed, it will not collapse instantly, giving a buffer period before the clearing technique can bring people out.
This mountain is definitely beyond saving, because all its spiritual veins are based on wood, and the best outcome is for it to become a flat plain.
Qingjue had only recently recovered, so it would be too much to ask him to do this alone. That's why he had been sending messages back to the Qing family, asking Qinghuan to bring some people over. They should be arriving soon.
"My apprentice went out to meet our family members. Let's rest here for a while."
Qingjue sits cross-legged, cultivating his spiritual energy.
The wooden frame cannot move much; it can only convey its feelings through the surrounding vines.
The vines were much gentler than when they were first encountered. Qingjue shook hands with them and smiled.
"I apologize for my rudeness earlier. I forced you in, thinking I had finally met the person I was waiting for, but it turns out it wasn't him."
No living person has entered this place for a long time, and Mu Yuan's consciousness has only recently become clear.
"It's alright, that little attack really can't harm me. Is it important for you to use spiritual power to send a message? Won't it accelerate your depletion?"
"It's nothing. I haven't talked to anyone in a long time. I'm finally awake and want to talk more."
"Yes, there's no need to worry about this little bit of spiritual energy consumption. You can take some spiritual energy pills after you come out."
Thank you again.
"No need to thank me, I'm just trying to give the people an explanation... However, the effect of the Spirit Gathering Pill is only to stabilize your spiritual veins, you still have to rely on yourself to cultivate again."
"Yes, I am content."
“They should be here soon, I can feel it,” Qingjue stood up and clapped his hands. “Are you ready?”
"Um."
Qingjue immediately drew his sword, Wuliqing, its pure white blade emitting a faint glow at the bottom of the cave. His gaze locked onto the branches behind a few wooden beams, and he could sense their presence through the wall.
Qingjue closed his eyes, held the sword horizontally in front of his chest, and raised his hand to slash once and twice.
Two sword gusts of wind clashed and struck, first shattering the thick stone wall, then with several more slashes, the thick branches growing behind the tree were instantly cut off. Her blood was blue, as was the branches behind her, and the blood that came out of her mouth was also blue.
Cracks of varying sizes appeared on the solidified stone around her—on her body, her hands, and her face.
It's hard to imagine what her body has become, but for demons, flesh can be restored through cultivation.
But the process was still excruciatingly painful. Qingjue could hear a few hoarse words coming out of her mouth, and before she could even break apart along with the wall, Qingjue dragged her out alive.
Blue blood splattered almost all over the cave entrance, visible even through the seven orifices of the wooden frame.
Qingjue reacted quickly, feeding her a Spirit Gathering Pill to stabilize her spiritual meridians and transferring some internal energy to her.
At that moment, the entire mountain roared, the cave began to tremble, and various rocks fell from above.
Qingjue hoisted the wooden frame, which was heavier than usual and contained stones and branches, onto his back, raised his hand to blast a path, and flew straight into the sky.
He stepped out of the cave and stood atop the mountain. He could see Qing family disciples stabilizing the magic array all around him, and he could also see the vegetation on the mountain withering at an extremely rapid pace visible to the naked eye.
This is what Yuanmuyuan would look like without the connection to the tree.
A lifeless wasteland.
This process was a race against time. Qingjue held the wooden frame behind his back with one hand and raised the other, activating the spiritual power around him.
With another deafening roar, the Qing family disciples quickly retreated, and the entire mountain was almost reduced to dust, turning the area into a flat plain in an instant.
To be precise, it is a sandy area in the middle of mountains, without water, grass, trees, or any living creature.
The only pity is that all the good timber on the mountain withered away in that instant.
It is obvious that the tree is the nourishment for the entire mountain; without it, the ecological balance cannot be maintained.
What kind of demonic fire could burn down that once sacred tree?
Qingjue's Taoist robe was stained with blood and mud. When he landed, Muyuan on his back slowly regained consciousness.
With the slightest movement, stones and branches would fall from her body, making her look like an ancient stone statue, covered in all sorts of things.
“Oh, right,” Qingjue said, turning around after putting her down, “I took this out of the cave. I thought I could keep it as a souvenir.”
It is a knot, one of countless knots taken from a rope.
"I couldn't bring the stone paintings on the cliff face out, so I brought this out as a keepsake."
Mu Yuan's skin was completely cracked. When she came outside again, she almost wanted to breathe, but each breath was like being cut by a knife, and she felt like she was inhaling mud and sand at any moment.
She reached out with difficulty to take it, wanting to thank him again.
"Immortal Lord!"
Upon hearing this, Qingjue looked at the girl who was no longer human and figured she probably didn't want to show herself like this, so he took out a pure white cloak from his Qiankun bag and covered her with it.
The Qing family disciples flew over from afar on their swords, stopped in front of him, and bowed.
Jie completed his mission during the day and returned to Qingjue's side.
"Master, is everything going smoothly?"
"There shouldn't be any problems, but she still needs to recuperate. She'll probably stay at the Qing family's house for a few days."
Qingjue moved aside, and Muyuan tied her cloak and struggled to stand up. She still couldn't speak, her whole body ached, and she didn't even have the strength to use her spiritual power.
Qinghuan: "This young lady is..."
“Her name is Mu Yuan, she is a tree spirit and was once the guardian spirit that protected this place,” Qing Jue said. “She is tired. Let’s take her back to Qing Feng and give her some medicine. I already know what happened with the earthquake, and it will not happen again.”
"Yes, Immortal Lord, you've worked hard."
Although there were only two of them when they arrived, they left in a large and imposing group. Moreover, with Mu Yuan no longer guarding the place, spiritual energy could be used normally.
Qingjue flew a distance away and looked back at that place. The once lush and verdant mountains and giant trees had turned into a sandy area between the mountains. Only a few dead trees remained. It was hard to imagine what a vibrant scene it had once been.
Although she only glimpsed a small part of Yuanmu Yuan's time in her memory, it was indeed very heartwarming and unforgettable.
I wonder if, somewhere, among the descendants of the residents who came from Yuanmuyuan, there will be a story about a Peach Blossom Spring that once existed.
Mu Yuan, wrapped in a cloak, was brought back to the Qing family. Qing Jue specifically instructed Qing Huan not to inform the elders for the time being, as this matter was somewhat difficult to explain. He needed to wait until Mu Yuan was completely stable before asking for her opinion.
So when they reported it, they only described a simple process, removing all the complicated past events. Currently, almost everyone thinks they just happened to save a guardian spirit.
To treat Mu Yuan, Qing Feng stayed in the room for a day and a night, bringing out many basins of bluish blood, along with some branches and stones.
This was indeed an unprecedented challenge for Qingfeng. It wasn't the first time she had treated a demon, but it was the first time she had treated a demon that was so badly injured, and it was a powerful demon that had been around for hundreds of years.
After traveling for so long and destroying a mountain, Qingjue was exhausted when he returned. After giving some instructions, he went to sleep.
When he woke up, he found several heads gathered around his bed.
The little ones didn't seem to realize he was awake and were still whispering to each other.
Ruan Linglai: "Senior Brother Jie, just tell us, what exactly did you and Master discover?"
"I cannot overstep my bounds and must wait for Master to wake up before making a decision."
Aju: "How is it? Senior Brother Wen, have you noticed anything unusual?"
Wen Tianyu said, "I can't use my Heavenly Eye to look around casually. My master has set rules for me."
Aju: "Oh well, okay, okay..."
Yan Shiqun: "It's been a whole day, and he still hasn't woken up? You guys are really in grave danger this time."
Ruan Linglai: "Ah... I hope nothing bad has happened to Master. Waaah!"
Yan Shiqun: "Why are you still such a crybaby? I was just saying that casually."
Wen Tianyu said, "Don't cry, don't cry. Master is very strong and will be alright."
Aju: "Hey, wait, wait, Master? Master seems to be awake!"
"You brat," Qingjue said, propping himself up with one hand as he sat up. "Why did you remind them? I wanted to watch a little longer while you guys were chatting."
Aju scratched his head: "Hehe, I was so excited to see Master wake up. Master, are you alright? Tell us quickly what happened when you and Senior Brother Jie went out. We are so curious that we couldn't sleep at night."
"Mmm-hmm!" Ruan Linglai stopped crying instantly: "Yes, yes, Senior Brother Qinghuan also said he didn't know exactly what happened. Senior Sister Qingfeng has been locked in her room for a long time and hasn't come out yet. Is it related to that seriously injured older sister? Why was she so badly injured?"
The children bombarded Qingjue with questions, one after another, giving him a bit of a headache.
“Don’t worry,” Jie Zhoujian said. “Master has just woken up and still needs to rest.”
Qingjue waved his hand and rubbed his sore temples: "It's alright. I know you're curious. Wait a while, I'll go check on Qingfeng first. Come with me during the day."
Ruan Linglai: "Ah! We still have to wait..."
"The best-behaved child, I'll be the first to speak later."
Instantly, everyone sat up straight, except for Yan Shiqun, who leaned against the wall with his hands on his hips, looking disdainful.
"...I'm not curious at all."
Qingjue laughed loudly, got up, and pushed open the door to leave.
He pushed open the door and was not yet used to the bright light outside. He had been in the cave for almost the entire time, and now that he had taken a nap, returning here felt like stepping into another world.
The little ones were indeed restless; even the one who said he wasn't curious secretly followed the two to the door of the room.
Qingjue knew they were following him, but he didn't stop them.
Qingfeng looked at the visitor, then quickly stood up and prepared to bow.
"No need, I just came to check on the situation."
Upon hearing this, Qingfeng sat down again and said, "Reporting to the Immortal Lord, the situation has basically stabilized. All that's left is a few days of recuperation. However, Miss Muyuan's physical body will indeed need some time to recover."
Qingjue then saw the person on the bed clearly. He did look much better than before. All the messy things on his body had been removed, but there were still many stones left on his skin. They had become fused with his skin, and forcibly removing them would only result in a bloody mess.
But half of her face was already exposed. Although it was impossible for her skin to be completely without any marks, and her appearance was no longer the same, as if some birthmarks had been imprinted on it, it was already a miracle that she could be restored to this extent.
"Qingfeng's medical skills have improved a lot."
"Thank you for the compliment, Immortal Lord. It's mainly because the herbs here are so effective."
"Thank you, Immortal Lord."
Mu Yuan can only move half of her face freely, so it is difficult for her to speak. However, it is also inconvenient for her to use spiritual power anymore. After all, she has just stabilized herself with the help of herbs. At this moment, her cultivation level is probably similar to that of a newly formed little demon.
Such cultivation level is still very dangerous; it could be killed with ease.
After understanding the general situation, Qingjue said, "Okay, I understand. Zhoujian and I need to discuss some things with this girl. Qingfeng, you can go out for a bit."
"yes."
Qingfeng closed the door to the room, and Qingjue sat down on the edge of the wooden bed.
How are you feeling?
Qingjue silently made a few gestures in the air with his right hand. Jie Zhoujian saw it but didn't know what kind of spell it was.
"I feel much better. Thank you, Immortal Lord."
Her voice was still a little hoarse, and even a little unclear. Her conversation with Qingfeng over the past day and night had helped her regain some of her conditioned reflexes to speak. Otherwise, she might not have been able to say such short phrases.
Qingjue had witnessed this situation with Wen Tianyu before, but it was different. Wen Tianyu was still a child in terms of both body and mind, and it was only a matter of time before he could correct it.
Mu Yuan was forcibly forgotten his ability to speak after growing up and becoming a demon. After a hundred years of loneliness, it's a miracle he didn't go insane.
"I want to discuss everything about Yuanmuyuan with you. What things do you think we can talk about, and what things do you think we need to keep secret? We will try our best to cooperate."
Inside, they were discussing important matters, one after another. After Qingfeng left, several little ones pushed and shoved each other as they came out from behind and pressed themselves against the windowsill.
Aju: "Let me hear it, let me hear it, let me hear what they're saying?"
Ruan Linglai: "Don't rush, don't rush, I'll be first, I'll be first!"
Yan Shiqun: "Get out of the way, all of you. Do you think your hearing is as good as mine?"
Wen Tianyu silently stepped back: "..."
This is an undeniable fact; after all, in terms of cultivation and strength, aside from Jie Zhoujian, it is Yan Shiqun.
However, this is only for now; in this regard, none of the children will admit defeat to the other.
It's just like arranging grades and competing for rankings in a class.
Yan Shiqun leaned closer to the windowsill, listened through the wall for a long time, then twitched his lips and shook his head.
"It has magic, it's soundproof."
Ruan Linglai was disappointed: "Ah—"
Aju: "Does Master know we're following him and is he deliberately keeping an eye on us?"
Wen Tianyu: "I guess so."
Yan Shiqun: "I told you it was because you guys made too much noise!"
"No way!" Ruan Linglai exclaimed. "I was already speaking very softly, very, very softly!"
Aju: "It's super super super loud!"
Qingjue heard the arguing at the door clearly and shook his head helplessly.
"Miss Muyuan, please don't be offended. My little apprentices are still children and quite lively."
Mu Yuan glanced at Jie Zhoujian, who was sitting quietly beside him, seemingly unintentionally.
Qingjue: "...There are always exceptions, aren't there?"
After discussing it, they concluded that although Yuanmuyuan no longer exists, Muyuan is another treasure in the world, with the ability to nourish plants and trees and to restrict spiritual energy within a certain range. In order not to repeat the mistakes of the Wen family, there are some things that should not be told to others.
Let's go with the simplified version of the Qingjue.
"Waaaaah! Master!!"
Ruan Linglai pushed open the door and rushed in, throwing herself onto Qingjue's lap.
"Little Aju and Junior Brother Yan are bullying me again!"
As Ruan Linglai cried, she looked up and saw Mu Yuan's face.
Seeing that he was stunned, Mu Yuan thought that his appearance had frightened him, so she thought of taking a piece of cloth to cover herself.
“Sister…” Ruan Linglai sniffed and said in a childish voice, “You are so beautiful.”
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