Chapter 27 Nameless Demonic Flame
A year later, the Xie family's residence has become an abandoned mansion. Apart from the fact that no one is inside, the houses have not been demolished.
Occasionally, some homeless people come in to take shelter from the rain, but most of the time it serves as a place for people to visit.
Of course, almost everyone who comes here wants to spit out their saliva.
Qingjue recalled the moment he first stepped through the gate; the Xie family hadn't taken him seriously yet.
Although their patriarch is dead, the lineage passed down through generations is not something that can be broken by just anyone. Over the years, they have been conserving their strength and preparing for revenge.
As it turned out, there was only one person, who strolled in through the gate, carrying a sword, completely ignoring everything around him.
That arrogant posture was almost comical.
A group of people wanted to teach him a lesson, but then a sword aura pierced through the wind and went straight through the throats of the three men.
Everyone was stunned, staring at the blood-splattered scene before them, realizing that something was wrong.
With each step and each swing of his sword, Qingjue was unmatched. No one could withstand his underhanded tactics. Even the lice in the ground were dug up and burned by him.
He was, after all, a well-educated modern man with no particular fetishes, so he killed almost everyone with a single blow, without intending to torture them.
It's also quite easy to clean up now. It's very clean now, and you can hardly smell any blood.
The children following behind him treated it as an ordinary outing. Ruan Linglai pulled Aju along as they chased butterflies, Wen Tianyu was very interested in the carvings on the stone pillars, and Yan Shiqun stood on the roof and looked around, thinking that this town was quite prosperous.
Little did they know that the place was originally corrupt and desolate, and it was only after Qingjue led his people to carry out the campaign that it became what it is today.
Jie held his hand the whole day, and Qingjue could feel the sweat seeping from the child's palms.
...Just now at the Qing family's house, Xie Zhoujian locked himself in the closet in his room.
He called out several times but couldn't get a response. Thinking something had happened, he quickly sent people to search for him.
It turned out that the child was hiding in the closet, secretly crying.
...He's just a little kid.
Qingjue told everyone to leave the room, leaving him alone. He took Jie Zhoujian out of the closet, patted his back, and comforted him while asking, "If you don't want to go back, you don't have to force yourself. You'll be fine."
"Master, I'm scared..."
Qingjue was truly comforting a sad child: "I'm here. I am Immortal Lord Wuqing. I know that you are the most well-behaved during the day. I won't let others bully you just because your family is full of bad guys. You are my disciple, Immortal Lord Wuqing. Since I have acknowledged you, it means I accept you and will protect you."
"No, no..." Jie Zhoujian hugged his neck and rubbed his wet shoulder: "I'm just afraid that in the future... will I become a very, very bad person like them?"
Qingjue was instantly speechless.
He had considered that Jie Zhoujian might resent his background, and he had also considered how deeply this incident had affected him. He had also considered that he would not be able to face the people on the other side of the lake, since they already had some reservations about his origins.
But he didn't realize that he was just afraid of becoming a bad person.
I am ashamed, I am ashamed.
“No,” Qingjue said. “I assure you in my own name that as long as I am here, you will not be a bad person, and you will definitely become the very, very good person you envision yourself to be.”
"Won't my junior brothers and sisters hate me?"
"Of course not. To them, you'll always be their senior, and you're good friends too, aren't you?"
"...Where are Senior Brother Qinghuan and Senior Sister Qingfeng?"
"No way, don't your senior brothers and sisters like you the most? I know they secretly bring you osmanthus cakes to eat."
Where are the elders?
"They only look fierce; they never actually intend to drive you away."
"...Will the people of Quanzhou and Zhangzhou really change their minds because of my good deeds?"
There is a saying: "My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all my actions are just." As long as you don't want to become bad, they will definitely be able to see it.
"Then... what about Master?"
"Hmm~ To make a less positive statement, I wasn't involved in those grudges. For me, my lovely little apprentice is more important—not to mention you weren't even born back then. If you, a child, are forced to bear such sins, it only proves that they are even more hateful."
Qingjue thought about what happened before he left, and then looked at Jie Zhoujian, who was now standing well beside him and seemed to have calmed down.
Qingjue reached out and picked him up again.
"With me here, there is nothing to fear."
Jie nodded during the day: "...Mm."
Aju ran to his feet: "Master, Master, I want a hug too!"
"Haha, we'll hug again when we get back," Qingjue said. "Today is exclusively for Senior Brother Jie."
Jie's tense body relaxed considerably during the day, but she still gripped Qingjue's clothes tightly.
He has no fond memories of this place.
Stepping into the front yard, Qingjue sensed the remaining spiritual energy within.
If we gather them together and analyze them, we might be able to find some clues in this mansion.
However, there is very little trace left here; it will take some time.
Qingjue put down Jie Zhoujian and said, "I need to be alone for a while. Can you play with your junior brothers and sisters for a while? Or you can stay with me, but don't make any noise."
“I want to…” Jie Zhoujian lowered his head and thought for a while, then looked up and said, “I want to be with my junior sisters and brothers.”
"Alright, go ahead. Don't worry, I'll be out soon."
"Um."
Ruan Linglai: "Master, where did you go? Why have you disappeared so quickly?"
Wen Tianyu: "Master has come to investigate; he must be busy."
"Wow," Ruan Linglai said, "Junior Brother Wen's stuttering has improved a lot."
Aju: "The new girl has a worse stutter. You're only thinking this because of the comparison, aren't you?"
Yan Shiqun: "Little devils, don't run around. This place is quite big. If you get separated and can't find your way back, your master will be angry."
Ruan Linglai: "What? Junior Brother Yan is clearly also Master's disciple."
"Hmph, only temporarily!"
Aju: "Oh, why don't you just refute it directly?"
"You little brat, you're asking for a beating again, aren't you!"
"No fighting."
"I..." Yan Shiqun turned his head and saw the source of the voice. He froze, swallowed the rest of his sentence, and said in a roundabout way, "If anyone hits him, I can scare him to tears with just a flick of my finger."
Aju promptly complained, "Brother Jie, look at him!"
"Don't argue, keep quiet, Master is inside taking care of things."
Ruan Linglai looked inside and asked, "Isn't this Senior Brother Jie's house? What brings Master here?"
Jie Zhoujian: "I wanted to bring you here. We are good friends, so I wanted to introduce this place to you."
Aju hooked her arm around Jie Zhoujian's neck and said, "Wow! Senior Brother Jie, your house is so big, but why is there no one here?"
"They're all dead."
"..."
Wen Tianyu hesitated, knowing he was clumsy with words, and thus remained silent.
Aju scratched his head, still able to distinguish between what was important and what was urgent, and let go of his hand: "I'm sorry, senior brother."
Jie Zhoujian shook his head: "It's alright, I was planning to tell you today anyway."
Yan Shiqun: "...If I need to leave..."
Let's go together.
Qingjue recited an incantation in the inner room, and a white magic circle lit up around them, gathering different auras from all directions and twisting them into a white sphere in the center of the magic circle.
Qingjue extracted a portion of his divine consciousness and merged it with the white sphere.
These auras were too mixed, and each one came from a different person, and many of them did not even belong to the Xie family.
The scene before him was too chaotic, and he was also experiencing unbearable dizziness.
It's like watching hundreds of illogical surveillance videos all at once.
The piercing buzzing sound rang out in his mind again. Qingjue calmed his mind, recited the Heart-Cleansing Mantra, and finally found something that could be called a clue among hundreds of images.
It was an iron box, which they brought back while chatting and laughing, but the lock on the iron box had the character "Qing" engraved on it.
Several people studied the iron box for a long time, trying various methods but failing to open it.
Qingjue opened his eyes, and the spiritual energy instantly scattered in all directions. He steadied himself and did not fall to the ground.
He shook his head, the images still flashing through his mind, making him dizzy... Such behavior was too risky, and he wouldn't have done it if it weren't for efficiency.
Qingjue sat down on the spot and first regulated his spiritual power.
He could sense what was happening outside. It seemed that Jie was taking the children sightseeing outside during the day.
Jie Zhoujian pointed in a direction: "That's where our family's ancestral hall used to be."
Aju: "What kind of place is Sitang? Is it a place where fish are raised?"
Yan Shiqun: "It's the place where memorial tablets for the dead are kept."
"Yes, there are a lot of them there, but I often get punished there. My parents beat me when they see I'm disobedient."
Ruan Linglai: "Huh?"
She was pampered at home, and her father would seek an explanation for any minor bumps or bruises. When she became Qingjue's apprentice, he generously gave her a lot of money.
I only knew that Xie Zhoujian's family was gone, but I didn't know that he had such a hard life before.
Wen Tianyu: "Why?"
"They think I'm very capable, but I don't want to kill people."
Ruan Linglai: "That's so mean! How could he hit you for something like that? Even if you did something wrong, you can't use force to stop you! When we used to cause trouble, Master never hit us! And now it's for this reason!"
Aju: "I understand. It's because Senior Brother is kind-hearted, while Senior Brother Jie's family are all bad guys!"
Ruan Linglai angrily ran to the side and kicked the wall twice, hurting herself, then silently ran back: "...How did they beat up my senior brother?"
Jie recalled during the day: "Sometimes they would hang me up, tie my hands and feet, and whip me; sometimes they would press me into a water tank and not let me get up; and sometimes they would pull me by the hair and drag me to the basement and lock me up."
"Uh..." Aju found it terrifying and moved closer to Jie Zhoujian, asking, "Is Senior Brother Jie alright?"
Yan Shiqun asked, puzzled, "...What kind of question is this? If something had happened to him, would he still be standing here unharmed?"
Ruan Linglai: "What do you know? Although the past is the past, we still need to care about each other!"
Aju: "That's right, that's right. Even if ten or twenty years have passed, we will still care about our senior brother."
Wen Tianyu: "Yes, friend, you should care."
"..." Yan Shiqun was momentarily at a loss for words and could only look away.
To be honest, he didn't dislike these children, nor did he dislike most of the Qing family members.
But that's the Demon Lord! How could the Demon Lord associate with these people?
...He is the Demon Lord.
During the day, Jie led them around to look at the place. He had been beaten in almost every place. He had tried to avoid thinking about these things before, since they were all terrible memories for him. But being able to share them with his friends of the same age actually made him feel like he had let go of a lot.
The master said that they were not only fellow disciples, but also good friends.
Jie turned around and asked a childish question: "If I become a bad person in the future, will you still be willing to be my friend?"
Ruan Linglai raised her hand: "I'm willing!"
Wen Tianyu: "You won't."
Aju: "Master will beat you up, Senior Brother, you can't do bad things."
Yan Shiqun: "He would never beat him; I think it's just spoiling him."
Ruan Linglai: "Even Master has never beaten you."
Yan Shiqun: "...You don't understand his scheme of using someone else to do his dirty work! It's too despicable."
Wen Tianyu: "Master is a good person."
Ruan Linglai: "The best person ever!"
Aju: "Brother Jie too, we'll be best friends for life."
Ruan Linglai stretched out her hand: "We have to pinky swear, that way it won't change for 100 years... 1000 years."
The children hooked their fingers together and pulled Yan Shiqun, who looked reluctant, over as well.
Pinky promise, no take-backs.
We should be best friends and fellow students for life.
"What are you doing?"
Qingjue stepped out from the inner room, carrying an iron box in his hand.
"Master!"
"Master—"
Several little devils swarmed towards him again.
Ruan Linglai said, "We just made a pinky promise to be best friends for life."
"Really? Good girl, good girl," Qingjue said with a smile. "You not only have to protect me, but you also have to take care of and help each other when you grow up, okay?"
“Mmm,” Ruan Linglai raised her arm, “I feel like I can wield a sword now. When will I have my own sword, Master?”
Aju also said, "I want one too! Junior Brother Yan's sword is so cool, I want one just like it!"
Yan Shiqun scoffed, "What a joke! My sword is not something that can be copied at will. It was forged in scalding lava."
Aju said, "Then I want a sword that's even more powerful than yours."
"Tch, you'd better beat me with your bare hands first!"
"Then I won't compete with you head-on; I'll win with my brains."
"Hey, you brat, are you saying I'm brainless?"
Wen Tianyu lowered her head: "...I...can't lift it yet."
Qingjue smiled and replied, "Take your time. Your talent is second to none."
However, the idea of them carrying swords is something they should definitely consider.
The initial decision to send Xie Zhoujian to a distant place to seek the sword was based on a dream Xie Zhoujian had: he dreamt of snow-capped mountains and a sword in the ice.
Qingjue felt that this should be part of the plot, so he followed this line of thought and indeed obtained the real materials in Beishan, which were used to forge a fine sword for him.
Logically, the other children should also have their own guidance, but none of them have manifested yet. Qingjue thought that maybe he should give them a few better iron swords to practice with first.
"Master," Wen Tianyu finally noticed what was in his hand and asked, "What is this?"
“This,” Qingjue said, “is the purpose of my visit. You all step back, I’m about to open this box.”
The apprentices obediently retreated to a distance, hiding behind several pillars to watch.
The iron box was hidden in the cellar, and no one would have noticed it if they hadn't remembered it from memory.
Qingjue put down the iron box, raised his palm and channeled his energy; in an instant, the iron box exploded open.
Sure enough, the lock on the iron box was unique to the Qing family, and only a member of the Qing family could open it with good luck.
No wonder they fiddled with it for so long, and in the end even gave up and put it in the cellar.
But to his utter surprise, the moment the iron box was opened, blue demonic flames suddenly rose from within.
Before they could even see what was written on the paper inside, the fire burned everything to ashes in an instant.
Before the Qingjue could be extinguished, just like those few pages of paper, only some corners remained.
However, in the heat of the moment, he managed to salvage a wisp of his soul from it.
That was Qing Jiujie's soul, a fragile, crumbling spirit that anyone could shatter with a flick of their finger.
Qingjue used his spiritual power to protect that remnant of his soul, his mind racing with a thousand thoughts.
Who placed this restriction on it without him noticing?
Isn't this an iron box that only members of the Qing family can open? Could it be that there's a traitor within the Qing family?
It's also possible that Qing Jiujie set it up himself...
No, that's impossible!
Qingjue rejected the idea almost instantly.
This demonic fire is the same kind that burns the divine tree. Qing Jiujie would never use such fire to put a restriction on his own things!
He looked at the burnt paper in the box, so badly damaged that it was almost unrecognizable and beyond repair, and could only slam his fist on the floor.
Is this a plot device? Does it mean that the contents of this box shouldn't have been seen in the first place?
Where did the Xie family obtain that demonic fire?
Instead of solving the problem, it has only multiplied.
"Master..."
Seeing that things were not going well, none of the children dared to make a sound. Looking at their master with his brows furrowed and his face full of trouble, they didn't know what to say. They could only cautiously approach him and call out.
"I'm fine..."
After taking out the remaining items from the box, Qingjue carefully examined it to see if any magic array had been placed on it, but found that he couldn't find anything.
There are even magic arrays that he couldn't detect?
Immortal Lord Wu Qing's cultivation level is among the top combat power in the cultivation world.
Logically speaking, once something is laid out, it will not be without leaving a trace.
However, the fact that things have come to this point also proves that the contents of this iron box are indeed of great significance, and may even be directly related to the truth of the mutual destruction that happened back then.
Otherwise, the villain hiding in the shadows wouldn't be in such a hurry to destroy it.
Qingjue didn't believe that there was such a thing as a secret that couldn't be uncovered; there must be some other clues that could be found.
However, he was almost going crazy. As such a high-risk profession, he did not want to get too involved in the plot, but now he had unknowingly fallen into the trap.
Tsk...
Oh well, what's done is done. Maybe he can go back once the story is over.
Qingjue was internally frantic for a moment, but quickly calmed down and said, "There's nothing left to investigate here, let's go."
How many children? They probably sensed he wasn't in a good mood, so they didn't say anything else on the way home, and when they got home they ate and rested quietly.
In fact, they were secretly discussing why the disappearance and the unhappiness that came from opening the metal box were related to the disappearance, but they didn't know much about it and couldn't come to a conclusion.
Jie went to ask him what had happened during the day, but Qingjue was busy wits and courage with the iron box and didn't explain much to him.
We can't find it, we really can't find it... there's not a trace of the source at all.
This demonic fire can even burn the divine tree, so where did it come from?
I really want to know what was written on the original paper inside the tin box.
It wasn't until midnight that Qingjue put on an outer garment and pushed open the door to the room where Muyuan was resting.
Mu Yuan was still recovering from her injury and was a light sleeper, so she noticed as soon as someone opened the door.
"...Immortal Lord?"
Qingjue told her everything that had happened at the Xie family, wanting to hear her thoughts.
Mu Yuan pondered for a moment, indicating that she had no clue about the formation of the demonic fire, but the power to burn down a divine tree meant that it must be at least a thousand-year-old demon.
Mu Yuan said that the process of finding the truth may be very long, but she is not in a hurry and hopes that Qing Jue will not be under too much pressure.
She was already very grateful to receive such help.
Qingjue discussed things with her until midnight, and it wasn't until dawn that he realized how much time had passed.
Mu Yuan is in much better condition now, and these elixirs are much more effective than they were a hundred years ago, which is very helpful for her recovery.
At least her speech is becoming clearer.
"It looks like you'll be able to leave here soon. Have you decided where you want to go?"
"I don't know yet, but I want to... travel around."
Just like long ago, without any purpose, I traveled the world, experiencing the warmth and coldness of human relationships in different places.
I'll help in whatever way I can, as a way of making amends for my mistakes.
So... was she wrong?
She was simply acting out of a survival instinct, wanting to live.
But the real enemy was already dead, leaving only a child.
Even if one wanted to seek revenge, there would be no target to target.
Mu Yuan stared blankly at the bedding for a while.
“I… heard from Miss Qingfeng that you possess a top-tier weapon for killing demons and ghosts… called the Black Bottle.”
"That's right, it's the one my apprentice used to save his life."
The prototypes are magical artifacts left by our ancestors, and they all have some flaws. Although he can't invent from scratch, he can enhance the effectiveness of those artifacts.
The Qing family's warehouse is now piled with many magical artifacts, some of which may be useful and some of which may be useless.
Qingjue asked, "What's the problem?"
“No,” Mu Yuan slowly shook his head, “I just feel that you… are a mysterious person.”
-----------------------
The author's note: "My heart and actions are as clear as a mirror, and all my deeds are for justice" is a famous line from Hirohiko Araki's manga series *JoJo's Bizarre Adventure*, specifically from Part 7, *Bakuma Yarou*.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
