Chapter 28 Departure (Part 1) A joyous banquet awaits the guests.
A look of surprise appeared on the doll's face. It spoke, its voice exactly the same as Jiu Quchen's:
"Good apprentice, you even recognized me!"
“Hmm…” Qingxing pondered for a while, then pointed to the lotus pattern on its hand, “Besides Master, I don’t know anyone else in Taihua Mountain who loves blue lotuses so much.”
“Sigh, I didn’t originally want to embroider this flower.” Jiu Qu Chen sighed and continued, “This rag doll was made for me by Gong Cheng or an elder, but perhaps my bad image in the past is too deeply ingrained in people’s minds, or perhaps Elder Gong Cheng’s skills have declined… In any case, in the end, this ugly thing was sewn out. I couldn’t stand it, so I embroidered a flower. Although it’s not of much use, it can at least give me some comfort.”
At this point, Jiu Quchen was quite annoyed. He was, after all, a refined and elegant cultivator. Didn't these puppet cultivators look at the original owner's appearance when they made the puppets?
Qingxing caught the key word and asked curiously, "Master can also do embroidery?"
“What’s so difficult about that? I even embroidered those green apricots on your bag.” Jiu Quchen glanced at her, then suddenly realized something was amiss. “It’s so late, where are you going with that bag?”
Upon suddenly learning the origin of the embroidery on the bag, Qingxing was stunned for a moment—when Jiuquchen gave her this bag, she thought that her master just thought her pickled vegetable bag was too old and embarrassing to carry, and as for the green apricots on it, it was just that her master happened to have bought them.
She truly hadn't expected that Jiu Quchen had embroidered it himself.
An image of her master fiddling with needle and thread by candlelight unconsciously flashed into her mind. Qingxing subconsciously touched the pattern on the cloth bag, blinked twice, and then slowly answered her master's question: "Going down the mountain, Junior Sister Shen Wan has prepared a feast."
"Shen Wan? That sect leader's disciple?" Jiu Qu Chen naturally had no idea what she was thinking, but asked in surprise, "I've only been gone for a few months, how come you're so familiar with her?"
"Hmm. We met during the inner sect test and exchanged a few words." Qingxing looked at the ugly doll and then asked, "Why has Master suddenly changed into this state? Is he about to emerge from seclusion?"
Based on her experience reading books, cultivators should not easily separate their consciousness from their bodies when they are in seclusion.
"Almost there, almost there." Jiu Qu Chen stretched, his tone filled with undisguised joy. "After being in the cave for months, I was practically moldy. I finally managed to get a breakthrough in my cultivation these past few days, and I managed to find a chance to extract a wisp of my divine consciousness and possess the doll, so I can finally come out and breathe!"
"Then, Master, how should we walk like this?"
Qingxing was indeed a little worried for Jiuquchen. This baby was too small. If he walked on the road like this, someone might step on him and flatten him if they weren't careful.
"It's alright, I can fly."
As Jiu Quchen spoke, he took something out of his waist. Qingxing looked closely and then noticed that there was a small peach wood sword hanging next to the doll.
Jiu Qu Chen struggled to control the rag doll's hands, forcefully forming a magic seal. The peach wood sword rose up in response, and Jiu Qu Chen climbed onto it, but the sword was shaking so violently that he had to hold onto the hilt to avoid being thrown off.
The scene was too eerie. Qingxing was afraid that laughing would be disrespectful to her teachers, so she silently turned her head to the side.
Once the dust settled, he returned to Qingxing's side and urged her in her ear, "Disciple, aren't you going to the banquet? Hurry up, or you'll be late!"
Qingxing tried to suppress her smile and turned to ask him, "Isn't Master going?"
She originally thought that Jiu Quchen would get tired of staying in the cave and would want to go to the restaurant to have some fun.
"What am I supposed to do there?" Jiu Qu Chen asked, puzzled. "If you go out to have fun with your friends, and I, as their master, go along, they might feel uncomfortable. Besides, there are still quite a few sketchbooks at Biyue Yunju waiting for me to go back and look at them!"
“…Alright.” Qingxing couldn’t help but add, seeing how difficult it was for him to control the sword, “Then please be careful.”
Don't worry, don't worry.
After the dust from the Nine Streets had settled, Qingxing sat on the Endless Tree and left.
At noon today, Shen Wan told her the time and place of the banquet in the kitchen. Guda, who was listening nearby, couldn't wait a moment longer. Seeing how excited it was, Qingxing simply let Shuling go with her junior sister, and she would arrive later.
Not far away, the streetlights flickered, and most of the people living there were ordinary people. Qingxing wanted to keep a low profile, so after leaving the mountain gate, she put away the Endless Wood and chose to walk, intending to stroll there slowly.
There are many cultivators in this world, but the number of mortals is several times greater. Apart from a few independent cultivators, most cultivators reside in sects of varying sizes, while mortals are divided into major towns based on the terrain. These towns are governed by various sects, with larger sects having more control and smaller sects having less.
As one of the most famous sects in the world, Mount Taihua has many towns under its jurisdiction, and Bailu City is the closest one. When disciples of the sect have business to attend to or need to go down the mountain to buy things, they usually give priority to this city. Therefore, there are many inns and taverns in the city, built specifically for the disciples' entertainment.
Shen Wan chose the most famous and most expensive restaurant in the area – Xikelai Restaurant.
The restaurant is located in a bustling area, and today happens to be a market day, so the streets are crowded with people and the shouts of vendors can be heard everywhere.
There were all sorts of things for sale around there. At first, Qingxing just looked around curiously without intending to buy anything. But the shopkeepers were too persuasive. As she walked from the street corner, she thought to herself, "Life should be more frugal," but she was also defeated by thoughts like, "I can buy this for Guda, I can buy this for Shenwan, I can buy that for..." By the time she arrived at the restaurant, she was already carrying a huge pile of things in her arms.
Looking at the plaque above Xikelai, she sighed, tossed the object in her hand, and was about to step over the threshold when someone bumped into her, causing her to sway and the small stone statue at the top to lose its balance and fall to the ground with a clatter.
Qingxing's view was blocked, so she couldn't see the person who bumped into her clearly, but fortunately, the person was quite considerate. He picked up the small statue, put it back in its original place, and said "Sorry" before leaving.
The voice sounded familiar, but Qingxing couldn't quite place it, so she could only politely reply, "It's nothing."
"Senior sister, why are you carrying so much stuff?" Shen Wan spotted Qingxing from afar and ran over to help Qingxing with some of the load. "What did Senior Brother Su talk about with you just now?"
Qingxing paused in her tidying, startled: "Senior Brother Su Lin?"
He apologizes when he bumps into someone, and he doesn't cause trouble when he encounters her. This is really not the kind of thing Su Lin would do.
“Yeah.” Shen Wan made a face at Xie Yuzhou at the door, then led her into the private room, where a group of disciples were already seated.
Qingxing glanced around and found that it was Chen Mo, Wenren Xi, Duanmu Tingzhu, Xie Yuzhou and a few others.
Duanmu was bickering with Guda when he saw Qingxing arrive. He quickly pushed Guda aside and ran towards her—or rather, towards the pile of things in her hands.
“Senior classmate, you’re welcome to come, but why did you bring so much stuff? This whole thing is such a mess…”
Since the two had taken several months of training together and always sat next to each other, Duanmu Tingzhu started calling Qingxing "Senior Sister at the same desk" at some point.
Qingxing didn't like this nickname. Facing Duanmu rushing towards her, she turned at a very subtle angle, just dodging the arm that was being reached out. She said expressionlessly, "What's going on?"
Seeing that she had missed her target, Duanmu pouted and muttered under her breath, "Senior sister is so stingy."
“Junior brother, if you talk like that, your junior sister won’t even give you a piece of oil paper.” Wenren Xi started playing the peacemaker again. He walked over, pulled Duanmu aside, and winked at Qingxing before turning around. “Hurry up and put your things down. Senior brother has some good wine here.”
Upon hearing this, Qingxing felt a sense of foreboding. She tried to reassure herself as she walked to the wooden cabinet in the corner of the private room, intending to pile the items she was carrying on it.
"I'll do it." Chen Mo walked over at some point. She was tall and helped Qingxing put it away with almost no effort.
"Thank you, Senior Sister." Qingxing smiled at her.
She has been frequenting the library for the past few months. Although she hasn't spoken much with Chen Mo, she is at least more familiar with him than before.
Chen Mo nodded slightly to her, then turned and returned to the round table.
Qingxing twisted her wrist, intending to follow to her seat, but was blocked by the furtive Shen Wan.
"I don't think I've told my senior sister yet." Shen Wan was busy playing around with Xie Yuzhou and stopped mid-sentence.
Seeing that Qingxing had put her things away, she remembered something, walked over to her, and continued to explain, "...Ever since returning from Jade Tiger Peak that day, Senior Brother Su has been like a different person. First, he locked himself up and didn't go out for several days. Later, Master went in and persuaded him, and only then did he agree to continue his cultivation. However, his temperament has changed drastically; he doesn't like to talk and doesn't want to fight with anyone anymore..."
Shen Wan sighed: "I wonder what he saw that day."
Upon hearing this, Qingxing remained silent for a long time. She recalled Su Lin, who used to be like a fighting cock, and felt a mix of emotions.
It wasn't that she pitied him, but having lived through three lifetimes, Su Lin could barely be considered an "acquaintance." Seeing an acquaintance turn out like this, she couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
Su Lin is like those cultivators who worship "the strong". Everything is guided by cultivation. If anything blocks their path of cultivation, they will not hesitate to swing their swords and eliminate it. But if demons run rampant, they will also be bound by the title of "son of the righteous path" and remove the scourge for the people.
After this ordeal, Qingxing didn't know what Su Lin would become in the future, but it was ultimately none of her business anymore.
She sighed softly, as if to express her feelings, then turned back to the lively round table and calmly accepted the wine glass that Wenren Xi handed her.
The table was filled with spirited young people, all still playful at heart. If they only ate food and drank wine, it would be rather boring.
So everyone chatted for a while. Perhaps feeling the atmosphere wasn't lively enough, Wenren Xi stood up first and suggested, "In the past, when I went down the mountain to patrol with my master, I would always see the townspeople playing a game called 'Passing the Flower While Beating the Drum.' Today, I'll change the rules a bit. Would you all do me the honor of playing a few rounds with me? The loser will have to drink a penalty shot. How about that?"
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Author's Note: There are two more chapters in this volume.
New map update in progress...
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