Chapter 37 The Mist (Part 4) The Curse of False Words.
"Green apricot?!" Chen Mo exclaimed in surprise. Her pupils dilated slightly, and her eyebrows almost flew off.
"It's me." Qingxing nodded. This was the first time Qingxing had seen such a large change in expression on Chen Mo's face in all the time she had known her.
She stuffed Guda back into her bag and asked, "Senior sister, what did you just see?"
“A high-level demon.” Chen Mo’s gaze remained fixed on Guda until it was hidden by the cloth bag. Only then did she look up and meet Qingxing’s eyes. “A book spirit.”
She and Xuan Ying were patrolling separately when she suddenly sensed an unusual fluctuation of spiritual energy. However, as she approached, she only felt a soaring demonic aura.
That's why he decisively took action, intending to subdue the demon.
Qingxing was puzzled by this: "Why did Senior Sister attack me?"
The person behind the scenes used a smokescreen; in Chen Mo's eyes, Gudako was a ferocious high-level demon. However, during their fight just now, although Chen Mo mainly rushed towards Gudako, she would occasionally come over and hit Qingxing a couple of times.
According to my senior sister, I shouldn't have been seen as a monster.
What did she become?
Chen Mo resumed her previous expressionless demeanor. After hesitating for a moment, she still said, "A rag doll with mismatched eyes and a crooked mouth."
Qingxing:......
Well, although Chen Mo didn't say it explicitly, the doll that made Senior Sister show such disgust must be incredibly ugly.
Not to mention that the ugly doll kept twisting and turning, trying to disrupt Chen Mo's demon-subduing.
Qingxing sighed softly. She imagined the scene and couldn't help but shudder.
The last time I saw Ugly Doll was at Master's place.
Unconsciously, the image of Jiu Quchen's little rag doll floated into Qingxing's mind. Strangely, although the rag doll was uglier in a distinctive way, when Qingxing tried to recall it, she found that she only remembered the blue lotus flower in its hand.
"Master is still in the formation," Qingxing murmured softly.
Chen Mo didn't hear her clearly and thought she was talking to him, so he asked, "What?"
"It's nothing." Qingxing shook her head slightly. She glanced behind Chen Mo and asked in confusion, "Is it just Senior Sister alone? Elder Xuan Ying isn't here?"
Chen Mo then remembered that he had come out with his master to search for someone.
She wrote down a message talisman, drew a circle, and sent the message to Xuan Ying that she had found Qingxing.
“You’ve been missing for three days,” Chen Mo explained. “My master and I arrived at the manor three days ago, but you haven’t come since. The patriarch has tried to contact you several times, but there has been no response.”
Duanmu Yi, the current head of the Duanmu family, was the first to notice something amiss. After sending out the fifth communication talisman to no avail, he immediately dispatched people to search, and Xuan Ying and Chen Mo naturally followed. However, after searching for several days, although many demons were killed, not a single person was found.
Until today, she mistook Gudako for a demon, which is how she was able to meet Ao-Aki.
"Tingzhu is in danger." There were too many things to say in a short time, so Qingxing decided to focus on the important ones first. "I got separated from the others first, but Tingzhu disappeared alone afterward. We must find him as soon as possible."
Chen Mo was taken aback for a moment after hearing this, but she didn't ask why. Instead, she turned around and walked forward, saying, "Come with me."
Qingxing followed silently behind her.
She had previously thought Chen Mo was the most reliable, and now she felt from the bottom of her heart that Chen Mo was the most deserving of the title of "Senior Sister".
He doesn't talk much, but he's always the one who trusts and protects his juniors the most.
About fifteen minutes later, Chen Mo led Qingxing into an open space. Qingxing tilted her head and saw Xuan Ying and a middle-aged man standing in the center of the open space, their expressions serious and their mouths talking.
Perhaps because he hadn't slept for three days, the man looked tired, with heavy dark circles under his eyes. But his imposing aura remained undiminished, inspiring awe in those around him.
This must be Duanmu Yi, the head of the Duanmu family.
"Master." Chen Mo stepped forward and bowed to Xuan Ying.
Xuan Ying nodded slightly, then turned his gaze to Qing Xing behind her and asked, "What's going on?"
"Someone has set up an array in the Blood Peach Forest." Qingxing briefly recounted what had happened, while Xuanying and Duanmu Yi listened with increasingly furrowed brows.
"This person is not simple." Xuan Ying pondered, then turned to Duanmu Yi and asked, "Judging from Qing Xing's words, he is probably after Duanmu Tingzhu. May I ask, Patriarch, have you offended anyone recently?"
"My Duanmu family has lived in seclusion for a hundred years. Except for special occasions when we send people to various sects to deliver gifts, none of our disciples ever leave the house." Duanmu Yi's expression was not good. "Those who have joined other sects in the past hundred years have all been children under the age of fifteen from our family. Who could a group of teenagers possibly offend?"
Qingxing didn't speak. She looked at Duanmu Yi and suddenly remembered that Tingzhu had casually mentioned that his father didn't allow him to learn talismans.
Could it be related to this?
“We’re outside the magic array and can’t help our senior brothers. The only thing we can do now is search for Tingzhu’s whereabouts,” Xuan Ying said. “Patriarch, you are most familiar with the Blood Peach Forest, so please send more people to guard the large pit that Qingxing mentioned earlier. I will lead one group to continue searching to the north, while Chen Mo and Qingxing will go to the other side. What do you think?”
Due to his status as the head of the family, Duanmu Yi couldn't leave the residence for too long. Even with his burning desire to save his son, he couldn't do much more. Xuan Ying, as an elder of Mount Taihua, was undoubtedly powerful, and her willingness to help personally relieved Duanmu Yi of a great worry.
Duanmu Yi readily agreed, "Of course."
He unfastened the token from his waist, palm up, and used golden spiritual power to lift it up. After it rose above his head, the wooden token cracked into several pieces with a "crack," then transformed into golden light and flew off in different directions with a "whoosh."
"I have already ordered the Duanmu family cultivators to obey the elder's orders." Duanmu Yi clasped his hands in a fist salute. "I entrust my son's matter to the elder."
Xuan Ying nodded: "Ting Zhu is also a disciple of my Taihua Mountain. There is no reason for us to abandon him."
The group exchanged some more clues, and after all the Duanmu family cultivators had gathered there, Xuan Ying split into four groups, and went their separate ways with Qing Xing and Chen Mo. Before leaving, Duanmu Yi gave them three maps.
"This is the general terrain of the Blood Peach Forest. The three of you must be careful in everything you do."
The map was made of bark paper, soft to the touch. Qingxing gently stroked the edge of the map, glancing briefly at the contents:
Apart from the directional signs and a few place names, at a glance, all that remains is a blinding red.
It perfectly matches the characteristics of the Blood Peach Forest.
Qingxing had a headache. She slowly lowered her gaze and suddenly noticed an irregular circle drawn with a blue colored pencil in the lower left corner. The circle was extremely small and inconspicuous in contrast to the vast peach orchard.
The strokes are neat and regular, not like a mistake.
Qingxing asked in confusion, "Where is this?"
They had already walked some distance, with only Chen Mo and the Duanmu family cultivators beside them. Chen Mo leaned closer to take a look, then shook his head, indicating that he didn't know either.
"This is Emerald Lake, located southwest of the Blood Peach Forest. In fact, it's in the direction we're headed," a Duanmu family cultivator craned his neck to explain to Qingxing and her companion.
Seeing Qingxing glance at him, he scratched his head somewhat embarrassedly: "My name is Qiu Zhi, and I am the master's apprentice."
He had an honest appearance and a simple, honest demeanor, and his speech was full of youthful vigor. Seeing that he was willing to talk to her, Qingxing said a few more words.
She asked, "Are you familiar with this place?"
Qiu Zhi quickly waved her hand: "No, no, I am an orphan. Before joining the Duanmu family, I wandered around towns in the southwest, so I know more about it."
Qingxing was taken aback, thinking to herself: So he was an orphan too.
The two had similar childhood experiences, and Qingxing immediately felt a sense of familiarity with him, so she continued, "Southwest? I've read about it in books before. Because it's next to the Blood Peach Forest, the town there is sparsely populated. It must be difficult for you to survive there."
"It's alright, I'm quite resilient!" Qiu Zhi said with a smile. "Although there aren't many people there, they are all kind people. I often receive some unwanted clothes and food. Compared to the beggars near Emerald Lake, I'm living quite comfortably!"
"Are there beggars near Emerald Lake?" Qingxing asked in surprise.
Aside from the Blood Peach Forest, Jade Lake is probably the second largest gathering place for monsters in the world. Qingxing previously only knew that the two were not far apart, but now, looking at the map, she realized that not only were they not far apart, but they were also closely adjacent, like twin sisters.
The area where the two meet is a disaster zone for demons, where even cultivators find it difficult to survive, let alone helpless children.
"I guess so..." After being asked this, Qiu Zhi also began to doubt himself. He recalled carefully, "I was still young at that time. I hadn't eaten for several days and was delirious. I don't know how I ended up at Emerald Lake. The weather was also bad that day, with dark clouds. I only saw a few people who were a little older than me walking by the lake. They looked like they had been hungry for a long time, and they didn't have many clothes on them. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that their clothes were practically touching their backs."
Hearing his description, Qingxing felt something was off, and she asked, "Have you had any contact with them?"
Qiu Zhi: "No, I fainted from hunger. When I opened my eyes again, they were all gone. I wandered into the Blood Peach Forest alone and encountered a demon. Luckily, my master saved me!"
“Patriarch Duanmu is a good person.” Chen Mo, who was standing to the side, rarely spoke up.
"Of course!" Qiu Zhi said proudly, "The patriarch is very kind to everyone. He buys us gifts for every festival and gives us spirit stones as rewards from time to time. Apart from not allowing us to cultivate talisman techniques, he never forces us to cultivate..."
Qingxing accurately grasped the key point: "Even you can't cultivate talismans?"
"Yes," Qiu Zhi said with some regret, "That's why the young master left home in a huff. It's a pity, I've seen him use talismans before, and he was incredibly skilled! I just hope nothing bad has happened to him since he went missing..."
"Why can't we cultivate talismans?" Qingxing was completely baffled. "Could it be that the Duanmu family is cursed?"
If it were because they lacked the talent, Qingxing could understand. But Tingzhu clearly had an extremely high talent for talismans, and Duanmu Yi had no reason to force him to switch to a different magic system, even forcing his son to borrow money to study. This created such a huge rift between father and son.
Besides, isn't the most famous member of the Duanmu family Duanmu Che, a master of talisman arts?
Qiu Zhi: "How is that possible..."
Suddenly, as if struck by a thought, his voice trailed off. Qiu Zhi looked left and right, making sure that the other cultivators were either on their way or searching and no one was paying attention to this area, before he mysteriously approached Qingxing and whispered, "If we're talking about curses, I do know one."
Qingxing played along, keeping him in suspense: "What?"
"Let me state upfront, this is just a legend!" Qiu Zhi said cautiously. "And there's no factual basis for it; we're just listening to it as a ghost story!"
"Okay," Qingxing assured him, "I won't tell anyone."
Chen Mo, who was standing nearby, also quietly moved closer. Qiu Zhi darted between the two of them and began to whisper:
"You know Wang Yan, right? That great demon from five hundred years ago!"
"Legend has it that after several powerful beings sealed him away, his spirit was unwilling to give up. He followed the aura of the talisman on the gate of the Demon Realm to the Duanmu family, possessed a disciple of the Duanmu family, and secretly plotted to harm the cultivators of the Duanmu family."
"It's not surprising that people die when cultivating immortality. But in the hundred years after the war between humans and demons, all the members of the Duanmu family who cultivated talismans encountered accidents, and at least a hundred people died, all of them around fifteen or sixteen years old."
"They either went mad from their cultivation or died suddenly. The worst of them were drained of their blood, leaving only their skin hanging in the Blood Peach Forest."
"Several generations of Duanmu family heads have tried to find the murderer, but that person is too well hidden. More and more people are dying, and rumors are spreading. People outside say: The Duanmu family is cursed!"
“This can’t go on forever. As the saying goes, ‘If you can’t beat someone, you can always avoid them!’ So, starting from the previous generations, the Duanmu family has had an unwritten rule that ‘no one is allowed to practice talismans.’ Of course, this rule is only known among our disciples, so it’s normal that outsiders don’t know about it.”
"This is the secret of the Duanmu family, which we call the 'curse of falsehood'."
"How was it?" Qiu Zhi resumed her normal voice, looking at the two of them. "Terrible, wasn't it?"
For a moment, no one spoke. Qingxing thought to herself: What kind of ghost story is this? It's not exactly scary, but it's a bit strange, just like the Dream Array.
She and Chen Mo exchanged a blank glance. To avoid making the child too frustrated, she still said, "Terrible, very scary."
The group continued their journey, stopping at every suspicious-looking spot. But the Blood Peach Forest was vast; by sunset, when the stars were beginning to twinkle, they had only reached a point a dozen miles from its end. Qingxing stopped at a place thick with demonic energy and began examining the remnants of a magic array.
A cold wind howled through the peach grove, carrying a unique mist, and Qingxing felt as if her bones were covered in three layers of frost.
She tugged at her sleeve to cover her wrists and keep herself warm.
Watching the fur-covered branches struggling to pull away the bushes, for some reason, she thought of the "curse of falsehood" again.
I just feel like something's off about this story.
The chill startled Qingxing, making her ears perk up. She pinched her earlobe and listened quietly to the sounds around her.
Rustling, rustling.
The monks nearby were searching through the bushes.
Splash, splash.
A strong wind swept through, forcing large swaths of peach blossoms to fall to the ground.
Bang!
The sound was dull yet startling—it was the sound of a transducer.
The sound was so sudden that it attracted everyone's attention.
Qingxing was slightly startled. She couldn't help but tremble a few times before slowly lifting her eyelids to look at the talisman in front of her.
The talisman was completely empty except for the center, where three red wavy lines had been drawn.
The wavy lines were drawn very poorly; the waves were uneven, and the ink varied in shades. Towards the end, perhaps due to running out of ink, the wave pattern was only half complete.
Qingxing wondered what circumstances the person who drew the talisman must have been in, but it must have been a very difficult task.
However, when she turned the talisman over, her eyes suddenly widened.
Spirit Stone Imprint.
This is Duanmu Tingzhu's voice transmission!
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Author's note: The circle is the spiritual imprint of the eldest sister!
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