Chapter 50 Northern Wilderness (Part 5) A Long Road!
"I..." Qingxing stammered for a long time, but Jiuquchen's smiling eyes were right next to her. She felt her cheeks burning and swallowed the lie she had prepared.
Two little voices were arguing in her mind. Qingxing glanced at Jiuquchen again, then quickly turned her eyes away.
She retorted in a defiant manner, "...Someone marked me with the Spirit Butterfly mark."
"Huh?" Jiu Qu Chen wondered if he had misheard, and subconsciously asked again, "What?"
“Spirit Butterfly Mark,” Qingxing repeated, “Miao Poison Spirit Butterfly.”
Jiuquchen: "..."
He heard it clearly this time.
As someone who frequently reads leisure books, he has a wide range of interests and naturally knows what the "Miao Poisonous Spirit Butterfly" is. So when Qingxing said those four words, Jiuquchen's breath suddenly stopped for a few moments. For some reason, he felt a tightness in his chest, and even the mark on Qingxing's earlobe became very irritating.
He unconsciously began to imagine the scene of the purple spirit butterfly fluttering onto Qingxing's ear, and even felt that cool touch and heard the spirit butterfly's owner's triumphant laughter.
This is outrageous!
"Master?" Qingxing brought Jiuqu Chen back to his senses, which were in disarray.
"...Ah." Jiu Qu Chen realized what had happened. He blinked rapidly twice, wondering what had just happened to him.
But he suppressed that strange emotion as soon as it surfaced. He raised his hand, and strands of spiritual energy overflowed, gently landing on Qingxing's earlobe, as if tenderly caressing her.
Qingxing: "!"
She didn't understand what was happening; she felt as if a thunderbolt had struck her ear, her blood stopped flowing, and she froze on the spot.
Qingxing's face turned bright red.
"Master...Master?" she asked tentatively.
"I'll remove the mark for you. This stuff is like poison; I should be able to wash it off," Jiu Qu Chen explained. He noticed Qing Xing's complexion and asked curiously, "Why has your face turned so liver-like? Is there anything else that's bothering you?"
"No...no..." Qingxing whispered.
Jiu Qu Chen asked in surprise, "That's not right. Removing the mark shouldn't cause such a strong reaction. Could it be a side effect?"
He frowned, turned his hand, and took another step closer to Qingxing, staring intently at her expression as he said, "This is too strange..."
Thump!
Qingxing suddenly took a big step back, and the back of her head hit the pillar directly.
Jiu Quchen's hand was still in mid-air. He tilted his head slightly, looking somewhat puzzled.
Qingxing lowered her head in embarrassment and quickly ran away from the side, leaving only the words: "The mark is gone, thank you Shizun. Guda hasn't eaten yet, I have to go back and feed it. Goodbye Shizun!"
Jiuquchen: "?"
It took him a long time to glean a few details from Qingxing's rapid speech, leaving him somewhat bewildered: Does the Book Spirit need its master to feed it?
He gently shook his head: Indeed, "what you learn from books is never enough." Some things can only be learned by seeing them with your own eyes.
Qingxing disappeared in a flash. Jiuquchen stood there, pondering Qingxing's words, feeling uneasy all over.
Judging from his disciple's behavior, the Spirit Butterfly Master placed the mark when Qingxing wasn't paying attention, which means he was bullying Qingxing...
"This is outrageous!" Jiu Quchen slapped his own palm.
But he couldn't control his strength, and the pain brought tears to his eyes. He gasped and then took out a white gourd, wanting to drink some water to calm down.
Just as the gourd touched his lips, Jiuquchen suddenly froze.
He slowly took the gourd down and then suddenly flew forward.
At the corner of the corridor, a dark purple figure flashed by. No matter how fast Jiu Quchen moved, he was still a step too late and watched as the hem of the garment slipped from his hand.
"You little brat." Jiu Qu Chen stopped, looking thoughtfully at his palm.
After discussions among the various sects, the trial was moved forward by three days, which kept the Qiushan Sect extremely busy. Every day from dawn, Qingxing could see cultivators dressed in purple disciple robes carrying various weapons passing through the corridors, continuing until sunset.
She hasn't left the house for the past three days, seemingly focusing on her cultivation, but in reality, she's still hiding from the dust of Jiuqu.
When Jiu Quchen stayed in the house, she would come out for some fresh air; when Jiu Quchen went out, she would stay in her own room; when Jiu Quchen walked towards her from the opposite side, she would close her eyes, turn around, and walk away.
In short, one side became the sun, and Qingxing transformed herself into the moon to hide.
As for Jiu Qu Chen… he wasn’t that stupid; he naturally noticed Qing Xing’s avoidance. He didn’t know why Qing Xing was acting this way, but he also felt a strange unease, so he simply let her be.
That day's "fight to the death" naturally came to nothing. After Jiu Quchen intervened, Qingxing had no choice but to return to the stilted house. The mark on her earlobe disappeared, and miraculously, Wei Du didn't bother her anymore.
She was happy to be free and fought against her complicated emotions, and finally made it to the day when the examination began.
Because it was too rushed, the opening ceremony of the trial was not as grand as in previous years. However, it was only held once every ten years, and if it was not done well, it would inevitably be criticized by the cultivation world. So Ji Kun spent a lot of money to collect various decorations from the towns under his name, and at least the gate to the Cloud Ruins Snow Mountain was installed.
"Why does Wei Du keep glaring at you?" Gu Da shouted at Qing Xing amidst the lively chatter.
As dusk fell, the setting sun bathed the snow-capped mountain peaks in a golden glow. The cultivators, about to enter the mountain, lined up in several rows according to their sects, whispering excitedly to each other.
"I don't know." Qingxing glanced at Wei Du, who shrank back as if he was afraid of her after meeting her gaze.
She was a little puzzled: she didn't seem to have done anything, did she?
But Qingxing soon forgot about it because Ji Kun started to speak.
Whenever there is such a grand event in the cultivation world, the host must send someone out to give a speech and express their feelings. Since the deacon of the Qiushan Sect is in seclusion, the opportunity to appear naturally falls to the deputy deacon, Ji Kun.
"Why does he talk so much?" Shen Wan wrapped her clothes tighter and couldn't help but complain.
Qingxing handed her her cloak and whispered, "Shh, we're going to discuss the rules of the exam."
"Hehe, my senior sister is still the best to me." Shen Wan smiled brightly at Qing Xing, but Xie Yuzhou pulled her to the side and tied her collar.
Qingxing sighed softly as she looked at Xie Yuzhou's protective manner.
The rules of the trial are actually quite simple: all disciples carry specially made spirit stones into the snow mountain, where they must subdue demons and fight other people. If a spirit stone is taken from them, they are considered eliminated. If a disciple does not wish to participate, they can inject spiritual power into the spirit stone to withdraw. The cultivators outside the arena will periodically refresh the survival zone, and the disciples must enter within a specific time. As the survival zone shrinks, fewer and fewer people remain, and the last one remaining will be the Immortal Champion.
What could have been explained in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea was dragged out by Ji Kun from the war between humans and demons to the peace of the world. His disciples were getting impatient, and some even started setting up chessboards on the spot.
Qingxing stared blankly at Ji Kun on the stage, who was speaking passionately, almost spitting as he spoke.
She said, "He does talk a lot."
It reminded her of the history class she hadn't finished at Taihua Mountain.
Guda chuckled and said, "That's an old tradition of the Qiushan Sect's deputy deacon. Linghu Cang talks a lot too."
“That happened five hundred years ago, how do you know?” Duanmu Tingzhu asked curiously.
Guda snorted and began to put on airs: "How come I don't know? How old am I and how old are you? I not only know this, but I also know that Xia Yin, the steward from the same era as Linghu Cang, also particularly likes to go into seclusion."
Duanmu Tingzhu scoffed, "Keep bragging."
“I think it’s quite true,” Wenren Xi suddenly interjected. “Among the five great powers from five hundred years ago, these two are quite well-known, and many stories are based on them.”
“Isn’t that normal?” Duanmu Tingzhu said. “I’ve read quite a few of their stories, especially those about that Extreme Cold Domain Lord Kong Yu… It’s really strange, she doesn’t seem to have any of them!”
Chen Mo glanced at him: "Her descendants will beat people."
Duanmu Tingzhu suddenly realized: "Oh! We used to have a junior cultivator in our family who loved to write about the love and hate between Kong Yu and Linghu Cangsun Buqiu. As a result, he got beaten black and blue by that new domain lord!"
Recalling the horrific scene, he gasped and hugged himself tightly. "I don't know how she got into the Blood Peach Forest..."
As Qingxing listened to their conversation, she couldn't help but recall the words Wang Yan had spoken to her in the secret chamber by the Jade Lake.
He probably never imagined that five hundred years later people would know nothing about their relationship.
On stage, Ji Kun finally stopped his emotional historical recitation. He swallowed hard and said, "Heroes are as numerous as carp crossing a river. Besides the courage to point their swords at the heavens, young talents must also have the courage to bear failure. The trial is only the first step into the world of cultivation. A long road lies ahead of you!"
Thunderous applause erupted, and fireworks were going off all around. Qingxing raised her hand and gently nudged Duanmu Tingzhu, who was still chatting.
"I'm leaving," she said.
Just as Duanmu Tingzhu was about to lift his foot, he suddenly felt an itch on his wrist. He raised his right hand and saw that a light blue willow bracelet had been put on there.
"Huh, what's this?" he asked, puzzled.
The others all felt the same sensation on their hands, and together they rolled up their sleeves, instantly exposing the five bracelets to the sunlight.
Qingxing walked past him without looking back.
"A protective array has been formed. There are many demonic creatures in the snowy mountains, so safety is the top priority."
Gudako looked left and right, quite sadly: "Why isn't mine?!"
Qingxing said calmly, "I'm right beside you."
Gudako: "...Okay."
"Junior sister is so thoughtful." Wenren Xi stared at the bracelet for a long time before finally letting her hand fall behind her back, the bracelet completely hidden by her wide robe.
He and his fellow disciples laughed as they caught up with Qingxing: "...I heard from the elders that demons have been appearing frequently on various continents recently. Among them, the most powerful one has features that are very similar to a branch of the demon race from five hundred years ago, with red hair and golden eyes."
"Everyone... please be very careful."
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Author's Note: As for why Wei Du suddenly acted this way... it'll be explained in the epilogue. Readers can also guess [droopy-eared rabbit head]. (The ending isn't far off, probably around ten more chapters? Of course, if those ten chapters aren't finished or are finished ahead of time, then disregard what I said.) Comment on the epilogue in the comments section!
P.S.: I recently cut my hand while peeling fruit, so updates will be a little slower...
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