Chapter 53 Past Events (Part 1) Little Kite.
"Little Kite, do you want to go home?"
A strange voice sounded in her ear. Qingxing opened her eyes and found herself lying on a grassy field.
It was the third month of spring, when the grass was growing and the orioles were singing. All around were large peach trees, and the peach blossoms were in full bloom. A gentle breeze carrying the scent of dew blew, and the petals quietly detached from the branches and fell onto the top of the green apricot tree.
She propped herself up, and the petals slid down with the movement, gently floating into the palm of the little girl beside her.
"No, I want to pick peach blossoms for my mother to make peach blossom dew." The girl named "Xiao Yuan" put the petal into her basket and turned to run towards the peach grove.
Qingxing stared at her retreating figure, sitting there in a daze.
Sitting with her was Jiu Quchen, who had woken up at some unknown time.
“That little girl…” He hesitated and didn’t finish the sentence, but Qingxing knew what he wanted to say.
Xiao Yuan has almond-shaped eyes and a round face, with a cinnabar mole on the tip of her nose. In addition, she has bright red hair and golden eyes. Although she looks five or six parts different from Qing Xing before, she is now a smaller version of the red-haired Qing Xing after breaking through the spiritual net.
This is the childhood memory that Qingxing has erased and never touched.
She looked down at her hair and didn't say anything.
The person who had called Xiaoyuan home earlier was a kind-looking middle-aged man. When he saw the girl run off on her own, he sighed and immediately followed, passing right through Qingxing's body.
Based on Xiao Yuan's performance, Qing Xing can confirm that they are completely invisible here.
After experiencing so much chaos in such a short period of time, her mind is now miraculously clear. She knows exactly who she needs to find and what she needs to do.
With a "let's watch the show" attitude, she composed herself, calmly stood up from the ground, and then, dragging her numerous wounds, slowly walked in the direction where the two had disappeared.
"Qingxing!" Jiuquchen chased after her, extending a wisp of spiritual energy. "You're still injured!"
Qingxing didn't even turn her head; she merely moved her fingertips slightly, and the spiritual energy instantly shattered into fragments.
Thousands of ants were gnawing at her heart, yet her tone was as calm as if she were asking what to eat for dinner.
"I am the Crimson Hair Demon. Today I killed my fellow disciples and have betrayed Mount Taihua." Her voice was like a thorn, piercing the tranquility of spring. "You are no longer my master. There is no need to put on this show of deep affection between master and disciple."
After speaking, she walked straight into the depths of the peach grove, her red hair flowing freely, determined to sweep away all past entanglements.
Jiu Qu Chen stared at her retreating figure, stunned by her words.
It's not her master anymore, what does that mean?
He pondered Qingxing's words carefully, feeling both annoyed and amused. He even felt that the chirping birds in the forest were mocking him: Your apprentice doesn't want you anymore!
Jiu Quchen flicked his sleeves and chased after him with a blank face.
You've already gone through the apprenticeship ceremony, and you're just going to say you don't want to be an apprentice anymore?!
impossible!
Qingxing followed the two to a large peach tree. The more she looked around, the more familiar it seemed. When Xiaoyuan climbed onto a branch and hugged the tree with both hands, shaking off a large number of petals, Qingxing suddenly remembered as she watched the rain of petals falling. Wasn't this the Peach Blossom Valley in the Illusionary Dream Array?
"That's enough! Little Kite, you should know how to be content!" The middle-aged man stood under the tree, clapping his hands anxiously.
Little Kite tilted her head, as if checking the number of petals in the basket. Only when she saw that the basket was completely full and even overflowing did she step over the branch and jump down with a "whoosh".
She lifted the basketball hoop and bounced it around, muttering to herself, "Fei Quan, you're such a coward. You're just afraid Mom will scold you for taking me out to play all over the place, aren't you?"
"That man's name was Fei Quan," Qingxing thought.
"Call me Dad! You have no manners!" Fei Quan lightly tapped Xiao Yuan's head and sighed, "Today is the day the neighbor's son is returning home. If we are late, it will be a breach of etiquette!"
Xiao Yuan covered her head with her hands: "That Wangyan brother who went to study at the Sword Sect and hugged me when I was a child?"
Fei Quan corrected her: "He's the head of the Sword Sect now."
Xiao Yuan retorted, "So what if it's the Sword Sect? Your wife is the patriarch of the Huisheng Clan!"
“Hey, that’s different,” Fei Quan waved his hand. “How many people are there in our Huisheng Clan? The Sword Sect has over a hundred!”
Xiao Yuan pouted. She knew her mother's temper. It was getting late, so she picked up some more clean peach petals scattered on the ground and followed Fei Quan out of the mountain.
Qingxing silently followed them along the mountain path bathed in the sunset light.
Behind her was the sticky sound of feet stepping on wet mud. The person tried to keep the sound down, but it still didn't escape Qingxing's ears.
After breaking through the seal, Qingxing's cultivation level remained at the Nascent Soul stage, but for some reason, her cultivation level greatly improved.
She knew that the incredibly familiar spiritual energy behind her came from Jiu Qu Chen, but she ignored it and let him follow her to the village and into Xiao Yuan's house.
Although she was the clan leader, Xiao Yuan's family was not large, and even compared to the neighbors, they could be described as "shabby".
The house was made of wood, and it looked like Xiao Yuan's mother had cut down trees and shaved them into planks to build it, with a layer of straw on top, which had become fluffy from being dried in the sun.
The courtyard wasn't large, surrounded by a fence made of yellowed bamboo strips. The clan chief stood by the fence with his hands on his hips, a blade of grass dangling from his mouth, quietly watching the father and daughter returning home late in the distance.
"Mrs. Cen, look how cute your daughter is, don't be angry!" the old lady next door laughed.
"Hmph, cute as she is, she's always hanging out with her dad, she's practically a wild child!" Cen Luan said expressionlessly, holding a thin bamboo whip and smoothing his slightly messy red hair. "Look how obedient the Wenren brothers are! Although they're often away from home, at least they're helping their uncle. Little Yuan is taken out to play by her dad all day long, what kind of behavior is that!"
The old woman said, "It's normal for children to be a little playful. Clan leader, since you like the Wenren brothers so much, and I think Wenren Ming is quite handsome, why don't you arrange a marriage for your daughter?"
“Xiao Yuan is still young,” Cen Luan said. “I don’t care about her marriage. She can be with whomever she wants, and even her father can’t interfere.”
“Oh dear, you can’t say that.” The old woman lowered her voice and whispered to her, “I think Xiao Yuan also likes to be with Wenren Ming, calling him ‘Brother Ming’ all day long.”
“Xiao Yuan just wants an older brother. Sister Wang Han, if you keep trying to play matchmaker, I’ll have Wang Yan take you to the Sword Sect to enjoy a life of luxury,” Cen Luan said helplessly.
When Wang Yan first became the sect leader, he took his mother to live with him for a while. However, it snowed heavily every day in the Sword Sect, unlike Peach Blossom Valley, which has different scenery in each season. Wang Han was so bored that he almost got depressed and eventually ran back home.
Upon hearing the clan leader speak, she quickly waved her hand and said, "Never mind, I still prefer living next to you."
Xiao Yuan pulled her father closer and closer. Seeing her mother and Wang Han chatting and laughing, she assumed her mother wasn't angry, so she started to swagger.
While Cen Luan was replying to Wang Han's words, she was keeping an eye on what was ahead. When Xiao Yuan walked up to her, she spat out the grass in her mouth, picked up the bamboo whip, and lashed it at Fei Quan, who was standing to the side. Fei Quan couldn't dodge in time and got a solid lash on his buttocks, howling in pain.
"My wife, please let me explain!" he cried.
"Explain your ass!" Cen Luan shoved Xiao Yuan, who was in the way, aside and lashed out with his whip again. "Didn't I tell you to come back early before I left today? Didn't I tell you not to take Xiao Yuan running around? People are almost at the village gate and you're only just getting home, without even changing your clothes or washing your face. You're a disgrace!"
Seeing that Cen Luan was really angry, Fei Quan simply slid down to his wife's knees on the damp grass, grabbed her leg, and pleaded, "Wife, I'm not a Hui! If you keep hitting me like this, people will die!"
Cen Luan tugged at his shoulder a few times, and seeing that he showed no sign of letting go, she chuckled and said, "I knew I shouldn't have bothered you! I should have found someone from my own clan, someone who can withstand the torment!"
"Absolutely not, my wife!" Fei Quan exclaimed in horror. "Look around this village, can you find a man more virtuous than me?!"
Wang Han, who was watching the show while eating melon seeds, laughed: "Yes, yes, he's right! Clan Chief, my son is almost here, let's hurry up and get ready!"
“Yes, Mother.” Xiao Yuan had somehow appeared next to Wang Han. She snapped open a sunflower seed shell, popped the kernel inside into her mouth, and chewed it with relish. “If Father doesn’t cook, there’ll be nothing to eat when Brother Wang Yan comes back.”
It's unclear whose words provoked Cen Luan, but Qingxing saw her throw down the bamboo whip and angrily run back into the house.
It had grown dark, and oil lamps were lit in every household. Qingxing stood on the hillside, from where she could see the entire village.
Although it's called a village, there are actually very few households. The houses are close together, so close together that they seem somewhat intimate.
She watched quietly as Cen Luan and Fei Quan made a ruckus in the courtyard. This was the first time in her three lifetimes that she had seen her parents and the first time she had seen the place where she had grown up.
Apart from Fei Quan, everyone else has red hair and golden eyes. They are not considered outsiders. They live like ordinary villagers, working at sunrise and resting at sunset, managing their lives in an orderly manner, making Peach Blossom Valley peaceful and serene.
It was completely different from the Blood Peach Forest that later became overrun by monsters.
"Xing'er." Jiu Qu Chen, who was standing behind her, suddenly spoke up, interrupting Qing Xing's reverie.
Qingxing turned to look at him.
The moonlight softened Qingxing's red hair, which also weakened her aura. Jiuquchen looked into her golden eyes, but the words caught in his throat.
“I know, you are not a demon,” he said after a long silence.
His tone was firm, and Qingxing's gaze wandered before finally lowering her eyes to stare at the ground.
"It doesn't matter anymore, Master," she said. "It's no longer important."
Jiu Qu Chen was stunned: "What do you mean?"
Qingxing remained silent.
She didn't even have time to say a word.
Because a villager covered in blood and looking pained was running towards Cen Luan's house, he was carrying a torch and shouting as he ran, "He's possessed! Wang Yan has been possessed! Run!"
Bang!
A loud explosion swallowed his screams. A fireball suddenly descended and landed heavily on his heel. He was knocked forward by the powerful force, and one of his legs was blown off.
The torch fell to the ground but did not go out. It rolled to the back, illuminating the deformed figure of a person behind it.
His body was covered in sharp stones, and his face was covered in purplish-black crystals. Even though he was no longer human, Qingxing easily recognized him based on her memories of the Jade Lake secret chamber.
Wang Yan held a purple flame in his hand and ruthlessly trampled over the informant, making his bones creak.
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Author's note: I'll post it anyway [droopy-eared rabbit head]
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