Chapter 19: Seeing the Spring Light "Junior brother, who are you looking at through me?"...
"That old man dared to cheat us like this. Could he have escaped now?" Mei Cifa asked.
"No, I have already instructed Gao Mu and the others to return to the sect to seek help. Before leaving, I set up a barrier for Qingsang Manor. They are all mortals and it is impossible for them to break the barrier and escape."
Lan Jue spoke as he led everyone to the center of the village. The century-old mulberry trees, lush and green when the illusion unfolded, were now broken and withered, filled with a heavy aura of death.
Tao Xueting asked, "If that's the case, why haven't we seen anyone from the sect?"
Lan Jue looked up at the mulberry tree, and his gaze circled around again.
"Because we are no longer in Central China."
"What?!"
Everyone asked in surprise, but Xiao Wangyou frowned: "What Zhongzhou? Wasn't this village on the border of Dongzhou before?"
Everyone from the Qingxuan Sword Sect: "......?"
Seeing that everyone was confused, Lan Jue said slowly, "If my guess is correct, the dream demon must have set up a formation at Qingsang Manor, which allows it to relocate after each time it devours an outsider cultivator."
"Otherwise, if a cultivator disappeared inexplicably, their sect would definitely not just sit there and do nothing, nor would they allow the dream demon to run rampant for so long."
Everyone suddenly realized and looked around to find that there were indeed mountains in the distance, not the vast plains as before.
"Then where is this place?" Ruan Wei asked Lan Jue.
Lan Jue lowered his eyes in thought, seemingly unsure. However, Gu Congxing spoke at this moment:
"It should be the border of Luoxizhou."
The land here is reddish-brown, and in the distance you can see towering black mountains, which should be the Muyin Mountains on the border of Luoxi Continent.
Behind Muyin Mountain is the western wilderness of the demon clan.
In his previous life, Gu Congxing came here to hunt down a wanted criminal and obtain his heart blood.
"What this Immortal Lord said is absolutely right."
An old voice came from behind them, and Gu Congxing and others immediately came to their senses, only to see that the village chief was standing behind them with a cane.
Gu Congxing frowned, wondering if it was his illusion, but the village chief seemed to be older than the last time he saw him.
"Old thing! How dare you show up!" Mei Ci immediately shouted angrily.
"Haha, all the immortals are looking for me, can I still escape?"
The village chief's cloudy eyes looked around at the monks in front of him, and widened in surprise when he saw Xiao Wangyou.
"This Immortal Lord has also come out?"
"Why, are you disappointed that I'm not dead?" Xiao Wangyou sneered through gritted teeth.
"No, no... I'm very happy. Truly." The village chief, leaning on his cane, took a step forward. "Since you all have returned safely, it means the monster is dead."
"I take it seriously, I'm extremely happy!"
Everyone thought he would be frightened and begging for mercy, but seeing him like this, they were a little confused.
Lan Jue's expression remained unchanged as he looked at the village chief and said, "The village chief used us to protect the village, so he's naturally happy."
"Your plan is quite sound. If we succeed in eradicating the dream demon, Qingsang Manor will be free of its shadow. If we are killed by it like the monks before us, becoming food for the illusion, it will buy you some time... At least if the mulberry tree eats the monks, it will stop sucking away villagers for a while, right?"
After hearing Lan Jue’s words, the village chief coughed, stroked his beard and said nothing.
This is the default.
"Damn! You old man are so sinister!" Deng Zhao cursed angrily.
Huo Chen also raised his knife and said to Lan Jue, "Big Brother, let me kill him! He betrayed us first, so killing him won't be considered breaking the sect rules!"
Lan Jue slowly shook his head.
"This guy is only breathing his last breath. He will die in a few moments."
When Mei Ci said this, everyone looked at the village chief in surprise.
Indeed, he had not used a cane before, but now he was trembling, as if even standing was an effort.
"...Why don't you run away?" Tao Xueting, who had been silent the entire time, asked, "Since you know there's something wrong with the mulberry tree, why don't you just flee to another place?"
The village chief, who had been calm all the time, suddenly became emotional after hearing this. Just as he was about to open his mouth, he coughed violently a few times.
"Ahem...if we could escape, we would have already escaped!"
"For generations, Qingsang Manor has relied on that century-old mulberry tree for its development. It was once a great manor where everyone lived and worked in peace and contentment! A hundred years ago, everyone stopped having nightmares. Our ancestors thought it was a blessing from the gods, but they didn't realize it was actually a demonic presence!"
"If anyone discovers something unusual and tries to escape from this place, they will be devoured by the mulberry tree the next day! The monks we initially invited were also devoured by the mulberry tree!"
The village chief said in a hoarse voice: "If there is a way, why would we cheat others!"
After he finished speaking, he coughed violently a few times and leaned against the mulberry tree with his crutches.
Seeing his dying appearance, everyone remained silent for a while.
Unexpectedly, at this moment the old man seemed to have a last breath of life. He suddenly turned around, raised the crutch in his hand, and stabbed it straight into his body like a spear!
The sharp bottom of the crutch nailed him to the mulberry tree. From a distance, it seemed as if he was born from the same root and died at the same time.
Before he ran out of breath, he burst into laughter, feeling more relaxed and free than ever before.
“Hahahahahaha!”
"From now on, the people of Qingsang Village will never have dreams again!!"
Everyone was shocked and stunned by his action, and stood there in a daze for a moment.
The villagers' screams came from behind, followed by continuous crying and wailing.
However, amid the cries, the dark clouds covering Qingsangzhuang dissipated, and the sunlight shone down, bringing the bright spring light that had not been seen for a long time.
——When a dead tree dies, all things come to life.
***
After leaving Qingsangzhuang, everyone rested for one night in a town in Luoxizhou, and prepared to return to the sect early the next morning.
Xiao Wangyou said goodbye to them. Before leaving, he glanced at Lan Jue and Gu Congxing with a very complicated look, his expression conflicted.
But in the end he sighed heavily and thanked them.
After he left, Lan Juexiang summoned the Spirit Boat and said to everyone with a smile, "The journey back to the sect is long, my fellow disciples can take this."
"Wow! That's awesome!" Ruan Wei was the first to exclaim and enter.
"Thank you, Brother Lan!"
The others were also surprised. After thanking Lan Jue, they entered the spirit boat one after another.
Gu Congxing was about to take a step when he felt the back of his hand being brushed by a furry tail.
He lowered his head and saw Chi, who had fully recovered, standing beside him with his head held high and his chest puffed out. He was covered in silver light, but his head was rubbing against the hem of his clothes.
...So cute.
Gu Congxing thought so, squatted down and rubbed Chi's head: "What's wrong?"
Chi narrowed his eyes and howled at him a few times.
It was clearly not human language, but Gu Congxing could understand its meaning.
"So... you're leaving."
“Ouch—”
He moved closer to Gu Congxing again, rubbed his pointed ears against Gu Congxing's hand, and wrapped his tail around his arm.
Gu Congxing chuckled softly, hugged it tightly, and buried his head in its furry neck: "Go and protect him well. We will meet again if we are destined."
The man and the beast were affectionate for a long time until Lan Jue reminded him softly, and then Gu Congxing let go of his hand.
"Goodbye, Tiaotiao."
After separating from Gu Congxing, Chi returned to its original huge form. It let out a long roar towards the sky, then walked away on the roof.
"We should go, Congxing."
"……kindness."
Gu Congxing withdrew his gaze and stepped into the spirit boat with Lan Jue.
The magic weapon soared up, creating a puff of light smoke, and then slowly flew into the sky.
Gu Congxing stood on the deck, watching the clouds rolling, as if they were islands in the sky, and his thoughts emptied for a moment.
"Why don't you go and rest?"
The faint fragrance of winter plum blossoms wafted around him, and Gu Congxing turned around and saw the tall figure.
"Isn't it the same for the eldest brother?"
"Well, that means we are in sync."
As Lan Jue said this, he had already moved closer to his side. The two stood side by side, their hair tangled in the wind.
For some reason, Gu Congxing suddenly remembered every detail of the illusion.
The friendship between them was originally pure, but it was distorted in that illusion. Zhili even arranged for them to be childhood sweethearts. It was really ridiculous to think about it.
He should have just laughed it off, but for some reason, Gu Congxing suddenly remembered Lan Jue whispering to him in the morning light and touching him in the cold dew.
And by the lake...
There seemed to be a wet and hot touch on his lips again, Gu Congxing's mind went blank, and heat surged all over his body.
"What did Cong Xing think of? Why is her face red?"
As he said this, his slender hand reached out.
"...No! Nothing!" Gu Congxing took a step back suddenly, preventing him from touching her cheek.
Lan Jue looked at his actions in some surprise, then withdrew his hand.
"Cong Xing has shown signs of breaking through. If you need me, you can ask me to protect you."
"Yeah. I understand."
Gu Congxing responded somewhat stiffly.
Come to think of it, didn’t Lan Jue always call himself Second Junior Brother before?
Lan Jue didn't say anything else after saying this. Just when Gu Congxing thought he was going to go back, Lan Jue took off his sword and held it in front of him.
The ice-blue scabbard gleamed in the sunlight, contrasting with the boundless sea of clouds in the background.
"Come to think of it, when Master gave me this sword, he said that I was full of worldly airs, unlike a pure and unselfish cultivator."
He looked troubled, which Gu Congxing found interesting. He then asked, "So, I gave you this sword? Everyone calls you the Gentleman Sword, and this sword is quite famous."
"That's just someone else's fabrication. My swordsmanship has nothing to do with the way of a gentleman."
Gu Congxing raised his eyebrows and said, "I originally thought that the name of this sword was Gentleman Sword."
"How could that be? That would be too boring." Lan Jue said with a smile.
"So what's the name of this sword?"
"Forget about love."
When Lan Jue smiled, his eyelashes drooped, not curling, but dense, just covering his pupils, casting a shadow. His amber eyes seemed to have fallen into a deep spring, inexplicably carrying a hint of tenderness.
"It means to forget about emotions."
Gu Congxing looked at him and his heart skipped a beat.
"……so."
He quickly withdrew his gaze and looked at the rolling clouds in front of him.
Too forgetful...
Come to think of it, my brother also taught me about keeping a clear mind and not being moved by emotions.
That guy Gu Mingting really taught me a lot of lessons.
Gu Congxing recalled the dream demon in the illusion that had fabricated stories about his and Lan Jue's childhood, and directly grafted his memories of Gu Mingting onto Lan Jue.
Meng Yao's actions were not entirely without basis. After all, Lan Jue and Gu Mingting were of similar age, both were elegant gentlemen, and both had good reputations outside.
Gu Congxing was thinking, and his eyes couldn't help but fall on Lan Jue.
In fact, before being designated as the next head of the family, Gu Mingting also had a temperament similar to Lan Jue, gentle and kind, and was particularly kind to him. Unfortunately...
Gu Congxing was completely lost in his own thoughts. Although his eyes were fixed on Lan Jue, he was obviously thinking about someone else.
He didn't notice at all that Lan Jue's smile disappeared at some point, and a dark light surged in his amber eyes.
He grabbed Gu Congxing's hand and pulled him in front of him.
Gu Congxing came back to his senses, looked up and saw Lan Jue's forced smile on his face.
"Junior brother, who are you looking through me?"
The author has something to say:
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Scum Author: Who am I in your eyes~Who do you want me to replace~ (humming)
Back to the clan in the next chapter! A certain attacker will reveal his fake tentacles! Guess who it is in this prize-giving contest?
A. Lan Jue B. Zhong Ming C. Chen Mu D. Si Jun Jian
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